NBA Recap: Joel Embiid's Dominance Continues and NBA Trade Season

In this episode, the guys talk about the impressive performances by centers in the NBA and Joel Embiid's MVP candidacy. They also mention Pascal Siakam's trade to the Pacers and the struggles of the Los Angeles Lakers. Next, they discuss the performance of the Phoenix Suns and the LA Clippers. They highlight the Suns' elite offensive capabilities and the Clippers' continued success. The guys also analyze how far the Milwaukee Bucks can go this year in the NBA playoffs.

Transcript

Alix Harris (01:16:56.61)
Hopping into the NBA, I'm not sure if there's anything that you wanna touch on. I don't know what is in the water when it comes to centers today, but as we said, we are filming on Monday, which is the 22nd and Joellen Bede and Kat just decided to just do their best, you know, Kareem Shaq impressions. And Joellen Bede dropped 70 points tonight against the Spurs and Victor Wimbenyama and got the win. Meanwhile, Kat was trying to...

do the same type of thing and I think he ended up with 63 against the Hornets but they ultimately ended up losing and blowing that lead. So that was kind of wild. I'm not...

Drew Moore (01:17:35.822)
Yeah, I mean, it like I was telling you this before we came on here that I was I was scared. I was like, I didn't I don't know if I want to do I want to play Joel Embiid some way in this game against Wimby because Joel Embiid is super petty and he's going to do everything he can to make himself look like he is just the elite dominant force in the league and this up and coming rookie, you know, he ain't shit essentially. And so that being said, I was like, should I go points and

points rebounds assists. I don't know. So I just ended up going with points rebounds and assists. And I was like, all right, 54 and a half. I hope he gets there. He probably should because he has basically 150 pounds on Wimby. And it was the most kickback, put your feet up and just watch it happen, kind of no sweat needed in this situation. It was beautiful from beginning to end. Thank you, Mr. Embiid.

I love you.

Alix Harris (01:18:36.202)
And clearly, currently, he is the front runner for League MVP. Ended up having the matchup against Nicola Jokic about a week ago. Ended up winning that game and basically, you know, being the better player between that matchup as well and just averaging 35 points per game, which is like one of the most highest scoring points per game for a center since literally Will Chamberlain. So he's kind of doing some ridiculous stuff here. And I don't really know.

Drew Moore (01:19:02.846)
I'm sorry.

Alix Harris (01:19:05.758)
What more to say? The only thing that I kind of have to say is he's kind of like in, I guess you could call it comparison. I guess he's kind of like in the Lamar Jackson situation where you're like, you know, he does all of these great things and is the MVP probably going to be two time MVP too, but can you do it in the playoffs? And that's what people have been waiting for. They have not even made the conference championship yet. So again, he would be in the exact same situation as Lamar coming into this, uh, postseason. So hopefully he's able to continue to do this. Um,

I think now he's getting very close. I think like, if you want to like kind of like stat it out for the rest of the season, he's very close to that missing that game requirement, the 65. I think he's like right on pace. I think right now he's on pace for like 64 because he was battling, I believe, with the knee injury or something like that over the past couple of weeks. But I just.

Drew Moore (01:19:44.199)
I think.

Drew Moore (01:19:51.96)
I believe he's at like 6c7 or something like that. I think he's...

Alix Harris (01:19:54.842)
Okay, last thing I saw was close because I think maybe it was because like he was missing games and I think he was like projected to not play in one of the games, but he didn't end up playing. So he is kind of hovering right around there. But I just want to see him in the playoffs. That's it. I know he's great and I just want to he just needs to do it in the playoffs for me.

Drew Moore (01:19:59.557)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:20:10.818)
Yeah, I, like with that in mind, like the, uh, the game limit of being 65 and everything, I took a piece of, of Yannis, uh, just because, you know, if, if Joellen B, if Joellen B is MVP, um, I, I took a bit off of, of Yannis as well as, uh, Shay as well too. Cause I mean, they drifted out way too far in my opinion. Um, so.

Alix Harris (01:20:22.094)
cause.

Alix Harris (01:20:39.339)
Mm.

Drew Moore (01:20:41.294)
it was just more of a value play and a number grab so to speak but like obviously you know mb or yokichan are going to be the ones to get it um but yeah i just think that um again the stigma of oh well he's got to do it in the postseason or whatever it's a it's a regular season award so it shouldn't matter what that uh what role that plays however

Alix Harris (01:21:05.656)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:21:09.85)
Apparently there was a couple of voters last year that were like, yeah, I didn't vote for Embiid because he hasn't had much playoff success. And then people were like, dude, it's not a postseason award. And so that's kind of concerning that some of the voters have that in mind. And so what is the criteria for this award?

