The Timberwolves crush LeBron James and the Lakers on their Monday night contest and Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni break down what went wrong for the Lakers, and if things are turning around for the Timberwolves. In part 2 Dave and Es are joined by Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution to discuss the Atlanta Hawks, what their ceiling is this season, and how the vibes are different for the Hawks this year. In the final segment the breakfast club answers a listener question about when the last time a complimentary player made a leap to All Star status.Host: Dave DuFourWith: Es Baraheni, Lauren WilliamsExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio Producer: Grayson MoodySubmit your questions to The Athletic NBA Daily mailbag: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5939460/2024/11/25/nba-podcast-mailbag-athletic-daily/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What happened in the Lakers vs. Timberwolves game?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for December 3rd, 2024. Coming up, the Wolves. They press pause on the panic button by beating the Lakers. We've got Lauren Williams from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on to talk about the Hawks. And we love the Hawks on this show. Can't get enough of them. And we're going to do a deep dive on Franz Wagner in our question of the night.
Good morning, everybody. Good morning, S. Morning, morning. Oh, it was blowout night last night, S. Yeah. We had like, I'm going to call this a cooling off Monday. Sunday games were so good. We had that amazing Friday night NBA Cup, you know. You can't win them all. You need these off nights because tomorrow night, you know, or tonight, excuse me, we've got the NBA Cup.
The final night of group play and, you know, everything's on the line as we are constantly reminded by Rosario Dawson in the commercial. It's all on the line. Not all on the line was the Timberwolves season in their game. You like that transition against the Lakers because it's early. But the Wolves pulled it out. They're now back to 500.
They blew out the Lakers, and we'll talk about the Lakers a little bit. Look, it's just one game, S, and it's against the Lakers, and the Lakers have their own trouble. D'Angelo Russell was back in the starting lineup for them last night because Austin Reeves is out with that injury, but The Wolves took advantage of a poor transition defense team who could not make a shot.
And I mean, the Wolves just look better. They made a lot of a lot of shots. The Lakers missed a ton. But this is about the outcome we should expect in this matchup.
Yeah. And you know what? I want to credit the Wolves for not making this more interesting than it had to be, to be honest with you. Because they have had a tendency to do that over the last couple of weeks, kind of playing with their food, if you will. Anthony Edwards has called that out a few times. Anthony Davis maybe needs to do some calling out.
Maybe. Maybe somebody should call Anthony Davis out.
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Chapter 2: How are the Timberwolves turning their season around?
Yeah. But I think for the Wolves, like this was a feel good win. You saw Rudy Gobert faking a DHO, getting downhill, laughing his way to the bench. Him and Julius Randall had a moment on the bench. Anthony Edwards didn't even shoot the ball that well tonight, but they got a well-rounded effort from everybody else. Dante DiVincenzo chipped in. And so.
I just feel like these type of games are maybe not the ones that turn the season around, but just to be able to find an identity early in this season for a Wolves team that is still trying to figure out who they are. This is a good win for them.
And the bench was great, which has been kind of the biggest problem. I mean, the Julius Randall stuff aside. Not getting the sort of production they expected out of Nas Reed and Dante DiVincenzo off the bench has been a huge issue for them. Mike Conley having a really good game. You know, the big run that they went on was Gobert, Conley, and bench guys.
And that's the sort of stuff that it takes to be a contender. I mean, the only way you get through an 82-game season is by being able to win some games on the back of your bench. And so, you know... Seeing DiVincenzo hit some shots as he has the last few weeks, it makes this feel like, okay, we understand the vision. We understand the fit. I still go back to the Randall stuff.
There's huge defensive issues with him out there and Conley, especially. I just don't know. I understand the egos involved.
Crazy Julius Randall stat is that he has one block this season.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah. there's an effort issue defensively. Right. But with Nas Reed, you actually don't get that. And I know that there's egos involved, but as I just don't see how, if you're going to play your best five guys, Nas Reed, isn't on the court.
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Chapter 3: What are the current challenges for the Lakers?
Between him and Conley, they were doing their thing on the ball handling and playmaking front. So this team is lacking in that area. They didn't have Rob Dillingham tonight who was out. I think they just like they're just star for playmaking outside of Anthony Edwards. When a guy like DiVincenzo is playing the way he did tonight, Conley is playing the way he did tonight.
It alleviates some of the pressure off of Randall to not be that playmaker that I don't I don't necessarily think he can be on a consistent basis.
Yeah. I mean, again, we've we've hit that this note on this show. Yeah. People have been focused. They're missing Carl Anthony Towns or whatever. Kyle Anderson and what he did, not only on the defensive end, but also offensive playmaking, just being able to settle the floor down. when you needed someone to do it. He's missed greatly. I just don't know where they go and find that guy.
