The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - NBA offseason winners + LeBron's decision, Luka & Lakers roster, Warriors questions, Jaylen & 76ers

Episode Date: July 5, 2026

Jason reacts to the latest in NBA offseason and free agency news, gives his winners so far including the Toronto Raptors for adding Kawhi Leonard and the Miami Heat for adding Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James and his big decision, what the Golden State Warriors should do around Steph Curry, what Luka Doncic and the Lakers summer looks like, Jaylen Brown's fit on the Philadelphia 76ers, and more. All lines presented by Hard Rock Bet.  #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Joy is essential and it's also elusive. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence, Joy 101. It's a new podcast hosted by me, Hoda Kotby. If you're craving inspiration to maximize your joy, tune into these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search Joy 101 and listen now.

Joy 101 with Hoda Kotfi is presented by CVS. My first guest is Paris Hilton, Shakira, Luke, and Yerrin. You have surprises? Many surprises. Welcome to the Sweet 305 podcast where the group check comes to life. What on? You're the only person I know that loves a yellow starburst. It's lemonade.

This is Sweet 305. Here, oversharing is encouraged. Listen to Sweet 305 with Lele Pons on the I-Heart. radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. American Soccer is exploded. The knockout rounds are here. The U.S. won their group, and now every match is winner go home. I'm Tad Ramos.

And I'm Tom Boger. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, we'll talk about the real storylines. Discuss the tactics that actually decide matches. And give you the truth about the U.S. national team from inside the program. Whether you're a lifelong fan or this is your first World Cup. We've got you covered. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast.

I'm Jake Brennan, and on the Disgraceland Podcast, I explore the wild lives of rock stars and unbelievable true crime stories from music history. These are the stories you haven't heard, the kind you'll end up telling someone else. Like the time Paul McCartney spent in a notorious prison or the bizarre crime Lady Gaga is accused of where that time Blondie's Debbie Harry escaped Ted Bunny. Listen to disgrace land on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Volume. Good to Hoops tonight here at The Volume. Happy Friday, everybody. Hope all you guys had an incredible week. As always, we're going to be doing our weekly mailbag today. Got lots of good questions from you guys over on YouTube, as well as on Twitter. We got about 15 or so that I want to get into today.

be bouncing all around the league. Some follow up on the Miami Heat, some follow up on the LeBron James, free agency sweepstakes. We got a bunch of other teams. We're going to be bouncing around the rest of the league. Lots of good stuff to get into some follow up on the Lakers off season as well. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. We have a goal to get to 150,000 subs before the end of Summer League. We need about 8,500 more. So it would mean a lot to me if you guys would take a second to scroll down and hit that subscribe button. If you're already subscribed, like this video, sign it for post notifications. That helps us a lot. Then last minute,

at least, if you want to get mailbag questions into our weekly mailbags, drop them in the full episodes on YouTube, right? Mailbag, colon, write your question. We'll get to them on Fridays throughout the rest of the summer. All right, let's talk some basketball. First question, Hey, Jason, was wondering if you have a sort of winner of the off season so far? Any team you felt has addressed the most needs or has jumped the most tiers in your rankings? Love the show man. You and Jackson are awesome, and by far my favorite NBA content creators out there. Thank you so much for the kind words and for supporting the show. I think if we're strictly kind of framing things behind who made the biggest leap from non-contender to contender, I actually think Toronto lands at the top of that list in the sense that this is a team that did a lot of things that really impressed me in the first round of the playoffs, but just were lacking some very specific traits of what. which Kauai addresses every single one of them when he's healthy. And so going from a team that

was basically a third or fourth tier contender, like a complete non-threat. I'd say they had a zero percent chance to win the title last year. To go from that to being like legitimately, I think they have as good a chance as any team to win the Eastern Conference. Like if I was ranking the teams out in the east right now, Boston has fallen off the top tier for me with the talent drop for Jalen Brown. Now Boston could rejoin that group if they make the right type of deal at some point this season. We'll see a more concerned about their, you know, there's this talk like, oh, the Celtics are going to be bad because they traded Jalen Brown. I couldn't disagree with that more. I think that between the strong culture, the head coach, the depth of high level talent that

they have in the role player core, having Jason Tatum come back after his first full offseason, that he can work out post injury. I saw a clip going around yesterday of him working out against, like playing five on five against high school kids. Like Tatum's going to have his full summer to work out. I do think Paul George, when he's healthy, is a useful basketball player in that system that will be able to help them.

Like, they're going to win a lot of regular season games. That I'm not concerned about. It's just, do they have the playoff firepower? That is where I think Jalen Brown is dramatically underrated and just sending him out makes your team worse. So like we'll see if the Celtics do something else.

