Fantasy Dream Team: How Lillard, Durant, and George Could Transform the Pacers

Transcript

0:00:01

Rahj

Hey, guys, welcome back to another episode of The Final Word, the number one Pacers podcast on the web. I'm your host, Roger.

0:00:09

Preston

And I'm your Cohost Preston. We have a great show lined up for you today, but before we get to that, please make sure you share, like and subscribe to The Final Word. And most importantly, hit that bell icon if you're watching on YouTube so you never miss a show. Plus, it would really help the production of the show.

0:00:28

Rahj

So, Preston, we were talking earlier today, we were talking about what could the Pacers do to make the team better? Now, obviously, these picks we're going to talk about, these are complete fantasy picks, probably never going to happen, but each one of them has their own merit and their own right. So one of the first people I thought of who I would like to see in a Pacer's jersey is the one, the only Paul George.

0:01:04

Rahj

I would love to see Paul George in a Pacer's jersey one more time. Why do you say? Well, we just had Lance Stevenson come back for a little another reunion for his third time around. And now we got good old George Hill and Deanna George. We got George Hill. My man, George. I love George Hill, I don't know why, I just do, but we got him. So it'll be nice. It just completely just reminiscing back on old times, just to have Paul George back on the team, have George Hill. How great would that be to have Paul George and George Hill back on the team together, along with Tyrese Halliburton dishing that ball and then also good old Benedict Matheran, because he's going to be coming up pretty soon. He'll be in his second year as of next year, and I think he's going to improve greatly.

0:02:02

Rahj

But Paul George, I think it'd be great to have him in the jersey one more time because we need somebody like since Paul George has left, we have not had a small forward anywhere close to the caliber of Paul George. And I just think if we could have somebody like him, for one, our defense would greatly improve. Would you agree?

0:02:21

Preston

Yes, for sure.

0:02:22

Rahj

So our defense would greatly improve, which is very important because right now, our defense, we are sagging terribly. We're 29th in the league. Completely terrible. It's completely embarrassing because we used to be number one. Number two, we'd be top in the defensive area. It was a given. And it was funny because Larry Bird was always considered concerned about our Pace and us playing up tempo and scoring more points and whatnot.

0:02:51

Rahj

And so we've done that. We're scoring more points, but now drop defense, our defense has dropped. So it's completely terrible. And the saying is defense wins games and defense wins championships. And when we had a top defense, even though our offensive scoring wasn't the top in the league, we were at the top of the league. You know, we were number one, number two in the east. I kind of wish we could get back to those old days, so I'm just reminiscing.

0:03:20

Rahj

I know Paul George is not the same Paul George he used to be. He's gotten older. You can have your opinion on him one way or the other, but when he played against us, he looked like he was on a mission and I was like, Man, I wish I had him in a jersey. So I think it'd be fun to have him in a pace of Jersey just one more time. What do you think?

0:03:40

Preston

It would it would definitely be fun to see him in pace of Jersey, where George Hill be like old times. And then maybe if Lance comes out retirement, which I don't think that would happen, but this is fantasy, so if that would happen, I think it would get a lot of people watching, for sure. Tickets to be sold out, too, because Paul George came back and all that stuff, just how, like Brian came back in 2015, everybody's going crazy and stuff, like, oh, he came back to Cleveland. So they got to kind of give kind of a similar feel a little bit.

0:04:07

Rahj

Oh, yeah, not exactly. He's not from Indiana. Paul George isn't from Indiana. Like Cleveland or True. True.

0:04:18

Preston

So it wouldn't be it won't hide as hyped, but it would still be hyped for sure. No doubt it'd be hyped.

0:04:23

Rahj

I think there'd be a lot of people who kind of be a little resentful even if he did come, but I think they just come around. Once he started doing his thing, it'd be like, oh, we forgive. Forgive and forget. Forget and forgive. But in regards to Lance Stevenson, I don't really think he's in retirement because he wants to be, because I think he's only like 31. How old is Lance Stevenson? 31, maybe 32.

