Part Two: The 10 Players Facing the Most Pressure Next Season

Look at that.

Another school sign-up sheet.

What do I have to volunteer for this time?

Book-themed bites for the book fair?

100 mini cookies for the 100th day of school?

By now, I've done it all.

People call me an on-call snack chef who can spend 18 hours on the latest viral dot-cake

brownies and deliver them via 8-year-olds' backpacks.

That's why I only secure my snacks and reputation with Ziploc bags.

For the love of food, Ziploc.

You're great at protecting your data, but lots of places could still expose you to identity

theft.

I thought it was safe.

If that happens, LifeLoc gives you a US-based restoration agent who will stick by your side

from start to finish.

Phone calls, filing documentation, preparing insurance claims, your agent handles it all.

In fact, we're so confident restoration is guaranteed or your money back.

Isn't it nice to have someone like that on your side?

Save up to 30% your first year at LifeLoc.com slash special offer, Terms Apply.

Coming up on the Zacklow Show, it's part two of the pressure rankings with Kurt Golds

Berry, where we go through our 10 players facing the most pressure going into the 26-27

NBA season.

We're recorded this originally on July 30th with the idea of just sort of dropping it

into the feed.

Well, I'm on vacation.

Hopefully nothing huge just happened in the NBA to sort of make this list a little bit

less relevant or orderly than it was when we recorded it.

Time will tell.

I have no idea.

But this is part two where we get into our top five players facing the most pressure

in the NBA this season.

We talk wizards.

We talk spurs.

We talk a lot of thunder.

We talk calves and we talk sixers.

Among other things, Celtics come up.

This is the real deal.

These are the players facing the absolute most pressure in our opinion.

It's a fun little gimmick for a fun off season.

We hit a lot of guys and a lot of deep analysis on what exactly are the sixers.

Do we think they can make the finals?

Is Janus even on the list as an honorable mentioned person?

If not, what does that say about him?

What does it say about the heat?

Do we have multiple thunder players in our respective top five?

We might is Wembe Niyama here.

Jason Tatum left over the guy now in Boston again, undisputably with Jalen Brown gone.

Who's higher on our rankings?

Jalen Brown or Jason Tatum?

All that is coming up on part two of the Zach Lowe show with Kirk Goldsbury.

Hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to part two of the Zach Lowe show with Zach.

Zach Lowe on vacation somewhere in Europe.

Kirk Goldsbury is here.

It's July 30th.

We are doing the NBA player pressure rankings.

The 10 players each of us picked 10 facing the most pressure in the NBA this upcoming season.

We are going in reverse order from 10 to one.

We did roughly the first half in part one of this podcast and then ended with an Indiana

Pacers preview.

And actually want to start there, Mr. Goldsbury, because our Tyree's Halliburton discussion got

me thinking.

I wanted to talk a little bit more Pacers.

Oh, definitely.

Let's go.

You said in part one, Tyree's Halliburton could be a first team all NBA player.

Why wouldn't it?

And I bet that blew some people's hair back a little bit.

And I completely agree with you.

Now I would maybe not expect it in a season where he's going to be working his way back

from injury, but it brought to mind to me.

I don't know if you got to listen to Bill do the 2020 redraft with Joe House and Kyle

man a couple of weeks ago.

That's Tyree's Halliburton's draft.

That's his draft.

He went, I would be what he would go 12 in that draft to the Kings.

Not sure what ever happened with him in Sacramento.

It seems like that should have worked.

And Anthony Edwards went number one.

In the redraft, the number one pick is either Anthony Edwards or Tyree's Halliburton.

And Bill and House just sort of like no brainer, it's Anthony Edwards.

And Kyle man was the only one of the three who was like, I don't know.

I think with that dude, Halliburton does on offense is so next level special.

And it does show up show up in some of the advanced stats about him that I think it's

closer.

He said, I think it's closer than you guys do.

And look, Ant's got the size, the physicality, the ability to bully his way to the rim.

All that makes him a better defensive player than Halliburton is a little bit of a, he's

people are going to pick on him and he was largely up to it, frankly, in the playoff run.

I think what he is on offense is so special that that's even right now having seen

Anthony Edwards put up 30 in the playoffs regularly.

I think it's a close debate.

And I wonder where you would fall, like are you closer to Kyle man or closer to Bill and

House?

I'm closer to Kyle man and I love all those guys, but I would say like you benched the

2020 draft going back that way, like going back that far, the nerds in practice facilities

around the league were flagging this guy as number one, number two, number three in the

draft model.

His stats projected so well.

Now, that was the hardest draft of our lifetime because people weren't getting to interview.

There was a short college basketball.

See, it was a disaster.

So nobody's getting roasted for their picks in 2020, in my opinion.

But I think there were signs that Halliburton was a special player going back before his

time in NBA if you look at the game analytically.

And then what I'd say is like, this dude still has the ceiling of Steve Nash, one of the

best offensive players of the modern era.

And I think that ceiling is still, he's what, he's 26 right now, Zach.

And his rise has been interrupted by this devastating injury.

But I still think at his peak, he could be this generation's Nash, just a guy who, if

you have him, your offense is going to cook.

And that's really special.

It is not as cool as it is to watch with Ant Man.

It's not as devastating on the highlights.

But it's really smart.

He creates shots as well as anybody in this league.

He's average over 10 assists two of the last three years when he's been healthy.

And I expect that to just continue to get better.

And by the way, he's won three games in the NBA Finals as the best player on his team.

How many players from his draft class can say that?

He's just, he's a better shooter than Anthony Edwards.

And his combination of just infinite range off the dribble and off the catch, unpredictability

and speed, like his willingness to get off the ball, move and get it back.

You never know where he is or what he's going to do, but his teammates know where he is

and have a sense of what he's going to do.

I think it's so powerful in a way that traditional stats will just never ever, other than wins,

I guess, will just never ever pick up.

But it's a little bit like Nash and I don't, I don't say this sac religiously.

The get off the ball and move.

It's right.

He doesn't relocate like Steph Curry.

Nobody has ever relocated like Steph Curry.

But there's just a smidge of that.

Like, wait, where is he?

He's moving over here.

He's cutting over here.

And sometimes he cuts to pass instead of to shoot three.

