Ryen Russillo

Russell Westbrook's style of play keeps a franchise hostage

The style of play [Westbrook] has kept your franchise hostage. And for the most part, you weren't going to win. And now we've watched this two years in a row. You're lying to yourself if you see the same approach in Game 6 and go, 'yeah, this will work.' One team has a guy that runs isolation, the team passes it the least of any team in the NBA. Which team would you rather play? Of course they're going to pick the first team, and that's who their team is.

Cleveland is still a very likely scenario for LeBron James this summer

I have been probably one of the only people that still thinks Cleveland is a very likely scenario here. If anybody is telling you they know that LeBron's already decided that he's going to leave, then they may get it right, but they're guessing right now. As of now, the way I understand it is that Cleveland is very much still in play.

Nobody around the NBA thinks Kawhi Leonard is returning to the Spurs

No one around the league thinks [Kawhi] is coming back. Nobody. And the belief is that, oh, yeah, Kawhi Spurs away, team first, not having any individual brand. They're tired of this stuff. If those are the real things and the real resentment there, then the Spurs thing does sound like it's over.

The Washington Wizards are the softest team in the NBA, even more than the Raptors

I actually think it's the Wizards, and that's why that first-round matchup was so incredible, because they were two teams I don't believe in. ... If you want to doubt the Raptors and doubt their toughness, there's tons of evidence, but the Wizards... they were two teams I don't believe in.

Tyronn Lue is not a very good NBA head coach

You know what's funny? Yeah, I don't know. I don't think [Tyronn Lue] is very good. I'm trying to be nice about it. ... The rotations are still a mess. And they weren't very good in the finals last year either.

The Golden State Warriors are better than the Houston Rockets and will win the series

I still think Golden State is better. I'm not buying into any of the stuff that happened at the end of the season and how they finished. They didn't care. But I'd imagine that they would burn them, you know, the first couple games.

The Boston Celtics have regressed defensively compared to their early-season dominance

I think the Celtics have actually regressed a little bit defensively. Some of that is that it was just a shock that they were clearing away the number one defensive team in the league because I didn't really expect that, especially with the overhaul of young players.

Cleveland is not in 'fourth place' for LeBron James; they have a realistic chance to keep him

If I were rating these things, people act like Cleveland is in fourth place for the LeBron pursuit this offseason, and I just don't believe that's true.

Golden State is still significantly better than any other NBA team, regardless of mid-season momentum from Houston or OKC

As good as Houston's looked against them, as good as OKC looked the other night against them, I just know that there's a version of Golden State that I still trust is better than everybody else... Let's not let 'new' get in the way of what Golden State still is. And Golden State is on year four of maybe the best team we've ever seen in the history of this league.

Harry Giles has the potential to be a late first-round All-Star

I could definitely cheat and say Harry Giles, the freshman at Duke, because he's done the ACL thing twice. He's probably going to go in the 20s... But he was the number one high school recruit by some rankings when he went into Duke... From a talent standpoint, [he] is the most likely one.

Jonathan Isaac is the Tyrus Thomas of the 2017 NBA Draft

If you're giving me that comp, it's probably Jonathan Isaac from Florida State. Because on the high side of things, when you watch him and it's good, he's seven feet... he can shoot from three... when he's right, it is so impressive that you're sitting there and you're going, wait a minute, how come this guy's not going number one?

Dennis Smith Jr. has the talent to be a future Hall of Famer

I think if somebody said, hey, Dennis Smith, a couple years ends up being, I don't know, like Dirk or Paul Pierce, future Hall of Famers... he's skilled enough. It's not like he's lacking the skills to become a really good player.

If the Spurs draft Jonathan Jean, he will be a Hall of Famer

If the Spurs take [Jonathan Jean] 59, book it Hall of Fame.

Luke Kennard will be drafted by the Pistons at pick 12

I don't think [Luke Kennard] gets past Detroit at 12.

Bulls fans think their front office are morons, but they have actually drafted well in stretches

I'm going to remove myself from some of this because I actually think there was a stretch where they drafted really, really well. And now all you Bulls fans are so mad that you think they're just morons from day one.