Alix Harris (01:21:27.915)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (01:21:33.69)
Yeah. Yeah, I think they do that in football and basketball. Everybody always says this postseason reward, but they don't immediately grant the reward as soon as the last game of the post or as soon as the last game of the regular season ends. It usually bleeds a little bit into the playoffs. So I do always think that people take that or the voters take that a little bit into consideration, which they shouldn't. But, you know, I don't care if he wins the MVP or not. I just want to see Joel and be dominant in the playoffs. That's all I've wanted to see out of him, which is kind of weird, though, too, because, like, obviously

Drew Moore (01:21:45.689)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:22:03.074)
We've talked about it. James Harden is no longer there as he's with the Clippers. So it's him and Tyrese Maxey and then Tobias Harris has stepped up a little bit, um, in the absence as well. But like, if I look at the roster, I personally don't think that they have enough to win in the East. Like I don't think that I would have them come out of the East. I would still choose the Bucks or, or another team. I don't, I don't think so. I don't think, I don't see really what's better besides, I guess you could say a slight uptick in Joel Embiid's play that would say, you know,

Drew Moore (01:22:22.374)
Really.

Alix Harris (01:22:31.846)
Oh, this is, this is the year I don't see really what the ginormous difference was. I don't think that they're going to be a Milwaukee or a Boston, or I definitely don't think they're going to be both if they have to. So you have the 76 is coming out of the East over the Boston and Milwaukee.

Drew Moore (01:22:46.794)
I'm liking it more, I mean, I'm liking it more and more as the days go by, yeah. I mean, like they've been dominant on both ends of the ball versus Milwaukee. They can't stop a nosebleed on defense. Like they're, for example, today, they give up 113 points to the Pistons. So like, I just, I don't know.

Alix Harris (01:23:12.822)
76 just gave up 123 to the Spurs.

Drew Moore (01:23:16.67)
that's fine. Joel Embiid was doing his thing. Moral of the story is the Spurs, I can understand scoring that many points because all they do is just play up and down basketball. The 76ers actually play defense and every once in a while everybody's going to give up you know 100 whatever points. But the Pistons are one of the worst offenses in the league. And also

Alix Harris (01:23:17.85)
What's wrong with you? Okay.

Alix Harris (01:23:44.775)
Their offices have been better over these past few... ..the past couple weeks.

Drew Moore (01:23:45.759)
D76 here.

Drew Moore (01:23:50.534)
Do you have any other questions?

Alix Harris (01:23:51.764)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (01:23:55.606)
They've had, I think, 110 over the past, like, 12 straight games, or 108 at least, when they've had.

Drew Moore (01:23:55.726)
They've been.

Drew Moore (01:24:01.126)
Let's see. Over the past two weeks, they've been about middle of the pack. They're 19th in offensive rating. Spurs, they are 13th offensive rating the past two weeks. And then, however, if we go over to Philadelphia for the season, the.

Alix Harris (01:24:07.81)
What are the spurs?

Alix Harris (01:24:17.058)
Go Victor.

Drew Moore (01:24:28.082)
Philadelphia 76ers are sixth in offensive rating and fifth in defensive rating. Sounds pretty damn good to me. Versus you go over to Milwaukee, they're fourth in offensive rating and 20th in defensive rating.

I'm just saying. That's not going to win the championship.

Alix Harris (01:24:45.823)
We knew that was going to be the case when you trade out an all-team defensive player for Dame. It should drop from top five to about middle of the pack. It just happens to be on the opposite side of middle of the pack right now. But I mean, when you compare Drew Holley and Damian Lowe defensively, I feel like that's what's going to happen. But I mean, I just...

Drew Moore (01:24:55.227)
I mean, but it shouldn't drop from top five to 20th.

Drew Moore (01:25:05.07)
Okay.

Alix Harris (01:25:11.502)
I don't think that they're gonna beat the Celtics or the Bucks.

Drew Moore (01:25:14.766)
what I mean they're going to make a move at the trade deadline for sure but and I think that I don't know they'll find something they'll trade somebody away hey

Alix Harris (01:25:21.81)
How? Fri- with what?

I don't think they don't have that much to trade because then nobody wants to buy Tobias Harris is on almost like a super max contract. Nobody wants that. And they're not trading maxi. They're not trading in bead. So I don't really have many pieces to move. And I don't even think they have. Maybe I guess I just don't know what they would go for. But I digress.

Drew Moore (01:25:32.723)
Okay.

Drew Moore (01:25:36.754)
Thanks.

Drew Moore (01:25:45.578)
And I guarantee that, you know, somebody will take like a, like, you know, a pick or whatever, a couple picks and Robert Covington or like, you know, a couple picks and like another role player or whatever that's pretty decent, but not good enough to, you know, make a big splash or whatever. But I think that they, they will make a move before the trade deadline. Because I think that they, while they do have a solid offense, I think that they might be one piece away. They are.

Alix Harris (01:26:03.246)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:26:12.286)
You just said they're top five in offensive defense. They don't need nothing. They're perfect right now, right? Okay.