But I kind of have like Toronto and New York as the two top teams in the Eastern Conference right now, then a small gap to that next tier where I have like Cleveland and Detroit, Miami, Boston. And obviously depending on what kind of moves get made there, like if LeBron goes to Miami, Miami jumps to that top tier. Boston makes a big deal. Boston jumps up to that top tier, right? Cleveland gets LeBron. Cleveland jumps to that top tier. So like, we'll see how that shakes out. But for me, for Toronto to go from basically a non-threat to win the conference to, I think

they have, if I'm ranking all the teams in the Eastern Conference by their chances to win the conference, they're tied for the highest odds in my opinion with New York. Like, I think that's an amazing leap for Toronto to take with that Kauai Leonard trade. So I think they're my biggest winner so far of this postseason. The LeBron Domino is huge. like I'd argue whoever, whoever gets LeBron just wins the off season. I mean, how many times do you get to add at a veteran minimum to a mid-level exception? Just like literally just add to your roster without having to send out any talent. How often do you get to do that with a player of LeBron James's caliber, a guy who is still a top 20 regular season player in the league, a guy who is in the playoffs, probably a top 12 player still? Like to get to add. that specifically to your roster. If you already are a contender, that's just a huge kind of like title odds shifting move that is on the horizon here still this off season. So like whoever,

I'd say whoever gets LeBron probably wins the offseason with Toronto ending up in second place there. But in the meantime, Toronto to me has made the biggest leap from non-contender to contender. Some honorable mentions there, Philly obviously getting Jalen Brown. I think the fit is clunky. We're going to talk a little bit more about that later. And then Miami getting Janus, those are honorable mentioned teams that made leaps into higher levels of contention with the moves they've made. I just don't think they're quite as impactful as some of the others that I've seen. Super risky moves. These are teams that like, I just, it's so difficult for me to tell what to think about their offseason. Charlotte, Minnesota, and Portland, everything they did is dramatic

mixing up of their team identity. And that means anything could happen. Aren't the Lakers on the perfect two-year timeline now. They have the mid-level exception and the biannual exception next year to add wing depth. Their team is young. They are going to the Knicks route of setting up their core gradually and building on top of it. Like, let's read that again. We're gradually building up our core. And it's the third year of Luca Donchich on the roster.

It's the third year of Luca Donchich on the roster. And Luca is entering into his late 20s. Luca is entering into like the heart of his prime, and we are now gradually building up our core. This is exactly why it was so dumb to not take advantage of the LeBron James situation. LeBron James, I truly believe there's been posturing, like my read on this situation in the public sphere has been, the Lakers didn't want LeBron.

LeBron knew it. So LeBron took command of the narrative and jump, in and said, actually, I'm leaving. Very much like a, she didn't break up with me. I broke up with her kind of thing. And I think that that allowed both sides to pretend as though this was just a natural breakup when the reality is, I think LeBron at age 42, knowing how good Luca was, knowing how good of friends he was with Austin Reeves, knowing how much continuity matters. And just in general, I think LeBron loved being a showman for the Los Angeles Lakers. I think if the Lakers wanted LeBron, he'd still be a Laker right now on a discount. I think it was very much

about it had, I don't think it had anything to do with the money. I think it had everything to do with them not sitting down with LeBron and being like, you are a part of our plan here. And the way I look at it, you have these gaping holes at the starting forward spots. And yes, Walker Kessler was an amazing move, but like in terms of a talent ad to a very specific position. But to me, if you were go that route. If your route was, we think Walker Kessler is a star. We think he is going to be the foundational center for our team. That's why we justify sending out the picks. Okay, fine. Retain Marcus Martin LeBron. Because then in the short term, because if you're telling me, like, we need multiple years to add the wing pieces for our future. We need to use next year's mid-level

exception to get a starting forward or we think Cameron Carr can become this guy, but he needs a year or two to develop. That's all great. That's why you needed the stopgap solution, the short term solution. This is why this team build made no sense to me. Okay, fine. You want to go in this other direction. You want to build the team for the future. Take advantage of the fact that you had a top 20 NBA player, top 12 playoff player that wanted to play for you on a discount. Because then

it's like, I've got Austin Reeves, I've got Luca Donchich, I've got Marcus Smart, I've got LeBron James, maybe I miss out on Quentin Grimes as part of that equation. But if I can match Marcus Smart's salary at

$7 million a year to keep him in L.A. And I can get LeBron for seven or eight million a year. That's the same as what you just pay Quentin Grimes. And that's more than a lot of these other teams can afford to pay LeBron. And then I'm looking at it and it's like, I still have Sondro is a nice backup forward piece for me.

I still have Walker Kessler as my center of the future. And in the short term for this season, I get to be really good with Austin, Luca, Marcus, LeBron and Walker Kessler with this bench. And then as LeBron fades out, of the league, maybe we do find a forward on the mid-level exception next year. As Mark is smart either gets too expensive or starts to break down, maybe Cameron Carr can slot into that spot. But what you've done is you've left gaping holes at the starting three and four. And I just, I really don't understand that specific thought process. Next question. I really think

you are overestimating the impact of losing LeBron and smart. Both are old non-flour. or spacers. Smart is a genuinely bad offensive player. And 42-year-old LeBron as you're starting four on a team with Luca and Reeves would have been unacceptable. I vehemently disagree with everything in this question. And frankly, LeBron would be far and away the best starting four on the team this season. He's a hell of a lot better than Sandra Mamo Kailashvili or Jonathan Kamenka, if you get him, or whoever it is, you end up getting at that four spot. But there's also just basic numbers that break this down. When LeBron and Marcus Smart were on the floor last year, the Lakers were about plus four per 100 possessions. When those two guys were off the floor,

they were minus six per 100 possessions. There was a 10 point on off swing with LeBron and Marcus Smart on the floor versus off. Even individually, just putting them on the floor versus off. Marcus was one of their best plus minus guys all season. LeBron, I think the team was two points per 100 possessions better when he was on the floor versus off. LeBron and Marcus, were profoundly valuable to the team last year. And you just, you very simply, Rob Polinka could have gotten Walker Kessler and he could have retained LeBron James and Marcus Smart

for a short-term solution while also having an eye towards the future for finding who the starting forwards were in the future. That is where I think the strategy made no sense. Today's show is brought to you by presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bed, Florida Sportsbook. We talk a lot of basketball here, but the world's biggest soccer tournament is here. Everyone is watching. National pride is on the line.

