The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 07/12/2019

Episode Date: July 12, 2019

Colin congratulates the reunited duo of Russell Westbrook & James Harden in Houston but warns that it might be too late for Westbrook to change his style of play. Oklahoma City & the Houston Rockets both have sinking ships but instead of letting it go and collecting the insurance, Houston decided to salvage the ship to chase a championship. Sam Presti should subscribe to Bill Belichick's motto of learning your own personnel before trying to make trades and Colin gives you his own special grading system for the Top 12 NBA duo's today!Guest: Chris Broussard Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played. with and just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to listen to learn the hard way on the iha radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast imagine an olympics where

doping is not only legal but encouraged it's the enhanced games some call it grotesque others say it's unleashing human potential either way the podcast's superhuman documented it all embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the Best of Heard Podcast.

Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1, find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRartRour. Radio app by searching Herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. What a Friday. What a Friday.

Another interesting day. This in Los Angeles Live is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and right here on FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. We thought today would be one of those summer layup days you come in, have some fun. and now we got ourselves a lead story. We got a topic, Westbrook to Houston. I'm wearing Rockets colors today.

This NBA off season is the gift that keeps giving. It's incredible. And I'll say this again. Outside of the finals, I'm not sure the off season for the NBA is not way better than the regular season. It's fascinating. Why do you talk NBA, Colin? Example 38 in the last two weeks. This is why I talk to the NBA.

It's the great soap opera. By the way, Westbrook and James Hardin, according to a reporter in Houston, both pushed for a reunion. Yeah, this is the gorgeous Hollywood couple breaks up, gets back together, and six months later. Why do we get back together? We couldn't stand each other. It's not going to work long term, but it's interesting. I mean, we just know Westbrook wouldn't work with Kobe. Hardin wouldn't work with Kobe.

They're all too ball dominant, right? So when it doesn't work perfectly and it doesn't win in Houston, we're all going to blame Westbrook. Right? That's what Colin Coward was going to do. The herd's going to bang on Westbrook. But no, it will be on Harden, too. Because James Harden is simply a better version of Russell Westbrook. He's a much better player.

That's it. It's the same guy. One's better. James Harden dominates January. James Harden, because he dominates January, is exhausted by the second round of the playoffs. James Hardin's difficult to play with. James Hardin takes mostly the defensive side off because he expends so much energy on the offensive side.

Both Harden and Westbrook are hard to play with and unravel late, and I've watched one unravel Westbrook and one quit Harden in the postseason. And their stories are similar. Oklahoma City was convinced Westbrook was the answer to everything, and a very smart guy, Sam Presti, wouldn't listen to anybody. It ignored Westbrook's issues, which even I could spot. And Darry in Houston hardens the answer to everything and won't listen to anybody that says he's hard to play with.

Nobody wants to play with him. I can bang on Westbrook all day. K.D. Hardin, Ola Depot, everybody gets better. Mello tried to work with Hardin. Chris Paul tried to work with Hardin. They tried to work Hardin in Oklahoma City with Westbrook and Durant and they got rid of him. It's not like James is easy, but James is better than Westbrook. He's one of the great one-on-one players in the history of the NBA.

But both Westbrook and Hardin, they're not bad guys. Westbrook had Billy Donovan for years as a coach. They got along. Hardin's not a bad guy. He gets along with Dan Tony. They're not coach killers. They're not bad guys. They're both fashionable.

They're both really fun to watch. But they both have a huge flaw. Is that the NBA playoffs for 40 years has been officiated differently than the regular season. So you get to the playoffs and with each round, the referees swallow the whistle and let more pushing and more bumping and more. physicality. And Westbrook and Hardin get much less efficient and much more frustrated once they get into the playoffs and both erode and dissolve and don't look like the same player. The difference is, of course, Hardin's just a better version of it. He's a better version. And both Oklahoma City with Westbrook and Houston with Hardin, we talk about him. They're great highlights.

They're on TV all the time. They're fascinating. They make you choose. Harden's so great, but very polarizing. Westbrook's an amazing talent, but polarizing. And both disappoint us in the playoffs. So when this doesn't work, everybody's going to bang on Westbrook. But if you look at most championship players in my lifetime, they play both sides. They elevate in the playoffs. Tim Duncan played defense.

