Biggest Surprises of the NBA Season! | Game Theory Podcast

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon list their 3 biggest surprises of the NBA season! 01:55 NCAA Player of the Week 19:25 Biggest Surprises of the NBA Season (Criteria) 21:19 The Spurs are ALREADY a title contender 36:30 Nickeil Alexander-Walker & the Atlanta Hawks 48:20 The Boston Celtics are contenders in their "gap year" 1:02:14 Jalen Duren & the Detroit Pistons 1:09:45 Phoenix Suns in contention for a playoff spot 1:20:36 LaMelo Ball & the Charlotte Hornets SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: SHOUTOUT TO OUR PARTNER - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT BOOSTS IN THEFANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP! STAY TUNED FOR EXCLUSIVE OFFERS ALL SEASON LONG!  RIGHT NOW, MIZZEN & MAIN IS OFFERING OUR LISTENERS 20% OFF YOUR FIRST PURCHASE AT MIZZENANDMAIN.COM, PROMO CODE GAME20. FOR A LIMITED TIME, OUR LISTENERS GET 50% OFF FOR LIFE PLUS FREE SHIPPING AND 3 FREE GIFTS AT MENGOTOMARS.COM. AFTER YOU PURCHASE, THEY WILL ASK YOU WHERE YOU HEARD ABOUT THEM. PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SHOW AND TELL THEM OUR SHOW SENT YOU. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon go through 10 NBA players having under the radar stellar season & highlight their performances.   03:09 Player of the Week (Presented by Warner Bros) 16:25 Donovan Clingan and why he made me want to do this show 30:40 Neemias Queta & Sam Houser 44:35 Jalen Suggs 53:40 Onyeka Okongwu & Dyson Daniels 1:01:19 Jarace Walker 1:16:40 Devin Vassell & Julian Champagnie 1:26:22 Jaylin Williams SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: SHOUTOUT TO OUR PARTNER - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT BOOSTS IN THEFANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP! STAY TUNED FOR EXCLUSIVE OFFERS ALL SEASON LONG!  RIGHT NOW, MIZZEN & MAIN IS OFFERING OUR LISTENERS 20% OFF YOUR FIRST PURCHASE AT MIZZENANDMAIN.COM, PROMO CODE GAME20. FOR A LIMITED TIME, OUR LISTENERS GET 50% OFF FOR LIFE PLUS FREE SHIPPING AND 3 FREE GIFTS AT MENGOTOMARS.COM. AFTER YOU PURCHASE, THEY WILL ASK YOU WHERE YOU HEARD ABOUT THEM. PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SHOW AND TELL THEM OUR SHOW SENT YOU. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon take a close look at the 2025 NBA Draft Class and evaluate the rookie seasons of several first & second round selections. 02:25 - The "ethics" of Bam Adebayo's 83-point performance 17:45 - Kon vs Coop (Rookie of the Year Debate) 34:10 - Dylan Harper 50:01 - VJ Edgecombe, Derik Queen, Jeremiah Fears, Ace Bailey 1:17:19 - Cedric Coward, Maxime Raynaud, Egor Dёmin, Nolan Traoré, Danny Wolf, Hugo González, Kasparas Jakučionis, Will Riley 1:35:11 - RAPID FIRE: Collin Murray-Boyles, Carter Bryant, Kobe Sanders, Nique Clifford, Joan Beringer, Will Richard, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Jamir Watkins, Khaman Maluach SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: FABLETICS ALREADY HAS INCREDIBLE DEALS: GET 80% OFF EVERYTHING WHEN YOU SIGN UP AS A VIP! JUST HEAD TO FABLETICS.COM/GAMTHEORY, TAKE A QUICK STYLE QUIZ, AND BE SURE TO SELECT GAMETHEORY WHEN PROMPTED TO UNLOCK YOUR 80% OFF. SHOUTOUT TO OUR PARTNER - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT BOOSTS IN THEFANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP! STAY TUNED FOR EXCLUSIVE OFFERS ALL SEASON LONG!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In thie edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Samn Vecenie & Bryce Simon will go through several NBA players that were moved at this year's trade deadline & evaluate their performances so far with their new teams.  5:15 Jayson Tatum's opening two games 16:15 Jonathan Kuminga on the Hawks 32:30 James Harden on the Cavaliers 47:50 Trae Young on the Wizards 59:45 Jared McCain on the Thunder 1:11:20 Darius Garland and Bennedict Mathurin on the Clippers 1:21:00 Luke Kennard, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, others. SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: FABLETICS ALREADY HAS INCREDIBLE DEALS: GET 80% OFF EVERYTHING WHEN YOU SIGN UP AS A VIP! JUST HEAD TO FABLETICS.COM/GAMTHEORY, TAKE A QUICK STYLE QUIZ, AND BE SURE TO SELECT GAMETHEORY WHEN PROMPTED TO UNLOCK YOUR 80% OFF. SHOUTOUT TO OUR PARTNER - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT BOOSTS IN THEFANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP! STAY TUNED FOR EXCLUSIVE OFFERS ALL SEASON LONG!    