Superstars are chasing immortality, and for the next month, every match feels like a final. If you haven't tried Hard Rock Bet yet, there's no better time to get in the game. Hard Rock Bet is a top-rated sportsbook app built to Viva La Copa. Whether you're backing your country, betting on your favorite superstar, or building a same game parlay for the biggest matches of the tournament, Hard Rock Bet is your way to get in on the action. And if you're ever late to kick off, don't worry. Hard Rock Bet lets you live bet all match long from the first minute to the final whistle. Plus, Hard Rock Bet has new promos daily.

We're talking profit boosts, no sweat bets, bonus bets, and more. And be sure to check out no goals, no problem, and Super Sub. Two promos designed to give your bets insurance all tournament long. Sign up with Hard Rock Bet today in place a $5 bet. If it wins, you'll also score $150. $150 in bonus bets. A winning bet plus an extra $150 bet with. Now, that's how you get this summer's party started.

Hard Rock bet is Florida's only legal sports book, but you don't have to be in Florida to join the party. Hard Rock Bet is also live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado, and Michigan. Download the Hard Rock Bet app today. Roll with us. Go with us. Hard Rock Bet.

Payable and bonus bets, not a cash offer. Offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Florida. offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital LLC and all other states. Must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida, call 1833 playwise. In Indiana, if you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-9 with it. In Arizona, Ohio, and Virginia, call 1-800-mire reset.

Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler in Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey. or Tennessee. An IHart Radio experience. Weekend gold tickets to Ilsoniq. One, two, three, Montreal with Dom Dalla, Chris Lakin Friends, Woolly, Deadmouse,

above and beyond, sub-focus, and more, with flights from Porter Airlines, three nights at residents in downtown Montreal, and $1,000 cash. Enter for your chance to win at iHartRadio.ca. Ilsonique in Montreal,

every day you enter is another chance to win. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people. Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more

difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. My first guest is Harris Hilton, Shakira, Luke and Yerrin, Samira, and Gracie. I'm so excited. On the bouncy bed.

You have surprises, many surprises. Welcome to Sweet 305, where the group chat comes to life. What a fuck. It's like a way to say, like, hello, my God, hello, my friend, hello, her man. Look, oh, never I've ever been talking to nobody. Except with my My kids, my

Amanté Oof! Oof! That's incredible! Yeah, the tele-novela. You're the only person I know that loves a yellow starburst.

It's rumored. I'm not. There's someone. I'd like to collaborate with this person. This is Sweet 305. Listen to Sweet 305 with Lele Pons

as part of my Cultura Podcast Network on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Next question. Jason, how can the Lakers address the complete lack of good wings? So obviously you guys have probably heard, I've heard that Golden State is in on the Rui Hachamura sweepstakes. So is Minnesota. And I'm sure the Lakers are still somewhat involved.

That's interesting to me because that tells me that Rui's market evaporated pretty quick and that he could be taking a discount. We'll see the dust could settle on that and he could end up going elsewhere. but if they're in the market for discounted guys and the likes of Rui Hachamura, Jonathan Kaminga, getting one of those guys would be a huge deal at this point because I don't think Sondro is a starter. So if Sondro is a bench power forward, you kind of have a gaping hole at the power forward spot.

Is Jonathan Kaminga perfect? No, but he has upside. Jonathan Kaminga to me is a player that struggles with read and react basketball. He struggles to play his offensive game in the context of other high level offensive players. On defense, he's got a ton of potential. You saw high level defensive sequences in the postseason.

I think that there's some upside there. His long-term track record is that he can be a little mistake prone there. But there's a lot of upside with Jonathan Kaminga. So if you can get Jonathan Kaminga, what do you have to lose? You don't have a starting power forward, right? So like in the short term, them getting somebody like Jonathan Kaminga or Rui Hachamura on a discount to fill in the starting four spot would be massive for the team. we'll see what they can pull off over the course of the next couple of days.

I have a feeling that those two guys will take more money elsewhere, but we will see as things develop over the course of the next couple of days. If there's nothing done, and let's say it's just like they get Matisse Thibel, for example. And by the way, one thing with the Kaminga thing, they could, from what I understand, they could wave and stretch Jared Vanderbilt and then offer around like six or seven million to Kaminga. And maybe that allows you to get into the Kaminga sweepstakes. see. But like if you can't get a comminga or a, if you can't get a comminga or a

Rui Hachemur on a discount, my guess is Sondro ends up starting. And at that point, I think there's a lot of rotation minutes available at the three for a guy like Cameron Carr. And I don't think he'd do Thierro. I think he'll play in the regular season. But I don't think he's close to being ready to playing a like real playoff role for a really good team. What I like about the situation is as much as the like the Lakers are just a worst team this year than were last year or the year before. That to me is the concern. You're in the third year of the Luca Donajara. This is your worst team of the three years. But as a development thing, you have minutes available on the wing for a Cameron car. I would invest heavily in those minutes

for Cameron and see if by some point over the course of the season, if he develops into a guy who can be your seventh or eighth man in a playoff rotation. That I think is going to be the move. It's going to be a lot more Cameron Carr than you think. I think it's going to be a discounted guy, someone the likes of Matisse Thibel. And if you're lucky, you get a Rui Hatchamur or Jonathan Kaminga in there. Jason, are we still going to see you on Lakers Collective next season? Or are you taking your talents to whatever team LeBron ends up with? I already announced this, but I'm not on Lakers Collective anymore. Didn't have anything to do with LeBron. When I made the announcement, I actually thought LeBron was going to stay with the Lakers at that point. Basically, it was just for

