The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - NBA Free Agency reaction: Kevin Durant requests trade from Nets, Kyrie to Lakers?

Episode Date: July 1, 2022

Jason reacts to Kevin Durant requesting a trade, discusses the possibility of Kyrie heading to the Lakers, and breaks down his favorite and least favorite moves of the day. #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Visit www.1-800-gambler.net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight. presented by FanDuel here at the volume. Happy Thursday, everybody. It is very good to see all of you back here on the live shows, just like we were doing all season long. We're going to have Carson back today, too. Going to dive into all things, MBA-free agency,

including this Kevin Durant drama and this Kyra Irving drama. I'm going to share with you guys six moves that I either loved or hated, and we'll get into the weeds a little bit. And then all of you guys that are watching at the end for as long as we feel like it, going to be taking questions from the audience. So drop some questions in the chat. And later on in the show, we will be hearing from you guys and we will get into your favorite moves. Before we get started, if you guys could subscribe to the volumes YouTube channels, you don't miss any more of our content, as well as following me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT. So you guys don't miss any more

of my video content as well as show announcements, things along those lines. We are going to get started KD. As I have been talking about a lot since the end of the season, the playoffs are all revealing. There is no hiding from that stage. Whatever there is to learn about your basketball team, we're going to learn on that stage. And the Nets were clearly different on that stage than any of the other teams that performed. Everybody else managed to win at least one basketball game. Now, don't get me wrong, they caught a bad draw. But when you've got Kevin Durant, Khyra, serving on your team, you expect to be able to get a win, especially with as flawed as that Boston team was. And them damn near losing to Milwaukee and them damn near losing to Miami and them blowing

three games in a row the way they did against the Warriors, that was a series where the Nets should have been able to be more competitive. Did you guys feel like the Nets were won Ben Simmons away from getting the job done? I didn't think that was the case. And I think that's a big part of why the Nets played hardball with Kyrie. Because you put up with the drama if there's a trophy at the end of it. Just ask every team that's dealt with LeBron James over the years. But two years ago, Kyrie Irving took two separate personal leaves of absence for no particular reason

and one time was even caught partying with his family during that stretch. And, you know, if things go well, you look at something like that. over, but they didn't. This past year, the Lakers, or excuse me, the Nets had no business playing the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. With as talented as that team was, they should have had a higher seed. They should have been able to play a team like Chicago or, you know, any of those lower seeds in the Eastern Conference to get more time for the team to get healthy and ready as they

made a deeper playoff run. But that's not what happened. They had to play the Celtics in the first round. Why? Because Kyrie Irving refused to get the vaccine, made a big spectacle out of it. missed a huge chunk of the season, and the Nets ended up being the seven seat. And so when they lost, all of a sudden, Josie and Sean Marks and these guys in the Brooklyn Nets front office, they're sick of it because the drama was no longer worth it.

So they played hardball with Kyrie Irving. And when they played hard ball with Kyrie Irving, Kyrie Irving tried to leverage the Lakers against them with that alleged $6 million taxpayer mid-level exception that he was going to take, the Nets were like, cool, go ahead, take it. he didn't take it he opted in and once again the nets were poised to go at it again this season and it was only a matter of time before someone like kd who cares about the basketball more than anything else would look at this situation and read the writing on the wall which is that the nets were not good enough boston's going to be better next year tateman brown will be one

year better they've learned a lot from this playoff run you know they're going to be addressing their ball handling concerns that were problematic as they made there towards the end of their playoff run, they're going to be better. Milwaukee with Chris Middleton's going to be significantly better. I loved the Joe Engels' move there. We're going to get into them a little bit deeper later on in the show. Miami is poised to potentially make some moves this offseason. The East is going to be better. Brooklyn's not good enough. And Kevin Durant read the writing on the wall. He accepted reality, and he demanded a trade. And I'm happy for him in the sense that he seems to finally be getting his priorities right. Because he went to Golden State because he prioritized the basketball.

He cared more about what his role on that team would be, the ease and the free-flowing nature with which he would be able to play the game of basketball. He cared about that so much more than anything else. And unfortunately, because things went the way they did while he was there, he started to start caring about other stuff, like the narrative and what all of you think. about what he did while he was there. And it allowed him to lose sight of that priority, and he chased a situation based on the narrative instead of based on the basketball. So he partnered with his friend, Kyrie Irvin,

who obviously was proven to be an unreliable teammate, just like he was in Cleveland, just like he was in Boston. And as a result of that, because he did not prioritize the basketball, he found himself in a situation where he was at a disadvantage on the basketball court, where he had to play, you know, two years ago, the best basketball he's ever played in his life just to lose to Milwaukee and 7. Or this year, to run into a situation against Boston

where it doesn't seem like they have enough horses. And so it's good to see that he accepted that reality. Now, the question that I have is I wonder where the relationship with Kyrie is at. I believe that him and Kyrie are still close, but I think Kevin has at least come to terms with the fact that maybe that partnership isn't the same. You could be friends with somebody but not be good business partners. And I believe he's come to terms with that.

So the question is, where's KD going to end up? Now, he put as his prioritized destinations, his favorite destinations, Miami and Phoenix. I don't necessarily understand the draw for Brooklyn there. Because if I'm Brooklyn and I'm getting back Tyler Harrow and salary filler, a bunch of picks, Tyler Harrow's not moving the needle for me.

If I'm going to Phoenix and I'm getting D'Andre Aiton on a sign-and-trade max, and I'm getting Mikhail Bridges, who's very good, but he's not a star and he makes $20 million a year, that's not moving the needle for me. And again, with DeAndre Aten, and I really like DeAndre Aten, he plays the most replaceable position in the NBA. If you're not Nicolioch or Joel Embed, I can probably get 70% of your production for a tiny fraction of the salary.

And so the question is, if you think Dianjeraighton can be Joel Embed or Nicola Yokic, then great. The sons are your partner. Go after D'Andra Aiden. But I would imagine that Sean Marks does not think that Dianjure Aten is Nicolajic, or that Diann Jolie Ait. So as much as Katie wants to go to those destinations, I don't necessarily see the assets there as being worthwhile for Brooklyn.

