Pound The Rock

For the final episode of the show, we’re joined by a quintet of returning guests to discuss the various trends shaping the NBA’s present and future:

1:19 - Will Lou on potential rule changes, the league’s changing media landscape, and the influence of Nick Nurse’s Raptors teams.

41:09 - TrillBroDude on the two sides of the Joel Embiid discourse, the marginalization of "unitaskers," and the future of Slop in a 2nd-apron world.

1:24:44 - James Herbert on this age of skilled bigs, the new possession game, and defense getting increasingly weird.

2:06:20 - Dan Devine on defense as a weak-link system, positional size and the phasing out of small guards, Julius Randle and the state of the power forward position, and trying to solve the Cavs’ big puzzle.

2:44:25 - Seerat Sohi on the 3-ball as the last great paradigm shift, offensive rebounding, the homogenization of shot profiles, and the importance of stretch 5s.

3:28:49 - Farewells and fan shoutouts

Thank you all for listening!

Paul George to the Sixers, Klay Thompson to the Mavericks, Mikal Bridges to the Knicks, Chris Paul to the Spurs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Magic, and much more! It's our annual breakdown of the biggest moves of the offseason so far.

We start this week's episode with an announcement about the future of PTR, before delving into some leftover Finals thoughts, including potential roadblocks for the Celtics and Mavs in the near and distant future. Then we assess the Alex Caruso-Josh Giddey swap for the Thunder and Bulls, wonder what the next move might look like for OKC, talk Pascal Siakam and Malik Monk's early extension agreements, the lack of such an agreement for Paul George, major coaching decisions in Detroit and L.A., and more.

We eulogize Jerry West, dig into Boston's commanding 3-0 lead over Dallas in the NBA Finals, and discuss Dan Hurley's decision to reject the Lakers' $70-million offer.

The Celtics looked very much the part of historically dominant team in Game 1 of the Finals. How did they neutralize the Mavericks, and what reasons for optimism might Dallas have going forward?

We break down what went wrong for Minnesota and Indiana after great seasons and runs to the conference finals, and what comes next for both teams. Then we dig into a scintillating Finals matchup between Boston and Dallas.

Our early takeaways from the Eastern and Western Conference finals, where the Celtics are (mostly) taking care of business against a(nother) overmatched and undermanned opponent, and the Mavs again showcased their newfound adaptability by grinding out a Game 1 win over the Wolves

After a week off, we check in on the wild Nuggets-Wolves rollercoaster ride and the tactically fascinating Mavs-Thunder clash as those Western Conference series hurtle toward their endgames. Then we shift over to the less interesting East, where the Celtics continue to elicit shrugs as they cleave through their bracket, the Cavs have some pressing offseason questions to answer, and the shorthanded Knicks try to survive the fast-paced Pacers.

We eulogize teams in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and the Lakers, and honor an epic series between the Knicks and Sixers. Plus, we previewing second-round matchups - get ready for Knicks-Pacers and Wolves-Nuggets!

With every first-round playoff series at least two games deep, we check in on Knicks-Sixers (4:58), Nuggets-Lakers (23:55), Thunder-Pelicans (35:57), Cavs-Magic (43:07), Bucks-Pacers (48:10), Clippers-Mavs (52:52), Wolves-Suns (1:02:57), and Celtics-Heat (1:13:16)