Say goodbye to your credit card rewards, greedy corporate megastores led by Walmart and Target are pushing for law in Congress to take away your hard earned cash back and travel points to line their pockets. The Durban Marshall Credit Card Bill would enact harmful credit card routing mandates that would end credit card rewards as we know it. If you love your credit card rewards, tell your lawmakers hands off my rewards. Tell them to oppose the Durban Marshall Credit Card Bill. What's the easiest choice you can make? Window instead of middle seat? Picking a vendor who sends a great gift basket, outsourcing business tasks you hate. What about selling with Shopify? Whether you're selling a little or a lot, Shopify helps you do your thing. However you ch-ching, Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage to the first real life store stage, all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage? 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And now the latest episode for Matt and Major of The Force. [MUSIC] 5 on the floor, a daily insider show on the Miami Heat and the NBA featuring Ethan Skolnik, Greg Sylvander and Alex Toledo, plus others from the 5 Reason Sports Network. Welcome back everyone to another episode of The Force with Matt and Major. And today, it is just us too. We don't have an interview today, but we still have an exciting episode. We're going to be talking about potential second round draft picks that the heat could be looking into. And the reason why we're doing second round is because a lot of those guys spend a lot of time at the G League. So then they would obviously then play with the Sky Force and that is our bread and butter here. So these are guys that, you know, disclaimer, the heat might not be looking at. Our board is not the same as the heat board. But it's some guys that stood out specifically to Matt that he thinks would be worth a shot in the second round. I believe the heat are picking around 43. Is that correct? Yes, 43. So we also try to keep that in mind a little bit that these players might be available around there. And the second round, it's really hard to predict. And the NBA draft, some guys go really high and some guys just randomly fall because it's just all about a shot in the dark right then and there. So Matt, without further ado, who's the first guy on your list? No particular order, but who's the first one we're going to talk about? Oh, one another disclaimer. When I do these emails, these are just from what I see. I'm not even close to being a professional scout. He could listen to this or whatever and completely laugh at all these emails. Again, these are just from my eyes. From what I've seen from these guys, some of these guys I haven't watched a whole lot of some of them I've watched more of. And obviously, as we'll go through, we'll talk about these guys. And we're also doing this exercise because we assume the heat are keeping the 43rd pick. They could trade that. I think they could trade back like Boston did last year Boston traded like I think three or four times and just racked up second round picks. They could do that. I don't know if they'll do that. Or they could just trade up like they did for Kasey Akpala and trade three second run picks form. That might be a soft subject there to mention to a lot of the fans. Listen, I'm just saying that we don't really know what their plan is. I don't know what their plan is and also like I have as much sources as a tomato. You're more plugged in than I am when it comes to the sourcing obviously Greg Ethan, all of our guys at five recent sports network. They're a lot more plugged into like who the heater working out and all that stuff. We don't know, at least I don't know if these guys are working out with Miami. This is just again, just like we're just projecting a shot in the dark guys that they could look at just based on what they've done in previous years. Again, I don't have any sources. Again, I have as much sources as you, the listener, if you're just a fan of that. So keep that in mind, these players are also human beings. It's like whether it's like a knock or like none of this is personal. We don't know any of these guys. I don't know any of these guys. Again, for this conversation, for this exercise, we're evaluating players. And so there may be some things that personally we don't like about these players as like their skill sets. Not again, it's nothing like personal personal. We're just evaluating them as basketball players when we see from them on the court. And in regards to their experience, whether it's college, whether it's international, nobody's perfect. I'm not perfect. Major is more, a lot more perfect than I am. And then obviously like the players on the sky for sure, obviously perfect. We hold them. They're the most perfect players on this planet. Yeah, we never say anything negative about anyone. Yeah. But we're evaluating these guys. So we have to keep this. And obviously when we evaluate these guys, there's so much more context to dive into. We're not going to dive into a heavy, heavy, heavy. Because I mean, for the sake of time, we just don't have time for that. Within the realm of this particular podcast. And so again, just a few disclaimers out there. I'll probably have more as we go throughout. Again, just take these values or whatever you want with a grain of salt. Everyone has their own opinions. This is why we're talking about this is why we're going through this exercise. You have different opinions on certain guys than I do. I have different opinions on certain guys than the heat scouting department who have done a tremendous, tremendous job. Those guys are a thousand times smarter than I will ever be. So again, we're just, we're doing this for this. We're doing this because it's fun. We're doing this just to, again, throw in some darts and hopefully we can look back on this and attend to 15 years or whatnot and say we were right or we were wrong. Like I've listened, I've been wrong before on the players and players that they've selected. I'll be wrong again. It's perfectly okay. The more you do this, the more wrong you'll get, but also the more right you'll get. So I guess, I mean, I have what one to, I have about, I think like eight to 10 guys on here that we're just going to touch on. Again, these guys could fall to the second round. The draft is weird because guys will fall, guys will get, I mean, again, relative