The Herd with Colin Cowherd - What's Wright - Best Of - Nick Wright REACTS to Chiefs-Rams TRADE, Kyler Murray's NFL future,

Episode Date: March 7, 2026

All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet.   Nick Wright reacts to his Kansas City Chiefs trading CB Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams and what it means for both Super Bowl contenders in 2026. Later, Nick breaks down what Kyler Murray's future looks like in the NFL as the Arizona Cardinals QB is set to be a free agent as well as how Joe Burrow should feel after the Cincinnati Bengals botched the Trey Hendrickson situation. Next, Nick reacts to Max Kellerman saying Michael Jordan would average a 40-point triple double in today's NBA as well as Giannis Antetokounmpo returning to the Milwaukee Bucks and what lies ahead in his future. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Welcome to the best of the week for What's Right with Nick Wright. The best takes and moments from this week on the show. Enjoy. My lifelong team made a trade with my, you know, off again, on again, NFC team, the Rams. Let's get to it. Yeah, the Chiefs traded probably one of their best players or their best player outside of Patrick Mahomes for a nice hall of picks. last time Kansas City did something like this with Terry Kill, they went on to make three Super Bowls.

Do you find this to be a similar move? So listen, I want to start on McDuffie. McDuffie's an excellent player. I think he is a good. Sometimes because of his size struggles on the outside, but a good outside corner. and the single best slot corner in football. I think he is the best in football at slot corner. They drafted him, as DeMonsei mentioned.

They immediately went to the next three Super Bowls. McDuffie had start, let's three, four, three, two. McDuffie won the first nine playoff games he ever played in. his and his rookie year they went three and oh his second year they went four and oh his third year they went two and oh until the super bowl when they got clocked by the eagles obviously he was part of a historic draft class for the chiefs that set up this era of chiefs football particularly on the defensive side of the ball he was instantly an all pro He's excellent.

He will be very, very good for the Rams. Okay? Nothing. And he's only 25. He was a young player coming out of college. So he's played four years. He's only 25. He got a little dinged last year.

He's durable. He's an excellent player. And the Rams, let me add this to it, DeMonse. I think the Rams are more all in than any team in the league. More than Buffalo. more than Baltimore because their quarterbacks got one, maybe two years left. So I think that the other teams with great quarterbacks have to weigh trying to win the Super Bowl every year with staying in contention for a long period of time.

The Rams don't have to weigh that. The Rams are like, let's go for it right now while we have Matt Stafford and figure out the plan post-stafford when we're post-stafford. So I totally get this move from them and they got an excellent player at the single biggest position of need for them. Makes sense. With that said, I am so glad the Chiefs management still has the stomach to do things like this because this is the only way to stay in perpetual contention. There is only one team ever

that has done what the chiefs are trying to do, which is for 15 plus years, be in the mix, basically every single year. I understand last year was a disaster, but, at week six of last season, the Chiefs were the literal Super Bowl favorites. So they didn't, they obviously weren't, they didn't end up as contenders last year, but the idea that last year was destined to be a disaster year, they were the favorites to win the whole thing right around Halloween. And so in order, the only blueprint for that long of a convention, intending stretch is the Pats with Belichick and Brady.

And Bill Belichick made moves like this. He traded away Richard Seymour. He would move on from guys when they got super expensive. He would load up on draft picks and try to restock the talent with young cost controlled players. It's what you have to do. And yes, the chiefs are in a different position than when they traded Tyreek. When they traded Tyreek, they weren't coming off a six-win season. They also, though, when they traded Tyreek, they are as far removed from the three years before leading into the Tyreek trade, they won a Super Bowl. They lost the Super Bowl. They lost the Super Bowl.

Bowl. They lost in the AFC championship game. The three years leading into this, they won a Super Bowl, they lost a Super Bowl, they had a disaster year. The Tyreek trade netted them. The 29th pick, a second rounder, two fourths, and a fifth. This trade netted them, the 29th pick, a third rounder, one fourth and a fifth, or as Ian Rappaport would call it basically fifth round value. exactly 29 third, fourth, fifth, basically fifth round value. So they got,

for Tyreek, they got a second instead of a third and an additional fourth. And you know what? I might have said what they got here wrong. I did actually. They got the 29th, a third,

a fifth, and a sixth, not a fourth and a fifth. So my apologies. but by the draft charts, they got essentially, this is maybe a better way to do it. It's for people to understand.

