Way-Too-Early 2027 NBA Player Awards | Ringer NBA Show

[MUSIC] >> What up, it's the Ringer NBA Show, our best senior writer at the Ringer. Joining me today is currently weighing a one year deal at the minimum to become the 76 or seventh man. >> Ringer Senior writer, Michael Peta, Pena, great to see you. >> Been a while. >> It's great to see you, Howard. Is that a compliment? Was that an insult? What was that? >> They need bodies, Pena. They need depth. LeBron needs guys to pass to. You're as good an option as anybody as far as I'm concerned. >> I appreciate it. >> I think that's a compliment, I think. >> I appreciate it, thank you. >> Great to see you. >> It's great to see you too. It's been a bit. You and I are here today to continue our time-honored tradition and by time-honored, I mean, we did this last year for the first time and now this will be the second time. Of making way too early, way too spicy picks for the NBA awards for next season. That's MVP rookie, the year, et cetera. This is even earlier at Spicier than we did it a year ago because I looked it up and last year we did this on August 28th, I think it was. And we are doing this on the final day of July now. So it's even earlier and thus, by definition, I think even Spicier. We have no idea what the fuck's going to happen between now and opening night. So this is a great formula for us being horrifically embarrassed by things that we're about to say over the next 50 minutes or so. So that's fun. It's always great to set yourself up for failure. >> Yes, and we will be having our wonderful producer, Cliff, read what we did last year, unfortunately. I thought that those episodes or that transcript was scrubbed from the internet, but I guess not thank you, Cliff. So that should be a total blast to hear everything we got super right last year. >> We dug it up out of the way back machine, nothing is ever forgotten. We're going to get to that in a minute, our way too early, way too spicy, possibly too spicy awards. But before that, there's not much going on, there's not much news to kick around. So let's just real quickly hit this, because the only news of the last couple of days was Baxter Holmes at ESPN reporting that the Kauai Leonard aspiration, cap circumvention, Brueja, could drag it into 2027. I was on a podcast with my buddy Casey Johnson in Chicago yesterday, and this came up. So I thought I would throw it to you. What Jersey is Kauai Leonard wearing on opening night of 2026-27? >> It better be a Toronto Raptor's Jersey, it just did better. I struggle to imagine a scenario where he is not, and I think it would be beyond, I mean, right now the league has egg on its face, of course. It would go beyond that into something like just nefarious, and unseemly in the city of Toronto would be burned to the ground. So I think that it would be great if he was on the Toronto Raptors next year. >> All right, but are you, because we want to make predictions that we will be embarrassed by later. I mean, are you predicting he actually will? Because that's what I'm saying here, like, where do we think he actually is? Not what's right or wrong? >> He has to be. >> I can't envision him still being with the Clippers. I can, and I think he's going to be. I think that's where this is headed. Like, it was one thing for Adam Silver at his press conference in Vegas, which I attended, to say it could still be, or did he say weeks? No, Mike Bass' statement, I think, had been like, it could still be weeks, and then Adam, I think, followed up with something along those lines. Like, we're still working on this thing, it could take, you know, most of the summer, whatever. When Baxter Holmes has somebody leaking to him that it could leach into 2027, it feels to me like somebody's trying to brace us all for this being maybe not just possible, but likely. That's me reading T-Leaves. I'm interpreting that as not reporting. I don't think we can brush that aside, and I also just think that if it's not wrapped up, and we don't know what Kawaii Leonard's fate is, contractually or suspension-wise, you can't go into that agreement. You can't, you can't, if you're the raptors, complete that trade. And so I think there is at least a decent chance that everybody is feeling very awkward in October as Brandon Ingram and Grady Dick return to the raptors, and Kawaii Leonard returns to the clippers, while we await this investigation's conclusion. Is there even a precedent for something like, I mean, that would be, there's no precedent for any of this in the first place, so yeah. I don't know, man. I don't know. It's interesting to think about because I think it's on the table. I could be wrong about whether he's actually in a clipper uniform on opening night, but I think it's on the table in a way that we would not have anticipated on the last week of June. Sort of ruined my day. And with that. All right, we're going to perk you back up with our way too early, way too spicy awards picks. So we have some parameters here. The goal, by the way, listeners is not necessarily to be right here. In fact, we almost can't be right because of the rules that we constructed for this exercise. This is more for entertainment purposes, but it's also just to kind of think outside the box about who might actually sneak their way into these conversations, maybe even win. So the rules last year, which we are employing this year as well, rule number one. We cannot pick anyone who actually won or finished second in any of these awards last year. Last season rule number two, we can't pick anyone who's currently listed as a top three favorite by the odds makers, because that's no fun. Those are the favorites are the favorites. We're looking outside the box here. Rule number three, we're doing all the awards except for clutch player of the year because it's stupid. So the format for each category, we have two potential winners, a spicy pick and an insanely spicy pick. Look this up for reference from last year. We used the Scoville scale, which measures the heat intensity of peppers. So the jalapeno pick is the just spicy pick. The insanely spicy is our Carolina reaper. So with each of those, each category, we will pick a jalapeno pick and a Carolina reaper pick. With that, let's jump into the first category, Pena, defensive player of the year. Ineligible for this exercise would be Victor Wembenyama, who won defensive player of the year and Chet Holmgren, who was the runner-up. 2027 favorites are those same two guys plus a star Thompson. So there are your ineligables, Michael Pena, who is your jalapeno pick for defensive player of the year. My pick is a men Thompson with the Houston Rockets. And my justification here is number one. He's an awesome defender. Number two, I think that he will greatly benefit with healthy Fred Van Vleet as the starting point guard. I think that his, you know, he will have much less on ball responsibility on the offensive end. And he will be able to disperse much more energy and effort on the defensive end. And whether Houston decides to, you know, switch one through five, one through four, or just have on men stuck to the best player on the other team at all times. I think that the Houston Rockets have the potential to be the best defense in the NBA next season with the addition of Marcus Smart, Steven Adams being healthy Fred Van Vleet, Fred Van Vleet, being healthy. So I think like when you look at it from the perspective of, okay, best defender on the best defense. That's always a strong case in this award. He's my pick. And he's also just fantastic and awesome. And probably the most athletic player in the league. Great pick. If you can't go with one Thompson twin pick the other one as well go with the other. Yeah. Yeah. I think I picked both of them last year. You didn't order another felt like cheating. I'm going with a very risky pick here considering the discussion we just had. And that would be Scotty Barnes. Lord only knows with Scotty Barnes' actual responsibilities will be with Kauai or without Kauai. But especially if without Kauai, look, he had a strong case to be in this discussion already this past season. He's only getting better. They had a top five defense in Toronto. And I think that team, even without Kauai, or maybe even especially without Kauai, that they've figured out they've got an identity now. They know what they do. They know who they are. And especially defensively Scotty Barnes will both ends, but in particular defensively. He's he is the linchpin to it. He guards everybody no matter how tall, wide, or long. He's all over the place. He, like I say, I think is only getting better. And if Kauai is there, it changes this whole equation potentially. But considering that Kauai may not play more than 60 games, maybe it's still Scotty Barnes. It's hard to stand out as defensive player of the year if you're next to Kauai. So I was trying to figure out how much to factor in where things stand. But I decided that as we sit here on July 31st, Kauai Leonard is not a Toronto Raptor. And I'm not going to predict given our last discussion that he will be. So Scotty Barnes was my pick here. Only two hitches. Actually, Kauai Leonard is the first hitch. The second second hitches, of course, as a member of the media, I'm supposed to be part of the anti-Canada media conspiracy to deny anything joyful to the entire nation of Canada. So if that kicks in, then that's the other hitch. Of course, of course, anti-Canada. I think he was on my actual ballot last year, third place, I think, for defensive player of the year. So awesome player, great defender. I think that he would be no matter what happens, the best defender on the team next year. I think Kauai is like a, he was like an honorable mention for my all defensive team last season, and when he we need turns it up, he's still incredible. I still think that Scotty Barnes would be like miles ahead of anyone else on the team in terms of just like as an individual defender who brings it on every possession. And to your point, I think that it's very similar to my rationale for a men Thompson, if Kauai, and I would like to live in a world where we can just say Kauai is on the Toronto Raptor, so maybe we could do that for the rest of this conversation. I'm sorry to bring it down, but I think that I think that you know, Kauai usurping a lot of the playmaking responsibility, the scoring responsibility that Scotty had to kind of uphold last season would do be very beneficial to him on the defensive end. So love that pick. Alright, who is your Carolina Reaper pick? This is like the deep, deep, deep, deep, deep cut the way off the charts, the most possible regret as we pick these. I don't know if this is I was toggling between my two picks here. I'm going with Bam at a bio and part of