my own personal reasons. I gave a breakdown of that a long time ago, so I won't do it anymore. But I'm officially off of the Lakers Collective show. I just needed to cut down on my workload. I just did too much last season. So I'm not doing Lakers Collective anymore. My good friend Pete Zais, though, did take that job. And Pete is like incredible. I think Pete is one of the very best in the world at explaining the game of basketball to people in a way that's very easy to digest and help people that are kind of new to the game or that don't fully understand the game to help them understand the game at a higher level. He's just literally one of the very best in the world at it. And he's deeply connected to the Laker sports fan community and to the franchise. I think he's literally perfect to fill in that role. You guys know I love Trevor and Yovon. Those three dudes are going to continue to grow that show and it's going to be amazing.

Who knows, maybe I'll pop in every once in a while as a guest to fill in when one of them's out. but I am not going to be a regular on that show anymore. All right. Next question. Jason, if the warriors strike out on the LeBron's sweepstakes, what's the move? All the free agents are gone and they've done nothing but resign their own players. Did waiting on LeBron sabotage their off season? Hope you're feeling better, brother, praying for your health.

Thank you. I am feeling much, much better every single day, dipping back into the world of basketball. So that's been the big one for me is just feeling like I'm strong enough to actually go exert myself in that way. So definitely feel like I'm digging out of this. it was a very crazy, weird month, but I'm feeling good,

and I'm not taking for granted my health basically ever again. So it was some lessons learned on that front. So here's the thing with the Warriors. LeBron was their only shot at a competitive season next year in terms of actually competing for a title. The only other way they were going to compete for a title in any way was by making some sort of big trade.

So like, here's my thing. LeBron doesn't actually, in any way, shape or form limit your ability to go make a trade. So it made all the sense in the world to wait for him and find out whether or not he's going to choose you. The one thing that gets really tricky is what we saw this morning with Rich Paul and some of the weird noise over the last couple of days, which is basically that if you look at this bizarre Rich Paul whiteboard thing,

which is one of the strangest things I've ever seen, to see a player's agent going on a podcast and like on a whiteboard breaking down a bunch of destinations, definitely very unprecedented, at least in my time covering the NBA, my time being a fan of the NBA. But if you look at that, he's strongly emphasizing the teams that have made moves. And he's looking at like, oh, look at Minnesota, look at what they did. Here's where LeBron

would fit. Oh, look at Philly. Look at what Philly did. Here's where LeBron would fit. And I think there's a certain amount of pressure that Rich Paul is applying on teams like Cleveland, on teams like Golden State to be like, go make your move. Make your move. LeBron comes to the team. right? I understand why that could feel like pressure. So say your golden state and you're like, well, I understand LeBron wants Anthony Davis, but we can't go get Anthony Davis unless we're sure

LeBron's coming. And we're not going to just make a move for Anthony Davis and cross our fingers and hope for LeBron because we're not sure Anthony Davis is the direction we want to go anyway. Look at our center rotation. Do we want to spend multiple picks to force? to like strong arm Washington into a deal that they're not ready for. Like, we're not sure we want to do that. Okay, I respect that. I respect that from Golden State. I respect why Golden State would be like,

we're not just going to go trade for Anthony Davis recklessly. I think trading multiple first round picks for AD would be a mistake. I think one first round pick is a better package than what Washington paid for Anthony Davis. So like, I think Jimmy Butler plus a 2029 Warriors first should get the deal done. So if they're not willing to do that, then there's no point in making. the deal. And from there, my question is, are you going to make a move for Steph anyway? And this would be my concern if I was LeBron. Why would I sign with Golden State when the biggest

advantage of their situation is that unlike Cleveland, unlike Miami, unlike Minnesota, unlike Denver, they've got four tradable first round picks that are some of the most valuable first round picks in the league because everyone knows the warriors are going to be bad in two years. So the warriors are uniquely set up to make a secondary move to improve the roster. But LeBron can't just take Golden State's word for it because for years now, the warriors have been unwilling to trade picks to support Steph. And now Steph's going to be 39 this year. what about when Steph was 37 and he was still a top five player in the league and they were like

no thanks that's how they missed out on OG and OB. That's how they missed out on Pascal Siakum. So if I'm LeBron, I'm like, the Warriors won't go all in on a younger version of Steph. I can't just count on them to make a move for me and Steph at 42 and 39. So like at a certain point, I really think the ball is just in Golden States court. Are you going to just let the Steph era end shittily? And then we'll just go about this business of slowly trying to accumulate draft picks. You don't have a single piece that is a foundational young player for the future. I like Yoxel Lindenberg.

