2026 NBA Draft Winners and Losers With Joe House and J. Kyle Mann

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[01:46] for my favorite day of the year. It's pretty sad that this is my favorite day of the year, but it's the NBA draft. [01:51] I'm a J. Kyle man from The Ringer. [01:53] I'm with a deliriously happy and possibly drunk Joe house. [01:57] Whose team had the number one pick? [01:59] And took AJ DeBansa. We'll talk about that later. We have a little gimmick. It's just for the live Netflix show only. [02:06] We're going to have some voting. [02:08] They started this poll thing that they did during Star Search. [02:12] And we have borrowed the technology and we're going to be able, if you're watching this live on Netflix, you're going to be able to vote on stuff, including houses, blood alcohol level. [02:20] I wanted to mention we put up a new rewatchables on Monday night. We did a domestic disturbance. The funniest from hell movie of all the from hell movies had a great time with Sean Fennessey and Chris Ryan. We have another one coming on Thursday. The good son. You can hear houses. [02:33] golf podcast, Fairway Rolling, and you can listen and watch Kyle Mann on the Ringer NBA show. Okay, guys. [02:42] Winners and losers, and I have mostly winners. And I'm going to start here, J. Kyle Mann, as a guy who works on our Ringer NBA Draft Guide and does lots of YouTube clips and studies and obsesses over the draft. [02:53] The drafts become less and less fun. [02:56] over the course of the decade, as everybody just makes logical decisions, [03:01] smart decisions. And nobody messes up. [03:04] And we have no monkey wrenches and no wild cards and no great players falling. I had the first 12 picks, regardless of the order. [03:13] I thought were the 12 best guys in the draft. [03:16] There were no stumbles at all.

[03:18] Is this just where we are now? We have too much intelligence? How do you explain this? [03:24] It seems like the nerds have taken over and the math has kind of crept into the point where even I just feel like it's created these little guardrails for if you have a wild take, you know, I just feel like we we have so much more numbers justification. [03:38] You know, scouting has improved. The information has improved across the board. I feel like we have fewer and fewer just kind of like good old boy network GM kind of front office people out there. I mean. [03:49] There's maybe one or two left, but they're dwindling by the day. Yeah. But I went through and I was doing my grades on this and I was like, it was hard to really ding anybody hard for anything. I was like, I don't I don't really have any like. [04:03] D's or F's, you know, it's, there aren't any like Kintel Woods or what was the, what was the Juco guy that you guys took? Keith, uh, Keegan Brown or not. No, Kendrick Brown. Kendrick Brown. Yeah. Yeah. We don't get those. How about the 20 guys houses team took? Yeah. I mean. [04:18] John Vetsley! [04:19] 20 years ago, I just feel like the Kings would have taken Nate Amen, and we would have been like, what are they doing? And now they just take Darius Aikoff. House, you don't care, because your team ended up with the number one pick. And by the way, [04:30] My team is about to pick at number 27, the Celtics, who have had a tumultuous week. I don't know if we're taking a team psychiatrist or an actual player, but we're going to experience my reaction live. House, your reaction? We had a lot of little birdies telling us that AJ was going to D.C.

[04:49] for the last month and that's what happened. But were you scared in the moment of truth that that wasn't going to happen? No, no, no. And honestly... [04:57] You have to just keep the faith. Let all of the stuff happen out on the periphery. Let everybody talk their talk. I do want to set up right away. [05:09] My blood alcohol content level is at equilibrium. I'm at 0.0. No booze. [05:17] Or Boozer. No Boozer or Boozer. I stand with my Mormon brother, AJD. I welcome him. [05:23] to Washington D.C. Me and AJ DeBan, we're no booze for us tonight because we're setting the path for a very clean start to our careers. Well, that's not the house I know. And Chris Ryan stepped up for you last night because we brought him on for the, wasn't it an emergency podcast because we knew Giannis was getting traded? [05:45] So we called it an urgent gathering. It was being CR and barrier and CR had come home from dinner and it had a couple of cocktails. Yeah. He was a lively CR and he was especially, Oh, here we go. [05:57] This is the only time I'll do this during our live Netflix trap. The pick is in. They're showing Isaiah Adams. Adam Silver is on the clock, and he's going to tell us that the Celtics are taking... [06:08] Oh. [06:11] A Houston forward, Kyle, man. What do you think of that pick? [06:14] Snack? [06:15] Yeah. [06:15] He's somebody that I've been a little more skeptical on Because I said I thought he was kind of in this Well, caveat

[06:25] He's a guy that he's one of those conditional kind of dependent guys. It's like if he went to a team with like poor developmental structure, I would be worried about him because I'd worried that his offense was just in this weird purgatory. They needed to be straightened out where he was like a hypothetical stretch for who really only got ran. He really didn't attack the rim. Even if he got run off the line, he would take these like long twos that weren't pretty. [06:50] He had to kind of be spoon fed any offense that he got, but he's very big. He's very athletic. He has long arms. Good rebounder. I liked him. I liked him in college. I trust the Celtics to kind of detangle him and make sense of him. So that's a good one. [07:05] Six double-doubles last year, House. Pick 27. Okay. [07:08] You needed size. I mean, it's why you got your asses handed to you by the Sixers. [07:13] One of many reasons. One of many. [07:16] including the fact that we started... [07:18] Ron Harper Jr. in Game 7 who hadn't played the whole series. Maybe overthought it a little. All right. So winners and losers, and I have mostly winners. We're going to go through this. I did not send you the list. I'm going to be surprising you guys with all of these, and we can react. And it's a way for us to talk about the draft. As I mentioned, the big winners is... [07:35] Just competence. [07:37] Just teams over and over again. [07:40] doing what seemed to be relatively the right thing, [07:42] I'm not a group thing guy but you just kind of it was always like okay they should take him and then they would here's how you know [07:51] The Kings just sat tight. [07:54] They didn't do anything crazy. They just sat tight and let the guy that made the most sense for them, the guy they had their eye on, he just landed in there. No irrational behavior out of the Kings. Now you know.

[08:08] You saw what the Clippers tried to do because there's so many – [08:11] There's so many info guys and newsletter guys, and you can basically get any message that you want out. [08:17] All of a sudden, within two days of the draft, there was a – the Clippers – [08:22] are really becoming intrigued by Acuff. [08:26] They like him. They've spent a lot of time on him. He could go. There were screenshots of the player development coach's son. That was one of my more entertaining. I don't know if that was an angular approach or what that was about. Could you play Acuff and Darius Garland together if that happened? And Vivek [08:44] You know, it was like, it was just like watching somebody stay disciplined at a blackjack table for the first time ever. Be like, nope. [08:52] I'm just going to double down on 11 here. [08:55] Do they keep Vivek in like in the Wolfman, like they have leather straps over his wrists and he can't touch his phone? He's just like Hannibal Lecter or whatever it is. They definitely like that article came out. They're definitely like, we can't let Vivek see this. He's going to trade our unprotected 2029 first to move up two spots. So, yeah, House, I'll start with renewed hope. [09:18] Like legitimate renewed hope in Washington. [09:21] Utah. [09:23] Memphis, [09:24] Chicago? [09:26] Sacramento. [09:28] Five punching bags. Five teams that have been in the lottery a bunch of times or have rebuilt a [09:34] I think during the course of last year, we're either... [09:37] egregiously tanking or not as blatantly tanking or actually screwing up the tank in Sacramento's case. And now...

[09:45] That's one sixth of the league has hope. Well, and the crazy thing is, in the context of a third of the league tanking last season, for each of the teams you just rattled off, [09:57] you can come up with a decent, interesting core of guys, two or three or four young guys, all on this kind of trajectory. We're on the same rookie contract. Like, look at this little nucleus that's coming together. The bummer for those teams, and this is one of the things I'm looking at from the Washington perspective, the league is good. The league is better. Like, you know, if teams aren't tanking next year, I was going through the Eastern Conference standings, [10:27] worst teams are, you know, is there a pathway for Washington to get to the play in? Well, yes, but you know what? It's not easy. It's not an easy path. And obviously the West is, you know, just nails across the board, especially like I look at that Utah roster. I'm like, wow. Wow. [10:46] Oh, I can't wait to talk about that. But look at the West. [10:51] Your stupid team paid Trey Young, but you have Trey Young. The Nets traded for Julius Randle, but now they have Julius Randle. So you have this whole weird... [11:01] thing that they did, Kyle, with the draft order and the two ping pong balls, if you're in the bottom three, it already seems like it's affected... [11:08] some of the stuff we've seen, right? Like that team's, [11:12] Teams are actually okay getting, you know, basically good stat, bad team guys, which sorry, House, but that's what Trae Young has been. And that's what Julius Randle is. Just say sorry to me. Might be what Michael Porter is. But Kyle, is this where we're going?

[11:26] I mean, it seems like it. Well, it's going to be interesting to see how things shake up here now as these teams like House was saying. It's such a radical shakeup that all these have nots and hopeless wanderers in the desert are just no longer. It was like quick change. It was like the Jazz just had this like sight unseen team that might be. I know House, you were talking about being like a playing team like the Jazz might be. [11:56] have like and and they're rolling this out and i know we'll talk about it more in detail but um [12:02] Pretty dramatic shift in terms of the competency and the way that these teams are being ran. [12:07] Well, let's talk about them first. House, we'll save your team. We can talk about them for a while. [12:13] Oh, we have the biggest winner around one was the first poll we did on the live Netflix and houses wizards 36%. So maybe the audience wants to talk wizards first. That's fine. We'll do that. Winner. The Wiz. Yeah. AJ DeBansa. I'm just going to call him DeBansa and DeBansa. I'm going to screw it up for 10 years. Yeah. Uh, [12:33] Peace. [12:34] Your first kick-ass competitive wing since when? [12:37] Oh, wow. [12:39] Otto Porter? [12:40] Otto Porter was a pretty, you know. [12:43] They maxed him. They maxed the poison pill. Otto Porter? He was supposed to be a big three. He was part of the big three. We almost beat the Celtics to make it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

[12:56] I remember you texting me during his rookie year being like, I'm out. [13:02] The saddest thing is that you and Jalen, that was the era where you and Jalen were interviewing the prospects as they came in. And you fed me some information that wasn't very flattering. [13:15] Well, yeah, we were lukewarm on him. We like to call him the most. [13:19] The one, the one we were the most, the one we were the most worried about was the kid who lied about his age. His name, I can't even remember it because it was so far ago, but, uh, [13:27] So favorite AJs ever? [13:29] Thawne Maker, right? [13:30] Is that right? [13:31] No, not Thawne Maker. It was the shooting guard. I can't remember. I'm blanking. He was a lefty. I can't remember. Anyway. Shabazz Muhammad. Shabazz Muhammad. There we go. Wow, incredible. So AJ Soprano is the worst case AJ scenario, I think, House. [13:47] AJ Feely's in the middle. [13:50] I don't know. I couldn't come up with that. AJ Foyt? You didn't get AJ Foyt? Don't you remember that? AJ Foyt's a good one. The race car driver from our youth. [13:58] Now here's where Kyle... [14:00] fills a pot of water and dumps it on your head. Kyle, you think they should take a boozer. Just make the case. No, this is a can't lose draft. I mean, I gave the top three picks all A pluses because how often are you going to get? And they said it repeatedly on the broadcast. And it's true. You could choose your flavor here of this Neapolitan sweetness of prospect goodness at the top of this draft and become always satisfied. There's a perfectly reasonable case for taking AJ that I understand that is very sober like house tonight, unfortunately.

[14:30] I just thought that – I thought the basketball – [14:33] I said this to you all repeatedly, I just thought in the basketball sense to make them a competitive team that was going to be very efficient and focused and get the most and elevate their guys. I thought Boozer made a lot of sense. But if they end up having Trey on the team, which it seems like they're going to, and if AD hangs around and you think about putting Sarr at the four and then you put AJ at the three and then you got Trey or Bub or whatever it's going to be at the two or Kaishan or Will Riley has been showing out and looking good. I don't know about the two, but I think [15:02] they suddenly have a pretty balanced team. Like it's going to be pretty interesting, I think. So, [15:06] So, House, I was studying him carefully this whole week and all the interviews, and then even today, and at one point, [15:12] The pre-show, somebody complimented his outfit and he said, I actually went to France to [15:17] find this and brought it back. I'm like, I don't know if I love that. Why don't you love that? I didn't, I didn't love it. How about getting in the gym and working on some threes? Um, [15:27] But he's very polished, almost a little too polished. [15:31] Like polished enough where I'm like, huh, he almost seemed like a 19 year old. He's trying. I mean, this is a very polished 19 year old. Yeah, that's right. So polished that the league selected him as their sort of youth draft correspondent to go participate and interview people and, you know, be in the playoffs and be kind of a digital media guy for that.

[16:01] Reflection on his maturity by contradistinction. It was, you know, when you're splitting the hairs so fine, his his personality coming out was the kind of the opposite of what we saw out of Darren Peterson. Now, you're not drafting personality here, but, you know, we are trying to come up with a reason to choose one guy over another. And that's part of why I like the Bonsa. [16:24] Yeah, Peterson seemed a little better... [16:26] after he got picked. It felt like he could see the weight. We'll talk about him in a second. So, winner, DeBatsa. [16:33] Who. [16:34] We've talked about it a bunch in the pod. I remember... [16:37] when was that early February? I had you on the pod, Kyle. And I was like, the bounce is going to go first. Like this is, this is a wrap. The guys, his, [16:44] He's too filled out already. Like, what's he going to look like when he's 27? And there's just not a lot of guys like him. He's somebody that could have played in any of the last three playoff series we watched. He could have been thrown out there. He would have survived physically. [16:57] There's, if you're nitpicking, there's, [17:00] He talked about his off-ball defense. Some people don't love his shot yet. It's all stuff that will get better and better as he goes along, but he seems like [17:09] At one point, House, he said, [17:11] I've been number one my whole life. I expected to go number one in this draft. Kyle, that's just like the kind of confidence I think you would want from your number one pick, right? [17:18] Yeah, I mean, he's he has earned confidence. I think an interesting thing about Devonza, too, that I've been amused by through watching him come up through the grassroots circuit, knowing people that have interviewed him and his family. There is just a stern focus about them, you know.

