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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:03 - Let's get it rolling.
00:03 Who is your NBA champion this year in the association?
00:08 - NBA champion for me,
00:09 which I thought was gonna be the NBA champion last year,
00:11 and that's the Phoenix Suns.
00:12 As we know, Ben, talent wins in the NBA.
00:14 And the reason I'm talking about, you know,
00:16 the Phoenix Suns this year,
00:17 you have another chance, another off season to rest,
00:20 get ready, and also, I thought you improved your team.
00:23 Now, maybe it's addition by subtraction.
00:25 You take a look at the Andre Ayton last year,
00:26 who clearly just didn't fit in with the Suns.
00:28 They were always arguing about, should we bring him back?
00:30 Should we pay him money?
00:31 And actually paid him money.
00:32 They still didn't like the guy and it didn't work out.
00:34 And he found himself traded out of town.
00:36 But if you look at this roster,
00:37 and again, just the starting lineup this year,
00:39 Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, and Durant,
00:41 the top three superstars gonna be in that lineup.
00:43 And Nurkic can fill in where he does,
00:45 play some defense, get some rebounds, push the fast break.
00:47 I think that plays into it.
00:49 But last year for myself,
00:50 where the Phoenix Suns really were at fault is,
00:52 look, they lost to the NBA champions, you know,
00:54 in the playoffs, understandable here.
00:56 But what's the reason why they did that?
00:57 Kevin Durant can't play 48 minutes
00:59 and neither, you know, Booker and Beal.
01:00 You gotta have some sort of adventure.
01:02 You make some trades,
01:03 you pick up guys like Grace and Allen
01:04 that are gonna help you throughout the season.
01:06 The one thing we know about the NFL
01:08 is every single game matters.
01:09 It doesn't in the NBA.
01:11 All you're looking for in the NBA is,
01:13 if I'm in the playoffs as the fifth seed,
01:15 but I'm completely healthy,
01:16 I can make a run and win a championship.
01:18 I'm not grading the Phoenix Suns during the regular season.
01:20 If you can get me to the playoffs healthy with the Suns,
01:23 I truly believe they're going to win an NBA championship.
01:26 I'll take them at a plus 550 price,
01:27 love the moves in the off season,
01:29 and superstars win in the NBA,
01:31 and they got a plenty of them.
01:32 - And DRS probably lost in the Damian Miller deal
01:36 to Milwaukee was the depth that Phoenix acquired
01:40 as the third team in that trade,
01:42 sending DeAndre Ayton up to the Rose City
01:45 and getting some pieces back.
01:47 Because Donnie, you're not wrong.
01:48 When Chris Paul was out and DeAndre Ayton was banged up,
01:51 it was a thought of can Kevin Durant and Devin Booker
01:54 as the two superstars lead this team
01:57 virtually single-handedly.
01:59 They almost did.
02:00 If you remember the totals,
02:01 it was like Phoenix scored 114 points.
02:03 Kevin Durant and Devin Booker had 82 of the 114.
02:08 Now you add in Bradley Beal,
02:10 you have some depth outside of that.
02:12 Phoenix has constructed a solid roster.
02:14 And let's not forget, it's not Monte Williams
02:17 now in the desert, it is Frank Vogel,
02:20 the new head coach of this Suns organization.
02:23 Donnie, let's look at the odds
02:24 before I give you my championship pick,
02:27 because I do think it is worth making a point here.
02:30 We have two similar prices from the East
02:33 and two similar prices from the West.
02:35 Both the Celtics and the Bucs,
02:37 co-favorites to win the Eastern Conference,
02:39 also have the same exact number to win the NBA title,
02:42 plus 380.
02:43 Denver and Phoenix, co-favorites to win the West,
02:46 the exact same number to win the NBA championship
02:49 from that conference, plus 550.
02:51 Before we drop off to the Lakers at 13 to one,
02:55 seven and a half dollars of movement
02:57 from the price on the Nugs and the Suns to LA.
03:00 And Donnie, we've seen the super team era
03:03 in the association, right?
03:04 We saw 2015 through 2018,
03:06 the same four year span of the NBA championship matchup,
03:11 the Warriors out of the West,
03:14 the Cleveland Cavaliers out of the East.
03:16 It looks as though we already know the crop of four
03:20 that will play two of them in an NBA finals.
03:24 And although they are the shortest prices,
03:26 I do think, Donnie, there is value
03:28 based on what the odds are telling us.
03:30 So you go with the Suns at plus 550 to win the NBA title.
03:34 I go with the Milwaukee Bucs.
03:36 I think adding Damian Lillard is going to be crucial
03:39 for Milwaukee, of course.
03:41 That goes without saying that adding one of the best players
03:44 in the NBA in the last two decades
03:46 to a roster that already features
03:48 one of the best players in the NBA
03:50 in the last two decades is going to be important.
03:53 Now, are there going to be questions about defense
03:56 for Milwaukee once we get to the postseason?
03:59 Sure, but I think Damian Lillard, Giannis, Chris Middleton,
04:02 and everybody else in Milwaukee can overcome that.
04:05 A new coach for the Bucs as well,
04:07 no longer Mike Budenholzer, Adrian Griffin,
04:10 a rookie head man in the NBA,
04:12 takes over the reins inside the Pfizer Forum.
04:15 But Donnie, ultimately for me,
04:17 it's a pretty simple equation.
04:18 Dame and Giannis, Milwaukee an NBA championship.
04:21 (upbeat music)
04:24 (bells chiming)