The Kevin Sheehan Show - The Deserving Raptors and Guest Jonathan Allen

Episode Date: June 14, 2019

Kevin opens with Toronto's NBA Championship close-out win last night in Oakland. Redskins' defensive tackle Jonathan Allen was a guest on the show as was ESPN's Bobby Marks to discuss the Wizards' reported pending offer to Raptors' GM Masai Ujiri. Some US Open and the Redskins' intriguing hire too. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right. I am here. Aaron is here. This show is presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation. And tell them we told you to call. Redskins defensive tackle Jonathan Allen will be a guest on the show today. He's playing in a golf tournament. We'll get him for about 10 to 15 minutes. We'll do that in about a half and a half. hour. Also, Bobby Marks from ESPN will be on with us to talk about the NBA finals, certainly, and the story that broke last night from Adrian Wojnerowski at ESPN, that Ted Liancis and the Wizards are going to offer Toronto GM Maasai Ujiri a massive deal, a massive deal worth $10 million a year and equity ownership in the team to come to Washington. So we'll talk to Bobby about that. But we start with the Toronto Raptors deserving NBA champions. Fortunate, yes,

fortunate that they faced a team that didn't have Kevin Durant and were missing Clay Thompson for the fourth quarter of the deciding game last night. Yes, that's true, but deserving. That was a damn good basketball team that we watched over the last couple of months and then watched in particular in these NBA finals with a true superstar playing really over the last two months better than he's ever played before. Kauai Leonard, though, didn't do it by himself. This wasn't LeBron leading Amman Shumpert and Matt Delavadova and Timothy Mosgob and Mike Miller to within two games of a title back in 2015.

Leonard had help. Kyle Lowry was spectacular in these finals. Last night, scoring the first 11 points, setting the tone early. Siakum was great at times, especially last night. Garcassal, Serge Abaka. How about the series of Baca had? And Fred Van Vleet was so clutch last night and throughout these NBA finals. They were all instrumental in Toronto winning a title. They stepped up big time in these finals, even more than they had in the Raptor's previous series wins over the Bucks and 76ers. Fortunate, yes, that they got to face a championship team, a dynastic team,

at less than full strength. But they were the superior team for much of these finals, so much so that I believe, Aaron, call me nuts, I believe after watching these Raptors over the last couple of months, the last month in particular, I think they could have beaten a full strength golden state team and a best seven. We'll never know, all right, we'll never know for sure,

but this was not a case in my view of a team being gifted. did a title. I just, I didn't feel that way watching this team. No, I don't know if I'd go as far as you and say, I mean, they could have beaten. I don't know if I would say they would have beaten a fully healthy team, but here I think is a fact, they won what, 20 to 21 of the 24 quarters that were played? Yeah, they were, for 75% of this series, they were the superior team, and it wasn't even really close during the 75% of that time. I don't know if they would have beaten a Kevin Durant healthy, you know, Warriors team. I'm just saying they could have. I don't think it would have been as much of a given as many do, because I think history is going to remember this series

as the title that Toronto won because Kevin Durant didn't play. And then, oh, by the way, Clay Thompson, in the midst of having a great game in game six, 30 points and 31 minutes, tore his ACL late in the third quarter and couldn't play in the fourth quarter of a game that the Warriors, I think history will remember this. The Warriors would have probably won. to force a game seven. I don't know that they would have probably won last night. Had Clay Thompson stayed in the game or not. Look, they had already won in this series

three games against the warriors with Clay Thompson healthy in the series. So it's a series that's going to be remembered for who didn't play. I'm going to choose to remember it as a championship earned by a really, really good team. The other thing I'll remember from this series, Aaron, is having bet on the same team in every single game of these NBA finals. I bet on Toronto six straight games, and I went four, one and one with the Raptors in the series. It's funny because you know that I picked the Warriors to win the series before it started, but each night we'd sit here before each game and we would talk about the number,

and I'd said each night, I'm going to play Toronto. And I felt last night was the night. I thought they were going to close him out last night. I didn't play them on the money line. I played them plus the points. But, yeah, Toronto, 4-1-1-1 against the number. So the last two weeks were not only entertaining for me, but profitable as well. You know, the game last night was high-level sports entertainment.

I don't get the people, and I have a lot of friends that feel this way. They're huge sports fans, but they tell me that they don't watch the NBA. I get the NBA regular season, all right? The playoffs, though, it's a completely different product than the regular season. I'm not sure that in any of the four professional sports, there is such a difference between the postseason and the regular season. Maybe hockey. But the NBA is a completely different sport in the postseason. And it's great theater.

I'm not talking about the off-the-court stuff. I'm talking about these games. They were great. And last night was incredible. theater. There was another major injury, you know, but that even brought an incredibly compelling moment in the game last night. Clay Thompson tears his ACL, leaves the floor, but comes right back out of the tunnel sprinting, by the way, to shoot the two free throws. By the way, that was a totally, you know, clean play by Danny Green. It was a foul, but it was a, it was not a dirty play.

The Warriors seemed to be a little bent out of shape in the moment. There was a lot of, you know, woe is me with the Warriors the last few games. But his return, you know, they went to a commercial and then they come right back out of the commercial and Oracle is erupting. And I think it was Van Gundy who said right before the break, he has to come back and shoot these free throws because if he gets replaced as a free throw shooter for injury, he can't come back into the game. Now, nobody knew in the moment that he had torn ACL and the way he was bouncing around,

I thought he was going to come back, but he had to come back in that moment, or he would have been ineligible to come back once he was replaced on those free throws. So he comes back, he knocks down the free throws, they take a foul defensively to get him out of the game, and, you know, a 30 point night and 31 minutes comes to an end, and he never comes back. You know, the reports from Doris, the first one was he didn't feel anything pop, and he's trying to move around, and Clayton, Thompson, you can tell, you know, is a, he's a badass competitor. We've heard that over and over again from his teammates. He wanted to come back on a torn ACL. By the way, unlike an Achilles or calf injury, you actually can't do anything to a torn ACL. Once it's torn, there's nothing else you can do to it. He couldn't come back and play. I'm not suggesting that, but he wouldn't have damaged it any further. He just wouldn't have had the movement. But that was such a crazy

moment in the game last night when he came back to shoot those free throws. There were other moments. I already mentioned. Kyle Lowry's start to the game last night, set the tone, came out firing, 11 points, first 11 points of the game for the Raptors, and then Van Vleet late. I mean, clutch threes, including the shot that gave them the 104-101 lead, a lead that they would not relinquish. But you're sitting there when Clay Thompson is ruled out and leaves the game. You're expecting this to end, but the warriors are hanging in there. You know, with that championship medal and they're hanging in there trying to force a game seven.

Clay Thompson all night long before the injury was badass. You know, the Warriors without him still managed to have the ball down one late in the game with a chance to win it or to take the lead and Steph missed. And by the way, and I saw this, and Aaron looked up some other numbers as well. Steph Curry now is 0 for 8 in the playoffs. on field goal attempts in the final 20 seconds to take the lead.

