July 28, 2023 • 36 mins
On today's edition of The Best of the Doug Gottlieb Show, Doug reacts to Dalvin Cook's morning media tour where he discussed his latest intentions on who he'll sign with. Cook alluded heavily to the possibilty of teaming up with Aaron Rodgers in New York, and Doug believes that the Jets have an attractive vibe around them since Rodgers joined the team. Marc Stein joins the show to discuss the latest moves made during the NBA off-season. Plus, the crew discusses conference realignment across the NCAA and are joined by Brett McMurphy to discuss the possibilities of conferences merging,plus, a new edition of the Press and so much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
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(00:26):
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be welcome in Sean Bayton. Do a little cornerback backpedal.
Mark Stein joins us. In twenty minutes, we'll find out
is there any value for James Harden in the trade market? Right?
(00:50):
And are we to believe that Ben Simmons is back.
We've got to talk about show Hey Otani and the
day he had yesterday. We'll see if he can can
continue on this tear for the Angels who are red hot.
They take on the Blue Jays Tonight show, Hey o
Tani will be a topic, but we'll get to that
probably in an hour. Mark Dominic's gonna join us. We'll
(01:12):
ask him about the running back market somebody asked him
about last week, and it continues in the conversation is today.
Dalvin Cook kind of did the whole circuit, right, Dalvin
Cook did the circuit of questions regarding where he's gonna sign.
Here's Dalvin Cook on Good Morning Football talking about the
Jets being atop his list.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
What are you personally looking for out of this media?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Just a great vibe man, Just getting around people that
I want to love on Dalvin Cook that I want
to shed that value that I want and just trying
to get around some guys that want to win. I
want to I want to bring something different to the
table man. That's being Dalvin Cook, and I think that's
what I bring to the table. I'm gonna sit down
on my agent and we're gonna, you know, we're gonna
go over things, you know right now, We're just taking
(01:56):
it one step at the time. I think that's what
this process is about. You know, you kind of evaluate everything,
you know, you don't you don't skip the process of
going through everything. So I'm just I'm just trying to,
you know, go through one step at a time. And
you know, the Jet, the Jets right at the top
of the list, So let's go, let's go check the box.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You know, it's interesting. I mean, Dalvin Cook had he
had a statistically a good year last year, right uh,
started playing all seventeen games. Obviously he's got a shoulder issue.
But last year thirty nine catches, which is not spectacular,
but it's not bad, not bad. He's had as many
(02:33):
as fifty three, so he's decent at catching out of
the backfield. He was in a Pro Bowl. He was
not at all pro. What we don't know about is
his ability to pass protect. But he's not an old
guy by any means, you know, not at all. And
you know, you look at his his contract status and
(02:54):
what happened to him, what happened to him in Minnesota
is I mean, here's a dude who they spent thirty
two million dollars on and paid him a couple million
dollars to walk away. He's made thirty two million dollars
in his career. This is a great, great test case.
(03:16):
Twenty seven years old, off of his fourth straight thousand
yard season, what is Dalvin Cook worth? And what is
Dalvin cookworth? What is Dalvin cookworth to the New York Jets.
That's it's like a real question how much will his
contract be? Because that's the true market setter, right, that's
(03:40):
the true The market is not it's not a free
market when you're under contract. It's not a free market
when you're under contract. He can be under contract next year.
That's not a free market. Dalvin Cook is a complete
and total free agent. That's a free market. So what
he signs for? How many years? And granted he got
(04:02):
a shoulder issue, you know, and coming off of shoulder
surgery which he had on I think Valentine's Day, he
had a torn laborum. Now, look, a torn laborum. You're
not throwing a football much if you're a quarterback. Where
it hurts you is in your ability to maintain your strength,
(04:25):
not just for being for running the football, but more
for blocking. Right. Yeah. Also, you know if your shoulders
catching when you have a torn laborum, you know, catching
the ball over your head can be a challenge. But
really this is about blocking and about the ability to
maintain strength. But he got you know, he got shoulder surgery.
On February fourteenth, the Vikings, off the fourth straight a
(04:48):
thousand yard season, release him. He clearly wanted a new
contract and they weren't anywhere close. What does he get
on the open market is really really interesting because there
there are no Yes, other teams have their running backs,
have their plans are set in place, but there's enough
(05:08):
teams that have cab space and don't have a talent
like him on paper, specifically the Jets. How much are
you want? How much do you want Dalvin Cook? How
much you want to pay and for how long? And
there may be a plan to adjust Aaron Rodgers contract
next year where it's this gigantic cap hit. But in
the meantime, like Dalvin Cook, is it going to be
(05:30):
a two year deal? If so, what's that number going
to be? Like, I just people make to make a
mistake of considering things that are not free market to
bree free market. This is a free market. The only
limiting factor is the salary cap. And I guess the
also the idea that many other teams already have their
(05:52):
running backs and they're good and they won't need another
running back until they're current running back you know, gets
hurt or underperforms. So I just I get that he is, like, man,
I just want a good vibe, do you? And wouldn't
that be amazing if the good vibe comes suddenly from
(06:13):
the Jets? And you know, now you look at Aaron
Rodgers looking like a completely different human being, right, looks
like a different guy. And Aaron Rodgers is someone who
he's been kind of a Debbie downer recently when he
was in Green Bay. I think there is something too
(06:34):
doing the same thing but doing it in a new place.
And it's pretty obvious that Aaron Rodgers his personality, he
just he would kind of have a dour persona. I
love that word, by the way, that's like my scrabble
word of the day is dower kind of a dour persona.
When he was the last couple of years he was
(06:54):
in Green Bay, like, man, I don't want to be here.
I'd like to be anywhere but here. And I do
think people generally perform better when they're happier, when they're
happier off the field. And though the Jets aren't really
in New York, right, I know the stadiums in Jersey,
but close where they train is not particularly close to
the city, but it's close enough to where when you
(07:18):
want to get into where the action is, you get
in there. When you don't, you don't have to do
anything with it. But the Aaron Rodgers suddenly becoming this
leader of a band of merry men, and man, do
I love being here? And man do I love coming
to work? And man is this awesome? And et cetera,
et cetera, et cetera. Like that sounds all great, It
(07:39):
really really does, and it actually is believable to me
because I understand what that's like. There are people that
stay places too long. In college coaching, they'll say, every
year you stay, you create an enemy. You ever heard that,
Every year you stay, you create enemy. So they'll tell people,
(08:03):
now you've been here too long, you create too many enemies.
I think it's the same thing you know in any job.
One of the amazing things about people I know have
been in like John romisperg example, John, how long you've
been a Fox Sports radio.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Since twenty What was the year that Michael Jackson passed away?
Is at twenty on? Two thousand and nine? Okay, yeah,
two thousand and seven, somewhere in there.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Nine And the percentage of days. And you can answer
this honestly, you're not getting fired percentage of days thanks
Dike that you look forward to going to work.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Out of one hundred percent, I would say one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
One hundred percent is never a day we're.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Like, nope, really, yep. I enjoy my job immensely.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I enjoyed the job. I would say, there's when you're
hosting a show and it's based upon your rep onions
and the topics of the day. You know, if you
work in the two hundred and twenty five day variety,
you know there's somewhere in the you got to be
above two hundred in terms of days with things to say.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
That's right, Yes, I agree with you one hundred percent.
You're You're different than I am in the fact that
you actually have to come up with an idea of
your opinion every day on some sort of sports product.