He cuts into the paint in a way that you don't expect.

I think all that, that whole package offensively with his next, next, next level vision, making

the pass that the defense doesn't see or doesn't expect him to make out thinking the defense

by, you know, being ahead of their rotations by one or two passes, basically.

I think that stuff is so special that I don't know, man, I'd have to think a little harder

about that choice.

Okay, let's go back to the pressure player draft.

I got through, we did our first half.

I picked from 10 to 6.

Wade Shepard, Emmanuel Quikley, Paolo Bancaro, Jalen Durin, Walker Kessler.

And then you, among your first, what, five guys had Jason Tatum, Chet Hombren, and D'Air

and Fox, all of whom were in my top five.

You also big Donovan Mitchell and somebody who I am forgetting because.

Lamello Ball.

Lamello Ball because I'm on vacation.

Yeah.

Can you believe this?

Wait, the power of check out the whole hearing on vacation?

Yes, quick question.

So, listeners are interested in what your bathing suit choices when you're in Europe,

because there's a lot of pressure to wear sort of a more revealing look when you're on

the old.

The old images of Croix, a lot of your listeners have been texting me and saying, is he a

board short sky?

Is he a speedo guy?

What's the deal?

What are, what are board shorts?

That's sort of like the, yeah, like the West, they almost look like basketball shorts,

but they're trunks.

A lot of, made, made popular by a lot of surfers on the West Coast, the United States.

Look, I'm not going to reveal any of this, but just like I wear, I wear, I wear, I

wear, the trunks are closer to what I wear.

Unless I swim, like I swim for exercise.

That's, but there's no speedo in my life.

Okay, let's just make that clear right off the bat.

But that's, that's more than anyone really wants to know.

But I do swim every day in Croatia.

I swim back and forth and back and forth across this bay that we stay on.

Anyway, it's great.

It's the best.

So I don't know where you are on your list, but you picked the next guy.

Well, I remember I had Walker Kessler at number five.

So you're in number six.

Yeah.

So I can go to number four or we can go start with your number five.

Well, my number five was Jason Tatum, so it's already taken.

So you go, you go, you start with your number four.

I still have a few honorable mentions I haven't mentioned because I think you might have them.

So you go.

Jalen Brown.

Number four.

Okay.

So on my honorable mentions, I just wrote sixers because I could make a case

for VJ Edgecomb.

Hey, welcome to being a fifth option sometimes, not every time because everyone's going to sit.

LeBron James, you're the new guy, Tyrese Maxie.

You're the alpha kind of sometimes joellen bead.

Can you stay healthy?

But you were choosing Jalen Brown.

So go ahead.

Well, as we talked about on the previous version of this, I think Jalen Brown, I think

your term was he was the breakout star or the star of the off season, something like that.

He's gotten a lot of attention.

You know, he he talked a lot before the trade and the run up to the trade, things he

said after the season was over.

He's not exactly rub everybody the right way.

But ultimately has an incredible, I told you so opportunity.

He can make advanced stats guys like me look foolish.

He can make Brad Stevens look foolish.

He can look over at his old friend and Kamra, Jason Tatum and say, I told you so, you need

me.

I'm the finals MVP from that team.

Sure.

And if it doesn't work, I think there is that in reverse where all these same communities

will point it back at him.

So that's where I land on him being one of the more high pressure individuals coming

into this season.

I think there's a lot I told you so potential with Jalen Brown one way or the other.

It's it's going to be theater every night.

The sixers part of the theater is going to be opening your little.

Play bill and seeing whose understudies are playing what understudies are in the cast

today because Joel and bead can't make it and LeBron James can't make it and whatever.

But there is a puzzle to solve with all five of those mouse to feed on offense.

I am on record is saying I'm a little less worried about that than most people seem to

be.

I think all these guys are pretty malleable and pretty smart.

Maxi is a sensational sort of hybrid sometimes on balls, sometimes off ball player LeBronza

genius and bead is going to be an out of the lineup.

The whole team comes down to and bead to me more than it more than Jalen Brown.

But he is the sort of most interesting guy.

He's one of the new guys with LeBron.

But he's coming from a decade basically on an arch rival team where he was either the

number two or last season number one with a bullet option who plays sort of a head down

physical driving game, a less intuitive ball mover passer than LeBron, Maxi and even

Edgecomb.

And he's going to have to figure out how to keep that physicality in his game without

playing exactly the way he did last year because he's got all this other talent around

him.

I think it's going to work.

I think there's enough pick and roll combinations and spacing and smarts on the team

to make it work.

But he and bead are the linchpins to me for this team hitting it's ceiling.

But by the way and no one's talking about their defense.

I've mentioned this a lot.

I think that's actually a bigger question to me than their offense.

But they're not done for another team yet.

KCP has an officially signed as a recording this again on July 30.

There'll be other ring chasers that come aboard at some point.

This is the this is the early favorite to when I do my league pass rankings and I do my

whole formula for it.

I wonder if they're going to have enough to unseed the spurs who were the league pass rankings

winners before last season.

Obviously I've won.

But I will it like Philly's got Philly's got some Philly's got some internal obstacles

to be number one at the league pass rankings.

Let's let's put it that way.

Some internal broadcast related obstacles.

Oh, they will be a national did they will be on national TV a lot at least.

Oh, wow.

As David Brinkley would say I'll let that one hang in there, folks.

I'll say this.

I've talked about their defense.

I think that's the reason I'm not going to pick them even when the Eastern Conference

act low.

I think their defense is a giant red flag.

And I don't think that as much to do with Jalen Brown, who might be the best defender on

the team.

Who guarded Luca Donchich.

But here's what I would say in Jalen's defense.

He's a really smart basketball player.

And when he won finals MVP, that team had Drew Holiday, Jason Tatum, Christophs Porzingus

occasionally, Al Hoerford.

There was talent all over the place.

They're occasionally in there quite.

I don't want to misrepresent the finals run.

He has figured out how to be Jalen Brown at a very high level and score 20 points of

game surrounded by great other offensive options.

I think when you look at last year when the Celtics overperformed, he's completely changed

what Jalen Brown meant in a really impressive way.

In some ways, I think he regresses back to that when the Celtics were stacked with all

that offensive firepower and one at all.

