The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - NFL Schedule Winners + Losers, Basketball Gods Gift To The Mavericks, Landing Spots For Giannis

Episode Date: May 17, 2025

Colin’s top takes of the week!   First, Colin’s joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down the NFL schedule!   They start with a ridiculously easy schedule for the 49ers (3:30) and debate whether that gives Brock Purdy leverage in contract negotiations and whether Kyle Shannahan has been too involved with drafting (6:45).  They highlight the Chiefs schedule as being particularly brutal due to their weak offensive line and the elite pass rushes they’ll face  (10:30) and the pressure NFC North teams will face (15:30).  Then, Colin’s joined by Jason Timpf, host of “Hoops Tonight” to break down the NBA draft lottery They start with the Mavericks landing the #1 overall pick despite long odds and the ability to draft Duke star Cooper Flagg, why the basketball gods just gave the Mavs possibly the greatest gift EVER and why the draft order couldn’t have gone better for the NBA (27:00). They look at the Spurs, Thunder and Rockets as potential landing spots for Giannis and point to the results of the draft making the west even stronger compared to the east (33:00). Finally, they point to NIL giving top prospects the ability to take the better marketing of playing for blue chip college programs, and why recognizable domestic talents will help the NBA (37:30).  (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

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to see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart, Target, and try the OG degree cool rush for yourself. So, John Midlakov, former NFL Scout, Three and Out podcast, let's talk some NFL schedule stuff. We'll do a half hour on this. I think it's my first take is, so I looked at the Niners schedule, and I knew it would be easy. And then I watched the way it was laid out, and I'm like, if you take out Stafford twice and C.J. Stroud once, this is the weakest schedule in 15 years. The Atlanta Falcons had this schedule back in, no, I think it was 2015.

It'd be 10 years. So it's the weakest schedule in a decade. And I'll throw this at you. I said, if I was John Lynch and looked at the schedule, I would sign Brock Purdy now because this schedule screams 12 and 5, 13, and 4. And right now he's coming off losing. season. So if you have any leverage, could I say, John, it's the next month to two? Yeah, I mean, I think his, we obviously have spent so much time talking about this.

His whole thing is comparing himself to other guys. And these recent contracts of guys like Jordan Love, who played eight games and got 175 million, Tua, who got 160 million, Trevor Lawrence, who got $200 million. Like, he does have a leg to stand on, given that he's played well and been a part of a team that was in a Super Bowl. But my issue is like, that money's coming. Like he's getting the contract. We don't know exactly $150 million, $180 million, $130 million. I'm sure that's, you pay him, let's just say,

conservatively, $50 million a year. Kyle is one of the highest paid coaches at $15 to $18 million a year. If I'm paying my head coach and my quarterback close to $70 million a year, at minimum, I don't care who else is on the team because this roster is not as good as it was a couple years ago. I need double-digit wins. I mean, we've seen it with the, with the Rams the last couple of years. They found a way as they retooled. I would say anything less than double-digit wins. I have supported Kyle thinking like, oh, he's on the hot seat. That was insane talk, but there is a contingent of those humans that exist.

Kyle can rubs people the wrong way. I think he's a pretty elite coach. He's proven that over, but this is a big year for him to, again, I don't need 12, 13 wins. I don't think the roster's quite as good. But if the Ravens or the Bills or the Chiefs had this schedule, we'd be talking like, can they run the table? Ten wins minimum, I think is more than fair. And I think that is going to be the expectation or things have gone really, really sour. Yeah, I said that. If you gave Stafford, Borough, not Borough, because Cincinnati, I don't trust their front office and ownership, but if you gave Josh Allen, Lamar, Mahomes, and I think Stafford and McVeigh this, we would be talking about 13 or 14 wins. I mean, that's, even Vegas would probably put the over under

