What do you think? Is he a 7'5", you know, big, or is he more of a perimeter player moving forward?

I mean, I think it's going to be a combination of the two.

And part of what makes him so special is that he is somebody that can shoot it out to the three-point line and can stress the defense that way and can also go to the rim and dunk from the free-throw line, right? So I think some of this is going to be he's got to learn some new tricks through his game, just like all the great players do.

I mean, when he sort of adopts some sort of hook shot or floater or some kind of pet play from... eight to 12 feet that he can go to, which, you know, it's like shooting on a, you know, from a couple of feet away for normal humans on a, on a smaller hoop.

He's got a, I mean, that'll make him pretty much unguardable, but he's got to learn to set better screens on the perimeter.

He's got to learn to have a better short roll game.

He's got to, you know, he's going to continue to get stronger as he gets older.

Where will this one rank all-time?

How do you think the league would have handled the flagrant that was missed on Wembanyama?

There would have been immense pressure to call it, and I think there's a decent chance they would have.

We'll never know.

I was actually going to do a pool report about that play after the game.

However, it was not needed when the game ended the way it did.

But it would have been fascinating to see what happened because, you know, I think I got personally a little tired of the endless discussion of the referees that went on over the last month of the season between the Spurs-Thunders series and then the Spurs-Knicks series.

I just thought all the conversation around officiating was a little tiresome.

right?

How do you think the league would have handled the flagrant that was missed on Wembanyama?

There would have been immense pressure to call it, and I think there's a decent chance they would have.

We'll never know.

I was actually going to do a pool report about that play after the game.

However, it was not needed when the game ended the way it did.

But it would have been fascinating to see what happened because, you know, I think I got personally a little tired of the endless discussion of the referees that went on over the last month of the season between the Spurs-Thunders series and then the Spurs-Knicks series.

I thought all the conversation around officiating was a little tiresome.

Where will this one rank all-time?

What do you think? Is he a 7'5", you know, big, or is he more of a perimeter player moving forward?

I mean, I think it's going to be a combination of the two.

Yeah.

you know, like he's part of what makes him so special is that he is somebody that can shoot it out to the three point line and can stress the defense that way and can also go to the rim and dunk from the free throw line.

Right.

So I think, you know, some of this is going to be, he's got to learn some new tricks through his game, just like all the great players do.

I mean, he, when he sort of adopts some sort of hook shot or floater or some, you know, kind of pet play from eight to 12 feet that he can go to, which, you know, it's like shooting on a, you know, from a couple of feet away for normal humans on a, on a smaller hoop.

Where will this one rank all-time? I

What do you think? Is he a 7'5 big, or is he more of a perimeter player moving forward?

I think it's going to be a combination of the two.

And part of what makes him so special is that he is somebody that can shoot it out to the three-point line and can stress the defense that way and can also go to the rim and dunk from the free-throw line, right? So I think some of this is going to be he's got to learn some new tricks through his game, just like all the great players do.

I mean, when he sort of adopts some sort of hook shot or floater or some kind of pet play from... eight to 12 feet that he can go to, which, you know, it's like shooting on a, you know, from a couple of feet away for normal humans, um, on a, on a smaller hoop.

Um, he's got a, I mean, that'll make him pretty much unguardable.

Um, but he's got to learn to set better screens on the perimeter.

He's got to learn to have a better short roll game.

Where will this one rank all-time?

What do you think? Is he a 7'5", you know, big, or is he more of a perimeter player moving forward?

I mean, I think it's going to be a combination of the two.

Yeah.

And part of what makes him so special is that he is somebody that can shoot it out to the three-point line and can stress the defense that way and can also go to the rim and dunk from the free-throw line, right? So I think some of this is going to be he's got to learn some new tricks through his game, just like all the great players do.

I mean, when he sort of adopts some sort of hook shot or floater or some kind of pet play from... eight to 12 feet that he can go to, which, you know, it's like shooting on a, you know, from a couple of feet away for normal humans, um, on a, on a smaller hoop.

Um, he's got a, I mean, that'll make him pretty much unguardable.

Um, but he's got to learn to set better screens on the perimeter.

Where will this one rank all-time?

Do you-- What, what does your gut tell you, uh, about tonight's game? You think, you think that at the end of the night we are preparing ourselves for a sweep, and it's really feels all but over, or do you think San Antonio finds a way tonight and we get a series out of this?

I mean, look, go-- Before the series started, I didn't think the Spurs had a chance to win this game no matter what the series was at, just because of what the energy in the building is gonna be like.