I have very little concern about that.

It's the off court circus stuff with this team that I think he could get caught up in.

There could be some weird vibes in Philadelphia with something and be LeBron.

Jalen Brown, that's a lot of personalities in one locker room and one plane.

But he has a lot of pressure because of what we just saw this summer during Bill's colonoscopy,

which I was honored to be on the colonoscopy podcast, by the way.

That was a great pod.

Jalen Brown, that was 29 of game last year.

The two seasons before that were 22 and 23.

That seems like that's reasonable.

That's a player who was in a second option.

Sometimes first option when Tatum is on the bench roll.

That's kind of what you end up with now and beat as a 30 point game score.

Maxi's almost a 30 point game score.

LeBron is still a 20 point game score.

Maybe he dips down to 15, 16, 18.

You don't have a lot of teams where four guys average 20 points of game and that's before

you even get to edge comb.

So is there a world where Jalen Brown averages between 19 and 21?

Yeah.

And to me, winning cures everything and you get all the credit and all the publicity.

If you average 21 a game, but your defense is better, your passing is better.

All the love comes to either way.

It's going to be, it's just going to be an awesome, awesome experience to watch this team

both figure it out and then the times that they do, they're going to look amazing.

And it's going to make league pass a little bit better.

Number four on my pressure player list, Anthony Davis.

On your list at all, he is definitely on my list.

I forget the number of keep going.

I'll get the update.

Not that I'm ready cares.

It's easy to dismiss this pick as Anthony Davis plays for the Washington Wizards.

And I don't think there's a ton of pressure on the Wizards to do much of anything this year.

Maybe be competitive, fill the arena a little bit more.

So it's not two thirds empty and quiet.

I will say, you know, this is a top 75 all time NBA player that feels in dire need of another

sort of signature moment season, whatever in his career.

Anthony Davis since the bubble has played and the bubble was a championship has played 36,

40, 56, 76, 51 and 20 games.

He's been out of the first round in the playoffs three times in his entire career.

2018 when the Pelicans dismantled the Blazers and then lost in the next round.

The 2020 bubble when the Lakers won the title.

And 2023 when they advanced to the Western Conference finals and got slugged by the Never

Nuggets who ended up winning the title.

And that was on the Wizards after being traded weirdly to the Mavericks.

We don't need to rehash that and playing like a few games seems like I mean, do you remember

anything that Anthony Davis did on the Mavericks other than the first half that he played?

The first half of game one.

The greatest half and then be a history.

This is why we did the trade is everyone see this is it.

Wait, wait till we get that back.

Oh, he's on the Wizards now.

It just feels like we talk about Anthony Davis.

Like he's at the end of his career.

Like this is the end of the road for him.

He is 32, 33 years old.

33.

There's a lot of basketball left here.

He's still one of the best defensive players in the league.

I don't know how this is going to work with him and Sar whatever offensively he's still

very good.

Not not quite the sort of give me the ball and let me score kind of player that people

want him to be is jumper his not is jumper.

He left it in the Orlando bubble.

It's never been the same.

I just like again, pressure.

This may be high for him.

Just feels like there's got to be a late career something here for him because this is

Anthony freaking Davis man.

Like it's time it's something whether it's in Washington or he gets traded.

There's the contract extension thing.

It feels like an important year for Anthony Davis.

I love this pick for you.

He was honorable mentioned for me.

I have lose teammates.

I won't spoil it.

I think I'm not sure there is a late career relevant moment for this dude.

I think the combination of his availability or lack of evidence money makes him a pretty

risky acquisition in the time of the second apron and how we know what aging curves look

like for old bigs with injury history.

We're talking about a 33 year old big.

I disagree with you.

He's top 75 of all time.

I'm just saying he was he was.

He was I know.

I know.

Yeah, look, let's do a visual.

Not on the list.

Your friend and mine from Argentina.

I have a ballot.

Actually, I need to go back and make sure I don't know.

I don't want to say if money was on my ballot or not because I'm not 100% sure.

He better have been.

He's going to send you a mean text message.

I think Anthony Davis is a fascinating player to watch.

I can't talk about league pass.

I'm going to be watching this team all the time.

I still think they could be good.

If this guy let me just stop.

Let me just stop for a second.

The first time in 15 years, anyone has said anything like that about the Washington,

even Joe, a house wouldn't say I'm going to be watching this team all the time.

I think it's going to be great.

And I think there's five guys that I can't wait to watch.

They're their guards at Somer League who aren't AJ DeBonza.

Look great.

And then you had Tray Young, you had Anthony Davis.

And what I was going to say about AD is if he's able to channel the skepticism that I'm

sort of throwing at him right now.

If he's able to channel the fact that he's pissed off and in Washington and wearing this

wizard jersey, he's still a very, very good player.

And in a world where all of this lands where Tray Young plays will, the wizards could be

really good with these young guys and then these vets who know how to play.

So I can't wait to watch it.

Yeah, I've not watched a lot of wizards games on league pass with a great deal of enthusiasm.

They're usually the game that I sit down on the Central Time Zone.

It starts at 6 p.m.

And I'm excited that there's a game on already.

And it's the wizards playing and then with the hornets or whatever.

And I watch it.

But this time I'll be like, oh my God, I get to watch the number one pick in the freaking

draft and these two vets that are trying to salvage where they are in their career.

So I have the other guy on my list, but I like this pick for you because I do think he

has a lot of pressure.

I just like, it can't end like this, Francony Davis.

It can't end like the last two seasons have been.

There needs to be something of significance.

There needs to be a moment in a real playoff series where he's involved.

First team all in BAA four times, second team one time.

So five times all in BAA, ten time all star, top three in MVP voting only once in 2018

when James Harden won.

He was third.

I just can't end like this.

Okay, make your next pick.

I'm done with it.

By the way, I share your excitement about the Wizards.

Beyond the Bansa tray, tray young and AD guy, I would go on a key son George, etc.

A ringer field trip where Joe House takes us to a Wizards game and we celebrate this

moment in Wizards history and have a good dinner afterwards.

Surely you hear that Joe House.

So what number are we up to for you?

I am on number three.

And it is perfect.

It's perfect.

We can zoom through this because it's tray young.