Drew Moore (01:26:16.002)
Well, I mean, I don't think that they do, but I do think that it would sure as hell help if you had one more piece. I'm just saying because I mean, you know, Maxie can get his Tobias can get his, Joel can get his. But I do think that they. It's gross, I know, but I still don't like them. I don't like just the personal thing.

Alix Harris (01:26:30.294)
You got Kelly Oubre that's next. Who's been solid? He's 13 points a game. Okay. All right. Okay. Fair enough.

Drew Moore (01:26:45.406)
But yeah, okay, but even if you add him into like, I don't know, I wouldn't say that he can get his, but he can score. I think that they need one more player that can compliment Maxie's game. Cause Maxie likes to get downhill, get to the rim, or he's jacking up a three from like a hundred feet out. And it looks kind of gross. But I think that they need more of a wing defender to-

Alix Harris (01:27:05.984)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Alix Harris (01:27:13.786)
Mm.

Drew Moore (01:27:14.306)
help slow down depending defending the backcourt in some of these games.

Alix Harris (01:27:21.59)
Yeah, fair enough talking about trades. I did want to get into another one that actually did happen. We did have Pascal Siakam being traded to the Pacers, obviously from the Raptors for a 2024 round pick. Bruce Brown, Jordan Noir, and a first round and two first round picks, late first round picks. So now you pair Pascal Siakam with obviously Tyrese Halliburton, who's been arguably one of the best point guards in the league. And now kind of have a.

nice dual there to go along with you know turn or but he healed in and madarin will be top in whatever case may be so what were your thoughts on that trade since I believe they're own too but it's still early but do you think that it was a good fit for the paces do you think that changes your mindset of them in the playoffs going forward as they currently sit at seventh tied with the heat

Drew Moore (01:28:14.714)
I mean, does it move the needle that much? Probably not that much, but it is a good, yeah.

Alix Harris (01:28:19.53)
We said that about OG too and I think the Knicks are like 13 and 4 since that trade or something like that.

Drew Moore (01:28:26.954)
Yeah, well, yeah, so that's the thing. It's like, it's a, it's a good basketball trade. But in terms of the amount of value that it does with their overall outlook on the team, like I don't think that the Knicks were any, that makes them any closer to a, you know, a contender and for a championship. I just think that it's a good NBA move and it helps fill some holes that they had.

but does it make them maybe, maybe they're one point better than the next team. But other than that, I don't think it was that big of a move. Same thing with this one here. I think it definitely helps them on the defensive end because good Lord, were they just atrocious on that side. But in terms of overall, I don't think it, you know, I don't think it's gonna do all that much for them in terms of, oh, well now they're gonna win the.

Alix Harris (01:28:56.706)
Mhm.

Alix Harris (01:29:12.278)
Hehehe

Alix Harris (01:29:22.03)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:29:25.254)
the NBA finals, like no, like they're still pretty much the same team. One player can only do so much, especially on the defensive end, so.

Alix Harris (01:29:34.334)
Yeah, I think I don't think it moves the needle very much for me again, obviously gives him a better go to score. As Pascal has been averaging about 22 points per game over the past couple of seasons, he still is in his prime. Um, he's 29. Um, but yeah, I don't think it moves the needle too much for them. I don't think it puts them in the upper echelon or the top three teams. So we talked about with the 76 or Celtics and the bucks, I think that it keeps them obviously right in that middle of the pack when it comes to, you know, the, the calves, the Knicks, the heat.

the Pacers. So I think they're going to be right in the middle, probably be somewhere between the fourth and seventh seed. But it doesn't really move the needle for me. And like when it comes to the playoffs, I don't see them going too far, even though, you know, obviously I do love Tyrese Max or Tyrese Halliburton as we both do. But yeah, I don't think it makes that big of a change for me. Also side note that we did, I mentioned it before we started the episode, the Lakers beat the Trail

DeAngelo Russell and Rui Hachimora were both seen crying. Well, D-Low was seen crying on the bench, and then Rui kind of did like the LAP sign. It was kind of saying bye, as if they already knew that they were about to be moved. So kind of fitting though, there's been a lot of talk about, you know, DeAngelo Russell being on the trade block and DeJante Murray being on the trade block, possibly for each other. And they both been balling over these past two weeks. They're like, all right. So I think D-Low's averaging like 27 points over the past few games, things of that nature. But...

Drew Moore (01:30:55.812)
Even if.

Alix Harris (01:31:00.21)
It does seem like Kim and Ruier are both on the trade block. There have been a lot of discussions between the Hawks and the Lakers around D'Lo and around Dejante Murray. Thoughts on that? Do you think that Dejante is a better fit? A lot of people argue that D'Lo is basically the type of guard that people, the Lakers need. They need a guard that obviously can facilitate at times, but can shoot. But you think the Jante would be a better fit for the Lakers or somebody else other than D'Lo.

