Sean Deveney, Heavy.com NBA Insider

Want to bring in Sean Devaney to the program. You can catch his work at Heavy.com, insider there for the NBA.

And Sean, it's great to have you on. Sean, I should preface this by telling you that I am a Bucs fan, which there's nothing wrong with that, but that's where I'm all up in arms, is because my Milwaukee Bucs trade for Damian Lillard to pair him with Jadis Adena Kumpo. I think when I first got triggered by everything was when they make this trade and people were like, well, they're not perfect, perfect. And then Drew Holliday goes to the Celtics, which big deal, good, good addition.

But then somehow the odds went back in favor for Boston after acquiring the guy that had been traded out here. So I'm just like, don't you're, I'm going to ask you, but don't tell me that Boston's better than Milwaukee. Okay.

Should we find a different set? You want to talk about James Harden then? We'll get to that later, but this is, come on. I mean, you know, look, I think I understand why Milwaukee did what they did with, with, with Lillard. You know, that, that they felt like they'd sort of reached the plateau with the team that they had and that Lillard is a guy who can help push them above it. But I also think, you know, and obviously I'm not alone in this, that, that he is a defensive liability that, that is get deep in the playoffs. That's something that, that teams are going to be able to pick on. And, and, and that's probably going to be an Achilles heel for that team. So yeah, I, you know, I, to not only have Lillard come in and, and, and give you that jolt, but then to have True Holiday come in and give Boston a jolt, you know, and really Boston, I thought had, had kind of tied itself in knots, with, with what they did this summer, losing Marcus Smart and bringing in Chris Stepps Porzingis. I wasn't a huge fan of, of Boston summer until they bring in True Holiday. And now, you know, things make a little more sense for them.

So, I'm sorry, Bart, but I gotta go, I gotta go with the consensus on this. And that is that, you know, the Celtics really made out pretty well in all this. I think the Celtics made, like, I, I'm, I think they did too.

I think they did too. I just think that, like, I think when it comes down to, Sean, is if that, the Bucs stayed still and the Celtics were the ones that ended up with Damian Lillard, well then, I mean, cause for, for some reason there's like a, I feel like there's a Celtics bias some, for some reason, and maybe I'm wrong, but that's just how I feel. And I do think, like, you know, Drew kind of did get cooked by Jimmy Butler a little bit. I don't know, but it's certainly, I'll, I'll, you know, you can, you can address whatever I just said there, but then I'll pivot a little bit too, is, is that's it though in the East. Like it's, Miami's done. Philly is a mess. The Knicks, okay, close enough.

The Cavs will win games, but how far? I don't think the conversation goes any further than Milwaukee and Boston. Yeah, I, I, I agree with that.

And, and, and yeah, you're right. I mean, look, you know, a lot of what, what Drew does is still on reputation and, and, and he's getting up there on age and I don't think he does it quite as well as he did. But, you know, with, with Boston, I think the other thing with the Celtics I'd say is when you trade away, Mark is smart, you're trading away a culture guy. And I don't think that Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum, at least to this point, have shown that they can be, you know, culture guys. They can be the guys who, who really lead in that locker room.

Drew Holliday can. So I, I thought that was a big replacement for them on that level as well. So yeah, you know, but, but you're right. The Eastern Conference, you know, talent wise, it's Milwaukee and Boston, and then it's, it's, it's a pretty steep drop after that. I think the Knicks have a chance to make noise. Certainly, they're, they're, they're a team that is poised to do something on the trade market that could certainly change their, their fortunes. They've been very patient with that.

They haven't just gone after every shiny object that comes by them the way that they used to. And that's good, but, you know, at some time, you know, they've got to take all the parts they have and maybe put, put together a package and, and then make themselves contender now. I think that's the one team that could really sneak in and, and be dangerous here. Yeah.

So I think after, and we're talking with Sean Devaney, heavy.com, you can check out his work. I think that like clearly, so there's, there's two teams, like it's a two horse race, but that doesn't mean that the other 13 should just be like, well, maybe next year. I mean, things could happen. It could not work.

There could be injuries. You never know. And so, yeah, maybe the Knicks are that team. Maybe the Cavs. I think though, if I was in charge of the Sixers and here's, here's the James Harden stuff, but also like, if I was the Sixers, I would look at what's happened this last decade.

I've gotten nothing from a, from a like success standpoint. We've had nice seasons. Joelle just won the MVP. Okay. Cute.

We've never been to a conference championship. I would, I would look to move him also at some point. I would really blow it up to find them. And basically if they have to trade James Harden, like, I don't know what they're going to get in return for that, but the Sixers team, I just, I just, I don't see a path forward for them, especially with the two in front of them. Yeah. And, and, you know, James Harden certainly took a lot of criticism for what happened in the playoffs last year against Boston, but, you know, Joel Embiid was, was five for 18 in that, in that final game. And at 15 points and four turnovers, he was everything that's responsible for the Sixers not going forward, as has been a case in the past. You know, he kind of dodges that, that responsibility a little bit.

