The Kevin Sheehan Show - Wizards Wake Up

Episode Date: February 7, 2019

Kevin and Thom start the show talking about the Wizards' trades of Otto Porter and Markieff Morris. Scott Van Pelt calls in to talk about Maryland's win at Nebraska, the NBA trade deadline, and Maryland's football signing day which included a surprising QB signing. Bryce Harper, MLB rule changes, and the greatest left-handed NBA players were part of the show today 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. Yep, I'm here. Aaron is here and Tommy 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.com and tell them we told you to call. Seriously, if you're thinking about new windows, give Window Nation a chance. I promise you will not be disappointed. 86690 Nation or Window Nation. Good morning to you, sir. You want to open up your windows today, don't you? Yeah. It's pretty nice out. Well, I have had the last few nights the windows open. Very nice.

I like sleeping in fresh air. You do too, right? Yes, I do. But what about your wife? My wife doesn't like the cold air at night. No, she likes fresh air. Okay. I would sleep with the windows open year round, unless it got like where did like...

Six degrees or something like that. Yeah, when it got down to zero a week and a half ago, that would have been rough. but it's been nice the last few nights. But, you know, that doesn't necessarily guarantee sleep when you have teenagers and young adults as kids. But anyway, there was some news, I guess, last night. There was some trades going on. A little bit. All right.

A little bit of action. Let me give you a quick, you know, three-minute take. Then you do the same and then we can discuss. Is that acceptable to you? Yes, it is. Unless you'd like to go first because, this is apparently maybe your area of expertise? You know, I was thinking about what you did on the podcast the other day.

And this whole, why don't you agree with me? Don't you know that I know what I'm talking about? That's what you did. You said to me, you said, why won't you agree with me? Yeah. I know about this. I did. You know, that's the argument of people who don't know.

No, that's not the argument. Yes, it is. Not when you know each other the way we know each other. There are occasions in the past where I have just sat back and said, you know what, I don't know as much as you do on this subject. And on this particular subject that we debated the other day that we're not going to go back down the same path today, I know more than you know. Oh, really? Oh, I do. Oh, okay.

When did you get the Ph.D. in this? You know what? There is no Ph.D. I don't have any documentation. I don't have any certificate. You just have what's in your head. I just have what's in my head, which I know is much more learned than what's in your head when it comes to that topic. All right.

Let me just take a shot at this because the first thing I wanted to say is that Ted Leonis, it was nice that he was able to turn his attention away from his Capital One Arena Sportsbook operation for a moment to focus on the basketball team that he owns. Otto Porter to Chicago for Bobby Porter, Portis and Jabari Parker. plus they gave up a second round pick and then Markeith Morris went to New Orleans for Wesley Johnson and the Wizards also gave up a second round pick in the deal. If you didn't know the details of the two trades they made, it was a clear attempt by the Wizards to get below the luxury tax threshold and clear cap space for the future. I hope Tommy it was an indication that Ted knows that his franchise was heading nowhere, nowhere, not the playoffs this year where he set on TOP last

week, anything can happen. Yeah, I know. Except the facts support that in the NBA playoffs, it's not in anything can happen. NBA playoffs are not in anything can happen in the postseason sport. They're the opposite of that, in fact. I hope this was an indication that Ted knows the team that he thought, the team that I thought, I'm putting myself into this category, thought would compete for not championships. You need truly elite players in the NBA to compete for championships.

The Wizards haven't had a top five player, and you pretty much have to have top five players or a player to compete for an NBA title in this sport, which is why anything can happen is the stupidest thing he has said in recent months in the postseason. They haven't even had top 10 players. I mean, John Wallet is healthiest and playing his best at the end of the 2017 season, postseason. And, you know, he was pushing a top 10 player, top 15, definitely, but you need top five players, and they haven't had that. So the point that I was going to make here is I know that he thought that this thing was in a pretty good position that with Beal and Wall and Otto, that even though they may not, you know, ever legitimately compete for an NBA title,

that they would be a team that would win 50 games, there orabouts, plus or minus. five each year and, you know, get to a conference finals eventually and be in the playoffs every year and that that was, you know, look, for 28 teams in the NBA, you know, those other 27 that aren't the Wizards, the other 27 of the 28, they're not competing for an NBA title either. You know, that's not the way this league works. But the Wizards, even a year ago, Tommy, with John Wall missing half the season, they were a 43-win team and took the number one seed Toronto to six games with injuries three. throughout the postseason series, but this year's team really stinks. It stinks. It's right now

one of the worst, if not the worst defensive teams in the league. In fact, it's one of the worst defensive teams we've seen in a while. They gave up 50 in the first quarter last night to Milwaukee. You know this, right? Oh yeah. 85 in the first half. Yeah. 120 through three quarters. And with six minutes to go in the game, the bucks were trending towards 160. in a non-overtime game and a regulation four-quarter game. My hope is, and I'm not convinced of it, is that they are in the process of thinking bigger about their roster, about really blowing it up.

I don't know that yesterday was an indication of that. What yesterday was a clear indication was that they wanted to get below the luxury tax. And they wanted to clear a contract in Otto Porter's contract that, you know, he's a nice, sweet young man. he was never going to live up to that contract. What they do or don't do today is an indication of what their true thinking is. Will they deal Areza?

Will they deal Jeff Green? Will they deal Bradley Beale? I think our friend Ben Standig reported late last night or early this morning that they are not going to move Areza Green or Beal. Now, I personally would be trying like hell to deal all three of them. Not for nothing. Not taking any deal back. You know, they've already dealt now Kelly Ubre and Otto Porter for basically, for all intents and purposes, salary cap space.

Yeah. Okay. I don't know that they could have done better, and I'll get to that in a moment, but they could have done right now, but they could have done better in the off season or earlier in the season. But if the Lakers or Spurs want Trevor Areza, now, deal them. If you tell me I can get Josh Hart back for Areza, I'm the beautiful. you know I'm the biggest Areza fan. He's not going to be here when it matters, if it ever matters. He'll be 34 next year.

Right. So I hope today is another active day for them. Because if it isn't, then we know what they were doing. And that is that Ted just didn't want to pay the luxury tax. And they realized, I think, I hope they finally realized that Otto is a nice, sweet, you know, young guy, but he's not a franchise max player. Now, on the trade specifically, you're going to hate this. Ernie did okay.

He did okay. Now, it's the arsonist and the fireman analogy that you launched, that you created five, six years ago, whenever it was. You know, he created this mess. Now, if we find out that Portland was truly ready to deal a first reporter, I would have preferred that deal over the Chicago deal. I'd like to see what else, and we probably won't really know unless. somebody does some really good reporting. I've been a fan of Bobby Portis. He's the guy that I wanted them to draft in 2015, if you recall.

I'm always a fan of the high-motor, highly competitive, tough guys that also have skill, which he does. I have no idea if they'll keep him. He'll be a restricted free agent after the season. But, you know, they'll get 25 whatever games they have left to check him out. I really liked him in college. If you recall, that was the guy that in 2015. I said at their spot, I'll take Bobby Portis. Now Parker, he's not going to be here next year.

There's a team option for $20 million. No chance he's here. He's been injury prone. He couldn't guard me right now. That's how bad he is defensively. You talk about a number two busting, you know, 2014 number two overall. But I like the trade because I wanted Porter's contract gone. Otto Porter was versatile.

He could shoot it. He could defend, at least compared to his teammates. He was a good defender. I wouldn't refer to Porter and never have as a lockdown defender, but he could guard a little bit. You know, he was a nice player who could produce numbers that the advanced stat geeks loved, and they'll highlight and swear by. But Otto Porter's competitive makeup wasn't tough enough. For me, that's just my preference.

I know he's had injuries. I'm not saying he wasn't a productive player, but Otto's a fourth or fifth starter in this league, or a solid sixth man off the bench. nothing about that description that I just gave you equals max contract. I am personally glad he's gone. It got to the point where every time he took any kind of physical contact in a game, I thought he was going to cry. And it was just hard to watch because you know you need tougher competitors to actually win something.

And that wasn't him. Good player and a good fourth, fifth, sixth piece. not a top three piece. As far as Morris goes, he is the guy that actually gave the team some of its toughness in recent years. I actually thought that ultimately Morris, for the first rounder they gave up to Phoenix, was worth it. They gave up a few other pieces.

DeWan Blair, I forget who else. Was it Chris Humphreys in that deal? May have been. But in some ways, Tommy, the indication that at least Ted realizes this year is a lost cause it may actually be more reflected in the Morris trade because the Porter deal was a contract deal. The Morris deal, you know, it was another chance to get below the luxury tax, I understand that, but he was on the verge of coming back,

and if they really thought that this year was a playoff year, Morris may have helped out as much as Porter. Anyway, that brings me to this, okay? If they're moving on and if they continue to move on from this era, I do not want Ernie Grunfeld, making the 2019 first round selection for this franchise or the 2020 first round selection or the 2021 selection. It's time for Ernie to go. Wow. I've told you in recent years that I'm okay if they move on from him. I'm not so tied to him. I've never thought what you and others have

thought that he's the worst general manager in the history of the NBA. I don't believe that. It's just his record shows. No, his record doesn't even show that. Well, in Washington, It does. But I don't want... Tell me another general manager, not named Elgin Baylor, who's had a worst win-loss record with the NBA team. I'll concede the point. I'm just assuming that your numbers are right.

