Ryen Russillo

The Indiana Pacers won the trade deadline by adding Ivica Zubac while maintaining a path to a top-four pick

I look at the Pacers, you know, like you add a top five center in [Zubac]... you clean up some of your cap stuff, you bring in a top center who's gonna make you a little different... and then you have a chance at the top four pick here... I like what they did because they were doing something long-term while also making sure that they're tanking.

The Milwaukee Bucks should not play Giannis Antetokounmpo for the rest of the season

I don't even think Milwaukee would want Giannis to come back and play... They should want to do whatever they can with this pick 'cause they don't have many of 'em. And Giannis probably shouldn't even wanna play and risk health and risk this contract extension that he can get before next fall. So the tanking is gonna get egregious.

The Clippers made a smart pivot trading James Harden for Darius Garland

I like what the Clippers did... I don't think Darius Garland is this bad. He's a two-time all star. He's 26 years old... when he was right, he was terrific. And Harden... fourth trade request in six years. So the Clippers very quickly on the fly... you'll look at the Garland thing and go, man, they were able to land a player like that for Harden.

The Knicks' usage of Karl-Anthony Towns is becoming a real issue

The Knicks, as much fun as they are... the imperfections with them. The cat [KAT] stuff here... He's now sixth in minutes in the fourth quarter for the Knicks... since January 1st. So you're seeing his minutes decline... Mitchell Robinson's so good... I wonder if [Thibodeau] like bails on Kat in specific matchups? 'Cause he's already starting to do it in the regular season.

The Phoenix Suns' inability to execute in clutch time is a fatal flaw for their playoff hopes

When you watch [the Suns] close games that are tight, it's awful. They're 21st in clutch offense... that is the most like truthful number of a team when I watch them play because they get stuck... it feels like a fatal flaw for them.

LeBron James won't retire because he's addicted to the attention of basketball

I don't think he is [retiring]. I think he's gonna have a really, really hard time being away from the attention of basketball... He's still incredibly productive offensively... I still think there's far more positive about him, the player, but it just depends like what are you looking for next year?

Stop comparing your boat to others and just appreciate your own boat

There's a lot of guys looking at your boat... that'd be enough boat for me. I think not to make this about life, but it's, it's just something to remember. There's probably somebody looking at your boat going that's that's good enough for me. I should stop looking at the other boats.

Getting mad at the NBA All-Star Game is as boring as the game itself

I hate the All Star game a lot... It's just, I don't get mad at it though. Like, it's for kids, it's kind of fun... Why would you get mad about I wish the Allstar game were competitive... I actually think getting mad at the Allstar game is, is as boring as the game itself.

Brian Kelly deserves at least another year at LSU

Whenever I look at the fan bases, they get really, really mad... I think [Brian] Kelly deserves another year, but it really sometimes those spots are just so intense that you could admit, like the coach would go, I'm not gonna be miserable if I don't have to do this again.

Ohio State's quarterback room is even better than last year's because of Julian Sayin

[Big Cat: Are you ready to say this team is better than last year's team?] Yeah. I think [Julian] Sayin's even better. He just, you know, they don't even need him.

Indiana winning at Oregon is the best college football win of the season

The Indiana win at Oregon I think is the single best win of the entire college football season. And I also think Oregon's getting dropped down too far in the polls after the fact, 'cause I think Indiana really is that good this year.

Miami is the team most likely to take down Ohio State in the national championship

[Big Cat: Who in that next groupings would you say you're highest on? And to be like, that's the team that will maybe take down Ohio State?] Miami. Most. You know, Miami, they get the terrible back game... I expect that to happen... It's very rare that we have any of these teams that are gonna go clean throughout the entire season.

I don't love any SEC team as a real national title contender this year

I don't really love any of these SEC teams this year as like real title contenders. Maybe it's Alabama... I don't even know that I think Alabama is as good as [Indiana or Ohio State].

Oregon is better than every single team in the SEC this season

That team [Indiana] went into Autzen and was the better football team against the Oregon team that... look like they have seven weapons again and their quarterback looks like he's one of the best in the country... I have Oregon in my rankings ahead of all those SEC teams still because I think that much of Indiana.

I like Tennessee more than Georgia as a playoff threat

I probably like Tennessee more than I like Georgia, to be honest with you. [Big Cat: Their defense though, man.] Yeah, but that Georgia defense isn't—this Georgia team is not even close to those [previous] teams. The defense isn't as good.

Alabama's Germie Bernard is one of the ten best football players in the country

Germie Bernard is one of my favorite football players in all college football... Every time that kid gets going I'm like, I don't think there's that many players that are playing on Saturdays that are better than he is. I don't think there's 10 better football players in college than him.