[17:34] as a group and i have friends who know his dad who were like talking about he would have aj talk to these different players and just to like kind of get on his ass basically uh on purpose to give him feedback critical feedback and he and he and his dad specifically i remember said i don't kiss his ass ever he's just like on him all the time so that's the rick brunson strategy worked when the next title [17:59] And the other thing I wanted to tell House is, I was thinking about this this week, if we watch these playoffs and we think about the way it gets officiated, if you watch your beloved Denny Avdia, if you watch just any of these downhill guys, whether it be Shea or whoever, it's going to be a good guy. [18:13] You think about DeBonce's specific set of gifts. He's not like I'm just going to roast you with a live dribble. He's not like one of those nuclear athletes, but he's his gracefulness and his balance and his power combined with being a pretty good athlete. Getting downhill makes him really potent. And I wanted to throw this stat at you, House. I was looking up listening. I was looking at this. Did you want to jump in, Bill, real quick? No, you do. There was there was. [18:39] paint touches in Division I college basketball this year. Guys that averaged over 20 per game. The top five is all point guards. Number one is Abuka Corey, who got drafted tonight. He was vicious downhill. Darius, this is efficiency among guys that had over 20 a game. Darius Acuff was number two. [18:59] Among these point guards, number three, downhill paint touch efficiency, scoring the ball, A.J. DeBonsa. So that's how that guy's six foot nine. So he is set up to just get to the line and score a ton. Just by the way he plays.

[19:13] I mean, we could do a whole thing of effusive praise for what he's bringing to the table, how easy it seemed like the scoring came, especially after Saunders got hurt, where he became the focal point of the offense. But what I really love is he goes both ways. I love seeing him go left with the Euro step. [19:34] Oh. Pause. Jesus. Go ahead. It's like 11.30. Are you drunk? No, I was kidding. Go. Three hours ago, you would have gotten that. I got it immediately. [19:49] The, uh... [19:50] The... [19:51] Here's the thing with AJ. [19:52] He's not LeBron, obviously. Nobody's going to be LeBron. We'll probably never see LeBron again. [19:57] So don't aggregate this. I'm not saying he's next LeBron. How many guys have come... [20:02] into the league since LeBron, where you say to yourself, "Eh, kind of a LeBron body." [20:08] right? Where you look at him and go, I could see him at age 27 looking a little LeBron-ish. We'd, [20:14] That is not a long list comment. [20:16] I would say that's less than 10 guys that we've had come into the league. And sadly, not all of them are good. Like maybe you could have said that about Josh Jackson. [20:23] Like, oh, Josh Jackson, when he's 27, he might be ripped. It turned out he was in the league. But – [20:29] physically, I think it's just going to be really easy for him to get his points. And the fact that he produced in college, I think matters, which is, [20:36] Same thing for Boozer. So the Wiz are a winner. [20:40] Sadly, they're also a loser house because you gave Trey Young four years, $212 million with a player option year four that I think he's already picked up.

[20:48] I don't know who you're bidding against. I don't know why he did it. It was inexplicable. We're going to do worse contracts with Waz in March. I was screenshotting you pictures of us with the first, second, or third pick next March. Why? We have to wait till March. Why can't you have good things? Why can't you have good things for a week? Why did this have to happen? This is what I said with all the local folks here. Did they have to announce this on Monday? Why couldn't we just wait till Friday or something? Make it a Friday news dump. [21:18] with AJ it would have been fine and I had already wrapped my head around the idea that Trey Young was going to be in my life for the next three years I imagine three years 140 100 maybe like you were crazy 140 how about three for 100 sounds great really you know [21:36] But the... [21:39] You have to sort of go, oh, Willie, there's a floor to the salary. You have to have a floor to your salaries, and you have seven guys on rookie contracts. You've got to pay somebody. You've got to pay somebody. You sound like CA. You're just making it. I'm just telling you, I am literally making shit up because it makes no sense whatsoever to pay that man 53 effing million dollars a year. No sense. Here's my problem with it, and then I'll stop. [22:08] Give me one example. I need one bit of evidence. [22:14] that this guy at the point guard position has made a teammate better. Give me... Yes, he helped John Collins rim run. Yes, he helped Clint Capella rim run. Neither one of those fucking guys are still with the Hawks. He didn't help them extend their careers with the Hawks. And...

[22:35] He was just in a situation where they had the number one overall pick in the draft, and they had a real young stud in Jalen Johnson, and Trey couldn't coexist with those guys. For whatever the reason was, stylistically, whatever the vision is, whatever Quinn Snyder's offense was. [22:54] It didn't work there. So, yeah. [22:57] That's a lot of money. [22:58] for a project, by which I mean you're projecting. You had two minutes. You took two and a half. [23:09] It was horrible. It was egregious. It was a crime against the Wizards. And I don't know, this would be the only reason I wouldn't want to go to a Wizards game next year. [23:17] And Trae Young's obviously not a bad player, but I just think we did this when you did Bradley Beal, and Bradley Beal was coming off a good season when you gave him the dumb contract. [23:26] Trey Young was coming off a season where his team gave him away. [23:29] And the revisionist history of this where it's like, well, Trae Young chose the wizards. He did? Who wanted to trade for him? Not one person. How should I have this friend at CAA, Kyle? [23:38] who's relatively powerful. [23:40] And we were texting him like, [23:42] You guys, why did you do that to the Wizards? [23:46] Why did you do that? I congratulated him. Yeah, we were congratulating him. Somehow you found the sucker at the poker table. Just hilarious stuff. Who leads that team house? Who's the leader of that? That's what we were speculating about. I was just like, I could see... [24:01] I don't want to speculate too much here, but I can see AJ and Trey being at odds at some point. They like to have the ball. I'm just wondering where – that seems like a lot of personalities that I could see –

[24:11] The biggest problem with Trey is he's this three-point Curry lookalike three-point shooter, but the threes don't go in. [24:18] He doesn't play off the ball. I mean, that's the key thing. It makes sense if the threes go in, but he's been, you know, low 30s now for three years. Well, he's going to set up. Trey Johnson is going to have nothing but open looks. He's going to be. This is the master facilitator version of Trey Young, that one of the all time leading assist guys by, you know, per game. [24:40] Um, this is true. He did lead the league in assists, um, in recent memory. We were going to do a poll for, do you think the Wizards made a mistake with the Trae Young contract? But, uh, [24:52] Netflix said we couldn't do polls where it's 100%. Yes, they made a mistake. They wanted us to have polls where people had two votes. Another winner. [25:00] So we mentioned this earlier, Utah. [25:03] They take Peterson. We'll see how this turns out. Obviously, the ceiling of this is the highest of all these guys. [25:10] On paper, [25:12] And it didn't really fully cement itself until they actually took him. And he was walking up there and he seemed really relieved and happy with Triple J, D. [25:21] Kessler, Lori marketed, [25:23] George, [25:25] Peterson. [25:26] It's your starting five. [25:28] Ace Bailey is your sixth man. They have sense of bar, they have some good pieces, they have an owner who's gonna spend money, [25:34] And you could see how they would have talked themselves into like, this is actually... [25:38] Boozer would be an awesome pick for depth and maybe he's the best guy in the draft. But if we hit with Peterson, this is like the missing piece for us. We could be like a six seed next year.

[25:48] So what do we expect from him next year, Kyle, man? [25:51] I mean, he could average over 20 next year, I think, for sure. That's definitely possible. Wow, really? Yeah, I think so. I mean, you can't say he's one of the generational scoring talent and then not kind of. I mean, I think he could definitely do that. Not 20 missed games, right? 20 points a game. 20 points a game. Okay. He and Keontae, I think, are the biggest question about just how do those guys find kind of a synergy together. But, man, just the shooting, a one through five shooting on that team. [26:21] That's what's worked for eight years when everybody on your team in a playoff series can shoot. House, did you have a moment with him where... [26:29] Maybe like a 1 a.m., [26:32] You cheated on AJ and you looked at some YouTube clips and watched a little Darren Peterson. You started thinking about it. Took your engagement ring off for an hour. Well, I... [26:42] I don't want to talk about... Stay married, House. [26:46] Thank you. [26:47] I am married. Super happily married. I don't wear one either. Not a ring guy. I don't wear jewelry. I lost three. I don't either. I lost way a while back and my ring fell off and I never got a new one. I lost three. I wore it. I lost three different ones anyway. I did flirt with the idea of a, I will say, Darren Peterson and I had like 24 hours. You had a fling. You went to Cabo for 24 hours? [27:17] I took a look. I was like, wow. Maybe I didn't give... Wow, he looks like Kobe. I didn't give enough. I don't think I gave this guy enough credit. I need to think about this a little bit. It really was the movie list. That's what really pushed me, like,

[27:31] He's a deep thinker. It was the most important thing he did. He's an interstellar. Outstanding. Well, this would be really fun. Look, [27:39] Great coach, stable owner. He goes with Will Hardy, goes with the [27:43] Stable ownership franchise goes with a really thirsty fan base. [27:47] A fan base that has been there for a long, long time since they moved there in the 80s has had some... [27:53] Really good moments. Made two finals in 97-98. Had a nice almost run there with Williams and Boozer. [28:00] Um, and then the Mitchell Gobert thing just never really played out, but they've been once a decade, they've been relevant and they were obviously the most relevant with Malone and Stockton, but that's a. [28:10] really, really starving [28:12] fan base that will show up in big ways. So that might be great. I will say this, Kyle, man. [28:17] Danny Ainge, really awesome track record with taking elite guys. And if he likes Peterson, that makes me feel a lot better about Peterson, as weird as that sounds. [28:26] This is the same guy I wanted to take Durant over Odin. I think he hones in on star talent in a unique way. [28:34] And obviously likes this guy. So I think that's a great sign for the Jazz. He's never going to cower from like, oh, are you going to be able to handle, you know, unless it's just like a, are there examples of just totally. [28:46] You guys had him for a long time, Bill. I mean, you know the track record really well. Is there a guy that he ever was scared away from? Like, it's just not worth it? Even though you told us the story. No, he went the other way. Yeah, he would take like the J.R. Giddens types, the super talented guy. [28:59] screw-up types just because they had talent. He couldn't resist those guys. He always saw the talent.

[29:05] So with this, you have talent, work ethic, [29:08] whole bunch of things. So Utah, [29:10] I don't know. This would be a good Netflix poll. Could Utah be a playoff team next year? [29:15] How's the you think? [29:16] Could you see them as one of the top eight seeds next year? Is that conceivable to you or no? You're basically saying that they're going to replace Phoenix. I think that's, that's how you get there. Um, [29:27] And at least on paper, like the talent is there. They're way more talented. Like I'm not even close. The enormous unknown is like what's Will Hardy capable of? Like how can this all come together? [29:42] with this team actually trying to win. And it feels like we might have the answer in the first 10 games of the season. You said you think that Peterson's going to start. I think it's fine to bring him off the bench. Let Ace start. Either way, it doesn't really matter. [29:56] But it's kind of a [29:57] an embarrassment of riches and a really fascinating challenge for them. But the West is so good. [30:05] It's Portland and Phoenix that they're going to be competing with. [30:10] In Portland, it still has a chance to get better. We'll see with Phoenix. The Netflix audience thinks... [30:15] Utah should have taken Peterson 60% on that. Question on, you mentioned the fugitive. I was noting this in our draft grades. I was like, do you think Darren Peterson sees any sort of kinship with, you know, Richard Kimball, the way he's in a bus, you know, his college season is like a bus crash and it's rolling down the hill and he miraculously escapes it as it explodes and still gets taken. Number two, do you think there's like maybe some parallels there? Shaves his beard, dives his hair. Yeah, it starts out.

[30:45] the coach, was that a big game? Like 15 minutes before the game? I'm not playing. Not going. Yeah. That was when I got really concerned. Look, [30:54] The talent's there. We've talked about it a bunch on the pod. There's no question. If you're going to pick who has come into the league in the last 30 years, who's looked the most like young Kobe, you would pick Peterson. [31:04] Um, [31:05] There's red flags though that I can't ignore. I don't know how it's going to play out. I'd be hesitant to make a prediction, but I will say this is the best scenario I think for him. [31:14] It's going to be far away in the Pacific Northwest. Where's he from? That's not Pacific. Mountain West. [31:24] It's almost nine o'clock. I had a whole John and Vinny's two hours ago. To think Vegas, but four hours. It's closer to Vegas than you think out there. Yeah, West Coast, whatever. Perfect spot for him. Yeah. [31:37] I'm going to take a break and regroup after saying Utah is in the Pacific Northwest. We're going to be back in one second. We'll be the rest of the winners and losers. Yeah, there's some good ones. All right. [31:47] This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. This summer, soccer is here. The watch parties. [31:53] will be spectacular. And they'll be going every day, back to back to back. Don't worry, Uber Eats has your game day essentials covered with 30% off offers from Aldi, [32:03] Kroger [32:04] Dollar General. [32:06] Oh, yeah. [32:06] All the stacks of groceries to keep your crowd happy delivered. [32:10] straight to your door, like chips, dips, swings. [32:14] Walk. [32:15] fresh ingredients for the perfect game day spread. Order in so you can stay locked in on the game, all the hosting.

