NBA Awards Predictions | 2026-27 NBA Season Preview

0:06 Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to No Dunks, the OG NBA podcast. It's Wednesday, October 14th, 2026. I'm Jay Skeets, here in the Classic Factory, and alongside me, as always, Tass Mellis.

0:19 Podcast listeners. This is for you.

0:21 Next to him, it's my top shot hot boy, Trey Kirby.

0:25 Ayo. Ayo.

0:26 And over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer, JD.

0:29 Hello.

0:30 There he is.

0:30 Here we are.

0:31 Sounds like you've got the frog in your throat now, buddy.

0:34 It's allergy season.

0:36 Oh, boy. Oh, boy.

0:37 This is how it usually happens.

0:39 You get hit first, then Trey gets it, then I get it. JD just sits there with it, mingling at times.

0:45 Yeah.

0:46 All right, we'll power through here. Good morning to everybody joining us live right now on YouTube. Hit the like button, subscribe, share the show. Podcast listeners, five-star ratings and reviews. Our NBA season preview series continues today. We did the over-unders last week. On Monday, we drafted our potential first-time All-Stars. Today, we're peering into the crystal ball to make some NBA award predictions. We're going to go through all six major awards.

1:13 As well as Clutch Player of the Year. I refuse to include it as a major award still. I'm holding out.

1:20 I don't know why.

1:20 How many years does it need to exist before it counts?

1:23 Maybe I might need a nice decade under it.

1:26 A decade of dreams.

1:27 How many have we had?

1:28 Four?

1:28 I think it's four. This will be the fifth year. We're happy.

1:31 Good players have won.

1:32 So then you look at it and you're like, okay, Steph wins it. Shea wins it. Brunson wins it. Sorry, De'Aaron, you're not.

1:38 Part of the four.

1:39 The first ever winner.

1:41 Yeah, that kind of makes it seem worthy.

1:46 Is it major? Not to me. It's still minor, but we'll talk about it. We'll start with the biggest of them all, MVP. And we've got the odds for everyone. I'll go through them quickly for our audio listeners. Your favorite, it's a guy named Victor Weminyama, plus 200.

2:00 SGA, plus 400.

2:00 Luka there in third, plus 500.

2:03 Jokic....

2:07 Behind him at plus 600, and then some other great names to fill out the rest of this board. Giannis plus 1,000, Anthony Edwards and Tatum plus 1,600. So we are starting with the biggie here. I guess it could be tough to handicap, especially when we get into the 65-game threshold of everything. Are any of these guys not making it? So we have the injury concerns, and then maybe there's some potential for voter fatigue. With SGA in particular, he would be going for three in a row. Jokic would be, what, trying to add a fourth. So, I don't know. We're trying to find some value here.

2:42 Get us started.

2:43 MVP. Your pick, and then I like to do with these sort of a dark horse pick as we go on. But who's your pick for MVP and why?

2:49 It's Victor Weminyama.

2:51 Okay.

2:51 Victor Weminyama, he's like AI right now. We know that it's really, really capable.

2:57 But we also don't know what's coming from him. He's spectacular. He can do everything so, so well.

3:06 But sometimes he's going to add something that we just don't know he's capable of. On the offensive end, he's obviously really, really, really, really, really good. On the defensive end, he is absolutely the best. And so we're watching him elevate to a different level.

3:21 Simple as that. I'm taking him.

3:24 Yeah, I think I'm going to hop on with you on Wemby. I don't want to take the favorite, but I've been on board with this guy since the second he stepped on the court. Last time a guy double dipped with Defensive Player of the Year, it was Giannis a few seasons back. I started getting a little worried that it's only year four for Wemby. That's pretty early to win MVP, but 11 players have won MVP in year four or earlier, including a guy named Michael Jordan who did it in his fourth season and also won Defensive Player of the Year. Talking about an MJ year for Wemby. We shall see. I just also am comparing it to the other guys who are in like the top five and odds here. You mentioned SGA would be

4:02 trying to go for three straight. That's pretty tough. Voters love to give two in a row and they hate to give three in a row. We've had 10 back-to-back MVPs since the last three-peat MVP, Larry Bird, back in the day. He also got hit with the first four Fs push off of the preseason. So it's over for Shea Gilgis-Alexander. I think this actually could be the year for Luka Doncic.

4:24 Yes.

4:24 The team is completely tailored around him. He's going to get the Lakers bump, and there's no LeBron anti-bump to take his shine away. Jokic's team getting downgraded, good for him MVP-wise. And then Giannis, I think if the Heat finish in the top four, he's going to finish very high on the ballot.

4:42 Isn't that the problem with Luka, though?

4:43 He's got to finish in the top four, probably the top three if you're going to compare him.

4:47 I think they will. I'm big on the Lakers.

4:50 So like top three in the West, I would think you, I mean, you've, you've seen other guys that don't necessarily finish top two or top three. So there is that angle. I can't take Luca. He's, you know, he's, he's, he's the healthiest he's ever been every single season.

5:03 Sure. We always say that. And I, and I said it last year, I thought it was coming.

5:08 What's definitely there year after year with the Lakers is lack of size around him. And I think that plays a part with how many games this team is going to win. Him and Reeves are in the backcourt. Then Quentin Grimes is probably your starting small forward, and he's a small forward. He's 6'4. Then at your power forward spot, we're talking right now, there's talk about Zaire Williams starting.

5:30 He's thin.

5:31 He's 185 pounds. Walker Kessler, awesome at the five spot. But I do think that's going to factor into how many wins this team does or this team has. So that's not a burden against Luka.

5:42 He's going to be awesome. He's going to be there.

5:44 I've got him as my clutch player of the year later on when we make that pick. But I'm still taking Wemby. I mean, it's AI time for this guy. No one knows what it can do, but it is spectacular.

5:54 Nobody is just more impactful on a possession-to-possession basis than Wemby on both ends of the floor. He is the best defensive player in the world by a large margin, and his offense should continue to grow. The only thing is MVPs over the last little bit, they usually hit like that 30-point-per-game mark. I think you've got to go— if you take out Jokic— A lot of these times, these guys hit the 30-plus point per game. SGA both times, Embiid.

6:21 Giannis did it one time out of his two, if you round up from 29.5 to 30. Harden, Russ, Curry. So will Wemby get there? I don't think so. I think he'll come up just short of that, but is 28, 29 points per game in play for him? Yeah, probably, in addition to being the best defensive player. So it makes sense, and they should win a lot of games that maybe he gets his first here.

6:42 As for the Shea argument, I think Shea might do what you just said about Wembley. He might drop to like a 29, 29 and a half when he's a 30-point guy. Because I think he's going to allow A.J. Mitchell and Cason Wallace to score a little bit more. I think he's going to set that up for the playoffs to keep himself fresh. Because I think he was burdened a little bit in the Western Conference final having to do it all himself. I think he's going to stay fresh a little bit. So if there's any argument against Shea, Gildress, Alexander, it's, yeah, he's won two in a row and you got to give him a third.

7:12 And plus, I think he will take a tiny step back, numbers-wise.

7:15 Okay, so you guys are both going Wemby. I'm going to take Luka for my official pick here, just because, like, okay, first off, maybe once again Wemby is flirting around the 65 game threshold. So, like, could be out of the running if he doesn't hit 65. That's a possibility, the way they slow play everything, especially in San Antonio. And then Luka, I'm with Trey. I lean more with Trey that I think the Lakers are actually going to be pretty damn good. maybe 50 plus wins or probably 50 plus wins. Could they just get top three? That's all we're getting at here because Luka's numbers, they're MVP like over the last couple of years. So if they just win enough, he doesn't have one. There's that sort of

7:51 fun narratives like, oh, all the time, NBA, all NBA. And he gets his first, but he's always a preseason favorite. Every year we do this. It's like Luka's in fact usually higher on the preseason favorites list. But if the Lakers pop off to a hot start, Like that plus 500 is going to very quickly change to, you know, plus 200 or even the favorite for Luka because of the numbers. Because he should score, you know, 32, 33 a game. He sort of does that in his sleep here.

8:17 They just got to get the wins.

8:19 Yeah, that's a big factor for me. Huge factor. We're talking spurts, thunder.

8:23 I still put the Rockets and the Nuggets into a category above the Lakers and then the Lakers in that.

8:28 Yeah. The crowd of teams below there, I think.

8:32 Dark horse picks, Trey.

8:34 Okay.

8:34 Maybe not on that list there or someone far down. Talk me into like a crazy MVP pick.

8:40 Easy one for me. Tyrese Halliburton is my dark horse pick. He went from game seven of the finals to a 19 win Pacers team to guess who's back. He looks good against the Thunder. Recently, if they finished with home court in the Eastern Conference, I think he's a top five lock for MVP balloting here just because he's going to be the obvious addition to the Pacers. We know they brought in Zubat's They're going to figure out the way they play together, look nice in the pick and roll against the Thunder. But Halliburton supercharges their offense. He just transforms everything for the Pacers. And it would be an easy narrative of, look, they were a great team.

9:19 They were a terrible team. Now they're a great team again. So I think Halliburton has a great shot here.

9:23 Yeah, that's a good one.

9:24 I think Anthony Edwards has a dark horse chance because the expectations for them is pretty big range.

9:30 We expect.

9:31 Them to be good with LaMelo Ball, but you can also say, I don't know, they're really, really thin up front.

