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NBA With Kirk Goldsberry, Final Draft Preview With Daniel Jeremiah & Field Yates, Max's 5 Stages Of Sixers Grief + Guys On Chicks

Wednesday, April 24, 202420 takes

The Mavs and Pacers tied up the series and Anthony Edwards is a prophet when it comes to Jaden McDaniels (-). The Capitals are up 2-0 based on PFT's advanced analytics (-). We talk about the crazy Monday in playoffs. Max dealing with his 5 stages of grief after the Sixers loss and the Lakers still can't beat the Nuggets (-). Hot Seat/Cool Throne including KD back to Oklahoma City, Broncos new uniforms (-). Kirk Goldsberry joins us to talk NBA playoffs, what the Lakers can do and the Sixers heartbreaking loss (-). Daniel Jeremiah joins the show to talk NFL Draft, how many players at each position are 2 contract guys, diamonds in the rough and how a war room operates (-). Field Yates joins us before he hosts on ABC Thursday Night to talk about some of the interesting draft stories and guys, how many mistakes we'll defend him on and more (-). We finish with guys on chicks (-).

NFL Draft Previews with Jeremiah & Yates plus Kirk Goldsberry and Max's Grief

Big Cat and PFT are navigating a sports calendar that is absolutely redlining. Between the NBA playoffs delivering late-night daggers and the NFL Draft looming just hours away, there is zero time for a breather. We started with the Minnesota Timberwolves looking like the real deal as they dismantled the Phoenix Suns. While everyone was worried about Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards knew exactly what the Suns were missing.

Win
Apr 24, 2024
#23855
Big CatBig Cat

The Timberwolves are legit and much better defensively than the Phoenix Suns

The Timberwolves are good and they're deep. Their two stars [Towns and Edwards] did not play great and the Timberwolves still won easily because they're just so much better defensively. And the Suns play iso ball. It's terrible basketball to watch. I think the Timberwolves are really, really good.

The Timberwolves swept the Suns and their defense was the primary reason for their deep playoff run.

PFT is ready to call the time of death on the Phoenix experiment, mostly because they look like they’ve completely run out of ideas. It turns out that having three elite scorers doesn't matter much when your offense looks anemic and you're stuck in iso hell.

Win
Apr 24, 2024
#281
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The Phoenix Suns are officially dead

The Suns are dead. I proclaimed it. The Suns are dead. They don't look like they have any life to him whatsoever. They look anemic. Bradley Beal looks pretty bad. No trade clauses, by the way, for Bradley Beal. So yeah, I think he's like the sixth highest player in the NBA. They're gonna be stuck with that for a little bit.

The Suns were swept by the Timberwolves in the first round and appeared totally dysfunctional.

Speaking of vibes, Big Cat is tracking a very specific equipment issue in Phoenix. It has nothing to do with shoes or jersey fits, but everything to do with Devin Booker’s forehead.

Void
Apr 24, 2024
#282
Big CatBig Cat

Devin Booker is a worse player when he wears a headband

I also have a vibe stat for this game. And it has nothing—it's based on absolutely nothing... I don't think Devin Booker's good when he wears a headband. I just don't know why. I think maybe his head is too constricted. He wears a tight headband.

Subjective 'vibe' take, though the Suns did lose while he wore it.

The Sixers and Lakers Heartbreak

Max is currently in the depths of despair following the Sixers' absolute collapse against the Knicks. Big Cat read through Max's live-tweeting of the five stages of grief, moving from "That didn't just happen" to "We'll get a better whistle at home." The guys debated the infamous non-timeout and the lack of boxing out, but Max is trying to stay positive despite being down 0-2.

Loss
Apr 24, 2024
#284
MaxMax

The 76ers will win their series against the Knicks despite being down 2-0

And then the final act, new tweet: Sixers will win this series.

The Knicks defeated the 76ers 4-2 in the series.

Out West, the Lakers are living in a Groundhog Day nightmare against the Nuggets. No matter how well Anthony Davis and LeBron James play, the result is always a Jamal Murray buzzer-beater or a Nikola Jokic masterclass. PFT thinks the writing is on the wall for the King.

Win
Apr 24, 2024
#285
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The Lakers-Nuggets series is over

I think this series is definitely over. Yeah. Well, no, well, what's gonna happen is the Lakers, Sixers might, the Lakers are gonna play great in some more games that they're also going to lose. Right. That's what's gonna happen.

The Nuggets won the series 4-1.