The NBA draft is a total guessing game. It is most of the time, a lot of the time, unless you've got a clear-cut, you know, transcendent player at the top. You seem to be pretty good at it. I'll grant you that. Thank you. I'm sure you'll argue with whatever I come up with here in a couple months. I mean, you're the guy who wanted Leonard.

And Steph Curry. I get that it's a guessing game. I don't want him doing the guessing anymore. I don't. This is paramount now. If this team's going to be built on the upcoming drafts, and they don't have second rounders, by the way, you know, in the next few drafts. Well, they tend to sell them anyway.

Yeah. But they need someone else making the picks. I like Ernie personally. He's done a poor job mostly. in the particular area of projecting young talent. He's never done a poor job with a lot of these trades, some of which he was forced to make because of a bad decision made by him in the first place.

Yes. I understand that. Yes. But I don't want him, if Ted is so convinced that the draft is how you build a team, which I don't necessarily agree with. You have a couple of examples of it. You know, Oklahoma City created with three consecutive

picks, you know, a team that was almost over the top when they had Westbrook, Durant, and Hardin, all drafted players. But, you know, when you look at these other championship teams, they're not from drafted players, players they drafted. I mean, Golden State is, you know, with Clay Thompson and Steph Curry, but, and Draymond Green. But, you know, Kevin Durant, the last two years, was not drafted by this particular team. Yes, they were.

Yes, they were. So, but you've got to. And the Warriors for. 20 years were the wizards. Yes, they were. They were a terrible franchise. So if he wants to look at that as being the way to go, you know, you can debate whether or not that's the best way to go.

But if he chooses that that's the best way to go, then he must choose to move on from Ernie Grunfeld. Can I go now? Yep. The draft is the only way this team is going to climb out of the grave that they're in. people talk about clearing salary cap space as if this is some court of accomplishment that this franchise has never witnessed before. We've been through this. We have.

And what did we find out that nobody worth anything wants to take that money? One of the reasons they signed Otto Porter was because they had this money. They tried to attract free agents and they couldn't attract the free agents. and they couldn't attract the free agents they wanted. So they had to spend their money on somebody, so they did it on their guys. That was pretty much what they were limited to. We can't get anybody to come here to take out money

like Sid Thrift in the Orioles. We must have Confederate money. So we might as well sign our guys. They're in that situation again. Because I think, like that was a couple years ago. I think the franchise is even held in less esteem now than it was a couple years ago. Remember the incident earlier this year in the three-way deal with Memphis, where the Memphis GM basically came out without mention an Ernie basically ripped them

for the way the trade deal went down. They're a bigger embarrassment now than they've ever been. So it's going to be hard. They've ever been under Ernie. So it's going to be harder for them to attract free agents to come here. note. So the salary cap money doesn't mean anything because now they don't have any players to sign of their own. They need to draft very well. It's the only way out for them. And you're right that in order to show the rest of the league, in order to show agents, in order to show players,

that business is not going to be done as usual in Washington. They need a new GM to do that. It's a signal as much as anything that, you know, if you come here, it's not going to be the same old wizards. So I'm glad to hear you say that. I mean, the only one that counts, though, is Ted. Will Ted Leon's finally come to that conclusion? Will Ted Leonce finally say, I mean, to me, eight years too late? But in the eighth year of ownership, finally say, okay, I need to find a new general manager to rebuild this. team because I went back and looked.

I mean, this is the one, this is the third one we've been through of these. There was the Antoine Jameson, Cairn, Butler, and then to, you know, the Gilbert Arena's debacle. But there was the dumping of them, okay? Then there was the dumping of the Nick Young, Chabelle McGee, Andre Platt. That was the second one we went through. Right. Now this is the third one we went through under Ernie.

Yeah. I would disagree that this is like the lowest point for Ernie. The blotch, you know, Javelle McGee, Nick Young, the pooping in shoes by Gilbert Arenas, all of that was rock bottom. They've actually been a competitive outfit here for the last few years. In terms of players and agents from the outside looking in, what they care about is can we trust this guy to build a team? Okay. I don't know that it would be that much different.

You may be right there. I think what's interesting, and we've had this conversation a dozen times over the years, I don't know. We know why people don't want to come to Washington to play for the Redskins. It's clear that there is a fear that they're so dysfunctional that they don't, if they've got better options, they're going to go elsewhere. You know, the Wizards in Washington and I don't know why it's been so undesirable. It's not Ted Nernie. Oh, it is Ernie.

I don't think it's Ernie. Oh, it is. It's absolutely Ernie. Washington should be a destination location for young NBA players who want to come play. This is a great city. Look, there's, you know. Yes. And if you're a young African American player, this would be a fabulous city to play.

Now, you've got tax issues and you've got weather issues that aren't favorable, but that hasn't deterred free agents from wanting to go to Boston or Philadelphia. That's why it. It's obvious it's the organization and not the location. I think it's more than that. I think one of the things we may... I don't think that that's the number one reason. I think players around the league have looked at John Wall and said,

man, he's gifted athletically, and he's something else, you know, end-to-end when he's healthy. And he can do a lot of stuff, but as the lead dog, you're not getting over the hump with him. I think that that's been a part of it. That may be. I do. That may be. Look, I wrote a column in yesterday's paper after the Wall news broke saying, you know, people needed to wake up. The John Wall era was over before he ever tore his Achilles' heel.

John Wall's career was going south before he ever suffered this injury. He was, his personal issues were becoming a problem for the organization, a big problem for the organization. his play was erratic he was not growing as a player if anything he was regressing as a player what personal issues are you referring to well i mean look at the beginning of the season you had this whole debate between him and stephen a smith about his party and lifestyle right uh and how he was seen in clubs all all the time uh and he didn't deny that he just said that's that's nobody's business but mine you know that that that's if i'm not I'm not a monk, basically. I'll live the way that I want to.

But it became an issue. And I don't know about you, but I heard stories from credible sources about issues that came up in practice. Ugly stories. Yeah, very ugly. No, you're right about all of this. So, I mean, he was trending in the wrong direction

for a guy who just signed a big contract. You have guys who signed big contracts who sometimes will say, say, well, there's a lot of pressure on me to show the right way to do things, to be the leader of this team, to basically show that the money is not going to change me. He went in the opposite direction. You know what? I want to just defend him for one moment. Everything you say is true, and there were flaws there. You know, and you didn't even mention one of the biggest ones that we've heard over the years is that he just continually had issues with his weight and getting into

shape before seasons started, which sometimes they believe, the team believes, perhaps led to some of these injuries. But at the same time, you know, John Wall wasn't a bad person. Like, he wasn't out doing awful things, getting into trouble. He just clearly let some of this stuff run away with itself and became less professional, perhaps. But John Wall was not a bad, Even to this day, like, Wall does a ton of charitable stuff. He, like, I don't want to kill him for being like this bad guy off the court, like having all these major problems. I will agree with you that he wasn't completely professional at various points. But the one-

It's your most important highest-paid play, your team leader. That's true. You can't have that. But you know, what's really interesting is that, you know, you say it was already over. And maybe missing half the game. last year with the knees and then we got the heel. His third knee operation in two years. And maybe the beginning, maybe we were seeing the era end, if you want to call it that.

And we will. As Wizards fans, we'll refer to this as the John Wall era because it wasn't a bust completely. But, you know, you're only a year and a half removed from when he really was becoming an elite player. Yes, that seven, going into going, the Celtics? series? Seven games? Yes. Well, it would the Atlanta game six where they closed out Atlanta in the first round on the road when he scored 17 of their final 20 points and went for 42 and eight and had a couple of like four or five steals in the game. That was one of the actually and I talked about it at the time and I remember I blogged about it Tommy. It was a top five all

time Washington professional basketball postseason individual. individual performance. I agree. Not the Celtics shot that he hit in game six to force game seven. It was the game he had against the Hawks where you're like, wow. I agree. But that John Wall, I mean, that was before he signed this max contract. And we've seen this happen occasionally.

He got the supermax opportunity off of the 2016-17 season. And then things went. Where he became a legitimate third team all-NBA selection, which tells you top 15 player. I agree. Things went and have gone in the wrong direction since then. And you know, the irony is that. Now, Bradley Beal is their best player. Yeah, but. And Bradley Beal is probably the team leader. But the irony of Beal is he was the one that couldn't stay healthy. Yeah. Up until all the sudden, now he's staying more healthy. Yes. Or healthier. And he was pretty young early in his career. He was a young player when he first came here. There's one more thing. The Wizards just

have blown it over the years. I've referred to the opportunity that they've had to capture market share for the lack of a better description. They had a chance to become much more relevant in the city, truly relevant. Didn't take advantage of it, really. You know, it wouldn't have taken much, Tommy,

because, you and I have both referred to the Wizards as this sleeping giant in a basketball city. A lot of you don't understand that. A lot of you that aren't from here or don't live close enough to the metro area. Don't understand that at its core, this is a basketball obsessed city. And the professional basketball team's been so bad and so mediocre, there's always been this opportunity.