9:36 They could drop off a little bit.

9:38 This is a guy that says he is way more able to affect the game defensively now with LaMelo taking the ball out of his hands a little bit. And so, yeah, I think he could just have a spectacular year offensively and defensively. And coming off a year where he played his fewest games of his career, I think he's got something to be motivated. The guy plays a ton, but last year, only played 61 games he's ready he's ready and you know there's got to be some focus there after the way he walked off the floor against the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs but a big range and I think that helps helps the narrative anyway.

10:13 Yeah he'd probably have to like lead the league in scoring to really win the whole damn thing, in addition to the Wolves being great, too.

10:20 And maybe that happens with LaMelo Ball there. Maybe, yeah.

10:24 I wouldn't put it past him for Anthony Edwards to lead the league in scoring. I mean, in the West, it feels like any of these other teams, like Lakers, Rockets, Nuggets, anyone outside of the Thunders and Spurs, if those squads, and Minnesota is one of them, can jump past the Spurs or Thunders somehow in the seeding in the West, obviously win the West, that really bolsters a chance for...

10:45 to obviously be an MVP. In the East, Trey, and I like your Halliburton pick for this reason, it's like, and I don't think they'll get to this mark, but is anybody in the East going to win 60 games?

10:54 No.

10:54 Right.

10:55 If they do, if they do, then like we saw with Cade last year being a top five guy, you know, maybe the Celtics and Tatum, he would warrant some consideration. Giannis with the Heat comes to mind. Then it's like, oh, okay, maybe there's something there. But I'm with you. I just think they're going to cannibalize each other. And I don't think, quite frankly, I don't even see anywhere close to 60 wins.

11:15 In the East. And I should add Jalen Brunson with the Knicks too, if they somehow keep that hot role or hot streak going from the finals. So my dark horse pick, it's an insane one. It's, I guess it's sort of Halliburton-esque. I can't believe I'm going to say it out loud. Trae Young, a plus 75,000. Is there a tiny narrative for the Wizards to not only double their win total, but even more? Top six in the Eastern Conference and Trae Young leading the league in assists.

11:45 It sort of would be like Nash-like in that regard. It's like, wow, this guy comes in, has all the kids cooking, and they're winning games. Not going to happen, but it's a dark horse for a reason. That's my hilarious reach. I think plus 75,000. He had to keep scrolling, scrolling, scrolling to find them.

11:59 Yeah, I guess it's fun to pick your dark horse in the East because... In the West, you're not winning a conference as.

12:06 A dark horse.

12:06 But, you know, Halliburton could with the Pacers. There's a chance the Wizards are winning.

12:13 Just trying to find the narrative, man. You know, they triple up. Maybe they've got to triple up their win total. What's 17 times 3? Somebody help me out. What do we get up to there?

12:23 At least 51.

12:24 Okay, they'd have to win 50 games. Trey Young leading the league in assists, like I said. I mean, you know, get some end of ballot, at least MVP consideration.

12:32 I don't think the Wizards have won 50 games in over 50 years.

12:34 Oh, yeah, right. Well, there you go.

12:36 Super close. There you go.

12:37 If they win 50 plus, he will be a top five MVP. Okay, okay.

12:41 Yeah, that's why John Wall was awesome. He says that those Cavs and LeBron James didn't want to see us in the playoffs. But they never won 50 games. They got super close.

12:51 Was that a 49-win season with John Wall?

12:53 I think they got 49 wins in 16-17. There you go. Yeah, those cats didn't want to see us. They won 60 in 74-75. And then 54 again in 78-79.

13:05 Okay, back in the 70s.

13:06 Back in the Bullets days.

13:08 That is crazy. Because they've had decent teams. They've had a lot more under-20-win seasons.

13:13 That's crazy. which they've had several of since then.

13:17 Yeah, then hitting 50. Okay, so Wemby, Wemby, Luka, and then obviously the silly more dark horse picks. But let's hear from everybody. Play along there in the stream team.

13:26 Do you guys ever feel vindictive about your MVP picks? Because I do. I'll never pick Luka to win MVP. I picked him two years in a row, and he came up short. Same with Jalen Brunson. I picked him to win MVP for the 25 season. Nowhere near. So I'll never pick him again.

13:41 Yeah, you're dead to me after you don't come through. Yeah, totally. Uh, with MVP, not as much because of all the awards, I've actually had some success calling, uh, an actual winner. The other ones next to zero. So maybe, uh, I'm holding on to hope there. I hear you on the Luca. Like I have laughed at probably you guys before many people out there, everybody picking Luca every year, every year.

14:02 Now here I am finally doing it. But, uh, no, you know, when you get spurred by these guys though, it does, does hurt.

14:09 Yeah.

14:09 You don't forget.

14:09 Never.

14:10 All right. Next one here. We're putting Rookie of the Year next because, man, this is wide open, it feels like. I mean, nobody's played yet, so of course it's wide open. But we've got some good-looking guys here in the preseason. Cam Boozer is the favorite right now. Plus 300, followed by Caleb Wilson right on his heels at plus 340.

14:28 Darren Peterson, plus 350. AJ DeBonsa at plus 410 with the Wizards. Are they going to win 50 games? Maybe it helps his chances. Darius Acuff Jr., plus 1,000. And then Yaxel Lindenborg at plus 1,500. All right, we have an idea where you're going, TK, but make the case for your rookie of the year winner.

14:46 This is tough, man. It's a head versus heart scenario for me. My head tells me it's got to be Cam Boozer. He's probably going to lead the Grizzlies in scoring. I think there's a chance they challenge for the play-in in the Western Conference, just being a very deep, mostly young team with some vets that are around. I think they're going to have a more successful competitive season than the Bulls do. But my heart wants me to pick Caleb Wilson because... When he wins Rookie of the Year, I want to be able to look back at our predictions and say, yeah, I knew he was going to win Rookie of the Year. So I'm going with Caleb Wilson.

15:16 Okay.

15:16 And that's happy for me to see that he's second on the odds leaderboard. I think he'll have the best highlights of any rookie. That maybe helps for voting. I think there's a chance he could lead the Bulls in scoring. I think he's probably more likely their third leading scorer. But things could fall apart for the Bulls after the trade deadline or later into the season, and they'd turn even more of the offense over. to Caleb. So give me Caleb Wilson, obviously.

15:42 Yeah, I'm going with the best bet. Cam Boozer is just polished and ready to be incredible. I can't believe he's 19 years old. After watching him in the preseason, it just doesn't compute that that guy is that young, that good right now in a more prominent role than the other guys in DeBansa and Peterson, who may end up being better NBA players down the road. But right now, This guy is huge. I mean, he is ready to battle anyone at 250 pounds listed.

16:17 He looks so polished. And coming out of college, he was putting up those numbers.

16:22 After that one year, he went 22, 10, and 4 assists last year. First guy to do it as a freshman or as a sophomore since Larry Bird. And you can see it on the floor. He can still pass and still make things happen. And when he's got a bigger role than DeBanzo, he's got Trey Young beside him to steal everything. And Peterson, who's got so many guys in Larry Markin and Keontae George and others beside him.

16:44 This is the pick. This is the pick for this year right now.

16:48 You stole the words right from me, TK. I wrote down, I'm a coin flip between Boozer and Caleb Wilson. One bet is with my heart. That's Wilson. One bet is with my head. And that's Cam Boozer. It's exact thinking as you. Because as entertaining as Wilson is probably going to be, Boozer is just the most ready-made product from from the class, uh, the size, the smarts, the playmaking, all of it, some three point shooting, he's going to have a role, big role on Memphis. So I think it's him. I think we're gonna have a weird rookie of the year sort of race here where it's like, it's going to like start cam boozer sort of from day one. And then we'll get sort of bored of his consistent numbers and production and like, you know, here

17:28 comes the Caleb Wilson couple weeks for ROI. Here's AJ DeBansa and maybe Peterson and maybe Darius Acuff even. And we'll have like these little sort of waves. But in the end, we'll just be like, oh yeah, he was pretty damn consistent all year. And he was like, you know, flirting with 2010s or whatever he's doing. So I'm going Cam Boozer as much as I love Caleb Wilson and can't wait to see what he does.

17:47 But.

17:48 Just seems like the right pick, the safe pick, which isn't always fun. No, it's not always fun. But probably will be the right one because he is really good. They all look awesome. I mean, I know it's preseason, like whatever. All the highlights from these guys. It feels like a lot of them are going to slot in here and like contribute. And AJ and Peterson are interesting because they're on, well, I was going to say they're going to be on better teams or teams trying to win.

18:09 Same with Boozer.

18:10 Same.

18:11 Well, yeah.

18:12 Yeah, I mean, I could argue the Jazz might be ahead of the Grizzlies, or people are going to go back and forth. Grizzlies are going to be a competitive team, for sure. The Bulls are the only, and obviously the Kings, are the only teams that are going to stink for these rookies.

18:24 Who is your dark horse pick for ROI?

18:28 I don't really have a dark horse, because I think it's going to be one of the top four draft picks, but I'll say Adai Mara is going to make second team all-rookie.

18:34 Okay.

18:36 Gets the opportunity. You're playing a ton, obviously, preseason, but the Thunder aren't really playing any of their guys, so. Right now he's killing it.

18:42 Yeah, he looks awesome.

