Reacting To Top 25 Under 25 | Potential Bulls Trades with Lavine and Vucevic | Kyle Kuzma Trade?

This week on Good Morning, Let's Basketball, the crew reacts to ESPN’s top 10 NBA players under 25. Did they get it right or did they completely miss the mark? Then the crew dives into the Chicago Bulls trade rumors involving Zach LaVine, Nikola Vučević, and Lonzo Ball. Could a major shake-up be coming to the Windy City? Lastly, GMLB discusses the potential trade scenarios surrounding Kyle Kuzma and what a move could mean for the Washington Wizards' future.

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Timestamps: 
0:00 Intro
1:03 GMLB Family Hits 2K Subs!
1:41 Chicago Bulls Trade Rumors
5:10 Nikola Vucevic’s Value & Scenarios 
8:10 Pat Williams Retrospective 
11:27 Lonzo Ball’s Value & Scenarios
15:38 Kyle Kuzma Rumors & Scenarios
23:07 Kyle Kuzma Generational Hating
24:41 Lakers Wellness Check & Clowning
26:49 Top 10 NBA Players Under 25
31:24 Kind of Warranted Haliburton Hate 
45:36 GMLB’s Court Clues Game
46:08 Round 1 - Court Clues
48:26 Kevin Coping After L
48:54 Round 2 - Court Clues
51:11 Round 3 - Court Clues
52:23 Outro

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Transcript

Kevin: [00:00:00] I would never want Kyle Kuzma on my team. Like, never. Like, it's, I don't care if we get him for that minimum for free. I wouldn't take him. I just don't care for him. 

Daniel: Yeah, I mean, he's just a perfectly, like, mid role player. And maybe you could even argue less than mid. Uh, I'd take him if he was mid. GMLB family, welcome back to Good Morning Let's Basketball.

Victor: Today, Miles is taking a load management day, but we got a jam packed episode with some trade rumors we're going to hit off. Uh, ESPN and Bleacher Report compiled a list of the top players under 25. We're going to be reacting to that, and we're also going to do [00:01:00] Court Clues, which is a new game that we're going to be playing.

We also want to thank you guys for 2, 000 subscribers. We just hit that the other day. Crazy, because we We set the goal this year, I don't know if you guys remember, we set the goal, the first episode of January, to hit 2, 000 subscribers. We didn't know if we were gonna hit it, and we hit it before the end of the year.

What do you guys got to say? Yeah, 

no, end of the year prediction was supposed to be 5, 000, so I'm a little underwhelmed. Job not finished, type of vibe, but. No, thank you so much everyone for 2000 subscribers. That's very hard to do on YouTube. And we found that out for sure. 

First topic with the bulls, a lot of trade rumors going in with the bulls.

I'm talking about Lonzo, Zach LaVine, Vucevic looking to trade a lot of their, uh, key pieces on the team that they've had this team for a while. And now they're finally deciding to [00:02:00] trade a lot of these pieces. Uh, what are you guys thoughts so far on these trade rumors? 

Kevin: I'll say it's inevitable. You know, Chicago sports has like a stereotype of being very ch We just saw the Chicago Bears, um, have a head coaching change in the middle of the season, which is something they've never, ever done before.

Just did it last week after that game at Thanksgiving. Chicago fans in shambles. But, now we're looking at the Chicago basketball team. Chicago Bulls, Heavily shopping Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball, and Zach LaVine on the trade block right now. And those three guys alone are taking up 85 million dollars, uh, in salary just this year.

Luckily, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic have heavily, heavily elevated their trade value. Like, they actually look like assets now to teams, rather than just like, Alright, we want to get these players out of here. What the hell can we get for them? [00:03:00] Nikola Vucevic is having a great start to his season. He's having one of his best shooting seasons that he's ever had in his, in his career.

And Zach LaVine's looking like his old self. So it's definitely possible. I saw them talking to some rival front offices. Don't really know what that means. If it's teams in the division, teams in the conference, wherever. But I have seen some rumors of Zach LaVine possibly finding his way to Denver. Which could make them help out their issues as well with kind of scoring and shooting.

So, that could be interesting. We'll For Denver acquiring Zach LaVine. Like, 

Daniel: like you said, I mean, Chicago sports, it seems like have been destined to fail for the last few years, which is unfortunate, but I think if there's one thing that the Bulls front office should be thinking is let's not repeat the mistakes of the past and hold on to these guys for a lot longer than we should.

We know that, like you said, Kevin, right now, their stats are supporting the fact that any team would be [00:04:00] lucky, quote unquote, to have them. Uh, and there are a lot of teams, I'm sure, that are shopping around Vucevic right now, and, and, and LaVine, obviously. Lakers being one of those big teams that have been tossed around in the name for both players, actually.

Um, surprisingly. I don't know how that Well, Lakers want everybody. 

Victor: Yeah, they do. It doesn't matter. If you're a starter in the NBA, Lakers are gonna be after you. 

Daniel: Yeah, I, I, I guess I just don't understand. I mean, LaVine to me makes sense. A lot of sense, but we'll get into that. Um, what I was going to say is that I think it's a no brainer.

The main guys that you need to trade away are Vucevic and LaVine. Um, I think, you know, obviously there are some guys on this team that are untouchable. Well, I wouldn't say untouchable, but there are younger guys on this squad that I think the Bulls would like to keep around. Um, so, you know, it, it, it's tough.

The Bulls. 

Victor: They've been looking pretty decent, uh, like they've had the second most three pointers made this season, uh, the pace they're playing at this [00:05:00] year. is, um, pretty fast, you know, um, it's actually the fastest in the league at 104. 8. And these, the players have been playing good, not to mention Vucevic is averaging 20 and 10, 58 percent from the field, 44.