I think we both felt to really capture significant market share. I mean, you had Wall and Beal potentially on the rise teams that were going to compete for Eastern Conference finals at least, you know, But Kevin, you and I have always disagreed on the long-term impact of the mediocrity and the ability to revive that interest. Well, all it would have taken is one run into June. You see, to me, to me, the fan, it's almost a situation like the Redskins. You've done too much damage to the fan base that you're going to have to show a lot more, a lot more than that. I mean, you had them playing in the second round of the playoffs,

and you'd have 15,000 people showing up at the arena. You'd have a couple thousand empty seats. I know. When we got to that Boston series, which was not last year's postseason the year before, we had TV ratings in the low 20s for game six and seven. We had a packed house, you know, in those games. I know what you're saying,

and I know it's hard sometimes for people. And part of what you have made the case for that makes total sense to me is they've essentially, they alienated generations of young people who became fans of the sport, but fans of other teams and other players. So they missed out on that.

But the NBA's rise in popularity also created this opportunity for them if they became, you know, a consistent winning team to really be a big deal in this city. I agree with that. I mean, again, here's what I, and I've used this a number of times.

The magic. and Bird era came and went. And the Wizards were, well, they were to bullets then. Yeah, and then the Jordan era. And the Jordan era. And then the Jordan era. And then the LeBron era. And then the LeBron era.

I know. I know. All these errors came and went with this team pretty much in the same place. You know, never really capitalizing on any of it, any of it. Any of it. They, they blew this opportunity. Look, some of it has to do with things they couldn't control. I mean, they've had their best players be injured a lot. over the years. They, you know, the coaching, the owning, the general managing has overstated,

overrated what they had. You know, I just, you know I got excited about this opportunity of at least having legitimate basketball to get excited about when the NBA playoffs started. It was fun. Like that first year with, you know, Wall in his first playoff series and Beale, you know, as a young player with Areza and Neney. Remember the series he had against the Bulls? And then, you know, they pushed, you know, Indiana.

And then you got a second year of, you know, into the conference semifinals. And in the Boston series, really, you had a game seven. You had a game seven to get to the Eastern Conference finals, you know, in Boston Garden. And you had a chance in that game that, you know, they literally had the lead late in the third quarter in that game. But here's the reality of it. The Wizards, like already, for many of you listening to this, it's already been too much. They don't move the needle. You and I both have a sense.

Everybody that's done what we've done and is doing, you know, on radio or whatever, has a general sense of what moves the needle and what doesn't. The Wizards don't move the needle, people. I love basketball. I love talking about it, talking about it. But I will tell you that when we've done too much of it on radio or on the podcast, it doesn't help. You know, it really doesn't.

Those of you that I love to talk to about basketball, I hear you, but there are 50 times, I don't think it's an exaggeration, 50 times as many people in this town more interested in the NFL draft and NFL Free Agency than what the Wizards did yesterday. Now, don't you think that changes there in the NBA playoffs when we talk about the NBA playoffs? Yes, because if you've got a winning, you know, after the NFL. And I'm not talking about the Wizards. I'm just talking about the NBA playoffs.

Well, I would just, I would, I would, uh, I would, uh, I would stretch that out to the other teams in town that people, it's a bandwagon town if you've got a winner, whether it's the caps or the Nats or the wizards or, you know, some of the other things. People are obsessed with the NFL, even with all of the apathy. We will and your station, your current station will, and our old station will understand that more people are interested in you talking about the NFL free agency, upcoming free agency and the NFL draft, then talking about the NBA playoffs. Now, when the caps are in the postseason, for that month or so, it is intense. When the Nats are in the postseason, even though it falls right in the middle of football season, it can be really good for us.

The wizards don't move the needle at all. In fact, I mean, they're dead to most of you right now. And they really are. You and I will both get a ton of feedback saying, couldn't you have at least talked about Todd McShay's 2.0 version of the NFL mock draft instead of this? Yes. So with that, I'm done. Okay.

But I did want to just bring this up. What is your take on this insane, frenetic, frenzied NBA trade deadline week? and day, which is going to be today, leading up to the deadline later on this afternoon. Well, look, pretty much personnel building in the NBA has become pretty chaotic because the players seem to have more power than the owners and the general managers. And I think that's true, I'm not complaining about that. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just saying that the whole system has become chaotic

because sometimes you don't know who's in charge. And I think front offices are trying to react out of fear sometimes from certain players or trying to obtain certain players. And then part of the NBA's popularity, and again, I'm not real, I loved the NBA more than anything. And I love basketball more than any sport. And I'm down on both of them. And I think what you see now is the off-the-court stuff is more of an attraction sometimes

than what happens on the court. And I don't know how healthy that is for a sport. That has to rely on the off-the-court drama, whether it's trades or, you know, player movement, free agency. who's sitting next to LeBron tonight on the bench. All that seems to be more important than the action on the court. Bothers me. It's not healthy, is it? I think this is a personal view,

and my sense of it is that most people probably don't agree with this, that NBA fans are probably really enjoying all of this, but I think the NBA's got a serious problem with this that's got to get fixed. I mean, you've had games here over the last few nights, that have been majorly impacted by the discussion of trade. You know, the Lakers got ripped the other night worse than any LeBron team's ever been beaten, and it had a lot to do with all of these young players

wondering if this was their last game. Yeah. Whether or not LeBron liked them enough to keep them or let them go. And did you see that LeBron went off on this Harrison Barnes trade? And he said, hold on, let me find the quote. So. You know, it may not, but part of, this is partly, it's what has helped the NBA rise. It's all this off-the-court stuff, all this drama.

I think that the free agency stuff in the off-season is healthy for the league. It keeps it in the, you know, it keeps it in the public eye for fans, for sports fans. To me, and when you're in the middle of a season, I'm into the games. And I know that baseball's got a trade deadline. The NFL has a much less. intense trade deadline. The NBA's is big. But here's what LeBron said. LeBron basically said trading is a harsh business for all parties, but teams are not vilified for dealing players while players are vilified for asking for trades. First of all, that's not true. You know,

there's too much sensitivity sometimes with LeBron and with Kevin Durant. Did you see his? Oh, yeah. Did you see his rant after the game? Pull out the victim. card. Pull out the victim card about how he's he's like victimized by the media. Let's. And he doesn't trust the media and all that. We have that. Let's play that. This was Kevin Durant last night. Being asked about why he hasn't been talking recently to the media. I have nothing to do with the Knicks. I don't know who traded poor Zingis. They got nothing to do with me. I'm trying to play basketball. Y'all come here every day. Ask me about free agents. My team mates, my coaches, you rile up the fans about it.

Let us play basketball. That's all I'm saying. And now when I don't want to talk to y'all, it's the problem with me. Come on, man. Grow up. Grow up. Yeah, you grow up. Come on, bro.

I come in and go to work every day. I don't cause no problems. I play the right way. I try to play the right way. I try to be the best player I can be, every possession. What's the problem? What am I doing to y'all? So who are you?

Why do I got to talk to you? Tell me. Is that going to help me do my job better? No, I didn't feel like talking. Kevin, the free agency thing really hadn't been that much of a discussion coming to you because we got loud and clear, at least most of us should have, that it was off limits. Don't go there.

No, it's a problem now. No, just that you've been quiet and you're not usually quiet. Usually share your opinions and stuff. So everybody's like trying to figure out what's going on. and we're all getting questions from fans like, what's on with Kevin? I just tell him, he's playing okay, but he's not talking right now. I just don't trust him. Every time I say something is you get twisted up and throwing out

in so many different publications, try to tell me down with my words that I say. So when I don't say nothing, it's a problem. I just want to play ball. I want to go to the gym and go home. That's all. Is that a problem? All right, then.

I mean, how are you playing? How is a team playing in the last couple weeks? I'm done. you know you don't care about that I just asked you when you hear this the ending is the worst part when he talks about

you all just twist my words and use my words against me you know you can't just make that kind of generic comment and not have something to back it up and these guys never have anything to back it up you know this is somebody whispering in there one of his handlers or friends

whispering in his ear telling him that the media is doing this to him. And he just doesn't play basketball and go home. He sells product. He does a lot of things besides play basketball because of his image and what fans think of him. This comes with the territory. So, I mean, I didn't have as big a problem with like the whole diatribe, but with the whole thing about, you know, you all twist. my words. Well, how? How? Show me how. You know, I mean,

tell me where that happened and what that has to do with me asking you about how the team is playing. He's really sensitive. I mean, you know, you only have to go back to the fact that he set up a fake Twitter account to defend himself. That's true. In social media. He's really, really a sensitive guy. And everything you said is true. There is a, there is a responsibility when you play and you're a star and you make as much money as you make to communicate. A lot of you don't like to hear that, but that comes with the territory.

And here's the other part that comes with the territory. If you're going to continue to be available as a potential free agent, unrestricted free agent, year by year, people are going to ask you about it. You know, if he were under a long-term deal, there'd be no discussion about the Knicks clearing cap space for Kevin Durant. You know, and so that comes with the territory of basically being compensated the way he's been compensated, not only in the total amount, but in contractual structure, you know, in being available for this conversation every year. So he's just a very, very sensitive to criticism player.

