Revisiting Brandon's 26 Statements Made with Extreme Confidence

0:00So Ben a while, Brandon, you ready for basketball to start again? I am ready for basketball to start again. I've caught up on all the shows I could possibly catch up on. I've watched a ton of movies. I've got all my fantasy football teams set speaking of football. Unfortunately, we're both OU fans. So I think that we're both especially looking forward to thunder season, and basketball season this season earlier, even so than usual. Yeah, that's right. Looking into the college football season, I was cautiously optimistic about OU football.

1:02But yeah, they can't score. So it's been kind of rough watching them. And I know the thunder can put points on the board. Did I lose you? Oh, OK, I'm back now. It might be because Misty is also on a Zoom call right now for work. I don't know if that's like, I have no idea if that would affect things or not. But I'm back. OK, well, the last thing I said you can react to it was that it's rough because OU can't score. But I know the thunder can put points on the board. They can. And what's great about the thunder is not only can they put points on the board, unlike OU, they can also stop other teams from putting points on the board. There are two way team, a team that you don't have to worry about the offense. You don't have to worry about the defense. It's it's a complete shift. I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan. I'm an OU Sooners football fan. So like shifting from like the Cowboys where I had to worry about the defense.

2:02And the Sooners where I had to worry about the offense. I can watch the thunder and like, hey, they're going to score and they're going to stop the other team from scoring. This is great. Welcome back to the Daily Thunder podcast. I'm John Napier, publisher of Daily Thunder and I'll be your host today. Alongside me is Daily Thunder beat writer Brandon Brebar. Brandon, we haven't recorded in a very long time. We are long overdue. But I hope that this podcast is worth the wait. How you been? I've been great. I've enjoyed the off season. But I am very much ready for basketball season to start again as well. Well, before we like dive into thinking about next season and we'll touch on some points here and there that might impact this upcoming season for the thunder. We are long overdue to look back at the 26 statements that you made with extreme confidence. And so that is what we're really going to focus our discussion on today.

3:05But before we do that, had you have you looked back at your 26 statements? Do you feel really good about how you did? So I'll preface this by saying I purposely did not look because I wanted to be surprised by whatever results you're going to tell me. So I wanted to be genuine on this podcast. So whatever I hear will be a surprise. I will say I don't remember if we ever did the previous seasons recap. But I know I nailed that season. So I would just like to put out there into the universe. However, terribly I may have done on this episode recapping last year. The previous year, the championship year, I kind of nailed it. So I just like that on record before I probably loved this one big time. I think we did record a pod and we had to bow down because you did an excellent job. So okay, everybody just go back and listen to that one again after this one. But of course, after that one expectations were high that you were going to meet that again.

4:06Because you predicted this by I recall you predicted the Thunder would win a championship in the that set of predictions that ended up being true. So yeah, high hopes coming into your 2526 predictions. And let's just jump right into it because I think that's what the podcast fans have been clamoring for is to see how you did. And we'll start with an easy one you put that the Thunder would win opening night first the rockets. Hey, the Thunder one opening night against the rockets. But if you can remember that game and however many over times it went to. I got the Thunder started on this overtime streak to start the season. So it was a little more difficult to get that first W then maybe you were predicting. Yeah, it was the big ring ceremony night and Kevin Durant was in town. So it was kind of like the perfect storyline the Thunder get their first championship ring and unveil the banner and front of KD.

5:07But yeah, I remember that went into double over time and then the very next game. The rematch with the Pacers in Indiana went into double over time. Thunder did go to know you're not that two game stretch though a double OT. All right, so you're one for one so far. Let's go on to the next one. Number two, Shay Guildis Alexander will repeat as NBA MVP. And okay, I got to say it. Yes, I'm pretty excited about this one. I don't know how things are going to go from here. But I'm excited about this one because coming into last season. You know, most people thought that he wouldn't repeat because you know one. It's very hard to repeat. You know, only you know the legends of the game have repeated as MVP's. And I know everybody is looking at like win B. You know, Yoke, which is always a popular pick. You had Luca with the Lakers this time around. And you know, people don't want to give it to MVP winners back to back. I just felt like this dude improves every single season.

