The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts -  Ty Dunne on Post-Rodgers Packers, McDermott Doubts + Jason Timpf on KD/Suns Fit, AD Lakers Future

Episode Date: February 18, 2023

This is Prime Cuts! The best of The Colin Cowherd Podcast. First, Colin’s top takes, including why the Super Bowl proved politically charged claims of a permanent NFL boycott were always a joke, and the report that shows Aaron Rodgers can’t escape his neediness during his 4-day total darkness retreat. Then, NFL Reporter - and GoLongTD Founder - Tyler Dunne on if the Packers finally think Jordan Love is ready to take over for Aaron Rodgers, if Green Bay is finally done with Aaron regardless of his ‘darkness retreat’ decision, if the Bills need to get rid of HC Sean McDermott to win a Super Bowl. Then, Hoops Tonight and Lakers Tonight Podcast host Jason Timpf on if the Warriors are still the favorite in the West despite Steph Curry’s extended injury absence, if the Lakers will deal Anthony Davis in the offseason to please LeBron, if Jaylen Brown is the true Celtics closer over Jayson Tatum, why the Suns are a perfect X’s and O’s fit for KD, and if the Ja Morant Grizzlies are the most overrated title contender. Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the test content and updates, and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! #Herd #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. The Volume. It's the Colin Coward podcast presented by Fandul. The NBA season, kicking into gear, baby, no better place to get in on the action than Fandul.

FanDul app is safe. You get paid fast. A lot of ways to play. The spread, the money line, team totals, players, props, a lot of stuff. Over unders. jump into the action. Same game parlay is my favorite. Just use the promo code Colin

and download the Fandul app today. This is Prime Cuts, the best of the Colin Coward podcast, Super Bowl and the Books baby, NFL insider Tyler Dunn stopped by, details on what he's hearing in Buffalo, trouble brewing. The story behind Josh Allen,

his beef with Stefan Diggs. Also, hoops the night host, Jason Timp, Katie to the sons, A.D.'s future. Lacked thereof with the Lakers. First, though, my top takes of the week. All right. So I want to start with this. If I get upset with my kids or my wife and I express my disappointment, the reason I do that is because I want to be heard. And I want you to respond.

I want some sort of visceral connection. I love you. I'm committed to you. Are you committed to me? I want to be heard. And everybody wants to be heard. That's why I've never taken criticism personally. If I don't want to go to a restaurant anymore, I don't write them a letter. I just stop going. When people really leave my show, they just stop listening. They don't inform me of it. I thought it was interesting that the Super Bowl had its biggest rating in years. 113 million people watched it. Third most watched TV program in American history.

This comes, of course, after the boycott from Colin Kaepernick taking a knee. All I heard for 18 months and the words used by all the boycotters all never watch the NFL again. They didn't say they'd come back eventually. They said, I'll never watch it again. They all came back. What are you going to do for 20 Sundays in the fall? What are you guys? Farmers?

In the end, it's the NFL. We bet it, we watch it, we love it. Many of us played it. Not particularly well. But you wanted to be heard, conservatives overwhelmingly. wanted to be heard. Remember when the CEO of Goya Foods, G-O-Y-A-Foods, backed Donald Trump, there was a boycott. Liberals were outraged by the comments. We are going to boycott Goya Foods. Actually, sales went up 22% in the following weeks. Goya reported sales of some beans. Apparently,

Goya loves their beans rose 400%. I remember when Kaepernick did that first Nike ad, ooh, people wanted to be heard. I will never buy Nike again. The stock price at the time was 68. It is now 84% higher at 126. Actually, rose to almost 170. Nike's never been stronger.

NFL's never been stronger. Goya Foods is fine. By the way, because of the platforms, the number of platforms I'm on today, I get more hate, more ugly comments, more threats, more boycott tweets than ever before. January was my most watched, most listened to, most downloaded month of my 30-year career. And that's okay. yell, scream, call me an idiot. People want to be heard.

liberals wanted to be heard with Goya Foods. Conservatives wanted to be heard with Kaepernick and Nike, the NFL. That's why I don't take things personally. When people really leave brands, restaurants, leagues, TV, by the way, teens do not watch linear TV. Teenagers don't watch it. It's down 74% from, I think, like, a down. decade ago. You know what I've never received in the history of social media? A teenager saying, I'm no longer watching linear TV. I'm out. They just leave. To all my media brethren,

don't take the insults personally. Roger Goodell doesn't. The CEO of Goya Foods doesn't. Phil Knight at Nike doesn't. All of us. When you're connected to something, when you've been a customer, a fan, a viewer, a listener. Sometimes you're just pissed and want to be heard. I'm the same way. So Aaron Rogers is about ready to go on his darkness retreat for four days. According to reports from legitimate sources, he's considering filming it. Little irony there, an isolation trip.

