April 30, 2024 • 36 mins
Colin reacts to the Lakers getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the reigning champion Nuggets and why LA needs LeBron to stay relevant going into the future. He shares his first Herd Hierarchy ranking the top 10 NFL teams after free agency and the draft. Plus, Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to give his thoughts on Colin's Hierarchy and what Kevin Durant's legacy has become after another early postseason exit
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
All Right, here we go. It is a Tuesday. All
I hear is the impending doom of the Lakers and
Lebron leaving Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may
be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making
us part of your day. Jmack Well, well, well jmack.
(00:48):
Lebron James thirty nine, twenty first season in the books.
What do you make of it? What a game?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
What a series?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I mean, goodness, gracious, that was just tremendously last night.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And I feel for Lebron and Lakers.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Denver was only plus eleven in the entire series plus eleven.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Lakers played great.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, all the games feel the same between these two.
So a lot of people wondering this morning, if you
know Lebron James. That was his last game as a Laker.
Let's add some context to it, believe it or not.
Despite the biggest brand, Genie Buss, who's really wonderful at
what she does, she is the poorest NBA owner. Steve Balmer,
who owns the Clippers, is the first or second richest
(01:30):
he could buy. If you look at his net worth,
twenty seven of the other owners combined. So Lebron's not
only important for basketball, he's important for business. He sells tickets,
they're sold out, and they're winning about forty five games
a year. So there's a reason Kobe Bryant was paid
top of the market. Till the end. Those local cable deals,
whoever the cable provider is in Los Angeles, pay tens
(01:53):
of millions of dollars a year. They need Lebron. LA
is not Indianapolis or San Antonio. People here make a
lot of money. We're a forty minute flight to Vegas.
We have beaches, mountains. The Dodgers draw five million. Two
NFL teams, two NBA teams, usc UCLA. You can't tank
in LA. You can't tank, you can't be starless, you
(02:14):
can't even really truly rebuild people have things to do
here in a lot of money, and Lebron in terms
of basketball was out of this world good this year.
He was great in this series. His three point shooting
this year best of his career, his field goal percentage
best yet as a Laker. He led the team and assists,
(02:35):
ticket sales. He played seventy one total games. I think
he had twenty six per night. It was fantastic many nights.
He's the best player on the floor in the games.
He plays many nights more than half and that includes Ad,
and he and Ad play well together, and he and
Ad get along really, really well. Lebron's always loved the
(02:56):
guy will do the dirty work on rebounding and defense.
Lebron want to do that stuff. He wants to get
out in the break and shoot his threes. And Ad
is banged up and playing seventy plus games. He's a
great defender, in my opinion, the best defender in the league.
And Ad just had his best year ever as a pro.
He was fantastic. Jolkich had to work for every point
in this series. So Lebron wants to be a Laker.
(03:18):
And here's the good news. When they made that Ad
trade with the Pelicans. It kind of trapped them for
a couple of years. NBA regulations they now can trade
three first round picks. This year they only have one,
but they can trade three without getting into the weeds.
It's due to the AD deal and d Lo's coming
off the books. So they're gonna need a star and
(03:41):
they're gonna go get a star Donovan, Mitchell, Trey Young.
So my guess is Lebron stays. There's no reason to
move in for business, no reason to move him for basketball.
I would absolutely have no problem committing for two or
three more years. He's going nowhere. You know you can,
you can draft his son if you want. But Lebron
still a really, really elite player, and he was in
(04:03):
this series against a physical Denver team. But if you
start looking at the West, just the West, forget the Celtics, Denver,
Mini OKC. You start looking at these teams out west,
they're better than the Lakers. I mean, here's a prime example.
The Denver Nuggets do not have a single player of
their best four that ever have a horrible game. They
(04:24):
have horrible halfs. Jamal Murray can have a bad half,
but Jamal Murray will then have a great second half
the Lakers. D Lo disappears for games at a time,
Ruey disappears for games at a time. Even Anthony Davis,
as great as he is, can be a no show
sometimes offensively. I mean Michael Porters their third best player
for Denver. He shot forty eight percent from three in
(04:45):
this series. He's an agile six to ten athlete with
a dead eye three point touch. He's their third best player. Okay,
he is significantly more talented, gifted, and better than the
lakers third best player or Austin Reeves. They're fourth best players,
one of the better defenders, one of the longer bodies
in the NBA, hustle guy aarn Gordon way better, i
(05:08):
would argue, and more valuable and more consistent than the Lakers'
third best player, and he's their fourth. Not to mention,
they have KCP who is just a big shot maker.
So you can blame Darvin Ham all you want for this.
The fact that they out played Denver most of the
series says something. Eric Spolster is one of the best
coaches in this league over the last fifteen year ten years,
(05:30):
one of the best coaches. He's getting worked in his series.
Why the reality of his roster. The Lakers roster is
top heavy, there's no bench. Their third best player, de
lo sometimes is a no show, almost always against Denver. Well,
what do you want from Darvin Ham? He got the
Lakers ready to play. I thought they outplayed Denver again
last night, but at no point, even when the Lakers
(05:52):
led that, I think, Uh, Denver's in trouble. Every time
these two teams play, it always looks the same. Denver's
better light because Denver's got better players and better closers
and coffees for closers. Here was Lebron about his future
after and.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
He thought at all that, you know, this could have
been your last game.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
With the Lakers. I'm not gonna answer that. Oh the
sly smile by Lebron. He wants to be a Laker,
but he wants the Laker to make big moves. He'll
put the pressure on. I think they'll retain Lebron and
Darvin ham ads here for the long run, and they'll
(06:36):
go get a Trey Young or a Donovan Mitchell. So Lebron,
Curry and Durant out of the playoffs. We're just moving
into the second round. Since two thousand and five, one
of those guys, sometimes all three. One of those three
had made the second round of the playoffs. They're all gone.
So who's the next face of the league. Who's the
(06:58):
next face? Kich Tatum, Giannis, Luca Sga, Wemby, at Edwards,
all vying some vine Jokicic doesn't want to be the
face of the league. Who's the face of the league.