The Denver Nuggets will win the NBA title this year

I'm picking the Denver Nuggets. There's no reason to pick against OKC... [Chet Holmgren] will be better... they're just going to be better... I just wanted—I picked him last year, I wanted to do something a little different this year. So I'm picking the Denver Nuggets.

The Houston Rockets are a great fit for Kevin Durant because they lack a clear number one scoring option in the clutch

I think it's a great fit for him... they would've loved for [the closer] to be Jalen Green... He was not that guy against Golden State... they need something else on the wing that they can really depend on... [Kevin Durant] is desperately what they needed on offense. Like go get us those closing playoff moment buckets.

Bradley Beal has the least competitive pride relative to talent in the NBA

I mean 'cause [Bradley Beal] is just so checked out. He's totally, I think the scary thing about him is that, you know, I think anybody you think like if you're this good then there has to be some competitive pride in you. And he may have the least, there may be the biggest gap between just talent and how much he doesn't care. Yeah. Of any [player].

Ace Bailey's draft stock is falling because his camp is trying to manipulate which team picks him

Are they trying to navigate this thing to get [Ace] Bailey from three to say six because they feel like there's a ton of shots and ton of points... they're gonna make back all the money that he loses dropping a few slots.

The Duke trio of Flagg, Knueppel, and Maluach are all special NBA prospects

I like all three guys a lot. [Cooper] Flagg... anticipation, the defense, I mean it just, his passing all this stuff is that he's a, he's a real competitor... [Kon] Knueppel iss like he's, he's gonna be very good pro... [Khaman] Maluach... he stays in front of [guards] by moving his feet... Those three guys are really special prospects.

Kevin Durant might be traded by the Suns this offseason.

I don't know, I feel like the seeds have been planted... I thought last year he was, there was a lot of stuff right. A lot of stuff around the draft. There was like rumors about Houston... I feel like the seeds have been planted.

The Oklahoma City Thunder can match or exceed the Indiana Pacers in transition and bench depth.

The things that the Pacers pride themselves on running, keeping the basketball not turning it over... the Thunder can match you with a better bench. Their bench has actually played better. They've taken care of the basketball better and they're more than ready to run with you if you wanna run with them.

Nikola Jokic is on an unobtainable level compared to the rest of the NBA.

To me [Jokic] is unobtainable. Like you cannot get to his level right now. And there's gonna be a lot of people arguing [SGA] just because it's better... But I don't think a sane person, a real basketball person should look at this and be like, okay, SGA is now the best in the world.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will win the NBA Finals in five games.

Thunder in five. I played, I think it was plus six 80 Thunder Games one and two, Pacers Game three, thunder game four and five.

The Denver Nuggets are the fourth-best championship contender when healthy

I think Denver's the fourth team when Denver has Aaron Gordon and this version of Jamal Murray. Even with a diminished bench, it's like you can't rule, especially, you know, you look at the depth, the extra days off depth isn't as big of an issue.

The Milwaukee Bucks' championship window is likely already closed

The Giannis thing is is terrific... But I I think the reality is the NBA stories, the way they go, like their, their window's probably already closed.

Paul George is essentially just Tobias Harris with better branding

Paul George is Tobias Harris with better branding. Whoa. Yeah. I mean they're all back tonight... Paul George, Paul George, I know he had a better January, but like off key, he, he needs to be a dude while MB is out through all of this. And instead he's totally comfortable getting his ISO 17 footer up.

The Philadelphia 76ers will lose in the NBA play-in tournament

How do you think the sixth or season ends this year bad... They're gonna losing the plan, losing the plan prediction.

The Washington Wizards play hard despite their terrible record

I actually think the Wizards with [Bilal] Coulibaly and Bub [Carrington] and even George [Valinha] a little bit. I guess you could throw [Alex] Sarr in there... they stink but they play really hard. There's like a few guys in that Wizards team that play with a lot of activity.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will defeat the Boston Celtics in seven games to win the NBA Finals

Thunder over Boston in... would be seven thunder. Get it at home.

Current political polling is useless because voters cannot maintain a consistent opinion for more than three days

I think a snapshot of any polling number right now is the dumbest... the swings in a very short amount of time. It's because no one, no one side can keep their shit together for more than three days. I don't understand like, the polling of one phenomenon that we have. I don't know that the tides are turning nearly as fast as everybody's pretending as it does day to day.

College football realignment has killed the cultural and visual identity of the sport

What I loved about the sport was that a PAC-12 game looked like a PAC-12 game. And then culturally, when you would visit all of these different places, the fan bases were lined in a very conference... It just made sense. Now it feels off. It feels weird. The death of the PAC-12 is sad. It's sad. It is sad.