0:04:48

Rahj

He's not that Lance isn't that old. But that brings me to my next one. I would love to see Lance Stevenson on the team again. So for you guys, if you guys don't know, I'm a huge Lance Stevenson fan. No matter how Lance plays, obviously I would like Lance to play good, but there's a huge chance he's not going to play good. But the main reason I like Lance is for his excitement. He always brings the excitement.

0:05:17

Rahj

The fans love him somehow. I don't know why, but we just can't get enough of Lance Stevenson in Indiana. Now, that being said, how would that work? How would that really affect actually, let's go back to Paul George. Paul George, how would that affect us in the east? How would we be a contender? Because we were at the top when we just had tyrese when he was before he got hurt and whatnot, we were like six or 7th, I think, right before he got hurt.

0:05:48

Rahj

How would that have affected the team? If we had Paul George still playing while Tyrese was hurt, well, we would.

0:05:57

Preston

Have another All Star on the team and a debatable superstar. So we would have a superstar All Star on the team and we would have another guide to where if Tyrese gets hurt again or if he gets hurt, then one of them could still be there. Also, it would help us on defense, not hugely, he's not going to carry us from what are we, 29?

0:06:19

Rahj

Yes, 29.

0:06:20

Preston

So he's not going to carry us from like 29th to number two again. But he would be one of those guys who can make a really great defensive play because we don't have I can't really name somebody right now other than Miles Turner that can make a big defensive play. Miles of this blocks more. So thinking of like intercepting passes or like yeah, blocks two or trapping defenders because he's good at that too. So really good defensive plays in late games because we've been good at getting close, but then we just need that one play like we're tied game and then the other team usually gets it and then they win the game.

0:06:57

Preston

That's how we're usually at right now. We're having really close games and I think Paul George come in and he would help us, for one, take over offensively and then for two give us really good defensive plays.

0:07:09

Rahj

I agree 100%. Now, I'm glad you mentioned the defense because I do think we get a drastic upswing in our defense, at least while Paul George is on the court because he's a top two way defensive, offensive player. And honestly, I just think if Paul George and George Hill who were on a top defensive team together, you can say what you want to say about George Hill scoring, whatever. If you got Tyrese Haliburton on the court, we'll be good.

0:07:44

Rahj

So Paul George, George Hill, Tyrese Halliburton on the floor, because Tyrese is not bad with his defense. He's not bad. And then Benedict Matheran and then Miles Turner, I think that would be a good strong defense because if you think about it, honestly, a lot of our breakdowns happen between on defense. I've noticed that happened between Nimhard, he's been a breakdown on their defense, Dwarte has been a breakdown on our defense and Nesmith has been a breakdown on our defense and then just bad turnovers.

0:08:20

Rahj

So I think if we could clean that up a little bit and have the veterans get in there, I think that would be substantial because you still have your scoring. Because we'd still have Matheran, we would still have Halliburton out there for scoring. We'd obviously have Paul George for scoring. Miles Turner, he's becoming a scoring beast. So we'd be fine. So whoever is concerned about George Hill being on the court, don't be worried about George Hill being on the court because he knows how to run his place, he knows how to do his position.

0:08:52

Rahj

He's not out there trying to be a score because we don't honestly need scores all the time. Sometimes we just need good defense. But that being said, speaking of scores, I know we just kind of mentioned Lance Stevenson. We won't really talk about too much longer guys, because if you're a Pacers fan, you know Lance. But anyways kevin Durant. That was somebody you mentioned? Preston.

0:09:17

Preston

Yeah.

0:09:18

Rahj

How would he affect pacers?

0:09:21

Preston

Well, Kevin Durant would definitely improve our offense a ton because this man is a superstar. He is a big and he plays like not point guard, he plays like a shooting guard. He can shoot, he can score, he can back you up, fade away, he can block your shots. He's an all around great player. He hits you with the crap, what's it called, triple or something? Triple threat. He hits you with triple threat all the time. You don't know if he's going to go in or shoot. And then sometimes they'll just shoot on you from wherever. So this guy is like really good.