By the draft charts, they got the equivalent for McDuffie of about the 20th pick of the draft, all in. And for Tyreek, they got the equivalent of about the 14th, 15th pick of the draft. So they got, call it, 80%

of the value for Trent McDuffie they got for Tyree Kill. And situation is so much more different though considering like the need of the team. Like if the defense is already having trouble generating a pressure like trading away your best cornerback I think is I know. I understand. This obviously for week one of 2026 doesn't make the chiefs better. That's obviously true. but this was

Trent McDuffie is about to become the single highest paid corner in the NFL because he plays on the end he's best on the inside instead of on the outside that already was going to be a bit of a tough pill to swallow but when you have the highest paid detackle the highest paid center one of the highest paid guards and Mahomes you can't You've got to make these choices. And here is the reason where I went from kind of expecting this move for the chiefs and, you know, coming to terms with it, to being outright happy about it. Barnwell in his offseason predictions column called this trade.

He called McDuffie to the Rams. I think a lot of people thought this was possible. But Barnwell put what he thought the trade would be, DeMonsay, he thought it would be McDuffie plus a fifth from Kansas City for just the 29th pick. Instead, it was McDuffie by himself for the 29th pick plus a third, a fifth, and a sixth. So I think they got. such intense value that and the free up of cap space of he was going to make 13 million this year. If you wanted to keep him, it was going to be 30 million a year to add other players.

I think you just have to make that move. It also gives them real flexibility in the draft now. I do not think they're going to move off that ninth pick, but they are drafting now, 9, 20, and 40 and I would be surprised if they actually draft 29 and 40. It should be noted. They used the 29th pick from the Tyree Kill trade to move up to 21 or 22 to draft Trent McDuffie. And so I right now the chiefs have the sixth best Super Bowl odds. That feels about right to me, where you've got to see. the health of Mahomes, but they have the ability to go out in free agency in the draft and address what are significant weaknesses on the team right now. And let me also say this, because Jalen Watson, their other starting corner, seventh round pick is going to hit free agency and get paid a bunch of money by other people, by somebody else. This is a

the one position on the team, the chiefs believe we can just coach up. They had Marcus Peters, they traded him to the Rams. They had Chavarius Ward. They let him go sign a huge contract with the Niners. They had Ligerius Sneed. They traded him to the Titans. They had Marcus Peters. They traded them to the Rams, and they're letting Jalen Watson.

And Jalen Watson kind of is proof of. concept. He was a seventh round pick, same year as Marcus Peters. He was starting at corner as a seventh round rookie. They are letting him walk. They have Noel Williams, who was a third rounder last year, and they're going to have to address secondary. But they think Spags that they can scout secondary players, that they can coach them up. And what they have to get better at is pass rush, running game, and pass catcher. It's a lot. I understand. But I think the offensive line is mostly set and obviously quarterback set. And now you have some cap space and you have a bunch of draft picks to go attack this stuff.

Go ahead. There's like a little word coming out that Trent McDuffie, his hit would have been about the same as Kenneth Walker next year. Well, about 14 million. So here's the thing. He was Kenneth Walker's franchise tag, 14 would be 14 million. I think he'll probably sign for around 14 million. Yes, you're right. Trent McDuffie was under contract,

fifth year option for 13.8 or something. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was he was going to want, and it's not a problem, he's earned it, 30 million a year on a new deal. And we'll get to the Bengals in a bit. What immature franchises would do would just be like, well, 13 million for McDuffie,

that's actually not a bad deal. Let him play out his contract and then either franchise tag him and then let him walk for nothing or after this year let him walk for nothing. Instead, the chiefs were proactive, which you have to be if you want to contend over a long stretch of time. Now, here is the other piece. of it. You have to hit on these draft picks. In 2022, they crushed the draft. In 2020, they seem to really, well, the verdict right now in the 2023 draft is, it's a disaster.

The only truly productive player they've gotten from that draft is Rishi Rice, who has a bunch of his own issues. So that happens, but now in order for the chiefs to continue to be A-list contenders, this draft is going to have a lot to do with it. And we'll see what they, you know, what they make of these picks. All right. I know you have some follow-ups here. Go ahead. So just off of what you just say, Kansas City has two first. What can they do with those picks? Let's do it likely maybe, what if on it? So listen, I think it is likely. that with their the number nine pick, they address offensive skill position. I think that's likely.