Who's gonna carry the tors now? They're all talented, but
there is no Patrick Mahomes to replace Brady manningan breeze.
(07:18):
It's not there. He was marketable, he was the best player,
He's the best quarterback. He plays the most important position.
NBA diehards will tell you it's gonna be ant Edwards,
It's gonna be this guy, It's gonna be that guy.
The truth is they thought Iverson, Stevie, Francis and mar
Berry would replace Jordan and half the league ratings disappeared.
(07:42):
I don't think any of these guys, maybe Wemby, although
I'm not sure he wants it, will be the face
of the league. And this, like international soccer is a
face of the league sport, you don't need it in
the NFL. Although they vot has had it, but it's
a big part of this league. Now they're going to
Amazon reportedly, so a lot of peop people aren't going
to watch them. When you go to streaming, your numbers
(08:02):
can go down. They generally do significantly. So a lot
of people forget this. They always think it doesn't matter
what market you're in. Yes it does. Lebron is the
only small market face of the league ever. Think I'm lying.
Go back to the seventies. It was like Jerry West
the logo Los Angeles, and then right after that, I
(08:26):
felt like Doctor j big market Philadelphia, and then Magic
La Bird Boston, Steph Shaq, Kobe all big market. Lebron's
the only one in Cleveland. Michael Jordan Chicago. And when
Michael Jordan was the face of the league, the look,
the game, the style, the earrings, the smile, and at
(08:48):
that time Chicago had the number one NFL team, the Bears.
Oprah was the biggest star in daytime TV, and Siskel
and Ebert were driving people to theaters when people used
to go to theater. Chicago has never been bigger than
then the Bears Oprah, Jordan says Gill and Ebert. It
was flying and then there's Lebron from Cleveland, who, for
(09:10):
the record, was a headline in high school, the chosen One,
the King. We don't have anybody like that now. So
I don't know who the face of the league is,
but market size matters now. Could it be Jalen Brunson.
He's not dynamic enough. His game is excellent. I love him,
but that doesn't feel like magic played different Bird, Kareem,
(09:33):
Doctor Jay. Most of the faces of the league, I mean,
Tim Duncan was the best player for about five years.
The big fundamental was never close to the face of
the league. You gotta have some pow, some verticals, some shazam,
and I do think Aunt Edwards has a lot of that.
But Minnesota is a football market more than a basketball market.
But this stuff matters. I don't know who the face
of the league is. I love what I've watched in
(09:55):
the playoffs. People always bang on the NBA. I thought
last night was one of the best games I've seen
in a year. I thought the couple of nights earlier
a Dallas Clippers second half was one of the great
knights I've seen at basketball in this country, anywhere globally,
there's great basketball. Nick sixers has been unbelievable. I love
the league, I love the games, the fans, the Riems
are sold out, the Stars, it's international, but face of
(10:17):
the league. I guess I'd go Aunt Edwards and wamby
Vy for it, but I don't feel it yet. J Mack.
They want Darvin Ham out of here, and it cracks
me up. You can keep blaming Lebron's coaches. If you
get rid of Darvin what's he on his seventh eighth coach?
(10:38):
You can keep blaming the coaches. The Lakers match up
pretty well and led for most of the series, but
in the end the better players Jamal Murray, Yogich, Porter
hit baskets and we have de Lo Reeves Lebron. And
for the record, Ad, because he plays such great defense,
does usually feel a little gassed late in the f
(11:00):
quarter offensively because he actually is banging on guys that
are bigger than him. So if you watch AD with
the Lakers, he is giving you such an enormous effort defensively,
I never feel like Laiden games. I can depend on
him offensively. I'll just take the defense against Jokich. Give
me eighteen. I'll be happy with it. Lebron's not playing
(11:20):
that level of defense. You know, he's kind of hanging
out in the perimeter.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
It's a tough one. I banged on Darvinham all year.
I don't think he's the reason they lost this series.
I mean, honestly, Jamal Murray hit two fluke shots in
the final four seconds to knock him out. But I'll
say this, Colin, you had a healthy Anthony Davis, healthy
Lebron healthy Austin reeves like the team was healthy and
they were in the plan.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
That's kind of sort of unacceptable. That's on the coach
for in season movering. Like if you're a.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Top five seed, you don't have to face Denver to
start the playoffs and the Lakers would be advancing.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
You know that, right? Well, I don't know that. I
think Oka c has been better in Minnesota. We kind
of both had questions about the Thunder and the Tea
Wolves as playoff teams. They look really good. T Wolves
swept their guys and okasee Is has been better than
I thought.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
T Wolves looked great. Don't you say?
Speaker 4 (12:10):
The Lakers have been the third best team in the
West of these playoffs so far, despite losing.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Four one I don't know if they could. I do
not think the Lakers. I think Minnesota would beat them
pretty quickly. Okay, see, I do think they match up
better against But Okacs look great. They're really talented teams.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
The Lakers went toe to toe with the defending champs
and were minus eleven in a five game series.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, but they've done toe to toe twelve thirteen games.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Just talk about last year.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
I don't know. That's that's the reality. All these games
look the same, the better team always. This is the NBA.
It's a long season. The last four minutes of NBA
games decide the winners. Denver always wins these games.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
They're also at home for the two buzzer shots.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Does it matter twelve to thirteen They've won them all
the same way. Again, you blame who you want. Denver's
got better players.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
I don't disagree with that. Although my guy, Austin Reach
showed up in the.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Boston has better players than Miami.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Well, we'll see with the Indiana.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Right now, because Dames Hurt has better players than Milwaukee.
Better players usually win the series. Philly, New York feels
like an outlier. It does feel like Philly's got more
high end players. But Jalen Brunson looks like the best
player in the series.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
I'm waiting for the Joel Embiid excuses to start. I mean,
you know that there's always something for that guy.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
All right, Top of next hour. Okay, coaching hires done,
free agency done, the draft is complete. We do one
of our final Herd hierarchies before the NFL season starts.