0:09:57

Preston

And then plus, if you were saying, let's say we grabbed all these guys together and then so we got Paul George and then Kevin Durant and Miles Turner all down like small Ford, powerful and center. And then that's like a ton of height and then also a ton of scoring because all those three guys can score for sure. And then also defensive with Paul George and Kevin Durant. So I would think that would be great.

0:10:23

Preston

Or not Kevin Durant, Miles Turner.

0:10:26

Rahj

So yeah. Now, as far as Kevin Durant? Yes. People say he's gotten older, he's not worth it.

0:10:33

Preston

People kind of 33, isn't he?

0:10:35

Rahj

Yeah, he's 33, I believe, but people talk about his age and whatnot. But honestly, I think it's worth it. Honestly, he could be 34 right now. I think he could be 34. But yeah, everybody knows Kevin Durant. They know what he can bring to the table. So I personally think if we could have Kevin Durant on the team right now, nobody else, I think that would make us definitely a playoff team. I personally think that with the current lineup we have right now yeah, if.

0:11:11

Preston

We just have Kim Durant like nobody else playoff team, for sure.

0:11:15

Rahj

Yeah, I think that makes us a playoff team.

0:11:17

Preston

And the only reason why I say Kim Durant and nobody else, and the reason why I didn't say that for Paul George is because Kevin Durant feel like offers or gives us more to the table. And then also at the same time, I mean, I know they both can.

0:11:35

Rahj

Get hurt, but he's a better shooter.

0:11:38

Preston

Well, yeah, he's a better shooter. And then what I was going to say is I know they both get hurt, but I feel like Paul George gets hurt a lot more and then when he is hurt, he's out for well, I'm not going to say longer because kendra was out for like two years one time or something. Or a year.

0:11:52

Rahj

Yeah, he was out for a while, yeah.

0:11:53

Preston

But other than that, he's been back. And then Paul George, I feel like he's been hurt and just forever. I don't really know. I mean, I know he's playing now and Kevin Durant is a better shooter. And so I think that he would do a lot better than Paul George and he wouldn't paul George isn't necessarily like a man who can carry like, your team. And I think Kevin Durant would like, carry us to the playoffs, especially in the situation right now.

0:12:24

Preston

Kevin Durant had definitely put us to like number seven, top seven. What did you think about Paul George.

0:12:33

Rahj

In the past has been known to carry a team. So I would say he can't carry a team.

0:12:38

Preston

Not now.

0:12:39

Rahj

I wouldn't even say he can't carry a team now.

0:12:41

Preston

Is he carrying the clip?

0:12:43

Rahj

I'm not really sure how that would work over with the pacers, but I think it's possible he could. I'm not saying he'd be able to now at this stage in his game, but I think it's possible he could. I don't know for how long he'd be able to do it, but I think he'd be able to for a little bit. But last person who we talked about, I personally think this would be somebody who, if we had him right now, right now.

0:13:17

Rahj

Nobody else we just talked about. I believe we are a top five team in the east, assuming everybody's healthy right now. And that guy is Damian Lillard. Damien lillard here's. Really not even a point in even talking too much about him because everybody knows Damian Lillard. He's a beast. He can knock those three downs, three down from a distance. He's completely on level. If not, some people would consider him to be more valuable than a Steph Curry.

0:13:56

Rahj

And he has. I agree there's validity to that. So I think I would love to have Damian Lloyd over Steph Curry because.

0:14:08

Preston

I mean, both people can shoot and then I've seen Damian Lloyd drive a lot more than Steph Curry.

0:14:14

Rahj

Yeah, he's a lot more dynamic, in my personal opinion, than Steph Curry.

0:14:18

Preston

He can do a lot. I'm not going to say a lot more because Steph Curry, I've seen him drive and do stuff, but I mean, I've seen Damian Lillard cheap from everywhere on the court, not just from deep range, but mid range, too.