He's also a great player. Yes, he is. But he's, he also plays on one of the most now, high. profile sports franchises in the world. That's right. He could have stayed in Oklahoma City. Yes, great point. If he wanted to hide from the media. But now he plays on a worldwide sports franchise. Yeah, I just, you know, I mean, he is who he is. I mean, he's a very sensitive to criticism, sensitive to his media responsibilities kind of person. He's probably not going to to change that much. So the reaction isn't overly strange, but it would be nice. You always want

someone like him to have somebody who has his ear to be able to explain to him why people are asking these questions, why people are talking about what they're talking about, and why it is his responsibility to sit there and answer the questions as best as he can. He doesn't have to be, You know what, Tommy, all you got to do is show up. You know, all you got to do is, you know, do your best to answer the questions, and you can finesse the answers. Well, that's what most of these guys don't understand. Yeah.

It doesn't take much. It doesn't take much. But they never get that. They never get that. They never understand that it wouldn't take much to have everybody eating out of your hand. Right. You know? But meantime, back to what started this, the LeBron thing, I just found the quote,

Harrison Barnes got traded during the game. Look, this is the league in a CBA issue. This isn't a media issue or a team franchise issue, but he says, quote, so let me guess. This is cool because they had to do what was best for the franchise, right? Traded this man while he was literally playing in the game and had zero idea? He goes, I'm not knocking who traded him because it's a business. and you have to do what you feel is best,

but I just want this narrative to start to really change and not when a player wants to be traded or leaves a franchise, that he's selfish or ungrateful, but that when you trade him as a franchise, release him or waive him, that it's best for them. I'm okay with both honestly, truly am, just calling, you know, a spade a spade is basically what he said.

So when LeBron owns an NBA team, he'll have that same position, I'm sure. I don't know. This whole week has been, I don't think most of you agree. I don't really care. I don't like it at all. I don't like these games being compromised. These games for the last week in a lot of cities have been compromised. You're talking about an important part of the schedule. I know. And it's just too much. And I'm rooting for Anthony Davis not to get traded to the Lakers today. I would love it to see the Lakers in their effort to once again ensure that Lom Bron James has a legitimate chance to win a conference championship. You know, LeBron went to L.A. There was no guarantee he was going to end up with Anthony Davis. Right. There was no guarantee he was going to end up with another, you know, massive superstar to play side by side.

He wanted to go to L.A. If they don't get Anthony Davis, man, I mean, is he going to pout the rest of the way this year? Well, since his agent is Anthony Davis's agent. Yeah. Yeah. He will pout. Yeah, but the pelicans are not going to take just any deal. and the Lakers apparently aren't going to make, you know, a ridiculous deal.

I hope he doesn't get dealt today. So do I. I really do. I hope he ends up in free agency. And if he ends up signing with the Lakers next year, that's fine. But you know what it will ensure? I don't know that Anthony Davis with the Lakers would have given LeBron and the Lakers and Anthony Davis much of a chance of beating Golden State in the best of seven.

Anyway, I don't think it would have happened. But it will ensure that LeBron's streak of getting to the NBA finals is over. Yeah. Yes, it will. But he went out west. That's right. There's no guarantee he was getting Anthony Davis. And it just has really, all of it, all of this talk, all of this discussion has just,

it's like these games haven't mattered for a week. Well, again, it's illustrative of what's happened to the NBA in that, you know, it's the fruit. Look, I know this is a cliche, but it's Kardashian-like coverage of a sport. more than any other sport. There's not, there's, not any other sports are even close

when it comes to the drama that dictates the NBA. But you know what, Tommy, there was always a trade deadline, but it never became what it's become over the last now, nine, ten years, ever since LeBron

started the trend of players essentially, you know, banding together to create super teams. Right, in Miami. In Miami. Once that happened, now, you know, whether it's free agency

or whether via the trade and trade deadline, you know, players are trying to dictate where they end up. And look, it's allowed, you know, there's nothing preventing them from doing that. I don't begrudge them for trying to do that, but it does really take away from the games themselves. And someone might say, well, who cares about game number 55 in, you know, early February? That's fair. That's fair. This probably provides much more entertainment and more eyeballs for the league at this point on the calendar than the actual games themselves. I'm just telling you my personal preferences. I like the games. And my team over the years hasn't been much involved. And these blockbuster deals and even

last night's deal really wasn't what I would call a blockbuster, even though netting that out one more time, I actually think they did okay. I hope there's more to come today, but I have a feeling there won't be. We are going to talk to Scott Van Pelt here in a moment. We'll get to the Maryland game last night with him and some of the recruiting news and get his thoughts on the NBA trade deadline as well. But first, real quickly, about Windon Nation. Harley and Aaron are two of the best entrepreneurs I've ever met. They're smart.

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There is no limit. Plus, 0% financing for five full years. 866 Nation or wind donation.com and tell them that I sent you. All right, let's bring in Scott Van Pelt for his weekly appearance on the show. And we have not yet talked about Maryland's win over Nebraska last night, Tommy. But while all the trade deadline stuff, all the wizard stuff was going on, I'll be honest with you. I was not really that interested in that because Maryland needed a win and they got one at Nebraska last night

with Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith, Sticks, Smith. combining for 31 points, 30 rebounds, five block shots in the game. That was a big win last night, a must have, even though Nebraska's really struggling. What did you think of it? Just everything you said, I mean, it was ugly. I mean, Nebraska shot 21%. They were horrendous. A lot of that was Maryland guarded well, but the wheels have fallen off that bus.

But Maryland did exactly what you've got to go do. And it's interesting now, Kevin. And I think, I'm just thinking as I'm trying to speak here, I believe they've won four road games this year by double digits, Rutgers, Ohio State, Minnesota, and now Nebraska. And none of those are necessarily, you know, eye-popping wins. But double-digit road wins at league play don't happen a ton. And that's another one.

And now they get a weekend off to get ready for what is now a huge game against Purdue. And they owe Purdue. They've lost some close ones to Purdue. they've got Carson Edwards who's one of the best players in the Big Ten, one of the best players in the country. So I hope Tuesday Night the place is packed out and ready to roll because that's a big, big game. And last night was, you know, workman-like,

and it was exactly what they just needed to get another solid road one. The, you know, the truth is, is Minnesota was horrible. Minnesota, Nebraska was horrible shooting the ball. And Maryland's defense was exceptional. it really was. Maryland didn't play very well offensively either, but they did do something last night that I have wanted them to do. We've had this conversation many times. They really did attempt to push the pace last night, which I, it's the first time where it was noticeable that they were actually, like the outlet pass to Cowan didn't come underneath the other team's basket, you know,

where it was handed from Bruno to Cowan. They were looking up court. trying to push pace. Morsal was clearly trying to push pace early on, and he struggled to finish a couple of times. But I still think that that is how they will be over a, you know, hopefully a two-week plus run in the NCAA tournament, the most dangerous and the least vulnerable. So I enjoyed that part of it last night, even though they weren't so efficient as a fast break team. But they really seemed to, I don't know, maybe it was an emphasis last night. Nobody asked him about that because I watched his press conference last night. What did you think of the Bruno

Fernando Borkhart play, which I'm very surprised, given all that we see in college basketball games when it comes to reviewing plays, was not reviewed? One thing on the page, just real quick, is I just, you and have made this a point to me when we talked about games, and I agree. I wish they did. it more, particularly with Cowan because he's so fast. And there was one particular where Cowan got it, and it ended up being an Alley Upt to

Jaylen Smith. And I just, I literally thought of you and laughed when they did it because I thought you are exactly right. They need to do more of that. As for Bruno, and I didn't, unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the game live. I taped it. And so I was, I was, I ended up finding out the results. So then naturally I started digging around to see what happened.

And the first thing I ended up seeing on Twitter was Andy Katz with his tweet. And I'm like, wow, I guess Bruno assaulted a human the way Katz tweeted about it. Oh, really? I didn't see his tweet. Well, I mean, it was just like, you know, I'm being dramatic. It wasn't that bad. But it was like it made me think, uh-oh, what happened. And then I immediately saw Dustin Clark, our friend, former assistant coach that was like, come on, Andy.

You know, I respect you, but the guy Bortchard had kind of, locked his legs up, whatever. Here's what I saw when I watched it back. Bruno's foot comes down on the guy's chest. There's no question. But it looked to me like he stopped it. If Bruno Fernando tried to stop on the kid's chest, the kid would be dead.

I mean, he's in the, Bruno's an enormous human being. And he, where he, he did the step over with the Iverson thing. I mean, I don't know. If they reviewed it,

I don't know what they would have done. It doesn't, what's the word optically? That's what we say now. We can't just say that's what it looked like. It didn't look great. The optics weren't great. But I don't think it was some awful thing.

Yeah. I mean, so for those that didn't see it last night, I'm going to give a little context to it because maybe when you were, you know, going through it quickly on DVR, you perhaps missed part of what was the setup for this, which was, I thought, a horrible call on this kid for Nebraska, Borkhart, taking a charge on Jalen Smith,

which I thought was a clear block and should have been a three-point play, and Turgeon went nuts. So Turgeon did a good job of trying to buy the next call or two off of what was a pretty bad call about two minutes earlier. Bruno Fernando, Tommy, I know you haven't watched a lot of Maryland basketball. He is your type of player. Oh, no, I've seen enough. Yeah.