Drew Moore (01:31:26.498)
Um, yeah, I do think that Dejante would be a good fit for the Lakers, mainly because of his paralysis on the defensive end. Yeah, exactly. Because D-Low on defense is, while it does roll off the tongue very nicely, it doesn't really work exactly.

Alix Harris (01:31:34.934)
defensively.

Alix Harris (01:31:41.527)
Him and Austin Reeves... or cones, I'm sorry.

Yeah, people attack them.

Drew Moore (01:31:50.21)
Yeah, and so I think in terms of liability on that side of the ball, it does sure up that side, but at the same time, okay, so there's some people out there that are saying that Dejante is a little overrated in terms of his defensive capabilities because he's been kind of fortunate. I'm not sure how that argument really plays out because he was all defensive in the NBA, but how? I don't know.

Alix Harris (01:32:17.615)
I understand it. Because he was all defensive team when he was in the Spurs and he talked about, you know, in an interview before that, like when he was with the Spurs with Kwai Leonard, he was like, your prowess needs to be defensively. And I feel like that's a lot how a lot of players make their mark in the league, especially when they're young defensively. But as you evolve to a better basketball player, like a Kwai, like De'Jante is not Kwai, but like Kwai did in your offensive game starts to.

Increase your defensive game starts to decrease a little bit. So I don't think that Dejante Murray's Overrated as a player but I could say that defensively that he isn't necessarily what he was when he first came into the league Especially on the Hawks right now because he's asked to do more

Drew Moore (01:33:03.126)
Yeah, I guess that's fair. And there was some talks early on about Zach Levine going there too, but I don't think that's gonna happen anymore. I guess they're not really all that interested. Are you sure? No? Okay. But yeah, I think D-Lo, I think that Dejante, having played against him myself, is...

Alix Harris (01:33:14.549)
We don't want them.

Hmm. I don't want them knees. I got bad knees myself. We don't need more. You know what I'm saying?

Drew Moore (01:33:32.99)
to be the right fit for the Lakers out there. And I just, I don't know, the Lakers, I know I said last week that they were actually doing pretty good, but after further review, they're bad. They're trash, bro.

Alix Harris (01:33:33.954)
Thanks for watching.

Alix Harris (01:33:51.734)
Yeah, we're very mediocre. We're five and five over the past 10 games and some games when we it looks like we play great and then other games where we should go be a team that we should be. We look literally like trash and Anthony Davis is like, nah, I don't really want to play anymore. And I don't I don't know. I don't know what's going on. And obviously, last year, we looked even worse than we do right now and we were terrible. And then we made these trades and got Rui and got D-Lo.

and got this extra depth. And then we went on this major run in the second half of the season all the way to the conference finals. So I think that's what a lot of people are expecting now. But right now, it doesn't look too great. And people don't necessarily want what we got if we're not including Austin Reeves in any trades, which they aren't trying to. So basically, last thing I heard was that they are still trying to do the Dejante Delo trade, but the Hawks don't really necessarily want Delo, which I guess kind of makes sense because, you know, that doesn't really fit within their system at all.

So they're trying to find a third team where they could get more draft picks and then somebody else could get D-low instead. I just don't know if it's going to happen or not.

Drew Moore (01:35:03.258)
Yeah, the... I don't know. I still have confidence in the Lakers being a comparable competition when it comes to the playoffs and everything like that.

Alix Harris (01:35:19.342)
I think we're a better postseason team than we are a regular season team.

Drew Moore (01:35:24.058)
Yeah, but at the same time, you know, you might also want to be doing something during the regular season too, because exactly.

Alix Harris (01:35:29.422)
yeah we actually have to make the playoffs first where we were now where the night seat on my goodness what how far we are three and a half games back of new orleans who's currently has the sixty so secure playoff spot where three and a half games back uh...

Drew Moore (01:35:46.146)
Yeah, they're so the Lakers typically do okay on the defensive end and that's usually their saving grace. But right now, over the I guess we'll just from the start of the year, they're 19th in defensive rating and 20th in offensive rating. And that is not going to get you anywhere you want to be if you are losing to the like. Yep, you're losing to the likes of the Nets.

Alix Harris (01:35:57.59)
Heh.

Alix Harris (01:36:09.583)
right next to the pistons.

Drew Moore (01:36:15.718)
You know, so.

Alix Harris (01:36:16.314)
Hey man, Cam Thomas, Kale Bridges. Yeah, no, that was terrible. That was terrible. So.

Drew Moore (01:36:24.058)
I watched that game from beginning to end and it was one of the most painful things. You could literally tell that the Nets were just going to run away with it. Because typically whenever the game gets into the fourth quarter and the Lakers are down by more than six or seven, they're just like, okay, we just got to score more points than them and they just give up on defense.

Alix Harris (01:36:27.606)
I'm sorry.

