Limited Upside

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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...

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...

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Pacers are thriving and Paul George's Thunder are struggling. Who saw that coming? With George's return to Indiana on the horizon, we dialed up SB Nation NBA assistant editor Whitney Medworth and Indy Cornrows writer Caitlin Cooper. Topics include:A series of mea culpas for our doomsday preseason predictions.Why Victor Oladipo has emerged and why the city has bought into him so quickly.Other reasons the Pacers have overachieved...

What is your unpopular NBA opinion? This week, SBNation.com NBA writers Tim Cato and Kristian Winfield join the show as we each argue a HOT TAKE we (kinda) believe. Including: -Mike on why the Rockets and Warriors are equals -Kristian on why the Spurs are gonna be the toughest team in the West by the end -Ben on why the Celtics won't even make the conference finals...

Ben and Mike run through their early picks for the 12 All-Star slots in each conference, including a bold pick from Mike for the second West guard spot and a spirited discussion about whether Ben Simmons deserves consideration for a starter spot. Yes, starter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former Clippers and Spurs video coordinator Mo Dakhil, Basketball Dictionary editor and onetime D-League assistant coach Dylan Murphy, and former Nets assistant coach Steve Jones join Mike for a super in-depth discussion about some key league-wide Xs and Os trends they've noticed from the first month of the season...