it is because I just would love to live in a world where he has a defensive player of the year trophy on his mantle, he is probably the best defender of his generation who has never won the award. He's never even been a runner up for the award, which is shocking. What are his highest finishes, do you know? I don't know off the top of my head Howard, I'm sorry, but he is, you know, we're going to the he's going in this situation where obviously Yannis is on the team and I think that how they defend will be truly fascinating. And there's just a lot of different options that are exposed to has it as a disposal and they could easily finish top 10 to maybe top five top six. I don't know in defensive rating as a team. So I would just I would just love for this to happen and Bam is incredible and I don't know how spicy it is. Maybe it's not that it's like in between spicy and extra spicy this pick because Bam is still awesome. But it's just every year it feels inconceivable that he'll actually win the award. So yeah, we'd love to see it happen for him. And a similar like impediment potentially here right as I was looting to with Scotty Barnes and Kauai, which is that he's going to be next to Yannis and you know Yannis has been in these discussions too for defensive player of the year for many years. So like if if there are top five top three defense who are we who is who are we giving the credit most to are they splitting votes. So there's there's that aspect of it. I would really, really, really deep here, but I don't think it's unjustified. It just requires a lot of things to break right. My Carolina Reaper pick for defensive player of the year Anthony Davis. Oh, Jesus. Bear with me. He's never won. He said four top four finishes. He was second to 2019, which is a lifetime ago I understand. He was fourth is recently is two years ago, the 2023 24 season when he actually played I think 70 something game 76 games that year. So it was recently is two years ago. He was in the mix fourth. What if he actually stays in Washington still not convinced what if he actually plays 70 games not convinced. But if he did. And all of the good vibes that will come with the wizards quickly rising in the east and he and tray young leading them back to semi relevance. A top five defense top 10 defense, maybe. I don't know. It's the Carolina Reaper pick. I'm looking for, you know, somebody who is on the absolute fringes of this discussion, but is still plausible in the abstract. And Anthony Davis has been for most of his career. One of the best defensive bigs in the NBA and his anchored many elite defense. It's not completely out of the realm of possibility. I'm not going to say it's impossible. But I find this whole situation to be extremely depressing. And I this situation, not me. No, not you, of course not hard. Just cool. I don't know what's going on there. I first of all, I find it like really implausible that a team that a player could win defensive player of the year beside tray young. I think that that's just really that's going to be tough. Super young Chris Middleton is on the team. There's talks of them trying to sign Demar to rose. I, it's just such a mess. I don't know what they're doing there. It's like, there's like, it feels like there's 16 people in the front office and everyone has a say and a vote. What personnel decisions are being made. Exactly. Nothing makes sense there. And I also just don't think he will be on the Washington Wizards. After the trade deadline. If not before. So we'll, we'll kind of see how that that shakes out. Yeah. I know. I've been, listen, I have been confused from the moment they made the trades for tray young and Anthony Davis. It's like this is the pivot you're making after years of tanking like now. And of course they shelved them so they didn't have to accidentally win games last season. And now they're going to try to turn the corner and I kind of get it like you want veterans established guys around your youth around. To advance and everybody else. Koolabale saw like I get that part of it, but I don't know these are the right two guys and tray young in particular. And it just feel this is, yeah, this roster feels like a mishmash and it will be even more mishmashy if they sign Demar to Rosen to your point. Let's move on to six man of the year. The disqualified ones not able to be considered for this category. Keldin Johnson, he won last year, six man of the year. Jaime Hawkes was the runner up. So they're off the board for us. The 2027 favorites according to the odds makers are Dylan Harper, AJ Mitchell and Anthony Black. So with the players that are left, Michael Pina, who is your jalapeno pick for six man of the year. Well, in honor of my, I don't know if you knew this Howard, but I've been banned for life from the rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast. So I'm going with it is true. So I'm going with Simone Fontechio here. The table is set for him to dominate down in Miami. Now the Tyler hero and Jaime Hawkes are out of the way. No, I'm obviously a kidding there. My, my, my all of branch that I'm extending actually to the host, the good people with the rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast. I'm going with Anthony Simon's as my spicy pick. I think that his whole purpose on that team and any situation is to shoot and to score. And traditionally, that is who wins this award. I don't know how consistent it will be, but there will be nights when he drops 20, 25 points off the bench. He's that good. And I think it'll be really fascinating to see how Philly Stagger's its rotation. I can picture Simon's, you know, coming in. And moonlighting at point guard when Tyrese Maxxies on the bench and, you know, really playing off of whichever of the other three stars LeBron, Joelle and B Jalen Brown is on the court and in those units. And just really shining. So that's my pick. And I hope my lifetime band gets gets lifted for this, this active generosity. I've displayed here. I'm going to need some elaboration here. I was not aware of this band. I don't know when and how this, this happened. I've never been in the rights to Ricky Sanchez pod. So maybe I've been shadow banned. I didn't even realize it. But what did you do to offend the good people of Philadelphia and the rights to Ricky Sanchez pod. In my, my column about LeBron going to the Philadelphia 76ers. I had a crack about how could he pass up the opportunity to play with Yannis, Bam and Simone Fontechio. And I was not being serious. And it was taken seriously. So I'm hopefully clearing that up right now. I got you. Fantastic stuff. I hesitate to go down this road for my pick based on one of my own rules for this award. But I did it anyway just because I think he's interesting. My jalapeno pick for six men of the year is Ace Bailey. Wow. I'm assuming a starting five in Utah of County, George Darren Peterson, Larry market in. Jerry Jackson, Jr. And weirdly, use of Nurghitch and his surgically repaired nose. Ace Bailey got a lot of starts as a rookie because they were tanking and or hurt. And they just needed somebody to go out there and soak up a lot of possessions. Yes, all rookie year. Despite all of it and efficient enough for a guy who was on a team where he probably could have just like just taken every shot and just said, you know, what else are we gonna do? Average 14 nearly 14 points for rebounds to assist. A shot 52% from 2, 34 to 35% from 3. Solid scored 15 points or more in 32 of the 72 games he played. 20 plus 16 times had three games of 30 and over. He like the dude can score and the jazz are actually going to be trying to win this season. He has to cut down his turnovers, but I think that comes with maturity and also playing like more of a contained role and not just being like the only guy out there to do anything of he and George. And to my qualifier here, like I don't I don't usually consider 6 man of the year for anybody who's like on an irrelevant team or losing team like I downgraded Jaime Hakez who was a lot of people's favorite last year because I just the heat weren't good enough. What's the point of being a great 6 man if you're on an irrelevant team. So I don't know how relevant the jazz will be, but the potential for them given health and given actual motivation to win. Should put them in the mix and I think that puts him in the mix. Love it. I think that that is a really interesting pick and it kind of goes it dovetails with you know Dylan Harper kind of being everyone's. I guess just like the sexy name here because it's assumed that he's going to be coming off the bench for the San Antonio Spurs and I think. I think he obviously will at the start of the season and I would be hesitant to pick him anyway because I think that there's a chance you could play himself into the starting lineup before the year is over you know. He's that good so I like it and I think that the jazz are the I think the jazz will be coming up later not to step on anything in the future but they will be pretty good this year and I think he's barely will be a part of that. How far are you willing to vault them up the you know projected standings this is a really tough exercise them and the wizards both. Like I believe much less than the wizards and the jazz to be clear but both of these teams have people going like well if everything breaks right and you know look at you know the path. And I'm like there's so many solid teams in both conferences or you know still ahead of these teams like the idea of leapfrogging them too far. I'm just I'm hesitant but like I feel like the jazz should do solidly at least in that seven to 10 playing range right I just don't know how far I can envision them. If if everything breaks right for the wizards they might have a better record than the Chicago bulls. If everything breaks right wow that's yeah that's rough. Whatever the right Ricky Sanchez part of Washington is you are now banned. I think the jet I mean there's a lot of good teams in the West obviously I think the jazz finishing top six would not below me out of the water I'll just say. Wow they're going to be really good yeah so they're just placing like Houston or Minnesota in that scenario. Yeah I mean I haven't gone too deeply here I'm just looking at kind of the standings now but you know like who knows what could happen with the my beloved Denver Nuggets or the Lakers or I mean there's just a lot of a lot of fluidity I feel like after spurs thunder in the Western conference. To be clear like I don't even know I've penciled in the top six is the same top six but I don't really know I'm not I'm not confident that the Minnesota timber wolves for instance should still be there after like basically dumping their entire front court to get Lamello ball. And to and to duck