I was going to pick one of the Wizards.

I didn't feel like we wanted to, but you just got dumped by the Atlanta Hawks years after

you built this reputation as a postseason killer.

Now you wake up in a Wizards uniform with a huge, huge four year deal hanging on your

brand for those who don't follow it as closely.

Four year, 252.

Is that right, Zach Low?

I'm not going to do the math right now because I'm on vacation, but kind of I'm working

in on vacation on this podcast.

It's magic, but something like that.

But I would say tray young is a fork in the road.

And look, the optimistic path here is that he works well with AD.

They both lean into this.

They become mentors to these young guys.

It's a perfect blend.

They win 49 or 50 games.

Like again, that's a ceiling, but this could be a really good story in the NBA.

Or I can see a world where they win 27 games.

Everybody's injured all the time.

The vibes are awkward.

And now he's the worst contract in the Bill Simmons Joe House was big was big was contract.

So this contract puts a lot of pressure on tray young.

And that's why he's so high.

So I said in the last episode, there's multiple kinds of pressure.

I think tray young has a unique blend of legacy pressure right here.

And this huge four year max contract for a player that doesn't play a lot of defense.

So he has contract pressure on their to Zack well.

I mean, he was in my honorable mention because I didn't want to pick two wizards.

We did it anyway.

Sorry.

No, that's great.

I mean, it's, it's, but the contract is currently not tradable.

Like, and I'm not talking about by the rules on which it is.

I'm just talking about like no one would trade for it right now without being able

to be a champion.

Right.

Totally fair.

Um, in extending in, in, in resigning him to that deal, it made me wonder about Anthony

Davis who has a $63 million player option for next season, which obviously gives him

some amount of leverage over the wizards.

You know, in terms of just like, hey, I'll either opt into that or you got to take care

of me with some sort of extension.

Yeah, you're not going to pay me starting at 63 million, but you know, 315, something

like that.

And I just don't think the wizards should be in a state where they're paying tray young

and Anthony Davis over a hundred million dollars combined.

It just doesn't seem to make sense long term, medium term, beyond this year, really for

them.

So it may be wonder when they sign tray.

What does that mean for Anthony Davis?

And see, just not long for this team one way or another.

Trey is because there's no one taking that contract right now.

And it's just going to be very interesting to see.

I talked about this with Bill, like Trey's kind of like talked a lot this off season about

how people don't think I can play off the ball.

Like I find that funny.

Like we just wait and watch me and I'm like, okay, I would love to.

I'd love to watch it because you really don't play off the ball that much.

You're off the ball play is usually just standing around at half court and spacing the

floor that way it has value like his defenders close them, whatever.

Are you going to set some screens for AJ DeBanza?

Because he needs some, like he needs some reps on the ball right now.

He's that good.

He's a physical on the pick and roll.

Are you going to move or you're going to run around relocate?

Like because if we get some hybrid between on ball tray young who is very, very good.

These single most underrated passer in the NBA, but also not nearly as good of a three-point

shooter as he seems to think he is or his reputation is fine.

He takes super difficult shots.

Floder is a good shot, but not a great one the last couple of years.

Like it was when they got to the conference finals.

Confinishing is an and defense is an is there a hybrid version where we see that on ball

force that's still there mixed with all right.

Other people can do stuff here because if so, this becomes a very watchable team.

So he was, he belongs in this draft.

So I'm glad that you drafted him.

Yeah, I'm going to do the last thing I'd add is like I think the Atlanta surge immediately

after trading him did not do a lot for his brand.

So he also, and I continue to hear from people I trust like you that, to Atlanta is getting

better.

Atlanta is getting better.

They had another nice off season.

If it's true that the hawks are going to be up there in the top half of the East for

years to come, I think that's something the tray has to answer for in this wizard's

era too.

What will my kid like today?

Apples?

No, she found the peel on one yesterday.

So naturally now she hates them.

How do other parents do it with the hand carved strawberry roses and funny shapes and

witches?

Do we realize we're making charcootery for someone who thinks fine dining is using a fork?

Wait, what about a tortilla with some peanut butter?

I'm going to put it in a Ziploc bag and voila!

Secure whatever your picky eater decides to pick at for the love of food, Ziploc.

Hey, I just spent my day for rent.

Nice.

Now I can instantly spend it whether I'm checking out online with Vemmo or using the Vemmo

Devicle.

Same more.

More exactly.

Because the more you do with Vemmo.

More you get.

By gurning up to 5% cash back with Vemmo stash on a bundle of brains.

So order more pizza.

The math demands it.

Cat the Vemmo Devicle.

Vemmo stash bundle terms and exclusions apply.

See terms of Vemmo.me slash dash term.

Vemmo check out not available at all merchants.

Vemmo master card is issued by the bank or bank NA.

So I only have one guy left on my list.

I only have my number one most pressure facing player in the NBA.

So why don't you go, you're at your number two guy, right?

So I'll just let you know.

Yeah.

Well, I think I know that you don't have this guy.

So we can zoom through it.

And I think it's Joelle and Beat is my number two.

And it's time that we've trusted the process for so many years now.

And now the king has arrived in town.

This is Sam Hinkie's vision.

It's been realized we have Joelle and Beat Jalen Brown finals MVP LeBron James finals MVP

Vijay Edgecomb Tyrese Maxie All-Star Rising Superstar.

If Joelle and Beat can have a very good season this team can win the championship.

If he falls apart, I think they're sealing immediately does too.

I think if there's a weakness in this team, it's in the front court beyond LeBron and

Joelle and Beat, particularly beyond Joelle and Beat.

So he needs to be available.

I don't think he needs to play 35 minutes of game, which is nice.

I don't think he needs to play back to backs against Charlotte or against New Orleans.

I think they can find games to rest him at.

I think he can play 54 games in the regular season.

I think he can misplay off games if he needs to in the first round.

But this is the moment.

This is the moment for Joelle and Beat to prove that he is in all time.

Great.

This is the season.

It's all laid out.

Are you going to be an NBA champion or not?

This is your last best chance to go out and beat.

Wow.

That was great.

The misplay off games thing is very interesting because I don't think this team is a championship

team without Joelle and Beat.

Right.