Hey, let's make sure the camera guys got it. The lighting guys over here. It's supposed to be isolation, thinking, you, by yourself. Aaron wants attention. Ripping Adam Schaefter, ripping Ian Rappaport, the vaccine. Aaron Rogers wants attention. He wants to feel important, right? No kids, never married, may not have a lot.

but Pat, it's why he needs to do these weekly hits. Aaron needs to be the center of attention. It just cracks me up. Like, when you go on these retreats, you go to Ohio, you're looking for peace, you're not supposed to be making another state farm commercial during your isolation trip. You know, people, myself included, have odd habits. I tend to be a creature of habit. You know, three or four things for breakfast my entire life.

Fruit early, fish late. I eat the same way. I exercise the same way. Same time of the day. Very much a creature of habit. And I understand not everybody has the same habits. You know, my kids are quirky. I'm quirky.

And I've had friends that have, you know, mannerisms or things that are, I consider odd. But the one thing I've dropped friends and people in my social circle over. high maintenance slash neediness. Fuck, Aaron is needy. He is really, really needy. Okay, we bring him on a few times a year. Tyler Dunn. He has that newsletter, sign up for it,

at go longtd.com. Through the years, he's been spot on on a number of Packer's stories. He's got a Packer story. working on. He's also been writing about the Buffalo Bills. We have been highly critical of Sean McDermott on my radio and TV show in an offensive pivoting league.

They really feel like they're playing 1983 football. Let's first start, though, with your Green Bay updates. So there are certain things that are already out that the Packers are willing if Aaron wants out to move. they are happier today than a year ago with Jordan Love. They would send him to the AFC, not the NFC. That stuff's all out. Mark Murphy said last week,

we'd like him to give us a decision sooner than later. Those four things are all out. My take has been a pretty simple one, that if Jordan Love is a B-level quarterback, that this is a pretty good roster with an additional first-round pick, maybe a third, Packers draft and develop at a pretty high level.

They need an edge rusher, another tight end. They're pretty good. So any apprehension would lead me to believe they have huge concerns about Jordan Love. So let me start with this. From what I can tell, it does feel like they feel pretty good about love as a potential starter. Is that what you garner from, you know, recent discussions? You know, I've tried to talk to as many players as I possibly can these last couple weeks, Colin, because it does harken back to what 2007, 2008, when Green Bay went from Brett Farr to Aaron Rogers.

They could make that move. Ted Thompson saw it every day in practice. And if anybody knows if Jordan Love is ready, it's those players. It's the teammates. It's who sees this quarterback day in and day out because they haven't really seen much on game day. What they have seen has been really, really promising in that Philadelphia game. And to a man, player to player, guys who have been on the scout team have faced him in practice. They insist that Jordan Love is ready to be a starter in the NFL. And I guess it kind of dates back, even a Jamal Williams who was just with him that rookie season.

He held up his hand when I saw him in Arizona. He's like, look at this pinky. and it's all busted up. He goes, yeah, that's from Jordan Love. You know, he's zipped it to my finger there as a rookie. The guy can sling it. He's got some rare physical gifts that that's the reason they drafted him. That's what popped.

But since that point forward, I think he's learned the offense. I think he's learned how to read defenses. And he's putting it all together. You saw in that Philadelphia game, he hit that back foot and the ball was out. He can run Matt LaFle's offense. Yeah. You know, there's concern in San Francisco that Trey Land, it was reported this week isn't as athletic as San Francisco hoped and he struggled with accuracy.

My takeaway is Jordan Love right now is a more refined Trey Lance. He is athletic and he is accurate. Now, does he have the juice, the it? Very few do, right? Like that's like eight on the planet. I also believe, and I don't have this sourced. I did see two different Packers at the Super Bowl. I'm not ready to go public with what one of them said yet.

I may soon. So I'll hold off. Do it. I'm not ready to go there yet. But the Packers were an irrelevant franchise for most of the 70s and 80s. And I do feel like there's almost a fear in the building to be irrelevant. I sense that. But I'm on the outside.

You tell me, you used to live there. You still cover them. This feeling of, oh, oh. And I argue, Ty, the NFC, even the two loaded rosters, Philadelphia has got so many free agents. Niners don't have the quarterback probably in September. This is the time to rip it off. This is not the AFC with five or six, seven generational quarterback talents. Do you think that fear is just holding them back from ripping the Band-Aid off?

