The Fumblerooski Podcast - West Coast Represent -Ep 101 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: July 21, 2022

Will Kyler Murray ever play up to his massive contract? Can the 49ers be contenders with Trey Lance? Will the Rams repeat their postseason dominance? Adam Wright and CJ Medieros host special guest George Hathaway who covers young, up-and-coming teams in the NBA.

Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. Good evening. You are listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Fans Only Sports Network. I'm Adam Wright and CJ Medeiros. So we have reached the end of our division previews. Just this past Tuesday, we finished our player rankings as the summer starts to wind down next week, we're going to get into some, uh, fantasy football stuff. We're going to rank the top five at each position. Um, so we are, we are going into the

NFC West. So that is going to be our last division and what better a week to do it than on the same day where we get some crazy news on Kyler Murray. And joining us to help with all of this is special guest George Hathaway. George, welcome to the show. Thank you for joining us. Why don't you introduce yourself to the people? Yes, hello. Thank you, Adam. Thank you, CJ. It's a pleasure being on here. So like Adam mentioned, I'm George Hathaway. I go to Dean College with these guys as well, and it's just a pleasure working with them.

And I'm also grateful to be on here to talk a lot of sports. Absolutely. You've been pretty involved also in the sports broadcasting world. You were just with a summer collegiate baseball league, Palm Springs Power. Yes. I was just out there in Palm Springs, California, wrapped up the season. It was a lot of fun broadcasting a little over 40 games. So it was a great experience, great opportunity. Got to meet some great people and connect out there across the country. Kind of putting Dean out there, myself out there. And I had a lot of fun on top of broadcasting baseball. It was a new part of the country that I got to go see. Never been to California before,

but it was very hot, very dry, very desert-y. So kind of glad to be back in the humidity of the Northeast. Yeah, I bet. And speaking of the West, we are talking about the NFC West. And like I said, the exact day where we are reviewing the NFC West. Some breaking news comes out of the NFC West, which is Kyler Murray, who signed a five-year $230 million extension after a long standout between him and his team, the Arizona Cardinals, $160 million guaranteed. So I did want to get you guys' thoughts on that. We'll start with you, George. What are your overall thoughts on this deal upon it happening?

I like Kyler Murray. He's a really good quarterback. Now, do I think he's worth this amount of money? No, not at all. Arizona was good to start last season off. Everybody was like, oh my gosh, Kyler Murray could be MVP. I was one of those guys saying that as well. He had some miraculous plays, amazing talent that he has, but towards the end of the season, they stopped doing well. And I think if you want to have a quarterback at the helm, that's going to take your team to that next step. You want Kyler Murray to be able to provide. So I think he's a little overpaid in this aspect. But, I mean, at the end of the day, Kyler Murray, he's a really good quarterback,

somebody who can help his team out. But I just don't think that he's that guy who could be getting $160 million guaranteed. Yeah, certainly a solid point. You know, a little bit overpaid. Actually, a little. Might be an understatement. But still their QB won nonetheless. CJ, what are your thoughts?

I feel that before Steve Kime, the Cardinals GM, offered Kyler Murray this contract, he must have just gotten off a booze cruise or something. Because why would you give Kyler Murray this money? And it's just, you know, it's a long-term investment. And you can literally make, personally, I don't think he's top five. You could quite literally make a case he's not top 10. Not a strong case, but a case nonetheless. And just, you don't really have that much money. DeAndre Hopkins is locked up in a huge contract. I believe, did they extend Hollywood Brown?

Do we know this? I think they did they extend to Hollywood Brown? Do we know this? I think they did. Did they? And even if they didn't, you're still going to have to pay him eventually. So it's just like, why? Why would you do this? And I get the current market. I really do.

Keep talking. We're in the day. All right, you do that. But I'm just saying, we're in the day and age where even if your quarterback's slightly above average, you're going to have to hand him the big bucks. But Kyler Murray's getting paid like a top five quarterback, and he is not. And look, he's going, and not to mention, he's not going to just implode because that's what he does. And he's going to face a really nasty test to start off the season because DeAndre Hopkins has been suspended for six games. My point is this is a very, very high risk and maybe high reward because I frankly don't see the Cardinals even winning the division.