the second apron and other stuff so yeah they were also extremely healthy last year out of continuity and not saying they'll be bad but who knows just who knows. Yeah who's your Carolina Reaper pick for six matter year yeah I actually decided to rename Carolina Reaper to grab the fire extinguisher my tongue is melting because this is pretty pretty spicy. I'm going a John Moran with the four lasers wow did not see that coming yeah I I first of all I just got to say I do not buy this starting five that they've announced pretty maturely with Dame and John and Danny have Dia and to money come on and don't have been clinging that that that 5 some makes absolutely no sense and will be I think like maybe in the preseason they'll try it out or they'll just figure out or realize and training like Mike ignore you cannot mess around this guy is on a one year deal and you know he basically said he hinted at the possibility of someone in that 5 some coming off the bench and I would assume that it would either be Dame or or job but he basically was like you know I've had conversations and we're all about what's right for the team and sacrifice etc so I think it makes like absolutely no sense for this unit to play minutes any minutes together especially when someone like Drew holiday is on the team who is like an ideal fit next to either Dame or J. And I don't see Dame coming off the bench in Portland I just I don't maybe he will maybe he'll step up and do it but it just makes more sense to me if it was John and you could just give him the ball and still you can close with them maybe we'll see but given the ball let him do whatever let him you know play super fast with you know scoot and just other you know shade and sharp just young guys on the team and put up a ton of numbers and be awesome but I I just that that starting lineup just kind of blows me away in the fact that that was like reported as a thing like it just absolutely makes no sense. Agreed but then again the trade for job made absolutely sense in the first place so my my hottest take of the summer you know me I'm not exactly prone to hot takes my take of the summer is that that was the worst trade of the summer not the J. Lambrown trade I hate the J. Lambrown trade more because at least with the J. Lambrown trade I could understand what Boston is sort of trying to do the outline of it the reasons for it I have there is no justification that I will buy for acquiring John Morant and putting him on a team with Dame Lillard drew holiday scoot Henderson and a just broke through and became an all star Danny of the like what do you like what are we doing here like it makes this is like to me and I think there have been murmurings of this a camera has been reported but this absolutely smacks of Tom Dunton the now newly minted worst owner in the NBA making this move over probably the objections of his basketball people and it goes to the point of what you were just laying out which is John Morant coming off the bench after you've acquired him and considering how he views himself and how badly things went and Memphis and he needs to redeem himself and everything becoming willingly a sixth man does not seem to comport with the the John Morant that we have come to to understand in his brief NBA career and Dame Lillard's a frickin franchise legend and it doesn't matter how old he is unless he says put me on the bench I'll be six man you're not doing it so now you're a situation where that's why it ends up coming out that oh they're going to start both of them even though it's completely logical as a basketball matter it's because you're having to defer to who these guys were not who they are right now or whether they actually fit together and to contracts and to the you know what you know clearly what that's what he was making and also what he expects to do in his career so I just it's it's a mess bull pick by you I love it my Carolina Reaper pick I don't think this is quite fire extinguisher tongue melting thing which by the way gross your Boston Celtics backup center Mitchell Robinson I love it if if he does for the Celtics what he did for the nicks which is kind of basically like to just change the way the game and looks entirely for every minute he's on the court 15 minutes 18 minutes whatever it is he's going to get some notice and you know Stan Van Gundy made a really big impression on me when I was chatting with him pregame during the playoffs when he said he put a Robinson top of his ballot for defense for God I want to keep doing that for the span of the year that in his mind he says listen I know it always ends up being about scoring but every time Mitchell Robinson comes in the game there's an immediate impact it's noticeable it is visually noticeable you don't even need the plus minus the on off stuff you could just look and see what happens all the offensive rebounds all the second opportunities the energy that he brings obviously the two and like I think the Celtics are still going to be a top four team around Jason Tatum assuming Jason Tatum is Jason Tatum they have basically swapped out not having Tatum for almost a full season and having Jalen Brown for having Jason Tatum and not Jalen Brown and the supporting cast I think is still pretty strong maybe not as deep as people would like and I think that the role guys in Boston are going to get even more notice for the things that they do because it's now built around one star instead of two all do respect to Paul George so I just I think there's there's room for Mitchell Robinson even though like he was in the biggest media market on earth here in New York he might give you more notice or credit for what he does in Boston in kind of a new context I consider him for this I think the one thing that was kind of to hang me up is, I'm not a, I think he will come off the bench, but I'm not a hundred percent certain who will start from this team at the center position. It wouldn't shock me. It comes off the bench. Yeah, it's, it's possible. Um, I don't, I wouldn't predict that. It's, it's, it's a possibility. But I mean, to your point, this dude transforms basketball games on both sides of the ball. And it'll be really fascinating to see how Joe Mizzoula uses him, um, whether he's, you know, just anchoring their defense, whether he's switching a little bit, uh, just completely unleashing him on the offensive glass, his offensive rebound rate was like 24 percent last year, which is just like, man. Um, and he, he obviously killed the Celtics a couple of years ago, um, to the point where Mizzoula was just so desperate to intentionally foul hack and get him out of games. Um, he was basically deemed as like the second most important player in that series, uh, from Boston's perspective in terms of just damaging their ability to win. Uh, so great pick. Uh, and I think that Mitchell Robinson will be very good for this Celtics this season. Do you think like Mizzoula has to have like, uh, this is actually funny to even say out loud because the idea of Mizzoula having a heart to heart talk with, uh, anybody is already sounds ludicrous. Does he have to have a little chat with Mitchell Robinson about, hey, man, sorry to like, you know, like play the cumiliate the living shit out of you card repeatedly? I think it's a sign of like, respect though. I mean, I mean, like, that's like at this dude is killing us. Like we need to get him out of the game. And I think that, you know, he shot 40% from the free throw line last year. It's also like that just makes sense and, uh, just saying it'll be, it's also not exactly a happy moment when, when somebody's like putting you there because they know you suck at free throws. Sure. Um, get better at free throw shooting is something that you could say. That's probably, that's probably Joe Mizzoula's message. Um, I will say like watching Mitchell Robinson at the free throw line, um, at MSG was always one of the most endearing things I've ever seen in professional sports. And I think that and hope that that will carry over at TD Garden next year. Yeah. No, the, the roar when, when they go in is, uh, is something. Um, right. Most improved player, uh, this category, the ineligible's or the 2026 winner, Nikkei Alexander Walker and the runner up, Jalen Durin, they're off the board. The 2027 favorites per the odds makers are Brandon Miller Dylan Harper and Peyton Pritchard. They are all off the board. Who is your jalapeno pick for most improved? Um, so I'm, I'm, I think I'm cheating just a tiny bit here. Um, technically not on a team right now or not on a new contract. Uh, I'm picking Peyton Watson with the Denver Nuggets. And I was afraid to say Russell Westbrook. I was trying to think who was not on the team. Sorry. No, definitely not. I have not thought about Russell West. That is a, it feels like a blast from the past. Like I, I, I don't say don't even know what team he played for last. I do know, but yeah. Um, it's like not playing for a team at all when you're playing for the side. It's true. Um, I just think that this dude is awesome. He showed it last year. Uh, when Nicole Yogicch was out in January, uh, one player of the week in the conference, uh, just really fleshed a developing offensive game, uh, really brings it on the defensive end. That's kind of his specialty, uh, shut the crap out of the ball. And I think that the Denver Nuggets, I'm assuming that he stays with the Denver. There's some reporting that they're trying to sign and trade them, et cetera. Currently, they're lowballing him, um, with their offer and there's qualifying offer stuff. So I'm just assuming that he'll be on the Denver Nuggets. And if he is, they, they need him. And I think that he'll play a ton of minutes. He'll be in closing lineups. Uh, and he might even start for all, we know he could easily start for this team. I think he'll be one of the five best players. So increased opportunity. And then I just think like when you play with, um, with Nicoli, okay, just like your, your, your shots, your touch, everything is just easier. And so I think his numbers will be, uh, fantastic this season might even go up more depending on like if he ends up somewhere else in a bigger role that happened to. So no, great pick. I love that. Um, I can't believe I'm going back to this team at all to actually have another pick. And I didn't really think about it until I just looked at the name that I'd jotted down, but here we are. Um, my jalapeno pick for most improved ballal coolabali. Um, partially on the basis of bear with me, partially on the basis of he was starting to, to, to take some strides after the all store break last year. And granted, this was a team that had no interest in winning. This was a team that had no interest in consistency or anything else. And it was just