Transcript of Is Donovan Mitchell Good Enough To Win A Title As Your Best Player? | Postgame Show New

All right, let's bring Juju aboard here. Juju, a lot of good NBA last night. The Cavaliers, they even up their best-of-seven series to a piece. The Lakers, they are done. We didn't talk much today though about James Harden. You got anything for us on Harden's performance last night?

Oh man, James Harden first half— without that first half from James Harden, they wouldn't have made it, dog. Never would have made it, like the gospel song say. I think that he provided the time and the proper runway for the Don to have second half, man. Like, he had, what, 40 points in the second half? That was incredible. Making it so that that trade makes the sense that it, it looked like it should have made back in the day. Last night was a great example of it working out.

Daniel, the Cavs are 6-0 at home this postseason. They are 0-5 on the road.

What Donovan Mitchell did yesterday is crazy, where midway through the second quarter he's got 1 point and then he scores 39 in the second half. Scores 4 in the first half, uh, and 39 in the second half. Do you think that if I just throw to the audience, and I'll throw the question to Juju, is Donovan Mitchell good enough to win a championship as your best player? Yes or no, Juju? I know how great he is, but is he in the Jimmy Butler category of, yeah, I can be only so good with this player? I might be good, but I'm never going to be championship good if this is my best player.

Yeah, I think he can. I think it's, it's all according to what you surround him with. Like you say, last night was a great example of it working out, but there are some nights where Evan Mobley— where are you, brother? I know we talk so much about James Harden, but Evan Mobley, you're an All-Star, uh, last night, my brother. Uh, uh, Allen, hey, we got 9 points from you, but we could have used 12. So it's, it's important. It's according to the pieces around him performing at the clip that they must in these playoffs.

I think Mitchell is such a talented scorer that if you put him on the right team, let's say you swap Tatum for Donovan Mitchell, I think he becomes their go-to guy and they end up winning a championship just the same. I think that's why it was such a missed opportunity for Miami in their two different pursuits of Donovan Mitchell to fail to get him, because you plop him into that Miami team with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, you know who your alpha scorer is at the end of games.

Tony disagrees. Tony's making faces next to you.

The question is, is he the best player on a championship team? He hasn't done it. He's been on good teams in the past that haven't haven't done anything. They were the number 1 seed last year with a really good team. They didn't do anything. And this year they're tied 2-2. Okay, that's great. He had 39 points in the second half, great. But are we looking at this Cavs team across the way in the Eastern Conference and look at the Knicks and being like, oh geez, not gonna shut up?

Nobody's looking at that Detroit-Cleveland series and saying the champion's going to emerge from that series. Nobody.

Yeah, but also too, what's important to remember from last year, the Don was hurt, you feel me? Uh, Darius Garland, he was hurt. That toe was acting up. We were lying— they were relying on Ty Jerome in the playoffs last year. So good point. As crazy as it does sound that he hasn't been able to get it done, he just hasn't had the right situation happen. You see how long it took Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to get it right. They went to the chip, thought they had it, and then the Warriors got them. So I think once everything around him lines up, he could be that player.

Yeah, I object to the idea that, you know, can this player be the best player on a championship team? Well, they didn't win, so he can't be like Anthony Edwards. Anthony Edwards may go his whole career without winning an NBA championship. I think Anthony Edwards can definitely be the best player.

No one doubts that, though. No one, no one would say listening to this, no one would say Anthony Edwards, if he's your best player, you can't win a championship. I think plenty of people would say it about Donovan Mitchell.

You're probably right about that. Yeah, you're probably. But, but, and I would also say the same thing to Cade Cunningham, like they're not going to win this year. I think Cade Cunningham can totally be the best player.

Pretty inefficient though, man. Those turnovers.

And when he's bad, he's bad.

He's really like, like last night, he's got multiple 8-turnover games. Doesn't he have like 4 of them already this postseason. Like, that's, that's an inefficiency in the postseason when the baskets are hard to come by and you're allowing fast-break points. That's something you can't have as an Achilles heel on your resume.

It's also a byproduct of who he has around him, right? Like, you start putting him around with different guys, guys that can play actual offense outside of him creating, and we'll see his turnovers drop, I'd imagine.

Yeah, that's 1,000%, right? Because like you say, Tim Hardaway Jr., uh, Beasley, all those pieces around him made— wait, way more sense than Duncan Robinson having his off night, you dig? So it's, it's rough for Kade right now.

Juju, give us some Jokers of the Day. Who you got for us?

Man, man, man, we gonna travel to baseball, man. I be tuning in to baseball sparingly, you know what I mean? I'm a casual fan. I'm supporting my brother, my brother Jeremy and the Marlins. But man, San Francisco, we're gonna, we're gonna call these the Frisco Giants that I saw last night. I don't know what they are celebrating, but there are kids watching, sirs. Please excuse yourselves.

I am out.

Chokers of the day.

For the audio audience, it's, uh, the 3 outfielders meeting at center field after a victory, and they do a 3-way hug where they're, you know, throwing pelvic thrusts.

A little pelvic thrust situation.

A little.

That's 15 yards in the NFL for sure.

Craig, what do you think of that?

Oh, I'm shocked and dismayed.

That's something.

That ain't my kind of silly.

It is something, and you know it.

Juju, let's update some polls. Oh, sorry. Yes, go ahead.

Yes, sir. Yeah, yeah, we can go straight to the polls, man. Before we— when I pull up the polls, thank God, I'm gonna give a huge shout out though to Karris LeVert, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, Basketball Paul Reed, Dean Wade for his defense, as well as Max Strus for his defense. Things that will probably fly under the radar today, but those things were major that happened yesterday, man. Salute to them, boys.

Check out Juju @DLSHOOPS on YouTube. He and Tristan and an assortment of fun and guests are after basketball playoff games at DLS Hoops on YouTube. What do you have for us in the way of polls today, Juju?

Yes, sir. Is OKC going to be the first ever sneaky dynasty? 66% of the audience says yes, they are. Damn, cover your ears, ass. Is the best University of Miami fan you'll ever meet allowed to be a graduate of the University of Florida?

Yep.

83% of the audience says no.

Ah, but that's good news for you because you went to Santa Fe.

Which is more negative, nerdy or goofy? 51% of the audience says goofy is more negative.

Close one. Damn.

Hell yeah. Was a blind Pacino in A Few Good Men? 52% of the audience say no.

Wow, that's also very close. Hoo-ah! Was a blind Pacino in Bull Durham. Hoo-ah! Maybe.

54% of the audience says no, he wasn't.

Tight.

Close polls. Is there a player in the league that can successfully elbow Wimby in the face? 83% of the audience says no, there isn't. Do you often confuse De Niro and Pacino, and you know it?

Hoo-ah!

62% of the audience says no, they don't. Is emu a Disney delicacy? 57% of the audience says no. Uh, is Dan above group chats? 74% of the audience says yes. Is Woody Woodpecker a parrot?

Hoo-ah!

79% of the audience says no. And those are your polls.

We forgot the one, uh, is a blind Pacino in Raging Bull. Hoo-ah!