I don’t think the Kings missing the playoffs last year should be weighed as heavily as it would have in the past. Two seasons ago the Mavs missed the play-in completely and through minor adjustments and better health they made the finals the next season. Not saying the Kings are for sure title contenders I just don’t think dramatic changes need to be made anymore to go from where they are now to the top of the west
@@shanethompson4525 The Mavs didnt make minor adjustments. The roster was almost completely different from the one that missed the playin. They made minor changes at the deadline, but that was after they had overhauled the roster in the offseason.
Hot take: the Miami Heat are their own worst enemy. Ever since Jimmy got there, they have been relying on defying expectations instead of trying to set expectations for themselves. Despite the success they've had over the past 5 seasons, they still have done very little to nothing with their roster to TRULY become contenders, but most of their fans still wanna complain that their team gets '"disrespected" or "discounted." How are we supposed to believe in them when they give people very little reasons to until their backs are against the wall? At some point, that doesn't work anymore.
I was laughed at repeatedly last season when I said the Mavs would outperform the Suns and that they weren't a real contender. Less than a calendar year has passed and this is the discourse around them. It always feels good to be right. The Suns are beyond cooked whether they're healthy or not.
The Suns have an owner who has no understanding of modern team-building. You can't load up on stars on max deals, especially not when one of those "stars" (Beal) is not even a top 25 player and is redundant with one of your other stars. If you are going to pay three guys $50 million each, you'd better make sure the complement each other. A trio like Embiid, PG, and Maxey makes SO much more sense, especially when you consider that Maxey is still only on his second contract and costs $35 million. The Sixers also didn't give up all their assets to assemble the trio. That gives them way more flexibility with filling out the rest of the roster. Don't get me wrong. Even with the Sixers, I'm pretty skeptical. I worry about playoff health and Embiid's performance. But on paper, that's the way to build a modern big three. Complementary skillsets. Not just chasing random big names. The Suns owner torpedoed their entire future in a single offseason.
@@rome8180Not to mention that he only bought the team back in December, I think, and he has already put them in this position. KD and Beal would not be in Phoenix if Ishbia had not forced those trades through.
Hartenstein's contract doesn't have the opportunity to be as bad as Biyombo. The length is only a 2 year with a team option, so even if he is the worst player in basketball, the Thunder can offload him with some 2nds as an expiring contract.
Suns now have -youthful energy with Ryan Dunn and Iso Ighodoro athletic big wings -Resigned Bol Bol -Picked up Monte Morris -Hired Budenholzer -Still have Book, Beal, and KD Right they’re going to miss the playoffs Cone got it
It's doubtful that Dunn and Ighodoro will make the rotation. Re-signing Bol Bol is nice, but he doesn't flip their fortunes. Signing Monte Morris was good, but he's always been a backup more than a starter. Yes, they still have their 3 stars, but they all still play similar styles and have injury concerns. I don't think they'll miss it, either, but I would be cautious.
There's zero chance the league will not get the Lakers into the playoffs just like the last few seasons Lakers will get the most fouls while committing the least. The league literally created the play-in just for Lebron
That is a lie. You're only saying that because he's been in the play-in for the past couple of years. The play-in was created when they went to the bubble, and the Lakers were the top seed in the West at the time. It was created to give the lower seeded teams in the bubble a chance to reach the postseason, hence why you saw teams like the Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, and Suns in there. After seeing the success of the play-in, they decided to keep it. Why would they create the play-in for LeBron in the same year that his team was at the top of the conference? Make that make sense.
I am going to call it now, that 76ers team is a second round exit. We've seen stacked rosters around Joel for years and they have always failed. Someone has to lose.
@@hectorirene763 no one is talking about the knicks issues in size. Mitchell Robinson is pretty good but hes an injury liability. If he is out again their best center is Julius Randle...