to what we perceive them to be. Some guys maybe reaches, some guys just may fall for various reasons. And like teams do these work, teams do work on these guys. Like they work them out, they interview and they get to know them personally, they get to know them, their families, their relationships, stuff like that. Like, and so these guys obviously teams do a lot more work than you and I are doing on these guys just from like a personal standpoint and a relationship standpoint because they have these guys in the building. And so players fall, these guys could fall, these guys may not fall. Who the hell knows? But where do you, I mean, you asked me, I know I just went on like a, like a three or four minute just tangent, but I guess the first guy that I want to go into is a guy that you've watched more than me because you're a fan of this team Harrison Ingram. What's your perception, what's your like scouting of Harrison Ingram and like, I'll kind of give you mine. I mean, I fell in love with Harrison Ingram as the year went on. The dude just has a really high motor shot really well from three this year kind of came out of nowhere. If I remember correctly from his Stanford days, but shot really well, especially on the open ones, he's real reliable on those, but he's not a huge body. We have here, six five with a seven foot wingspan really long arms but that six five and don't want to have heat fans hate me. Yeah, he fans are going to hate me for this, but I'm going to say, I project him as a small ball for him, like a three, you know, in like a normal lineup could be a three but a small ball for like a super physical, he loves playing defense, he loves loves rebounding. And if anyone's ever listened to the show before, we love rebounding. Like this man was getting double digit rebounds consistently, and that's playing alongside Baycott, who's the best rebounder in UNC history. So it's not like he's the only one rebounding, he was attacking the boards. One thing I loved in his game that he kind of developed is he take people on the block and he'll do a little push shot times as well. He started understanding, you know, open space on the floor. So I just loved how he grew into his role and became absolutely vital to North Carolina, who by the end of the year, really only Yukon was playing better than North Carolina. They just ran into a hot Alabama team, really. So I love Harrison Ingram, he is my absolute dream second round pick. I don't know if he's going to be available in the second round, to be honest. You look at Mark Draftson, sometimes he's late first, sometimes he's second. It seems like people are really struggling to figure out where he's going to go. And I think that's because he has really valuable skill sets on some things, but he does kind of have flaws as a player too. Like you said, all of these second round picks do. What's your interpretation? Do you think I'm just Homer, UNC biased right here? No, no, I mean, he averaged, I mean, again, to the rebounding point, 8.8 a game next to Big Cut. By my count, I think he had 11 or 12 doubles. One game that he didn't have a double double, he pulled in 19 rebounds against NC State. He had two additional 17 green batting games against Virginia Tech in Florida State, one 15 rebounding game against Pitt. Like that's something that stood off the screen to me whenever I would watch him. But I think his floor spacing ability, at least from what he developed at North Carolina, I think could be something that translates. He was an inconsistent shooter when he was at Stanford, he wasn't as willing to shoot threes when he was at Stanford as well. Like he shot roughly 32% from deep, 37.33 point rate, which means that 37% of his attempts came from beyond the arc. That three point rates upped itself to roughly 45% when he was at UNC. Kind of just, again, he was kind of that complimentary spacer next to Big Cut, who, I mean, you know, isn't much of a floor spacer at all. And he shot roughly 39% from deep. And there is times where I thought throughout the season, like, again, you watched him a lot more than I did. I probably only watched maybe a handful of games, 10 games, like nothing too crazy, and that's really how it is for the majority of these prospects. Like he was ignitable at certain times, like, there were times like where he would see one fall and then he would knock down a few more. And to me, like, I think that his biggest knock was like him putting the ball in the floor at times. Like, I think in traffic, he wasn't as, like, his handle was a little loose. And there were times like where he would, like, back to the basket, like, he would show some interior in, but it wasn't like a whole lot. And so I think, like, in the pros, that's something where he could become, like, a multi-dimensional score. I think that's something that he could improve upon. But I think you nailed it on the head, like, he was always competitive defensively. He had a nose for the ball, whether it was on the offensive defensive glass. He was a good floor spacer, especially just like a stationary spot up three, like I thought he was proficient. Again, whether he's six, five, six, six, six, seven, he has those long arms. And it's like, when you look at the measurements, it's like, oh, wow, the first name that comes to mind is like a Haywood Heisman. Like, six, five with a seven foot wingspin. That's literally Haywood Heisman. And, like, kind of, not the same skill set, but kind of like a similar-ish skill set. I'm not, I'm not a big NBA comparison guy because I just think every player's their own player. But, like, if you're just looking for something to roughly compare it to, it could be like a Haywood Heisman type player. Even though I have no idea if it would be better than Haywood, if he would be worse than Haywood, like, you just really don't know until you kind of throw these guys into the fire at the NBA level. But, like, when I was just looking at the measurements, like, that's kind of the first guy he reminded me of. He just, yeah, it looks like he, for Ingram's sake, he looks like he just plays bigger than, like, a six foot, five, six foot, six, like, he just looks bigger if he plays bigger. And I think he could, like, be, if you're, if he's, if you're looking for, like, a three-indee guy, 43, or a guy with three-indee potential, I think he is one of the guys available, if he's available, that could help impact a team. Not maybe