The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 3 - Ric Bucher

Episode Date: July 3, 2023

In this hour of The Herd, Colin welcomes FOX Sports NBA analyst Ric Bucher to The Herd to look at the shifting pieces in the NBA free agency market. Finally, Colin finishes with a fresh bit called "Dame Stop."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio 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. Here we go. It is our number three on a Monday. It's the hurt. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. A lot of choices out there.

Tomorrow's the 4th of July. It's one of my favorite holidays of the year. After I do the show tomorrow, I'm on a plane. I'm going to hang out with fam. and I've bought some fireworks. You know, in Los Angeles, the beach communities kind of moved off the fireworks thing. That said, apparently everybody's buying them somewhere,

so it's the loudest night of the year in Los Angeles with fireworks, but none of them official. Officially fun, officially loud, officially scaring my pets, but it's a great, great holiday and hope. The weather clears up wherever you are, you can enjoy it. I've been the great fortune. I've had the opportunity in my life, to have fun in the Fourth of July

down in Florida and in the Northeast and the Northwest, Vegas, and California, they're all great places. I think it's my favorite holiday after Christmas and the kids, so can't wait for tomorrow. So over the weekend, watching Laker

fans react to common sense moves was really quite something. What people don't understand is that everything doesn't have to be perfect in free agency. So yes, the Laker did have a good weekend because they didn't do anything dumb. They didn't sign Russell Westbrook, right?

So Polinka moved off Russell Westbrook. That was an obvious move. There's no reason for a parade. Why'd you sign him? So first of all, they retained two guys they needed to. Austin Reeves, I like him a lot, don't love him, but they got a reasonable contract and they retained him. They should.

Not a pure point, not a pure shoe. but he plays well with LeBron. He initiates contract, can get other guys into foul trouble, works really hard. It's a reasonable price. They also retained Rui Hachamora. Long, nice body type in today's NBA can guard the wing, good size. We saw Denver winning a title with size.

Milwaukee won a title with size. I like Rui. Good players. Sometimes great knights, but good players. and Rob Polinka smartly retained them. He also added size to help Anthony Davis. He got Jackson Hayes, who's had some off-court trouble, really, really talented young big. A.D. sometimes overwhelmed against Yokic and overwhelmed against the big when he's the Lakers only big down low with size and athleticism.

So Jackson Hayes is a nice piece. AD also gets hurt a lot. He's going to miss 25 games. So Jackson Hayes, good common sense piece, comes with a little baggage but talented kid. They also added shooting with Gabe Vincent from Miami. Now, it should be noted, Pat Riley, who's brilliant, would not pay him what the Lakers would. But he did shoot 38% on threes in the playoffs. He was very good in clutch situations.

Miami in the playoffs, Lakers last year in the playoffs, Lakers last year in the playoffs, Lays a big stage. I like the Gabe Vincent contract, more probably that I'd like to sign him for. But he can play, and he's played in big games. But Pat Riley did let him go. They also moved off Dennis Schrooter, who's been a bounce around the NBA guy for a long time, talented, played hard for the Lakers, but a very erratic player you can't trust. Now, I would have bailed on DeAngelo Russell, but Rob Polinkinca deserves credit. it's only a two-year deal, meaning after next year, it'll be an expiring contract player, you'll be able to move him.

He also can shoot. Now, he's erratic. He was awful against Denver. He's untrustable. He was benched. I would have tried to move off him. I'm sure the Lakers looked around for another guy that could add shooting. Probably didn't want to pay for it or couldn't find him.

So I even get the deal-in-move. It's a two-year deal. Those are the best deals. If Kyrie Irming's deal with Dallas was two years, it'd be a lot better than three. You have them for a year, you can move them after a year. None of these moves are Danny Aange. They didn't reshape the roster. They retained the right two guys.

They acquired some nice players. Cam Reddish is a nice player. They got him for a nickel. It's not going to change anything in May and June. And if LeBron and AD do, as they are prone to do, get banged up in the regular season, hopefully cross your fingers not late in the regular season. None of this stuff's going to matter. These aren't guys winning playoff series.