0:14:35

Rahj

Damian Lillard, I just like how he is. He's very calm, very level headed, humble guy. He just does what he does and he's extremely confident. And I think having confidence like him on the team, having Benedict Matheran on the team, super confidence, tyrese confidence. I just think it would just be I know we talked about this before about confidence being contagious, I think would go up even more having Damian Lloyd on the team because Damien Lewis we know he carries his teams. That's just what he does.

0:15:06

Rahj

And I just think, come on, Damien, just come on over to the Pacers. I don't know what it would take for that to happen.

0:15:11

Preston

He would look good in the jersey.

0:15:13

Rahj

Yeah, he looked great in the Pacers jersey. It'd be amazing.

0:15:16

Preston

But then, like you said, I don't know how it's going to happen. Let's talk about that. Who would you think we would have to trade? Because Damien Lillard, I mean, he's a menace. He just scored 71 points, I think, the other day. He'd be scoring like a bunch of points per game. He averages like 32 points per game. Five assists or something like that. Six assists. Who would we have to trade for that to happen? And then who would we not want to trade and figure out a way to trade somebody else over?

0:15:46

Rahj

Okay. To get Damian Lillard, I would be willing to give up Buddy. Healed.

0:15:53

Preston

Yes, for sure.

0:15:54

Rahj

I love buddy. I like the chemistry that him and Tyrese have. I think Damian and Tyrese would have better chemistry. Yeah, they were he's a veteran, too. They'll get over it. So by Buddy, my Buddy, and then I believe I'd be willing to give up Isaiah Jackson because he's right now on the upswing as far as people looking at him, his athletic ability, his ability, just his overall ability to improve, people are noticing that.

0:16:30

Rahj

So I think he'd be a good piece for people to watch for his potential and his growth. And then maybe something that we can maybe pawn off on somebody. Maybe we could get rid of Dwarte somehow. We could get rid of Duarte. I don't know, pump up his value somehow. Talk about his potential even though he's 26, so I don't know.

0:16:53

Preston

And O'Shea Bersett yeah and O'Shea.

0:16:55

Rahj

I think if we could get rid.

0:16:57

Preston

Of all those guys and one pick.

0:16:59

Rahj

And a pick, if we could get Damian Lillard, I think the fanbase would be so happy.

0:17:05

Preston

But then also, I would love if that could happen. But also, let's be for real, because it's for real.

0:17:14

Rahj

It's fantasy.

0:17:15

Preston

Yeah, but let's say that would work. But in the real world, would they take that for giving up their franchise player for those people, just for a split second, come back to real world? Would you think that they would actually possibly make that trade?

0:17:34

Rahj

I don't know. It depends. If they're trying to blow it up if they're trying to blow it up and start the tank and get ticked, of course, why wouldn't they?

0:17:45

Preston

Yeah, that's their mindset. But for me, no, I don't think they would do that. It would take a lot for some team to get Dame. I think if we wanted to get Damian Lillard, we have to trade Tyrese, Buddy Heel and Miles Turner or something like that. At that point, there's no point. Yeah, because then it's just like the trailblazers right now, because that's what their team is looking like. There'd be no point.

0:18:09

Rahj

The point of getting Lilard is at.

0:18:10

Preston

Least to have Tyres, at least have Tyrees.

0:18:12

Rahj

Honestly, we don't have anybody else. At least having Tyrees. Like if we got rid of matheran or something. As much as I like matheran and he's a rookie and he's a rookie, as much as I like matheran, you'd have to actually maybe talk about that, quite honest, to get Lillard, because his upside is tremendous. But, yeah, I don't know, it's probably not going to happen. Like I said, guys, this is just fantasy talk right now.

0:18:36

Rahj

None of this stuff is probably going to happen. Possibly, if something were to happen, it would be another Lance Stevenson reunion between all these things we just talked about, but that's probably not going to happen either. That's kind of been wore out at this point. But I think if we had Paul George, we would be just Paul George, we would be 7th in the east. If we had Lance Stevenson, we would still be where we're at.