Now he's 3 for 4 on shots to tie games in the final 20 seconds, but 0 for 8 to win games or to give him the lead in the final 20 seconds. Aaron looked up some other players' numbers. Jordan was 7 for 15 in the postseason with under 20 seconds to go to take the lead. LeBron, this is shocking to me. 12 for 23 on final 22nd field goal attempts to take the lead in the postseason. Harden 1 for 12, Kobe 5 for 22, and Westbrook 1 for 10. I think those were the ones that you found.

LeBron's number surprises me because I sort of feel like the first part of LeBron's career, postseason career, was a lot of end of game not wanting to take the shots, first of all. I think a lot of that probably came in the next portion of his career. Anyway, one quick note on Steph Curry. He looked off to me all night long. It looked to me like losing the series was an eventuality in his mind. I'm projecting here. I understand that.

But the Durant injury, I think, took some life out of the franchise and out of Curry in particular. He took just 17 shots last night. Not a lot for Steph Curry. especially given who wasn't on the floor last night. He had just one shot attempt in the first 10.5 minutes of the game last night. He got fouled on it, went to the free throw line, just one shot attempt in the first 10.5 minutes of the game, and I think just three in the first quarter in total.

He just didn't look like Steph last night. I didn't like the look all night long. A friend of mine texted me last night. It was the third quarter, I think. Look at Curry. He's not into it. And this is where my friend Doc Walker, when his sort of theory of not talking about injured players, not talking about players who aren't playing in the game,

next man up. I think the Warriors needed that to be more of the conversation the last few days. It was way too much anguish and grief over an injury to Kevin Durant. A serious injury, I get it. but it was not more about, hey, you know what, next man up, we're down three, two in the NBA finals. I think Thompson and Green played like their lives depended on it last night. I didn't think Steph did. I'm a huge fan of Steph. Who knows? Maybe it was just an off night for him, and I don't want to beat to death, you know, what I've beaten to death the last few days,

about him being in and the team being so broken up over the Durant injury. But I cannot imagine Michael Jordan being so broken up over, let's say, an injury to Scotty Pippen, where he would take just 17 shots in an elimination game, in just one shot in the first 10 and a half minutes of an elimination game. He's one of my favorite players. He just didn't look up to it last night, in my view. The game, by the way, just had everything. It had everything, especially if you're really into, you know, basketball,

you know, nerd basketball. Like the Raptors playing, continuing to play some body. and one, playing some zone. The Warriors played a bunch of zone last night for the first time in this series, especially with cousins on the floor, because he was really struggling in the pick and roll defensively. Siakum was a beast. They could not stop him from getting to the rim when he wanted to. Draymond Green was one technical foul away from a suspension like missing game seven, had they won. Did he not look like he was pushing it there in moments last night with referees? Now, I watched all of the press conferences last night, post-game press conferences after the game last night,

and Draymond said he was too smart to get one, and those were more conversations and good relationships. But there were a couple of outbursts from Green. I don't think they were going to tee him up unless he really said something offensive. But by the way, on Draymond Green, does anybody fill up a stat sheet like Draymond Green does? Last night, 19 rebounds, 13 assists, 11 points, 3 steals, 2 blocks, and 8 turnovers. You know, including a crucial one down the stretch. Draymond Green, I mean a stat sheet stuffer and plays as hard as anybody does. A winner through and through.

Eight turnovers aren't great, but look at what he does for you on the positive side. By the way, they missed an offensive goaltending call on him. In fact, the Warriors, as I mentioned, there was a lot of complaining. A little bit of woe as me, I think, here over the last couple of days. They missed an offensive goaltending call on Draymond Green. There was a call late in the game where cousins plowed over Lowry, and they called Lowry for the foul. I thought it was terrible. Curried, when they were down 11-108, basically tripped up himself, and they called a foul.

I actually thought the Warriors were getting the benefit of the whistle last. night, even though they seemed to be complaining that they weren't. By the way, also on Dremont Green, let's not forget, he called that timeout. But really, that actually gave him a chance, because rolling around on the ground with one second left, there was no way with no timeouts, they were going to be able to do what Virginia did against Purdue, right, in that Elite 8 game, where they were able to throw the ball and get a shot off before the buzzer sounded. The clock would have run out. Taking that time out, even though it was a technical foul, actually gave him a chance,

not much of a chance, but more of a chance down the stretch. But a terrific close-out game, ton of drama, and of course it had Kauai Leonard, the obvious MVP, who was not the go-to guy last night, interestingly enough.

He wasn't. His presence allowed everything else to happen for Toronto. They were running double teams at them all night long, but what a run. Historic run. Two months of brilliant, certainly the last month anyway. You know, people forgot about him. I wanted the Wizards last year, on the radio show, I said last year, Aaron, I want the Wizards to trade the entire team for Kauai Leonard. I don't care

if he's here for a year. You have to have somebody like him to have a chance to contend for a title. Many of you out there lectured me on how stupid that would have been in, and I don't know, I'm not saying the Wizards would have been in the position that the Raptors were last night had they traded the entire team for Kauai Leonard, but you don't have a chance without an elite superstar in the NBA, and he is that. This postseason run of his is all-time great. The shot to end the Philly series was the first ever. This was a shocker to me. First ever game seven buzzer-beater. I can't believe in the history of the game that there wasn't another game seven buzzer-beating game winner. His was the first in NBA history to close out the Sixers. He scored 732 points in this postseason, third most in

NBA history behind Michael Jordan and LeBron James. His performances down the stretch in the Milwaukee series in particular, after they fell behind in that series two games to none were incredible. And then in these finals, the games three and four, in the stretch in game five, you know, before the Nick Nurse timeouts, just breathtaking to watch him play. He was the best defensive player on the floor much of the time. He's the third player to win the MVP on two separate teams. Kareem and LeBron are the other two. Kareem did it with the Bucks and the Lakers. LeBron did it with the Cavs and the heat. He's the fourth player in NBA history to win the finals MVP in his first season with a team. Magic did it as a rookie. Moses Malone did it.

in his first year with the 76ers, and Durant did it just a few years ago in his first year with the Warriors. But here's something that really, I think, reflects what Kauai Leonard was over this stretch of the 2019 playoffs. He led the entire league in points, rebounds, and steals during this postseason. The first player to lead in all three of those statistical categories since Larry Bird did it in 1984. He was sensational in this postseason. He proved what many thought,

and that was that he was a major mistake made by the spurs to not figure that out with him. I mean, Kauai Leonard basically, somebody called me this morning, early this morning, and said, Kauai Leonard is going to be the first player in history to end four dynasties. He ended the Miami Heat Dynasty. He ended the Spurs Dynasty by leaving. He ended the Warriors Dynasty,

and he's about to end this short-lived Toronto Dynasty. Of course, it's not a dynasty. I hope he comes back. As an NBA fan, I hope he comes back to Toronto. I'd like to watch that team next year, you know, try to defend the title as it, as, the team we saw here in the postseason. He'll probably go to L.A., I guess. I don't know. There's a player option for 21.3 million. I hope he stays. By the way, the Raptors became the first

NBA champion since 1966 to win the title without a top 14 drafted player. So a lottery pick. They didn't have the lottery in 1966, but a top 14 pick overall. First NBA champion. Nothing says about the NBA more than that, well, that's not necessarily true because the drafted position doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it really is a sport where you, it's about the players. You have to have the best players or you don't win titles. By the way, the Raptors finished 4 and 0 at Oracle this year.

