NBA Podcast

The MN Swag Productions podcast discusses the NBA with hosts Roger Wu and Parth Patel. They share their love for basketball, insights on the NBA, and predictions for the 2025 championship. Roger believes the Knicks will win, while Parth leans towards the Nuggets due to their experienced team. They analyze teams' strengths and weaknesses, such as the Nuggets' bench depth and the Lakers' lack of a center. Despite differing opinions, they engage in a detailed discussion about basketball dynamics and playoff strategies. All right, first of all, thank you, everybody, for listening to our podcast today. This is the MN Swag Productions. And a big part of why I wanted to start off the podcast is bring together people that I'm really close to to talk about topics that I find very interesting. So as you can see today, a big topic that we're focusing on is the NBA. There's a lot going on this year in terms of changes, in terms of trade. So I thought this would be a great opportunity to bring in two of my podcast joiners here. Roger Wu and Parth Patel. So we do have one question to start off. But before we even start off, could you guys talk a little bit about yourself in terms of how much you love the NBA or just anything related to that? That would be really helpful. So I'll let you go first, Parth. Yeah, no, I can start. Yeah, Roger, go ahead. Yeah, I'm Roger. I watch a lot of basketball, watch a lot of the NBA, especially the playoffs. My hot take is the regular season is not always as fun as the playoffs. Outside of the NBA, well, I would say I've watched the NBA for longer versus any other sports out there, probably for 20 plus years. Outside of the NBA, I also watch a lot of college basketball. So my knowledge on the younger players also translates into how I approach the new generation of the NBA players. Overall, I love basketball, very fun to watch. Also love to play basketball with Nick, for example. So super happy to be here. Would love to talk about the NBA at any time. Perfect, all right, Parth, would you like to expound upon yourself? Yeah, definitely. I myself am a big sports fan. I kind of watch all sports, but basketball and football have kind of been my go-to, and then basketball even more. I kind of agree with Roger in the sense that I think the regular season can get dry sometimes, but when it's playoff time, I'm not missing a game. But just like Roger, man, I've been watching ball for years. And I've just started getting into college basketball, and I think to Roger's point, I think it's helped me a lot in elevating. It's elevated kind of my understanding of the game, right? Like seeing kind of this younger talent come into the NBA, because we're seeing some of the superstars in the NBA kind of getting older. So now we're looking, and we're kind of moving into these, the younger talent coming in, who is going to be the new face of the NBA. So to be able to kind of follow that from college, so the NBA has always been kind of great. But yeah, it's just like Roger, I kind of talk about ball all the time. I don't play it a lot, but I love watching it, I love supporting. Nick, I know you're a big baller, so we'll always support you in that. Okay, thank you guys. And yeah, quick anecdote for myself. I would say almost every waking moment, at least five to ten times a day, I think about basketball, just kind of to show how much I really, really love the sport. I was asked this question very early on in my relationship with my girlfriend, who I'm very close to. She would be like, would you rather lose basketball or lose me? And I was like, let me get back to you on that one. But yeah, no, overall I would say basketball has been a big part of my personal growth in terms of my high school experience, playing basketball there in college. And then also playing in my MBA program as well, and it's taught me a lot about teamwork and being able to meet with friends. And during my time as someone who's a basketball enthusiast, I would always watch these basketball games. And I've seen some of the biggest games and would love to kind of commentate on that with my friends growing up. So this is a great platform to do this in more detail. So yeah, no, to start off, really appreciate you guys for sharing your backgrounds here. A lot of things that are happening in the NBA today. As you mentioned, Parth, superstars are leaving, or for example, there's a younger generation that's entering the NBA and really taking over the league in more detail. So I would love to kind of get your thoughts. I'll start off with Roger here. Who do you think is winning the championship in 2025? And then after this, Parth, I'll let you jump in. Yeah, look, I'm going to give my take, and people are going to be like, this guy doesn't know about basketball. At the end of the day, we're all basketball fans. We have teams that we support. And we got to just go with the team we support the most, even though sometimes it may not be the most rational answer. I think the Knicks are going to win. I'm the biggest New York Knicks fan. I'm the biggest fanboy of Dillon Brunton. He's the toughest player, not even point guard, in the NBA right now. The way he plays, the way he creates opportunities for himself and his teammates, he's truly one of a kind. So no, I mean, I think the Knicks are going to win. If it's not this year, then it's going to be next year. How many