One through ten. Who do we like? The draft can
absolutely change it. Maybe not take you from bad to great,
(13:46):
but it can change very good teams, good teams to
very good, very good to maybe super Bowl teams. That's
coming up. Top of the hour.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
All Right, Nick writes around the corner, here we go.
This is my Herd hierarchy. This is it right here.
I gotta like one or two more. But now we
got the draft, the free agency, the coaches. Here we
go heard hierarchy.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Hierarchy. No go the top ten NFL teams according to
College number ten.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I'm gonna put the Chargers in there. Listen, Herbert and
Jim Harbar are great, but they lost a lot of offense,
Austin Eckler, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Gerald Everett. They lost
like productive veteran dudes. Now. I like the kid they
got out of Georgia, Joe Alt. Good picks, they got
Hayden Hurst, they went and got you know, Gus Edwards.
(14:44):
They did get some replacements, but I don't think they're
gonna be quite as lethal offensively. But I love the coach,
I love the quarterback. I love their tackles. Shaun Slater,
Joe Alt. I have him at ten, number nine. I
may have him under they Houston nine. I may be wrong,
they may be higher than this. I just love the
way they're run. I like their draft. I like their
(15:06):
free agent signings Stefan Diggs, then Daniel Hunter, Joe Mixon.
The last two years in personnel, they've done as well
as anybody in this league. I love what they're doing,
everything about it. I like the way they're coach, their quarterback,
their front office. I like everything they're doing. I'll put
them at eight or nine, the Houston Texans number eight.
(15:28):
Philadelphia listen. Offensively, it's stacked with or without Kelsey is
stacked receivers, tight end Sakuon Barkley, Jalen Hurts. They have
new coordinators, so I just want to watch it. A
couple of years ago, I loved their coordinators. Last year
I didn't like their coordinators. Let's see where we land
this year. Mitchell, the corner from Toledo, hopefully solves their
(15:52):
secondary which was a mess. But he alone can't solve them.
I have him at eight, number seven. Listen, you can
sell all your Buffalo Bills stock, but their O line
and run game finally arrived last year. I'm not having
Josh Allen out of my top ten. The other thing
about the Bills I follow college football. I thought they
had another excellent draft. And to Stefan Diggs, oh, they
(16:16):
lost Gabe Davis. You never knew what you were getting
with Gabe Davis. And they went out and drafted Keon Coleman.
And if we're going to give Kansas any credit for
their star receiver in the draft, why can't I give
Buffalo credit for theirs. I have the Bills still hovering
around the super Bowl bubble at seven, number six. The Niners,
they get who Fung go back at safety and they
did address some secondary stuff. They had nine Pro bowlers,
(16:38):
they all returned from last year, and they went and
drafted two receivers, Ricky Pearsall. Probably they're going to move
off Deebo Samuel I said this. I felt last year
they peaked. I thought that was the best of them.
They've got older players. They are relying to carry the
load physical players, Debo McCaffrey, Kittle, Trent Williams. They were
(16:58):
mostly healthy last year. Year they got the iup noise.
I think they peaked last year, but I have the
Niners at six.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Number five.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I love the Packers. I don't think they quite have
the roster of Detroit, but I love them. Josh Jacobs
maybe the first or second best running back in the league.
They allowed the third fewest sacks in the league. And
I this team drafts as well as anybody. Forget just
the quarterbacks. They draft as well as anybody. Jordan Morgan's
a stud at left tackle. I watched them at Arizona
(17:26):
stud Eddrin Cooper the linebacker excellent, Javon Bullard the safety,
Marshawn Lloyd the USC running back. First four picks, I
thought the Packers and the Buccaneers had the best first
four picks. I have the Packers at five. Number four
the Rams. I bought them last year. I thought they
had an unbelievable first four picks. Four guys who will start.
(17:48):
Koram won't start mining Kyron Williams, but he'll play a ton.
All my executive buddies in this league scouts thought the
Rams crushed it, and they crushed last year's draft. They
lost Aaron Donald, but they went and literally got the
two players they targeted. Jared Verse is the guy along
(18:08):
with Brock Bauers in the first round. Those are the
two guys they wanted. And I think this team, if
Matt Stafford is healthy, I think they're gonna be excellent.
Number three the Lions. I think it's a stack roster.
I think they're the Niners, but with younger players. I
think they're the Niners with a more talented quarterback. They
were number three in total offense, number two in passing offense.
They can play from behind, they can play with the lead.
(18:30):
They got the conference championship first time since ninety one.
They added Marcus Davenport off the edge. Carlton Davis, I've
always liked him in Tampa. The corner, and then they
went out and got Terry and Arnold another corner. So
their big issue last year was like Philadelphia a lot.
It's like bad at corner getting torch. They addressed both.
They improved their pass rush. I like them Number two Ravens.
(18:52):
They were the best team for most of the regular season.
White don't I like him. They went and got the
Derrick Henry. They lose Gus Edwards and Dobbins, but they
get Derek Keny. Listen, they had a disappointing post postseason.
They rolled teams last year. They rolled teams like Miami.
They rolled teams in the regular season. So there's no
reason I'm not gonna like him. Lamar's in his prime.
The coaching staff is great. I had an NFL GM
(19:15):
tell me this weekend that he thinks Baltimore is the
best run team along with Kansas City and the Rams
in the NFL. Baltimore at two, number one Kansas City
until somebody knocks them off. Travis Kelsey Chris Jones signed extensions.
Xavier Worthy. I don't know how good he'll be. He
worries me as size track guy, but if anybody's gonna
make it work, it'll be Kansas City. They added Hollywood Brown,
(19:38):
so I think they go into the season Rashid Rice.
Cross your fingers on that. But if he returns, I
think their receiving court will be much more worthy of
a claim that it was this last year. And listen,
last year was the year to beat him. If you
couldn't beat them last year with that offense, they're gonna
be better this year. And so there's my Herd hierarchy.
(19:59):
I don't think any surprises. I have Cincinnati at number
eleven just out of respect for Joe Burrow, but I
gotta see it, and there's a lot of noise around Cincinnati.
