PTI - What HAPPENED With the Maxx Crosby Trade?!

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discuss the latest around the NFL, Bam Adebayo's 83 points, and the World Baseball Classic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. It's International Dream Day, Tony. How your dreams, Benley?

I'm Tony Kornheiser, weird. Last night's included a bag of feathers, a hot glue gun, and Jean Shalett. Gene Shalid. I'm going to guess that no more than 11 people listening to us now. No, I name Gene Shalit. And so, Gene Shalett, is he still with us? He is with us. He's going to be 100 in a couple of weeks.

A hundred years old. He's a great movie reviewer for NBC for years and years and years. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. We will get to Bam out of BIOS 83 and Italy's upset of Team USA in a moment. But we begin today with upheaval in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens, who just a few days ago traded two number one picks for Raiders pass rusher, Max Crosby, have reneged on the deal. It's off.

The Raiders still have Crosby. The Ravens still have their two picks. And today they added pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, a free agent from Cincinnati. Wilbon, how do the Ravens look? And what do you see as a potential domino effect here? Wow. Tony, this thing, I'm completely obsessed with this story and became that last night. And I'm still obsessed with it in part on both sides.

Like the Raiders get him back on the roster right now, but they sign him. a ton of people. How do they fit that all under the cap at the moment? And the Ravens seems like they've made out because they get Hendrickson a past rusher who's not quite the impact player perhaps

overall that Max Crosby is, but they get their edge rusher guy, right? And they add him and they don't have to give up either of the two picks. So the whole thing is just it's crazy. Like

what's the standard for a team saying, eh, we don't like the X-rays, take a hike, return to sender? What's the standard? Who gets to judge that? There's so many questions. None of them have answers, and it makes it to me so fascinating. My understanding of it is they are able to do that because the deal had not been consummated because it was not yet Wednesday, when the deals are officially done.

Look, I disagree with you. I think Trey Hendrickson is every bit as good as Max Crosby. Trey Hendrickson had 10 more sacks than Max Crosby from 2019 on. Crosby's very good. Hendrickson is very good and they're both coming out of injuries. I think that getting Hendrickson saved the Baltimore Ravens a lot of egg on their face because they look foolish to just get out of this trade. They would just look ridiculously foolish at this point.

to me. Now what they've got, you know, well, let me just start by saying, when that trade happened, you and I and a lot of other people, we gave kudos to Baltimore. We said, wow, they're going for it right now. They're trying to get into the Super Bowl. I think if they hadn't gotten Hendrickson, and they called the deal off, they actually would have looked like clowns. But Hendrickson saves them. Who's the GM? Eric DeCosta. Eric DeCosta. Eric DeCosta has been there. a long time. He had never ever traded a number one pick, just one of them, and now he traded

two. Obviously he had second thoughts. Obviously he felt that this was not a good deal, and he tried to get out of it. But again, I think Hendrickson, I think Hendrickson saves him, because Baltimore was in trouble. They had a terrible pass rush last year, and a lot of their free agent people were going. Now, Mike,

now they have Hendrickson. They have both number ones, and they look like it's a big win. They should have done it that way to start. Well, Tony, look, I agree. I mean, I know when the Bears were mentioned in this stuff, I didn't want to give up two number ones for Max Crosby. I will push back in this way, though.

Max Crosby's better against the run and a better overall player, not just looking at pass rush, than Hendrickson. But I'm with you on the, I'd rather just have Hendricksson and those two number ones, particularly with one of them, is the 14th overall pick. I agree with you there.

So Baltimore, to me. And how do the, so the Raiders get to just keep everybody? Really? What kind of accounting is that? I think that they can fit everybody under the cap, and I think that in this particular case, you would think that Crosby would go somewhere else. You would think that bridges were burned,

but maybe not because it's a first-year coach, a first-year coach in the Raiders. Maybe he reaches out to Crosby. Maybe it works. I don't know. Yeah. It's got some time. I mean, you know, the big Packers' Cowboys deal didn't happen last year until like July, so there's some time. Let's turn to Bam out of Bios' enormous night.

He scored 83 points, the second most in NBA history, in Miami's 150 to 129 win over Tony's Wizards. Bam had 31 after the first quarter, 43 at the half, 36 came at the foul line, a new NBA record. And he, coach Eric Spolstra, aided the effort of his player with some of his decisions. afterwards. Bam said, quote, wilt, me, then Kobe. Sounds crazy, close quote.