Alix Harris (01:36:47.256)
Mm-hmm.

Hmph.

Drew Moore (01:36:52.994)
And they just, they played the most lackadaisical kind of game. And it didn't matter. It was like, they're just pulling the ball off, like off of a made shot and then just running the court and they're beating them down the court, beating them at their own game. And it was, it was gross to watch, honestly.

Alix Harris (01:36:53.325)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:37:10.562)
Yeah, we're very inconsistent when we get engaged or we get to early leads or we have a, especially at home or we have an energy play, we get super engaged and we start flexing on people and all that kind of stuff. I'm like, can we do this? Like when we're, you know, on the road or against a bad team that we're supposed to be like the nets, whatever the case may be. And, you know, I guess I know to silver lining, whatever you want to call it. A lot of people, you can say Anthony Davis is very inconsistent, which he is at times, but I mean,

I don't think that the term injury prone is as fair for him anymore. Cause you know, a new stat had came out earlier today saying that among over the past 365 days, so past calendar year, he is tied for the most games played among star players or players that are have been all stars. So, you know, he's, he's been playing. I don't know if that's been great for us or not, but you know, that's all fine and dandy, but I think I just need him to be a little bit more consistent. That's all I'm saying.

Drew Moore (01:38:07.454)
That is fair. That is fair for sure. One of the other things that I wanted to touch on was the Utah Jazz all of a sudden becoming NBA contenders or NBA finals contenders out here. And since the start of January, since the turn of the calendar year, the Jazz are eight and three. And they have been not just winning games, they've been blasting teams. And it's not just like.

Oh, they beat the Pistons and they beat, no, they've been beating top NBA talent, like top five teams and it's been looking actually kind of good and it's one of those things where I'm not sure how this is exactly. I'm not sure how this is working, but somehow you guys keep on winning and I can't figure it out. So I'm just going to keep on backing you until it stops.

Alix Harris (01:38:44.192)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:38:49.966)
Gross.

Alix Harris (01:38:55.618)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:39:02.242)
Yeah, I don't know. They're on a little finally came back to life or reality I guess you could say over the past two games lost in the thunder lost the Rockets were prior to that They were as you mentioned eight and one in the calendar year and they beat the Bucs 76ers and the Celtics three games in a row like In the night for no reason like I don't know and they had like a stint like this last season I think it was more so to start the season when they like kind of were like

Drew Moore (01:39:07.459)
No.

Drew Moore (01:39:16.588)
and the nuggets.

Yeah.

Alix Harris (01:39:25.87)
kind of elite and like they think they're like a top 14 or something like that, or top three team. And then they, you know, came back to life and came back to reality. But I don't, you know, yeah, great, great story. I don't have any thing to, you know, Laurie Markedon is great, though, I wish that we could have him or something like that. But it's just off of like a whole bunch of people that nobody wanted to, which is kind of weird. It's not like they're bad players, but it was just like players that people thought were overrated, whatever case may be John Collins, Laurie Markedon, Colin Sexton, Kelly

Drew Moore (01:39:44.36)
There.

Alix Harris (01:39:55.382)
Jordan Clark. Yeah. So it is very interesting.

Drew Moore (01:39:59.49)
Yeah, their best lineup right now with at least 100 possessions is Keonte George, Jordan Clarkson, Simone Fonte, I've never been able to pronounce his last name, Fonte Shani, Fonte Shio? Yeah, you know what his name is. Anyways, Laurie Markkinen, Walker Kessler. They have a differential of plus 24.4 whenever they're on the court together.

Alix Harris (01:40:17.87)
I know. Yeah.

Alix Harris (01:40:28.722)
Nice and you know who they're tied with in the standings the fucking Lakers But we got we have the tiebreaker though because we beat them so oh my goodness Yep and Yeah, we did and the Warriors are still reeling Currently they sit 12th and they are two and a half games out of the plan

Drew Moore (01:40:30.031)
Yeah, it's not bad.

Drew Moore (01:40:36.107)
Well.

Drew Moore (01:40:41.054)
Oh, I'm glad you could beat the jazz. Congrats. You guys also lost to the jazz though.

Alix Harris (01:40:57.342)
You know, Draymond's been back, but it just it has not looked good at all. And we've already talked about the dynasty, unfortunately, being closed. And now the trade talk and rumors, there's been a lot of talk about Andrew Wiggins being on the trade bloc or even them moving off of Chris Paul again once they just got him. So not exactly sure where the warriors can go from here at this point. This is just kind of the price you have to pay when you are elite for like a literal decade and, you know.

finally starts catching up to you age-wise and salary cap-wise, things of that nature. So, you know, unfortunate, but it is a very real reality and possibility that we will not see Steph Curry in the playoffs this season. It's impossible. Very good.