I think it absolutely has been with how Mark Murphy, Matt LaFleur, Brian Gutikins, everybody back from just moving on. And we've talked about this for two years. I thought they should have done it. You know, that first summer when Aaron is kind of dragging the team out to the public square and, you know, dispatching his legion of surrogates and allies to fly. I mean, for four or five months, all you heard is how could Green Bay let it get to this point? But they begged, they pleaded.

Matt LaFleur at the podium is just every possible way begging Aaron Rogers to come back. They have that meeting. They have some backdoor promises. They give him a seat at the table. They trade for a washed up Randall Cobb. You know, they do all these things, give him what he wants because of that fear. I think they're terrified of life on the other side of Aaron Rogers. And you do see a lot of teams that live in that purgatory.

But I'd argue, I mean, look at the New York Giants hanging on to Eli Manning and maybe a year or too long. The Pittsburgh Steelers hanging on to Ben Rothesburger a year too long. That's the bigger mistake is just tricking yourself into thinking that this guy might pull off of Tom Brady. There's one Tom Brady. There's one quarterback who can go to 45 doing what he did. And we saw it last year with Aaron Rogers. The inevitable physical decline. his legs really aren't there.

His arm is average to maybe above average. He wasn't really willing to work with those young receivers until it was too little too late. Hey, look, when Patrick Mahomes has bringing guys down to Fort Worth, what was Aaron Rogers doing? I don't know. I mean, OASca and taking trips. And, hey, we can mock OTAs all you want.

I talked to one player who said, it would have been really nice to have Aaron Rogers' OTAs working on stuff because they got it. They turned that corner. But by then they were, what, three, four games below 500? To answer your question, I'm shocked that it's taken this long, but I think that the court of public opinion has kind of changed. I think fans, by and large, are getting a little tired of Aaron Rogers act and the drama

and, you know, him saying, oh, I didn't know that this darkness retreat was really going to take off like it did. Get out of here. I think that fans are smart enough to kind of read through it. And they saw it. Most importantly, they saw what Jordan Love could be, just like they saw what Aaron Rogers could be in that Dallas game in 2007. So the fact that it's kind of turned, you know, remember, it's community owned. The fans own the team, it's a little different with the Packers.

The fact that that's kind of changed, I think is going to kind of maybe get Murphy and Gutickinson-Leflor to a spot where they finally, once and for all, trade Aaron Rogers. Maybe my ego's too big, but I feel like words matter. And when Aaron said, I'm going to go on a retreat, a darkness retreat, which is fine. meditation's fine that will get me closer to a decision that's kind of effing with people that would be like telling my wife listen i'm either way in the marriage i'm going to go on a four-day Vegas trip with the boys that'll get me closer to a decision she would say bullshit i want an answer when you get back Like, we know Aaron's petty.

We know he cares. He's thin-skinned. That kind of feels like to me, Ty, he's kind of effing with him. It really does. You would never tell somebody you were in business with. Hey, listen, I'm going to, Mark Murphy came out publicly and said, sooner the better. And you're like, yeah, I'm going to go hide for four days. It'll get me closer.

like to me that's you've moved into poking in the ribs that's what it feels like to me it would align with previous action i mean that this is what he's done for a few years now so yeah we have to read between the lines because he's kind of speaking in code and beating around the bush and nobody really knows and he's going on this darkness retreat i had the same reaction as you it feels like he's kind of messing with the team at this point, delaying it. When, you know, there's that scene in Seinfeld where George Costanza's telling, you know,

that the girlfriend, I invented the it's not you, it's me. The team and Rogers are kind of going back and forth in this, like, well, I don't, I don't really want to trade you, but I want to trade you. I don't want to be here, but I kind of want to be here. Somebody's got to step up and be like, enough's enough.

The Packers, they have that power. They could go on the offensive here. Hell, and do something. Talk to teams while he's on this darkness retreat. They haven't done it to this point. They're trying to be delicate. They know he's a future Hall of Famer. He's been the face of the franchise.

I get all of that. But at some point, the lines we're going to cross, right? This isn't the first time that Aaron Rogers has done some things that have ruffled feathers and made management think a certain way. Coaches think a certain way. But he's been winning MVP's. He's been taken to the conference championship game. It's always been worth it.

Now that ability isn't there. that talent isn't there. At some point, you don't tolerate it, right? I mean, you tolerate it because he's so damn good and he's been good for so long. I think those lines have crossed now

and that management, if you read what Murphy has said, with the team has said, with the kind of leak to the media, it seems like they're ready to move on. And I say that gingerly because you never really know. But I think that maybe even the Packers

are a little tired of this act and they are in a spot to once and for all move on to a different quarterback. He's not as mobile as he was three years ago. He's also not quite as committed in the offseason. Has anybody inside the organization ever hinted or acknowledged to you that they do see a decline in his overall ability now turning 39 soon? No, it's hard to get people to that spot. You know, even for background, I think it's been hinted at.