3-0 in the NBA Finals, and they won their only regular season game there, and we saw an NBA finals this year where the final five games of this series were won by the road team. That's amazing. You don't see that a lot in the NBA postseason. But Kauai's run was magical. I loved watching it. I loved listening to Kyle Lowry talk about Kauai Leonard. I'm after the game. He said, quote, I told him day one, this is your team. I'm going to make sure you're the man. and when he did special things, I told him he was the man. And Kauai Leonard said about Lowry, that's just the type of guy he is. He wants to win, very competitive player.

Like I said before, Kyle's been a big help with me in my transition, just knowing things throughout the city and obviously basketball, close quote. And speaking of that city, my God, that city partied last night. There were shots of downtown Toronto. like you, I mean, I don't know that I've ever seen that for an NBA celebration. Apparently, this was going on in many cities in Canada last night. It's funny because it was a country win more than it was just a city win. But that franchise and that team last night really, really deserved it.

I enjoyed watching it. I thought it was great. You said that you told me before the show, the number did a 13.8 last night for game. game six. 13-2, I think. 13-2. Not great, but better than the early games, I think, in the series, I believe. And, you know, I'm sure the NBA was hoping for a game seven. It would have been really dramatic.

Imagine if Steph had knocked down that shot. They had won, and they would have gone into game seven without Clay, without Durant. I don't think that they, by the way, I would have, for the first time in this series, I think you would have seen a team favored by more than four points. Without Clay Thompson, I think Toronto would have gone into game. is a solid five six-point favorite in game seven had it gotten there. Anyway, we will talk to Bobby Marks from ESPN in a little bit, get his thoughts on what now becomes the focus in the NBA, and that is free agency in the draft.

The draft is next week, right? The draft is actually this coming Thursday, I believe. I think it was a week from last night, June 20th. And then you get the free agency, which, you know, in that league. I think a lot of people enjoy all of the stuff that, you know, isn't game-related as much as they enjoy the games. Not me. I enjoyed the games in this particular series. I think it was a memorable series. All right, we'll get to Bobby Marks in about 20 minutes. John Allen coming up next. Quick word, though, about Window Nation. Window Nation's summer savings event going on right now.

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That's 86690 Nation for free windows and tell them that I sent you. All right, let's welcome in Redskins defensive lineman John Allen to the program. Of course, John is part of a defense that I think most of us would say is the strength of the team. First of all, how are you? I'm doing good. Thanks for having me. No, it's great to have you. Let's get to it. The defense looks, John, like the strength of the football.

team. I mean, it started fast last year. Didn't finish well, but still would appear to be the area of the team that fans can be genuinely excited about. Rob Ryan suggested that he's coaching a top five type of defense. What's your feeling on how good it can be? I mean, I didn't even believe that we could be as good as we want to be, and that's easily the first best defense in the league. But, I mean, with that being said, there's a lot of speculation. We have a lot of potential, but honestly, in this world, it doesn't mean anything. So it really doesn't matter until we go out there, week one against Philadelphia and prove that we can't play as a unit,

be a top-five defense. You know, I've read your answers to that in recent weeks, and I like your answer there, because, you know, the organization has been good over the years at telling us what they can do, not as good at showing us. And I did read a few weeks ago where you said, it's not about anything but what we do on the field.

As a leader, how do you get that, message across to everybody. It's just one thing, you've got to just, I mean, I just live by it. I mean, if it's not about what we're doing on the field, it's really not that important to me, and I don't really give us time or day. I mean, anybody could talk about what they can do, but very few to show what they can do and talk about it. So I'm just really focused on what we can do.

And, I mean, I have really high expectations on our host, and I'm really like the cultural we're doing around there. But like I keep saying, it really doesn't matter until we go out on the field and do it. All right, let's talk about you. You're going into your third year. your first two seasons, obviously your rookie year shortened by injury, but we got a glimpse of what you could do. Last year, a tremendous season.

Entering your third year now, you've got to feel for what the NFL is like. I know you're a team guy, but what kind of personal goals have you set for yourself this year? You know, I really don't think there's too many personal goals that I set. Everything I want to accomplish through the team will also help me achieve my personal goal. I mean, if we go out there and be a top five defense and we dominate like I want to, and like I know we can. Almost every personal goal that I want probably will be included under what we've done as a team. So I mean, as personal goals, I really don't have

any, I should have a set of standards and the expectations that I live myself, that I keep myself to what I live by, you know? So, yeah, I really don't have any personal goals. I just want to dominate every opponent and I'm working every day to do that. And if I do that, week and a week out, I feel like everything I want will be accomplished. Good answer. I, I'm curious then what you think as we watch you this year. Will we notice anything different. Have you improved in an area or two? And if so, what are those areas? I'm really just trying to build off what I did last year. Just be more consistent. You know, I feel like that's what excellence is. It's sustained consistency and doing the

day in and day out that you need to do to be successful. You know, that's a coach stable would always say. So I just try to get better with my techniques, stay on top of my waist, staying on top of my weight training, my dietary program. And just doing that at a consistent level, but at a higher level, too. So really, I just want to all around be a better player, be a guy that you see more when, you know, I always get a player if he jumps off on tape. And I want to be the guy that jumps off on tape to people.

So there's not really one area where I'm like, this is what I want to do better. I don't want to be a better player overall. All right, so a mutual friend of ours. Let's just call him Mr. Donation. Mr. Donation told me that Matt Ionitis is bigger, stronger, and about to have a big time impact on the, upcoming season. What should we expect from him this year?

Matt Inanitis is going to have a great season. I mean, I'm not going to speak for anybody else because, I mean, they got to do their own talking with how they play. But I can tell you he's bust in his butt right now. He's doing everything that you're worn out of a team guy and honestly a leader. So I think you're going to see great things out of Matt Anitis this year. But kind of like I said before, the D-line, we'd rather to just show you what we're going to do rather than talk about it. And that's what I love. I mean, my, my, my, my, My motto here on radio and on this podcast is stop overselling and, stop, you know, overselling and under-delivering.

