Hoops from Casual Diehard

Ace, James, and Jesse are back after an NBA Finals that lived up to everyone's expectations except for the so-called experts who picked the Mavericks to take down the Celtics... were the experts simply wrong, or is there something more sinister? Speaking of sinister, the Chicago Bulls decided to make a strange trade as offseason movement gets underway. What do the Celtics need to do to repeat? What do the Knicks need to get the shot at Boston that they weren't healthy enough for this year? Whose time as a contender is running out? And is it possible that every free agent on the market makes sense for the Spurs?

Ace, James, and Jesse are back amid the second round of the NBA playoffs, where the Finals matchup they've envisioned for months is falling apart rapidly -- largely because the Nuggets dropped the first two games of their series against the Timberwolves at home, and looked completely overmatched in the process, not to mention physically fading. Meanwhile, the Celtics are still in a safe enough position to believe that they'll survive the Cavaliers, but that's only because we're now all so used to Boston mixing an outright stinker into every series. With the way the rest of the East looks, including the red-hot but also Icy Hot-slathered Knicks, it still feels like the Celtics are the team to beat. Problem is, they keep showing why they're beatable. That's got James thinking about a team that isn't even in the playoffs, but figures to be a spring fixture again soon enough, the San Antonio Spurs.

Ace and Jesse could taste the second round on Tuesday night as the Knicks led late, but it's James who got to see his team advance to the second round on Wednesday when the Celtics took care of business against the Heat with a gentleman's sweep. Is advancing out of the first round with a 34-point blowout enough for a Boston fan to be happy about? Can the Knicks bounce back and continue their playoff dream? We're also pondering the Nuggets-Timberwolves series, and whether Minnesota's sweep of Phoenix is more meaningful that dismantling a flawed team might appear. The championship picture is starting to take shape. Get more notes on our newsletter!

Ace, James, and Jesse all expect that Boston still will advance past Miami, even after the Heat's stunning Game 2 win over the Celtics. But did that game expose the Celtics, and prove that James has been right about them all along? Even if they sweep their way from here to the Finals? Maybe. For the resident Knicks fans, it's just fun to ride the wave of New York's own success, with hating on Boston just a benefit. For the record, the Celtics have lost by double figures on their home court seven times in the last three-plus postseasons. The Celtics have bounced back from losing by 10-plus at home in the playoffs before, but those title runs with significant speed bumps were in 1960 and 1968. We're all over the rest of the playoffs, too, but the person writing the show notes really wants to shine a light on the Celtics here because it's really funny to see this happening again.

Ana, Janice, and Jesse share their reactions to the WNBA draft, from Caitlin Clark officially becoming the face of the Indiana Fever to the Las Vegas Aces putting together a sparkling draft class without a first-round pick. Did the Liberty outsmart everyone, including their own fans? What are reasonable expectations for Clark, not just adapting to the WNBA level, but playing the most basketball of her life -- especially if she's on Team USA for the Olympics? Finally, something good happened for long-suffering Chicago Sky fans. And is the balance of power in the league shifting westward?

Ace, James, and Jesse are back together to transition from the NBA regular season to the playoffs, tackling all the big questions. Could the bracket have worked out any better in the East for the Celtics? Is Dame Time already up in Milwaukee? Can the Knicks really make a run without Julius Randle? Is Oklahoma City for real as a top seed? Is Denver inevitable as a repeat winner of the West, if not the whole thing? Can the Clippers avoid going full Clippers? We've got a lot of thoughts and a lot more basketball to watch.

Ana and Jesse are joined by one of women's basketball's best writers, Jackie Powell, to celebrate a momentous NCAA Tournament won by South Carolina, and to look ahead to the 2024 WNBA draft, which of course will be headlined by Caitlin Clark after she led Iowa to the national title game against the Gamecocks. If "reality is coming," as Diana Taurasi said, what does that mean? The challenges that WNBA rookies face are enormous, starting with making it to a roster in a league where, every year, incredibly talented players don't make it out of training camp. While one player was driving the headlines and one team was driving to a championship, who drove their draft stock in the right direction? One thing is for certain: we all love Dawn Staley.