He's a role player in this league. That was the whole point is he's NBA ready, but the ceiling is pretty close to it at this point. And so let's say you're the Warriors and you're like, we don't want to go the AD route. Fine. Go get Trey Murphy. Go get Trey Murphy. If you get Trey Murphy, then you can go to LeBron and be like, look, we put this team together now. We can play Steph and Trey next to you and Draymond and Al Horford or we can go smaller and play D. Anthony Melton or whatever it is. But we put talent on the table. We've demonstrated where we're Will. willing to trade the picks, which means they might be willing to make another trade at some point down the line. I think two first probably gets two Golden State first probably gets you Trey Murphy. Then you have another move down the line that you can make to improve the roster. You prove yourself there. Then if LeBron walks and he goes a different direction, you still have

Steph Curry, Trey Murphy, Jimmy Butler, and the ability to go compete next year. At a certain point, it's like, are you willing to take advantage? of the fact that you have these historically great players that are still playing well. Okay, you passed on LeBron's or Steph's late prime. You fucked up. And when Steph was really good when he was 37 and 38, you didn't capitalize on it. But here comes LeBron freaking James as a second opportunity for you to take advantage of, yes, old stars, but stars that are still among the best players in the NBA when they're healthy. Are you going to do it?

Are you going to trade your picks and capitalize on this era and put together not only a team that will be incredibly entertaining and dominate the media cycle all year, but a team that legitimately would be the third best team in the West. If you go get a Trey Murphy and you put him next to Stefan LeBron and Draymond

in that front court rotation, that's the third best team in the West. if you go get Anthony Davis with LeBron James, that's the third best team in the West. You have a puncher's chance to go win the title. And you do, okay, so you lose out on some draft picks that you can immediately attempt to recoup as soon as LeBron and Steph age out, you start taking on bad contracts and absorbing draft compensation. That's literally the path.

But if I'm LeBron, I'm looking at the Warriors and I'm like, they've never traded a first round pick. They pass on everybody. why would I just trust the warriors that I'm going to go there and they're going to make the secondary move when they literally passed on OG and and OB and OB and OBB just won the title when they literally passed on Pascal Seaccom and Pascal Seacom almost won the title. Couldn't have won finals MVP.

Like I think there's real hesitant there. Next question. LeBron to Philly thoughts. I understand the idea behind Philly as a destination based solely on the fact that they have a hole at power forward, although Dean Wade technically can play that position. And you have this beautiful fitting starting five theoretically in terms of guys at their position. So like Tyrese Maxie, BJ Edgecombe as a two, Paul George is, or excuse me, Jalen Brown is a three, Joel and beat is a five. LeBron slots in at the starting four.

I don't like this fit for two reasons. One basketball in the sense that I just think it's clunky to have LeBron once again standing in an off ball situation while Tyrese maxi's running a bunch of pick and rolls or standing in an off ball situation while Jalen Brown's playing on an island in the middle of the floor. There is a certain amount of like the the given take from the ball handlers is a clunkier fit as opposed to like if he's playing with Yokic, it's easy to see how Yokic and LeBron can function together on offense. If he's playing with Steph, it's easy to see how him and Steph can function together on offense. That I think is clunky.

the second piece of it is, I don't think their front court is nearly fast enough to compete at the highest levels of the Eastern Conference. Joel and Bede got absolutely fried in the Knicks series by Jalen Brunson. And each year is going to be harder and harder for him to get their healthy. And I think it's a lot of pressure on LeBron and those other guys to cover for the fact that their front court is just too slow.

And that to me is like kind of a disqualifying piece. At the very least, if he goes to Cleveland, I think they can guard pick and roll, and I think they have a chance to defend at the highest levels of the Eastern Conference because of Jared Allen and Evan Mobley. If he goes to Miami, same thing with Yonis and Bam.

I think they have a chance to defend at the highest levels of the Eastern Conference. I'm concerned that LeBron and Philly, that team's not going to be able to guard pick and roll. And I think that's a really bad thing to say when you have to defend Cleveland, when you have to defend Jalen Brunson, when you have to defend Tyrese Halliburton,

you know, obviously the Charlotte Hornets are going to run a million ball screens. I just, I think Philly just has too many games, keeping holes defensively in the front court. That's what would freak me out there. An Iheart radio experience. You end up hell with weekend gold tickets to Lassau Montreal. Thomas Rhett.

Mumford and Sons. Well, here's my pride and here's my shame. John Party, Old Dominion, Carly Pierce, and more. And the prize gets even sweeter. With flights from Porter Airlines, three nights at Residence Inn downtown Montreal, and $1,000 cash. Download the free IHart Radio app,

Listen to Pure Country for 10 minutes and enter to win. Lassau, Montreal. Every day you listen is another chance to win. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people.

Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it.

Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My first guest is Paris Houghton, Shakira, Luke and Yerrin, Samira and Gracie. I'm so excited on the bouncy bed. You have surprises?

Many surprises. Welcome to Sweet 305, where the group chat comes to life. What a f***. It's like a way of saying, Like, hello, my God, hello, my friend, oh, my brother. What a . Look, never I've ever had to

have to be a bled except with my my wife, ooh. Oof, punch, that incredible, yeah, the telenovela.

You're the only person I know that loves a yellow Starburst. It's really someone. You're not, like you'd like to collaborate with this person. This is Sweet 305.

Listen to Sweet 305 with Lele Pons as part of Michael Buddha Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, Jason. Here's a late-night roster construction idea I've been thinking of. Sam Quinn of CBS proposed a possible AD trade to Cleveland involving Jared Allen, Max Drews, and Dennis Schroeder, as well as a first for AD. It would be great value for Washington, and he could really help entice LeBron to the Cavs. Additionally, I've been thinking, what if Cleveland decides to backdoor

James Hardin and renounce his rights and give whatever max salary they can offer to LeBron instead? Like you mentioned, a hardened Mitchell pairing with LeBron just feels clunky. There would be no one to defend star ball handlers. This is what makes it so that LeBron can be the two on offense and play with Mitchell offball more often. And they can get a one-two who can defend stars. There was also news that Golden State believes they're not at the top of LeBron's list. Just fascinating situation to me. And this is all assuming this stuff with Cleveland LeBron has not happened yet.