Playing most of your meaningful basketball games and maybe that's 24 minutes instead of

36 minutes and you go out and get a backup five.

Use better than what you have on the roster now somewhere somehow.

Maybe.

I do think as good as the East is, I mean basketball is a weird game.

You can steal a game here and there.

You know, VGNHGOM has 35.

You get your forced 22 turnovers.

Like there are ways to win high level playoff games without Joelle and Beat.

Now that you have these other four guys on the team.

And I just think that's what's going to have to happen if this is a team that's actually

going to make the finals let alone win the finals is they're going to have to win.

Forget the regular season.

We know what's going to happen.

He's going to play whatever amount of games he plays that's short of 65 for sure.

And they're going to do everything to preserve his knees for the playoffs.

And his knees are now sort of a chronically problematic thing.

And you mix those with all the freak injuries that appendicitis this time around.

It's like, what can this guy catch a break?

Forget the regular season.

The playoffs I've said it a million times.

I have no faith that he will ever be able to play every single playoff game of a three

to four series playoff run.

It's just not going to happen.

I have no faith that it's going to happen.

You have to actually build your team as if, you know, let's say it takes 24 playoff

games for you to win the championship.

You have to build your team optimistically that Joelle and Beat plays 18 of them.

And just you find a way to go three in three in the six that he misses and then dominate

to 18 that he plays something like that.

And I think this is the closest facsimile to that that there is.

And so yeah, if you're a Joelle and Beat, you have to do everything possible.

And there's been reporting.

I think I don't know if it was a Ramona showburn or dimic.

Man, I'm going to forgive me for whichever it was about how and beat reassured LeBron during

the recruitment process.

Like I will do everything I can to get in the best shape I've ever been in to give myself

the best chance at going 18 out of 24, whatever it is in the playoffs.

So that's part of it.

Luck is part of it.

And just in those 18 games, he's got to be a fucking dominant force on both ends of the

floor in a way that I'm not sure he still has it in him defensively, but offensively

he for sure does.

But I will say this whole like well, now is the time language like I'm looking at Ramona's

piece about and beat in LeBron from last week.

Here's a quote from an anonymous NBA coach, I don't know why we need anonymous people

to say these things, but we just say we do the process is over.

This needs to be the product.

It's a clever use of process product.

The process is over.

This needs to be the product.

They need to finish this thing.

The six years have done this for a long time with the bead and it's go time.

You could apply that quote to like the last seven Philadelphia seven years.

Yes.

I'm for a while now and I get that this team is like the latest sexiest, coolest version

of a team that said Jimmy Butler and JJ Reddick and Ben Simmons and whatever else on the

team.

But I agree and be belongs on this list and look when he has been at his best and I'm

not I mean, we even sought for glimpses against the Celtics when he just decided in a couple

of games, I'm going to beat the shit out of Nicole LaVuchaVitch and Luca Garza and Nimi

Kate.

I'm found you all out of the game and I'm putting you in the basket.

There's nothing like it in the NBA.

There's nothing like the combination of force and touch and skill and dominance from

the foul line, the block.

There's just nothing like it.

Footwork all of it and I just hope we get to see it again.

So he's number two on your list.

So we are down.

Do you have any closing and beat thoughts?

You got to win 16 games as you just drew out there perfectly to win NBA title.

So Ellen beat has never played more than 11 postseason games in a single postseason.

You got to win 16.

He's played 490 games in 12 years as an NBA player.

That's about 40 games per year.

It's just the biggest reason for it is, yeah, I hate to say it.

It's boring, but yeah, his body just breaks.

And yeah, the defense isn't going to be great in Philadelphia, especially if he's not

there.

I think the rebounding becomes a giant red flag in a world where LeBron's playing the

five, trying to get rebounds against Jalen Duren and these types of people night in and

night out.

I hate to say it, but yeah, that's there's reason for skepticism just because you will

stay on the floor and they won't get rebounds against stops because of that.

Okay.

We are down to our number one player on our pressure players list.

Each of us, we don't know who it is.

I'm going to guess it's not the same person.

However, I have two honorable mentions left that I haven't mentioned yet on either part

one or this one out of fear that perhaps they were going to be on your list.

I am going to start with Carl Anthony Towne, so I don't think he's number one on your

list.

I just want to title.

He's on the list for me honorable mention only because, and again, we are recording

this on July 30th.

I have no idea when it's going to post probably in the 10 days, two weeks.

This could all be moot.

As of right now, he has a $61 million player option for 2027, 28.

The same year, by the way, the next have a $22 million team option on Josh Hart.

The year before, the next year, 2829 is when Jalen Brunson's presumed superbacks will

kick in after the discount that he took the first time around.

Carl Anthony Towne's has been eligible for an extension.

I think for a year and there hasn't been one done.

I'm sure the next have major second apron concerns with Brunson's deal down the line.

Hart, they're going to have to bring back one way or another.

I'm just very interested to see how those negotiations go.

He had an unbelievable playoff run before getting into some foul trouble against the

Spurs in the last few games of the finals, but they don't win the title without him.

He's a legend in New York forever.

I'm sure he'll want to finish his career in New York.

I'm just interested to see how.

I would be optimistic that a deal gets done.

I'm just curious to see what the number is and when it gets done because if he goes into

the season without it, for better or worse, that's going to be a talking point all the

time because he was in my honorable mention.

I'll be ready for my.

No, can I get an eye on this just for a minute?

Because I've been studying the apron all summer.

And look, we're talking about a Celtics team that won it all and got dismantled.

We're talking about Sam Prestee going to the microphones and being like, I had to do

this because of the apron.

Sorry, Lou Dore, sorry, Aaron Wiggins.

The New York Knicks are abundant on the chopping block.

This is what the second apron does.

And James Dolen minutes or days after the parade in New York City said, you'd have to be suicidal

quote to go into the second apron in this league.

So unfortunately, the New York Knicks are next up on the austerity measures in the NBA.

This is congratulations.

You want to title now, dismantle it.

I mean, I just did for the sake of my own thought exercise projecting their books for 28.29.

They should be, they should be fairly safe from the second apron in 27.28, depending

on what they do with Josh Hart and what Kat's number is.

I just penciled in his player option number 28.29.

