NBA Media Day is full of big promises—but can Portland’s Deni Avdija and Damian Lillard make the pieces fit? Plus, what’s next for Brooklyn’s Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf? Get our honest gut takes, team vibes and the questions everyone’s asking before tip-off.
Subscribe for more NBA talk!
Comment what you liked most from the video.
#NBA #Basketball #NBAMediaDay #PortlandTrailBlazers #BrooklynNets
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@pinibarel
0:00 - Portland’s Media Day and Deni’s Role
8:59 - Brooklyn’s Roster and Opportunities for Young Players
We're now available on Spotify! Listen now https://open.spotify.com/show/033HmOTGXdiIuqLgsDJijd
Subscribe for more NBA talk!
Comment what you liked most from the video.
#NBA #Basketball #NBAMediaDay #PortlandTrailBlazers #BrooklynNets
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@pinibarel
0:00 - Portland’s Media Day and Deni’s Role
8:59 - Brooklyn’s Roster and Opportunities for Young Players
We're now available on Spotify! Listen now https://open.spotify.com/show/033HmOTGXdiIuqLgsDJijd
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00We are exactly three weeks before the start of the NBA season and here are all the NBA teams
00:04gathering for the traditional media day where all the players and all the coaches talk about
00:07what's to come ahead of the season and everyone believes that somehow their team is going to kick
00:11us and be the best in the league. Or at least lie to themselves and to the journalists about it.
00:16So of course here I'll address what's happening in Portland and Brooklyn because that's what
00:19interests us as Israelis and I'll share some of my impressions and gut feelings because these are
00:23often amorphous things, you can't quantify them into something practical because we haven't really
00:27seen the team on the court yet. Let's start with the first two elephants in the room and I'm talking
00:31of course about Portland and the situation with Danny Avdia. The first is his health status. He
00:36didn't come to play in the Israeli national team's uniform because Portland held him back due to his
00:40health condition and he was also asked about the condition of his back at the press conference.
00:43About it, in short, Danny is fit, no problem, starting the season as usual and the next question,
00:51which is? In short, Danny is fit, no problem, starting the season as usual and the next question,
00:58which in my opinion is the elephant in the room regarding Portland and this is a question that not only
01:02Danny was asked but also Jamorant, Damian Lillard and Micah Nori were asked and honestly they gave roughly,
01:07more or less, the same answer. It even feels to me like they came a bit prepared and knew that
01:12this thing
01:12was going to be asked so many times but they gave a coordinated answer but it was still the right
01:17one.
01:17To say that this is necessarily something that will translate onto the court, I don't know.
01:21The question is of course, how they are all going to get along when there are a lot of players
01:25on our
01:26team who love the ball. So initially, Danny was asked about his situation with Nori and about what
01:31he told him and what he expects from him heading into this season. He just wants me to keep being
01:36me.
01:36Obviously, you know, I'll have to play more off the ball but you know, it's not necessarily a bad thing.
01:42You know, honestly, I'll have more open shots. I'll have more straight line drives. So, you know,
01:47he just, he wants me to keep being confident and keep being aggressive. Yeah, that's about it.
01:53In a way, everyone understands and is aligned on the fact that they'll have to play a bit more off
01:57the
01:57ball and everyone's talking about how Damian Lillard will bring a lot to the team in terms of shooting
02:02and Lillard also mentioned that at the press conference saying that he'll get more open looks from
02:06three once Jamorant or once Danny drive in, collapse the defense toward them and kick the ball out to him.
02:12Well, for me, if I'm, if I get the ball and I'm advancing the ball ahead to Jamorant,
02:19I feel pretty good about it. And if I'm advancing the ball to Denny Avdia, I feel pretty good about
02:24it.
02:24And for both of those guys, if they're attacking a rim, attacking a paint and they're kicking the ball
02:30out to me for a three pointer, I think they should feel great about that. So just doing the right
02:37thing,
02:38playing the right way, there'll be a lot of opportunities where that presents itself to
02:43make the right play to do the right thing. I think the balance will work itself out just based off
02:49of,
02:49you know, what we're capable of. But if our mentality is right and we handle it right, like I said,
02:54I think
02:54we could give everybody a tough time.