Cause they don't grow on trees. Let's swing it to the Lakers. Again, we talked about the Lakers quite a bit. They they've had, I would say they've had really good success at winning games this year, but it hasn't been all that impressive. They don't really have a great, you know, offense. The defense is, It's bad. It's terrible. What is going on?
Anthony Davis sometimes doesn't even cross half court. So that's part of the issue with the transition defense. I just don't understand why no one but Anthony Davis seems to be able to defend anybody in the half court.
They don't have many athletes on that team, man. And I think they have a lot of one way players. Right. You bring in Dalton Connect, boost your offense in a major way. But he's a rookie still trying to figure out the defensive side of the ball. Austin Reeves has had a great year for them on the offensive end, but he's going to get cooked on that defensive side of the ball.
And then you bring in, let's say, a Cam Reddish. Right. Not that great of an offensive player. good defensive player. They have a lot of one way, one dimensional guys on that roster. I don't think there's necessarily a fix to that. And, and for what it's worth, we could talk about coaching and maybe implementing better lineups and whatnot.
I don't know what else you could do really in this situation.
I'll tell you right now. I mean, they basically have this similar record to what they started with last year. Yeah. But this is about the horses in the race, man. You can only draw up so much. But if Cam Reddish is the guy coming off a screen, you can't draw up a better play for Cam Reddish. So it is what it is. And I mean, that being said, like some of the stuff this season has been positive.
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Chapter 4: What is the current state of the Atlanta Hawks?
that's a perfect segue to Trey young because he's the big concern, right? I mean, he's the top dog there, the heliocentric offense and, and they have lived by Trey young and they have died numerous deaths by Trey young, right? So on the offensive end, you know, when he's hitting shots, things look good.
This year has been a little bit different when he's not making shots, they've managed to still score. I mean, what, what's the difference there? Is it just guys making shots or is there a different scheme happening?
I think the big thing, it starts with guys making shots, but I think a big focus has also been that Trey hasn't been, especially recently with so many guys coming back into the rotation, the main scorer. They've got a guy like Jalen Johnson who can go out and get you 19 points a night. Yeah.
He had that crazy dunk that he had tonight, by the way.
Exactly, with the left hand. I think the rise of him kind of takes some of the pressure off of Trey to be that big scoring, this big offensive option. I think obviously when Jalen can get downhill, play fast, get things out in transition as we've seen him do, he's also taking on a thing of being a guy who can set guys up for plays. I think that's a huge thing.
because last year, you know, a lot of it kind of fell on Trey and that took a lot of pressure. I mean, you also had DeJounte Murray, of course, but they're both different players. And I think Jalen being kind of a bigger guy also helps them out. It doesn't make it easy for defenses to kind of break some of those playmaking options down. And we're seeing him find his teammate like Onyeko Kongu.
We've seen find DeAndre Hunter in the corner for that big three tonight over DeJounte Murray. So I think that's a big thing is that they're playing off the pass more. And when you have guys really willing to share the ball and Trey being a guy who can draw defenses away from the play, that will open things up for everybody else. That also contributes to a lot of
those guys having more assists but we saw trey have 15 assists tonight he had 22 in that first win over cleveland oh yeah um you know over his uh career high so i i think this is just the fact that they're playing unselfishly and a big part of that is trey trusting his teammates more to not only score but to make plays for each other i think that's kind of huge
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Chapter 5: How are the Hawks performing this season?
Helps with the vibe, too, right? Like, I mean, when everybody's happy, sharing the sugar, you know, a pass and assist makes two guys happy, not just one. You know, you got a lot of that going on.
And Trey actually had a very funny quote the other day. Well, maybe not necessarily funny, but intriguing quote maybe is that if hockey assists were a stat that the NBA track, he was like, I would probably have 20 a night. He would. That's and that's true.
I mean, just the way that he's able to impact plays and and get guys open to make the right pass is a huge thing that doesn't show up on the box score.
Lauren, this is one of the youngest teams in the league you mentioned already, but they are also one of the monster slayers, you know, beating Cleveland, beating Boston. They've got this NBA Cup opportunity. How important is that for them to, you know, I guess, get a notch under the belt, especially early on in this season?