I think that whether it's Jeremiah Love, whether it's their favorite receiver, it would be a little rich for me, but maybe the tight end, the number one tight in that everybody loves, that nine, it feels high. I think it is likely they do that at 9 and then at 29 they maybe move around a little up or a little back and take a pass rusher. I am of the belief if Rubin Bain is there at number 9, you've just got to take him. The short arms be damned. And it would be utterly stunning. to me if they use either of these first round picks on offensive line or on corner.

I think that they are going to go wide receiver, running back, maybe tight end and defensive line. Those are the spots that I think you are going to see the first round picks go for. and I think the only running back would be Jeremiah Love, and I don't know if he'll be there at 9. All right, I know you want to talk to Mahomes for a second. Yeah, so after the deal, Mahomes tweeted, Damn, how much are you reading into that? Do you think that was just support for his teammate?

Yeah, listen, I think Patrick understands, I haven't talked to Patrick, I think he understands the business side of this. I also think, you know, he's won multiple Super Bowls with McDuffie, likes McDuffie. McDuffie's a good player. You hate to see him go out the door, but I think Patrick also knows

whatever, you know, he had, I would imagine, a very similar relationship and had won a Super Bowl with Tyreek Hill and saw the same regime trade Tyreek in a very similar spot at the same time of calendar and what it turned into.

Right, right. Tyreek has more of a directive. impact on who you think the decisions though you've got to make they traded joe tuny last year like you've got to find ways to restock and it's why the chiefs are not a team that's ever going to be like we just traded for max crosbie we just traded multiple that you don't have that luxury in my if you want to contend for again 15 plus years which only the patriots have done. All right, before we get to a little more on the Rams side of it and some of the other potential guys who could be traded, let me remind you. Today's show is brought to you by our

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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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Giamanka seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No.

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Listen to Deep Cover, the Family Man, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, DeManzai, let's keep going on this trade and then get to the other stuff. Yeah, so the Rams just cleared up one of their only needs with that trade, and they still have the Falcons pick at number 13.

So now they are the lone favorites at plus 750 to win the Super Bowl. Do you agree with Vegas there? I mean, it makes a lot of sense. Can McDuffie return punts? No, he's not going to be a punt returner, so maybe they do need to address that. But that 13th pick should be an impact player for them. They have really struggled on drafting and developing their own corners, which they traded for Marcus Peters.

They traded for Jalen Ramsey. They traded for Trent McDuffie. So this is, you know, again, I think they paid a lot. but when you have 38-year-old Matt Stafford and you've been banging on the door and he's the defending league MVP, why the hell not? And so I, you know, if I look at the Rams depth chart as we sit here today, let me just pull it up real quick. I wouldn't hate them at 13 de Monzae considering wide receiver just because, I don't think Devante, you know, has probably many years left, maybe just one year left.

I also wouldn't hate them going offensive line to shore up that right side of their offensive line. But in reality, the Rams don't have many glaring holes. I mean, the entire secondary needs a lot of work. But it doesn't seem like they trust themselves on drafting corners. So I would be, I guess, a little surprised if they draft a corner at 13. I would not be surprised if they moved down. If they tried to restock some of the picks they just traded away, you know, by moving down in the draft. Seven years after taking him at number one, the Cardinals are splitting ways with Kyle Murray.

We all know you aren't the biggest fan of the shorter quarterbacks. Where do you stand at on Tyler or Kyler? I'm stunned how many people are trying to convince themselves that seven years and 87 starts into his career. Kyler Murray is different than what we know he is, which is a below average NFL starting quarterback. And you can say, oh, below average, that's harsh. It's not. there's 32 teams in the league and if right now

I were to tell you, stop me when I say a quarterback Kyler's better than Mahomes, Stafford, Alan, Lamar, Burrow, Darnel, Caleb, May, Trevor, golf, love,

Dak, Hertz, Baker, Herbert, Jaden. That's 16. That's 16. I have not mentioned C.J. Stroud. I have not mentioned Bo Nix. I have not mentioned Brock Purdy.

I have not mentioned you know, some Cam Ward, some people like Kyle, or I'm sorry, Bryce. But that's the... It starts to get questionable there. Yes. The fact that it's like a debate, yeah.