not right away, but I think he can impact a team. Yeah, for sure. I agree with all that. He does, to your point, on the block, he just powers three people. It's not like he hits him with anything fancy. It's just brute force. He said, six, five, but when you watch him play, he swear he's, like, six, eight, six, nine. He just has that physicality and that big body. Who's the second person on your list here that stands out to you? Um, I mean, we're doing that just, again, for the sake of the viewers, we're not doing this in any particular order in terms of want or need. I'm just, again, I threw this list together of guys that just intrigued me. This is a guy that I haven't gotten to watch a whole lot of yet, but I did see him at the Combine. I have watched clips of him when he was at the Hoop Summit. And when he was just playing internationally, Ulrich Schomche, he was a center NBA Academy, Africa, developmental program overseas. He didn't really start playing. I mean, just to give you some measure, again, this guy did play at the Combine. His measurements, six, ten, seven, four wingspan. I read somewhere, again, don't know how verifiable this is, but he did start, didn't start playing basketball, and he was like a teenager, 13 years old. He just turned 18 in December. He'll turn 19 this upcoming December. So he's like a young player. But again, just from what I saw from him at the Combine, it was just a really intriguing skill set to me, and it made me want to dive in more into this guy. He's raw. He's developed a good three-point shot. It looks like he was willing to shoot it during the Combine. Again, I've seen clips of him when he was the Hoop Summit. He was willing to shoot his release. It's more fluid than it was, I think, previously. It looks like it's more in one motion now. But the thing that really stood to me was his athleticism, his shot-blocking ability. His guy has, I think, a potential to be a weak side-room protector, but also he's shown flashes of his mobile in the drop. He's mobile on the perimeter. He has good hit mobility. He'll flip his hips with relatively good speed. And that's something I think when you look at NBA players, and again, I'm not saying this guy is him, but you look at Bam Adeba. He's got good hit mobility. He's got good foot speed. He's got good instincts. He's a good shot blocker when he's around the ramp. Again, Shom Shae is a guy who has those traits. He has, again, some three-point shooting potential. He's just really athletic. There was a play in the Combine. I think it was maybe in the first scrimmage, or maybe in the second. I can't remember which one, but he was going up against Baylor Shireman, who is another prospect I like. He didn't have him on here. And then Adam Bono, who I do have on here that we'll talk about a little bit later. And there was a rep like really early in their scrimmage where he was in the pick and roll. He was defending Bono, who's another center out of UCLA. He was in drop. And it reminded me of that play that Bam had against the Bulls where he was recovering in drop, Shom Shae was, and Shireman threw a lob to Bono. And he had the wherewithal and the instincts to get back and drop or cover and then block the shot after Bono caught it. And it was just like, and he was at least a couple steps behind him. And so, or at least a couple steps behind him because Bono goes to the screen, Shom Shae recovered, and then blocked the lob. And it was just like, whoa, like that really stood out to me as like, okay, like this dude, I mean, again, he has the motor. He has the athleticism. He has the physical tools. But like, he's got, that's like really good timing. That's really good instincts. Like that's all of that. And so that's, again, like something that was just one singular play that you could probably find somewhere you could rewatch the scrimmages on YouTube or whatnot. But that was something that really stood out to me because it's like, you don't see that really at all. A guy get beat and drop because the guy he's defending goes to screen and then you recover and block a shot, block a lot. And so like, again, that's just to give you an idea of like what kind of player he is. He has a good motor. He didn't really score a lot during the combine, but he showed the athletic traits. He showed the defensive instincts that really impressed me. There was a nasty pass that he had in the hoop summit where he cotted above the break and threw it just to complete disgustingly good backdoor pass to someone. So like he may have like the passing chops that you want. Again, 18 years old raw prospect, but a guy that at least stands out to me as a guy if he falls to the second round. I don't know if he will. I don't know if he will. But if he falls to 43, especially if you take a guard or a wing in the first round. He's a guy like if you look at the value proposition of like, okay, who are the centers available in the first round, you don't take a center or at least because he's going to be a backup center behind them. You go with the guard or a wing. This guy isn't far off from some of those centers at the top, like me see who I like a lot like I'm not even going to say like that. The run homes is probably closer to Shumshae, but like Kaleil where like I don't think Shumshae is that far off. And so he could be a guy if you get if you want to go guard or wing in the first round. He's a guy that you can you can get in the second potential. Yeah, so it sounds like he's a more of a project so athleticism. The heat need athleticism, it's always good. If you're going to draft a guy that's really young and that's raw, there's just athletic and has a lot of tools there that you can see like the movement and everything. And sounds like what you're saying is he's willingness to pretty much do everything on the basketball court and he's just real raw so you could really mold him in the type of player you would like. So you mentioned this player so we'll go to him, Bona, the center out of UCLA, we have here, you start seeing him on heat Twitter. Yeah, I kind of turn you on to him. Well, I mean, I knew who he was, but I remember I can't remember it was like middle of the season where I think a lot of heat like Twitter like foul. I mean, again, you and I are on each where we see like he's then there was start being a lot of buzz about like him like look at this guy when we're first diving into this class like again I knew of him I've