Hardwood Knocks

The Toronto Raptors are working off one of the NBA's most divisive offseasons. Poll a swath of hoops heads about their summer, and you'll get answers varying from "They got worse," to "They're fine," to "They'll be better." So what's a podcast to do when cooking up their 2017-18 preview? Bring on Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC), the Managing Editor of Raptors Republic, to drop insight. Chief among the questions posed to Mr. Murphy: What's the deal with the DeMar DeRozan? He has become one of the most polarizing players alive—more divisive than the Raptors are themselves. He will be expected to shoulder more offensive responsibilities in the wake of the Cory Joseph trade. Is he ready? Is this the year his on-off splits without Kyle Lowry finally turn? The Raptors' clumpy frontcourt rotation may have also come up (it did). They have a ton of talent, but not one of their best 4-5 options is the whole package. General manager Masai Ujiri has instead assembled an army of specialists, right down to Serge Ibaka, who isn't good for much more than a few blocks and quality catch-and-shoot efficiency. Still, for as much as you may dislike what the Raptors did this summer, one thing's for sure: They aren't going anywhere. Patrick Patterson and P.J. Tucker are big-time losses, but they picked up one of the NBA's sweetest-shooting wings in C.J. Miles. Lowry hasn't gone anywhere. Norman Powell seems overdue for a breakout. Things are still happening in Toronto. Let's figure out how good the Raps can be. As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.

The biggest story of the Indiana Pacers' 2017 offseason was who they lost. Sure, Paul George is gone, but there's still plenty to like from this Myles Turner/Victor Oladipo-led basketball team. Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth on Twitter), editor of Turner's personal website and writer for IndianaSportsCoverage.com, joined Hardwood Knocks to talk about where the Pacers go from here and whether or not they have enough to still make the playoffs in the lowly Eastern Conference. As always, be sure to rate the show on Apple Podcasts and BlogTalkRadio. And tell every man, woman and child you know to not only subscribe, but also to tell every man, woman and child they know to do the same.

David Fizdale ushered in a new era of Memphis Grizzlies basketball last season, ditching the Grit n Grind culture that became synonymous with the team in favor of a more modern offense. The changes did wonders for Mike Conley. And Marc Gasol is still one of the league's best centers. But are there enough pieces beyond those two for Memphis to get back to the playoffs? Jason Rosselot (AKA Fletch, AKA @BeauregardJones on Twitter) of 3 Shades of Blue joined Hardwood Knocks to discuss all that and more. As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.

No team in the NBA is built to go punch for punch with the Golden State Warriors. Not the Cleveland Cavaliers, not the Houston Rockets, not the Oklahoma City Thunder. The reigning champs remain in a league of their own, perfectly positioned to deliver an adequate encore to last year's 16-1 playoff romp. Declaring the Warriors NBA champs in October isn't any fun, though. And that means we're in search of something, anything, anyone, any team, that can derail what is so obviously the best squad ever assembled. To help figure out the impossible, Dan turned to Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes (@gthughes). He cannonballs into every possible pitfall and peril, however innocuous, facing the Warriors and decides what their biggest concern should ultimately be—insofar as they must be concerned at all. Is it their turnovers? Surprising plainness in crunch time? Wonky three-point shooting from the Death Lineup? Championship complacency? Something else? And is there even a team that registers as a remote threat to their throne? Because versatility is king, Dan and Grant also discuss whether Stephen Curry is more important to the Warriors than Kevin Durant; whether Klay Thompson has become underrated; whether Nick Young will ever see the floor; whether Draymond Green will win another Defensive Player of the Year award; and whether rookie Jordan Bell is set to become a rich man's Day-Day. Durant's covert social media accounts may or may not have come up, too. So click "play" now. Like, right now. You'll be so very glad you did. As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.

Okay, this might shock some people, but...the Atlanta Hawks are rebuilding. Is everyone okay? Lightning didn't strike anyone down because we used "Hawks" and "rebuilding" in the same sentence? A wild hyena didn't bore down upon you and ravage through your insides in search of protein? You're still breathing? Alive and well, or close to it, and everything? Phew. Good. We were worried. Not because anything's wrong with rebuilding in the NBA, but because the Hawks, namely general manager Travis Schlenk, take issue to the term. And they shouldn't—not unless this opposition is designed to fool an Atlanta fanbase that may bail on a team failing to churn out second-round exits. Anywho, the Hawks looks different. Dennis Schroder is their main guy. Yeah, him. They're also knee-deep in the developments of Taurean Prince, DeAndre' Bembry and, we think, John Collins—who NBA Math founder Adam Fromal has deemed the best player to come from Wake Forest. Things get weird when looking at the rest of the Hawks' roster. They owe Kent Bazemore $54-plus million over the next threes, and they're brandishing a handful of not-too-young, not-too-old pieces in Dewayne Dedmon, Mike Muscala and Ersan Ilyasova. Rumor has it Miles Plumlee is on this team, too.  To figure out not only what the Hawks are trying to do, but how they'll play next season, Hardwood Knocks turns to Jeff Siegel (@jgsiegel) of Peachtree Hoops and The Step Back. He brings the nuance; we bring the questions. So let's roll. As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.

