Justin Verrier

I think it all fits together a little bit more easily than you typically would.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of these parts still seem to fit Luca and Kyrie doing everything in a way that I wonder if Cooper Flagg is going to struggle to fill that specific type of void.

He's clearly awesome.

He could be an all-star as soon as next season.

I mean, even if things go right, we're talking maybe fringe all NBA.

But it just feels a little too rigid.

as I look across the team.

And I wonder if what you actually need with flag are guys more like him who are versatile, who could play in different combinations.

And so pivoting to flag is probably more of an effort than just like having good talent on the roster.

I'm not mistaken.

Wasn't Najee Marshall the one nice thing we all agreed upon last year when we did this?

Was it really?

Because I have faint memories of him basically being the point guard down the stretch as they were really leaning into the tank.

Yes, everyone loves Najee Marshall after he, I believe, did the game here in Portland and he got the walk off interview, but it was for the Chinese media.

And he gave the full two handed handshake as he went by.

And the reporter who was doing the stand up there was very, very pleased by that.

She's like, that's the first time someone's actually done that.

And so Najee Marshall, good player.

More importantly, good guy.

He saw those Chinese sponsorship opportunities lining up just by one stand-up.