And I think you're one of those type of guys and the organization needs people like John Allen in it. Duron Payne, hard to move them, right? Tell us a little bit about, you know, what we'll see from him in his second season, do you think? I think you'll see a lot what you see in the first season, just a little bit more comfortable confident. I mean, your rookie year, you don't really know what to expect. But, I mean, going into your second year, you've already done it. He played those whole 16 games, and I think he's just

going to have it really continue where he left off at last year. Is Tim Settle even 21 years old yet? I know how young he is, and a lot of people think he's got, you know, tremendous potential. Where can he have an impact in his second season? I genuinely feel like, as of right now, we have five, really six guys who could start on a lot of NFL teams on the defensive line. I'm really liking our defensive line group. So, I mean, you're going to see a bunch of guys who can play and rotate and just do our job. And I would imagine that you'd include Caleb Brantley in that conversation. Tell everybody who watches Coach Tom Sula from afar, what makes him so effective as a position coach?

Honor, his honesty, his honesty. First time I met Jim, he said, you're not fast enough, and you're two weeks to do what I'm asking you do. But you've got to get stronger before I can genuinely coach. you. And I'm like, dang, all right, all right. You know what I mean? It's very rare. A coach will come in to say that. I mean, if you're overweight, then Tom will come and say, you're honestly too fat to do what I'm asking you to do. I need more, you know? So, man. He's honest and everybody needs that. You've got to have some honesty.

I can't imagine anybody ever telling you at least in the last couple of years that you were too fat. No, I mean, no. I mean, I'm just using that as an example. I mean, that's what it comes down to. I feel like in today, you have too many, from what I've, you know, here from other guys, a lot of coaches might not want to tell you the hard truth. But, I mean, I feel like the best friend you'll ever have is the one that's telling me, the one who tells you you're wrong,

the one who tells you you're not doing what you need to do, the one who gets on you. I thought the brutally honest friend, I feel like that's a friend that I want. And that's what Jim Thomas is. He's brutally honest. I'm excited about Montez Sweat. Tell me why I'm right.

Six, six, so as a four, four, super strong, super long, and athletic, and he wants to work. I mean, you're not excited about that. I don't know what else to tell you. You know, you guys can spot, you know, someone who can play and who can't play pretty early on. What are the early thoughts, though, from you and your teammates about seeing Montez at OTAs and minicamp? I love everything I've seen. I really don't try to judge a player until I see him with pads on, so I really can't talk too much about it.

It's because when the pads get on, it's just a different game. But from everything I've seen, he's a hard worker and he's athletic. I mean, there's really nothing else. for them out of OPAs. You are, I think, the perceived anyway, from outside, and I think most of your teammates would say this, that you've developed into

one of the team leaders in the locker room and certainly on defense. Does Landon Collins bring that same kind of, you know, presence to the locker room? 100%. I mean, guys who can play can play, which he can play, without a doubt.

On top of that, he's just a great person to be around. He wants to win. wants to do things the right way. And that's what I consider a leader. All right. So you're D. Lyman, but you know football. And you're out there in OTAs and mini-camp. And a big part of the conversation about this team, John, between now and opening day, as it is in many cities, but it will be here is, you know, the quarterback battle. From what you've seen from your side of the ball, just in OTAs, mini-camp and what you're hearing, what are your thoughts about Dwayne Haskins so far in Case Keenham?

I like them a lot. I like them both a lot. I mean, I'm going to be honest. I'm a defensive tackle, so I get paid to affect the quarterback on top the run. But from what I was seen, I like both of them. I feel like they can both play. But like I said, I have no idea what it takes to be a good quarterback in the NFL. So I don't know if that's really a question I can answer honestly. Sure.

With any merit. Yeah, no, that's fine. Is there a player right now that maybe fans aren't thinking about in terms of making an impact next year, but that you guys know or have a sense or a gut feel has a chance to have, you know, a bigger impact than most are thinking at this point? Is there a surprise guy that you think we should keep an eye out on for, an eye on for? If you follow the rescue, you might not find the surprise, but I feel like Camson is going to be a dominant receiver in the NFL this year. And that's just my, that's my early, that's my early guess. I really like what

I'm seeing out of him. Yeah, he's a big dude, too, right? I mean, and, and there's the opportunity is there at wide receiver as well. That's a good one because I think a lot of, we've heard a lot of things about Cam Sims, but that's interesting because they just haven't had the size at receiver, you know, here in recent years. We're talking to John Allen here, and I appreciate the time. John's getting ready to go out and play in a golf tournament,

but I was just curious, you know, do you have any thoughts? You know, it seems like there's always, you know, something going on that isn't football related in this organization. Do you have any thoughts on the Trent Williams situation? Honestly, I really don't have too much to say about it, but really my main concern is Trent's okay. From everything I heard, Trent's okay. That's really where all my attention is focus is at right now. Anything other than that, I really don't have too much to say about it, to be honest. The team needs him, though, doesn't it?

Oh, 100%. Not a doubt. He's the best best tackle in the NFL. All right. Well, listen, I didn't want to take up too much of your time, and I appreciate the time that you've given me. And I know you're heading out on the golf course, and it's going to be fun watching you guys next year. Hopefully, you know, this is one of those years, John. I think there's an urgency about this season.

I don't know if you guys feel the same. But when it comes to things like the organization, which hasn't, you know, been in the postseason. since 2015, only won one playoff game really in the last two decades. Do you guys feel a certain urgency about this year or not? 100%. I mean, everybody should feel this urgency so that any moment anybody can be replaced. Your job is never safe in the NFL. And every year you're fighting for your job.

So, I mean, not even talking about the team. Every player should have a sense of urgency to keep their job, and me included. No spot is guaranteed. If I go out there and I'm stinking it up, I'm guaranteed, I'll be replaced, you know? So you should never ex-go in the league and never feel safe and confident or not confident, but you should never feel safe and relax. You should always be on your toes and always have a sense of urgency. I'm just glad you're not fat anymore, man.

Hey, thank you for the time. Really appreciate it. Hit him straight today and can't wait to see this defense when the season starts. All right. Appreciate it. Thanks to John Allen for jumping on. He had a short window there before he needed to be on the golf course and was nice enough to call in and give us a few minutes. He is a class act. He is a mature guy for his age. He's a leader, and he gets it. They haven't had a lot of those guys. John Allen's one of them. And the combination of Allen, pain, ionitis, settle, Brantley, you know, that front, that defensive front is the strength of this football team. I don't think there's any doubt about it. And if Montez-Sweet ends up being what I hope he can be and what people are already starting to sense he could be.

With Carrigan coming back, hopefully, you know, as effective as he's been, they got a chance to be good defensively. You know, there's still some question marks in the secondary. I mean, they got a safety, obviously, in Collins. But, you know, the corner situation isn't solidified, I would say. You still have another safety there. You got to stay healthy. You got to be well coached. You know, all of those things are true about a defense. that has a lot of talent in its front seven. It does. A lot of young talent. It's the most encouraging thing about the franchise. For all of you that say we're always so negative, not true, not true at all. I've been very, very bullish on this team's young talent on defense.