[32:20] None of the hassle. [32:22] Order now for 30% off your game day snacks and grocery order only on Uber Eats for a limited time. [32:28] Offer eligible for 30% off entire order. Taxes, fees, and terms apply. Offer valid. [32:34] through July 5th. Product availability varies by region, [32:38] Exclusions may apply. [32:42] Winners and losers, we got to hit Memphis. Shout out to our guy, Verno. Verno was at a draft party. He said the entire city was rooting for... [32:49] Boozer. [32:51] Um, [32:52] No disrespect to Peterson, but I think [32:55] I think that City's had a little bit of a rollercoaster ride the last few years with unreliable guys and, [33:02] It was basically looking forward to a guy who you could just come into the league and pencil in for 20 and 11 every year for the next, [33:08] 12 years of his career. He actually sent in the video, the crowd exploded at the draft party. [33:12] when Peterson went number two. So this is like a classic Memphis guy. This is the grit and grind Grizzlies. He would have fit right in. [33:20] You have him and Boozer, him and Coward and maybe Edie. [33:24] um well i think i like wells well yeah they have a bunch of dudes um [33:29] And I think you just tell him coming out of the gate. If, if job calls you to go out and celebrate the pick, um, tell him, [33:36] Tell them you had the sniffles and maybe get out of that one. What do you think of Boozer Memphis, Kyle? [33:42] I think it's going to be great. I mean, like you said, he fits their sort of organizational identity, you know, from the past. But he also, you know, they're big on analytics. They're big on efficiency and winning players and things like that. So he checks both boxes. And I feel like whenever we say grit and grind, I think sometimes we say we make it sound like, you know, we're prioritizing that over skill, over everything. We're just going to claw you to death. It's like Boozer plays that way.

[34:07] And he has all those things, but he's just kind of like a modernized version of his dad. I heard Legler say, Kevin Love, that was something we had in the guide. That's something that I've thought for a while. [34:16] He's just got all these kind of intangible skills that he can space it if they want to play him and Zach Eady together. I think he'll make him like Cam Spencer. He'll make Cam Spencer and Cedric Coward better with his passing so they can work off the ball. It's a great fit, man, and it's organizational mouthwash. Like we were saying, you know, if Peterson had been there at three years, [34:36] Do you think they even would have... [34:37] taken him? It's such an opportunity. Maybe you don't pass it up, but I think this is the outcome that they all wanted. I asked for an O earlier in the night. I was like, I mean, is that who? Resounding yes, they wanted Boozer and they got him. [34:51] Would have been an interesting one, Haas, if [34:53] Boozer goes too. [34:56] Nayev Wilson. [34:57] who is the most Memphis-y kind of guy ever. That's a classic couldn't try harder, great kid, would have fit in with all the different teams they had. Would they have done that or would they have rolled the dice? Then later, House... [35:12] They deal 16,000. [35:14] for 17, and [35:16] In two seconds, so OKC can take Bennett Sturtz. [35:19] which is the most predictable moment of the night. And then they go backwards from 17 to 21 with Detroit, [35:26] So Detroit could take a Corey. They pick up three more seconds. [35:30] And I'm like... [35:31] Ready to stand on my couch and applaud because I think they're going to take Phylon. [35:35] And they took Lopez. So I did not stand up on my couch and applaud. I'm going to give them both a winner for...

[35:43] picking up five seconds to move five picks backwards. But let me ask you a thing. I don't understand. I thought, [35:50] when... [35:52] they picked for Detroit when they took a Corey – [35:55] for Detroit. I thought he would be an awesome... [36:00] uh guy for that young nucleus that they have going in memphis what do you think the thought process was [36:06] not taking a point guard. Yeah. The thought process is probably they're stuck with John Moran. [36:11] and they didn't want to bring in another player. I don't think they have a landing spot for him. [36:15] Has kind of a similar profile to Moran, except a Corey, a Corey super downhill, but he just leans scoring more than playmaking than job. But I mean, yeah, it would have been really fun. I think he would have been a nice change of pace from the size and the grinding kind of. [36:31] Thing that they're going to have going on Just an interesting off-speed pitch In the way that Mara is going to be for OKC Who I don't know if we're going to get to him in a minute But yeah, I thought O'Pourri would have been really fun For people who haven't seen him I mean, he's just like ultimate jitterbug I always say he's like if an NFL kick returner Was playing point guard Like you just can't stay in front of him And you can't grab onto him He's just, he's greased lightning with a basketball in his hands [36:58] He was one of the guys I was praying for one of those guards to follow the Celtics at 27th. [37:05] Anderson. [37:06] Phylon. [37:07] Um, [37:08] Corey, like just one of them, just hoping that there was a run on other positions. And sometimes guys get shoved down.

[37:15] And it started to happen with Phylon. [37:17] Because it felt like if Philly didn't take him, it really felt like the next couple teams wouldn't have taken him. [37:23] And that, so sometimes that happens, but that never really happens. What were you going to say, Hask? [37:27] Just I think it was a sneaky good pick by Detroit. [37:31] Acquary. Yeah. [37:33] Another help them. [37:34] Yeah, you know what they needed? Somebody who could create a shot. [37:37] Agreed. In April, May, and maybe even June. Well, great times for Memphis. They end up with the third pick. They don't win the lottery. [37:46] That might have gotten the best guy. How's it you? [37:49] You'll root for Boozer, but you don't want him to be too good, right? [37:52] You're hoping he's like a solid A-. I'm rooting for all of those guys. It's such a good draft. I'm fascinated to see now that. You don't want him to be better than AJ. Just admit it, House. It's all situational. It's going to be impossible to parse. We'll see from the raw offensive talent, we'll be able to judge some. But Peterson's going to look incredible in Utah. I'm prepared for that right away in the same manner that Dylan Harper [38:22] bonkers, but remember, Dylan Harper played in the G League this season. It wasn't right away. I think we screwed that up. I think Carter Bryant did. I'm not sure Harper did. I might have screwed that up, but now you took my screw up. There was extended stretches where he was not getting minutes. No, that is true. Stretches where he couldn't get on the floor, and it was clear that they were doing something in terms of the work, but...

[38:50] It took him a while. He was a slow burn. I don't think that's going to be the case with Peterson. I think we're going to see him right away. [38:57] I have another winner. This is a quick one. [39:00] The Knicks being a defending champion at the NBA draft, [39:04] Thank you. [39:04] It was weird. Was that weird? Happy Knick fans. They celebrated the title multiple times. [39:09] The Knicks were on the clock. Everybody was cheering. They showed the trophy. [39:14] It was just happy. Nobody was booing. They weren't showing Spike Lee looking like he was ready to have six drinks. [39:21] They weren't booing the pick. You didn't see Nick fans just ready to be angry like the Jets fans are at every draft. It was just happiness coming. [39:29] Did you wonder for a minute if the booing would continue or, you know, just that they won and, you know, that would be just like a nice soothing balm on their on their bad feelings. I wondered if they booed Silverwood, of course, they immediately booed him when he came out. They did boo the San Antonio Spurs, which I enjoyed. [39:48] All right. [39:49] I'm bouncing around. We haven't gotten to Chicago yet, but we'll get to them. [39:53] Because I needed a loser. [39:55] Um, [39:56] Loser, number 10. [39:58] Brandon Burris, who I love, probably one of my three favorite guys in the draft. [40:03] Could have gotten drafted by Dallas and played with Cooper Flagg at number nine and Kyrie and just been in meaningful basketball games right away with a bunch of role players. [40:11] He could have fallen to 11. [40:14] and joined Steph Curry, one of the 10 or 12 greatest players of all time. [40:19] on their last run of relevance with two years with Steve Kerr and Draymond and maybe LeBron going there and,

[40:25] The whole thing. He could have been part of that. Playing for Arizona's Steve Kerr. [40:30] The Arizona Connection. [40:32] What happens? [40:33] He gets drafted by the Bucks at 10, the crappy Bucks. [40:37] the all-time mediocre. There's never been a more likely 31-win team than this Bucs team. And now he has to fight for shots with a bunch of guys on their team. [40:47] And I just got bummed out, Kyle. [40:49] I think the good thing about Burry's though is that I don't know that he'll necessarily be bummed about that because he's just such a quality like fits in wherever he is. I mean, it's a missed opportunity for him. Can I be bummed for him? [41:02] You're welcome to do that. Yeah, I'll permit that. He's... [41:06] Yeah, I mean, he missed out on being in a more fun basketball environment in the short term, obviously. I think you can clearly see the thinking for the Bucs, though. It's just like they don't necessarily, and I hope they're not thinking they know they have a centerpiece right now. They're still going to try to figure out what their direction is. And taking somebody, Buries will fit into whatever they choose to do. And then they took Amit with their other pick as sort of an upside swing. But I thought he made sense for them to pick because he's just going to be around for whatever happens. And that's one of the things with this draft house. [41:36] years ago, they'd take amen at 10. [41:39] And Burry's falls to the Warriors at 11. And then we spend the next five years going, are you fucking kidding me? How does this happen? But no, the Bucs. [41:49] wisely were like, you know who should take the guy who's by far the best player in this spot right now? So now Burries has to go to this.

[41:56] If he gets a text that says, Kevin Porter Jr. and Kyle Kuzma want to take you to dinner tomorrow night, [42:01] Again, I'd go with sniffles, maybe some bronchitis. [42:05] maybe some tinnitus, maybe you went to a concert, your ears were hurting. Right, the ring ears. Were you surprised that the Mavericks did not take him because they took Merez Johnson instead? [42:15] All of that whole situation with Dallas changed, I think, in a pretty dramatic way with the Dusty May thing. Yeah. Like, look at that situation that presents itself. And the most interesting thing is Dusty May got to choose his favorite, who he thought was going to be most impactful at the pro level. And he chose Marez. Here's the best part about that house. [42:41] he can also say he didn't choose it. Of course. No, you're absolutely right. Yeah. So I, I just got the job. They were already locked in on Mraz. Obviously I told them he's a great kid, but you know, I can't, I just got hired. I can't come in and start telling these guys what to do. Like, [42:59] I just got hired a week ago. [43:02] But, you know, he probably was like, yeah, because everything. And this is why we all love them, Kyle. Like this was just the classic. These are the guys that would fall in the draft 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago. [43:14] Um, [43:15] Just the heartbeat of a great team in college. [43:18] The engine... [43:20] All the quotes about him was like, we could never have a bad practice because of this guy. Every time we needed to pick up in a game, he'd do something. He was relentless.

[43:29] the most competitive motherfucker on the planet, all the stuff you want to hear. [43:33] All things that we discounted for years and years and then finally started listening to, but [43:37] You were a little more down on him in the draft guide than – [43:41] Where'd you land on him? Like... [43:44] I ended up with Merez at 13. So, I mean, I wasn't like out. So he went nine. Four ahead. Yeah. No, I mean, the argument there for him. He's really young, too. I think people should keep that in mind. Like Merez played a year of college at Illinois and went and played like FIBA U19 with like AJ and Michael Brown and those guys. So he's really had a year. So he's young for a college sophomore and just really dogged. I mean, and I think that. [44:12] Cooper being there and making the playmaking progress that he made, and then you got Kyrie coming back. Granted, we don't totally know what's going to happen with that. Because you were thinking maybe they'd make a swing at a playmaker-type guy there, but you talked about it. I think the conventional wisdom has just kind of evolved over the years, where you would just see teams get in the top 10 and be like, [44:33] It's this illusion of being in the top 10 that makes you feel like you have to be in this mindset of like, well, we're here. We got to like take this chance on an upside pick. Right. It's like and the upside picks year to year can be like pretty volatile. They can be huge risks. And you'll see teams take the swing at those guys and end up with like a Kevin Knox or somebody like, oh, you get tantalized. Like, oh, he's inefficient, but I'm tantalized. And the safer thing to do is to take the dude who can switch one through five like Mraz Johnson, who's a winner, who's going to be on your team.

[45:03] It's a safe, smart pick. [45:06] I like it. I think it's good. [45:08] I told you I did this exercise. I went through the last five drafts. [45:11] and try to separate the guys based on studs, playoff guys, or just wild cards. And wild cards can be upside or small guards or shooters. [45:20] And the playoff guys year after year, like in last year's draft, it was Cedric Howard, [45:26] Murray Boyles, Carter Bryan, and Hugo. [45:28] were the four guys that, [45:30] are just guys that have that playoff profile, that can guard different positions, that have energy. They bring some sort of skill set that seems to matter when it gets to April and May. In '24, [45:40] The playoff guys were... [45:42] Your guy, Sar, is a guy. [45:43] House. I can't give him a stud. But he's, you know, maybe Serge Ibaka in the right situation. Better Serge Ibaka. [45:51] Uh, Clingon. [45:53] AJ Mitchell, [45:55] Jared McCain. [45:57] Baylor Shireman. [45:59] Right. So again, like no, like small offense first shooting guards, right. [46:03] no kind of upside guys. These are just dudes that play. And then, [46:07] The year before that was... [46:09] Kamara, Kaysan Wallace, Jaquez, Derek Lively, and Podzemski. [46:14] as like your playoff guys. So I look at Merez and I'm just like, he just feels like he's in those three classes. I just, I can just see him in a playoff series. Everybody seemed to think, okay, so he was either going to take them or trade up if they didn't feel like they could get him at 12th. [46:29] And I do wonder if they've infected people. [46:31] thinking of these teams a little bit. Back to Milwaukee, though.