Garnett played defense. Paul Pierce played defense. Kobe played defense. Pippen played defense. D. Wade played defense. LeBron played defense. Scottie Pippen played defense. Most Kauai Leonard plays defense.

Hardin and Westbrook have so much energy on the offensive end, dribbling around the floor. They can't play great defense. Hardin's gotten better, but he's exhausted. Westbrook tries, but he's exhausted. Their games are fascinating but severely flawed. It's just that Hardens is flawed less. But Houston's convinced he's the answer to everything Harden, and OKZ was convinced that, of course, Westbrook,

was the answer to everything. But neither is, and both will struggle to play with each other. Chris Carter talked about it this morning on first things first. Just because you're talented, doesn't mean you play well with others. I've been around to me and these guys. These guys are so self-absorred.

I know that. I was one of them guys, man. And let's not forget what Hardin has done the last several years. Last year, 36, 6, and 7. I don't need Russ. I just did this by myself. Harden is playing a level right now. He feel like he don't need anyone.

And when he gets into playoffs, that's his mentality. So what's he going to do to Russ? He's going to turn the team over to Russ? Like, man, this is a juggling act. Like, so Russ is just going to take a back seat now after having his own team? I don't know how they're going to do it. If you look at the time of possession, both of them have the ball, it's impossible for them to continue playing the style they're playing.

By the way, you could make the argument they'll change. was told something years ago by a very successful financial planner, very smart guy smarter than me. He says people don't change unless they're going to go broke or die. You can go up to a billionaire at 50 and say, you're going to go broke unless you change, he'll change. Or you can go to that 50-year-old billionaire and say, if you don't stop smoking, you'll die and he'll stop smoking. But when you take a 20 or a 30-year-old who's got 150, 200 million in the bank and have been rewarded for their selfishness, And you say, just change. They won't.

Why would they? They're fashion icons. NBA stars talked about. 30 million a year on shoes. They're not going to change. Why would I change if the market keeps rewarding me? I'm only changing if I'm dying or going broke and Hardin and Westbrook are doing neither. Let me shift to this.

I am an opinionist. And this morning, everybody wants to know. Who won the trade? Whenever a trade happens, who on the trade? This team, A, team, B team, that team. Neither did. Now, Vegas believes Houston did. But I can make an argument for both.

Neither really won the trade. Now, Houston does get Westbrook. He is younger, healthier, still mostly in his athletic prime, and Chris Paul wasn't. And Houston got rid of Chris Paul's contract. That's first or second worst contract in the league. So Houston, have a parade. Oklahoma City can say this morning,

we were being held hostage by Westbrook. He was screaming at reporters. He couldn't get along with teammates. He was hard to coach. No other star worked. And we got a bunch of draft picks. Oklahoma City, you go throw a parade. In my opinion, neither one.

The minute Chris Paul's hammy went side. ways for Houston, they were absolutely screwed. Darry this morning got the worst analytic three-point shooter late games in the league. Is that a win? And Oklahoma City got a bunch of draft picks. Congratulations. You'll be awesome in 2034. You know what these are to me? Oklahoma City and Houston. Both had ships, and both ships were sinking. And Oklahoma City said, hey,

we're going to let it sink. We're going to get our insurance money back. We're going to start over and buy a new boat. We're just going to let it sink, take some insurance money, let it sink. And that's what they did today. We're just letting the boat sink. But we're going to recoup draft pick slash insurance money, so we got some of our money back. Houston's saying, uh-uh, we're not letting the boat sink.

We're going to salvage it. We're going to pay a lot of money and we're going to patch up the hole in the boat. Okay, it's still leaking. Patch it up. We've got the insurance money draft pick. We're going to try to salvage a sinking ship. In both instances, Oklahoma said he's not winning a title forever, and I don't think Houston's winning a title now. They both felt like sinking chips.

One wants to salvage it. This is not ideal. Westbrook and Hardin's ideal. One is an atrocious analytic player, and both need the ball. I can see, listen, if I'm Sam Presti this morning, and most people, Vegas included, feel Houston one, if I'm Sam Presti this morning, and I've never, been in this situation, but I've had friends who were in the situation. Westbrook was fighting with fans. He was fighting with media. It was ugly. I was told the owner of Oklahoma City was

done with Westbrook, that after he blew up at fans this year, three or four times, the owner was just done with it. It was bad optics. He was fighting with the media. The owner felt like, listen, man, this is just getting embarrassing. This thing's just not working. Let's move on. He told Sam Presti. But I have had friends before that are in relationships. And then, and it's a very financially good relationship. There's a lot of money. And they get a divorce and they got to go live in an apartment.