BREAKING: Hardwood Knocks is turning 100 (episodes old). You obviously care about this, so we're celebrating the only way we can fathom how: riffing and rapping and jabbering about the 2017-18 Minnesota Timberwolves with The Ringer's Haley O'Shaughnessy (@HaleyOSomething). Chances are, after trading for Jimmy Butler, bringing back Shabazz Muhammad and signing Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford, the Timberpups are about to blow their 13-year playoff drought straight to hell. Sure, they won 31 wins in the face of loftier projections last year. But this isn't last year. Butler is a bona fide top-10 star who works his you-know-what off on defense. Teague is—in the astute words of Haley—"perfectly fine." Karl-Anthony Towns is already a top-20 player and only getting better. Andrew Wiggins is a legitimate offensive killer and bound to play more defense after (eventually...we think) signing his $148 million extension (right?). Sprinkle in another year of Tom Thibodeau steering the ship, along with Gorgui "Litmus Test for Whether You Watch Enough Basketball" Dieng, and the Timberwolves should be among the most terrifying teams in the league. Except, will they be?  Last year's defense was atrocious, and while Butler buffs it up quite a bit, he alone doesn't cure Towns' fly-all-over confusion and Wiggins' inattentiveness. This team figures to having spacing problems. They're not very switchy up front either. Is Tyus Jones ready to seize the backup point guard reins, or will they belong to Crawford? Haley is here to slog through it all, and so much more—including some Ricky Rubio-as-villain talk. There might even be some shameless Justin Patton bandwagoning (from Dan). So don't be a crotchety Thibs. Hit play and bask in whatever the hell these Timberwolves are. 

THROWBACK ALERT. Former co-host of Hardwood Knocks-turned-founder of NBA Math Adam Fromal (@fromal09) reunited with Dan Favale to discuss the Denver Nuggets—the toast of the up-and-comer discussion. You can't blame anyone for being high on the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic's intuitive passing, Gary Harris' off-ball reads and Paul Millsap make for an exciting and promising trio—one founded upon two top-25 stars, Jokic and Millsap, and another top-50 talent in Harris. And yet, the Nuggets are flawed. They have a bazillion power forwards on the roster and, thus, the most complex frontcourt rotation around. Maybe they get away with leashing Darrell Arthur and rookie Tyler Lydon to the bench, but they must find minutes for the recently re-signed Mason Plumlee and, apparently, increasingly disgruntled Kenneth Faried. Losing Danilo Gallinari to the Clippers also left a shallow well of wings. Wilson Chandler and Will Barton remain, but the Nuggets must survive with Juan Hernangomez, a should-be 4, playing heavy minutes at the 3. Forcing Harris up a position will also need to be on the table. And, finally, we have the point guard rotation. Will Emmanuel Mudiay look like an NBA player? Can Jamal Murray parlay modest decision-making out of the pick-and-roll into full-on pass-first mode? Can the Nuggets trade for Eric Bledsoe already?  Adam and Dan tackle all this and much more—including a very disruptive John Collins tangent, because, well, why the hell not? As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.

More than a half-decade has come and gone since the Orlando Magic last made the playoffs. And, well, they're not about to reverse course anytime soon. Led by a new front office regime following the exit of general manager Rob Hennigan, the Magic find themselves in one of the NBA's most bizarre situations. They haven't actually hit reset on anything; they've been in a constant rebuilding state since the Dwight Howard trade. They have, however, tethered themselves to a process without any discernible direction. Seriously: Who projects as the cornerstone on this team? At one time it looked like Nikola Vucevic, but it'll be a small miracle if he finishes the season in Orlando. Evan Fournier has the contract of a primal building block, but he cannot be the best player on a quality postseason squad. Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton are the best guesses here, and yet, neither one has proved beyond a shadow of the doubt they're equipped to ferry such a burden. (Gordon, to his credit, hasn't been given a fair shake while getting shuttled between the 3 and 4.) This is problematic in a vacuum, but the situation grows more tenuous with both Gordon and Payton due raises next summer. Beyond all this, the Magic must figure out what they're going to do with rookie Jonathan Isaac, how they plan to develop Mario Hezonja and whether Bismack Biyombo should even be a part of the rotation. Tony East (@TEastNBA) of NBA Math and Locked On Pacers (@lockedonpacers) dives into all this, and so much more, on the latest, greatest, most specialest episode of Hardwood Knocks. As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.

