Oddball w/ Amin Elhassan & Izzy Gutierrez

The Draft is over and we have a lot to recap on Oddball. Amin and Izzy discuss their favorite non-Cooper Flagg picks, VJ Edgecombe and Khaman Malucach. The Phonenix Suns traded for Mark Williams, and now have three centers from North Carolina. The Pelicans traded an unprotected first pick for Derick Queen. Is he just a worse version of Zion Williamson?. Plus, The Houston Rockets, The Utah Jazz and...

The NBA Draft is here! Shams Charania predicts this will be the craziest offseason, so we're breaking out another gradient grid. We rank the Dallas Mavericks, the San Antonio Spurs, the Philadelphia Sixers, and the OKC Thunder in terms of inactive or active and care or don’t care. What will Cooper Flagg's instant impact be in Dallas? Will the Spurs speed up their timeline with De'Aaron Fox and Vic...

Kevin Durant was traded to the Houston Rockets. The Rockets have a lot of young guys, so if they do not win in this window, at least the window to win will be bigger. Jalen Green is not that guy right now, trading him was the right decision. The Miami Heat were finalists in the KD trade, but with Kel’el Ware and Nikola Jovic declared untouchables, was Miami really serious about this trade or were...

The OKC Thunder are your 2024-2025 NBA Champions! But before we crown this young OKC squad, we've got to discuss Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles tear that took him out just 7 minutes into Game 7. Will this be the injury that convinces teams to sit players with calf injuries? Obi Toppin, who scored zero points, vulnerably admitted Hali’s injury kept him distracted. Pascal Siakam was a ghost out there...

Game. Seven. The Pacers dominated Game 6 in Indiana, and now the NBA Finals will be decided by a winner-take-all showdown in Oklahoma City on Sunday night. Izzy is joined by Producer to break down how we got here, and the biggest question... what happens next? Plus, Headlines! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michelle Beadle joins Amin and Izzy to discuss Kevin Durant trade rumors. KD wants to go to the San Antonio Spurs, but are they going to meet the Suns' asking price? KD might want the New York Knicks, but the Knicks don’t want him. KD needs coaching stability, could Houston be the answer? And with all these questions, we have to ask, do you trust Durant to pick the best spot for himself? Also, Vic...

Michelle Beadle joins Oddball! Amin, Izzy, and Beadle all realized their ESPN logins still work so they were able to see every topic and graphic planned for First Take during the offseason. It wouldn't be First Take without a Stephen A. Smith mention, a Lebron Legacy question, and a Cowboys appearance. Is Wemby-Flagg the new Magic-Bird? Could Superman compete in 90's NBA? Should Stephen A be Knick...

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder took Game 5 and now lead the series 3-2. With 40 points, Amin's Jalen Williams made a big splash. Meanwhile, Haliburton made zero field goals and his calf injury is a huge detriment to the Pacers’ Finals run. Who was that star in the third quarter? God disguised as Michael Jordan disguised as TJ McConnell, that’s who! Can he do a good enough Haliburton impre...

The Indiana Pacers are up 2-1 in the NBA Finals, but are we actually ready for a world where the Pacers are champs? The Pacers defense locked up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and embarrassed Chet Holmgren. Bennedict Mathurin and TJ McConnell made the most of their minutes, while Caitlin Clark hit the Reggie Miller choke! With a star performance last night, could Tyrese Haliburton be at the beginning of...

Tonight is Game 3 of the NBA Finals and the Pacers need to pull out all the stops... But what are "all the stops" in Indiana? Are any Hoosiers legends going to show up? Izzy lays out his recipe for the Pacers to defend home court, and it starts with *racecar noises.* The Pacers need to punish the Thunder for being overzealous, and Tyrese Haliburton needs to start scoring before the final ten secon...

The Thunder took down the Pacers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Success breeds copycats and we talk about which team is easier to replicate. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder run a one man centerpiece offense. The Pacers, on the other hand, mimic Tyrese Haliburton’s style and have three-point shooters. Who is more rare, a smart point guard or a once-in-a-lifetime talent? He just passed Allen...

Amin joins Izzy from courtside in Oklahoma City after Game 2 of the NBA Finals to share their instant reactions to all the action, including the biggest story of the night: the Finals logo is back on the court! Well, kind of. SGA had another great game, but it was the Thunder's supporting cast that stole the show. Plus, does Tyrese Haliburton need to be more aggressive? Learn more about your ad ch...