Ionitis, pain, Allen, settle. I can tell you this, some of the coaches think Brantley is a talent. Sean Dionne Hamilton, you heard it mentioned the other day that he was one of the real, you know, performers. so far here in the off season. Sweat for sure as a talent. Collins, I think Nicholson's a tremendous talent. They've got to keep them healthy. You know, Moreau.

Moreau was the other guy, you know, that Jay Gruden mentioned the other day. Young talent. Got a lot of talent on defense. You can win football games in the NFL with great defense. They were not a great defense last year. They were an improved defense last year.

And it looked like it was on the verge of becoming a very good defense last year. But, you know, some of that, let's be fair, were, you know, was a result of performances against some teams that weren't very good offensively. Because when they faced really good offensive teams like New Orleans and Atlanta, they got lit up a little bit. So you've got to see improvement. You've got to see a well-coached defense. But the most promising thing you can say about the Redskins organization is they have over the last few years, they have been able to add some legitimate upper tier defensive talent to their roster. So it's young, it's talented. Again, it's got to come together. It's got to be coached well.

It's got to develop well, but they've got a shot defensively to be a competitive outfit next year. That'll keep them in a lot of games, as we saw last year, you know, in the first seven, eight games of the season. All right, quick word about stamps.com. If you're a small business, listen closely. You need stamps.com. Stamps.com has become one of the most popular time-saving tools for small businesses. Over 700,000 small businesses are already using stamps.com.

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that simple. With Stamps.com, you get five cents off every first class stamp and up to 40% off priority mail. It's a no-brainer. It saves you time and money. Right now, my listeners get a special offer. So listen closely, especially again if you are in a small business and responsible for this area in your small business. My offer includes a four-week trial plus free postage and a digital scale without any long-term commitment. Go to stamps.com. click on the microphone at the top of the homepage, type in Kevin DC. That's K-E-V-I-N-D-C. That's my code. Stamps.com. Enter Kevin, D.C. All right, let's bring in Bobby Marks, who I've had on this show before and had on the radio show

multiple times, and I enjoy the conversation with him. Bobby is a former NBA executive and now covers the sport for ESPN. And before we get to the Wizard of the Wizard. story that broke last night, which is obviously of interest to people listening to this podcast. And then, you know, everything that will be going on with NBA Free Agency, just your reaction to the game last night in the series overall. Well, I thought game five and six were played at, you know, such a high level here. And especially with how Gold State was kind of backed up against the wall with Durant going out in game five.

And then Clay, you know, certainly in third quarter of game five. that Toronto had to earn it. I mean, they really did for, you know, to go against the decimated Golden State team. And they did. I mean, the role players hit some big shots, especially with Fred Van Fleet. And, you know, I thought that with Duran out of the equation here, that Toronto was just a better team overall, I think, from one to one to eight here. But it's fascinating, and we'll talk about it. But, you know, a series ends, and now there's so many.

questions for both. You know, I mean, it was Kauai and Clay and KB. But yeah, I thought, you know, that the Raptors, you know, certainly had an opportunity to close it out in game five, and they didn't, but they took advantage of it in game six. You know, sports talk radio, sports podcasts are, you know, it's an environment for the what-ifs and the hypotheticals, but I talked about it here earlier in the show. And I think you had a sense, too, that Toronto really earned it. I thought they were the superior team throughout the series for, you know, 75 to 80% of the action. And the what if is, what if Golden State had been completely healthy? And my view was I would have given after watching what I watched, not just in this series,

but in the Milwaukee series as well, even with a healthy Kevin Durant and a healthy team, I would give now, I wouldn't have before the series started, but I would give Toronto a shot. I agree. I think this is probably, you know, they've been to five NBA finals, Golden State has, and I know they lost to Cleveland in 2016, but I think this Toronto team is probably the best team that Golden State has faced. And I think the, I don't want to put an asterisk next to the Cleveland win, but, you know, the Draymond certainly getting suspended, you know, impacted that, you know, the back end of that

those games here. So, yeah, I think we're how this Toronto, especially. you have at home court too. I think that played a factor in it a little bit. How this Toronto team is built. I think they were built to compete against the Golden State. I think the regular season improved it. I think it would have been fascinating if Durant did not get injured because of as you saw, you know, just in that brief, I guess, what, first quarter in game five, what he could do? And I think what you saw was Clay throughout the series, the impact when he was on the court and when he wasn't on the court.

I think these finals, too, Bobby, and I want your thoughts on this, really illustrate something that I've always felt and I've talked about, and that is this is a sport where you cannot win a title without a top three to top five player. And Toronto's like case in point, right? Because before Kauai, they always ran up against a limitation, you know, and couldn't get through the conference finals. And then with Kauai, they win a title.

And, you know, when they brought them on, I thought they were the best team in the East going into, this season. But the interesting thing is they were so much more than Kauai in these NBA finals, but you have to have one of those guys or you're just playing for hopefully a conference final and maybe to get to the finals, but not win it. Do you agree or disagree? Oh, I agree 100%.

I think what we saw in, you know, the end of that Philly series in a game 7 when basically Kauai had to kind of put the team on his on his back. I don't think that recipe works, you know, where you have one guy and then you're waiting on role players to kind of step up. And I think the formula is that, and I think that, and this is kind of, maybe it'd be a trend going forward that maybe you don't need to build a team around the big three or two max players here. If you have a top five or top six player like Toronto did and then really good role players,

guys that know their identity with Lowry and Abaca and. Sullivan, Fleet, Norm Powell, Danny Green, guys like that, I think that gives you a really good chance because when you go top-heavy with your roster, and I think you saw it a little bit with Golden State, and, you know, that team has won multiple championships here, is that you better hit it in free agency with your debt, and you're restricted-based, you know, you have your minimum exception, your draft picks, tax mid-level here. So that's where it puts such a priority on the front office, and that's where, you know, Syu's your president has done a fantastic job.

I mean, you know, I think they made, said a stat last night as the first NBA team to win a championship without having a lottery pick on that team. Yeah, without having a top 14 pick. Which is amazing. And I think that sends a good message to league. Hey, you don't need the bottom out every year. You can, if you've got a strong personnel department

and you can make true trades and have a, you know, have a right staff as far as coaching, you have a chance. I mean, you really do, but you do need one of those. top, you do need an elite player like that to carry you when you do need. And Kauai didn't need to carry that team last night. I think Kyle came out and set the tone, and then Kauai made some big shots. But yeah, it's going to be interesting how the teams build based on what Toronto did. Yeah, this was, it's a great point.