7 percent from the three on almost five attempts per game, uh, which is pretty crazy. I think, uh, any team looking to add Vucevic, uh, this season, it's gonna benefit from that. But his defense does suck. So that, that's what you're gonna have to deal with. Daniel, you mentioned the Lakers. Um, that could be a, potentially a good spot for Vucevich just because they, they have been looking to add size with AD on the court.

I don't, I don't know if they're looking to add ad and move 'em to the four or play VU to the four, but I would assume it's ad at the four. 

Daniel: A lot of the, the, like, predictions that I saw of trades with Vucevic, they have him, like, playing a backup role, at least with, like, bigger [00:06:00] teams. Uh, there's some, obviously, where he fits in, like, one trade that I saw, um, I think was to the Pelicans, and they were saying that Ingram is kind of coming to the end of his contract for this year, so you could potentially see Bulls try to sign him on for the remainder of the year and then try to, you know, build up that, you know, That, that, uh, that chemistry with him and hopefully get him to re sign.

And that's, you know, even if we want Ingram. 

Kevin: Yeah, I've been seeing all over Twitter that pretty much, it seems like, Nobody is safe on this Bulls team right now for being traded. Obviously, there are. I don't believe they would trade Josh Giddey. He actually just got a triple double last night, like a 23 point triple double.

Pretty insane. He's been playing extremely well for them. But a majority of their roster is up for grabs. I do believe Pat Williams name has been floating around there too. But something Vic said, you know, Vucevic shooting 47 percent from 3 on 5 attempts a game. That's not just good for a center. That's really good for just anybody, really.

That's really good for just anybody, really. And his last, [00:07:00] um, four games, actually, he's put up 19 12, 19 11, 32 11 against Boston, and 21 10 just last night against Brooklyn. So he's looking like an actual good player to trade for, like you guys said, on teams that might need a little bit more size. Maybe even the Golden State Warriors, if they want to add a center that could bang threes, because they've, Never really had a center that could hit the three the way that Vucevic could.

They've had like Kevon Looney in the past, or currently actually, and Andrew Bogut. Those haven't been guys that were too known to stretch the floor. Mostly just rebounding guys and guys to use the pick and roll, and Vucevic is very good at those two things as well as shooting the three. But the Denver trade that I saw centered around LaVine was LaVine for like, I think it was like Michael Porter Jr.

Peyton Watson and like a pick, which wouldn't be too terrible, but then again, I want to see who the Bulls would want to keep and if they actually are going to [00:08:00] make these trades or if it's just another kind of approach to the all star break, what can we do? 

Victor: I was gonna say one thing about Vucevich too is he's very durable.

He, I think he plays 70 plus games a season. Can we, can we go back to 

Daniel: like the Pat Williams, uh, situation here? Because you know, it, it, it perfectly sums up the bulls, but also Chicago sports specifically, I guess, football and basketball. I'm going to stop making that connection. Um, but specifically with the bulls.

You know, signing this guy for a five year, what was it? Five year, 90 million. Is that correct? So I'm pretty sure Patrick Williams contract was five years, 90 million. And to basically like give up on that almost immediately. I've seen a lot of people in common sections and all over kind of, um, the bulls atmosphere of fans that are really upset with the bulls right now for that.

Because. I mean, I don't think they've given him enough time, you know, obviously he's not, um, maybe performing at the level that they expected, but they have a [00:09:00] lot of guys that are younger and honestly see how, see how this turns out without LaVine and Vucevic, you know, see how he plays without those guys.

He's had enough 

Kevin: time. He's had enough time. Yeah. He's absolutely had enough time. He hasn't really shown a whole lot of improvement. Believe me, I watch a lot of Bulls games. Like, as much as I love watching the NBA and other teams, if there's a Bulls game on, 8 times out of 10, I'm probably gonna watch that over something else.

And I have not seen much improvement in his game. Especially the offensive game. He's still like airballing and stuff. Man, this guy was the 4th pick, by the way, in the draft. 4th. Pick of number 4. 

Victor: It didn't really make sense either because his time at Florida State, he came off the bench majority of the time, right?

Um, but, I mean, you were right. It was 5 years, 90 million. I looked it up. Um, like you said, uh, giving him time to develop and stuff. You guys said, I mean, Kevin hit it, like, he's, he's played a while. I mean, if, if Vucevic leaves, I mean, and LaVine, that does offer [00:10:00] him more, um, time with the ball in his hands to be able to put up more shots and stuff.

But I did see something saying that the Bulls with Nikola Vucevic, um, that they want two second round picks for him. And honestly, that's, that's not terrible. And I think, like, getting him for two second round picks could be beneficial to a lot of contending teams. Um, one thing I was going to say was, I know a lot of teams were saying that the Bulls are, are, are also asking a lot for Lonzo LaVine and Vucevic, too.

So I don't know what your guys thoughts on two second round picks for Vuce's. 

Kevin: True. So the two second round picks for Vucevic, they say that's what the trade is like starting at. That's the minimum they're willing to accept for him. Which I feel like is a pretty good base of kind of like where to go from, depending on again, Which team is really could use Nikola Vucevic and like view him as an asset to their roster, but it's something I would take [00:11:00] it would shake up the franchise, which is something that they could need.

I mean, the Bulls, they aren't bad right now. They aren't a bad team by any means, you know, compete, they've competed in a lot of their games this year, especially against the top teams in the league this year, but kind of just looking at this team, their current roster and a future perspective. It's not really going anywhere.

So I would like them to get something for these guys while they can, before they retire or like just walk on their own, because Lonzo is going to be a free agent next year. If he's not traded, he's a completely free agent. Who knows? He could sign away. I could go play with LaMelo could go anywhere. Just 29 other teams.

So I'd rather get something for him. If people value him, cause you know, he's had those injuries rather than just letting him walk. 

Daniel: That that's a really honestly fair point. Cause my next question was going to be about Lonzo and about like, as, as Bulls fans, do you, do we want to keep Lonzo? I mean, we've invested so much and we know that he can impact a team on a different level.