I mean, I know he is. In fact, I'm going to the Purdue game Tuesday night. Did you get a good seat? Well, I've got a press credential. Parking? Yeah. Okay, good. I just want to make sure you're taking care of.

Relax. Well, you complain a lot of times about the parking situation and the various credentials you get. I've gotten this far without you watching out for me. You know, I've tried to help you, but you don't really help yourself in a lot of these cases. But Bruno Fernando caught it on the post, and there was a flop by the defender, and then he just dunked it hard on him. And when he came down... I saw it. It was all over social media.

When he came down, there was no doubt that the right foot does stomp the kid's chest. I don't think it was intentional. And to Scott's point, if he had really gone after him, you know, Leitner style from way back, he'd a hurt him. But the other thing that people missed, I think a lot of people missed, was this kid was using his legs to grab Bruno's legs, too, which is why he ended up stepping over him. Anyway, I don't think there's anything that can be done about it. I just was shocked in the moment with all of the reviews and all of the going to, you know, the table to look at plays, that they didn't even go to look at that play, which was crazy to me. But it was a good win for them. Nebraska was desperate. Nebraska's got players. I know they were missing, I say, Copeland, who they lost.

But I think they've got two pros on their team. I think Palmer and I think Roby are both pros. Yeah, but they're It was interesting That building is really Really good Like one of the most underrated venues in the in the big ten But the losses have have mounted The building was quiet last night

It wasn't packed And they couldn't make a shot And it's interesting like The metrics and the analytics of sport Are so interesting now They've got a huge blind spot for Nebraska The numbers love them And they don't take into

account that one of their better players is now out for the year with the injury. So Nebraska's favorite, and I was, I was mortified by that. Me too. But, I mean, I was convinced this means bad things. But the numbers don't quantify, and you and I always complain about this, is the human element. And that looked like a group was out of gas, and, you know, they couldn't buy a shot. The building had no energy. And, you know, it was hardly a thing of beauty, but so be it, man. All Maryland wanted yesterday was a win in Lincoln.

and take the weekend off and hunker down and get ready for Purdue Tuesday, and they got all that. I wanted to mention something that Dustin Clark, good friend of yours and mine, former assistant for Turgeon, who is now living in Texas and working in a completely different industry. But, you know, I talked to him the other day and he said, you know, you guys, you and Scott and all the guys that are die hard, you know, Maryland guys, you know, whatever happens in March happens in March, but you really have to appreciate, Bruno Fernando. He's as good a big man as there is in college basketball, period. He's a throwback, and he is apparently a great kid. You know, smart, interesting, great teammate, the whole thing. His development in one year is as significant, as great as we've seen any

Maryland player grow in one season under Turgeon. Yeah, and let me say one thing. You hit the key words with the last two words you said, under Turgeon. Mark gets ripped a lot, and fans in the area have, you know, there's frustration about, oh, where they've gone and this and that, how players developed. Well, somehow Kevin Herder in two years got to a top 20 pick, and he worked with Terge last spring, and Turge and Bruno were in the gym after the season every morning

in advance of the combine to help him try. to get ready for that. And thankfully, Bruno came back. And look, Mark would be the first to tell you all the credit goes to the young man because he's worked his butt off. But Mark was with him trying to help the process. And so you've seen a guy clearly developed into what's going to be a top first-round pick in the spring.

And I'm with you. Look, he's a blast to watch. There's a ton of energy. He's the heart and soul of the group. And so, you know, I just hope that we don't deal with some crazy call from the Big Ten where they're like, oh, yeah, you know, you're not going to happen for Purdue because that will, that would be a contagion. I don't think that's going to happen. I don't think there's been enough. Yeah, I don't think so. But Purdue, so Tommy, you're going to go to the Purdue game. And this is right now the biggest home game of the year. They'll play Michigan on March 3rd.

And that potentially would be an even bigger game. But Purdue on Tuesday night, I hate it. I hate it that it's a 630 start. You know it's going to kill it. And God forbid, because bad weather is in the forecast. for Monday and Tuesday too. But at least... Yeah, you're warm. Rain. Oh, really? You're so convinced of it. All right, well, if it's rain, that's fine. But you know what?

We don't even... Our fans don't come out when it's raining. So that's always an issue, but at least the students will be there for this one. Yep. I do want to get your take on what happened with Maryland

football recruiting here in a moment. But while we're talking basketball, Tommy and I just had a conversation about just the insanity of the last week in the NBA with the trade deadline, you know, looming later on this afternoon. And I don't like it, but I know I'm probably in the minority, but it's compromised games. The games have become, and maybe early February games don't matter anyway, that this is much more entertaining to some. I just don't, for whatever reason, I just don't like this

whole last week with Anthony Davis wanting out. Kyrie Irving. or Kyrie Irving suggesting that he might want out. To me, it's just off-putting. What is your reaction? I couldn't agree more. And this could just be fellas just three old guys, you know, yelling at clouds or whatever. But I'm so sick of this, I don't even know how to put it. It's almost like a cottage industry within an industry where the only thing that matters is the future.

The only thing that can be interesting is July the 1st. Like, Kevin Durant plays for the world champions right now. They won a game last night against a decent San Antonio team by a billion, didn't they? Yeah. I haven't even talked about what they did. They had 42 assists in the game. 42. No one gives a shit.

Yeah. Like, no – I don't know if I'm a lot of sad. Yes, you are. But no one cares. No one cares. Right. Because all anyone wants to talk about is Kevin Durant's mad, because people are suggesting that he might go somewhere,

which, by the way, he might. but this is what we do. It's February the 6th, 7th. And we're talking about July the 1st. And hey, the Knicks have cap space. Oh, and now the Clippers have cap space. Well, great. There's four players, five players.

And only, that means there's only maybe one or two teams that are going to get them. Three teams, maybe four at the most. Bobby Marks that works with us at ESPN, an awesome guy. Excellent. Well, he's brilliant. He's got context because he's lived it. And he told us, and just a great story did it. He's like, yeah, how about us in 2010?

You know what we had, Cap Space? You know what we got? We got Anthony Morrow, Oliver, somebody named Jodas something, and Jordan Farmer. He said, we called it the law firm. That's what they got. He said, we got a law firm, and I got fired, you know? Because teams do this.

They convince themselves that they're going to get these players. And, like, Anthony Davis, we're supposed to be. to appreciate, like I read these stories, oh, people should respect it if this player wants something different. Well, you agreed to do this. You paid $25 million, and you're a free agent next year, not this year, not next year. And so you're just going to say, well, I want to go play for the Lakers. And then LeBron James agent and the Lakers are just going to just run the, like, take over this storyline, and a team's best players just be like going to say, I'm not going to play. I thought of the Pelicans.

I'm like, no, I'm not trading with you. I'm waiting until the summer. And then people say, oh, the Lakers aren't dealing in good faith. They have no obligation to the Lakers. Just say, pound sand. We're not trading you our best player. Obviously, I'm animated here. I'm sick of this.

I'm sick of this. And by the way, 95% of the teams that sell you on the future, and we're going to save money and we're going to try to get free agents and we're going to be good then. We'll never win. And even if they do, they won't win. ever. Like 10 teams have won an NBA

titles since 1980. The rest of them are just kidding themselves and charging a thousand bucks to sit in the front road to see a bunch of guys that don't want to play there and are just waiting until July 1st or next July 1st so they can go play somewhere else. And it's like the season is the

inconvenience for the off season. It's interesting and it's content, but it is exhausting and it's just nonsense. Like Adam Silver has the most interesting league in terms of social media. It never ends.

There's all these petty things. Guys are all very willing participants in it. So that's good. But you got to worry about your actual on-the-floor content. And I'm totally with you that this negates it. It neuters it. I'm not sure you have to worry so much about the on-the-court content. I mean, I would argue that the on-the-court content has suffered dramatically by the way the game is

played now compared to what it was. years ago. And what has driven the rise of the NBA, if you look at television today and you look at what dominates programming for a lot of networks, it's reality TV. It's manufactured drama.

And that's what you're talking about. You're talking about manufactured drama for a generation that thrives on it. Well, that's why he started the conversation saying it's probably about three older dudes, which I... But, but, I mean, the culture that has given rise to the NBA is exactly the culture we're railing against.

I, well, you're, everything you said is so well put, Tommy, but, and that's why I'm careful to say, for what you do and what I do, it is content that, and we're in the content business, so it certainly gives us things to talk about if you're, if you're doing drive time radio, or if you're doing like the morning TV where we just talk about stuff. Like, it is fodder for the machine. There's no question. The one thing Tommy just said that I think I would debate with you, and we have for many years, is the style of basketball,

which you hate where Steph Curry is just shooting it, that's been a big part. No, I'm not talking to you. He's talking to Tommy. I'm going to talk about the glorified horse that the NBA is going. That has fueled the rise in popularity of the game. Yeah, because you don't need, you don't. You don't need many brains to figure out how to watch a basketball game.

Well, you do. You need more of it. All you do is shoot it. That's his big thing. All Steph Curry does is shoot it. He's the greatest shooter ball handler in one body in the history of the game. You should appreciate it more. But back to something you said, Scott, about Anthony Davis and the fact that, you know, he does.