Now, again, the Spurs have the best player in the series.

So could Victor Wembanyama show up and have a forty-twenty game and win the game and, like, do a, do what he did in game one in OKC? Sure.

Could the Spurs, who have already won two games in Oklahoma City, which is another incredibly hard place to play, come out and play great today and win? Sure.

But I would say, if I'm the Knicks coming into this game, they haven't played that great in the first two games overall.

Karl Towns has been incredible, but everybody else has kind of been up and down.

It's a weird thing to say, a coming-of-age moment for him maybe?

Let's do something big." So I, I'm intrigued by the paths Atlanta could go this off-season.

Yeah.

The, the Hawks are in a really interesting spot, right? They've got the eighth pick.

They've got the 23rd pick, which they got, uh, as part of a different deal in the draft.

Um, so they got two first round picks in this year's draft, which as you said, is still very good.

Uh, it's gonna be interesting to see what they do there.

They have to decide what they're gonna do with Jonathan Kuminga.

I mean, I think with the new draft, uh, system as well, it's gonna be very interesting to see the way in which certain teams value their future picks and how that changes the possible trades that could be out there.

What's your next team, Tim?

I mean, uh, we'll go to Milwaukee.

I think you have to, right? Unfortunately, we're back in this same circular thing with Giannis.

Will he get traded? Will he not get traded? Uh, obviously, if Giannis does get traded, that is the single biggest domino short of Nikola Jokic that could really change in the league this summer.

Um, and then that gets into where does he go? Does he go to Miami? Does he go to Orlando? Does he go to Cleveland? Does he go to Boston? Does he go somewhere else, right? Like, whatever trade happens with Giannis, in theory it will probably end up being a three or four team trade just 'cause as you know, with the, the new apron rules, every team, every trade almost has to become a three or four team trade with a salary that big.

And then if it does happen, okay, what are all the ripple effects of that, right? That's why, you know, I thought when you go back to Taylor Jenkins' introductory press conferenceJimmy Haslam, the, the co-owner of the Bucks, to me laid it out pretty clearly.

They're either gonna trade Giannis by the draft, or they're gonna pivot and make moves to try to keep Giannis.

Let's do something big." So I, I'm intrigued by the paths Atlanta could go this off-season.

[laughs]

... and then have the results that they have.

Like, sometimes you'll see a team, you know, like Oklahoma City, for example, right? They're probably gonna s- start small in Game 2.

But, like, you don't see a team tend to completely rip up what they do offensively in the middle of the postseason and have it, you know, completely change their season, but that's what the Knicks have done doing the stuff with Carl Townes playing c- sort of as the hub and, and operating as a facilitator, and it's been remarkable to see how it's flipped things around.

And, I mean, we'll see how it looks against the Cavs.

Obviously, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are both very good defensive players.

I think one of the real battlegrounds in the series is Cam Mitchell Robinson, who I think had 16 offensive rebounds in 36 minutes against the Cavs this season.

Give me a player on each side that we're not talking enough about that you think could have a big impact in the next couple of weeks.

I don't think they're simple at all.

Well, okay.

Victor was unbelievable in the game.

However, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was awful most of the game.

Chet Holmgren was horrible the entire game.

The Thunder repeatedly had two-on-one fast breaks and got no points out of them.

They looked like the Pistons.

And as you mentioned, he had a couple of possessions where he was a little out of control.

You've talked here a- now, like, pretty clearly, like it feels like you think that they may have, I don't want to say turned a corner, but whatever was missing, whatever was, whatever was leading them-

I mean, they absolutely turned a corner, dude.

They've won the last seven games by a combined 7,000 points.

Like [laughs] I mean, they're had, they had like one of the best seven game stretches in playoff history.

Yes, they've turned a corner.

I don't think they're winning the title because I think they're probably gonna play the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are a juggernaut, and I don't think the Knicks will beat them.

Uh, now again, we'll see about health.

Yeah

Well, Tim, let's just stay right there, because Joel Embiid is the face of the shortcomings for the Sixers this year, and I'm curious to know, where do the Sixers go from here? What happens with Daryl Morey? What happens with Nick Nurse? What happens with the entire franchise roster composition this offseason? Where do the Sixers go?

I don't really think they go anywhere.

I mean, we'll see if they make changes with either Darrell Moore or Nick Nurse this summer.

But at the end of the day, they've got $110 million or $100 plus million in the next two years and Paul George and Joel Embiid.

And there's just really not a lot to do with that.