And they feel like they won. They're not held hostage. They wake up happy. Nobody's screaming at them. You know, Sam Presti, this morning, I get a do-over. Yes, I'm not as rich. I don't have Westbrook. I don't have Paul George.

We weren't in the West. We're not winning titles. stuff. Maybe my apartment's small. Maybe I don't have the money. Maybe I don't have the wealth. But I wake up happy. I like scouting. I like finding new talent. Sam Presti probably likes that. Darry, yes, you got rid of a horrible contract and now have a bad contract. It should be noted. I'm looking at a graph right here. For those who think Houston won, with very few exceptions, Once an NBA guard turns 31, the All-Star years dry up. Russell Westbrooks turning 31 here real soon.

I don't think either team won. They made the most of sinking ships. One's letting it sink and recouping their insurance money and starting over and building a new boat. And the other is going to try and salvage it. It'll look better for a while, but I don't think we'll try to try. translate to the ultimate prize. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the I-Hard Radio app.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source. The athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the

questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife Life 12 and the TikTok. podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we don't. enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our Heart Radio app,

Search learning a hard way and listen now. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her.

What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to The Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. It's great to have you in on a Friday. I couldn't wait to get to the show today. I was thinking, like, Friday's in the summer. I take some of them off. You know, it's a time for us to kind of like reboot for the football season.

Then last night, the trade happened. I'm like, I want to start the show from my bedroom right now. I'm ready to go. Joy Taylor is joining me. First of all, if Sam Presti, who runs Oklahoma City, was the Lakers GM, he'd be getting pulverized. He had Darden, he had Duran, he had Westbrook, he got to one finals. That's it.

They didn't do much with what they did. And this is not to pick on Sam Presti, because I don't know Sam Presti, but it is funny who the media falls in love with Danny Aange and Sam Presti. You know who I want to talk about? The GM of Denver and Utah. Those guys are done a pretty good job. But, you know, it's interesting now. So Oklahoma City is going to let the boat sink, start over.

They got 15 draft picks, first round draft. picks in the next seven years, but many of them past 2023, basically all the players they're going to draft are now 11 years old. And by the way, it's never been harder to draft players because you only have one year of college basketball tape. And so if you find a big 10 guard you like, you've got about four or five games a year where he plays against another NBA level guard that you can look at it and say, okay. And half the time you don't know if the kids call in the plays or the coach, because college coaches tend to be domineering as he. engineering the offense or the kid is. It's tough. That's why we have more bust than ever in the NBA

draft. College football, I get three and four years of tape against other NFL guys. So, you know, I think it's going to be, you know, pretty bleak for Oklahoma City. But this is the way the NBA media does it. They fall in love with Sam Presti, who basically chose size over shooters and whiffed on 50% of his first picks, but it had a nickname the process. Everybody likes it. He's now a consultant in football. Everybody loves Sam Presti. Three drafts. picks. Hardin, Westbrook, Durant, they got the one finals. They butcher the James Hardin trade. They didn't get anything for it. And in the end, they had a weird roster of guys who couldn't shoot, including their star Westbrook. Weird. The big mistake Sam Presti did,

and I'm not here to pick on him. People tell me he's very smart. He's probably a great guy. But Bill Belichick has a theory. And this is the theory of everything with Bill Belichick. if you don't know your own personnel, then you are clueless about the other 31 teams. You cannot make trades if you don't know your own personnel. That's why the Patriots, and Joy knows this because she was in Miami and Pittsburgh rivals, nobody knows their own personnel like New England. They always bail on a guy and you're like, why did they bail?

Oh, that guy can't play anymore. They do it every year. Sam Presti never understood how great Hardin was, didn't get equal value, and he embraced Westbrook, and he had years of history to know that Westbrook, A, would not win a title, could never be the star, and B, would not age well. All you have to do is go read an NBA history book. Six-three point guards who were hyper-athletic and can't shoot John Wall, Derek Rose, Iverson, Marbury, Stevie Francis fall off cliffs. They don't age well.