6:08Shay comes back every season even stronger. So I'm happy about that when stop the count. And it was a pretty decisive win for Shay as well. So all right, two for two. Well, number three, Jaylin Williams repeats on the all NBA team. I'm going to give you an eye for this and incomplete because it's not really fair to judge your prediction because of J.D.E.B.S. injuries last season. Yeah. And I will say I'm glad this was next because I think like going for whatever predictions I made. The J.D.E.B. injuries last year really kind of through everything out of whack. Like whatever, you know, predictions I made in the playoffs or whatever not having J.D.E.B. obviously hurt his all NBA chances unfortunately. But I think kind of through everything out of whack as we saw in the playoffs, especially against that spurs Western conference final series last year.

7:13So I'm not going to count that one against you. We'll still keep you at two for two and we'll discard this one. So the next one, Chet makes the all star team. That was your prediction. But you also threw in that he would make all defense and maybe even sneaks in all NBA. How do you feel you did on that one? I he made all three. Yeah, great. Yes. Okay. So Chet, you know, he had had any of those accolades yet. But I just felt like he had the talent. I knew he had the talent through all this. He just needed to say healthy to be eligible. And you know, I knew Thunder were coming off a championship season. They had that bump and they'd be dominant again. I just knew that I've always felt that, you know, Chet and J.D.E.B. have kind of been two A to B and it was kind of funny like the symmetry of the year before. Chet got hurt for a lot of the season and J.D.E.B. made all star all NBA all defense. And weirdly last season, J.D.E.B. was injured for a large part of the season. And Chet made all star all NBA and all defense.

8:15All right. Three for three. Let's go on to the next one. More individual accolades that you predicted. This one is Lou Dork will repeat as first team all defense. Wamp-wamp. Okay. So I I whipped on that one. You know, it was kind of a strange Lou Dork season in that, you know, obviously the thing that stands out is that is three point shooting fell off. And I think just because it's three point shooting fell off. It kind of affects how you view a player overall, you know, when their offense isn't quite as good. And so like in his defense wasn't as good as it was the year before. And then of course, K.S.N. took on a bigger role and he was excellent. And he kind of took that spot. Second team all NBA all defense. And then Chet of course made first team all defense. So Dork got squeezed out. You know, he wasn't quite as strong on that. And I think it was still quite strong. But yep, I whipped on that one.

9:15And this will likely be the last Lou Dork or could be the last Lou Dork prediction that you have in this column. Um. A bummer. Yeah. So three for four. All right. Still doing pretty good. 75%. Um. Next one. Isaiah Hartenstein will make a three pointer. Another Wamp-wamp. Oh no. I'm going to keep making that prediction though. Because it's eventually, it's eventually going to come true. Spoiler. When I write this article this year, I am 100% going to put Isaiah Hartenstein is going to make his first three this year. I love it. I love it. All right. Next one. AJ Mitchell will be the thunder breakout player of the year. How would you grade yourself on this one? Oh, I think that that, I think that counts. I think he was. I think, you know, obviously had AJ not had the injuries. I think he would have been six man of the year. Um, and before he got hurt the first time, he was on that trajectory.

10:17I mean, people were talking six man of the year. People were talking most improved player of the year. Um. And I think like now that we're looking back like all the the player rankings for this upcoming season are coming up. Like AJ Mitchell is firmly in every single like whether it's ESPN, Hoops Hype, the ring or whatever. He's a top 100 player now by all those metrics. And that wouldn't have happened without his breakout last year. So I think that he was even despite the injuries. Yeah. I'm giving you a check mark on this one. AJ Mitchell was absolutely clutch for the thunder last year and arguably one of the four or five best players on the team are most important players on the team. So I would definitely consider him a breakout. This next one, you, he's going to make me a little bit sad. Um, and it is Isaiah Joe shoots over 40% from three. Not sad because you didn't get it right because you did. But again, we won't have an Isaiah Joe prediction in next year's column. Yeah. That is a bummer. One of my favorite players, uh, you know, he's kind of my, my NBA comp, uh, as far as,

11:25uh, I'd like to think so. I'm not saying that. He plays defense, Brandon. Yeah. That's true. That's right. And he does. Okay. Never mind. He is not my NBA. I just love shooters. Uh, like when I play pickup, I just shoot and Isaiah Joe just shoots. Uh, and I love it. Um, he is, uh, I think the, the thunder's greatest, you know, sharp shooter in their, in their history. Uh, Jeremy Kane is, is coming up quick. I think if he, he sticks around for a while, he'll, he'll be in the conversation. Uh, but yeah, he's, he was so consistent. He's got like 41% from three. Every single season for the thunder actually last year, he had his best season though. Uh, did he, did he creep up 42? I think 42% yeah, 42%. 42%. So he actually went out on a high. Next one. Um, I gotta mark that when you got that one right. I'm keeping it tally here. The next one is that the thunder will have three all defense selections. And if you had to pick the three, you went with short, just a tip, chat, dorked and jada.