So how much cashé does KD have? Has KD, is the relationship broken between Kyrie and Sean Marks and Josai, but solid and healthy between KD and those guys? I don't know. Because if that bridge is burned or if that bridge is not in great shape, then if I'm Brooklyn, I'm looking at those situations and I'm going, that's great KD, but I'm going to where the better assets are. We're going to find out a lot about KD's cachet with the Brooklyn front office

in this next couple of weeks. depending on where he gets traded. Because the way I would look at it, KD should theoretically fetch the largest trade package in the history of basketball. This is not James Hardin coming from the Rockets. This is not Paul George. This is not Kauai Leonard after he had an Tendipathy.

This is not any of those situations. This is Kevin Freakin Durant at the peak of his powers under contract for four more years. And even if you believe he's aging, at least two or three of those, years, he's going to be a top five player. So in theory, he should bring back a ridiculous package. If I'm Brooklyn, I want draft picks. I want absolute slam dunk home run guaranteed great young players to go with it. And I'm not getting that from Miami or from Phoenix. If I'm Brooklyn,

I'm calling Toronto and I want Scotty Barnes. I'm calling New Orleans. I'm calling New Orleans. I'm calling New Orleans and I want Zion Williamson and all the picks. Because then at the very least, I can come back to this situation with a bona fide young superstar prospect, a sure thing, and the hope of what those draft picks might be. I get it, I get on Laker fans about this all the time because they want to be protective of their assets and they go, oh, well, that 2027 first or oh, that 2029 first, that's the future of the franchise. What are the real statistical chances that a 2027 first is going to be a top five player in the NBA?

Even if it's a lottery pick, it's extremely unlikely. Zion Williamson and Scotty Barnes both project to be guys who are probably on the low end for at least a few years in the top 10. That's the type of prospect they are. So if you're a Toronto fan, why would you want to give up Scotty? Barnes for that exact same reason. If you're a New Orleans fan, why would you want to give up Zion? For that exact same reason, it's not guaranteed that they will develop into that level of prospect.

But right now, you're a playoff team without that guy. Zion Williamson was out and the Pelicans pushed the Suns to six games and looked really good. Herb Jones and Trey Murphy looked like awesome three and D wings for them. Brandon Ingram looks like a star in the making. C.J. McCollum would be as good of a. second or third option as you'll find in the league. Toronto with

Pascal Ciacom, O'G Annanobi, Ken Birch, Chris Bouchet, they've got all of this talent there. If you can convert Zion or Scotty Barnes into Kevin freaking Durant, you

become a top tier contender. And for both of those teams, it was the alpha dog talent that was lacking for them in this playoff run. So I get it. The excitement behind players like that would cause you to have some hesitation there. But if I'm Brooklyn, that to me is the starting point of where I'm looking. And if I'm New Orleans, especially New Orleans, because of Zion's health issues and his weight issues, I would be willing to flip those guys for Katie

in a heartbeat. Now, what you guys might think is, why in the world would Kevin Durant want to go to Toronto? Why in the world would Kevin Durant want to be buried down in New Orleans? He's the only guy that I feel like would want that. You know why? Because Kevin Durant, and only cares about the basketball. If I could, and you know, Brandon Ingram, for instance, is very much a hoop head, is very much wired just like KD, wasn't into the drama in L.A., just wanted to focus on the hoops. That might be the perfect situation for him.

KD. is kind of uniquely, mentally equipped to go to a smaller town relative to the rest of the NBA and play with a guy like Brandon Ingram and play with a guy like Sagey McCollum. and be happy. But most importantly, for both Toronto and for both New Orleans, they provide KD with a solid basketball situation where he could focus on what he's great at. When he was in Oklahoma City and when he went to Brooklyn,

he had to do everything because in Oklahoma City, they didn't have enough talent. And in Brooklyn, they prioritized the wrong kinds of talent. They focused on offensive skill instead of on size and athleticism. and then they ended up getting physically dominated by the Boston Celtics. If he goes down to New Orleans or goes up to Toronto, he can fit into a team that will do the dirty work for him, play for great coaches,

and be able to just fall into a role and be great at what he's great at, which is exactly what he did when he was in Golden State. So yes, I understand why he wants to go to Miami or Phoenix, but I don't think they're realistic destinations, and the two that I would keep my eye on is Toronto and New Orleans. Orleans. Who the hell knows what's going to happen, though? Intel is that every single team is calling the Nets. Intel is that they're prioritizing assets as they should. This whole experiment with Katie and Kyrie has been a disaster. Why would they do them any favors? Let's move on to Kyrie.

I don't have any intel on this other than the stuff you've heard from your regular reporters, but it's starting to feel like almost like an 80% chance that Kyrie is going to be a Laker. The only other team that it really makes any sense for is Dallas having lost Jalen Brunson, but the intel there is that they're more interested in building wing depth and that they like the idea of maybe having Goran Drogh fall into that third role in upgrading Spencer Dinwiddie into the Jalen Brunson role. Not a lot of teams are willing to put up with the Kyrie circus. The Lakers don't have the luxury of turning away talent because they are at a talent

deficiency. So it makes sense. The reports you're hearing from Brian Winhorst and from Stephen A. Smith that Kyrie wants to be a Laker, they actually make sense. And as far as the basketball fit, we already know how the LeBron-Kiree thing works. And most importantly, just to get into a little bit of an X's-and-O's fit there, one of the things that causes problems for the Lakers over the last couple of years with their high pick and roll with Anthony Davis is they haven't been able to run it. Why? Because when they run it with LeBron, they just switch because it's two forwards. And when they ran it with Russ, or when they ran it with Dennis Schroeder, or when they ran it with Ray John Rondo, the three of those guys can't shoot so you can run dramatic drop coverage against it. And you can have the guards go underneath the screen.