Right. So he's at best, the 20th best quarterback in football. At best. and he does wear down over the course of the season. He does have shaky relationships with teammates and front offices, and he does have very questionable work habits. That's just who he is. And so the Arizona Cardinals last year,

the coaching staff was, fighting for its life. And Kyler came back healthy from injury and they were like, yeah, Jacobi Brissette runs this offense better. We're sticking with it. I don't. People are trying to convince themselves that Kyler on the Vikings would be dangerous. No, it wouldn't.

Would it be an upgrade over J.J. McCarthy? Sure. Would they be dangerous? No. And again, Darnold got. like 35 starts with the Jets. Gino got 30 starts with the Jets. Baker got, I think, 50 some with the Browns and showed something.

Kyler has started 87 games. Kyler has started more games in this league than Joe Burrow. Like it's not, oh, he hasn't had the opportunity. I mean, people are probably just saying it's the Cardinals, though. Yeah, but when he got there, people were like, oh, man, Cliff Kingsbury, it traded for DeAndre Hopkins. People didn't think that was some terrible mess. Now, it turned into it, but he was a part of it. And so do I think Kyler is a starter in this league?

Yes, absolutely. Do I think that he would be an upgrade over what the Browns, the Jets? The Steelers, the Vikings are likely going to go into next season with if they don't sign him. I do. But do I think that means there's any contending possibilities? I don't. Now, the glass quarter full would be this, DeMonze. This is the first time in his athletic life.

he has failed in any way. Yeah, some adversity. He is. I mean, seven seasons of Arizona. No, but I'm saying them cutting him. Yeah. Cutting him is the adversity. Right.

He was the greatest player in the history of Texas high school football, the greatest. He also was such a great baseball player. He was a first round pick for the Oakland A's. He then went to college, won the college, won the, Heisman went number one in the draft and instantly as early as they could have got paid and so it was just nothing but everything I'm doing is working everything's great and now it's a real slap in the face of no they're paying you to go away and you'll probably sign make sense sign for the minimum because this team's going to be paying you anyway um so maybe that is a

come to Jesus moment but I don't know you think maybe you should switch over to baseball? I feel like it's probably too late for that but I think that could have been an option at some point

listen it seems like people loved him as a baseball player loved him and he is just a sick he would be elite in baseball I mean the dude he's fast as hell did he go um

let me see if I can he was the eighth overall pick um the yeah i mean he was he's a legendary athlete yeah i'm the i'm trying to see you guys can ninth overall pick um and i mean god bless him for that he has he has been a major disappointment as an NFL quarterback and I don't think again he is two months old or two months younger than Darnold like I just don't think he is this unpolished diamond we'll see but I I don't I I don't buy it um all right let's talk bangles for a moment uh so the bengals botched trey hendrickson uh they failed to tag him they're not going to tag him they failed to trade him away get something for him uh how should bangles

fans feel and how should Burrow feel? So this is just franchise malpractice to you had Trey Hendrickson. He led the league in sacks. He wanted a big long-term deal. You didn't want to give it to him. He was pissed. You removed some money around a bit to get him to come back in.

It was 17 and a half sacks. The next year he responded with another 17 and a half sacks. And he's like, all right, now you've got to pay me. They're like, nope, we're not doing that. So then he was super pissed. He left training camp.

It was a whole mess. He then begrudgingly comes back. You then have last year Burrow gets hurt and he's pissed. And you know, you're not resigning him.

And you don't even trade him for pennies on the dollar at the deadline, he then never comes back from his injury, and now you let him walk for nothing. It's just such bad business, just indefensibly bad business, and borough should be livid, that they either couldn't get a deal done

or couldn't accept they weren't going to get a deal done and moved him last off-season or the off-season before, or at the very least, at the deadline. And to lose Trey Hendrickson for nothing's outrageous. Now, I do think he will, I think you can make an argument. How old is Hendrickson? 32?

That might be old. Yeah, I was supposed to say. That's younger than that. no no he's 31 oh um the so he is and max crosbie is 28 i should have looked these up beforehand bad job i apologize but i got it right max crosbie's 28 turns 29 in august if i were running a team de mazzee i would rather sign Trey Hendricksson in free agency for good money rather than trade multiple firsts to get mad for Max Crosby for and then re-sign him to huge money. Crosby's a better player and Crosby's got more years in front of him.

