The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 3

Episode Date: July 4, 2023

In this hour of The Herd, Colin welcomes The Volume's Chris Mannix to the show to talk NBA free agency, what is going on in Boston, and how the Lakers got things right this offseason. Finally, Colin looks at which NFL teams might miss the playoffs next season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard,

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in noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. We're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Our number three, creaky voice. And I haven't even popped open a cold one yet. Fourth of July, it's Independence Day.

Hopefully you, with your family, I appreciate it. You're on the road listening on radio, XM Serious. You're watching on FS1. There's a lot of choices out there. Certainly appreciate it. I want to thank Jeff Schwartz, former NFL offensive lineman for stopping by earlier today. Took 10 minutes away from his family.

Same for Nick Wright, who was on first things first after our show. Appreciate him stopping by. People pulling themselves away from their family or time, and I certainly appreciate you. Ryan showing up today. J. Mack's in tomorrow for me. I'm going to be with FAM. Then J. Mack and I will both be back Thursday and Friday.

Appreciate your patience with that. It is nice to be in. it's mostly, hopefully we'll get over these travel delays, and people can be with their family this week. It is one of the great weeks in this country. The 4th of July is my favorite holiday, and I'll be with fam just in about an hour, but I do appreciate you stopping by.

So reading this morning, preparing for the show, that Sports Illustrated put out a story on the Cowboys, and that the pressure is really high for America's team, Dak Prescott, to get over the hump this year in his career. This cowboy team is going to be much more DAC dependent. Zeke is gone. Amari Cooper is gone. Dalton Schultz is gone.

His great offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore is gone. Tyron Smith is almost gone. He gives you about half a season, the great all-time left tackle. This is a very DAC-dependent team. And that's okay. DAC pre-big contract when he had more help,

won 62 and a half percent of his game. games and got a playoff win. Take away the franchise year the year he was hurt. Post big money, a little less help. He's won actually 67% of his games and another playoff win. The NFC, I would argue, is a bit weaker. That's where the wins came from. But DAC has always been a little bit more athletic Kirk Cousins.

He's Kirk Cousins with a star on his helmet. Is there huge pressure for Kirk Cousins to get over the hump? year? Or do we sort of know what Kirk Cousins is? We know what Kirk Cousins is, and we know what DAC is. In fact, if you look at DAC through his seven years and Kirk through his 11, they're identical quarterbacks. Their passer ratings are both 97.8. Their completion percentages, 66%. Touchdown to interception ratio, 2.5 to 1. Kirk averages, you know, four more yards passing a game, 261 to 257. One has a star on their helmet.

I feel the exact same way with both. I trust them. They're adults. They're franchise quarterbacks. They win a lot of games. On any Sunday, they're A minus, but mostly log in at about B++. And they're both fourth round picks with kind of low ceilings. who are not going to ever out-dule regularly star quarterbacks in this league.

This league, though not as much as the NBA, is largely defined by the end of the year. You can keep your job if you just get into the playoffs. NBA, you know, you win titles or you're not MJ. But if you go, since DAC entered the league, to the most January and February playoff wins, Dak is tied for 11th. And that's about where I put him. 11th. Brady's got 13.

Mahomes 11. Burrow 5. Aaron Roger Stafford. Jimmy Garapolo got four. Breeze and Matt Ryan 3. And then Dak shows up, sort of coupled in with a lot of guys at two, guys like Brock Purdy and Blake Bortles and Ryan Tannehill.

11th most January, February wins. he broke into the league. Haven't I always argued, DAC is about the 11th or 12th to 13th best quarterback. I mean, maybe DAC gets over the hump this year and pops. And maybe Kirk Cousins does too. The upside to being the quarterback for a team with a star on the helmet is Dak has made a bloody fortune in endorsements.

Good for him. He's more talked about, but he's also more criticized. expectations are higher. Somebody told me years ago, happiness is directly connected to expectations. Don't expect DAC with less help. No Zeke, no Dalton Schultz, no

Kellen Moore, Tyron Smith is fading. Tony Pollard off a big injury, a twisted ankle, a C.D. Lamb. It's a below-average receiving core. It's ridiculous to expect DAC to get over the hump or pop in year

eight, as it would be, for Kirk Cousins in year 12. Happy fourth. So I saw this story. Damian Lillard would prefer to go to the Miami heat. Well, I think a lot of players would prefer

to spend their winters and springs in Miami next to aqua water. Miami's a great place to go. A lot of people in their career, Shaq preferred to go to Miami. LeBron did, Bosch did, Gary Payton did, Antoine Walker did.