I don't. I just I appreciate that you bring me
in on conversations, but not always do I have an
opinion on everything, right.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
But it's still but it's still you like what you do,
and you like what you do one hundred percent of
the time, and that is rare and It's one of
the things that's kept me doing what I'm doing is
I pulled some people at another job where I was
just like, hey, if if you won the if you
want the not the lottery, if you want Powerball tomorrow
(09:51):
or you want power Ball to night, would you come
to work tomorrow? And my answer is yes, I like
what I do. But I also would tell you that
I I understand the Aaron Rodgert like, I wasn't unhappy
at ESPN, but there was the Hey, what's it look
like somewhere else? You know? Uh, I think that's that's
human nature. And what you find is and he was somewhere,
(10:14):
how was he? Eight eighteen years were there? What happens
is you you find sometimes there's things you leave behind
you're like, man, I really miss that. And then sometimes
you're just energized by the newness and a new building
and a new place, and you feel fresher and you
feel younger, and you feel alive, and I mean, look,
(10:35):
it's one of the reasons that I think people stay
in college college coaching a long time is because though
the job can be a little mundane and the same
because there's always turnovers, always fresh phrases. They're always the
same kind of energy and wanting to achieve something greater.
Then I don't I think you don't maintain that level
of Now you could say the same thing in football,
(10:57):
but I just I think we're gonna have to probably
get to a point where we go. You know, I
was never down on Aaron Rodgers. People who track all
of the history of my shows will tell you that
Aaron and I have been friendly, and I've always said
he's the most talented quarterback I've seen. The only adjustment
I made to it was, I mean, Tom Brady won
(11:19):
a seventh Super Bowl, and I had always said Tom
is the most successful. I thought Aaron was the best.
I do think that when you win that much at
that high a level, that there's something to his quarterback
play which is clearly better than everybody else's. Rob Parker
wants to say it's luck, fine luck. As part of
it is being with Bill Pelicheck. Part of it, sure
(11:40):
is did he have a loaded roster and did they
have some escapes with Tampa? Absolutely, But all of these
things have to be The great leadership have to be
half guys that believe in You have to not turn
the football over have to be able to perform well
in the clutch. All those things have to happen. But
I've always been an Aaron Rodgers guy, but he he
turned dowur the past two years and now it's to
(12:04):
the point where Dalvin Cook probably gonna take less to
be with the Jets. And though Aaron Rodgers and I
do think that he'll make that thirty five million up back,
you know, they'll redo his contract next year and he'll
he'll get more of that money and then they'll, you know,
push more money down the road, down the street, if
you will. But we've gotten to the point where Aaron
(12:27):
Rodgers is happy. And when you're happy at work, man,
that's that, that's really you know, you're happy at work.
And look, if you can double it up, happy work,
happy at home, you're gonna be a productive dude. You
know what I think happens when you're unhappy at home
(12:47):
is there's a short period of time or a period
of time in which you're better at work, especially if
you're a kind of performer, because you know the world
may be crashing down outside and now you hyper focus
on your work. I can tell that from personal experience,
like things aren't going well a lot of times, but
it's a short play. The long play is the happiness
at work and then of course happiness at home and
(13:09):
you're more productive for longer. Isn't it interesting if Aaron
Rodgers who has kind of gone down the Brett Favre
past path and kind of turned Dowur and even the
most ardent Aaron Rodgers fans are like, God, this guy
makes it so hard to like him. If now he's
(13:30):
he's conducting the best vibe in the NFL. Granted, haven't
played a game, haven't lost a game, haven't been booted home,
all these things haven't happened, but there is something to
that change of scenery which has clearly energized him and
changed him for the better. Dig up.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Yeah, I was gonna say, Doug, there's something you said
yesterday which Ira actually wrote down, and it's something that
I believe in. I think I would tell a lot
of the coach the players that I coach. He said,
personal happiness leads to professional success. I think that's a
very very valid point.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
It does, It does, And what I think is interesting
is if you can, you know, how long can you
mask when you're personally unhappy? How long you know or
how long can you mask if you're professionally unhappy? And
can you fix your professional or personal unhappy like while
you're in season? Or do you have to have a
change of scenery like? All those things are interesting questions.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
Two NBA Insiders podcasting twice a week to plug you
right into the NBA grape fine.
Speaker 6 (14:31):
All happening in only one place. This League Uncut, the
new NBA podcast with me Chris.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Haynes and me. Mark Stein join.
Speaker 6 (14:41):
Us as we team up to expound on everything we're
covering Hearing and Chason.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haynes and Mark Stein.
Speaker 6 (14:49):
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Easter Noon Civic on
Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Doug gotlib Show here on Fox Sports Radio. If you're
looking for a really good listen regarding the NBA, download
This League Uncut, a new podcast. Chris Haynes at our
next guest, Mark Stein, of course, NBA correspondent for Substack.
He's worked at all the big eas and everybody respects him.
He knows has all the knowledge and anything he doesn't know,
Chris Haynes knows, and they share it in their in
their in their pod. Let's start with with this. Ben
(15:26):
Simmons is back, right, And I don't know if this
is year two or year three of Ben Simmons is back.
It does feel more real now as we actually have
video of him working out with actual basketball players. What
do you think the Likeliod is that he's back, maybe
not to the level before he hurt his back, but
to a competitive level where he can play big minutes.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
I agree with you. I think that these have been
the most hope, kind of hopeful signals that we've heard
in a while with him. You know, it's been so
long now that I think, in general most people's view
is going to be we need to see it to
believe it and see it with our own eyes. But
you know, there were there were a few games even
(16:09):
last season with the with the nets where there were
still flashes. And you know obviously that back injury he's had.
You know, Michael Porter had the same thing. The people
who have endured that surgery say that it is a
very long recovery, so it would be a great story
if he can't make it back. You know, he's he's
(16:31):
too young and too talented not to root for him,
So I certainly do. And you know, I again, I
think I understand. I understand that there's going to be
skepticism no matter how good the videos look. But I
think you're right. I think the signs are as hopeful
as they've been for a while. And if it is,
(16:51):
you know, the nets of you know, post Durrant, post Kyrie,
the Nets are more interesting, I think than a lot
of people thought possible. You know, they've replenished their draft picks.
Speaker 7 (17:02):
Bridges has become such a good player.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
They hang on to Cam Johnson and free agencies, and
they have a lot of optionality to make moves. The
Nets will be more watchable and more interesting next season
than I think we probably would have anticipated after the
trade deadline in February.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I tend to agree it's going to be fascinating, all right,
you hear from Let's not be critical, but I'll say
less reputable sources than yours that well, maybe Portland's going
to try and save this thing, save the relationship. Is
there any saving the relationship between Damian Lillard and the Trailblazers.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
No, I don't think so, I really don't. I mean,
I just think we're just everybody wants us to go
fast and it's just not going fast. But I would
also say September isn't that far away, so Lie is
almost over. We got a lot going on in all
with the Hall of Fame inductions, with the Feeble World
(18:03):
Cup and training camps. Training camp is going to get
here faster than you think, and it's just not going
to be as easy for the Blazers to stay patient. Now,
maybe they're going to hold firm and bring Dame to camp,
and you know, then it becomes a daily talking point
and a daily source of distraction, and it's just it
(18:25):
gets a lot harder to stick to your guns. But
I mean, look, they've got to get this right. The
Blazers have to get this right. It is you know,
they they are not a team known for attracting free agents.