Yeah, so just to follow up there, Marquise Brown's contract is – so he's under contract through 2020 – through 2022 obviously. Then 2023, 2024 he's an unrestricted free agent. So he has two years on his deal before then. So that's a little bit of time. Well, they're going to have to pay him that's a little bit of time they're gonna have to pay him eventually and i don't know if they're gonna have that much money and i think his value is gonna go through the roof with uh with kyler murray so that's one thing to look at uh but my

the the biggest thing i look at in um a few insiders have pointed this out as well is this really sets the market for lamar jackson who's also due for a big payday as well. And he's not just like at the quarterback position. They kind of have similar play styles. You know, dual threat guys, they both can throw it down the field. The difference with Lamar Jackson, this is the biggest piece of leverage he has. Unlike Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson has a league MVP award under his belt. Now we can talk a lot about his post-season success or lack thereof, but he's going to

have some leverage to talk to Baltimore about this. He'll say, you know, look, Kyler Murray got paid. And if you're not going to pay me, I'll just go elsewhere and get paid, or I'll hold out. I'm not sure what the situation is there, but this certainly sets the market, and Lamar Jackson has to be jumping for joy looking at this. Another thing to look at is, I have to point out, I did call this when this first started. I said, look, this is all petty stuff that's happening, but like always with these young quarterbacks, there's going to be some dispute over a contract. Then he gets paid.

And then in 2028, and I did say 2028, which happens to be when his contract is up. In 2028, there's going to be an issue, and then he'll get traded. After all of these issues. And look where we are now. So those are just my main takeaways there. But yeah. Yeah, I mean, Adam, I hear you.

I hear you i hear you and as far as lamar jackson goes you know because of that mvp and because his upside is vastly superior to kyler murray's i would argue that lamar would actually deserve a contract in that ballpark you know granted he could stay healthy there'd have to be like some uh you know like clauses about that but i just i'm not loving it because the cardinals really don't strike me as competitors, even in an NFC where like a lot of their elite players are gone. It's just, I don't see them getting past the Rams, the Niners, maybe they're good, maybe they're not. But I just, I'm just, I'm not a fan. See, I disagree. I think they're at least competitive. And I think they'll, I think they're a team that is at least, let's say they'll, let's say they'll, they'll be in competition for a

playoff spot. They have all the offensive weapons they need to do it. The offensive line could have a little, show a little bit of improvement. Their defense was, was actually pretty good last year. Just looking at it, it's their coaching, man. I mean, they've looked like among the best teams in the league in the early going in the past two seasons, and then they would fall apart. And what does that tell you? Cliff Kingsbury. So can they survive Cliff Kingsbury with the new weapons that they have, Kyler Murray's now happy. They gave him,

they gave him a little gift with Marquise Brown, who is best friends in college. So looking at that, they have, they have, they do have some good weapons and their offense has improved with now Marquise Brown to add on to Deandre Hopkins. We'll be,

be back after six games. But I don't hate where they are. I don't love it either. They're still going to be a competitive team, but, I mean, at the end of the day, he is their QB1. I think the Cardinals could be a wild card team that could make some noise. You know, I don't think they'll win the division, but I think they'll be in that middle

spot where you'll see them, and they're very good on paper. DeAndre Hopkins, Kyler Murray, Hollywood Brown, those really elite three guys on that team, but I think it's going to come down to once Hopkins comes back after six games, it's going to be, I think, a little

tension between him and Brown, where Brown's going to get all the attention through the first six games, and now DeAndre Hopkins is going to be, I think, a little tension between him and Brown, where Brown's going to get all the attention through the first six games. And now DeAndre Hopkins is going to come in thinking that he can run the offense. But I think Kyler Murray, I think with the three of them, there's going to be some issues, a little bit, I think, to start off kind of thinking about it. But I think they can make some noise in the NFC playoff picture if they're able to get a click going and they can really kind of ride it out down the stretch. Second half of the season, if they can really start playing well together, they can really do some damage in the NFC.

Yeah. And it is a team that I see to be competitive. Like I said, CJ, you can make a case they finish third, but third also might just be good enough for a wild card spot. Because there was just this mass, through free agency, even in the trade market, this mass exodus of all these players from the NFC to the AFC. The Packers are just depleted, especially that offense. They may not even win their division, let alone be a wild card team. And there were plenty other teams around the league, at least around the NFC that have fallen apart. But I would like to go around and talk about this NFC West and how it shapes up

and how the Cardinals now shape up in this division and stack up against all these teams. We'll get to that next. Don't go anywhere. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Fumble Rooski Podcast. No sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football. They're saying it's a catch. It's in. Oh! It's in! Sideline!

Touchdown! Unbelievable! Slings it way down the field. The walk-in! Sammy Watt takes for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. I'm Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros. Special guest, George Hathaway, with you tonight. And like I said, this is our season finale of our division previews.

We've kind of just used this summer to preview next season because that's what you guys want to look to is next season when we're looking at the NFL over the summer. Nobody wants to hear what happened last year. We've already talked about it. It's over. Let's deal with it. We're on to the NFC West now.

And after this, we're going to get into some fantasy football, but I want to hear what you, how you guys think these teams are going to stack up against each other. So George, how do you think this is going to work out in the NFC West? I think it's going to be Rams, the defending champs. I think that they're going to make a lot of noise. They're going to be very good. They're a very good team, very young, talented as well. With a veteran quarterback that knows a thing or two, now with winning. I was very excited to see Matthew Stafford win a Super Bowl. So they have a very talented team. I think they're going to lead the NFC West, of course.