Kirk Goldsberry joined the show to provide some actual basketball intelligence to counter the guys' emotional outbursts. He broke down the tactical adjustments Michael Malone made to stifle AD and why the torch has officially been passed in the Western Conference.

Void
Apr 24, 2024
#23856
Kirk GoldsberryKirk Goldsberry

The Nuggets' series win over the Lakers represents a 'handing of the torch' from LeBron James to Nikola Jokic

A lot of people think Nikola Jokic is the best player in the world, something we would describe LeBron James as for a vast majority of the 2010s. But this decade appears to belong to Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets. And I think it's telling, it's sort of a handing of the torch. It's a very painful one, but this is LeBron James's longest losing streak against any single opponent in his entire 21-year career.

While Jokic is the reigning best player, 'handing of the torch' is subjective, though the Nuggets' dominance over the Lakers (10 straight wins at one point) supports it.

Final NFL Draft Prep

Daniel Jeremiah stopped by to give his final evaluations before the first round kicks off in Detroit. He provided a fascinating breakdown of the depth in this class, noting that while the top is heavy with quarterbacks, the wide receiver class is historically deep with potential long-term starters.

Open
Apr 24, 2024
#290
Daniel JeremiahDaniel Jeremiah

The 2024 draft class has 10-12 second-contract caliber wide receivers

I was strict with it. So you can, you can extrapolate this beyond this, but like a con—like my confidence level's high. Wide receivers, 10 to 12 of them. Wow. Like there's 10 to 12 that I feel pretty confident they're gonna, they're second contract, same team, commit to 'em type players.

Too early to tell; second contracts for the 2024 class won't happen until 2028.

DJ also threw a wrench into the JJ McCarthy hype train, suggesting that the smoke around the Michigan quarterback might be masking another name rising up boards late in the process.

Win
Apr 24, 2024
#289
Daniel JeremiahDaniel Jeremiah

Michael Penix Jr. could be drafted before JJ McCarthy

I was sniffing around this morning 'cause I had, there's so much stuff flying around and like one of the teams had told me like, 'Hey, I wouldn't be surprised if when it was all said and done if Penix went over McCarthy.'

Penix Jr. was drafted 8th by the Falcons; McCarthy was drafted 10th by the Vikings.

Field Yates also joined the set to talk about his new role on the ABC storytelling broadcast. He confirmed that while the quarterback talk dominates the headlines, the real separation in talent happens once the elite wide receivers are off the board.

Win
Apr 24, 2024
#23858
Field YatesField Yates

There is a massive talent drop-off in this draft after the 'Big Three' wide receivers

One of the cool things about this draft class is you got three receivers at the very top in [Marvin Harrison Jr.], Malik Nabors, and also Rome Odunze... in a different draft, all three of those guys could easily be the number one wide receiver taken. There's a very, very small difference at the very top between [them]. All three of those guys are part of the blue chip group... [then there's] a drop.

Harrison, Nabers, and Odunze all went in the top 9, while the next WR wasn't drafted until pick 23, validating the talent gap.

Field is leaning heavily toward the Commanders making the obvious choice at number two, despite some of the social media drama involving agents over the last week.

Win
Apr 24, 2024
#291
Field YatesField Yates

Jaden Daniels will be the number two overall pick in the NFL Draft

I feel good about Jaden Daniels going number two. You know, this past week was interesting obviously—mostly incited by Jaden Daniels' agent taking to Twitter... but I do think Jaden Daniels ends up going number two overall.

Jaden Daniels was selected 2nd overall by the Commanders.

Hot Seat/Cool Throne

Hot Seat included the Denver Broncos, who Big Cat thinks pulled off a PR masterclass by releasing objectively terrible jerseys on the same day they traded for Zach Wilson. It's the classic "split the vote" strategy to ensure no one thing gets 100% of the hate. Meanwhile, Big Cat is already preparing the "Coming Home" video for Kevin Durant.

Loss
Big CatBig Cat

Kevin Durant will 100% return to the Oklahoma City Thunder

Kevin Durant is 100% going back to the Thunder. Yes. They're doing some trial balloons... it was a video narrated by KD talking about Chet Holmgren and the city of Oklahoma City... I'm absolutely for it because I think that would be a very cool, like if he won, wins a title with the Thunder. Kind of everything's forgiven.

Kevin Durant was traded to the Houston Rockets in a seven-team trade in July 2025, not to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

We wrapped up with Guys on Chicks where the guys advised a listener that if she wants to keep rooting for the Bills after a breakup, she might just have to go all the way and try to date Josh Allen herself.

