Rachel Nichols

As a rookie, who did you vote for for Rookie of the Year and why?

I voted for Cooper Flagg for Rookie of the Year, and this was close.

I mean, the last month or so, I've been flip-flopping between these two, and at the end of the day, I mean, like you said, Khan was an unbelievable shooter this season, and I think his offensive impact beyond shooting was underrated as well.

He set 738 screens this year as a guard, by far the most as a guard.

The little things he does, the cutting, the screening, the relocating, he's more than just the standstill shooter, and

Cooper had the ball in his hands a lot, and everybody was geared towards stopping him, every single opponent.

I think with Rookie of the Year, Danny, one of the things we never talk about is defense.

And Cooper Flagg was...

significantly the better and more impactful defender this season over con canipple with what he did as a switchable guy we saw in the game against the lakers in march in multiple games where he's blocking shots from behind making big plays on defense con is solid positionally but flag is a more impactful defender and so you talk about that the degree of difficulty factor with the fact cooper was the best player on his team commas the third fourth or fifth on the hornets

I lean flag, but this was close.

I'm not surprised.

It's going to be a debate that the vote will probably be close, but I think flag, as you said earlier, first-inch Jordan to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals.

That says all you got to know.

Yeah, it's a pretty open-and-shut case when you put Michael Jordan's name next to it.

So James Harden has the reputation of playoff joker, and it is earned based on his performance in elimination games.

But if you look at it, he's fourth in minutes, playoff minutes, since he entered the league, and he's fourth in points and fourth in threes.

He's played to his numbers in terms of his opportunity.

A bunch of games with five or more threes, a bunch of games with 30 or more points.

They're the second favorite in the East right behind Boston.

Do you give Harden a chance to change his playoff narrative this postseason?