at 12 to 12 and a half. So, you know, I think one of the things that bothered me, John, I've said this, and this is my interpretation, I could tell when Bill Belichick took over drafting with the Patriots. He was drafting players who would plug immediate holes, often reaching for people. General managers tend to have a little bit of a longer vision. I can tell when Pete Carroll in Seattle, I could tell they were reaching on some players. And I'm like, that's not John Snyder. Last couple of drafts when John's going to. control them have been excellent. I do feel like the last couple of years, I felt like Kyle's had a lot of say in drafting. I find their drafts for the moment, not for the future. I, I, Ricky Pearsall, it's like you've got Jennings and Debo and Iyuk and Kittle and McCaffrey. You've got enough pass catchers. That felt like a coach who wanted a little, you know, wanted to replace Debo. That's what I see. I tend to be able to say, okay, I can tell that to coach's draft or a coach is putting pressure. I didn't like the Niners draft.

I thought they didn't attack the offensive line, which is a huge issue. What did you view of their draft? I've come to the expectations now Kyle has admitted, like we don't value offensive linemen, unless we think you're like an all-time great. We'll pick a skill guy or definitely a defensive lineman, which I'm for, but they just don't draft offensive linemen, especially tackles. He's not going to draft a tackle in the third round, which I think is insane. I had a college scouting director because I was talking a lot about this too during and before the draft how different personnel departments work.

He says you can always tell when the coach is heavily involved because they treat the draft. You can tell they're looking at the depth chart. You know, scouts in front offices aren't consumed with the depth chart because the depth chart to Kyle is week one against Seattle. You know, John Lynch and he's like, Mikel Williams is a real pick, right? The kid from Georgia. That's right. big picture pick that any team takes. That's not the depth chart, whether you had 10 defensive ends or one, you have no problem picking him. But like you said, Ricky Pearsall, it's like, well,

you know, this IUC thing's going sour, we're already turning on Debo. He might, we might trade him right now or over the next year. That's a depth chart move. And I think that's where you get into trouble, you know, there's a balance of need and big picture. But coaches are just, oh, Kyle's, Kyle's not worried about 2027. He's worried about this year, trying to win 11 games. and be in the playoffs. And I don't blame them. But that's why there's got to be a little separation between church and state. You know, look at the Eagles, have the most powerful GM.

Look how they've drafted. Then the coaching staff, coach the players. It's gone pretty well. Yeah, it's so, and I also think there are things. I think Arizona is going to be a real team. I think Seattle's roster is really impressive. I think the Vikings will miss Sam Darnold. And I think the Rams defense.

I think it's the best young defense in the NFL. So I thought last year, was a year where Arizona and the Rams overachieve a little. I thought the Rams overachieved a little. I thought the Arizona wasn't quite there yet with a new coach. And I thought Seattle with Gino Smith had limitations at quarterback. I think the division's much better. It definitely is. Yeah. I mean, so I just don't feel it. The schedule is it's a save. I'll tell you that. I do think this though, Colin, if you go, we do agree Kyle Shanahan has false at times is one of the better coaches in the NFL. Yes. Yeah.

Listen, Robert Sala, head coach, Jets, not an easy spot, a little over his head. Most people view him as an excellent defensive coordinator. I don't know. I don't have the spreadsheet because it's not public. I would imagine Kyle and Robert Sala, when you combine the head coach and defensive coordinator, besides like Andy and Spags, there can't be a higher paid combination. This is a coaching league, right? Because you talk a lot about this.

The margins are small. I think you've got to like your chances, even if you've got some now random players on the team. That they're offensive and defensive coordinator. The guys calling the place are really good. So I'm a little more bullish. Now, we're going to find out pretty quickly. Like, if they've whiffed on some picks, I don't care if you got Bill Walsh and Belichick in his prime. You can only do.

This is the NFL. Like, you need some of these guys to become players. So I want to talk about Kansas City. So when you have a dynasty, every dynasty has got a weak spot. Like when New England got into trouble, was near the end of the second dynasty when they just didn't have enough receiver speed, when they couldn't separate. Tom had to play perfect.