They have done really well drafting here the last couple
of years, and they have just drafted Dames presumed air
(18:45):
apparent in Scoot Henderson. But it's Scoot Henderson's going to
be a reasonable facsimile of Damian Lillard this season, probably
not right away. He's gonna need some time to make
that jump to the NBA. And so the Blazers have
to get this right. They have to get commensurate value
for you know, a guy who not just productivity wise,
(19:07):
with his relationship with that community, that fan base. I mean,
it's not easy to replace Damian Lillard obviously, so they
have to get it right. And let's see if they
have the gumption to be as patient as they say
they are in July.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
What's going on with James Harden.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
Well, he just doesn't have the leverage that he thinks
he does. I mean, you know, he says he wants
to go to the Clippers. You know, the Clippers to
this point have only been willing to engage to a degree.
And even if the Clippers were more gung ho about this,
Daryl Mory's already proven with the way he handled the
(19:49):
Ben Simmons situation. Darryl moriy he will wait it out.
If Darryl Mory was running the Blazers, I think then
you would say, Okay, you know what, they may try
to say this thing, because we've seen we've seen him
just the year that they kept Simmons all the way
to the deadline. Embiid was playing fantastic. He didn't win
the MVP that season, but that was really you know,
(20:11):
there was a lot of MVP buzz around Joell, and
all the talk was.
Speaker 7 (20:15):
Philly, you're wasting an MVP season for a beat.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
Laurie, hurry up, make the trade, and he didn't. You know,
he held firm until he got something he wanted. And so
I do think it is it's easier for me to
imagine I don't know about training camp, but let's say
opening night, it's easier for me to imagine Harden as
a sixer than it is to imagine gave me and
(20:40):
Lillard as a sixer. But that's why they played the games,
as they say, that's why we have these trades, thogs.
Let's see, maybe they're gonna maybe the Blazers are gonna
surprise us.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And I don't think this is a reach, but if
you do feel free. Obviously lebron he had that speech
where there's a lot of self for grandizing. Hey, good
news for you guys, I'm coming back for year twenty one.
But what happened with Bronnie this week? Was really scary, right,
And there's a better than average chance that he doesn't
(21:16):
play basketball this year, and at least a good percent
chance he may never have basketball again. We don't know
the diagnosis, but it would be I don't think there's
anybody playing in the NBA that has a defibrillator. I
don't know about if it's just a medication, whatever, but
it definitely changes the idea that, hey, in a year,
(21:37):
he's gonna be in the NBA Draft and they're going
to play together. Has anybody begun to calculate what that
means for Lebron in terms of how long he's going
to play?
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Not really among people I've talked to. I mean, the
story is just so fresh and so sad and really
so scary.
Speaker 7 (21:56):
And I have to say, you know.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
Like, as I've been able to cover pretty much all
of Lebron's career, not from his close range as other reporters,
but I mean, I've obviously covered him in the finals
a zillion times, and I've i covered his first game
in Sacramento, and you know, I've I've I've had the
privilege of seeing pretty much most of his highs and lows.
But I have to say, just selfishly, I think I'm
(22:19):
just getting older, and I'm just a softy about it.
I love dad Lebron. I've loved watching how excited he
is being, you know, coaching his kids, being around him.
I've run into I've seen him in Vegas when Bronnie
was much younger, and and you know, they had a
traveling team there, and you know, Lebron was just like
(22:40):
organizing a meal at a hotel for fifty people, and
just like I've really enjoyed watching just how happy he
is to be a dad for these guys. And so
you know, for me, I mean, I just I just
I can't even imagine going through it. I can't even
you know, It's just it's so scary, and you know,
(23:02):
I can't even begin to get what kind of mind
frame this throws him in. But to be honest, I
you know, around in league circles, I've really just heard
mostly just concern and shock and really good wishes for
the family because you know, he's the kid.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Is eighteen and eighteen years old and it happened at
USC the year before, right, like, what are the chances?
I mean, just just awful. But I mean, I'm it
appears he's gonna be okay, then the question now becomes
his basketball career well, along with his health. Mark Stein
joining us. You can read his work at Substack. Course,
(23:42):
he has this League Uncut, which is an outstanding new
podcast which you can download. He and Chris Haynes go
at it in depth about all the inside stuff in
the NBA. You know, if we would go back a
year ago and you and I are having a discussion.
Matter of fact, I can tell you a year ago
I was trying to have this scuses, but you had
You weren't allowed to do radio like this. So anyway
(24:03):
we had this discussion, you and I would have discussed
Luka Doncik being if not the best player in the
league in any conversation. So they add Kyrie Irving. Obviously
it was not they got worse, not better immediately immediate
or not immediately, but within like a month and the
lack of overall surrounding talent came back to bite him.
(24:24):
And you know, people also picked apart the fact that
he wasn't in great condition, despite the fact that this
supposedly was he was trying to get back in be
in better shape for this year. Lucas still an unbelievable talent.
I know you're incredibly close with the guys in Dallas.
Are they sneakily? Are they going to be It feels
(24:44):
like they're actually gonna be really good this year and
nobody's paying attention to them.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Well, look, they've they've made They've had a pretty good summer.
I would say they haven't reached all their objectives because
they wanted a front line starting center, preferably a defensive
minded center, someone you could build the defense around, and
they didn't get that. They tried to trade for Clint Capella,
they tried to trade for DeAndre Ayton. They would have
(25:12):
thrown all their free agent money at Naz Reid had
not Reid made it to free agency, but noz Reid
ended up doing a deal with Minnesota before he even
got the free agency, so they haven't been able to
really address the center situation. They got Rashaun Holmes in
the Draft Night trade, in which they also acquired number
twenty four from Sacramento and drafted Olivier Maxentz Prosper, who
(25:36):
they are really high on. They had a great draft
to get Lively and Prosper, and the MAVs have a
pretty spector draft history. So they were absolutely thrilled with
the picks they made. But you know, you know, we'll see.
I think they got Grant Williams at a really good number.
They tried to get matif Tybele Portland, Matt Thatt offer.
If you were adding Grant Williams and Tible and Rashaun
(26:01):
Holmes to your center rotation with Lively now and you
have Luca and Kyrie back, I think you would you
know that people probably would be talking about them more.
But you know, again, they're they're still kind of keeping
hopes that they can find some sort of trade for
a center, and basically Williams, Grant Williams, they are counting
(26:22):
on him to have a massive impact here. I mean,
they need a better Grant Williams and more consistent Grant
Williams than we saw in Boston. When he plays to
his peak, He's an excellent defender, corner threes and does
a lot of good stuff and guard almost every position
on the court. But they need him to play at
a higher level of consistency. He's gonna have a much
bigger role here in Dallas than he did in Boston.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
In league circles, Lucas still viewed as one of the
two or three best players, isn't.
Speaker 5 (26:49):
He no question? No question? And look my questions about
this team, are you know, are the fit? The mav
made the decision to trade for Kyrie Irvings, so they
felt like they had to rEFInd him they could not
lose him. But at its core, would you build your
team would when you have Luka Doncic? Would you have
(27:13):
a ball dominant Kyrie Irving as his number two and
build your team around those two guys?
Speaker 7 (27:21):
No?
Speaker 5 (27:21):
You know, that's what the skeptics points to, and that's
what the MAVs are going to have to prove that
they can do this season. They've made a lot of
changes to the team and I don't think they're done.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Awesome stuff, Enjoy your weekend. Thanks so much for joining us.