watched a little bit of him prior to this point. But like when you I mean again highlights or highlights but you got to do something to get those highlights right. So like he's a little bit of an undersized center, six foot eight with the with the seven foot warm wingspan nine foot standing reach which is above average for a guy who's roughly six eight. He's athletic as hell, like he just he moves like he's six five. He he can handle the ball a little bit. He didn't really showcase much of a shot like majority of his attempts came around the rim. He was at UCLA but like he was a vertical lob threat. He's got a really good motor. And I think that's going to be a similar theme to these guys that I that I'll share because it's just like something that pops out to me when I watch these guys is like the motor and like, like how much do you want it. And like he has excellent mobility as like a rolling threat as a guy defensively in space as a guy just on the perimeter when he's like running up the court like he runs the floor really well. He's very switchable defensively. He's a guy that you can just throw up like a lob up to and he'll slam it and he'll finish it and like even when he is creating like self creation. He has, I think, a pretty good handle. And like he he has not like a huge array of moves but a good enough array. Good enough bag, so to speak, that he can that he can get to the rim and like whether it's like a spin move, your steps, whatever the case is like I think he showcases that skill set. And again, if he's a guy like it. Again, if you go guard or wing in the first round, which I think the heat will do just a gut instinct, then he's a guy that isn't super far off from us from a value standpoint. Relative to some of the top centers in the class and so I think he's a guy that just like pops off the page figuratively and literally just because of his athleticism. And I think he's more polished than Shumshades, but he doesn't have the shot that Shumshade does, but he can still still do a lot of things on the basketball court that you like. And I think with the sky, again, we're talking about this in relation to what the Sky Force could potentially want or potentially need to develop. Again, the goal is to develop these guys. He could potentially develop into like a two level score from the main range. He could potentially help out like again since they lost Malik Williams. They lost some of these guys like he could potentially develop into like what are their next likes, I guess quote, quote center projects whatever you want to say. And how about three UCLA guys on the heat, Hawkes, Kevin Love and Adam Bone. And he was really like the biggest bright spot from then this year UCLA was had a pretty disappointing season. But just watching him on the floor was one of the biggest bright spots I think that they had and so he's a guy that I would look at at 43 if he was available. Yeah, and to that about being the bright spot. First team all pack 12 pack 12 defensive player of the year. So, a lot of tools there and he showed what he can do on the court on the defensive end if we know anything about the Miami heat. They love that defensive end so it sounds from all what I'm hearing that would be a guy I would really keep my eye on if I was a, if I was a heat fan or a Sky Force fan looking for the next. That's a kind of project to come in. So now we're going to commit. Oh, I was six foot, I just brought them into six foot eight, but I think had one of the highest if not the highest standing birds at the combine 35 inch standing which is like really, really good for a guy of his size. And a 40 inch max for which is among the top. It's not the I think that the highest was 42. That's not about everyone. But again, when you're getting like a guy who's 69. Who's has those type of measurables. Again, that's six foot eight six foot nine seven four wings band like again just that in and of itself isn't treating to me. Yes, so he's athletic too. So he's athletic as hell. He could be, you know, I was just about to say he could be like a poor man's band. And if you could, if you could replace BAM with a poor man's BAM man, that's the first thing that popped into my mind. Not replace BAM. We're not trying to replace. Yeah, I'm saying I'm saying in rotation like when a band play every minute of every game. His coach is not tips. So he does rest some. So whenever he comes out, you know, potentially, you know, you could have bonus sliding in there. Every day we rise, challenging ourselves to work for what we believe in. At U.S. Border Patrol, protecting our borders is more than a job. It's a calling. Agents answer the call, working together to keep our country and communities safe. If you're ready for a new mission, join U.S. Border Patrol and go beyond. Learn more at cpp.gov/careers. What's the easiest choice you can make? Window instead of middle seat? Picking a vendor who sends a great gift basket, outsourcing business tasks you hate. What about selling with Shopify? Whether you're selling a little or a lot, Shopify helps you do your thing. However you change, Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage to the first real life store stage, all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage? Shopify is there to help you grow. Whether you're selling scented soap or offering outdoor outfits, Shopify helps you sell wherever and whatever you're selling. Shopify's got you covered. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com/try. Go to Shopify.com/try now to grow your business. No matter what stage you're in, Shopify.com/try. Oh, that diabolical snooze button. Seems innocent enough, but if you're not careful, you could be trading a day full of possibilities for 9 minutes of pillow purgatory. Because you've got to be up for inspiration to show up. Know anyone like that? Be okay financial. We go above, so you can go beyond. Be okay financial is a trademark of the okay FNA member FDIC equal housing lender. So now we're going to pivot to Jalen Bridges forward from Baylor. You said he could see him becoming a 3 and D wing at the next level just all around good player. What do you think are some of his weaknesses though? I would say his in between game and I think consistently creating off the balance in the half board. He was a guy who was really impressive in transition, but I didn't see it enough. I guess we're labeling it a weakness. I didn't see it enough