02:57But for me, I don't look at it like that. I feel like, you know, everybody's on the team who
03:03has the ball is, you know, completely unselfish. So on the ball or off the ball,
03:08you still have to do your job. For me, my first time playing point guard was like my junior year
03:15of high school. And then my first year at Murray State, I wasn't, I played on the ball, but the
03:20senior was the point guard. So it makes no difference to me. So on the face of it, everyone's on
03:26the same
03:26page and everyone understands there's a bit of a traffic jam at the playmaker position on this team,
03:30but they look at it or at least present it publicly as an advantage. Now everyone really
03:35understands that there's an advantage here and insane explosive ability with players like Jamorant
03:38and Danny Avdia, especially when Damian Lillard openly says, I have no problem taking a bit of
03:43a step back as long as they set me up for three point shots. He expanded on that later at
03:47the press
03:47conference as well. It's just that these things are pretty repetitive, so I don't want to just play
03:51the whole press conference here. I'm trying to give a bit of a summary. And the narrative that keeps
03:55coming up is there are enough playmakers, especially when you add both Holiday and Henderson to the
03:59equation and we'll figure it out. These are good problems to have. A lot of teams would love to have
04:03more playmakers and we have a bit too many, so we'll make it work and everyone will ultimately play
04:08without ego and create for each other. Is that really true? I don't know. And that's kind of
04:12ignoring the real problem, the real problem that Portland has. But at this stage in the press
04:16conferences, I don't expect them to talk about Portland's lack of spacing because the focus is
04:21naturally on Damian Lillard being an elite shooter, both in catch and shoot and off the dribble. I don't
04:26know how much that at his age, in his situation, can make up for all the teams shooting shortcomings.
04:31Those things are more on the coach. And speaking of the coach, in my opinion, he said something that made
04:36me
04:36very optimistic. Not that I fought otherwise. I didn't think Danny would become some marginal
04:41player, God forbid. He's the team's best and most important player today. That's clear to everyone.
04:46But the way he spoke about him the moment they asked about Danny's role made me believe a hundred
04:50percent that he's convinced. Talking about Danny, very much a point. In the past year he had to,
04:56especially because of interruptions, what do you see as his role this year? Yeah, I think it's very
05:00similar. I think the one thing that, you know, things happen for a reason, if you will, say what you
05:04want,
05:04but you get opportunities. And I think what unlocked for Danny was through injuries,
05:08you saw what he's able to do with the basketball in his hand. I think in all honesty, great job
05:12to
05:12Tiago, his staff, those guys unleashing that in him. So we'd be crazy not to carry that over.
05:16And I think the one thing that you'll see is the style of play that we want to with all
05:19the ball
05:19handlers that we do have and the decision makers is we don't want to be a walk it up, slow
05:24it down,
05:25play ISO basketball. So that being said, when the clock is moving on makes and misses, if we get it
05:31out,
05:31we've got four guys that can play and make decisions in the open floor. And I think they'll
05:35all be comfortable finding opportunities to do so. And I think that for me, the way that it'll
05:39be an organized freedom. So we'll have a way that we want to run into space and then play out
05:44of it.
05:44And I think when you can give guys that can put the ball on the floor and get where they
05:47want to go,
05:47get to the free throw line, get to the paint like Denny can, and you add these other pieces to
05:51it,
05:51and then you add some of the shooting that Dane will bring as far as the spacing goes,
05:54I think you'll see more of the same with Denny. Maybe it's not the whole 40 minutes and all those
06:00types of things he's had to play in the past. But I do think he's going to be very,
06:03very efficient and he will have the ball plenty because we'd be crazy not to give it to him.
06:06I really liked that answer. Not just because it said what I wanted to hear about Denny Avdia,
06:11but because it said what I wanted to hear about Micah having a real plan for what this team and
06:15its identity are supposed to look like offensively, not just in said offense. And he understands that.