So here's the thing. I think the Cleveland fit is bizarre from the standpoint of specific. specifically what you just broke down. Who's going to guard the opposing star ball handler? So you don't want to give up Evan Mobley because Evan Mobley's a foundational player in Cleveland. Rich Paul, that was one of the interesting things that came out of the whiteboard incident this morning is he basically said at one point, like they weren't going to trade Evan Mobley when he was talking about whether or not Evan Mobley would be included in a Jaylen Brown trade. So if Evan Mobley's off the trading block, which I think makes sense for Cleveland,

he's there, he is their one foundational piece for when this all goes to hell at some point in the next couple of years. You have, you know, your center, which is either Jared Allen or in this case with the trade you pitched, Anthony Davis. Then you have Evan Mobley at the four. You have LeBron James at the three. You have Devon, Donovan Mitchell and James Hardin. I really like some of the guys in the Cavs rotation in terms of their ability to guard on the ball and play off ball defensive, off ball offensive roles. Like Jalen Tyson is one of my favorite up-and-coming role players in the league. Lights, out three point shooter, has some on ball skill to like make higher level plays when he attacks

close outs and stuff and very good rebounder for the position. It's clunky because you want one of those guys out there on the floor, but if you put one of those guys out there on the floor, you have to put one of that center slash Evan Mobley slash LeBron trio on the bench. It's just kind of clunky. When I imagine, let's let's say they get Anthony Davis, when I imagine Anthony Davis, Evan Mobley, LeBron, James Donovan Mitchell, and James, James Hardin, I imagine a team that's very slow defensively on the perimeter. They can't guard anybody in space. And you're putting a ton of pressure on Anthony Davis and Evan Mobley to clean things up around the basket. Your center depth off of that is literally Thomas Bryant, right? And all of your best like dirty work three and

D guys are all on the bench, whether that's Sam Merrill or Max Truce, depending on whether or not he gets included in the trade or Jalen Tyson. So like, and then even just on offense, I imagine a weird situation where you have, you know, Evan Mowbly and Jared Allen is unreliable, three-point shooters that create spacing issues. LeBron obviously had a rough three-point shooting season last year, although I do think he'll shoot the ball better. And then you just have LeBron standing around watching James Hardin and Donovan Mitchell

run pick and roll. Like every time I think about that fit, it just, it just comes off as clunky to me. I have a really, really hard time getting behind the LeBron to Cleveland thing. But, I mean, all of the signs right now point to Cleveland being in first place. So we have to consider it. I just am personally at this point struggling to wrap my brain around the idea.

We'll see too because the calves could end up making a big trade at some point in time. When it comes to team building with young players like the Bucks are doing in this new chapter, do you think it's better to keep Hero and Turner and to build a structure around them or trade them both and just let all the kids sing or swim? So if you look at the guard rotation and obviously I really like Brayden Burys who they picked up in the lottery this year, if Ryan Rollins, Brayton Burys and A.J. Green are your top three. guards, there is something to be said about a guy like Tyler Hero disrupting the rotation, disrupting the flow of that particular group. So to me, Tyler Hero is the kind of guy that I'd be

shopping around. If Detroit's willing to give up a first form, if there's a team out there that's willing to pay something for Tyler Hero, I think that that's something that the buck should explore because your guard rotation is pretty set. I would keep Miles Turner just because the center rotation is such a foundational thing to what teams do on both ends of the floor. what your pick and roll attack looks like has a lot to do with what your ball screen big can do. Oh, he's a pick and pop big. Oh, he's a vertical spacer. Oh, he can make short roll reads. Like, whatever that center position is capable of determines a lot of what you do on offense. Similarly, on the defensive end, what kind of schemes are we running? Are we in a switching scheme? Are we in a drop

scheme? Like, what are we doing defensively? So much of that has to do with what your center can do. So, like, having a guy like Miles Turner at the center position who's just like a solid starting center in the league, not nothing exceptional. No one's calling him top 10. No one's saying he's going to alter your fortunes or be the foundational piece for you to win a championship with, although I think it's worth mentioning that they almost won the title with him in Indiana a couple years ago. But Turner just gives your young guards a foundation to play basketball with on both ends of the floor. Kellelware is the interesting kind of piece here in terms of the long-term option where it's like giving him some burn, seeing what you think about him as a prospect. If you see him as your long-term solution at center alongside Ryan Rollins and Braden Burys, then you can trade Turner down the line. I think ultimately you pick from one of those two guys at some point in the next couple of seasons.

But in the meantime, I would keep Turner and Kellel and I just have a rock solid center rotation and make sure that my guards have a strong foundation on both ends of the floor to work with. Big fan from Hong Kong. Listen to your show for years. Have your criteria for deciding the best player in the world changed? You previously said one has to be a champion to earn this, but now are you seriously considering Luca or Wembe as candidates? What has changed? So a couple of things.

I would definitely say that my criteria for stuff has changed over the course of my years covering the NBA. But to make it very simple, I've kind of split best player in the world in like two separate conversations. There's a certain amount of like, have the belt bragging right, where it's like, yeah, winning the title has to be a factor in that.