Let's pour one out for the Sacramento Kings' annual failed pursuit of a playoff berth they had no business pursuing in the first place, shall we? In furtherance of the post-DeMarcus Cousins era, the Kings spent the offseason neither chasing wins nor attempting to monopolize the NBA's race to the bottom. Instead, they signed a couple of shrewd veterans in Vince Carter, George Hill and Zach Randolph to help build up the culture. We know what you're thinking: LITERALLY WUT, AND WHY, AND WTF, LMAO ROFL LOLOLOLOL. Get your jokes in now, before it's pointless. Prioritizing environment over a one-year tanking window has its advantages—particularly for a Kings squad that saw its emotional infrastructure crumble despite employing Cousins, one of the 25 best players in the league. Carter, Hill and Randolph don't add enough wins to the Kings' bottom line for this to be a bad investment. So long as head coach Dave Joerger is prepared to roll first and foremost with the kiddies, these three will play a pivotal role in forging unity amid plenty of losing. (Plus, their contracts aren't long at all.) Which leads us to a fair question: Is this the plan? Will the Kings be able to play De'Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield over Hill in crunch time? Can Joerger guarantee Randolph won't eat into exposure for Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere? Does Bogdan Bogdanovic get more spin than Carter? To help unpack the mystery that remains these Kings, we turn to NBA Math's own Tom Rende (@Trende19), and his appreciation for all things SKAL. As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.

The Chicago Bulls are firing up the tank. Or rather, they've been firing up the tank.  The Bulls leaned hard into the rebuild they've spent the past few years evading by trading Jimmy Butler, cutting ties with Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo and assembling a wing-light roster heavy on guards who can't shoot, guards who are injured and guards who are both injured and can't shoot. Now, to be fair, they also picked up Justin Holiday on a bargain contract (two years, $9 million). To be even more fair, at 28, he doesn't really fit the timeline. Do any real silver linings exist for this team? Is it the return of Nikola Mirotic? The new contract for Cristiano Felicio? The arrival of Lauri Markkanen? The hope that Zach LaVine will dominate upon returning from an ACL injury, whenever the hell that will be?  Should Bulls loyalists—assuming any remain—be excited to see Fred Hoiberg coach a team that doesn't perfectly fit his style but at least should play with more than bottom-10 pace? Should you just be crossing your fingers for GarPax to get axed? NBA Math's own Arjun Baradwaj (@arjunebug21) hops on the pod to offer his thoughts on these Bulls. You don't want to miss this. He brings the hot #takez*, including, but not limited, to* thinking Felicio is a future All-Star, declaring Robin Lopez a goner on the trade market, believing that Jerian Grant is also a future All-Star and having zero faith in Kris Dunn becoming more than a hobo's Marcus Smart. (*These takes may or may not be fabricated.)  As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.

Dirk Nowitzki’s 20th season. A new era led by Harrison Barnes and Dennis Smith Jr.. And contract years for Nerlens Noel and Seth Curry. All those ingredients suggest it’s another transitional year for the Dallas Mavericks. For Nowitzki, age is certainly starting to take its toll, but head coach Rick Carlisle plans to continue starting him at center. What does that mean for Noel, who will play this season on a one-year qualifying offer? Is he a part of the Mavs’ future or just a higher-end placeholder? That is perhaps the biggest question facing Dallas this season, but it’s most certainly not the only one. How will Curry follow up his breakout season? Is the hype surrounding Smith justified? Can Barnes improve on his oft-discussed weaknesses? The Smoking Cuban and Locked On Mavs‘ Issac Harris (@IsaacHarrisNBA) discusses all this and so much more in the latest episode of Hardwood Knocks with Andy Bailey. As always, be sure to leave a review of the show, subscribe and tell every sould you know to subscribe. Until next time, SHOUTOUT BENO UDRIH.

On today's episode of Hardwood Knocks, standup comedian and Los Angeles Lakers aficionado Brandt Tobler joined the show to talk Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, LeBron James and so much more. What kind of impact will Lonzo have on his teammates? Has Ingram grown enough as a player to carry the scoring load left behind by D'Angelo Russell and Lou Williams? Does anyone even remember that Brook Lopez is on this team? And finally, who's coming to the Lakers next summer? LeBron? Paul George? DeMarcus Cousins? Andy and Brandt tackle all these questions, and even a few more. After you listen, be sure to follow Brandt on Twitter (@brandttobler). Go check out BrandtTobler.com as well. Tour dates can be found there. And of course, subscribe to his podcast, The 31, and buy his new book, Free Roll. As for Andy and Dan, you know where to find them. Dan is on Twitter (@danfavale). As is Andy (@AndrewDBailey). You can find work from both at Bleacher Report. As always, be sure to leave a review and tell your friends to subscribe on Apple podcasts, Stitcher or BlogTalkRadio!

