Don't miss out on a second of the action. Follow Nesson on Instagram, Facebook, X, and TikTok to stay in the loop on all things New England sports. From news to exclusive behind the scenes action, Nesson has you covered. Did you know that you can access Nesson 360 with your TV provider to stream live Red Sox games and access Nesson exclusive original content all for free? If you have Nesson as part of your cable package, download the Nesson 360 app and log in today to start streaming what's up. Welcome in. It's hold my banner. I'm George Belecce, filling in for Travis Thomas. My boy, Auntie Campbell will join us in a quick minute. We got a packed show for you guys today. We're going to talk about the 76ers potentially moving to my beautiful state of New Jersey. I don't think that's going down though. Auntie and I continue our NBA previews. We're going to the Southwest Division, Memphis Grizzlies, an interesting season. It could go one of two ways to take the step forward, get into the playoffs. Maybe a play and maybe a top succeed does John Moran, get back to being an All-Star. Or with all this like whirlwind, with this younger roster, they're trying to bring along and you know, burning that first round pick on Zack Edie. Is this a win now team? We're trying to go in a soft rebuild. We'll get into all that. We got some more reports going around the NBA. We do some stop when you hear a better, a better player than we'll go to my boy, Luca Donchich and some angel Reese News as well. Let's bring in Auntie right now because my guy, we text all over the weekend, whether we're getting ready for a show or not. Tay and I, one thing we always talk about, I love talking about this with you and just like bouncing ideas and what I'm thinking of, we keep going through who's going to emerge out of the West. We know what the East is going to be. We know who the best team's going to be. We saw it last season, but the West team, we can't figure out what are we getting from the Nuggets. Then you brought up Mike Malone and Jamal Murray. You brought up where the Nuggets are at. I'll give it to you at this point. I'll set you up on this alley. If you throw it down my guy. Yeah, so of course over the weekend, we saw that Jamal Murray got paid. He got the bag, he got an extension for years, $208 million, a lot of money that we're talking about here. I was just wondering because it's a little weird to see that he's getting paid, but a couple of days before Mike Malone had the rumors that he was beefing with the front office a little bit, George. I feel like they were kind of just trying to stash it away because like, why now? Why not at the beginning of the summer? Why in a couple of weeks once we actually get Jamal in the building in Denver and actually get him with the team? So it was a little weird timing that they did this. It kind of feels like they're trying to wash that narrative under the rug. But bro, we ain't forget Mike Malone is not happy with the front office. This is scary ties with the Denver Nuggets. And we talked about them a couple of episodes, right? But like dude, what are they going to do? Like it just seems like every single year they get worse and worse and worse. They start to splinter even more and more and more. This is a team that we pegged last year before the season started as a team to go up against the Celtics in the finals. And they didn't even get close, honestly. So man, how do you feel about that? Mike Malone, Jamal Murray, all of that situation. What I always wonder is one of the most tender situations in all pro sports is Nicole Yokich and his timeline of playing in the NBA. And Yokich obviously loves Mike Malone, obviously Mike Malone loves Nicole Yokich because he's coaching the best player in the league. But if you can't figure things out with Mike Malone and you piss him off and it gets so fractured that you have to fire him, you trade him, whatever can happen to the NBA, all the outcomes. Yeah. And then that pisses off Nicole Yokich and he goes, you know what, I'm done. I don't care because that's a guy that will do that at any moment. I think that's what's so interesting with the whole dynamic that we have in Denver. And then you're right, four years, 208 million for a guy that's never been an all-star, shows up clutch in the playoffs, but is dealt with his hand of very significant injuries. Yeah. And Jamal Murray is an up and down guy of not always healthy in the postseason, crucial when they won the whole thing. But that is Yokich. Now when you have this roster getting to the point that it is, you know why Mike Malone's pissed right now. You let Contavis Caldwell-Pope walk? This guy that gets done on both ends of the floor, look at my roster. It's gone worse year by year. Bruce Brown, I don't think could have ever returned, but you know what, I think he could have at this point, like who cares of overpaying in the NBA and paying the tax? I think it's Mike Malone being pissed off at the front office. I think it's Mike Malone being pissed off with ownership. And where it's one of two ways of like, if we're going to be smart team building, why are we giving this huge chunk to Jamal Murray, who's a good player, but so polarizing in a way? Yeah. We have the best player in the world. He controls every game that we're in, but he needs help around him and they're not doing that. And he obviously needs more than Jamal Murray. So I agree, the timing of this is so just puzzling to me in a way. Yeah, it's definitely puzzling because I don't think Jamal Murray impressed anybody. We know that guys get paid usually, right? If they have a good Olympic