Colin is joined by Marcus Thompson, sportswriter for The Athletic and author of “Golden,” KD” and “Dynasties” to talk NBA!

They start with how the addition of Jimmy Butler has completely transformed the Warriors and why his presence has elevated Steph Curry’s game back to an MVP level (3:15).

They talk about the impact Butler has had on the Warriors offense (7:30), and what role to expect from Jonathan Kuminga when he returns from injury (9:45). Marcus fills Colin in on what Jimmy Butler is like in person and whether his reputation of being intense, aggressive and abrasive is accurate (12:15).

Marcus confirms the rumors that were swirling before the tradeline about the Warriors being interested in bringing Kevin Durant back, and talk about what happened behind the scenes in order to make the Butler trade happen (14:00).

They pivot to the Luka + LeBron pairing and how their opposition views the new look Lakers, and why the Lakers could be the Warriors kryptonite (17:00). They also discuss the impact of J.J. Reddick’s coaching on the team and why their improvement on defense can be directly attributed to the coach (29:00). 

They debate why Mark Cuban decided to sell his majority stake in the Mavericks and whether the prospect of moving the team to Las Vegas factored into the decision, and whether Cuban had prior insight into the Luka trade (33:45). 

Colin floats his theory that LeBron had a bigger hand behind the scenes in facilitating the Luka trade than people realize, but Marcus offers a competing theory (37:00). They also debate whether the Mavs excuse of Luka being hurt and out of shape holds up (40:00).

They try to diagnose what’s wrong with the Knicks, why they seem to have regressed since last season and why they have almost no chance of beating the Celtics or Cavs in the playoffs (50:00).

Finally, they debate what move the OKC Thunder should make when they finally decide to cash in the treasure trove of draft picks they’re sitting on (56:30).

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.)

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