You know, it's giving guys who, you know, you may not have expected to be competing for something, something to compete for, especially when I talked about the expectations that people had for this team at the beginning of the season. They just didn't really expect them to be in the mix of things, but they really are. And I think this NBA Cup,
for all of its faults, it really does up the ante for a lot of these players, especially guys who may not necessarily get the shine that they deserve. And so I think the fact that, again, we're seeing a guy like Jalen Johnson kind of take the mantle up and affect plays and not just a scoring way, but creating opportunities, whether and then also just him on the defensive end. I think he's
got some room for improvement there, but I really do think he's kind of growing into a better defensive player. And I think the more that you give guys a chance to compete for something beyond just the regular season or beyond an appearance in the playoffs, it's going to kind of up the ante a little bit. I said that already. Yeah. It's really going to up the intensity.
And I think they pride themselves on having another title. I don't think, you know, they're going to be like the Lakers and hand them a raise an NBA cup.
The NBA cup means more, Lauren, around here.
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Chapter 6: What vibes are different for the Hawks this year?
Chapter 7: Can the Hawks reach the playoffs this season?
The NBA cup means more, Lauren, around here.
If they don't raise a banner, I will be disappointed.
I think it's in the it's probably in the CBA somewhere. Like they have to do it before you have to go. OK. This season, look, it's too early to call it a success or anything. It's been good so far. What does a successful season look like for this team? And then what does it mean for them going forward? This is not a title team. They're probably not a top four team.
But if they're in that top six, if they advance maybe from the play and into the playoffs, get into a playoff series, that's a successful season in my book. So what does it look like to you?
I think I think you hit the nail on the head. But I also think the big thing, even if they don't necessarily make it out of the play play in, if they are playing team, I think the big thing is just how these guys developed over the course of the season, particularly the young guys.
I mean, I mean, a lot of them already Dyson Daniels, whether to me, if you if they can unlock a little bit more of his offense and maybe we start seeing that outside shot falling a little bit more consistently. The continued rise of Zachary Resache. I mean, I tweeted it out that there's so many passes that he he's able to make that are highlight worthy that they just don't quite convert.
But, you know, those are going to eventually start falling for those guys. You know, you see Trey start his stock starts to fall a little bit more. I'm really interested to see. You know, this experiment that they have going on with Clint Capella and Onyeka Kongwu and what the future for them looks like. Obviously, they have Larry Nance in there.
But I think the big thing is just if we can continue to see from the start of this season until the end, a clear path or a clear rise of all of these guys where... maybe they're in the conversation more. That to me looks like a successful season for this team, just because I think coming into the year, the expectation was for them to just be competitive and for them to grow.
And obviously there are different metrics for that. But I think if you're seeing them compete night in and night out for You never want to see moral victories necessarily, but if those losses are quote unquote competitive losses, I think that's still going to be a huge sign that this team is growing in the right direction.
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Chapter 8: What are the expectations for the Hawks moving forward?
Lauren Williams, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Go and read her stuff. She literally covers the Hawks better than anybody. Guys, stick around after the break. S and I, we're going to talk about this leap that Franz Wagner is taking right now. And we're back for another round of listener question. Remember, guys, over at theathletic.com, we've got the post. We've got it in the show notes.
Go and leave us a question. We're going to be checking that thing every single day. We're just going to keep it running. We'll post every couple weeks or whatever with a new link. But, guys, give us your questions. We're really appreciating them. Marino C asks us, and S, we do like Franz Wagner around here. Did anyone really see Franz taking this kind of leap?
When was the last time an elite complimentary player was really a sleeping alpha? Now, as much as I don't like the term alpha. Yeah, I'm not a fan of that. We like the term number one. Okay. And I will also say, let's pump the brakes just a little bit. Okay. I don't know if Franz is really a number one, but he certainly looks like a good number two. If Paolo is your number one, I think he is.
That's going to be the pecking order when he comes back. But that that's an interesting question, right? Like, Paolo goes out. We say, uh-oh, it's over for them. Franz just steps right into that role, takes over, and they haven't missed a beat. They're the three seed in the East. S, does this ring any bells? Does this happen anytime you can think of?
There's a couple that remind me of this. The Paul George, Indiana Pacer day. where he was just kind of like a role player initially to Danny Granger.
Danny Granger, right?
Right. And then he stepped in and Paul George was, you know, he became the all-star, the superstar that competed against LeBron in the heat. Another one is Derrick Rose went down with that injury and Jimmy Butler became the most improved player and like, you know, quote unquote alpha, if you will, number one option of that team. Those are the two that jump out to me.
And especially because they were guys who were like sort of in Franz's position, like wing types.
some shooting questions to them earlier in their careers and then they turned it around as shooters and shot creators so you're seeing some of the similar things that franz is excelling at right now the three-point shot has got better with him but i i really am interested because i think people will immediately talk about the jason tatum jalen brown of it all with paulo and franz right the combination of
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