Justin Termine, SiriusXM NBA Radio

Justin, how you been? I'm hanging in there.

Well, let me start you off with the Sixers. So, I don't get how Embiid stayed in the game last night, but then James Harden got ejected. They got that reversed, in my opinion.

How about yours? Yeah, I agree. It should have been Embiid that was out and it should have been Harden that was staying in. Harden, you can at least explain, as it was like a basketball move, it looked like he's trying to shove off and create some space. And then you got Embiid, who there's nothing going on there in regards to basketball.

He just got frustrated after a play was already over that somebody walked over him, and he made a non- basketball move. So, yeah, I agree with you that Embiid should have been ejected and Harden should have stayed in the game. And it almost appeared as if it was a makeup call. I actually think they got all three calls that they made incorrect. I thought Harden should have stayed in the game.

I thought Embiid should have been ejected. And I don't think that you can call a technical on Nick Claxton there and eject him from the game down the stretch. So I thought they went 0-3, the officials with their calls last night. I don't have a lot of confidence in the Sixers.

We know their playoffs really don't start until the next round. But in games two and three, I just have not been impressed by them. And I didn't have a lot of thought that they were going to be great in this postseason. But these last two games, it's alarming that Embiid got frustrated and the team just hasn't played well in games two and three.

Yeah, I said the same exact thing as I went through, like NBA history. Has there ever been a team that's been up 3-0 where you felt worse about where they sat? And I think that's the case here with Philadelphia, because I'll be honest, if they played this way against Boston or they played this way against Milwaukee, they'll get the floor wiped with them. So they don't stand a chance against Boston, who's losing right now, but Atlanta is a little bit better than the Nets. And I still think Boston's playing a good game here offensively tonight. But Boston's playing at a really high level, even if it takes them five games to get by Atlanta. I still feel more confident in the way they're playing right now in the gap, as opposed to Philadelphia.

It looks like an absolute mess. And Embiid looks like he's fatigued for some reason, and we're at the outset of the postseason at the end of it. Where is James Harden going to be playing next year, Justin?

I don't know. You keep hearing all these rumors about Houston, but I don't see how you can leave a team where you're playing with the MVP, and you kind of ride his coattails for the next several years. But it depends on what's important to Harden. Is it living a lifestyle that he was able to live in Houston and wanting the entire organization? As it's playing second fiddle here to Embiid. I don't see why Houston would want him back. Nick Nurse apparently is going to go down there and be their next head coach. Why would Nick Nurse want to go there where you're getting Harden back, who's at a different point in his career than Jabari Smith and Jalen Green and Shen Goon and some of these younger players? To me, that organization right now is really messy, and I don't really think it helps if you bring back James Harden. I do agree it's up to Harden, but the thing that I'll ask is, should Daryl Moore even want James Harden back? We know he loves him and they're best friends, but I would say you kind of move on this offseason, right?

He did average 20 and 10, and he did lead the NBA in assists, so it's not like Harden's been horrific this year. But the other question is, how do you replace him? You just can't let him go and not replace him, because then it's just Embiid and it's what, Tyrese Maxey? And if you don't replace that salary spot with another star player, who again, Harden gave you 20 and 10, what's Embiid going to think of that? And most likely that's going to cause a situation where Embiid's thinking about maybe leaving. Do you think they could get Damian Lillard? I don't know what they would have to give up.

I guess it would start with Tyrese Maxey, who's about 10 years younger than him. It looks like he's going to be a stud, so if Lillard's going to play the way that he played this year, you team him up with Embiid. It's pretty hard to say no to that, but you better be sure that Lillard, an undersized guard, is going to be able to play at a high level for at least the next three years, because it looks like Tyrese Maxey's going to be able to play at a really high level for the next 10.

Do you think Embiid, Justin Termini, for the rest of his prime, will stay in Philly? Because I always have that thought, like you just kind of mentioned, with the Ben Simmons being a disaster, Harden not being known for his postseason heroics, that eventually he's going to look at his organization and say, we tried so many things, it's just time for me to go. Yeah, no other, no organization's done a worse job, and I don't mean to throw Daryl Morey into this, because I do think Morey has actually done a good job since he's gone there, you know, turning Ben Simmons into Harden, who, whatever you think, Harden is still an upgrade on Ben Simmons, and then you go out there and you draft Tyrese Maxey, which he did in the 20s, so I don't say this is a part of the Daryl Morey story, but prior to that, like all the mistakes you look at, like New Orleans, Noel, and Okafor, and Michael Carter Williams, and, you know, giving up assets to get Jimmy Butler, and then not resigning him.

Even the Ben Simmons has turned into mistake, Mikhail Bridges, who they drafted and then traded on draft night, it's just been one mistake after another surrounding Joe Embiid. When you get to the Suns, we talk about the Sixers being up 3-0, and it's been underwhelming, the Suns are up 2-1, and I just have not been impressed with them through any of their three games. Yeah, well, they have no depth, so they're relying on four players, and then the other thing, if you're going to rely on four players, those four players better be really, really good, and right now Chris Paul does not look like the Chris Paul, basically, that we've seen his entire career, they're leaving him open and, you know, pick your poison, Paul's the guy we're going to allow to try and beat us, and Paul's just not knocking down shots.