tries did it take for the Boston Celtics to make it last year? So at the end of the day, I mean, my personal take is the Knicks are going to win it. If you ask objectively which team looks the most promising in terms of getting the championship, I would probably say the Thunder. But I'm not going to go out and tell people, the Knicks are not going to win the championship this year. I'm going to keep saying this until they get one. I would say, quick note of mine, maybe there's another 20 years before the Knicks win the championship. Maybe 20. No, no way. I would say Boston. Objectively, I have a lot of questions for that team, but I do respect the opinion that you have. Parth, what are your thoughts on that? And also, feel free to share your thoughts on these later championships. No, I mean, look, I do appreciate Roger saying, you support a team, you want them to win. But I'm not, look, I'm a big LeBron guy, I'm a big Lakers guy. And they're playing great, but I know they're not winning, right? They don't have a good defense, they don't have a big center. I don't know, I think for me, the Knicks are going to have a difficult time winning with Fibs as their coach. He overplays his players in the regular season. Come playoffs, it's so hard to make a deep run when you have lost so many minutes in the regular season. I think that causes for injuries. We've seen that with a lot of Fibs' teams, right? Like when he coached with the Bulls and stuff. So I think if that changes, I think the Knicks can have a real chance in the future. I mean, for me, look, I think the Thunder, great team, but they're too young. They can go far, but I just, I feel like, just like the Celtics have kind of little difficulties kind of getting over that hump. I think the Thunder really need to get the experience in the playoffs. For me, I would really say, I think the Nuggets. I think the Nuggets are going to go back and probably win. The Yolkitches have another MVP season, they're playing strong. They've obviously had their ups and downs. It's not the same team that won two years ago, but they still have Yolkitch. They got Jamal Murray. They got Michael Cordy Jr. Like they have the team. I just think it's going to depend on who comes out of the East, right? Because I think if it's the Cavs that come out of the East, I think the Nuggets win. I think if the Celtics come out, it could be a toss up, but I think Nuggets. I think they're just so seasoned, experienced, have probably, you know, maybe the MVP, I don't know who's going to win it, Shea or Yolkitch, but such a strong team, good coaching. So I'll take the Nuggets for this year. But the problem is like, how are they going to come out of the West? Like, if you think about last year, let's take last year, for example. They lost to the Timberwolves, which is led by a young star. Like I would say that the number one option with the Timberwolves is Anthony Edwards. Yeah. You know, like, he didn't have a lot of playoff experience, but he was still able to knock out the Thunder, not the Thunder, the Nuggets. So I would say Shea and the Thunder could do the same thing. No, no, they could have, right? I just, I think that for me, it's just, I think that the Thunder, I mean, Chet's hurt, right? He's in and out, that's tough for him. So like, I think Shea can carry them and they have all their ballers on the team, right? I just, for me, and you're right, right? I don't think the Timberwolves were supposed to win that series against the Nuggets. They won, right? So I'm saying on paper, objectively, if I'm looking at it, who's going to win? You know, I think the Nuggets will come out of the West. But once again, like, I think the Lakers don't have a center, but they played the Nuggets one a few weeks back or a week back, and they absolutely destroyed them. So you never know, like, things like that can happen, right? But I think if I'm looking at it objectively, I think the strongest team to come out most experienced, it's probably the Nuggets for me. Yeah, my biggest problem with the Nuggets is their bench. Yeah. Back to the year they won the championship, Bruce Brown was a huge factor. Yeah. CB, Chris Brown. KTP was a big factor as well. Chris Brown was also, KTP was a starter, but he was a huge factor. Chris Brown, Chris Brown was also coming off the bench. Yeah. Back in, what year was that, 2023? Yeah. Yeah, so now Chris Brown is almost like a starter. He's a starter. And he's got a lot of starting minutes, so like, and obviously they don't have Bruce Brown anymore, so like, who's gonna fill those minutes, basically, and provide also, like, quality offense? Yeah. That's my biggest problem with the Nuggets, because, I mean, you can't, your kids can't go for, like, 48 minutes. No, I mean, I agree with you. Jamal Murray can't either, like, the way he plays. But perhaps Jamal's different. Perhaps Jamal's a different breed. Yeah, no, he's really good in the playoffs. But, you know, the way he plays, like, taking a lot of mid-range, you know, floater kind of shots, that's not really sustainable for the entire game. Yeah. And I agree with you. I think, look, if there's one big flaw, I think, with the Nuggets, it's the depth, right? I don't think they have the bench players to kind of support, like they did in 2023, I think that's when they won. But for me, it's, like, one of these things, like, if the Oakens can give you a solid game