Limited Upside

Tim Cato, Zito Madu, and Whitney Medworth join for a free-flowing conversation on Lacroix -- and the NBA Playoffs, too. Topics include: -Victor Oladipo is really good. Goddamn. -What the heck happened to Chris Paul? -Can the Timberwolves please give Karl-Anthony Towns the ball. -Are the Spurs the worst team in the playoffs? -Is Kawhi Leonard ducking the team to go to Wing Stop? -Ben analyzes Sixers-Heat Game 2 in depth so nobody else has to, then unleashes his Brett Brown impression. -What is Paul George thinking now? -Did the Jazz stage a coup to let Donovan Mitchell back into the game? Plus, plenty more.

SB Nation contributor (and Athletic, Fansided, etc) Seerat Sohi joins the show to talk about her big Dwyane Wade profile, the Raptors, injuries ruining the playoffs, and Wednesday's Timberwolves-Nuggets playoff play-in game.

We're back after a bit of a hiatus! On today's show, friend of the pod Michael Pina (@MichaelVPina) of VICE Sports joins us to go through an exercise you see in the G-League: what if the top seeds could pick their first-round playoff opponent? Top seed in each conference gets first choice, second-place team goes next, and so forth. Mike, Ben, and Pina each make their choices if they ran the Raptors, Celtics, and Cavaliers in the East, and then the Rockets, Warriors, and Blazers in the West. Do we believe the Bucks have another playoff gear? Is Indiana just a nice regular-season story? Then, our picks get especially weird in the West, where two of us don't believe in Minnesota and one of us makes a bold pick on Portland's behalf.

SB Nation friends Whitney Medworth, Hector Diaz, and Zito Madu join to recap All-Star Weekend, why the Celebrity Game has a deeper meaning, whether the new All-Star Game format was the cause of a more competitive game, and why the dunk contest gets so much scrutiny. Plus, Mike rants about the three-point shootout and Hector regals us with tales of STAPLES Center hot dogs.

Mike's back! On this week's pod, he joins Ben to chat about Cleveland's deadline-day demolition, the John Wall Wizards drama, Donovan Mitchell vs. Ben Simmons, the epic tankathon to come, and more. Plus, Ben gets pissed about Simmons missing the All-Star Game.

Ben is joined in studio by SB Nation's own Seth Rosenthal as well as friends of the pod, and LA residents, Mo Dakhil and Anthony Irwin, to breakdown the big Blake trade, and what it means for the great LA Hoops narrative.   Topics touched on: - The Blake era in LA; was he the greatest Clipper ever? - The Pistons have a one way ticket to the middle of the NBA - Is LA now back to being a 100% a Lakers town? Was it ever not a full on Lakers town? - What's next for the Clippers, more moves, DJ, Lou Will... - Listener questions

The Sixers have been one of the NBA's most intriguing soap opera's over the past 4+ seasons, and things are more dramatic than ever now. We welcome back to the show former Liberty Baller's writer and current Philly Voice Sixers beat writer, Kyle Neubeck, as well as SB Nation's own Tim Cato for this Sixerscentric episode. Topics include: - What has it been like for Kyle to cover the very unique and very cloudy Markelle Fultz situation? - Brett Brown is finally coaching against real expectations, what does success look like to him this season? And how long is his coaching leash against those expectations. - Joel is special, but what stands out following him on a day to day basis? He doesn't practice, so what does he do with his "down time"? - Assume they make the playoffs, who is the ideal first round matchup?

VICE Sports' Michael Pina joins the show to laugh about the Clippers-Rockets brewhaha, lament the state of the Cavs and the fruitlessness of going against the Warriors, debate the Bulls' young core, and wonder why the Wizards can't be more like the Raptors.

Mike, Ben, and Alex discuss the factors behind the Timberwolves' improvement, why we're often slow to acknowledge them, why Karl-Anthony Towns gets nitpicked, Andrew Wiggins' struggles, and more. Plus, a Heat-Raptors discussion that predates Tuesday night's fight, Steph Curry is STILL underrated, and what the Lakers should do about LaVar Ball, if anything.

We're back! SB Nation Director of Vibes Zito Madu and friend of the pod Alex Rubenstein discuss Isaiah Thomas' debut, the psychology of the Kyrie Irving/LeBron James breakup, DeMar DeRozan vs. analytics, whether the Raptors can compete with the Cavs in the East, and an epic Ben rant on Marcus Smart's flopping.