run, if we saw Yabu Salle was getting a lot of interest, you know what I mean? He got finally got signed. Guys like that, it happens that way. But you also see it go the other way as well, where guys play bad in the Olympics and teams are like, so maybe they're doing this right now because Jamal Murray was so bad for Team Canada this summer that they're like, Hey, let's do it and get our guy at a cheaper price and get ahead of the market. Exactly. But it does seem a little weird, obviously, with the fact that this Mike Malone story comes out going into the weekend. And then two days later, they're like, Hey, Jamal, you want some money? So, it's a little weird with the timing, but let's talk about another team that's actually probably going to deal with the Celtics a lot earlier. The 76ers, obviously, the 76ers have been talked about. There's reports that they may leave Philadelphia and head to your state of New Jersey, like you said, George, bro, do you think this is actually going to happen? No, I think it's a leverage play. And as much as I would love for New Jersey to have an NBA team again, when you read the reports on this, it is the Wells Fargo lease ends in 2031. And the owners and the planners that go into building a new arenas, they claim they need something to be decided now in 2024 in order to have a new arena ready for 2032. And Wells Fargo is one of the best home courts in the NBA. It's where the 76ers plays where a Villanova sometimes plays where the Philadelphia Flyers play. But as we've seen with every NBA team, they want their own arena, like they don't want to worry about schedule conflicts with other teams, but also Wells Fargo was built in like 96. So it's one of the oldest buildings in the NBA as well. Right. 96, not that old. 96, not that old. What is that? 28 years old, right? 96, not that old. Not a bad year. Someone was born that year. It's my boy. I forget, man. Hey, wise, behind his years, I forget you're only two years younger than me, but a good way. It's your energy, my guys. Appreciate that. You got the young energy, but you got the maturity. That's for sure. So, but back to the Wells Fargo thing, what I see, the Sixers claim they're running out of time. They want a 20-32 season. They proposed a $1.5 billion arena in the Chinatown part of Philly. Now anyone that doesn't know also, so you're like, wait, but they'd go to New Jersey, Camden is right across the bridge, pretty much like a 15-minute drive, no traffic from Philly to Camden. It's where the Sixers have their practice facilities and their offices. Yep. So, I see you, it's a lot cheaper to build in Camden, New Jersey than it is in the city of Philadelphia. Yeah. But I don't care. And I know the NBA does or will pro leagues don't care that if a team is in New Jersey to brand it as a different city, New York Jets and Giants, thank you very much. I don't care. You can't do this to Philly. That is a city that is so rich in its fabric of sports and what it means there. If you take the 76ers out of Philadelphia, and even though South Jersey fandom-wise is Philadelphia pretty much, they're all Eagles, they're all Phillies, they're all Sixers or all Flyers, even though that's how South Jersey rocks, doing that to the city and the people from Pennsylvania, it would just be so wrong to me, dude. And what are you going to rebrand? You're not going Camden. You're not rebranding them as Camden. No, no, no. And you're not going to rebrand them as the New Jersey 76ers. No. It has to be Philadelphia. I mean, the significance of that team to that city, everything's a leverage play to me when I'm looking at this and it's even for New Jersey trying to get them over, I mean, what do all these cities want to do? They want to revitalize, rebuild. It wouldn't just be an arena going to Camden. Obviously, it'd be a whole complex, a whole, you know, campus, lack of a better term. Arena, shopping district, high-rise apartments, we know how it goes of all these new buildings and building up. New Jersey state officials offered 800 million in tax credit to the 76ers owners if they build in Camden. I still don't see it happening, bro. I think it's all a leverage play of. Here's our arena. We've proposed it. We want it in Chinatown. You guys are saying no. They obviously want it publicly funded for taxpayers. So our bet will go to Jersey and Philly, you're going to lose a team, you're going to lose all this business. Right. You know what I was thinking when I saw this news come up. If I was New Jersey, I would hate being the NBA and NFL side chick all the time. You know what I mean? Like, that's all New Jersey is to the NBA and the NFL. We're just a placeholder from that life. Oh, it's just like, oh, it's like your girl is acting up like, hey, you know, I got this one now. Right. That's pretty much what New Jersey is. We know our role where we are, man. We're the only step shots. No credit ever. We wouldn't want any other way. No credit ever goes to New Jersey if the 76ers did leave and go to Camden. There's no way, like you said, they're being rebranded as New Jersey 76ers, Camden 76ers. That's not happening. They will be the Philadelphia 76ers. But they will play in Camden, New Jersey. I with you though, I don't think this is going to happen. It's just one of those things, like you said, a leverage play. They're going to sit there and they're going to say, hey, like, they're going to do right by us. They're going to pay us. They're going to build us a beautiful new stadium, blah, blah, blah, whatever. And Philadelphia is going to say, no, the tradition, all this other stuff. You're going to have