So what did you think of how Bam accomplished this thing last night and who he did it against? Okay, so let me be perfectly clear in this. Bam, Otabio was a fine player. He's not a Hall of Fame player. He is a fine player. But 83, really? 83? I mean, come on.

So let's look at how he got it. He went to the foul line 43 times. That's an NBA record. And that tells you the wizards were not attempting to defend him. They were just fouling him. They weren't trying to stop him. They were just fouling him. They made no attempt to do anything else.

And he took 22 threes. I know that you know this. I know you know how many threes Will took when he got 100. He took no threes because the threes weren't around. So let me talk about the wizards for a second. They are a disgrace to the capital of the United States of America. They are a disgrace to the NBA. They have been trying to lose for the last three years and succeeding.

Their defense is ranked second worst in the league. You saw it last night, and defense is just effort. They've tried to lose for three years. I think that the president of the basketball operations and the general manager and the coach should all be fired. I thought they should have been fired at the end of last year. But clearly the owner believes in the tanking strategy or else he would have stopped this a long time ago. As you know, Mike, I don't think they should get any ping pong balls. I don't think they should be rewarded for trying to lose.

I think if Adam Silver has an ounce of decency in him, he'll say, no, no, you do not get a reward. No, no ping pong balls for you. And not only that, he should say, and you're selling season tickets, you know, based on false hope. I mean, you're trying to lose. So I'm done. All right, let me go back to the topic that interests more people outside of you and me in Washington. That would be bam. Richard Jefferson, I thought, used a great word.

And there were so many reactions to this last night. Richard Jefferson used the word outlier. Because, Tony, if we sat down and you put 50 names in front of me, you might get to 100. And you said, okay, circle the guy who's going to score 83. I can go at least 50 deep before I go to B. Bam, whose career high was like 41, 42, fine player. Like a really good dude. Bam, you know, this kind of guy who root for a defensive player,

comes into the league to do dirty work. Tony, there's no way you think that Bam is going to do this, but he did it. And when I heard this last night, I was just like, oh, my God. And then the Wizards came. So, yes, I laughed at it as well. But Tony, just think this. He could have scored 100. He was 7 of 22.

from three. From three. If he goes 15 of 22 from three, he's got 91, and he missed free throws. Tony, 100 wasn't even outrageous, and you know it's outrageous because we know it belongs to Wilton. But it was like, it's still, wow. He had 41 in the first quarter. Do you know how many points Michael Jordan had in his best quarter of all time?

This is Michael Jordan we're talking about. He had 40. Bam Anabio had more points in one quarter than Michael Jordan has ever had. That's an amazing thing. Let's turn to the World Baseball Classic in the sticky situation the U.S. team now finds itself in. By losing to Italy last night, 8 to 6, the U.S. will only get into the quarterfinals if Italy beats Mexico tonight, excuse me, or if Mexico beats Italy and scores five or more runs in nine innings. It's complicated.

The U.S. team has only itself to blame for this, and their manager, Mark DeRosa, was unaware of this. jeopardy early yesterday, and in fact, said the U.S. team was moving on well before last night's game against Italy was played. Now, DeRosa says he learned the exact circumstances well before the game that indeed the U.S. was not automatically in. Wilbon, how did USA's performance yesterday against Italy look to you? Tony, it looked like a game that I wasn't expecting. You know, when I watch this, I'm watching this to watch the United States, Japan, Mexico, the Dominican Dominican Republic. Cuba, right?

You know, you know why we're watching this. Baseball finale. I'm not watching this to watch Italy or Great Britain. I don't even want to see them. Right. I'm ready for them come July for the World Cup. So, yeah, I'm looking, the score comes up, and it's like whatever it is when I first was aware of it,

waiting on a five-hour delayed flight to Chicago that never took off. And I look up and see the score, and it's like $5. I'm like, whoa, Italy? Italy is this a first? friendly? What is this? So, but Tony, I hate to say this. I mean, it's cool when a superpower, and that's what

we are, particularly in baseball. When a superpower is pushed to the brink, there's drama, and that's what any tournament needs. Yeah, I'm not going to knock the United States team because Pete Crow Armstrong had two home runs. Gunner Henderson had one run. They came back, and they're

facing a situation where Aaron Judge is the tying run in the bottom of the ninth and he's at bat. So he strikes out, okay, that happens. Previous two games he had hit home runs. I do think the DeRosa thing is sort of interesting, you know, that he had said early on that the United States was in and then had to walk it back.