Drew Moore (01:41:31.917)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:41:39.178)
Yeah, and Steph's been, he's been doing everything he can to try and, you know, piece together this, this team and it just hasn't been enough there since the start of the year, their 30th defensive rating. So, like, well, there, I mean, but they're also eighth in offensive ratings, which is good, but, you know, 30th, that's as low as it gets. So, and I mean, there was talks of

Alix Harris (01:41:55.146)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (01:41:59.214)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:42:03.47)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (01:42:08.41)
You know, is it the team that's kind of like, you know, we're not sure if we want Draymond back or we need to blow up the team or is it, you know, because whatever Steph says goes. So is it Steph that's also saying these things as well? So, I mean, you can see some of the frustration boiling over in these games. And some of the younger guys are upset with Kerr that they're not getting these minutes.

Alix Harris (01:42:20.355)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (01:42:38.242)
Because they're clearly not going anywhere fast, but they're also not playing the young guys, and they're only relying on these older veterans that haven't done Jack Diddley this year. So I just think that it's been good, but it hasn't been real good, and it won't be good anytime soon.

Alix Harris (01:42:57.614)
This is it. No, and it's one of those things to like, I do not think Steph is a warrior through and through like the you know, I don't he's not going anywhere. They may move clay or they move drew him dream on but with their contract will clay once a contract so they're probably going to move them and they already signed they already signed dream on nobody's going to take that contract for years 100 million like.

Drew Moore (01:43:14.654)
Who's getting dream on?

Drew Moore (01:43:19.066)
That's what I was saying. I think you were saying that they're going to trade Draymond. I was like, who is going to take Draymond?

Alix Harris (01:43:25.395)
No, no, nobody's taking that contract. So him and Steph are gonna probably retire I don't know. Yeah, probably retire as warriors together. But no, that's pretty much all I got when it comes to the NBA Oh also, I didn't want to give your boy Scoot McGrute his props He has climbed all the way up to fourth and rookie of the year odds sitting currently at plus 30,000 Yeah, so

Drew Moore (01:43:43.814)
Poop, poop, poop! Yeah! We like that! Um...

Alix Harris (01:43:53.13)
Yeah, there you go.

Drew Moore (01:43:55.95)
You know, I was watching the game the other night against the Lakers with the laser, I should say. And, oh man, it, that, yeah. What?

Alix Harris (01:44:07.768)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, he kind of came back to his regression 4.16% field goal percentage.

Drew Moore (01:44:18.486)
One for six, oh for three from three. Yeah. I, I picked a real, picked a real bad game to, to watch him play this time. And you know, maybe if I would have saw like his 30 point game or whatever, then I'd be like, oh man, this is, this is the guy that we drafted. But then I turned on this game and I was like, that's, that's the guy. The one. Yeah. The.

Alix Harris (01:44:19.778)
Three turnovers in 23 minutes. So they pulled them a little early.

Alix Harris (01:44:27.97)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (01:44:33.269)
Right.

Alix Harris (01:44:42.142)
Yeah, the drop 33 against the suns.

Drew Moore (01:44:47.294)
The one basket that he made too, I believe was like an open layup. So yeah.

Alix Harris (01:44:52.514)
making those. But you know, that's actually the only thing to the obviously the sons have been playing great. They planned all the way to the fifth seed currently and they're on a six game winning streak. So you know, that combination has looked great when Katie Beale and Booker have all played together. And as Drew mentioned to me, and it's been talking about a lot, Grayson Allen has been elites, you know, percentage wise, he's the only player currently at 50 4090. And has been a great player.

for them, especially when people thought that Eric Gordon was kind of going to be more of that, like, you know, backup score role or whatever like that. Grayson Allen's been great. Grayson Allen has been great and basically fits perfectly within that role. And he's been doing this over the past few years. Obviously, he was a great role player for the Bucks and now he's been going pretty nice with the Suns.

Drew Moore (01:45:41.622)
I think you should start calling him Greatson Allen now. That's all I'm gonna say.

Alix Harris (01:45:47.4)
I don't forget what you used to, the mean man that you used to be, Grayson. Alright, everything they used to do over in Duke and when you first came to the league, Dirty Player and stuff like that, I'm glad you've turned your life around, found the Lord.

Drew Moore (01:45:53.458)
Thank you.

Drew Moore (01:45:59.122)
see Draymond should take some notes from him. So the lineup that the sons have gone with, maybe not the most, but has been the most successful. They've had 305 possessions together with Devin Booker on the court, Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen, Kevin Durant, and Yusuf Nurgage. That's with Booker playing at point guard, Beal at shooting guard, Grayson Allen at small forward.

Alix Harris (01:46:02.754)
True, true. Maybe less.

Alix Harris (01:46:15.277)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (01:46:28.582)
Durant at Power Forward and NERC at Center. With that lineup, they, okay. He has been so good this year and I have told everybody, everybody was like, oh, he doesn't mean anything. He's trash, bro. I'm so glad Portland, everybody that I talked to was like, why would anybody want Nerkage on the court? I got with them, he's bad, he's not good. And he.