You know, you hope those guys are healthy and available at the end of the season.

And you hope for improvement from Vijay Edgecombe who had a phenomenal rookie year.

Tim, we lost you there when asked about LeBron's tenure in L.A. thus far.

... try to win a- for the first time in years, and I'm wondering your take on what's ultimately gonna happen, uh, with the Anthony Davis saga.

I, I was wondering if w- you'd ask me about the Wizards or not.

Uh, it is gonna be very interesting to see what happens with the Wizards.

Obviously, uh, trading for Anthony Davis, trading for Trae Young.

Uh, we'll see what happens with the lottery on Sunday.

Obviously, that will be a pretty significant deal to see where Washington lands there.

That could impact things as well.

What do you make of the whole thing that Philly knocks them off?

Yeah

... because, you know, everyone just has assumed Jokic is gonna stay.

Um, now he got asked multiple times after game six when they lost to Minnesota that, uh, he wanted to be a Nugget forever.

However, he did not definitively say, "I am going to sign an extension," which when he last signed an extension with the Nuggets, he definitively said, "I am going to sign the extension when they offer it to me." Uh, and he was given multiple chances to say that.

Now, I expect him to sign an extension this summer, and I expect him to remain a Nugget, but until we see him sign on the dotted line, you have to at least leave open the possibility that he does not.

And if he doesn't sign an extension, I would expect, knowing how Denver operates and how they have operated under Stan Kroenke, that they would potentially trade Nikola Jokic this summer to make sure they didn't lose him for nothing.

So that would certainly be a very seismic development in the league.

Right

But you seem to think that the Celtics might be the easier path for the Knicks if they match up with them in round two?

I don't know if I'd quite say it's easier, because Boston obviously has a, a tremendous amount of championship experience and playoff experience and success, and they've got two tremendous players in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and a coach that's won a title in Joe Mazzulla.

But I, I do think if you just look at the way the two teams match up, the Knicks were basically built to go up against Boston, right? They've got a bunch of really good wing defenders in OG Anunoby and Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges that they can throw at Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and Derrick White and Payton Pritchard.

And with Carl Towns and Mitchell Robinson, they have an ability to really wreak havoc inside on a Celtics rot- center rotation that has really struggled with Joel Embiid, right? Nemanjas Kanter's a good player, but he has not been a starting center in the playoffs before.

Nick Vucevic is probably not good enough to really be in a playoff rotation.

Luka Garza's the same thing.

So the Knicks have some clear advantages there that I think they can really take advantage of.

But, uh, I mean, do, uh, do you look at them completely differently now compared to the team that we saw in the regular season that looked like, you know, they could be a pretty, pretty tough out, of course, as the one seed in the East, this Eastern Conference?

Why?

Well, I would say they're treated differently, mainly because Giannis has repeatedly made noises about, you know, whether he wants to leave Milwaukee or not.

And to this point in his career, Nikola Jokic has not.

Now, he got asked multiple times last night.

will you sign an extension with the Nuggets? And he said, I want to be a Nugget forever.

That is not, yes, I will sign an extension with the Nuggets, which is what he said the last time he could sign an extension with the Nuggets.

And a year ago, when he was eligible to sign an extension with the Nuggets, he did not.

But is it sustainable throughout the rest of the playoffs for Minnesota?

So Bontemps, how did this happen and what now?

Well, it's, it's fascinating how this is playing out because, you know, for so much of his career, Joel Embiid has had terrible luck in the playoffs with health, and obviously we thought with this appendectomy, and it still might be that, you know, maybe they go and lose game seven in Boston.

Certainly very possible that they lose game seven in Boston, and it'll be the latest what if of Joel's career, which is like what if he'd been available the whole series, the way this is playing out.

But after game four where they didn't hit any shots early, they were all disjointed, they were trying to get Embiid the ball, and they sort of fell apart.

The last two games have had a very, like, sound formula of they're gonna try to limit Boston's threes and dare them to do anything else, has, has not led to much success for the Celtics.

And particularly, and you hit on this really hard, Brian, after, in game five.

In the second half of game five, what did they do? They got Joel Embiid isolated against whoever, whatever big he was on and let him go to work, right? And that started to open things up for the Sixers.

Um, but still, like, um, Bontemps, is this a w- [laughs] is Karl Towns point center? Is this a way forward for the Knicks? Like, is this the way it's gonna be?

[laughs] Joining us, that right there, from New York City, Tim Bontemps.

Hello, everybody.

What a fun start to the postseason.