John Oliver's monologues are only convincing to people who don't actually know anything about the topic he is discussing

John Oliver's monologues are probably the best in the business. They're unbelievably convincing until he does the one on the topic that you know. ... If he did an NBA one... I'd go 'you're fucked.' ... It's the accent and a great setup on HBO. I can't hang with that.

The leak that Stephen A. Smith might pursue acting is a transparent and unbelievable contract leverage move

There was an article recently about Stephen A.'s new contract and it was like, if they can't figure it out, he may go to politics, he may go late night, or he could get into acting. ... But acting? Because he was on General Hospital a couple episodes? Come on. ... Acting? Come on.

The Denver Nuggets will win the 2025 NBA Championship

I think it's really, really tough to repeat. So I'll just say Nuggets.

The 12-team Playoff expansion will only move the goalposts for ranking arguments without solving them

I just can't wait for the 12, 13, 14 team arguments. Maybe Tulane. And there's gonna be a 14 Colorado, like a team ranked 14th. You're gonna be like, you stink. You haven't beaten anyone. And you won a chance for the national championship. I don't know that the projection of the 12 teams is like... it's not that fucking hard.

The Celtics will beat the Mavericks in the NBA Finals

I like Boston. I'm scared to death of Luca... but I feel like Boston has the two versus the one... their primary lineup of Pingus back is going to be five people that you have to worry about.

Kristaps Porzingis is the most important player for the Celtics in the Finals

Pingus really does feel like the most important player... matchup wise, changing what Dallas has done and making their bigs do something they haven't done before, not that they're incapable of doing it, but pulling that rim protection away, he feels the most important for me.

Buying a boat with the intention of recouping costs through charters is a scam

When I bought it originally I was told if I put it in the charter that I was gonna recoup a lot of the money back. And I already knew it was bullshit when it was happening. The projections and then the revenue—I don't even know if we hit 10% of the projections.

Kyrie Irving is one of the most skilled yet disappointing players in NBA history

When people start coming at you with like, he's the most talented player of all time, it's like, okay, so then you're admitting that he's one of the most disappointing players ever... for multiple seasons that the guy looked like he didn't really even care about playing basketball anymore.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a better basketball player than Jayson Tatum

I'm not gonna start putting [Tatum] ahead of Giannis and SGA. It'll be interesting to see how far somebody goes with it. I think [putting him ahead of SGA] would be wrong. Even if [Tatum] wins it.

Joel Embiid is no longer a top-five NBA player

That fifth spot is not reserved for Embiid for me anymore in the way that it was prior to this season. I mean, at some point man, at some point... I'm sick of seeing playoff games where I need him to figure out a way to unlock the possession and get him into his stuff on his own in a way that I don't think he's capable of doing the way other guys are.

Strength is a choice

I just, you know what I did towards the end [of my bench press] I was struggling and I went 'choose to be strong.' I was like, 'Wait, how many more do you have?' I go, 'Hey, why don't you just choose to be strong?' Mind over matter.

James Harden winning a title as a third option doesn't invalidate a decade of criticism against him

Does it mean I was wrong about Harden for 10 years if he wins it this year? No... he's the third option now. So I'm still in the clear for a decade worth of takes... If somebody can play bad on purpose to get their way, like what are you gonna be like in a really tight spot in the playoffs?

The Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, and OKC Thunder are not true title contenders due to their lack of a proven shot-clock scorer or youth

I don't think they're gonna be sitting there with a trophy at the end of this whole thing... I'm not gonna trust [Minnesota's] offense late in the playoff series... History tells you the youth part of [OKC] would be an absurd aberration historically for them to win an NBA title.

LeBron James no longer does the little things like boxing out or transition defense

LeBron is the best player I've ever seen... But he doesn't do the little things that I think are really important in basketball anymore. He doesn't do those things anymore... you lose your guy boxing out all the time. You don't get back in transition. You lose guys on these baseline cuts.

The NBA offensive explosion is caused by rules and officiating that make it impossible to play defense

I don't know what the defense is supposed to do anymore... The foul number isn't the really thing to look at. I think it's defenses are scared to death to even be in compromised positions because guys just fucking run into everybody now. You just adding it all up... the offensive player has never had this many advantages.

The Boston Celtics are the NBA championship favorites if Kristaps Porzingis remains healthy

Boston... if Pingus is healthy, they have probably, they're probably still the favorite... Their one through rate is ridiculous.

The heliocentric style of offense led by Luka Doncic is difficult to win with in the playoffs

The history of the heliocentric offenses are really bad in the playoffs. You basically had one NBA finals guy for a top 20 usage rate in the NBA history... It sucks watching somebody else have the ball all the time... whenever they shut off your drive in the playoffs, now I have to shoot.