But I will take him at his word that he didn't change the lineup around. Same here. That he managed exactly the way he's supposed to manage. I'll take him in his word. I will say this, though, Mike. United States scored six runs. Six is a pile of runs. Baseball teams win.

games when they get six runs. Six should have been, it seems to me, enough. Now they'll all watch it tonight at 7 o'clock, and I'm hoping, I'm actually hoping that Cal Raleigh texts his good friend Rosarena and says, could you help us out? Could you get us some runs? Let's take a break. No doubt. Coming up, could injuries affect Duke seating in the NCAA tournament? We're going to ask Joey Brackett's, Joe Launardi. We'll also ask him what he sees as the potential seating for undefeated Miami of Ohio. Tony, if the U.S. lineup is so great, I don't care who he plays.

With the top college conference tournaments getting underway, we want to check in with our good friend ESPN bracketologist, Joe Lennardi. Wilbon, Lenardi's had a tough month, his favorite bagel joint out of the Jersey Shore closed. And so it's a tough month for him. We've got to make sure he's okay. Let's start with this, Joe.

I'm betting he'll recover, Ben on Lennardi. Could these injuries to, Duke or a loss in the tournament, excuse me, materially affect Duke's seating or Duke's path? I don't think so, guys, and here's why Duke has enough separation over the other teams competing for a one seed. I think they could lose by 40 in their ACC opener and still be the number one seed in the east, regardless of who takes the floor.

Now, might they be one overall and or lose that spot? Can Michigan and or Arizona eclipse them? Yes, but that's really a distinction without a difference because Duke's geographic assignment, Greenville, South Carolina, and then D.C. is pretty well set. And I think playing the long game here and trying to get at least one of their two injured guys back is the smart play. All right, Joe, Duke, Michigan, Arizona, give us the mystery guests, who is the first. fourth number one seed. Today it's Florida, and for good reason, even though the Gators didn't have the greatest non-conference performance bumping along while they inserted a new backcourt.

They've really been excellent for the last six, seven weeks and equal to those three other teams. Not over 30 games, but over the last 15, they've been equal. They will be a very worthy defending champion and really the only team on the number one seed line that could lose that spot if they go out early in the SEC tournament and Yukon gets back to the top of the Big East by winning a rubber game against St. John's. All right. Tony and I have been particularly interested in and protective of Miami of Ohio. And they're unbeaten, of course. If they go through their tournament and stay undefeated, What kind of seeding do you see for Miami of Ohio?

This is really an unprecedented situation. You guys are old enough to remember all the undefeated teams, at least since we started seeding the field in 1979. That's almost 50 years. There have only been six undefeated regular season teams in that span, and they've all been one seeds, and they've not all been blue bloods. You know, we've had Kentucky, we've had Gonzaga, We've even had the Wichita States and the St. Joseph's.

But this Miami team is not a one seat. Okay, but when I hear people talk about them being barely in the field, we've lost the plot. They're a member of Division I, and they haven't lost any games. We keep score for a reason. I think if they run the table, the committee will do what it often does with teams with an uneven resume. They're going to be in an eight-nine game and a very dangerous first-round opponent. Ooh. You know what?

I think that's fair. I think that's fair to reward them in that way. I mean, you're not going to make them a three-seed or a four-seed, but an eight, nine, that seems fair to me. Let's get you out of here on this. How do you feel, Mike and I don't like this, the expansion of the tournament, the possible expansion of the tournament. How do you feel about the possibility of the tournament expanding? On one hand, I hate it because I'm still a bracket nerd that it should be the perfect 64. But I also don't think that teams with losing conference records should be eligible for an at-large bid.

I think we play the season for a reason, and I think there should be minimum tournament eligibility. Now, since that's never going to happen, I think we almost need some modest, and I mean very modest expansion. to protect us from the power conferences that if they had their way, would squeeze out all the Miami's, all the sister genes, all the butlers, and all the George Masons. So that's my hill, and I'm ready to die on it. When you talk about minimum, how many? How many teams do you think?