Nobody could get open. The famous sideline shot of him screaming, somebody get open. That was the whole in their dynasty. Outside of the Randy Moss years, you know, they weren't electric down the field. It was more tight ends, run game, Tom's efficiency, Tom's 23 for 29. They just don't make mistakes. They beat you late. They were never electric.

except the Randy Moss years on the perimeter. Kansas City's weakness has been immature wide receivers and offensive line. When they've been blown out, and it's only happened a couple times, both in Super Bowls, they've had left tackle issues or offensive line depth problems. They're just missing good players. So I look at this year, Joe Tunney was their best offensive line. He's not a replaceable guy. There's nobody in the draft close.

They're now going left tackle for a guy that was a backup. up in San Francisco. This is, to me, the weakest O-line they've had, entering a season. Can they make a move at the trade deadline? Certainly possible. But if you go look at their first 10 games, John, even the bad teams they play,

the Giants now have Abdul Carter, Dexter Lawrence, Tibodeau on the other side. The Raiders have Max Crosby. The Broncos, they're better than. Broncos led the NFL in Sacks. The Jaguars have a good defensive front. I'm just mentioning the game. that look like wins.

I look to Kansas City schedule early, and I'm like, they could have used some of those games late because, you know, it takes a while to create co-he. You don't replace Joe Tuny in the preseason. Like, you need snaps. I thought Kansas City schedule was about as tough as the league deals to a Andy Reed-Bahombs pairing. Well, I also think it's easier on players to play, you know,

games at noon in Kansas City, then they have five of their first eight games are prime time, and they've got to go to Brazil, which I understand the international, especially now with streaming. The Brazil thing, I don't quite get, Colin, going to Brazil. I don't quite understand that market. But I'll say this about the Chiefs. Their first-round draft pick would have been a top 10 pick had he not torn his knee. Well, that's a pretty big red flag tore his knee, but assuming that he can come back,

they did get a very, very talented guy in Josh Simmons that can play left tackle. Now, whether he's ready for the start, whether he goes on Pupp, time will tell. But that was not just this year, but over the course of the next several years, they might have found their starting left tackle. The BYU kid that ultimately got benched and Tune had to move to left tackle, I think they plan on moving him to guard. So Andy Reid has a long history of mixing and matching and figuring things out. I know you're high on the chargers, and I am too.

I'm a Jim Harbaugh Homer. Of course, they take a running back in the first round that'll end up being like a 1,400-yard Russia by a second year at the Star. But I just can't. And I have been someone. And I know these guys personally. I've bet against them twice down in the last two years against the Ravens and the Bills. And that was the playoffs and I've been burned. We saw last year, everyone was nitpicking them. Week in, week out, they won every freaking game. Now, the big difference between them and the Patriots is Patriots benefited their division was pretty terrible. Like this version of the Bills team was not even close. Miami was a joke, right? Yeah. So their division, this division's really,

hard. I mean, Pete Carroll, if he's the worst, has the worst team in your division, like, that's a problem. But I think the chiefs, you know, we throw this, the word culture, I think sometimes gets thrown around too liberally. It's real in Kansas City. Like, they're winning understanding. Listen, there's going to be a year when they don't make the Super Bowl and they get knocked out in the second round, but it's going to be hard. You're going to have to knock them out. And I'm picking them to win the division until they don't. Now, this is clearly, I would say, have the last five or six, you know, since the Mahomes era, going to be the most difficult.

But, you know, call on, the Giants, week three at Jacksonville. Like, I get it. Sunday night, Monday night. Big moment for those two against Liam Cohen and this Jackson Dart, maybe, Russell Wilson. Like, I'm just picking the Chiefs in those games. Is there anything that, I mean, they have the Vikings back-to-back in London. I don't like Minnesota like everybody else. I think they're a fourth place team.

