NBA Takedown

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff and Shawn show the NBA Cup some much deserved love before looking ahead to the NBA Cup Finale between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. To break down the championship game, they draft the most important players from both teams over six rounds, selecting 18 players in total in order of importance to their respective teams.

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Duration: 01:19:37

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon is joined by Fred Katz of the Athletic to talk NBA Cup and East All-Stars. They start by trying to assemble a starting lineup composed of players from the Knicks and Magic that might give Oklahoma City a run for their money. They then turn to the All-Star game and pick 12 players to represent the NBA’s Eastern Conference. Questions include: How many Pistons make the list? Is KAT a lock? Has Norm Powell done enough to earn a spot? And what the heck is up with Cleveland? If you dig th...

Duration: 01:07:30

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon and Shawn react to the NBA Cup's East Quarterfinal wins from New York and Orlando before engaging in some bonus Knicks talk. They then pick 12 Western Conference All-Stars based on the season so far, going through the locks first before hashing out tougher arguments surrounding Victor Wembanyama, Julius Randle, James Harden, Devin Booker and others.

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Duration: 01:00:28

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff and Shawn start off with their takes on the Knicks as East favorites, the Celtics as house money, and the Cavs and Magic as teams in trouble. They then play "Buy or Sell," where Jon gives 6 NBA storylines that Jeff and Shawn can take or leave, including:

Is LeBron James still an All-Star level player?Did OG Anunoby underact to Desmond Bane?Should Jaylen Brown make 1st Team All-NBAHow much longer Jonathan Kuminga will be in Golden State?Does anyone have it worse than Bulls fans?Will Cam Whitmore...

Duration: 01:05:39

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon is joined by Nathan Grubel of No Ceilings NBA to rank the Top 5 Most Intriguing Rookies & Sophomores in the NBA. Nathan offers some insight on Cooper Flagg's changing role in Dallas, how Kon Knueppel and his fellow rookies are giving Charlotte fans hope, why Alex Sarr needs to be paid attention to in Washington, how Reed Sheppard might be the key to Houston's ceiling, and yet another unlikely gem down in Miami. 

Follow Nathan for more coverage of the NBA Draft and young players around the league @DraftDeeper, and a...

Duration: 01:00:41

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff and Shawn start with some takes about Chris Paul, the Thunder and the Kobe/Duncan all-time ranking debate before moving on to play GM of the Atlanta Hawks. They go deep on the value of Trae Young, whether the Hawks should look to trade him, what he might be fetch in return, and whether any other distressed assets make more sense in Atlanta. Finally, they explore the Giannis trade market and discuss whether the Bucks and Hawks are natural trade partners even if Antetokounmpo could leave in a year and...

Duration: 01:10:43

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jonathan Macri and Jeff Johnson sort all 30 NBA teams into 6 tiers based on Christmas movies of varying quality. Among the topics discussed: 

Are the Wizards a real threat to be the worst team of all time? Could the Kings actually be buyers at the deadline?Is something good happening in Memphis (and can Ja Morant be a part of it)?Is an AD-to-Chicago trade inevitable?What happens when an MVP isn't enough to make you good?Should the Cavs be worried?Are the Magic the most interesting story in the NBA ri...

Duration: 01:17:03

In Part II of the first ever NBA Takedown Mailbag, Jon answers the rest of your questions, including:

Can anyone use Domantas Sabonis?Who are the true NBA sleeper teams?Is there a suitor for AD that makes sense?Top 5 non-star trade deadline candidates?Who will get traded first, Zion or Ja? and...Who are the Top 10 Point Guards ever?

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions!

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Duration: 00:53:44

Happy Thanksgiving! As a thank you to all of the amazing people who have helped support the show through its first month of existence, we opened up the mailbag to answer any and all questions you had. In Part I of the mailbag, NBA Takedown intern Izzy Randazzo tosses Jon a 10-pack of questions, including:

Who is the biggest NBA name that will be traded at the deadline?Which NBA team besides the Knicks would Jon root for if he had the choice?What are the 5 most surprising players this season? How to solve the NBA's injury problem?R...