Not saying that he doesn't take responsibility himself. He's always done that, but, you know, he doesn't get the same amount of criticism as, as the guys around him, whether it's Ben Simmons or now James Harden. And, you know, at some point you got to say, is this, is this our guy? You know, I think back to the way back, if you go back to the, when the whole process started, you know, the whole thing with Sam Binky and all that, one thing that a lot of NBA people were saying at the time was the thing that you worry about is they're bringing in these young guys into this losing culture and they're getting their teeth kicked in from the beginning. And they're saying that it's okay to get your teeth kicked in, that, that that's going to create sort of a losing mentality in that organization.

And even as they've gotten better, it does see there, there, there, you can say that there's some credence to that. When you look at what's happened with Ben Simmons, you look at what's happened to Joel and be sort of the two main products of the process. You know, you can say that, that, that those are two guys who don't seem to know how to win.

And, and maybe that goes back to the fact that, that they were taught to lose, you know, their first three, four years in the NBA. Talk with Sean Devaney here, Bart Winkler in for Zach Gelb, CBS Sports Radio. How about, how about this? I'm going to, so those are my Eastern Conference questions. Now I'm going to go to the Western Conference. And I'm going to ask you about, are the Thunder ever going to do anything with any of these picks? Because they just traded for more.

Yeah. It's a good question because, you know, I, it is funny because you talk to GMs and they'll say, you know, they'll all complain about, about draft picks and how everybody overvalues them. And then, you know, they'll say that to you and then you go out and you'll read and you'll see that when they're actually dealing with other teams, they're overvaluing them too. You know, everybody, everybody loves having these picks. But, you know, in the end you wind up, you know, you wind up with an 18th pick in the, in the draft and maybe you get somebody decent, chances are you're not going to, and you wonder what, what all the fuss was over the draft pick. But yeah, you know, that Thunder team I think could be really interesting.

They could be a lot of fun. But yeah, they need to, they need to, if they're going to be serious about being a contender, now's the time. I mean, Shane Gill is a top 10 player in the league.

I think he's established that. We'll see how Chet Holmgren comes along. You know, they've got some real talent on that team and they've got so many assets that they could turn into a player who could put them over the top sooner rather than later. Obviously in the Western Conference, the Nuggets can stake claim to the best team in that conference. Obviously they won the title. I think they did a great job, not only getting great play from Jokic, but building a team that it just works. Everything just seemed to work and they had a pretty, you know, there were teams that like, I thought that Lakers series was the best 4-0 series you're ever going to have.

Competitive games, but at the end of the day, it was a sweep. I still kind of, so if the Nuggets like, okay, it's one, two, whatever we disagree on in the East, but in the West it's Nuggets and then, and then who would be next for you? Yeah, you know, it would probably be the Lakers.

That's been the case really for the last, going back to the bubble. You know, it's really about LeBron and Anthony Davis being healthy. I think they've got the best supporting cast around those two guys that they've had, even here they won the championship. You know, this supporting cast makes the most sense around them.

It's got the most talent. So they're certainly primed for a big season, but it all goes to the, by the wayside, is if they can't stay healthy. And LeBron at age 38 and Anthony Davis with his history and injuries, you know, you just can't count on that. But, you know, talent-wise on paper, you know, they should be right there with the Nuggets. I think it goes Denver and the Lakers really nipping there and nipping at their heels there at the top of the West, as good as Phoenix is. And we'll see what happens about the Warriors, you know, if they can bounce back, you know, fully healthy. You know, they're certainly in it and you have to consider Memphis, but I think it is Denver and the Lakers out West right now. All right, then last one for you quickly, because they play on Tuesday to start the season, those two teams, and then the game after that is Suns and Warriors.

Which of those two teams is more likely to make a run? I think that the Suns have a lot of guys that kind of do the same thing and the Warriors, I don't know, I mean, it kind of feels like it ended for them a while ago. Yeah, you know, the Chris Paul move is almost like jumping the shark, as they say in TV.

It's like, you know, they got nothing else, so hey, let's bring in Chris Paul here. So, yeah, you know, I think that they can put together a better season. They were the number seven seed last year, won 44 games. They can do better than that. I don't put them on the same level as, you know, a healthy Laker team, a healthy Denver team, Phoenix, even Memphis, and maybe Sacramento. Sacramento could be a wild card in all this as well, especially if I think De'Aaron Fox takes the leap that he could take. So, yeah, I think there's a lot of teams that probably stacked up ahead of the Warriors. But, yeah, you know, I mean the Suns are going to have a great, great regular season. I think they'll be easy to pick apart in the playoffs.

I think that's where their problem is going to be. Sean Devaney, appreciate your time. Follow him at Sean Devaney.

Check him out at Heavy.com. Appreciate you and hope to talk down the road, Sean. Okay, bye.

Thanks. Sean Devaney. There he is. There he is. That's what we say. Yeah, it's not like one of the main players left the Warriors, you know, unless you want to count Bob Myers as the Michael Scott of this thing and now it's the office and here comes Chris Paul or, you know, James is the James Spader character or whatever. But it does seem like this is, you know, the final stanza that maybe the good days are done there in Golden State. 8-5-5-2-1-2-4-2-2-7. I hate to be this guy, but I got a rally in defense of how you feel about the Dallas Cowboys because you're wrong. CBS Sports Radio.