The Pacers beat the Thunder in a thrilling Game 1 of the NBA Finals. In OKC everyone wears the stadium shirts and sings Titanium by Sia. The arena was loud, but their excitement died down when Tyrese Haliburton hit the game winner. Cason Wallace and Lu Dort did everything they could on defense to keep Haliburton in the Dorture Chamber. Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin were unsung heroes. Shai Gilgeous...

We made it to the NBA Finals! The Thunder take on the Pacers (aka Thunder Lite) in what Izzy and Amin predict will be a tight, fast-paced clash of styles series. Everything the Pacers can do, the Thunder can do better. The only time the Pacers have a glimmer of hope is when it comes to coaching and pace of play. The biggest question is, who should guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? Everybody? The Thun...

The largest domino hanging over the NBA offseason is Giannis Antetokounmpo, the biggest, sexiest, star on the trade block. Is Milwaukee really prepared to let him go? Stephen A. Smith says the Knicks should make a deal, but would the Greek Freak fit alongside Jalen Brunson? The Heat could hypothetically trade for him, but lately Miami has been all bark and no bite. And are these Raptors rumors rea...

The New York Knicks lost in the Eastern Conference Finals and they left us with more questions than answers. Here on Oddball we ask, What’s Knixt? Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson don’t work well together. KAT was not defensively strong. And Brunson is not a happy passer. Can the Knicks run it back with the same lineup? Tom Thibodeau took the Knicks the farthest they have been in 25 years, but...

The Thunder are moving on and Tony joins Izzy today on today's episode of Oddball! Anthony Edwards is the entire identity of the Timberwolves... is that enough, or do they need to upgrade the talent around him? The Knicks might have just missed their best chance at a title, and we have questions about Jalen Brunson and KAT's long-term potential. New York needs a savior, which the front office has...

Tyrese Haliburton is lighting up the Knicks and his stats are impressive, but even he agrees we are cherry picking. Does he belong in conversations with the best point guards of all time? Jalen Brunson has been exposed in this series as a defensive and offensive liability. The offense should flow through Karl-Anthony Towns if the Knicks expect to get a pride win in front of their home crowd. The K...

Amin was in the building to see Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren combine for 95 points and lead the Thunder to a 128-126 Game 4 victory over the Timberwolves. Something about being right just feels so... right! Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle couldn't get their offense going. Is it a matter of aggression, or are they not being put in a position to succeed? Either way, t...

For the first time in 25 years, the Knicks won an ECF game. Karl-Anthony Towns played like garbage in the first three quarters, but then he put up 20 points in the fourth. Has any other NBA player redeemed themselves in a single quarter like KAT did? Tom Thibodeau is being hailed as the Knicks savior for finally using his bench... but would he have done it if KAT and Brunson hadn't gotten into fou...

In a thrilling game one, Tyrese Haliburton hit Reggie Miller's choke celebration and the Pacers beat the Knicks. Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart were not the best versions of themselves. Aaron Nesmith played great, making a bunch of threes with such high stakes, but let’s not pretend he was defended well by OG Anunoby. The Knicks are known to give up threes, while Boston couldn’t capitalize, Indiana d...

The Thunder beat the Timberwolves and all anyone wants to talk about are free throws. Here on Oddball we think everyone, including Chris Finch, needs to stop complaining. The concept of fouling isn’t new. If this was a regular season game, would Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have gotten more calls? Anthony Edwards needs to step up and can get the T-wolves a win if he takes more shots. Michael Malone tak...

The Conference Finals are here! Between SGA, Jalen Brunson, Haliburton, and Ant, which player do you want to see win their first NBA Championship? Hate 'em or love 'em, the Knicks are good, and that's good for the NBA. Haliburton is going to give Brunson a lot of work and the depth of the Pacers bench and scoring in bunches will hurt the Knicks. On Oddball we are loud with our support of the Knick...

The Knicks advance to the ECF, and NYK fans are back. When the Knicks are good, its great for business. Timmy Chalamet has taken Spike Lee’s throne as the number one New York Knick fan. The fans were so crazy this weekend that the Iciest Play of the Week goes to one of them! 20+ turnovers lead the Thunder to beat the Nuggets. Alex Caruso had the game of his lifetime guarding Joker, and SGA and the...

The Celtics beat the Knicks with Luke Kornet, the perfect Celtic. Imagine if the Knicks blew a 3-1 lead to the Celtics without Tatum? That'd be so hilarious. The T-Wolves’ strong defense ended the Warriors' season and playoff Jimmy Butler is a thing of the past-- but playoff Julius Randle is just getting going! Who will be the Warriors' savior next season? Kuminga? LeBron? Kylie Jenner? Plus, Ant...