Slam N JamAndrew Schlecht and Alex Speers discuss the week of NBA Basketball, Who will win the Pacific Division, the dominance of the Cavs and Thunder, Jimmy Butler Trade destinations and more. Then they are joined by Brian Geisinger to discuss the Charlotte Hornets and if their recent play is a sign of things to come. Then the boys play a fun edition of Andrew vs. the Beat, a trivia game where Andrew is pitted against a beat writer.Host: Andrew Schlecht and Alex SpeersWith: Brian GeisingerExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio/Video Editor: Jake Kleinberg Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What are the top NBA stories this week?
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. Today, we're talking about Jimmy Butler, we're talking about the dominance of the Cavaliers, and we talk to Brian Geisinger, who joins us to talk about the Charlotte Hornets. You're about to get an education on the Charlotte Hornets. But first, Al, tell me about the top stories this week.
Andrew, our top story this week was what Santa brought down the chimney this year, because on Christmas Day, we got an incredible run of games. On the first game of Christmas, the New York Knicks beat the Spurs 117 to 114. And in his Christmas Day debut, Victor Weminyama showed up big with 42 points and 18 rebounds.
But it was the Knicks who got the win, led by Mikkel Bridges, who scored a season-high 41 points. The Knicks have won nine in a row as of Friday morning and are now 24-10, only a game back of the Celtics for the second seed in the East. By the time you listen to this, though, that nine-game winning streak will have come up against the OKC Thunder 13-game winning streak.
So we'll have to see who has survived as of Saturday morning. On the second game of Christmas, we got Dallas and Minnesota. which looked like it was going to be a snoozer. Minnesota led by 22 entering the fourth, but then the Mavs woke up. Dallas outscored Minnesota 31 to 15 in the final frame, getting the game to within two with a minute left.
Kyrie, who had 39 in the game, had a shot to put the Mavs up with 36 seconds left, but missed it. and the Wolves got the win 105 to 99. An important note from this game, Luka Doncic left the game early with a strained calf that will likely keep him out for at least the next month. On the third game of Christmas, it was Sixers at Celtics.
The Sixers are finally getting healthy with all three of their stars in the lineup, though that was briefly in doubt when Joel Embiid fell during pregame warmups and went back to the locker room. He was fine though, able to play, false alarm. scored 27 points. Tyrese Maxey added 33 and 12 assists in the game, helping the Sixers get the massive 118 to 114 win in Boston.
And that win was part of a nice stretch where Philly had won 10 of 13, though they have dropped their last two. They sit at 13 and 19, 11th in the East. And then on the fourth game of Christmas, we got the old
guys Super Bowl Lakers at Warriors and once again LeBron and Steph put on a show with both being the leading scores for their teams Steph scored 38 to LeBron's 31 but it was the Lakers who got the win after Steph hit a three to tie it with seven seconds left Austin Reeves at the game winning layup with only a second to go
Now, the last game of the night between Denver and Phoenix, it wasn't bad, but it didn't match the early day festivities with the Suns not letting the Nuggets get closer than 10 after the 720 mark of the fourth quarter. If you only watch the Suns on Christmas, you probably think things are going pretty well, but they're not. The Suns have only won three of their last 12.
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Chapter 2: How are the Cavaliers and Thunder performing this season?
And then one of the reporters, I don't know who it said, they said something like, you're not Mike Conley. And he's like, yeah, I'm not Mike Conley. It's so goofy. Then he was asked how hard it was to stay engaged. And he said, super hard, super hard, super hard, super hard. Four times he said this. Because I'm wired to score the ball. And I just think that...
I mean, the way that we were talking about Ant and the Timberwolves not that long ago, what, like eight months ago? I was like, oh, man. You know, people were making comps from Ant to like MJ. People were saying that like this team could go win a championship. And now it just seems like they are so far from that.
I mean, I think it's hard to even predict that there'll be a conference finalist again, which is how the season has gone. And so it's just these quotes are just indicative of just more growth. I think that needs to happen for Ant and for this team. And just that trade just did not work out. It has not worked out so far.