06:20And the way he talks about the organized, organized freedom, in my eyes, that's the key point.
06:24That's one of the terms I like most. Not necessarily organized freedom, but more the term organized
06:29transition, especially in the basketball world, because in the end, an organized break is the
06:34best and most efficient offense you can run before you get into a half court offense.
06:38But running is one thing. Running in an organized way, which seemingly contradicts itself because
06:43running on the break is a kind of mini chaos where everyone seemingly runs all over the place
06:46if there's no organization, that's ultimately the true art of building a team that knows how to run
06:51properly. In short, he made a good impression on me and earned my vote at the ballot box heading into
06:56this season. And one last thing I want to highlight actually from Jamoran's press conference, because
07:01I paid close attention to the way he spoke, the way he answered questions and also his body language,
07:06because body language, in my view, often reveals just as much as what comes out of your mouth.
07:10And they asked him questions that on the surface, if he were really that hotheaded and difficult,
07:15he could have reacted completely differently. They asked him where he sees his role on the team.
07:19They didn't even ask him whether he's the star of the team or if he sees himself as one of
07:24the stars,
07:24but rather asked him whether he's even a starter or a bench player.
07:28Do you see yourself as a starter on this team and is that important to you?
07:32Is it important to me? I think winning is the most important thing for me. So whatever role I have
07:38to
07:38play to get that done, I don't think nobody would be mad after a win. So as a starter, if
07:46I'm starting,
07:47if I'm not, it's the same thing. I mean, it's day one right now. I feel like that's coach's questions.
07:54So, but for me, I have no problem with either. First of all, I feel like it does matter to
07:59him.
08:00He even repeats the question there, almost surprised that it was even asked. Like, does it matter to me?
08:05Is it important to me?
08:06Yes, it matters. But in the end, he has no problem giving the right answer. And he says,
08:10the most important thing to me is to win and I have no problem starting or coming off the bench.
08:14Throughout the entire press conference, he talked about how he wants to help Dame and help the team
08:18and about how he's also trying to shed some of the burden he carried in Memphis.
08:22Will that actually manifest on the court? Not sure. If it does, Portland could win big here.
08:27There are still the issues of the game itself, but more than anything, the thing that's hardly
08:31being addressed, and it was actually Joe who addressed it at the press conference,
08:35when asked what his expectations were for this season. And without hesitating, he answered.
08:3982 games. I was telling Tu that I'm trying to get in his category of playing 82 for whatever his
08:47streak is right now. So we had that weight rule. And I liked that. Because for years,
08:52he's been known as an injury-prone player, and he addressed that at the press conference,
08:56even though none of the journalists themselves brought it up in their questions.
08:59So from here, we move on to Brooklyn, whose press conference was a bit more lukewarm.
09:03It was a bit… I wouldn't call it lukewarm. It was different. It was varied.
09:07And there, we saw Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf being interviewed in pairs,
09:10similar yet different to what Danny's press conferences were like back in Washington.
09:14Ben and Wolf were secondary players in this whole show, as was Powell, by the way.
09:19It's not that I think there was anything personal against them,
09:21it's just a matter of status, hierarchies, let's put it that way.
09:23There were only four players who were interviewed alone. And that was Julius Randle, Michael Porter
09:28Jr., Igor Demin, who was of course the 8th peak in last year's draft, and the player they're building
09:32a lot around, and Michael Brown Jr., who was selected with the 6th peak in this year's draft.
09:37In other words, these are the players who, on the face of it,
09:40you can tell the whole team is more or less being built around. But unlike last year, where almost
09:45everyone arrived as rookies, this team comes in with slightly different expectations,
09:48even a bit far-fetched, with quotes from Michael Porter Jr., who said they can win over 50 games.
09:54So yeah, I don't think they can win over 50 games, but with the arrival of Julius Randle,
10:00players like Mo Wagner, and with the development of their second-year players,
10:03including Danny Wolf and Ben Saraf, they're expected to be a better team and win over 20 games.