I think maybe a no-brainer. I don't know how you guys think of that as well. But for me, going with the Rams. And then you have a team like the 49ers who are having some trouble with Jimmy G at the moment. So I think that with that market kind of going on right now, is Jimmy G healthy enough? Is he going to be at that same level again? A lot of questions. And then, of course, with Debo Samuel as well now our team's

going to get get accustomed to him how they're going to be defending him more now so I think those are some questions for the 49ers that you got to talk about and we were just you know talking about of course the Arizona Cardinals the NFC West I think they're going to be second in that division with 49ers third and then Seahawks going to be last with losing Russell Wilson. That is going to be, of course, a huge break for that team that they're going to be struggling with. Who's going to be their QB one to start out the season. We're going to find that out.

I think they're going to have a good battle in training camp, I believe. So that's some things to look at, but Seahawks are not that same team that we saw with the Legion of Boom. So that's why I'm going to have them last in my division. Hey, Adam, you're muted. I almost called it at the beginning of this show off camera. I said this is going to happen, and it does happen every now and then. But, yeah, there you go.

There's George's, let's say, his standings for the NFC West. So, CJ, where do you see this division stacking up? Now, like George, I'm putting the Rams at number one. It'd be foolish not to because they're back, they're healthier, and they even got stronger adding guys like Allen Robinson and Bobby Wagner in free agency. I mean, the O-line is going to be roughly the same. Running game is going to be a lot better. Cooper Cupp and Allen Robinson are going to be scary on offense, along with their tight end Tyler Higby, who they got back and you have an elite player

on all three levels of the defense in aaron donald bobby wagner and jalen ramsey now now you could argue they could be number two up next the niners i don't know what to do with them i really don't the team around the quarterback is solid but but the quarterback, I just, I don't know. It's a big question mark. Yeah. And see, here's the thing. Can we all pump the brakes on the Trey Lance hype train? I'm seeing him say, oh, the sky's the limit.

Like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't hype him up as a potential top 10 quarterback because i don't know if you've been paying attention but some of the things we've been hearing out of their mini camps and off seasons it's not good i have not heard many good things about him they're saying he's behind where they want him to be they're not sure about his like game managing ability they're like his throws are erratic like look he could prove me wrong if that'd be all well and good but right now saying that he's just going to come out like a you know just come out and just destroy everyone i don't see it i really don't and the cardinals we've already touched on can they survive kingsbury like adam said that's a good question and all i'm going to say is i'm leaning toward no because

even kingsbury was a second half of the season choker in college. And it's an issue only amplified in the NFL. And then in last place, the Seahawks. Oh, the poor, pitiful Seahawks. So now you're down a Russell Wilson, but now you have an exciting quarterback battle between Geno Smith and Drew Locke, where no matter who wins, everyone loses. And, I mean, your offense is fine. You have a decent running back by committee. You have a great receiver.

Don't tell Brett that. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I know. Brett, if you're listening, yeah, you know the truth. He knows the truth. I was talking to him in the press box. He legitimately thinks he's going to be a pro bowler next year. Oh, my goodness.

No, well, we love him, but I'm going to have to veto that. Yes. But I look at the Seahawks. We'll have him on the show to plead his case. But look at the Seahawks defense. You look around and you just say, huh, where is it? Because it's not there. I'm sorry like maybe they're gonna like surprise me but i i just i don't see it i mean if you're you are well i got i cut off there sorry but if you're like oh no you're already on the next year

you know you're good you're good yeah you're still good all right but look it's like you are probably like one of seven teams in the nfl that's looking for that bryce young kid from alabama in next year's draft so if you're seattle just i know i'm not a big believer in writing off a year for a team but this is definitely going to be a throwing throwaway. There's going to be some growing pains, but you've accrued some draft picks. Let's see what you can do with them. Yeah.

So one, so one thing also that came out yesterday is the team, the 49ers have finally given Jimmy Garoppolo and his agents permission to seek out a trade, which just shows the 49ers confidence in Trey Lance. And you guys, so to look at who finishes first in this division, you guys know very well I'm one who just for the fun of it or just for argument's sake, I'll try to go the other way

as what everybody else says. But this is a tough one. You can't really go against the Rams here. The Rams, that's kind of the consensus. They're not only the favorites to win the division, but perhaps possibly to defend their conference title, to go back to the Super Bowl. They basically have a returning team.

In the places where they did lose pieces, they replaced them. Like, they just replaced Vaughn Miller, and they also replaced Robert Woods and possibly upgraded from there with Allen Robinson. And so looking at second and third, that, that just goes hand in hand against like, like you said,

CJ, I don't know with, with the 49ers because Trey Lance is a big wild card. It's just a massive question mark. And because it's a question mark, I'm going to put, I'm going to slot him in that whole team at third, just because even if he doesn't pan out i'll still have him be being okay um looking at looking at the cardinals we already touched on it a little bit

i still like that team and they have talent everywhere there in fact they have they have better talent on the offensive side of the ball it's's not just DeAndre Hopkins and then everybody else is just okay. A.J. Green showing some flashes of his former self and Christian Kirk being all right, but he's laughing his way to the bank over there in Jacksonville. And looking at it now, I just think that the offensive has improved and will they survive the cliff kingsbury uh the second second half collapse see it depends on your definition of it because if you look at it and try to say well like are they are they going to win the

super bowl if that's your definition of them surviving, then no, they're doomed. But to go, let's say, 12-5, 11-6, I think they can do that. They're a better team than they were last year. And there comes a point where the talent just is so great that it's hard for the coach to screw it up. And we saw that with the Cowboys. The Cowboys did lose in the divisional round, but they had a great regular season. The Cowboys did lose in the divisional round, but they had a great regular season. Actually, no, not even the divisional round. They lost in the wildcard round, but still great regular season. So it depends on your kind of definition, if that makes any sense. But Seattle, that's your consent. We talk about our consensus number one

with the Bills. Our consensus last place team is the seattle seahawks and uh drew lock's a likable guy i do like him he's not a pro bowler sorry brett um and gino gino smith i might like a little better uh just because he has the familiarity and apparently apparently uh uh pete carroll likes him as well. And it's Drew Locke who has to beat him out. So it's going to be a fun matchup between the two going at it during training camp. But, I mean, as it stands right now, they're still the last place team. So, I mean, we all kind of have the same division standings, don't we?

Yeah, very similar. Bookends are the same. It's just those two and three that can be intertwined, which I think is fair. I think it's a very fair argument for the 49ers and Cardinals to have either one of those guys be second or third. It makes a lot of sense. So I think our preview of the NFC West is pretty solid. Yeah.

And we're previewing the NFC West, and Jimmy Garoppolo is currently still in the NFC West. Currently. So he is still a topic of conversation. Where do we think that he could wind up as the quarterback market continues to dry up? I really got to think about that. Maybe, just maybe Houston, I guess, if they don't have what they see with Davis Mills.

Maybe, I don't know. There's not really many places to go. There's the Falcons. Oh, yeah, right. Atlanta. I forgot't know. There's not really many places to go. There's the Falcons. Oh, yeah, right, Atlanta. I forgot about them. There's – Also, do we know what San Fran wants for Jimmy or no? They don't deserve much, if anything.

I was going to say, if they actually demand a first-round pick, I would literally conspire with all the other gms to just lower the price cj combined conspiring with the uh the gms around the league no i know not me i'm just saying if i were a gm i would literally just say all right that's it let's all continually low ball because he shouldn't go for a first. He genuinely shouldn't. Second, maybe third. Because you get some good years out of him.

Yeah, but if I look at him too hard, his bones will break. I just think looking at it all, probably at the end of the day, Jimmy G's staying there. I think that there might be trade talks. San Francisco's not going to be happy. I think it's going to be a similar situation with Kevin Durant. They're going to want too much for him and then get nothing and it's going to be a standstill and everyone's just going to be upset. Because they paid a lot of money for Jimmy G after a really good year in New England.

The hype was there. And then they took him to a super bowl he just couldn't perform and then he got hurt and then everything just started going downhill there for the 49ers and jimmy g so that's why i think that you know if we talked about trading them a few years ago would have been a different story could have been going for a first round but i think now you're looking second third round pick pick for Jimmy G, maybe even like a B tier quarterback as well in that mix. Yeah. One, one that, you know, the two that really jumped out, out to me were Seattle and Cleveland, but recent reports have suggested that they're

not going to be in on, on Jimmy Garoppoloolo and they're looking at other uh kind of lower tier like actually career backup quarterbacks uh to to fill in if if deshaun watson were to miss time which does suggest to me that that watson might not miss that much time if he does any because if if if they were if he was going to be suspended for a year, they would be at Jimmy Garoppolo's doorstep because that's a quarterback who you can look at and take with the roster that they have, and they could be in contention for a year. With what they have, with what they're looking at, I heard reports of Cam Newton.

So if it's Cam Newtonton versus jacoby brissett then that tells me and this is we're getting a little off i'm getting a little off topic from the nfc west but but looking at it if you look at what they have it tells me it could be a four to six maybe three game suspension so something that's something to look at but But anything else on the NFC West before we move on to George's guest segment? Not really, no. Nothing, George? All right. So coming up, we're going to touch on George's guest segment

where we are going to cross sports into the NBA. We love to do that and to go into some more sports, branch out a little bit, while still staying in our same lane, talking about the NBA this summer. The NBA offseason is as crazy as ever, and we're going to touch on that next. You are listening to the Fumble ruski podcast here's edelman broken up in the past is no sign yet edelman comes down with a football. They're saying it's a catch. It's a pass.