I find it ironic how you can say sac isn’t good enough but then also acknowledge injuries could derail anyone’s season in the west…. That’s literally what happened to them. They were fighting for 5-7 until injuries caused them to slide.
bismack biyombo 2.0 is a lil crazy and he could definitely live up to his contract but i could see the argument for it being an overpay because i dont realistically think he individually has any more than like a 5-10% chance of playing so good his contract is gonna look like hes underpaid (not taking into exception the crazy ass contract inflation thats happening year over year now) i also dont think hes gonna play bad but who knows thunder might win a chip in the next 3 years and then literally nothing is an overpay and nothing is a bad trade in the past 5 years because it led to a chip, i still think the celtics with porzingas would smack them around in a 7 game series though lol atleast for the next year or 2 until okc gets a lil more experienced
Hot take: The Hawks have quietly gotten better defensively and the pieces around Trae finally feel like they've started to fit him and Trae still continues to be a one man offensive engine capable of dragging the most mediocre rosters to a top 10 offensive rating since handedly. I wouldn't be surprised if they finished as a top 6 seed in the east surpassing the Play-in in its entirety for what feels like the first time in 3 years I think. Also, Cone, you da GOAT of NBA TH-cam as of current.
the lakers were top title contenders and champions before the Westbrook trade. The Suns were contenders sure, but they were losing in 5 in the second round and have also lost Bridges and Ayton from their finals run in separate trades. That combined with the fact that despite the media claiming otherwise, the signs of aging have very much began to show in Durant's game means that the Suns were very much pretenders (for the 23-24 season) even before the Beal trade.
@@zsomborszigeti6797 yea i agree i never bought into the suns hype when Durant joined the team, adding beal and 0 depth was the icing on the cake to ensure the franchise wont ever make it past the first round if they can manage to even sneak in
I genuinely laughed out loud when he said he expects both the Suns and Lakers to make the playoffs this year. How are the Lakers making the playoffs this year? Unless LeGm becomes god during the rest of off-season there's no way.
Both can easily make it, and I think the Suns have higher potential. Nearly every team in the West can play now, and I think injuries as usual will have a big impact on playoff spots 4-10. The only teams I really think you can count out are Trail Blazers and Jazz.
@@kjjr3270i believe so as well. Booker isn’t the guy. He’s just a flashy jumpshooter. He’s had plenty of times to take the team to the next level and he chokes it. I would trade him and KD and go rebuild.
Hot take: Kings finish top 3 in the west. My reasoning for that is the addition of DeRozan but also the emergence of Keon Ellis, who became a starter after the all-star break and it resulted in them being a top 4 defense in the remainder of the season. Fox led the league in steals and was 2nd in deflections behind Caruso, and is WAY underrated on defense, Keon Ellis is an insane POA defender with a long wingspan that disrupts the entire flow of offenses, and Keegan Murray turned into an elite on ball defender that can fight through screens. Now you have DeRozan over Harrison Barnes, who's equally as bad as DeRozan on defense. HB has really lost a step he's very slow and awful on defense. The Kings are developing really strong perimeter defense to truly protect attacking lanes to the rim because of Sabonis. Yes Sabonis is not a classic rim protector but he's strong af and battles to protect the rim in his own right. Definitely not as bad on defense as he gets flamed for.OKC
If the Grizz rise, one has to fall. I think it's the Lakers, the Kings and Pels are too solid. Definitely not both the Suns and Lakers, but one or the other.
Eh usually when the Lakers have high expectations they underperform but the west is even more stacked Rockets probably taking a leap Memphis will be back, Sacremento got better, Spurs are kinda scary in a play-in tournament, Warriors trying to make big moves and all the lakers did was change their coach so I don't think y'all should have high expectations for this season just enjoy the ride y'all are underdogs this go around.
Yo that’s not a curse that’s a joke of a franchise shooting themselves in the foot. But at least when they lose bad they have a good draft pick…oh wait. 🤣
The Suns didn't even miss the playoffs this year. What makes you think that they will all of a sudden? They have a much better chance of making it than the Lakers.
Lakers need a big trade and push chips all in or just accept that this will be a season that they’d be lucky to make the play in. West is faaaar too stacked for them to have any real chance with a rookie zero experience head coach. But at least they don’t have their own frp too! 🤣
Lakers are idiots seriously we did so well in 2023 and in 2024 but got plagued with no luck. The fact we made no moves and never got a center is so horrible
The best move they made was signing Monte Morris. Solid player, but that ain't much. He's been a backup PG for most of his career up to now; let's see how he does as a starter.
