UConn’s Miracle, Weirdest NBA Season Ever, A Scary Playoff Team Draft, and an Iffy Expansion Plan With Zach Lowe

March 30, 2026·1 hr 45 min·5 clips

The Orlando Magic got outscored 31-0 in a single stretch, arguably the worst run of basketball in NBA history.

Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe open on UConn's comeback over Duke, which gives the episode its first jolt. From there, the conversation slides into the weirdest NBA season they can remember. The tone stays loose and a little argumentative. They work through a scary-team draft and keep circling back to which teams would actually feel dangerous in a seven-game series. Detroit becomes a major example. The discussion turns on whether its recent stretch changes how the team should be read, especially with Cade out for a couple of weeks. They ask whether that absence has opened a new level for Jenkins. Even then, they keep running into the same issue. The Celtics matchup shows how much the Pistons still have to prove on the wings. Tatum and Brown loom over that part of the debate. Tobias Harris, Robinson, Herter, Javante Green, and Asar Thompson all come up as part of the size and physicality question. Simmons and Lowe go back and forth on the Thompson brother comparison, and the pushback is immediate. One side thinks the hype has run ahead of the player. The other points to a 23-year-old line of 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists as proof that the profile is still moving the right way. They also point to the free throws. Shooting 78 percent from the line counts as a real sign. The field-goal split is less flattering, but the point is more about keeping expectations in check than forcing a collapse story. The conversation keeps testing whether the season is telling a new story or just exposing old limits. By the end, they have moved from UConn to Detroit to the league's unsettled questions without pretending any of it feels settled. It is basketball talk for people who are happy to follow the argument wherever it goes.

As heard by us

A basketball conversation that starts with UConn's comeback and settles into playoff-minded NBA debate.

Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe open with UConn's comeback over Duke, and that result sets up a broad NBA conversation. The episode is at its best when it turns to playoff questions and the scary-team draft, especially the Detroit discussion, where matchup reads and roster fit matter…

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Why you'd press play

You want a UConn-to-NBA swing, plus a hard look at playoff matchups.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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