12:26Well, uh, the thunder did not have three all defense elections that they had two, but you only got one of the selections right. Yeah, that was a whiff. Uh, I, I still think though had jada state healthy. Maybe they would have got three, I think his versatility and the fact that he's an all star all NBA player, you know, maybe they would have had shed and case and in jada. Who knows? Maybe it would have squeezed case now or maybe jada. Wouldn't have made it. Um, and obviously, you know, I thought that door was going to make it. But I think the overall point stands that the, the thunder have just a plethora and embarrassment or riches of defenders and they did get to so two out of 10, uh, you know, representatives from the NBA being thunder players is, is still impressive. It is still impressive. But, you know, and I'm thinking about giving you an incomplete for that one because of the dub's inter injury, but I'm probably marking that in the wrong column. Sorry. Fair enough.

13:27Um, number 10 Brooks barn hyzer will be awarded the O KC annual two way contract to a standard contract deal. Missed it. Missed it. You know, coming into the season, he had a really strong, um, training camp and preseason and summer, summer league and, you know, they used a second round pick on him and the thunder of like kind of traditionally awarded one of those two way guys with a standard contract. Um, and it just didn't work out, uh, for Brooks, but he is back so far this year as a two way player. So maybe he'll get another shot at it this year and, and right now they do have an open spot, the 15 spot. I, I would guess right now, Otega, O way has, you know, kind of the, uh, upper hand as far as possibly snagging that or maybe an outside player that's not on the team yet. You also put in the narrative that barn hyzer would lead the league in steals per 36. He was not the league leader. Um, he was 1.14 per 36 in his for context.

14:28Case in Wallace was about 2.6 steals per 36. Uh, I was on that that Brooksy, similarly high. Yeah. You definitely were. All right. Uh, number 11. Five favorite player, Jaylin Williams, Jay will leads in triple doubles and charges taken. This is a tough one on the charge aside because I couldn't find the stat on that, but unofficially he probably was the team leader in charges taken, but he did not lead the thunder in triple doubles this season. That's right. That's right. He did not. Um, and I will say, um, he did, he did get a chance to, to expand his team. He did his role play more minutes. I think that his overall game improved certainly his three point shooting. I think he improved as a defender. Uh, but yeah, I whipped on that one, but but still really, really glad to see Jay will his improvement last season. Yeah.

15:28He really did have a great season. Um, number 12. Alex Caruso will be the default starter when starters are out. Uh, by my count, maybe you can double check my math here. I have zero starts for case in or the case in for. Caruso this season, plus season. Yeah. They are just not using him in that role. And that's something I absolutely know going for. They're not going to start Caruso like case in ended up becoming that default starter, um, you know, AJ Mitchell got a lot of starts. And there were plenty of opportunities. Unfortunately with all the thunder injuries to give Caruso a start, but they very much, um, like bringing him off of the bench as, as an energy boost. And that's just his role. Like that's going to be his role. I don't think we'll ever see a start from Caruso actually. So I've completely flipped on that thought. Well, this next one, you had some control over whether this happened. The number 13 was that you were going to get a pair of Shay's signature shoes.

16:31And I can't confirm you did. I did. I wanted those and, and, uh, you know, it happened. So that's actually the prediction I'm happiest about. Those are great shoes, by the way. Uh, I do not work for, for Converter or Nike. I will not get any sort of kick back for this. Um, but I can confirm that they are great hoop shoes to play in. They're comfortable. They're lightweight. They're sturdy. Great traction. Uh, they look great. Yeah. Very happy with my Shay's. Well, right now you're sitting at 50, 50, um, and this next one, I'm struggling how to grade it, but I think I'm going to give you a check mark for this one. But your prediction was, Usman, Jang will play more games than you think he will. And what I'm going to say is he, he did. And a lot of those work with Milwaukee. Ha, ha, ha, yeah. That's a good point. That's a good point. Yeah, I just felt like, you know, Mark finds minutes for their players. Us was still very young.

