JJ Redick

The Minnesota Timberwolves match up better against the Denver Nuggets than anyone else in the NBA.

I think this Minnesota team probably matches up as well as anyone in the NBA versus the Denver Nuggets. I'm really fascinated by this series.

The overall talent depth in the NBA is as high as it's ever been and is spread out across more teams.

I think the overall talent depth, meaning the amount of really good players in the NBA is as high as it's ever been. And that depth of talent is spread out more than it's ever been. There's not the concentration of three really good players on one team... There's the concentration of two or three really good players on a bunch of teams.

The current NBA landscape marks the beginning of the death of the 'Super Team'.

I said at the beginning of the year... this year could be the beginning of the death of the super team. Part of that is the new second apron in the CBA... you have to build through the draft. And then be positioned... to then make an impactful trade.

Nikola Jokic is already a top 15 player of all time.

Nikola Jokic to me is already a top 15 player of all time. And I know that that's maybe a hot take. I don't really care.

The Phoenix Suns' issues are about team building and personalities meshing, not just one specific player or coach.

I would look at sort of team building in a very holistic way beyond just, oh, we gotta trade this guy... You have to look at any roster, any team, and look at how personalities mesh together and how skill sets mesh together... and you have to be willing, I think to, as an owner, you have to be willing to be patient with that.

The New York Knicks are going to win their series against the Philadelphia 76ers.

I think the Knicks are gonna win the series.

Coach K is the best coach I ever played for across all levels

He's the best coach I ever played for high school. AAU college, six, six coaches in the pros, I think. Yeah, he was the best coach I played. He was the best coach I played for.

The five greatest current 'basketball geniuses' in the NBA are Draymond Green, Chris Paul, LeBron James, Rajon Rondo, and Ja Morant

I'll give you the top five, top five. Okay. So [Draymond], Chris [Paul], LeBron, Rajon Rondo. And I'm gonna, I'm going to go with the guy that Draymond mentioned on the pod and that's Ja Morant. I think Ja Morant's... already a basketball genius.

Kevin Durant is also a basketball genius because of his obsession with the game

Yeah, he is. He is. A lot of guys that are basketball geniuses... they are obsessed with basketball and they watch basketball... I think [Durant] out of anyone in the NBA right now, I think he loves basketball more than anyone.

The NBA Top 75 list should not have automatically included every player from the original Top 50

I wish the NBA had not included all 50 guys from the top 50 list... I do think there were more players over the last 25 years by criteria, certainly by criteria, that should have been on that list.

The Miami Heat are the best and most complete team in the Eastern Conference

I think the Miami Heat to me are the best team in the East... To me the most complete team to me, and again, this is health dependent... I think the Heat is the team to me, health aside where I'm like that team has the least amount of question marks.

Erik Spoelstra and Tyronn Lue are the two best coaches in the NBA

Erik Spoelstra is one of the two best coaches in the league, along with Tyronn Lue. Really. I liked their team [the Heat] a lot.

Ben Simmons is actually right-handed but shoots left-handed

I've told Ben that [he's right-handed]... he disagrees with me, but when I watch him, right. He does it with his right hand. If I asked him to throw, he would do it with his right hand... I think he's a right-hand person that shoots the basketball left-hand.

The Kings' trade for Domantas Sabonis will not 'move the needle' for the franchise

If you're the Kings and you're 22 and 41, trading Tyrese Haliburton for Domantas Sabonis is not going to move the needle one way or the other. It's not going to move the needle.

The Phoenix Suns will win the Western Conference

Who's winning the West... Phoenix. Phoenix is... Phoenix, Phoenix. There's I, there's more wild cards to me in the East and there aren't in the West.

In the NBA playoffs, the team with the best player in the series usually wins

In the NBA, it's who has the best player in the series, and that team has a great chance to win. It's that simple. It's who is the best player in the series and that team has a great chance to win.

Duke has a good chance to win the national championship in Coach K's final season

Their [Duke's] chances are good to be a regular season champion of a power conference... then you have a chance to win it all. I like their chances.

It was time for me to own my own podcast network rather than just being a contractor for other companies.

My contract with the Ringer was up. I've been there for three years and for Tommy [Alter] and I, we just wanted to own the podcast. I figured I had been doing podcasts for four years and I felt like it was time for me to actually own the podcast and build out a little podcast network.

The basketball in the NBA bubble is surprisingly high-level and the players are in great shape despite the layoff.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised, maybe even a little bit shocked, at how in shape everybody has been. The shot making has been unbelievable... It's just been high-level basketball. It's been amazing. It's been incredible.

It is inevitable that Power 5 football and basketball players will be financially compensated

It's inevitable now, it's inevitable that power 5 football and basketball players are going to be compensated in some form. It's inevitable, right? It's going to happen and... not a not just saying from the like this obviously, you know, the the NCAA I think is going to allow players to use their likeness starting after next season.

NBA players are not amateurs and the 1930s model of amateurism is dead

To argue for amateurism Based On A system that was set up in the 1930s and 1940s prior to billion dollar TV contracts and ticket sales and Merchandising is crazy. Amateurism does not exist in high-level college basketball and high-level college football.

I was only an 'asshole' at Duke because I was a 19-year-old who didn't know how to handle the cycle of hate from fans.

The only reason I played the game in the first place was to be an asshole... I was fucking 19 years old and I had to deal with this, and you know, at that age you're unsure of yourself. I would see the hate, I would feel the hate, I would hear the hate, and then I would react to that, and then my reaction would garner more hate. That cycle just kept repeating itself.

I am a better athlete now at 34 than I was at 22

I think just to the naked eye, it's not visible that I'm a better athlete, but I am a better athlete, even at my age than I was at 22. ... at 34, like, I feel like I move as well or better than I did at 27. I just can't leap like I used to.

College referees are not good and officiating in college ruins the game

College refs ... are god-awful. They're not good in any sort of definition of the word. They're just bad referees. ... they sit a guy down and you get two fouls in five minutes and you basically don't play until the second half. And it ruins the whole game.

Kevin Durant joining the Warriors was a great decision for player autonomy

I like seeing a player ultimately do what he wants to do, what's going to make him happy, even if he pisses a bunch of people off. ... to just take a pay cut to take a pay cut makes zero sense. And no one in any other industry does that.

Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons will be first-team All-NBA players in five years

In five years when I'm done playing, those guys are first team, all NBA players, you know? ... Joe, as good as he is and Ben is as good as he is, are still going to be so much better.

Coach K's greatest strength is his adaptability rather than a fixed system

I think [Coach K's] greatest strength ... is his adaptability. Coach K doesn't have a system. He's never had a system. ... he coaches every team differently. He coaches every player differently.