Was there anything about the schedule that jumped out to you? I think when you look at, I lump Minnesota and Chicago in the same thing. I got 30 years of history, Green Bay every year, for the most part, is 10 plus wins, right? Right. And the Lions now, I think, have established themselves. What happens in the playoffs? Who knows? But they're going to be a double-digit win team.

When you look at the Bears and you look at Minnesota, because the divisions that they drew this year in the rotation, it's hard. And the pressure, listen, this Caleb thing, I'm sure we'll talk about it. A lot of pressure on him, a lot of pressure on the Bears. A lot of pressure on McCarthy. And the pressure is not like on DJ Moore or Justin Jefferson. It's squarely on the quarterback. And these games, like you said, you open, you open your NFL career at Chicago. Well, that's just, that's tough.

And hell, you could argue the same thing on the flip side about Caleb Williams. Your first game with his new coach, Monday night for everyone watching. These are just intense environments on these two quarterbacks. Now, Caleb has some seasoning. like JJ does not in terms of ever played a regular season game. But I think those two schedules for those two guys, not every team in this division can win 10 plus games. One of these teams is going to go eight or nine or worse, right?

It's going to be one of those two teams. I don't know which one. I know Kevin O'Connell can be a head coach. I love the Vikings roster, but man, this guy's never started a regular season game. If you told me right now, he's a top 15 quarterback. I'd be like they'll win 10 or 11 games, no problem. But if you tell me it's Rocky, I don't care how you could have 10 Justin Jefferson's.

If your quarterback plays overwhelmed, it's hard. I mean, we see it every year. Good teams and their quarterback plays poor. You're screwed. And the Packers drafted a first round wide receiver. The Lions are stacked offensively. The Bears have been a fortune on their offensive line. J.J. McCarthy is going to have to throw the ball 35 times.

This is not a defensive division. This is not the AFC North. This is the NFC North. and it is going to be a track meet. And so that's my question with J.J. McCarthy. I would feel differently if you were in a different division. But Detroit is stacked offensively with the best line in the league. You can say what you want about.

Ben Johnson is going to be better with Caleb Williams and Mattiever Fluse, and Dolman and Tunney changed the offensive line. Yeah. And then, you know, Green Bay is Green Bay. They went and got another wide receiver, which tells you, we're going to make this Jordan Love thing work. And it wasn't terrible. last year. There was just some bumps.

So my thing is McCarthy, who never threw the ball at Michigan, is going to be asked to throw the ball 40 times a game a lot because either they'll be trailing or they'll be in shootouts. This is going to be a shootout division. So I just don't love them with that is the marquee to the movie. But do you feel comfortable, I mean, listen, we have a strong recent history of these young offensive coordinators, hitting the ground running and being stars.

Some of them get overwhelmed historically in the league. Like Ben Johnson, it is. This is not an easy first job, right? It's like Solo with the Jets. A lot of people are watching. There's a ton of hype. The Caleb stuff is already, even though it's weird, right? Everything we're talking about today in this article is based on something 18 months ago.

It's not like he just said this yesterday, but still, I mean, this is something that carries with you. I think there's a ton of pressure on him because I would say the same thing about Caleb. Like he's just going to out duel the LeFleur's offense and the Lions group. I mean, it's going to be hard. Like he's going to get in some shootouts. You know, he kind of freelance. Now, he's more comfortable. He has a history.

He is used to, I've been in shootouts. I can play like that. JJ was not. I mean, JJ was on a team that, I mean, was the big Ohio State is always built like an SEC team. But Harbaugh built that thing like an SEC team with unlimited NFL players where they hand the ball off and they play defense. So, yeah. That's right. One of those two teams, I got to give it a little more time.

But it's just not going to go as well as the hype because the expectations, I would say, I mean, for Minnesota, they have a, what do you think, a top six, seven roster in the NFL, minus the quarterback. I mean, they got one of the better teams in the NFL top to bottom. And I say the Bears have a pretty damn good roster, too. Oh, I totally think, I think Chicago's offensive, you go line, tight end receivers, and Ben Johnson, I just don't see, you know, I mean, go look at Hackett to Sean Payton. It was a touchdown to eight points a game.

And I think Iber flus to Ben Johnson is probably somewhere between a field goal and six points a game. But here's the thing, though, Colin, and this is what I get back to with the coordinator. Ben with Detroit, who just became like Kyle Shanahan or McFay or whoever, all he had to worry about was the place, right? Now on Monday, what happens when your backup safety got a DUI? On Tuesday, hey, this guy turns out he shattered his ankle. Like, you have all this other stuff coming. you can't just sit there and scheme plays nonstop, especially the first time head coach. And then when the game's going on, you got to manage the clock.

You got a lot going on for the first time ever. It's just a tougher transition. And that's where Kevin O'Connell, to me, has a big advantage. He is used to just being the play caller slash the boss. Like, there is a learning. If you told me, hey, John, you not only need to get all the content and record a podcast, we now need you to run the sales and the graphics and do some cuts. you need to do.

It'd be a curve for a couple months of me figuring out how to manage everything, right? So that's, I'm always just hesitant when it comes to guys first time head coaches. Like, think how much easier. Pete Carroll, he's sitting in that desk. He's very comfortable in, you know, telling who, what to do when. Like, he's just done it before. So that's the only thing. And I'm not anti-Ben Johnson.

I mean, what he did the last couple years was awesome. It is just a lot harder taking on a lot more responsibility and trying to maintain your boy genius kind of narrative the way everyone talks about. I'm like, the NBA 82 game grind is done. Now the real fun begins. The NBA playoffs. Love them. They're here. Time for drama. Clutch moments.

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see dKNG.com slash audio. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember I think it was on a call about what we should call it And we were thinking I'm originally calling it

One of the early names of our band Before Jonas Brothers This is how you guys remember it going down Yes I have a very different memory of this We were talking about a thing A bit for the podcast For people could call in and say hey Jonas And then I wrote down on my little notepad

Hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title For the podcast But thanks for remembering that guys listen to hey jonas on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast just listen we don't care where you hear it another podcast from some s nl late night comedy guy not quite unhumor me with robert smigel and friends me and hilarious guests from bob odenkirk to david letterman help make you funnier this week my guess s nl's mikey day and head writer streeter sidel help an acapella 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Genschen win.

I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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. All right, absolutely bonkers. I've said this before. Take games away. This is one of my favorite nights of the year. I just love it.

And first of all, I, you know, once they, you know, I didn't want to see Toronto in it. I'm sorry. I want Cooper Flagg to be here. I didn't want to see New Orleans, Washington, Charlotte. You know, after watching shooting guards, that documentary, I can't root for the Wizards ever again. I know it's a different group. I was so disgusted by it. But I said earlier today on FS1, I said, if San Antonio wins, Stefan Castle, Wembe, Cooper, Flagg,

I said, oh, poor Oklahoma City, they've done everything right. They had Westbrook Durant Hardin couldn't win. Now they're going to have this SGA home grid roster, and they got this train for the next decade. But it's the Dallas Mavericks. You know, it makes me think of this. Listen, I thought the trade, lucid of Lakers was terrible. but I said before the new CBA, he qualified Luca for 70 large, 70 million a year. And I was talking to one of my only friends that ever deals with billionaires.

He's in, he's in, you know, venture capital. And he said, listen, man, he said, people are so rich now, 30 millions are rounding air. But even for a billionaire, $75 million for a basketball player, he better play defense. He better be in shape. He better be healthy. he said, they're not paying that to Luca. He goes, and that was his whole theory. He goes, the pressure on Nico, some of it was like, okay, 75 million.