18:43 And I guess there's an outside chance that Hartenstein or Chet Holmgren misses time and he just plays a ton and ends really, really good. And as I said, I think Shea is going to allow other guys to do a little more on that team. You know, the Darius Acuff one is fun to pick because he's going to have so much opportunity, it feels like, in Sacramento. In the preseason, Tremont Green is pulling him over and apparently saying to him, hey, you might want to let other guys touch the ball a little bit.

19:10 Pass the ball, man.

19:11 That's awesome.

19:12 Acuff breaks it down and says, yeah, that guy told me, hey, how many passes did you make that last possession?

19:18 He says, none.

19:20 Draymond Green's like, you know, might want to increase those by one or two. But he is really, really talented. And who else has taken the shots from him? I know Zach Levine could. But it looks like he's going to have the ball in his hands. So he's got the opportunity like Cam Boozer.

19:34 So it's fun. It is.

19:36 Unfortunate you don't see on the odds boards guys who are taken ahead of Darius Acuff Keaton Wagler with the Clippers and Michael Brown with the Nets they just ain't there right now Brown's hurt a little bit but um I don't know. They might be all right. Jax Landenberg is an interesting one because he's really, really, really good.

19:54 I guess there's an outside chance. He's the old rookie who does it.

19:57 Yeah, his odds probably drop the most significantly in the first month of the season. He looks like he's 24 years old.

20:03 He is.

20:03 He's older than pods. How unbelievable is that?

20:06 Yeah, that's wild.

20:07 Yeah, that's totally true.

20:08 That's crazy.

20:09 Yeah, like there's going to be a role for him, obviously, with the injuries to Moody and Butler, and he's older, so he's ready for that opportunity. He's a do-everything sort of combo forward, too, so... He looks great.

20:21 And speaking of old guys, I wanted to make the comparison to the 2005 Rookie of the Year when Emeka Okafor won it over Dwight Howard to Cam Boozer because I do think there will be a better player, you know, not quite Dwight Howard, but we'll see, that surpasses Cam Boozer one day. And Emeka Okafor, he was way older than Cam Boozer is, though. He was 22 then, too, so he played a ton. So it's a little different.

20:50 But he peaked.

20:51 And Cam Boozer, man, he could be a much better player than Emeka Okafor. No disrespect to Emeka. Love that guy.

20:58 But Boozer is going to be good for how long, man? Could be 20 years. He could be one of those guys. Yeah, I know. It's long.

21:05 He's young. This is crazy to me. Caleb Wilson and Cam Boozer born on the same day, one year apart. Both July 18th birthdays.

21:13 Well, that is a weird little thing.

21:13 Kind of messed up to me. Here's another thing I think that's messed up I've been thinking about lately. You know, we haven't had the NBA around for the most part, so I've watched other sports. We had Jalen McDaniels and Jaden McDaniels in the NBA. Now there's quarterbacks that are Jalen Daniels and Jaden Daniels. And then I saw there's a new pitcher, Cam Boozer, as well. B-O-O-S-E-R.

21:33 Huh.

21:34 He's, I don't know, he's on one of these Western conference teams. AL teams. Oh.

21:39 But yeah, Cam Boozer.

21:40 We're running out of names. There's like 5,000 professional athletes in North America, and we're already doubling up on names. How's that possible? Not everybody can be a Yaxel Lendeborg, I guess.

21:51 That's a great one.

21:52 We'll probably never see another one of those.

21:55 I'm with you that the Rookie of the Year is guaranteed to come from this list we're showing with the Rookie of the Year odds. It feels like it's going to be at least somebody on this short list of the favorites. But my dark horse pick, if you went way down, plus 10,000. I'll take a flyer on Bucks guard.

22:11 Here's a great name, Trey. Braden Burries. I don't know another Braden Burries in my life. He played really well in Summer League.

22:19 Isn't he in Survivor? Oh, that's Brody, Brady, Brody, Buddy.

22:22 That's Brady Booker, yes.

22:23 I know.

22:24 Brady Booker.

22:24 He knows his last name. Burries had one good preseason game. I thought he looked solid. I think he had 16-5, a couple steals. He's going to be a steal merchant, which is great, in like 20 minutes that he played. The only issue with him is... Like, they have a lot of guards on Milwaukee, so he's going to be competing for opportunities. Like, heroes starting, that's a given. Then it's probably Ryan Rollins alongside him. And then there's, of course, there's Gary Trent Jr. Obviously, Burries is going to try and get a roll off the bench. But, you know, an injury happens, and they're not going to win a ton of games, I don't believe. So maybe he gets some stats here. But it's a long shot at plus 10,000.

23:04 I just think there could be an opportunity. He would need an injury ahead of him or a big trade. Most improved player of the year. Your favorite? Brandon Miller, but at plus 750. I always love this award. They don't even know. They're like, I don't know. I guess, I guess he's a favorite. Dylan Harper, plus 1200. Peyton Pritchard, plus 1300. We'll get into a little Pritchard news in a second. Sarr Thompson, plus 1500, along with Ty Jerome with the Grizzlies. And then two more there at plus 1800, Kalal Ware and Nas Reed. A couple bigs, Ware in Milwaukee, obviously Nas Reed now in Charlotte. So MIP, Tass, it used to routinely go to players who like leapt up to all NBA sort of level. But then recently we

23:47 saw it go to Dyson Daniels and Nikhil Alexander-Walker, like good players. Improved players, but not on an all NBA level. So where are you going with this one?

23:56 I'm dropping at the recent trend. Cason Wallace of the Thunder.

24:00 Okay.

24:02 8.6 points per game last year, but I think it may jump up a lot. Will he start? I don't even know for sure.

24:09 It could be A.J. Mitchell over him. But the fact is he's going to make his way onto the floor and play 30, 35 minutes.

24:15 35 is a lot.

24:16 But at the same time, there's a reason why he's going to play that much because he's damn good.

24:20 He just knows who he is.

24:22 I guess it's a little like Dyson Daniels in that he knows he can score at the rim and and that he doesn't need to do all the mid-range type of stuff, but he's a far better three-point shooter than Dyson Daniels.

24:36 I think he's just damn good.

24:37 So I would take him as making a big jump rather than a guy like Brandon Miller. I think the odds are nobody knows. That makes sense with Brandon Miller. I think that's his 20-point-per-game season last year coming into this year where Kobe White is injured. He doesn't have that standard point guard around him even, and I didn't think he did even with Kobe White there. that he had last year with Lomelo. So I don't like that jump.

25:01 This is a fun one to make picks. I think Cason Wallace will be that little guy out there, again, from 8.6 to 15 even. Double it up type thing. I think there's a fair chance at that.

25:12 All right, Cason Wallace, fair pick. I think he's going to start. I do.

25:15 I think A.J.

25:16 Mitchell will come off the bench at least to start. You never know. You're right. Dagnall tries things. Okay, where are you going with this one?

25:21 I think this is hard because every player is eligible. Every player could get better. You know, Shea Gilgis-Alexander, if he shoots 58% from three, are you telling me he's not the most improved player out there? And Victor Wimbo-Nyama averages 40 points per game and 18 blocks. He probably could win MIP as well. Cason Wallace was who I was thinking coming in, but I'm just not so sure of the opportunity with SGA obviously being their leader, J-Dub being back this season. Things worked out nicely for Wallace to have some opportunity to lead the team. He was 9-3-3, great percentages. As a starter, I don't know. And then you mentioned like the way the award has been going recently where it's like legitimate improvements from guys who are

26:03 non-stars but who also changed teams, had a lot more opportunity. So I'm trying to say, who are those guys? Peyton Watson fits that mold? Walker Kessler fits that mold? Jonathan Kaminga fits that mold? I'm not picking any of those guys. Give me Brandon Miller. He's going to score the most points of any of these guys.

26:23 In the end, it just comes back to him.

26:24 He's going to score the most. He could be a 25 point per game.

26:28 Yeah, I wrote down like he could, I think realistically average. I went 24, but I'm fine with 25. 24, like six and four from him for the Hornets this year in that lead role, I think is in play. He always gets compared to Paul George as well. And that's a guy that won a most improved. I think he won it in his third year. This would be. year four for Brandon Miller, but along the same timeline. So I am ultimately going with him too. It's not all that sexy, but.

26:53 I wonder if defensive schemes take away a little bit from him, especially, you know, LaMelo gone, but especially Conk and Nipple out to start the season.

27:01 Just take that guy away. And you have Dennis.

27:04 Schroeder running the point to help him out, but I do think they missed the point guards.

27:08 We'll see.

27:08 Yeah, it's possible. We could find out. What about a crazy pick, Trey, down the list?

27:13 Oh, man, I got a couple. What about this guy?

27:15 Okay, give me a couple what about this guy.

27:16 Scoot Henderson. Wow. What about this guy? He made four threes and a half. He's going to probably be coming off the bench, but he looks better, and he was pretty solid in the playoffs, I thought, for the Blazers last year.

27:28 Threes are nice right now. They look good. Exactly.

27:31 Exactly right. It always matters in the preseason. Matas Bouzelis, he's going to take a leap this season. Yegor Joman, only a second-year player. Don't love that, but I think he's a solid player, and I think he'll get some votes. And then my weirdest ones, Ja Morant and Ben Simmons.

27:46 Oh, right.

27:46 So comeback players almost.