But then there's also like, well, who's actually the best basketball player when we factor in the fact that basketball is a team sport? There's a lot of fluid circumstances around each of these guys. Nothing is static. You know, how good is this player in a vacuum? When I do my player rankings in the summer, that's what I look at. I look strictly at who's the best basketball player in a vacuum. The bragging rights title. it's actually been vacant for this season, in my opinion,

because I don't think Jalen Brunson has a case to be the best player in the world. I think it's similar to like when Dirk won the title in 2011. But I think like you look at like last year with Shea was kind of a classic belt kind of season where it's like he was in the conversation for best player in the world. And then he wins finals MVP. I didn't think he was the best player in the world in a vacuum. Obviously I had him third last year. But at least he had like the bragging rights, right?

Like he had the belt, so to speak. I think Yokic in 2023 is a classic like belt season where like he wins the title, gets finals MVP is the best player in the world. Steph in 2022, I think meets that criteria. Janus in 2021. LeBron in 2020, those are examples of like belt seasons where like you feel like a guy has that bragging rights. I'm holding the trophy. I'm the best player kind of thing. But I think that's a separate conversation from who's the best player in the world in a vacuum.

I think that discussion is very much more for me based on basketball traits. What is this guy good at on offense? What does this guy good at on defense? How durable is he? How does he fit alongside other good basketball players? How does he play at the highest levels of the postseason versus just the regular season? That was always a big thing that hurt me with Shea, right? So, like, there's, I think those two separate debates are kind of where I've landed

in that conversation. What kind of impact do you think Tobias Harrison, the Spurs draft picks will realistically have on their season? Will this be something we look back on, on it? as a savvy front office strategy. So a couple of things. I don't dislike Tobias Harris by any means. He's pretty good at a lot of different things.

Had a bunch of 20-point playoff games this year. He's a veteran leader. He certainly competes on the defensive end of the floor. My thing with Tobias is like he's not good enough at any one thing to be very exciting for me personally as a, as someone who likes the Spurs team as like an addition for them this season. So like is he a knockdown three-point shooter? No. Is he a dominant athlete that can impact the game defensively and on the glass? No. As a matter of fact, he was one of the primary target points in the Cavs series for James Hardin and Donovan Mitchell. They wanted to pick on Tobias Harris. Is he like a earth-shattering rebounder? No. Is he, you know, is there any one singular trait that he brings to the table that will make him a profoundly impactful player for the Spurs? No, beyond just his veteran leadership, which I think is real value. And I think that's probably why the Spurs wanted him. But like I would have

rather seen them go after a guy like John Collins because at least with that I'm like I'm getting a secondary vertical spacer off of Victor Women Yama, a guy that I actually think is a little bit more reliable as a standstill catch and shoot player has like some real athletic traits that he brings to the position. I, that's the direction that I would have gone. So I was I wasn't super impressed by the Tobias Harris signing. But at the same time, I want to be clear, the spurs just have a ton of margin for error. They could run it back with all the same dudes. and they'd probably be my championship favorite next season. So I don't want to overthink that.

It's just, was Tobias my favorite MLMLE signing, no. As for the draft picks, Jane Quaintiffs and Taurus Reed, Jr., Quaintance makes a lot of sense for them because they don't need him next season at all so he can rehab his knee.

And if he blossoms into this, like, awesome center, then you have this awesome center in your rotation on a rookie contract alongside Victor Women Yama. So I like that. Tarus Reid, what I like about Taurus Reed is he kind of gives you, he's just like a dirty work big,

who's a little undersized. I like him as a guy who could potentially play alongside Wemby and be a guy who can play some semi-competent backup center minutes off of, you know, the games when like Luke Hornett's out of the rotation or if Wembe's out and Luke Hornet's starting, he can play that backup five. So like I think those picks make sense for them.

I don't think either of them are needle movers, but I think they'll play regular season minutes. And again, Tobias wasn't my favorite, but the Spurs are going to be fine. All right, three more. Hi, Jason. How would you craft the starting lineup for the Spurs? There have been calls to start Dylan Harper

alongside Castle and Fox, but that lineup seems to lack shooting and also feels a bit undersized. Wouldn't it make more sense to start Tobias Harris and Devin Vassell instead while having Champany, either Castle or Harper, come off the bench? So that's the other part of this Tobias Harris thing. I think starting him would be a big mistake. I think the direction that I would go is I would move either Vassell or Champagne to the bench, probably Vassell, because he kind of has that sixth man microwave kind of basketball personality. And then I would start all three guards. I understand there's some concern about the shooting. A couple things. I think Steph Castle and Dylan Harper are going to spend all summer in the gym and they're going to get

lots of catch and shoot reps up. I'd argue that their long term viability as a duo depends on that. So it's a big part of their development trajectory at this point. I also think any sort of downside from ball handling or excuse me from shooting is going to be made up for in the form of aggregate ball handling. I just like the idea of having three guards that can break the defense down. You have to start Dylan Harper next year. Steph Castle and Deere and Fox are literally your second and third best players. You got to keep them on the floor. I think Champani makes sense as a catch and shoot guy off ball at the four spot. If Tobias Harris starts, I think that's a mistake. I think he needs to be coming off the bench for them. If you started Vassella instead of Champany,