[00:12:00] I say. Keep him there. You know, try everything. He's gonna be cheaper, no doubt, than he probably would have been, obviously, if he played all, all throughout, or if he would have, like, let's say, you know, um, gotten into free agency at the end of his first year, but, I mean, I, yeah, I don't know. The way I feel, keep Lonzo.

Don't get rid of him. 

Victor: You're asking my thoughts on Lonzo, if he, if the Bulls should trade him or not. I think they should trade him. If this was a Bulls team that I think, Um, we're going to be able to contend or have at least somewhat of a, a good playoff run, like maybe get to the second round or something.

I'd be like, keep them, but I don't believe that this team can do that. I think this team is heading in the direction of a slight rebuild. The Bulls are already have a lot of young guards on the team with Josh Giddey, Coby White, Ayo, um, I don't think Lonzo really fits into this timeline anymore and like [00:13:00] Kevin said, get something for him while you can and I believe that there's a lot of teams that could be a good fit for Lonzo.

I think on the Nuggets, he can help them on defensively and with his playmaking, I think he'd be good there. The Bucks need a great, uh, good defensive perimeter piece. He would be good there as well. Um, but a trade that I did see for Lonzo to the Hornets was Grant Williams, Cody Martin, a 2025 second round pick, and all, um, the Hornets would get would be Lonzo 

Daniel: Ball.

I, I, I would just say like for the, just to kind of end the Lonzo thing, um, me personally, I, I do agree with what Kevin said, and, and that's a really good point. Get, get as much as you can out of him right now. Uh, 'cause we have no idea what his future looks like. Um, my, my personal opinion on it though is just that we have previously seen him perform well.

And, and like I said, you know, [00:14:00] uh, pull a, a, a. lifeless bulls team kind of, it wasn't on his back, but, um, you know, help our team, team win. And, and one of the phrases that I had seen is do any, when, when we're thinking about who to trade away for the bulls, do any of these guys seem like people that will be on a championship team?

Like, Oh, in the last, you know, in five years, three years, whatever it is, say that we get to the finals and we're playing in a championship game. Do we see Lonzo or, or Coby white or any of these guys on that team. The only one that I will say is I think Lonzo and Kobe, honestly, not, I said, yeah, obviously, but, um, but it's hard.

And I do think Lonzo could be potentially a piece that we could work around and build up our team, like as him, as our focus, but that's a lot of pressure to put on someone. And obviously we haven't seen him perform like that in a while. So, 

Kevin: yeah, it is worth mentioning. He is on a minute restriction currently too.

I think they're trying to keep him under 18 [00:15:00] minutes per game. So, if the guy could stay healthy, which is kind of hard to ask. I mean, he basically has a new kneecap now. They had that wrist injury earlier this season that sidelined him for a little bit. I would say keep him. Again, it just really relies on his, um, availability.

Whether I think the Bulls should keep them, but I'd say maybe sit on that one for now. 

Victor: We'll see what the Bulls end up doing. Um, they always say they're gonna trade these pieces, but a lot of the teams in the league don't really want them because the Bulls sometimes are asking too much or the trade value isn't there.

But we'll end up seeing what happens with the Bulls. But going into another trade that we're going to talk about, Is with Kyle Kuzma. And Kevin, I believe you had some, uh, stuff about this. What did you see on this? 

Kevin: Yeah, so currently the Lakers, the Heat, the Bucs, Warriors, and the Cavs are monitoring a potential Kyle Kuzma trade.

These [00:16:00] few franchises, for some reason, see something in him. To trade for him. I mean, maybe. Uh, right now he can give you a solid 15 points, 5 rebounds, and maybe an assist. For night on a 27 minute basis. And my question to you guys of why I wanted to include this, not only because trade news and trade news is fun, but is it worth it trick question?

It's not, but I want to see your guys reasonings because all these other teams, besides like Milwaukee. I don't really think they need. 

Daniel: I'm just more shocked that the Lakers are interested specifically. Honestly, why wouldn't they be for sure? 

Kevin: Literally 10 minutes ago. 

Daniel: Yeah, but, but that's just so funny to me.

Um, yeah, no, I don't have really much to say about this. He could impact, I think other teams, um, you know, in a positive way. Can, can you go run through the list? I don't have it in front of me again. 

Kevin: Yeah. It was the Lakers who liked bringing their old players back. They did it with Dwight. They did it [00:17:00] with DLO.

So Lakers, the Miami Heat, the Bucs, the Warriors, and the Cavs. The Cavs, I don't even know why. Their lineup is so good. Their bench is so good. Like, do not give any of those players up for Kyle Kuzma. The chemistry they have built is so good. And they have such great players on the team. And they don't even have everybody back right now.

Struess is out, and uh, Dean Wade is out, so. Cleveland, please don't entertain this BS. 

Victor: Yeah. If they do that, they're, they're ruining everything for a championship. They need to relax on that. 

Kevin: Yeah. They literally have the best record in NBA. I don't know why they think Kyle Kuzma, maybe this is just BS, but I saw a reliable sources where I usually get stuff from, but yeah, I don't know.

Maybe they just want to make trades. Golden state. Sure. Maybe if you want to, I don't know if they plan with the stardom. But no, I can't imagine that they would know. 

Victor: Well, yeah, I don't, I mean, they might, I mean, [00:18:00] they've known been known to run small ball. They could, they could run them and maybe they're going to want it for and then put dream on at the center.

We've seen dream on play center before. 

Daniel: Have we ever seen a player like come into the Warriors, I guess, KD and CP, I was going to say and play like their style of ball, like right off the right out of the gate. Right. Cuz like, I feel like they'd stick Kyle Kuzma on the bench and let him kind of, you know, learn how to play with the Warriors within their system and stuff.

But, but yeah, no, none of these teams, I mean, like, I think a big thing would be a change of scenery for him, you know, Kyle Kuzma could probably do something special with Giannis on the Bucks. Um, but it, you know, that, that team does have at least some older players. So, you know, like I said, there's just, there's some teams where I feel like he could be a difference maker, but like you said, Kevin, is it worth it?