Most NBA teams are thrust into a thorough rebuild after losing a top-20 player, but not the Utah Jazz. They have a superstar cornerstone in Rudy Gobert, which gives them license to chase playoff berths in the immediate aftermath of Gordon Hayward's free-agency exit. How high the Jazz can climb up the Western Conference ladder, though, ultimately depends on everyone else. Gobert will anchor a top-three defense, but he cannot ferry the offense to respectability outside the pick-and-roll. That burden falls upon Ricky Rubio first and foremost. He is one of the craftiest playmakers in the NBA, but the absence of a reliable jumper, or even a strong touch around the rim, can render certain offenses predictable. Hitting on another shot creator is paramount. The Jazz have Joe Johnson, but he's a million years old. Joe Ingles is one of the league's most underrated point forwards, but his on-ball value suffers when he can't leverage the shooting of Hayward or George Hill. Rodney Hood is a smart bet to lead this team in scoring, but the Jazz have to see whether he can be an efficient offensive weapon. Rookies don't usually play monster roles on playoff hopefuls, but Donovan Mitchell may need to be an exception for Utah's offense to hum. Beyond that, the Jazz need to shed clarity on Gobert's frontcourt partnership with Derrick Favors, Dante Exum's future, potential small-ball lineups, their bench rotation and a whole lot more.  To help understand what we can expect from this squad, we turn to Angie Treasure (@snark_tank) of The Zone Sports Network. As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.  

The Charlotte Hornets stayed true to their roots over the NBA's offseason: They retooled, despite being a non-factor in free agency, without embracing a total reinvention. Dwight Howard's integration will play a big role in whether the Hornets meet their ceiling. They have to indulge his post-up penchants to some degree, but head coach Steve Clifford has moved away from those back-to-the-basket sets in favor of more three-pointers. Can he sell Howard on a high-usage role as the pick-and-roll diver? And can Howard accept this job description without letting his volume on offense impact his demeanor on the defensive end? Getting more out of Nicolas Batum will also be key. He was a turnover machine in the pick-and-roll last season and has seen his efficiency drop from beyond the arc. His defense remains solid, even at the 2, but the Hornets may need to find time for him at the 4—where they're overstocked—if it turns out he cannot get by opposing 2s and 3s. Not to be lost in any of this is Kemba Walker. He has transformed into one of the Association's most dangerous off-ball threats and remains, perhaps, the most underrated defender at the point guard position. He should be able to carry the Hornets toward respectability, irrespective of what happens with Howard's role; Batum's offensive efficiency; Cody Zeller's play off the bench; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's tug-of-war with offensive development; Malik Monk's NBA debut; and so on. To help us navigate this minefield of talking points, we turn to CBS Sports' Chris Barnewall (@ChrisBarnewall). As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.

So much is going on with the Philadelphia 76ers, we jump-start their 2017-18 season preview in the only way that makes a semblance of sense: by posing roughly six bajillion-zillion-quadtrillion questions. First and foremost: Are they a playoff team after signing J.J. Redick to a one-year deal—Amir Johnson, too—and adding Markelle Fultz to a healthy Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid? Hell, is Embiid even healthy? How many games should we expect to see him play in this year? And to this point, what do the Sixers do with his extension situation? Should they pursue a deal now, when so much about his health is still up in the air? Do they just let negotiations ride out into restricted free agency next summer? Will a renegotiate-and-extend get done with Robert Covington, as everyone initially assumed, or do the Sixers prefer leveraging his micro cap hold next summer into oodles of spending power? And speaking of RoCo, is Dario Saric really a threat to start at the 3 over him? (Spoiler: He's not.) Assuming everyone's healthy, how are the Sixers going to play? Like, what happens on offense? Does Fultz have the off-ball touch and slashing chops to let Simmons take the reins? Can the point power forward survive off the rock enough to give Embiid and Fultz their share of touches? Is Jahlil Okafor really still on this team?  Can we get a round of applause for baby unicorn Richaun Holmes? Does Brett Brown really think T.J. McConnell is the greatest NBA player of all time? Bleacher Report's Alec Nathan (@AlecBNathan) stops by to rap about all this, and more. As always, be sure to subscribe to and rate Hardwood Knocks on iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher and BlogTalkRadio. And as 50 Cent's biopic suggests: Follow Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey), Dan Favale (@danfavale), the show (@HardwoodKnocks) and NBA Math (@NBA_Math) on Twitter or die trying.