I mean, Lowry set the tone last night. Van Vliet really closed it out, and it was, you know, Kauai wasn't even the go-to-go-to guy down the stretch last night, which is why, you know, as great as he was, and it was historic, and I enjoyed every minute of it, and he carried him at times in the Milwaukee series and, you know, in portions of this series as well. One last thought on the game last night, and maybe the last couple of days in particular, I just want your thoughts on this, because I've spent some time here over the last couple of days, a bit surprised over what I perceive to be an incredible grief-stricken, anguished reaction to a severe injury.

Don't get me wrong, but I thought Steph looked off last night. Like, I think this Durant thing really impacted them to a level. Didn't impact Clay Thompson or Draymond Green as much, but I thought Steph just didn't look like Steph last night. You're right. I think the first quarter, you know, there was a stretch where I don't think you took a shot attempt, at least in the first seven or eight minutes. One shot attempt in the first 10 and a half minutes of the game. Yeah.

So he was certainly hesitant as far as he kind of deferred a lot. I thought to Clay and Clay certainly made big shots before he got injured. But yeah, I think the toll of five years playing deep into mid-June is it brings about a tremendous fatigue, emotional fatigue on yourself here. And I think you saw that a little bit with this, with this. team, the injuries to Durant, the injury to Clay, that it just saps the energy out of you. And I think you did see that with, I think you did what to see that with Steph. I think it'd be interesting to go back and look at how much of an effect did game three

have on Curry for the rest of the series when he basically had to go for, what, 47? 47. He was playing, you know, without Durant and without Thompson as far as, you know, the energy level has to go cross-country back to Toronto for a game five, back to. Golden State for game six here, how much that had an impact on him. Yeah, you just reminded me of something, too. So I'm going to just correct myself from earlier in the show when I said, you know, they had won three games against the Warriors with Clay.

They actually had won two because Clay had missed game three. So, all right, I want to get to the Wizards here in a moment because that's what a lot of my listeners are interested in in this report from Adrian Wojernett and Wojner, last night. But in terms of what's next in the NBA, so where do the Warriors go? What does Durant end up doing when he is a guy that right now likely won't play for the majority, if not all, of 2019, 2020? Well, I think the first thing is that he will likely opt out of his contract by the end of June, June 29th. He's got a $31 million player option here. And I think, you know, his agent, Rich Climmon will, you know, I said, canvas the league and see if there's an opportunity

somewhere else that he can get a four-year, $164 million max, or if it's in Golden State for $5 for $2.21, I would be really surprised if Golden State did not offer that to him, even knowing that he's going to be out of year in that regard. I mean, you look at what he's been able to save that organization, I think $70 million in the last two years by taking a, you know, I don't want to say pay cup because we're, you know, I mean, a pay cut for us is taking a lot. But, you know, when you go from 34 to, what, 30 and 30 to 25, it saves them a lot of money here. But I think it will come up to Durant to decide on do I want to change machinery?

Am I comfortable with the medical staff there at the front office? He's been there three years. But I do think there will be teams waiting for him if he does enter free agency. And the old state is not the place to be. So I think that's kind of step one, and then I think Clay is certainly step two. And we never really factor clay was going to be likely missing most of next year also. But, yeah, you could have two players on your inactive list that make $80 million combined. And I think that's the reality that Golden State is going to need to accept

because you will get those players back, maybe not next year, but in 2020, and you will still be a really, really good team. You know, the downside is like, you know, if you go in a different direction, it's not like all of a sudden you have, you know, $60 million in cap space to go out and replace them. It's, you know, you have, I think you have 14. So I'm expecting both players to get lucrative contracts. I think if you offered Clay five for 190, he will certainly take it. I think Durant will be the interesting factor here.

So your predictions are what, that they both end up staying there for next year under big deals? Yeah, I think. If Durant doesn't, that means I think it's a signal that, you know, what happened as far as how is medical care was managed, that there's a little bit of a bitter taste there. So for a player that is coming off, has an Achilles injury, and to leave, what is it, $650 to $60 million on a table by taking a four-year deal somewhere, I think that probably says something to that. But yeah, I would think that certainly Clay would be back. I think Durant will be kind of an undecided right now, but it would not surprise me.

He's in a warier uniform and we're talking about him coming back in 2020. Bobby, don't you think teams need to be careful with a 30-year-old coming off an Achilles injury with respect to that kind of money or not? Oh, I think there's two reasons why. one is that where the max salaries are nowadays, it's not like it was, you know, 10 years ago or 11 years ago when guys were $16, $18 million. And, you know, with their end salary, it's, you know,

$38, $40, $42, $44 million. And that's a large number. The second thing is, too, is that the contract is not insurable now, you know, for the Achilles. So if he is out more than 41 games, you are not going to get any insurance reimbursement here. There will be an exclusion on the Achilles. Same with Clay, too.

I mean, the same factor there. So, yeah, I think you have to weigh that. I think if you are teams like Brooklyn and New York or the Clippers and you are looking at, can we get a Kevin Durant as a free agent for three out of four years, knowing that the summer of 2020 next year is not strong, that's the risk that they are going to have to kind of decide upon. Where does Kauai end up? I think he'll be in a clipper uniform.

I do. I think, you know, we haven't heard anything from his camp, so it's hard. I think I'm just, you know, really just speculating, but really he's been non-committal, even after they won a championship last year. I think you almost take that LeBron approach. Hey, I did everything I can here. I won a championship. Now I'm kind of on to my next phase in my life here.

The one thing I would warn now is for him is that I think the KD injury and certainly the clay injury is a warning for all the NBA players that if teams are willing to give you four or five years that you take it. I think the days have taken these short-term contracts to go into free agency the following year and keep your options open. I think those are long gone. And I know LeBron was able to do it in Cleveland, but LeBron never got injured before he got to the Lakers here. And his body could handle that here. So I do think, you know, if you're asking me right, you know, a couple weeks before Free agency where I see Kauai, do you think it would be in a clipper uniform?

Do you think if he goes to the clippers and the clippers don't add anybody else, then they just keep what they have, that the clippers are a title contender next year? I think they're up there. They move into the top four, and I think based on what we saw from Kauai this year, they would basically return most of the same parts with Gowanari and Gilgis Alexander, Montrezor-L, Lou Williams. That group will see what they do with the remaining balance of cap space. here. They've got a heck of a coach in Doc River. So, yeah, I think that the Durant Thompson out for most of

next year just really opens up the NBA. I mean, to a point where, you know, we were talking this morning in the office, it's like if you're in New Orleans now, do you think, like, you know what, maybe we do keep Anthony Davis. Maybe we roll into next year, Anthony Davis, and Zion Williamson and Drew Holiday. Maybe we do have a chance. And we use Davis as our one-year rental to sell him on that. I don't know if that will happen, but I just think it opens up the Western Conference for, we've talked about Houston. Houston all of a sudden wanted to kind of blow up that team. Like now I would say, hey, let's hold on. You've still got a really good team. But, you know, with the Clippers and Denver and Houston, teams like that, I just think that I think the West is,