10:08And I do like the attitude, I do like that mindset saying, we aim high, worst case, we fall short,
10:13but we aimed for it, and we're not selling ourselves short from the start of the season,
10:17especially now with the changes the NBA made regarding tanking. And in general, I think that
10:21the coach Brooklyn has, even though they only won 20 games last year, I really rate this guy,
10:27Jordi Fernandes. In my eyes, he's a system coach, who knows exactly what to demand from his players,
10:31and the teams he builds usually know what they're trying to do on offense and defense,
10:34and I like that. Meaning, there's a system here. I'm sure that if a coach like Fernandes has good
10:38players, we'll also see wins. And the question everyone is asking, including myself,
10:42is whether we'll see Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf as part of this process, because the team has quite
10:46a few players in the guard positions. Although Michael Brown Jr. apparently might miss the start
10:50of the season, he's currently limited in training camp, and he has an issue with his left ankle,
10:54if I remember correctly, and he will also, most likely, he might miss the start of the season.
10:58But we also saw last year, even when there's an abundance of point guards on each team,
11:02there are always rotations. Today, half the teams play with two point guards in the backcourt,
11:06and Brooklyn does that for many minutes as well. That is to say, I'm not worried. I'm sure that at
11:10some
11:10point Ben will get the opportunity. The question is whether he'll take it. Regarding Danny Wolf,
11:14the situation there is a bit different. They also brought in Mo Wagner at his position,
11:18but I do think there's always the matter of injuries, rotations, you have to seize the
11:21opportunity when you have it, and that's the most important thing here in this situation.
11:24And at the press conference, Ben didn't say much we hadn't heard before,
11:27or anything out of the ordinary, beyond the fact that he feels much more comfortable
11:30and confident. And in the end, that's the most important thing for young players. And I really hope
11:34that it will also be reflected on the court itself. Here are the things he said in the
11:37Foot Locker studio. I think overall, I feel more comfortable here in the organization,
11:41with the players, with the team, which is very, very significant. It gives a lot,
11:45a lot of confidence. I think after the first season, I already know what I need to do better,
11:50defensively, offensively, on the court and off the court. So I think that I've learned a lot from
11:54last year, and I'm ready for the upcoming year. Which is, of course, one of the main topics. We also
11:59talked about it on the podcast we did together, the shooting issue. And he addressed that as well,
12:03saying how much he worked on it over the summer. A lot of emphasis on shooting,
12:06a lot in the gym. Yeah, I think the work was very, very good. We also had the summer league
12:12in between, which helped get more minutes and more practice. So that was definitely a very good summer.
12:18Regarding Danny Wolf, most of the questions were also pretty generic. I saw another soundbite of his,
12:22where he talked about how, looking back on his first year, he's not happy with what he showed
12:26in his freshman year. And also, these are things that I like to hear, but we hear things like this
12:31almost every preseason across almost all teams' media days. The question is, how much of it actually
12:36gets reflected on the court? And here, I think Brooklyn has a system, there's some kind of
12:40template. And it's also a team that's not clearly defined in terms of minutes and hierarchy,
12:43except for Randall Porter Jr., and that's it. I mean, Sharp will most likely start at center,
12:47but there will be a lot of rotations here. There will be plenty of minutes distributed,
12:51players won't be playing 40 minutes here, but rather, they'll share minutes among themselves.
12:55And still, even if you have a player like Julius Randall, say, locking down the power forward spot for
13:0036 minutes a game. And he's a relatively healthy guy. That still means Randall will occasionally
13:04play at the three, and Wolf will occasionally play at the five. And there will be rotations with Sharp
13:09as well, with Wagner too, and certainly at the guard positions. So, basically, I'm less worried than
13:14other people are. I don't think this team is deep and very established, as they say in English. I don't
13:19think it's quite there, and that's an opportunity. But this opportunity, I feel, won't last long for
13:24either Wolf or Saraf, and they need to seize it. Now is the time. The NBA season is officially underway,
13:29folks. Thank you so much for watching. Don't forget to show some love with a like and subscribe
13:32to the channel. I'm Yisrael Chai. Take care. Bye.