But the Lakers have been such a mess for most of the last nine and ten years that competency is viewed as revolutionary. These are basic moves that any smart GM could make. I liked almost all of them. Austin Reeves absolutely won him back. There's a reason there wasn't a gigantic moment. market for Austin Reeves. He's an old 25, a lot of years of college. We're closer to his ceiling than anybody wants to acknowledge. He averages 10 a game. I think it'll go to 15 or 16. He's the

third best player in a playoff team, but if AD or LeBron got hurt and he had to be the second, you're not winning a playoff series against the Western Conference team next year because most them are better. Don't turn competency and GM 101 into revolutionary. Nobody reshaped the roster. brought back the right guys, moved off the right guys, got some cheap contracts. It's a nice weekend for the Lakers. They're a little younger, got a couple extra shooters. Check, check. That's good.

Not great. It's good. All right. So I was watching this weekend, the greatest major league player of my life, the single best major league baseball talent of my life. Yeah, it's not close. It's Sohei Otani. Now, I wasn't around for Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb. He's better.

Shohay Otani had quite a weekend, bomb after bomb after bomb against the debacks. Does everybody understand what we're watching here? He leads baseball in all the big power stats, extra base hits, OPS, RBI, he's tied, home runs. He's also seven and three on the mound. He doesn't really have a comp. You could say, well, MJ was the best offensive player and defensive. player, but we demand that our NBA players actually play defense. Everybody except James Harden does.

I'm talking about maybe Michael Phelps, who won 23 gold medals, the next closest was nine, and he was dominant in multiple swim categories. That's about the comp. Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of all time. But this is what globalization does, and it's an amazing thing to sports. the best two NBA players now are Janice and Yokic, highly skilled bigs. And in America, the way it works is, is that specialization in a lot of different fields is key.

Probably because of our capitalistic nature. The more money you can make the better. Everything's about specializing in this and specializing in that. If you're in tech, you're a programmer or you're a coder. It's specializing. And in sports, you can shoot threes well. You're a rim protector. Now, LeBron was the exception, did almost everything well, but he's never been a great long-distance shooter.

But Europeans are different. The world is different. It's not about specializing. It's about if you want to get to America and make the most money in professional sports, because that's where all the money is, outside of international soccer, the big money in basketball and baseballs in this country, it's be great at many things, make yourself better, your team better, highly skilled. You watch European basketball players. They do multiple things well. I mean, Yokuch can pass. He's an elite passer, elite shooter. He can rebound. He can direct traffic. He can

handle the ball. Never had a center like Yokic. M. B'd won the MVP, but it was more of an anti-yokish vote. He's a much more layered player, and it's not particularly close than our bigs, especially the old bigs, like the wilts and the shacks, or the Akeemes. and Shohei Otani does everything well. And what's remarkable is how he garners all this power. He's 210 pounds. It's unbelievable. He's got like Aaron Judge Power, 210 pound guy.

He runs. He hits for power. He hits for average. He's a dominant pitcher. Highly skilled at a lot of things. It's part of what I'm watching with the globalization of sports. I don't know if those players will always be as popular. as domestic players. It is clearly an advantage in college basketball to be on television during

March Madness and introduce Zion to us. You know, we didn't watch Yokic or Yonis first couple of years unless you were in Denver or in Milwaukee. But show Hey Otani, there's just nothing else even close. Unbelievable weekend by the best pure, I know, I know you love babe. And I know baseball fans romanticize the past. I get it. It's the sport. It's the sport. That's why there's so many great books on baseball. That's why baseball's so great on radio. It's the sport of storytelling and history and lore. Football's about next Sunday.

NBA's about the playoffs. Soccer's about the next goal. But I know we romanticized, but Babe didn't do this simultaneously. This is absolutely remarkable. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at 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 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 you're 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 and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

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

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple, podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. You can see what the heater doing. They've moved off Max Drus, Gabe Vincent. You can see what they're doing.

They've moved off shooters. They're going to pay for one big shooter. I don't think they have a lot they can give Portland back. So give me, tell me how the Miami Portland thing is going to work because it's obvious. They're working behind the scenes like Mad. I mean, it's obviously going to happen. Yeah. Well, if they can find a place for Tyler Hero and supposedly Brooklyn is interested,

you can do a three-team deal. This is not just, look, the Portland Trailblazers are not going to get back equal talent. Right. But with Kyle Lowry, with Duncan Robinson, with Tyler Hero, you can make the numbers match up. And a bunch of picks. And that's the tricky part,

is that you're looking at picks like 28 and 30, like picks down the line for Miami. if Portland wants something a little more recent, then they've got to bring in a third team. And Brooklyn would be a natural team to do that with because they just have a slew of picks. So that's what they could do. But let's keep in mind.

Look, GM Joe Cronin has to say, we're going to do what's best for the team and all of that stuff. But when push comes to shove, players always end up going where they want to go. and the teams make the best of it. Donovan Mitchell is really the only exception that I can think of where he ended up not going where he wanted to go,

which was New York. But we'll see down the line how that plays for the Utah Jazz because what you're basically, one of the things that the teams try to do is convince players when you come here, we're going to pay you. If it doesn't work out, we'll help you get to another good place. Yeah. And if you don't do that, then teams or players and agents are going to be a little more reluctant in doing a deal with you long term because they don't, they're thinking, okay, if it doesn't work out here, who knows where they're going to send me?

Milwaukee's a disappointment. They were clearly a team that got old, really fast. Yeah. And I watched this weekend, and they're still really old. Yeah. Yeah. Look, Brooke Lopez, they got them back on a. on a two-year deal and a decent number.

I don't have a problem with that. Chances are you've got to play against M.B. And if you're playing against Yokic, Brooke Lopez makes a lot of sense, right? He gives you an advantage. The Chris Middleton piece is the one that I don't, I just don't get. Yonis has to be healthy and 100%

otherwise they are just not a very athletic team. They're not. And I haven't seen any additions that they've made to this point that would change that. So they're staying with what they've got. Again, one of the things to keep in mind with all of this is that we do have this new CBA coming in. Yeah.

Explain that to that audience. Yeah, well, there's just, you get to a certain point and your ability to add anything is taken away. It's why the Clippers would entertain James Harden, not so much because they think they're going to be appreciably better, but because he's only on a one-year deal. And they, and same thing with the Golden State Warriors,

like moving off a Jordan Pool. It was because those are the number one and number two teams in salary this year. They need to be able to get fiscally responsible. Otherwise, like when a John Wall or a Russell Westbrook, or these guys on big contracts are waived, you're not allowed to pick those up. You don't have any exemptions. Like your ability to sign just about anybody to anything other than a minimum contract goes away if you're up on that second apron.

So that's why we're seeing a lot of teams. Like, why you're seeing Miami heat kind of clear the decks in order to be able to go after Damien, rather than just say, let's try to hold serve and add Damien. It just gets really expensive. And owners, no matter how much they might want a championship, are still looking at the bottom line. I may be called a Draymond and Warriors apologist, but I think officially,

I do not feel they're a championship team. I think they, you know, Brooke Lopez wasn't going to happen, but I think they needed a big, now, Cumminga, now, and Moody have to play. 24 to 26 minutes tonight. They have to play. Well, and that's why.

Is that why adding Chris Paul makes sense? Because Chris Paul with those young players can get them shots. He can organize them as part of the second unit. Not having a big, but that's everybody. Everybody is facing that outside of Philadelphia and Milwaukee. Who has a big to match up with Yokic if you consider yourself a title contender? They just, he is the new wrinkle that everybody is trying to solve.

In the same way, they had to solve LeBron at one point. They had to solve Steph and Dre at one point. The truth is, nobody's. solve Duncan, Jordan, Shaq, LeBron, and I don't think you can solve Yokic, you just try to mitigate his dominant. Very much so. And then the other theory is we're not even going to try to solve it. We're going to try to run him off the floor. Like we're going to try to present a bigger wrinkle to them by playing smaller faster. I think that's what you see the Phoenix Suns trying to do. but to your point on Dremont, yeah, I don't, I don't see them as a title contender at this point either,

but what the move that they made to me is, Dremont is important to Steph and Clay Thompson as Steph and Clay are to Dremont. They don't, they did not, they had no interest in seeing those two without Dremont. Because everybody, you know, the general thing out there is as well, Draymond's the beneficiary of playing with Steph and Clay. Well, they are very much the beneficiaries of playing with him as well. Yeah, and I think the Warriors continue to show you that. And the Warriors know that better than anybody.

You know, I look at the Lakers. I said, don't confuse revolutionary and common sense. From the Westbrook move on, Rob Polank has done a lot of GM 101 stuff. Of course, you retain Rui and Reeves. you move off Schroeder. I would have moved off D-Lowe, but it's a very workable two-year deal, meaning it's a one-year deal.

If he wears you out, you can move off him. Most of the stuff he's done, it's just basic, good, solid. Sensible. He didn't do a Danny Ains deal here. I still think their whole season next year comes down to cross your fingers on AD's health. That's the whole team.

AD and LeBron. I can live without LeBron because I think Austin Reeves can run, I think Austin Reeves can run the offense. AD leaves, nothing against Jackson Hayes, but, you know, Oh, yeah, no. I'm a limited guy. Here's my question. Who's your go-to guy?

Who's your go-to guy with the game on the line? Who do you hand the ball to? LeBron. Yeah, you're right. And LeBron wasn't able to do it in two of the four games against the Denver Nuggets. And I'm not like, that's not, that's just a reality. I mean, you're, let's look at it sensibly. you're asking a 39-year-old,

even though it's LeBron James, another long playoff run on his leg. Another 82 games or whatever, 60 games, whatever, and then playoff run, you're asking a 39-year-old to be your go-to guy with the game on the line against... He wanted no part of their... That's why they're always running pick and roll to switch off.

He didn't want to go one-on-one with Aaron Gordon. Not at this stage of his career. No. Give me Jamal Murray and I might get something done. No, LeBron at this point knows what he is and what he is. Yeah. Yeah. He doesn't want those long defenders. That's why he's playing off

the ball as much as he is and like trying to find those matchups before he goes. So that to me, that is the great Achilles heel here is it's not the supporting cast. The supporting cast is solid. You have everything that you could

want. I will say between Vincent and Rui and and their draft picks, for the first time, I came out of this weekend and I thought, oh, I can see the future a little bit. Like, I see youth and I see shooting. The start of this year, I'm like, they can't shoot in their old. Like I feel, and I didn't know if Austin Reeves, but I felt after the weekend, I'm like, oh, I see some sunlight in the horizon. Yeah. More shooting, more youth, good length. Yeah. I'm like, I mean, Jackson Hayes, it's length. Yeah, it's length. The difficulty is where the bar is set for the Lakers always.

You can't just be good. Like, they could be good. They could be good with that crew. Well, they sell out good. I mean, you've always had either Kobe or LeBron. Yeah. And they might sell out, but nobody's showing up. So, are you still, do I have to persuade you into, so I look at Phoenix.

So they've got, oh, no. Three elite players and a temperamental big, they went and got a good bench, shooter and a stretch four. They got a couple of guys the Spurs developed with size bigs. They're just eight minutes a game guys. And I look at it and I think if you look at what championship teams generally are, especially now with Denver, length, shooting, adults,

championship winning coach, bench is fine, it's okay. Basically the Nuggets won with an eight-man rotation. You are not satisfied with this Phoenix roster. There's something, is it the KD? What is it? What don't you like? Who's your floor leader? Who, when things get difficult, is going to lead you out of the forest?

Why can't Bradley be able to that? Has he ever come in remotely close to doing that at a championship level? Well, John Wall ran the offense and not always well. Fair. Okay, so he wasn't really allowed to run the offense, but he also was in weird cultures and multiple coaches. Don't you see veteran players you see in all sports go to a really winning culture? And it's like, like Wiggins.

You're like, there's a new player. Yeah. Damien Will, Damien Lillard was in Portland. I don't know about that culture. I don't know about that group. But you never questioned that Damian Lillard was a leader of that team and that he was going to take them. That's a functional organization. Okay.

I mean, Wizards aren't even functional. All right. What convinces you that Phoenix is functional? We got a brand new owner. We got a shadow GM and Isaiah Thomas. I love shadow GM. Don't underestimate it. Oh, it's so good.

It's so good. I mean, the Lakers have gone through that. But basically, Beals chill. Bill's not going to, Bill's not telling Booker and KD what to do. he's just not. He's not coming in there with that kind of authority. Yokic doesn't do it either. I heard during the finals,

the players are like, Yokic talked yesterday before the game. Like, he's not a verbal guy. No, he's not a verbal guy, but he doesn't have to be a verbal guy because he orchestrates everything on the floor. So you don't trust Phoenix in a tight spot. Who runs him?

Yeah. Well, I can say that's leading us out of the forest. I mean, who's leading Boston out of the forest? Well, and that's why Boston has had the problems that it's had. You're with me there. See, you're with me. You are with me. You just don't realize you're with me. We see the same things. I tell my wife that constantly. She goes, you're in your own head. I said, I'm with you. You don't know that I'm with you, but I'm with you. I've just thinking about tomorrow's rant. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, I think this is it. I'm a huge Biel fan.

Because there's a part of me, and I don't know why this is, it's some psychological nonsense. Yeah. There's part of me that feels bad. for young people that work their arse off. They go to a bad company, a bad culture, a bad boss. Yes. And they bust their tail, their total pros, eight years, nobody says anything. And then they finally, if you work hard and you're a good guy, you'll get a break. Wiggins finally is like, it's a good guy who works hard.

He got a break and you're like, oh, the guy can play. Yeah. Like Jalen Brunson, second rounder, nobody loved him. Didn't fit in Dallas. It's like, no, he was going to work. he needed to start the culture. I have a soft spot for that kind of player. I get that.

And by all accounts, Bradley Beale's a good guy, a good dude. But he has been compensated massively for staying in Washington. So it's not like... Everybody in this league gets paid. I can't hold it against the guy for getting paid. I'm not holding it against him, but he had the option.

And like, this is, this culture is, I'm better than this culture. My goals are higher than this culture. What if he had a nice fixer-upper, good elementary school for the kids and just cared about that? Yeah, okay. Three-bedroom fixer-upper. He had a nice home. It always comes back to real estate for you. And I'm glad that you found a place.

Yeah, no. So I just, yeah, my soft spot is, and I don't know where it comes from because I have had a nice life. But there is this sort of thing like, I feel bad. Because I'm not good. Remember the show Intervention? I watched five minutes of it. I couldn't do it. Everybody loves the show Succession.

I watched two episodes this weekend. I can't do it. I don't like the characters. So I have something in my personality. It's a flaw. It's a whole. It's a liability, perhaps. I don't like these conflict, combustible people.

And then there's always a good kid in the middle of that, a young lady or a young guy. And he's swimming with a bunch of sharks. And I'm like, just give this kid a fair shot. See, this is this is. is the tricky part when it comes to the NBA because the sharks, the sharks are the ones that get you to the championship.

The great white sharks, the great players that have known, whether it's like Kobe or Jason Kidd or any of these guys that I've gotten to know really well. And people will say, well, are you friends with them? I'm going, they're great white sharks. Like, can you be a friend with a great white shark? Like, as long as you are useful

and you see things, and you're swimming in the same direction, They're good. But did I always know that something goes a little side? Like I've seen the competitive, sharp edge of all of those guys. Yeah. And that's just kind of the NBA being such a ruthless place. It's tough to Chris Paul.

Like it's tough to be a nice guy all the time and survive. Steph Curry might be the one exception to that. and that's only because he's got a Doberman and Draymond next to him. That's a really good point. Never thought about that. You used that white shark thing before? I like that. No, first time right here.

Broke it out. I don't even know if this is a good day to do it. Could we put the red bar for breaking metaphor? Breaking metaphor on the show. Yeah, that's an interesting way to put it. So Bradley Beale doesn't have the, he doesn't quite have that. He's nice guy. I don't see great white shark in him.