And when they talk about Jordan Love and how excited they are about Jordan Love, how the ball just spins off his hand, how he's so athletic and fluid and has a command of the offense. Because, let's face it, teammates, people in the organization, they're scared to say a negative word about Aaron Rogers because they don't want to be cast off to the cornfield. I mean, if you're honest enough to say what you really think, hell, to just relive your experiences, literally just say what happened in a game against the San Francisco 49ers like a person you know very well in Greg Jennings. He might just call you, call your names, call you this, call you that.

And next thing you know you got Packer fans at your neck for the next five to 10 years. So players, they tread very lightly in that department. I do think, though, and how excited they are about Jordan Love, that kind of tells you everything you need to know. So you live in upstate New York, right? So you cover the bills. I think two things are happening with the bills. One, the chiefs are relentlessly getting better.

They're drafting better. They're rebuilding the offense. Receivers. They pay all of their receivers combined $20 million. Tyree Kills making, you know, that and more just with the Miami Dolph They rebuild their O line overnight. The Bills, four or five years with McDermott still can't get the O line right. So that's part of it.

And they're losing, right? So they're losing big games. But I really thought, and you have, you've been writing about this, the Skylar Thompson game and the TWA game, and they both came to Buffalo. And they both ended the third quarter in the fourth, you had a real game on your hands. Warm weather, Miami, cold weather, Buffalo. That Skyler Thompson game was bizarrely competitive in the second half. And I felt like in both games, Mike McDaniel worked Sean McDermott. He was more clever, more of an identity.

I still don't think the bills have an offensive identity. I think they just call plays. How they're winning a lot of games, but how much heat is on McDermott? I think the fear is that Sean McDermott is Marty. Schottenheimer, Marvin Lewis, a coach who is a good defensive mind. Chuck Knox. There's a good one.

Right? Go right down the list where John Fox, not a bad coach, right? He turned the defense around. A big picture, that building needed to be fumigated. I mean, it got really bad, really fast with Rex Ryan. And so they did need a pendulum swing

to somebody who was more of a disciplinarian who wasn't going to put up with, you know, certain types of players, certain type of personalities. So that worked. They ended the drought. They build a winner. But at some point, the franchise's identity needed to change from Sean McDermott, disciplinarian, defense, ball control to holy hell. We have Josh Allen, this transcendent talent that's 6'5, 247, leaps over your linebackers, and is something we've never seen at the position.

and they're still kind of operating in that old mindset. Look at this, look at every single playoff game that they've lost. I mean, the same stuff repeats itself over and over and over again. The AMC championship game, the chip shot field goals. I mean, you kick a field goal from whatever it was, the one or the two before half time to cut it to 21 to 12 against the Chiefs only to get waxed in the second half. 13 seconds, the end of that game, I was told, didn't want the squid. He wanted the touchback.

Whoops. and then you have your DBs lined up in another zip code. It's very not to lose. It's not aggressive. It's not a tenacious. We're going to win this game mentality. And then you saw it again against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Look, they're going to lose that game 10 out of 10 times. They didn't come ready to play. I just talked to a player today who said, we were, we were not ready. Like, we had no energy. We were lethargic. But Sean McDermott, again, fourth down, end of the first half, a chance to get a two for one. You're in Cincinnati's territory.

Your defense can't stop anybody. But you have a chance on fourth down to go for it, score touchdown, get the ball at the start of the third quarter, red dictate the terms of this game into a shootout, and they punted. And Joe Burrow almost got them in feel courage. And then in the fourth quarter, fourth and two, deep in your own end,

you punt. I get it. The game ends right there if you don't get it. But you're not going to get two stops in the fourth quarter. That isn't going to happen. You haven't stopped the nosebleed all games. So I don't know. I mean, for the,

If the bills are ever going to get over this championship hump, Sean McDermott has to change the way he coaches in the playoffs. I'm worried it's not going to happen. I think that they left, they let the better coach in Brian Daibald leave the building. I think Brian Daibald will win Super Bowls. And Sean McDermott, I have a hard time seeing him win one with the way he operates.

Looking to get more out of the NBA season? Well, now's the perfect time to download Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers get a no. No sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's free bets back if your first bet doesn't win. The promo code is always Colin. Fandul has tons of betting options.

I like the same game parlay. Bet a little, win a lot. Fandle's app is safe, secure, easy to use, and you get paid your winnings really fast. The no sweat first bet up to $1,000. promo code Colin. make every moment more this season with Fandul an official sports betting partner of the NBA. 21 plus and present in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, and Louisiana.

Permitted parishes only. Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Virginia, or West Virginia. First online, real money wager only. Refund issued as non-withdrawable site credit that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandul.com. Gambling problem, 1-800-200 next step or text next step to 5334-2 Arizona, 1888-98-9-777.

or visit ccpg.org slash chat. Connecticut, 1,800, Gambler, or visit Fandul.com slash RG and Colorado, Indiana, Indiana, 770, stop in Louisiana, 1,800-2707-1-1-1-7-1-1-7-1-1-7-1-1-1-7-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1. 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, 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clipper Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits. the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.

The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. His name is Jason Temf. We were able to grab him a couple years ago. He's going to be with us for a long time. Hoops Tonight podcast on the Volume Network.

So I was talking about this, Jason, about the Kansas City Chiefs. If you were going to beat him, it probably should have been this year. Kind of a makeshift receiving core, six rookies played. O-line is still pretty young, not great at tackle. Now, this year, they've got 11 draft picks. All the rookies at running back in the secondary will have a year under their belt. Mahomes is only getting better. And, you know, this could have been the vulnerable year, right?

Because they were very, very young. And I feel the same way about the Warriors. Last year, Clay Thompson at 70%. Young guys weren't ready to play. Now they've got Peyton. He'll be ready by the playoffs. Clay's better. Pools emerged as more consistent.

Dante DiVincenzo is actually a perfect fit for that. system. Now they're actually really deep in the next two months, really, really deep. And Kuminga is at least now a contributor. And so as they go back and forth, we know they're not the same team without Steph Curry. But I really believe Milwaukee's the best team in the league. And I really believe in two and a half, three months, Golden State, a team that's in Boston's head will be second. How much of a believer or a cynic are you? of these warriors going forward? Well, generally speaking, I'm always going to be very bullish on championship cores that still

have their core that we've seen show what they can do on that level. Because the NBA regular season is so monotonous and boring. And they've had issues. Like even the core of this team has struggled to close games this year, which is super unusual for a team that you'd expect to execute super well. And obviously, they've had issues with the bench. But, Colin, did you know that there are 27 five-man lineups in the NBA this year that have played at least 200 minutes? And Steph Clay, Andrew Wiggins, Ramon Green, and Kavanaughan-Luney are still by far the best in the league.

They're outscoring teams by 22 points per 100 possessions, five and a half points better than Denver starters who are treating this season every game like it's the last game of their lives. Now, again, the bench was a little concerning, but at the end of the day, there's two things that give me optimistic. there. First of all, Gary Payton will be available for the playoffs. Last year in the playoffs, they outscored teams by three points per 100 possessions when Gary Payton was off the floor, and by 16 points per 100 possessions when Gary Payton was on the floor. So, you know, to their credit, they made the Wiseman mistake, but they were like, hey, we're going to undo two mistakes and one move here and bring back Gary. Now, it sucks that he's not going to be available for this next stretch of the regular season, but if he's available for the postseason, that solves a lot of problems.

And then Jim Michael Green, there's been all this talk about them going after. after a backup big. But he's shooting the laces off the basketball since he returned from injury. And that kind of alleviates that issue. Give me Gary Payton. Give me Jamichael Green. Give me Jordan Poole and Dante DeVincenzo with that starting lineup we just talked about. And in a Western conference that's super flawed.

I mean, is anybody a safer bet? No. And that's what I go back to. I do think when you have a veteran team and you have a long playoff run, you're talking about 20 more intense games. This is not Tuesday against the Pelicans at home at Oracle, right? Like these are, these are play 40 minutes of playoff basketball. And so I don't think it's surprising the warriors were flat defensively, frankly, awful defensively,

until about, I would say about two weeks ago, it feels like there's moments now. I think they've gotten, they're not great, but they've gotten better. Probably because Kerr's been barking at him, Draymond's been barking at him. But I tend to, I'm with you on this. Until you have a ring, teams play really hard. Those Chicago Bowl teams with Derek Rose, Jesus, every game was game seven. You'd go into the United Center and LeBron would go in there. And then the playoffs show up and LeBron shuts down D. Rose.