That a very bad take. 13th means only 2 teams are worse than them. I'm pretty sure the warriors will be better than the blazers, lakers, clippers, and the jazz.
Lakers gonna miss cause…health, building around old man, zero experience rookie coach, very mid roster. Not even sure a trade could help em at this point.
HOT TAKE: My boy Cone will hit 100k subs by the end of next season.
Cold take
Stop glazing
It’s crazy he’s only got 50k I didn’t even realize until you said that. His production quality is much higher than that
@@cheesebuilding yall call anything glazing 🤦♂️
He ain't gonna let you hit lil bro
Victor is doing an important side quest right now, Olympic medal making him overleveled for his second season
Dudes gonna evolve before the first gym. Kinda annoying seeing a Legendary with an early level evolution
I don’t think the Kings missing the playoffs last year should be weighed as heavily as it would have in the past. Two seasons ago the Mavs missed the play-in completely and through minor adjustments and better health they made the finals the next season. Not saying the Kings are for sure title contenders I just don’t think dramatic changes need to be made anymore to go from where they are now to the top of the west
Luca and kyrie just gave up that year.
The Mavs missed they play in on purpose to keep their draft which turned out to be Lively
@@shanethompson4525 The Mavs didnt make minor adjustments. The roster was almost completely different from the one that missed the playin. They made minor changes at the deadline, but that was after they had overhauled the roster in the offseason.
Hot take: the Miami Heat are their own worst enemy. Ever since Jimmy got there, they have been relying on defying expectations instead of trying to set expectations for themselves. Despite the success they've had over the past 5 seasons, they still have done very little to nothing with their roster to TRULY become contenders, but most of their fans still wanna complain that their team gets '"disrespected" or "discounted." How are we supposed to believe in them when they give people very little reasons to until their backs are against the wall? At some point, that doesn't work anymore.
not even a hot take lol
yeah we've been running it back for 6 years in a row
pat riley is probably our biggest roadblock
Yeah Miami is done. They aren’t making those cinderella runs anymore. Not enough talent. They got heart but not enough talent.
I was laughed at repeatedly last season when I said the Mavs would outperform the Suns and that they weren't a real contender. Less than a calendar year has passed and this is the discourse around them. It always feels good to be right. The Suns are beyond cooked whether they're healthy or not.
Mavs got better after they got Washington and gafford! Don’t forget to mention that lol before those 2 they were 6-8 seeding
@@SKOOBZTERZ And they finished as the 5 seed. Not really a big difference, especially when you look at how tight the West was.
The Suns have an owner who has no understanding of modern team-building. You can't load up on stars on max deals, especially not when one of those "stars" (Beal) is not even a top 25 player and is redundant with one of your other stars. If you are going to pay three guys $50 million each, you'd better make sure the complement each other. A trio like Embiid, PG, and Maxey makes SO much more sense, especially when you consider that Maxey is still only on his second contract and costs $35 million. The Sixers also didn't give up all their assets to assemble the trio. That gives them way more flexibility with filling out the rest of the roster.
Don't get me wrong. Even with the Sixers, I'm pretty skeptical. I worry about playoff health and Embiid's performance. But on paper, that's the way to build a modern big three. Complementary skillsets. Not just chasing random big names. The Suns owner torpedoed their entire future in a single offseason.
@@rome8180Not to mention that he only bought the team back in December, I think, and he has already put them in this position. KD and Beal would not be in Phoenix if Ishbia had not forced those trades through.
The Suns arent cooked because they can still trade their stars and get picks in return for them.. however the Clippers are cooked well done 🤣
Hartenstein is both good AND overpaid. Both things can be true.
spurs will be lucky to see 30 wins
Not saying the Clippers will win the ring, but I think they’ll do a lot better than people think they will
How very vague. Just enough to try to come back next april and say “see see i called it!!1!”
That depends on the health of Kawhi and Harden and the impact of their new additions.
Tryna be different so bad. You ain't going nowhere in 2024 with Harden as your 2nd or even 1st option if Kawhi is injured as always.
Clippers finished
Absolutely. Maybe a WCF appearance!?!? 👀
the Spurs aren’t winning 40 games this season unless they make more moves
Hartenstein's contract doesn't have the opportunity to be as bad as Biyombo. The length is only a 2 year with a team option, so even if he is the worst player in basketball, the Thunder can offload him with some 2nds as an expiring contract.
