Game Theory Podcast

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon rank the 10 teams currently out of the play-in or playoff race in order of the best longterm future & outlook.   01:00 - Men's March Madness Opening Weekend Thoughts 24:31 - Sacremento Kings 30:43 - Chicago Bulls 40:30 - Brooklyn Nets 47:18 - Milwaukee Bucks 54:27 - New Orleans Pelicans 59:36 - Memphis Grizzlies 1:05:52 - Washington Wizards 1:12:35 - Utah Jazz 1:18:55 - Dallas Mavericks 1:23:50 - Indiana Pacers SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT F...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon list their 3 biggest surprises of the NBA season! 01:55 NCAA Player of the Week 19:25 Biggest Surprises of the NBA Season (Criteria) 21:19 The Spurs are ALREADY a title contender 36:30 Nickeil Alexander-Walker & the Atlanta Hawks 48:20 The Boston Celtics are contenders in their "gap year" 1:02:14 Jalen Duren & the Detroit Pistons 1:09:45 Phoenix Suns in contention for a playoff spot 1:20:36 LaMelo Ball & the Charlotte Hornets SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon go through 10 NBA players having under the radar stellar season & highlight their performances.   03:09 Player of the Week (Presented by Warner Bros) 16:25 Donovan Clingan and why he made me want to do this show 30:40 Neemias Queta & Sam Houser 44:35 Jalen Suggs 53:40 Onyeka Okongwu & Dyson Daniels 1:01:19 Jarace Walker 1:16:40 Devin Vassell & Julian Champagnie 1:26:22 Jaylin Williams SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION O...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon take a close look at the 2025 NBA Draft Class and evaluate the rookie seasons of several first & second round selections. 02:25 - The "ethics" of Bam Adebayo's 83-point performance 17:45 - Kon vs Coop (Rookie of the Year Debate) 34:10 - Dylan Harper 50:01 - VJ Edgecombe, Derik Queen, Jeremiah Fears, Ace Bailey 1:17:19 - Cedric Coward, Maxime Raynaud, Egor Dёmin, Nolan Traoré, Danny Wolf, Hugo González, Kasparas Jakučionis, Will Riley 1:35:11 - RAPID FIRE: Collin Murray-Boyles, Carter Brya...