[46:36] um, [46:37] I had as a loser... [46:40] the honest trade already 24 hours later, which I didn't like yesterday when we did the, the, uh, [46:47] urgent gathering podcast. I usually like to get a, [46:51] Blue Chipper, when I'm trading one of the best 25 ports of all time, [46:56] One of the things they got was the 13th pick in the drafts. [46:59] And they took... [47:00] Nate Amet, who I think was the most polarizing guy of these first 15 years. [47:05] Classic. He... [47:07] I don't want to be mean about somebody who's 20, but hits the draft checklist of, [47:11] Well, he didn't shoot last year, but he's a good shooter. Well, he struggled down the end of last year, but he was injured. [47:18] You could see the upside. It's all like upside and not stuff. If you actually watch the games and you're just like, what is this guy? Is he Brad Sellers? [47:26] So what is this guy? [47:28] And Billis was like, he got fouled a lot. He stuck his nose in there. It was just kind of really getting creative with it. I mean, I do think there's something there. It's just a matter of what level of investment you want to put in him. I mean, I was lower on him than consensus. I ended up with him at 20%. [47:48] Just because of where I was comfortable with that. I mean, I heard somebody on another NBA show say that he reminded him of Perry Jones III, which is kind of. [47:57] Honestly, the way people used to talk about Perry Jones, he'd be like, oh, it's so big. Watch him move. Oh, my God. You just get caught up in these hypothetical vortexes where you're like, oh, the hypotheticals, man. It's like, no, I kind of would like to see something not hypothetical at some point. But he's like Senac. It's like he's a guy who's a streaky shooter, and he's just not comfortable at the rim. It's like maybe you can kind of develop him into like a solid role player. I don't know if he'll be a star, but I think role player is what I would aim at first. At least with Senac, he rebounds, right?

[48:27] He's got one scale that could be like, well, at least he does that. Right. I don't, I don't know if they, amen. I think the Perry Jones thing is a really good. [48:34] It's a really good one. There's so many of those guys house. Why do us feel like we had way more of those guys in the 90s and the 2000s? [48:41] We probably did. [48:43] Maybe just... [48:44] The whole infrastructure for youth basketball is just better now, but... [48:48] Um, listen, I, [48:49] Maybe it'll happen. I don't know. But he set off a lot of red flags for me. My favorite, though, about the honest trade. [48:55] Shamsu seems to really... [48:58] want to make it work for the bucks that this trade was a good trade. [49:02] When it was, as I said yesterday, this is a trade you make when you want to keep your job and everyone else's job in the front office for another three years. Just a lot of picks that are out in the future. [49:12] You're sort of rebuilding. You have these guys that you might keep or trade. [49:16] And at no point does anybody look at you and say, well, why aren't we better? We just traded for Jalen Brown. Shouldn't we have 50 wins? Why do we have 30? [49:26] Sham said at one point during the draft, [49:29] The calls are continuing to come in for the Milwaukee Bucks. [49:33] for their guys. I find this hard to believe. I actually literally heard the opposite, that the calls were going out. [49:40] from the Milwaukee Bucks asking if anybody was, [49:43] Excited about this house. You never gave your thoughts on the podcast about the Miami honest trade. Um, I, I, my first reaction was, wow, this is a rare lose, lose trade. You don't get a lot of those in the NBA. Um, now, um,

[49:58] Miami had to do it because what the hell else were they going to do? I didn't like the trade for them either. It is Giannis. I'm being a little facetious. I get it from their side. I get it. Exactly right. But, okay, great job. They moved up from being the play-in 10th team to the fifth best team in the East? Sixth best team? Yeah. What did you think, Kyle? Kyle? [50:22] You think they move that high? [50:24] I mean, this is the conversation to be had, right? Well, you're factoring in five seed. You're saying Giannis is going to play 70 games with the five seed. Exactly right. [50:35] That I am doing. All of their top six guys are going to play 70 games because they can't afford for any of those guys to miss 15 or 20 games here or there. They really can't. When we did the pod yesterday, we were like, well, they'll bring Norm Powell back. And then today it's like, yeah, Norm Powell's not coming back. They don't have enough money to pay him. [50:51] So we'll see. They can patch it together. But what do you think, Kyle? Defensively, I think they could be pretty interesting. I mean, they're going to have to work their magic in the margins and finding guys, though. I mean, because you're going to need some more, you know. Shooting. Yeah, you're going to need some more shooting. I mean, but that's kind of their specialty. They pull those guys just out of nothing. Like, they find them, they target them. And there's a few guys in this draft, I think, that they could go target.

[51:21] five. I mean, Giannis being on your team automatically makes you dominant in some capacity, and he's always something you got to deal with. So you guys might be right. I might be a little on the cynical side. [51:30] I'm just sad for the Milwaukee fans. The Milwaukee fans deserved the end of Giannis to be better than it turned out. They got bummed out, blown out of the playoffs two years ago. They got blown out of the playoffs, or three years ago, two years ago, and then didn't make the playoffs last year. [51:46] Yeah, I just, it's a bummer. And one thing I forgot to say yesterday, and I wish I had been harder on this part yesterday. [51:53] They shouldn't trade Giannis a year ago, which we've covered on many podcasts, I should have said yesterday. [51:58] Not only did that trade Deionis a year ago, [52:00] They went all in with that Miles Turner Hail Mary. [52:03] that involves stretching... [52:05] Dave Mullard for $22 million a year. [52:08] all the way through this decade. And now they've just traded Giannis for way less... [52:13] than they probably could have gotten. [52:15] Another loser is, [52:17] it's 2026 guys. The NBA still has to do this thing where teams make a trade, but then somebody is on the clock and they make the pick. [52:25] but we just found out five minutes ago that the pick got traded. [52:29] Why can't we figure this out, Kyle? [52:31] Why not? How hard is this? [52:33] We have everybody on the desk just said they flipped 16 for 17. [52:38] It's not, it's OKC on the clock at 16. Now, Memphis takes Bennett's thirds. No, they're taking for OKC. We just heard that. Why do we have to do this? [52:47] Is there some kind of legality thing there where they can speculate about it on the broadcast, but the NBA can't officially say it? Is it something more strict like that? Or what is it? Well, I'm sure there's a process for submitting the trade, and the trade has to be approved by the league office. And until that's done, no trade is official. House, they can do whatever they want. They're a fucking league. They can make you do anything. Speaking of doing anything, you can...

[53:17] You can vote on Netflix right now whether you think Giannis will ever make the finals in Miami. [53:22] Not even win the finals, make the finals. I'm sad. What would your take be on that house? No chance. No chance whatsoever. Oh, here we go. No chance. Zero. [53:30] Never say never, but unlikely. Can we talk about how it should not be two nights again? Do you not miss the one-night experience? Because the second round's so bad. Like, isn't it a waste of everybody's time to do it in two nights? I just... [53:44] I want to go back to one. [53:45] I have always wanted it to be, especially after having done the draft a couple years, just the first 14 picks. [53:53] and take 10 minutes between picks. Oh, I like that. That way they can have, this is my next loser, by the way, the Lisa Salters interviews when there's real basketball shit going on. Who are these for? Who are they for? Who are they for? [54:06] Who are they for? They do a set with the freaking living room. What the fuck is that for? Kyle, what does this moment mean to you? [54:15] It's the same question to every family. It means a lot. I just got drafted. It's so meaningful to me. Really, really. [54:25] Cathartic stuff. There's real basketball shit. The Clippers took [54:29] you know, Wogler at five and it's okay. Now what's going to happen with these next four picks? And we, it's just, [54:36] I just feel like everybody watching this draft cares about the basketball stuff, not the [54:40] family stuff. Could we get some more in the weed? Maybe not too far in the weeds, but just can we get a little more like what's this going to look like on court? Go to the screen, show us a clip. They had two channels. They had ABC and that ESPN, and somehow they had Lisa Salters on both of them doing interviews. Pick one. Have ABC be the one my wife would watch because she likes the interviews. I want to know

[55:02] All the mechanics of the draft as it's happening, [55:05] Atlanta's on the clock at number eight. It's like, are they going to trade this? There's been rumors all week that they might trade this. Who would trade it? What are the candidates? Could they trade this right now for Trey Murphy? But no, we had to interview Darius Sankoff and his family. And I just don't know who that's for. I don't get it. What's a back of the envelope math guy's name? We could have that feed where they go to him and he just for 30 seconds shows you the analytics or the... Oh, Kornacki? Yeah, Kornacki. Something like that. He's on a different channel, but yeah. [55:35] We'd rent them for this. [55:36] The equation, indeed. [55:39] Good news, guys. The calls are continuing to come in for Bucks players. The Bucks are just ringing. Yeah, they just got a Kuzma call. [55:48] Winner. It was Samsonite, the luggage company. Oh, yeah. [55:52] The votes came in too for Giannis. And 87% of people watching this said no, he will not make the finals in Miami. [56:02] Sorry, Miami. [56:04] Winner. [56:07] Darius Acuff going to Sacramento. Is he the most fun Sacramento king we've ever had? [56:12] What's your top three, House? Well, they were so close. White chocolate? Yeah, I mean, dude, yes. I mean, come on. Mitch Richman? [56:20] sure sure yes would you put boogie on that era that doug christie was an endless source of the music wasn't fun except oh yes he was his wife i guess the show with the wife is fun entertaining to talk about doug christie inherently fun is kind of i don't know about that i'll phrase it another way who is the best league pass guy we've had i've had big pass since 2000 or 2001 who's the best league pass guy they've ever had chris that's white chocolate end of story right i mean that run

[56:50] like early basketball internet where they were like the clips where you could watch the top 10 i always joke about this the white chocolate is a problem versus what it was like to just watch white chocolate for 82 games but that was pretty disparity that was pre-widespread league pass so perception was reality i was seeing those clips and i was like he's great and i didn't realize he was not great for years it was a long time [57:14] There's a chance A-Cuff is just absolutely awesome on the Kings, and everyone in Sacramento is going to be wearing A-Cuff jerseys. I'm all in. House and I have been all in. [57:23] Really for the entire college basketball season. Absolutely loved him. He checks every box for me, including It's Not Perfect. [57:31] Because... [57:32] He's... [57:33] not gigantic. He might get picked on defensively. He's going to a franchise that has been living under a ladder and has black cats on the front door when you walk in and every sort of bad luck, broken mirrors everywhere and every sort of bad luck thing you can have. [57:48] I just think the kids got it. And, uh, [57:50] And we'll talk about one team that passed up on him. But Kyle, are you as on a scale of one to 10? Where are you compared to being house? House and I are a 10. [57:59] I think I'm [58:00] The framing of how I like Acuff is maybe a little different than, I don't know, I don't know what you all are envisioning for him. But I've thought of him, if you're riding him as your, like, primary offensive star, who's just always got the ball in his hands and you're living and dying with what he does in the half court, I don't love that as much as I like him as, like, a very, very good game manager guy who can hit open shots, who can bring stability. Lord knows the Sacramento Kings could use that in all facets.

[58:30] I mean, it's funny. It's almost been 10 years ago since they took Fox. That was the last time that they took a promising guard who was a bright kid and everything. I'm with him as not as necessarily like our whole solar system revolves around this guy. I think he's probably better as like your third star, I think, if you're going to build a team, like a high-level team. House, could he be as good as Kyrie, in your opinion? [59:00] time. I really feel like he's a second coming of Dame. [59:03] I feel like he's Dame 2.0. I love it. I'm going to steal it. 44% from three as a freshman in fucking college. And could just, they weren't easy threes. Volumes threes. They weren't open threes. Yeah. He didn't play with anybody that could pass the ball. He was the only dude on that team. That team was yakety sacks. They were athletic, but they didn't have anybody. He shot like 51% on catch and shoots. And he barely got any. [59:33] I think Dame's way better. The Kyrie, he just doesn't wiggle. Oh, as a cop. With the Kyrie part that he reminds me of, it's just the either-hands thing in traffic. [59:43] Like his ability to just finish at these weird, goofy angles. I don't think Dame could do that. Dame came into the league after, I think he was 22. [59:51] And was good right away, but it took him, I would say, three years. Like, I remember he had a really bad playoff series in 2015 against Memphis. Took him a couple years to then go up that next level. I feel like Acuff's going to be further along, and he's younger, too. But I like the damn thing. To me, that's the motto of, like, could he be at 25 points a game?

[1:00:11] Like 25 and 7. [1:00:13] Has the ball a lot. Maybe you need some extra offense next to him, but that would be what I see, Kyle. [1:00:19] When did Dame hit the series winner? Was that 14 or 15? It was later. It was I think the 17 range. It was after KD left OKC. So anyway, the Kings, who have been, are probably the biggest train wreck in the league, I would say. Do we have a bigger train wreck? [1:00:36] Now they have a fun player. I'm excited for their fans. I don't know if this was a winner or a loser. [1:00:42] But the Warriors, it seemed like Joe Lacob had an argument with Mike Dunleavy in the draft party. [1:00:49] It might not have been. I'm just seeing what I said on social media, but I thought that was pretty funny. Winner is... [1:00:57] Kyle, you love this one. The Spurs at 20. [1:01:00] They drafted your guy. You've been riding for somebody. Why don't you tell us about him? [1:01:04] Uh, uh, Jane Quaintance was like a pretty highly regarded prospect. Um, he went to Arizona state last year and everybody that watched his tape from Kentucky this year, I've had people be like, Oh, you're just, it's just Kentucky. I'm like, he barely played for Kentucky. It's like, it really is not that all of his tape is for Arizona state. He was 17 years old and was like defensively, just ridiculously dominant, um, and, uh, [1:01:29] I just think that I had this thought process during the playoffs. He's probably, if he's healthy, that's the big question. That's the thing that happened between now and when he was dominant at Arizona State. He tore his ACL, came back too early. There's some real time lord kind of worry about, is this going to keep happening with him? But if he's right, I think that he could net out where he could be as high as five in this draft in a few years from now because he's that defensively special, in my opinion.