Kyrie Irving is a ball handler that can run pick and roll with Anthony Davis. and one, not allow you to switch because they're two completely different defensive assignments. And two, force you to chase over the top of the screen and bring your big up. Because Kyrie will pull every single time coming off of that screen. It completely flips the dynamic of the way you can guard Anthony Davis as a screener and will open up so many more things for Anthony Davis as a role man or for Kyrie Irving coming off of those screens. To me, it's a home run basketball.

football fit. We're going to get a little bit more into the other moves the Lakers made later. But again, as is always the case with Kyrie, the idea of him is better than the reality of him. The problem is, is that when he's on the floor, it looks great, but he's not always on the floor. The problem is that even when things are going well, his brain can be elsewhere. Famously in the 2017 playoff run when the calves were clicking and beating the shit out of everybody, Kyrie Irving was emotionally pulling away from the team. That's the risk. The problem is the Lakers don't have the flexibility to say no to him because of their

lack of talent. As far as the machinations of the trade, the problem is, is you can't just trade Russ for him because Russ makes $11 million more dollars and is a significantly worse basketball player. But a first round pick feels like too much for Kyrie, right, when no one else is bidding on it. So you've got to find a delicate balance there. The way I see it, there are two options.

You can either ask for Seth Curry in the deal and include the first round pick, or you can remove the first round pick entirely an offer to take the Joe Harris contracts. Now, Joe Harris was an excellent 3-and-D player two years ago. And the 19 to 20 million, I think he makes over the next two seasons, doesn't seem like that big of a deal for an excellent 3-&D player. But I have heard from people that would know that his ankle is still nowhere near ready to go. And he may not be ready to play until about halfway through this next season. So he's actually become a bad contract.

So that might be an interesting way to get a player back that you won't be able to use for a little while, but that might be available for your next playoff run and save that first round pick so that you can use it for something else. But either way, it just feels like all the momentum is heading towards Kyrie going to the Lakers, and that to me feels like a realistic option. And also, Kyrie's doing the work behind the scenes through his agent and letting everybody know that's where he wants to go. And more often than not, that will scare away teams when it comes to paying real assets.

When push comes to shove, I think Rob would do it for a first round pick anyway. But I do think Kyrie will end up with the Lakers, and that might be just the thing that can get them back into the mix things with their talent. Okay, so before we bring Carson on, a couple quick announcements, you guys that are listening. If you guys could please subscribe to the volumes YouTube channel, I would sincerely appreciate that. Please like this video. It really helps us a lot. Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT so that you guys don't miss any more of our show announcements and things along those lines. And last but not least, if you miss part of this for

whatever reason and you can't get back to YouTube, subscribe to our podcast feed, which for the time being is under Lakers tonight. Lastly, we are going to at the end, Carson is going to come on and we're going to go over some moves, other free agent moves around the league. But we are going to do a mailback at the end. So submit your questions in the chat. We will get to you guys after we get through these moves. Carson, what's up, man? It is good to see your face again.

It is good to see you as well. And it is a great time to be an NBA fan, as always, because you never know what's going to happen. It seems felt like this was going to be kind of a boring off season for a couple days. And then obviously we have the KD news. So like you said, we're going to walk. through some of the most interesting moves of the day. And we're going to play a game called love it or hate it. You are going to tell me if you love or hate the moves.

And we will start with the slew of signings that the Lakers made today. They brought in Damien Jones on a two-year deal and Lonnie Walker the fourth, Juan Toscono Anderson and Troy Brown Jr. all on one-year deals. So Jason, do you love that or do you hate that for the Lakers? I'm, I love the Damien Jones signing. And I hate the Lonnie Walker. signing. The Troy Brown Jr. and Juan Tuscano Anderson signings, these are veteran minimum contracts. So when it comes to this sort of thing, there's not an exact science there. Everything is a

complete gamble. It's either old guys that a good percentage of them don't pan out and then a good percentage of them do. So it's like it's a total coin flip. You know, it's like you get a mellow who ends up fitting great for you as a spot of three point shooter. But then you get like a, you'll end up getting some other old guy that won't pan out, like a D'Anre Jordan, for instance. The young guys, it's a completely different story. You're usually getting a great deal of athleticism and enthusiasm and guys who play hard for you and stay bought in, but they're usually too inexperienced and too inconsistent to be reliable for you in a rotation, especially when you get into the postseason.

But it is what it is. The Lakers had, though, this mid-level exception that every team gets. once a season. And I had said many times throughout the end of this season that they had to spend it on a wing that was at least six, eight, that could guard multiple positions, and that could absolutely certainly be in your late postseason rotation and close games for you,

especially when you're strapped like this and you don't have the ability to offer money to other players. And for them to use their mid-level exception on another undersized. Very athletic, tons of potential, but for them to use that slot on a player like Lonnie Walker, who I like, who's a fine young player. The upside of the signing is great because he's a great athlete. He has extended stretches where he shoots the ball well, and then overall he's pretty inconsistent. I think he's a career 34% shooter. Can get into the lane, can defend when he's really committed. All that stuff is great. The problem is, is,

Are you certain, like beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Lonnie Walker can close basketball games for you in the second round of the playoffs? I don't know. And that, to me, makes it the wrong use of those resources. The one thing I will throw the bone to Rob Polinka, how many times have I preached about old plotting centers and how useless they are in this NBA, and how I almost prefer a 610 guy to a 7-foot guy who can run and can cover ground?

You need to be able to get up and down the, floor in transition when teams play fast. You need to be able to cover ground and five out. Damien Jones is that guy. I watched him play for the Lakers two years ago before they dumped him for Andre Drummond. He was a great fit while he was there. He was really good towards the end of the year in Sacramento last year.

I will say that that was the right direction for them to go at the center position. But I just can't believe that they didn't use that mid-level exception slot on a, on a more traditional wing. So you've obviously talked a lot about the need, not just for Lakers, but across the league of having those guys wings in the 6-6-6-9 range who can guard multiple positions. And obviously all three of these guys are on the low end of that spectrum, if not below that spectrum. They are really long, like abnormally so. I think all three of the wings have 610 plus wingspans. But you've also talked about how part of what made the Warriors so strong this year, for example,

was just that they had good basketball players, guys who were smart, who made good decisions, who played hard. JTA, I think, has those traits. Troy Brown Jr. is not a great basketball player,

but he has some of the playmaking, some of the two-way abilities. So do you have any positive thoughts in terms of, you know, outside of the Lonnie Walker with those other two wings, investing, obviously,

very little resources and guys who at least are in kind of the right mold? Or how comfortable would you say you are with those two signing specifically? Well, what's funny about it, too, is I swear Rob Polinka just, like, listens to all the Twitter trolls and then does the exact opposite of whatever he did the previous season. It's like, it's like, oh, we lost to the suns and no one could shoot, no one could score. It's like, okay, I'm getting all guards and wings that don't guard and only play offense, you know?