Remember it's this league. Uncut head's working sub a substack
as well as Mark Stein. He covers the NBA as
well or better than anybody who does it. Stanny, thanks
so much for joining us.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
All good talk to.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
He let's do this let's welcome to Brett McMurphy. He's
been breaking a lot of this stuff from the Action Network.
So Brett, we've been talking out the potential for the
Big twelve to add one school, right one school, and
I kind of listed the city, who State, Arizona, Arizona, State, Utah, Yukon,
anybody I'm missing.
Speaker 7 (28:12):
Well, what they want to do is they want to
add a PAC twelve school first, So they're going to
exhaust all options to get a Pack twelve school. So
I would put Arizona, Arizona, State, Utah, potentially Oregon, and
Washington in that group. At this point, it may be
the first one to jump, is who they would take.
(28:33):
I don't think they're saving a spot for any of
those guys. I do know that Arizona is the is
the furthest along they've engaged the most with the Big Twelve.
I reported yesterday that Bobby Robbins arizonas President, met with
Big Twelve Commissioner Brett eu Or Mark in Houston back
at the Final four about potentially moving to the Big twelve.
(28:56):
But that doesn't mean they're waiting on Arizona. I mean
it's a race. Arizona has the lead. But if any
of these other schools decide, hey, we want to jump
first because we're afraid what's going to be left in
the PAC twelve, they certainly would take them. The Big
Twelve will absolutely have a fourteenth school in twenty twenty four.
They are not going to stay on thirteen. How long
(29:18):
will they wait for a PAC twelve school That's to
be determined. Maybe it's going to be a few months.
And then if they cannot get a Pac twelve school
to jump, if those guys that are still there sign
a granted rights deal and they're locked in, then they'll
look to the group of five ranks and that team
would be from Yukon obviously is one of them, Sanaego State,
U and LV and Memphis. The dream scenario for the
(29:41):
Big twelve would be if they could get the remaining
four corner schools to join Colorado, and that would be Arizona,
Arizona State in Utah, and then you would have a
sixteen team Big twelve Conference in twenty twenty four, and
then they would call it a day.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
A lot of things happened. If Dion Sanders isn't there.
Speaker 7 (30:04):
I think it does, but I think the fact he
is there, like made it even more more an easier
decision to make because Dion is intrigued by having the state.
Now you're recruiting the state of Texas, and if you're Colorado,
you just in everyone in the PAC twelve for that matters.
I mean, yeah, you can still recruit and you're an
LA guy, you can still recruit the LA southern California region,
(30:31):
but you can't you know, you can't sell it to
recruits parents because they're never going to play there anymore.
Now you're into Texas, you can go recruit Texas and tell,
you know, mom and dad, hey we're going to be
down here once or twice a year. You can camp,
see your baby play whatever. And so that was huge.
So I still think Colorado did this ultimately because it's
(30:53):
a for financial reasons. They feel there's more stability with
the Big twelve. They will make more money in the
Big twelve. Most Colorado ad Rick George said in the
press conference yesterday, you know, we want to be aligned
with the ESPN and Fox. The PAC twelve will not
be aligned with the SPNUM Fox. So I think Dion,
you know, Deon being there made it a slam dunk
(31:16):
I still think it would have happened even if if
time wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Okay, what happens to the PAC twelve?
Speaker 7 (31:26):
Huh, if you're talking near future, I think they can survive.
I think let's say they only lose one school and Arizona,
like I said, is the is the leader at the
at the quarterfole. Let's say if Arizona they could still survive,
they would have to find some teams to add for
the for the twenty fourth season because you can't play
(31:49):
a season with eight members. Uh, you know that's seven
conference games. Are you going to double us? You know,
home and home against conference opponents. What challenging for the
PAC twelve and a short term DOUG is Sandygo State.
The way they botch their exit in the Mountain West.
Now they're locked into the Mountain West. They can still
(32:10):
get out, but instead of costing them seventeen million, it's
going to cost them thirty four million with less than
a year's notice. And that's what it would take. So
the same for any other team out of the Mountain West. Okay,
maybe they look to a SMU. Tulane has been mentioned,
So you look at a school from the American Well,
they're supposed to provide twenty seven months notice. That ain't happening.
(32:34):
So that exit fee that was in now ten dollars,
ten dollars, ten million dollars would probably be doubled at
twenty million. Can they afford that? Probably, So they're in
a real tough situation. I think more long term for
the PAC twelve, and I hate this. I think they're
I think they're in real trouble because I think eventually
(32:55):
Oregon and Washington get to the Big can and then
what kind of conference is to PAC twelve If you
are without USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and kick somebody
else to go to the Big twelve. I mean, that's
that's not the PAC twelve. And then whoever you add on,
it's basically going to be a merger between the PAC
(33:17):
twelve and the Mountain West at that point. I hate that,
but I think that's where we're headed. And the other
conference that I think could be in real trouble, not immediately,
but three or four years down the road is the ACC.
I think Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, Miami. I think
one from or all of them try to jump over
(33:39):
the wall and get out of that thirteen year granted
rights with the ACC. Will they'd be successful, that's another story,
and that would be great theater. If they do, then
that's when the Big ten and the SEC come in
and swoop in those schools. They grow to twenty, the
Big twelve will be excuse me, at fourteen or sixteen,
and then I don't know what the PAC twelve and
(34:01):
ACC would look like at that point, but that's probably
five years down the road.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
It's crazy, I mean, just just amazing. If you were
a betting man and you do work for the Action
Network KT mcworthey joining us, who would you bet as
the fourteenth Big twelveeen?
Speaker 7 (34:20):
I mean, I mean Arizona because they're further along they
I mean, and also I think I mean, look, I
think Utah and Arizona State, and then you know we're
going to watch it. They're all committed to the PAC twelve,
they all want it to work. But if kleof Cop
comes to them with a granted rights deal, that you know,
the Big twelve right now is you know, going to
(34:41):
be near thirty two million if he comes to them
with the deal, let's say twenty five million, twenty eight million,
I mean it's only five million. I don't know what
the number is where they're like, Okay, screw it, we're
out of here. But I just think because Arizona has
been this far along, I was told Arizona didn't want
to be the first one to jump. They were of
hoping that Colorado would be the first one to do it.
(35:04):
And so then that way they don't they're not the
bad guy in this deal. But it's funny, Doug. I mean,
you know, we're both Oklahoma state guys. The only reason
the Big twelve has stability, and I say this is
an Oklahoma State guy, is because nobody else wants the
teams in the Big twelve. I mean, the SEC got
ou in Texas. They don't want anybody else. The Big
ten doesn't want anybody else. And so that's kind of
(35:26):
how the Big Twelve has kind of grown from this
and now they emerged. Is this number three conference while
the Plat twelve is just sitting there counting today. So
O're goon to Washington. Leaves in the acc sif they're
counting today, till Florida State, Clinton, Miami, New North Carolina, Virginia,
Virginia Tech. Those guys leave. So in a weird way.
(35:46):
The Big twelve is kind of emerged. Is this number
three conference, And I think it'll be that way for
a very long time.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Breck McMurphy Action Network. He covers all this stuff and
does an incredible job lesson insider for college football. I
guess work at the Action Network. Brett, thanks so much
for joining us. We'll talk soon.