to get Dr. J probably out here to, you know, say something for the team and speak on the team's behalf. Charles Barkley will come out, Alan Iverson will come out and they'll all figure it out. But it is surprising to see that this is even a story that's coming out because when you think Philadelphia, you think 76ers, you think Eagles, you think Phillies, you know what I mean? These teams are so fully ingrained that it doesn't make sense to see them anywhere else. And I wonder, I mean, we just saw the wizards are going through it, them trying to relocate their arena out of DC, but where that arena is located in DC is so vital for the progress they've made in developing that part of the city, like business-wise. It's an art district more of the way they put it. And it's interesting too, because some of the biggest Philly fans I know, they're from South Jersey. They would love it. They don't got to go over the bridge. What's the infrastructure like? How can you get the fans that are in Pennsylvania? It's not going to happen, bro. If New Jersey gets an NBA team, you're putting them on the water and hobo can be your guy anywhere to build. You're putting them in the metallands next to MetLife where the Nets used to play. I laughed. There was a headline of 76ers could go to the Nets old home. I go, they're giving them the eyes-out center, like they're going to put it back in the metallands. It's like, no, Camden, whoever, the Nets played in Camden in '67. It's all leverage playing. You're right. Like we're the ugly stepchild. It's all good. But you can't do that to a city like Philly. It's all leverage plays. And I think Philly is a smart enough city where they're going to see this. They know a solution will be brought together. They know they're not going anywhere. You cannot. You cannot. You cannot leave Philadelphia. It's one of those cities, bro. There's New York, there's Boston, there's Philly, and there's LA. You can't actually leave that city. Yeah. 100%. All right. Let's talk about a team that actually did relocate back in the day. The Memphis Grizzlies AKA, Vancouver, Grizzlies. What do you change? It's our time to obviously talk about them in the Southwest. The vision of the first team that I'm bringing up, obviously, John Miranda is expected to be back and healthy this entire season. What do you think about this team's outlook for this season, George? I kind of said it when I did my brief intro. I just don't know what the timeline they're on is. Like we've seen their additions throughout the draft. We've seen G.G. Jackson. We know they got Triple J. We know what they found in Desmond, Bain, you know, like a good diamond in the rough and away in Bain of a guy that the Celtics had go ahead, take them, trade for Marcus Smart to hope and be a leader in the locker room and mature John Moran. Yeah. But then this draft, getting Zack Edie with a ninth pick, good player development, he just doesn't fit this offensive team at all. Like how much you'd have to slow down the game for him when you have John Moran, one of the most explosive electric players in the league, I like the cam Spencer pick. Yeah. From Yukon, gritty, smart, just knows how to play, good shooter, would have been, oh my God, like created in a factory to play a Duke, but then Danny Hurley gets him and you want anyone that's played for Danny Hurley because he will bring out the mother effort in them. Like I like that cam Spencer pick. I just don't know where they're at and we'll see how a healthy John Moran is after having him being shut down last season with that shoulder injury and that surgery. Yeah. Is he finally matured? Does he get back to being an all-stars? Is he one of the best guards in the league once again? There's just so many question marks. This is a team I think is in a rebuild without showing it and without it being that obvious in a way, if that makes sense. They could be playing, they could be a five seed, I wouldn't be shocked, and then they could be on the outside looking in and I'd say, I guess that makes sense because I don't know what Zach Kleinman's long-term plan is. Right. Right. Yeah. I'm right there with you. It's kind of like a, well they won't, they, I think they shocked a lot of people the last time that they were good when John was healthy, they were a two seed. It was that, you know, oh okay, we're playing the Memphis Grizzlies, guys probably going out having a good time the night beforehand, they're chilling, whatever. Next thing you know, this young team that shoots the ball extremely well, and it's fast, it's heck, and it's jumping and passing lanes comes at you and next thing you know, you're in a game and they just happen to win it, right? Yeah. I don't think they're going to catch anybody off guard. Obviously a lot of people last year were expecting them to be a good team. And then when they got the bad team, they just whooped their butt, you know what I mean? Because everybody was hurt. But yeah, having job back is going to be huge for them. Desmond Bane, obviously adding a bunch of new guys like Edie, Cam Spencer, Resignin, Luke Canard is going to be huge for them. I think their team is just, yeah, I don't know, like it's tough. It's tough to land. I know I'm like higher on a lot of teams this year, but I think they're probably a six, seven seat. That's what I want to say this year in the West. Right. That's where I fall too. I fall into a six, seven. Yeah. I think like Market Smart is going to be huge for them defensively. I think that's where they kind of lacked a little bit because Jha is such an offensive guard. He really takes off a lot of plays, at