If Brunson gets the full max, 35% max, starting his salary at $66 million.

I penciled in Kat at 55.

I gave Josh Hart of modest bump up to 25.

I had OGN and OB turning down his player option and resigning for three years, 120 million.

That might be optimistic from the next perspective.

And I guaranteed the full amounts for Shamat, Alvarado and Dio Wara who are all partially

guaranteed for that year.

And that put them almost at $250 million right at the second apron for nine players.

And I didn't bring back Tyler Kulik.

So it's going to be the math is going to be tough.

Like it's just going to be really tough starting in that season by design.

My other honorable mention and I wonder if he is number one on your list is Janus Atenta

Kulpo.

No, he was in my honorable mentions.

I thought he might be.

It's okay.

So yeah, no, he's not on my number one.

I think we're saying player.

Does this mean we have the same player?

We'll see.

Don't say it yet.

It's interesting that after all of the drama, all the trade rumors, all the back and forth,

all the Miami Boston, jail and Brown, Hugo Gonzalez, all of it that he's not that he's just

honorable mention for both of us.

And not the number one most pressure player with an extension coming to him, presumably

October.

Maybe maybe that's part of the reason why we presume he's going to get it without a fight.

But why do you think he's not higher for us?

I feel like this dude already did what he needed to do.

I feel that there are some finals MVP, some championships that we've witnessed over

the last 10, 20 years doing the Zacklowe that are just so important to a franchise or to

a community in his case to a country that he's sort of like, I don't think he'll have

the pressure that some of the other names on the list will ever have because of what

he did.

He's in the back nine of his career.

I don't say he has no pressure.

I just think he's basking on a little bit of a finals MVP.

I've won it all in Milwaukee kind of glow.

For me, it was, and I can't emphasize this enough.

It's July 30th by the time you listen to this, maybe the heat have to more to rosin and

Bradley Beale and Clay Thompson and we're all talking ourselves into those guys being

meaningful.

I don't know.

I don't know.

As of right now, it was for me, being honorable mention only was because of everything

you just said and what he's already achieved.

And honestly, just looking at the heat where they are now, I just don't think they're good

enough and I don't have expectations for them to make the finals or even maybe the conference

by leader be a good team.

They're going to be a beast offensively.

I just don't think they have enough offensive pop right now around Yannis and Bam to be

a true, true threat to make the finals in the East.

That could change and it by between me saying these words and when this podcast airs,

not only knows what will happen, but that's just as of now.

So that's why he wasn't hired.

Yeah, that's interesting.

If he'd gone to Boston, I think he would have made my list.

That hadn't occurred to me, but I don't have high expectations for this heat squad, sorry,

Miami, in a way that if he had gone to Boston, I would be like, oh, okay, I'll tell you

to him and Yannis, Yannis better show up.

But yeah, I think that's right.

It's the combination of his achievement and then the relatively meager expectations for

the Miami Heat.

Okay, now it's time for the reveal.

We both have the same, we both have, we're not revealed our number one player yet.

You are suspecting it's going to be the same player.

I'm, I guess by process of elimination, maybe I think so too, but I'm not into it.

I'm going to say it's not the same player.

I assume yours is also Hugo Gonzalez.

You have number one facing the most pressure in the game.

Yeah, that's right.

It was Jaros Walker or Hugo Gonzalez.

Now I went with a different player.

All right, tell me who is number one on the Kirk Goldsbury player pressure rankings for

the 26, 27 NBA season.

It's a man who hails from the same country as the Tour de France winner.

Luke Adonchich is my selection for the number one.

First of all, we don't have the same player.

Second of all, I could not name one cyclist.

You, this, there is a cyclist from Slovenia who just won the Tour of France and you're

over.

Yeah, well, I was watching.

I wanted one of the fun things to watch in the summer in the mornings.

You turn it on.

They're racing their bikes.

The Peloton is going through these beautiful mountain villages and Poga Corp, I think is

his name, the Slovenian cyclist who is now the most dominant cyclist of the modern era.

But shares of home country with Luke Adonchich, the Slovenian mountains are an incredible place

to learn how to ride a bike, apparently.

I love this pick.

I did not have it.

OK.

I didn't even have him in my honorable mention.

I had in part one, we talked about Walker Kessler.

He was on both of our list.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't know why that is.

It's striking me now.

I was like, I don't really have a good reason for why I didn't even consider him for this.

I just, I mean, I know what he's going to bring to the table is going to be amazing.

I also know that I don't think the Lakers are good enough to make the finals.

Maybe it's a combination of that.

But this is a great pick.

And I want you to make the case.

The case is the giant celestial body of the NBA name LeBron James has left Los Angeles

obviously gone to Philadelphia.

And that puts this out.

The Lakers are now Luke Adonchich's team.

And I think he is the face of the franchise in the NBA.

So whoever is the center field or the Yankees or whatever, that's the equivalent in the NBA.

You're the face of the Lakers.

First of all, that just comes with immense pressure.

We're talking about George Mike and Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Cream, Shaq, Copa,

and Shelby.

Like, this is a big, big expectation when those types of people are coming to watch your

games.

I think he pushed a lot for Walker Kessler.

I think he has his fingerprints on this next iteration of the Lakers.

Last year he famously played 64 games.

And my biggest concern for him is actually just as well being physically being able to stay

healthy.

One of the guys that we're looking at with repeated hamstring and calf injuries in the NBA.

But if he stays healthy, there's an expectation there at top three, four team in the Western

Conference, right, Zach?

And if it doesn't happen, like Lakers fans will get pissed off.

And that just carries a lot more weight when you're in Los Angeles as the star player than

any other team in the league.

I do think they're a good team to be clear.

Despite the fact that, you know, I thought the Walker Kessler move was an overreach.

I think he'll work well there, recovered that in part one in another episodes.

Grimes, Mamu, Sexton, they all fit certain roles.

No idea who the fifth starter is at this point, but they're going to be an awesome offensive

team.

Reaves his back, obviously, because of that saying defensively, I'm not really sure what

they're sealing is, but their offense is going to be amazing as long as Luca plays

the representative amount of games.

And I do agree with you.

Like, I think right now on paper, there are top six teams in the West, you could argue

that the top six from last year, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver, Lakers, Rockets, Wolves

should again be the top six.