basically like, Hey, let's pick five guys. Go out there, throw the ball around, see if somebody can put it in the basket occasionally, cool, awesome. All right, let's go. We got another loss. Let's keep counting our odds for the, uh, for the lottery. Um, but that said, uh, average 14 and a half points per game after the all star break that was up from a little under 10. So increased by almost 50% there, uh, true shooting of 55 52, shot almost 39% from three after the all star break. And you know, we have a, we do have a history here not every year, but of guys who are like the breakthrough starts to happen the prior season. And then they're just kind of like bringing it into the next season, doing a full year of that. So it depends on him doing a full year of that. His usage was also way up. And his usage is not going to sustain at that level, uh, considering the team they have now with trade young on it. Um, but he also may slot into a more, uh, consistent and confined. This is the same thing for Ace Bailey, like the right role given that he's going to have a lot more established players around him. Um, better role, better shots playing between trade young and Anthony Davis, assuming he's on the court with them for parts of games. I don't, I don't think he's maybe starting. I don't know. Um, but you know, the stick exercises, uh, is adventurous. So why not just throw in every wizard I can. Um, really good corner three point shooter. Um, I'm just looking at, look at that up right now. Um, I, I like it because he's, he just celebrated his 22nd birthday. Um, five days ago, super young, been in the league three years already. Happy birthday, Belal. Um, I, I was, I don't know, I, I used to be, uh, I used to have a lot of stock. I think I sold most of my Belal, Kula Bali stock, um, as last year was just kind of slipping through all of our fingers, um, watching the Washington Wizards play basketball. Um, but it's not, this is, I like this more, let's just say, than your, uh, your previous, uh, Washington Wizards related prediction. This is, this feels more, um, more realistic, uh, and, and fun. If you were to win, this would be really cool if he was a candidate for this award this season. Yeah. You know, it's, like I say, it's in the realm of possibility, um, who knows? I don't, I don't know what to make of the Washington Wizards, and I won't know, um, until we're well into the season. But, um, but honestly, weirdly, I can't wait to see it. I have no idea what we're about to watch. Um, they were, like if we're doing most fascinating teams, like Philly is probably at the top. The Wizards might not be that far behind them. So, um, who is your Carolina Reaper pick for, uh, most approved? I'm going with Jet Homegren. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Interesting. Um, you know, we're coming off a season the way it ended. There was totally disastrous. It could not have gone worse. Um, humiliating. That would be a good word for it. Humiliating is a, is a accurate description of what happened. I think some people, um, including voters will believe that this dude is just not, they will have that memory of that series in their head for a while, rep, in terms of just how he's perceived in his reputation. And I think the actual polish of his offensive game is a little underrated. He's very good. And I think that when you look at the Oklahoma City Thunder as an organization, I think they might see what happened. And think that, hey, we need to incorporate this dude intentionally into our offense a little bit more. Like, look, when Shay is not on the court, we need to run offense, run actions through Jet Homegren. We need to build his confidence up. We need to, you know, take pull up threes, Jet, you know, we want to see your release get quicker. We want to see you in the, you know, isolating from the elbow. We want to just put the ball in his hands, having him make decisions, I think would benefit the entire team. And when you look at his just, you know, this is also an award where counting stats are incredibly important. Sure. And for someone who averaged at 18 points per game last year, like the Jet Homegren averaging 25, 26 per game is not impossible. And feels, you know, I don't know if likely is the right word, but at some point in his career, I'm kind of expecting that out of him. I think he's that type of player. And so why not now coming off of what happened. I'm sure he's been stewing this entire op season. If is like an elite competitor that's definitely what has happened. And I think his role on the thunder needs to expand offensively for them to, I don't want to say for them to win it all because it doesn't need to, but I think it's for the benefit of the organization and the franchise going forward long term that it happens. I love this pick for all the reasons you just laid out. Also not not, uh, for nothing, but like, um, players who are as well, establishes Chet rarely win this award because now you really have to, I mean, I think did Luca win at the one year? No, no, there was, there was talk of him. There was a weird round of the job did. Yeah. So we've had some of these sometimes, especially if a guy's within the first five years of his career and they go from start a superstar. I think that was the jaw case probably that year. And I think there was ground swell for Luca one year in Dallas based on like that idea of like going from, but it when you're already established and graded, Chet is not established as an elite offensive player yet to your point of going from like 18 to say 25. That's the kind of leap that often gets our attention as media fans and voters. Um, but yeah, like, interesting pick. I mean, Jalen Williams missed most the season last year. J. Dubb. And when he's back presumably with a full healthy season, like a lot of the offense is, is his to take back after Shay. So how much is left for Chet? Also, I need the big question, which is kind of contained in your, your pick here. Like we're going to learn a lot about Chet. Like, how is he wired? Right? I thought one of the fun things about the guy who humiliated him, Wembee, this past post season was seeing how, oh, Wembee gets knocked down literally and figuratively, he gets back up. He take, you know, he takes a cheap shot. He gives a cheap shot. He has a shitty game. He comes back and just fucking kills you the next game. And I loved seeing that from him because it's told me something about Wembee's competitive spirit. And with Chet, I think that's what we're now waiting on, right? Like we just, our most recent memory of you is just just getting destroyed and and kind of cowering in the moment, you know? Yeah. So what's next? So I love this pick. All right. Love that pick. My Carolina Reaper pick. I don't think this is that crazy, but I think it's a, it's certainly a player who, no one's going to say is likely for most improved because I think they've already written him off, including the team that just traded him. And that is Zachary Riese's Shay. He is, he is, he is, he is landed with the Dallas Mavericks where he gets a fresh start. I always say this about number one picks or high picks who don't pan out with their first team and are now carrying that unfortunate bus label or the potential bus label. You're not the number one pick anymore when you go to your second team. Andrew Wiggins didn't have to be that guy when he got to Golden State, right? All you have to do is be the best version of yourself that you can in a new context. So he gets a fresh start with the Mavericks. A young team that also has no expectations for the most part. He gets to play off of two elite scorer, playmaker types and Kyrie and Cooper Flag. Should get plenty of opportunities with, with the second unit. He's going to have to earn some time because there's like some other guy. I don't know where he fits around like Clay or, or Morris Johnson, Jr. Or like it, like, there's, they have a lot of wings. They have a lot of wings. Yeah. So like, there's some potential impediments there, which is kind of what happened with Atlanta too. But he's big. He's versatile. He can shoot. He can defend multiple positions. He's interesting and still young and the Mavericks have at least some incentive to want to, you know, now find the best version of him that the Hawks couldn't tap into. I mean, from the perspective of this dude stock could not be any lower. Clearly you're, you're cooking with something. And I think if Dallas exceeds expectations a little bit and, and, and Risa Shea is able to play off of Cooper Flag and kind of accentuate him. And I assume that they will play very fast and he gets minutes and he has a role. I could see this happening. I personally will not be voting for him because I do not vote for people in the first three years of their career for this award. That is my personal little rule there to be clear. I generally don't either, but for this exercise throwing him in there. It is an extenuating circumstance right? Because he is going into a new situation. He was basically a dumped or abandoned by the Atlanta Hawks and there's a lot of regret with that pick. I know it's a different front office now, but man, that is a huge what if already for the Hawks organization given some of the players that have popped in that draft. I think this is a really good situation, though, for Risa Shea. And I thought it was a really smart swing by a Dallas Maverick's team that needs to get young pieces who can grow alongside Cooper Flag. Yeah. Again, I'm just curious to see what happens there. Like there, there's not nothing there, right? Like there is something there. What they're what it is. Yeah, we'll see. All right, moving on. We have three categories to go. Let's go. Rookie of the year. This one is hard for this exercise because of the silly rules that I created for it. Obviously, it doesn't matter who won Rookie there last year, but for the purposes of this exercise, rule two is we have to rule out the three guys who are the top of the odds maker lists. And that is, in fact, the three top picks to bans of Peterson Booser. So no to bans and no Peterson, no Booser. Who is your jalapeno pick for Rookie of the year? I feel like Caleb Wilson was cheating. So I did not maybe you did. I didn't know fair. No, no, no judgment. I went with Brayden Burries, Milwaukee Bucks, who was phenomenal in Summer League. And I should preempt this whole thing by saying, I know very little about these guys. I have watched a little bit of Summer League, even less college, you know, just reading stuff and whatever. But there was this play in Summer League where he had a driving game winning layup against the Philadelphia 76ers, where he just like matter of factly, we've just waved through the defense like bump somebody, got to