What I don't love T Higgins the edge guy, So
I don't know exactly what I'm getting. I do think
I may have Houston a little bit low Jmack. I
also think Indianapolis and Jackson Millert close. What say you?
Speaker 4 (20:19):
The Rams are plus thirty five hundred to win the
Super Bowl, far behind the Jets, Falcons, Dolphins, and yes,
Chicago Bears.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
The LA Rams do not belong in your top ten.
I'll accept the oversight.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
McVeigh, Stafford cup Pooka. Do you see what they did
with the offensive line? Oo smoking Nick right now joining
us live. I gotta tell you something. I was this
close to doing Baltimore one Kansas City too.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
Yeah, well, I know you wanted to. That doesn't surprise
me at all. But this is this is the you know,
graphical version of you bending the knee, you finally admitting
that the Chiefs for here time immemorial need to stay
at number one. I agree with your smoke on the Rams.
I disagree with j mackin with Vegas. I think the
(21:12):
Rams are you know a couple plays go different in
that wild Card game, it wouldn't have shocked me if
the Rams ended up in the super Bowl, so that
Los Angeles team I understand. But I must admit Colin
to you and the audience. For a long time I thought,
and I never told you this. I was like, Colin
must be buddies with someone with the Chargers because he
(21:35):
loves them and he overrates them and all this stuff.
But then they fired everybody, and you still love him.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
And overrate them.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
Everyone else on that list was good last year, they
won five games, got rid of both of their receivers,
and you're like top ten that I don't understand. Maybe
it's the sea air. Maybe they have practice facilities by
your palatial state.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
I really like the herd hierarchy. Number ten doesn't make
sense to me.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
I gotta tell you, yeah, probably I am having dinner
with the spanos Is in two weeks. So maybe that said,
I say, okay, there, you are right. So maybe that's
what it is.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
The figure.
Speaker 5 (22:16):
Something's going on with Colin and the Chargers. I'm not
trying to ary you out, but it doesn't make sense
they won five games that Quentin Johnson is the number
one receiver.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
It's a problem, all right. That's good point, all right.
So I was saying this. I was saying, listen, Denver's
really good, and why Denver beats the Lakers is because
none of their best four players I would count KCP
as maybe their fifth. You know what you're getting with
their players? None of them have disappearing games. Ruey disappears,
(22:44):
d Lo disappears, even a D I love him. His
second half offense can disappear because he plays so hard
defensively against bigger bodies. Lebron's the most consistent liker. I
almost know exactly what I'm getting a D second and
his offense dries up late again, fairly regularly. Sure, Yet
this morning it's Darvin Ham, and my take is they
(23:07):
out played Denver and they're not close in the starting five,
and depth is overrated in the playoffs? Aren't we being
Isn't this another point fingers at a Lebron coach argument?
Speaker 5 (23:19):
Okay, well, so all right, so let's let's dissect this
because it's like, oh, point fingers at a Lebron coach. Well,
what are the coaches that Lebron has pointed fingers at?
David Blatt? So they went to the finals? Are the
best record in the East? Oh my god, what does
Lebron want? Well, he got fired and has n't been
back stateside since, so I think the NBA world didn't
think he was doing a great job. Frank Vogel, Oh
(23:40):
you want a title? What more do you want from
Frank Vogel? Frank Bogelo, who got fired by the Magic
fired by the Lakers, and here in the next I
would imagine forty eight hours might be fired by the Suns.
And then there's Darvin Ham, who objectively Colin did a
poor job. Now your point that the Nuggets are better?
If I am power thinking blame before I would put
(24:02):
Darvin Ham. I would certainly put the front office who
just stood Pat didn't make even a move in the margins.
People laughed at me at the trade deadline when I
was frustrated because I wasn't asking the Lakers to make
a major move. But you look at a move that
Dallas made that I talked to out at the time,
adding Daniel Gafford, a backup center who gives them twenty
(24:25):
good minutes a night. People are like, oh, is that
going to make the difference?
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Well, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
They just lost Game two in Game five on buzzer
beaters where they had to play Jackson Hayes real minutes
in the playoffs, so maybe it would have and when.
And I think the problem people have with Darvin Ham
is the lack of accountability when he says, well, what
do you want me to do when we don't have
guys available and we have all these injuries. All four
(24:51):
of your best players played seventy one, seventy six, seventy
six and eighty two games this year. It was not Yes,
the the deep rotation was riddled with injuries, that is true,
but the Lakers got a healthier season than you could
have expected out of Lebron the healthiest season of Anthony
Davis's career. Yet they were the seventh seed because they
(25:13):
started twenty four and twenty five, which had to do
with roster construction and the wrong starting lineup. And then
in this series, Michael Malone says, well, we have adjustments
to make, but we just don't have to make them.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Every game of the series.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
The Lakers lead at halftime, and then once adjustments happened,
they lose the third quarter. The Nuggets were the better team,
The Nuggets were the rightful winner. But I don't think
it's unfair to say that the Lakers were let down
by coaching and by the roster construction. I think that
part is true, even if this wasn't a championship level team.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Eastern nin a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (25:57):
Hey, this is Tom Ferducci from Fox or MLB Network
and Sports Illustrated.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
And I'm Joe Madden, and we're going to be around
to talk a little bit about managerial decisions and what
may have occurred to todgot maybe in the nineteen eighties.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
It's the Book of Joe podcasts. I can't wait for this, Joe.
We're gonna dive into what goes on in the dugout
and behind the scenes in Major League.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Baseball, cars, wind, whatever else we want to talk about.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
Yeah, well there are no boundaries, right. Listen to the
Book of Joe podcast on the iHeartRadio app, on Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
So it's very rare when you go into a playoff series.
You could probably count them on one hand. Where one
team has two stars, one team has one, and the
team with one is really controlling the series. So either
Maxi and m beat are overrated or Brunson's underrated. But
every game that's close in that series, I, with utter
(26:49):
confidence felt Denver would beat the Lakers and the nixt
will beat the Sixers. I feel like the Knicks are
going to win all these close games. Is it coaching?