He's missed the last two camps. So whether you like it or not, I did think it was worthy of discussion. They just didn't get enough out of it. Three firsts, A.D., Austin Reeves, and another pick. It's like, okay, now we can sleep on it. But here's what's funny. Jason Tenth. essentially, instead of 300 million, you get the best domestic prospect.

Maybe in 10 years. Sense Ad. Is it not? No. Did the basketball gods not grant them the greatest gift ever? You know, I'm not Mr. The NBA is rigged. I'm not that guy. But if you were that guy, this would be the day to make the case.

because in addition to the Dallas piece, which we'll get to in just a second, I think that the league has now just teed up San Antonio Antonio for the easiest Janus trade that you could possibly imagine. And we can get into that in a second. But the Dallas front is super fascinating because Cooper flagg in many ways is everything that Luca isn't in the sense that he's got this like incredible work ethic,

proven like details oriented freakish competitor. But what he doesn't have is like, just whatever you want to call that magic quality Luca has, which just brings that top side offensively that very few players in NBA history have reached by his age. And Cooper Flagg has a little bit of that sort of weakness in the sense that he doesn't have a singular point of his game that you can point to where it's like, oh, he is like an A plus plus plus athlete or he is a a plus plus plus shooter or anything

like that. But he's just so versatile down the line that he brings an element that Luca Donchage didn't bring. He's such a natural fit next to Anthony Davis, which I really like. There are some big picture questions with Dallas's roster now with PJ Washington. Like, how does he fit into this mix? I think on one hand, I'm just so thrilled that Cooper didn't go to a team that was trying to be bad. I think that that's one of the nice kind of upsides of this is it prevents that sort of mediocrity being rewarded. And then on the Janus front with San Antonio, what I find super fascinating is there are these three teams that are obviously teed up to be able to go get Janus.

And that's Oklahoma City, San Antonio, and Houston. And Janus going to Oklahoma City would be no fun. Like, that's no fun. They're just going to kill everybody. Like that, that's literally no fun. And then Houston, it's kind of an interesting fit, but Houston is like athletic and can't shoot. So they seem to make the perfect sense for a KD team. You know what I mean?

And so like ideally, Janus going to San Antonio makes the most sense. They have the clear pieces to be able to offer in terms of like they can give Milwaukee both picks and like a really intriguing young prospect like Stefan Castle and a specific pick in this upcoming draft, the number two overall pick where they could hope to get a super high level guard to help in the future. And so with that being the case, like I think this is broken out just about perfectly for what the league would probably like to see. Yeah. I mean, I think also, I don't think I'd mess. The only thing I thought, I thought if San Antonio won the lottery was Stefan Castle, Wembe, and Cooper Flag, I thought Oklahoma City would be like, okay, all right, we're going to move Hongren and seven picks and Lou Dort for Janus.

Like, I'm sorry, but this is going to be a freight train for eight years in San Antonio. So I was saying, if you're Oklahoma City, you were rooting against San Antonio. They may not be in next year, but that was scary. I wouldn't have minded Philadelphia winning, but I feel like it would have been almost unfair because they've really, I mean, let's be honest. They held on to M. B'd too long. They blamed everybody except M. B'd for all their problems. It's like, that's not fair. But I also think, as a sportscaster, when I look at this move for Dallas, is that I said this to a friend the other day, I said, you know the best trade partner for Dallas?

they need a play initiator, they need Austin Reeves, and the Lakers need size. And Dallas has a really deep front line. I said, they're not going to make that move. Now I think to myself, well, you know, I think what Dallas needs is somebody like Cooper Flagg, who let's just say he's Jason Tatum. I still think, I don't think Kyrie's going to play next year, not until at least the training deadline. So it's Dallas has some extra size to play with.

But good God, look at this, Jason. The West is already better. Dallas now gets Cooper Flag. San Antonio gets the second best players. The Rutgers kid everybody loves. I mean, I keep looking at this thing. I was talking to Rachel Nichols today. The West is just going to get better.