Speaker 7 (36:03):
You got it. Thanks stuff.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
He's the best man, totally all over this stuff.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
three to five Eastern twelve two Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Find your local station for The Doug Gottlieb Show at
Foxsports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day
on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR Boom, What Up America,
Doug Gottlieb Show, Foxsports Radio Broadcast, lib Athtirat dot com Studios,
(00:26):
tyrect dot com. We'll let me get there. Unmatched election
fast free shipping, Free road has protection over ten thousand
recommend installars tyrac dot com. So a tire buying should
be welcome in Sean Bayton. Do a little cornerback backpedal.
Mark Stein joins us. In twenty minutes, we'll find out
is there any value for James Harden in the trade market? Right?
(00:50):
And are we to believe that Ben Simmons is back.
We've got to talk about show Hey Otani and the
day he had yesterday. We'll see if he can can
continue on this tear for the Angels who are red hot.
They take on the Blue Jays Tonight show, Hey o
Tani will be a topic, but we'll get to that
probably in an hour. Mark Dominic's gonna join us. We'll
(01:12):
ask him about the running back market somebody asked him
about last week, and it continues in the conversation is today.
Dalvin Cook kind of did the whole circuit, right, Dalvin
Cook did the circuit of questions regarding where he's gonna sign.
Here's Dalvin Cook on Good Morning Football talking about the
Jets being atop his list.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
What are you personally looking for out of this media?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Just a great vibe man, Just getting around people that
I want to love on Dalvin Cook that I want
to shed that value that I want and just trying
to get around some guys that want to win. I
want to I want to bring something different to the
table man. That's being Dalvin Cook, and I think that's
what I bring to the table. I'm gonna sit down
on my agent and we're gonna, you know, we're gonna
go over things, you know right now, We're just taking
(01:56):
it one step at the time. I think that's what
this process is about. You know, you kind of evaluate everything,
you know, you don't you don't skip the process of
going through everything. So I'm just I'm just trying to,
you know, go through one step at a time. And
you know, the Jet, the Jets right at the top
of the list, So let's go, let's go check the box.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You know, it's interesting. I mean, Dalvin Cook had he
had a statistically a good year last year, right uh,
started playing all seventeen games. Obviously he's got a shoulder issue.
But last year thirty nine catches, which is not spectacular,
but it's not bad, not bad. He's had as many
(02:33):
as fifty three, so he's decent at catching out of
the backfield. He was in a Pro Bowl. He was
not at all pro. What we don't know about is
his ability to pass protect. But he's not an old
guy by any means, you know, not at all. And
you know, you look at his his contract status and
(02:54):
what happened to him, what happened to him in Minnesota
is I mean, here's a dude who they spent thirty
two million dollars on and paid him a couple million
dollars to walk away. He's made thirty two million dollars
in his career. This is a great, great test case.
(03:16):
Twenty seven years old, off of his fourth straight thousand
yard season, what is Dalvin Cook worth? And what is
Dalvin cookworth? What is Dalvin cookworth to the New York Jets.
That's it's like a real question how much will his
contract be? Because that's the true market setter, right, that's
(03:40):
the true The market is not it's not a free
market when you're under contract. It's not a free market
when you're under contract. He can be under contract next year.
That's not a free market. Dalvin Cook is a complete
and total free agent. That's a free market. So what
he signs for? How many years? And granted he got
(04:02):
a shoulder issue, you know, and coming off of shoulder
surgery which he had on I think Valentine's Day, he
had a torn laborum. Now, look, a torn laborum. You're
not throwing a football much if you're a quarterback. Where
it hurts you is in your ability to maintain your strength,
(04:25):
not just for being for running the football, but more
for blocking. Right. Yeah. Also, you know if your shoulders
catching when you have a torn laborum, you know, catching
the ball over your head can be a challenge. But
really this is about blocking and about the ability to
maintain strength. But he got you know, he got shoulder surgery.
On February fourteenth, the Vikings, off the fourth straight a
(04:48):
thousand yard season, release him. He clearly wanted a new
contract and they weren't anywhere close. What does he get
on the open market is really really interesting because there
there are no Yes, other teams have their running backs,
have their plans are set in place, but there's enough
(05:08):
teams that have cab space and don't have a talent
like him on paper, specifically the Jets. How much are
you want? How much do you want Dalvin Cook? How
much you want to pay and for how long? And
there may be a plan to adjust Aaron Rodgers contract
next year where it's this gigantic cap hit. But in
the meantime, like Dalvin Cook, is it going to be
(05:30):
a two year deal? If so, what's that number going
to be? Like, I just people make to make a
mistake of considering things that are not free market to
bree free market. This is a free market. The only
limiting factor is the salary cap. And I guess the
also the idea that many other teams already have their
(05:52):
running backs and they're good and they won't need another
running back until they're current running back you know, gets
hurt or underperforms. So I just I get that he is, like, man,
I just want a good vibe, do you? And wouldn't
that be amazing if the good vibe comes suddenly from
(06:13):
the Jets? And you know, now you look at Aaron
Rodgers looking like a completely different human being, right, looks
like a different guy. And Aaron Rodgers is someone who
he's been kind of a Debbie downer recently when he
was in Green Bay. I think there is something too
(06:34):
doing the same thing but doing it in a new place.
And it's pretty obvious that Aaron Rodgers his personality, he
just he would kind of have a dour persona. I
love that word, by the way, that's like my scrabble
word of the day is dower kind of a dour persona.
When he was the last couple of years he was
(06:54):
in Green Bay, like, man, I don't want to be here.
I'd like to be anywhere but here. And I do
think people generally perform better when they're happier, when they're
happier off the field. And though the Jets aren't really
in New York, right, I know the stadiums in Jersey,
but close where they train is not particularly close to
the city, but it's close enough to where when you
(07:18):
want to get into where the action is, you get
in there. When you don't, you don't have to do
anything with it. But the Aaron Rodgers suddenly becoming this
leader of a band of merry men, and man, do
I love being here? And man do I love coming
to work? And man is this awesome? And et cetera,
et cetera, et cetera. Like that sounds all great, It
(07:39):
really really does, and it actually is believable to me
because I understand what that's like. There are people that
stay places too long. In college coaching, they'll say, every
year you stay, you create an enemy. You ever heard that,
Every year you stay, you create enemy. So they'll tell people,
(08:03):
now you've been here too long, you create too many enemies.
I think it's the same thing you know in any job.
One of the amazing things about people I know have
been in like John romisperg example, John, how long you've
been a Fox Sports radio.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Since twenty What was the year that Michael Jackson passed away?
Is at twenty on? Two thousand and nine? Okay, yeah,
two thousand and seven, somewhere in there.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Nine And the percentage of days. And you can answer
this honestly, you're not getting fired percentage of days thanks
Dike that you look forward to going to work.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Out of one hundred percent, I would say one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
One hundred percent is never a day we're.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Like, nope, really, yep. I enjoy my job immensely.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I enjoyed the job. I would say, there's when you're
hosting a show and it's based upon your rep onions
and the topics of the day. You know, if you
work in the two hundred and twenty five day variety,
you know there's somewhere in the you got to be
above two hundred in terms of days with things to say.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
That's right, Yes, I agree with you one hundred percent.
You're You're different than I am in the fact that
you actually have to come up with an idea of
your opinion every day on some sort of sports product.