every night, right? And if I'm going to give a solid game and Jamal Murray can give a solid game, like, they'll always be in the game, right? And then it's kind of like, who wants it more? And I think for, I mean, once again, to your point, Roger, like, you never know. Like, Shea can just actually continue this character he's been on all season all through the playoffs and, right, and carry the, like, single-handedly carry the team to the finals. We've seen that happen in the past, right? LeBron did that for, what, like, eight straight years in the East. Like, it can very much happen, but I just think that right now where we stand, the Nuggets are playing good basketball. I think they're going to, by the time hopefully the playoffs come, some of those bench players might, you know, give them maybe 10 points, 15 points, and you don't do that every game, but if they can give it to you one or two games in a series and those kind of turn into wins, you can potentially see them win the series and kind of move on. So I think it all depends. Yep, yep. And then one more note on my end. I just wanted to say that both of you guys are incredibly wrong, and I would love to see how this plays out, like, in the future. I just wanted to quickly share my opinion on this, but I truly believe the Celtics at this point are playoff tested. I think they're dogging me. Oh, my God. I can't win with that. But the reason why I think the Celtics are going to win, they have the superstar talent as well. They have the pieces, the bench, the depth. I do believe that they're going to cruise through the Eastern Conference, but on the West, I actually think the Lakers are going to make it out of the West just because LeBron and Luka have been such a great duo in conjunction with the pieces that they have are quite great fits that I've seen so far. I would like to see them match up against the Thunder or make a formal opinion that they have a chance to win the championship. But from my perspective, the Celtics are going to win it all. But we'll have to play this again, and I would love to see if one of us had the correct opinion or none of us do. It's not the Celtics. This can't be the Celtics. Like, did you watch their games against the Cavs? Like, bro, they're getting so arrogant now. Like, they're playing this game, right? They go up 25-3, and then they took their foot off the pedal, right? Yeah, but I think they realized that's what the Warriors figured out when they were on the dynasty run. They realized that the regular season isn't that important. And, for example, the Warriors spent so much time winning however many games, like 70-plus or so, they weren't able to win the championship. And I think a big part of it is the effort that they put into the regular season. Obviously, it's important to create good habits, but I think you can do that, especially in the earlier playoff rounds. But I do see what you're saying. I mean, we're talking about playoffs. Last year is the only year they won. We're talking about this generation of players, obviously. And there's one thing they didn't do. They didn't come to MSC and win a game. I mean, the Knicks was the obvious reason. Well, MSC, I mean, the Knicks didn't get there for a reason. Yeah, because everyone's hurt. Like, let's not forget about that. Like, all the key factors. Like, Jalen Brunson was also hurt in Game 7. Well, that's the thing that Park was saying. Because of the amount of time that they're playing during the regular season, they may be hurt again. Yeah, they may be hurt again. Or they may not be as healthy. But what I'm saying is, if they are not hurt down the line, like, the Celtics will come to MSC and they will have a very hard time. Yeah, so that's the thing. Like, Celtics have home court advantage in that scenario, which is really helpful for them. But I do agree, it's very difficult to win the Big Garden. So we'll have to see. We'll have to see as we go through. They have been tested, but they haven't been tested by the Knicks. That's what I'm saying. I also think that last year, the Celtics had a, I don't want to say an easy run. Yeah, no. They did. Come on. They didn't play, like, look, every team they played had major injuries. It was an easy walk to the, I think, the finals. And granted, they beat the Mavs who were playing kind of wiped out. We were there, dude, like, I think Luka and they were like, they had shit in the west, bro. They grinded. They didn't just beat the Mavs, they dismantled them. They played them so well from a defensive perspective that the Mavs thought it would be a good idea to trade their franchise player. I really do believe the Celtics are very well-trained. That's not why they traded Luka. That was a big part of it. A big part of it was his ability to play defense, and he couldn't. If you watch that entire finals run, it was literally target Luka, every single possession, and you were basketball. Because of that, he came out of shape, and all these stories of him drinking beer, posting stuff. But yeah, Luka's tired, because he played so hard in the Western Cup. Yeah, no, I'm just saying, I think the Celtics really exposed him. Yeah, because he was tired. Yeah, and everyone knew Luka doesn't play that good of defense, but I don't like this take that they got rid of him because he got exposed by the Celtics. I think you should re-watch it. I know it wasn't that important