Because once they lose the hyperathletic ability at 3031, now what do I have? This is why Steph Curry and Clay Thompson could play forever. Kobe could have played forever. Kobe did play forever. He could shoot. The bottom line here, Sam Presti made a mistake on his two stars. He didn't know his own personnel well enough. Westbrook was never designed to be a championship player.

He's a ball-dominant, hyper-athletic point guard that can't shoot. I've seen that. It's called Marbury, Francis, D. Rose, John Wall, Westbrook, Iverson. Now, Iverson obviously has other great skills, and he's an all-time great talent. How many titles? So this is why GM should hang out together, because you can learn a lot from other people and other businesses. If you go look at the history of every business, smart people work, less smart people. Pat Riley's made a living working dumb GMs.

I'm not saying Sam Presti is, but Pat Riley's history, he works. Jerry West's history, they work the B minus GMs. That's how it works in stocks. That's how it works in tech. The smart guys work the less smart guys. And in this instance, you can always find a sucker. Washington did this with John Wall. After his first contract, you're like, he's immature, he can't shoot, he's

hyper-athletic and doesn't play well with Bradley Beale. Go find a sucker. Somebody's going to be out there who's an all-story. He goes 100 miles an hour. Go find a sucker. Give him John Wall, get draft picks and a couple good players. That's your job as a GM to know your personnel. I've been saying this about John Wall for years.

I've been saying this about Westbrook. Go read a history book on the NBA. They don't win titles. They don't play well with others. They don't age well. Wall's aging poorly. Rose age poorly. Barbory age poorly.

Francis Bay. Westbrook. Now Hardin, I think, will age better. because he can shoot. So he will age better. Not as ideally as like a Kobe, but he will age better. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd

weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose. On my new podcast, Learn the hard way. Open your free

iHeartRadio app search Learn the Hard Way and listen now. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble

stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, Mom, I'm a woman. want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. It's very exciting. I don't remember a time in my life where we had like 15 good duos.

So I'm going to take the, we're going to play a game here together. I don't know how this ends up. Okay. Because I wanted a surprise for both the audience and myself and you and everybody. So I took the top 12 duos. In my opinion, the top 12 duos. and I wanted to have a scoring system that I don't know what the final score will be. So my scoring system depends on my formula. Right.

So I believe duo should be based on two things. One, just what's their talent? Okay. One through five. One, it's not that talented. Five, okay, it's great. And then chemistry. This league is a fit league.

All right? So will they work together? Because if stars don't, they don't win titles in this league, It's pretty simple. Yeah. De Wade and LeBron, though not perfect, figured out a way similar games to work together. And so their chemistry wasn't perfect, but their talent was so absurd, and they were smart enough to kind of make it work.

Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rondo for a couple of years was a perfect fit, right? It all worked. They all played defense. So we're going to take all these duos and let's just play along radio and TV audience. So let's start with our duo report card. Let's start with LeBron Anthony Day. Davis. Okay. Okay, their talents of five.

Anthony's the best big man in his prime. LeBron will be one of the top two players in the NBA. So I'd say talent one through five, I'll give him a five. Now, I'm only going to go three on chemistry because this, because I've watched LeBron and Kevin Love, and I've watched LeBron and Chris Bosch. The LeBron big guy is a little problematic. LeBron tends to at times lose his confidence in his jumper. So what does he want to do?

Drive to the basket and score over smaller defenders. But Anthony Davis spends a lot of his time. 90% of his buckets are around the basket. So again, these are two high functioning basketball players, but I don't think the chemistry will be flawless. I think it'll be very much like LeBron and Biggs. We've seen this. I mean, I'm going off what I've seen.

I don't think the chemistry will be as good as some other chemistry. So that's my, okay, so let's go to the second one. This is, I think the second, it looks like, you know, Kauai and Paul. Now, I'm not going to give them a five for 10. because Paul George is not nearly as good as Anthony Davis or LeBron James or Kauai. So I think he's more of a four. Kauai is a five. So the talent's a four and a half.

But I think they work. Hardworking, nose down, not a lot of drama, defense offense, can both hit a jumper, both respect each other. They have some similarities here, but they're not ball dominant. So even though they have similarities, I don't think they're ball dominant. So I would give each of them four and a half talent, four and a half chemistry. All right, let's go to Westbrook and James Harden. All right, talent, you can't deny it.

James Harden is offensively the best one-on-one player in the league. And I know you think I'm crazy on this, but Westbrook is a world-class talent. I mean, come on, he's got a 44-inch vertical. He gives you 27 and 90s, he's Mr. Triple-Double. Chemistry, I don't think it works. So my scoring system, my scoring formula 1 through 5, their talents of 5, 4 and a half, to a five. Their chemistry is a one. All right, let's go to the next one.

And this, by the way, is in no particular order. I'm just like, how they end up, we'll see. Okay, this is the Warriors. Steph Curry and Clay Thompson are their duo. I'll give the talent of four. Clay Thompson can be a little streaky. And Steph Curry, I love him, but there are times he gets sloppy,

and he's not much of a defender. So I'm going to give their talent of four. Now, their chemistry is as good as any duo ever. I mean, even their egos work. Like they're kind of, for NBA superstars, they're kind of like egos. Staff's not a great defender, but Clay is extraordinary, so he picks up for him. So their talents of four, their chemistry is a five. I'm not, I don't, I forgot what my grades were here, but the chemistry on this is as good as chemistry is going to get.

It's worked every year it's been together. Next one. All right, this is Brooklyn's new team. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Again, Kevin's the first or second best player in the world. And Kyrie's the best small finisher, perhaps ever, left and right hand. I have my doubts on chemistry. A, I think Kyrie is a ball dominant guard, i.e. Hardin, i.e. Westbrook.

I think he's hard to play with. Now, he did play in a couple years really well with LeBron, but LeBron was so much better than everybody else in the league. LeBron made bad coaches work. I don't think the chemistry is great. I'd give him a five, the Brooklyn duo. Chemistry, work and progress. Maybe better early than late, but I'd give it a two and a half.

Let's go to the next duo report card. All right, Milwaukee. I give the talent a four. Janice and Chris Middleton. Chris Middleton, I give Yonis a five. Chris Middleton's a three. So it becomes a four. Middleton's a really nice player.

He's not special, but he's a really nice player. Chemistry, fantastic. You got the guy who scores low. You got the hardworking guy, Chris Middleton, who can hit the jumpers. Again, I've seen this work for a couple years now. The chemistry here, they're both good guys. Janice was ignored for a long time. Chris Middleton's an overachiever.

They're good guys. They work hard. Very respectful teammates. Both incredibly coachable. Chemistry's a five in Milwaukee. Next one. All right, this is the Sixers. M. B. and Ben Simmons.

Again, I think they're talents. I like Simmons better than everybody else. I think he's absurd. M. Beds arguably the best big man. Everybody loves him. scares me about the physical stuff, but he is a monster. I mean, the guy is absurd talent. Now, Ben Simmons, if Ben Simmons could hit a jumper,

I would put their talent at a five. But I'm going to give it a four and a half because Ben Simmons does everything well except shoot, and you've got to ding him for that. I don't like how they work. I don't like their chemistry. I don't like it. Simmons needs the open paint and beads not going to move outside much. I don't think it works.

I think, listen, if it worked, they would have won the East. because their talent is absurd. We got another one? All right, here's a Boston one. Campbell Walker and Jason Tatum, listen, they're not knocking anybody's socks off at this point in talent. Kemba's a really good player. He's a B.

Jason Tatum plateaued. I think he'll pop more this year, but he is a baby. And what is he, like 20 years old? So if you're going to give Janus a five, he's going to be more of a three. Now, chemistry, I'm going to guess here, but I think it works. Kemba's fairly eagle-less.

Jason Tatum. and Brad Stevens, I think the chemistry, and this is pretty good. Now, I think their ceilings low. I think it's a team that will win playoff games. I think if you put them in the West, they'd be kind of a team. That wouldn't be as good as Utah.

I don't think they'd be as good as Denver. I don't think they'd be as good as Portland, Lakers, clippers. But I think in the East, you know what? You can have an off night in the East and win games, and you build that chemistry and you build that confidence. I like the Celtics chemistry more than their talent. Two and a half talent, four for a chemistry.

All right, next one. All right, Blazers. Now, you may say, how are you given Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum just a three in talent? Because Damien's fantastic. CJ's a really nice player. But do you think CJ's special? Is he Janice? Is he A.D.?

Is he Kauai? Is he hardened? No. I think he's a good player. I think Damien's filthy. Now, the strength of this, I think their chemistry is great. It's not easy to play when you have your best player's a guard, and he's a scoring guard. like Damian Lillard.