Hopefully, Max finds a way to stop screaming at PFT before game three tips off.

nfl-draftnba-playoffssixerslakersdenver-nuggets

More Takes

Void
Apr 24, 2024
#283
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Therapy would make Luka Doncic a worse basketball player

My take was that Luka, I think Luka desperately needs therapy, but I also think that it would be very, very bad for him as a basketball player. I feel like that shit that he has makes him excellent, but he's just, he's always angry.

This is a psychological opinion about a player's motivation and cannot be objectively proven.
Loss
Apr 24, 2024
#23854
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The Capitals are actually leading the Rangers 2-0 based on my advanced analytics

Using the proprietary algorithm that we set forward after game one, I have the Capitals actually winning this game, three goals to two. So the Caps take a commanding two-nil series lead on the road. And also during the game, it was pretty obvious that the real score to the game was three for the Caps, three for the Rangers, one for the referees because the refs just absolutely gave that game to the Rangers.

The Capitals literally lost the game and were trailing 2-0 in the series at this point. They eventually got swept.
Void
Apr 24, 2024
#23860
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

An NBA playoff series doesn't actually start until the home team loses a game

The series doesn't actually start until the home team loses a game. Yeah. Cleveand's playing great defensively and the Magic have Paolo and then a bunch of guys who are missing shots. Let's see how game three goes.

This is a subjective sports axiom. In the Cavs/Magic series mentioned, the home team won every game until the Cavs won Game 7.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

The Broncos released bad jerseys to distract fans from the Zach Wilson trade

They actually are really smart with what they did because they released Bad Jerseys and then they traded for Zach Wilson all on the same day. And you don't know which one to be mad at. They just split the vote. Like that was so smart of them to do those in basically a matter of hours with each other where they're like, which one you want to choose?

This is a marketing/PR theory that is likely coincidental but fits Big Cat's cynical view of front offices.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

The MLB umpire who ejected Aaron Boone for a fan's comment should get a hero's welcome for doubling down

He got ejected for something a fan said. And the umpire didn't—he literally said, 'I don't care who said it. You're gone.' I love that. I love it so much when umpires double down on something that's so insane like that. He should get a fucking hero's welcome. It was a hilarious clip. I appreciate it more to just be like, 'I was wrong but I'm not gonna say it.'

The ejection was widely condemned as one of the worst calls of the year, though Big Cat's 'hero's welcome' is a matter of comedic taste.
Loss
Apr 24, 2024
#23861
Kirk GoldsberryKirk Goldsberry

The 76ers are the biggest threat to the Celtics in the East if they are healthy

Dude, if they're healthy, it's the Sixers. I mean this, right? They were 31 and 8 when Embiid played this year, they were on pace to win about 65 games. The statistical markers with Embiid on the court scream 'we're a contender.' The clear answer was the Sixers if Embiid was healthy.

The Sixers lost in the first round. The Celtics went 16-3 in the playoffs to win the title, and the Sixers never truly challenged them.
Loss
Apr 24, 2024
#288
Kirk GoldsberryKirk Goldsberry

The only real threat to the Denver Nuggets winning the title is the injury bug

The number one threat to the Denver Nuggets is the injury bug. Oh yeah. I think they're that good. Yeah, I really do. I think Jokic is just, they deserve that kind of dodgy, cute answer. If I have to answer... I just don't see anybody taking out Jokic in seven games, beating them four times in seven games.

The Nuggets were healthy but were defeated by the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Win
Apr 24, 2024
#23857
Daniel JeremiahDaniel Jeremiah

The Bears should prioritize drafting another offensive stud at pick #9 over defense

When you take the quarterback number one, every decision is about making sure that pick looks right. I'd rather have one too many studs on offense and worry about fixing maybe some of the other holes on defense. Their defense was good after the Sweat trade last year. To me, I'd rather just go get a tackle or go get Rome Odunze.

The Bears did exactly this, drafting WR Rome Odunze at #9 to support Caleb Williams.
Win
Apr 24, 2024
#23862
Field YatesField Yates

The absolute floor for JJ McCarthy in the draft is pick #11 for the Minnesota Vikings

I don't think [JJ McCarthy] will fall... I would think the floor for JJ McCarthy, the absolute floor would be 11th for the Vikings. But that would be a really, like, that would be a ballsy game of chicken the Vikings would be playing if they don't move up. I think JJ's floor is 11. I think the more realistic floor is probably somewhere within the first six picks.

McCarthy was drafted 10th by the Vikings after they traded up one spot.

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