I don't. I just I appreciate that you bring me
in on conversations, but not always do I have an
opinion on everything, right.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
But it's still but it's still you like what you do,
and you like what you do one hundred percent of
the time, and that is rare and It's one of
the things that's kept me doing what I'm doing is
I pulled some people at another job where I was
just like, hey, if if you won the if you
want the not the lottery, if you want Powerball tomorrow
(09:51):
or you want power Ball to night, would you come
to work tomorrow? And my answer is yes, I like
what I do. But I also would tell you that
I I understand the Aaron Rodgert like, I wasn't unhappy
at ESPN, but there was the Hey, what's it look
like somewhere else? You know? Uh, I think that's that's
human nature. And what you find is and he was somewhere,
(10:14):
how was he? Eight eighteen years were there? What happens
is you you find sometimes there's things you leave behind
you're like, man, I really miss that. And then sometimes
you're just energized by the newness and a new building
and a new place, and you feel fresher and you
feel younger, and you feel alive, and I mean, look,
(10:35):
it's one of the reasons that I think people stay
in college college coaching a long time is because though
the job can be a little mundane and the same
because there's always turnovers, always fresh phrases. They're always the
same kind of energy and wanting to achieve something greater.
Then I don't I think you don't maintain that level
of Now you could say the same thing in football,
(10:57):
but I just I think we're gonna have to probably
get to a point where we go. You know, I
was never down on Aaron Rodgers. People who track all
of the history of my shows will tell you that
Aaron and I have been friendly, and I've always said
he's the most talented quarterback I've seen. The only adjustment
I made to it was, I mean, Tom Brady won
(11:19):
a seventh Super Bowl, and I had always said Tom
is the most successful. I thought Aaron was the best.
I do think that when you win that much at
that high a level, that there's something to his quarterback
play which is clearly better than everybody else's. Rob Parker
wants to say it's luck, fine luck. As part of
it is being with Bill Pelicheck. Part of it, sure
(11:40):
is did he have a loaded roster and did they
have some escapes with Tampa? Absolutely, But all of these
things have to be The great leadership have to be
half guys that believe in You have to not turn
the football over have to be able to perform well
in the clutch. All those things have to happen. But
I've always been an Aaron Rodgers guy, but he he
turned dowur the past two years and now it's to
(12:04):
the point where Dalvin Cook probably gonna take less to
be with the Jets. And though Aaron Rodgers and I
do think that he'll make that thirty five million up back,
you know, they'll redo his contract next year and he'll
he'll get more of that money and then they'll, you know,
push more money down the road, down the street, if
you will. But we've gotten to the point where Aaron
(12:27):
Rodgers is happy. And when you're happy at work, man,
that's that, that's really you know, you're happy at work.
And look, if you can double it up, happy work,
happy at home, you're gonna be a productive dude. You
know what I think happens when you're unhappy at home
(12:47):
is there's a short period of time or a period
of time in which you're better at work, especially if
you're a kind of performer, because you know the world
may be crashing down outside and now you hyper focus
on your work. I can tell that from personal experience,
like things aren't going well a lot of times, but
it's a short play. The long play is the happiness
at work and then of course happiness at home and
(13:09):
you're more productive for longer. Isn't it interesting if Aaron
Rodgers who has kind of gone down the Brett Favre
past path and kind of turned Dowur and even the
most ardent Aaron Rodgers fans are like, God, this guy
makes it so hard to like him. If now he's
(13:30):
he's conducting the best vibe in the NFL. Granted, haven't
played a game, haven't lost a game, haven't been booted home,
all these things haven't happened, but there is something to
that change of scenery which has clearly energized him and
changed him for the better. Dig up.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Yeah, I was gonna say, Doug, there's something you said
yesterday which Ira actually wrote down, and it's something that
I believe in. I think I would tell a lot
of the coach the players that I coach. He said,
personal happiness leads to professional success. I think that's a
very very valid point.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
It does, It does, And what I think is interesting
is if you can, you know, how long can you
mask when you're personally unhappy? How long you know or
how long can you mask if you're professionally unhappy? And
can you fix your professional or personal unhappy like while
you're in season? Or do you have to have a
change of scenery like? All those things are interesting questions.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
Two NBA Insiders podcasting twice a week to plug you
right into the NBA grape fine.
Speaker 6 (14:31):
All happening in only one place. This League Uncut, the
new NBA podcast with me Chris.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Haynes and me. Mark Stein join.
Speaker 6 (14:41):
Us as we team up to expound on everything we're
covering Hearing and Chason.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haynes and Mark Stein.
Speaker 6 (14:49):
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Easter Noon Civic on
Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Doug gotlib Show here on Fox Sports Radio. If you're
looking for a really good listen regarding the NBA, download
This League Uncut, a new podcast. Chris Haynes at our
next guest, Mark Stein, of course, NBA correspondent for Substack.
He's worked at all the big eas and everybody respects him.
He knows has all the knowledge and anything he doesn't know,
Chris Haynes knows, and they share it in their in
their in their pod. Let's start with with this. Ben
(15:26):
Simmons is back, right, And I don't know if this
is year two or year three of Ben Simmons is back.
It does feel more real now as we actually have
video of him working out with actual basketball players. What
do you think the Likeliod is that he's back, maybe
not to the level before he hurt his back, but
to a competitive level where he can play big minutes.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
I agree with you. I think that these have been
the most hope, kind of hopeful signals that we've heard
in a while with him. You know, it's been so
long now that I think, in general most people's view
is going to be we need to see it to
believe it and see it with our own eyes. But
you know, there were there were a few games even
(16:09):
last season with the with the nets where there were
still flashes. And you know obviously that back injury he's had.
You know, Michael Porter had the same thing. The people
who have endured that surgery say that it is a
very long recovery, so it would be a great story
if he can't make it back. You know, he's he's
(16:31):
too young and too talented not to root for him,
So I certainly do. And you know, I again, I
think I understand. I understand that there's going to be
skepticism no matter how good the videos look. But I
think you're right. I think the signs are as hopeful
as they've been for a while. And if it is,
(16:51):
you know, the nets of you know, post Durrant, post Kyrie,
the Nets are more interesting, I think than a lot
of people thought possible. You know, they've replenished their draft picks.
Speaker 7 (17:02):
Bridges has become such a good player.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
They hang on to Cam Johnson and free agencies, and
they have a lot of optionality to make moves. The
Nets will be more watchable and more interesting next season
than I think we probably would have anticipated after the
trade deadline in February.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I tend to agree it's going to be fascinating, all right,
you hear from Let's not be critical, but I'll say
less reputable sources than yours that well, maybe Portland's going
to try and save this thing, save the relationship. Is
there any saving the relationship between Damian Lillard and the Trailblazers.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
No, I don't think so, I really don't. I mean,
I just think we're just everybody wants us to go
fast and it's just not going fast. But I would
also say September isn't that far away, so Lie is
almost over. We got a lot going on in all
with the Hall of Fame inductions, with the Feeble World
(18:03):
Cup and training camps. Training camp is going to get
here faster than you think, and it's just not going
to be as easy for the Blazers to stay patient. Now,
maybe they're going to hold firm and bring Dame to camp,
and you know, then it becomes a daily talking point
and a daily source of distraction, and it's just it
(18:25):
gets a lot harder to stick to your guns. But
I mean, look, they've got to get this right. The
Blazers have to get this right. It is you know,
they they are not a team known for attracting free agents.