In thie edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Samn Vecenie & Bryce Simon will go through several NBA players that were moved at this year's trade deadline & evaluate their performances so far with their new teams.  5:15 Jayson Tatum's opening two games 16:15 Jonathan Kuminga on the Hawks 32:30 James Harden on the Cavaliers 47:50 Trae Young on the Wizards 59:45 Jared McCain on the Thunder 1:11:20 Darius Garland and Bennedict Mathurin on the Clippers 1:21:00 Luke Kennard, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, others. SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & D...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Same Vecenie & Bryce Simon open by reacting to the news that Jayson Tatum will officially be making his return to the court & what this could mean for the NBA playoff race. Then, they go through every NBA Award & give their current unofficial ballots with just under 6 weeks to go in the NBA season.  02:27 - Jayson Tatum Returns! 17:00 - MVP/1st Team All-NBA 42:50 - 2nd-Team All-NBA/3rd Team All-NBA 1:06:12 - Defensive Player of the Year/All-Defense 1:20:09 - Rookie of the Year/All-Rookie</p...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon give their biggest takeaways from week 20 of the NBA season! 05:05 - Nuggets-OKC 32:55 - Stretch Run/Playoff X Factors 44:28 - Paolo Banchero Is Figuring It Out 57:10 - Most Dangerous Play-in Team 1:11:50 - Non-Tanking NBA Gripes 1:21:01 - National Title Contenders for CBB SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: R...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon go 1-to-30 & conduct their first mock draft of the 2026 NBA Draft season! SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: RIGHT NOW, MIZZEN & MAIN IS OFFERING OUR LISTENERS 20% OFF YOUR FIRST PURCHASE AT MIZZENANDMAIN.COM, PROMO CODE GAME20. EARN UP TO 10% BACK ON YOUR BETS WIN OR LOSE. USE FANCASH ON TEAM GEAR ON FANATICS.COM BONUS BETS OR PROFIT B...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon give their biggest takeaways from week 19 of the NBA season!  04:00 - Darryn Peterson Discourse Is Out of Control 33:30 - Pistons Biggest Week in a Decade 47:55 - Jaden Ivey’s Injury Situation is Depressing 1:05:53 - NBA’s Apparent Tanking Ideas 1:33:55 - How Hard is It To Hide a Bad Defender in today’s NBA? / Is it Easier to Have a Bad Offensive Player or Bad Defensive Player on the Court? SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BR...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon list & discuss their current ranking of NBA teams in order of who will most likely win the 2026 NBA Championship. SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!  SPONSORS: REFRESH YOUR WARDROBE WITH QUINCE. GO TO QUINCE.COM/GAMETHEORY FOR FREE SHIPPING ON YOUR ORDER AND 365-DAY RETURNS. NOW AVAILABLE IN CANADA, TOO. GO TO SURFSHARK.COM/GAMETHEORY OR USE CODE GAMETHEORY A...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon talk about what they took away from all-star weekend (if anything), as well as do what we're calling The Tank Commanders Sickos Draft, an event that involves an intricate scoring system, a thing for us to keep track of and root for in the final two months of tanking games, and an Arbiter of Tanking Integrity.  03:35 - NBA Allstar Games... It Worked!22:10 - Ideas how to fix tanking37:42 - Tank Commanders Sicko Draft!SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT F...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon list their biggest takeaways from the 2025-26 season heading into the NBA Allstar break.04:07 - Jeremy Sochan signs with the Knicks17:26 - JJJ OUT for the season27:10 - The NBA is going to do something about the Tank Race56:06 - No clear cut favorite in the East and the West is NOT inevitable1:09:27 - Hornets and Celtics are making the case for Max/Min strategy at center1:21:42 - No clear cut favorite in the East...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon list & discuss their biggest winners, losers & WTFs of the NBA trade deadline. 03:46 - Subscribe to the Game Theory Substack! (LINK BELOW)06:00 - Big picture NBA trade deadline thoughts10:15 - WINNER: NBA Owners/Front Offices16:55 - LOSER: Players just below max level/smaller guards22:40 - LOSER: Restricted free agents28:30 - WINNER: Boston Celtics35:45 - WINNER: Oklahoma City Thunder41:39 - WINNER: Minnesota Timberwolves  48:05 - WINNER: Ivica Zubac/Indiana Pacers55:55...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon break down what happened on the NBA Trade Deadline itself! We break down the last second moves each team made!01:57 - Giannis NOT Traded17:30 - Trade Coffee!19:10 - Subscribe to the Game Theory Substack!20:00 - Ja Morant, also, NOT Traded30:38 - Clippers trade Ivica Zubac to the Pacers1:03:05 - Warriors trade Kuminga, Hield to the Hawks for Porzingis1:14:45 - Ayo Dosunmu traded to the Timberwolves1:27:17 - Jose Alvarado traded to the...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon react to the plethora of NBA trades that occurred on Tuesday with less than 24 hours to go until this year's deadline, including Anthony Davis to the Wizards, Jared McCain to the Thunder, Coby White to the Hornets, and we'll talk a bit more about James Harden to the Cavaliers 00:00 - INTRO02:00 - Anthony Davis traded to Washington25:30 - Trade Coffee!28:10 - What's next for Dallas, post AD trade?41:30 - Jared McCain traded to OKCCoby W...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon react to the plethora of NBA trades that occurred on Tuesday with less than 48 hours to go until this year's deadline. (NOTE: James Harden was traded for Darius Garland soon after the show ended). 02:05 - Memphis TRADES Jaren Jackson Jr to the Jazz24:28 - Utah ACQUIRES Jaren Jackson Jr from the Grizzlies45:00 - Jaden Ivey, Mike Conley TRADED in Pistons/Bulls/Timberwolves 3-team deal1:00:03 - Nikola Vucevic TRADED to BOS; Anfernee Simons TRADED to CHI1:06:55 - James H...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon react to the Cavs/Kings trade that send DeAndre Hunter to Sacramento & Dennis Schröder, Keon Ellis to Cleveland before discussing Paul George's suspension & sharing their biggest takeaways through week 15 of the NBA season. 03:45 - Cavaliers Trade Hunter for Ellis, Schroder29:59 - Hawks trade Vit Krejci to Blazers35:44 - Paul George Suspended41:37 - Cooper Flagg goes for 49, Kon Wins1:13:35 - Dillon Brooks has changed the culture of the Phoenix Suns1:19:25 - Allstar Reserves Selections (Reaction)...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast,  Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon assess the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade market & go through several different trade options the Bucks should consider before next Thursdays deadline. 06:25 - Bucks willing to move Giannis23:10 - Portland’s Role in Giannis Trade32:27 - Can Knicks trade for Giannis?47:38 - Wolves fit for Giannis?1:03:00 - Can Heat Do Giannis deal before offseason?1:13:40 - Warriors have easiest Giannis solutionSIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK!CHECK OUT THE...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon give their 3 biggest takeaways from week 14 of the NBA season.07:00 - The Bucks Need An Answer From Giannis Now38:20 - Beyond Giannis, Who Is The Most Important Player Moved At The Deadline?1:07:55 - What Should The Pelicans Actually Do At The Deadline?1:23:00 - Do the Hornets start moving forward with this trio?1:39:20 - Can a fully healthy Sixers team win the East?1:51:30 - Blazers….what do we buy about this team and what’s next?<p...

In this edition of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon are first joined by Andrew Claudio to discuss the Knicks recent alarmingly poor stretch & how things get turned around, whether it be with a trade or hitting the "play better" button (6:00). Then, they discuss Jimmy Butler's season ending injury (53:00), the latest edition of Bucks turmoil (1:19:00), Charles Bediako's eligibility case (1:30:00) & much more. SIGN UP FOR BONUS NBA DRAFT FILM BREAKDOWNS & DISCUSSIONS ON SUBSTACK!CHECK OUT THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW ON THE GAME THEORY YOUTUBE CHANNEL! SPONSORS:RIGHT NO...