Takes. Side-eyed. Touchdown. Unbelievable. Slings it way down the field to Watkins. Sammy Watkins for the touchdown. You are listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Fans Only Sports Network. I'm Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, special guest George Hathaway. And we've reached our guest segment and george is going to talk a little bit about some of the

young and upcoming teams this offseason around the nba so george what do you got so some of my favorite young teams to look out for everyone's going to start laughing about it but one of my favorite teams the pelicans always have yes uh one of my favorite young teams uh they're getting better unfortunately um there are rookies that drafted i heard dyson daniels ej liddell both got hurt uh during the summer league so they're gonna be out for some time um ej liddell out for the season because he tore his acl but daniels being possibly see back on maybe a two-way contract, but that's one of my favorite young teams. With the addition, of course, re-signing Zion Williamson to a contract extension, only going to make them better, adding to a team that

took the Suns toe-to-toe in the first round of the NBA playoffs. So that's why I'm really excited about watching them this year. They're going to be a really good young team, going to make some noise in the West. Another team in the West, I think the Pelicans rival. We could start that conversation a little bit as well. It's going to be the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that I think that are really good upside.

They're second in the West going into last season. So now coming into this year, I think they're really solid as well. They're going to build upon that. I think they can only keep adding on. Yes, they were second and they ended up losing, of course, the NBA champions, Golden State Warriors in the playoffs, but a really good team with a lot of young promise and a team that was second in the west and a team that can only build upon that john morant's great mvp candidate of course it pains me to say that because everybody compares him and zion back and forth uh who should the pelicans take in one john morant or zion but i'm sticking by what the Pels decision was, picking Zion

Williamson. But John Morant just up there is a really good superstar who could be an MVP candidate at such a young age. So Grizzlies are another really good team. And I think moving into the East, I have two teams that are really young and talented. Boston Celtics, you might not think of them as a young team because of how much noise they've made in the East the last four years, four or five years. They've been really solid all around. And that's why I'm really excited to watch them. And they're only growing.

A team that lost in the NBA Finals, Jason Tatum's first time there, this team's first time there with a first year head coach something that you really want to look at is the celtics as a young team adding malcolm brogdon um as well on top of that i think that they are a really good young team that will be back in the nba finals if not this year next year as well um and then the cleveland cavaliers um a really really good young team and with colin sexton darius garland really really good team of guys who might go under the radar a little bit i think those two and the cleveland cavaliers in general might go under the radar because you kind of connect them a little bit with LeBron James and their success there with him.

And then with no LeBron, they kind of fell off a little bit, but they're slowly making that climb right back up to the top. And so Cleveland's very good upside, so the Cavs should be happy with themselves and what they've done. Yeah, I mean, you went like really you went like a really young, like really young teams in the league. And I was looking at, so I wanted to kind of look at the NBA and sort of look at this off season because I have every time I've looked up, looked up at any sort of NBA news, it's some sort of player getting re-signed, which I really love because it's always been the past few years. It's ever since, you

know, LeBron James moved to Miami and then the Celtics formed that super team. And there's also the Golden State Warriors. They signed Kevin Durant earlier on in this decade. And we're seeing a little bit of sort of a renaissance of young, of homegrown talent who are staying with their teams. So the Phoenix Suns, they agreed to re-sign Devin Booker. Memphis Grizzlies' John Morant agreed to terms for a four-year extension. Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic re-signed on $264 million Supermax and then there's also carl anthony towns who agreed for an extension so we're seeing a big flurry of team of players the stars of these teams who are staying and in this this is this coming through the same course of time where the past two not only the past two winners of the NBA finals

have been all homegrown talent, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks last year. And this year there was the Golden State Warriors who are back even after losing Kevin Durant. Just shows that that team is a well-oiled machine. And the losers as well so the Phoenix Suns homegrown talent Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton although Ayton's now gone actually no Ayton's back Ayton's back yeah yeah because I saw that he signed to that but he was

a restriction restricted free agent but he still had intentions to leave. So technically, I mean, he wanted to go, but the Suns said, no, you're staying. And then there was also the Boston Celtics, who are a homegrown team. They've been knocking at the door for years, and they finally broke through. They haven't won an NBA final yet, but they're getting there. We'll get there next year. Right, CJ? Our Celtics are going to – this next year is the year. I mean, to be fair, we actually had a good offseason. So, yeah, yeah. Very solid. year right cj our celtics are gonna they're this next year is the year i mean it better i mean to