How many? I think we could go up to 80, actually, and have the equivalent of a first four in each region. The first four concept works. 80 is more symmetrical than the 72 and 76 proposals that are on the table. But, and here's my gigantic, but for me, all of the automatic qualifiers, from the SEC to the Southland, they would all be in the main bracket. They would not be in opening round play-ins.

And the only teams playing in would be all the bubble teams in the middle of the field. And yes, that would put Bracketologists out of business. And as long as they wait two or three years, I'm okay with that. I like this. That's a good idea. Thank you as always, Joe.

Thank you. I appreciate it, man. You bet. You can fill out your own bracket by using the ESPN Tournament Challenge. Let's take one last break, but still to come, the Colts commit to Daniel Jones.

And Jalen Brown's second quarter ejection Scullals, the Celtics match up with the Spurs ruined it for a lot of us. Happy time, people, happy 46th birthday, Rich Hill. The veteran left-hander pitched two games last season for Kansas City, making Hill the oldest pitcher in the majors last year. In his first start against the Cubs, Hill went five innings, gave up one earned.

In his second start, Hill got touched up for two homers and four earned by the Braves, and he walked six. That was in July. Hill did not pitch again. Although he hasn't used the word retirement, Hill has said he has no plans to pitch this season. So if he's done, Hill will finish his career with a record of 90 and 76 and a 402 ERA. He'll pitched in 388 games for 14 different teams dating back to 2005.

In 2016, Hill was 12 and 5 with a 212 ERA for Oakland and the Dodgers. If you could pick a path for longevity in sports, let your kid grow up to be a backup quarterback or a left-handed pitcher. You can hang around for if you're talented like these guys, like Richel is, for a long, long, long time. Happy anniversary, Shaquille O'Neill. On this day, 18 years ago while playing for Phoenix, Shaq spotted a loose ball and was determined to get his hands on. As you can see, Shaq clears the entire son's bench as he goes after the ball near his teammates. Of course, players and coaches scattered. This is 360 pounds of Shaq bearing down on her.

Afterwards, Shaq's gesture with his arm seemed to say, why didn't you guys, want to catch me. Well, I remember I told you about the time I was at an all-star game party yacking with someone. Shack came up behind me, lifted me into the air over his head. I was 10 feet off the ground. I was terrified. Terrified. It was great hearing it from Shack. My voice is rotten right now, and I can't do a great Shack. But Tony, hearing it from Shack and it sounded something like this, bro, bro, I picked your boy up. I picked him up. It was like picking up groceries. Happy Trails, Jalen Brown. The Celtics Guard was teed up twice. and therefore ejected in the second quarter of last night's big showdown with the Spurs.

Grant was upset because he felt he had been fouled by Stefan Castle while turning the ball over. Brown went to the locker room and then posted about what he felt was the officiating injustice at halftime. Brown's ejection undermined the matchup that Wilbon and I had been so looking forward to watching. The game was won by the Spurs as Victor Wemeyama finished with 39 points, including eight threes. Yeah, Tony. He, Womayama was great as usual, but it was unfulfilling result to me, unsatisfying, given you want to see Jalen Brown out there. It just got screwed up.

I agree with that. I wanted him to have an MVP night, and he was gone halfway through. A couple of corrections. I said Bam had 41 points in the first quarter. It was actually 31, my bad, and Wilbon had some math issues as well. He said if Bam out of Bio had made 15 threes instead of seven threes, he would have had 91 points, Not quite if he made eight more threes. He would have had 107.

Let's go if we could to the big finish. Steve Tisch plans to move its shares in the New York Giants into a trust for his children following the release of emails that tied into Jeffrey Epstein. Is that significant? I don't know and don't particularly want to consider it. The cult agreed to a new deal with Daniel Jones for two years and $88 million with $60 million guaranteed.

Does that make sense? It does. He was really good before he got hurt. Syracuse fired. Head coach Adrian Orchrey. Does that make sense? Well, Tony, he didn't make the tournament in three seasons, so we sort of saw this coming, which is too bad.

Tyrese Maxie, out three weeks with a tendon injury to his right pinky. That's a big deal, isn't it? He's their best player because he's out there all the time. Last one conference championships tonight in the Patriot and Big Star, he got it. I'm going to go with Lee High and Montana. We'll check the tape tomorrow. We are out of time. We will try and do better than next time.

and I'm Tony Kornheiser. I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads.