ShotTakes

Fittingly, ShotTakes assembles a new lineup to discuss the audacious Russell Westbrook-for-Chris Paul trade in further detail. Guest hosts Jesse Poljak and Ryan Lynch appear together for the first time to debate Westbrook's fit in Houston, the road ahead for Chris Paul and the Thunder, Ben Simmons' 5-year/$170 million max extension, the Grizzlies' summer league triumph(s), and more. Plus, Scott's revamped take on the Terry Rozier contract!

Scott and Brother/Benefactor of the Pod Ryan Lynch came prepared to discuss one massive trade sending a Thunder star out of Oklahoma City, but by the end of the podcast, there were TWO such deals to talk about. Kawhi Leonard's decision turned out to be even more monumental than we imagined it would be, as he not only joins the Clippers but managed to engineer a trade that brings Paul George to Los Angeles as the price of his commitment. We talked about where the suddenly asset-rich Thunder might go from there—and then they cleared it up for us by trading Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul around the 50:30 mark in the podcast. The NBA truly never sleeps.

Scott and Jesse are back on the air to preview what is certain to be a momentous NBA free agency cycle. The balance of power in the league could shift dramatically based on the decisions that will start pouring in at 6 p.m. Sunday, and the guys do their best to forecast the potential landing spots for the game's top free agents in a speculation-heavy episode of ShotTakes.

It's a much anticipated week in the NBA, and now-Chicago/Midwest Correspondent Jesse Poljak joins Scott to break down the storylines of a packed few days. We talked draft results, full AD trade details, Conley to Utah, Celtics/Rockets upheaval, and more in a fun hour of ShotTakes. Look for more appearances from Jesse in the coming weeks as Eric, Elizabeth, and Martin are tragically bogged down with the final month of bar prep (thoughts & prayers, fellow Takers).

We welcome back our college basketball insider Tyler Garrett (@Baselne2Packlne) to preview Thursday's NBA Draft—while we all know who's going number one (and probably two and three), there's plenty of debate about the rest of the lottery will play out. Tune in for prospect profiles, team needs, trade possibilities, potential second round steals and more. Thanks again to Tyler for jumping on!

The 2018-19 NBA season is officially over, and the Toronto Raptors are your world champions. Huge congratulations to the city of Toronto, Masai Ujiri, Nick Nurse, Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, (Finals MVP vote recipient) Fred VanVleet, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Danny Green, Jeremy Lin, the rest of the Raptors, and the STARTERS on an amazing title. We talked about the Raptors' triumph in a weird and sad—but certainly memorable—Finals, offered our initial thoughts on the Anthony Davis trade, and cast an eye on the future of the NBA as a fascinating summer gets underway.

In case you missed the announcement on Twitter, we're no longer any kind of an "anti-Kevin Durant podcast"—even in jest. KD's Achilles injury casts a pall over these Finals and could have a seismic impact on the NBA as a whole. We offer our thoughts on the situation, but more importantly, send him our best wishes. The league won't be the same until you return, 35.

Hard to believe we're saying this, but ShotTakes is reporting live from the NBA Finals in Toronto! Thanks to a very generous law school graduation gift, Scott and Shane McMurtry joined President Obama, Drake, and 20,000 Raptors faithful at Scotiabank Arena to witness the Golden State Warriors tie the series at 1-1 with a 109-104 victory in Game 2. Despite a deflating loss for the home side, Scott and Shane only have good things to say about The 6 and its people—tune in for a recap of their wonderful travel experience and a breakdown of tonight's action! #WeTheNorth

We are BACK after a brief post-law school graduation hangover—I mean, hiatus, to preview the NBA Finals ahead of tomorrow night's Game 1. The North captured the East as the Toronto Raptors secured the first championship berth in franchise (and Canadian!) history by vanquishing the top-seeded Bucks in six, while the Warriors sealed up their fifth straight Finals appearance with a pre-KD throwback sweep of Portland. We offer our reactions to the respective conference finals and discuss what we'll be watching for when these two teams square off....oh, and make a special personnel announcement prior to the analytical portion of the show....

We planned on discussing both sides of the bracket, but technical difficulties limited us to the Western Conference; apologies for that. But: you get our immediate reactions to the draft lottery results around the 28 minute mark—which were as ABSURD as the results themselves. We'll be back with Eastern Conference analysis tomorrow.