be fair we actually had a good off season so yeah yeah a very solid i think the celtics finessed the pacers oh absolutely we did um probably one of the bigger biggest winners of this off season be the celtics they made one tiny move and i think that really and brogdon already admitted that he's fine coming off six man and i think that goes to to show that he knows that he's coming into a team that already has some great chemistry, as it is. And then he's just going to be that missing piece to that puzzle that the Celtics need to put them above and beyond. But, Adam, you're absolutely right, though. These teams that we're seeing are teams that are homegrown. They're investing in themselves and reinvesting. So you look at teams like the Phoenix Suns,

who are a team whose owner is very cheap. And this is where the nervous part, I think, a lot for Suns fans was, how can they afford to keep Aiton and Booker if they want to give them some big money? Because then you have guys like Cam Johnson or Bridges, who are very good, young, talented players. And you can't keep all four of them on the same team with CP3 because then you're going to be running yourselves up until that luxury tax. But they're reinvesting themselves.

And I'm actually very surprised to see the Suns do this because of how they're known to tend to be on the cheaper side of things. But that's what you want to see from a franchise, is reinvesting themselves into the future. The Cavs did it. They slowly did it. People even questioned when Kyrie Irving came, was he going to leave? No, they kept reinvesting themselves into him. LeBron came back, then they won. LeBron left. They had those off years, and now they're reinvesting themselves

with Darius Garland and Colin Sexton, and now they're doing well again. So it's those teams you like to see because the NBA, I think, has a notorious track record of being the league where players jump around a lot, where everybody goes, I didn't win here. I want to go somewhere else. Get $200 million, win a championship, leave, go somewhere else, get $200 million, win a championship, leave, go somewhere else, do the same thing, repeat. We are now getting away from that.

It's not a super team, Eric, because we still have super teams around the NBA, but we're leaving that era of jumping to and from. And that's, I think, what a lot of fans want to see because you have a fan base like Milwaukee who's very passionate about their sports. And they've been, you know, they've had the Green Bay Packers, you know, and everything like that in Milwaukee. But somebody like the Bucks, you know, they've been doing really well for themselves. And they are adding guys to go along with Giannis. They're not, you know, trading Giannis away or Giannis demanding a trade.

It's more that, okay, let's add Holliday to the team because he's going to be a piece that can help him push him over the edge. It's just teams like that that you really like seeing in the NBA nowadays who are homegrown. And even look at the Celtics. They absolutely finessed, and they still are finessing, to this day, the Brooklyn Nets. They gave away Paul Pierce, KG, who were after their prime for a bunch of first-round draft picks that turned into

guys like Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown. Marcus Smart was in that mix as well. So they're able to get rid of the past and kind of look towards the future where it's going to take some of those years. So I think with fans, my message to them is in your market, in your favorite team, don't think of winning now. Think of years down the road because the Celtics were everybody, okay, we lost to LeBron so many years. They continued to do that even when LeBron was in Cleveland for the second time and Jason Tatum couldn't really get there.

Okay, now you're upset with Tatum. Should we get rid of him, get somebody good? No. Why don't we stick with him because now look where he is. We're a step closer to bringing home banner number 18 in Boston. So it's just having faith. It's going to be weird to sound, but trust the process, I guess, right? That's what you're going to have to do if you're an NBA franchise,

getting these young guys. Philly said it first, I guess, right? But it didn't work out for them. I mean, still trusting a process that isn't there. Yeah, Joel Embiid. I mean, even another guy, James Harden, he took a pay cut, surprisingly. I think I was a little shocked to see that. A pay cut so they can get a guy like P.J. Tucker onto that team. And I think Harden now, along with the rest of the NBA, is going to that mindset of talking about, okay, let's stop jumping team from team.

Why don't I reinvest? And I think it's very similar, I guess, to go along with the theme of your guys' podcast. It's Tom Brady. He always took pay cuts in New England. He could be, he should have been, you know, the highest paid quarterback in the NFL in his prime in New England. But no, he said, I'm going to take pay cuts. Why don't we add some guys on our team? Because that will help us win. So, you know, James Harden doing that, I think, is one step forward of him maturing and wanting to win a title with one team now.

Yeah, that's definitely like, I mean, yeah, Philly definitely did it first with the whole trust the process type thing. And everybody sort of went along with it because it was just such, it was also, it was a very catchy slogan. Everybody loved to say it. People used it themselves. The only problem, I mean, they did, I mean, you have to admit that team did take it to the extremes and they were there were there were there was a time where they were just straight up tanking every year just fishing for draft picks and and just throwing uh throwing stuff at the wall and hoping it sticks yeah i mean i'm sorry i don't want to jump in but it's like it literally got to the point where the nba forcibly removed their gm from blatant tanking no yeah i think tanking was a big part for philly i mean there's times where nobody was in that