Speaking of LeBron, I had a scout I trust say the body language by AD wasn't a coincidence. he's had, as you've pointed out on your podcast, a series of bizarrely ineffective games. Like strangely ineffective. First half against the Warriors was weird. Like, not there. And I had a scout tell me last week, Dallas is going to make a run at him. Anthony Davis has sort of kind of believes he's lost the trust of LeBron. That's what I'm hearing.

and that they're going to try to get their way into the playoffs. And I do think if you gave me LeBron in that roster, seven-gamer playing, let's get, that's a series against Denver, I'd take my chances with LeBron. What do you believe as somebody that watches every minute for the Lakers? What do you make of the last five to six games of Anthony Davis? The Anthony Davis thing is truly bizarre because all of the intel is that his foot is fine. Now, generally speaking with foot injuries,

there's a difference between fine and I trust myself to explode off of this foot when I need to. The numbers are really bad. So he's been back for nine games, 22 points and 13 rebounds, which is the weird thing with LeBron and AD. There's always such a disconnect between what their box score production is and what you actually see on the floor because I think he's been bad by his standards. He's shooting just 61% in the restricted area since coming back, which is awful for a big.

That's okay for a point guard. to give you some perspective, DeAndre Aiton is shooting 79% in the restricted area this season. So he's just getting manhandled around the basket. He's not running up and down in transition. He's losing boxouts everywhere right and left. Now, if he's dealing with something up here, the reality is this roster is so talented now because they've really addressed their two biggest weaknesses. Back court offensive skill size on the perimeter with Rui Hachamura and Jared Vanderbilt.

So if they get LeBron back and he's playing at an MVP level, at a certain point, AD will have no choice but to lock back in. And I believe that he will. But, you know, if he does not, because one of the biggest subplots of this Lakers era is Anthony Davis's inability to remain at his ceiling. Since the 2020 playoffs, it's been like two games against the Suns in the first round where he looked really good, like maybe 10, 15 games earlier this season. But that's about it.

And if he can't stay at that level, the Lakers will have to look seriously at whether or not he can be a foundational piece for them. Well, the source told me Dallas will make a run on him because Kyrie and Luca have huge defensive efficiencies and they don't trust Christian Wood. It would make sense. What can you get in your opinion for an Anthony Davis at the end of the year? Man. Okay. So if he does not ever in this season return to form, I think he becomes, he's got. similar value to LeBron James, meaning like you're looking at him and you're like,

yeah, like, I might get some top tier superstar production here, but I also might not. I'm not going to give away three, four first round picks and two three picks and a good young player. I actually pitched this idea to Ryan, our producer, earlier today. But like, if AD cannot return to form, you start to look at potentially him being the vehicle for a Kyrie Irving sign and trade. which satisfies both needs. Maybe you get a Josh Green out of Dallas as well.

Maybe you get one other first round pick. And the two, you know, Jared Vanderbilt's such a good work hard forward for them. If they can get one other center, you start to look at them as a more offensively focused team behind Kyrie and LeBron. And in LeBron, when he's surrounded by really good ball handlers and shooters, he does devote more energy to the defensive end of the floor. And he can be really impactful there. Just look at the 2016 Cavs. So that would be an interesting direction for them to look. David can't return to form. And here's the thing, Colin, if I asked you, what are the

percentage chances that Anthony Davis returns to MVP form before the end of the season? It's like a coin flip or worse. Oh, absolutely it is. And I think as you pointed out, it may be a little physical. Some of it's mental. And I think that's where he's struggled. You know, there's some things you can teach and some things you can't. Passion, like Patrick Mahomes, visibly in intense pain during the Super Bowl and sprints for 26 yards, in my opinion, his greatest moment as a pro player. And he is wincing pain tolerance is a skill.

Playing through injuries is a skill. Dwayne Wade was banged up almost the last 10 years of his career. He was constantly on the deck. So let me start with this premise. I think Milwaukee when healthy is the best team in the league. You agree. I do. I just don't trust Boston to close games. And then everybody in the West is significantly more flawed. And Milwaukee kind of float under the radar as they were consistently near the top of the standings despite Chris Middleton being out and Drew Holiday being in and out of

the lineup. Like, Janice has been sneaky like a favorite, one of my favorites for MVP this year and not getting enough credit for it because he's been floating a really limited roster. And so, again, to me, it's about the safeness of the. bet and I just can count on Milwaukee in a way I can't anybody else out east. So that brings me up to, and you watch the NBA in a more consistent level because I'm kind of a generalist than half the cherry pick stuff. But I've watched the Celtics. I get on a treadmill and I watch them as much as I can.

I'm going to watch them tonight when I, we hang up here and I'm going to go watch their backups play Milwaukee. My daughter's actually at that game. Totally. My Celtics aren't starting anybody. So one of the things I've noticed. and a game that a lot of people watch was the Laker game, which was a fantastic night of NBA basketball.