least from what we've seen of the healthy Jha two years ago, you know, taking plays off, standing up and down on defense because he was such a system for them on offense and so exciting for them and just energy that he brought to them on offense. It was really a lot of gambling and standing straight up and down. So having Market Smart there with them to teach them the tools of the game. Yeah. There are tricks to be played on defense. It's not all about physical tools and Market Smart has all of them in the bag. I mean, he can do like, oh, this guy dribbles twice on the second dribble when they get lazy, like jump that hand and do all this on the way down because, you know, they can't react to it while it's going down. Like, he knows everything, man. You just listen to him talk. He knows how to defend every single guy in the league and he can teach Jha how to guard some of these great point guards that he's going to have to be tasked with guarding throughout his career and Memphis wants to win games. So I'm right there with you. I'm around the sixth seed. I wanted to ask you though, do you think Jha Moran can make an all-star team in the West this year? I want to follow up your Market Smart one quick though. Yeah. It's also the type of leader he is. I've covered the Celtics when they lost to the Warriors in the finals, what was that? 2021, 2022. Yeah. And Jason Tatum had an awful game six. They lose at home. Celtics blow that lead. Just such a letdown for the playoff run they had and obviously two years ahead of schedule and away. I mean, they always been ahead of schedule. But anyhow, Tatum's never been good at press conferences and I'll never forget. We half the way, half the way, half the way and I'll blame you. Your season's over. You finally get to the finals and lose like we wait two hours for your post game presser. Like I will never fall to player. And he always doesn't buy himself. Yep. This press conference, Marcus Smart, went up to the podium at Tatum and my initial thought was this never happens. Questions were asked to JT. He didn't want to talk and again, I don't blame him. Marcus Smart, the leader that he is, took every single one on the chin. Yeah. That's how he is and he's going to show a guy like Jha that and again, I think a play for Marcus Smart's somewhat win now, but it's more of build the culture, build the blocks right now for Jha to eventually be that dude. Yeah. You said with Jha being all star, how can I rule him out, man? If he has a full healthy season, he gets back to that 2022, 2023 Jha. Yeah. Like how can I say, no, that he'd be an all star again. He's such a talented guard. He's so explosive. And when he takes over a game and his shot is falling and everything he's doing around the rim is special running it in the full court. Like he can be the best player on the floor. So to string it together and to be an all star, I would never rule Jha out as long as he's healthy and as long as his mentors are there to be focused on the floor. What do you think about Jha for an all star? It's like they're sealing Jha, but we know how low that floor is and the floor isn't just what he does on the floor. The floor is what happens when he's away from the court. That's what's tough with Jha, right? Yeah. No, I mean, I'm right there with you. I think where I start to get nervous about Jha being an all star in the West is like the it's just super guard heavy. You know what I mean? It's like I start. So like I'm looking. Yes. So I'm looking. You got SGA, you know, and it's making it, you know, Hardin's going to have a chance. You know what I mean? You're going to have a chance. I'm just running through the standings. I feel. Luca. Luca's obviously going to be there. Kyrie. Booker is going to be there. Kyrie has a chance once again a chance. Steph. You got the John T. Murray now entering the West as well. Steph. DeEren Fox. You know, Jalen Green might be ascending. You know what I mean? It's one of those things where it's starting to get a little rough at that guard position in the West. And I think Jha, you know, I'm not trying to have recency bias. Like we remember right MVP candidate, all of that stuff. But does he have the same athleticism after all of these injuries? I know. You know what I mean? And that was what his game was because he's not a shooter. We know that. You know what I mean? Like he gets to the mid range and shoots that floater. That's pretty much where I'm comfortable with him from his range. It's like out to 15 feet, maybe even a little bit closer with a three point shot. It's like it's here some nights is not there's other nights. You know what I mean? It's not consistent. It's not consistent. So I think he's going to be flashy and he's going to put up a lot of points. I also think like he's going to get bullied a lot because like their team is just small. You know what I'm saying? So he could be in jeopardy of getting hurt again because he's going to the rim trying to, you know, be physical with guys and all this other stuff. And their team is going to have to fight a lot just like when they were winning games and they were the two seed. They were fighting in a lot of games, had Dylan Brooks, you know what I mean? Doing all that other stuff. But once again, they had Dylan Brooks. They had Steven Adams. They had physical guys this year. They don't. And so Josh is going to be tasked to be a physical guard. And that could be scary for his injury at health. You would hope Triple J, GG, Jax, and Marcus Smart can be that though. Yeah, you would hope. But you would triple J. It's a question of his health too. Yeah. And you would hope, but like they're probably going to start Vince Williams Jr. at the three. He's six four. Senti Aldama is not a big guy. Triple J doesn't play big. You know what I mean? I've always talked about that, especially since watching him and Fiba two summers ago, he doesn't play like a big, you know what I mean? He blocks out and he shoots threes, but he's not banging with anybody. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it's one of those teams where a lot of the guards are going to have to put their bodies on the line in order to make sure that the back line doesn't have to do as much. And with that, Jock could be in the middle of some things that, you know, get him hurt again. Mm hmm. It's been the question of his health. I'd scan. I'm like, I'm going to go with a optimistic take on John Moran. Yeah. Yes, he can be an all-star. Yeah. But we hit it. People are driving, listening, they go, why was a first guard I listed off the Aaron Fox? I wanted to start on like the bottom and the Aaron Fox is a great point. Yeah. Yeah. But I just wanted to start in the bottom of the competition that's in the West just to be an all-star. I mean, it went up right there like without even thinking the book stuff like you hit it all in the head. Yeah. My thing too is like, is this a playoff team? I'm a flip it on you. Uh, okay. Yep. Stop me when I say a team that is worse than the grid. All right. Okay, worse than the grid. Stop when I say a team that's worse than the grid. Okay. The thunder. The Timberwolves. Okay. This could be tough. The Mavericks. The Mavericks. Okay. Keep going. The Suns. I might stop you there. All right. I might. Might. So it's not a definitive. Yeah. The Nuggets. No. No. The Kings. The Lakers. They got better with the Mar, I forgot to say the Mar, another great guard. Yeah. Lakers, they're better than Lakers. You can stop there. Well, it's one too. I listed off six teams. Yeah. Yeah. So six or seven. You see them as a playing team. Yeah. But the, but the Pelicans might be better than them too. Yeah. I'd even get to the Palace. And yeah. And the Clippers might be better than them too if they can stay healthy. Dude, I don't like do that. That's it. You know what I mean? It's worthwhile. We've talked about the volatility of the grislies is just perplexing. Yeah. And I think this is a team like sit back, watch and see what they do and like you find out a lot about a guy like John that's in a situation like this and all the, you also find out a lot about their timeline as well. Yeah. You do. You do. And I'm right there with you. It's like they might not be a playoff team, but I think they should be because once again, they should they're offensive firepower like with Desmond Bane and John Moran and hopefully a good triple J. They have the offensive firepower to put up points every night. It's whether they're going to be able to get stops and that's what that two seed grislies team did. They've got stops because Dylan Brooks, as annoying as he is, he is a good defender in this league. He is good at getting under people's skin and getting them out of their game. And obviously we know how great of a defender Steven Adams was a couple of years ago. You know, this is a little different now, but I'm even thinking of a guy like again, I mean, this is what they need to step up like Scotty Pipp and junior who had like an okay season for them when he played at six one one seventy five. Right. I can't find size. Yeah. I can't find stops on this roster. And then yeah, I mean, maybe Edie does come on and play a huge role for them. Baycott, obviously a good player in college can rebound for them on draft to do. Brenda Clark is a good rebounder in this league. Did you watch any jail in Wells at Washington state? A little bit. A little bit. I did not watch. A little bit. Yeah. One of my one of my friends played in the pack 12 last year. So like I watched a couple of those matchups. So I've seen them. He's good. But I did want to ask you about the rookie that they have, obviously, the lottery pick Zach Edie. We're talking, we're going to talk about bets a little bit. I really don't have any bets. He's the betting favorite for Ricky of the year right now. Would you throw money down on that? Nah, because I just don't, I just don't know what his role is. But think, look at your boy Dalton connect landing with the Lakers. Like he's going to play significant minutes. Yeah. He's going to be with one of the smartest players in the league in LeBron. He's going to play off of two superstars. Like I'd look at Reed Shepherd. Again, there's a lot of ballers in Houston. I like Reed Shepherd's game, but I don't know. I just look at Dalton connect. If I'm going to throw money on rookie of the year, like just straight up, I saw Edie's plus 550. I mean, still a long shot. I just like Dalton connect. His number is not that much, he's not much longer of a shot. Yeah, yeah. But let me just think of like, who's going to be rookie of the year regardless of the number, because it's all plus money. Yeah. If I'm betting, I would go with a guy like Dalton connect, honestly. I would go over Sar over Ricochet, like over a lot of these guys. I just think the situation he landed in, but the amount of minutes he's going to have to play in a Lakers team that is trying to take a step forward in a pack in a packed West. Yeah. And Dalton connect is a popular name, especially for those like college basketball. Like that's a guy that can do the right things to win rookie of the year. Yeah. I just don't. Zach Edie could bring something on defense. I don't know how he stays on the floor offensively