I think he had, I think he had most of those in the second half.

Well, because, because it was basically all in the second half.

And is this a potential issue for the league that has to be rectified?

No, not at all.

I mean, I think the fact that the Kings made it clear pretty quickly their coach just messed up, I think, is more of a commentary on the Kings than it is some sort of tanking situation.

I mean, and anybody watching the game, I think if you've ever watched a basketball game before, I mean, yeah, the Kings fouled in the bonus game.

And you can question the strategy Doug Christie was employing there to try to make sure he could use his use it or lose it timeout, which is you have a timeout go away after the clock goes past three minutes in the fourth quarter or in a quarter.

But the Kings drew up a three for Doug McDermott out of the timeout.

So, like, it's not like they were trying to hold the ball and just foul the Warriors to give them points.

How do the Sixers manage their future moving forward, knowing that Joel Embiid is under contract?

Do you think this MVP race is just gonna add fuel to that rivalry?

Oh, yeah, absolutely, Matt.

I mean, you, you've lived it, uh, and I've covered it.

You know, I, I covered that, uh, that Spurs-Thunder series in 2016, which was a- an all-time great series.

Tim's obviously last time around.

Um, and, uh, yeah, I, I mean, look, like I said just before, I think these are the two best teams in the league.

I think they're probably gonna be the two best teams in the league for the rest of the decade, knock on wood, from an injury perspective.

Just how worried should Lakers fans be, uh, with how that looked last night and how the early comments from LeBron and those guys were coming out of that game?

The last 5% of the scoring was unethical, but what about the other, what about the rest of it?

That's what I'm saying.

Again, it's not like he scored 40 points in the final 15 minutes on garbage stuff.

That's my, that's what I'm saying.

We're talking about like the final handful of points, when again, the guy was exhausted and trying to get open and the Wizards were triple teaming him.

I mean, obviously at that point, there was a lot of silly stuff going on, but it was still great to watch, and it was super fun.

It was great.

Oh.

And I think it, to me, this has reestablished Boston as the clear favorites in the East if, if he's able to stay on the court 'cause, I mean, it just, they've just leveled up dramatically having him back out there.

Yeah, I agree with that, especially as we speak, I look up and the Pistons are down 20-plus to the Miami Heat late in the first half.

The Pistons have been oof, you know, they, they've been struggling a bit lately.

But I thought Tatum's return was awesome.

And yeah, he missed the first six shots, you know, one of those was a great move, a, a uncontested dunk that he front rimmed.

It's like, ooh.

Um, but yeah, probably a little bit jittery, a little bit rusty, but 12 rebounds, seven assists.

So just-

But what you are saying is by reading through every ounce of it and being there yesterday, we should assume there could be a fourth name at some point.

Yeah, I mean, it's just, I wouldn't necessarily say it either way, right? I wouldn't assume one way or the other.

What I would say is that it is an open question as to where this comes from here.

And I think that goes back to sort of one of the central questions to come out of yesterday's news which is you know obviously you are a partial guy to the miami heat evan and obviously they with terry rogier involved in this story and one of the big questions yesterday was all right the nba uh you know david perdom and brian winhurst have reported on the prior investigation into terry rogier a couple years ago when it happened right and why was he allowed to come back and play? Why did the NBA determine they couldn't find anything and now he's indicted, right? And the simple answer from talking with sources around the league and within the league office is the league is not the feds, right? The federal investigators have subpoena power.

They have the ability to do wiretaps.

They have the ability to find out information in a way that the NBA does not.

That might not be a satisfactory answer and that certainly is not a exciting answer as to, oh, is there some, you know, grand conspiracy involving the NBA here that allowed Terry Regier to come back and play? But I think that the truth here, you know, if you do the Occam's razor on this, like the federal, the feds have an ability to get information in a way basically nobody else does, which is why, you know, the NBA is sitting here in this situation.

How concerned from what you're hearing is the NBA about what sort of stain this could leave on the rest of the season?

So what do the Lakers do next if they are going to put this team in position where they can compete with the Thunder and the Rockets? Well, the first

thing they're going to do, Kenny, is go find a center, maybe a couple.

So they'll do that.

They got to see if they can get Dorian Finney-Smith back.

And then from there, we'll see what they can do to fill out the roster beyond that.

But at this point, to me, they're in the same situation they were in two days ago.

They have a roster that is probably not going to be good enough to win, but should be very good.

How concerned is Adam Silver about this unsettling trend when it comes to players in the NBA being wrapped up in these investigations?