But I, the fact that you can sign one guy and you'd have to trade multiple picks for the other guy. It was already good. And so here is the other question I have about Trey. Because Trey, listen, he was underpaid, but it's not like he had never been paid. So Trey Hendrickson, up to this point in his career, has made $95 million. He was making $20 million a year on this contract with the Bengals. basically five-year, $20 million-ish dollar deal

after his rookie deal. If Trey wants one last huge payday, he has earned it and God bless him, I do wonder if he might want to stick it to the Bengals. And if he does, I think

the Patriots, the Bills, the Ravens, the Chiefs. Yes. Should all call. Yeah. particularly the Ravens. Yes. Like in the division, all four of those teams desperately need pass rush help and be like, yeah, I'm sticking around.

And I'm going to, right. For the Ravens twice a year and for the other teams, maybe if the Bengals ever make the playoffs again. So I've said this for, I'll say it again. There is a lot of Borough Sinci that reminds me of. Breeze, New Orleans, where right after he got there, they make it to a Super Bowl. Breeze won. Burrow didn't. And then those Saints went seven and nine, three years in a row.

They missed the playoffs a lot. And then at the tail end, had it like a three, four year period of super high contention again at the tail end of Breeze's time, but never made another Super Bowl, where you are wasting big portions of this player's career, even though he is super highly productive because you can't get the defensive side of the ball right. And that's a damn shame. All right, DeMonze. A couple of my pals have a podcast together. It's called Game Over. One is my buddy Rich Paul, who you met and hung out with a couple weeks ago. And the other is Max Kellerman, who I once didn't officially intern for him.

him, but I interned for the radio show before his radio show. And he and I haven't spent much time together since. We've come across each other a couple times. But I really like Max. Like I have about as much respect for Max as anybody who does what I do. And Jordan came up on their latest pod. I'll let you take it from there. Yeah, so later, latest pod of Rich Pond.

Well, Max Kellerman said that if MJ played today, he would average a 40-point triple-double for a little bit of context. Will is the only player ever to average 40 in a season, and only three players ever have averaged a triple-double. So, uh, yeah. So, listen, I don't even care about the triple-double piece. Because Jordan, I do, uh, I think Jordan averaging a triple double today, uh, sure, maybe. he almost did it the one year he played point guard for the Bulls. It can be done. Jordan obviously is a demonstrably better player than Russ.

Russ has averaged a bunch of triple levels. And so, no problem. The 40-pointed game thing with Jordan in today's game, here is the problem, and this is why I'm so stunned, Max said it. Because one of the reasons I have so much respect for Max, It's kind of like arrogant the reason I have so much respect for Max. Because you guys have like minded. So much of me.

Yes, exactly. I'm like, man, that guy's smart. I like how he makes arguments. A lot of it is just, he reminds me of myself. So that's kind of a, but regardless. Max very often in his arguments does what you've got to do if you're going to have a sound argument, which is teasing. it out and realize the full implications of your argument. And the full implications of

Michael Jordan could average 40 a game are so then the guys who when Jordan was averaging 29 averaged 28, they would in today's game be 38, 37 point a game. And the guys today who are the best scorers back then would be in the low 20s. So let's write because it can't only apply to Michael. The 90s deflation and contemporary inflation. So let's let's just grab some Michael Jordan seasons. So if you're saying Michael Jordan in 92, a lot of people think that is peak Jordan. Second Bulls Championship, the best team.

He's got it all figured. He averaged 30.1 points per game. Dominique Wilkins average and Carl Malone both averaged exactly 28. So 1992 Dominique Wilkins in today's game were giving him 37 a night? I'm not. Chris Mullen, excellent. player was it 25 and a half and he was an even better of you know a great shooter on you know three point shooter uh so Chris Mullins 35 a game in today's era give it to him hard for me to

you know hard for me to wrap my mind around but that's the implication 95 Michael was 32 and a half and Dominique was 30 Carl Malone 27 So all those guys, once again, they're going to be in the high to mid-30s in today's game. The next year, by the way, when Michael was retired, David Robinson averaged 30 a game. So in today's game, the admiral is 38 and a half a night? I don't think so. but let's take it a step further and do the best scores of this era and what because what you're saying is scoring is so much easier today that those guys in Michael's era when 30 was the high watermark then

and 30's basically the high watermark now those guys would struggle so you're telling you're telling telling me peak O KC Kevin Durant who never averaged more than 32 a game. You drop him into the 90s. He's a 24 point per game guy. That's what we're saying because if you're saying you're going to give a 25% boost to the scores of the 90s in today, then you've got to take a 25% tax on the scores of today in the 90s. So Pete Kevin Durant, if he's dropped into 1992, is looking up at Chris Mullen and Clyde Drexler on the scoring list. I don't think so.