with his Grizzlies team, bro. That's fair. Is there any bets that you like from this team? I just want to ask you. I'm staying away. Yeah. My office is weird, like 47 1/2 wins. Vegas says what they think of them. I think you'd have to sweat that out till like the last week of the season. Like, I'm staying away. I just don't know with this team. I don't know what they're doing, so I'm just staying away, bro. Hey, it's Kaylee Cuoco for Priceline, ready to go to your happy place for a happy price? Well, why didn't you say so? Just download the Priceline app right now and save up to 60% on hotels. So, whether it's Cousin Kevin's Kazoo concert in Kansas City, go Kevin or Becky's Bachelor at Bash in Bermuda. You never have to miss a trip ever again. So, download the Priceline app today. Your savings are waiting. Go to your happy place for a happy price. Go to your happy price, Priceline. Yeah, I agree, bro. I'm in the same way. I'm kind of staying away because it's a lot of too unknown maybe getting the game once we get into the season. All right. Jimmy Butler has been talking a little bit. He is apparently just considering. Yeah. The quotation marks, considering that he's fond of joining the Brooklyn Nets in 2025 free agency. George, how do you feel about this situation? Like, what's the coffee market like in Brooklyn, right? All those, those hipsters in Williamsburg and like, be cool to live in bed style. Yeah. Like, I could enjoy it. You're in New York. He's in a fashion. He's in a traveling. It's not a basketball decision. No. Clearly not. Brooklyn is like, it's Jimmy, bro. He says he does weird things. He messes around with people. I just don't put any weight behind this at all. Yeah. If he's fond of considering the Brooklyn Nets, that tells me he's like, I'll go anywhere. And in reality, he won't go anywhere, but like, he's just like, bro, I'm gonna be a free agent. I'll look at anybody. I'm not gonna turn him down. Yeah. Brooklyn, like there's nothing there, man. There's like, no one cares about the Brooklyn Nets. There's no fan base there. No. Because you're the franchise. No one knows. It's just always been like, could be good, falls off. Like, we know the failed experiment, Acadie, Hardin, and Kyrie too, like Brooklyn. Yeah. And again, like, you want to live in Brooklyn instead of Miami? I don't get the love for Brooklyn. Like, I've been there. I do like Brooklyn. Yeah. But again, if you're gonna be able to pick where to live, let's say based off free agency alone, you know, I don't live in Brooklyn. You're not a big dumbbo guy. What's that? Not a big dumbbo guy. Never, never been a dumbbo. Like, I mean, I want to go. Picture looks cool. But I'll be like in shock. Like, I've been to Brooklyn. Bed style is more of the spot where I like to go around. I just think the culture there is awesome, like the straight up block parties, people have right in front of the brownstone, like one of the most welcoming neighborhoods you'd be in. Yeah. Yeah. In a great way of like, hey, come in, check out how we are. Like, you know, pull up, grab a cup, grab a plate, you know, and just be just be one of us. But just it's it's for an NBA and for a basketball decision. This would be terrible for anyone that would want to go to Brooklyn. Yeah. They're projected lineup for this. I'm coming season. I didn't even get into the basketball part. Yeah, go, go on this is Dennis Schroeder, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney Smith, and Nick Claxon. Yeah. Nick Claxon still being a five is like perplexing. I don't know. Like, what is that? Yeah. I don't know how you go there and you sit there and you think like, oh, this is a team that I could go to for basketball reasons, you know, I mean, like, bro, he hated being in Minnesota, like ran the ones off the floor playing with the backups. What is he going to do in Brooklyn and he's got a culture to like bust his ass and I get it. Like maybe you're not happy with Miami. Like you didn't like how like Pat Riley handled you and your situation this off season, whatever. Like I get that, but like Brooklyn, really, that's what I'm saying, Brooklyn. No one wants to go there, bro, like not to play basketball. That's for sure. You're just basically giving up on a championship. But all right, bro, it's our time for stop me when so stop me when you hear a player better than Luca Donchen. Let's do it. Let's do it. All right, man, we're going to start off easy and then we're going to get a little bit harder. Trade young, the guy that he was traded for on draft night. Keep going. All right. Tony, this is guys. If they're currently playing, it's their current. If they're currently playing as their current attributes, if they are former player retired, then they get to have the pleasure of being in their prime. All right. Okay. So this player is a retired player. Tony Parker. Ooh. No. Okay. Current player. Anthony Edwards. Oh man. This one's going to be a tough episode of stop me when for you, just so you know. This one. Anthony Edwards with a third name, like this is going to be tough. I know. That's what I'm thinking. Part of me wants to say, but Luca and Clutch, like one of the players I want, like you're down a bucket, two minutes to go, 30 seconds to go, 10 seconds to go. I want Luca shooting on top of everything else he does. What Ant has though is how he approaches a game, the shape he's in, that dog, he has that mentality. Like, I think Ant's going to get there. I think he's going to get to the Luca level, but I don't think he's there yet. Okay. What about SGA? Shay Gillis. Gilchis. I've seen it. We've seen it from Luca so