But Damian's a good dude. McCullum, they play well together. You know what they are? They're a poor man, Stefan Clay. And I say poor man, just because Stefan Claire are the best back court of my life. Damien and CJ are one of the top five or six back chords of my life. So I'd give their talent to three, their chemistry of four.

And what's left? All right, the jazz. Now, this one's fascinating because I actually like their team. Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell. Now, I'm only given their talent two and a half because I do think Conley's past his physical prime although I like him a lot. He's some injury stuff to worry about.

And Donovan Mitchell has not hit his prime. Very good defender who's becoming a better offensive player. I think their chemistry is going to be great. I'll give it a four. I think they're going to work really well together. I may be low-balling their chemistry. I've got a feeling their chemistry is going to be great. They're both really good guys.

Both play defense. But I can't give him a ton of points on talent because I think Mike's passed his prime and Donaldman's not into his prime. So I may be a little low on talent, but I put their talent at two and a half chemistry at four. Anything left? Oh, oh, Denver. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay, now this is interesting. Jamal Murray and the Joker. I give their talent a four. First of all, Yokic, I think, is the best ball handling passing big ever. He's really good. And I love the way they work together. Jamal Murray's the perfect guy off ball with the Joker in Denver. I think their chemistry is great.

I'll give it a five. And I think it's just going to get better. When they're on the court together, that team is really good. good. I'm not going to get their talent-to-five because I think Jamal Murray at this point is more three to a three-and-a-half player. I think he's getting better and I like him a lot. Yokic is the most underrated player in the NBA. He's got a NBA bad body. He plays in the Rocky Mountain. They were too young to get noticed until the playoffs, but he is absurdly talented. He is the best passer on their entire team. And I'm, the last guy, there's only been three

centers in my life that were great passers. Bill Walton, Arvita, Super Bowl. bonus and Yokic. The best passer on their team is a center. And we got anything else? Oh, Mavericks. Okay. I'm going to give them a higher talent grade than you'd suspect. Four and a half.

Luca Dantich and Christop Porzingas. I think they're absurdly gifted. Just don't forget how good Porzingus was. Has the NBA ever had a 7-4 slasher? That's it. Now, their chemistry is going to be very interesting. I just don't know. I just have to watch it.

Luca is going to score a bunch of points. You're going to look up in 15 years with Luca Donzich, and he's going to be a top seven score in league history. He's going to score 24 points a game for 12 straight years. He's just a natural score. He wasn't Europe. He is here. And then a porzenga.

So I give their town a four and a half, their chemistry at three and a half. Now, don't show me the tears yet. I don't know. Okay. So for my radio audience, the TV audience, I don't know where they end up. I said, I want to score everybody, but I don't want any bias. So you, and my staff said there's going to be three tiers, the title contender tier,

the very, very good and interesting, but not a title contender tier. And it just, it won't last long tier. It won't work. So let's go to tier one. Now I'm going to turn up and watch. What is tier one? Okay, tier one is Warriors, Bucks, Denver, and Clippers. So that to me should be favored.

for the NBA championship. Talent and chemistry. Now, obviously, coaching matters, bench matters. That's Tier 1. Denver Clippers, Warriors Bucks. By the way, that's not, Denver's higher than people think. What's Tier 2, which is very good and very interesting,

but a notch below the title teams? Tier 2 is LeBron A.D., Luca Porzingis, Durant Kyrie, which won't happen next year, and Damien C. Jim McCollum. So these are playoffs. teams, they win multiple series, but they maybe get ousted in the conference finals. This is for this year.

Yeah. And then what's the tier three, which it's just not that great? What? Boston, Houston, Philly. Utah. Well, Utah's got a great coach, and Utah has a very good starting five. So we're only judging duos, right? You need other stuff.

You need a bench and a coach. So, all right, so Utah is the team I really like in tier three, Conley and Donovan Mitchell. of his prime. Donovan's not yet in it. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Chris thought he was going on vacation. He was done with his nonsense.

And this morning, oh, Lord. All right, everybody's telling me Houston won the trade. Really? What do you make of that? You know, usually we don't agree when it comes to Russell Westbrook. But on this one, I do agree with you. Now, let me say this. Since the trade, I've been in contact with five or six NBA types, some players, ex-players, some executives, scouts, things like that. They all like the trade for Houston.