0:19:03

Rahj

If we had Kevin, if we had Kevin Durant, I believe we would be top five. If we had Damian Lillard, I believe we would be top five. That's my take on that. What do you think, Preston?

0:19:19

Preston

All right, so from Love we are now, and for us only having like, 20 something games left. What is it? 20 games? 20 games? Oh, just 20, I believe. 20 games left. I think we would skyrocket to 7th if we had Paul George or 8th. Honestly, 7th or 8th, we would be like having our final game, being like, to get to 7th. So I said he would bump us up to actually, no, actually, because the teams would have to pass.

0:19:48

Preston

They're like all pretty close. So, yeah, I would say 7th for sure. Possibly six, probably seven. Lance Stevenson, how we are now. Kevin Durant, I would say 5th. 5th, yeah. And then damien. Lillard. I would say fifth. And then last couple of games, a chance to go to fourth.

0:20:10

Rahj

I agree with that 100%.

0:20:13

Preston

I can't see that any more accurate.

0:20:14

Rahj

But if we had Kevin Durant and.

0:20:17

Preston

Damien Lillard, okay, we're top three now.

0:20:20

Rahj

We're top three, we're in top three.

0:20:22

Preston

But then at the same time, we're not going to beat the Bucks or we're not going to beat the Celtics, because I think those are the two not people teams. Isn't it funny how, like, I was thinking of the Celtics, I was thinking of Jason Taylor Bucks, I was thinking of Janice, so I said people. But, yeah, I don't think we're going to get to top two or one because they have a lot of games ahead of everybody else.

0:20:43

Preston

Maybe top three. I think top three is pretty close to all of them, too, because I think top one, top two, top three keeps switching between, like, first place and stuff. So honestly, maybe fourth or third. Honestly, I think we could get third. I think we could bump up, like we would probably win, honestly, the rest of our games, like 16 at the least of losing. We'd only lose like four more games if they were all healthy.

0:21:06

Rahj

Okay. What if we had Paul, George and Damien? Lillard.

0:21:10

Preston

Paul George and Damien Lillard? I think we would get to fifth.

0:21:14

Rahj

Come on, we just said Damien Lillard would be fifth.

0:21:20

Preston

Did I say that?

0:21:22

Rahj

Yeah, you said Damian Lilbert would be at least fifth. So how do you paul George no.

0:21:27

Preston

I said third three.

0:21:30

Rahj

I think any of these just puts us in the top three categories.

0:21:34

Preston

I just can't see us getting to two with like because we got to chemistry. Well, yeah, the amount of games they already have ahead of us, and they have quite a much like, even if we won all 20, what more.

0:21:50

Rahj

So referring to if we honestly had these people in general in the beginning.

0:21:54

Preston

Of the season.

0:21:56

Rahj

Now oh, beginning of.

0:21:58

Preston

The season, we're top. Like, what you say? Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant. We're number one. The show.

0:22:07

Rahj

Yeah, we're number one.

0:22:08

Preston

Number two, maybe. I mean, yeah.

0:22:12

Rahj

Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant. And then Tyree silver dishing. Oh my goodness, that'd be ridiculous.

0:22:20

Preston

And then we still have what's his name? Crap.

0:22:23

Rahj

Mather.

0:22:24

Preston

No. Yeah, we still have it, but like heels. No, one more guy.

0:22:28

Rahj

Wait, which guy? Neesmith?

0:22:31

Preston

No, our center. Okay. I don't know why I couldn't sorry. Yeah, that would be crazy. That would actually not be fair. I don't know how we would get.

0:22:41

Rahj

Both those two would not be fair without asking. But that's the thing. It's like Kevin Durant and Damien Little were they still wouldn't even call us a super team because nobody respects Tyrese, nobody respects Pacers and Halliburton and everything like that. So they'd be like, oh, they got two, they don't got a big three.

0:22:57

Preston

I'd be calling that Big four. I'm saying a big four because people don't respect Miles Turner.