in that stadium where nobody was watching games um and i think now the long-awaited trust of the process is slowly working in philly another team that they could be there but then you got the issues with doc rivers and if he can hold on to a lead if he can take a team to the playoffs like he did with the celtics 14 years ago So then there's those questions that are going to be arising as well. But ever since they lost, Philly said that Doc Rivers is their guy. So they're going to stick with them, ride it out. And I'm excited to see Philly. They're not going to win. They're not going to be able to go that next step, but I think they'll be able to do some really good um damage in the east all right nice i do want to love it before before we end the show i do want to levitate a little bit more

towards the pelicans because that is your favorite team so yes what so what are your expectations going forward in the next couple years because we we're touching on the narrative you know uh these young teams moving forward rein reinvesting in their teams. They just reinvested in their guy, Zion Williamson. Where do you see this team going and how do you think, what are the best strings that they can pull in order for them to get the best success possible? So I think what this mindset for this pelicans team is defense defense wins championships like that motto says and with the pelicans they are we have some really good great young defenders some of the best young defenders in the mvp jose alvarado is one of them herb jones is a great

defender all arounds you're adding some guys in there. Zion, who is going to be a bully in the paint when it comes to defense. If he's able to do well on his footwork, I think that's one big issue. Jonas Valanciunas is very good defensively as well. Then you add guys like EJ Liddell, who's a really solid defender once he's back and healthy. Dyson Daniels is very good. So this team is defense oriented, yet their offense is just as good with guys like CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson. All these guys can play really great basketball offensively just as well as they can defensively. So I think the Pelicans next few years, realistically, okay, I'll give you realistically

because the fan inside of me is trying to crawl out and say that yes the goal is this team can go to the nba finals but no realistically i think that this team could be a second round exit um could we see them in the western conference finals yes but i'll give it a few years but they'll they'll make it past the first round this year and it goes to show because last year they went through the play-in tournament as a nine seed they won it all uh with every with their backs against the wall they beat the spurs they beat the clippers to go up and play against the phoenix suns who were finals contenders who just came off of losing an nba final so everybody down to the Pelicans, they're going to get swept.

Gentlemen sweep, if anything. So then in game one happens, the Pelicans lose in a blowout. Then that's going to happen. But game two, the Pelicans blow out the Suns. And then game three and four, they go hand in hand and it just goes up to game six. And now everybody's like,

okay, the Pelicans could actually upset the one-seeded team as an eight-seeded. And they're under.500 going into the playoffs as well. There are three teams actually in the NBA who have actually done that. The Clippers and the Celtics were the two other teams, and they got swept. Well, the Pelicans kind of broke that and took the best team in the NBA to six games. So that's why I think that if they're able to do that, I think they can actually go deep in the playoffs. And Jose Alvarado is already headhunting. He goes, I want to go against Kyrie.

He's one of those guys who will chirp at you and get in your head. He did that to Chris Paul, a veteran leader, one of the greatest. They call him point guard, one of the greatest point guards we've ever seen in the head. He did that to Chris Paul, a veteran leader, one of the greatest, they call him point guy, one of the greatest point guards we've ever seen in the NBA. And Jose Alvarado, an undrafted rookie, was inside his head the entire series. And that's what this team is. They have the dog in them and they're able to fight. And I think they're not afraid of anybody. They don't care if you're Goliath, they'll take you down. So that's why I think this team in three years could make it to the NBA finals. Right now, next year, let's work with Zion.

Let's see how this team can go because they're not going to be in the play-in tournament. They realistically could be a six-seeded team, could be a seven-seeded team as well. And then the fan in me thinks that they could be top five in the Western. So I, with everything that's kind of going on in the West, I think they could be a top five if they are so strong and they stay healthy. Yes, they can be top five, but realistically I think they're six,

seven. Nice. So you take the big three of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum. Is that a recipe for a championship team? Yes. Let's say they're all healthy. Yes, all healthy. That's a big if. Championship team. And that is a big if. But I think Zion, he had a whole year off to recover.

He was in Portland training, rehab. That's where they hit the assignment and sent him. And now you're kind of watching him play a little bit. And you're like, okay, could we see this dominant Zion that we saw at Duke University even a little bit in his first? Because remind you, Zion was putting up 20 points a game off a 60% shooting. We have never seen that in the NBA before. He's putting up numbers historically in his first season. He reminds me a lot of Joel Embiid. And I put that comparison there with him. Embiid missed his first three seasons. Zion played more than Embiid did his first three years, but obtaining injuries and people questioning whether or not he's actually going to be the

real deal. And so that's why I think that that comparison of Embiid and Zion are right there. I'm not saying that Zion's going to win MVP this year or anytime soon. I think he will. But if we can see Zion putting up 25 a game off 60% shooting again, and then I think the spacing for the Pelicans is going to be just as better because you're going to have two bigs down there who can dominate, like Valanchunas and Zion. Then you're going to kick it out in the corner for ZJ McCollum because everyone's going to attack

the paint because you have two bigs down there. That's just going to be a recipe for success in New Orleans, which is a basketball city. I will say that right now. The fans are loving it down in New Orleans. Just kind of experiencing it. They call themselves

the Pels 12. So that is what the fan base is called. That's what we're rocking with because JJ Redick said there's only 12 Pelicans fans in the world. And yeah, there are only 12 of us. So what can we say? Also probably the craziest fan base in the NBA, I'd say right now, is the Pelicans.