No, I don't [00:19:00] think it is. 

Kevin: I would say if the Wizards are able to get Jonathan Kuminga in that trade, I say run it. Because the Wizards successfully completed No Win November, just this past month, had a terrible month. Jordan Poole is looking pretty solid this year. He's actually playing really, uh, pretty damn good for them, so that's good to see.

Scoring wise, defense, eh, whatever. That's not the biggest of their worries, they just need to get some dang wins. But building up for the future, you know? They have Saar, who has started the way he started. Maybe he'll get it eventually, you know? He's young, he's like 18 years old. But getting him, Kuminga, Fool, all their other young pieces could be pretty solid for them.

I'd say if they can get Kuminga, run that trade. Why not? He's been in 

Victor: trade rumors almost his whole career in Golden State. The potential has yet to be [00:20:00] untapped. I mean, we've, we've seen, we've seen glimpses of it, but I think if he was to get traded to a team where he has a lot more opportunity, that potential will be Unlocked but as far as like any of these teams where how kuzma would go I don't like any of them if I had to pick one of them that I think No, not even that one actually I was gonna say maybe the heat just because they do use uh, nikola Jovic and jaime Jaquez But I I don't even think they really need Kyle kuzma.

I feel like I feel like I feel like 

Kevin: kuzma's like play style and mentality doesn't wouldn't fit on the miami heat You I just don't, I just don't really, it's seeing a, it being a good fit for him. To be honest, the only place I can really see him going here is either the Lakers or the Warriors. Lakers, for the reason being that they like bringing old players back, and they've talked about possibly bringing Kyle Kuzma back a season or two ago.[00:21:00] 

And then, like I mentioned with the Warriors, if the Wizards are able to acquire, um, what's his face, Kuminga, because the Warriors have been, basically just been holding him hostage over there. I mean, like he's kind of just sitting on the bench, rotting. They spent the top five pick on this guy and he has so much talent and he could be so good, but they're in this weird scenario.

Like we want to trade them, but we don't want to give them up. So we'll just put him on the bench and just waste some good years. And that sucks. He probably really wants to go forget the ring that he won. I mean, it's still a good 

Daniel: experience, though. Yeah, but like Kevin said, like, even even though he has the ring, he probably he definitely wants to play.

He wants to contribute more. 

Victor: A hundred percent. Yeah. I mean, I think that's what any NBA player, you're going to want to try to get that starting 

Daniel: role. Yeah, no, I mean, I'm thinking maybe Warriors just got confused. They were trying to go after Jordan Poole again, [00:22:00] and they, they asked for Kyle Kuzma by accident.

Kevin: What could Milwaukee even give up? Maybe Torian Prince, which one of their senior citizens would Washington want for a rebuild, it's just not the best scenario, like, honestly, the best asking that they can get is from the Warriors. They. They have some young pieces that could be traded. 

Victor: Oh yeah. I mean, how much is a Kyle Kuzma's contract?

Is it 85 million? It's a four year, 90 million contract. I was, I was right. I was going to say, I remember him getting paid 

Kevin: pretty decently. Well, so 90 million, a lot of four years for Kyle Kuzma. I mean, pretty much anybody gets paid nowadays a good amount, but like, I'm pretty sure Austin Reeves is making less money than that way less money than that.

I think he's making 56, 54. Yeah, he got like a three year, four year contract for like mid fifty millions. And that's crazy, because look how good he is and has been for the Lakers, as opposed to Kyle Kuzma, who [00:23:00] had some moments, especially in the summer league. 

Victor: I mean, again, I don't think Kyle Kuzma's that bad of a player.

I actually, I mean, I think, I think he could be beneficial on some teams. Like 

Kevin: in Europe? You actually think he's that bad? Yeah, you're right. He's not good enough to play in Europe. Probably more like Australia or China. Thank you for making me realize that. I would never want Kyle to be on my team. Like never.

Like it's, I don't care if we get him for that minimum for free. I wouldn't take him. I just don't care for him. 

Daniel: Yeah, I mean, he's just a perfectly like, mid role player. And maybe you could even argue, less than mid. I'd take him if he was mid.

Fair. I don't know. Like, I just like, The one that, I don't want [00:24:00] to give the Lakers too much attention, but we are talking about the LaVine trade and, you know, the biggest thing that I saw with that is that the Lakers need someone else on that team that's basically an all star, plays at that level of being an all star, but isn't quite an all star.

I think of like, I don't know, Jamal Murray. Please don't tell me 

Victor: you just called Kyle Guzman all star. 

Daniel: No, no, no. God, no. Wouldn't dream of it. Basically, what I'm getting at is like, the Lakers could use someone like that. You know, someone that's like, on the brink of being one of those names in the, in that, that's, that every NBA fan knows.

Which obviously everyone, NBA fan knows Zach LaVine. But, my point is, is that Zach LaVine could help the Lakers win. Right? I, I do think that, you know, Implementing him makes the Lakers possibly a contender, but how is Kyle Kuzma along, you know, in those conversations of trades too, you know what I mean, like, it's [00:25:00] like, oh, we could go after Zach LaVine, uh, if we don't get him, we'll go after Kuz, that is kind of what I was getting at, that's, that's, that's crazy to me.

Kevin: It's funny how like, At the very beginning of the season, people thought, like, the Lakers were gonna be, like, so much better than they were the past few years, and I think a lot of people still have that perception, but they have a 12 9 record right now, and I think that's exactly the record they had, or very close to the record they had last year at this time.

It was. I saw that. Arthur on the sidelines. Yeah, they do look better. Gameplay wise with JJ Reddick, but the record is pretty much the same. So I don't want to say they're in the same spot, but they but they are 

Daniel: one key thing. I did see is that someone said, um, That was in Arthur's last season as, as the head coach of the Lakers versus this is, uh, JJ [00:26:00] Redick's first season.