D. Wade left for an hour to Chicago and went back. A lot of people prefer to go to Miami. Eric Spolstra, great owner, Pat Riley. They've always got star players, a winning organization. But Portland can send him wherever they want. I hear this regularly. Hey, you treat a player poorly, a star player, and he'll talk. Players will not go to your organization.

You'll get a bad rep. Yeah, because all those. free agents for the last 30 years flocking to Portland. You don't win with free agents anyway. Take LeBron out. Find me all the guys in this league in 20 years swooping in to save a franchise.

By the way, you could say, look at what LeBron did in Miami. Yeah, Shaq did it. Jimmy Butler almost did it. A lot of guys have born in Miami. Dee Wade was the constant, not LeBron. Let me give you 30, NBA titles. MJ was six.

Magic with five. Duncan with five. Bird with three. Seeing a trend, drafted and developed by their team. Steff with four. Kobe five. Dirk one, de-weighed three.

Yokish Yonis one. Akeem two. Isaiah Thomas two. No free agents. The history of this league, draft and develop your star. build around him. But what about Kevin Durant? What about him? The Warriors won before him during his stay in the bay and after him. What about LeBron? Well, yes, he's probably the greatest basketball

player of all time. Patrick Mahomes is becoming that guy where the rules don't really count for him. He kind of burst through everything. LeBron James. Yeah, you can take all the stuff. He's an outlier. You can't take the greatest. You could take Yokevich, Wimbledon. You can take the greatest tennis player. Serena, you know, messy. For the greatest anything in any business, the rules are different. The culture's different.

They change the temperature in every room they're in. LeBron saved a messy franchise, the Lakers, by arriving, and a doormat for years, Cleveland, by arriving twice and winning one title. But the truth is, Miami won with Wade with multiple partners. I gave you 38 titles, drafted and developed stars. And again, even KD, they won before him and after him. So here's what I've learned about players. They're going to go where the money is.

They don't care. It's not like Portland was getting free agents all the time anyway. It's geographically isolated. The wet winners, not a lot of media coverage. Nike's around the corner. That's not bad, but you can get that Nike contract plan in Miami or Philadelphia, too. Players have always taken care of players. was Dee Wade's best friend. He left, didn't give him a heads up. Katie bailed on Westbrook,

Steph, Kyrie. Kauai bailed on Greg Popovich. Beautiful, wonderful people in Toronto. Players take care of players. They always have and they always will. And I'm not criticizing them for it. Be loyal to your family. Probably not a basketball team or a city you weren't born in. but I don't think organizations have to oh tread lightly you don't want to offend the star again LeBron and D Wade were guys tight

LeBron bailed and D Wade didn't see it coming LeBron's in he's a corporation and LeBron took care of LeBron and KD's taking care of KD that's the way the league works that's the way the league is always worked the idea that a player would go, you know, I would love to go to Portland, but I don't like the way they treated Dame.

Oh, you mean the $233 million they paid him while he was there, and the $450 million he'll get all in by the end of his last four-year deal? Portland treated him great. He was great to Portland. I'm not treading lightly. I'm going to send him whoever gives me the best deal. I would prefer to send him to the Eastern Conference, Miami. It'd make me feel better if I set him to a place where he could flourish, but Dame's going to be good wherever he goes.

But I would send him to San Antonio, too, that was the worst team in the league, if they gave me six first-round draft picks and rotational players in expiring contracts. Portland's going to have paid Dame $450 million. They didn't get a trophy. Three times they missed the playoffs. Five times they were won and done. I'm not blaming Dame for that. But this idea that everybody's terrified

if you just send them wherever you get the best deal and players will never go to Portland again. The best player Portland's ever had, Bill Walton, drafted and developed. The second best player Portland's ever had, Dame drafted and developed. That's how you build this stuff. free agents are nice

rotational pieces are nice but rotational guys are going to go who gives them a little more money and they always have you notice Phoenix now Phoenix now is cobbling together a pretty good team why? Because you got a lot of good players

and those bench guys want to win games they've already made their money you can't negotiate in fear Portland has to go for the best deal I'd love to see Dame go to Miami but Portland's not in the business of winning Pat Riley more rings. They're in the business of solidifying the Blazers.