the basket, finished with his left, fell over. And he didn't celebrate. And this seems like really silly, but he just like got up and you know, walked over to just it was just very matter of fact about it. And looked very poised and kind of like, this is Summer League. It's a kind of not a big deal, but at the same time we won sort of energy. And I like that a lot. Add to the fact that he committed three turnovers in like 125 minutes. That is like, that's incredible. So you put him on the Milwaukee Bucks, a team that has, I don't know, it's just, I think Zach, our colleagues at Glow called it just a bunch of guys on this team. And that's what it is. And I would love to see him kind of grab hold of the steering wheel a little bit this season. And show what he can do because I'm very intrigued by this dude. And I think he'll be very good for a very long time. Love that pic like you did not watch a lot of college. And you know, you know, picked up some Summer League stuff mostly off of YouTube, just to kind of get a feel for these guys. But like Rookie of the Year, we're trying to project this. It's often just about like, who's a guy who's in a situation where he can shine, where he's going to get the reps to put up the numbers for the most part, right? Like, and that was certainly like Cooper flag, Concaniple. You know, the surprising part of last year's race was we have, you know, VJ Edge, come and Dylan Harper being those conversations, despite being on pretty good teams, but still making like a huge impression right out of the gate. But the guys who were at the top of the board, the guys who were on teams where they were really needed. So yeah, Caleb Wilson was irresistible here. There are a lot of things we could say about Caleb Wilson. Our boss Bill Simmons already said most of them in a vivid way that I will not repeat nor try to elaborate on. Let's just say that the bulls are a team with no discernible identity. They seem to have finally sort of picked a direction, which okay, cool. Great. They got a new front office. They've got a new coach. And they've got some fun players. And, you know, look, Busellis and Gidey, the guys who are already there. Like they've, there's, there's promised there. There are, there are, they're glimmering lights. But like, they're not going to be the engine of whatever this team hopes to become. But Caleb Wilson will be that, you know, very, very well could be that guy. He looks like he is built to be that guy. And of the Summer League plays are the reels that I saw. I mean, dude had some moments, right? The game was seven threes against the Grizzlies. Seven of 11 from three. And just an incredible dunk and like a chase down block. And he can create space for himself. He just, he just looks the part. And I always, it's grain assault, a thousand grains of salt with Summer League because you're supposed to look the part when you're playing against mostly guys who are not going to be in the NBA. But a rookie of the year needs opportunities. I think he's going to get plenty from day one in Chicago. And yes, this one did feel like cheating. Michael Pina, but I couldn't resist that one. It's okay. Yeah, I love Caleb Wilson a lot. Yeah, he'll, he'll, he'll be fun. Some of the reason to watch the bulls now, uh, you're Carolina Reaper pick for rookie the year. I'm going to Yaxel, Lendaberg, Goldous two lawyers considered him strongly if for no other reason. than I love saying the word yaxle. It's a great name. Yeah, same, same. It's good for pods. That's great for pods. I think the case here is that, you know, everybody is basically already written off the Golden State Warriors this season. And this dude was awesome in Somerley. He's very old for a rookie and will come into the NBA strong, like physically built, knows how to win. Steve Kerr has already said that he likes yaxles passing, which is fantastic stuff. That's what I like to hear. I don't know if he will have the numbers, which is why this is extra spicy, to actually win rookie of the year. But I think if the Golden State Warriors exceed expectations. And he is either a starter or just, you know, assumes a large role on the team and he's playing big minutes. And every lineup he's in is awesome. And you know, he's like scoring in double figures or whatever. And he's got averaging five, six assists a game maybe. I could, I could see it. He's like, he had one play in Somerley where he, he just like drove at Camp Booser, knocked him back, like five or six feet and finished at the the rim and just stared him down. And I was like, this dude is, he's huge and he's strong. And like, he just knows how to play basketball. It's super, super smart. So definitely don't think this will happen for the purpose of this exercise. He feels like a pretty solid pick. And if I'm trying to be really spicy with it, love it. Considered him very strongly. I decided to go with Derrius Acuff. Because if I'm going to pick a couple of wizards, why not a king? Why not? Look, the spiciest part of this selection at all is that the idea that anything anyone associated with the Kings will have something good happen to them right now seems farfetched. Clearly apologies to Sacramento. I love you. And he sticks to little Smolish. Our buddy, Jay Kyle, man, our colleague loved the way that he carried himself at Arkansas, just super aggressive, but, but, but like, not ever forgetting his teammates. Like, he, he can score. He can pass. He, he understands the part. He seems very tough. Very steady. Again, I got another guy who kind of looks the part, certainly looked at in Somerley. And again, my golden rule for rookie of the year, opportunities are going to be there. Like, there's still in this in between ish. Terror sort of tear down sort of rebuild, whatever the fuck they are right now. Sabonis is still there. Zach Levine, I think is still there. Rosen's gone. Westbrook is gone. But like, who else is handling and scoring for them outside of Levine? Somebody's somebody's got to be their new engine. And I also think that this is a new front office that's trying to clean up the mess of the old front office. And it's going to certainly be in their best interests and their agenda to want to have the rookie, the high pick that they, that they selected to take on as much as possible from day one. Is it possible that Darius Akef's points per game average will be higher than his field goal percentage? Is that, is that, do you think that that, is that ever happened before for someone of his, of his ilk? Is that a thing? Wow. Sorry, sorry. Roodle. I, I, I, I, I, I considered him for sure, because of the fact that he could definitely lead rookies and scoring. That's not in, in pasta. I don't think it'll happen. I think Darren Peterson will, we'll win this award for the record. But I, when I, when I was kind of like, you know, pseudo crushing tape, before the draft, the, the, I know this doesn't matter for rookie of the year, but like his defense, the like low lights on defense. I was like, I would not, I don't care what pick. I'm, I don't want this person on my basketball team. And I may come to regret that what I just said, and maybe he's awesome. I don't know. Um, defensively is just like, I don't, and that's something I do care about a little bit when I'm assessing every single award. And so that's tough. But what, does this, what about like the, like being relevant and winning at all? Does that, do you care about that in any shape or form for rookie of the year or just not really? Absolutely not. Yeah. Yeah. Rookie of the year, it's, it's just who had the best rookie season. And if you want to say that like, you know, if you were a complete minus on defense, that that takes you down a notch, that's, that's fair. Um, but it usually is, if it's not the rookie who scored the most, it's the rookie who scored at least a lot and did at least a couple other things very well and made a big impression on us. And they're very rarely on winning teams because most of the time that that's just how this works, you get drafted to shitty teams at the top of the draft and rookie the years usually somebody top of the draft, except for like the, the odd Malcolm Brogdon type of year, where Embed was hurt for most of it. Um, so yeah, I, I, of all the categories of all the awards, I think this is the one where wins probably matter the least both historically and probably for me as well, but it can be a tiebreaker. And it's certainly factored into my, my, um, quandary with Cooper flag versus conconiple. I ultimately voted for Cooper flag, but conconiple's contributions to them winning made it really tough. Um, and that one, they, their cases were just so, so different. We talked about this a lot back in the spring. So we don't need to rehash it. Um, and, and you and I and James Herbert, I think talked about this at length over drinks out on court street in, in a couple of hill one day. Um, but, uh, but yeah, I don't, I don't think the winning part is, is critical for this award. All right. Last two coach of the year, ineligible for this exercise are the 2026 winner Joe Mozilla and had the runner up JB Baker staff. The favorites according to the odds makers for 202627 are Nick Nurse. That's a really interesting one. Odds makers, um, Darko Ryakovich and Chris Finch. So with those guys off the board, Michael Pina, who is your jalapeno pick for coach of the year? Man, I don't, I don't get any of these favorites. Like, I think they're all really good coaches. I just did not understand how that was deduced. I mean, I think you and I are both in this category. Um, I don't, I, I've never really gambled on sports. I don't understand odds makers. I don't even really understand the odds or even all the lingo around it. Um, all that said, even if I didn't understand any of it, I do know what favorites are. And this is a really, really weird top three per the odds makers. I agree with you. Very strange. I, I was coming into this before I looked it up. Um, my pick for a spicy, uh, my spicy pick, I thought was going to be the favorite to be honest with you before I looked. Um, and that is, uh, Wil Hardy with the U.T. Jazz. Um, I think a lot of people have been waiting to vote for him for this award. Yeah. Um, he's kind of like a deserving media darling. Yes. Um, he has a creative playbook that accentuates his personnel. He, I think that the U.T. Jazz could have a top five offense this season. Um, I don't think that's like a hot take at all. I think their personnel is incredible. They have a lot of firepower, uh, adding Darren Peterson to that with, um, Jared Jackson, Jr. Larry Markin and just the shooting, the spacing, the movement, uh, the passing, it's going to be the lineup constructions, just the size. I just, I really love, um, all the ingredients that