27:48 We don't have comeback player of the year anymore, so we've got to give them something else. Ja Morant could be a two-time winner of MIP.

27:55 Oh, jeez.

27:55 Still got to mail it to Desmond Bain, though.

27:57 Yeah, exactly.

27:59 And then, look, Ben Simmons was out of the league, and now he's trying to score.

28:04 Okay, let's talk through this Ben Simmons. Like, I love this. Like, could he have any chance to win most improved? Because the guy was all NBA at the start of his career. Then he goes away, and he's fishing. And then he comes back, and let's say he plays solid and looks good, and the back is healthy and puts up some numbers. Like, would they at all give him this?

28:24 Nah, I don't think so. It's fun to pair him along with Ja Morant. Yeah, it's a comeback. It's the reputation, the resume.

28:33 What about Halliburton then or Tatum? Same thing, I guess, coming back from injury.

28:38 Well, narrative story-wise, John Morant and.

28:43 Ben Simmons took a hit big time in a different way than Jason Tatum.

28:46 Yeah, okay.

28:47 So it's more a storyline. But I think John Morant is really, really interesting. I think it's interesting because it's possible.

28:54 It's possible. With Ben Simmons, I don't think it's possible. What are the numbers going to be?

28:58 It's more like just he took a year off and now he's back. Because I don't think the numbers are going to get all that much better.

29:04 Where are they going to go?

29:05 Could flirt with a triple-double.

29:06 10-10-10?

29:07 Yeah, man.

29:08 Come on.

29:09 John may lead a really, really great offense in Portland. And that would be the storyline. I don't think John Morant's numbers are going to be all that great. And I don't think you want them to be all that great with Denny Avdia and Damian Lillard. And a scoot and a drew and a clinging waiting for him to give them the ball. That would be these are both just storylines. I think a wild one is Khalil Ware.

29:31 I know he is on the list for odds, but it would just be a guy who wasn't trusted 100 under Eric Spolstra in Miami getting trusted in Milwaukee. But even that's questionable. Will he be trusted to play a ton even though the roster is short? He should be, but he may not be. That would be a fun one. There's a possibility there.

29:53 Yeah, he's kind of a Dyson Daniels-like case, switching teams and getting a bigger opportunity from... the second.

30:00 Spot yeah yeah so there's guys there the naz read one that's a crazy one yeah where's that gonna go what is he gonna put up i love the guy.

30:10 Well you'd have to be like 20 plus points per game i think is where you got to get to here that i mean that's why the brandon miller one makes the most sense from charlotte's perspective because like if he's an all-star and he's scoring 25 there's a bump there he becomes the guy maybe they surprise people and stay competitive uh obviously and sort of play and race.

30:27 Some people think they're going to drop off a little bit with LaMelo gone. We'll see. A couple other guys I'll throw out there. Colin Murray-Boyles on the Raptors.

30:34 Oh, absolutely.

30:35 He's getting a lot of buzz that he's improved. Zach Eadie, if he can just play. If he plays 65-plus games, I think the numbers are there. They're going to jump off the page, and maybe he helps out with Cam Boozer. But, man, a big guy like that with foot problems playing that many games, unlikely. But my dark horse pick, and you sort of slipped him in there, TK, Walker Kessler at plus 3,000. Now, there's another guy that didn't play last year, what, five games in total. But you could see him averaging like 14 and 12, two blocks. And if he can like actually improve the Lakers defense or like somehow get it above average, top 10, something along those lines, which I think is far-fetched, but if he could, and the

31:12 Lakers win a bunch of games, I think there's maybe a case for him. So that would be my dark horse pick.

31:16 Yeah. The Thompson twins deserve some love. Amen.

31:21 With that point guard beside him may start shooting a little bit better. Hey, Chip England is here as our coach. The shooting should be better.

31:29 Just watch, look at the Spurs and look at the Thunder. Maybe, maybe there's that. And, uh, I'm sorry.

31:36 I don't think it's going to happen, but there's the hope there in Detroit, I suppose that he's just going to click, but I guess he could be a little Dyson Daniels ish, like just the numbers increase because his role increases and they may not be efficient. But he can still put up the points and be a storyline.

31:52 Well, the two of them have like a built-in advantage, the twins, because we know their limitations. So everyone's like, well, you know, they're awesome players, but, you know, they could really add a shot or some more scoring punch. So we know that. And if we see it and we're like, whoa, and then the numbers bear it out, it's like, oh, okay, he did it. He improved.

32:09 And he can be a defensive player of the year. So he could just be part of the headlines.

32:12 They're going to be fine there. I think they're making all defensive teams for the foreseeable future. Both of them, really, especially Asar.

32:18 Yeah.

32:20 Yeah, there's a bunch of names out there, but in the end, Cason Wallace and two Brandon Millers, official picks. All right, let's get to the Pritchard news, though, because he is on this list, and he's on another one coming up here, too. Celtics guard Peyton Pritchard agreed to a two-year $ 44. 2 million contract extension, plus, Tass, you'll like this, a mutual option in 29-30. So Pritchard is currently playing on a deal that pays him just $ 7. 8 million this season, $ 8. 3 million next year, and then the extension kicks in and, you know, significant pay increase for this guy. Did you have any reaction to Pritchard's extension here?

32:56 Seeing another mutual option.

32:58 I just said, well, NBA mutual options in 2026, they're like velvet dresses or velvet suits. I think, you know, kind of fly under the radar a little bit, but then you look at them and you say, Oh God, that's nice. That should be around forever. People should use them, but, but they are just sort of there.

33:15 You thinking about getting one?

33:17 Yeah.

33:17 Nice.

33:18 Yeah.

33:18 I could see you rocking one.

33:19 Everybody should have one. I think everybody should have one. Everybody should have a mutual option. Everybody should wear a velvet.

33:23 Here in the South, though, it's a hot fabric.

33:26 It's hot.

33:27 I mean, you were still in Canada? I'd say no-brainer.

33:31 Come on, man.

33:32 Seasonal.

33:33 Seasonal.

33:33 I know, I know. Now's the time, though. It gets cool.

33:36 Cool.

33:37 Is that cool out? You're like setting records down here today with this temperature.

33:41 When you wake up in the morning, it's 50 Fahrenheit.

33:44 When I walk the dog at seven in the morning.

33:48 Good point. 35 degree swing every day here for the Fahrenheiters. Good for him.

33:52 In two years, they can walk away from this deal because of the mutual option and he can get an extension at 30 years old. And I think that's the big benefit for Peyton Pritchard and why they have that mutual option in there. But he can also just say, hey, I'm taking that third year for that number and stick around.

34:10 But at 30, I think he wants to get paid one more time.

34:12 Right. Good for him.

34:13 This surprised some people, though, because Pritchard accepted the most the Celtics could offer in dollar terms, but not the longest deal. And maybe this goes to what you're saying, like to get there to, again, free agency a little quicker as he ages up here. Because he is like, he doesn't seem old because he also looks very young.

34:30 Maybe the size of him, too. I don't know what it is, but. He turns 29 in January, so he's in his prime here now. But any reaction to this, TK? I think this is a good deal for a good player. He vastly outperformed the contract he's on now. Such a scam for the Celtics to have him making $ 7 million to $ 8 million.

34:47 He's been a $ 20 million player for the Celtics, though I will say Pritchard kind of is able to dodge some bullets with regards to playoff performance. He's fallen off in the playoffs, but he's not their number one guy, so you don't expect it quite as much. They're paying him from... age 29 to age 32, like you're saying, he can extend off that higher number eventually, so it's kind of the Celtics doing him a favor as well.

35:11 I think this is good. He's like your fifth starter or a sixth man, and that's kind of what these guys get paid now.

35:15 A little trivia for you here. Maybe you read all the way to the end of the ESPN article, so maybe you already know the answer, but Pritchard is one of four players to make at least 200 three-pointers in multiple seasons in Celtics history. Can you name the other three guys?

35:30 Tatum?

35:30 Tatum is one of them, yeah.

35:32 Is there a crazy Antoine Walker?

35:34 There is a crazy Antoine Walker. Did it twice.

35:37 And then.

35:37 Paul Pierce?

35:38 Other name. No, not Paul Pierce. So 200 three-pointers in multiple seasons.

35:42 It's Pritchard.

35:43 It's Tatum. It's Antoine Walker. Give me the shimmy. And then this guy. Derek White?

35:46 Derek White.

35:46 There you go.

35:47 I thought that would be the tough one. Got to be the recent guys. Exactly. Of course, Paul Pierce never did it, though. Yeah, yeah. I've been seeing a lot of Paul Pierce love on the timeline lately.

35:55 Really?

35:55 He just had a birthday yesterday. Some people were like... Unfortunately, you got to hand it to him. He was very good for like the 05 to, I don't know, 12, basically. He was one of LeBron's rivals. He earned that status.

36:09 Fair enough.

36:10 All right.

36:10 Well, a little more Pritchard news here because our next award is sixth man of the year, and he's the favorite from the oddsmakers. Pritchard, plus 400, followed by A.J. Mitchell there on the graphic for OKC, plus 500. And then a bit of a drop-off, Dylan Harper with the Spurs. This is a real, like, is he or is he not starting, but plus 1,000. Anthony Simons, he's on the Sixers at plus 2,000. DeRozan, plus 2,000. Io DeSumo with the Wolves at plus 2,000. TK, we'll start with you on this one. Where's your lean here for sixth man of the year?