And a lot of times we place a ton of value, and it's not that it's not valuable, but we place a ton of value on flexibility. But when it comes to disrupting the roster this much, a roster that had great chemistry, that had played really well together, that had just beaten the Nuggets and had almost gone to the NBA Finals,
to be that disruptive to your roster, I think is something that you just have to be so careful with. And so these quotes to me are just indicative of just like more growing pains that are to come for the Wolves.
Yeah. And part of this is normal. Like part of this should be expected because Ant is a great player and he should be expected to get doubled like this. And part of him making that next step is learning how to deal with this. But part of this is also a factor of their roster. Where a lot of times when he's out there, yeah, why would teams care about anyone else on the court?
Why wouldn't you double Ant on every single possession? And so, yes, they're going to have to figure that out. Dante DiVincenzo playing a little bit better as of late, that helps. But yeah, I don't see like the clear answer on their roster as currently constructed to really take that pressure off of him.
My favorite quote of this week, Michael Malone, he was asked about Mike Brown's firing in Sacramento. He said, quote, no class, no balls. Referring to the Sacramento Kings management team. Very direct. And I think very appropriate. The fact that it just like immediately leaked how they had fired him. I mean, this is such an easy thing to handle. Like they're around this guy all the time.
And they can't just meet him in person and say this. Did they really like come up with this plan right after practice? I mean, he was in practice. You let him run a practice and then fired him by phone immediately after on the way to the plane to go to the next game. These are like very simple things like it.
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Chapter 3: What is the latest on Jimmy Butler's trade request?
It's the Memphis Grizzlies. Yeah, I get that. You know, tons of talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics and the Thunder and even the Knicks, who are having a really nice season. But the Grizzlies...
have somehow and it is like cobbled together a team that is just really successful and they're finding it on both ends you know they currently rank fourth in defensive efficiency at a 108.3 and then offensive efficiency their fifth at a 116.6 i mean that they have the the Fifth best net rating. They're just right behind New York at 8.2.
And there's a clear drop-off that happens with this top five. The top five is the Thunder at a plus 12.2, well ahead of everybody. Cleveland, 11.6. Boston, 10. New York, 8.4. And then the Grizzlies, 8.2. I just think that they're... being underrated and not really thought of as a quote-unquote top five team in the NBA. But by these efficiency stats, they have been.
And so I just think that that is interesting to note. Even though they have had a ton of injuries, they've had to play with a ton of different lineups. Jha's been in and out. Bane has been in and out. But they're still finding consistency, too. And with players that... a lot of people didn't think we're going to be contributing on a night-to-night basis for them.
So just a tip of the cap to the Memphis Grizzlies, who have had a really, really nice season so far.
And if they are being underrated, it's probably likely due to those injuries. Because when that Skeleton Grizzlies team beats the Suns, what does that really mean in relation to the championship? We want to see this fully healthy Memphis team. Because the fully healthy Memphis team is the one that's going to have a chance to win a championship.
So I just want to see this team healthy for like a month. During a tough part of their schedule with all their guys. And let's see how good they can be. They've obviously been incredible with all these guys out of the lineup. But we saw this a few years ago when it was the same deal. You know, jaw was out and they were so good with Tyus Jones.
And ultimately, when it comes to the playoffs, like this. And how you do when all of your guys are out doesn't mean that much. We want to see how everyone does when they're fully healthy. And I think they'd be very good, obviously, but I just want to see it.
I think it also, though, is about the opposite of what we were talking about with... The Kings is like, there is a connectedness that exists within this front office. You know, Taylor Jenkins has been with the team since the 1920 season and they've had success and they've had failure throughout that, but they continue to stick with him.
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Chapter 4: Which teams are potential trade destinations for Jimmy Butler?
Honestly, the only downside for the Nets waiting for this desperate offer, which I feel like is coming, is that he's playing so well, they're probably winning too many games, especially now after trading for D'Angelo Russell, who's perfectly competent as a starting point guard. You don't go to all that trouble of trading for your own picks to be the seventh worst team in the league.
And yet that's where they are. And they're already five games ahead of Toronto for the fifth spot in the reverse standings. But you know what? Maybe none of it matters because someone's going to give the Nets an absolute haul to get Cam Johnson, who is playing the best basketball of his career.