Is it beat em beats? Fascinating? He can't win a
second round playoff series in the East. I don't think
there's a big guy that plays small more often than him.
He's a non factor on the boards late in games.
What are we to make of Philadelphia of the process, Embiid, Simmons, Harden,
(27:13):
can we just flow it up and start over. It's
not working.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
So it's so tough because every postseason with Embiid there
has been a significant drop off, but there also has
been an injury related explanation. Well, I mean twice he's
had his orbible bone fractured. He's obviously dealt with a
knee this year, he's dealing with a knee and Bell's
palsy of all things. So you don't want to put
(27:39):
it all the way on him the way you would
James Harden, you know who has had a lot of
postseason legit and meltdowns, not injury related.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Listen.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
I also, I was at that game in Philly on
Sunday and Embiid was clearly worn out by the end.
But that is a little bit of a devil's bar
in this regard Colin.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
He was worn.
Speaker 5 (28:03):
Out because he didn't sit a single minute in the
second half. He didn't sit a single mine in the
second half. Because when he sat for two minutes in
the second quarter, a ten point lead became a three
point lead. They can't sustain without him, and so on.
I think Embiid's playoff resume is fair to pick at Listen,
every MVP in league history except for Joel Embiid has
(28:25):
at least been to a conference finals, and only two
Steve Nash Derek Rose along with Embiid haven't been to
an NBA final, So that part's fair. The other side
of it is this, what Jalen Brunson's doing is remarkable.
Combined eighty five points twenty assists in back to back
playoff games, ye had never been done in NBA history
(28:48):
by anyone. This guy's six feet nothing and just did it.
And having a forty seven to ten in a game
where your team scores ninety seven. It is remarkable. And
I know I will be the first to admit I
liked him coming out of Dallas. I thought it was
a smart signing by the Knicks, but I thought he
was the third best player on a champion, the second
(29:11):
best player on a good team, and the best player
on a bad team. Instead, he's the best player on
a team that might show up in the conference finals
or further. It is unbelievable what he's doing, and I
certainly didn't see it coming.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
So maybe I was too hard on KD. But I said,
you know, the NBA is a players league like international soccer.
NFL is about the shield, the owner, the GM, the
coach has great power. If Mahomes would say at any point,
I'm leaving the Chiefs to play for the Jets because
I really like this slot receiver, we would go, you're
out of your mind. KD left the best run franchise
(29:49):
and the best team in the last twenty years arguably
to go to Brooklyn. And we said, well, you know,
he's an artist, and since he left them, that was
a mess. Phoenix is a mess. And I'm sorry, Nick.
It affects how I look at Katie. It would affect
if Mahomes went to the Jets. I would be like, yeah,
he's got great talent, but he's a little kooky. What
(30:10):
is Katie's legacy today?
Speaker 5 (30:12):
Okay, all right, So this is a layered question. First,
a lot of what you said is fair, but the
front end I just have to disagree with you on.
In this regard, we can't compare Katie leaving the Warriors
to Mahomes leaving the Chiefs unless we were in a
context where for three years, the vast majority of football
(30:33):
media anytime Mahomes name came up. They said, fake rings,
fraud ring.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Those don't count, those don't count. We don't like it.
Speaker 5 (30:41):
Yeah, you're ruined the league, I mean, and so we can't.
And I know you weren't one of the people killing
him for going to Golden State, but the majority of
the media was. And so what Katie heard was anything
I do here doesn't count. So I guess I have
to leave. So to me, I don't blame him for
leaving Golden State. Now, he obviously has made some poor
(31:05):
choices in who he teams up with, in Kyrie and Brooklyn,
even though Kyrie is working now with Luca, and then
in going to Phoenix, even though I would think Katie
the basketball mind would understand that roster might not work.
Those have been some poor choices. And now to get
to your question, of course, the legacy is impacted. The
(31:26):
fact that Kevin Durant, and this is an unbelievable stat,
Kevin Durant since twenty eighteen, since June of twenty eighteen,
in the last six years, has played eleven minutes of
playoff basketball after round two is insane. The fact that
(31:50):
Kevin Durant, since the foot on the line game has
won five total playoff games is insane and unfathomable. The
fact that Kevin Durant is going to go through this
half decade of his career not seeing a conference finals
(32:11):
when the first decade of his career he lived in
the conference and NBA finals is bizarre. And when you
put pinned to paper, I did this the other day.
If you are talking all of NBA history, Kevin Durant
is far closer to twenty than to ten. Yes, which
five years ago would have been unfathomable. Right, It would
(32:34):
have been unfathomable that Kevin Durant was going to be
a fringe top twenty all time guy. When it looked
like he was going to be a fringe or inside
the top ten. That did happen. And it's a damn
shame as a basketball fan.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Okay, So Lebron talked about his future. I don't think
he's going anywhere. I think he's fantastic. I think he
fits with AD, I think his business is here. But
here's Lebron last night talking about his future with the Lakers.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Here we go and he thought, at all, you know,
this could have been your last game with the Lakers.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I'm not gonna answer that Lebron is always strategic, So
the idea is not sure he sure. What did you
make of it?
Speaker 5 (33:18):
Well, yeah, I mean I think he wants to exert
leverage where he can. He has been kinder and gentler
to the Lakers from a leverage standpoint.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Than he ever was.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
Yeah, his second stint in Cleveland. Yes, in Cleveland it
was one year deals and one year deals and.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
You better move, you better move.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
The Lakers. He has given them real security and I
think he feels they haven't rewarded that as of you know,
the deadline this time as an example. And by the way,
I can hear people yelling at their TVs across the country,
Oh my god, he made them trade for Westbrook.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
What more does he want?
Speaker 5 (33:53):
This idea that Lebron James had the power to force
Rob Blinka's hand to make a franchise altering trade, but
didn't have the power to get tylu hired when he
wanted him, didn't have the power to get anything done
at this deadline, didn't have the power to get them
to trade for Kyrie last year. Like, yes, he wanted
Russ on the team, but yes, Polink has had plenty
(34:13):
of instances where he told him no on other things.