he has to, to kind of cook there. Um, and I think that he's, he's good enough to squeeze enough defensive juice to have this team competitive on a nightly basis out of the, the units that they play. I think actually, Josh Akogi was like a super underrated edition, um, for Utah and could start a bunch of games if they want to go with Markin and, uh, Jared Jackson, Jr. in the front court. Uh, so I, I just, I think this is Wil Hardy's not his award to lose. I think there's a lot of really great, uh, coaches in the league. Um, but when you also look at it from the perspective of like just narratively, like the Utah jazz or the worst. And if they finish, you know, top six, uh, set the seven seed, the eight seed, I think he'll get a ton of credit for that and it'll be hard not to vote for him. Yeah. Look, I mean, we know when this award oftentimes, it is who exceeded expectations by the most, uh, and a team that is poised to make a big leap, then who already has a coach that we respected for his acumen anyway. And we know he's been saddled with just crappy rosters and, and, and the fact that the franchise wanted to tank. Um, that's a fantastic pick, uh, thought of him as well. I felt like my pick here was, this is like my Caleb Wilson of, of, uh, coach of the year, uh, picks because I felt like cheating to pick him, but I guess it's also because I haven't lost, uh, my, my feeling that he should have one last year, because he was top of my belt. And that's Mitch Johnson from the speech. Um, I had him over, I think did I have a zoolah second and I think maybe bickerstaff third. It was a really tough coach of the year race. I don't think he got enough credit for the spurs winning 62 games last season. And I think it was one of those things where people were like, well, maybe just they thought the other, the other coaches who finished ahead of him were just much more impressive and it might have been by thin margin, but, um, and I don't even remember where he finished in the total votes. But I think he was like not given enough credit because it was, oh, well, you've got wimby. You've got Dylan Harper. You've got Stefan Cass, but like these guys are super young and that they, like they exceeded expectations by miles. Um, they were supposed to be maybe a play in team or a six seed. They win 62 games and it's gonna be, it's because of that that this will be really hard for him to win, right? Like how do you make the big improvement from 62 wins? You're not going to 70, but maybe they can get to 65. That's not crazy. I don't think. When we'll be back with the vengeance, I think like instead of like last summer it was all about like he went and studied with the Shaolin monks. Like dude's gonna be like training with like the Navy seals and ninjas now. Like he's gonna be, these gonna be all the vengeance who are after the finals. Also, a Kima Lajuan, which that's significant. Everyone who work, you know, that's like, I love to see him in the gym in the Kima Lajuan. That was really cool. Dylan Harper will take another leap. I know this because Ron Harper, his dad told me so right after game five of the finals when I ran into hallway. He said, watch out for next season. I take Ron at his word. Stefan Castle, still improving, still growing. I like the Tobias Harris edition. Like they're gonna be really good. Like who's to say that they won't clear 65 wins instead. And even if it's only like a four or five win improvement from last year that they end up with, I mean, they're going to be great. And maybe there's also gonna be a little bit of the, yeah, we didn't recognize him when they had their first break through season. And if they sustain it and even improve on it, maybe that's when he gets his recognition. But we know that this happens sometimes in the league, right? Like you weren't gonna, you know, pop wasn't gonna get it every year. Spulster still has never won it, right? Sometimes when it's either you're, you're, in their case, well, established or if you're perceived already just have the best roster or too, or so much talent, you don't get enough credit for what you did with the talent. And he's a super young coach and also wasn't like, you know, not that prominent of a national name. I don't know. Anyway, I think he's back in the mix this season. I think it's a, you know, this is all about expectations, but it's also, it can be about like wired to wire dominance. And I think that there's a, there will be a case for him if the spurs, you know, start the season 23 and two and are in first place from the jump and they're incredible and they have a top, you know, two offense and a top two defense and Sean Sweeney's absence is not missed as he has left to go be the head coach of the Orlando Magic. But it's like, yeah, I had him, I think second on my ballot last year because the way he was able to get such young players to buy in defensively, but then also just with their role definition is incredible and very, very difficult. And it's not like Victor Wimanyama averaged, you know, 35 minutes of game and played 75 games last year. And so he was coming off the bench when they went to the cup. Like, so he was, he, I think Mitch Johnson is a phenomenal coach and I kind of expect the spurs to just be angry and incredible this season. And so your case is for sure valid if they, if they dominate the Western conference, which is on the table, I think Mitch Johnson's name should definitely be up for coach of the year. Who is your Carolina Reaper pick for coach of the year? I went with email Doca with Houston Rockets. - Interesting. I love him a as a coach. I think, you know, last we really talked about him, it was Willie get fired. So that's why this is extra spicy. I think that this just happened, but Chip England going to Houston, it's like a sneaky under the radar significant move that will help, you know, this team really needs shooting. And I think outside of just adding it, getting internal development from some of the players who aren't great outside shooters or even mid-range shooters will be like huge for them. But I think that his ability to establish a defensive identity successfully will carry through next season. And I said this earlier, but I do think that the Houston Rockets can have the best defense in the league if everybody stays healthy. And I think that expectations are not very high for the Rockets. You know, I wrote about them a few weeks ago, just as this team like why can't the Houston Rockets win the NBA championship? Not picking them to win the NBA championship, but I think that they are being a little bit overlooked in the conversation. And, you know, again, this is all expectations based. And so if they were to actually be a top three seed for most of the season. I think Udoca would get a lot of credit for that. Agreed. Yeah, I think the hesitation with them and maybe the reason we've all kind of moved on is like, all right, Kevin Durant is another year older and he was still awesome last season. But we don't know what Fred Van Vliet will look like coming back from a full season missed or what Stephen Adams might look like or whether a men Thompson learns to shoot or, you know, Alper Chengoon takes another step. Like there's just, there's a lot of, there's a lot of potential upside there still, but there's still just so many unknowns. So they're hard to figure out. My Carolina Reaper pick for coach of the year. You're going to, you're going to win this again. You're gonna laugh. You're gonna, you're going to think my sanity should be checked. But, could it be my canary? Why not, that would be great. That would be great, man. I'm looking for a happy ending here to what is already just a disastrous cloud hanging over the Portland Trailblazers. I'm cringing every day that I see a Jason Quick or a Bill Orham piece about what's going on between Tom Dundin and the city fearing that this team could get moved. It would be catastrophic. Adam Silver can't let this happen. But then again, he has turned a blind eye to everything else that Tom Dundin has done so far to just kind of ruin all the great vibes that the blazers picked up over the course of last season. So my case for Nora here, they won 42 games last season. That was their first winning year since 2021. So they've already had sort of their, their first breakthrough, right? They're a winning team again, but there's another, you know, there are other leaps to make here. I don't know if they're ready to make it or not, but Denny Ovidia just broke through. Let's assume continued upward trajectory. We've seen some progress from Scoot. They got job, which now puts another obstacle in his way, but let's assume more progress there. Maybe they get the best version of job. I am super, super, super skeptical about that. I'm on the record many times with that. Dame Lillard is back. If nothing else, there's a lot of just good vibes that come with Dame Lillard just playing in Portland again and lending everything that he is both as a player and as a man to that team. And Mike and I was working on a one year contract for the worst owner in the league. There's gonna be sympathy votes potentially infused here. There is upside there. Mike and Ori, by the way, also a very good coach who has been an assistant for a long time. He's been up for a lot of head coaching jobs. And the whole league has kind of been waiting for the moment when he was gonna get his chance similar to Sean Sweeney in Orlando who we did not bring up for this particular exercise. But there's a version of this where the Blazers defy bat, like I don't wanna say expectations are bad on the court, but the cloud is so thick hanging over them that I think anything they do to improve on that 42 wins and continue that climb and that Mike and Ori helps orchestrate. And by the way, we love a good challenge and then the guy figuring it out. If he can figure out the right balance between all those guards and figure out how to keep jaw happy and damn happy and keep scoop on a development course here. Like, and then you have to not take the ball out of his hands too much after approving what he could do as kind of the center of your offense, like N Shade and Sharp. Like, that's a tough puzzle to figure out. And if he does it, he'll get attention. Every time one of us says Tom Dunton, is it possible for Cliff to edit out what we said and just put El Chico or like have like a sticker going over, like believe me, I didn't have a sticker going over our mouths that say El Chico, is that like is that too much in the post production world? Like I think that would be fantastic because it literally can't be said enough. My personal like, and typically just for this person in the league is very, very high. I think it's like discussed. He's doing disgusting things. And I love this