J. Kyle Mann

And I think closer together, frankly, across this sort of tier in the Eastern Conference, including some teams that are a little further down, it's just one of those things where OKC is going to have 35-40% of the share to win the title.

That's going to depress what the Spurs are capable of.

That's keeping the Nuggets in this range.

And so...

So naturally, a lot of these other contenders like the Cavs, like the Celtics, like the Knicks are going to be, I think, clustered around each other just because there is so much more parity overall and sort of like whatever you consider the top tier of the East to be.

That brings us to our next kind of sub tier, which is the Pistons at 4%.

oof, like this is, I mean, that's tough considering how the highs, like the highs of their season to date.

I understand it from the perspective of Cade Cunningham's collapsed lung and the lingering effects of that and who he might be even on the other side of it.

There's like a lot in the air.

But 4%, I mean, just feels incredibly, a disastrous turn of events in and of itself, given what they could have reasonably expected even a month ago.

Look at you.

It's more like disappointment in the way things have turned out than it is like I'm strongly pushing back on this idea that this is what their title odds are at this point.

I think you nailed it.

Yeah, all of the uncertainty around the injury bolstered by the fact in this case that

To the extent that they have a flexible roster, it's a lot of offense or defense.

You have to make a compromise one area or the other.

If you want to get more shooting on the floor, it's coming with huge caveats for a team like the Pistons in terms of what their defensive identity is and how they can hold together structurally.

That's really tough when you get into a playoff setting, when you have to make those sorts of one or other concessions.

You need a well-rounded roster.

Even when you think about a team like the Thunder on their march last year,