That's what they owe the city. That's what they owe the front office, the owners, the loyal fans who have come there for 20 years. That's not an anti-Dame take. It's a pro-blazers tweet and a pro-blazers sentiment. Now, Nick Wright earlier today does point out, Dame wants to go to Miami and the history of the league, for whatever reason, usually the player goes where he wants to go. They send guys exactly where they want to go.

Dwight Howard, where'd he want to end up when he was leaving Orlando? The Lakers. Where'd he end up? The Lakers. Kevin Durant demanded a trade, demanded the coach be fired, demanded the GM be fired, then laid down his sword, and then three months later demanded a trade again. And they didn't even hold an auction. They were like, it's Phoenix, no problem.

Everybody gets to go where they want to go. That is the history of this league. Superstars like Damien Lillard, who are essentially the tenured professors of the NBA, guys who have been somewhere long enough and build up enough equity, they simply don't get screwed. Chris Mannix around the corner, Dame to Miami probably happens. Not soon, though. Portland's going to be patient, maybe a little stubborn and should be. Back in a second, 4th of July, happy Independence Day.

It's the Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of the HARD weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. 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 which I'm 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,

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Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics. from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm hearing a lot of speculation that it's Miami or Dame will be furious. Let's start with that. Do you believe that to be true? I believe Miami is his top choice.

and if he has any influence to wield over this decision, he's going to push for a deal to Miami. I'm not so sure about the Miami or bust argument. I don't believe that Damian Lillard, if he's traded to Philadelphia or Brooklyn or some other destination, is not going to report. How about Milwaukee? No, I think wherever it is,

I think he's going to report, and I think he'd play to the best of his abilities because that's the cloth that Damian Lillard is cut out of. So I don't think the team that acquires him, whoever that may be, is going to have to worry about Damian Lillard throwing a fit when he gets here, pulling, for lack of a better phrase, of James Harden, and not playing to the best of his abilities when he's there. You know, the other thing is, I, the best GMs, I mean, Danny Aange is one of the best

GMs in this league. He'll tear something down to the studs. Pat Riley, a deal maker. I don't buy into this. You know, you pay Dame 300 million and you can't, you have to send him where he's happy.

That's not Danny Aange's history. No. Of course not. And this is where I fundamentally disagree with our friend Nick Wright on stars always get their way. Let's use Danny as an example. I don't know that Brooklyn was Paul Pierce's desired destination.

if he could go anywhere in the market. It was probably go back to Los Angeles and play for the Lakers or the Clippers. But the Nets were willing to come to the table with the best deal. Kevin Garnett was ultimately convinced in the Celtics, we're able to reshape their franchise by sending the players where Danny Ainsch wanted to send them. Fast forward to last season when Danny decides that the Jazz had plateaued. He's like, we're going to trade Donovan Mitchell. We're going to trade Rudy Gobert.

Everyone knows where Donovan Mitchell wanted to go. He wanted to be a Nick. he grew up in that area. He wanted to play for the Knicks. The Knicks made an offer. It wasn't the best one. Danny traded John Donned him to Cleveland, got Lowry marketing a whole bunch of draft picks in exchange. I don't know Rudy Gobert that well. I'm going to guess that Minnesota was not at the top of his wish list when he was going to be traded. But the Timberwolf stepped up and offered just a boatload of draft picks. And Danny took that deal. If you are a GM with a backbone, you deal the player wherever he's going to go. And more often than not, players show up, they play.

Not everyone's going to pull a harden and try to get out of there. They'll show up, they'll play. If only, if for their own self-interest, they will play at the highest of levels. Yeah, I mean, it's pretty legendary that Pat Riley and Danny Aange, this has been going on decades, do not get along. So if Miami is the Dame destination of note, will Utah get involved just to drive up the price? You know, there's definitely some spice to the Danny Pat Riley relationship, which goes back to like the 80s. Like this is quite literally decades long.