I think the West is as open as it's ever been. I would really like that Clippers team with Kauai on it. I want Kauai to stay in Toronto. I'd like to see that. team for another year. But, you know, you didn't even mention Montres Harrell, who I thought really at times, you know, in the postseason, played and developed into a guy that looks like a real player. I think they'd be very good out west with Kauai and have a chance. I agree with you there. All right. On the Wizards, what do you make of this report that Ted Leonis may be in the process of offering Ujiri 10 million plus equity? Well, it's funny. I tease. woes about it and I said like can you like least let Toronto like enjoy the celebration here like

it came out literally within five minutes after the game I mean the confetti was coming down and all a sudden we see and I think we kind of knew where this was going right like you you would have had a gym in place hey we're five days from the draft um free agencies that you know 10 days two weeks away um and you were basically in a holding pattern here so yeah I mean hey miss I is probably one of the best in the business. And if you can go out and get him and you've got unlimited resources financially or equity and ownership, you go about and you try to do it. And, you know, I've known Maasai since he got the Denver job in 2010.

We, you know, we dealt with him during the Carmelo Anthony situation for six or seven months. And he is a don't let the mild-mannered guy get away, getting away with a pit bull mentality. as far as how he can build teams. And you look at what he did in Denver and look what he did in Toronto, not afraid to take risks, can build with limited resources if you don't have draft picks in undrafted players here. And I think he would be incredible. Of course, you've got to pry him away from Toronto, though.

Yeah, I was going to say, what do you think the chances are he would take the deal and come here? His wife grew up here. She's a Washingtonian. I think if you're the ownership group in Toronto, I think you certainly allow him to interview. And, you know, you don't hold him back, especially if there's an ownership part of this. And financially, it's more lucrative maybe than what he is earning in Toronto. But, yeah, I mean, that's the big decision.

And do they have been, and they've got a strong front office, you know, that Messiah is assembled. So are they, do they think their gentleman, or Bobby Webster can kind of slide into that number one role now in order they need to go out and look for somebody. That's going to be a big question. They probably weigh internally here. But, yeah, I mean, I think if the ability to deliver a championship, I think you let that person, the architect of the team go out

and if it's something that makes sense for him and his family and get him back to Washington. And he's got a lot of things involved, not just in basketball, you know, certainly basketball without borders and what he's done over in Africa. here, then you allow him to do that and let him make the decision as far as if it's going to make sense or not. All right.

Last one, and I'll let you run. The draft is a week from last night, I think. Any surprises? Is it Williamson, Morant, Barrett, one, two, three? I think that's where we're looking at. And then after that, it's going to be wide, you know, a wide open. You know, when we get to the Lakers at four, if they were even picking at four, right? Right.

There's something in the works with Davis before then. You know, it's a matter of, I guess, preference when you look at the, you look at the Lakers. players in that range with, you know, DeAndre Hunter and Jerich Culver, Darius Garland, you know, Washington's at 9. You know, the one player that we've kind of linked is Seku Dumboeuf, who played over in France and had a tremendous individual. I'm not, I don't get sold on these individual workouts, but, you know, he worked out for teams over the weekend and really impressed, I think, kind of put a lot of fears aside.

So, yeah, I think the draft is wide open. I think you're going to see teams moving around. I think Atlanta with three picks, eight, ten, and seventeen, could be pretty active. I think Boston with 14, 20, and 22 could be certainly active here. So I think it's, you know, it doesn't have the appeal as last year when it Donchick and Trey Young. But I think for the fan, it will be interesting because we just don't know after

pick three. I lied. One last one. Whomever the GM is, whether it's Ujiri or it's Tommy Shepard or Danny Ferry or whomever it is, will they keep Beale or trade him before Thursday? I think he'll be on the roster past Thursday. And, you know, someone had to, wouldn't you move him for like the fourth picking his draft? And I said, yeah, maybe it was 2003.

And I had Wade, Bosch, LeBron and that group to pick from. But I don't see anything in this draft that makes sense right now. And I think Bradley still has two years. If he was on an expiring, I think it's a little different. I think Bradley's got two years, and I think let the person who is going to be in charge figure out that, and I think that could be something during the summer as far as what direction you go with him. Bobby, as always, thanks so much for your time.

Follow Bobby on Twitter at Bobby Marks 42. He's really good and really knows the league and really understands the economics of the league better than anybody out there. I really appreciate the time, as always. Thanks. You're welcome. Appreciate it. Thank you.

I enjoy Bobby Marks. He does a great job and he's a great read too when he writes about the league. You know, I was just thinking that the postseason, and I think I've referred to this a couple of times already, but this now, I mean, I'm into golf, so I'll be watching the U.S. Open this weekend. But then after that, you know, we don't have any games. I mean, if you're into baseball and June and July and the grind of the baseball season, that's fine. And Nat's lost last night. In fact, Zach Rankie had a no-hitter going into the seventh last night. and the Nats lost their first of four against Arizona. So two straight losses now for the Nats. And this important, you know, home stand of 11 games starts off with a 5-0-0 loss at home. But, man, do the NHL playoffs and the NBA playoffs that, you know, work together, they run simultaneously?

It take a long time. Yeah, they do. It's two months, start to finish. It's two months. It's like basically half of an NFL season, you know, is the postseason. in the NHL and NBA playoffs. And both of them produced. The Stanley Cup finals had a game seven.

The NBA finals, and Bobby agrees with me. I mean, the last two games in particular were just high-level, great basketball games with so much going on in them. And the funny thing about the NBA is I do agree with a lot of you. I don't sit there and watch a lot of NBA games in November, December, January, February. Well, the football season's going on. watch the Wizards. You know, it's rare that I don't catch a wizard's game if it's on. I'm a glutton for punishment as far as that's concerned. But it's really, it's hard, you know,

to sit there and watch, you know, in the middle of January, a game on TNT on a Thursday night, you know, Clippers, you know, Grizzlies. I'm not watching that. The postseason, though, is great. They just, the games matter. You know, when you're playing 82 of them in the NHL and the NBA, They just don't, as an individual, you know, on an individual night, one game, it doesn't matter as much as it does in these best of sevens. But two months, pretty good, two months. I mentioned the Nats. I haven't talked about the U.S. Open yet, and I did watch a lot of Tigers round yesterday

in particular. And, man, first of all, people are upset that Pebble played so easy. Scott told us yesterday that the players he had talked to that they were talking about eight under winning this. It might be more than that. They can make the course more difficult by not watering greens and letting them firm up. The problem is the weather has been so tranquil. There's there hasn't been significant wind to mess with them. And the course is short, relatively speaking. You were going to say something. I was going to say I was looking and it seems like the weather is going to make it a little tougher. It's going to be very dry, very hot. It's going to dry out the course.