17:32Um, you know, there's lots of back to backs. There's lots of opportunities to be had. I think that, you know, most people just thought that Us was completely going to be out of the rotation. Um, so that was kind of the, you know, how I came up with that prediction. I just like, they're going to find minutes for Us. They still want to see what they have. They spent, you know, the number 11 overall pick on him. He was still young. And I think he still flash some, but very happy for Us that he got an opportunity, uh, with the books. All right, checkmark on that one though. Number 15, the Thunder will get one 2026 late lottery pick. So the Thunder did, I'd say you got this one right. Yeah. Yeah, they did. They got the a dimara pick. Uh, so yeah, that's, uh, that ended up coming true. Um, you know, they had opportunities, um, you know, with all these first round picks that they have. And every year kind of going into the season, I think that every Thunder fans like,

18:32okay, so what, what other teams picks do the Thunder own and could those possibly be a lottery pick? Could they be a top 10 pick? Like what's the upside here? So I felt like what their chances last year, that, that one of those, uh, picks would convert to it to a lottery pick. And, you know, 12 just seems to be their spot. Yeah, I think there was some real hope that the lottery might, uh, finally swing in the Thunder's favor and it might end up, you know, mid to high lottery, but it ended up being late lottery. And the, uh, Thunder just get to see how a dimara works out. Um, all right. Number 16, I'll let you decide whether you got this one right or wrong, but Mark Diagnol will say one of 82 82 times. Uh, that's one of those predictions where I just kind of setting myself up for failure, just because I want to get the joke off. Um, I would give myself an incomplete, I will say it was still like a very standard, you know, saying that he is, I don't know if he said it 82 times, uh, but I still like

19:36my joke. Cause you really went in, you said exactly 82 times right, right exactly. Yeah. Uh, and I, I can't really say that he did, but you know, it was the very much the, the one of 82, the stacking days, uh, those are still all, you know, standard Mark isms last year. Number 17, the Thunder will not trade for an impact rotational player at the trade deadline. Uh, I'm going to say they got an impact rotational player around the deadline. I am happy to have whipped on this one. Yeah, Jeremy Kane absolutely. And when that trade came across when I got the, the shoms notification, uh, I was like, wow, like I was very high on Jeremy Kane coming into that draft. And then he had that great rookie season before he ended up having to, you know, miss the rest of the season due to injury. And you know, he was, he was kind of working back from a couple of injuries last year when

20:36the Thunder Trader for him. I was like, but it fits like he's young, he fits the culture, shooting is always a need. I thought it was a really exciting and underrated move like, you know, with all the trades last year, you could argue that ended up being the most impactful playoff move that like a contender made last year. Uh, and he's a piece going forward. He's a young rotational piece, high upside, very exciting. So very happy to have missed on that one. Agreed. That's a good miss. Number 18, Nick Gallo lands a bedbath and beyond deal. You put it in there. So I'm going to have to mark that is wrong, but I love the hustle. Yeah. Again, just trying to get my jokes off. Uh, you know, he's always getting wrapped in those towels. I will say though, I'm not arguing that I should get the point. He did land an AT&T commercial. So he did land a national commercial last year.

21:37It just wasn't that bad. Bath and beyond. Hey, that's a great point. You're still wrong. But, you know, props to to Gallo and the way that the team has, has kind of made him famous. Yeah, it's awesome. I love it. And he deserves it. He's great. Number 19, Topic will cause NBA reporters to tweet something along the lines of this is why he was a projected top five pick. Um, I would say I probably miss that. And you know what? I do think that his G leak performances, you know, obviously, you know, when I wrote that, I didn't know that, you know, he was going to be diagnosed with a test, a particular cancer and had to go through the three ballots of chemotherapy. And I just would like to say I think that the, the Colatopitch, uh, story, like of his resiliency and strength and, and will to come back and play was incredible last year. I think it was actually one of the best, uh, NBA stories of the year. Um, so when I wrote that, you know, I thought that he would get more play time

22:41in more minutes and I didn't know he'd be coming back from that. But I will say when he was playing in those G le games, I think all those like see, this is why, you know, because he flashed that playmaking, the driving to the rim. Yeah, he was shooting well from three. And I think he played very well and pop. So I don't know what I give myself on that one. Um, but, but I was just happy to see Topic come back and he did flash that talent that, that all the draft analysts saw in him coming into that draft. Yeah. And I don't know if it was exactly the, those terms, but even when he came back, there was some flashes where, you know, he made a pretty remarkable pass and you'd hear the commentary, make a statement about, yeah, this is why the thunder drafted him. Why they're so high on him because he's just such an incredible playmaker and talent. And who knows how this season would have gone if he wasn't derailed, um, with the, with the cancer. So I'll give you credit for this in part because the Topic story is a great one.