And then it's like the entire narrative last year was they're too old, they're washed up. And so now it's all young, freaky athletic guys that, you know, that have all this potential. And as far as their limited offensive skill goes, you know, this is the issue. When you've got LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster, let's forget about Kyrie Irving for a second, who I believe will be a Laker. If you have LeBron James and Anthony Davis on your roster, you're going to pack the paint. That's just the only thing you can do. You can't hope to contain them any other way. It's what every team did this last year.

It's what every team did the year before. It's what every team did the year before that. So you constantly find your guys in close-out situations. And in close-out situations, you need to do one of two things really well. You either need to be a dead-eye three-point shooter, which Troy Bound Jr. is not. Juan Ticano Anderson is not, and Lonnie Walker is not. Or you need to be a very, very smart, savvy close-out attacker. I want you guys to think about like an Andre Aguadala for something like that.

You know, think about an autoporter junior. These are guys that are not, you know, necessarily overly athletic. at this phase of their careers, but you can count on them to rip through when the guy closes out on them, get into the lane, collapse the defense, and make the next read. And that sort of close close out attacking, making those reads requires a great deal of experience and savvy and basketball IQ. Not to say that those guys won't be able to do that one day, but it's really hard to do. There's a reason why Juan Tuscano Anderson fell out of the rotation for the Warriors. It's because the Warriors typically are running a ton of four on three as a result of Steph Curry traps and the overall

chaos that is caused by the Splash Brothers. And Juan Tuscano Anderson was less reliable as an intelligent decision maker in those situations. Doesn't mean they won't have moments. Anytime you have young athletic players like this, they will have moments. There will be a game where the Lakers beat the shit out of a good team. And Juan Tuscano Anderson has 15 and Lonnie Walker is 18 and they're locking up and everything looks great. But with young players, it's always about consistency. They struggle to identify the things that are working for them so that they can replicate them. And they struggle to identify the things that are not working for them so that they can get them out of their list of habits. So it's just, it's one of those things where I wish

Rob Polinka would just kind of learn all the lessons from all of the things that happened over the last couple years and build a more well-rounded roster, if that makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. Let's move on to the traditional free agency signing of the day, if you will, and one that we've heard a lot about, because obviously the pure market wasn't overwhelmingly intriguing for this year. But Jalen Brunson was the name that kept coming up and the Knicks were the team that kept coming up being attached to him. It seems as if he has very least headed to the Knicks on a four-year close to $110 million deal. 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. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Jason, what are your thoughts on that? Do you love it or hate it? Well, I hate it. But the situation is super interesting because, like,

we don't really know what's happening. It seems like everyone's reporting that he's going to the Knicks, but then we got that weird Adrian Wojianowski tweet that he's going to meet with the Knicks armed with a five-year, $106 million deal from the Mavericks. So here's the one thing we know for sure. Jalen Brunson is going to be very rich after today or whatever this all gets that gets settled.

As far as the Knicks go, I just don't understand with a brand as big as the Knicks, with the theoretical capability they have to be able to bring big name free agents if they could just demonstrate consistent competence. And like this is a 6-1 guard who is not an All-Star or close to an All-Star. he was a pretty good playoff player in specific matchups. He was very good against the Jazz. Was good for stretches against Phoenix. Was good for stretches against Golden State.

But he also struggled for stretches in both of those series. Everybody struggles in the playoffs to a certain extent. You don't want to overread into that. But he was also doing it against bench lineups primarily or against the secondary defender as Luca was gathering the best defender. Going into New York, he will get the best perimeter defender every single night. he will be going against first units primarily.

He'll be in the Luca Donchish role. And here's the thing. It's very likely that he puts up decent numbers, but that this team has a clearly defined ceiling. And that probably is first round exit. In an Eastern Conference that has a team as good as Miami, a team as good as Boston, a team as good as Milwaukee, and his team as good as Philly.

So the problem that I have with it, if I'm the Knicks, like, man, keep developing your young players. Do what the Lakers did. Keep developing your young players. Have your Brandon Ingram, your Kyle Kuzma, your Josh Hart, you know, your Lanzo ball, have them already and keep that cap space open each passing summer so that you have the ability to get a real big name free agent and then flip the rest of your young players for one of his buddies.

It's a proven method. We saw the Clippers do it. We saw the Lakers do it. It works. It is a proven method. And I just don't understand this like, it's like a race to mediocrity. It's like they're sprinting fast as they possibly can to lose to Boston in the first

round next year. I just don't understand the idea. And I like Jalen Brunson. It's just, and I'm happy that he's getting paid. It's just as looking from the perspective of the Knicks, I just don't understand what their goal is. I completely agree with you.

I think Brunson is very good. I think he's fundamentally a winning player. He does a lot of things really well, but it's an overpay, and it's especially an overpay given the direction of the franchise. So if you were the Knicks, how would you have gone about this offseason? Like, what would be the direction to take from your perspective? So, I mean, well, look at what the Lakers did over the last couple of years. Essentially, they only tie up their core players that they know are part of their future, right? So they had LeBron tied up, Anthony Davis tied up.

outside of that, there was no big money anywhere else on the roster, and they consistently signed their supporting pieces to one-year deals. So you can essentially rotate them through each passing summer. It's okay to be towards the bottom of the league as long as you're demonstrating competence. If you have a good coach, if you guys play hard every single night, if you're competitive, if you draft well, and if you show, you demonstrate to the rest of the league that you're building something. What happened with the Lakers in 2019? They demonstrated to LeBron over the previous years, because here's the thing,

the Lakers are an absolute shit show, as everybody knows. But they have one department in their front office that's one of the best in the league, and that's their college scouting department. They consistently, year and year out, find high quality NBA players on the margins. This past year, they did it again with Austin Reeves. It makes you really wonder what this Max Christie kid can do because it's like, he's a kid who didn't shoot well at Michigan State. I think I only average like nine points a game, and you're like,

you almost can just bet that he's going to be a rotation player for the Lakers next year, because that's just what they do. So that one piece of competence in the Lakers front office demonstrated over a half decade that they knew how to accumulate quality young players that the rest of the league wanted, and then they kept their cap space open, and then when LeBron came, they immediately flipped all of the assets for Anthony Davis. You can absolutely do something like that. I'll give you an example.