And they're bringing up two things. They're bringing up, Houston's going to be able to play much faster with Westbrook, which is true. And they're bringing up the relationship between Russ and James Harden. They like each other. They wanted this. they'll make it work, I still am not buying it. This is a hell merry from the Houston Rockets.

Feels like that to me. There's no question about it. Now, they're going to be good. I mean, they'll make the playoffs. And they are a type of team I'd hate to play because Russ is relentless and he's just coming at you all 48 minutes. And Harden is just so good that, you know, they're going to be a little bit of a problem. But can they win a championship?

No. I like several teams better than them. and the fact that the matter is when Russ and Hardin played together seven years ago, it was entirely different. Number one, both of them were at different parts of their career, especially Hardin. He's coming off the bench as a role player. Now he's the best offensive player ever. Right.

I mean, he's being mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan and Will Chamberlain. So that's all different. Number two, they had Kevin Durant. People act like it was just those two. They had Kevin Durant, who was still one of the top five players in the league. even at that point, and he made everything go. And then three, the league was different. The three-pointer was not as prominent.

So when they played together in OKC, when Hardin would come in, he would handle the ball, and Russ would be off the ball, which was fine back then because you could have a guy off the ball, could slash, cut, you know, and penetrate and all that, but couldn't really shoot back then. Like Dwayne Wade was fine off LeBron, playing off the ball with LeBron in Miami.

That'd be a challenge right now in today's NBA where the three are so prominent. So I don't think it's going to work to the point where they could win a championship. So I just see, look, I heard you talking about if it doesn't work or when it doesn't work, everybody's going to blame Russ. You made a great point about Hardin because

if it were going to work, Hardin would have the best. chance of making it work. Thank you. Because his game is more versatile. Like I think Russ by himself in a Mike Dan Tony system would be treacherous for opponents. Like him coming down a high pick and roll with the floor spread and shooters around him, he never had that in OKC.

So I think he'd be dangerous in that. But Hardin's not just going to sit there off the ball. But Hardin is more capable, I believe, of playing off the ball than Russ is. Russ's not going to be very effective off the ball because he doesn't shoot well. Right. And so that's where Hardin. But look, everybody's talking about they like each other. They wanted to happen.

Hardin and Chris liked each other. They may not have been as close as Russ in Hardin, but Chris didn't pick the Rockets out of a hat. Remember, they had worked everything out. He calls the Clippers, hey, I want you to trade me to the Rockets. Don't think he didn't talk with Hardin and they say, yeah, we'd be great together, so on and so forth. and Hardin did not change his game one iota.

Thank you. Which shocked me. It shocked me to see Chris Paul off the ball as a two guard. That's what he was with Hardin for the most part. And if he didn't change it for Chris, how much is he going to change it for Russ? So there were reports and Darry denied them that Chris Paul and James Harden, everything's fine. And I'm like, it seems like to me, everything.

The reporters were all right. It won very good. Right. No, apparently they had to make the move. My first order of business, if I was Daryl, would have been to sit Chris and James down one-on-one and try to work it out. And if I get some traction there,

then I get them together with Mike Dan Tony. How can we tweak this thing and make it work? Like that, this is why I said it was a hell Mary. They panicked for no reason. Now I get it. The Lakers and the Clippers now are really good. And I think better than Houston would have been even with CP3 and Harden. But two years ago, this did work.

You had the Warriors down three, two. If Chris Ball doesn't get hurt, maybe you're the world champions. Last year, you lost the Golden State, which was even without KD, was a great team. They very well may have been the second best team in the NBA the last two years. And once they lost the G State, they just panicked. Well, they're obsessed by G State. Right. They let everything out too.

And Darryor Morey is fascinating because he's the poster child for analytics. And I'm with you. I like analytics. Analytics is a part of it, but it's not going to dictate everything I do. But he completely ignores analytics when it comes to moves. I mean, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, who they didn't get, but he won it. Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, none of those moves make sense analytically. And you have an analytics coach who all, one only wants to shoot three.

and paint shots. It's bizarre what's going on there. Okay, so Joy touched on this. Chris Paul trade, is there a place that fits to you? You know what? I mean, obviously Miami is in serious play, which would be good for Chris. They wouldn't be a contender in the east,

but they'd be better and they'd be pretty good. Here's what the fit that I really am intrigued by. And I brought it up on here once before, about three or four weeks ago. Philadelphia. You sound like my staff this morning. Chris Paul, Josh Richardson,

Al Horford, Joel Embed, and Tobias Harris. In the East, that's dangerous. Okay, so what, what am I giving up? Ben Simmons.