He's got more contract left. He made a commitment. And to get out of that commitment and to create this incredible. you know, one week run of news is just, I can't stand it. And I said to Tommy 20 minutes ago, I'm praying that there's no deal. I hope LeBron and the Lakers get stuck with no Anthony Davis right now, no Western Conference finals, ends the streak for LeBron getting to the finals. And by the way, they have sort of, you know, LeBron's injury has been a part of that too, but they've sabotaged themselves with all of this discussion. Their young players,

have had no idea whether or not they're coming or going one night to the next, and that's why they got beat by 42 the other night. I, um... Go ahead. Imaging him on the bench, by the way, Kevin, just like... Oh. I mean, it's the image of him of LeBrono on one end of the bench sort of by himself. And this, by the way, after he sat out Saturday night's game on ABC against the

Warriors. Quote, load management. And then they're getting their ass kicked by 40, and he's playing in that game. And it's like, there's... There's so much power, there's so many power moves made by LeBron's, you know, team and clutch and his agent where they just want to flex their muscles and let the league know, hey, we'll do what we want. Maybe we'll sit out in a TV game.

And then they go out and beat by 42, and all these young guys are, like, I think that the idea of playing with LeBron, like, the kids love it. And then guess what? Maybe he didn't want to play with you. And then you're just an asset to be moved. And then these kids that are 21, 22 years old are looking around going, man, this is. This sucks. I don't want to do this. It's crazy. It's really, really amazing, like this last week and a half. And, you know, New York's happy. They moved Porzingus, and they got caps base. And guess what? Maybe they do get Kyrie and Durant. Maybe they do. And then maybe the Knicks for the first time in 50 years can actually matter. But if they don't, then they're just going to be, you know, interesting and talked about only because they play in New York City and they can still be a garbage team. I hope they're not.

As an aside, as an aside, anyone who puts their team in the hands of Kyrie Irving deserves what they get. Well, I was just going to say that if Kyrie Irving ends up signing in New York, what a loser. Yes. I mean, seriously, what a complete and utter loser this guy is to claim that he needs to be on his own where he can go win without LeBron. And he ends up in one of the, if not the single best basketball city in the league. and now he wants out as they've basically tried to build around him

I have at it that's the stuff that drives me nuts I'd like to see some of these players stay for at least more than a cup of coffee and in Kyrie's case that would be as bad a look for any player from my perspective I'm sure not from a 20-something's perspective but that would be one of the worst

give-up loser looks of all time I think that even the Well, I mean, and maybe the youngsters don't care And this is back to the old guys yelling at clouds But if I would think even a young I think even if a 20-something would be able to go Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. You didn't want to play with the best player

Of the generation in LeBron and Cleveland anymore So you could go do your own thing But then maybe you're going to go team up with Kevin Durant Because if you do, by the way, he's better than you Durant's better than you And we haven't even mentioned Durant last day Like, why do I have to talk to you? Like I get the frustration.

And Kevin's a thoughtful guy and a sensitive guy, and I can appreciate all of that. But, like, part of what the gig is is dealing with us. That's just part of it. Like, why do I have to talk to you? Well, I mean, in a way, you don't, but you kind of do. I don't know. It's the whole – everybody's sideways right now. It's like the whole world's crazy, and nobody wants to do it for – unless it's just what they want.

Like, the thing about this – and I know I'm rambling here and we're going on, but, like, bad. Good players have been on bad teams forever. Yeah. That's just how it's going forever. This isn't new. Right. But if you're one of those perceived top three, top four, top five players, you can try to work your way into a championship, into a ring.

We spent time talking about the Kevin Durant thing and everything you just said is exactly what we said. Not to mention the fact that he's just, he's a proven, highly sensitive personality. I mean, he had a fake Twitter account to defend himself for crying out loud. And if he didn't want all of this attention, he should have stayed in Oklahoma City. And if he didn't want all of this attention, he should be under a contract that's longer term than, you know, a year, which allows him to be, you know, speculated about in terms of his future on a year-to-year basis. You know who I'm rooting for this year more than ever, and I know you know I've rooted for him anyway all along. But I am so rooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder this year. a guy that has stayed in this one place.

And now, when I watch them and there are, you know what, there's not a lot of trade rumors involving them, and they've won like nine out of the last 10 games and beaten some good teams. And even the game, they lost the Super Bowl Sunday game, which actually was a terrific game. But I think that Paul George is like the perfect fit. It's the first guy he's truly trusted. They can't beat Golden State.

I understand that in the best of seven. But God, I hope they beat the Lakers or beat somebody else to get there, beat, you know, Denver or anybody else to get there. I'd love to see the guy that tries harder than anybody else and has never dictated out or never wanted out of probably one of the worst places to live, I'm guessing, of all of these NBA cities. No offense to Oklahoma City. No offense, Oklahoma City to being called the worst place to live.

Well, I'm sure. All due respect. I'm sure it's lovely. But you know what I mean. I do. This guy's a warrior. He's, he, I don't know if he'll get through, and they can't beat Golden State. So what's the point?

Probably not. But I hope I get to watch him for a series or two. Huh? But George wanted to go to L.A. He went there, and then he saw it for a year, and he decided to stay. So he's the one dude that's stuck around. So I understand the sentiment behind it, and they are playing great basketball. But, I mean, I don't know.

The league is amazing at the moment. It really is, and not in a great way. All right, give me two minutes on Mike Loxley and signing day and basically getting that quarterback to pick Maryland over Florida State. I don't know a ton about who they got other than that. I mean, they were able to flip a couple of local kids. In the 2020 class, Mike told me, is one of the best that it's been in a decade. And that's where you'll see the real impact and his real juice. but just the ability to come in late and get some guys to flip some guys.

I think where you'll also see the impact is they're far from finished. I mean, the transfer portal and the possibility to bring some guys back, they've already brought, you know, a couple of kids back from Ohio State and the linebacker from Good Counsel. And the Savoy, the wide receiver from Virginia Tech, that's come. There'll be a bunch of transfers. I mean, the class is like in the 80s, and now it's like

in the 50s, which is obviously not what you want, but he'll have it. I'd be shocked if he didn't have a top 20 class in 2020. His juice in the area is unrivaled. And just being able to get a kid that at the 11th hour was Florida State or Maryland, and Florida State really

needed somebody, and he chose to come with locks. I mean, that's what we're talking about with him. And it's a need too. It's a need position for them next year. I would imagine that he'll compete as a as a true freshman to start. I'd imagine there'd be a quarterback who transfers in from somewhere that's like a 50-year guy that would also compete. Like they're not like by no means are they done. They will be adding a bunch of people between now and camp. All right. Thanks. That was fun. Talk to you later.

Thank you, Scott. Good talking to you. Always enjoy it. Good luck with your parking past Tuesday, Tommy. Quick word about Ferris, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Fairfax. If you're considering a Chrysler, a Dodge, a Jeep, consider Farish. They're right there in the heart of Fairfax and Fairfax Circle. Ralph Perkins is the general manager, runs the dealership. Ask for Ralph when you get there. Please do that because Ralph is a great guy and he's a friend of mine and he's going to really take care of you if you head out there.

You can also find out everything they have before heading out there at Fairfax. Parish Cars.com. Their live inventory, live pricing, all of their best deals. They've got very good rebates right now, as high as they've been all year long, tons of inventory on the lot. The Jeep Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, Jeep Rangler, all great deals, perhaps the best deals they've had all year on all three of those vehicles. Same goes for the RAM pickup. They've got a used car lot if you're thinking about something used. They've also got a Subaru dealership if you're thinking about a Subaru, but if you're thinking about something new and you're thinking about a Jeep Grand Cherokee, those are great vehicles or a Wrangler, give Ferris a shot. I promise you will get a

great deal. You'll get taken care of. Their service department is the best. Mark is a, he does a great job running their service department. You never wait when you bring it in to have the vehicle serviced. They're just really good guys and they'll take good care of you. Farish Cars.com for everything you need to know right now. And if you head out to Farish and Fairfax, just ask for Ralph Perkins and tell him, I told you to call. Okay. What's the latest on Bryce Harper? The Giants? That's the latest rumor on him? Yeah. He's met with the Giants, Henry Shulman, who covers the team long time for the San Francisco Chronicle, said that supposedly the meeting went well. They're probably going to have another meeting.

And, you know, Harper supposedly asked a lot of questions about the organization in the meeting, including a lot of questions about their farm system and things like that, indicating that that's the kind of thing he's looking at long term with some of these organizations. Well, don't the Padres have a much better situation farm system wise? That's what they say, but I think they have an idiot for a general manager. So I just think that, you know, I just think if he signs with the Padres, he might as well enroll in the Federal Witness Protection Program. So, and again, if he cares about an organization and how it's run, he's not going to find probably a better situation than the Nationals, which is the one he's most familiar with. I know he has a lot of confidence and likes Mike Grizzow.

now I've maintained all along not all long but of late that I think the nationals now probably have the best shot only because I don't think he's getting a $400 million contract and let's if we say if he gets a $350 million offer for 10 years I think the nationals will get back into it now Jesse Doherty who covers the nationals for the Washington Post said keep saying that the $300 million the Nats offered Harper before free agency started is off the table. Which offer? The $300 million. Really? He says it's off the table. I don't know where that's coming from.