And they've had their public battles as top executives in Boston and Miami. I think it could be a motivating factor for Danny Ains to keep Damien Lillith away from Miami. But, you know, this Utah stuff, it just doesn't line up with the timelines. The Jazz are a very good team with a elite head coach, I think, and Will Hardy. But they're probably two or three years away with the talent they have. Young kids.

Young kids who are, you know, Walker Kessler, excellent. Lowry Marketing, excellent. You know, the young guys they have there are fine. The draft picks they're going to be, you know, taking with those spots are going to be good, or probably going to be good. But, you know, Damien Lillard, you're looking probably at a two to three year window where he's able to play like Damien Lillard, all NBA guard. And I don't see the jazz with him contending.

You put Damien Lillard on the jazz column next year. Are they a playoff team? Absolutely. But are they beating Denver? Are they beating Memphis? Are they beating the Lakers in the first round? Based on, like put it on paper, I don't see that happening. So you know the Celtics well.

I think being a number two is hard. Because a number two was a high school all-American, was an AAU star. If he went to college, he was dominant. And for the first time in his life, he goes to the NBA. Bro, you don't get the shots at the end of the games. So there's a certain temperament. required. Jalen Brown is a great too. Smart, gotten better every year. But when I read a story this morning, Brian Winhoer said the Celtics deal with Jalen's very fragile. I'm like, timeout, bro. You've got

make 60 large. You never get blamed in Boston. They lose its Tatum or the coach. That's just the way it works in the league. The coach or the star gets blamed. They got rid of Marcus Smart. You've been in 105 playoff games. That's three times as many as Dame. It is a tremendous organization. You're popular and wildly supported. Great training staff. Great ownership. And I'm like, I like Jalen Brown a lot. But fragile, he may have the best, I think he does have the best number two gig, the best Robin in the league, doesn't he? I think you're probably right there. You just look at the outcome of the last two post seasons and where the blame was spread. in the finals last year.

It was Jason Tatum who came up short. Jason Tatum took the lion's share. And he still got whacked. He did. He did. And look, Jalen Brown played really well in that finals. And the Celtics had found a way to win it. He might have been the finals MVP. This season, even though Jalen Brown struggled mightily in game seven,

a lot of it was Jason Tatum and more of it was Joe Missoula. I mean, the attention was all on the rookie head coach? It was he really the right guy for the job. Could he handle it? All those things. So Jalen Brown kind of skated there. two things to remember with Jalen Brown. One is deep down, I think Jalen Brown believes he can be a number one on a championship team. Well, his numbers. They suggest that. He has been improving.

The gap is closed, Colin, between Tatum and Brown. There's still a gap, but I think the gap has closed over the last couple of years between Tatum and Brown. I think Tatum's a more natural basketball player. Brown is physically good and more confident. He's a more willing alpha. Yeah, I think that's true. But being second team all-N-B-A, I mean, that's something. That tells you that he's continuing to grow. And the other part of Jalen's relationship with Boston is that ever since his draft night, his literal draft night, there's been a part of him that's felt unwanted in that city.

I mean, he was booed. His selection was booed at the garden on draft night by Boston fans that wanted the team to draft Chris Dunn. Remember, Chris Dunn was the superstar. Providence right down the street. I thought he was going to be better too. See, Celtics draft Jalen Brown. I remember vividly the fans of the garden booing that selection on draft 9. It seems like every year since then, every off season, we've talked about Jailen Brown being traded.

We've talked about him being traded for Anthony Davis for multiple years. We've talked about him for Kawhi Leonard. And now more recently, we've talked about him for Kevin Durant. We're not there yet on Damien Lillard. It's kind of being whispered a little bit around some circles. Yeah. But that could be coming in the next couple of days. So Jalen Brown, I know, you know, from talking to people around him, like, it's been a frustrating few years to see where he sees himself improving.