Let's say that you had all this cap space open and you went after Bradley Beal. And Bradley Beal already signed with the Wizards. I just want to give you guys an example of what I'm talking about. Bradley Beal is really good friends with the Jason Tatum, right? Let's pretend, you know, things didn't go as well with the Celtics last year. You sign a Beal and Beal goes, Tatum is my best friend. Let's trade for him. Again, that's not going to happen.

But there are little friendships like that all around the league. All you have to do is catch the right free agent in the right summer and the right friend who's in a situation where he's not overly happy and have the requisite assets to make the trade. If you can pull off those three things, just like that, you can have the star talent you need to compete. And again, this is not Milwaukee. This is not Oklahoma City. You don't have to, you know, build on the margins and hope that things break your way. You are the New York freaking Knicks, okay? You absolutely, if you can demonstrate competence, you absolutely provide these players with a world stage, the mecca of basketball.

all of the history that comes along with it. You can absolutely pull these huge personalities in the NBA. You just have to kind of have, you got to have the opportunity ready each passing summer as these guys come available. As we all know, it just depends on which particular summer you catch and you catch the right star who's ready to make that move. All right. Well, we do have word from Woge now confirming, Jason. It is a four-year, $104 million deal for Brunson with the Knicks with a player option on the final. final season. So there you go. The March towards media. I'm glad he got all that money, man. He's going to be rich. I'm happy for Jalen. This is not a Jalen take. This is a New York Knicks take. Yeah, and I don't think anybody can really be opposed to a New York next take. So you mentioned Bradley Beale there in the example that you gave with him and Tatum. He did, of course, sign the Supermax

to stay in Washington, or at least to be paid by Washington. Five. years, $251 million. Jason, do you love or do you hate that move? It makes sense for both sides. It's very similar to what happened with Janus, right? Like, Janus is a little bit unhappy with how things are going. You know, Milwaukee can provide him the biggest, most financially lucrative contract. And so you basically just sign the guy and you tell Janus like, hey, man, two years go by and this isn't going well, we'll trade you. But then maybe things break well and you win a championship, and now he's going to be there forever, right? Like, that's kind of the way it can break the other way.

But like, if you're the Wizards, you never want to lose the asset for nothing, you assign him. If things aren't going well around the deadline and you're way below 500 or next year's deadline or whatever it is, you can at that point trade Bradley Beale and get some sort of asset return for him. If you're Bradley, this is just where all the money is. You take all the money and you have that flexibility. This is where that cachet matters.

And this is what I'm so curious about with the Brooklyn Nets as it pertains to KD and Karee. You know, we have seen that franchises, when they feel a sense of loyalty from a player that they're willing to work with them. But when you burn that bridge and the working relationship suffers, they're less willing to do you favors. And Bradley Beale has built up a great deal of cachet with the Wizards. Obviously, I don't have intel on this, but I would be willing to bet that the conversation

was, hey, dude, sign with us, you've been so good to us. When you're ready to go, we'll ship you off. And if you give us a list of three or four teams that you like, we'll get you to one of those three or four teams based on who gives up the most assets. To me, that's kind of like the new modern day free agency, where you're basically just, you're chasing the money and getting that sort of, you know, freedom of choice from the trade market. All right.

Well, Jason, we've got a Lakers-related move to get your thoughts on here. Malik Monk is the Kings for two years, $19 million. Do you love or do you hate that? So I would love it for the Lakers if they didn't promptly go sign another small guard with the bid level exception. My whole theory was this entire Laker off season was you have to, even though I love Malik Munk's game, and he deserves every penny of that deal. With this particular Lakers roster, he did not fit a specific need for them. There was a diminished return on his specific skill set because of their.

their perimeter size weaknesses. So I wanted them to use the mid-level exception on a bigger forward because that was their specific weakness. That's where I wanted them to allocate those resources. Same goes for the kings in this case. You've already got a small guard in deer and fox. That's already an issue there. Okay.

And so from that standpoint, like I don't like the idea of partnering. And I get it, the Kentucky connection and those guys are good buddies and all that stuff. if you're the Kings, you just put a hard ceiling on your own individual or your own team success. Because in this league, perimeter size does matter. Your ability to contain ball handlers on the perimeter matters. And night in and night out around the league, just like Malik was attacked to the Lakers and just like Deerrin Fox is still attacked to this day, they're going to struggle to contain teams on the perimeter, especially in the Western Conference, which is freaking loaded with guards.

What if Kyrie comes, man? It's going to be Jamal Murray one night. Kyrie Irving the next night, Steph Curry the following night, Damian Lillard the next night. Like that's, it's going to be night after night of dominant guard and you don't have the perimeter defensive pieces to contain that. Okay. So you're going to, gosh, I'm blanking on his name.

What's the little guard they signed last year? The kid out of Louisville. Do you remember? The little stocky defensive guard. Yeah, the Kings. It's, oh, man, Mitchell, Davion Mitchell. So, like, Davion Mitchell. great defensive player, right?

So you put him out there to help with dribble contain. And now you got to bench Malik? Or are you playing three tiny guards? You know, like I just, I don't, as is always the case with the Kings, I just don't understand what their plan is. And like you literally, Ivy was there for the taking at the draft. And then you took the plotting forward who would have made more sense

with a team that's closer to the title. You know what it means? So I just, the kings are going to kings that's what we said after the draft and again i'm really happy for malick that he got paid i just think he would have made more sense going to a team that already had a great deal of size on the perimeter so that you can compensate for his specific size weakness well like you i have quite an affinity for malik's game individually but the kings not unlike the nix i agree continue on the march to mediocrity and this deal is a continuation of that

for a team that is actually in contending mode you've got an interesting move the bucks bring in joe ingles with their mid-level exception obviously coming off of his injury jason do you love that or do you hate that i love it again you the the playoffs don't lie they reveal everything and you got to pay attention to what that you know all revealing playoff run will show you what did we learn about the bucks this year obviously christmas Middleton's injury was a big impact there. But where was the weak spot in the rotation? Kind of felt like it was Grayson Allen, right?