from him just off the dribble. I think he can absolutely do it, but he was a guy. I want to see him become a multi-level threat at the next level. But again, I think his ceiling is more of a 3 and D guy who can just immediately impact right away. Lightning quick release. His footwork was a lot better in the combine and the shooting drills that I saw in college. I felt like at times in college where he would shoot it and kick his feet out. Not forward, but outward when he would shoot. I don't know how much of that affects your shot, but it just looked funky to me. But I think he looked a lot more balanced. I think he looked more balanced as the year went on, but more balanced at the combine. But I think a guy like just his in-between game, him creating off the dribble a little bit, I think that's something that he can develop. He showed passing chops. He's a good defender. At least he's shown that to me when I've watched him in a limited sample. And so that's not something I'm crazy, crazy concerned about, but I think just his creation ability, his self-creation ability is something that I'm interested to see if he can develop over time. Yeah, and to your point about the 3ND, he nailed 41.2% of his 3-point shots last year on 5.1 attempts. It's pretty good. He'll need to, sorry to interrupt, but he'll need to show consistency with that, because he was up 35% shooter his previous two seasons after being like a 40% guy again on the low volume. He was at West Virginia, so there's an inconsistency there that you want to see ironed out over time, but I think he's improved as a shooter, and I think that'll sustain it. So I project him to be like a mid to high 30s 3-point shooter in the next level. That reminds me of two players, Hami Hakaz. If you look at his college stats year by year, he was either a really good shooter or sub-30. And then Harrison Ingram, the one we talked about before, kind of started out, his career not a great 3-point shooter, kind of inconsistent, and then exploded in his last year. So you have to figure out, is that more so what he's going to be, or is he going to be kind of what he showed in previous years? That's why the Heat scouts are paid a bunch of money. That's their job to figure out. You just like what you've seen from him in this past year. Now, this is one of my favorite players in college basketball, and I would love him on the Heat because I think he's a Heat-mold player. Jamal Shet, guard out of Houston, defensive player of the year. This guy is an animal on the defensive end. Houston was probably the best team to challenge Yukon until he went out, because that defense was just dominant, and he was the reason for that. So he did get hurt, I think like six minutes left in the first half against Duke, and they wound up losing that game. But if you watch before he got hurt, Duke couldn't do anything. And it was all because of him. So he is that Heat-mold type guy that I think he could play right away. What do you think about him, Matt? Yeah, I mean, when you turn on the tape for Jamal Shet, I'll prep this by saying, if you want functional size in the backcourt, he's not the biggest guy in the world. He's around six foot with like a six, three, six, four wingspan. So it's not crazy, crazy, but he is a legit dog, like a legit dog. And I say that in the most complementary way possible, consensus all American. The thing that I want to see him improve over time, and I don't know if it'll translate to the NBA level, it's just like his efficiency. He finished the season shooting 77.9% from the free throw line, which suggests some positive regression from his three point shot, which was around 31%, 41% inside the arc, or 41% vehicle percentage, roughly 46, 47% inside the arc. And it's just hard to do that when you're that small, like from a height perspective, but he plays defense like he's six, five with a six, ten wingspan. Like he is up in your jersey. He is not going to give you any space. He's going to make you uncomfortable. And the thing that I've hammered this home before on like in previous spaces, I've talked about this when Jaime Hawke has was drafted. And I've referenced like Kayla Martin in the past, like they were all well coached in college. And I think that he like, like when I say well coached, I mean, like they were coached obviously like they're good coaches. Calvin Sampson is one of the best coaches in America. Mick Cronin, who was Jaime Hawke as his coach at UCLA, a really good coach. Eric Musselman, people who know me know how I feel about Eric Musselman. That's my guy. He coached Kayla Martin really well when he was in college. But like Calvin Sampson is one of the best coaches in the men, but like they coached him hard. Calvin Sampson is going to coach you hard. And I think that he look at that. And I think that he liked that because Eric Spolstra will coach. I mean, I'm not in the building, but he's going to coach guys hard. And like Jamal shed over his what four or five years at Houston developed into like a leader. He developed into like a point guard, a guy like like a floor general. I think he improved his decision making over time. I think he improved his court awareness over time. He's a guy that will go sometimes at 110 miles an hour. But in like again in the best way possible. And I think he's just, he's one of my favorite players just because of like his mentality and like what he brings on a basketball court. I think he just plays bigger than his size. And again, I know we will probably catch flack from heat fans from mentioning a guy who's six foot. Because like again, they have gone through these Priante Weber gave Vincent kind of molds. And Jamal shit kind of fits that from a defensive perspective. Yeah, we could summarize Jamal shed with one word culture. He's a he culture player. I love that man. And I'm a sucker for, you know, point of attack defense. We've said numerous times we need some point of attack defense, especially on the sky force. Man, that guy would just be like a plus elite right off the jump. So that's exactly what I would like. So if we don't get Harrison Ingram, like I said, Harrison Ingram is my dream. I'm a little biased as I'm wearing my North Carolina hoodie. Jamal shed, I would I would be jumping for joy. So I love that. So now we're going to pivot to a guy that maybe not everyone would know, but he was a combat combined stand out. Trenton flowers out of Australia. What did you think