36:42 This is my least favorite award. Okay, well, why? Because all they do is say who led the league in scoring off the bench. Give it to that guy.

36:49 Yeah, generally.

36:49 Yeah, so maybe it'll be Pritchard. he's got one. I also feel like if you win one six man of the year, you're going to be grandfathered in to the voting. So that's good for him. I look at Mitchell. I look at Harper. They might start too many games. Simmons or Simons into Rosen. Not for me. So I'm going with Aya. Okay. I would assume he's like the sixth starter for the Timberwolves, which I think is big. I think there is a potential for him to start some games and I think he will definitely be finishing games.

37:19 for the Timberwolves, had a great playoffs, just plays hard. He was in the mix for sixth man last year, got a couple of votes, not enough, but give me Io this season for sixth man.

37:30 My favorite part about this award is you actually want your guy, your pick, to end up starting 20, 25 games, maybe 30 games, not too many, where you can't obviously win sixth man of the year, but you do that, you get more minutes, you generally help out your numbers, and And none of us, when we do this, like we don't parse out usually like his starting numbers to his bench numbers. It just like boosts your numbers overall.

37:53 So someone like Io, someone like Pritchard, maybe even AJ, like they could be helped out by just starting a quarter of the season's games.

38:00 That's what happened to Pritchard last year. Exactly.

38:02 Exactly.

38:03 He started what, 50, 51 games and that's too many for the threshold. That's one threshold that I'm okay with. You have to be on the bench for at least half the games and that's okay for me. And he wasn't, and he might not be this year. There is a chance with Paul George going down at some point this season.

38:22 Hopefully Paul's around, but maybe, you know, he squeaks in there. He could even start now. I think Missoula is probably going to play Baylor Shireman instead, but there's a chance that Peyton gets up there.

38:34 I will go with Dylan Harper.

38:36 I think he's still playing for an organization that says, hey, this is what's best for the team right now. Dylan, you come off the bench. This could be a scenario like Manu Ginobili with the Spurs years ago where he starts or he comes off the bench now and then at some point.

38:51 He does start. And then maybe he goes back to the bench.

38:55 I know that's really weird to think of when you think about current talented guys. That's what happened with Manu. That's a long time ago. So maybe that's different for this guy. But if you do look at his regular season numbers, I mean, it wasn't a lot. You know, it was 11 points per game back last year. So even a big jump, which could happen off the bench, could get this guy higher than Peyton Pritchard's points per game.

39:21 That's a possibility.

39:22 I'm just like of all these guys on this list, I'm most confident Dylan Harper does start 42 plus games.

39:29 True.

39:30 It's my opinion on this and I feel a little more confident the other guys at least coming off the bench rabbit but we'll see I'll take AJ Mitchell at plus 500 obviously second here in the odds race he was pretty incredible in the playoffs last year until he got injured then again a lot of those postseason games were coming in starts because J-Dub was injured so there's this trickle-down effect but I think for the vast majority of the year, he will come off the bench. I do with, with Case and Wallace, obviously starting sort of in his place and a healthy J-dub back and he should score. And TK, you started this off with like, who scores the most? It could be him. I think he could flirt with 18 points per game, let's say, uh,

40:06 off the bench. And that's usually enough to win like a six man. We haven't had a guy crack 20 off the bench since Tyler Hero, which was, you know, a couple of years ago at this point, maybe five years ago. So it's usually around that mark or not even, maybe sometimes not even at that mark. So if he gets a 17, 18 and they win a ton of games, which they should, I think there'll be some Mitchell love, especially with Pritchard already, already having one of these.

40:28 Yeah.

40:29 I am curious what Dagnall is going to do with OKC. If it's going to be case in walls or it's going to be him, he's going to play it. According to the way he feels that particular day, he may switch it up, but AJ Mitchell, definitely a good pick.

40:44 I think, We may be just overlooking DeMar DeRozan. Seriously.

40:48 Make the case.

40:49 Well, this dude can put it in the hole. It's simple as that. And then when he goes to the bench for the first time in his career, this guy has started, let me look at the numbers.

40:58 I guess since he was a rookie, right?

40:59 He started 1,252 of his 1,264 games. So now he gets thrown on the bench. That's a fun narrative for sure. It definitely seems like that is going to happen. And then you put him beside the guy's On the bench that he's going to play with Tyus Jones, who's going to be giving him the ball. Defensive guys like Alpha Diallo, who looks like a pest, or Spencer Jones, or Marvin Bagley, who's a big, who's not going to be handling the ball.

41:24 You got some one-offs like Alani Walker might steal the ball from him a little bit.

41:28 He's gone. They let him go?

41:30 I think so.

41:31 Oh, okay.

41:31 That makes sense. So DeMar's got a better option. Cam Whitmore's still around there as a two-way guy. Is he going to steal the ball from him?

41:42 Maybe. But DeMar's going to put up a ton of points. We haven't had a 20-point guy. Is that?

41:47 A lot of opportunity for DeMar.

41:49 Could he get 20 per game? You said we haven't had a 20-point per game guy. if there's anybody who could do it, it's this guy.

41:58 Yeah, it's a good pick. And obviously why he's included here is one of the favorites, but at plus 2,000, it's pretty good value.

42:03 Yeah.

42:03 If all you're talking this.

42:04 Out, yeah.

42:05 Yeah, I think David Adelman, I should say the head coach, looks at them and says, okay, this is the year Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, where you don't have to worry about carrying the bench at all.

42:16 That guy can do it. That guy can score, man. I mean, if it's just numbers, this guy could lead all these guys in scoring.

42:23 Yeah.

42:24 Simple as that.

42:25 Anyone else under consideration you want to throw in there?

42:28 Well, here's the funny thing. And the reason I ended up picking the Thunder over when we did their over-unders is that A.J. Mitchell is second in odds right now. If he ends up having to start, Jared McCain would be my pick for sixth man of the year. And then I look at ESPN and they chose Alex Caruso as their sixth man of the year. That's three candidates from the same team. Pretty good bench.

42:50 Yeah. That's the problem.

42:51 That's why they win a lot of games.

42:52 Yeah.

42:52 In addition to their superstars.

42:54 Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

42:56 And that's why I had, I had a problem picking, uh, Cason Wallace's most improved. Cause I don't know. It could just be AJ Mitchell.

43:03 Or Jeremy Kane.

43:04 Yeah.

43:04 Or Jeremy Kane.

43:05 It literally could be, but it, it does suit those guys. Well, number one, cause Lou Dort is gone. And one of those guys is going to be shoved in there and it's going to be able to score. And number two, I think again, Shay is going to take on a little bit of a lesser role. But yeah, there's too many options. I think Reed Shepard is a dark horse.

43:22 I know our friends at ESPN had him up there just because he got thrown into this starter role where he was kind of the pseudo starter last year. Now he'll be on the bench most likely if Fred is healthy. So maybe he's just a spark off the bench.

43:37 You think he keeps the mustache during the regular season?

43:41 And the hair?

43:42 Yeah.

43:43 Sort of like young Ron Jeremy look he's got going on. I hope so. We need more mustaches.

43:49 And he probably puts on a headband at some point, right?

43:52 Yeah, it's very flowy. It's a good point.

43:55 Yeah.

43:55 All right, so you have Dylan Harper, you got Io, and I have AJ Mitchell. So three different picks there. Let's hear from everybody. Who are you taking for six man? all right, here's a fun one that we already know the answer to defensive player of the year. Wemby, your odds on favorite minus three 30. And then Chad Holmgren, who was runner up last year, plus 1000. So it's a hell of a drop off here in the odds, a SAR Thompson plus 2,500. And then three guys at plus 3,500 Rudy Gobert, bam out of bio and Scotty Barnes, Trey, um, look, I think we're all, are we all just taking Wemby or are we all just going to agree on that?

44:32 We can talk through maybe some other candidates if he doesn't play 65 games.

44:36 That's all it is. Yeah.

44:37 The new defensive player of the year is actually the, will Victor Wemby play 65 games or 64 plus one?

44:43 Yeah, exactly.

44:44 Yeah.

44:45 Yeah. They counted the cup, right?

44:46 They counted the cup. That's actually awesome. And then he was a unanimous winner.

44:51 Yeah.

44:52 The first ever unanimous winner. Right. So he could definitely be the first ever back-to-back unanimous winner this year. So for me, definitely Wemby. My number two man, Scotty Barnes.

45:03 Hey, let's go.

45:04 I think the Raptors could have the best defense in the Eastern Conference. They were third last season behind Detroit and Boston. They added Kawhi Leonard. You think their defense will be better? And Scotty is the leader on that defense, even if Kawhi is coming in with the DPOY bona fides.

45:18 He's got, like we've talked about this too, Scottie seems to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder too about being snubbed for first-team all-defense last year. You love to see that. And yeah, they should be top five. Yeah, I have them. I have them in the running. And, you know, we just need, there's going to need to be a secondary award for this. You know, there's the Wemby Defensive Player of the Year and then whoever else, be it a Sir Thompson, Scottie Barnes, these other guys.

45:39 Because if he plays, he's winning it.

45:42 The award that Victor could win is.