how easily they beat them. If you actually watch the series, you should see how many times Celtics scored because of a Luka bad possession on defense. It was almost every time. No, no, and I think Luka is a liability on the defense. But to trade away your 25-year-old franchise player who could be the face of the NBA moving forward? No, I actually... I'll talk about it later. I actually don't mind them trading. I just mind them getting pieces back in terms of not losing something. Like, for example, O.K. was a pretty good trading pole dweller. She was not nearly as good of a player that Luka was when they traded. They robbed the Clifton. They robbed the Clifton. But yeah, let's move on to the next topic. I think that was a very fruitful topic, and I love to see that we have a lot of differences in opinion, especially on a topic that... Honestly, there's a lot of unpredictability this year. We really don't know. This is one of the years where you have no clarity, right? But let's talk about maybe the best player at each position. Maybe we can start off with backcourt and then go into the bigger positions. So, yeah, no, Roger, if you want to start off and talk a little bit about what you think, who you think is the best point guard and shooting guard. The best point guard, I mean... We know that feeling, Bronson. Like, dude, come on. The guy is 6'1". Average 26, 27 points per game last season. I'm not even talking about this season again, obviously, but since last season. When he was with the Mavs, let's not forget about the Mavs here. He was good. He was so good that he got offered this amount of money at the Knicks. And when he got shipped to New York, everyone was like, oh, how did he deserve this amount of money? Like, why did he deserve a super-max contract? I mean, he's proving himself. He's proving himself right now. He's a great scorer, a great dribbler, a great offensive creator. Like, think about his teammates. Like, Josh Hart. Josh Hart can't create offense himself. He needs Jalen Bronson to create for him. And the Knicks, you know, conference semifinals last year, you know, the third seed in the East right now. I wouldn't say they're playing like how, like, really well, but playing very decent basketball with the team they have, with the system they have that's centered around Jalen Bronson, the best player on the team. There's a lot of toughness from a leadership perspective. I mean, I fully believe he's the best playing guard in the NBA. I'll pause here. Think about the shooting guard for a little bit, but, you know. I would say, quick note on my end, I disagree quite strongly on a number of levels. I would say, like, overall, from my perspective, yes, Jalen Bronson is likely a top five point guard in the league, for sure. Like, his production, having 26, eight, like, he's shooting, like, a 39% clip at the three point line. That's incredible. But I don't think we can ignore Shea just on the basis that he's actually likely going to win MVP this year. They're on the number one team in the West. He's been the leader in especially some of the tougher moments that they've had throughout the season. But I would love to see them in a matchup in terms of playoffs, like, sometime in the future. But I do believe that Shea would be the best point guard currently in this game today. But I do like the idea of Jalen Bronson because I think he's proven himself on the Knicks being that franchise player for them. And especially that contract they definitely, the Knicks have gotten so much great return on investment for that so far. But yeah, Park, we'd love to get your thoughts on your favorite point guard so far. Nah, I mean, dude, it's gotta be Shea, right? Like, he's been playing lights out. Look, he's young, he's leading the Thunder team in a, I think, like, a much more difficult conference. I think the Western Conference is definitely more difficult than the Eastern Conference. Maybe it's changing now. Maybe they're kind of becoming a little bit more equivalent. But I think Shea's played lights out. Like, he's showed up when the team's needed him. He's made those around him better, right? Leading the team in points. He's the MVP favorite. So, I mean, for me, it's Shea right now, right? Lights out. I think the other person that I'm, you know, I think has potential to kind of grow now that Luka's gone is Kyrie. Because I would love to see Kyrie kind of take, like, that backcourt. He has AD now. Like, he can really put some magic in like he used to, right? Because he's gonna be the primary ball handler there. So I think for me, a sneaky, like, point guard that can come up is Kyrie for the rest of this year as well. But I think for me, it's Shea hands down. Yeah, I'd love to see Kyrie get pulled off because of that. I haven't seen it yet personally, to be honest. Yeah. No, that's what I'm saying. Like, he could come up, right? Like, now that Luka's gone, he's gonna be the primary ball handler. I think it's his time to prove it now, right? That he can be kind of like, in a sense, the number one on the team. I don't know if it's AD there. But I think he has the potential. But Shea hands it down for me as the best point guard. Perfect. And let's move on to maybe two and three. I feel like combining them together would be a good perspective, especially because they play similar type positions overall. And also, this perspective, just to be