about him during the combine? The thing that pops off to me most with Trent flowers is his athleticism. He had 42 42 max for and but then you just watch him in the scrimmages and like he has such an explosive first step. And he can get to the rim and finish above the rim with the best of them. And like him being six, seven, six, eight, six, not like he he has good size to him, but he just explodes off the screen. Like I didn't I didn't just a full disclaimer for him. I didn't really watch much of him. Previously, like I didn't really have a great feel for who he was, but then I watched like the scrimmages. And again, it's a small sample. It's a one game thing. But you're doing this against other NBA prospects and some of the guys that you've never played with before. And his his fluidity, his movements, he was he was competing his, you know, what off on the defensive end of the floor. Like it just all of that stood out to me. I think he showed to have like a fairly good shot. And so just like his his movements, I think stood out to me the most. And he's the guy that I want to watch more of over the next several weeks leading up to June 26 because like when you look at mocks and stuff or at least mocks previously like that he's not really there. And so like he just just popped off the page for me. It's just like, whoa, like if you get this guy, if you can mold this guy into like an all around player or a guy who can who can provide a role for you. You're in a really good spot just because of his athleticism, just because of his physical tools that he has. And I think the Sky Force could be a team that does that. Yeah, and, you know, talking about his athleticism, his combine high 42 inch maxvert. You know, that's something that translates jumping translates and that can help in a lot of aspects of the game getting your shot off rebounding. And overall, just that shows how athletic you are in those quick twitch muscles that you have that can project how you can use your body to get an advantage in the NBA or in the G lead because all these guys are amazing players, right? They know how to play basketball. They know how to score. They know how to do all of that. But you have to distinguish, you know, who has those traits that can continue that once they start playing with other elite athletes. That's why sometimes you say someone's a college player versus an NBA player, right? College, if you're a real smart player, you can make up for lack of athleticism a lot easier than the NBA. And so he has a lot of athleticism. Like you said, he jumped out to you in the combine with how we use that athleticism. So I think that's a really actually a good thing to look for. And he's playing against those other guys that are elite at what they do at the combine. That's why they have it. The teams invite these players to come. So that lets you know the teams have him on their radar. So quickly, I want to hit one more player, though. KJ Simpson out of Colorado. A lot of people are talking about him. I want to hit this one quickly, not spend too much time because, I mean, I don't think really many people expect him to be at 43. So this would be kind of the one exception of the heat might trade up in the second round or find a way to get him, right? Or he falls unexpectedly. So what are your quick thoughts on KJ Simpson? This is something about the combine that goes underrated. And I think I may have brushed over this previously. You're playing with guys that you never played with really in your life unless if you play with them, like when you were like AA you teammates or whatever, by some chance. Or if you just went to the same college and they somehow put you on the same team for the combine strategies. He controlled practically every aspect of the game when he was on the floor during those two scrimmages. I think that stands out because it shows how much of an on-court leader it shows your IQ, your feel for the game because he made good decisions throughout the combine. He was aggressive. He showcased a shot a little bit. He was a really good shooter last year shot, 43% from deep on good volume. Something that he didn't do over his previous two years at Colorado was something that he'll need to be more consistent at just from a year to year basis at the NBA level. Even though he was a good free throw shooter. Again, there's some positive regression from that. But he just controlled every single aspect and again consistently make good decisions. He was competing on the defensive every defensive even though he's six foot with the six four wingspan. Again, he's another guy who's just not the biggest guy on the court. So I think how you're able to control what's going on around you when most of these guys, again, they're not really familiar with how you play on the court. You're just throwing these guys together on an NBA court and hoping something good happens. Obviously, I don't know this for a fact, but I'm guessing there's probably a practice or two with these guys on these teams. Again, I have no idea. But like most of you just haven't had much experience with any of these guys at any. And so the fact he was able to control the floor the way he did. He averaged 26 and five for being six foot. And I think that's incredibly impressive on near 50 40 90 shooting splits, roughly 50% from the floor 43 from deep 88 from the free throw line. He played on a team with three, two other first round picks or two other potential first round picks in Cody Williams and Tristan De Silva, who I like a lot. And so like the fact that you're able to put up those numbers, you were able to help lead Colorado to an NCAA tournament bid and like again, you're just that that floor general that point guard guy who knows when to toggle between attacking the guy who can talk talk between playmaking. Good decision making. Really good release really good shooter, despite being that small. I think that's something that stands out to me. And so just a lot of good qualities. Again, he's a bulldog. I think on the defensive end of the floor, even though he is that size. I think that matters. And again, I don't think he's going to be there at 43. I'm completed with you. I don't think a few of these guys will be there at 43, but these are guys that I just I like. And hopefully if your team who's not Miami listening to this, just say just think everything's the opposite of what I'm saying. So you don't pick these guys. And