And, of course, Ward.

Whoa, Excuse me has reported that Harden has the Nets, a top of his list of destinations in Brooklyn, were able to assemble a superstar.

Big Three of Katie, Kyrie and Harden be pretty daunting.

Certainly so.

Zack, Where would you have them ranked in the Eastern Conference?

If they pull that trade off?

Let's assume Caris Levert goes out.

Jared Allen goes out.

Didn't witty.

Probably has to go out.

They re signed Joe Harris.

They keep Taurean Prince.

They get a couple of veterans to comfort for the minimum or the tax mid level.

I like their Bruce Brown trade today.

I think that team probably enters the season is the favorite to win the East.

Maybe not the favorite to rack up the most wins because we've seen Milwaukee is a regular season win racking up machine.

But that team is scary.

You can laugh it the only one ball.

How are they gonna do?

They need to play with two basketballs, blah, blah, blah.

You can laugh at that.

If you want.

No one's gonna be able to guard that team.

Yeah, because I think there's gonna be some people out there who say that A Well, what about Alan?

What about Den Woody?

What about Caris?

Levert?

You could just grow with those guys.

You already have your two stars.

But I think stars recognize how good stars are competitive.

Other players.

And I think that would give even Mawr buying from guys like Kyrie and K D.

And they recognize that they can't mess around with the regular season.

They had to build what they need to build because both those guys have been on teams that have won the championship.

And they recognize that those little seeds that you put in the ground, you're going toe, you know, re fruit from them when they grow in the postseason.

And I just think they'd make it work.

So if they could do it, they'd be a juggernaut if they could stay healthy.

And, you know, quite frankly, you be talking about them.

The Clippers and Lakers is the favorites to win it all Well, and to your point, Dave, I think that that first year is so important.

Right?

And look, we've seen teams even a team like LeBron Wade and Bosh, right?

Like they, they felt like they were starting to come around, obviously late in that season and in that postseason that first year in Miami.

And then we saw what happened in Dallas.

So nothing is a given and then on the flip side of that, because they're not related.

We saw a Clippers team that was also dealing with all sorts of injuries and whatnot and guys coming off of injuries, and that was a big challenge.

They never really got the chemistry that they needed.

So that first year to your point would be unbelievably important.

Alright.

Rumors that Victor Oladipo is unhappy with the Pacers have been swirling since the bubble.

It was a question whether or not he'd even play in Orlando this past summer.

Last week, the Indianapolis Star reported that Oladipo was openly asking teams if he could come play for them in front of his Pacers teammates.

Oladipo denied that in an interview with the athletic, saying quote, I know there have been some people saying that I have asked players to trade for me.

It's just not true, period.

I love my teammates.

I cherish the state of Indiana on.

I'm focused on leading this franchise to a title.

So, Dave, what do you think of Oladipo's future in India?

I think it's a really tough situation.

Reminds me of the Cavs in 2017 2018 when I cover them and they traded for Isaiah Thomas.

And he was another undersized guard who used every single ounce of his athletic ability to make himself a force to be reckoned with in this game and then had a devastating injury.

And he was trying to play his own game and trying to get back to a healthy level and recognize he has an anvil hanging over his head off.

If I don't perform the way I need to, I will lose tens of millions of dollars.

And it's really hard for a player to stay within a team scheme when he has that pressure on him.

I think it's probably a better situation to be in if he stays in India because he will have familiarity there versus going somewhere else in trying to prove that.

Because, of course, when I was eight times left Boston, it was all new and foreign to him in Cleveland.

It didn't work out and even finished the season there.

And so you know, I I wish him well because when he was right, he was an emerging star in this league.

But this is just a really tough situation.

Yeah, he hasn't been the same since that injury in January 2019, and it was a traumatic injury and it was a horrible injury, and it's not surprising.

And last season he comes back, plays a few games.

This season stops for four months.

You almost want to throw that season away and just say it's not relevant.

But look, there's been too much smoke here from months and months and months now, both publicly now and behind the scenes for me to believe that everything is copasetic and the tell will be if they get to the table for extension talk something that maybe there was some possibility of.

And then, you know, the athletic reported Maybe not.

Uh, Indiana can offer him a big extension.

Four years, about 113 million.

I know Victor Oladipo has said or has been reportedly setting.

He wants a Max.

I mean, that's 41 13 is a lot of money if they can't come to the table at all, if they can't get within any kind of dollar range, I think I think that's gonna be a tell that not everything is copasetic cause they would like it to be.

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