And, Yonnes, Milwaukee's not trading him in the East. They're trading him West. I mean, that's what I said about Milwaukee today. And the Yonest trade, take out Boston. If you go and get a Chet Hongren and multiple picks or go to Houston and get Shengun, Jalen Green, six picks, and Jabari Smith, I'm throwing names out. Outside of Boston, you're not that far away from being the number two team in the East. In the West, you could not give up a Yonis.

It would be decimating. Portland, you know, they move off Dame, they have all this talent. They're irrelevant. But if you had to guess Janus, who's the best fit? And I agree with you. Houston needs a shooter. Janus probably isn't the perfect fit. Yeah, the thing that would be really nice with Janus as a frontline partner with

Victor Wenbin Yama is their games complement each other on a bunch of specific levels. So for instance, Victor Wembenyama is blossoming as this like three point centric center. And he very clearly likes to take that shot. It's something he hunts when he's out there. So there's kind of like a spacing dynamic to where you don't want. want to have two centers basically playing with each other that both want to work right by the basket. And so there's kind of a natural fit there. But the second piece of it is, Wembe has some vulnerability to size and strength. And Janus does not. And so anchoring, anchoring Wembe with a

611 forward that is one of the most physically dominant forwards of his era is kind of a perfect natural fit there. And they already have with the Deerran Fox piece, the ball handling piece. So you can actually see this like this like rim protection center yonis has always played better next to a center when they when the bucks used to play him at center they used to have issues because he's not as good at defending pick and roll as he is like kind of a traditional help side defender and so wemby can defend pick and roll yonis can be their low man help side defender dearon fox is your point of attack guard it just has such a natural fit there and one of the things that was going to get tricky with san antonio and this is this is where that second pick is super interesting you get to the question where you're like man

are we going to have to give up Stefan Castle and Devin Vassell to make this happen? The number two pick is probably going to be Dylan Harper, and he's a very interesting guard out of Rutgers that has size and has some athleticism and can really get to the basket. Dylan Harper gives you another piece to include in a deal like that to maybe keep a castle or to maybe keep a Devin Vassell. Devin Vassell is kind of an offball shooter archetype, so he might be the perfect guy to keep.

He's also older and a little bit closer to being. ready to contribute in a serious context. And so it kind of just feels like the stars are aligning in that way. If I'm Houston, I want to bargain serious for Janus, but KD is just such a nice backup plan for them to go to that just fits so nicely there. And I'm so glad you mentioned the Austin Reeves Dallas piece because that deal will never happen after what happened. If the Dallas, if the math do another deal with the Lakers, their fans might revolt. But there's such like an obvious like Gafford, Austin Reeves, like there's no

question. Something like I think the Lakers would need to get more because I think Austin's a better player than Gafford, but there is like there's a version of that deal they could put together where they where they get some athleticism back and it makes some sense. And it's just a question of whether or not that type of partnership

whatever work out. The other group that I'd look at if I was the Lakers with Austin is look at Brooklyn and see if they can't get like a Nick Claxton or something like that and that type of deal. Yeah, it's, oh, I loved it so much tonight. It just cracked me up. Dallas, San Antonio, 76ers get the third choice, and Charlotte.

I will say, there's one thing I do think that really works in the NBA's favor. When you see a lot of these G-League guys like Jalen Green, and you kind of put your arms up in the air as an NBA commissioner and go, wow, a lot of these guys who are, flourishing these young guys went to college or they're international, which their academy systems better than our current kind of G-League system. And it's not that people will push back on the G-League, but with NIL money at the top 10 programs now, comparable, you know, relative to the NIL month or to the G-League money, I do think the domestic product, the draft is going to become less international at the top and more. domestic, or at least it won't look like last year. I mean, this year is a great example. It's