[1:01:59] It's like, this dude dunks everything. We don't worry about what Mitchell Robinson does around the basket. I'm like, he screens and he dunks everything. He's time lordish. You tweeted this one and... [1:02:09] In May, you tweeted how he'd be the perfect guy for the Spurs. This was like a month ago. I mocked him to the Spurs in one of our mocks because I was like, I didn't have any intel. I was just like, I think this just makes a lot of sense. He fits their brand in terms of the type of kid he is, too. A little soft-spoken, pretty bright kid, plays chess. He's a big chess player. And then, yeah, after one game during the playoffs when OKC beat the Spurs, I was like, they need Quaintance. They need to draft Quaintance. [1:02:34] Would you rather drafted him or a head coach? [1:02:41] What a setup. So rude. [1:02:45] Why'd you make me make that joke? You texted me to set you up with that. No, he didn't. Now, listen, Mitch Johnson's a great coach. None of that finals was his fault, except for the 43 things that happened that were poorly coached. The whole team is young. They're all experienced for the first time together as young. Don't blame him. They're all young. All I know is we, House and I made fun of Rick Adelman during college and then after the college. By the way, RIP Rick Adelman. He was Hall of Famer. [1:03:15] No, he was great, but we would always get mad about his game management. And Mitch Johnson's game management was 100 times worse than all the stuff we had with him or Dunleavy or some of the other coaches we used to make fun of. [1:03:28] He gets younger than Steph Curry. He's young. He's young. That whole thing I chalk up. But I think Quaintance is absolutely perfect because

[1:03:39] It solves a lot of the defensive challenges that this team... They still need size, which is a very weird thing to say with Wemmey. Who cares whether or not Quaintance can score? It doesn't matter. You're not worried about... You have a year with them, too, because you have Cornette. I think Carter Bryant's going to play for them next year. By the way, Netflix did a poll for... [1:04:01] Is Darius Acuff the most fun Kings rookie player? [1:04:04] basically ever and 54% said yes. Keegan Murray had a lot of buzz when they brought him in. He's going to be more fun than Keegan Murray. Come on. No, but I'm saying the buzz surrounding him and as he arrived there, there was a big excitement. [1:04:19] exciting cutting yeah one more winner before we go to break [1:04:24] Darryl Morey. [1:04:27] Trades... [1:04:29] Jared McCain for pick 22 in three seconds. [1:04:33] And then Jared McCain goes to OKC. [1:04:36] and does really well there. And, and it's, I think one of the reasons Daryl Murray gets fired. Well, [1:04:41] Philly with 22 takes Phylon, who is one of my favorite guys in the draft. I think he's been vindicated. Great trade. Just like that. Love it. McCain is a declining asset. He just turned him into Phylon and two more years on a rookie contract. Let's go, Daryl. Somebody hire him. [1:04:58] I had it on good authority that they wanted Phylon last year. They might have promised him last year. So Daryl's vision fulfilled. [1:05:08] There's some Daryl juice behind him.

[1:05:12] Some Daryl sprinkles. Daryl juice. Do I like Phylon too much? Because the knock on him is he's too skinny and... [1:05:22] There's a whole weight limit thing with point guards where if you go below 175 pounds... [1:05:27] People get concerned. I don't care. [1:05:30] I was a little more leaning towards the Hornets taking him. I thought that's who they should have taken. I know the Christian Anderson pick that I know our guy Khan is going to have another dude who's a great dribble pull-up shooter, fits their brand. But I thought Acuff is a tougher player. I thought that he would be a better fit. Phylon, I mean. Yeah, yeah. I thought that Phylon would fit with the Hornets better. I was surprised they didn't take him. I agree. I thought every pick after 14, I was ready for him to go. And guess what? [1:05:57] House, now he goes to 22. [1:06:00] He goes to Philadelphia, a city that takes everything personally and hates everybody else. And he's going to have a giant chip on his shoulder. It's going to fit right in. It's going to be a great situation for him. All jokes aside. I think that with that backcourt and what they're capable of. Play all of them together. Yeah, let's do it. All right. We have a lot more to get to. We're going to take one more break. [1:06:20] uh it's like going to be a little bit longer one we have we'll have time to look at twitter for two minutes but uh we're gonna take a break and come back with the rest of the winners and losers [1:06:28] And now for a special part of today's episode, where we're going to be talking about the superior matches, teams, and players. [1:06:34] of [1:06:35] FIFA. [1:06:36] World Cup 26 brought to you by Michelob Ultra, the official beer sponsor of FIFA World Cup 26 and a superior light beer. So let's get into the moments that stood above the rest.

[1:06:47] and made a superior level of impact, at least so far. We're still pretty early in the World Cup. My MVP is right now. [1:06:54] Messy. [1:06:55] Has to be number one. Already a legend. Already probably leading the GOAT combo. Had five goals in two games. Missed a penalty kick to make it a little interesting in the second game that he played, but... [1:07:06] Was so great to watch. So special. And I was thinking he might have the highest approval rate of any athlete in any sport right now. [1:07:15] Who doesn't like Messi? If somebody said they didn't like Messi, you would look at them like they were... [1:07:20] staring at you cross-eyed or something. It's an insane opinion. Everyone loves messing. That's it. This just reinforced that. So that's one. Uh, [1:07:27] Second one for me, Team USA. [1:07:29] which threw its hat in the ring as a perennial... [1:07:33] It's not perennial because it's the first time it's happened in 2010, but it sounds really good that it's a perennial power. But yeah, this is the first time we've actually thought... [1:07:42] An American team could make maybe the final eight, maybe even the final four, as crazy as that sounds, since 2010, since Donovan with the Algeria goal. And it's been a long 16 years really ever since. [1:07:55] And now, hope again. Very exciting. To the point they're playing their third World Cup game, they can rest most of their starters. So that's been great. Third thing for me, Alexi Lalas. [1:08:06] Great job getting everybody... [1:08:09] Talking about the Fox studio show.

[1:08:14] Good job. [1:08:15] People are talking about it. [1:08:18] Thank you. [1:08:18] Fourth one, the African nations. You have Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, and DR Congo. [1:08:27] All probably making the final 32. I think the record before was three, but I just watched today. I watched Ghana tie... [1:08:35] England, they parked the bus, which... [1:08:39] As somebody who's been involved in a lot of youth in high school and college soccer watching over the years, it's mostly annoying when teams park the bus. But in this case, Ghana did a really good job. They needed a tie. They parked the bus. They knew what they were doing. And they got out of it. Now they're going to make round 32. So just cool, though, to see this entire continent. [1:09:00] kind of make their presence felt, especially with the extra teams. So you have that, [1:09:05] goals? [1:09:06] We have more teams, which... [1:09:08] you know, there's six to eight teams that probably have no business whatsoever being in the World Cup. But, [1:09:14] it has led to more goals. It's led to, you can do parlays where you have bet somebody to have two goals in a game with somebody else to have two goals in a game, like all kinds of, [1:09:24] Fun things. Who doesn't love goals? As we keep going in the World Cup and the games get better and better, [1:09:29] It's going to be a lot of 1-0, a lot of 2-1. You're going to miss some of these goals. [1:09:33] Ronaldo, that's been fun. Is he washed up? [1:09:36] Well, he scored two goals. [1:09:38] Today against a team that wasn't good, but he had two goals. [1:09:42] But it's

[1:09:44] It's fun to watch somebody just trying to hold on who doesn't have it anymore. Who can't identify with that? And then last but not least for me, [1:09:53] Just out of the early stuff, it really looks like we're getting France versus Germany in the round of 16. [1:10:00] I like when we have... [1:10:02] World Cup matchups that also feel like they could have been [1:10:06] any sort of major conflict that we've had in the world in the last 400 years, right? France, Germany just feels... [1:10:13] weighty. It feels important. It feels like that's a game that should be in the finals. No, we're going to get it in the round of 16. And it's going to be awesome. And we're going to get Mbappe and a very, very fun France team who, if I had to pick right now, I'm leaning toward Argentina. [1:10:28] just because of Messi and just because they play so great together. But France would be the other one. I think those would be my two. And not hot takes because those are two of the favorites. But anyway, those are my superior moments. Ultra. [1:10:40] wants to hear your superior moments from the FIFA World Cup 26. You have the chance to vote after every FIFA World Cup 2026 match for the superior player of the match on the FIFA Plus app. That player will get the superior player of the match trophy representing the host countries of Canada, Mexico, and of course, [1:10:56] the U.S. of A. Celebrate every goal, save, and win with U.S. Soccer. [1:11:01] and Michelob Ultra. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tremphaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphaya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tremphaya, proper training is required. Tremphaya is a prescription medicine

[1:11:31] moderately to severely active Crohn's disease, and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections, or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Trimphia today. [1:12:01] Thank you. [1:12:03] This episode is brought to you by State Farm. [1:12:06] Countless hours in the gym, a thousand shots before tip-off, day after day on the same court. [1:12:12] with the State Farm stanchion right there. That's right. The best players ever. [1:12:17] Put in the work. And State Farm is the same way with insurance experts who put in the work as well. Whether you get a digital quote, [1:12:24] or reach out to a local agent. [1:12:26] State Farm is there to get to know you. [1:12:28] and help you select the right coverage that fits your life, [1:12:32] and your budget. [1:12:33] Putting the work is what separates the good players from the great, and that's why you want State Farm. [1:12:37] on your team. [1:12:39] So get the coverage that's right for you. [1:12:41] Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary. [1:12:47] by state. [1:12:49] This episode is brought to you by Netflix. The T-Mobile Home Run Derby is right around the corner. Might be one of the best showcases of pure power in all sports. Baseball's [1:12:58] Biggest sluggers. [1:13:00] along with some legendary...

[1:13:01] announcers pujos rizzo bonds sabathia el duncan [1:13:06] Yeah. [1:13:07] Hunter Pence, Matt Faskersian, a whole bunch of people. And it's the one night where you don't swing to make contact. [1:13:14] You swing. [1:13:15] to make history. I'm interested to see what Bond says about this, actually. Anyway, it is all live from Citizens Bank Park. [1:13:22] In Philly, watch the T-Mobile Home Run Derby live on Netflix tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific. [1:13:31] So before we continue with the winners and losers, one of my favorite things is to go back and look at the top 100. [1:13:37] high school class of all the high school guys who then just got drafted. [1:13:42] which is the Banta class. [1:13:44] And if you go back, DeBansa was one, Peterson was two, and Boozer was three. Wow. Start there. [1:13:51] Can you guess who the number four pick was? He was somebody taken in the first 20 picks. Let a house guess because I follow this stuff. Oh, you already know the answer. Kyle Mann probably knows the answer. He went in the top 20. [1:14:03] Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I'm scrolling through super fast. Amen. Amen. Amen. That would be my guess. House cheated. No, I have the draft up. I have this draft. How are you there? Nate Amet was fourth. Some trackpad action over there. I was suspicious of. Yeah, because I'm looking at the draft. Caleb Wilson fifth. [1:14:24] And number six, the Celtics pick. [1:14:26] yeah baby this is something snack [1:14:30] They used to do in the past with Danny Ainge. They would take these dudes that had...

[1:14:34] a weird college year. And I don't think he even had a weird college year, but there would take somebody that, [1:14:39] They're basically banking on what he was the year before his college year. [1:14:43] I remember they did this with Avery Bradley because Avery Bradley was the number one pick in the draft. They took him, whatever. Acuff was seven. [1:14:49] Brown was eight. [1:14:51] Co-Apeat was 10, Burry's was... [1:14:54] 12 and we could keep going. And then Kingston Fleming's 22. Can I give you an example of a good version of [1:15:02] a guy falling the way that snack did is an example of it working is jay mcdaniels coming out of high school was a kid who thought bill is very happy uh jay mcdaniels was a kid who basically thought he was kevin durant coming out of high school and played like he was just like i'm just a dribble pull-up guy a tall dribble pull-up guy something happened to him when he was in between college and [1:15:32] this and it got through to him and he turned just the switch flipped and suddenly he's this defensive monster. [1:15:40] Sinek! [1:15:41] I'm just saying there are many paths to being successful if you're the right people around you. So I hope that's what's happening here. That's what I told House. [1:15:48] when I wanted House to be a competitive eater when he was in law school. And I was like, you make a lot more money eating. I know you can do this. He didn't listen to me. [1:15:57] All right, so... [1:16:00] More winners and losers, just quickly. Dusty May we mentioned. [1:16:04] who gets this Dallas job, has Cooper flagged,

[1:16:07] And then, [1:16:08] Three of his kids get drafted in the top 12. That was pretty fucking cool. [1:16:12] Like that. Um, [1:16:14] Okay. [1:16:15] This is a combo. The Hawks and the Pelicans. Hawks as the winners. [1:16:20] Pelicans as the losers because they traded their queen [1:16:23] for Kingston Flemings, as it turns out. That is the final... [1:16:27] Um, [1:16:28] Final haul on that trade from a year ago. So... [1:16:31] I'll ask both of you, who would you rather have, Derrick Queen? Maybe this would be a good Netflix poll. Derrick Queen or Kingston Flemings? Who would you rather have for the next 10 years? [1:16:41] Thank you. [1:16:42] I was amazed by Derek Queen. [1:16:45] So you would... [1:16:47] You're pro Derek Queen. I think the way it shook out, it's now a closer call. It doesn't excuse the unprotected nature of the pick. There's no excusing that ever under any circumstances. But having seen Derek Queen play NBA basketball against NBA players, I know that he can play in the NBA. I know he's got, you know. I really liked him too. I think he's going to have to be on the right kind of team with the right kind of people around him. And that person is not Zion Williamson. [1:17:17] Thank you. [1:17:17] But, uh, [1:17:19] But I do think... [1:17:20] We'll see with Fleming's. What do you think, Kyle? [1:17:23] Queen was, I mean, they both have issues, right? I mean, when you weigh them against this, because Kingston's a little small. Derek is like, is he a center? You got to put him next to like a stretch five to really work. So there are a lot of kind of caveats to work through. I personally think, I think I would lean towards Kingston right now, just because I think Kingston is going to be additive. And people are like pitting him against these other guys as like scoring guards.