Suns now have
-youthful energy with Ryan Dunn and Iso Ighodoro athletic big wings
-Resigned Bol Bol
-Picked up Monte Morris
-Hired Budenholzer
-Still have Book, Beal, and KD
Right they’re going to miss the playoffs Cone got it
It's doubtful that Dunn and Ighodoro will make the rotation. Re-signing Bol Bol is nice, but he doesn't flip their fortunes. Signing Monte Morris was good, but he's always been a backup more than a starter. Yes, they still have their 3 stars, but they all still play similar styles and have injury concerns. I don't think they'll miss it, either, but I would be cautious.
There's zero chance the league will not get the Lakers into the playoffs just like the last few seasons Lakers will get the most fouls while committing the least. The league literally created the play-in just for Lebron
Go get check out little bro we care about you’re mental
@@zethroth0077aint nothing wrong whats hes saying. Lakers have gotten to the post season off of free throws
That is a lie. You're only saying that because he's been in the play-in for the past couple of years. The play-in was created when they went to the bubble, and the Lakers were the top seed in the West at the time. It was created to give the lower seeded teams in the bubble a chance to reach the postseason, hence why you saw teams like the Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, and Suns in there. After seeing the success of the play-in, they decided to keep it. Why would they create the play-in for LeBron in the same year that his team was at the top of the conference? Make that make sense.
Spurs easily wildest take. West is loaded especially with grizzlies finna blitz the league.
Another banger upload
🫡
I am going to call it now, that 76ers team is a second round exit. We've seen stacked rosters around Joel for years and they have always failed. Someone has to lose.
I think they finally reach the ECF but lose to the Celtics. Knicks are focused on stopping Boston but have no one to stop Embiid.
@@hectorirene763 no one is talking about the knicks issues in size. Mitchell Robinson is pretty good but hes an injury liability. If he is out again their best center is Julius Randle...
@@hectorirene763Well, Embiid kinda stops himself sometimes.
shoutout to the water bottles that hotels love to leave in your room and charge you if you use them
Love you videos Cone. Seriously I never get tired of them.
Hot Take: Mavs will be the 2 seed
Boston won’t make the finals
Thunder will lose in round 1
Really? After the season that OKC just had, you think they're gonna be a first round exit? You must be trolling. 😒
You underestimate everyone but the Thunder. Come on dude. Mavs went from missing the play in to the finals in one year. Anything is possible
They tanked their last games to keep their pick. How could you forget about that fiasco?
@@hectorirene763ended up being lively as well. It worked out for em
I find it ironic how you can say sac isn’t good enough but then also acknowledge injuries could derail anyone’s season in the west…. That’s literally what happened to them. They were fighting for 5-7 until injuries caused them to slide.
bismack biyombo 2.0 is a lil crazy and he could definitely live up to his contract but i could see the argument for it being an overpay because i dont realistically think he individually has any more than like a 5-10% chance of playing so good his contract is gonna look like hes underpaid (not taking into exception the crazy ass contract inflation thats happening year over year now) i also dont think hes gonna play bad but who knows thunder might win a chip in the next 3 years and then literally nothing is an overpay and nothing is a bad trade in the past 5 years because it led to a chip, i still think the celtics with porzingas would smack them around in a 7 game series though lol atleast for the next year or 2 until okc gets a lil more experienced
Hot take: The Hawks have quietly gotten better defensively and the pieces around Trae finally feel like they've started to fit him and Trae still continues to be a one man offensive engine capable of dragging the most mediocre rosters to a top 10 offensive rating since handedly. I wouldn't be surprised if they finished as a top 6 seed in the east surpassing the Play-in in its entirety for what feels like the first time in 3 years I think.
Also, Cone, you da GOAT of NBA TH-cam as of current.
Utah seems to be more interested in pod. If they can somehow get lauri and keep kuminga i believe they have a chance
idk which trade was worse, westbrook to lakers or beal to suns
the lakers were top title contenders and champions before the Westbrook trade. The Suns were contenders sure, but they were losing in 5 in the second round and have also lost Bridges and Ayton from their finals run in separate trades. That combined with the fact that despite the media claiming otherwise, the signs of aging have very much began to show in Durant's game means that the Suns were very much pretenders (for the 23-24 season) even before the Beal trade.