So if anything, it means that he's come in into a, you know, a very tough league and been able to have a positive record as of so far, it's not great. It's not pretty. It's not anything to write home about, but it's a winning record. And it seems like JJ Redick has those guys on that Lakers team They like their coach, which they did last season, but we like him now too.

Kevin: That's true. But time is not on their side. It needs to be like now LeBron, I mean, he'll be 40 this month. He doesn't have that much time left, but I don't know if they think adding Kyle Kuzma can take them over that hump. Godspeed, more power to you. We'll call the spade a spade. So every year ESPN and Bleacher Report, one or the other, always released their list of the top 25 players in the league.

And every year we like to react to it, because [00:27:00] these guys are going to be the future of our entertainment. So I got the list pulled up here, we're going to go from 10 to 1, look at some of the players that they ranked as the top 25, or top 10 players under the age of 25, see what we think about it, and make any adjustments if needed.

At number 10 on the list, we have Alperin Shangoon, who has kind of solidified himself as the best player on the Rockets this season, but who has been playing very well. Who's number 9? Number 9 we have JW. Good job.

Victor: I feel like I would put Sengun, like, above Jdub. What do you guys think? I'd put 

Kevin: Shingun above Jdub, I think. 

Daniel: Yeah, that might be That J Dove situation might be just kind of biased from last season. No, he's been, he's been playing good, man. He's been playing good, but yeah, Sangoon I think is better. 

Kevin: There's, we're gonna get it, you're gonna see midway through the list that it's, it is kind of messed up.

Because the player at number 6, I think 7 through 14 [00:28:00] are better than him. Right now, currently, so. We're just gonna keep going. Number 8 we have Evan Mobley. Who I know, I mean, you guys know that Miles is very big on it this year. As we all should be because he's playing out of his mind to finally hit that stride.

Especially on offense. Could potentially get his first All Star. Is he better than Sangoon? I will say, I think Sangoon's impact on offense is better than Mobley's. But in contrast to that, Mobley's impact on defense is significantly better than Sangoon's. Because Sangoon's defense is kind of wet. Hinders him a little bit.

He's still young. Obviously, he's on the top players under 25 list, so he could hopefully improve. And he has Imei Yudoka as a head coach. But Mobley is way better than defense, or on defense, than Shingun right now. 

Victor: That's, that's a 

Daniel: tough one for me right now. I could go either way right now. I'm gonna say, your question was, is Evan Mobley better [00:29:00] than Shingun, Kevin?

Kevin: Yeah, because he's higher on the list. He's at 8 shikiguns at 10. 

Daniel: I'm gonna say yes, because what I wanted to say about Evan Mobley that I had here in my notes is that obviously, you know, he's, he's made some really good improvements this season. Like you said, Kevin, both offensively and defensively, which you did, you know, going from last season is pretty hard to do.

But purely from a stats perspective, he offers you more Offensively to me and defensively all around Evan Mobley does then Sengun, um, just looking at like their percentages because I, I want, I knew, uh, Evan Mobley's, but I didn't know Sengun. He beats him in field goal percentage and three point percentage by a pretty good margin.

So I, I think in this case, Evan Mobley is a Sengun, but both guys, obviously very impactful, very good for their team. 

Kevin: Pretty well said. And number seven, Tyrese Maxxie.

We have been able to see a lot from Philly this [00:30:00] year, but knowing who he is, I think this is a comfy spot. 

Daniel: I may be forgetting other players, but I almost expected him to be higher on this list, honestly. So I'm excited to see what 6 is. He should be yeah, he at least should probably be higher than six.

Whoever that is, but uh, But yeah, no definitely no disagreements from us here Uh, tell your smacksy big part of that philadelphia team's future a lot of analysts are saying that his Even though it got out and I think even you guys said it on the podcast here um, you know him being a younger guy and stepping up and Calling and beat out on stuff.

That's that's something that I think You Even though it's unfortunate that it got out, it said a lot to the fans of, oh, Tyrese Maxxie's bought in and he's, he's one of those guys that's going to lead us to the promised land. So he definitely deserves to be high on this list. And just as a player, you know, not much can be said about how bad he is.

He's just, he's really good. [00:31:00] 

Victor: I was expecting him to be higher. I'm curious to see who's ahead of him. Yeah, he 

Kevin: should be a lot higher. A hundred percent should be a lot higher, especially the number six, but he averaged 26 and six last year. And in the short amount of games he's played this year, he's averaging 26 and 4.

Last two games, he has 39 and 28 points. So, the dude's ballin in the games he has played. But at number 6, this is where stuff is gonna get funny. Tyrese Halliburton. This is why I said everybody from 7 to 13. You guys don't even know 11, 12, and 13 yet, but you guys would agree that those three players are better than Tyrese Halliburton.

Like, if you want me to. 

Victor: Yeah, Sam, right now, I mean, we don't got a reaction. Scotty 

Kevin: Barnes, Poole Ball, Cade Cunningham. Yeah. They're all better than Tyrese Halliburton, especially right now. Yeah. Get him off the list. Wait, number 25. 

Daniel: I'm actually so curious what happened right there. Maybe [00:32:00] it was made during, at what point?

I know. I have no idea during preseason where they're like, Oh, Tyrese Halliburton is this good. And then they just put it out. This 

Kevin: list came out yesterday. 

Daniel: Yeah. That's what's insane. I don't know. Am I missing something? 

Victor: It's really interesting because there's still a lot of people who, you know, Are high on Tyrese Halliburton, so I could see that.

I could see that's why they have the bias tourism, but honestly, he should not be where he is right now with the level of play. He's been playing at LaMelo is averaging 30 and 7, and he's not even top 10. Like, are we serious? 

Kevin: It is pretty crazy, but Tyrese Maxey is and has always been so much better. The Tyrese Halliburton.