23:41And in part because I still believe he has that potential agreed. Absolutely. Still rooting hard for Topic and he definitely has the talent. Number 20, uh, Chet versus Wimby will hit an all time fever pitch as the two finish one, two in defensive player of the year and blocks. So, uh, I think home grind did finish in second in DPO. Why? Yep. Um, and I think home grind tied for second in blocks behind Wimby. I think so. I think so. This might be my favorite prediction. And it did reach in an all time high. Obviously, you know, Wimby was, uh, you know, defensive player of the year and, and, you know, first of blocks, Chet, like you said, tied for second of blocks and was second defensive player of the year, but also, you know, because the thunder and spurs absolutely took over as the biggest, the best rivalry in the game and they played like 14 times in the regular season and then played in

24:42the Western conference finals. Uh, you know, Chet versus Wimby definitely went to an all time high. Unfortunately, there's been some, you know, residuals ever since that game seven, um, of Chet versus Wimby, uh, as far as like hot takes and storylines and narratives and people have forgotten how dominant Chet was, um, you know, throughout the regular season and play us besides that one matchup. Uh, I expect a big bounce back as far as that goes from Chet this season. Yeah, and it clarified on the blocks. It was blocks per game. Total blocks, Chet was not number two, but Chet played fewer games. Um, and you're right. I mean, I think the fever pitch really hit an apex in the playoffs and, unfortunately, it was mostly, um, glazing Wimby, uh, Chet's expense. Yeah. Number 21, um, SGA will lead NBA in social media in super slow, mo viral clips on free throw calls.

25:43This is, I think this is a clear win. You got this one right. Uh, every, every, every foul call that SGA drew got the full Zaputo film treatment. Because that is the perfect way of saying it. Yes. Um, yeah, this actually is probably my favorite prediction because of how unfortunately true it was. Like it was even worse than I anticipated. Uh, you know, it was bad this season before and I knew that, you know, coming off of a championship and coming off of an MVP and finals MVP, like, you know, the Twitter and an Instagram and social media, uh, you know, all the, all the clips would, would reach an all time high. The pettiness of like other fan bases and their disgust of the thunder and shea and, and him beating their teams would reach an all time high. Uh, but it was even worse than I anticipated. Unfortunately. Well, and I'm not looking forward to more of that this coming season,

26:45but you know, it's going to be a thing. Um, number 22, case and Wallace will have the shot of the year. I don't know how to grade you on this one, but if you are, you were, you, made this prediction because in a preseason game, Wallace had that insane behind the backboard shots. He did not duplicate any kind of heroic shot last season as far as I remember. Yeah. So, uh, I think the basis was like, that's the shot of the year and the, the year hasn't even started yet. And I, as soon as you read the prediction, I remembered exactly the shot. So like it, it stood out to me that much and a preseason game. It was incredible. That shot was just like nuts. Uh, you know, obviously the NBA had tons of great shots last year, but I will say off the top of my head, I'm not thinking of any like, like I thought of that case and shot when you're at it. So I guess, yeah. Well, now that I look at your full narrative, you, you said it already happened. So I guess you were getting a prediction right because you've already seen it.

27:48I, you know, it's not a prediction. So I'm going to mark that one as incomplete. Um, yeah, sure. Number 23, the Thunder will win 60 games. They won more than 60. So that's a, that's a win. You got to write. Yeah. So, you know, it's so hard to win 60 games in the NBA. The, the Katie Russell Westbrook era. They only did it once and they won exactly 60. And so I thought it was, you know, tough to see a team going back to back 60 plus wins. But I thought this Thunder team would break that mold and be one of the rare teams that wins 60 back to back and spoil alert. I might go three for three and say that they do it a third time. Although it's very, very tough to go three for three 60 plus wins. So I haven't decided yet if I'm going to go with that this year or not yet. Number 24, this is a tough one. The Western conference finals will be the real NBA finals. And on top of that, I think you predicted it would be OK, C and Genver.

