Thunder Hammer Celtics, Jimmy Butler Drama, Kawhi is back, Cavs Keep Rolling

0:00 ... Ross says hello and welcomes the panel.

0:37 ... Episode #138 is dedicated to 38 year old Jeff Green, who is still ballin' at his advanced age.

0:55 ... Ross live commercial read for Bet OnLine.

1:34 ... Bruce is back after missing the past two shows and explains his absence.

2:10 .... The show begins with a discussion of Sunday's game between the OKC Thunder and the Boston Celtics. Bruce felt that OKC played the best half of defense that any team played all season in the second half.

4:13 ... World B feels that there are no longer any question marks about the Thunder after their huge wins over the Celtics and the Knicks earlier in the week.

7:55 ... Ross wonders if Bruce is ready to give up on his Boston/OKC finals prediction but Bruce isn't ready to do that. World B feels that OKC clearly looks like the best team in the league.

11:17 ... The Jimmy Butler drama continues and Bruce said this divorce was totally predictable. When Pat Riley criticized Butler during last season's playoffs, the handwriting was on the wall for the divorce. World B feels that very few GMs around the league will be knocking down the door with offers for Butler.

13:47 .. Butler isn't Miami's only problem. Bam Adebayo has had a tough season and looks worn out after the Olympics and Ross feels part of Bam's struggles are the result of not having a real point guard. Ross also feels that a third team might need to be involved in order to facilitate a Butler trade.

16:49 ... Kawhi Leonard is back after being out for 253 days. His return bolsters a Clippers team that has overachieved in his absence. His defense is a given but World B feels the Clippers really need his offense. They're a talented but aging team and the question is "do they have one more run left in them?"

21:14 ... The Cleveland Cavaliers are a league-best 31-4 and are currently on a 10 game win streak. It's their second double digit win streak of the season and we're still a month away from the All Star Break. World B said the Cavs remind him of the 2019 Raptors when Toronto fired coach Dwane Casey and brought in Nick Nurse. The Cavs did something similar when they fired JB Bickerstaff and hired Kenny Atkinson over the summer. Will Cleveland win the NBA Championship like Toronto did?

26:00 ... Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama faced off twice over the weekend with Denver and San Antonio splitting the two games. The epic matchup featured incredible performances from both big men. Joker is a three time MVP and Wemby will probably be the Defensive Player of the Year. The crew was incredibly impressed with both guys.

31:22 ... Anthony Edwards has had a frustrating season and Ross wonders if he is "thinking the game" properly. World B thinks some of his recent comments were silly and are the result of his frustration. Bruce thinks that the Karl-Anthony Towns trade has been a major reason for AntMan's frustration.

36:02 ... The Warriors have lost Jonathan Kuminga for at least three weeks with a severe ankle sprain. World B is concerned that the depth on the team is already shaky and losing Kuminga is a big blow. And since the defense is not that good, losing Kuminga's offense really hurts.

39:11 ... Ross wonders if Jimmy Butler might be a candidate to join the Warriors since he was always on their radar screen. Bruce doesn't feel Butler would work salary-wise, but Ross think that Golden State might make the move to help Steph Curry continue to be successful in the twilight of his career.

40:56 ... Final Thoughts ... Bruce's appreciation of Derrick Rose, who was honored in Chicago over the weekend. Ross has his own memories of Rose from when Ross worked for the Bucks.

43:19 ...Ross's final thought is on Immanuel Quickley of the Raptors who is back healthy after a lengthy injury absence.

44:00 ... Ross says goodbye

TRT 44:23

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