much like that's my thing and like, and that I'm an SGA guy. You put me in a bad spot, bro. You're making me look bad, but I'm not going to say, yeah, I'm not going to say that four letter word yet. Okay. I'm going to move on from SGA. That's tough. Back to back tough ones. Hey, you're good at this, bro. What about this guy? Boston's very own. Jason Tatum. Stop. Stop. Want it. All pro. Late game shot taker changes game into a playmaker when they need them to be both ends of the floor. What he does is well, like how big he is, and he could be a great defender out on the winger down low. Yeah. And then, and we've seen it. We've seen it multiple seasons. That's why I didn't say stop for and that's why I didn't say stop for SGA either. I wouldn't even in the finals match up, like I was saying that the Celtics have two of the three best players, but I was going JT, JB, then Luca, and then I would say the Celtics had five or six of the next seven best will know. They would have three of the top five players because you could put Kyrie fourth or fifth, and that's how you look at it. Now I say stop at JT. Okay. So I have to ask you this before I run through the rest of the list. If you switched out JT for Luca right now, which team would you better the Celtics and the Mavericks? And I'm, I agree with you. Tatum's a better player, but I just want to know how you, how you stand on this, which is a completely, which is a completely different conversation. You know what I mean? The Celtics, the Celtics are still better. Like JT is a better player, but I'm just looking at this whole team and how it's built. And we're talking like, I'm, I'm, they're flipping right now, right? Yeah. After the championship experience. Yeah. After what we saw them just go through, the Celtics are still the better team. Yeah. But that, that doesn't take away that Jason Tatum's a better player. Jason Tatum's the better player, but the Celtics just have a more complete roster and that's fair. You know what I mean? So if you've split up, I don't do the Mavericks. Let me flip this on you. Yes. You flip them last year. Yes. You flip their spots. Do the Mavericks make it to the finals of Jason Tatum's air instead of, whoa. I had to do it to you, bro. I mean, I'm going to say no off the basis of like the Kyrie JT relationship. You know what I mean? Like we saw that together and we saw how it didn't work. You know what I mean? It's JB there. You know, JB, I think the same thing, like we saw them together too. You know what I mean? I just don't. Kyrie and JB together. Yeah. And it just doesn't work. You know what I mean? Like I just feel like their games don't match. Luca has that dog. Yes. And that's a thing of like the Mavericks needed those clutch like games, let alone full on series from Luca. Yes. And like Ken JT do it as long as that and like Luca rises to the occasion. Yes. But like we're talking complete game. That's why Tatum I think is better. Yeah. And Tatum's only getting better too. Luca's been playing Pro basketball since he was six effentines. Yeah. So this was a good one. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to keep running through really quickly. Yeah. So current players, current abilities. Their retired pass abilities prime LeBron James stop LeBron better than Luca. Look. Okay. Okay. Stephen Curry. Now it's right now. Yes. Right now. Today, bro. He just hit 353s in his season stop. Okay, Alan Iverson and the gravity still has oh that bag. Prime AI. They both varied. No, I stand on this. I think Kyrie P Kyrie like one on one is like better than AI. I wouldn't say stop for AI. Okay. The pistons Isaiah Thomas. Yeah. I'm gonna take Luca over. Okay. Magic Johnson. Oh. Stop. Okay. And then obviously the European brother, Nicola Yogich. Stop. Yeah. All right. All right. No. Not right now. Not right now. I know. I know. But Steph with gravity. Hold on. You put you put LeBron on that on that Maverick's team. He's not carrying them to the finals. Luca did. So I'm rocking with Luca. Look at what his size. I know how tough of a matchup he is. How smart he is when a guy gets on his hip to like he can do so many things. Yeah. To matchups. But it's LeBron. No, I don't know. LeBron could be healthy. All right. First gravity and Luca has gravity, but Steph's is different. Yeah. And what he did with how tough this Warriors roster was of like what they're trying with comminga and like Steve Kerle, like relegating him to, it's just weird. Steph still I take right now, like he's still had all time season. Yeah. I might rock with Steph more than I rock with Brian. That's fair. But yeah, I'm not giving Brian the nod over Luca right now. Not right now. That was a good one, bro. That was a good one. All right. So now we've got to talk about Angel Reece. Sad news. She's out for the rest of the season. She had the season and the injury with her wrist. It was talked about all over Twitter this weekend. That's all I could see, man. Do you think the sky who are in a battle for that eight seed can still make the playoffs without her? I think she does so much on both ends of the floor, especially just like controlling a game at a certain point of like what her rebounding is like per game average already set the WNBA record at all those double doubles as well. I just think she's too important of a piece for this team that had a good draft that I mean won a ring a couple of years ago. But with the pieces that they have, I just think she's too important. I don't like they can withstand the storm to stay in the playoffs and not literally the Seattle storm, but like the storm that's coming without Angel