28:51And the Western conference finals. This one, you, you whiffed on one, OK, C and Genver were not in the Western conference finals. And I guess arguably we're not the two best teams in the league. And the winner of the Western conference finals, the Spurs were not the NBA champions. Yeah. So I whiffed on that one. Good to see OK, see, make it back to the Western conference finals. I knew the Spurs were coming. I didn't anticipate when I wrote that last year that they were going to be there so quickly. And yeah, because the next beat him, it was not the real. And what's funny is even going into the Western conference finals last year, Thunder versus Spurs, I think everybody assumed that was the real NBA finals. So that's where we line was kind of still there. It was just the Spurs instead of the nuggets, but, but the next proved that wrong. Well, back to back, very painful predictions. Number 25, the Thunder will beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA finals and repeat as champion.

29:54Caves. That is right. What? Are you sure that's not a mispray or a typo? It was your typo. I live in the typo. And if you made a typo of Cleveland Cavaliers, you had to make a typo with a bunch of letters in a row. I know that they had had a great regular season, the season before, but I'm surprised after the playoffs last year that I ended up going with the calves. Obviously, you know, the Thunder, the J-Deb and AJ Mitchell, I would argue like the two way best player on the team. And I'd say probably the fourth best player and AJ on the team completely through the NBA finals out of whack. I still think that the Thunder being just a couple of plays from going back to back to the NBA finals without J-Deb and AJ. It's just like ridiculous and kind of shows I think that they were still the best team had they been healthy, but it didn't play out that way. But the calves, oh my gosh, what was I doing?

30:54And the last one, number 26, this one mixed me sad to Aaron Wiggins gives an epic championship speech sequel. Man. Yeah. Obviously, whipped on that one, but I am glad that that we're ending on the note where we're reflecting on Aaron Wiggins championship speech because that's still like a Mount Rushmore thunder fan moment. So at least it's a good moment to reflect on even if I withed. Yes. And we wish Aaron Wiggins well in Atlanta, but we will always have that speech. Absolutely. Well, your final tally is you got 12 right, 11 wrong and I gave you three incompletes. Oh, so I had a I had a overall positive record. Yeah, I mean over 550 55% to round up.

31:56So if I'm grading you on a test, you failed, but hey, if you made bets on all is across the board, you'd be ahead in your money. That's oh, that's true. Oh, man, 55% I'm trying to think of like a team that went 55% last year. So I'd probably be like, I don't know like the the trailblazers or something from last year. They just eaked out right over over 500. I'll take a I'll take a trailblazer season. I too, too, Monty Camara that I'll take it. Well, we've done a good job of setting the stage of this upcoming seasons predictions. I think you've already locked in where you're going to go with some of them. But I for one cannot see cannot wait to see what your NBA finals prediction is going to be. Yeah, I will say this is not going to be the calves. It's going to be the Hawks maybe and pick it up. Oh, maybe the Hawks, they did get a Lutorn Aaron Wiggins. I can if I went that way, I could end it with another Aaron Wiggins championship speech prediction.

33:02Oh, no, that wouldn't be good. It's epic speech for the Hawks. Right. Yeah, I don't want to spoil anything. I think that the clear two best teams in the NBA are the Thunder Spurs and I'll probably repeat my whole. That's the real NBA finals, but swap out the Spurs for the nuggets. I think that the East is wide open. I do have I do have a pick from the East though and it's not going to be the Knicks. So yeah, that's going to be fun to come up with. But it will be either the Thunder Spurs as my pick from the from the West, but I won't say who yet. Well, you know, this was fun. This is a good way to I think set the stage as I mentioned for this upcoming season. Revisit last season and you know, a good way to kickstart the podcast season up again. So this was fun. You know, we're going to talk about maybe a few random Thunder notes from the around the league to stay current.

34:06But I'll say good job, Brandon, on these predictions. Thank you. I appreciate that was funding to go through and I appreciate those incomplete. That you gave me to to save me from an under 500 record. I know. That's what I'm looking out for you. I appreciate that. What I really want to talk about is at least next is the whole Clippers, Kauai drama. One, how do you feel about the penalty that the Clippers got? And do you think that Kauai got off easy? Or do you think he got what he deserved? So I think that the Clippers punishment to the crime. I think that, you know, so many people thought that they were just going to get a slap on the wrist. And that, you know, maybe they'd have like a couple of second round picks taken away and maybe like a small fine. And nobody would be suspended. They lay down the hammer and they should because this is, you know, messing with the competitive balance. This is cheating. It's the salary cap. So I can mention like it's a serious offense.