He sees the team rising to a finals level. And he's still hearing himself in trade rumors every single offseason. So as somebody who's lived on the Northeast for a majority of your life, but now because of your relationship and boxing, you now spend time in Los Angeles. And it's interesting, as a West Coast guy, when I moved to Connecticut. Connecticut, I really appreciated it, still miss it greatly, the people, the history, the traditions, the architecture. It was like, I've told people before, it was the best 10 years in my life. It was just, oh, I got right into the belly of Yankee Red Sox, the Nantuckets, the Rhode Islands. Like my life, I just, it was like an encyclopedia and I lived in it. Now you're out

west. And the Lakers have a lot of titles. But for most of the last, nine years, the COVID year, the bubble year feels like it kind of counts and kind of doesn't. They've been a little messy. So when Laker fans say, we won the offseason, somebody, how are they viewed east over? How do you look at the Lakers, their weekend, and how they, what they've become in 10 years? Because they do have a title. I think they had an excellent offseason in part because they didn't do anything transformative. I think, you know, look, you go back to right the weeks and months after they won the championship. Remember, there was that short off season between the 2020 bubble ending and the start of the 2021 season.

They began a progressive deconstruction of a championship roster. That made no sense, right? They allowed some of the free agents to step away in that first year, Dwight Howard, what have you. And then Alex Caruso leaves the next year. You know, two years after they won a title, they were a completely different. team. They were star hunting. They were doing things antithical to way the modern NBA operates.

Since late January, they have operated like a functional NBA team. They have, look, Rob Polenka, to his credit, made some mistakes early on, but he corrected them, and he has put together a team that makes sense around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Rui Hashimura

makes sense. Whatever you think of Austin Reeves makes sense. And the guys they signed this offseason, Gabe Vincent, proven winner, can make shots, Tori and Prince, terrific 3&D guy, like they have built out a sturdy, reliable, deep roster around LeBron and Anthony Davis. None of that may matter when it comes to next season if LeBron starts to look all of his 39 years, which you will be in December, if Anthony Davis breaks down again during this next

season. If that happens, all bets are off. But this team after the All-Star break was 16 and 7. They went to the Western Conference Finals. Yeah, they got broomed, but they went to the Western Conference Finals. So that's not a team you needed to substantially change. That's a team you needed to nibble around the fringes with, and that's exactly what they did.

I think if LeBron and AD come back as the same players they were this past season, you have to make the Lakers at least co-favorits in the Western Conference. You have to consider them one of the top two or three teams to come out of the West. So I want to ask you sort of a macro topic. Shohei Otani had a remarkable weekend. in the American sports culture, specialization is big. That's where the money is. But what I am seeing with European basketball players is they come in not specialists,

multifaceted. Yokic can do everything. Janus, though limited on the perimeter initially, has gotten better at that. Luca, highly developed early offensive game, is that our European players are coming in not specialists. multiple layers. The league feels like it's getting bigger to me. So when the Warriors don't get bigger, I'm like, oh, the window closed.

That kind of feels like it. It feels like the league's getting more global, more Europe, back to Biggs, but not back to the basket bigs, facing the basket dribbling. Now, in my lifetime, I grew up with Bob Lanier and Kareem. And then we went to Great Wings, M.J. Kobe. then we went to small ball and three-point shooting. Am I overstating it when I feel like we're getting very European with massive bodies who we'd view as centers

who do everything well? And that's what the league is becoming. It's getting bigger and small dynamic players do not have the value. I don't know if they... You say it's getting bigger. Like Yokic is the obvious example. Who's the other example? Well, the Celtics have...

size. Denver's getting bigger. Phoenix kept eight. The Celtics added size, but I'm not convinced they're better. I mean, they added Porzengis because they needed to add a poor Zingis. I don't know if right now as we speak, they're a better team than they were last year. Look, Yokic is, he's not an

anomaly, but I don't know if he signals a fundamental change in the NBA landscape. I don't know that. I think Yonis and Yolkich are the two best players in the league. Janis, Yokich, M. Bid, you could certainly argue international player as well. Last five, BPs are all foreign-born. No question. Look, there has definitely been a trend where size has mattered

once again. You're 100% right. We did go through a 10 or a 15-year period where guys used to be described as tweeners all of a sudden became Uber popular. I mean, I'm old enough to remember when like George Lynch, like George Lynch, like Philadelphia when he was this tweener. Nobody like tweeters. You had to have to play a specific position. Nowadays, if you're a tweener, you're great. You can play three or four spots. Six, seven guys. I never had more value. Never in their lifetime. Tori and Prince, we just talked about him,

incredibly valuable guy. Does that mean, does that mean that the way the game is going to be played is changing? I don't know. I don't think Nicola Yokic has changed the way the game is played. Look, Yokic is a perimeter player. He's, he can do a lot of things.

