Let's discuss all four favorites starting their second round series down 0-1 (and one starting down 0-2). We'll go through each series and see what the level of panic should be for the Cavs against the Pacers (2:08), the Wolves against the Warriors (+Steph's injury) (12:23), the Celtics against the Knicks (24:21), and the Thunder against the Nuggets (34:29).

Let's discuss each first round playoff series and pick a winner, including Thunder vs. Grizzlies or Mavs (1:38), Rockets vs. Warriors (8:16), Lakers vs. Wolves (20:28), Nuggets vs. Clippers (29:24), Cavs vs. Hawks or Heat (37:56), Celtics vs. Magic (42:49), Knicks vs. Pistons (47:22), Pacers vs. Bucks (53:33), and the I will make my NBA Finals picks (1:04:14).

Let's discuss the stunning news that the Nuggets have fired both head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth, including a deep dive into the recent mismanagement of this franchise and the failure to build a sustained contender around prime Nikola Jokic.

Let's start by discussing Memphis' shocking firing of Taylor Jenkins (1:25), before doing a stock up, stock down exercise on some of the hottest and coldest teams in the NBA right, including stock up on the Pacers (14:07), stock down on the Cavs (21:25), stock up on the Celtics (25:21), stock down on the Nuggets (30:48), stock up on the Wolves (38:32), stock down on the Grizzlies (44:30), stock up on the Warriors (53:04), stock down on the Bucks (1:01:16), stock up on the Clippers (1:07:13), and stock up on the Rockets (1:14:35). Then, we'll get into who I think the MVP should be and the truly historic season that the Thunder are having (1:22:13). Lastly, a quick victory lap on the Josh Giddey trade (1:29:57).

Let's take a step back and discuss the championship contention landscape as a whole by ranking and tiering all 30 teams into groups based on their current likelihood of contending. The tiers are as follows:

Tier 8 - Duke Season Ticket Holders (1:52)

Tier 7 - To Tank, Or Not To Tank (13:37)

Tier 6 - The Ceiling Is The Floor (26:17)

Tier 5 - Year From Hell (37:17)

Tier 4 - Probably Still A Year Away (52:09)

Tier 3 - Flawed, But Can't Rule Out (1:10:28)

Tier 2 - Fully In The Mix (1:36:32)

Tier 1 - The Favorites (2:02:13)

Sean is joined by Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports to discuss everything surrounding the Phoenix Suns and the disaster season they've had so far, coming from someone that's covered the Suns for many years. Starting with why the Suns have been so much worse this season despite appearing to be better on paper than last year (1:32), some potential adjustments to the rotation that we'd like to see (11:55), if there is any level of optimism for the rest of Phoenix's season (22:02), and what changes the Suns should consider in the offseason, including weighing a potential KD trade (26:20). Then, Victor Wembanyama has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to a rare blood clot condition, so Sean will discuss the implications of that (34:10).

Sean is joined by Harrison Faigen of SB Nation to discuss everything surrounding the Lakers and early returns on the Luka Doncic addition coming from someone who has covered the Lakers for many years. Starting with Harrison's initial reaction to the deal (1:58), what we've seen fit-wise out of the small sample of Luka playing next to LeBron (11:46), the Mark Williams trade that was rescinded and has left the Lakers center-less (23:57), if the Lakers can legitimately contend this season as currently constructed and what their ceiling might be (36:09), if it would be a mistake to treat this season as a transition or throwaway year (45:43), and some potential offseason targets to address their hole in the front court (55:35). Then, we discuss our thoughts on the new All-Star game format and throw out some potential ideas on how to fix the product even further (1:09:01).

Let's discuss all the (non-Luka Doncic) moves that happened at this year's NBA trade deadline, including De'Aaron Fox joining forces with Wemby in San Antonio (0:58), Jimmy Butler finally getting moved to the Warriors (15:07), the Lakers adding Mark Williams to round out their rotation (27:42), the Bucks shipping out Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma (37:30), Brandon Ingram to the Raptors (47:11), De'Andre Hunter to the Cavs (54:27), Bogdan Bogdanovic to the Clippers (57:39), and the Suns dumping Nurkic and shopping--but keeping--Kevin Durant (1:03:44).