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Same Vecenie & Bryce Simon open by reacting to the news that Jayson Tatum will officially be making his return to the court & what this could mean for the NBA playoff race. Then, they go through every NBA Award & give their current unofficial ballots with just under 6 weeks to go in the NBA season.  02:27 - Jayson Tatum Returns! 17:00 - MVP/1st Team All-NBA 42:50 - 2nd-Team All-NBA/3rd Team All-NBA 1:06:12 - Defensive Player of the Year/All-Defense 1:20:09 - Rookie of the Year/All-Rookie 1:35:37 - Coach of the Year 1:45:30 - Sixth Man of the Year 1:46:51 - Most-Improved Player SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: RIGHT NOW, MIZZEN & MAIN IS OFFERING OUR LISTENERS 20% OFF YOUR FIRST PURCHASE AT MIZZENANDMAIN.COM, PROMO CODE GAME20. SHOUTOUT TO OUR PARTNER - FANATICS SPORTSBOOK! EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT BOOSTS IN THEFANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP! STAY TUNED FOR EXCLUSIVE OFFERS ALL SEASON LONG!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon give their biggest takeaways from week 20 of the NBA season! 05:05 - Nuggets-OKC 32:55 - Stretch Run/Playoff X Factors 44:28 - Paolo Banchero Is Figuring It Out 57:10 - Most Dangerous Play-in Team 1:11:50 - Non-Tanking NBA Gripes 1:21:01 - National Title Contenders for CBB SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: RIGHT NOW, MIZZEN & MAIN IS OFFERING OUR LISTENERS 20% OFF YOUR FIRST PURCHASE AT MIZZENANDMAIN.COM, PROMO CODE GAME20. EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT BOOSTS IN THE FANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP! STAY TUNED FOR EXCLUSIVE OFFERS ALL SEASON LONG! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon go 1-to-30 & conduct their first mock draft of the 2026 NBA Draft season! SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: RIGHT NOW, MIZZEN & MAIN IS OFFERING OUR LISTENERS 20% OFF YOUR FIRST PURCHASE AT MIZZENANDMAIN.COM, PROMO CODE GAME20. EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT BOOSTS IN THE FANATICS SPORTSBOOK APP! STAY TUNED FOR EXCLUSIVE OFFERS ALL SEASON LONG! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon give their biggest takeaways from week 19 of the NBA season!  04:00 - Darryn Peterson Discourse Is Out of Control 33:30 - Pistons Biggest Week in a Decade 47:55 - Jaden Ivey’s Injury Situation is Depressing 1:05:53 - NBA’s Apparent Tanking Ideas 1:33:55 - How Hard is It To Hide a Bad Defender in today’s NBA? / Is it Easier to Have a Bad Offensive Player or Bad Defensive Player on the Court? SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: RIGHT NOW, MIZZEN & MAIN IS OFFERING OUR LISTENERS 20% OFF YOUR FIRST PURCHASE AT MIZZENANDMAIN.COM, PROMO CODE GAME20. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon list & discuss their current ranking of NBA teams in order of who will most likely win the 2026 NBA Championship. SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: REFRESH YOUR WARDROBE WITH QUINCE. GO TO QUINCE.COM/GAMETHEORY FOR FREE SHIPPING ON YOUR ORDER AND 365-DAY RETURNS. NOW AVAILABLE IN CANADA, TOO. GO TO SURFSHARK.COM/GAMETHEORY OR USE CODE GAMETHEORY AT CHECKOUT TO GET 4 EXTRA MONTHS OF SURFSHARK VPN!   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon talk about what they took away from all-star weekend (if anything), as well as do what we're calling The Tank Commanders Sickos Draft, an event that involves an intricate scoring system, a thing for us to keep track of and root for in the final two months of tanking games, and an Arbiter of Tanking Integrity.  03:35 - NBA Allstar Games... It Worked!22:10 - Ideas how to fix tanking37:42 - Tank Commanders Sicko Draft!SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK!CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL! SPONSORS:REFRESH YOUR WARDROBE WITH QUINCE. GO TO QUINCE.COM/GAMETHEORY FOR FREE SHIPPING ON YOUR ORDER AND 365-DAY RETURNS. NOW AVAILABLE IN CANADA, TOO.GO TO SURFSHARK.COM/GAMETHEORY OR USE CODE GAMETHEORY AT CHECKOUT TO GET 4 EXTRA MONTHS OF SURFSHARK VPN! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.