Over the weekend? Yeah, depending on what they, how they want to treat it. But it's possible that it plays harder by the weekend. What about wind? I haven't seen much about the wind. Okay. Tiger had a really interesting round. First of all, he played with the leader, Justin Rose, who went six under to shoot 65 in the first run at Pebble. Basically breaking Tiger's record of 5 under back in 2000.

I think that's what it was. Or did he tie Tiger's record? I forget. Anyway, not important, really, to me anyway. Tiger's round was fascinating because he didn't hit it great. and somehow he shot one under. He had so many par saving putts in that, you know, five to eight to nine foot range and then drilled like a 30 plus footer for par on 14,

which was the par five, and he had a great drive and then messed the hole up after that and then had a long putt to save par, shot par on the back. It was one of those one under rounds where you were like, that could have easily, easily had the greens been firm and fast, been a four or five over-round. So he really survived yesterday to hang in there. And he's got the earlier tea time today, last night, the later, or yesterday the later tea time. But man, it was Justin Rose. Justin Rose had 22 putts on the day. 22 in 18 holes. That's not bad. That's a lot of one-putt greens.

And if he keeps putting like that, he's going to win his second. U.S. Open won at Marion a few years ago. I think everybody's rooting for Ricky Fowler to win a major, and he got off to a great start yesterday, going five under and being a shot off the pace once Rose came in. But, you know, you got some big names that played well yesterday. Rory shot three under. Henrik Stenson had a stretch yesterday of, I think it was five birdies, four or five birdies in a row to get in contention. Ushthazen's in contention. Zander Shoffley, who is a terrific young player, he's in it. Big names all over the board.

And then Kepka yesterday starts 400 in the first six holes. And you're like, oh my God, this dude's going to, he's a machine. And he came back a little bit on the back nine, shot two under. But I certainly would put him still among the favorites. I would assume he is still the favorite to win this, or somewhere in the top two or three, even though he's four. shots off the pace going into this round. Sergio shot a really good round yesterday of two under. But it is amazing with all of the scores under par, and there were a lot of them. I think overall

there were 30 players that were one under or better. I think that's what it was yesterday. You still have a U.S. Open course. So you had a lot of 80s, a lot of high 70s in the round, and a couple of, you know, good players shooting big scores, like Bubba Watson's 75 or 76, whatever he shot. But looking forward to the weekend, hoping Tiger plays well, would love to have Tiger in the mix with some other big names on Saturday and Sunday.

Several of you have asked me to listen to Joe Gibbs with Dale Jr. on Dale Jr.'s podcast. So I'm going to do that this weekend. I didn't have a chance to do it. but several of you tweeted me and said this is must listen that Gibbs says a lot of stuff about Snyder in particular and nobody got specific but I'm going to go listen to that this weekend

to try and to see what everybody was talking about I'm interested to find out what that was about I'm trying to think if there's anything else the caps traded Niskinin but I think that was contract related yeah nothing really new on the Trent Williams' Instagram from yesterday or certainly nothing that I have seen today. I guess that's it.

Oh, I did have one other thing. This is crazy. Did you read the story about the NFL reviews on past interference? Remember, there was the discussion that it was going to get tweaked, and they were going to rely on an actual coach's challenge in the final two minutes rather than the Booth Review. Well, yesterday, Kevin Seafurt wrote a story on ESPN. The NFL's made tentative plans to push forward with its original plan for introducing pass interference to replay review, setting aside for now a series of tweaks suggested last month by the competition

committee. According to an update sent to its teams yesterday, the league said it expects to have the replay official initiate all potential reviews, including pass interference in the final two minutes of each half and overtime. I thought they figured it out. I thought they figured out what the problem with that would be. The competition committee, after thinking about this from the league meetings in Arizona, came back and said, look, if we're going to leave it up to the booth, there's contact on a lot of these throws. Are we going to be. stopping play on every single pass or every other pass in the final two minutes. We've got to leave this up to coaching challenge in the final two minutes when it comes to

PI. If not, we're going to have excessive, you know, clock stoppages in the final two minutes of the half in games. But some coaches apparently didn't like it because it was going to impact their timeout strategy for the final two minutes. this is a disaster in the making. I really do feel that way. I mean, the Hail Mary, remember what they were going to do with Hail Mary's. The Hail Marys were going to be, you know, basically exempt from all of that. This is, this is a bad idea. I think they had the right idea a month ago, and now they're backing off that right idea. The bottom line now is, picture the final two minutes of a half or a game, especially a game with a team trailing that's throwing to try to, to come back. There's a lot of contact, a lot of contact that is typically let go, that you're now going to have the booth required to review for potential PI. And that's going to stop the clock in the final two minutes for these booth reviews over and over again. At least that's the way I see it. Maybe I'm making too much out of something that won't be an issue, but you just as an NFL fan

have to picture the final two minutes of a half or overtime. You get more throw. during that period of time, and there's a lot of contact, you know, a lot of jostling between receiver and defender for a ball, and now what are you going to do with those? Are you going to review all of them that aren't flagged? Or are you going to review all of them that are flagged? I would have left it up to a coach's challenge. I think that would have been the best thing and the best way to handle it, and I bet they eventually get around to that down the road. One last thing. I forgot to mention this, and I had this written down, and it's Redskins-related. The Redskins announced a bunch of hires yesterday, scouts, etc.

But there was one hire in particular that got my attention. The Redskins hired Pro Football Focus is Connor Barringer. All right. He's from Pro Football Focus, Connor Barringer. And they hired Connor Barringer to the role of football strategy analyst. And this is sort of a continuation, I guess, and the Redskins looking into. to in investing in analytics. I want Connor Berenger on the show as soon as possible.

I want to know what his role is. I want to know what kind of football strategy he's going to be involved in influencing. Is this just an analytics role or is this a game strategy role, a clock management role perhaps? We got to get Connor Berenger on the show. This guy was with pro football focus and the Redskins hired him. the role of football strategy analyst. Interesting hire. It was announced with a bunch of hires yesterday in the scouting department, but got to get that guy on the show, Aaron. We'll work on that. I'm sure they'll give them to me. They're always so accommodating.

All right. Have it on with Tom at some point. Yeah, Tom will be thrilled about having a conversation with a football analytics guy. All right. That's it for today. to John Allen, who joined us on the show, to Bobby Marks, to Aaron for producing the show. Don't forget, if you're listening to us on iTunes, rate us, review us, subscribe. That always helps as well. Doesn't cost you anything and tell anybody that hasn't listened to the show yet that they can easily listen to it on any podcast platform.

But if that's too difficult for them, tell them to just go to the Kevin Sheehan Show.com and listen there. Thanks to Windon Nation for all they do for this podcast and all of our sponsors. Back on Monday, next week is the NBA draft, so we will do some of that in preparation for the Wizards' ninth overall pick. But who knows, by Monday the Wizards may have a new team president slash general manager slash owner. Masai Ujiri could be that guy on Monday. Have a great weekend. And happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.