clear, is the current, like, view right now. Let's not look at it, like, five years from now as well, because sometimes I think about that in my head. But I think we have a last question especially because it's in the current moment. But I'd love to kind of get everyone's thoughts on who your favorite shooting guard is and small forward. Who do you think is the best at that position? Roger, you want to start? I think the best shooting guard in the NBA right now is Donovan Mitchell. Without Donovan Mitchell, the Cleveland Cavaliers will not be the first seed in the East at all. I mean, they have a great system. They have great bigs. Their bigs are not scorers. Their bigs are great rebounders, you know, great blue-collar players, which are, you know, very much needed in this league right now. But who's going to do the scoring? It's going to be Donovan Mitchell. Doing a lot of, well, doing a lot of one-on-one himself in key moments. I mean, he's got the help from Darius Garland a little bit, but Garland is more like a distributor. And when you think about a shooting guard, like, that person really needs to score. And that's what Donovan Mitchell has provided for the Cavs. In my opinion, if we're talking about this season specifically, he's the best shooting guard in the league. Roger, what are your thoughts on the three position, like the small forward position? I don't know if I have a strong take on the three position. Anthony Edwards is really good. I really, really like him. But, I mean, I also have my, you know, I don't like him that much as a player. He's still got a lot of things to prove. But he's really good. I don't know. I probably need a minute. I need some inspirations. I don't have a strong take on the three right now. I will tell you a quick note from my end on the shooting guard position. I actually view Anthony Edwards as the shooting guard, and I would probably put him as the shooting guard in the league. And I do believe right now everything, you know how teams change and individual players' performances change. The team aspect is so critical, and I think the Timberwolves did a horrendous job in the offseason trading away Carl Anthony Towns, getting Julius Randle, who's legitimately a liability on almost any NBA basketball team from my perspective. So I would say that Anthony Edwards is definitely carrying that team in a number of ways, especially because he's got a double team, triple team, and I do believe that he has potential to become the future face of the NBA, especially with his athleticism, his ability to defend at an elite level, and his ability to take over games, which we saw in the playoff run last year. But I would say in terms of shooting guard, he would be my choice. But Park, I'd love to get your thoughts on shooting guard as well. Yeah, I think for me it's kind of like a toss-up between Anthony Edwards and D-Book. And look, I mean it's not... Yeah, their teams aren't playing... I think Booker right now is getting just kind of pushed to the side because the Suns aren't doing that well, and the team is kind of still focused on KD. But I think for me it would be Anthony Edwards as well. He's so young, so energetic. He has some great games. He's a scorer, right? He's a pure entertainer. And for me, I think playing the game is one thing, but also being... You're in the NBA. You've got to be an entertainer. I think he does that really well, and I think he's the best shooting guard that does that. So for me, I think the Ant-Ant is definitely the best and D-Book right behind him. It's kind of like a toss-up, but yeah. But, Raja, I get what you're saying, right? I think Donovan Mitchell has led the Cavs to a great season, right? They haven't seen a season like this in ages, and it's nice to see him leading them, but I just think that the Cavs are such a well-rounded team that it's not just Donovan Mitchell, right? I think there's Jared Scarlin. There's some really good players around that, Jared Allen. It's a fantastic team, and I'm not taking anything away from Dean Mitchell, but for me, I think it's just Ant-Ant. He's just so fun to watch. He's explosive. He doesn't shy away. Last year's playoffs, he did not shy away from taking charge and carrying that team to the Western Conference Finals. I think they got to the Western Conference Finals, right? For me, it's Anthony Edwards. Perfect. I mean, I can talk about my three if you want. Yeah, let's talk about three. Actually, we're thinking about skipping big guys because I think that's pretty boring. I do think it's Koi, obviously, which is the best. Yeah, I'm going to say Jokic, too. 100%. We know it's Jokic. It's definitely not Embiid. That guy needs to retire from the NBA basketball. I mean, I'm done. I'm done. I'll be out for the season getting surgery, so hopefully he'll be healthy for the next season because I think when he's healthy, he's really good, obviously. Let's just finish up this conversation with the three. Yeah, Parth, go ahead. It's a bias. You can put this guy in different positions. You can put him at the three or the four. I still think LeBron is the best three out there. Dude, he's 40 and he's playing lights out. With Luke on the team, he's off the ball. He's playing defense more. He's scoring. He's playing the three so well. It's so tough to put LeBron as your best three because he plays so many different positions when he's on the court, but