so they can fall to 43. But yeah, he was he was another player that I liked during the combine a lot. He thinks one of my biggest winners of that two game stretch. He was a guy that I liked a lot late in the season, the Colorado. He's just a really good player, really smart player in my opinion. Yeah, people are talking about him a lot. I've seen him all over Twitter. And like you said, you really like his teammate Tristan de Silva. And, you know, the heat we've been told like him too. He's one of the guys that we've been told to look out for. So if they're naturally, if they're watching him, they have to be watching KJ as well because they're watching the game. Right. So they, they might have seen something that they like in the second round for him and then combine what combine that with the draft combine. They would maybe be enticed to trade up to get him because, like I said, I don't think he's going to be available at 43. Very rarely a guy that shows all these skills and averages what he does, especially as a complimentary piece to other players. They rarely last that long, especially in the second round in the modern NBA with shooting. So I'd be interested to see what happens. I would bet the heat have taken notice of him considering they've watched a lot of his teammate. I feel like it'd be kind of hard not to. So with that though, are there any, give me a three or four or so just quick just names of guys that our listeners can go out and look for if they want to hear more about, you know, prospects that the sky force and heat might be getting. Zach, no, no, I'm playing, I'm playing. AJ Johnson was one that I liked during the combine. He was like, he played with, I mean, he played with Bronnie. He, he was a guy who played kind of like a combo guard rule that I liked. Jonathan Moebo, who was a Ford from San Francisco. He played at four colleges in four years. He's a guy who six, six, seven, two, seven, three wingspan, but he just, he looks so much bigger than six, six. When I watch him on the floor, he plays above the rim. He can initiate offense. I think he's another guy who's really mobile defensively. Nicole Dursich, Dursich, I don't know. I apologize if I mispronounced your last name. He was another like combine stand out to me that I want to watch more of as these over these next several weeks, just a guy who had really good feel for the game. His, his playmaking his, his shot creation was something that I really liked. He was competitive on the defensive end of the floor. I mean, if there's any others like Jackson Robinson from BYU, there's six man of the year. Cam Spencer, a guy from UConn who I think would just love Spaux because of just, he and Dan Hurley were like best friends because of how psychopathic both of them are from a competitive standpoint. So I think that's fun. Enrique Freeman, Ford from, from Akron, Travon Brazil, Ford from Arkansas. Trying to think if there's like any others that come to mind. Trey Alexander, Guard from Creighton, PJ Hall, if you like the guy, again, I mean, he was, he's a little inconsistent shooter, but Ford from, from Clemson that impressed me down the stretch of the season. He shot Johnson, the guy who I watched a lot of when he was at San Diego State. He transferred to Arizona. He's like this, this big wing who, who's pretty athletic. So this is just a bunch of names that come to mind again. He couldn't be, he may not look at any of these guys like AJ Mitchell, Guard from UC Santa Barbara, who I like during the combine. Alex Caraban, kind of this tweener, Guard Ford from, from UConn. Baylor Sherman was a guy who I referenced beforehand. I don't think he'll be there. I think he'll probably be a late first rounder, but he's just a guy like if he falls to 43 with his all around skill set with his rebounding ability with the shot making ability. A guy who I would like, oh, so he could arrow Ford from Marquette. I know I just threw a lot of names at you. But again, just, just guys that I like guys that stood out. The heat could laugh at my face with all of these guys. I don't know. They could, they could look for Zach Edie. If Zach Edie is available on the psych around, I might actually take him then. I would too. Also, I want to get your thoughts on the, I know the guy, the single player that you mentioned before we hopped on and we've talked about this off air playing times before. Bronnie James, you're more of a Bronnie James guy than I am. Okay, but what like, I was just going to say like what's your, let the people know what your thoughts are on Brian James. Yeah, I was like, one, LeBron's kid doesn't mean much, right? Like in the NBA, no one cares about that. But it does mean something, you know, he's got good genes. And I think he's more athletic than people realize he's got it. He's got a good shooting stroke. I mean, people look at his college stats, but like, you don't understand, he almost died on the court. It's like kind of a miracle he was playing. So, you kind of more so have to look at his, I think his highs than his lows, because he, he didn't get to prepare for his first college and only college season. Thank you, put him in an environment that focuses on development and doesn't care who you are. I mean, they didn't care who LeBron was, they're not going to care who his kid is like, they're going to work you hard and maximize your skill set. I think that's what Bronni needs. I think he does have some skills that can translate. I mean, he was a really, really good shooter in high school. I know that doesn't always translate in a lot of NBA players that can't shoot were really good shooters in high school, because it's closer, but that was like his thing. Like he was a shooter. And he was an elite prospect too. We're not talking about like, he only got an offer to USC because he is LeBron's kid. No, he was, memory serves me correctly. He was like a four star fringe, five star, depending on where you were looking at. He has talent. He's going to be hyper criticized though, so I could see that making teams not want them. But towards the end of the second round, like 43 on around there. I mean, you're taking a shot at the dark with a lot of these guys and you're more so on tools than production for a lot of them. I mean, why not take a shot with the guy that's the son of the greatest basketball player of all time. So that's, that's part of my thoughts of like, you know, he understands how to work, how to