Call me crazy. You really probably is averaging 40 at that time. Well, no, I don't think that either because it was, no, just the game was slower. the less possessions. It was harder, but maybe you think it wouldn't matter. But the other thing that happens, and this is what Max said, and this is just maddening,

and I've talked about this before, people pretend that the one weakness in Michael's game, three-point shooting, was a weakness by choice. Like, well, if he wanted to be good, he would be good.

as if he was shack and never shot. When in reality, there was a brief stretch of time when Jordan was a good three-point shooter. Because of that, he shot a lot of them for the era. And that period was when they moved the line in. And as soon as they moved the line back out, he went from 37% shooting for a game, which was a lot for the mid-90s,

to 23% shooting one and a half a game. And then after he had three years of retirement, seeing that, oh, guys are shooting more and more threes, and my athleticism isn't what it once was, he came back and was a nice, crisp, 19% three-point shooter. Again, he might be the greatest player of all time. there is a strong argument for that but the idea that he just chose to be bad at something rather than it was the one thing he wasn't great at the the idea that because he he he took over

1700 threes in his career and if you again if you i'm trying to do i should have done this beforehand. But when in his career, because his career three point numbers don't actually look awful. It's 32.7. That's fine. But if you remove the years where they moved the line in, so the years where they move the line in, Michael from three was 39%. And the years where it was the regular line was 29%. We don't have to make stuff. up. I'm not going to sit here and say, you know, if LeBron really wanted to, he'd be a 90% free throw shooter. He just chooses not to be. No, he just, it's not, as good as he is, as hard as he works, it's not for him to be a 90% free throw shooter. So, but again, if you believe Michael

Jordan would average 40 in today's game, then you must believe Dominique would average 30. and peak Kevin Durant in the 90s would average like 23. I don't think you actually believe it. Boost Mobile, proving you don't have to overpay for great wireless. Unlock the savings with $25 a month, forever unlimited plan. It's a permanent price with no contracts and no price hikes. You can keep your phone and your number, but you save up to $600 a year compared to the major carrier. Stop overpaying and switch to a fair price at Boost Mobile.

dot com today based on average annual single line payment of AT&T Verizon and T-Bomwell customers compared to 12 months of the Boost Unlimited Plan as of January 2026 for full offer details visit boost mobile.com. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast.

We could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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, and L. Michael 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. Keith Giamanka seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy.

But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong on what that might look like? No. I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has... has been living a double life.

That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, so Janus returned from his five-week hiatus and lost to my Celtics with no Jalen Brown. The Bucks are currently three and a half games out of the playing. What is the goal for the Bucks at this point? All right.

First, I do want to say this. I've been very high on Jalen Brown and his MVP chances and, you know, giving him a lot of respect. I'm now going to say something totally unfair. His first team all-MBA slash MVP ballot consideration took a bit of a hit last night. Just a tiny one. Not because he missed the game, because the guy is basically an Ironman by today's NBA standards, but because he missed the game and it was, and it was just like, Peyton Pritchard's like, no problem.

I got this. Hugo Gonzalez, like, watch me throw up a plus 27 and 35 minutes. Patent Pritcher always has that in him, though. Like, if he was, he can be the guy. No, Peyton Pritcher does. I didn't know Hugo Gonzalez had an 11 and 16. in him. Baylor Shireman with double. All the starters were in double figures. They're 20 of 50 from three and they just annihilate the bucks. And again, I should give a shout

out to the weirdest coach in the NBA Joe Missoula because he's cooking. The guy's cooking. And so we'll get to more of the Celtics piece in a moment. I do think the. end of this season will have at least some impact on whether or not Yonis stays. So I think we can all agree that the bucks have no, even if they were to make the play-in, have no shot of doing any damage in the playoffs. And making the play-in is going to be hard, because they're three and a half back having lost the last two before Janus got back and then last night's game. And the team they're chasing, Charlotte, has been flatly an excellent team for the last like six weeks, maybe close to two months.