He can do things that guards can do, but the game is still built entirely around the three-point shot. The three-point numbers continue to go up. You're still going to invest in players like the Warriors have. Steph, Clay, players like that that can make threes. I don't know. I think that we're, I think both can be true. We're seeing a trend where big men are starting to come back and vogue,

but I think the current trend of the NBA being a three-point shooting league is only going to grow. I mean, we talked about Boston second ago. If the Celtics took 90% of their shots were threes, Joe Missoula would be the happiest guy in the world at the end of games. teams are going to continue to hunt the three-point shot, and I don't think the evolution back to a big dominant game is going to change that. Yeah, what you're basically saying is as the NFL quarterbacks got more mobile, Brady was still winning as a pocket guy, so Brady was just an outlier. And that Yokic is a bit of an outlier, he's probably the most skilled big since Bill Walton.

And we shouldn't, we're not changing the league. He's just going to be a pain in the butt for everybody. You can't change the game when the three-point shot exists. And teams have decided that the only shots we're going to take are threes, dunks, and free throws. I mean, that's really what it is. That's what teams actually coach. Like, that's how they approach games.

If you're going to have teams shooting 40, 50, 3-pointers per game, you're not going to overly invest in players that are playing with the back to the basket. I mean, Joel Embed still shoots three-pointers. He's a dominant low-post player. but he still shoots three-pointers. I know Janice, for years in Milwaukee, they have worked on his jump shot, trying to make him even more of a three-point shooter. Yokic is a somewhat reliable three-point shooter at this point.

So now, I think the game is continuing to trend in the direction it's been trending, but we're seeing more dominant big men kind of be inserted and sprinkled into it. So if I said most of our sports in America tend to be top-heavy. College football, there's about six teams next year, college basketball, it's always one and two seeds. if I said to you in the NBA, I'll give you the teams. I'm surprised Milwaukee didn't make more moves.

They still feel old to me. I would say, and I'm not sure about Boston, because I don't know who their facilitator is, but I feel like if Dame went to Miami, I would say, and me, Phoenix, Denver. God, you're so high on Phoenix. You're so high on Phoenix. I don't quite get it, but you're so high on Phoenix.

Boston, Miami. God, I would have. Milwaukee got younger. Okay, can I just say my Phoenix piece? Yes. So this is a theory of mine. I have many. Okay. It's a say it out loud theory. Like if my wife and I get jammed up on a kid thing, I'll say say it out loud. Does this make sense? So if I had told you in 20 years at a bar, I said, Manix, remember when you used to come on that wildly popular show of the herd? Remember that year that Aiton got his act together and grew up? And Booker, Beal and

K.D. and Gordon just blazed through the West and they just put on a shooting clinic. And then Denver came back and won the following year. It sounds incredibly possible. It is a shooter's league. Now, is there duplication? Yes.

Like Minnesota tried duplication with centers. It doesn't work. But if you're going to have duplication, the Warriors did it a little bit with Katie, Stefan Clay. We got an extra shooter. for the short term. Different kind of shooters, though. Different.

These are more pull-up guys. Mid-range. A lot of mid-range jump shots in Phoenix. But the addition of Gordon, they cobbled a pretty decent bench together over the weekend. Yeah. Look, Eric Gordon was an excellent sign. That's an excellent sign.

Excellent sign. They got him from several other teams that were in the mix of Eric Gordon. Everything else, though, I can't get on board with just yet because it just feels very like buyout marketing. Remember when Terrence Ross, was signing with the Sons. And everybody's like, that's going to be a difference.

He played six games in the playoffs. Like, you know, it wasn't. It didn't turn out to be that way. Betting on Phoenix makes me feel kind of Lucy, or Charlie Brown-esque with Lucy, right?

Like, like, I'm old enough to remember the 2013 cover story that I wrote for SI, where I put, as I put all five members of the Brooklyn Nets, Brooke Lopez, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce,

Kevin Garnett, Devin, Darren, under the headline, who wants a piece of them? Everybody. Turns out everybody wanted a piece of them. And look, and you put to Kevin Durant together with Kyrie Irving, James Harden, every thought, that's the next dime, that's the next big thing. That didn't work out.