very domestic product. And so I think that's, I think that really matters. I've said this for years. I understood the G-League pre-NIL, but I've said this about Jalen Green. He has no defined offensive game. Even if you spend a year in college with a, with a Dan Hurley, or a Bill Self, or a Tom is a just a year of hard coaching, college campus, fundamentals, maturing, I think it really really matters. Also, playing in March, playing on television, playing in a Big Ten or SEC environment where there's real pressure. Bad game, the students give you the side eye. Like, that's real pressure for 18, 19-year-old. I mean, Cooper Flagg, you play at Duke, you have 15 games on Natty TV, and then you have March. So I do think college basketball has been a bit

marginalized by the league. I got it pre-N-I-L. But now if I was a day, I would take a little less and go with a marketing advantage of Kansas, Syracuse, Yukon. Would you not? I think you're dead on with this, Colin. There is a thing that happens in the G League where they prepare you for the pro game in a certain way, in the sense that they'll put you in some NBA-esque roles where you're either running pie ball screens or you're behaving as the role man screener or you're attacking closeouts on the weak side, different NBA defensive concepts.

All that's great. but you're not going to capture the intensity, the stakes, the overall just like passion and vibe that you get in college basketball. It's the closest thing that you're going to find that replicates NBA playoff basketball. I also think the coaching matters. You're just going to give your kid the best access to, you know, real, like intentional, detail-oriented coaching because at that level, it makes such a huge difference when you're working with those types of athletes.

And like, I think to your point, having NIL, incentivizing kids to stay in the college game, in addition to just being great for just basketball culture, because to be honest, NCAA basketball is such a huge part of what I grew up rooting for. When I was a kid, Colin, I barely watched the NBA. I watched a lot of Arizona, the University of Arizona basketball when I was like 16, 17, when I was going to play high school ball, those were the kids we idolized. We idolized the kids playing at the U of A. It's just, it's part of the culture.

I think it just needed this. And I'm so glad the NCAA was willing to just, kind of adapt into this era because we needed this for this sport to survive. I think it's better for the basketball players in our country. Yeah, and I've said this. I understand the NBA struggling with regular season ratings because regular season playoff basketball is about veteran teams and recognizable players. So the numbers go up plus the intensity.

Regular season, there's a lot of guys you don't know. There's a lot of bad teams. And those are international players you didn't watch or G-League guys you didn't watch. And I've said this. You know, Amon Thompson is obviously G League and a great player. But you watch Jalen Green and you're like, man, he could have used college. He could have really used college. He feels lost.

Jonathan Cominga. I mean, we're on what year? Year four. I'm still trying to quite figure out what he is. He can't play with the veterans. I mean, San Antonio, Golden State's culture is classic. Every young guy struggles. Every young guy struggles.

It could be Wiseman. It can be Cominga, a Jordan Poole wore out veteran players. And I love college basketball. And I was always more NBA than college because for a lot of reasons. I grew up with Bill Walton and the Blazers and the Sonics when they won championships in the 70s. I'm showing my age. But I will say those Christian Leitner Duke teams, the Fab Five teams, the FI slamma jama, it is impossible to describe to a 20-year-old what college basketball was like 35 years ago.

You would literally, you could pick up Street and Smith. and you could name the first, second, third team, All-American's off the top of your head, because it was, you know, Duncan's coming back and Ewing. I can remember going in Las Vegas, there's a grocery store chain called Smiths. And this is like 20 years ago. And I got this, because I always get a street in Smith, like before the college basketball season. And I looked on the cover, they had the All-American team, and it was four high schoolers. And I was like, okay, I can't.

I'm sorry. I can't do it. So I just thought it, I just, God, this is fun. How about the Dallas Mavericks? The volume. Blending Weiss's signature dynamic storytelling with the high-octane world of sports, Vice Sports brings an exciting and diverse range of programming that goes beyond the game. Catch action-packed, live events, and exclusive sports documentaries and profiles only on Vice TV.

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