I think there are certain things Lebron wants. I, as
a basketball fan, would love to see him have one
final arc somewhere else. I think Lebron James bringing the
New York Knicks to the NBA Finals for the first
time in a quarter century would be pretty great. I
think he would fit, you know, in that Julius Randalls
(34:35):
spot quite well. I also think four rings for four
franchises would be unbelievable. All of that is doable. I
don't think it's realistic. I don't think it's going to happen.
I think you know, Philly has max salary cap spot.
I think that makes sense. Cleveland is going to hit
their head on a round two ceiling again, you know,
I think that would make sense. They need a power forward.
(34:57):
I don't think he's gonna do any of that. I
think he's gonna sit back and see what they do
this summer. See you are their next coaches, See them
draft Bronnie at fifty five and then sign a three
year max contract with a no trade clothes. That's what
I think he's going to do. But for my sleep
schedule and my ability to watch Lebron James in person.
Just come out East man. I the water's not warm,
(35:18):
but it's nice, Like, come out East. Win a title
with the Knicks, and by the way, get all those
Knicks fans that never like Jordan to begin with on
your side in the goat debate. That's like an electoral
college thing. It's like flipping Texas all of a sudden,
the math is different forever.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
So it's just the thought, just the thought that's actually funny.
What's interesting about Jalen Brunson, who I think is just wonderful,
But you know when he played with Luca, it's like, hello,
I'm good. Here would he and I think he's a
great kid. But what he want Lebron who needs the
ball in his hands? If I was Jalen Brunson and
(35:55):
he's a team guy, but he gets to control that
whole offense, you don't.
Speaker 5 (36:00):
With my still well well again a year twenty two,
age forty, Lebron, maybe you could. The problem, Probably the
biggest problem with my Lebron to the Knicks pipe dream
isn't about his family or his businesses or any of that.
It probably has to do with the fact that Tom
Thibodau would be Lebron. It's February eight. You got forty
six minutes in your buddy. I think I'm gonna need you.
(36:23):
I think I'm gonna need you to go the whole
game tonight. It's probably not the best idea.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
You had a two hour practice in Milwaukee. Yeah, on
an office.
Speaker 5 (36:31):
Not great.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Good seeing your first things first after our show. Thanks buddy,
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day
on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
All Right, here we go. It is a Tuesday. All
I hear is the impending doom of the Lakers and
Lebron leaving Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may
be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making
us part of your day. Jmack Well, well, well jmack.
(00:48):
Lebron James thirty nine, twenty first season in the books.
What do you make of it? What a game?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
What a series?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I mean, goodness, gracious, that was just tremendously last night.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And I feel for Lebron and Lakers.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Denver was only plus eleven in the entire series plus eleven.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Lakers played great.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, all the games feel the same between these two.
So a lot of people wondering this morning, if you
know Lebron James. That was his last game as a Laker.
Let's add some context to it, believe it or not.
Despite the biggest brand, Genie Buss, who's really wonderful at
what she does, she is the poorest NBA owner. Steve Balmer,
who owns the Clippers, is the first or second richest
(01:30):
he could buy. If you look at his net worth,
twenty seven of the other owners combined. So Lebron's not
only important for basketball, he's important for business. He sells tickets,
they're sold out, and they're winning about forty five games
a year. So there's a reason Kobe Bryant was paid
top of the market. Till the end. Those local cable deals,
whoever the cable provider is in Los Angeles, pay tens
(01:53):
of millions of dollars a year. They need Lebron. LA
is not Indianapolis or San Antonio. People here make a
lot of money. We're a forty minute flight to Vegas.
We have beaches, mountains. The Dodgers draw five million. Two
NFL teams, two NBA teams, usc UCLA. You can't tank
in LA. You can't tank, you can't be starless, you
(02:14):
can't even really truly rebuild people have things to do
here in a lot of money, and Lebron in terms
of basketball was out of this world good this year.
He was great in this series. His three point shooting
this year best of his career, his field goal percentage
best yet as a Laker. He led the team and assists,
(02:35):
ticket sales. He played seventy one total games. I think
he had twenty six per night. It was fantastic many nights.
He's the best player on the floor in the games.
He plays many nights more than half and that includes Ad,
and he and Ad play well together, and he and
Ad get along really, really well. Lebron's always loved the
(02:56):
guy will do the dirty work on rebounding and defense.
Lebron want to do that stuff. He wants to get
out in the break and shoot his threes. And Ad
is banged up and playing seventy plus games. He's a
great defender, in my opinion, the best defender in the league.
And Ad just had his best year ever as a pro.
He was fantastic. Jolkich had to work for every point
in this series. So Lebron wants to be a Laker.
(03:18):
And here's the good news. When they made that Ad
trade with the Pelicans. It kind of trapped them for
a couple of years. NBA regulations they now can trade
three first round picks. This year they only have one,
but they can trade three without getting into the weeds.
It's due to the AD deal and d Lo's coming
off the books. So they're gonna need a star and
(03:41):
they're gonna go get a star Donovan, Mitchell, Trey Young.
So my guess is Lebron stays. There's no reason to
move in for business, no reason to move him for basketball.
I would absolutely have no problem committing for two or
three more years. He's going nowhere. You know you can,
you can draft his son if you want. But Lebron
still a really, really elite player, and he was in
(04:03):
this series against a physical Denver team. But if you
start looking at the West, just the West, forget the Celtics, Denver,
Mini OKC. You start looking at these teams out west,
they're better than the Lakers. I mean, here's a prime example.
The Denver Nuggets do not have a single player of
their best four that ever have a horrible game. They
(04:24):
have horrible halfs. Jamal Murray can have a bad half,
but Jamal Murray will then have a great second half
the Lakers. D Lo disappears for games at a time,
Ruey disappears for games at a time. Even Anthony Davis,
as great as he is, can be a no show
sometimes offensively. I mean Michael Porters their third best player
for Denver. He shot forty eight percent from three in
(04:45):
this series. He's an agile six to ten athlete with
a dead eye three point touch. He's their third best player. Okay,
he is significantly more talented, gifted, and better than the
lakers third best player or Austin Reeves. They're fourth best players,
one of the better defenders, one of the longer bodies
in the NBA, hustle guy aarn Gordon way better, i
(05:08):
would argue, and more valuable and more consistent than the Lakers'
third best player, and he's their fourth. Not to mention,
they have KCP who is just a big shot maker.