All right. Let's put it that way. More dolphin. Friendly. Likeable. Although they're supposed to be terribly mean. Dolphins are supposed to be like mean. They can be tough.

They can be tough. All right. Great seeing you, Bukes. Good to see you. All right. Ryan with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. Didn't think the show would go that way, Ryan. Got to be honest with you. We're going to Marine World next. Got to turn that mic on. When Rick stops by, we cover a wide range of topics. Sometimes it's, you know, what we do in our downtime, perhaps back when we were in college.

Yeah. But, you know, listen, today it's great white sharks. We've gone off the rails more than once. There have been many different reports about Jordan Love's development as he prepares to take over as the Packer starter. Some of his teammates have spoken about how well he's been doing during the offseason and how his confidence has improved. A new report from the Packers camp backs that up,

saying Love looked leaps and bounds better in a recent workout than he did in previous years. According to Jeremy Fowler, Love's play is more. refined and he has shown a lot of growth. I'm excited. I want to watch him. I mean, I do. I've never, I've said this. I never root for bad quarterback play. People thought I rooted against Baker.

No, I thought he was a reach. But the league was better with Baker playing well than Baker playing poorly. Like, I don't root against any quarterback. And so the Jets last year, good team, good roster, bad quarterback play, unwatchable. So we know the jet, by the way, Russell Wilson with a better offensive coach, They were unwatchable last year. Denver was unwatchable. So the Jets and the Broncos had great talent.

You couldn't watch them. So two teams. So now my fear is, is Green Bay going to become an incredibly watchable team, not great, but now unwatchable? So there's no value in me on Sunday when there's like six teams I can watch. I want Green Bay to move the ball. I don't think he's going to be great. And I think they're an eight-win team. But if they win 11, I'm the happiest guy in the world.

I'd gladly be wrong for the Packers to be relevant and fun to watch. Sure. Eleven would certainly be a hugely successful season for them. Ten would be throw a parade. I mean, seriously. It's also I always find these training camp reports interesting this time of year because he hasn't even really had a chance to be a full-time starter, so I hope he's not regressing because that would be a huge problem. Right.

All right, let's move it on to the Los Angeles Chargers, Kellen Moore, settling into his new role as the offensive coordinator for the Chargers. He'll be leading a group with plenty of offensive. weapons in place for Justin Herbert. And he spoke about how the team can use their versatility and size to their advantage. Moore said, Justin's such a smart decision maker. It allows you to really call it in an aggressive manner, having versatility on the offense, which I think we're really, really excited about.

Being able to use guys in different positions, align them in different ways, and utilize all that. We like to say we've got so much height on this team. We're going to be throwing in a different jet stream. it's going to be a lot of fun. Well, there's two coordinators this year. We always talk players and coaches. Vic Fangio,

defensive coordinator of Miami, and Callan Moore, offensive coordinator for the Chargers, will end up winning games. So we all know that coaching hires matter and player acquisition matters. We never talk about coordinators. They're really important.

Fan Gio is a, he's absolutely, going to win a game for Miami, not just Jalen Ramsey. And Kellyn Moore is going to be what was, if you watched the Chargers last year, good first half team, terrible adjusting team. They were one of the lowest scoring offenses in the league in the second half. And when you consider their offensive personnel, that makes no, I mean, they were like down there with the Chicago's and the Jets.

So it's like if they can just be a middle of the pack second. in half offense. With Kellyn Moore's creativity in the first half, this will be a top five offense in the league because the personnel, they get Slater back to the left tackle, personnel's outstanding. Absolutely. Two questions about the Chargers always remains their head coach and Brandon Staley and whether or not they stay healthy. And we'll wrap it up with this, turning our attention back to the NBA. Russell Westbrook, stay and put in L.A. He reportedly agreed to a two-year $8 million deal to stay with the Clippers. Westbrook will make just $4 million next season after making $47

last year, the largest pay cut in NBA history. Wow, is that true? Yeah, I mean, it is. I trust that the research was double and triple-checked by our staff, and it makes sense. I mean, how often do you see a $43 million pay cut from season to season? Yeah, what you are seeing in the league now is smaller guards, big personalities, smaller markets.