Would you still pick the Suns to go to the Finals, or do you lean more Denver or somebody else right now? Yeah, I mean, that's the issue in the Western Conference, is every single team has holes. Denver is one of many teams that have holes. If Jamal Murray's going to play like Jamal Murray's played the first two games, like, that's a drastic step up from what he did in the regular season. You feel good about Denver, but again, they gave up 40 points to Minnesota in the third quarter the other day.

If that's a consistent thing, they're in trouble. The Lakers might actually, you know, have the most, I guess, the most consistency across the board in regards to depth, which is amazing because they clearly didn't have that at the outset of the season. Rob Palenka did a good job at the deadline, they've got a really solid defense. If Anthony Davis, you know, stays healthy, he might be the best player in the Western Conference, so I think you got to throw Denver in there as well, but as of right now, I'm sticking with Phoenix, but I don't feel good after the first couple of games. Based off their lack of depth and the fact that Chris Paul's playing 40 minutes, Devin Booker's averaging over 45 minutes a game in the series, same thing with Kevin Durant right around 45 minutes, and if it's taken them all this work to just get by an injured Clippers team, they're going to be fatigued by the conference finals of the NBA finals.

Justin Termini here with us. You've been watching, talking, and covering the NBA for a long time. I've never seen anyone like Kawhi Leonard.

Like, when it is great, we've seen the dragons that he's been able to slay, but when it's bad, there's always a mystery with it, and there's never an in-between. It's frustrating, you know, and that's why I say you can't be an all-time great player, because part of being an all-time great player is being available, and if you're not going to be available, you can't be an all-time great, and I see, like, this statistic that he's got the third best individual winning percentage of all time behind Magic at one, Bird at two, and then it's Kawhi, and people, like, tweet that out, and people talk about that stat. Like, can you imagine if Magic or Bird only played when they were 100% healthy?

Those guys went out there injured all the time, banged up Bird after back traction, you know, with a broken face. I mean, so, it's really hard to judge where he kind of sits in the hierarchy of the history of the league, because he's really, really, really talented, but again, he's never out there, and you can't rely on him. Were you surprised he didn't play last night, even with that being said, like, you probably thought he could have played, right? I mean, I don't know enough about where his health stands, but I can't say I was shocked that he didn't play based off the fact that it seems like he's missing games all the time. I'm more shocked if he does play.

Justin Termini here with us. All right, let's get to the nonsense of Dylan Brooks. What do we see from LeBron tomorrow night? I mean, if you know if it was Kobe or Jordan, they'd go out there and try and score 80 points instead of 40 points on you twice because that's what he's challenging him to do. Score 40, I don't think LeBron gets caught up in that, and I think LeBron's conserving his energy for a deeper one.

He's trying to get Biden Memphis without putting too much, you know, too much out there because LeBron will, I think, start to pick it up once you get to the conference finals, NBA finals, if they get that far, but he can't afford to like have his foot on the gas through four playoff rounds if they're going to try and win an NBA championship. Golden State gets on the board last night. Sacramento's still up 2-1 in the series. How alive is Golden State in your opinion? No, I'm still picking him to win the series. I think the pressure is almost a little bit more on Sacramento because at the beginning of the series, they didn't really have the pressure on him because everybody was anticipating Golden State was going to win. Then they get the first two games, then Draymond suspended, then Gary Payton is out, and everybody's now saying like, all right, well, they're the favorites to win, and it kind of swung the pressure back on them, and then last night they didn't handle it well, and I'm never going to bet against an all-time great with his back against the wall, and that's what Steph Curry is right now. If we do see Draymond Green, Justin Termini, opt out this summer, do you think he'll still be back with Golden State? I do not think so. If he opts out, I don't know why he would opt out. I'm not sure any other team would be giving him anywhere close to that amount of money, but I think if he opts out, they're going to take the opportunity to go a separate way. I know he's won four championships, but they always defend Draymond Green, like even the Jordan Pool situation.

Nothing really happened. Do you get that sense? It seems like the Warriors are almost afraid to ever criticize or hold Draymond Green accountable. The Warriors are massive hypocrites because you listen to Steve Kerr. Steve Kerr wants to tell you, oh, well, the fans in Boston, really, really classy what they did, and they're chanting, bleep you Draymond, and then you got Draymond who's slipping the bird to the fans in Memphis. You got Draymond who's swearing at a parade right after they win the NBA championship. You got Draymond who's going on Comedy Central swearing up a storm left and right, so he's using inappropriate language, and he's doing it the other day to the crowd in Sacramento, but they don't have anything to say about him. It's the same thing with Dylan Brooks. He says Dylan Brooks, oh, he broke the code. Marcus Smart last year, if you remember when Steve Kerr lectured him because Marcus Smart dove for a loose ball that ended up injuring Steph Curry, so he gets on his high horse when it comes to everybody else.