improve. And he has tools that he's shown you there. That's all you need. You need tools and then love environments that want you to improve. And we know he has both of those. So I'm willing to trust the heat development and Skyforce development to develop him into a good NBA player. But maybe I'm a LeBron guy and maybe that's just my bias is really wanting him to do good to silence all the haters. But I will say that would be great for the Skyforce. Dan Peters would love calling those games with a packed out arena. That would be awesome. Yeah, we will. Again, you and I have talked about this off air. How how it would help us. Yeah, selfishly, it would help us selfishly it would help us. That's not the reason, though. Yeah. Make that clear. It's not the reason. No, I'm, I mean, I think I'm with you there. Like, again, I'm not high on him as a prospect. I've been. I've been in the record saying that I think he should return to college. But that I do agree with that. And that's just, that's my opinion. He's going to do what's best for him and his family and his, his career. And I hope whatever he decides to do again for full disclosure recording this on May 24. He's in the transfer portal right now. He could, he has until May 29 to, to retain college eligibility. I think at this point, he's just going to keep his name in. But again, there's still five days to decide that plenty of players. I mean, heck, there could be players that we just talked about that are going to be returning back to school. So all of this is going to be. And so like that, that's more than a possibility, just in general for this, for this podcast, but all of these guys that we talked about, at least to my knowledge are still in the NBA draft, or at least are their name is still in. I do think like Brian does need a developmental system. And I think when you get it, I'm completely with you. Like, if you were going to take a shot at someone with a high potential, who has a raw skill set, he would be one of those guys. Like you could be definitely be a guy if he's not taken beforehand. Because I think just for the best of him, that he needs that developmental program, that developmental system. And like, if the heat do take them, this is kind of where I'm at, which is heat draft picks, whether I like to pick this, like to pick or whatever. I trust that they have a plan, because they've shown over and over again with these picks that like, yeah, you're not going to bat a thousand on these picks, but my, my take for, for teams and drafts is like the best organizations will find talent, they'll nurture talent, they'll develop talent more often than not. And so I trust the heat, if they do draft Brian 43, they'll have a plan, even though I'm not, even though I think they'll be thorough. There's going to be guys who I like more than him at 43 if he's there 43. But I trust they have a plan again, kind of to your point, you're throwing darts, and you're just hoping it sticks. You're hoping you get a bullseye with that. And so, actually, I don't really know how darts work I've seen like different videos I'm not even going to go into that. But anyway, anyway, you're throwing darts and you're hoping you don't like hit a window. And so that's pretty, that's practically what I was saying. And so like, if you take a chance on Bronnie, if you're able to develop his skill set his shooting ability his playmaking ability, he's got the defensive tools in my opinion. It's hard because, again, to your point, he didn't have a full season, or didn't have a full season, but he didn't have a full season, and so like if you were to maintain his college eligibility, this would be his first full off season. And then to develop to train, to build up his skill set, to get more reps in just as like a as a primary shot creator secondary shot creator, whatever he's he was a guy who impressed during the combine second scrimmage he was a guy who's a lot more aggressive and a lot more comfortable with the bog of things potentially that's good for his NBA prospects if he's able to find a system to where he's able to get those touches, get those reps in plan go over any necessary hurdles that he needs to before he becomes an NBA player at some point down the line if that's in the cards form. And so I'm with you there, even though, again, I'm not as high on him as a prospect as some is somewhere. And again, that's just why we do this. That's why we do this. I'm, again, I'm a dumb idiot. So it's okay. I'll be wrong. I've been wrong before. I'll be wrong again. Like, if it was so obvious to, you know, choose the next great superstar next hit in gym, like I like to use for the Sky Force in the heat with their undrafted or second round type players. There wouldn't be a draft, right? Like it would remove all the excitement. You would know who's going one you know who's going to and so on and so forth because you're like, oh, this one's going to be better than this. This one's going to be better than this. Like you said, you're just trying not to hit a window. So you're trying to get a guy that sticks around and can contribute in some way. And so we're going to wrap up there. I know it's a longer episode for our listeners here, but we really appreciate you listening and hopefully you learned something about one of these people. Like Matt said, they're all going to be first team, all NBA at some point in their careers. So come back to this and be like go to the Sky Force. Yeah, first team, all G League for sure. And then the first team, all NBA down the line. So come back to this in a couple years and we'll tell you we told you so. So with that, let's go Sky Force. Tune into the Behind the Wings podcast as we delve into the groundbreaking advancements that have shaped the aerospace industry from the riveting rivalries of early aviation. To secret Air Force training programs, the sky is not the limit. It's just the beginning. Listen to the Behind the Wings podcast today. Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get tender USDA choice bone and ribeye steaks for 5.99 a pound with a digital coupon limit to. Then buy two, get three free on 12 packs of delicious Coca-Cola, Pepsi or 7-Up all with your card. Shop these deals at your local King Supers less than 5 miles away or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers. Fresh for everyone. Prices and product availability subject to change. Restrictions apply. See site for details.