Kind of felt like a little bit of like Pat Connitton inconsistency, right? What you need is another guy who can guard on the perimeter. Now, Joel Ingalls is coming off an injury, so it remains to be seen. But I mean, this is a player that before he got hurt was as reliable of a 3-&D guy that you'll find in the league. This is the guy that completely shut down Paul George when they upset the Oklahoma City Thunder a few years back. Like this guy is a very good perimeter defensive player with size.

It was a lights out three-point shooter. And most importantly, like we talked about earlier, Carson, when you have guys that force you to pack the paint, and Janus might literally be the quintessential player that fits this mold in the entire league. Boston was literally ignoring everybody on Milwaukee to clog the paint on Janus. And in game seven, they just couldn't make a shot.

Having a guy like Joe Ingalls who can knock down the shot and is an intelligent closeout attacker, a guy that can get into the lane and make smart reads to other perimeter players on kickouts. I loved it. This to me is an example of using your mid-level exception on a player that addresses a specific need and that you know can play in a playoff series.

I know Joe Ingalls can be your fifth player in a closing lineup. Not sure that Lonnie Walker can be that. So just again, this is a smart team behaving smarter than the other teams around the league. I loved Ingalls to the Bucks. Yeah, and he will be 35, and I did think he regressed a bit even pre-injury, but two years ago, I thought he should have been the sixth man of the year. Genuinely, I mean, he is a winning basketball player to the extreme.

And so to get that with the MLE is pretty good. All right. Last specific couple of moves here that we're going to get your take on before we go to some questions, Jason. The Philadelphia 76ers brought in PJ Tucker for three years, 33 million, and Daniel House for two years, eight and a half. Do you love that or do you hate that for Philly? I love it.

First of all, guys, before I finish this particular take, remember, we are about to do a mailback. So if you guys have any questions about anything related to free agency, please drop it into the chat. We will get to it here in just a minute. The numbers seem big, right? Particularly for Tucker, three years, 33 million. It was the biannual exception on Daniel House.

That means it hard caps the team. so I'll be curious to see if that restricts some of their flexibility as they get closer to the deadline this year. But at the end of the day, again, the playoffs are all revealing. What did we learn about the 76ers this year? I felt like they were soft. I felt like they struggled against a very tough team in Miami to match their intensity, to match their competitiveness. when the star of your team is a Joel M.B., who is a foul grifter, relatively inefficient in terms of putting the ball in the basket compared to other bigs around the league, guy who relies on janky basketball and can be pouty and can be dramatic and can fall on the ground a lot.

And then your other star is James Hardin, who arguably is the least, you know, in terms of like the fight or flight response, he might be close. to flight than any superstar star in this entire league, you need somebody to help bolster their own psychological weaknesses. And so I love the idea of bringing in PJ Tucker and Daniel House to just tough SOBs, dude, just tough dudes that are just going to come in there and compete. And when a team like Miami comes and punches them in the mouth, even if James Hardin and Joel and Beed struggle to match that with their competitiveness. You know damn well, PJ Tucker and Daniel House are going to be right in there barking back, getting in their faces, being physical and doing the things necessary to try to

rest that battle back into their favor. You know, that Draymond, JJ Redick pod was so interesting the other day. And JJ Reddick was, I don't know if you heard this part, Carson, but JJ Redick was giving Draymond crap for his antics in the finals. At one point, he's like, why are you such a dick? you know, Drayvon's like defending himself. But you know what's funny is what Draymond was saying was true

because they were showing some of the clips of him like doing ridiculous stuff in the finals, fouling the hell out of people. There's some truth to what Draymond was saying. When there's someone on the court doing that stuff, it rattles people. It does, like, I know Jalen Brown doesn't believe it and I know he pushed back on again on it today.

That kind of thing does rattle people. It gets in your head. And the Sixers needed needed. people like that in their locker room, people that are willing to fight back in that department to help win that mental battle because you're just not going to get that type of fight response from Embed and from Hardin. I agree with you completely there. And I think we've seen that time and again.

All right. So let's get to the mailback here because we've got some good KD stuff. Some theoretical trades. We'll start with this from Taylor O'Neill. Jason, should the net send KD to the Rockets for their draft picks back plus some young? projects. Oh, man, that'd be so mean to KD. That would be vicious. Well, again, this is this is where we get into the cachet stuff because like, like if I was Brooklyn and I really wanted to stir the pot, especially because, you know, we're also coming up

on some CBA negotiations here relatively soon. And the word around the league is, is that the owners are going to be trying to rest back some control. That would be one hell of a power move from Brooklyn. the ship KD off to NBA Siberia and Houston. Here's the thing. There's absolutely no reason for Houston to do it because they don't have enough talent to make a run with KD. And I believe that Brooklyn can get better young players elsewhere around the league. So I get why as a Houston fan that might be interesting,

it just is completely unrealistic. And quite frankly, I'm sure KD's agent would throw an absolute fit. All right. How about this one, Jason? Katie to the Pacers for Malcolm Brogden, Miles Turner, T.J. Warren, T.J. McConnell and three first round picks. That's a lot of money. So you're going to have to throw some stuff in with Katie there. But what do you think of that in theory? And then we're going at it with Katie and Tyrese Halliburton at that point. Just, I again, same thing as the Rockets. Like, it's one of those things where it burns the bridge with Katie because,

him and his agent are going to be pissed. You shipped him off somewhere where he can't win. The Pacers are still not going to win. And if I'm the nets, I'm not getting enough back for that to really move the needle. Like, even all of that, I'd rather have Scotty Barnes. Even all of that, I'd rather have Zion Williamson. I'd rather have even some of those theoretical packages from Phoenix involving Aiton and Bridges, I'd rather have those. Yeah, well, like you said, all 30 teams are calling, and I'm sure all 30 fan bases want to try. to find a way to get Katie in there. What do you think is the single, least logical,

or perhaps cruelest location for Katie to go in the league? Oh, I got one for you, Carson. Okay. Kevin Durant, in exchange for Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Caminga and Moses Moody,

and we run it back. Katie on the Warriors would be scary, man. Yeah, can you imagine? Can someone Photoshop a couple of those really, quick for us. No, I was thinking about that the other day because, like, I, I don't think the Nets would do it because, I mean, I know the Warriors fans love their young prospects and Colin Coward in particular is very high in Jonathan Camiga. And I like Jonathan Kamika, too. He's just not a home run. None of those guys, none of their young players are sure things.