I think Utah's going to have something to say about that.

But I think the Lakers will be a non-play in top six team, which makes three, four, five,

whatever, like, eminently attainable for them.

It's a great pick because they remade the team in his image.

He is going to be a Laker for the foreseeable future, although he's going to have some

extension leverage fairly soon.

He has a player option in 28.29.

It's going to be interesting to see how many games he can play.

And again, Bill has talked about this a lot.

He's never finished first or second in MVP voting.

And it feels like he would be, and he's only 27 years old.

So let's all chill on it.

But he'd be on course to be in the conversation for a best player to never win regular season

MVP.

He's already been to the finals.

He's been a dominant playoff player.

People are scared to death to face him in the postseason.

He has an answer for every defense you can throw at him.

He's a genius.

He just hasn't had the regular season of regular seasons yet, despite being multiple times

the odds on favorite going into the season to win the MVP.

Now he faces an uphill battle every year against Shay and Wembee going forward in Yo-Kitch.

So we'll see.

But I think it's a great pick.

I didn't think of it.

The last year he was healthy.

He won the scoring title.

It was third in MVP voting.

And his team won the West.

And he was 24.

So I think it's fair to have high expectations for this guy to come back and get some special

done.

But there's a lot of pressure.

There was always going to be pressure on Luke at Donner today, 27.

And the fact that it's happening now in Los Angeles in a world without LeBron James

makes him my highest pressure guy in the whole league this year.

But you obviously have a different answer, Zach Low.

Well, first of all, we are a year removed from the men's health cover of Luca.

Like that was a monument in London, and he was in better shape last year.

And he still missed time with legaries, including in the playoffs.

And so you know, you just have to, this was obviously the Mavericks fear when they made

it an objectively insane.

What will my kid like today?

Apples?

No, she found the peel on one yesterday.

So naturally now she hates them.

How do other parents do it with the hand carved strawberry roses and funny shaped sandwiches?

Do we realize we're making charcootery for someone who thinks fine dining is using a fork?

Wait, what about a tortilla with some peanut butter?

I'm going to put it in a Ziploc bag and voila!

Secure whatever your picky eater decides to pick at for the love of food.

Ziploc.

Lots of places can expose you to identity theft.

Oh no.

That's why LifeLoc monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity,

which is way more than anyone can do on their own.

If we find anything suspicious, like new loans or changes to your financial accounts,

we alert you right away, all through text, phone, email, or the LifeLoc app.

Get the alerts that could make all the difference.

Save up to 30% of your first year at LifeLoc.com slash special offer, Terms Apply.

Great.

Can you do one?

I'll give you three guesses to guess who's number one on my list.

It's both an obvious pick and a boring, not obvious pick.

But when you're here, you're going to be like, oh, duh, that's kind of boring.

But I'll give you three guesses.

Can you pick out who it is?

It's not a six, right?

We can use context.

That's close.

Not a six, sir.

I'm not going to count that as when you guess.

All on my list that I haven't encountered yet, I have to start with Zion Williamson.

No.

Evan Mowgli?

No, I'd just call off.

I've mentioned in part one that I have Mowgli, Harden, Mitchell, all in honorable mention,

so I'll give you a mulligan for that one.

Oh my God.

This is embarrassing for us, I think, as far as...

It's not embarrassing, it's just you're going to be anticlimactic, unfortunately.

It's not for us.

Oh, is it SGA?

No, but you have the right team.

I had J Dub on my honorable mentions.

It's J Dub.

It's Jalen Williams.

And it's a dub pick because, like, yeah, obviously his health is a major factor for them.

I just, like, his health is his hamstring.

He couldn't get over it last year.

He came back and then he heard his wrist and the hamstring kept flaring over and over

again, couldn't play until the end of the playoffs.

This dude was like putting up monstrous games in the NBA finals, including a 40 point game,

I think, in game five of the finals.

He's had some huge playoff games along the way for the Thunder.

And now there's no dork.

There's no Wiggins.

There's no Joe.

And his availability is now essential for them.

This is no longer like we can sort of try to bounce by to game seven against the Spurs

with J Dub not playing.

They dork sort of leaves the small ball power forward hole behind him that now they need

Jellin Williams to fill that hole among others.

And he's just an awesome, awesome player whose loss last season I thought was just an

almost under discussed because he's that good.

He was legitimate, legitimate all NBA player.

And their depth is a little not quite as A pluses was last year.

They've lost some size.

Chet, we both had Chet on our list.

He's sort of an offensive question mark to say the least.

The competition around them, particularly in San Antonio is only going to get better.

They need they need not even two years ago, Jellin Williams.

They need a even better version of that.

Like, hey, is this guy a top 12 player, two way player, Jellin Williams to win the championship

again.

And by the way, those are the stakes like the Thunder one one title and everybody went

crazy and said, the league is over.

They're going to dominate the league forever.

Oh my God, what is everybody going to do?

And it just doesn't work that way.

It's really hard to win a title.

No one has repeated in eight years.

The Nick's will now be facing that challenge.

And the Thunder like, there's a universe in which this era as well set up as it's been.

It's there is well constructed as any team in the history of the NBA is well built as

any team in the history of sports from sort of a GM perspective.

There's a world where they only win one title.

And I don't think that's the world we're going to live in.

I think there's more to be had here.

But for them to get there, they need this guy to come back and play at full ability.

You mentioned Shay.

I know what Shay is.

Shay is a coach.

He's going to be amazing in basically all of you.

There's a little up and down the conference finals and then showed out in game seven.

I know what the rest of these players are.

Plus or minus.

I think case and wall is probably as a leap to make the rookies will see.

I think he was number I contemplated not putting him in number one because it's like,

he's got to stay healthy.

But I just think he's in.

He and shut together are like number one.

Yeah, I think that's right.

And I would say as much of a spurs guys I am.

If he were healthy, the conference finals would have been a different situation.

He his inability to play in those games was was huge.

Even when he tried to play, Clue wasn't himself.

I think that's a that's a he's one of the most impactful sort of forks in the road to

the whole Western conference.

I think him and chat.

I think that is right.

I think you calling Shay and metronome by the way, right that down the beautiful perfectly

said.