When they went back to New Orleans for the Suns series, Jay Crowder could not make it out of there alive because nobody liked him. Everybody was chirping because they were thriving off that energy that the team was giving, which was they were going to chirp at you. They were going to yell at you. They were going to get in your head. And I think that is what New Orleans basketball is. From my understanding, though, didn't Jay Crowder kind of bring a lot of it upon himself too? Not to undermine.

Yeah, he totally did. I mean, it's Jay Crowder. We know his personality. And he thrived off of it. And I think that made the fans want it more. But one thing that stuck out for me is is even though we did lose in New Orleans, in the streets, everybody was chanting, let's go Pelicans, even though they lost in the first round.

Why? Because nobody thought Pelicans were going to be there. Everybody underestimated New Orleans. As a basketball city, as a basketball team, relocate the Pelicans. Everybody talked about that. Move them to Seattle, wherever it could be, St. Louis. Move them out of New Orleans because they're a terrible franchise. They're not good enough. Well, guess what?

This team has rallied behind that, and they love that underdog mentality, and that's going to work for them. It's still working because people still don't trust that Zion's going to be that same guy. I think he will be, it might take some time. He's not going to go four for four from beyond the arc again in his debut season,

dropping 27. No, that's not going to happen, but it's going to take some time because playing five on five in a scrimmage is different than playing an NBA game. So it'll take some time, but the Pelicans I think are going to be there and they're going to take some time because playing five on five in a scrimmage is different than playing an NBA game. So it'll take some time, but the Pelicans I think are going to be there and they're going to be making a lot of noise and people are going to start hopping on the train. And I'm going to say, I told you so. And that's, I get the last laugh too, I guess, for liking an underdog team.

That's always the reason why to stick with your team though, especially if you're a small market team, if you're not the Boston or New York, one of the Boston or New York teams of the world, and you just stick with your team and your team wins it. I mean, yeah, at the same time, there's also going to be some who will just say, just, just make those, those wild accusations of band bandwagon. You definitely were a Celtics fan last year, a Golden State Warriors fan. But that must feel like much better seeing that you stuck around the team and you kept to the faith, and then they went and they delivered a championship.

Yes. If the Pelicans do end up winning a championship again, even if they go to the NBA Finals, I will be on that first plane in New Orleans. No doubt about it. I will be at that championship parade. Why? Because I'll probably never see one again maybe. But guess what?

I could say I was there for it, and I would love to be there. So you heard it here first. If the Pelicans do go i will be i'll i will be at the nba finals game um even if i mean it'll be even more better for me if it was a celtics pelicans finals that'd be amazing right but i'll be booking then we win either way yeah you guys could come with me we could all go together enjoy some nice new orleans food oh yeah i've heard bourbon street's got a lot of good food man exactly so i think that yeah i'll be at that championship parade and i will be gloating about

it i think till the day i die yeah or we'll be going to the championship parade and then you you'll you'll just have to wait a few a few more years after i mean you don't hate this you'd be fine either way. I wouldn't complain because I have not seen a championship parade yet in Boston, so I want to go to one. I'm really banking on the Red Sox, Bruins, or Celtics

taking it to one. Or the Patriots too, of course. Mac Jones, disrespect. I'm sorry, guys. I was thinking of what we're kind of in season, what's kind of getting closer to the Red Sox right now, but that's if they do well.

But, yes, Patriots, we're riding on that Mac Jones train. I mean, he's my QB, and he's taking us to the promised land. That's all I can say there. I hope so and but i've got to admit it it's out of the four the main four boston teams the closest one it's the it's definitely the celtics they just went to the they just went to a championship the jury's still as much as i like mac jones he showed some promise jury's still out on that guy and the red socks the red socks god yeah let's we'll just leave it at that yes exactly that's a good way to sum that up uh it's it's hard to believe that that team was

11 games above 500 at one point now they're fighting just to stay above 500. Good Lord. I fought with Ford in the last spot in the AL East. Yeah, yeah. They are in the toughest division in baseball, I will say. But it's at the same time, good Lord. It's not going well. But you guys have any other thoughts before we end the show here tonight? Nope. Nothing?

All right. Well, George, thank you so much for joining us today. So without further ado, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. Be sure to tune into us live Tuesdays and Thursdays at seven 30 on Twitter and Facebook through fans, only sports network. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We also have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple podcasts, I heart radio,

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