when he plays the three, dude, he plays like that. I think LeBron is still the best three out there. Parth, you've never been more right. I would completely and 1000% agree. I love players like, obviously, Jason Payton and Kevin Durant, but if you put LeBron and plug him into those teams, I believe they'll be successful if not even more successful. LeBron is just such a great body of work. His ability to defend now, especially when the Luka trade happened, I feel like he's paying a little bit more attention and then also his ability to stack up numbers and rebound with some points and really help his team find ways to really win games. Right now, they're second in the West for a reason. I think LeBron is playing such a great role, especially because he doesn't need to dribble as much. Luka's carrying the offense from a ball handling perspective, so because of that, he's able to play more of his more natural position, even though he can't play point guard at an elite level. I would say LeBron James, without question. I'm also very biased, and LeBron's also my favorite player of all time. Roger, I know you're going to have a different perspective. I will have a different perspective. We're talking about forwards right now. We're also kind of including color forwards in this conversation. Let's focus on small forwards. If you think of LeBron as a 3-4, I would think Giannis is also a 3-4. Position-wise, I would say they're very similar. If you tell me Giannis is playing 3 right now with Bobby Porte, let's say Kyle Kuzma just joined the Bucks, but Kuzma is playing the 4, and there's Luke Lopez out there as well. If you're telling me Giannis is playing 3, from a pure stats, team impact perspective, he's just doing more than LeBron. I would say 20% more points. What does LeBron average? 24-something? Giannis is averaging almost 31 per game. I think 12 or 13 rebounds. Shooting at a very high clip. Very, very efficient. Different from LeBron who's a little bit more off-ball now. Giannis creates the offense himself. He's just such a freak on the rebounds, on the scoring, and everything. If we think about Giannis as a 3, I would say he's probably still a top-tier MVP-level player just a few years ago. You know should be studied, Roger? I would say understanding the Milwaukee Bucks demise. After winning a championship they just couldn't figure it out. A big part of it is losing Drew Holiday because they don't have a guard that can really defend and also hit threes. But yeah, the Damon Williams trade obviously didn't work out. It's just interesting to see sometimes I forget about Giannis based on how the Bucks have been playing and performing. Exactly. I also don't like their recent trade. I also feel like they kind of had to do it. For Middleton? I see Chris Middleton as like he lifts Milwaukee Bucks. He's the definition of Milwaukee Bucks. Not really flashy, but really solid, really decent. Drew Holiday was there, but when they won the championship he was probably the second option especially if we're talking about offense. I don't know. Giving up Chris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma who's being pretty problematic. I don't know. I don't know about that trade. That's a bad trade. I agree with you. For me, when I think about it, the Bucks won with their core. I think their core is Middleton and Giannis. They get along so well. They're playing so well. So to trade Middleton away for Kuzma, it was kind of shocking to me. Obviously, let's not take it away. I always viewed Giannis as a 4. Which is why I put LeBron at 3, Giannis at 4. That would be my line if I could, right? Maybe it changes now. Maybe Giannis starts playing a little bit more of the 3 now that their teams are a little bit different. But I've always kind of viewed him as a 4. If I had to pick a 4, Giannis would be my number 1. He'd be the top. But Nick, to your point, I think because the Bucks have been so bad over the last few years, you kind of forget about Giannis. He's not been in the MVP race like he's been, right? Because I think Jokic, Tatum, Shea are kind of the ones that are running it. But he quietly took a 31 point a game. That's kind of nuts, dude. So I put him at my 4. I also think because Milwaukee is a smaller market, they receive less press coverage. Exactly. Milwaukee only receives coverage if they're really good, and that's the motivation. But they're not bad. Yeah. Yeah, they're not bad. They're not bad. I just don't believe in the playoffs. I do think the Knicks would slaughter them. I think they would win, but... Okay, so I want to kind of shift gears to my final question, shifting it a little bit. We'd love to kind of get everyone's thoughts on maybe a dark horse on who they think could potentially win the championship. I think that would be interesting to kind of talk through as well. You know who I think is going to win it? The Warriors. Oh, stop. Well, they have been 7-2 in their last nine games. Since they got Jimmy Buckets, man, they've been playing well. And look, the thing is, the Warriors have, I read a stat, they have the third or fourth easiest schedule going into the playoffs, so that confidence boost, and you give Curry those kind of games to just heat up, dude, I think they can go far in the playoffs. And they have the veteran experience. No one's really thinking about them to win, so they're playing with house money. They have