But these other two guys, do you have a big three because it didn't feel like you had

a big three in the Western conference finals.

Like we all thought this was going to be a big three.

And I think ultimately we're hovering around the same point.

If the thunder are going to do what they think they're going to do, those two guys need to

be either available or better in the case of chat when it matters most.

And they weren't this year and we saw the changing of the guard in the Western conference.

They will open the season as betting, betting favorites, right to come out of the West

side, Clue?

I don't know.

I think the spurs might, I mean, the spurs had a better championship odds the last time

I checked.

Really?

I mean, it's a it's a dumb.

This is a dumb pick in the sense that he does not have the kind of like legacy pressure

that we would normally that we would put on a guy like, you know, and be for instance,

who you just talked about.

He's already won a championship.

He was the second best player on the title team.

He's made an all NBA team.

He scored 40 points on 14 of 25 shooting in game five of the NBA finals to put his team

up to put his team up three, two.

He scored 34 points on 13 of 24 shooting in game four against the wolves in the conference

finals to put the thunder up three.

One like this guy has done it.

Mike is sending us finals odds right now.

What do we have here?

The thunder you're right.

R plus 230 to win the NBA title according to Fandall.

I assume the spurs are plus 270.

So I was wrong.

They would be, I've said this already, they as of now they would be my pick to win the

NBA championship.

The Oklahoma City Thunder would be, but it ain't going to be easy and it depends on this

guy being like after in games three to five of the finals 26 points on 9 of 18 27 points

out of 18 40 points on 14 of 25.

There was like a real, always he going to steal finals MVP from Shay kind of conversation.

That's how good this dude is and it's defense to its size, defense, rebounding, transition

play.

It's all of it.

So in a way, the pressure, the traditional way we talk about pressure doesn't really

apply to him because of what he's already accomplished, but just the sort of pressure of

this era delivering whatever one thinks it should or thought it should deliver to the

thunder kind of rides on him.

It falls on these two guys below Shay, as I do think Shay is as reliable as it gets as

a superstar.

And to this point, knock on wood, he has been a very healthy performer in his rise to the

MVP.

But yeah, I think the fact that the Thunder of Betting Favours is interesting.

I think baked into that is we're getting J Dub and as soon as he's out, the spurs are

a better pick, we saw that in the Western Congress finals.

Kurt Goldberg, this was super fun.

Thank you for indulging me on a super long two part podcast recorded again on July 30th.

By the time you listen to this, I could be swimming in the age of 80's.

I don't see what one last thing.

Give us give us what what are the two things you're most looking forward to in your in your

vacation?

All right, let's leave Croatia out of it because we I go there every year and I always

there's I look forward to the same things.

We're going to we're going to stop in Estonia for a day in Tallinn, which I'm very excited

to see.

And I guess I guess I don't know.

I don't I don't want to say too much.

I think some good restaurants.

How about that?

Good.

We're going to a couple good, good restaurant cities.

I don't ask for much in life.

I mean, not not counting the freaking Adriatic Sea, which is a magical.

Hoseha in the summertime.

I mean, that's incredible.

It's the best.

I can't wait to be swimming.

You know, I get to play, you know, my daughter and I will throw the water polo ball around

in the water.

We'll do all that kind of stuff.

I'll go to see.

There's a place they cut.

There's an island called Shippon, which they have now nicknamed Waterpol island because

Croatia is one of the best water polo countries in the world.

Tony Asaveto, who is the greatest American water polo player ever in one of the best,

ever period, played professionally in Croatia.

He comes every year and does and hosts like an all-star camp for high school kids.

And they take like this pirate ship from Dubrovnik to this island in Shippon like an hour

away.

And he has invited us to go in the past.

And it's just they play water polo.

The high school kids play from America, play water polo against Croatian sometimes adults,

sometimes high school kids in the open water.

And you can like go, you can watch from a boat.

You can swim out and watch.

It's like absolutely glorious.

Look up water polo island.

It's like unbelievable.

That sounds great.

Enjoy it.

There's multiple, there's like four Olympians on the boat with you and are like, what life

is this?

Like these hands are freaking Olympians.

And as we said before the podcast, Mario, Mario, Zonya could be over there.

Who knows?

He's available.

I, the Mario, Zonya, Saga could still be ongoing as, as, as, when I come back from vacation.

Mr Goldsbury, thank you, bud.

I will see you on the other side.

See you, bud.

All right.

That's it for part two of this two-parter-worth Kirk Goldsbury.

I hope wherever you are in the world, you enjoyed it.

I am in Europe somewhere having a nice vacation.

Hopefully nothing crazy has happened in the NBA.

It's July 30th as I'm talking to you.

Francisco Lundor is still a met.

Hopefully that's the case whenever you are listening to this and the meds have actually won some

baseball games.

Thanks to Kirk Goldsbury for, for slogging through a two-parter with us.

Thanks to Billy Oscar and Mike on production.

And thanks as always to you all for listening to Andor watching the Zach Loach show.

Twenty one are over and President Select States for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas,

Starkesino or 18 and over in President DC.

Kentucky, Wyoming, Gambley Problem, call 1-800-Gambleer or 1-800-My Reset, call 1-888-789-7777

or visit ccpg.org slashchat in Connecticut or is it mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland.

Hope is here.

Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7s important Massachusetts or

call 1-877-8 Hope NY or text Hope NY in New York for Louisiana.

Call 1-877-770-7867.

Look at that.

Another school sign-up sheet.

What do I have to volunteer for this time?

Look themed bites for the book fair.

100 mini cookies for the 100th day of school.

By now, I've done it all.

People call me an on-call snack chef who can spend 18 hours on the latest viral dot-cake

brownies and deliver them via 8-year-olds backpacks.

That's why I only secure my snacks and reputation with Ziploc bags.

For the love of food, Ziploc.

Lots of places can expose you to identity theft.

Oh no.

This is why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats

to your identity, which is way more than anyone can do on their own.

If we find anything suspicious like new loans or changes to your financial accounts, we

alert you right away.

All through text, phone, email, or the LifeLock app.

Get the alerts that could make all the difference.

Save up to 30% your first year at lifelock.com slash special offer.

Terms apply.