Alix Harris (01:46:32.15)
Yeah, screw that Nerkich guy.

Alix Harris (01:46:37.282)
I don't care. Okay, stop it.

I never said he was trash.

Alix Harris (01:46:51.318)
He's not trash. He's just solid. He's a solid. He's a middle of the pack center. He's an average center and then he's like top 15. So there you go. Give me more bull bull.

Drew Moore (01:47:01.002)
Anyways, um, any, okay. Anyways, the, let me, let me start over since I was so rudely interrupted. The Phoenix Suns, when they have Devin Booker on the court, along with Bradley Beale, Grayson Allen, Yusuf Nurkic, and Kevin Durant, they have a differential of plus 16.8 points. They have, they're in the 88th percentile when it comes to offensive rating.

Alix Harris (01:47:10.732)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (01:47:19.227)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:47:30.086)
They're in the 53rd percentile when it comes to defense rating. We already talked about that, but they are in the 93rd percentile when it comes to effective field goal percentage. Mr. Harris, they are absolutely.

Alix Harris (01:47:34.678)
Ugh.

Mm-hmm. I'd hope so. You have an MVP, two scoring championships in KD and in Brad Labille, and one of the best scorers in the league in Devin Booker, with a elite shooter, and then some guy from Europe.

Drew Moore (01:47:55.874)
Well, I'm just saying, you know, it's, it is working. It is going exactly as we predicted here, okay.

Alix Harris (01:47:59.514)
We knew, we knew.

Alix Harris (01:48:05.422)
I think we all knew that they had the capability to be an elite juggernaut offensively in an elite team. Can they stay healthy? And can they get stops when they need to get stops in the playoffs? So both those questions are still very prominent in my eyes and my opinion. Same thing goes for the Clippers, who are two games out of the first seed in the West, 27 and 14. And they've been looking great, currently eight and two over their last 10 games.

Everything's been working, so my concerns are the same when it comes to the clippers and sons. Injuries? Defense. Not defense for the clippers, mainly just injuries, but...

Drew Moore (01:48:46.174)
Mm-hmm. So all of that positive stuff being said about the Suns, they ended up pulling out a slim victory today, 115 to 113 against the Chicago Bulls. I'm actually very upset about that because they were getting blasted early on in this game. And I was so tempted to take the Suns, but I was like, no, my model doesn't have them winning by,

Alix Harris (01:49:02.722)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (01:49:14.962)
five, five and a half. The model only has them went in by like two, three points. I'm not gonna take it, cause that's bad play. I was gonna do the money line and they were doing like a 50% profit bonus. And I was like.

Alix Harris (01:49:22.264)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:49:28.558)
She's like, I gotta help sell that.

Drew Moore (01:49:31.35)
Well, I ended up not doing it. So I just stayed away because I mean, the night before they, they had shot like 57% from the field or something like that. And I was like, well, that and Durant had 40 points. And I was like, well, that's not going to come back. That's not going to repeat itself. Durant today had 43 points. So I guess it did repeat itself and they shot 50, 51%. So, you know, um, yeah, I guess just, uh, F me. So it's great. Love it.

Alix Harris (01:49:33.381)
Oh, there you go.

Alix Harris (01:49:45.919)
Mhm. Yep. Hmph.

Alix Harris (01:49:59.638)
The Bulls have actually been playing decently. I ain't gonna lie over these past few games. Like I said, which is weird, so it seems like whenever somebody's on the trade block or teams are talking about being traded or whatever like De'Jonte or like D-Load, they're like, okay, let me just get my bag real quick and just turn into Michael Jordan or a team like the Chicago Bulls or the Toronto Raptors that are supposed to be, you know, on the trade market a lot. And then they're just like, oh, you know, let's just go on this little four game win streak or go seven and three in our last 10 games. Yeah. So it is very, very odd.

Drew Moore (01:50:00.25)
I did take the under in this game though, that was nice.

Drew Moore (01:50:12.43)
and

Drew Moore (01:50:26.561)
in.

Alix Harris (01:50:29.054)
anything else that you wanted to touch on.

Drew Moore (01:50:29.938)
done.

Yeah, one last thing is Cleveland or Believe Land as we like to say. Yeah. Over their past nine games, they are 8-1 and they are currently one of the hottest teams. They are... Say what?

Alix Harris (01:50:37.582)
This is for you.

Alix Harris (01:50:52.579)
You said what?

Drew Moore (01:50:54.462)
I thought you were saying something else. They are currently one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. And this is another team that I don't understand how they're winning games without some of their best players on the court. They've been without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. But they have also been very fortunate with the scheduling that they've had recently because they had that game where they went.

Alix Harris (01:51:11.446)
we play defense.