[1:17:53] I think his shot's going to come around. He's a transition monster. I compared him to Tyrese Maxey a little bit in transition with his speed. [1:18:01] Um, [1:18:02] But then, you know, I don't know. I'm still not sure if Queen is going to be like a playoff level guy. Like the defensive stuff just really concerns me. Is the shooting going to come around? Right. Could he be a good stats, bad team guy, basically? Can you imagine Queen playing in like any of the last two series? Like I just kind of feel like they'd go at him every single time. You know, I like him. The thing I do like about him is he's always... [1:18:24] excelled wherever he's been. He's one of those guys, which is like the best [1:18:27] part of Cam Boozer too, like wherever he's been, he's been, [1:18:31] on good teams has been the guy. [1:18:32] Um, they're putting together a little Netflix poll. We're going to have the, [1:18:36] We're going to have the people decide. Flemings or Queen? This would be one of the only polls ever. The Hawks end up with Flemings. [1:18:44] They took Zuby. [1:18:45] one of my, at 23, who was one of my favorite. I thought he, I was hoping he would get to the Celtics. And they used their cap space to trade for Aaron Wiggins, basically got him for free. And I really like Aaron Wiggins. It wasn't his fault. He was on this completely loaded team. [1:18:59] And they re-signed McCollum. [1:19:01] I like where they're at. The one thing they were really missing was [1:19:04] Somebody like Fleming. Fleming's like... [1:19:07] a point guard who could guard other teams, point guards who could push the pace, [1:19:11] create a little offense, um, [1:19:14] I like the pick. I thought that's who they were going to take. And, and, uh, [1:19:17] I still really like Burry's. That was the only thing I was thinking was, could they take him, maybe play him and McCall together? But I get why they did what they did. So we do have results.

[1:19:27] Netflix audience, 67% for Derek Queen. [1:19:30] Thank you. [1:19:30] There we go. [1:19:31] 33% for Flemings. Joe Dumars vindicated one year later after getting pillared on this podcast everywhere else. How many of those people have seen Keeks and Flemings play? Yeah, well, we'll see what that poll looks like in a year. No offense to them. [1:19:46] Good night for the Clippers, who is another winner. They turned Zubats, who I voted for third team on NBA a couple years ago, but last year was not playing like it. They turned him into Wogler and a 2029 pick. [1:19:59] They... [1:20:01] I thought Burry's made a little more sense, but... [1:20:03] Wogler, the higher upside. And it really seems like, Kyle, it feels like that 46-point game against Purdue. [1:20:09] was a transformative draft pick thing. Even more than the final four, like every time I saw Billis on a show, he was talking about it like he watched a UFO land. [1:20:19] Like what this kid did against Purdue. And I watched all the highlights from it. It really was great. It was nine for 11 from three, but that's kind of the, [1:20:28] That's the game you point to if you're like, hey, can you send me 10 minutes on what this kid's like? And you'd send him the Purdue game and be like, this is... [1:20:36] this is the best version of him, right? That was an example of a team that Purdue team was especially, like, not equipped to check a 6'6 ball screen savvy point guard who has, like, crazy dribble pull-up. Like, he shot 40% on pull-up threes just in pick and roll on pretty high volume. So if you conceded that shot to him, he made it. And, you know, Purdue had a kid, Oscar Clough, who was just kind of this, like, he kind of looked like a dad in a men's league out there.

[1:21:06] He was not fleet of foot out there to guard a Keaton Wagler, and he lit him up. Yeah. [1:21:13] Yeah, but overall, man, I think this pick makes sense because I'm putting less pressure on him and Garland, like being on the floor all together all the time. I think you bring along a little slow, let Wagler get the reps with the second unit, play with the starters a little bit and be like the secondary kind of guy because he's capable of that. Like he's a lot of spot up chops, too. So he'll be a spacer for them until he's ready to kind of take more of the car keys. [1:21:39] I mean, potentially three 20-point-a-game scores. Here's the big test for Wogler. I'm going to ask House. [1:21:46] House, you're in town. [1:21:47] Thank you. [1:21:48] And I have Clipper tickets. [1:21:51] They're not. [1:21:52] They're not playing anybody. It's not like Golden State or somebody that we would be like, of course, we're going. It's like a middle of the road team. It's not Milwaukee either. [1:21:59] It's like... [1:22:01] South Brooklyn. [1:22:03] let's say it's like the Pistons. Well, you'd be excited to see the Pistons. Yeah. Um, [1:22:08] It's like an eight hour. Phoenix. Phoenix. Phoenix is in town. And I'm like, we could go. We could drive down the game. It'd be like 45 minutes. This would be, we'll eat at the game. [1:22:19] And you get to see Keaton Wadler. [1:22:22] Are you saying yes or no? [1:22:23] Is that pulling you away from a good meal? Or we could just order food at my house and watch games on the three TVs. Oh, shit. Does Keaton Wagler get you to get in the car and go 45 minutes to the Intuit Dome to go see him?

[1:22:38] The problem is I have really good seats. I haven't been to the Intuit Dome yet. [1:22:42] So I would definitely say whenever the first time is that I'm there, that we can go to a game, I'm going to go. You'll want to go. It won't matter. But I am interested in – [1:22:52] whatever this Clippers team ends up being because they're in the midst of not quite, they're retooling. It's, it's interesting to me. Um, and I love Wagner's IQ. The thing I was wondering about, where was he on your high school list? [1:23:09] He didn't exist. He didn't make the top 150. He had one of the great [1:23:15] Out of nowhere runs in the history of college basketball. Yeah. [1:23:18] What about the Stanford kid, the point guard? Didn't he also come out of nowhere? [1:23:24] Not like that. I mean, people knew who he was. [1:23:28] Well, he was going to Harvard. [1:23:30] He was supposed to go to Harvard, so I don't... [1:23:32] the thing with Vogler, I call him Vogler, like he's related to Franz Wagner. The thing with Vogler, [1:23:40] If you're just going ceiling from the fifth pick on... [1:23:44] You probably have the highest ceiling, right, Kyle? [1:23:46] That's somebody that... He might be Shay Gilgis-Alexander for all we know. If you're talking about just watching... I actually went back and watched Shay's... [1:23:56] Kentucky... [1:23:57] his year, like the, the 15 minute YouTube clip of Shay. And it's like, [1:24:01] You could see the pieces of it. You couldn't see the MVP version of it, but you could see the pieces and the footwork and the two-way game. And he was a better two-way player than Wogler was.

[1:24:11] But Wagger offensively was way ahead of where Shea was as [1:24:15] at Kentucky, right? [1:24:17] Yeah, it's interesting because they're kind of inverted in the way that they – like Wogler is all like – he's just so methodical, like setting up ball screens to get to his shot, and he can just burrow his way into the mid-range. And in college, Shea was the opposite. He was just like – he was just uncheckable getting downhill. And he was just a layup master. Well, a lot different than the way he plays now. In terms of having upside, I mean, upside at this spot. [1:24:40] the upside, I feel like kind of falls that fell off in terms of like the legitimate swings of they could be stars. It's only like two or three guys past, past five, uh, and the walk, I mean, including Wagler. So, um, [1:24:54] Who are the other guys? Acuff is on that list for you or no? [1:24:57] I feel like I kind of know what Aka fit. I don't know. I don't know where the levels are that we go that are just like, man, shock me. [1:25:04] Brown is, yeah, I think Brown is one of the guys... [1:25:07] Another sneaky one is Daylon Swain, who the Bulls ended up with. I think he's like a sneaky upside guy. We have the Bulls coming up. Yeah, 15th pick. So, yeah. [1:25:18] The Clippers had to do it. It's one of those things that if they had the 8th or 9th pick, it probably would have made more sense. They would have taken Burries and... [1:25:25] That would have been a classic two guard, but they'd take a swing. Loser Steve Kerr. [1:25:30] who's going to have to coach Yaxl and Draymond at the same time. What is this going to be like? Two of the most passionate guys we've had in the league in 10 years. Both winners, both super competitive, and they might fight to the death.

[1:25:43] I don't know what's going to happen. What's going to happen, Kyle? [1:25:47] I kind of wonder what Yaxl is going to look like in a system that is going to require his attention to be divided a lot. We will see about that because he played on just a battering ram of a Michigan team. And his job was to guard the ball most of the time. So he had everything that was important to him was in front of him. So I'll just be curious to see in the speed of the read-react Golden State system, [1:26:14] while it's still there, you know, they're going to have him probably pass this into some other era of a different style that I'm sure he'll define him, but in the short term, I'll be curious to see how turbulent [1:26:24] his ability to like keep up with the speed of what they do is because you could see some like [1:26:29] I mean, you don't want to say Jordan Poole. I'm not saying he's going to give him a concussion for a punch, but... [1:26:34] Or it'll be the opposite. The vets will bring him along and give him guardrails that'll be good for him. I don't know. It's going to be fascinating to watch. [1:26:42] Well, he's almost the same age as some of the vets, so it's fine. He's going to be 24 in December. Are you going to be older than Moses Moody? I 100% agreed with the pick. [1:26:50] uh, [1:26:51] I thought they would have taken more as their fate, but Dallas jumped on them at nine. [1:26:56] House. [1:26:57] dream on. [1:27:00] Yaxle. [1:27:02] Curry. [1:27:05] Porzingis. [1:27:07] And LeBron James. How far am I going? How far am I going in the West? That changes things.

[1:27:14] I think you can make it out of the play-in. [1:27:18] I think you should make it out of the play-in. What if I changed Porzingis for Anthony Davis? [1:27:24] Oh. [1:27:25] No joke. [1:27:26] Anthony Davis, Draymond, Yaxo, Curry, and LeBron. I just go big. I have size everywhere, and I have two guys, Draymond and Yaxo, who can guard. [1:27:35] perimeter guys. He made a face. He'd take KP back. No, I would not. There's no scenario. Kyle, it has to be. That'd be one way to get in with Jalen Brown. Jalen Brown loved him. Be like, Jalen, we didn't really try to trade you. KP's coming back. [1:27:51] So a three-way trade. All's forgiven. [1:27:54] House didn't seem that excited about LeBron and Yaxxell and the Warriors with Anthony Davis. [1:27:58] It didn't seem like a changer finals pick of San Antonio. Okay. See, um, [1:28:03] Winner, quickly, Chicago. [1:28:05] They get Wilson at number four with a chip on his shoulder. I love Wilson. I just think I'm completely all 100% in. I'm all in. [1:28:12] And he's the first legit Bulls star since Derrick Rose. You could tell me that Vucevic was a star or Jimmy Butler pre-Miami. [1:28:21] Um, fine, whatever. Uh, this, this kid has it. [1:28:25] They'll probably build the team around him. I hope they keep giddy. They'll be playing up and down, and everybody's going to love him. And then they get Swain at 15. [1:28:33] Kyle, would you say this is your number one winner of the draft, Swain and Wilson together? [1:28:38] I like it together. I had a funny moment where I sat down and I was like, huh, Caleb Wilson with this Bulls roster. And I started looking down the Bulls roster. I was like, ah, fuck it. I was just like, what am I even thinking about? I was like, what? You start trying to do the gymnastics of like. What if they had had Io and Kobe White on the team that they just could have brought back with their bird rights on top of Giddey? And Caleb Wilson probably would have maybe made more sense. I got a wild one for you. I think Dalen Swain could be swappable for Josh Giddey.

[1:29:08] Because they're similar. I think he could end up being a better two-way player than Josh. And do similar things. Similar size, playmaker, athlete. And then he can play defense. [1:29:19] So, [1:29:20] Well, to that point, every year there's the Kauai, right? Where Kauai in 2011... [1:29:26] I sent House a clip today of when the Wizards, Jay Billis is at the desk. And he's like, I think Kawhi Leonard would be a great pick here at number six. [1:29:34] I think he's going to be a really good player blah blah blah fits in with the Wizards and then it goes to the podium and they're like [1:29:41] With the sixth pick, the Washington Wizards take Jan Besley. [1:29:46] It wasn't Kawhi Leonard. But every year there's the Kawhi Leonard of, wow, this guy could just blank. [1:29:54] He'll be awesome. [1:29:55] So with Swain, isn't it, if this guy can just [1:29:58] He can just figure out how to shoot. This kid's going to be awesome. [1:30:02] He rebounds and defends like he runs the floor, does everything else. [1:30:06] But the shot is why he wasn't a lottery pick. So what if he learns how to shoot, Kyle? He can score. He can really score. He's just got kind of a deliberate wind-up shot. And I don't know if it's a rebuild. It's just that he got to the point where if you gave him time, it wasn't like Thompson Twins where it's just like, all right, let's just run the other way. This ain't going to happen. He can score. And he has touch. So you kind of can talk yourself into it happening. But somebody was asking me about who has the best handle in this class. And I was just like, [1:30:35] Swain has some of the best dribble separation in the class with like a Corey. He's nasty. You'll watch him get low with the ball. I can't tell if that dude's like 6'1". And then when he stands up, you're like, holy shit, he's huge. He's like 6'7.5 in shoes. So...

