The New York Knicks should be one of the best teams in the NBA...but what if they aren't? Peter Klein looks at the Top 5 stories in the NBA that he is worried he's going to be wrong about this year.
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Apple Pod: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/couch-potato-diary/id1564122189
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Twitter: twitter.com/primetimeklein
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Facebook: www.facebook.com/Couchpotatodiary
Twitch: twitch.tv/primetimepk
Email: couchpotatodiary@yahoo.com
We Had No Idea: every Wednesday morning,
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SportsTranscript
00:00As we do these previews, everything I say, that there is a conviction behind it, right?
00:13Like, oh yes, I, these are gonna be the five, or these are the five most talented teams
00:17in the league.
00:18These are the coaches that could get fired this year.
00:19These are the players that have the most pressure on them.
00:21All these different things.
00:23And that is what we're supposed to do in Sports Talk, right?
00:26Is we are supposed to have our takes and stick with them, and the hotter the better, and
00:30all of those sorts of things.
00:32But, I'm human enough to admit, sometimes there's some shit I'm worried I'm wrong about.
00:37And so today, as we kind of reach the halfway point of the NBA previews here, going to be
00:42looking at what I'm worried I'm wrong about this year with the NBA.
00:48So number five.
00:50I'm worried that I might be wrong on how everything fits with the Dallas Mavericks.
00:56We had this conversation a little bit about, Toxic was in on the chat asking about, like,
01:01how do we think Klay fits on this Dallas Mavericks team?
01:05And I think it fits really well.
01:06I think you have a full year with Gafford and Washington coming back from that trade.
01:12And I think you have Klay, who now is going into a role where he is not going to have
01:15to be the be-all end-all superstar of this, and be just, just be corner three guy over
01:22there.
01:23Just do that.
01:24And he will be more than happy.
01:27And then you have Luka, off of this championship, run close to a championship, hopefully motivated
01:32and all of that.
01:33I feel like these pieces fit so well together.
01:37But we have been fooled by that before, with some of these teams.
01:40And with some veterans.
01:41Like, there is a world where, like, Luka was just kind of beaten down by that long of a
01:47run and having to carry things, and maybe it isn't quite as good.
01:51And the fact that the supporting staff doesn't help out as much as maybe we think.
01:55And the fact that this team doesn't defend at all.
01:58Really comes back to bite them.
01:59And Klay is just cooked.
02:00Like, some of these things could happen, and all of a sudden my good feelings about Dallas
02:04could just go away.
02:05And so that's why I'm a little worried I'm wrong.
02:07About them.
02:08But I'm at number five because I'm not super worried about that.
02:11And number four, I'm a little worried I might be wrong about Atlanta just being bad.
02:16It wasn't a fit with Murray.
02:18So Trae Young now has the team back to himself.
02:21And I have great concerns about that.
02:24I have great concerns about the rest of the roster.
02:27And I do not think that this is a good basketball team.
02:30And so, I will be able to, plausible deniability, the whole year, I'll be able to explain it
02:35away, much like Walt was, with the commanders earlier.
02:38It's like, yeah, who are they beating?
02:40Because the Eastern Conference and the NBA isn't a downswing right now.
02:44There's obviously some talented teams at the top, but it gets ugly quick.
02:48And so there are, I think, a number of wins out there for Atlanta to steal.
02:52And so we may not even get a good sense of if this is a good basketball team or not.
02:57Based off of the lack of competition that there could be in the East.
03:01And so I am worried that the results are going to be there, even if the team is bad.
03:04Also, like, there's a chance that maybe now Young matures coming off of this experience
03:10with Murray and grows into a better basketball player.
03:13Or with no Murray there, there's other opportunities for some of these players to rise up and take
03:17full advantage or something, something, something.
03:19Either way, I am a little bit worried that I think Atlanta may be better than I think
03:23they are.
03:24But again, that's at four.
03:25At three, the Rockets' young players development, and that is going to be a theme for a couple
03:30of these next ones here, is that I, one of the lessons we took from last year is that
03:36some of these kids coming into this league now are so good that when it hits, it really
03:42hits.
03:43Instead of bad lottery team gets good player, good player helps bad lottery team, but only
03:49a little bit.
03:50And now, oh, well, they've gone from 22 wins now to 30.
03:52And now they've gone up to 39.
03:54And now they're a bit above 500 and they're a seven seed, and now they're competing for
03:58an NBA championship.
03:59We, like, Minnesota skipped a couple of those steps with Ant, right?
04:03SGA helped Oklahoma City skip a couple of those steps.
04:06And so I am now thinking that the Rockets players can help these guys step, because
04:10there's like three or four of them on that team that you think might be able to take
04:14those steps.
04:15But that is entirely projection based, right?
04:19Like the first two in the Worried I'm Wrong About, Dallas, I'm worried that they might
04:23not still be a good team.
04:24Well, last time we saw them, they were a good team.
04:26Atlanta, I'm worried that I might be wrong that I think they're bad.
04:29Well, last time we saw them, they were a bad team.
04:32This one, we are now projecting into how these young athletes adapt to life in the NBA and
04:37how does it fit with Fred Van Vliet and with Udoka as the coach and all of that.
04:42So I'm a little worried that I might be going a bit ahead of myself on the Rockets.
04:48Number two, the Bridges and now Towns fit on the Knicks.
04:51Admittedly, when I prepped this, that was not a, the Towns part of this was not an option.
04:58He could not fit well on this team because he wasn't on this team.
05:01But now I still look at this as a really well built roster and a team that just kind of
05:05fits perfectly together.
05:08And so I am worried that I am wrong on that.
05:11That you have Towns, who came from being the guy in Minnesota, and now potentially being
05:15the third guy on the Knicks with a coach who he didn't really mesh with the first time,
05:21and a team that isn't going to give him the ball a ton.
05:24You go with Bridges from a situation with the Nets where who else was going to get the
05:29ball and score?
05:30So he was able to do all of these great things, and then you have Brunson, who is actually
05:34the guy there.
05:35And is someone who has stepped up in gigantic ways.
05:39I think all of it will fit.
05:41But there is a long track record of A, this not working, and B, it not working in New
05:49York.
05:50Where every time we think, okay, well it's Amari and Melo, how can they go wrong?
05:55Oh, that's how they can go wrong.
05:56That's, I see it now.
05:58But it does feel like this team is built really well.
06:01I just, I do worry that it's going to take too long to mix, or it's just not going to
06:08mix at all.
06:09And things could fall off.
06:10So that's one thing I'm worried about.
06:11But the number one thing I am worried about this year is my assumption that Wembley moves
06:17into MVP caliber territory already, and thusly carries the Spurs into the postseason.
06:23They are the number one team I am focused on for making a big jump this year, and it
06:27is entirely based off of that very large Frenchman that is on their team.
06:32And they went out and acquired Chris Paul.
06:34I think they've done a lot of really, really smart moves to build around this kid.
06:38It is not perfect yet, though.
06:40And so that is where my concern comes in, is that I just think Wembley is going to be
06:43amazing.
06:44And, like, A, he can get hurt.
06:47We had one year where he didn't, so now we're assuming that he's never going to.
06:50And that absolutely could happen, and it would suck.
06:52But he could get hurt, and it would be very devastating for this team.
06:55Or, even if he takes a gigantic step, he still isn't enough to carry what is, aside from
07:02like Chris Paul and a couple of other guys, a fairly flawed roster.
07:06So I am worried that I am maybe wildly overestimating what could happen with the San Antonio Spurs
07:13this year.