Okay. Now here's the thing. Hey, I love that. You would do that? Okay, time out. My staff didn't give me that option. Let me finish this. Let me finish it.

Okay, so I'm surprised you like Ben Simmons. Hold on. giving him. And I am a big Ben Simmons fan. So am I, but he hates to move him. But Chris, we both love him. But Philadelphia, he works well with shooters in a clear lane. Philadelphia got more bigs this year.

Right. Philadelphia doesn't work for Ben Simmons. It doesn't. I got Horford in the middle. I got Embed in the middle. They drafted a kid from Washington who can't shoot but is a great defensive player. Tobias Harris. Because even if Simmons adds the jumper.

It's not like he's coming back next year as Clay Thompson. By the way, if I'm Sam Presti this morning and I have those draft picks and I have Ben Simmons, I feel like I won. Right. I won. I got my guy who could penetrate and kick and I'm going to build shooters around him. And here's now, if I'm Philly, look, there's a little bit of hesitancy because Chris average 15 points last year shot 41%, 42% from the floor, way down for him.

him. If I'm Philly, I may want to watch the first month of the season. And see, was that declined last year just because there was the injury and the situation and Hardin? Or has Chris really fallen off? Okay. So if the deal goes, it would be Embeded-Horford, Jason Richardson, Tobias Harris, Chris Paul. Boy, there's not a lot of blanks on that team. Now, again, Chris got to play about 60 games. But again, Chris doesn't need to. to be your closer. Exactly. He doesn't need to be the closer.

He's a floor general, get the right guys, the ball. You got a shooter in Josh Richardson. Tobias Harris can shoot. I got my man inside. I mean, Horford actually can spread the floor and shoot too. He's a smart veteran. Let me tell you something. I take back all the bad things I said about Sam Presti if he would do that.

I got, because here's the thing with Simmons. Now Presti can take Ben Simmons and say, listen, I know what he is now. He is a driver and score. Now I can take all these draft picks and get shooters. The problem in Philly is Simmons was the best available player on the market. They drafted him. But they had Embed. So their best player was Embed, and they'd whiffed on a bunch of guys.

So it bids the star in the middle. But then the next draft, they're like, oh, Simmons is the best available player. So we get him. They don't work together. And honestly, the real problem, and you just have to put the blame where it belongs, Ben Simmons. This is what, his fourth or fifth year? Well, no, no. Yeah, the one year where he wasn't hurt.

So this would be his third year playing. This would be his third year playing, but fourth year in the league. Because remember the one year he sat out. God, I've done. Why didn't you work on that jumper? I get it. You had success all your life without it, but it's a different NBA. I'm going to tell you something right now.

I am throwing a parade in OKC if they make that deal. Oh, for OKC is great. The question is Philly. And I get the questions. Like I said, it's not 100% foolproof. Okay, here's what I want. Here's what I want. But I want Chris Paul.

but you got 17 picks. Give me two first round picks. I'll do it, but you got to give me picks. Yeah. Because you got to, by the way. I need some insurance. Well, yeah, I mean, Oklahoma City now has, they have so many picks. It's absurd.

Like, the guys can't all make the roster. So just say, listen, I want three first round picks and Chris Paul because of the knee. You get Ben Simmons. I do, both teams, I do that tomorrow. That's brilliant. You know, if my team could pitch ideas as well as you, I would have listened to them. What about, and they still have Schrooter? Okay, C.

Yeah, they do. So maybe Chris Paul and Schrooter, because that gives me, Schroeder gives me some insurance in case Chris Paul. You brought smoke today. Hey, Sam Presley, I hope he's listening. Like I said, OKC would do it. It makes all the sense in the world. I would love it for them. The question is Philadelphia, and there's some legit questions.

But if you want to win, Phillies and win now mode, how good would that team be in the East? Have a chance to get to the finals. Oh, yeah. I think they'd be a favorite over Milwaukee. I would. Yeah, they would. Chris Broussard. I got to take a breath.

That literally almost changed my weekend. I'm going to obsess about that damn trade all weekend. All right, let's take a break. I need, this is almost like an earthquake for me. This was a mental earthquake. This is too much for me to handle in this space. It's the herd. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

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