Duration: 00:56:50

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff & Shawn go six rounds for the 1st Annual NBA Takedown Thanksgiving Draft in which they pick the players, teams and coaches they'd be most (and least) thankful to root for this NBA season. The 6 categories they drafted are: NBA star we'd be most thankful to root for, NBA coach we'd be most thankful to have guiding our team, role player we'd be most thankful for, matchup we'd be most thankful to see in the postseason, NBA team we'd be LEAST thankful to root for, and player we'd be LEAST thankful...

Duration: 01:00:30

On the latest episode of NBA TakeDown, Jon and Shawn are joined by Dexter Henry of the New York Post. The begin with the Takeoff, dropping their takes on the depressing Kings, player podcasts, and the unfathomable start to Nikola Jokic's season. Then they get into weeds on the top 10 big men in the NBA right now. Debates include how large the gap is between Jokic and everyone else (and how often we've seen a gap this large in modern sports history), Wemby vs Giannis for the second spot, has Sungun surpassed KAT, is it too early to consider...

Duration: 01:17:37

On this episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff & Shawn begin the show by getting off some takes about the sneaky fun Jazz, Austin Reaves' All-Star chances and Detroit Stans getting ahead of their skis. They then turn to the return of LeBron James to discuss what the rest of this season might look like for the NBA's all-time leading scorer and whether anyone can realistically catch him on the points leaderboard. Finally, they construct the “It Ain’t About You No More” NBA Mount Rushmore in celebration of LeBron passing the torch to Luka, hitting on Steph Curry, Tim Duncan...

Duration: 01:02:56

On this episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff and Shawn debut a new segment, "The Takeoff," where they each get off one NBA hot take based on this weekend's games. Then they dive deep into everyone's favorite NBA surprise story, the Atlanta Hawks, to figure out just how legitimate they are and whether there's a Trae Young young trade that makes sense for both teams. Finally they explore Anthony Davis' wardrobe malfeasance and whether he stepped over a line. 

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Duration: 00:43:03

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jonathan Macri is joined by Fred Katz of the Athletic. They talk briefly about one of the NBA's pleasant surprises before revealing their respective Top 5  NBA teams that should be hitting the panic button. Can the Pelicans move past one of the worst NBA trades in recent memory? Where do the Clippers go from here? Will firing Nico Harrison save the Mavs? And are the Memphis Grizzlies the least try-hard team in the NBA?

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Duration: 01:17:04

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff & Shawn react to the breaking news that Nico Harrison has been fired from the Dallas Mavericks. They discuss the state of the fan base in Dallas, whether Harrison has an argument for the worst general manager in NBA history, how things got so bad in Big D, why the Mavs need to scour the NBA for an Anthony Davis trade, and why today's news doesn't necessarily do anything to make things better even if it needed to be done.

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Duration: 01:04:49

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff and Shawn debate and ultimately slot all 30 NBA teams into 5 tiers based on the films of Brad Pitt.

Tier 1: The Joe Black Tier, reserved for NBA teams who not only resemble death, but are boring as well.

Tier 2: The Wolfs Tier, reserved for NBA teams who are not nearly as good as they should be based on their personnel.

Tier 3: The Troy Tier, reserved for NBA teams who have a major Achilles heal and are thoroughly mediocre.

Tier 4: The Oceans Tier, reserved...

Duration: 01:12:22

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jonathan Macri and Jeff Johnson go 5 by 5. Jon dishes 5 eye-popping early season NBA stats while Jeff guesses the player or team each stat applies to. Then they turn to 5 burning questions related to each stat, including whether the Lakers are currently the NBA's most interesting team, who is the best player who might realistically be moved before the deadline, whether an MVP candidate is sneaking up on us in plain sight, if this is the best Most Improved Player race in modern NBA history, and which team should most be looking to...

Duration: 00:48:13

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon & Shawn are joined by Dexter Henry of the NY Post to debate the current state of the point guard position in the NBA and decide whether Ja Morant belongs anywhere near the top 10. Among the topics they tackle: Who takes the cake between SGA and Luke? Has Jalen Brunson surpassed Steph in the NBA hierarchy? Is Devin Booker a point guard? Ha Tyrese Maxey done enough to crack the top 5? Is Josh Giddey's hot start enough to get him on the list? What to make of a cold start for Trae...

Duration: 01:09:10

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff and Shawn go through some of the more unfortunate situations in the NBA to compile the first "Down Bad" rankings of the 2025-26 season. They begin in New Orleans, where the Pelicans have an argument for the most down bad start to a season this decade. After that, they head to Memphis to discuss the Ja Morant fallout with the Grizzlies, whether the situation can be saved, and where Ja Morant might be traded to if things don't rebound. They then finish up by looking at some of the other...