Drew Moore (01:51:24.018)
uh, overseas to, uh, to Paris, to play that one game in Paris against the Nets. And the Nets had like, you know, one game off and then they were like, uh, two days off and then they were, they had to play again. Um, and then the, the Cavs had like three, four games off and then they played that one game that week and then they took another like three days off. Well, yeah, I mean, I would too if I had like basically a week off of digital rest and recoup and everything. Like.

Alix Harris (01:51:27.054)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:51:43.81)
Beat the bugs though.

Alix Harris (01:51:48.614)
Okay. All right.

Drew Moore (01:51:54.498)
Um, and it just goes to show that they're traveling internationally is not nearly as bad as it used to be. Like it's, you know, Mr. Worldwide out here. Exactly. Well, that's the thing. Well, yeah, it's not like they're flying. They're not flying, you know, like, uh, like what me and you are flying. They're flying in their private jets. They're flying first class and everything like that. Nice and comfortable. Okay. It's I guess.

Alix Harris (01:51:55.03)
Travel internationally, man!

Alix Harris (01:52:00.638)
Okay, Mr. Frequent Fire Mile, apparently you tell me- you tell these professional NBA players, go into Europe and-

Alix Harris (01:52:18.19)
Still got jet lag, you know, universal.

Drew Moore (01:52:23.686)
Like they're not flying, you know, next to the crying kid that's, you know, sneezing and coughing on them and stuff. Like it's fine. They'll be okay. But whatever. I guess.

Alix Harris (01:52:27.35)
Alright.

Alix Harris (01:52:34.55)
Drew hates y'all. All that to say just true doesn't like you guys. And they play the Bucks tomorrow or no, they play the Bucks on Wednesday, but you know, they don't be them again. No, I don't know. Um, see you. I think that's, that's all I have. Yeah. Minnesota ended up losing. So now the Thunder and Nuggets are both 0.5 games back of them for the first seed and the.

Drew Moore (01:52:41.351)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:52:46.078)
Hmm.

Alix Harris (01:53:01.15)
Celtics are still pretty solidly in the number one seed for the East. Still three and a half games ahead of Milwaukee.

Drew Moore (01:53:08.11)
Yes, absolutely.

Alix Harris (01:53:09.538)
See you. Unless you got anything else, that's pretty much it.

Drew Moore (01:53:14.17)
Yeah, no, that's pretty much it that I have as well. Quick blazer appreciation. Since the start of the 2024 year, they're 30th in the NBA, I should say. Maybe, yeah, honestly. He's pretty, he's got a little Jameer Gibbs in him, I think, you know? A little quick, agile, except, you know, he's not much of a scorer like Jameer Gibbs is, so.

Alix Harris (01:53:22.322)
I'm sorry.

Alix Harris (01:53:28.342)
Maybe y'all do better. Scoot would be a good running back.

Alix Harris (01:53:36.629)
Yep.

Alix Harris (01:53:41.634)
Mm hmm. Well, that'll.

Drew Moore (01:53:45.102)
Well, actually, hold on here, sir. I got one last thing. I'd like to give a quick shout out to my, yep. I'm gonna give a quick shout out to the home girl, Coco Goff. She won her match today, and I believe that she has a very good chance to take home the title in the Australian Open. And I'm also out here supporting my home girl, Serena Williams.

Alix Harris (01:53:48.463)
something else in the holster.

Drew Moore (01:54:13.022)
Not just the greatest female athlete, but the greatest athlete in general. So those are the last things that I got for y'all this week.

Alix Harris (01:54:22.302)
Fair enough. Well, on that note, thanks for listening everybody. This has been the Call Your Shot podcast. Call Your Shot podcast, we host Alex Harrison, Drew Moore. As always, if you like this podcast, make sure to give it a like, give it a follow. If you go to our Instagram, it has the links to our YouTube and our pics. If you are following on YouTube, make sure again to give us a like or dislike, whatever the case may be, comment. Anything else, Drew?

Drew Moore (01:54:26.636)
Hey, we be hitting all the sports out here.

Drew Moore (01:54:50.158)
Um, no, that's pretty much everything. I think that Alex's choices to go against me this week on some of his picks are going to be fatal for him.

Alix Harris (01:55:01.15)
reconfirm, I have the Chiefs plus six and a half and I have the Lions plus three and a half. So that is what we had agreed on.

Drew Moore (01:55:10.562)
No, absolutely.

Alix Harris (01:55:11.414)
There we go. There we go. It'll be a very, very fun and entertaining weekend. I think that these would be two very good games. And, you know, last week, we were always all of the, besides obviously the Ravens getting blown out, the Texans, all the other three were very good games as well. So that's what I'm hoping for. So with that, we will see y'all next week.

Drew Moore (01:55:27.378)
Hmm. Is there?

Drew Moore (01:55:32.978)
Peace out.

Alix Harris (01:55:34.428)
Peace out, Girl Scout. They did it. Wait, what is this?