45:45 he was the guy who got the 65 award or 65 games played requirement eliminated because we don't want to be talking about it at all. And maybe it's Victor having all this gravity and somehow some way, just because Victor is talked about so much, they say, okay, we don't want to talk about it as much. And maybe he's the reason that they eliminated because it has to be eliminated.

46:10 It's bad for the league.

46:11 For people, us, Losers on the internet, on Twitter, talking about, oh, this guy isn't good enough to play 65 games. It just reduces what the league is about. It's almost defamatory. It's almost, this guy's just not good enough. This conversation is just, it's not good for the game. They're going to end up talking about it online for the whole season.

46:37 But so like talk this through, like let's say Wemby, whatever, picks up an injury that takes him out for a couple of weeks and he only plays 60 games. You're saying at the end of the year, yeah, just let them decide because otherwise we're going to be like, come on, we know he's the best defensive player, but he's five games short.

46:51 Look at this dumb threshold. What does it matter?

46:54 What does it matter if a guy's playing 61 or 65? And then we end up talking about it for whatever reason a team applies and says, hey, this guy was abroad because his baby was born or whatever.

47:07 Stupid argument there is out there.

47:09 So we just talk about that and not just we, because we talk about it intelligently here on the show.

47:14 But online, that's the discussion.

47:17 This guy's not good enough.

47:17 He didn't make 65 games.

47:18 It's just annoying. I think it's annoying. It's not good for the game.

47:22 And the NBA tried to eliminate it last year, at the end of last year, I guess it was.

47:26 They said, let's get rid of it.

47:28 And they should.

47:29 What's the difference with a guy playing 61 or 62 or 63? I think the voters can decide. They kind of have their own threshold anyways, and it's 60.

47:36 I think.

47:37 Yeah, it's generally been around there. Which makes sense, but I don't know. I just get rid of it.

47:43 Who would you take then to win defense player of the year if Wemby? Unfortunately for you, only plays 60 games and comes up short. Who do you take?

47:50 Of course I want to talk Scottie.

47:51 Okay.

47:51 Of course.

47:52 That was, even in the preseason, I mean, you could feel the, The claws coming from Scottie and from Kawhi when anybody gets in the lane, watching them play the Knicks, it's scary.

48:04 Well, that wasn't really the Knicks, but.

48:06 Yeah, okay. I mean, I could have been playing for that team.

48:09 Yes, yes.

48:09 But still.

48:10 Yeah, they dominated.

48:12 Giannis, I think Giannis is a dark horse.

48:15 Yeah.

48:15 With the Miami Heat because he needs a great center playing beside him. And when he won it with Brooke Lopez playing beside him, Brooke was awesome. Now at this point of Brooke's career and what the Milwaukee Bucks became, Giannis took a step back defensively, but with Bam beside him, I think it could be a little bit different. And that defense could jump from 13th in the league last year to.

48:41 Top five even. They should be. They should be good.

48:44 But that's interesting because Giannis isn't on this list. It's Bam that the odds makers think would get that consideration. He was a good defender too.

48:52 Right.

48:52 Like Chet Holmgren last year who finished second. Somebody's got to get credit for their incredible team defense. It's still a team defense that gets them there. And Giannis could be. Although, you know, Bam is deserved as well.

49:05 I almost can't say finish second last year with Chet Holmgren in this because Trey said it. Wemby was unanimously the number one pick for everybody in defense player of the year. And then you got to fill out the rest of your ballot. And it's like a little different when like someone else is also getting first place votes.

49:19 And it's like, okay, second place. But yeah, it's Wemby. But you know, Chet could win this thing too, of course, if Wemby comes up short. Chet is, he gets hilariously overlooked just because Wemby's like a level up even from Chet's awesome defense and rim protection and stuff like that. He's really, really good. I wonder, could we see, well, either of them, I guess, but more likely Wemby Could anybody average four blocks per game? We haven't had that in a very, very long time. Wemby's in his career's three and a half.

49:47 Walker.

49:48 Last year was down a little bit.

49:49 Walker Kessler. Wow, Walker.

49:50 Okay, that's a hell of a jump. But Dikembe Mutombo last to average, I think, four blocks per game.

49:58 When?

49:58 20 plus years ago, I think.

49:59 Then it ain't happening.

49:59 Yeah, it's a very, very long time. No, I'm with you. It's probably unlikely because at least teams and players have figured out like, okay, he's around me. Don't shoot. Because his numbers did go down blocks per game for Wemby last year. He was like, When he first came, it was like 3.8, and now it's down to 3.1.

50:13 I like Walker, even though it's like a double.

50:16 It's almost a double. Because the perimeter defense is bad enough to just let him on through and.

50:23 Get another block, buddy.

50:24 He might be challenged the most. Yeah, that's a good one.

50:27 Good way to put it.

50:28 Okay, everybody taking Wemby. A lot of love for Scotty Barnes, but let's hear from you guys out there. Who else could you make a case for if Wemby doesn't hit 65 games? Coach of the Year. This one's wide open. Darko Ryakovic with the Raptors as the favorite at plus 1000. I guess the thinking is, you know, maybe Raps or maybe they win the East for crying out loud and Darko would get some love there. Finch, Spolstra, Will Hardy, Rick Carlisle, all at plus 1200. And then we don't have them on the graphic there, but then it's Sweeney with Orlando, Nurse in Philadelphia, Norrie with Portland at all plus 1500. So Tass, get us started, man. I thought this was difficult to try and decide who's going to

51:12 win this thing. Where are you going?

51:13 A lot of deserved guys here.

51:15 Darko's not a bad one with all the depth they have, but I think there is an outside chance Mitch Johnson gets it. After all of the hell he took in the NBA finals, like, hey, you got to drop this guy. You got to fire this guy. They're not playing hard for you. If he comes in this year and is able to assemble a team, where everyone's speculating, oh, Dylan Harper should be starting. And he can manage that. And they become the number one seed. That's important. Here, I think there's an outside chance. He's not even close to this list.

51:46 He's plus 2,500. He's actually my pick to win it. So it's surprising that you went with him. He finished third last year. He was behind Missoula and Bickerstaff. But yeah, for him to win it, they got to be the number one seed. That's a no-brainer. They probably got to be like that 65-game threshold because they were already good last year. And you're right, this decision that he has to make to start the season, this dilemma, if we want to call it, of like, who are you starting with these guards here? And how are you going to manage that? That'll play a part. But I also went with him because otherwise I was like, Darko winning? I don't know. Even if they're the number one seed in the East, it's like, aren't they going to be like, yeah,

52:21 you added Kawhi. Remember last time he came, he won a title for your team. I was like, I don't know. I can't really see that happening.

52:28 But if that's the narrative, oh, he won the number one seed, It could be an Eastern Conference where the number one seed is grabbable for the.

52:36 First team in a while.

52:37 And second, it could be with Kawhi playing 50 games and not playing a ton.

52:41 I still think they could do it.

52:42 Yeah, you're right.

52:43 You're right.

52:44 If they load manage him. And I guess the over-unders when it came to the Raptors was pretty– what we felt was low. A lot of people, everybody it feels like is low. So if that jumps like it was 46.5, if they're more of a 55-win team, which, wow, that would be awesome. Yeah, I guess. They're going to have to be awesome.

52:58 And I say– depth.

52:59 Pizza party for everybody if Gargoyle wins coach of the year.

53:02 Hopefully it's not pizza, pizza. It's a better one than that. There's better options than pizza, pizza, Canada.

53:08 You don't like cardboard pizza?

53:10 I do.

53:10 I love their dipping sauces. Their pizza sucks, but man, that sweet chili.

53:14 Ooh, baby.

53:15 Sauce party. That's a great sauce party.

53:18 You're right. You're right.

53:19 You rank pizzas. Pizza Pizza stinks. Then you rank dips. I don't know how they do it, man. Good dipping socks.

53:25 They have a lot of dips, too, at Pizza Pizza. They know their pizza sucks. And they're like, but look at the dips. Look at the options. Check the dips.

53:33 And I say depth for Darko is important. And I know people look at that team and say, how good are they as far as their bench goes? Colin Murray-Boyles could be awesome. Jakob Pertl, apparently that back is good. So that allows their depth to be actual depth and they don't have to start Colin Murray-Boyles.

53:51 And I think there's a bunch of guys off the bench that could help them. This is a grabbable number one.

53:56 But are you going Darko then?

53:57 No, no, no.

53:58 Or are you going Mitch?

53:58 I'm going Mitch. I'm not dumb. But there's some dark horses in the Eastern Conference.

54:06 Can Missoula jump back into this conversation after winning it two years ago?

54:10 That could be your.

54:11 You won it last year.

54:12 Oh, was it last year?

54:13 Missoula's not winning.

54:14 Oh, my bad. I thought it was two years ago.

54:16 They'd have to win 65 points. Not even a chance. Is it last year?

54:19 Yeah. Oh, I'm going off titles. My bad. Yeah.

54:22 It's all about exceeding expectations.

54:23 Right.

54:24 And that's the key here. That's why I kind of think Eric.

54:26 Spolstra has a chance. Ooh, he's never won it.

54:28 Exactly. He's overdue. He was one of the top 15 coaches in NBA history during NBA 75. He's one of only five that never won coach of the year. Chuck Daly, Casey Jones, Jack Ramsey, Jerry Sloan, and Spolstra.

54:42 Wow.

54:43 Some crazy names that have never won it there.