Maybe, I mean, maybe I've missed something. I remember carefully reading what Mark... If that's true, then they don't want them. No. I mean, to me, if that offer's been pulled, or there's an offer out there for significantly less, it really would be an indication that either Harper really played his hand poorly, that Boris and Harper played it poorly,

or that the Nats really would just prefer his signs elsewhere. If they pull that and they're not interested in revisiting it, then yeah, then it's clear that they didn't want them. I don't know where that's coming from. I don't think I've read anywhere that that's factual. I don't think the nationals have said that. I think Mark Lerner's comments, when you go back and read it, have been more like they expect Harper by the time he gets his final offer.

I think initially they expected him to get so much more than the $300 million than that's offered that they would probably not likely be back in the game. Boy, he should have just taken that $300 million offer now, right? Well, I don't know. look, I don't underestimate Boris's ability to get his guy what he wants. Okay. I mean, you know, so, I mean, I'm never going to bet against Scott Boris. Doesn't seem to be going exactly the way they planned it.

Well, again, it's hard to have a record bidding war where the three biggest spenders, the Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Dodgers aren't taking part. Right. It's kind of hard to do that. You've got to do what Boris is kind of doing is manufacture something, manufacture a bidding war. Morris is doing that right now. He's doing exactly that thing. I know, but it's not the bidding, it's not the price bidding war that he anticipated.

It isn't the, somebody's offering $4.25, somebody's offering $4.14 and somebody's offering 403. All that said, nobody knows anything about the Bryce Harper stuff. Is that just because you don't know anything? No, read the stuff that's out there. I'm kidding. You read the stuff that's out there. I know. I know.

I just heard Tower Kempler. from the New York Times on with the junkies this morning coming in. Who? Tyler Kempner. Who's that? He's a baseball writer for the New York Times. Okay. And basically he said, I have no idea what's going on.

And that's pretty much everybody. And anyone who pretends otherwise is lying to you. Like Jim Bowden, the fraud, the liar Bowden, who says, oh, there's all these mystery teams involved. That's a real stretch, you know, saying all the, I can't name it. any of them, but there's all these mystery team. Nobody really knows what's happening at this point. Well, it's February 7th. Here's the one thing that I would guess most people know. It's going to be over in two weeks or less. Maybe. Maybe. Okay. I mean, we're talking about spring training. It's,

it's not like Bryce Harper can't walk in off the street and start working out. And then there's the whole school of thought all along. But don't you want, don't you want, don't you think the team that ends up signing him if it's a new team, not the Nationals, want to benefit from having Bryce Harper at spring training, wherever it is, and then ready for the season when it starts, and the hype machine to really build up, hey, we've got Bryce Harper.

I mean, the team would benefit whichever team that is by getting it done sooner rather than later. I mean, spring training gets old fast. They'll have enough time. I mean, the season doesn't start until the end of March. I know. but it's actually kind of fun. I've done some spring training.

I haven't gone down with the specific reason of going to Florida or being in Arizona to go to spring training games, but I've been in Florida and in Arizona during spring training time. Oh, yeah. Spring training is great. And gone to a game, and it's actually kind of fun. It's absolutely a lot of fun. It's even more fun to cover it.

Did you see the story that came out about Major League Baseball and the Players Association discussing, potentially pretty significant changes to the game. Here are some of the apparent rules changes that are being considered. A three-batter minimum for pitchers, unless you're at the end of an inning or an injury. A universal designated hitter, meaning in both leagues. You want to take these one at a time? Yeah.

Give me universal designated hitter. That's probably the highlight out of all these. What do you make about the National League and a DH? Look, it's never going to step back. In other words, either the National League is going to adopt the DH or it's going to continue the way it is. It's never going to be the American League is going to get rid of the DH. But I don't know why it shouldn't be.

Do you have a view? I mean, that would be a universal system if you had no DH. I understand that, but that's, as you just said, that horse left the barn many, many years ago. Do you have a personal preference? I'd rather not see the DH. I think it offers more strategy for managing. I do too. Without the DH, but I'm not a religious zealot about it.

You know, that said, you can't implement that this year. I mean, teams have built their rosters in the National League, not planning on having a full-time DH. Now you can't tell them six, you know, two months before. There they are. They're talking about 2019. The word is that it could be an instant. It's only baseball.

That's insane. What about the three-batter minimum for pitchers? Anything to reduce the elevation of the relief pitcher as a star in the game is fine with me. They need to get their hands around pitching changes. But the three-batter minimum for pitchers is also an effort to speed the game up, right? So you don't have as many pitching changes. Yes, which I think is good. But by the way, a big part of strategy in the National League without a designated.

hitter is a lot of pitching changes. Yeah, I get that. But there's some pitching changes that have nothing to do with any of that. I mean, Tony Larusa ruined the game for a lot of people by visiting the mound six times in a nine- inning game. What about a 22nd pitch clock? The reality is, I just want to see baseball stay the way it is. Okay?

Just leave everything alone. You know what? If it's too long for you. then don't watch. You know, I agree with you. And I think it's very hard. I know this having younger, you know, kids than you've had over the last, you know, 10, 15 years. I know how hard it is for younger, you know, younger generations to really, when I say enjoy baseball,

enjoy the game of baseball. They enjoy being at a park from a social standpoint, you know, during the summer. It's the best, of all the sporting, you know, It might be. It's the most social because it's outdoors in the summer. But a lot of the people that are there are not actually really involved in pitch by pitch, batter by bat or inning by inning game results. You can have conversations during a baseball game with people. So speeding it up, by the way, you're not talking about significant savings, I don't think.

I'm with you. None of this stuff really matters to me. The number of pitching changes to me gets really tedious. Yes. When you bring in, you know, lefty to face the right kind of batter and the right situation. And then because the next guy is coming up and you got another guy. And, you know, that gets old and gets tiresome. You know, the only thing worse than that is the debate over pitching changes.

The only thing worse than the changes are all the genius managers sitting at home who are convinced they would have used this guy out of the bullpen, not that guy. And that changed the whole game. And that's the whole reason a team lost the game because of the wrong pitching change by the manager. I'm more sick of that than the actual changes. Well, I think that there are definite similarities between the argument that we had about the end of the Saints game. You, and I know this about you, and this is what was frustrating the other day, is you when it comes to in-game strategy stuff, that's not your thing. you are brilliant at everything else about franchises and personalities and how things should be run

but when it comes to in-game strategy it bothers you when other people have strong opinions about it because you would prefer those people to be wrong and completely incapable of having an opinion about that they usually are example but i want this conversation dead right now but anyway because you're wrong My issue is people declaring that they know what's right without all the facts and information. Okay. Were there any of these other things a single trade deadline before the All-Star break instead of after the All-Star break, which it is now, right? Because it's July 31st every year. Yeah, I think they should push the trading deadline back more.

Past July 31st. Was that what it was or was it that there's going to be just a single-trade deadline? deadline. There's none of this post-trade deadline. No, they want it to happen before the All-Star break. I don't know what that does. The expansion of rosters to 26 with a 12-pitcher maximum. That's fine. That's fine.

Draft advantages for winning teams and penalties for losing teams. That's sort of the opposite the way drafts usually work, isn't it? Well, they're trying to fight the tanking syndrome. A study to lower the mound. You know,

I mean, they raised the mound in 1968. Right. And there are some people in baseball who don't think it's a coincidence that Tommy John injuries or the elbow injuries seem to really start happening after they raised the mound. It's pitching such an inexact science. I don't know. Again, I just want to say, I want them to keep it the way it is.

Simple as that. The latest rumor of what they were talking about, not just that, but possibly moving the mound back. If you move the mound back, would a shift be more beneficial or less beneficial? All right, a couple of other things I wanted to get to real quickly before we end the show. Mention this briefly with Scott, but last night, you know, if you're paying attention to the games, and most people aren't right now because it's all about the trade deadline. The Warriors hung 141 on the Spurs.

All right. Spurs are, you know, having now a decent season after not the great start. But anyway, 42 assists on 55 made shots. That's incredible for them. And then there's James Harden, Tommy, whose streak now is 28 games of 30 or more points, trailing only Chamberlain's two streaks of 65 games in 61, 62, and then had another one in 62 of 31 points. And the big difference, of course, is that James Harden, I would like to know what the unassisted points were for Will and those stretches. They had to be many more assisted buckets than Harden because- You would think so, unless a lot of them were offensive rebounds. And he had a lot of those, because shooting percentages were not the same. But it's really an incredible streak. You know, I find myself going back and forth as to whether or not I really enjoy. watching him play. I enjoy the skill level, which is ridiculously high. And, you know, back to what we're

talking about with Scott, the big difference in the NBA, you're right, it's a different game than the game you loved, which was a half-court game without the three-point shot. And, you know, you worked inside outside. You know, you went inside. And then, you know, if Rick Berry ended up being the recipient of a Clifford Ray bounce-out pass, you know, he knocked down a mid-range jumper. And you love that. But the skill level of these players, the evolution of the, the skill, of the skill, is really unbelievable. And you and I have had this conversation many times before. It's the range in which they shoot threes.

It's not just the three-pointers. It's the fact that they shoot them four, five, sometimes six, seven feet beyond the line, which creates a completely different basketball floor in terms of the spacing and makes it so much easier that there's so much room in the middle to drive by or to make a pass to the middle.

