00:00And when one season ends, the next one begins.
00:03And the sportsbooks have positioned co-favorites mostly
00:07for Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
00:11Boston is the second option.
00:13I'm seeing a plus 550, and then the Knicks are at 8-1.
00:17Next closest team is 22-1.
00:19So really this very short setup for four teams
00:24and then kind of everybody else seen as a long shot here.
00:27But you could even argue that it's a very, very short setup
00:30for OKC and San Antonio.
00:33Do you agree, Coach, with where the Thunder and Spurs are priced
00:39relative to the rest of the league?
00:42And by the way, certainly the rest of the West.
00:47If you think about the youth and what they expect,
00:50especially Oklahoma City, you know, didn't have guys healthy.
00:54Obviously Mitchell and obviously J-Dub down the stretch of the season.
00:58Also with the amount of, especially with Oklahoma City draft capital
01:02that they have where they can make a move.
01:04We may talk about that when we get to the NBA draft coverage
01:07in a little bit.
01:08But I do think that they are positioned, you know,
01:12correctly in regards to being favorites.
01:14Now, I think there's maybe a little bit too much respect given
01:17and maybe a little bit too much disrespect given
01:19to teams like Minnesota and Denver,
01:22who I think are still really good teams.
01:24Now, both teams are going to probably make moves.
01:26And I think those lines and those odds, Kev,
01:28are really going to move based on, you know,
01:31what happens in regards to the offseason of both of those teams.
01:35When you get to the East,
01:38I think that they're discounting the Knicks.
01:41I know they look at, you know, Jason Tatum,
01:44you know, missing game seven.
01:47But to me, I think the Knicks have to be a shorter number,
01:49if not co-favorites with Boston in the Eastern Conference there.
01:54But then you have to look at, you know,
01:55what's going to go on with a lot of these other teams.
01:58You know, Detroit, like, listen,
02:00there's going to be a Jalen Duren question that's going to come out.
02:03Like, Jalen Duren was getting the max.
02:06Are you sure you want to give him the max
02:07after the way he played this last playoff run?
02:09You know, what happens with Orlando?
02:12You know, obviously new coach with Sweeney.
02:14Do they blow it up?
02:15You know, is Atlanta going to make a move?
02:17But CJ McCollum's a free agent.
02:18So I think the reason why those teams,
02:21at least the top four, where they are, Kevin,
02:23is probably because what they expect those teams to bring back.
02:27And maybe they feel that there's less questions.
02:30But I still think some of the odds are a little wonky at this point.
02:33Especially New York should be closer to Boston.
02:37And maybe some disrespect for teams like Cleveland, Detroit,
02:40but then in the West, Minnesota.
02:42And then obviously, you know, others as well.
02:46So I just want to focus in on OKC and San Antonio.
02:50Because I've had some conversations with people who suggest one
02:55or maybe even both of them are inevitable.
03:01And I'm not saying I'm not guilty of a comparable feeling,
03:06but I would like to peel back a little bit now
03:08what we've seen the last two seasons.
03:12Firstly, the idea that San Antonio is inevitable,
03:14I actually think is really, really wrong.
03:18That's why I said bottle up what Coach and I said
03:20at the beginning of the show.
03:23The only reason people think the Spurs are inevitable
03:25is because they are young.
03:27Because I do not think the postseason actually told us
03:30that they are a plus 250 favorite good, right?
03:36We don't feel great about Fox.
03:38Keldon kind of no-showed.
03:39Champagny and Vassell are not bridges in OG, right?
03:45The idea is, oh, Wembley will get better.
03:47Castle will get better.
03:48Harper will get better.
03:49Okay, how much better in a season?
03:52They're still very, very young.
03:54You're talking about year two Harper, year three Castle, year four Wembley.
04:02So I don't know why the Spurs,
04:04who did just kind of get rolled up by the Knicks,
04:07who had a pretty easy path until they played the Thunder, right?
04:12To the finals.
04:14I don't know why we're doing that.
04:16And then on OKC, and I know Coach will love this.
04:22Because we agree on that.
04:23They wouldn't have won the title if Halliburton didn't get hurt.
04:26I know I believe that.
04:28I know I believe that, okay?
04:30And I know that this year,
04:33the Suns-Lakers start to the postseason is irrelevant.
04:37So then they played a Spurs team in a seven-game series
04:43and lost a home game seven.
04:46So I'm not saying those two shouldn't be the favorites.
04:50But the idea, first of all, only one of them can make the finals.
04:53All right, that's first of all.
04:54But the idea that they're unbeatable when getting there,
04:57I haven't seen that in the two years that we've watched these two teams.
05:02Coach?
05:03No, I think that's the thing.
05:05There's too much given to the Western Conference being a power.
05:10Kevin, this has been going on for 50 years or 40 years.
05:14The West is so much better than the East.
05:15The West is so much better than the East.
05:16I know.
05:17Look who's won more championships over the last 40 years.
05:19The Eastern Conference over the West.
05:21So let's pump our brakes with that a little bit.
05:22Let's go.