And I would imagine that Brooklyn will be able to fetch a sure thing. But that is an interesting idea in the sense that, like, you know, the basketball fit is great. And I'm sure the Warriors would make that trade. it's just one of those things where I just think they'll end up getting something else elsewhere. Yeah, that would be hilarious. Oh, wait, can I, can I throw out one? Yeah. So I got roasted the other day for my proposed Lakers Nets trade. And I understand the skepticism because I, and again, guys, this is fake trade season. Almost everything we're saying is unlikely. So I'm not over here trying to be prescient or anything. But I am.

genuinely curious to see when it's all said and done and the moves are made whether or not Brooklyn gets much more than Anthony Davis, the 2027 first and the 2029 first. Because you have to think, even if you didn't think Anthony Davis was in your timeline, Brooklyn could theoretically flip him for a huge package. Right. And so it's one of those things where like, again, it's super unlikely but that russ in ad and the two firsts for kd and in kairie i just it's not as insane as everyone thought it was is all i'm going to say that's i it's not likely not put my name behind it but i'm just saying i i didn't think it was that outlandish all right well let's take a quick break from some kd talk here to look at a team that was on the biggest NBA stage this year and fell just a little bit short and that

of course is the Boston Celtics. So you got this question from Stilo Green. Jason, who do you think the Celtics should look to bring in to help the core guys on their roster? So the big one that stood out to me, and there's some intel in this department already, the intel is that they're targeting T.J. Warren and Danila Golanari. But I think both of those guys want the mid-level exception.

And they may end up going somewhere where they can get a little bit more of a bigger role. Danila Golanari is a name that I've thrown out that I'd love for the warriors to get in terms of a great way for them to elevate their ceiling. The Celtics need ball handling and they need someone who can consistently get shots at the rim. So this year, I can't remember the numbers exactly off the top of my head, but Danila Golanari had about 140-something post-ups,

146 post-ups, I think, and he was about 56% from the field in those situations, got to the line 38 times, made 36 of them, only had 10 turnovers. He was one of the more efficient post-up players in the league this year in a decent volume. He was doing over two post-ups per game. I liked him as an option that, theoretically, if you've got Marcus Smart on the floor, Jason Tatum on the floor, Jalen Brown on the floor, and they're ball pressuring the hell out of those guys.

Danilo Golanari is probably going to fetch a slower forward that's going to struggle with ball pressure. So you could see him as a guy who they could use as a release valve to bring the ball up the floor when they're struggling to get into the paint because guys are sitting on their right hands. You could throw the ball into the post to Dinole Golanari. And again, post-ups that draw double teams are another great way to get into your driving kick game. And driving kick is where Boston's at their best. So again, all they're going to have at their disposal is going to be, you know, better minimum contracts and mid-level exception type stuff. All of their players in the

rotation are under team control this year. Grant Williams has got a team option, but either already picked it up or they're going to. but the guy that I'd be looking at there is Danila Golanari on the mid-level exception. Okay, I said we were going to take a break from KD. I hope that was enough to recharge you because we've got another KD question. This one from Niño Verde-Leon. Is it possible that Katie wants to join the Sons besides the fact that they have book and CP already because he'll have his new super team in the West

and therefore get a chance to beat LeBron and Steph in the same playoff run and win the championship in that style? You think that's a factor, Jason? I don't because, I mean, for those of you guys who listened to the beginning, I think the valuable lesson that KD learned here is that he can't control the narrative. And as much as he tried to in Brooklyn, as much as he put that at the top of his list of priorities, it ended up being the wrong way for him to go about this. I think KD cares about one thing and one thing only moving forward, and that's basketball.

and I think he would pick a destination based on the potential basketball fit. Phoenix and Miami, what were they compared to the rest of the league? Phoenix, we said most of the year was the most talented roster from top to bottom, not counting their stars, right? In Miami is basically Golden State East without enough talent. KD, in theory, fixes those problems for both of the teams. The problem is, is like we talked about earlier, I'm just not sure if I'm Brooklyn that I'm getting anything back there that moves the needle for me.

So as we learned, because of an obscure CBA rule having to do with the designated rookie extension, the Miami Heat cannot send Bamatabio to Brooklyn because they already have Ben Simmons on the roster. I mean, I suppose they, in theory, could send Ben as well in the tray, but it would get a lot more complicated. So it's like, is Tyler Harrow and some draft picks from a team that's going to perennially be good? Is that moving the needle if you're Brooklyn? No, probably not. And then DeAndre Aiton, Phoenix doesn't want him. You know, if you heard some noise from Detroit, but then they didn't want them.