35:08And if you don't take it seriously, then, you know, how our teams and front offices and owners are supposed to take the rules seriously. Like it's the integrity of the league. So, you know, five first round picks and suspending, you know, Balmer and the front office, you know, players for a year. That's real. $30 million. I know that's like a few cents to you and me as far as like Steve Balmer is concerned, but it's still $30 million. And that's still a significant fine. So I think that it was appropriate. I think it was a real serious punishment and not a slap on the wrist. And I applaud the NBA for that. I do think that who I got off pretty easy. You know, $700,000 when, you know, he made a lot more than that under the table, but, you know, they're going to, they're going to put the fault first and foremost on the organizations.

36:10And that makes sense. Quite gets to go to the landing spot that he wanted to go to and he gets to play. He doesn't get suspended or a contract boyded or any of that. You know, Uncle Dennis no longer going to be affiliated with, with quite or the NBA, but I think to wrap a bow on it. Ultimately, from a Thunder perspective, this kind of worked out perfectly as far as the first round pick swap rights that the Thunder half or next season, because I think that they're going to thread the needle record wise of not being a bottom three team because they do have Daria Scarlin and Brandon Ingram and Keaton Wogler, they're rookie. They should be just good enough to stay out of that bottom three and with the new lottery odds that were reformed. You don't want to be bottom three as far as like increasing your chances. But they're also not going to be good enough to even sniff the play in. And so for the Thunder, they're going to be in that sweet spot where they should finish, I don't know, between like four and eight as far as like the worst team in the NBA.

37:14And that is chef's kiss as far as those first round pick swap rights go for the Thunder. Yeah, it's a great point about the new lottery reform. So yeah, from a Thunder perspective, it worked out the joke too is that the Clippers gave up all the things they gave up to get Paul George. And then they added on all these other picks that the Clippers had to forfeit as a part of the Kauai penalty because the whole concept of why the Clippers over overpaid to get Paul George was because it was a package deal right they were going to get Paul George and Kauai Leonard out of the transaction. So pretty, pretty rough for the Clippers, good for the Thunder. And I would agree that you know, Kauai got off with with what amounts to a slap on the wrist. And I guess my commentary on that is you have to evaluate how you want to penalize and deter actions like this. And it seems like the NBA is only interested in deterring the teams from doing this. Not from deterring players from trying to do this.

38:16Right. Exactly. And I think ultimately, you know, the team, the organization, you know, it makes sense to me. I will say that like I, you know, it wasn't slap on the wrist, but I think ultimately the responsibility first and foremost should be on the team in the organization. So I get it. I just like that the NBA was like, okay, how can we really, really punish the Clippers? We got to lay the hammer down. What can we do? I know, let's just run back the SGA trade. And let's just, that was like the worst thing that could happen to him. Let's do it again. Let's take away five first round picks. You know, so it's kind of like that was the worst punishment they could think of is like, let's do that SGA deal again to him. I think I think we should hit on is a case in Wallace. And I think he's going to be going to October deadline to extend the case in. What do you, what do you think is going to happen there? I think you will get extended, you know, obviously.

39:19I think that Thunder fans would have liked to see it happen by now, but I think that. Case in is in the Thunder's long term plans. I think I think he's going to become the new starter. And I think he's going to take a ludoric spot. I know it could be AJ Mitchell. I completely understand that vision, but they've always started like a, an all defensive caliber player in that two spot. And I think case and takes that spot. For a while, Wendy was the only player from the 2023 draft class that it extended. Then I'm in Thompson did and then, you know, a few days ago, we finally saw a sore Thompson and Kianti George extend. So I feel like the case and one is probably coming soon. I could be wrong. I could be wrong. But I think it's coming. Well, and the a sort of Thompson and Kianti George contracts were, we're big, but really big. Do you think those have any influence on where case in mainland? It's so odd because on one hand, I think you can make the argument that case in his better player than Kianti George and a sort of Thompson.