So I think they are actually more likely if they were to get in, I don't think it would be because they catch Charlotte, who's the 10. it's because they catch Atlanta, who's the nine. And that's going to be hard. They've played 60 games, they've got 22 games left, and they are three losses behind the Hawks, who are on a little four-game winning streak of their own. And so the reason I mention even any of that is, Janice, you know, doesn't,

I don't think he wants to leave, but I also don't think he wants to stay. I think that he is, he wants to have something that does not exist. The ability to stay in Milwaukee forever and compete for championships in the remainder of his prime. And that, that is not a world that exists. However, the fact that he has not yet forced himself out of there means I don't think he is dead set 100% on leaving. And if Milwaukee could fight its way into the play-in, play good basketball the remainder of the season, then maybe he doesn't force the buck's hand.

Now, there is a very strong argument to be made. He shouldn't have to force their hand. That the Milwaukee Buck's leadership should say, the best thing for the franchise is to. to move on from Janus this summer, to see what if the Spurs have a disappointing postseason, if the Rockets have a disappointing postseason, if the Thunder have a disappointing postseason, what those teams would give us for a guy who is still unequivocally a top five, almost assuredly a top four, very strong argument for a top three player in the

entire world. It seems like neither party here really has the stomach, DeMonze, to want to be the one to officially pull the trigger on a breakup. But I do wonder if in the final 23 games of their season, the first of which was last night, they go 9 and 14 and finish the year. 35 and 47 and, you know, tied with or right behind the Bulls for 12th in the Eastern Conference, if they don't say, okay, it's been an amazing run. Janus has been there a long time.

Janice came into the league in 2013, which remarkably means this is his 13th year with Milwaukee. 13 years with Milwaukee. That is like context on that. LeBron played 15 with the calves and the heat combined. both calves stents plus the heat stint 13 years with a team is an unbelievable run that's as many years as Michael Jordan

played with the Bulls 13 years and so there is no he won a championship it's been an unbelievable career but I do think that if the bucks go what would they have to go

probably in their final 22. If they go 12 and 8 and get to 38 and 42, no, that wouldn't be it. Hold on. What am I? Oh, they have 22 left, not 20 left. Sorry. If they go 13 and 9 and get to 39 and 43, and catch Atlanta and make the play-in,

I wonder if they run it back one more year, which I think would just be a mistake for all parties involved. Do you think a bad postseason would be, or a bad end of the season would be more eye-opening for Janus or the Bucks front office? I think the Bucs front office has basically decided we're only trading him if he tells us to trade him. I don't think that's necessarily the right thing to, way to do it, but I think that's what they've decided. So I guess the answer would be for Janus.

All right, let's talk Celtics on this. So, yeah, that Tatum return is looking likely. Looks like it's coming later this week, actually. And he was talking to the doctor and saying he's not coming back to be a role player. How deep are you reading into that? Or what are you seeing from that? So that clip, correct me if I'm wrong, is from very early in his rehab. It was just released, but it was from very early in his rehab.

So I think what Tatum is saying to the, doctor is we need you know this process to come well no so I don't so I don't think I think people are that's not how I read it I don't think Jason Tatum is saying the day I come back I need to be Jason Tatum that everybody knows I think what Jason Tatum is saying I need to rehab in a way so that once I'm all the way back, rust is off, I've played, you know, once I am back to whatever the peak version of me is, it's the same as the version from before the injury. Do you understand the distinction there? No, I get it.

So I think he's saying, we need to approach this rehab so that at some point, not immediately, but at some point, it's like Kevin Durant, where you see no difference in the player pre and post Achilles on a long enough time horizon, that we are not, you know, I will mix metaphors massively here. You tour your Achilles, there's a different type of Achilles tear, and you actually didn't have surgery. And one of the things they told you flatly was,

if you don't have surgery, you will never regain 100% of the athleticism you had before. You're not a pro athlete. And you know what I mean? You were, you know, you were like, that's fine. I think what Jason Tatum is saying, we need to approach this rehab.

So at some point, I am 100% of the guy I was before. And go ahead. that he like given where the Celtics are right now and when he is going to be coming back that he is more likely to be a role player than not I think he will definitive so I think he's coming back in the next 10 days right the next 10 to 14 days I think he obviously will be a role player for the first right month he's back right yeah but if he does come back in the next week to 10 you know week to two weeks.