Reece. Maybe they can weather that and just sneak in just because of the work they've done. So like for them to just be on the cliff of being in or out, losing their best player. I just don't know how that can happen. Yeah. Yeah. I'm right there with you, especially because it seems like the dream are really pushing to get into the playoffs as we're recording this, they're playing against the fever right now of 15 and third quarter. And we know that fever team has been rolling, right? So I think the Atlanta dream are a team that are really hungry right now and the sky have honestly just been falling off ever since the Olympic break. They haven't been the same team. They haven't been as hungry. They haven't been as locked in. They've been sloppy league games. I've been sitting here in the office with you guys watching them finish games poorly as games that they should have won. You know what I mean? So they had their opportunity and it looks like they're going the other way and this is the icing on the cake for them. I'm sad to say that I think that the sky are going to miss the playoffs and this is going to be a hindrance now on Angel Reece versus Kaitlyn Clark conversation like, well, Kaitlyn Clark took her team to the playoffs the first year, Angel Reece going to say that not knowing Angel got injured. Right. They're going to. And also that Camilla Cardosa was out for a good portion of the season to start the year too who has been helping them win games recently when she's been healthy and they've been winning. She's been a big part of those wins, blocking shots now leading the rookies for blocks in the season. So, you know, it's kind of annoying that that's going to be the narrative now, but Angel, man, I'm, you know, get healthy because you are such a good player. And I feel like this is one of those things like where she was honestly filling this a while ago. And this is probably why her field goal percentage has started to tank since the Olympic break because she probably wasn't healthy, you know what I mean? And she's a fighter. She's a hard worker and I know she wanted to be there for her team. So she played through it. So I can't wait to see her next year and I hope that the sky do make it to the playoffs and she has that matchup with Kaylin and, you know, I would just love to see that. But we don't get that this year. So are we might not get that this year. And that's kind of sad. I know it was and it had to have gone to a point where the sky looking at it like the long-term damage you can, you know, occur to your wrist based off this, like let's shut it down. Yeah. Let's bring it in. Her statement, uh, releasing a ton of this, she goes, all I've ever wanted to, uh, ever, all I ever wanted was to come into the W and make an impact. I can commonly say I've done that and will strive to keep doing so. I'm filled with the motions right now that I have a season ending injury, but also filled with so much gratitude for what is next. She's always pushing that and I get it because it's like no matter what she does, she hears about Kaylin Clark Moore, but for her to like, she has to go out of her way to say like, I made an impact. I got into the W. I had a positive. She did on the league and that's again, something that Angel Reese could get dogged for. Like I read them like, all right, why do you have to say that? No one else is saying to for her. I think it's also like, if she gets into the off season sooner, like mentally gets away from like the run, it's been on of like her LSU, her matching up with Kaylin Clark all throughout the season, what that narrative has been. They come into the league, all the matchups they had as well. I think for her to get a break and to get away from basketball, not like even if they got into the playoffs, I think that's important for her of like, get away, come back into year two, be refreshed and like, not worry about what other people think of you, not worry about all the attention. Kaylin Clark is just keep bringing her game. And I think that'll help her be a lot fresher mentally and her be a better player too. Yeah, I'm right there with you. All right, George. That's it for us here. Oh, my banner. I do have to say though, my city's up. Oh, I know everybody's seen that news, you know what I'm saying? Showing the Super Bowl. Hey, kids, tricks on the super host and the Super Bowl halftime show, man. If I said he's on top, you know what I'm saying, yeah, bro, I can't wait, bro, bro. The funniest thing is like Drake's whole catalog is built for a Super Bowl halftime show, but Kendrick bullied him so bad. They give it to him over Drake and like Drake can't go. He can't go to the Super Bowl, bro. He can't post about the Super Bowl now because you know, Drake would have been on the sideline up in a suite taking warm up slants, catching passes from Patrick Mahomes on the field before the Super Bowl. Like all this stuff. He can't go anywhere near New Orleans that whole week like Drake's cooked and I love it, bro. We're up LA up one, baby. Let's go. Let's go. Hey, that's it for home. My banner. Tell you're the best, bro. I always love being on with you on this one. Congrats again, your city backup halftime show the Super Bowl going to Kendrick Lamar. Great rundown. We'll see you guys new episodes Monday, Wednesday, Friday for home. My banner. He's on. Take Campbell. I'm George Black. She will see you guys next time. Peace. Doses. Want to hear more on the latest in New England sports? Download the Neston 360 app to stream live Red Sox games, highlights, game recaps, and more. 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