54:45 Yeah, he's kind of like a Jerry Sloan type character except for that Spolstra has titles. Jerry Sloan never did. But I'm bringing Will Hardy to the party.

54:54 Okay.

54:54 I don't know what kind of pizza they have in Salt Lake. I'm sure it's good. But the Jazz are going to be competing. They're still young. They've got a lot of depth. He's integrating new pieces in Jaron Jackson Jr. and Darren Peterson. I think if the Jazz really exceed expectations, finish in the top six, he definitely wins. And I think if they're more along the lines of where people are expecting them in the top ten, challenging for the play and making the play and he definitely is getting votes so give me william hardy.

55:24 Will hardy all right that's tk's pick there i like the thinking that's a good one the spoolster is fascinating yeah i mean he's definitely the best active and like you said maybe all time uh nba coach to never win the damn thing when you look at his accolades so could he finally get one yeah they basically just have to like it's open because like maybe you win the east yeah and it's like okay wow You jumped up maybe higher than we thought. So a Darko was bolstered and stuff like that. Rick Carlisle, I mean, a great coach. Everybody knows that. So now with Halliburton back, maybe they pop right back up there. All right. So in the end, two Mitch Johnsons and then a Will Hardy.

56:00 Two Mitch's and a Will.

56:01 That's right.

56:02 Any deep cuts? What about this guy's? J.J.

56:05 Redick? Sean Sweeney? I don't believe in the magic, so no.

56:12 Exactly.

56:13 Burned by the magic before. You're dead to me now. I can't really wrap my head around the Nick Nurse of it all winning this with Philadelphia.

56:22 It's a tough one. I don't really see it either.

56:24 It's like Coach LeBron, man. But you manage all the egos. They're going to have a lot.

56:32 Of starting lineups.

56:34 You can make a case for Mike Inori in Portland. If all that works together. I think you can make a case for Jordan not. I mean, you'd have to be awesome, awesome, awesome. But there was a good argument for him last year during the season when they were 45 and 37.

56:50 Where did he finish in? Fifth.

56:53 Coach.

56:53 Okay. He got some.

56:54 He got some. Mike Inori's a weird one. First year.

56:58 Coaching for his life.

57:00 Because every every game exactly every game is his last time yeah you never know when you're gonna be coaching next just sign them to one game contracts instead of one year.

57:11 Like a press conference after every game or before every game about mutual options for every game wow there you go all right our final award is it major no but it's uh on our list it's the clutch player of the year award And your favorite is Jalen Brunson, plus 800. SGA, right on his heels, plus 850. Luka, plus 1,000. Jokic, plus 1,000. And Anthony Edwards. Jamal Murray, Cade Cunningham, Steph Curry are all at plus 1,500. This award was introduced in 22-23. Do you know the name of the trophy?

57:44 Anybody?

57:44 Anybody? Unfortunately, I'm looking at that right now.

57:46 The Jerry West Trophy for Clutch Player of the Year.

57:48 That works.

57:49 We've had four distinct winners. We started off this podcast talking about them. De'Aaron Fox, the inaugural winner, then Curry, then Brunson, then SGA last year. So some big, big names. TK, call your shot here. Who's winning Clutch Player of the Year?

58:04 Did they even vote on this one?

58:06 Because they don't have the votes on basketball reference.

58:11 But no, it appears there are votes. Shea got 96 first place votes last year. So there's got to be. They must be voting. Okay.

58:19 They're voting.

58:20 Send us a ballot already.

58:21 I'm picking Luka Doncic.

58:23 Sure.

58:24 They were the best clutch team in the league last year. They outperformed their expected wins because they were so good in the clutch. clutch I think JJ is a very good coach I do think he is a coach of the year candidate and Luke is going to have a great season and he's going to be the number one clutch option and like I said with regards to MVP like you're giving him even more credit this year with LeBron being gone so give me the donk if.

58:47 The voters are the same voters that vote for MVP they will they will simply say okay you're not winning MVP but you get clutch of the year but based on what what Trey said as well I mean he's going to get the ball and He could be leading his team in those final four minutes, five minutes, I guess I should say, cause that's technically clutch time.

59:08 Yeah.

59:08 I would give it to him.

59:10 Okay.

59:10 So you're going Luka, Luka over there. I mean, I like the reasoning. I do wonder with this award, is this going to become like an all-star game MVP where like they really want to spread it around too? Like they don't want like repeat winners, be it like a Brunson or an SGA. So give it to a Luka who's never had one. Or what about a Jokic? Jokic is always finishing in the top three in clutch points.

59:33 He's always one of the guys. Now, ironically, Jamal Murray, at least last year, I think was even better than Jokic last year. He accumulates a lot of clutch points too, so maybe that hurts Jokic's case. So for that reason, as much as I love the idea of taking Jokic plus 1,000, give me a bit more of a dark horse pick here. Give me Tyrese Maxey at plus 2,500.

59:54 25 to 1 odds.

59:55 I mean....

59:58 The guy's got the shot making, no doubt, the speed. Now, I know he's on a stacked team, but ball in his hands. He is the point guard. Great free throw percentage, or at least getting those points helps in the clutch. You know, just I'm talking even like get the ball in, get fouled type of thing. Go get your free points in close games. He was really good in the clutch last season. I think he shot 46% from the field in clutch play. So that's a bit of a stretch, but I'll take Maxie on the Sixers, who will probably be in a lot of competitive close games too, just like LeBron was with the Lakers last year. So I'll take him. Any other dark horse picks? Dork horse picks?

1:00:32 Dork horse. I mean, Cunningham, I guess, not really a dark horse, but he was awesome in the clutch last year. He's at plus 1,500. So just outside of the board.

1:00:42 It's a good pick. Anyone else?

1:00:47 I'm looking at last year's stats.

1:00:48 CJ McCollum.

1:00:50 Wow.

1:00:51 Yeah.

1:00:51 Beat the Knicks twice in the playoffs with clutch shots.

1:00:54 Yeah.

1:00:54 I think he's the, I think he is the number one clutch option for the Hawks. The most reliable, go get your own shot guy. Yeah.

1:01:00 I agree. There's a guy they lean on. You do it, man. He literally does it. Those are good ones. I don't know.

1:01:07 There's a little sprinkle of Kawhi.

1:01:11 It's a good one.

1:01:12 Yeah.

1:01:12 Brandon Ingram. Now he's Kawhi Leonard.

1:01:15 Yeah.

1:01:15 I do like guys even a little bit like Tyrese Maxey. Other guys will carry the team and then they kind of take over those last five minutes.

1:01:23 And he doesn't tire. That's the other thing with him. He gets stronger and faster as the game goes on, it feels like. That's why I'll go with another super, super dark horse pick in the West. Keontae George at plus 7,500. So way down there. But he fits that mold, I think, of maybe he's got the clutch gene. He's not afraid to have the ball in his hands. in close situations. He was eighth in field goal attempts per game in the clutch last season, had some reps there.

1:01:49 Will Hardy is an excellent coach. He got him for coach of the year, drawing up late game plays. Maybe he hits a, you know, game winner or two. Always helps in the highlights, uh, at least in the voters back of mind. So I'll take him as a long shot, but give me Maxie. And then we got two Luca bros over here.

1:02:03 All right.

1:02:04 Yeah.

1:02:04 County Georgia. He put up some points in, in the clutch, as you said, uh, percentages weren't good.

1:02:09 No, no, but I need those to bounce up.

1:02:12 All right.

1:02:12 Some NBA news here. A lot of, uh, court and jersey related news the NBA unveiled all 30 team courts for the NBA Cup which we salute as always here on No Dunks so once again they're going to be played on custom designed fully painted courts they look a lot like last year's versions to me for the most part the biggest design tweak is the Nike end of ordinary inspiration so it's tough to see on this graphic but you got the oversized team word marks inspired by that collection I guess from the jacket that you're seeing all these guys wear. That's mirrored on both sides of the floor. You have to squint to see it here on this graphic. But what do you think, TK? We love the cup. We respect the cup.

1:02:57 We do.

1:02:58 How are you feeling about, well, a majority, I guess, of these courts?

1:03:02 Too much gray.

1:03:02 Too much gray.

1:03:03 That was my first takeaway. Nine of these 30 courts are gray.

1:03:06 Is it really?

1:03:07 Yeah.

1:03:07 Wow. That's a lot. I like the navy. I think the navy ones look good, like the thunder.

1:03:12 Yeah.

1:03:13 The Pelicans have one. The Clippers have one. That, to me, is probably the best standard look. The Jazz, the Suns, the Bucks, those are unique, which I like. And I like the Nuggets, maroon and gold. But, you know, these are the cup courts. I think the warm-ups that look good, like with the giant logos, the practice jerseys, that looks cool.

1:03:34 So I can see the relationship between them. Those graphics are oversized.

1:03:39 They really are.

1:03:39 Oh, God, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

1:03:42 Oh, God.

1:03:44 But I like the boldness of the designers. They're like, okay, we'll give you the exact same courts and we'll throw these things on there.

1:03:50 It kind of looks like it's vomit, but we'll play with it.

1:03:56 I don't know how it's going to look on TV in comparison, but I don't even think that they actually.

1:04:01 Give that a shot. Do they?

1:04:03 What do you mean?

1:04:04 Put it on TV? No, no, no. Put it on TV.

1:04:06 I think they put these games on TV.