It felt like a playoff game. Is that I think Golden State remains in Boston's head is even though they won that game and that had a playoff feel to it. This is, and you played college basketball at a high level and we're good. Late in the shot clock and late in games. the body language tells me that Jalen Brown is really the alpha. He wants the ball. He's more aggressive seeking the ball.

Now, when they design or set screens for Jason, a play, he'll come get it. But he won't take over a possession. I always feel like Jalen's the alpha, Tatum's more talented. And I think when you get into these huge games, that may only rear its head. three possessions in the last six minutes. That's the difference between beating the warriors and not. There's something, it's almost like Tatum's too nice a guy. That's my takeaway.

It's like, I don't want that. When Steph wants to score, there's nobody else on the floor. Steph, do you see this ever with the Celtics in big possessions in key spots? Some of it is skill set. I think Jalen Brown is much more of an improvisational score. He can score in the sense that like every basket looks different than the last. Jason Tatum is very much your modern NBA analytical offensive approach. Like he's toned way back on his mid-range jump shooting.

He's taking a ton of threes. He's finishing better at the rim than he used to be. But he's kind of becoming a more predictable offensive engine. And at the end of games, nothing goes the way you want it to. There's so much contact that goes uncalled. There's random double teams and weird schematic things. And having a player that's an improvisational score, a guy that can take and make weird shots, ends up being a huge advantage there.

And I think that's a huge part of why Jalen Brown thrives so much in those settings. But it's funny because I would agree with you that Golden State's in their head. Even when they won this last game, they kind of backed into that win. Yes. They won because Golden State also made a bunch of mistakes. Like even on that final possession when Jalen Brown got open, it was a transition cross match and Jordan Poole got lost and they left Jalen Brown open. Like again, we talked about this earlier,

but Golden State has struggled with late game execution. Jason Tatum was awful down the stretch and regulation of that game, including having Steph Curry on a switch, on the left wing, no double team, dude, you've got the advantage. And he ended up just like kind of like trying to step sideways into a three. And Steph was all over it. And he ended up turning the basketball. over it. And you can tell there's something going on up there. To be clear, Boston's even better

than they were last year. Malcolm Brogden, we talked a lot after the NBA finals about them needing backup ball handling. Malcolm Brogden was a home run trade. He's been amazing for them. But at the end of these games, if I would feel so much better about Boston if they just kicked Golden State's ass in those two games, I would be in a completely different place mentally with them if they just close the deal in those two games emphatically. And instead, they lost one. And they fell ass backwards into a win in the other. And so that just puts me in the same position where it's the same type of flaw when they get to that big stage. Yeah.

And that's why Golden State, Golden State picks its spots. The Boston game, that Memphis game, you know this. There's about, for defending champions, there's about six nights a year, their national TV games, or they're the cocky upstart Memphis. It's like, oh, okay. The guys don't have to be talked into it. So I think everybody, I've probably seen Phoenix play six times this year. Chris Paul is not what he was two years ago. Let's start with that.

McHale Bridges, really valuable wing defender. No question. That's where they're not as good. Kevin Durant remains however, when healthy, about the best, easiest bucket in the league. I tend to think it's going to work because in the NFL, I always feel in pro football and offense needs an identity can overcome lack of of personnel if you have New York Giants won a playoff game. They knew what they were and what they

weren't. I don't worry about that in the NBA. What I worry is do you have elements. Two great wings, a big that runs the floor, a smart distribution veteran point guard, a respected coach situationally. I look at Phoenix and I think there's a lot of elements here I like. Now, they're not deep. But Golden State plays eight guys. Like depth is a tad overrated. I think Phoenix could mow through. some of these teams in about five, six games. I think the sons, it works for me. But now in three years, this could be a disaster.

They fall apart. But just for this year, does it work for you? Well, overnight, they have the most talented top four in the NBA, in my opinion. Putting them ahead of Philly in Boston, there's also schematically a supernatural fit for Kevin Durant.

Kevin Durand has been by far the very best pick and roll ball handler this year. He is having one of the very best pull-up jump shooting seasons in NBA history in all pick-and-roll coverages in the NBA concede pull-up shots. So every team in the league has just been like, let's just double KD and play four on three in the back end, which is why the Nets have been so good this season when he played. Phoenix is the preeminent pick-and-roll team in the NBA. That's what they run every single possession down the floor. They run a variation of it called Spain Pick-and-Role.

and roll where they include a shooter that replaces to the top of the key while Aiton is rolling. So KD offensively is just an incredibly natural fit with him. He's also probably the best plug-in-play star in NBA history because his off-ball offensive talent is every bit as effective as his on-ball offensive talent. And he makes quick, predictable decisions. Like, compared to Luca, where it's like there's nine seconds of dribbling and you don't necessarily know where he's going, that can be tough to play with sometimes. But when you're playing, pick up basketball and there's that dude where you know exactly what he's going to do and he makes that decision quickly. It makes it easy to play with that type of guy. So that's why he plugs in so well.