I think that would be defensible as well, but that's something that you could figure out. I just think you got to start the three guards. You got to start the three guards and you got to give that a long runway and you can't freak out if it doesn't work right away. Sometimes those things take time. Next question. If Minnesota can't get a starting caliber power forward, how do you feel about Jaden McDaniel starting at the four. My concern is it takes him away from what makes him elite on the wing while also hurting the team's size and rebounding. He has the height and length for the position, but I'm still concerned about his strength against bigger forwards. And part of his advantage is his length bothering wings. He loses some of that edge against bigger players. I think he's at his

best on the wing. Do you think those concerns are valid or do you think Jaden can make small ball four work? 100% agree with you. I want Jaden McDaniels at the three. Do I think he'll play some more minutes at the four this year regardless of what you get at the four just simply because the forward depth situation. Yeah, but ultimately to me, Jada McDaniels is very much the perimeter oriented small forward. Like, to me,

the difference between a small forward and a power forward very much has to do with perimeter defense. If my small forward can guard guards and faster wings, or if my forward can guard smaller guards and faster wings and he has some more like utility

as like an open floor player, to me he's a three. A bigger, bulkier, like I guard bigger, stronger forwards. I do some, switching out on the perimeter, but I'm more like a hang around the basket, defensive rebound or vertical spacer type. That's what I like at the four spot. So to me, I think Minnesota has to try to acquire some sort of starting power forward caliber prospect over the course of this off

season or they're in some trouble. I was actually surprised that they didn't get Kyle Anderson just as like a stopgap if they needed someone to fill those minutes. Last question. There has been a lot of discussions about how the new CBA slash salary cap system has ruined free agency because it doesn't make sense to resign a max or supermax with your home team. Do you agree with this perspective? In my lifetime, the only major free agent acquisitions I remember are LeBron and Bosch to the Heat. Kevin Rand to the Warriors and Kawhi of the Clippers, which is kind of fake because they had to trade for Paul George. I think everyone can agree that the new CBA has made it harder to keep teams together, but do you agree that it also made it harder to build a team up via free agency? Absolutely.

I mean, look at what just happened to the Lakers. And like, like, I, this is like to me the crazy stat that that kind of captures how strange this offseason was for the Lakers. Because high-level players typically don't make it to free agency. Even the high-level wings, like the Jada McDaniels is the OG Annanobis, the Pascal Seacombs, those guys, they tend to extend. They extend with their teams. They don't reach free agency. And so what ends up happening is the kind of guys that make it to free agency

are like fringe starters to bench players. So then what ends up happening is you have a situation like, the Lakers where they spent $261 million on four players. And literally LeBron James last year, 41 year old LeBron James started more games combined. He started more games than Walker Kessler, Quing Grimes, Colin Sexton and Sandra Mammo Kalashvili combined. Those four guys started 59 games last year and LeBron started 60 because you're operating. Now again, obviously Walker Kessler is a starter who didn't play much last year. But the point still stands. with Sandro and Quentin and Colin Sexton,

you're getting a bunch of bench guys because that's generally speaking what's going to be available in free agency. Because if Quentin Grimes was a kick-ass 3-D wing who we knew could start for a championship team, there's no way he makes it to free agency. He's currently on a four-year,

$100 million deal with Philly and you're trading multiple picks for him if he was that player. Like that's just the, that's the reality of this type of market. Remember when Quentin Grimes was a restricted free agent last year? Trust me, if he was, if, if Philly viewed him as this rock solid three and D starting small forward shooting guard, literally they would have thrown a bunch of money at him and he wouldn't be a free agent.

So like that, that's really the difference here is like the idea of like going to Luca Donchich and being like, we got cap space in 2026. that's when we're going to do it, man. Wrong era. Wrong era to do it. You got, you made your big deal for Walker Kessler, which again, you paid star prices. So so much of that just,

the story of the Walker Kessler trade is how good does Walker Kessler become. But the rest of your cap space just got paid out to three bench dudes. And that's just the reality of going that route. Oh, I've got $50 million in cap space. The only way that makes any sense is if there's a legitimate superstar talent

that is available for free agency. or if there's a legitimate star two-way talent that's available for free agency and to the point you're making, when is the last time that happened? Even though LeBron's situation is super unique because he's willing to take a discount at age 42. All right, guys,

it's all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. We will not have another episode this weekend unless LeBron James signs with the team. If he does, we'll have an instant reaction. For those of you guys who catch this in time at about 10.05 Pacific time

we'll be going on the herd today to break down some of this stuff with Colin. Otherwise, I will see you guys on Monday. Joy is essential and it's also elusive. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence, Joy 101. It's a new podcast hosted by me, Hoda Kotbe. If you're craving inspiration to maximize your joy, tune into these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search Joy 101 and listen now. Enjoy 101 with Hoda Kotfi is presented by CVS. My first guest is Paris Hilton, Shakira, Luke and Yerrin.

Have surprises? Many surprises. Welcome to the Sweet 305 podcast where the group check comes to life. What on? You're the only person I know that loves a yellow starburst. It's lemonade. This is Sweet 305. Here, oversharing is encouraged.

Listen to Sweet 305 with Lele Pons on the I-Hart Radio. app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is exploding. The knockout rounds are here. The U.S. won their group, and now every match is winner go home. I'm Tad Ramos. And I'm Tom Boger. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, we'll talk about the real storylines.

Discuss the tactics that actually decide matches. And give you the truth about the U.S. national team from inside the program. Whether you're a lifelong fan or this is your first World Cup. We've got you covered. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jake Brennan, and on the Disgraceland podcast, I explore the wild lives of rock stars

and unbelievable true crime stories from music history. These are the stories you haven't heard, the kind you'll end up telling someone else. Like the time Paul McCartney spent in a notorious prison or the bizarre crime Lady Gaga is accused of where that time Blondie's Debbie Harry escaped Ted Bunny. Listen to Disgraceland

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get to your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.