So you can blame Darvin Ham all you want for this.
The fact that they out played Denver most of the
series says something. Eric Spolster is one of the best
coaches in this league over the last fifteen year ten years,
(05:30):
one of the best coaches. He's getting worked in his series.
Why the reality of his roster. The Lakers roster is
top heavy, there's no bench. Their third best player, de
lo sometimes is a no show, almost always against Denver. Well,
what do you want from Darvin Ham? He got the
Lakers ready to play. I thought they outplayed Denver again
last night, but at no point, even when the Lakers
(05:52):
led that, I think, Uh, Denver's in trouble. Every time
these two teams play, it always looks the same. Denver's
better light because Denver's got better players and better closers
and coffees for closers. Here was Lebron about his future
after and.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
He thought at all that, you know, this could have
been your last game.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
With the Lakers. I'm not gonna answer that. Oh the
sly smile by Lebron. He wants to be a Laker,
but he wants the Laker to make big moves. He'll
put the pressure on. I think they'll retain Lebron and
Darvin ham ads here for the long run, and they'll
(06:36):
go get a Trey Young or a Donovan Mitchell. So Lebron,
Curry and Durant out of the playoffs. We're just moving
into the second round. Since two thousand and five, one
of those guys, sometimes all three. One of those three
had made the second round of the playoffs. They're all gone.
So who's the next face of the league. Who's the
(06:58):
next face? Kich Tatum, Giannis, Luca Sga, Wemby, at Edwards,
all vying some vine Jokicic doesn't want to be the
face of the league. Who's the face of the league.
Who's gonna carry the tors now? They're all talented, but
there is no Patrick Mahomes to replace Brady manningan breeze.
(07:18):
It's not there. He was marketable, he was the best player,
He's the best quarterback. He plays the most important position.
NBA diehards will tell you it's gonna be ant Edwards,
It's gonna be this guy, It's gonna be that guy.
The truth is they thought Iverson, Stevie, Francis and mar
Berry would replace Jordan and half the league ratings disappeared.
(07:42):
I don't think any of these guys, maybe Wemby, although
I'm not sure he wants it, will be the face
of the league. And this, like international soccer is a
face of the league sport, you don't need it in
the NFL. Although they vot has had it, but it's
a big part of this league. Now they're going to
Amazon reportedly, so a lot of peop people aren't going
to watch them. When you go to streaming, your numbers
(08:02):
can go down. They generally do significantly. So a lot
of people forget this. They always think it doesn't matter
what market you're in. Yes it does. Lebron is the
only small market face of the league ever. Think I'm lying.
Go back to the seventies. It was like Jerry West
the logo Los Angeles, and then right after that, I
(08:26):
felt like Doctor j big market Philadelphia, and then Magic
La Bird Boston, Steph Shaq, Kobe all big market. Lebron's
the only one in Cleveland. Michael Jordan Chicago. And when
Michael Jordan was the face of the league, the look,
the game, the style, the earrings, the smile, and at
(08:48):
that time Chicago had the number one NFL team, the Bears.
Oprah was the biggest star in daytime TV, and Siskel
and Ebert were driving people to theaters when people used
to go to theater. Chicago has never been bigger than
then the Bears Oprah, Jordan says Gill and Ebert. It
was flying and then there's Lebron from Cleveland, who, for
(09:10):
the record, was a headline in high school, the chosen One,
the King. We don't have anybody like that now. So
I don't know who the face of the league is,
but market size matters now. Could it be Jalen Brunson.
He's not dynamic enough. His game is excellent. I love him,
but that doesn't feel like magic played different Bird, Kareem,
(09:33):
Doctor Jay. Most of the faces of the league, I mean,
Tim Duncan was the best player for about five years.
The big fundamental was never close to the face of
the league. You gotta have some pow, some verticals, some shazam,
and I do think Aunt Edwards has a lot of that.
But Minnesota is a football market more than a basketball market.
But this stuff matters. I don't know who the face
of the league is. I love what I've watched in
(09:55):
the playoffs. People always bang on the NBA. I thought
last night was one of the best games I've seen
in a year. I thought the couple of nights earlier
a Dallas Clippers second half was one of the great
knights I've seen at basketball in this country, anywhere globally,
there's great basketball. Nick sixers has been unbelievable. I love
the league, I love the games, the fans, the Riems
are sold out, the Stars, it's international, but face of
(10:17):
the league. I guess I'd go Aunt Edwards and wamby
Vy for it, but I don't feel it yet. J Mack.
They want Darvin Ham out of here, and it cracks
me up. You can keep blaming Lebron's coaches. If you
get rid of Darvin what's he on his seventh eighth coach?
(10:38):
You can keep blaming the coaches. The Lakers match up
pretty well and led for most of the series, but
in the end the better players Jamal Murray, Yogich, Porter
hit baskets and we have de Lo Reeves Lebron. And
for the record, Ad, because he plays such great defense,
does usually feel a little gassed late in the f
(11:00):
quarter offensively because he actually is banging on guys that
are bigger than him. So if you watch AD with
the Lakers, he is giving you such an enormous effort defensively,
I never feel like Laiden games. I can depend on
him offensively. I'll just take the defense against Jokich. Give
me eighteen. I'll be happy with it. Lebron's not playing
(11:20):
that level of defense. You know, he's kind of hanging
out in the perimeter.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
It's a tough one. I banged on Darvinham all year.
I don't think he's the reason they lost this series.