Duration: 01:05:10

New York Times bestselling author and NBA basketball maven Shea Serrano joins NBA Takedown to talk to Jon about his new book "Expensive Basketball." They go through Shea's process writing the book, where the idea originated from, how he pulled off such a perfect basketball text, and much more. Then Jeff and Jon take inspiration from Shae's Spurs to discuss and ultimately rank the Most "Expensive" Teams in NBA history.

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Duration: 01:12:54

Jon and Shawn start today's NBA Takedown by talking about how this is already shaping up to be one of the most stacked MVP races in NBA history. Then, author and journalist Yaron Weitzman joins Jon to talk all about his new book, "A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers." They get into all the inside info and drama surrounding the Buss family, Rob Pelinka's GM skills, Magic being Magic, and of course, LeBron James and his impact on the NBA world. 

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Duration: 01:09:29

For this episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff and Shawn take a spin around the league with a focus on the undefeated and winless NBA teams. They debate whether Bulls fans should be happy or miserable about the team's 2-0 start, why can't Quentin Grimes get any love, whether the Orlando Magic have a Paolo Banchero problem, does Jalen Brown need a new stylist, and whether Austin Reaves can be the answer to giving the Nets a genuine NBA fan base in Brooklyn.

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Duration: 01:15:48

Jon & Jeff are joined by Fred Katz of the Athletic to react to an incredible first week in the NBA. They talk about how we should react to all the insane scoring numbers before diving into NBA overreactions, including whether Wemby is already an MVP, whether Joel Embiid is the worst NBA contract, whether Ben Mathurin is ready to make a leap, and whether the Knicks depth is for real.

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Duration: 01:04:57

Jon, Jeff and Shawn do their first NBA Takedown EMERGENCY Livestream to react to the news that the FBI has made multiple arrests of key NBA figures in a league-wide gambling investigation. They then debate whether this has a chance to be the biggest NBA story in decades and why the coverage of it matters so much.

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Duration: 00:33:31

Jon, Jeff and Shawn begin with an earnest discussion about Carmelo Anthony's outfit choice on his first regular season broadcast as a lead analyst for the NBA on NBC. Next they talk about the game of the night and maybe the NBA's game of the year, OKC vs Houston, starting with the major takeaway that Alperen Sengun is now an All-NBA lock. They then touch on other stories from the game including whether Reed Shepard is any good, whether our opinion of the Thunder is any different, and if the Rockets might have 3 All-Stars. Next they hit Lakers / Warriors...

Duration: 01:05:13

Jon & Shawn are joined by Dexter Henry of the NY Post to draft NBA teams in six categories based off of their predictions for the upcoming NBA season. The categories are:

- The "I would be SHOCKED if this team wasn't awesome" team

- The "Most likely to have a new coach and GM by next summer" team

- The "One injury away" team

- The "We'll be taking them seriously next year" team

- The "I'd rather light my money on fire than bet on their over / under"...

Duration: 01:08:37

On the latest episode of NBA Takedown, Jon, Jeff & Shawn go through the reaction to the Russell Westbrook signing and debate whether he's the most transient superstar in NBA history. Then they check in on Kings fans and debate whether any current NBA fan base has it worse. Plus, Shawn gets some hate mail.

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Duration: 01:01:43

The first episode of NBA Takedown is here! Monica McNutt of ESPN & MSG Network joins Jon, Jeff & Shawn to talk about the top of the East in the NBA, including what can go right & wrong for the Cleveland Cavs, the New York Knicks (Hukporti Hive unite!), the Orlando Magic, the Atlanta Hawks and the Detroit Pistons. Monica also dishes on why the Knicks media would get creamed in a game vs New York's coaches, and the guys predict the one NBA take that will get them in the most hot water before the end of the season.

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Duration: 01:04:49

The NBA is a take-driven league. We just pod in it.

Join Jonathan Macri & friends every Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we'll take on the NBA take cycle all season long. Episodes are live on YouTube at noon and available on your podcast feed shortly thereafter.

Be sure to subscribe to the NBA Takedown YouTube channel, and also follow us on Instagram and TikTok.

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Duration: 00:00:37