no pressure on them, so I think they can go in and really, really go far. I mean, you asked a dark horse, that's my dark horse, bro. I actually love that playoff. Jimmy is very different. Jimmy's a very different planet. Different. But you probably need Buddy Hill to shoot like he did when the season started. Hey, you never know. He has not been like himself recently. Never know. You know when the season started, everyone was like, oh, this is the new player? Oh, yeah. I really like that take part for me. I know this isn't technically a dark horse because they're number one in the Eastern Conference, but no analyst has any thought that they're going to win the championship. I'm going to be honest with you. Like, no one thinks they're going to come out of the East as well. And nobody thinks they're actually going to win the championship. And the reason why I think they're a dark horse, especially because they're undersized guards, which can be problematic, especially in playoff situations where they have to guard players like Tatum and Brown, especially on switches, or some of these bigger cards on their necks and whatnot. But I really believe that the Cavs have a really well-constructed team. Evan Mobley has been unbelievable all year on the defensive and offensive end. I'd love to see them play a little bit deeper in the playoffs. And they have home-court advantage pretty much the entire playoff run. So it would be interesting to see if the Cavs can pull it out without LeBron there. Oh my god. I feel like that has been the theme of this entire conversation. You guys look for the legacy teams. I'm always thinking about the newer generation. The teams that have been very bad in the past, but they're all on the come-ups right now with a younger core. So I was thinking about two teams specifically from the West. I'm thinking about the Rockets. Oh yeah, that's a good team. That is a good team. Tell me the Rockets haven't surprised you this season. No, they haven't. They surprise me, but I don't think enough to say that they're going to go win the chip. Very unlikely. But it's a dark horse. It's a dark horse kind of pick. I wouldn't say any time they're not nearing any of the favorites. That team is really solid and has surprised a lot of us. And then the team that has surprised me the most is the Pistons. Number six in the East right now. One game back from a top-four spot. Imagine the Pistons being the fourth seed in the East. You know, I have been... When we were having the point guard conversation, I was thinking about it. He's probably also one of the biggest fans of Kate Cunningham. I watched him a lot when he was playing at Oklahoma State. He was such a stud. And then when he first joined the NBA, he was the first pick, but he was never that guy of the league. But if you think about his story, he's kind of like Shea a little bit. He's in eight, he's in nine. He's playing the game to the group. Average, like, 25 points, nine assists as a point guard. Like, that's great. And I think the biggest difference for Kate Cunningham is when he was playing college ball, Oklahoma State was not a great team. So he had to carry a lot. They lost a lot of games during the season. After he came into the league, he joined the Pistons. He was losing a lot of games. I think the biggest problem is never his ability to play basketball. The biggest problem before for Kate Cunningham was that he was not really, not necessarily a winner. But this season has been really different. Now he knows how to win. And once that starts to click, and obviously he has all the great skill sets, playing basketball and stuff, he can be really good. He can compete with any point guard or any guards in the NBA. And back to the point, the Pistons have absolutely surprised me this season. I would love to see them make it far in the playoffs. Yeah, quick note on the Pistons. It actually hurts me on a number of levels because we traded Tobias Harris, Paul George, and the Sixers are actually 11th in the East, or about to be 12th at any time. And it hurts me to watch that. But the Pistons actually do remind me of the Sixers, roughly in the 2021 era when we were coming up with Benson and Joan Bede, where we had a great season. We ended up finishing third or fourth or so, and then we would perpetually lose in the second round. So I think the Pistons still have some time for growth, but I do like that as a dark horse because if they get the right piece or the right superstar, they're able to expand with Kate Cunningham's skill set and really become a successful playoff team and hopefully go further. But because of the smaller market size, there's a lot of challenges that they have to face personally, but I think the coach has done a phenomenal job with the Pistons as well in addition to Kate. Yeah. Overall, great takes. Thank you, everybody, for taking the time to listen to our podcast today. Really appreciate Yan Nan Slag Productions, and in particular the two panelists today, Roger Wu and Parth Patel, talking a lot about their own basketball opinions, their experiences, and NBA in general. We actually have these conversations on a daily basis when we're in our programs as well. We're able to see each other in person, so it was really good to put this together into a platform in general. Thank you again, and I'm hoping to have more podcasts soon. All right. Thanks for having us, Nick.