[1:30:53] It's a great bat for Chicago. [1:30:55] - Before we do our next Winner and Loser, we have to wake up house a little bit 'cause it's 12:30. So house, I ordered from John and Vinny's. No, no, I'm just gonna talk about food to get you excited. - Okay, good. - My wife's away. [1:31:06] That means... [1:31:08] That means the food delivery order for the solo, you really have nobody judging you or anything. I did John and Benny's. [1:31:15] I got the chicken cutlets with the gem lettuce salad that they have with the spicy dressing. And then you know what else I did? [1:31:23] I just got a pizza. Even though I don't eat pizza, I don't really need to eat bread. I got the Sunny Boy pizza, which is bacon and cheese, and there's some caramelized onions on it. You didn't have for a gluten-free crust or any of that bullshit, right? I did it. I gave the crust to the dogs, and they were very grateful of it. I gave the crust to the dogs. I got a big plate. [1:31:42] I cut up the chicken cutlet. I put it in their spicy little salad. I put a little balsamic on it. So good. [1:31:49] And I just chowed down and it was wonderful. These rare special... [1:31:54] unexpected where you're, you know, you're married and you have a diagnosis. You're with your wife and you have your time. It's a negotiation. We're there. We're going to do this together. And JKM, you share. What are we going to share together? Oh, no. Just like when you get the time where it's like, I'm going to order for me. [1:32:11] And I'm going to have a cheeseburger. I want the hot dog with a little cheese on it, too. See, this is why I always win, because I always play the only child card for this stuff. I don't want to share. I'm the only child. And people just sleep at home. You do have that card, you son of a bitch. I do. I just say I don't want to share. I do that with everyone who is friends with me knows desserts. I don't want to share dessert. I don't want to share ice cream with you. I don't want to share pudding with you.

[1:32:36] I don't want to share a Sunday with you. I've never tried to share a dessert with you. You might push something in my direction, but I don't ask. I might grab the first bite, but I don't like sharing. I'm an only child. I'm not used to it. That's a great point. House had multiple brothers. He has a sister. Yeah. He's used to sharing food. Anyway, back to the draft. Winners and losers. [1:32:56] So Sean Marks, [1:32:57] Thank you. [1:32:58] I don't know whether to give him a winner or a loser. I'll let Haas decide. [1:33:01] Loser. [1:33:02] I don't need any more information. You just said John Marks. They showed him in the draft room. They're celebrating like they just won the finals. The whole Nets draft room is celebrating. And it was because they were taking Mikel Brown, who – [1:33:19] who missed 14 games last year and has a bad back. [1:33:22] And high fives around. I mean, he's the guy out of all these top 12 guys, the guy I was worried about the most. I might be wrong. I'm not saying he's going to be a bust. [1:33:32] I just have concerns with the injury prone stuff, durability, and the fact that [1:33:37] He's talking in interviews about, I was in so much pain with my back. Like, you're 19. Why do you have back problems? This makes me nervous, Kyle. [1:33:46] Yeah, they just kind of slid it in there that they were like, yeah, he played fewer games than Darren Peterson. And the Peterson thing, we were speculating. We still didn't totally know what it was. And we were like, I think we're on the other side of this. It's not really bad back is like that's that's not one that you want coming in. I've got like Michael Porter Jr. came in and had the what the micro discectomy. I haven't had back surgery, but I think that was the procedure. Yeah, I don't know if he's out of the woods in the back thing.

[1:34:16] My whole thing the whole time is just he's super talent, man. I mean, like he's he can he pushes you to have like a high pickup point. He can shoot the shit out of the thing. He can really pass the ball with either hands. It's just he's a little chaotic. Maybe he reigns that in in the half court like he gets it. He seems to drive. [1:34:33] without a plan a little much for my liking to the point of like, it's, it's a little bit of a lamello esque chaos, chaos, [1:34:41] in a way that's... [1:34:43] But Lomelo is also... You think Julius Randall and Michael Porter Jr. will enjoy that or no? [1:34:50] It could happen for him. He really does have a lot of talent. It makes sense for the Nets if you're looking at the guys. They don't have anybody with that kind of upside on their roster right now. Every year, Kyle gets super conflicted with one guy in the lottery. And this has been your guy for three months. You're just like, I... Oh, I thought you were saying, my God. Yeah, I've been conflicted about him for sure. [1:35:13] He is probably, if you're building the buildings of all of these guys, he is one of the biggest buildings because his basement goes 10 floors down. [1:35:21] But the ceiling goes pretty high too. We're up 20 floors the other way. [1:35:25] I don't know. Listen, House, I'm admittedly terrible at analyzing guys like this because I gravitate away from these guys. They make me nervous. [1:35:34] And I always am glass half empty on these guys instead of glass half full. These super talented people. [1:35:40] kind of chaotic. I'm not sure if you're durable. Like I'm, [1:35:44] I just got worried. [1:35:45] Where are you on this? It's the exact same place. And here's the problem.

[1:35:50] I feel like we've earned the skepticism. Like, [1:35:53] The Nets had, was it five or six first round? It was five first round picks last season. We set the over under. [1:36:01] at one will one of those five picks a year ago we did this a year ago [1:36:07] look like an actual NBA player. [1:36:10] Plantation guy in April and May and June. Do we think that they got there? Do we think they got to one? Maybe Traore is a 10th man. [1:36:22] I mean, JKM, are we being too harsh? [1:36:24] No on Sarath, no on Danny Wolf, no on... It was... [1:36:29] Drake Powell was the other one from North Carolina, the athletic guy. Well, here's the thing. This is one of my favorite draft things where you do a draft last year. [1:36:38] And it's like, well, we took point guards last year. We can't take ACUF. [1:36:41] you [1:36:44] Are you sure? [1:36:45] Because it comes better than every point guard you have. Name one who can play. [1:36:50] It's like when teams do this in the NFL with quarterbacks, we can't take a quarterback. We took one last year. It's like, [1:36:55] Yeah. [1:36:56] You took a shitty quarterback last year. You still need a quarterback. Just because you took a quarterback last year doesn't need – [1:37:02] still need one. I just would have taken Acuff and I would have figured it out and tried to figure out what he looked like with Demond and just gone that way. That's... [1:37:12] I think that if you're the Nets... [1:37:15] I'm not looking for upside. [1:37:18] I kind of just want somebody good. I've just lost the city, which I had lost anyway.

[1:37:24] I lost it 19 times over with this Knicks Finals. [1:37:27] And I thought Acuff would have at least solved a little bit of buzz problems. Now they're [1:37:32] keeping their fingers crossed with Brown, who has the upside, [1:37:36] Michael's bigger than Acuff. [1:37:38] And sure. They're past him being good. Who's your comp for him for if he's actually really good? Who is he? [1:37:46] Well, I mean, I've comped him to Anthony Simons and Keontae throughout because I've said I'm like, I'm not sure that he's like a bona fide. Like, I know I can build a team, a basketball team around. Keontae worked towards. [1:37:58] earning a little more positivity and optimism on that front this past year, not according to the jazz. Cause they were like, Hey, we want to see you do it again. But I thought it was interesting that Mikel, [1:38:07] Compared himself to Anthony Simons. So I kind of feel like he's going to be, that's kind of what I expect him to be. Like this guy could go get 30, 40 on a given night. He's kind of our... [1:38:17] He's sort of adjacent to our superstar, but on any given night, he could look like a superstar. That's kind of what I expect him to be because he's super talented and defensively going to be a struggle. But. [1:38:28] The talent's there. [1:38:29] House, did that make you feel better or worse? Absolutely terrible. [1:38:35] Hefferny Simon can't find a team. Poor guy. Everybody, well, we tried with Hefferny for a little while. So he's injury prone. The defense might not be there. And he's adjacent to my star. I tried to get not conflicted for a minute. Just give me that. Let me have that.

[1:38:54] This episode is brought to you by State Farm. [1:38:57] Countless hours in the gym, a thousand shots before tip-off, day after day on the same court. [1:39:03] with the State Farm stanchion right there. That's right. The best players. [1:39:09] Put in the work. And State Farm is the same way with insurance experts who put in the work as well. Whether you get a digital quote, [1:39:15] or reach out to a local agent. [1:39:17] State Farm is there to get to know you. [1:39:19] and help you select the right coverage that fits your life, [1:39:23] and your budget. [1:39:24] Putting the work is what separates the good players from the great, and that's why you want State Farm. [1:39:29] on your team. [1:39:30] So get the coverage that's right for you. [1:39:32] Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary. [1:39:39] by state. [1:39:40] This episode is brought to you by Holiday Inn by IHG. If I'm ever traveling for work, [1:39:46] Where I stay is so important. [1:39:48] I actually really care about this because sometimes I even have to do a podcast wherever I'm staying. [1:39:53] Um, in general, I don't go on the road that much, but when I go on the road, I'm, I'm, [1:39:57] I like to be in a nice hotel with a nice room. I'm spoiled. [1:40:01] If you sound like me... [1:40:02] Check out Holiday Inn. [1:40:04] It has a whole new energy, especially for business travelers. You'll see it everywhere from refresh rooms to reimagined social spaces and dining done right. [1:40:14] with new drinks. [1:40:15] and dishes. And for business, there are flexible spaces that work for the way [1:40:20] You were... [1:40:21] It's a new day. [1:40:22] and a new stay. [1:40:23] Book now.

[1:40:24] at HolidayInn.com. [1:40:26] Well, I'll give you a positive winner. We can, we can end on, uh, [1:40:31] Charlotte gets... [1:40:33] Steinbach at 14. [1:40:35] And they take Anderson at 18. They take two German guys. [1:40:39] They just said, fuck it. We're double German-ing down. And guess what? There's another one tomorrow in the second round that they can take the guard, who's the teammate on the young German team, right? Jack Kale, yeah. Yeah, people kind of like him. I wasn't that impressed with the thing. They should bring in Rondo while they're at it. [1:40:57] I mean, uh, uh, [1:40:58] Schroeder. Schroeder hasn't played for Schroeder. The German Ronto. So other than Khan having to learn German, um... [1:41:08] I think both of those guys are playoff rotation guys. I like Anderson. I just... [1:41:12] He was another one of those guys I was hoping would miraculously fall out of the Celtics where he's just, I know what he is. Like, he's going to be able to create offense. I don't think he's... [1:41:20] one of your three or four best guys, [1:41:23] on a championship team or a high playoff team, [1:41:26] But I think he could be the third guard on a really good team, which is what he would be on the Charlotte team. So I like that. And then Steinbach, [1:41:33] House, you would like Steinbach. Now, I'm not sure he'll ever be able to play defense successfully ever. [1:41:39] But he is a motherfucking rebounder. [1:41:42] Holy shit. I really, he was one of the guys I probably spent the most time on because he's definitely an NBA player and he's definitely a rotation guy and he might be a little flawed, but [1:41:53] but has... [1:41:54] A couple above average skills, Kyle. Seems like pretty high IQ. Played.

[1:42:00] with adults overseas when he was like 15, 16, 17, just got the shit kicked out of him. And he is an awesome rebounder, like awesome. [1:42:09] Um, [1:42:10] So I don't know. I kind of like the pick for them at 14, even though I'm not sure if he's ever the fourth best guy on a really good team. [1:42:17] I think that he, I've said that he's like the spiritual successor to Steven Adams because you can watch him play and he's just an absolute pain in the ass. Tedious, like annoys people with his ability to just get a hand on every ball. But the fit with this Charlotte team, it just makes so much sense because you're basically just putting like a garbage disposal at the bottom of it. Like he makes so much sense. I made this comparison that I used to, I love to shoot threes. [1:42:47] who was like the best rebounder I've ever played with. His nickname was the Wolverine. His name is shout out to Kenny. But I would literally just shoot threes, and he would walk the ball back out to me at the top of the arc and hand it back to me. And I was joking with Verrier. I was like, this is the equivalent of that for the Hornets. It's like they've got these guys who want to get shots up. Christian Anderson, 100% in line with that, one of the best pull-up shooters in the country this past year. Steinbach is just going to just inhale. Every rebound that comes like him is like a rock near an event horizon [1:43:17] hole it's just like it's going in the black hole like that's that's that buck is like i haven't seen any of this guy i have to check him out i love this this is he would have been the guy we would have loved to play pickup with where he's like moving toward where the rebound's going to be as the guy's shooting it oh he's just like he's over there that means the ball's probably going to go a little long and maybe bounce here and i'm just going to move here now and then i'm going to tip it in like he just he's he's going to be a double figures rebound guy playing like

[1:43:47] will give up a bunch of shit on the other end. They need it, though. They're dying for that. They need that size. They need that rebounding bolster. I wouldn't have liked them 9-10, but I thought 14 was the right range. Then the last team we didn't talk to, which I'll let you guys decide if they're a winner or a loser, but OKC. [1:44:03] who had 12 and 17, didn't trade up, [1:44:06] And they took Mara, who... [1:44:09] was being rumored to be going six to eight range at one point. I did this on my pod last week. The more I stared at it, [1:44:15] the minutes per game just weren't there. Like he, [1:44:18] Barely played a UCLA, played 23 minutes a game last year. I think he is what he is, which is like, [1:44:22] He's coming off the bench. [1:44:24] Maybe Luke Cornett crossed with Porzingis on the Celtics style as like a change the game type thing and giving you eight, nine minutes and a half. I don't think he's a starting center. Edie was different because Edie played big minutes at Purdue and – [1:44:40] showed the work. Now he already broke down. But I think for what OKC wants, Kyle, this guy comes in, he's certain matchups, seven, eight minutes, some heart and sign insurance, [1:44:52] Pretty good passer, really good hands. [1:44:55] Seems like his teammates love them. And I thought there was a chance he could fall to Charlotte, which I think would have been great for them. But I think for OKC at 12, if you're not getting more as, and you're not getting the axel, this was the logical next pick, right? [1:45:08] Yeah, I mean, I think it checks a lot of boxes. Obviously, there's that big guy in the West that this is akin to when Shaq was in the West. Six more fouls. Just started affecting roster construction in a way that we haven't really seen in a while. That'd be an interesting study to do, like which guys caused the most ripple effect of roster construction. But Mara, yeah. The other thing, too, is that the idea of Mara kind of...