On the defensive end of the floor, he's actually having one of his better defensive seasons of his career as a help defender on the backline with his length. And DeAndre Aiton, one of his biggest issues is he can be a kind of up and down defensive player from his motor, from the perspective of his motor. Now, they're not a perfect team. They're going to be probably the worst perimeter defense team out of the, out of the high level. level playoff teams and that will put them in some trouble against driving kick teams like the clippers or Golden State with Jordan Poole constantly putting downhill pressure on the rim. They're going to have some issues.

But again, I go back to what I said with Golden State in a Western conference where everybody is flawed, you'd be foolish to write them off. And you've got to look at the buyout market. Like they snatched Terrence Ross away from Dallas. I would be surprised if they go after someone like Patrick Beverly as well. Like they're going to be there. And I think Kevin Durant might be the best player in the world right now. So they're going to be a pain in the ass for everybody.

Yeah, no, I think you really put it well. He's the best plug and play guy in the world. Like, I love LeBron or Janus, but you have to sort of build around them. Luca, because he's so ball-centric, he's, I think he's a much better, not much better. He's a better version of Harden. But, I mean, at his best, James was hard to play with. Like, Chris Paul, for all the misgivings, kind of works in every era. He would have worked in the 70s.

He works now in the three-ball era and doesn't shoot him. Like, he's a really effective player with a lot of personalities. I mean, Blake Griffin, to me, sort of disappeared when Chris Paul left his side. D'Andre Jordan, that offense dried up. Okay, I'll give you a team. I want you to give me a team that you just don't buy. Okay, I love watching Memphis, but if Jaws off, and I just had dinner the other night with an NBA scout, Jaws probably a better, I don't like hyperathletic guards that can't shoot, never like John Wall,

don't like Westbrook, Derek Rose wore me out. I think Jaws a better shooter than those guys. But Jason, he's 178 pounds. He's tiny. I don't know if I buy Memphis. I just, I like their depth. I like their coach. Do you?

I don't buy this team as a championship contender, do you? Yeah, Memphis is who I put down as my most overrated team in the league. So to give you an idea, these are the top four teams in the league, and they're records against teams that are 500 or better. Boston is 22 and 9 against winning teams. Milwaukee, 21 and 10. Denver, 19 and 11, Philly, 16 and 10. Memphis, 16 and 15.

Once again, against Boston on Sunday shortly before the Super Bowl, they competed. They were in the game. It was close late. And they backed way off of jaw and made him shoot threes that he couldn't make. He went 0 for four. And on the other end of the floor, they could not contain Derek White driving to the basket, which put them in rotation nonstop. And they gave up a bunch of wide open threes and they lost. This is a phenomenon I've seen several times in NBA history where there's a team that has an outstanding regular season machine to produce wins. My favorite example of this is the 2021 Jazz. They were, third in defensive rating in the regular season. And then they ran into the Clippers without Kauai Leonard. It turns out that it turns out Mike Connolly and Donovan Mitchell could guard anybody. They gave up 128 points per 100 possessions against the Clippers and lost. And so what happens is in the regular season, you can set up a baseline scheme and you can hide guys.

But then you get to the playoffs and it becomes so a, the game slows down and it just teams target your entry points. And what it is, is John Morant is one of the easiest entry points in the NBA to a defense. If you attack him, you can quickly get them in rotation. And then it doesn't really matter what kind of personnel you have in the back end if you're playing four on three. And then on the other end of the floor, they just don't have any shot creation behind Jha. And so they're actually a bottom 10 half court offense in the NBA according to cleaning the glass. And so if they can stay up and down in transition and funnel guys to Jaron Jackson in the regular season, they're fine.

but they get to the playoffs, the game slows down. It's entirely in the half court on both ends. They're attacking jaw. On the other end, they're backing way off of him. And that's why they struggle against good teams. Those clutch situations and those games against the good teams, those are what mimic the playoffs most closely. And this is the final stat I'll give you.

The Jazz are third in regular season defensive rating this year. They are 24th in clutch defense this season. So when the game slows down at the end, they just can't get stops. Volume. Make sure to check out the Dramon Green Show. I brought Dramon Green into the volume because one of the more entertaining voices in sports, unique perspective, understands behind the rope,

also chops up with guests like Gary Payton, Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download the Dramon Green Show wherever you get your podcast, only on the Volume podcast network. 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, S&L'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. This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed human.