It's insane to me how he's a spot ahead of him. If you want to put Tyrese in the top 10, whatever. [00:33:00] But this dude isn't almost top 5. You have him at 6. 6 is crazy. 

Daniel: Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to look for anything that would maybe make this make sense to me, but there's, there's nothing here that's 

Kevin: Me and Victor were at the Pacers and Heat NBA Cup game a couple weeks ago.

The dude dribbled the ball off his foot like this. 

Daniel: There's something wrong with, with Tyrese Halliburton right now, for sure. This is not the same player that we saw last year. Um, and, and, you know, he, it actually kind of is because I know that after, I think it was like the, after December, he just wasn't playing to the level that we had seen in a very small portion of time, which is when I think people would have ranked him higher than Maxie.

But even then, like you said, Kevin, I think it was more about just, Maxie coming into his own and, and, and, and just basically bawling out. And honestly, maybe he was better than two. I don't know. 

Kevin: Yeah. I mean, [00:34:00] he did get off to a really, really hot start last season. Get in like 15 and 16 assists a game, what it seemed like, but he cooled off, but people still really gravitated to that portion of the season where he was playing really good.

So I don't know. I think we're all kind of in unison here that he definitely shouldn't be six. So I'm glad to hear that. But at number five. We have Chet Holmgren. 

Victor: I do, I do. He does add a lot of value to that Thunder team. Um, defensively, he's great. Offensively, helps him out a lot. You could argue he's the second option, him or J Dub, um, when he's on the floor.

I don't hate it. I don't hate it at five. I would move this list around a lot, especially with some of the names that you said that, uh, were not in the top ten. Um, I haven't made my own list, so. 

Kevin: Yeah, no, I definitely hear you. But Chet did start the season very [00:35:00] well. Unfortunately, he went down with that pelvic injury.

I feel like it's just a little bit early to put him top five. I do like some of these other names over him, like Mobley, maybe Shingun and some of the other names. Oh, also Darius Garland is at 14. I forgot to mention, I only listed that 11, 12 and 13 were better than six, but 14 too. But yeah, Chet. He surprised me.

He's playing very well. Unfortunately, he went down with injury, but I don't hate him at number five Don't know if I'd put him there, but I don't hate it. 

Daniel: I see it This one's kind of hard because last season I did say that Chet, I think is the obvious second option on that team and at some times like the difference maker on that team and moving forward, OKC is really going to learn the value of Chet Holmgren.

Uh, so part of me wants to say, Oh, he's, he should be in that top five. [00:36:00] Um, but I think, You know, we do have to consider how many players are playing so well right now, and that is a big deal too. So I would say maybe because of the injury and because right now, you know, it, it, it, there are players that are playing better than him.

I could have seen, I could have seen them making, maybe ranking him outside of the top five, but if we get to see him play, he's, he's gonna be there for sure. 

Kevin: At number four, we have Franz Wagner. 

Victor: He's been killing it this season, especially with 

Daniel: Alpalo. With Alpalo, Franz has stepped in to his role and really picked it up.

I think he's averaging 23 points a game right now. So yeah, I mean, he's shooting 35 percent from three, two, which I think is significant. He he's, um, yeah, he, he, he is a big part of why that magic team hasn't just rode off into the sunset with Alpalo. 

Kevin: Yeah. They're winning games with the Alpalo too, which is really good to see.

That they don't rely on him too much. He's obviously the best player on that [00:37:00] team. I mean, he, he had a, he was one assist away from a 50 point triple double before he went down with injuries, so Paulo's already damn near there. But some of Franz's games that he's had this season, 29 6, 31 11, 32 8, 37 11, 30 21 21 29.

He's Really really put it together this year and he's really good and he's pretty fun to watch that magic team I always thought was pretty fun to watch 

Daniel: It it'll be interesting to see if his points have any kind of drop off when paulo returns I've seen people even say that he'll probably be an all star this year.

So that'll be interesting to see too 

Victor: I definitely think it's gonna drop off a little bit but I mean what here's my question is like would we put him fourth or even top five if Paula was still playing and do you even believe that he's top five right now? I 

Kevin: mean I feel like you [00:38:00] can't really say if Paulo was not playing because like or if he was playing because like He is playing or he's not playing already.

Like that's just a scenario that it's in right now He is playing like a top five player under 25 

Daniel: Yeah, 

Kevin: and this list was made yesterday. He's playing very well. 

Daniel: I agree with what Kevin said. Oh good 

Kevin: And his team is winning without their best player. That is a key. That is a key detail 

Daniel: is that it's because we often see players, we do often see players like, you know, score in the absence of their superstar, but to be able to win games and win games effectively is something he should be applauded for.

Kevin: But at number three, we do have his colleague, Paulo Banqueiro. I'm not gonna go into too much detail, but one assist away from a 50 point triple double earlier this year and no one talked about it. This guy is there. And he's huge. Have you ever seen him stand next to other, like, NBA players? 

Victor: He made Zach LaVine look [00:39:00] so small.

I saw a picture the Bulls posted with LaVine and Paulo. It was insane. 

Kevin: Dude, forget LaVine. Look at other people that are, like, around his size. He towers over Draymond Green. He's bigger than Paul George, who a lot of people kind of like compared him to when he got drafted, unfortunately, but like, he's a big dude, big body.

He is going to be so freaking good in the upcoming years. And he's just so overlooked, makes me sad. Couple of injured players on that top five. 

Daniel: That's interesting. 

Victor: One thing I wanted to ask you is, um, I've seen some stuff people say Franz plays better or plays well off Paulo, but Paulo doesn't play well off Franz.

What do you think about that? 

Kevin: I mean, they're both still relatively young. They both got put in a scenario where they're surrounded by young players, but those two are mostly In charge of kind of leading the [00:40:00] team, especially at this level, as successful as they were in college. So I think they're figuring it out.

And I think they did kind of have it figured out before Paolo went down with injury. Which sucks that he's going to miss all the time that he is, because this is time that they could have used to kind of just like build up that chemistry and really just like adjust to each other. It's only Pavel's third season.

