The Fatal Flaws of the Eastern Conference Contenders! Plus, Awards and TV Talk!

GoldsberryOrlando was built to be a great defense. So I think they can improve there. ultimately for me, those act the question, and I've talked about it on your show for years now is can Paolo Banqueiro become a real all NBA caliber player? Can he find offensive efficiency? Can he blend attacking the rim and choosing his spots more wisely as a jump shooter?

GoldsberryUm, he's beginning to trend in that Westbrookian direction where I just don't trust the decision making as a shooter and as a shot creator himself.

GoldsberryHe's a great passer.

GoldsberryHe's a great interior scorer. He has a great feel for the game. Can something happen with Sean where he finally puts it together? And if it does, I think this team's ceiling is pretty high. That said, second round of the playoffs is that ceiling for me.

LoweThat's fair. I mean, again, they haven't won a playoff series in the 2020s. So they would take that. That should be a win for them. And like part of this is, you know, Paolo and Franz have had to do so much heavy lifting because Suggs is hurt all the time and they don't really have a traditional point guard.

LoweLike I do think these pieces could fit decently well together, better than we've seen with if they were like Bain, I think, was the right player type for them to go after. They traded the farm to get him and it hasn't paid off that much so far, but we just haven't seen it.

LoweAnd even if we see it, I don't know if they'll score enough. Okay, well, now we have to circle back to the original question, Kirk, which is if I have to pick a team to make the finals from the East and I can't pick the Knicks by fiat that I'm making up, who would I pick?