I'm going to need to see it. I'm going to see it over 41, 50 games of a regular season to truly believe because, as has been noted, I do believe there is some redundancy between Booker and Bradley Beale. Yeah. They need a point guard. There's nobody on that roster right now and don't sit there and tell me. me, Devin Booker's going to play Playmaker for 70 plus games. That's just really not sustainable to me. And I need to see how DeAndre Aten responds to Frank Vogel. I mean, I think Frank Vogel

is the perfect coach for DeAndre Ate. He is. Because he can go to him and say, look, look at what happened with Roy Hibbert and me in Indiana. Look at what happened with Dwight Howard and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles. Those guys all succeeded in the system I built. I'm going to make sure you get 14 to 16 shots per game. You get your 18 points, 10 plus rebounds. I'm going to build a defense around you. So if that works great, but right now, there's a toxicity between DeAndre Aiton and the Phoenix Sun. So I just need to see it, man.

Before I get the football pulled away from me again with another super team that's put together with all these expectations that don't quite live up to them. Happy Fourth. You took time out of your day and your holiday for us. Chris and I always appreciate that. Anytime. All right. Ryan with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. We'll pick up where you guys left off with some NBA news here, Colin. Jordan Poole was shipped out of Golden State this offseason following the infamous punch from Dremont Green. But Dremont apparently wasn't the only teammate who had an issue with Poole. According to the Ringer, all of the established Warriors players had some sort of problem with him.

Clay Thompson specifically had reportedly become frustrated with Poole for not passing enough and shooting. too much. Yes, this is what we reported on this show that pre-punch, he had mocked other players' salaries and futures. He's kind of an erratic player. I always, the one way it plays all support him is he does give you 20-21 a game when Steph didn't play. And I think it's very difficult when you replace Steph that sometimes I thought he played too loose, almost trying to become a mini-steff. I think that's a hard shoe to fill when you're young and Steph owns. the city, and I do think he'll flourish as much as Jordan Poole can. But young players, Wiseman, Poole, DeAngelo Russell when he was younger, have struggled with the Warriors. He is not the only

guy. Cuminga has been unhappy. They can't get him on the floor in the playoffs or won't play him. So I'm not going to bang on Poole too much. I didn't think he would last after the punch, but it's not a surprise that the guys with Ford rings and the veterans don't see eye to eye with a cocky young, you know, ready shoot, aim guy at guard. Yeah, it looks like the more we learn about this situation, it was sort of Jordan Poole going, all right, I'm ready to take control of this franchise. And they were like, hang on, dude. Not yet.

Wait your turn. All right, let's turn our attention to the NFL. Trey Lance started the 2022 season as the 49er starter. But following the injury in Brock Purdy's ascension, he has fallen down the team's depth chart. His future is still up in the air as San Francisco waits to see if Purdy will be healthy enough by week one. But Lance says he's ready to go and excited to get back

on the field as he heads into his third NFL season. Great spot. Physically, mentally, and I'm just excited for this year. I mean, I like to play. That's kind of why I came here. So it's definitely hard when I don't get that opportunity. And last year was part of it. Just bump in the road and I'll be better for it.

Well, he's going to get three exhibition games because they're not going to play Brock Purdy. And Sam Darnel doesn't need to play exhibition games. So whether it's fair, or not, you're going to get three exhibition games and a lot of reps from him. And whether he's ready or not, let's be honest, Purdy's going to be the starter. And Darnold and Lance are fighting for the two. And so they would love to see Trey Lance flourish in the preseason so they can move

him. They're going to give him every opportunity to wow people. Like Kyle Shanahan's going to build game plans in the preseason to make Trey Lance look great because they want to get a fourth round pick out of him. There was a report about a month ago where there was no market for him. They want to create a market. So the most interesting preseason player could be Trey Lance because they're going to plan if he's healthy and they're going to build a game plan to make him look good. We'll wrap it up with this, Colin. Daniel Jones had a breakout season in 2022, helping the Giants get back to the playoffs for the first time under head coach Brian Daibble. Despite the strong performance last season, Jones still has plenty of doubters. One of those people questioning

his ability is Herm Edwards, who believes a different Giants player is the key to the team's success. When you think about this offense, they were last in the National Football League in passing with explosive plays, in other words, 20 yards or more. The star player is the runner, right? It's Barclay. And when you think about his numbers, he touched the ball for these guys 352 times. 295 of those were runs, and he caught 57. passes. By the way, he was their leading receiver. So if you think about the Giants and you're trying to defend the

giant offense, the first thing you say is this, stop the runner. If we can stop the runner, we can beat the Giants. Make the quarterback throw the ball. Yeah, and that is and now their schedule is significantly tougher.