Like, it's, it's unfortunate. But I don't think that's too big of an issue that they should focus on right now. I think they're in a really, really good spot. They have so much young talent, which is Jalen Suggs being there. Anthony Black, who's had his struggles. But they have a really good young team.

They're gonna be pretty freaking good in the next few years. Then at number two, we have Anthony Edwards. Who's number one? Number one, wanna guess? 

Victor: I actually can't even think of who would be number one. 

Kevin: Really? 

Victor: Oh, it'd be Wendy. 

Kevin: It is Wendy. Wendy has [00:41:00] a 50 

Victor: piece this year. That is true. He also had a 5x5 game again.

He had a triple double the other night. Yeah, he's been just playing insane. I, the the, the ceiling for him is the highest out of any of these players. So, I mean, I understand putting him at number one. I feel like that's fair. Sure. And his game could just be taken to serious levels in the future. It's just gotta be, um, building the right pieces around him, man.

Kevin: Yeah. I mean, like you said, it's kinda just hard not to put him at 21, just of Obviously, his stats are good, but just what he could be, too. I mean, call me crazy, but this dude could have top 5 potential. Definitely top 5 talent potential. If he just, um, just gets those accolades. Which he's well on his way.

He was already in the running for defensive player of the year in his rookie year. He has that rookie of the year. Could win that depot [00:42:00] this year. But just look at his scoring the last few games. 34 points for 14 boards, 50 points, 28 points for 14 boards, 25 points, 34 points, 20 points. And then on December 1st against Sacramento, 34 points, 14 boards, 11 assists on 11 of 17 shooting.

This is a 7 foot 4 center that's doing this. That can dribble and hit step back threes. 

Daniel: Yeah. 

Kevin: Hell yeah. He's number one. 

Daniel: I don't, I don't even like, yeah, like that's the thing that's tough. We're going, we're going to have to like create a new category for this guy because he's part of the best players in the NBA in total scratch the list of players under 25.

He's, he's on the list of best players currently. Um, Which a lot of these guys are, but I guess we should talk about Anthony Edwards being at number two, really. I don't have anything to say. I [00:43:00] mean, running off of last season. We know that this guy's insanely good, or his potential is insanely high. Um, and we know that he can take a team and, and, and allow them to win or help them win.

So definitely struggling a lot right now. You know, they, they've said that, uh, or I said that I thought Minnesota was the loser in the trade. And I kind of still think that, but, It's easy to say that. I mean, you know, Anthony Edwards is kind of on the same page as the rest of Minnesota with just saying that if you're not going to support them right now, don't support them later in the season when they're winning.

So, yeah. And I do believe him because Anthony Edwards can do that. He is that guy, as he proved last year. So, definitely deserves to be number two. But no contest at number one. 

Kevin: Timberwolves have [00:44:00] gotten off to a pretty shaky start, but I do definitely agree. That he is at number two. Hasn't been too efficient this year scoring the basketball, but his stats do look pretty solid.

Could be a little bit better. Uh, one thing that kind of has always like hindered his game a little bit has been like his efficiency. He hasn't been always been too efficient of a score. So if he can figure that out and also put some women's together, it's going to be hard to argue against them. 

Victor: I think once they figure out if they're trading Dante DiVincenzo or not, because he's been in talks of like possible trade candidates with the Timberwolves.

I think once they figured that out, because he hasn't been playing that great, honestly, for them, and then see what they could get back for him. Um, I mean, they, they lost a lot of key, key pieces to why that team was successful last year. Um, that mainly being Cat. You know, they had a lot of chemistry with Cat, got rid of him.

You're obviously gonna see like a little bit of a [00:45:00] switch up. It's not gonna be perfect early. Uh, it's a long NBA season, so there's a lot of games left to play. And they could turn it around. They could not. It just, that's just how the NBA season goes. But I mean, I definitely think people like to panic early and not wait it out.

We see that all the time. Usually, the head coach gets fired first. I think there's been a little bit of talks of Chris Finch getting fired, but I'm not too sure on those if they're actually going to pull the trigger on that. I don't think they should. I think that's a dumb move. But 

Daniel: that would be a dumb move.

Victor: All right. But moving on from the top 25 list, let us know what you guys think. Was this list from Bleacher Report right? Or what would you guys put your top 10 in? Comment that down below. But we're going to get into court clues. We are each going to have an NBA player that we're thinking of and a participant gets 10 questions consisting of yes or no questions.

To ask the other player and [00:46:00] whoever guesses the NBA player first wins. So for the first round, me and Kevin are going first. So Kevin, why don't you ask me your first question about what NBA player I'm thinking of, and then I'll ask you. Alright, 

Kevin: sounds good. Is your player in the Western Conference? No. So that means he's Eastern.

Victor: Is your player a center? Sorry, no, no. 

Kevin: I already asked it. Yeah, that's what you said. And no, he's not. Okay, so you got an Eastern Conference 

Victor: player. 

Kevin: Is your player a small forward? 

Victor: No, he is not. Is your player in the Eastern Conference? Nope. 

Kevin: Is your player on a top five seeded team in the East? 

Victor: Yes. Is your player a starter?

Kevin: Yeah, 

Victor: did your player go to college? Yes, he did. Is your player a guard? 

Kevin: No. Does your player play for the Knicks? 

Victor: No. Is your player on a top five seeded team? 

Kevin: No. Ooh, next question I could ask. Is your 

Victor: player a [00:47:00] starter? No. 

Kevin: Let me see, there we go. 

Victor: Is your player 11 through 15 seated in the West? Yeah. Is your player on Cleveland?

Yes. 

Daniel: Oh my god. Uh. Got down to the meat and potatoes. 

Victor: Do I have to make, should I make a guess right now? Because, uh, I might be cooked, he might know it right now. Is your player on the Kings? 