0:23:03

Rahj

They're not going to respect Miles, they're not going to respect caliber.

0:23:07

Preston

I could get why they wouldn't respect just because he's now just playing good miles Turner right now. Tyree's definitely big three. And then possibly, I'd say like a big three and a half for Miles Turner because this is his first year in a while showing out and I don't think he's ever shown out this much. He hasn't? No, I don't think he's ever played this good. So honestly, before that, I wouldn't even count him as an All Star.

0:23:36

Rahj

Yeah, he's not an All Star level yet.

0:23:38

Preston

Yeah, he's getting there though, for sure. Like in the next year, if he really trains hard and goes at it over the summer and that little hook shot he's working up. Oh, yeah. So by the end of summer, if we got all these guys, it would definitely be like a big three and a half, and then by the end of the year, definitely, we can confirm, like, a big four, but that's just my opinion. Miles, I think he could take just, like, just two more years or one summer and one season. He'd be All Star material for sure.

0:24:10

Rahj

I think Miles Turner could potentially be an All Star next year if he plays as consistent as he's been playing recently. If he does that on a consistent basis, I do think he could be an All Star.

0:24:21

Preston

Maybe.

0:24:21

Rahj

Yeah, it is a maybe. It's a big maybe.

0:24:23

Preston

You never know.

0:24:25

Rahj

It's harder, I feel like, to be an All Star when you're in a big position, to be quite honest, it.

0:24:29

Preston

Is because you already got, like, goodness. Oh, my gosh, I can't even name them all. I mean, you got Yoke, you got and B, he's not like, a center.

0:24:42

Rahj

Yeah, but I mean, positionless basketball, he's seven foot.

0:24:46

Preston

And then you got what's that guy who is like, he got picked last for the All Star Game?

0:24:53

Rahj

Marketing.

0:24:54

Preston

Marketing. Marketing. You got Laura and Marketing coming in like a beast. We just played him, like, right before All Star Game. He was playing ridiculous.

0:25:01

Rahj

Yeah. If Miles is averaging I think if Miles averages 26 points a game and gets ten rebounds, he's an All Star. If he does that 20 what? 26 points. He has to average 26 points, ten rebounds, he's an All Star. I believe so. Wait, 26 points, ten rebounds, three blocks a game, average. He's All Star because that puts him at the top for one of blocks. He's still going to be a shot blocker no matter what I say ten.

0:25:29

Preston

Rebounds, I say 28 points, ten rebounds, three blocks per game.

0:25:35

Rahj

Okay, that's fair.

0:25:37

Preston

Only reason why I don't say 26 two is because I think all these big, all the people I just named earlier are scoring 30 points a game. And then marketing probably. I don't think marketing is, like, scoring 30 points.

0:25:53

Rahj

I think he's close to that.

0:25:54

Preston

He's close, though, so that's what I'm saying. 28. Because to be, like, close to marketing, because marketing, I mean, he's definitely an underdog, especially since you got picked last. And then I could tell he was trying to show out a little bit, but he couldn't what am I trying to say?

0:26:14

Rahj

He couldn't what?

0:26:15

Preston

I don't know.

0:26:16

Rahj

He couldn't do what?

0:26:17

Preston

Honestly, never mind, because they ain't playing no defense. I don't know why I was going to say that, but no, he could do something. I don't know. But I don't know what I was going to say. My mind went blank.

0:26:30

Rahj

It's okay. Well, yeah. Miles Turner, if you want to be an All Star, you better score 28 points a game.

0:26:36

Preston

Yeah, for sure.

0:26:37

Rahj

But all right, guys, that's another episode of A Final Word. We hope you've enjoyed listening to me and Preston talk about Pacer's fantasy talk. We'll probably make this a regular thing. I don't know how often we'll do it. Maybe we'll do it a lot. Maybe we'll do it a little once a month. Yeah, maybe. All right, guys, we're going to wrap it up. Take it easy. Be blessed. Peace.

Fantasy Dream Team: How Lillard, Durant, and George Could Transform the Pacers

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