You know, everybody says nobody gets paid at running back. That's kind of the narrative now. Sequel is going to get paid. By the way, Derek Henry got paid. Running backs get paid. They don't get paid usually if you've got a star quarterback. But there's about eight of those in the league and then six other B-plus guys.

Zeeke got his with Dak. Here's the way to get paid as a running back. You've got a B-minus quarterback or below. And there's a lot more of those than A quarterbacks. And the other way is if you're a running back with a quarterback on their rookie deal, like the Todd Gurley Jared Goff stuff. So there's ways to get pay at running back. Average quarterback, rookie deal,

or be Sequin Barclay, because Seekwan's going to get paid. Ryan with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. All right, we wrap it up on the fourth after this. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb.

The podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches, we talk to players, we tell you stories. You download it, you listen to it,

I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan,

so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind, on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Saturday is baseball night in America on Fox. Two of the games best go head to head as Ronald Acuna Jr. and the Braves take on Randy a Rosarena and the Rays. Or the Mariners take on the Astros. It all starts at 7 Eastern on Fox. Check for the game in your area. Boy, the Braves went on a street where they just didn't lose for a long time. It was like, junior thinking Mets have a chance.

Braves have a chance. four games out and suddenly the match are like 15, 18 games out. The Braves are the best team in baseball right now and are indisputably. And I haven't checked them in the last couple of days, but they've been really, really hot. So we talked about this as we wrap up our show today, is that we went back to 1990, 33 years. The least number of new playoff teams in 33 years is four, four new playoff teams.

Last year, it was seven. It was half the playoff teams. But if you suggest to people, we're going to have seven new playoff teams, everybody freaks out. Like it's a right of passage. You got in this year, you'll get in next year. And so I'm not going to use the low of four or the high of seven. Since 1990, the average on an annual basis is six new playoff teams. So as I made my list this morning, and it's not finished, but I felt like on the fourth,

let's be hopeful to some new teams. So here are the playoff teams last year, AFC and NFC. You can put those up. Chiefs, Bills, Bengals, Jags, Chargers, Raiders, Dolphins, Ravens, AFC. And then Eagles, Niners, Vikings, Bucks. Now, this'll, that'll be an easy one because Brady retired.

Cowboys, Giant, Seahawks. So I said, I got to find six teams that will not make the playoffs. So I eliminate six teams and here's why I eliminate them. Chargers have a defensive coach. Kansas City and Denver are really good. I don't think three teams make it out of that division. I like Sean Payton and Russell Wilson more than Brandon Staley and the Chargers. And the Ravens, their top eight players, seven have an injury history, including their quarterback.

In the NFC, the Vikings will not go 11 and 0 in one score. games. The bucks are gone because Brady retired. The Giants squeaked in and their schedule is arguably the toughest in the league and we have the Sequan story. And I picked the Seahawks, although I like them, but Gino Smith had a career year. They couldn't stop the run, made some changes on the interior of the defense. And to be honest with you, they're young. A lot of their best players are kids. Here are the new teams I inserted. Denver and Sean Payton, I'll take the offensive coach at the end of the year over the defensive head coach. And Pittsburgh's eight best players, eight or nine, only T.J. Watt has an injury history, and that was mostly just last year.

If he's healthy and usually as they win. The Lions have the best roster. The Saints have Derek Carr and the best roster. The Panthers are my shock. The world team with better defensive personnel than people think, and Frank Reich's a great coach, and maybe I'm a homer, but Cooper Cup Stafford and Aaron Donald are a year away from being dominant players in the league. I'm going to go with the Rams. Six new teams, outrage everywhere, but those are the historic numbers. From 1992 to today, for the lowest, seven last year, average is six, and those are mine. First things first, around the corner. Thanks so much for stopping by.

It's The Hurt. One more HARD. The HARD streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search HARD to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygle 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, 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-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year.

It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.