Kyrie didn't get the years he wanted, Harden. They're getting rid of him. you know, so big personalities, aging guards, you know, the market is speaking. Dylan Brooks gets $80 million. Russ gets eight. I mean, that's younger, wing defender.

But you know what? He made a ton. I mean, what do you make? $300 million? I think he's fine. Yeah. And as we've talked about today on the show, as the new salary cap and CBA is coming into place,

I think teams don't want to be locked into these long-term deals worth huge money for aging players. And then it allows, them little to no flexibility to fill out their rosters going forward. I can't believe Buechre doesn't love Phoenix. I still can't get over it. Good stuff. It's Ryan with the

news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Yeah, the Dame stuff, like Miami is clear in the decks. Miami's telling you, we're clearing the decks, here it is. And I think Bam, Butler and Dame, but you may have to include a third

team and Portland has said, we're not here to make Miami better. We need players. So, you know, people freak out whenever you lose a star. It's okay to admit the team that gets the star almost always wins the first two years of the trade. But if you draft and develop well, you're usually going to get B players and draft picks. Can you win years three to 10? That's the deal. So in Portland, you're going to lose the first two years.

he's going to go to a contender, it's going to hurt. Lakers, Shack and Kobe split him up. First two years went to Miami. Year three and four on, that went to the Lakers and Kobe. But it does freak people out. And my takeaway is, folks, you had 11 years a Dame, three times you didn't make the playoffs, five times you're out in the first round. You don't have trophies here.

It's time. He's aging. One more injury, and Dame isn't movable. Like his market now is small based on his size, injuries, and, you know, his cost. One more injury. What is it? A one-team market. Yeah.

The argument is they waited one year too long already. Back in a second, hour three, wrap it up. Live in L.A., it's The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlie. 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 Alib on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 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 Superhuman documented it all embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. 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. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? where you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode

where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table. right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tonight on FS1, it's a special night of baseball with a clash out west as Shohei Otani and the Angels take on the Padres. Catch the first pitch tonight at 9. 9 Eastern 6 Pacific on FS1. Well, we're going to call the segment DAME Stop. Where does he fit? Now, Miami is the frontrunner for Dane.

They don't have much to give Portland. So let's play a little Dame Stop, all right? All right, let's start here, Colin. Are the heat a good fit for Damian Lillard? Well, yeah, because they were 27th and three-point shooting, despite what you watched in the playoffs and the worst offense in the league despite what you watched

in the playoffs. So they got all these guys to play over their head. Tyler Hero went to the bench, freed up shots for other young players. They need offense. Don't be fooled. They become very Butler reliant to get a basket. He got worn down. So this is a, to me,

just about a perfect fit. Plus, Baman Butler, or elite defenders, dames, a bit of a liability. Miami's the best fit. Are the LA Clippers a good fit for Damien Lillard? No, because Kauai and Paul George, like Damien, last couple of years, struggled to say healthy. They don't have a lot of tradable assets. It's not a winning culture.

They've kind of underachieved even with Kauai and Paul George and Dane wants to play for championships. The second best team right now in their own building, so I would say bad fit. Are the 76ers a good fit for Damian Lillard? I've been talked into a good fit because if you watched at the end of the Boston series, they needed baskets. And Embed and Dame led the league in scoring. They fit together. Last season, two of the top three scores.

So it works. Does it mean you move off Maxi, who's a very small player? I don't love that. But again, I think if you're acquiring Dame, aren't you really acquiring him? It's a four-year contract. what you're hoping is to get two great years and a good year. In the last year, you know, he's 36. How many NBA players currently would you pay $60 million for annually that are 36?

One, Steph. So what you're hoping with Dame is you get two viable title years. Cross your fingers on his health and you get a third. Nobody thinks they're going to get four years and it's going to be perfect. Are the Spurs a good fit for Damia Lillard? Yeah, and here's why. remember Lillard, who has said he has deep respect for the Spurs, played under Greg Poffovich on the Olympic team.