Yeah, that's the thing is that you just hold out and you're like, all right, you just wait till the trade deadline because somebody is going to give you three picks somewhere. You know, yeah, it'll it'll happen and it'll probably be an overpay for him.
I also think there's something going on in Brooklyn where it's a little bit reminiscent of the Thunder years ago where guys were just outperforming who they were. And I think that that a lot of guys in Brooklyn are just being set up really well to be successful. And the vibes are very good there. And so I think Cam Johnson is a very good player.
I think that I'd be careful if you're expecting this kind of production from him on any other team. That's all I would have to say. I think Cam is a very good player. I think that whoever gets him is going to be happy with him. But like this is this is a lot to expect.
Al, my player of the week is Shea Gildas Alexander, who is now, according to our betting partners, BetMGM, the favorite to win the regular season MVP at a minus 110. Jokic is at a plus 110. And then you have Giannis at a plus 1000. And a lot of that has been this win streak that you mentioned earlier. The Thunder have won 13 games in a row. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Don't worry about that. That loss that's in there. Shea has been unbelievable recently. In this 13-game win streak, he's led the league in scoring. You look at his box scores from these last several games. I mean, he had 40 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He had 29 in 30 minutes against the Clippers. He had 35 against Memphis.
He didn't have to play much against Charlotte on the score 22, but had 45 in a very impressive game against Indiana. Indiana had it going that night and Shea absolutely just shut off their water defensively. And then on offense, he was amazing scoring 45 points. And it's just funny to look back at like the journey that Shea has gone through to become the player that he is.
I mean, you think about the trade that happened, right? where the Thunder traded Paul George to the Clippers. The first tweet that Woj sent out was, Oklahoma City is trading all-star Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for a record-setting collection of draft choices. League sources tell ESPN. That was the first tweet. Tweet about that trade.
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Chapter 5: What is the current state of the Charlotte Hornets?
Oh, yeah, for sure. For sure. Definitely.
i'm looking at other teams i mean it is tough to come up with one and the and the other angle to this is miami like i mentioned all these benefits they would get if jimmy just walked they would get to completely reshape their team yeah and so what do you like the idea of that flexibility more than potentially taking on that big mpj contract and maybe like one first yeah
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what choices they're going to have, but I would probably choose flexibility. If I have a team in Miami, give me flexibility.
Unless the asset coming back is like a real primo asset.
Yeah, which I don't think you can get for Jimmy at this point. I don't think you're getting that. I just don't think that's happening. I think that his contract and the the idea that you're going to have to resign him on a number that you're probably not going to like is it makes it unattractive enough for teams. And so I don't think he's going to get a primo asset back.
And the other thing they've got to think about is their future picks as well. They do. They have a potential unprotected pick going to OKC next year if they miss this year's playoffs. Otherwise, OKC will just get their pick this season. And then they also have that outstanding pick from the Terry Rozier trade, which is, again, lottery protected in 27, then becomes unprotected in 28. So...
they don't have a lot of their own flexibility right now, adding onto the, like just looking at their pick assets. And then you factor in the cap situation, especially if they decide to bring Jimmy back, like they would be really locked up. So that flexibility is looking more and more enticing. Yeah.
A hundred percent, a hundred percent. The only other thing I wanted to touch on here was just like the fall off of from Tyrese Halliburton and like how it showed in the, uh, all-star voting, you know, the first returns for all-star voting last year that Tyrese Halliburton had 1.3 million votes in the first return. And he's not even in the top 10 this year for, for guards, uh,
I mean, if he got that 1.3, he would lead all guards in all-star voting this year. It's crazy how it's obviously shown on the court, and he's been better lately. I'll give him that credit. But it has been a strange fall-off for Tyrese Halliburton, and the fans have noticed.
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Chapter 6: How has Shea Gildas Alexander become an MVP candidate?
And just, again, what Grant does, it's kind of funny when you see a... He's 6'5", 6'6", and I think people think of Grant as a guy that would switch around a lot, but Charles Lee was using him in drop coverage and stuff this season, too, which is a little funny when you see a guy that height playing the drop, but...