[1:45:33] fits what I thought OKC might do with Edie a couple of years ago. I thought that it'd be interesting if they just took Edie and was like, we play this one way, but for... [1:45:43] 16 minutes a game, we're going to play in this other way that is going to be brutal for you. We're fucking you up. Yeah. And I think Mara, but also Mara adds, he adds the women insurance, but he also adds... [1:45:55] His passing adds another... He instantly would become one of their best passers, I think. And you could play him with those movement shooters like McCain, who loves to play on and off ball. Get him the... You got Isaiah Joe still. I forget his contract situation. But then Jalen Williams, like... [1:46:10] I think he makes sense on that front, too, if they choose to keep him. [1:46:14] You know what he just laid out, it reminded me of in the mid 80s, [1:46:18] when we had that Celtics Rockets finals and it was Hakeem and Samson and McHale Parrish, Walton Bird. [1:46:25] And then everybody in the league was like, we got to get bigger. [1:46:27] Need centers. [1:46:29] And then all of a sudden there were these hilarious draft picks for like three straight years. John Konkak, Joe Klein, Uwe Blob. That was the era. People were just grabbing centers because it was like, oh, we need them, we need them, need them. [1:46:41] I don't know if this was the version of that, but you like this pick too for them, right? Absolutely. For all the reasons J.K.M. just laid out. But in addition... [1:46:51] It's so consistent with the path that they're on because they have to flip out a couple of these guys that they're at the end of the road. It might be Hardenstein. Yeah, it could be. And maybe Dort.

[1:47:04] And now we've got [1:47:06] two viable Sturt and Mar both [1:47:09] Guys, they slide in rookie contracts, not in a hurry. We don't have to like, they don't have to immediately contribute. They can get some minutes. They're sitting on top pitch and the kid from Georgetown, right? Yeah. And those guys might be, they may be punting on those guys. Maybe so. [1:47:24] Crazy, yeah. They never set the floor. Well, Surtz was... [1:47:27] you, [1:47:28] Thanks to Kyle and Tate's prodding, I became more and more fascinated with certs. The minutes thing is like one of the craziest things I can ever remember in all the drafts. He's like an Alabama running back. The marathon man. He played over 1,300 minutes in college. It's like impossible. He didn't even make the final four. To the running backs in Alabama. Travis. Doesn't come out of games. I don't remember college basketball players. This being like part of the appeal is I don't come out. [1:47:55] Like the way we would have centers 40 years ago. Good shooter. You seem to think, Kyle, you thought he could be a little initiated in the offensy. [1:48:03] Oh, yeah. In the red system, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he transferred up from Division two. I think it was Northwest Missouri State and they just kicked ass and his coach Ben McCollum and they just leveled up together, went to Drake. [1:48:14] kicked ass, won in the tournament, leveled up to Iowa, kicked ass. And he just carried a gigantic... [1:48:21] pick and roll load. I just kind of feel like [1:48:24] Sturtz when he gets in the NBA is going to be like You mean somebody else could Handle the ball for a little What am I going to do? I can just catch and shoot it? That's okay? I just think that's Going to be a nice breath of fresh air He grew up an Oklahoma City Fan if I'm not mistaken he's a Midwest kid Classic Preston

[1:48:46] Yeah, Preston's like, this kid will love it here. He won't complain once. [1:48:51] He has one of those haircuts from like the late 50s, not early 50s, late 50s. [1:48:56] Real big thin haircut. He went to his uncle's barbershop and he got a little... [1:49:01] But I thought that was a really nice one. It was right around... [1:49:04] Again, this goes back to the problem with talking about this draft. It was right around where he was supposed to go. [1:49:09] You could call out the picks in real time as they were happening for the first [1:49:14] I don't know, 15, 16, and probably be right. [1:49:17] Most of the time. So yeah. So House, do you feel like... [1:49:21] I think Wemby's losing sweep over this Mara pick or no? Absolutely not. He's like, oh. [1:49:27] another Oklahoma City [1:49:29] chump that I'm going to put into my french fry machine. [1:49:33] And slice him up. [1:49:36] He was like, you should have gotten a PEDs dealer for Chet Holmgren. She drafted that because I'm just going to run all over him again. [1:49:43] Um, [1:49:44] All right. So before we go on winners and losers, this is a day after the, uh, [1:49:49] Oh, wait, I had one more thing. What was your favorite pick after like last 12 picks of the draft, Kyle, just for a team and [1:49:56] Matchup. [1:49:57] Because some people like the Lakers, that guy they got from Baylor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Carr, he's awesome. [1:50:04] He's a good fit with them because I think that that's the right environment for him. They'll be able to bring him along slowly, and he's going to get the types of shots that are going to be good for him. Luke is just going to baby bird feed him the types of looks that'll be good for him. I said I like the Quaintance pick.

[1:50:21] Um, [1:50:23] Other than that, I mean, Josh Jefferson is a good player. You know, of course, that's another sort of dubious shooter that – [1:50:32] That Brooklyn picked up. [1:50:34] Alex Caravan is a good ad for I just actually just now noticed that Sacramento is going to be if you want to add two culture guys that are going to, you know, maybe start to shift some of the vibe in Sacramento. Caravan is another dude who that's the last place I would have thought he would have ended up. But, you know, guy played for UConn one and I'm really, really winning player. [1:50:51] So yeah. [1:50:53] Here we go. [1:50:54] Maybe things are changing. House, where do you think Hugo would have gone in this draft? Hugo Gonzalez. I call him Hugo. [1:51:00] Where do you think Hugo goes in the draft? Second round. [1:51:03] House. Where do you think Hugo would have gone? [1:51:08] No, and I'll say this thing. So where does it go? [1:51:10] He's 20 years old. Which version of you, if he had come into this draft as a player that he is right now? We saw him for a year. There's a new rule. He gets to reclassify and go back in the draft and get drafted by someone else. [1:51:22] Uh... [1:51:24] Top 15? I don't know. Oh, thanks, Tass. Top 15? I don't think I would have him much higher than... [1:51:30] Yeah. Like, I think he would have been around Yaxl honestly. [1:51:35] Listen, the national media is having, the national basketball fans having a lot of fun about [1:51:42] Hugo potentially being the deal breaker for the honest thing. Is that what this is about? It is funny. [1:51:48] I'm just telling you, they value him like he would have been in the top 12 of that draft. Okay. And the thing is...

[1:51:54] Here's the thing, and I don't know if I said this strongly enough yesterday, they made one offer two weeks ago. [1:52:00] And it was, you know, Jalen and two picks. Was it a firm offer? Was it, we'd probably do this? I don't know what they said. They never made another offer. [1:52:07] Thank you. [1:52:08] And I think the Bucks were waiting for them to circle back. And they just, they were like, eh. [1:52:13] I don't know. It almost made me wonder if they had buyer's remorse after they made the first offer. [1:52:18] we're like a day later like fuck why do we do that [1:52:22] And then Milwaukee's like, hey, still waiting on that next offer. And like, yeah, maybe tomorrow. And they just like never, they never made another offer. So I don't know how badly they wanted Giannis. But I'll tell you this, though, a day later, I'm actually really relieved that that didn't happen. Now, we have to figure out the Jalen Brown part, which... [1:52:40] I think is going to be for an interesting ride this summer. [1:52:44] How do you think it plays out, House? I think it's completely solvable. I don't know why. [1:52:49] I think that... [1:52:51] If they all say the right thing to do is to bring the team back together and we're going to go in and we're all – [1:52:58] Together on this effort Then that's it Jalen can come in and they'll do a team meeting Like those guys Won a championship together [1:53:09] And I think that like, you know, it's business that's happening around them on the outside. But I think inside that locker room. [1:53:16] JB and Tatum, they carry weight. And those two guys, the most important thing is, are those two guys on the same page? Does it seem like whatever? They're both in France right now. So there we go. All right? I don't know if they're together. Will they spend any time at all? Go find a bottle of Bordeaux together.

[1:53:34] Are you okay with that, Bill? I mean, they're in France. What if they're picking out clothes? It was a problem with AJ. I'm just wondering. I just didn't know if AJ had to fly to France to get a suit. [1:53:44] Um, now the thing with those guys, I think a lot of the times the problems with the NBA is it's not the two guys, it's the people around each guy. Uh huh. [1:53:53] That becomes a problem. [1:53:55] And... [1:53:56] you know, you have... [1:53:57] somebody like house in my life being like i can't believe espn did that it's fucking assholes i'm like yeah they're fucking assholes uh you just need me mark jackson that was they actually were assholes i actually didn't need house for that um [1:54:11] But yeah, I was thinking about the maddest I've ever been at somebody I worked with where I still had to do my job. But it was definitely after I got suspended for three weeks, two without pay. [1:54:20] And then I had to go back and, [1:54:22] start writing my, uh, my column again and do Grantland basketball hour. And you know what? Like, [1:54:27] I sucked it up and did my job, but that's what Jalen Brown's going to have to do because he's making $57 million a year. So I'm sure his feelings are hurt, but what's he going to do? He's going to pay to play basketball, and he was in a trade, and he's going to have to figure it out. Now, the bigger question for me is, [1:54:41] is do the Celtics think it's salvageable? And what happened over the last six weeks that made them think that they should pursue a trade with Jalen in it in the first place? [1:54:51] So only they know that. Uh, we did have a last poll house for the Netflix audience listening. [1:54:56] Um, who is the most likely to end up in my will? [1:55:00] And the choices were Hugo, [1:55:02] Khan Knipple or Joe House.

[1:55:05] Thank you. [1:55:06] And Khan won 62%. Of course. I was hoping all three of us might make it. [1:55:11] Why can't all of us get a little something? Cool. 33.3. Maybe that's how I split it up. I'll split it up by the results of Netflix. It was fair. [1:55:20] Listen, Con and I have to work on our German this summer. We're going to have a very busy summer. Put him in the car. I want him to be prepared. Drive him around L.A. He's got to learn about sauerkraut. What are some of the good German food suggestions? Streusel? German food is the sausages and the, yeah, spetzel. [1:55:40] It's like it's very heavy. It's good fall food. [1:55:44] Well, we've ordered, there's a good German place near us that we've ordered, Wursthaus. [1:55:49] That makes sense. It's good, but you feel sick for like two hours after. That's why they have to drink the dark beer because the key is to make yourself feel even worse. Sell your stomach. Yeah, the food is heavy and it's like, what can we add to this? I'm German. We're a brooding, vice-driven people. We want to sit around and that's what we want to do. What's your favorite German food? How's your last in the poll? You're 18% right now. I don't have one. Who goes ahead of you two at 20? I got cut out of the will. It's third. [1:56:18] So it happened. [1:56:19] I was going to at least leave you some of the uncuts. Carpool con. I'm cutting sheets of my action in my attic. All right, Kyle, any last thoughts? [1:56:29] Thank you. [1:56:30] Oh, man. I mean, we covered a lot there. I think that draft from a talent standpoint was...

[1:56:36] An A? [1:56:37] And from an entertainment standpoint, probably a C-. A little uneventful. Yeah. It wasn't – yeah, we got the late cup argument. It would be interesting to see what went on with that. I mean, I didn't get to monitor the social media as much as I was writing as it went. But takeaway here, I mean, like we've said, all three – these top three teams could come away happy. I really think that's a distinct possibility. I don't know that we're going to have a secretary at Gap. We might, but I'd be surprised. [1:57:01] House, last thoughts other than AJ DeBonta is on your team? I want to find a young, aspiring writer that we can do running diaries with, bring back the running diary. But I don't want to have anything to do with it by name. I don't want you to have anything to do with it. And I want JKM to name. There were amazing, amazing jokes to be made about many aspects of what we observed tonight. There were lots of things that we saw. Yeah, there was some text. [1:57:31] sitting down in the living room thing had a ton. There was some very interesting family dynamics. So there was like, you know, unexpected relations. There were some random aging cameos. It was... The ESPN cameraman just honing in on the guys who hadn't gotten picked at. It's like, hey, it's filing. And just... Get out of his face. That's a tradition, though. Are you sad? Do you feel sad yet? Where are the tears? Show me the tears. [1:58:01] five people on the booth which would have driven yeah see that's we need a we need a a burner diary that's that's my takeaway because we can't have anything to do with it anymore we can't make the jokes we used to make i think you're right well i'm sorry you lost in the poll house um

[1:58:17] Kyle, man, great to see you. Great work on the draft. I thought it was one of your best ones. Joe House, congrats on the Wiz. [1:58:25] Great as always. Thanks to everybody at Netflix. Thanks to Cajal and Eduardo and Jack and Chris as well for helping out with the live stream. [1:58:33] Guess what? [1:58:35] I'm not going to have a podcast on Thursday, House. Do you know why? [1:58:38] Are you going to Hawaii? [1:58:40] No, I'm getting a colonoscopy. Finally. Thank God. I'm doing it. [1:58:46] You have no idea how you're going to come out when they wake you up. [1:58:53] You're going to be like, oh, no, no, no, no. Just put me back. Let me sleep for another hour. Give me more of the special. It's incredible. It's the best. I mean, if I wish I had a colonoscopy on Thursday, maybe I'll sign myself up for one. It's the best nap. [1:59:08] That's the lesson at the end of this two-hour podcast. Take care of yourself. Take care of yourself. I take care of myself in all these different ways. And for whatever reason, this is the one thing I hadn't done. So I'm doing it on Thursday. New rewatchables on Thursday, though. We have The Good Son going up. And then I'll be back on Sunday with Nate. The Good Son and The Good Butthole. For a new live show. Great job by you. The only way I will do a podcast before Sunday is if there's some sort of Jalen Brown trade. Even if it's right after the colonoscopy. I'm coming on. I don't care if I'm drugged up. That's the part I want. [1:59:38] The drugs are good. Yeah. All right, Kyle. House, thank you. Thanks, everybody, Netflix, and I'll see you on Sunday.

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