They have done really well drafting here the last couple
of years, and they have just drafted Dames presumed air
(18:45):
apparent in Scoot Henderson. But it's Scoot Henderson's going to
be a reasonable facsimile of Damian Lillard this season, probably
not right away. He's gonna need some time to make
that jump to the NBA. And so the Blazers have
to get this right. They have to get commensurate value
for you know, a guy who not just productivity wise,
(19:07):
with his relationship with that community, that fan base. I mean,
it's not easy to replace Damian Lillard obviously, so they
have to get it right. And let's see if they
have the gumption to be as patient as they say
they are in July.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
What's going on with James Harden.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
Well, he just doesn't have the leverage that he thinks
he does. I mean, you know, he says he wants
to go to the Clippers. You know, the Clippers to
this point have only been willing to engage to a degree.
And even if the Clippers were more gung ho about this,
Daryl Mory's already proven with the way he handled the
(19:49):
Ben Simmons situation. Darryl moriy he will wait it out.
If Darryl Mory was running the Blazers, I think then
you would say, Okay, you know what, they may try
to say this thing, because we've seen we've seen him
just the year that they kept Simmons all the way
to the deadline. Embiid was playing fantastic. He didn't win
the MVP that season, but that was really you know,
(20:11):
there was a lot of MVP buzz around Joell, and
all the talk was.
Speaker 7 (20:15):
Philly, you're wasting an MVP season for a beat.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
Laurie, hurry up, make the trade, and he didn't. You know,
he held firm until he got something he wanted. And so
I do think it is it's easier for me to
imagine I don't know about training camp, but let's say
opening night, it's easier for me to imagine Harden as
a sixer than it is to imagine gave me and
(20:40):
Lillard as a sixer. But that's why they played the games,
as they say, that's why we have these trades, thogs.
Let's see, maybe they're gonna maybe the Blazers are gonna
surprise us.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And I don't think this is a reach, but if
you do feel free. Obviously lebron he had that speech
where there's a lot of self for grandizing. Hey, good
news for you guys, I'm coming back for year twenty one.
But what happened with Bronnie this week? Was really scary, right,
And there's a better than average chance that he doesn't
(21:16):
play basketball this year, and at least a good percent
chance he may never have basketball again. We don't know
the diagnosis, but it would be I don't think there's
anybody playing in the NBA that has a defibrillator. I
don't know about if it's just a medication, whatever, but
it definitely changes the idea that, hey, in a year,
(21:37):
he's gonna be in the NBA Draft and they're going
to play together. Has anybody begun to calculate what that
means for Lebron in terms of how long he's going
to play?
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Not really among people I've talked to. I mean, the
story is just so fresh and so sad and really
so scary.
Speaker 7 (21:56):
And I have to say, you know.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
Like, as I've been able to cover pretty much all
of Lebron's career, not from his close range as other reporters,
but I mean, I've obviously covered him in the finals
a zillion times, and I've i covered his first game
in Sacramento, and you know, I've I've I've had the
privilege of seeing pretty much most of his highs and lows.
But I have to say, just selfishly, I think I'm
(22:19):
just getting older, and I'm just a softy about it.
I love dad Lebron. I've loved watching how excited he
is being, you know, coaching his kids, being around him.
I've run into I've seen him in Vegas when Bronnie
was much younger, and and you know, they had a
traveling team there, and you know, Lebron was just like
(22:40):
organizing a meal at a hotel for fifty people, and
just like I've really enjoyed watching just how happy he
is to be a dad for these guys. And so
you know, for me, I mean, I just I just
I can't even imagine going through it. I can't even
you know, It's just it's so scary, and you know,
(23:02):
I can't even begin to get what kind of mind
frame this throws him in. But to be honest, I
you know, around in league circles, I've really just heard
mostly just concern and shock and really good wishes for
the family because you know, he's the kid.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Is eighteen and eighteen years old and it happened at
USC the year before, right, like, what are the chances?
I mean, just just awful. But I mean, I'm it
appears he's gonna be okay, then the question now becomes
his basketball career well, along with his health. Mark Stein
joining us. You can read his work at Substack. Course,
(23:42):
he has this League Uncut, which is an outstanding new
podcast which you can download. He and Chris Haynes go
at it in depth about all the inside stuff in
the NBA. You know, if we would go back a
year ago and you and I are having a discussion.
Matter of fact, I can tell you a year ago
I was trying to have this scuses, but you had
You weren't allowed to do radio like this. So anyway
(24:03):
we had this discussion, you and I would have discussed
Luka Doncik being if not the best player in the
league in any conversation. So they add Kyrie Irving. Obviously
it was not they got worse, not better immediately immediate
or not immediately, but within like a month and the
lack of overall surrounding talent came back to bite him.
(24:24):
And you know, people also picked apart the fact that
he wasn't in great condition, despite the fact that this
supposedly was he was trying to get back in be
in better shape for this year. Lucas still an unbelievable talent.
I know you're incredibly close with the guys in Dallas.
Are they sneakily? Are they going to be It feels
(24:44):
like they're actually gonna be really good this year and
nobody's paying attention to them.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Well, look, they've they've made They've had a pretty good summer.
I would say they haven't reached all their objectives because
they wanted a front line starting center, preferably a defensive
minded center, someone you could build the defense around, and
they didn't get that. They tried to trade for Clint Capella,
they tried to trade for DeAndre Ayton. They would have
(25:12):
thrown all their free agent money at Naz Reid had
not Reid made it to free agency, but noz Reid
ended up doing a deal with Minnesota before he even
got the free agency, so they haven't been able to
really address the center situation. They got Rashaun Holmes in
the Draft Night trade, in which they also acquired number
twenty four from Sacramento and drafted Olivier Maxentz Prosper, who
(25:36):
they are really high on. They had a great draft
to get Lively and Prosper, and the MAVs have a
pretty spector draft history. So they were absolutely thrilled with
the picks they made. But you know, you know, we'll see.
I think they got Grant Williams at a really good number.
They tried to get matif Tybele Portland, Matt Thatt offer.
If you were adding Grant Williams and Tible and Rashaun
(26:01):
Holmes to your center rotation with Lively now and you
have Luca and Kyrie back, I think you would you
know that people probably would be talking about them more.
But you know, again, they're they're still kind of keeping
hopes that they can find some sort of trade for
a center, and basically Williams, Grant Williams, they are counting
(26:22):
on him to have a massive impact here. I mean,
they need a better Grant Williams and more consistent Grant
Williams than we saw in Boston. When he plays to
his peak, He's an excellent defender, corner threes and does
a lot of good stuff and guard almost every position
on the court. But they need him to play at
a higher level of consistency. He's gonna have a much
bigger role here in Dallas than he did in Boston.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
In league circles, Lucas still viewed as one of the
two or three best players, isn't.
Speaker 5 (26:49):
He no question? No question? And look my questions about
this team, are you know, are the fit? The mav
made the decision to trade for Kyrie Irvings, so they
felt like they had to rEFInd him they could not
lose him. But at its core, would you build your
team would when you have Luka Doncic? Would you have
(27:13):
a ball dominant Kyrie Irving as his number two and
build your team around those two guys?
Speaker 7 (27:21):
No?
Speaker 5 (27:21):
You know, that's what the skeptics points to, and that's
what the MAVs are going to have to prove that
they can do this season. They've made a lot of
changes to the team and I don't think they're done.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Awesome stuff, Enjoy your weekend. Thanks so much for joining us.