Grant can get the job done in a bunch of different ways, and you just knew they weren't going to be able to replicate it. He's a guy that, really the one dude on the team that has proven postseason experience, and that speaks to his playability and viability in leverage minutes and crunch time.
and now you know you're relying on you know a miles bridges type they're actually using mark williams more as like a pastor in the front court but but there's really no one like grant um to sort of like bring that skill set to the lineup and honestly like my guess would be that outside of lamello and brandon miller and Maybe Trey Mann, too, just given his shot creation abilities.
Grant's probably the third or fourth most important guy. Hardest to replace guy, I would say, probably, on the lineup. He's going to be out. It's a really gnarly injury with the ACL. You just hope it's going to be smooth.
healthy recovery, but he's going to be gone for a while and there's no real way to, to, to bring that to, you know, to, to replicate that because Bridges doesn't give you the defense. Um, and so, you know, to John Salon's just not there, uh, from, uh, from like a, a viability standpoint.
Yeah. Grant is such a good example of like when people talking about rebuilding teams and just needing a veteran to make everything work, like to help other guys develop.
I remember, I mean, me and Andrew OKC fans, but like Mike Muscala back in the day, like not some amazing player or anything, but just having a shooter on the floor who was a veteran and consistent made it so much easier for everyone else on the court. And it sounds like Grant Williams was kind of filling that role where he could just do things that other guys just can't do.
And when you take him out and, people are put in positions that they're just not ready for probably.
Yeah. And the one guy that could really run like pick and pop with Lamello too, you know, none of the centers are stretches, stretch options. And again, some of the fours can, can give you some of that, but bridges is well under 30% on threes this year. Salons, you know, a pretty bad shooter right now. So even if you want to kind of get those pop actions, uh, You need it to be guard-guard.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of Tyrese Halliburton's drop in all-star votes?
Andrew, you got within five of the correct answer. And the correct answer was 55, which means Brian gets the points. You've got to be kidding me. That was a really good one. That was a very good guess, Andrew. All right, Andrew, the board is yours. You're down three to one. Okay, number three. Question number three. Charlotte has dealt with a ton of injuries this season.
Their most played lineup has only played 60 minutes together. Now, to put that in perspective, there is only one team in the NBA whose most played lineup has played fewer than 60 minutes. Which team is it? Wow. Is it Philly? Oh, great guess, Andrew. That is correct.
That is correct.
Tied the game up. Nice. All right. So, Brian, the board is yours. Tie game, 3-3.
Okay. Could you forgive me and remind me which numbers have been used thus far? One, seven. Oh, look at the screen. Look at the screen. Can you see me? Okay. Oh, yeah. Sorry. I often minimize the screen. Okay. I'll go five.
Question number five. Here we go. Oh, another Taj Gibson question. This is fun. Taj Gibson has played for seven teams in his NBA career. One is Charlotte. Obviously, everyone remembers Chicago and New York. And Andrew obviously remembers his time in OKC. Can you name the other three teams Taj Gibson played for? And you do get one point per correct answer.
So I've given you Charlotte, Chicago, New York, and OKC. There's three more.
One is Detroit, I believe.
That is correct.
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Chapter 8: What are the key takeaways from the Memphis Grizzlies' performance?
He hasn't. That's a great one, Andrew.
Very good.
He's the one, like, legit guy that hasn't started. All the rest of these guys are, like, you know. End of the bench guys, yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Well, like, Nick Smith Jr.
29.3.
I'm going to give you four hints, okay? Four hints to help you out. Eastern Conference team has won an NBA championship. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, Charlotte lost in seven. And Christian Wood played exactly 13 games for both the Hornets and this franchise. Who would you guess, Andrew? Oh, my word. I gave you four hints, Andrew.
Yeah, I don't know. Detroit? I don't know.
Andrew... That is incorrect, which means Brian wins the week. Brian, who would you have guessed? Miami Heat. It was the Milwaukee Bucks. Hush and Wood played 13 games for them. I did not remember that. Congrats, Brian.
Seven to five. High scoring game. Ouch. That was a high scoring game. Go check out the Buzz Beat podcast. I promise you this. You now know more about the Charlotte Hornets than any of your friends. I promise you that. It's true. I promise you that you know more than any of them. Brian, thanks so much for coming on.
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