It's just a different game to watch, but the skill level of Hardin, I find mesmerizing, but at the same time, I hate the one-touch possessions. You know what I think is mesmerizing about Hardin? This may seem kind of weird. He's a left-handed shooter. I mean, to me, I think a left-handed batter is more interesting to watch than a right-handed batter to swing is prettier. I think a left-handed quarterback throws a big,

better ball, more a prettier ball, more of a spiral than a right-handed quarterback. And I think a left-handed shooter just watching them shoot. It's just, it's more aesthetically pleasing. That's funny. You've said that before, I remember, and you're not the only person that says that. I don't, I don't, I know what you're saying. It looks, it looks prettier, but a great shooter is a great shooter. Yes, I know that.

Steph Curry, Reggie Miller to me had some of just, I loved, why, watching Reggie Miller play because not only did he have a beautiful stroke, he had the quickest release and moved so well without the ball. There are a lot of reasons I loved him, but some of your favorite players, you know, Willis Reed, Dave Cowans, right? Were left-handed players. Yeah. Look, that quarterback, Kenny Stabler. Oh, Stabler was beautiful to watch. Steve Young. You know, I mean, the beautiful spirals. Yeah, I'm just trying to think, you know, in terms of... You know, one of our favorite quarterbacks of all time, Jim Zorn. Stay medium.

You know, over, like in recent years in terms of great left-handed, I will tell you that to me, the greatest left-handed ball handler that I've ever watched in college was Kenny Anderson at Georgia Tech. Oh, yeah. He was a brilliant ball handler and a good ball handler in the NBA, too. Don't get me wrong. I mean, you know, in recent years in terms of like a big guy, you know, Zach Randolph as a left-hander, was fun to watch. Chris Mullen had a, you know, had one of those beautiful, yes, left-handed, you know, shots. Um, but yeah, I, I know what you're saying. I just,

I, I go back and forth on Hardin. There are times when I'm watching, I'm like, this is just painful. The other four players are just standing and watching. You know, they're not, there's no, it's, it's all Harden one on one. And if they come double, he might give it up. But then again, he might not give it up. But his skill level is incredible. He also has benefited. There's no doubt, like I was watching the highlights of last night, you know, the step-back stuff where he shuffles his feet before and just gets away with stuff that, you know, players back in the day, right-handed or left-handed, wouldn't get away with.

You know, he, like Bird had the step back, which was probably a travel off the hard dribble, towards, you know, the bucket and then the gathering himself and taking that left foot and stepping back and getting behind, you know, the line. But anyway, I, you know what, I was just looking it up because I thought he was a lefty, but I was 100% sure. I know who you're going to say. No, you don't. Bob Lanier. Well, he is, but that's not who I was going to say. Nate Archibald. Yeah, of course. I, I, I, I wasn't 100% sure. Yeah, no, I totally remember him. Like a player who led the league in points and assists. Oh, yeah. Tremendous ball. Tiny Archibald was a great player.

Yes. And really only had a chance to play on a couple of good teams with the Celtics at the end of his career, right? Yes. But not a championship team. Am I right? I don't think Tiny won a title. I don't know if he did or not. Was Tiny on a team with Bird at the very end?

I don't think so. I mean, because remember, he had a lot of his career, like in Kansas City. With the Kings. Yeah. With the Kings. Yeah. He may have been on one of those very final, you know, on the, you know, on the, on, on the, the very early bird teams. I want to look that up because I want to make sure that I've got the

answer on that. Yeah, I remember that Bob Lanier was a left-hander as well. And David Robinson was a left-hand. Yeah, Archibald won his, won an NBA title in that 80-81 season with Bird. Okay. When Bird won it in his second year after Magic won it in his first year. You know, I'm just trying to check to see how significant a player he was. You know who was a left-hander? He averaged on that, my fault, because I sort of remember these teams. I mean, I remember ML Carr and I remember Gerald Henderson and I, you know, but he averaged on the 80-81 team that won the title. Archibald averaged 13 points and seven assists a game. You play in 35 minutes.

It was obviously the starting point guard on that team. You know who I should have known was a left-hander, but it never would have occurred to me? Bill Russell. Bill Russell was left-handed. Yeah. I don't remember Bill Russell watching Bill Russell, but I certainly remember Red Hourback coming to Morgan Wooten and Joe Gallagher's basketball camp

every summer as a speaker in talking about Bill Russell as a left-hander. I do remember that. I mean, I think part of the reason I like watching James Hardin is because of that style, that left-handed shooting style. You know, those first two or three bird teams, Nate Archibald was a big part of it, you know, with ML Carr, with Gerald Henderson, with Cornbread Maxwell, Kevin McAil, you know, came and then Parrish and Rick Robey, who was a backup center to Parrish. It's weird that I didn't remember right off the top that Archibald was a big part of that, because really that team that won at 81, they beat the Rockets, remember, the Calvin Murphy Rockets in the NBA finals after beating the Sixers in the Eastern Conference finals. that was Byrd's team.

And Cedric Maxwell, he was the MVP of those finals. I remember. He played great. Right, played great. Anyway, the other thing I just wanted to mention before we left, because I did not mention it earlier. Do you know who's got a pretty decent basketball team locally? Who?

Georgetown. They are not a bad team. Aaron, you are following Georgetown because you go to a lot of their games more than I am. They beat Providence last night, which means they swept Providence. And I know Providence isn't that great this year. But I think Georgetown right now is tied for third in the Big East. They are definitely an NIT team or getting really close to being.

They're in the mix for the NIT. Okay, my question is, because I looked at their schedule last night, they still have Villanova left. They still have Butler on Saturday. They still have Marquette left. They still have Seton Hall twice, and Seton Hall's had a decent team. They play Creighton. could they make a run and be a bubble team over the next month? They'd have to win multiple games they're not expected to.

There would be sentiment, I'll bet you, to put a Patrick Ewing coach team. Right now the Big East looks like a two-bit league. Right. Their non-conference is so bad that they probably, honestly, they probably have to win the tournament to make it. Barring a ridiculous run. Well, if they end up with wins over Villanova and Marquette and, you know. That's what, it would have to be.

be a ridiculous run down the stretch to make up for that bad non-conference. Right now, how many teams from the Big East are projected? I'm just curious. I would say no more than two, right? Two or three, yeah. Who would be, who's the third? Craton? Yeah. Just think, Kevin. Remember when you used to pound your chess about the ACC versus the Big East? Can't do that anymore, can you? No, I, because the ACC is not your conference, is it? It's not my conference, and the Big Ten is my conference, and the Big Ten is the best conference in basketball this year. It is the best top to bottom and it will more

likely than end up with the most tournament teams, although I would have to think that Nebraska is slipping out of this thing. They were like a tournament team and the metrics loved them. You know, the RPI and the college basketball net stuff loved Nebraska. Is that exciting?

The Big Ten with all those teams? That's great. Yeah. It is. They're my league. What do you want me to say? St. John's also in the mix. St. John's is in the mix. Well, Well, they had a big win at Marquette the other day. Was it that win at Marquette?

I think so, yeah. Shemori Pons is, he's a first round pick. He's a really, really good player. But yeah, the Big Ten in the other league that's actually having a really good year is the SEC. They've got a lot of teams that are going to end up in the draw, I think. Big 12 also, right? Big 12 doesn't have the ceiling as the SEC or the Big Ten, but yeah. I'll start getting into this much more and more.

detail here. The thing that I am rooting for is for Maryland to make a nice run here at the end of the season, have a good Big Ten tournament, and end up as a top four seed in the East region, which would then mean the possibility would exist having a Sweet 16 game at Capital One Arena with Maryland involved. That would be great. That would be off the charts. Yes, it would. By the way, if they want to sell out that building for the regionals, get Maryland into the Sweet 16. Of course, they would have to win two games. somewhere else. And they have deep into the tournament capability, talent.

That's the difference between this team and some of the other teams. I don't, I think this is clearly his best chance to make a deep run, even though many people would say that mellows, the Mellow team with Diamondstone and Rashad Suleiman and Robert Carter Jr. I always thought that was a disappointing team. It was disappointing. It was clearly dysfunctional, Diamondstone. All he was thinking about was the NBA.

I think, you know, Carter Jr. was thinking about a lot of that stuff, too. This team has, from the beginning of the season, Tommy, I told you, very few teams have two 610, 611 guys that are as versatile as Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith, who was awesome last night for the first time in several games. Anything else? I think that's it, boss. Stop calling me boss. We didn't do the McShay.

The McShay 2.0. Let's pass. No, I'm just going to tell you right now. So McShay's 2.0 came out, and he's got the Redskins at 15, taking Marquis Brown, the wide receiver from Oklahoma, because Kyla Murray goes 13 to the Dolphins, and Dwayne Haskins goes six to the Giants. So he's only got two quarterbacks going before the Redskins at 15. But he's got Murray as the second quarterback to Miami, and he's got the other quarterbacks.

going later. He doesn't have them. I'm sure fans would love another first round wide receiver. Yeah, exactly, especially one from Oklahoma. I think we already went through that. Oh, don't worry. Your Redskins will trade up to get Kyle or Murray. They might. They might. Okay, I'm done with you. Aaron did a great job. Scott was on the show. Thanks to him. Enjoy the day.