And also, the Spurs have a haul of picks. They could trade some of their first round picks to Portland. It says here on my screen, they've got 29 draft picks in the next seven years. They're a very young team. And so San Antonio doesn't want to be young forever, right? Wemby's going to be young. You've got to have some veterans in this league. Young teams don't win in the playoffs.

So I think they'll keep some of those draft picks. But Portland, if you look at Portland, Portland's best years are probably not this next year. Probably the year after that, six years, seven years running. So I think the spurs are a good fit. Are the Trailblazers a good fit for Damian Lillard? No, they had the fifth worst record in the NBA. I like Nurkich and I like Deng. But you're trying to bridge super young players.

and two veterans. And we watched Golden State struggle with that last year. That's a hard bridge. We keep waiting for Moody and Cominga to get minutes in the playoffs. Moody finally did. Cominga still didn't. Such a bad fit. It's okay.

All good things have an expiration date, or most good things. Are the Utah Jazz a good fit for Damien Lillard? Yes, because they need a closer. They've got some good players. They don't, he's a closer. They also have because of the Donovan Mitchell, Rudy. Gobert deals a load of draft picks. And I also think Dame played

college at Weber State. He's pretty chill and private. I think he'd fit Utah. He's kind of a quiet guy. He's played college in the state. And I like that team. But I mean, Dame did average 32 points a game last year. I think this is the one team that's not getting

a lot of love. Here's what you wonder about with Utah. The third and the fourth year of this contract. Are you completely limited when you have to start paying some of your young guys and you've got a $45, $50, $60 million player. That's hard. All right, even though he's not in today, somehow he insisted that we put them on this list. Are the New York Knicks a good fit for Damien Lillard? No, and I don't get it. Jalen Brunson's small offensive-minded guard.

Dames, small offensive-minded guard, neither are great defenders. Now, they have a rim defender and Mitchell Robinson, but sometimes I watch the media speculate on stuff and I'm like, this is what the Blazers did in Portland. They had duplicate. C.J. McCullum was a lesser version of Dane. This doesn't work at all. You'd be way too small and way too offensive. And I don't want anybody, including

Dame, taking the ball to Jalen Brunson's hands. Like, it's his team. Let him roll. Get out of his way. Are the Boston Celtics a good fit for Damian Lillard? Yeah, actually, they're great. I just don't, what do they give up? I mean, does Portland want, if they move off NERCage, do you want bubble wrap Robert Williams? I would

get Derek White and Grant Williams, but there's a lot of talk in the league that Malcolm Brogden is not going to be right, and that's one of the pieces I'd want. But I don't think Portland wants a bunch of B players. I really Boston could give them a bunch

of solid role players, so on. Miami could give you Kyle Lowry, who's old, Tyler Hero, and picks, but I want picks. That's what I want. I want, give me one starter for Dame. He can be a B-starter. He can be my third, fourth, best player, and then give me a ton of picks. Last one, we'll end it on this one. Are the Phoenix Suns a good fit for Damien Lillard?

No, folks, they only need so many shooters. I don't think they have, they lack cap space, tradable assets now after acquiring Bradley Beale. It'd be fun, but I mean, that would be, listen, there's already complaints that between Booker, Beale, and KD, you've got duplication, mid-range shooters, guys that pull up, doesn't fit. The one, the spurs are really interesting. So you have a rim protector in Wembe. You've got a rim protector in Wembe. You've got the coach.

You've got the culture. You've got so many picks. And with Wembe, because he's so developed, he's not going to be fully developed in his first two years. Dame is. So what you can be is really good quickly as Wembe develops. and that's attractive. And they don't need to be bad anymore because they have so many draft picks.

And so I think it's going to be fun to watch the balancing act of San Antonio with Wembe. You know, the first year he's going to come in an average 22, a lot of shots blocked, second year, 27. That third year is when you want him surround. You want to make a real run. And, you know, but by that time, if you get Dame in his third year, is he still part of a title run. I don't know. Nice job, everybody, today.

Back tomorrow on 4th of July, live in Los Angeles. It's The Herd. One more Herd? The Herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd 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 Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I 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, 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 Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it.

Listen to The 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. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.