Remember it's this league. Uncut head's working sub a substack
as well as Mark Stein. He covers the NBA as
well or better than anybody who does it. Stanny, thanks
so much for joining us.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
All good talk to.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Doug
Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Eastern noon Pacific.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
He let's do this let's welcome to Brett McMurphy. He's
been breaking a lot of this stuff from the Action Network.
So Brett, we've been talking out the potential for the
Big twelve to add one school, right one school, and
I kind of listed the city, who State, Arizona, Arizona, State, Utah, Yukon,
anybody I'm missing.
Speaker 7 (28:12):
Well, what they want to do is they want to
add a PAC twelve school first, So they're going to
exhaust all options to get a Pack twelve school. So
I would put Arizona, Arizona, State, Utah, potentially Oregon, and
Washington in that group. At this point, it may be
the first one to jump, is who they would take.
(28:33):
I don't think they're saving a spot for any of
those guys. I do know that Arizona is the is
the furthest along they've engaged the most with the Big Twelve.
I reported yesterday that Bobby Robbins arizonas President, met with
Big Twelve Commissioner Brett eu Or Mark in Houston back
at the Final four about potentially moving to the Big twelve.
(28:56):
But that doesn't mean they're waiting on Arizona. I mean
it's a race. Arizona has the lead. But if any
of these other schools decide, hey, we want to jump
first because we're afraid what's going to be left in
the PAC twelve, they certainly would take them. The Big
Twelve will absolutely have a fourteenth school in twenty twenty four.
They are not going to stay on thirteen. How long
(29:18):
will they wait for a PAC twelve school That's to
be determined. Maybe it's going to be a few months.
And then if they cannot get a Pac twelve school
to jump, if those guys that are still there sign
a granted rights deal and they're locked in, then they'll
look to the group of five ranks and that team
would be from Yukon obviously is one of them, Sanaego State,
U and LV and Memphis. The dream scenario for the
(29:41):
Big twelve would be if they could get the remaining
four corner schools to join Colorado, and that would be Arizona,
Arizona State in Utah, and then you would have a
sixteen team Big twelve Conference in twenty twenty four, and
then they would call it a day.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
A lot of things happened. If Dion Sanders isn't there.
Speaker 7 (30:04):
I think it does, but I think the fact he
is there, like made it even more more an easier
decision to make because Dion is intrigued by having the state.
Now you're recruiting the state of Texas, and if you're Colorado,
you just in everyone in the PAC twelve for that matters.
I mean, yeah, you can still recruit and you're an
LA guy, you can still recruit the LA southern California region,
(30:31):
but you can't you know, you can't sell it to
recruits parents because they're never going to play there anymore.
Now you're into Texas, you can go recruit Texas and tell,
you know, mom and dad, hey we're going to be
down here once or twice a year. You can camp,
see your baby play whatever. And so that was huge.
So I still think Colorado did this ultimately because it's
(30:53):
a for financial reasons. They feel there's more stability with
the Big twelve. They will make more money in the
Big twelve. Most Colorado ad Rick George said in the
press conference yesterday, you know, we want to be aligned
with the ESPN and Fox. The PAC twelve will not
be aligned with the SPNUM Fox. So I think Dion,
you know, Deon being there made it a slam dunk
(31:16):
I still think it would have happened even if if
time wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Okay, what happens to the PAC twelve?
Speaker 7 (31:26):
Huh, if you're talking near future, I think they can survive.
I think let's say they only lose one school and Arizona,
like I said, is the is the leader at the
at the quarterfole. Let's say if Arizona they could still survive,
they would have to find some teams to add for
the for the twenty fourth season because you can't play
(31:49):
a season with eight members. Uh, you know that's seven
conference games. Are you going to double us? You know,
home and home against conference opponents. What challenging for the
PAC twelve and a short term DOUG is Sandygo State.
The way they botch their exit in the Mountain West.
Now they're locked into the Mountain West. They can still
(32:10):
get out, but instead of costing them seventeen million, it's
going to cost them thirty four million with less than
a year's notice. And that's what it would take. So
the same for any other team out of the Mountain West. Okay,
maybe they look to a SMU. Tulane has been mentioned,
So you look at a school from the American Well,
they're supposed to provide twenty seven months notice. That ain't happening.
(32:34):
So that exit fee that was in now ten dollars,
ten dollars, ten million dollars would probably be doubled at
twenty million. Can they afford that? Probably, So they're in
a real tough situation. I think more long term for
the PAC twelve, and I hate this. I think they're
I think they're in real trouble because I think eventually
(32:55):
Oregon and Washington get to the Big can and then
what kind of conference is to PAC twelve If you
are without USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and kick somebody
else to go to the Big twelve. I mean, that's
that's not the PAC twelve. And then whoever you add on,
it's basically going to be a merger between the PAC
(33:17):
twelve and the Mountain West at that point. I hate that,
but I think that's where we're headed. And the other
conference that I think could be in real trouble, not immediately,
but three or four years down the road is the ACC.
I think Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, Miami. I think
one from or all of them try to jump over
(33:39):
the wall and get out of that thirteen year granted
rights with the ACC. Will they'd be successful, that's another story,
and that would be great theater. If they do, then
that's when the Big ten and the SEC come in
and swoop in those schools. They grow to twenty, the
Big twelve will be excuse me, at fourteen or sixteen,
and then I don't know what the PAC twelve and
(34:01):
ACC would look like at that point, but that's probably
five years down the road.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
It's crazy, I mean, just just amazing. If you were
a betting man and you do work for the Action
Network KT mcworthey joining us, who would you bet as
the fourteenth Big twelveeen?
Speaker 7 (34:20):
I mean, I mean Arizona because they're further along they
I mean, and also I think I mean, look, I
think Utah and Arizona State, and then you know we're
going to watch it. They're all committed to the PAC twelve,
they all want it to work. But if kleof Cop
comes to them with a granted rights deal, that you know,
the Big twelve right now is you know, going to
(34:41):
be near thirty two million if he comes to them
with the deal, let's say twenty five million, twenty eight million,
I mean it's only five million. I don't know what
the number is where they're like, Okay, screw it, we're
out of here. But I just think because Arizona has
been this far along, I was told Arizona didn't want
to be the first one to jump. They were of
hoping that Colorado would be the first one to do it.
(35:04):
And so then that way they don't they're not the
bad guy in this deal. But it's funny, Doug. I mean,
you know, we're both Oklahoma state guys. The only reason
the Big twelve has stability, and I say this is
an Oklahoma State guy, is because nobody else wants the
teams in the Big twelve. I mean, the SEC got
ou in Texas. They don't want anybody else. The Big
ten doesn't want anybody else. And so that's kind of
(35:26):
how the Big Twelve has kind of grown from this
and now they emerged. Is this number three conference while
the Plat twelve is just sitting there counting today. So
O're goon to Washington. Leaves in the acc sif they're
counting today, till Florida State, Clinton, Miami, New North Carolina, Virginia,
Virginia Tech. Those guys leave. So in a weird way.
(35:46):
The Big twelve is kind of emerged. Is this number
three conference, And I think it'll be that way for
a very long time.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Breck McMurphy Action Network. He covers all this stuff and
does an incredible job lesson insider for college football. I
guess work at the Action Network. Brett, thanks so much
for joining us. We'll talk soon.
Speaker 7 (36:03):
You got it. Thanks stuff.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
He's the best man, totally all over this stuff.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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