And Simmons said he thinks he's coming back Friday. And Simmons pretty plugged in with the Celtics, obviously. Yeah. I think that gives him enough of a runway to where he can be by the time the playoff start. Not his, not peak Tatum. If he comes back in March, I do not think he'll be peak Tatum until the beginning of next season.

but there is a big golf between Peak Tatum and role player. Pete Tatum was first team all-MBA, you know, six, seventh best player in the league, right? Right. So I think by the playoffs, he could be back, he could be the 25th best player in the league. You know, like that. And then maybe by midway through the playoffs,

approaching that top 15. Maybe that's too optimistic, but do I think that Jason Tatum, you know, do you look at Derek White as a role player? I don't. I look at him as a little bit somewhere between. Like a step above role player? Step above role, step below star. Yeah. So like, and I guess maybe there's not a name for that.

So maybe that is a role player, like just a high quality starter. So I think it's like Superstar Star High quality starter role player bench player

You know and then one down That's fair I think when I think the day Tatum comes back He's a role player I think within a few weeks He will be High Quality starter

And I think his goal would be by round two of the playoffs be a star and get back to superstar next season. And I think that's realistic. I think the fact that he had surgery within hours of the injury, that he has been, everything seemingly has been going great,

I think that is realistic. And I just, I've tried to dead this before, but I just want to reiterate it here. I think any discussion about Tatum disrupting what the Celtics have going is utter nonsense. Not because he won't,

at least temporarily, potentially disrupt what they have going. I think he will. But I think what they have going is worth nothing for a team that has championship aspirations. What they have going right now is a really good season and an awesome story

that has no chance of resulting in a championship. And so you can disrupt that, and it's fine if at the end of the disruption, so. Jason Tatum was on the Celtics last year and he's been on the T's also not like a new guy. Oh, yeah. The team is on it's all.

It's not like these guys haven't played with him. Yeah. But I would, I would almost, again, I'll mix metaphors here, and this won't really work. But if midway through a NASCAR race, a car is leading. And, you know, like appears just by that snapshot of time or near, the front that they could win it. Yep. But the people in the, again, mixing metaphors on shaky ground for me, but just stick with me.

The people in the, the pit crew and the spotter are like, oh, man, our front right tire is wobbly. And it's, at some point in this race, it's going, we're going to lose it. Right. It does not disrupt your ability to win the race by taking your medicine, pitting, falling a little back in the pack, and fixing that. Because fixing that is a necessity to have any chance of actually completing the race. That's what I would say Tatum coming back is, you know, on the fly. You know what your ceiling is with the broken tire. Right, but analogous.

You can only go so far. Right. What the Celtics are right now is it's not fake, but it is not championship caliber. And so even if the first few weeks with Tatum are Rocky, that gives you a chance to become championship caliber. And so I also think that does Jason Tatum get to be Jordan Love this year? What does that mean? just talking about how if Jordan loved this year over this season, he had the team, the complete team, as long as he can just be there and not mess up in a huge way,

they should be a Super Bowl team. Michael Parsons obviously got injured and, you know, it got a little derailed, but I saw some similarities there. So I think that's interesting. I'm trying to think if there's another comp that I would have for it. Because we don't have many examples. examples of a team who all of a sudden is going to drop in this late in the season, a guy who objectively has been an is their best player with hopes of winning the title.

Right. Already there. Yeah. And so it's very fascinating. This is also where Tatum is a bit of a victim of his own rehab. and I've talked about this, so I'll move on after this. If Tatum just had a regular rehab schedule and there was no chance he was coming back this year, I think this Celtics playoff run would have reminded the world how valuable he is to that team. That this Celtics season, when if he never came back, it ended in round two in the playoffs. Now, I understand last year, it also ended in round two in the playoffs, but in previous years, we'd seen the team win the title, make a bunch of conference finals, make an NBA finals,

it would, as good as Jalen Brown has been, as good as Missoula has been, as good as the team has been, remind folks that in order to be able to win 16 playoff games, hell, to win 12 playoff games, there's a requisite talent level that I don't think the Celtics without. Jason Tatum have. But it doesn't look like we're going to see a playoff run without Jason Tatum because I think he'll be back. By the time I get back from Japan, again, reminder, no shows next week. We are doing Thursday, but no shows next week because I'll be in Japan.

I think that Jason Tatum's back playing ball with the Celtics. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey,

Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Oden Kirk 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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprise. of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to him. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation.

I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.