1:04:07 No, actually put the courts together now in the preseason.

1:04:10 They say, oh, let's see how it looks on TV before we say, oh, we're going to put these. Yeah, there's faint letters on each side of the floor, but they're huge. I mean, it's sideline to sideline for these things. How is it going to look on the court? I guess it'll look okay.

1:04:23 Think we'll be able to see it better when it's on the floor yeah I do but you don't want like yeah I know you mean you don't.

1:04:30 Want it to be prominent you want it like kind of like the Charlotte Hornets thing like inside the three-point arc where it's big you know what am I thinking the Hornets are my thinking.

1:04:43 Of the well the Bucks have done it before I know what you're talking about where they put like Pelicans is what the stain on the floor yeah.

1:04:50 Yeah I don't know how it's gonna look on TV But they just said, all right, the last years look pretty good.

1:04:56 Let's just do it again. They're basically going with last years for the most part.

1:04:59 But I do like the cup under each rim. I think that's the way to do it. I think those are fine.

1:05:05 The main one at center court and then the ones in the lanes, for sure.

1:05:08 I got no problem with those.

1:05:09 The standard casual fan looks at these courts and they're like.

1:05:13 Okay, something's different. Cup time.

1:05:16 There's three cups on it. What were they last year? We had the lines. We had the circles.

1:05:24 Uh, last year was like, what was last year? Well, I, yeah, honestly, I think it was like this, like really similar to this without the word mark.

1:05:31 I don't, I know. I think it's the same. Really?

1:05:33 It's pretty close.

1:05:34 I think it was very similar.

1:05:36 Maybe different colorways in some situations.

1:05:38 Like you said, the nine grays is different.

1:05:41 Oh, they put like something from the jerseys as the backdrop. Like the Celtics had a parquet overlay. The Sixers had the circle of stars.

1:05:50 That kind of stuff.

1:05:51 Okay.

1:05:51 Okay.

1:05:52 So now we're just doing it with the word mark.

1:05:53 Just words.

1:05:54 Yeah, yeah.

1:05:55 Also, you can't see it there, but there's a new championship chase tagline near the corner in the three-point line, down by the three-point line in the corner. It reads, 30 teams, eight advance, one champion. That's on all 30 courts.

1:06:11 How about just respect the cup?

1:06:14 Sounds so much cooler.

1:06:15 So much better. Yeah. Yeah.

1:06:17 Go with that. Go with that next year.

1:06:19 Word heavy. They're putting a word on the bottom or as your background, they're putting extra words in the corner, uh, as well. I'm going to start becoming a cup court guy. I'm like, I'm going to start telling people that these are better than the regular cups. See how that goes.

1:06:31 Oh, what's that meme of the guy standing up?

1:06:34 Norman Rockwell. I like the cup courts. The cup courts are getting better.

1:06:38 Yeah.

1:06:39 Uh, and this is like, you know, cup adjacent, I guess.

1:06:42 Oh, not really.

1:06:43 This is a fashion adjacent. I should say the 2026, 27 NBA season is going to mark the 50th anniversary of the league's merger with the ABA in 1976. So 50 years later, the four original ABA franchises that joined the league through that merger, the Nets, the Nuggets, the Pacers, and the Spurs, they're all going to celebrate their ABA roots with a classic edition uniforms and special courts. We don't have a, all of these to show you here on YouTube, but I'm sure you guys saw them. Were there any favorites of the four? I thought overall, I thought it was pretty cool that they're doing this. Did you have a favorite of the bunch?

1:07:18 I think the Nets is the best one for me with a little bit of the script on the front. The red, white, and blue looks great. We've got alternate jerseys. We've got alternate courts. When the ABA teams play and wear their jerseys, alternate ball. Play with the red, white, and blue. Do it. It would be so cool.

1:07:37 Yeah, at least in the Nets one that I saw, probably the other ones too, like the guys in their jerseys, they're holding those balls.

1:07:42 Yeah, exactly.

1:07:43 And it looks awesome. So just do it.

1:07:45 Yeah, I can't disagree. I like old stuff. Old stuff, you know, hits home.

1:07:52 So I do like these jerseys, and the Nets one was the one that stood out to me as soon as I looked at it.

1:07:55 It's your favorite.

1:07:56 Yeah.

1:07:57 It's sort of crazy with the Nuggets because it's straight up orange. It's like a completely different color.

1:08:02 The Rockets.

1:08:02 Yeah, exactly.

1:08:03 Exactly. They even have a little rocket, I think, on the shorts to pay homage. Yeah, that's right.

1:08:08 Indiana doesn't really stand out to me as old as much.

1:08:12 It's because we've seen those elements in some of their classic jerseys. Yeah.

1:08:15 It's a great colorway.

1:08:16 That's why.

1:08:16 I think the court looks cool. Yeah, that's something to look forward to. I didn't really read how many times they're going to wear these things.

1:08:23 I saw the Nuggets are going to wear their seven times.

1:08:26 Oh, okay.

1:08:26 Okay, so we'll get a fair number of these games.

1:08:29 All right.

1:08:30 New ABA... jerseys there and courts. Let's hear your thoughts on those.

1:08:35 All right.

1:08:36 That's today's season preview. What are you laughing at?

1:08:38 Kenny Anderson commented on the Brooklyn Nets jerseys.

1:08:42 These are dope.

1:08:43 Hi, guys.

1:08:43 Let's ball out.

1:08:44 Oh, okay.

1:08:45 Hi, guys.

1:08:46 Let's ball out. Hi.

1:08:47 I like the hi, guys first.

1:08:48 Hi, guys.

1:08:50 Really weird.

1:08:51 Good way to start a tweet.

1:08:52 Did he mean to do that?

1:08:54 Yeah.

1:08:54 Hi, guys.

1:08:55 I follow Kenny on the social media. That's sort of how he... He starts like a lot of like... blessed morning, you know, like positive affirmations to begin a tweet or something like that.

1:09:05 I used to have a spreadsheet of Kenny Anderson's tweets because he would wake up and say good morning.

1:09:09 Oh.

1:09:10 So I would write down every time he wrote it. Just a spreadsheet I have.

1:09:15 Oh, you don't think it was future posted to repeat?

1:09:18 No, it was different times. Yeah, I was really, really in the weeds with that. Do I have it as a Google sheet? No, I don't think so. It's got to be on a laptop somewhere. Oh, man. That'd be great information to have.

1:09:29 Yeah, love to know the percentage, or what time you're doing it. Yeah, sure.

1:09:32 Average wake-up time in 2012 for Kenny Anderson. People are dying to know.

1:09:37 Oh, you think he was doing it right when he turned over and grabbed his phone. Good morning.

1:09:41 Yeah.

1:09:43 Alright, we'll call it there. Let's hear all your picks for all seven awards. You're including Clutch there, baby. Let us know who you like from the favorites, Dark Horse picks, your reasoning.

1:09:53 Let us know.

1:09:54 As you are in the stream team, let us know in the comments on Spotify as well. We're actually back tomorrow with almost like a little bonus edition of No Dunks. Because on Friday, we're doing our tier ranking as we continue our season preview series.

1:10:06 But tomorrow.

1:10:07 A Wikipedia deep dive on the 06-07 season, Trey. We had a lot of fun doing this with, what, the 15-16 season. So you took it back even farther.

1:10:18 Yeah, I kind of picked 06-07 randomly. You know, it's the 20-year anniversary. So I was like, let's look at this one. And I read the first paragraph of the Wikipedia page. I'm like, this is perfect. A lot happened this season.

1:10:29 Okay, so we are going to talk about it all on tomorrow's show. Thursday, 10 a.m.

1:10:34 Eastern.

1:10:34 We'll be live. So join us then. As we do the deep dive on 0607. Definitely remember the Steve Nash of it all with the Spurs. That's a memorable moment in the playoffs.

1:10:45 Oh yeah.

1:10:46 And I know it will be addressed.

1:10:48 Some great playoff moments especially.

1:10:49 For sure.

1:10:51 If you haven't already, go get your new No Dunks reversible jerseys available at nodunks.com. You see them in the red there, in the green. Shout out to everybody that's already grabbed one from the store that we work with, breakingtea.com. But nodunks.com will get you over those jerseys. So make sure you cop those. They're limited time only, only running through till the end of October. And we're basically halfway through this month already. So grab one before they're gone.

1:11:16 All right.

1:11:17 We'll see you tomorrow at 10 a.m.

1:11:18 Eastern.

1:11:18 Until then, Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.

1:11:20 Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys.

1:11:23 Awesome. Thanks for joining us.

1:11:24 And remember, Lonnie Walker was released by the Nuggets. I'm just going in right now. I need to know what happened, Lonnie.

1:11:34 What happened?

1:11:36 What happened, Lonnie?

1:11:37 This guy was.

1:11:38 You were excited. I know, I felt like I broke your heart when I told you that.

1:11:42 No, it was more like I know everything about the NBA.

1:11:47 I thought I knew everything about the NBA, but not Lonnie Walker. I'm going to have to go for a.

1:11:52 I can't believe you didn't drop I didn't.

1:11:53 Know that on it.

1:11:55 I'm about to go for a Lonnie Walker right now just to think about all the mistakes I've made over the last 12 hours.

1:12:02 Four trips around the block? Brace it in. Come on, did you get it?

1:12:07 No.

1:12:07 Honey Walker IV.