@@zsomborszigeti6797 yea i agree i never bought into the suns hype when Durant joined the team, adding beal and 0 depth was the icing on the cake to ensure the franchise wont ever make it past the first round if they can manage to even sneak in
another great video, really nice meeting you at the game! -Sebastian
I genuinely laughed out loud when he said he expects both the Suns and Lakers to make the playoffs this year. How are the Lakers making the playoffs this year? Unless LeGm becomes god during the rest of off-season there's no way.
Cone we need more podcasts please 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Got you
@@three_conemuch love
Jonathan Kaminga makes alll star team.
IMO for 2024-25 szn:
Thunder = 2 seed
Kings = 3 seed
Clippers = 4 seed
Suns = 8 seed
Lakers = 9 seed
What makes you think that the Suns are gonna drop off?
@@urbaindelva7869 No bench, no sizes, unless rookie Oso Igahdaro can change that 🤷🏾♂️
@@Socaljohnson84They still made the postseason without those things. I find it hard to believe that they'll just fall off all of a sudden.
Can you cover team USA at one point? Love ur vids
Wild Wild West
Nuggets
Mavs
Thunder
Timberwolves
Pelicans
Kings
Spurs
Grizzlies
Grizz = chronically overrated
@@chintergone for a year and ppl already forget 😂
Get Spurs tf outta there
Both can easily make it, and I think the Suns have higher potential. Nearly every team in the West can play now, and I think injuries as usual will have a big impact on playoff spots 4-10. The only teams I really think you can count out are Trail Blazers and Jazz.
Title should have been west team hot takes
Someone need to tell suns owner he needs to trade KD this summer
Back to the nets
Right, because that will fix all of their problems. KD's trade value is questionable at this point. 😒
@@perc9-4Why the Nets?
Trading Booker and go for a rebuild would be way better
@@kjjr3270i believe so as well. Booker isn’t the guy. He’s just a flashy jumpshooter. He’s had plenty of times to take the team to the next level and he chokes it. I would trade him and KD and go rebuild.
Denver current roster is more likely to miss playoffs rather than the suns lol .. Denver looking bad right now
quit. smoking.
I could see the warriors spurs pelicans kings and rockets being better than the lakers.
Warriors?😂
Have the suns made any moves this offseason
Yes.
Hartenstein will def be an overpay
Hot take: Kings finish top 3 in the west. My reasoning for that is the addition of DeRozan but also the emergence of Keon Ellis, who became a starter after the all-star break and it resulted in them being a top 4 defense in the remainder of the season. Fox led the league in steals and was 2nd in deflections behind Caruso, and is WAY underrated on defense, Keon Ellis is an insane POA defender with a long wingspan that disrupts the entire flow of offenses, and Keegan Murray turned into an elite on ball defender that can fight through screens. Now you have DeRozan over Harrison Barnes, who's equally as bad as DeRozan on defense. HB has really lost a step he's very slow and awful on defense. The Kings are developing really strong perimeter defense to truly protect attacking lanes to the rim because of Sabonis. Yes Sabonis is not a classic rim protector but he's strong af and battles to protect the rim in his own right. Definitely not as bad on defense as he gets flamed for.OKC
What does OKC have to do with them?
@@urbaindelva7869 I meant to say OKC will be 1st seed lol messed up
Hot take paol is best on magic right now
Real ones say what back? Thanks for watching?
Hot take the jazz will have a better record than the timber wolves
No, they won't.
If the Grizz rise, one has to fall. I think it's the Lakers, the Kings and Pels are too solid. Definitely not both the Suns and Lakers, but one or the other.
lakers and suns are a shoe in for not making the playoffs
HOT TAKE Indiana Pacers Defeat OKC Thunder in 2025 Finals
Hot take: no trade matter this season, cause Boston is beating everyone in 5 anyways
please don't curse my team (lakers)
Eh usually when the Lakers have high expectations they underperform but the west is even more stacked Rockets probably taking a leap Memphis will be back, Sacremento got better, Spurs are kinda scary in a play-in tournament, Warriors trying to make big moves and all the lakers did was change their coach so I don't think y'all should have high expectations for this season just enjoy the ride y'all are underdogs this go around.
