0:00 ... Bruce welcomes everyone to the show ... Ross isn't with us this week but Michael "World B" Freer joins Bruce.

0:56 ... Episode #280 is dedicated to the 1980 Los Angeles Lakers, the very first "Showtime" championship team.

2:13 ... This show is our "Clip and Save" preseason prediction show and we start with the "Rookie of the Year" choices. World B likes AJ Dybantsa of the Wizards .... Bruce's choice is Caleb Wilson of the Bulls ... and Ross's choice is Darius Acuff Jr of the Kings.

5:42 ... Most Improved player ... World B likes Brandon Miller of the Hornets ... Bruce's longshot choice is Zachary Risacher of the Mavericks .... Ross likes Rui Hachimura of the Clippers.

8:36 ... The Defensive Player of the Year looks like a unanimous choice with Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs going "back to back" as the top defender in the league. Since Wemby was such an overwhelming choice, the guys all named who their #2 best defender will be with a variety of names bandied about.

13:18 .... Sixth Man of the Year? World B likes Dylan Harper of the Spurs. Bruce likes either Cason Wallace or Ajay Mitchell of OKC depending on who starts and who comes off the bench. Ross likes Tari Eason of the Rockets.

17:06 ... Coach of the Year ... Mitch Johnson could have won it last year but finished third in the voting behind Joe Mazzulla and JB Bickerstaff. This season World B likes Chris Finch, Bruce likes Rick Carlisle, and Ross likes Erik Spoelstra.

19:47 ... Most Impactful Newcomer ... there are a lot of names in the mix but World B likes Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Heat. Bruce picks LeBron James of the 76ers, and Ross chooses Caleb Wilson of the Bulls.

24:24 ... The Most Valuable Player Award will be a crazy race this season. World B thinks Jalen Brunson and Luka Doncic will be up there, but he's going with the Greek Freak in Miami. Bruce likes Victor Wembanyama, his pick for the second consecutive year. Ross is going with Luka Doncic because "it's now or never" and time is running out for him to win.

28:18 ... Bruce reminds everyone to check out all of the 48 Minutes "Two-a-Day" previews that were done of the previous five weeks. The crew previewed all 30 NBA teams over 15 shorter podcasts. Next week it's our yearly "Over/Under" show when Ross returns.

TRT 29:03

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.