pic though. I think that it would be really cool if Micah Noir won and El Chico promptly fired him for stealing too much. I don't even know why, but he probably would. He'll fire him because he's gonna trigger some bonus clause in his contract. And he's just like, "Well, fuck that." We can't have that happening. That would be great though. And there are a lot of obstacles, I think. Or just not, yeah, like obstacles, questions. There's just a lot of talent here, but getting the pieces to fit will be really interesting. So it would be great, it would be a great story. It would. I'm rooting for it to happen on some level. All right, we have reached our biggest most important category here at the end. Most valuable player for 20, 26, 27 off the board are last year's three top finishers, Shagilges Alexander, Nikola Yokich, and Victor Wembenjama, the first two because they were first and second, and then Wembee because, oh, it's those three guys who are in fact the favorites once again for 20, 27. So we cannot pick any of them for this exercise. Michael Pina, who is your jalapeno pick for MVP? - There's so many good candidates here. A lot of great players, even though the three were disqualified, I would be borderline stunned if one of those three did not win this award. Absolutely. This season, I went with Jason Tatum for my spicy dish here, thought about him. And I think that it's because we're, I think that the Celtics are going to be really good. And I think that Tatum will look awesome. I think he's healthy and we have no reason to believe that he's not. I think that, you know, when the dust settles of the, what the Celtics got for Jalen Brown versus Paul George is actually like, when he's available and healthy and all that, really still good and will look really good in Joe Mozilla's system. I just think that this team will be awesome and could win more games than they won last year would not surprise me in the slightest if that happened. And the case last year, there was like a growing case for Jalen Brown because of, you know, exceeding expectations and all of it, obviously his numbers were, were fantastic. I think like the same thing could easily apply for Tatum minus the fact that Boston will be better when he is on the court. I don't see a universe where they are better when he is off the court. That is, that's not something that really happens with, with Tatum. We won't have any analytics guys saying he's actually the seventh best player on the Celtics anonymous. I don't, I hope not, you know, it wouldn't, it wouldn't surprise me the way some of these quotes have landed this summer. But I just think that the, you have a narrative case there because a lot of people, I don't think they're writing off the Celtics at all. I don't think that that's happening. But I think that they will still be able to kind of exceed expectations and I think that he will be back to his pretty durable self as one of the best, you know, I don't know, like five, six players in the NBA that wouldn't, wouldn't, wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. So I'm going, I'm going Tatum here, but I'm also just going to say like SGA, Yokech, Wembee, if, it feels like whoever, whichever one of those guys plays 65 games or whatever is going to win this. Right. Yeah, I was going to say, like if they all top out at 64 and don't have any appeals that they can win, like that's the only way that those, that one of those three is not winning it, right? Like it's, it, it almost has to be. Yeah. I love the Tatum pick. The absence of Jalen Brown makes his case stronger, most likely because sometimes these, these discussions get clouded by the, oh, well, what would this team be without player X? And so it often does start to come down to depending on people's own prism through which they, they judge these awards. If you have more star power next to you, it kind of detracts from your case. And conversely, if the more you have to do, the more it is about your show and it firmly is now for Jason Tatum, the more notice you sometimes get again, depending, it's as I have the beholder stuff, depending on the voter or, or the person doing the assessing. So great pick there. My jalapeno pick for MVP. Is it finally Luca dongec's this year? Right? Like, great. He's, he was third in 2024, the year the Mavs went to the finals. That was his highest ever finish. He's been fourth twice. He's been fifth. He's been sixth. He's been eighth. LeBron James is gone and it's not just that LeBron is taking some usage rate with him, but the oxygen that he might have taken up on and off the court. Like this is firmly Luca's team now. The roster has been rebuilt to his specs more or less. He's got his lob threat, Walker Kessler, buddy, best buddy, Austin Reeves resigned next to him. They got shooters with Colin Sexton, Quentin Grimes, Mamo. I'm not totally, totally convinced or I'm not totally sold on this Lakers roster, Michael Pena. I'm not sure this is actually a true contender in the West. Um, I don't think that's it's that. But um, that's all the more reason Luca could win the award because again, once we've taken those top three guys out of the exercise, uh, Luca is leading a team where like a lot of guys in his position, especially how usage guys, all of the credit will amass to him. If the Lakers win 58 games or 60 somehow, it's not going to, no one's going to be saying, well, it's because of Walker Kessler or even Austin Reeves, I'll do respect. It's going to be because of Luca. Um, and he's been kind of just like bumping up against this, this ceiling in the MVP race for years already and assuming good health and assuming another strong offseason and, you know, men's fitness features or something about all the great stuff he did to get his body right. Who knows? Um, maybe he trained with the Shaolin monks this summer. I don't know. Maybe he went and saw a chemo. I go on. Uh, I, this, this could finally be Luca's year in, uh, at least in terms of this exercise. Uh, I think absolutely. I mean, I'm just looking at where he's finished in his career after winning rookie of the year, it was fourth, sixth, fifth, eighth, third, fourth last year, like he's knocking on the door as a good way to put it. And last year he led the NBA and scoring 33 and a half points per game, led the league and free throw attempts, um, took a bunch of shots, led the league and usage has the highest usage and the history of the National basketball association. Uh, so the opportunity to put up numbers is always there. He is, um, elite offense unto himself, uh, one of the best literally ever, I think if it's just like, um, put the ball in this dude's hands and he's going to make the right decision, make the right read, uh, take the right shot, make the right pass, all that, uh, I trust him as much as any player I've ever seen. And it's pretty much comes down to how many games are the Lakers going to win? Where are they going to be in the standings? Are they going to be, you know, five, six, seven games behind the thunder or the nuggets or the spurs? Um, and then the other part of it is, uh, defense and, you know, sometimes I'm like, was him getting to the finals like bad for the way we view this dude, which is so silly, uh, because of what happened in the finals and people forget that he was like playing through a serious chest injury and like, uh, it's just like, I don't know. He's just, he's a great, great, great, great player. And, um, it is, it is pseudo shocking to me that he is not one this award already, frankly, he's, he's, he's, he's an incredible, incredible basketball player. He is, he is the epitome of what, um, what we expect for this award or somebody to win this award. Like he does, he does everything, he does, he scores and passes and controls a game at such a high level in a way that, look, James Harden, who won the award and Russell Westbrook won the award. Like he is in that vein in the modern era, the Helio centric, um, and also like, I can score from anywhere at any time and I can make it possible. Like he, he epitomizes it in, in some respects, but yeah, it's not surprising that he hasn't won the award because we know everything else, right? Like the Mavericks not being able to break through in the one year that they did break through, get to the finals, um, but for the most part, there had been circumstances around him, some of his own making that have kept him from winning it, but also he's existing in a, in an era where there's just a bunch of dudes who are really great and like sometimes it's not, it's not an indictment of the player for not winning it or an indictment of us for not voting for him. It's just like, who, which of these guys should he have beaten in which of these years, you know? So I'm not surprised he hasn't won it, but I do think it's almost an inevitability that he's going to and that he should. So why not now? Um, I did know, I mentioned the roster built to his specs. I did not mean by the way, all the various photos floating around of the projected all white starting five. I was not necessarily alluding to that, but it has produced some incredible meme, but, but you did just bring it up. So obviously you have some Ontario mode if you're havered, it's okay. I just love the shout out to my buddy Jeff Johnson who I once worked with at Bleacher Report, who I think it was his tweet where it was the photo of that starting five projected starting five versus the sixers, and he called it brown V board of education. The Lakers are giving us great material. Um, thank you, Rob Polenka. Um, all right. Our last one here, the Carolina Reaper pick for MVP. Uh, I can't wait to see where you're going with this. No, it's a bring this podcast full circle. Um, I'm, I'm going with co-I Leonard, uh, this is, we couldn't have scripted it better. Yes, this assumes that he is on the Toronto Raptors, um, on a team that finishes, you know, first, second in the East, first or second, totally, I feel like if he plays as well as he did last year, um, when he finished seventh for this award and average 28 a game and was hyper-efficient and he was like first or second or third and, you know, all the catch-all impact metrics that people like to look at, including myself, um, just a true winning player, uh, brought it on the defensive end, uh, I, I could see it. I-I-I-I. I think, you know, if he played, again, if he plays 65, 70 games and the raptors are awesome, we will look at this dude as the upgrade over Brandon Ingram as the reason why. And hopefully, I mean, the aspiration thing is like, I can't even talk, I don't even understand. It's just it's beyond, and I don't even like referencing or acknowledging it, but on the basketball court, this dude is still just so incredible and has extended stretches where he's