Lakers fans have cursed them enough
they're already curse
they not winning shi
Yo that’s not a curse that’s a joke of a franchise shooting themselves in the foot. But at least when they lose bad they have a good draft pick…oh wait. 🤣
Suns are certainly trading Kevin Durant. Lakers are about to be a movie but they'll make the playoffs.
Idk what you've seen or heard that makes it certain that the Suns will trade KD. His value is not exactly as high as you think.
Hot take: the sixers will go up 3-2 in the conference semi finals and not make the ecf this year
Zero chance Phx missed the playoffs unless they miss like 40+ games with injury from Book or Durant. Ridiculous take
Nga think the rockets got a better shot at making the playoffs than the suns 😭😭😭😭
They don't.
What? LeFraud and Ducant miss the playoffs.. again? Never saw that coming 🙄
The Suns didn't even miss the playoffs this year. What makes you think that they will all of a sudden? They have a much better chance of making it than the Lakers.
Rockets, sours, kings, warriors, pelicans, and grizzlies are gonna be better than the lakers
Sours?
Kings and Pelicans? Sure. Warriors? Debatable. Rockets and Grizzlies? Remains to be seen. Spurs? No.
@@urbaindelva7869I don’t know about you but Sours are my favorite team since Tim DunkinDonut era
Magic will finish top 3 in the east
Spurs make the playoffs.
Clippers fans are delusional
Nah, Laker fans are
You don’t fit the archetype of a Thunder fan. Come to the Mavs.
Just a quick reminder but an obvious take: Embiid is a flopper, a dirty player and a borderline criminal on the court.
Hot take the knick need to fire their co Coach
They won't.
Lakers missing the Playoffs that cap there winning the NBA title
If lakers can healthy stay and play consinstenly play with roster lebron ad will be atelast 6 seed and need addition center find bigman
Lakers need a big trade and push chips all in or just accept that this will be a season that they’d be lucky to make the play in. West is faaaar too stacked for them to have any real chance with a rookie zero experience head coach. But at least they don’t have their own frp too! 🤣
Celtics B2B
Lakers are idiots seriously we did so well in 2023 and in 2024 but got plagued with no luck. The fact we made no moves and never got a center is so horrible
NBA should get rid of play in tournament
Debatable.
Franz Wagner will go downhill from here on out.
W take but suns prolly make it 😂
they will get him on those roids LBJ's on
Suns need to take their L and trade both Booker and KD
And Beal
@@adamsverdlin3022 didn’t include because of the no trade clause but if he agrees yah
I feel like the lakers are going to be the 5th seed this season
10th*
ahh yess the team that essentially didnt improve and was garbage last year is going to be 5th seed in a competitive western conference 😂
@@lollygirl39 Luke Knecht 😂
@@DimesprodzDalton knecht and Bronny james will not make them 5th seed. Wake up 💀
@@ratata7401 seriously 😂 lakers are a joke
One will for sure
Lakers are dried up
You gon eat your words about the clippers, everyone will..watch
They haven't been out the first round Since 2021. They lost Paul George. Kawhi always misses games. How can you overrate them?
Suns on top 🙌, with all the moves we’ve done in drafting and free agency we are now complete.
The best move they made was signing Monte Morris. Solid player, but that ain't much. He's been a backup PG for most of his career up to now; let's see how he does as a starter.
Lmao the suns are doomed man
Warriors the 13th seed 😂
That a very bad take. 13th means only 2 teams are worse than them. I'm pretty sure the warriors will be better than the blazers, lakers, clippers, and the jazz.
@@davidwilliams316yeah
Lakers not gonna miss, but Warriors and Clippers are.
Lakers 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The Warriors and the Clippers have better chances than the Lakers right now.
@@urbaindelva7869 are you stupid
Hot take Nuggets will be a play in team
Clippers still make playoffs. Warriors will miss it. Kings replace Lakers in west playoffs. 😬
Lakers miss due to health and injuries
Suns make it due to staying healthy
Lakers miss unless they make additions
Lakers gonna miss cause…health, building around old man, zero experience rookie coach, very mid roster. Not even sure a trade could help em at this point.