40:22But Kianti George is like, he average like 24 points a game last year and a ton of assists. He was kind of like the jazz's offensive engine and those guys get paid when you score like that. And then a sore Thompson. You know, he his raw numbers are higher than cases. And he made first him all the offense. He finished third and defensive player the year voting. Whereas, you know, case and has this high impact on winning, but he doesn't have the raw numbers that those two guys have. And he doesn't quite have the accolades that a sore has. So on one hand, I think you could say, well, he deserves the money that they're getting because he's just. The equal player that they are or better, but then on the other hand, he doesn't have the numbers and, you know, double digit numbers are rewarded. And he has an average double digits. So I'm not quite sure where he will land. Well, there's a few weeks until that deadline expires. I think it's the 19th of October. So we'll keep an eye out for what happens with case in and a potential extension there.

41:29And if so, where that one lands to close, as we noted at the top, the season is actually right around the corner training camp is right around the corner. Sam Prestee has his preseason media availability tomorrow. We're recording this on on Wednesday, September 23rd media day is on Monday. And the first preseason game is October 6. It's time. I'm excited. I'm excited to get it going. Like it's it's felt like a long off season. And like we open with, you know, as an OU Sooners and Dallas Cowboys football fan, I'm excited to see this thunder team in action. And as a Sooners fan, I'm excited as well as a San Francisco 49er fan. I still got some NFL watching to do, especially after the the Niners took care of the Rams in the first game, trouts the Rams, who everybody was very high on coming into the season. And then the Niners just destroyed the hapless dolphins. So, you know, I've got some optimism and football season. But really, I'm here to basketball.

42:41Yes, congrats on your 49ers. It's hard for me to say they look good so far this season. That's all I got to say. Well, we'll close though with a bit of a public service announcement announcement. And that is how do you watch the thunder this upcoming season because fan dual is no more. And the team did announce that they will be directly selling a package where you can watch all their games online in the Oklahoma City Thunder market, which is Oklahoma Kansas Arkansas, Missouri and Nebraska. And you can also watch it on traditional TV if you have a Cox direct TV subscription on KSBI at Oklahoma City and KQCW in Tulsa. So pretty much the same as last year when you had an online fan dual subscription to watch the games.

43:41And on TV and they're going to do 10 free over the air games and the Thunder have 15 national exclusive games, which are not included in the package. So looks like for road games, I may be getting myself this thunder streaming subscription. And I think it's a really good deal. Honestly, I think that it's it's better than what they've had in the past. And I think they're doing a good job of trying to, you know, cover all bases and I think the Thunder Plus thing, you know, basically, there's like a deal you can get right now and, you know, ends up being like a buck 50 per game. And you'll be able to watch all the games. But like you said, if you had direct TV or Cox, you'll be able to watch all the games. There's those national exclusive games, the Thunder can be all over TV this year. But basically, if you want to recap, just go to like, OK, see Thunder slash watch and it has all the options there for Thunder Plus and how you can watch the Thunder games.

44:42Well, that was a good plug. That was completely on the spot too. It sounds like you work for the team. Yeah, yeah, there's a who else did I plug earlier this show? Oh, Nike converse. Yeah, for the Shays. And now, you know, I just I do think it's a good deal. I know that when it was announced, there was some confusion. There was some grumbling and I understand like, you know, because, you know, the whole streaming TV thing, it's it's kind of it's it's this whole other thing. It's like this whole big thing. But, you know, I I also understand from the team's perspective, they're trying to find the best way to navigate this whole new world of streaming and cable and and all those things and they're dealing with like, OK, well, you can't play all the national games. Then yeah, I mean, it's just like a whole big old complicated thing. And I think the team trying to do their best to get it back. Good job there for the fans. I think it's actually right now $100 for the whole season and you have a week to the pounds on that. So that's on my to do list. Honestly, $100 to watch arguably the best team in the NBA, the back to back MVP winner.

45:54Check home, grand all defense all NBA all star player, Jalen Williams, hopefully back and fully healthy. What a steal. Yeah, yeah, it's it's a great deal. Honestly, and we break it down like I said, it ends up being like a buck 50 per game. I mean, that's that's a really, really good deal. Brandon again, good to be back and I cannot wait until we start watching some actual basketball and get to talk some actual basketball, but it was fun to get back on the mic with you. And I think, you know, people are going to enjoy this episode to see how you had to kind of live with your predictions. There was fun to go through predictions. It was fun to be over 500 with with the little assistance from from John on the scorekeeping. I got like the Jalen Jackson junior treatment. I appreciate that and it's good to be back.