the best two-way player in the league and in the world. And so I would love to see that continue in Toronto. So this is my insanely spicy pick, Kawaii Leonard for MVP. I mean, it's the Carolina Reaper pick for a reason. Yes, it is. I respect it. It assumes a lot not only where he'll be, but whether he'll play 65 games, although listen, in your scenario where he actually does land in Toronto and he's back with Alex McKecney, the genius who got him through the best most complete season of his career and which leads to the raptors winning the championship, there couldn't be a better place for him health-wise than to be in Toronto under McKecney's care. So no disrespect to the Clippers, medical staff, but just saying the track record is there. Similarly, my candidate for the Carolina Reaper pick for MVP also is going to need some good health and a lot of games that have eluded him more often than not in recent years. That would be Mr. LeBron James of the Philadelphia 77. Oh my god. You did not say that. This is, okay, this is the pick of the pod. By far, by far, please make your case. So follow along with me. Here we go. Producer Cliff loves it. He's chiming it in text. Let's start here. He's going to average double digit assists for the Sixers. It'll be the first time since the 2019-20 season. Why? Because he's going to dial down the shooting, the usage rate. He's going to be. He's been the point guard of every team he's ever been on. Can we just start there? Like, I'll do respect to like Mario Chambers or Moe Williams or Booby Gibson. LeBron controls the offense on every team he's ever played for. So yes, I'm assuming 65 games to at least make the minimum here. We start there. I think you get average double digit assists. I don't think that's crazy. Surrounded by Tyrese Maxi and Vijay Edgecomb and Jalen Brown, Joelle and Bede. His stats, his box scores, his averages could look a lot like MVP Steve Nash. He is not Steve Nash, but like, remember, like Nash won it a couple times because his assists were off the charts. And he was the reason that the offense in Phoenix was so supercharged, but his scoring was fairly modest by MVP standards historically. LeBron could like roll out of bed into 20 points. But wherever he finishes there on the scoring side, I think the assists and his control of the game and the potential for the Sixers to actually, again, in the best case scenario. And I know, like I heard you on Zaxpod, I know like we, we need 100 qualifiers for what's going to happen in Philly, right? Is the defense good enough? Is the bench good enough? Are these guys going to stay healthy, long enough? Are they going to play enough minutes together? All of that. Are there enough balls to go around? All of that. I get it. But the talent is really great. We know what all these guys are capable of doing. And LeBron any being able to conserve himself and lean into playmaker more than score and not have to do as much heavy lifting because he's got all this other talent, the scoring talent around him plays right into all this. They could win 50 plus games for the first time since 2023. They could potentially finish top four in the East. I think that even though he won't be their leading scorer, because LeBron is LeBron, a lot of that credit will accrue to him. These guys are all going to get great open shots and they're going to thrive. He'll get the credit and the storyline you're resistible. I was just not anticipating this at all. So in this scenario, so LeBron is, so what happens to like, can you win MVP if you are not the best player on your own team as well? I'll just start with my question, my rebuttal here for this as a possibility. I mean, he's behind Jalen Brown and Tyrese Maxi. I get that. He's definitely not behind Joellen Bede. And I don't think I think it's a little too soon to get crazy about BJ Edge come at this point. We all agree that the top that LeBron was still a top 20-ish player last season. He is not the scorer and certainly cannot carry the load that Tyrese Maxi does. But I don't know, man, if you had one game to win to save the fate of the universe, I think I might still hand it to LeBron James over Tyrese Maxi and Jalen Brown. Yes, that could be. We're talking about 82 games, unfortunately. I just think like if they were to actually be awesome and win enough games for LeBron to be in the conversation here, he would be overshadowed by Maxi Brown. And I would assume would be like a healthy contributing player on that team for that season. So it's just it's really, you've broke my brain with this one. I was not anticipating it at all. Probably not the first time I've done this to you. I apologize. I hope you've got a good surgeon. Like I was I was I was I was ready for like like Kade Cunningham thought about or or Anthony Edwards on my list or Jalen Brunson on my list. I honestly felt with Jalen Brunson. I just want to say like putting him in spicy or extra spicy almost felt a little insulting. So I left him out of the conversation entirely. So shout out to him. But yeah, I like squeaking out noises. I'm not even like able to formulate words to this. This would be the craziest like one of the craziest things that's ever happened in the NBA 42-year-old LeBron James one MVP. Yeah, I mean, we've got like a decade plus of like, oh, he should have one more. Did we, you know, discredit him too much on certain years or when it was just the context around his team where the Cavaliers were just dragging or the talent wasn't there or whatever. Like there's been a lot of that over time, right? Like the win is can he win one more? And that conversation finally ended probably a good five years ago. So like I think his last his last significant MVP finish was I think the 2019 20 season he finished a second. And then after that 13th in 2021, 10th in 2021, 22. Sixth last year or two seasons ago, 2024, 25 LeBron finished sixth. So like the respect for him is still there. The production, the box score production is still there. And look, I just I do think that if it all somehow comes together for the Sixers, while we're all sitting here listening every reason why it might not and they're all valid reasons, it's I think going to be largely because of his ability to control the game. His passing is playmaking, his leadership, the way that he can orchestrate, right? We have seen him do much more with way, way, way, less. And granted, he was also scoring a ton on those teams. But if you view it through the lens of when he's been at his best and one MVP songs, it was because, oh my God, can you see what he did with this, this, you know, ram shackle Cavaliers roster around him? There's been a lot of those of those examples. And this is yes, he's now 41 and a half. And the chances of of him impacting the game at the same level and doing it enough minutes and enough games to be MVP. And to your point, like totally valid, there are players in this roster who now have higher standing statistically rankings wise, ratings wise, analytically, then he does. He's still going to be the most important player on that team in a lot of respects. And I think whether this thing succeeds or fails is going to rest on him in part because of all the things that are that are not basketball things. It's going to be the leadership thing. And like how much can he keep Jalen Brown and Joelle and be, you know, on track, given the the eccentricities of both of those guys, right? There's going to be a lot on him. And if it succeeds, why not? Well, this is why we save MVP for for last, right? Like this is we have to build to this. This is such a climax for this episode. I, yeah, you saved it from the beginning. We started in a really down note with the aspirations candle talk. And we're really, we're going out on a high. This is as we should. This is an all-timer. I don't know when you and I are back on this pod or when this pod is back on this pod, because it's, you know, we're in the the dog days of summer here. So why not? If not, now when? So we did have an off camera debate before starting this lecture. We start with MVP. Should we end with MVP? We didn't know each other's answers. So clearly, this was the right way to go, because had I broken your brain in the first three minutes of the pod, I just don't even know where we would have had to stop. If you if we did if you said LeBron was your your even like your super spicy pick for MVP three minutes into the pod I would have had to like get up and go to the bat I couldn't it wouldn't they would have been the end of the episode after four minutes So I'm glad that we saved it till we we are way over on time But before we go producer cliff you looked up last year's version of this we don't need to go through all of them Was there anything and you're welcome on my LeBron pick Cliff? Is there anything? What's the stupidest or just craziest or the thing and it can't even age badly because these are supposed to be too early and too spicy But what what what looked the most striking to you from last year's version of this well if I go back to the sheet here You guys literally open the pod with the same defensive players of the year except you reversed it Really? Yeah, you reversed it. So when I look back at the defensive player of the year Last year Peenie you pick Scotty Barnes Howard picks Scotty Barnes this year, and then In the peanut you picked a bad Thompson and at Howard picked eight men tops in last year. Well, that's yeah I'm six minutes a year last year. How LePenio pick was a Lanzo ball who unfortunately Played like four games. Yeah, that that didn't really pay it out That was you peanut And if I look back in yeah if I look back here the MVP picks were just that I mean those were just Pollo we had a Pollo here. We had K Cunningham. Okay, okay, I'm gonna play a thanks for coming out. I really appreciate you Peenia Charles Lee. Yeah, Charles Lee is your coach of the year. That was in too bad. Oh, that's that's good Also, Peenia last year you went with Kristoff's porzinga said you're six man of the year, and yeah, we know Kristoff's had some injury problems last year so yeah, oh no, I mean you guys were I mean you did you did the topic you did the discussion correctly. It's just you guys are way off on your picks So you know kudos to you guys for for doing a damn thing Yeah, you know, we're just trying to give the people something to enjoy on a weekend and late July early August here. So All right, well if we haven't embarrassed ourselves enough we should probably wrap their cliff Thank you for for chiming in with last year's picks Peenia, thanks for doing this. This was a blast. Apologies again for breaking your brain send me the medical bill I'll have my people take care of it. That's it for us on the ringer NBA show. Thanks for joining us You