Then when it's his player, they don't do anything. They don't make one sound, so I just think there's a lot of hypocrisy coming out of there, especially from Steve Kerr. We got Cavs and Knicks coming your way in about 20 minutes, 1-1. Game one, Knicks pull it out. Game two was an absolute blowout.

How do you look at the rest of this series between Cleveland and New York? Yeah, I mean, to me, it all surrounds Donovan Mitchell, and is he going to be the Donovan Mitchell we saw in game one who put up good numbers, didn't involve his teammates? Are we going to see the Donovan Mitchell in game two where he only took 11 shots and he allowed everybody else to kind of get into a little bit of a groove? I think you need that version of Donovan Mitchell, and I'm not sure what version we're going to get because maybe it's something where he's an MSG, he wants to put on a show, and he looks for his game a little bit more.

I think if you get that out of Donovan Mitchell, that bodes really well here for the Knicks. So we've seen also Justin Termini, the Raiders go to Las Vegas, same with the the Knights be formed, and they have a hockey team in Las Vegas. Looks like the Oakland Athletics are going to Las Vegas as well. How far away are we from either an NBA team moving to Las Vegas or them expanding and putting an NBA team there, and then also maybe in Seattle? You keep hearing about expansion, and the two names that you hear are Seattle and Las Vegas, and the other thing that you hear is that it's going to be headed by LeBron James, so maybe after he retires, and I know the television deal's coming up in a couple of years, and everybody sort of says once that is signed, then they'll start thinking about expansion.

So I think it's in the near future, and yeah, I think Las Vegas is going to be a place where you're going to have an NBA team within the next, I would say, like five to seven years. Were you surprised by Nick Nurse being let go today? I wasn't surprised just because everything you heard leading up to it, but in regards to him being a really good head coach. I mean, I think he's the best head coach in the sport. You could throw him up there with like Popovich, who may have lost a little bit off his fastball, and Eric Spallstra, but he's one of the two or three best head coaches in the sport. It did seem like his voice getting worn out a little bit there, so you could read the writing on the wall, and he'll have another job very quickly, and it looks like Houston is probably it. If I was Nick Nurse, I would wait until after the lottery to see if Houston gets Wembanyama, if Detroit gets Wembanyama, because I think really he should be able to have his pick of the jobs. I think he's an elite head coach. It's fascinating what he will do, because right away you see the Rockets be thrown out there. Noah Dokken and Vogel have already are on their second round of interviews there, but a guy like Quinn Snyder, I would have never thought he would have wound up in Atlanta, especially in the middle of the season.

That caught me by surprise, too. Yeah, no, I agree with that, just because, again, you wait until you see all the jobs that are going to be opened up, and Quinn Snyder is one of the better thought of head coaches. He would have got another job, and then maybe he could have picked a better destination, because I think Atlanta is a little bit of a mess. Now, I know they're beating Boston right now at the half, but again, long-term, Trae Young, I'm not sure that that's the kind of star that you can build around. I'd be hesitant to go there, just because Trae Young has an issue with every other head coach that he's had. He's already got two cans at about the first five years of his career.

I know there's been speculation, Justin Termini. Do you think they'll deal him this offseason, Trae Young? I think they probably would look to deal him. Now, that's different than do they deal him, because I don't think he can get much in return for him. I'm not sure who would want him. He's an undersized point guard who doesn't shoot the three efficiently, despite the fact that he jacks up a lot of threes. He doesn't play any defense. He hasn't gotten along with head coaches. You saw that players poll that was done by The Athletic the other day. He was by far and away rated by those players, the most overrated player in the league, so I'm not sure that a lot of his colleagues around the league, fellow players, like him or would like the idea of playing with him.

They might want to deal him, but with his contract and with his reputation, I'm not sure there's many teams out there that would want him. I guess we won't see Kawhi Leonard again. I just saw that Sean's put out there that he's out for game four against the Suns.

Well, that's so disappointing. I feel so bad. I was amped up. I can't think of many first round series that I was more pumped up to see in regards to a game than this one last night. Series tied it on Durant, Devin Booker, the repercussions if they lose first round after trading for Durant, and then you get to let down him not playing last night.

Same thing here. So I'm ticked off from the NBA fan perspective, and I feel bad for the Clipper fan who all season long has got to deal with this load management crap for the last four years, and the payoff is supposed to be all right. Well, we're dealing with it during the regular season, but once we get to the postseason, at least we'll be healthy. At least we'll have Kawhi out there at 100%. Now you don't have Kawhi or Paul George after you arrested them all season just so you would have him at this point. And to be honest with you, I'm not happy that these guys are out from an entertainment perspective, and I never want to see somebody hurt, but I am glad that this load management experiment has failed because if it succeeded, you would see copycats around the rest of the league, and that would be bad for the sport because then people would be going, look, the Clippers rested all regular season. They won a championship, so we should do the same thing. Well, guess what?

Now they're not even getting out of the first round, so the load management was pointless. Justin Termini from Sirius XM NBA Radio. We appreciate the time as always, my man. All right. Appreciate that.