Why? Because just like the NFL figured out that running backs were kind of a market inefficiency that you could get 80% of Ezekiel Elliott for 20% of the salary, you can do the same thing with centers in the NBA. Damien Jones for the Lakers will be, you know, what, 60, 70% as good as a Clint Capella? for a veteran minimum like that's that's just what you're getting at

when that roll when that position on the floor screens and dives to the rim and sits in the dunker spot and guards in drop coverage and occasionally guards a guy on a switch and doesn't do anything else then an a plus plus plus

at all those things is only a little bit better than a B minus at all of those things and so I just don't if I'm Brooklyn, the idea of getting back DeAndre Aiton on a supermax or a max, excuse me, it doesn't make much sense. And then, you know, Mikhail Bridges, you and I talked all year, Carson, about what it might look like if he had an opportunity to do more offensively. He had that opportunity against Dallas and he couldn't really do it. And I really like Mikhail Bridges. And I do think he will get better. But to me, his peak will be kind of like

what Andre Iguodala was for the 2015 Warriors. a really, really dominant perimeter defensive player that can have scoring punches and will be a smart, you know, third, fourth option, but I just don't ever see him being that guy. And so it's just as much as those destinations are KD's preferred destination, they'd have to give up too much talent to get him

and then they'd be right back in the same predicament. And then most importantly, if I'm Brooklyn, I can just get more elsewhere. So I think you make some really interesting, points about Aiton there and just how he sort of relates to the state of the NBA overall that we will get back to in one second. But before we do that, just looking at Katie's path, if he were to end up in Phoenix specifically, right, where they literally had the best record in league this past year, or even Miami where it's a reigning one seat, do you think there's an

argument that he closes his path to being a top 10 player of all time if his championship resume is joined a 73 and 9 most talented team ever won a couple rings there tried to build a super team failed miserably then goes joins the best record in the NBA even if they give up some talent to get him like how much stock could you put into rings that he continues to win in that fashion compared to if he had actually had to fight an uphill battle from this point forward in Brooklyn or if he goes to a pelicans or a raptors where yes he's asking out but he's not going to teams that at the absolute top of the league this past year. So the problem is, is I think the damage is already done.

But to KD's credit, I really think he's come to terms with that. Like, I think he's at peace with it. I think he knows that he'll never get the amount of credit he deserved in Golden State. I think he knows, and we did a whole, I did a whole thing on this the other day, But like the revisionist history with those Warriors teams to where it's because they won in this 22, 2020 season, all of a sudden KD is being erased from the 2017, 2018 seasons. I agreed with Draymond. Like, I think the Warriors lose in 2017. If the Cavs run it back and the Warriors don't get KD.

It's really the simple. Hey, Warriors fans, did you guys think you were way better than the Celtics because you won three games in a row at the end? yeah, you probably do. Well, the Cavs beat you three times in a row in 2016. They kind of figured you out. And to Draymond's credit, and I thought, I thought Draymond was wrong when he said that, that Steph couldn't create a shot back then.

But he is right about the fact that Steph has gotten a lot better. Steph is doing to teams what he did in 2016, even though they're much better at defending him now. That's the credit to Steph. As defensive, as defenses have evolved, he's evolved with them. As far as KD goes, though, it's like, dude, There is no version of this story that ends with you not having those fair or unfair, those marks on your resume.

So, like, my thing is like, dude, if you can't win the court of public opinion, win the trophies. Because the trophies last forever. You know, they can't ever take those away from you. So I would continue to pursue the best available basketball situation and say, screw the narratives, screw all the talking heads that are, that are beating you down. The Warriors fans, they're never going to like you the same way they used to ever again anyway.

So who cares? You know, like at this point, dude, control what you can control, which is what happens on the basketball court. Go out there and win all the trophies. All right. We've got one last hypothetical KD scenario for you. This one, courtesy of Mike H. Who says Katie liked his time in the Pacific Northwest when he was in Seattle. What are the odds he gets traded to Portland and how good could they be?

So the fit I love, him and Dame, you know, I like the direction Portland has been going, targeting wings. The Jeremy Grant fit is awesome. The problem is once again, Portland just will not be able to hang in the actual bidding war that's about to take place. Like they just don't have any realistic prospects that are going to, like, Anthony Simons played really well last year, really starting. to blossom, but he just signed that big fat deal, which I don't think he's going to be able to be, I don't even think he's legally allowed to be traded until this year's deadline. And most importantly, if I'm Brooklyn, is Anthony Simon's moving the needle for me? No. And in terms of draft picks, they don't have the same amount of picks that they can offer compared to some of these other teams in the league. Actually, Carson, I got one for you. Yeah. What if the Boston Celtics traded every single pick they had and Jalen Brown for Kevin Durant.

Wow. What would you do? I think that that would be a win-win, genuinely. Right? I mean, like why isn't that one getting talked about more? That's a good question. I think that Jalen may not be like, you know,

number one guy building block, but he's very good number two guy building block. He's all-star caliber player already and you get the future draft assets, although obviously those picks probably, won't be great. But I think for Boston, it's a no-brainer. I mean, you're giving up a current, you know, all-star level scoring wing for an all-time great scoring wing. So that's interesting. That's very interesting. But let's just, let's frame it like this. That's a, that's a package

that probably won't get the deal done that is way better than anything Portland can offer. That is way better than anything, you know, these other teams that we've thrown out can offer. Like, even to me, that's a better package than what Miami or Phoenix can offer. Like, if you're a GM, would you rather have Jalen Brown under team control with the long contract that's a max or DeAndre Aten? I want Jalen Brown. Yeah. Do you want Tyler Harrow or do you want Jailen Brown? I want Jailen Brown. So like, to me, like, that's, that's an example of like the way this, like, this bidding war should result in the largest return in the history of NBA trades. And so that's where we need to frame this. We just presented a trade of Jalen Brown and a ton of first round picks and that probably doesn't

get it done. That's the way that we got to look at this. Like it's just, that's why my brain keeps going to Toronto and to New Orleans. Like if I'm Brooklyn and I can get Zion Williamson in a bunch of picks or I can get, you know, Scotty Barnes in a bunch of picks, that to me is going to beat anything else because I'm getting a bona fide superstar prospect and I'm sending Katie to a good basketball situation and you know it just to me to me those are the directions that I'd look over the course the next couple of days all right guys that is all we have for tonight I'm headed down to Mexico with my wife for the next four days but I'm bringing all my stuff with me so you might if anything crazy happens you guys will get some sort of reaction uh as I'm going

finally get a chance to relax. It's been a wild couple of months with a whole lot of basketball. And I'm actually excited to take a little bit of a break. That's set. Any big signings, any big trades, any anything, I promise I will get at least something up on YouTube for you guys. As has always been the case from the bottom of my heart, I sincerely appreciate you guys supporting us and supporting the show. And I'll see you guys in a couple of days. The volume. 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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. 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, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clivert Show on the I. I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.