Kevin: No. Is your player Isaac Okoro? 

Victor: No. 

Daniel: That means Victor's on his ninth question, right? 

Victor: Yeah. Is your player on a playoff team from last year?

Uh. That's a unique question. 

Kevin: They weren't a playoff team. Quotations. Is your player Karis Slovert? No. Is 

Victor: your player Missy? Nope. Oh my god, that was Was that your last question? That was a dumb guess. Is your player Max Stroust? No.[00:48:00] 

Kevin: Didn't he 

Daniel: give you the team? Yeah, 

Kevin: he's on Cleveland Dumpf. 

Daniel: Is your player He could be one of the three players that Victor most definitely picked. 

Victor: Is your player, uh, Brandon Ingram? No. Woo hoo hoo 

Kevin: hoo! So close! 

Victor: Oh my god, it was CJ. No, it was Zion. Aw, man. 

Daniel: Alright, so who gets to play me? My, my player 

Kevin: was Ty Jerome.

Ty Jerome. See, like, I was gonna, like, say him, but I was like, he wouldn't pick Ty Jerome. Like, he'd pick Okoro. Like, I picked the all star, why would he pick f ing Ty Jerome? So, Victor actually did go, okay, wow. Actually, yeah. And 

Victor: my player was Zion Williamson. Well, me and Kevin both tied, so, I mean, you and Kevin can go, go for this next one.

You can ask the first 

Daniel: question, then. Alright, um, is your player under 6'5 

Kevin: You said, is he under 6'5 Mm hmm. [00:49:00] He's not under 6'5 I don't know. Should've gone with a higher number, but whatever. Your player's in the Western Conference, right?

Daniel: I don't like how you're posing these questions. He is. He's in 

Kevin: the Western Conference? He is, yeah, he is. Okay. 

Daniel: Is your player in the Eastern Conference? 

Kevin: He's not. So you gotta scrub in the Western Conference. He's definitely on a top five seeded team. He is not. Are you sure? Like what teams is he on? I'll tell you if he is or not.

Daniel: Alright. Um, is your team in California? 

Kevin: No. Okay. Your player is a small forward. 

Daniel: Uh, does your player play for the Mavericks? 

Kevin: Nope. Is your player a starter? 

Daniel: He is. Is your player a power forward? 

Kevin: Nope. Is your player from seeded 6 through 10 in the West? 

Daniel: Yes. Is your player over 7 [00:50:00] foot? 

Kevin: No. Is your player Russell Westbrook?

Daniel: No. Damn. I kind of want to ask this one. Is your player Center? 

Kevin: Yeah. Is your player a guard? 

Daniel: No. Is your player an NBA champion? 

Kevin: No. Is your player over seven feet? 

Daniel: No. Does this player get a lot of hate? 

Kevin: No. Does he get a lot? He might. I don't know. Not If you 

Daniel: don't know then it's not who I was thinking. , 

Kevin: no, 

Daniel: he doesn't, not to my knowledge.

Okay. 

Kevin: Your player is a center, is that correct? 

Daniel: Does your, is your player a foreigner? 

Kevin: Yeah. Is your player Nikola Yoic?

Daniel: Yeah, was yours, uh, wait hold on, let me try to guess yours. Was yours Nurkic? 

Kevin: Nope. 

Daniel: Damn. Who was it? You can go ahead and tell me. I'm your friend. 

Kevin: Figure it out. [00:51:00] That was your ninth question. 

Daniel: Oh, I still have to try to go? Nah, I'm just 

Kevin: kidding. My player was, uh, my player was Shingun. 

Daniel: Oh, okay. Okay, fair. 

Kevin: Alright, 

Victor: you ready, Daniel?

Daniel: I'm ready. Yeah, I'm ready. 

Victor: Alright, is your player a starter? 

Daniel: Is your player a starter? 

Victor: Yes. Is your player on the East? Uh, is your player on the West? No. Is your player a rookie? 

Daniel: He's not a rookie. Is your player under 6'8 No. So we're going back to the 4 and the 5. 

Victor: Is your player a guard? 

Daniel: Yes. Has your player played longer than 5 years?

Victor: No. There's a guard in the East. Off the bench. Is your player on the top 5 team in the East? 

Daniel: Is your player on the Boston Celtics? Yes. 

Kevin: No, five question winning fellows. [00:52:00] You each have five questions left. 

Victor: Is your player on the New York Knicks? 

Daniel: No. Was your team in the playoffs last year? 

Victor: No, they weren't. Is your player on the Milwaukee Bucks?

Daniel: No. Was your player in the play in last year? 

Victor: Yes. On a top three team in the Eastern Conference right now. 

Daniel: Yes. Is your player, does your player play for a team inside the U. S.? So does your player play for the Raptors? 

Victor: Dude, that was the worst question you could ask, but yes. 

Daniel: So he does. Okay. So he does play in the U.

S. Is what I said. That is the worst possible question I could have asked. 

Kevin: You guys each have two questions left. 

Daniel: Okay. 

Victor: Uh, is your player on the Boston Celtics? 

Daniel: Yes. Is your player Jaime Jaquez? 

Victor: No. 

Kevin: One question remaining. 

Daniel: Is your player white? Yes, uh, that was your 

Kevin: last question. 

Daniel: Oh, I guess if I don't guess [00:53:00] it this time, like I would have to guess it right now Yeah, uh Was your player kobe white?

Victor: No is your player? Payton pritchard it was payton pritchard My player was jalen johnson. He's been hooping if you don't know you you got to look up some film. Oh, you know He wasn't getting that. Thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of good morning. Let's basketball You Make sure to email us if you have any questions gmail.

com We will be reading those on the show Make sure to follow us on snapchat instagram youtube apple podcast and spotify to be Staying in tune with all of our latest episodes or videos that we are dropping And make sure to comment all that jazz with that And thank you guys again for 2000 subscribers, and we'll see you guys next week.

[00:54:00] Peace