I mean, honestly, Jamal Murray hit two fluke shots in
the final four seconds to knock him out. But I'll
say this, Colin, you had a healthy Anthony Davis, healthy
Lebron healthy Austin reeves like the team was healthy and
they were in the plan.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
That's kind of sort of unacceptable. That's on the coach
for in season movering. Like if you're a.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Top five seed, you don't have to face Denver to
start the playoffs and the Lakers would be advancing.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
You know that, right? Well, I don't know that. I
think Oka c has been better in Minnesota. We kind
of both had questions about the Thunder and the Tea
Wolves as playoff teams. They look really good. T Wolves
swept their guys and okasee Is has been better than
I thought.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
T Wolves looked great. Don't you say?
Speaker 4 (12:10):
The Lakers have been the third best team in the
West of these playoffs so far, despite losing.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Four one I don't know if they could. I do
not think the Lakers. I think Minnesota would beat them
pretty quickly. Okay, see, I do think they match up
better against But Okacs look great. They're really talented teams.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
The Lakers went toe to toe with the defending champs
and were minus eleven in a five game series.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, but they've done toe to toe twelve thirteen games.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Just talk about last year.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
I don't know. That's that's the reality. All these games
look the same, the better team always. This is the NBA.
It's a long season. The last four minutes of NBA
games decide the winners. Denver always wins these games.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
They're also at home for the two buzzer shots.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Does it matter twelve to thirteen They've won them all
the same way. Again, you blame who you want. Denver's
got better players.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
I don't disagree with that. Although my guy, Austin Reach
showed up in the.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Boston has better players than Miami.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Well, we'll see with the Indiana.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Right now, because Dames Hurt has better players than Milwaukee.
Better players usually win the series. Philly, New York feels
like an outlier. It does feel like Philly's got more
high end players. But Jalen Brunson looks like the best
player in the series.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
I'm waiting for the Joel Embiid excuses to start. I mean,
you know that there's always something for that guy.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
All right, Top of next hour. Okay, coaching hires done,
free agency done, the draft is complete. We do one
of our final Herd hierarchies before the NFL season starts.
One through ten. Who do we like? The draft can
absolutely change it. Maybe not take you from bad to great,
(13:46):
but it can change very good teams, good teams to
very good, very good to maybe super Bowl teams. That's
coming up. Top of the hour.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
All Right, Nick writes around the corner, here we go.
This is my Herd hierarchy. This is it right here.
I gotta like one or two more. But now we
got the draft, the free agency, the coaches. Here we
go heard hierarchy.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Hierarchy. No go the top ten NFL teams according to
College number ten.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I'm gonna put the Chargers in there. Listen, Herbert and
Jim Harbar are great, but they lost a lot of offense,
Austin Eckler, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Gerald Everett. They lost
like productive veteran dudes. Now. I like the kid they
got out of Georgia, Joe Alt. Good picks, they got
Hayden Hurst, they went and got you know, Gus Edwards.
(14:44):
They did get some replacements, but I don't think they're
gonna be quite as lethal offensively. But I love the coach,
I love the quarterback. I love their tackles. Shaun Slater,
Joe Alt. I have him at ten, number nine. I
may have him under they Houston nine. I may be wrong,
they may be higher than this. I just love the
way they're run. I like their draft. I like their
(15:06):
free agent signings Stefan Diggs, then Daniel Hunter, Joe Mixon.
The last two years in personnel, they've done as well
as anybody in this league. I love what they're doing,
everything about it. I like the way they're coach, their quarterback,
their front office. I like everything they're doing. I'll put
them at eight or nine, the Houston Texans number eight.
(15:28):
Philadelphia listen. Offensively, it's stacked with or without Kelsey is
stacked receivers, tight end Sakuon Barkley, Jalen Hurts. They have
new coordinators, so I just want to watch it. A
couple of years ago, I loved their coordinators. Last year
I didn't like their coordinators. Let's see where we land
this year. Mitchell, the corner from Toledo, hopefully solves their
(15:52):
secondary which was a mess. But he alone can't solve them.
I have him at eight, number seven. Listen, you can
sell all your Buffalo Bills stock, but their O line
and run game finally arrived last year. I'm not having
Josh Allen out of my top ten. The other thing
about the Bills I follow college football. I thought they
had another excellent draft. And to Stefan Diggs, oh, they
(16:16):
lost Gabe Davis. You never knew what you were getting
with Gabe Davis. And they went out and drafted Keon Coleman.
And if we're going to give Kansas any credit for
their star receiver in the draft, why can't I give
Buffalo credit for theirs. I have the Bills still hovering
around the super Bowl bubble at seven, number six. The Niners,
they get who Fung go back at safety and they
did address some secondary stuff. They had nine Pro bowlers,
(16:38):
they all returned from last year, and they went and
drafted two receivers, Ricky Pearsall. Probably they're going to move
off Deebo Samuel I said this. I felt last year
they peaked. I thought that was the best of them.
They've got older players. They are relying to carry the
load physical players, Debo McCaffrey, Kittle, Trent Williams. They were
(16:58):
mostly healthy last year. Year they got the iup noise.
I think they peaked last year, but I have the
Niners at six.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Number five.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I love the Packers. I don't think they quite have
the roster of Detroit, but I love them. Josh Jacobs
maybe the first or second best running back in the league.
They allowed the third fewest sacks in the league. And
I this team drafts as well as anybody. Forget just
the quarterbacks. They draft as well as anybody. Jordan Morgan's
a stud at left tackle. I watched them at Arizona
(17:26):
stud Eddrin Cooper the linebacker excellent, Javon Bullard the safety,
Marshawn Lloyd the USC running back. First four picks, I
thought the Packers and the Buccaneers had the best first
four picks. I have the Packers at five. Number four
the Rams. I bought them last year. I thought they
had an unbelievable first four picks. Four guys who will start.
(17:48):
Koram won't start mining Kyron Williams, but he'll play a ton.
All my executive buddies in this league scouts thought the
Rams crushed it, and they crushed last year's draft. They
lost Aaron Donald, but they went and literally got the
two players they targeted. Jared Verse is the guy along
(18:08):
with Brock Bauers in the first round. Those are the
two guys they wanted. And I think this team, if
Matt Stafford is healthy, I think they're gonna be excellent.
Number three the Lions. I think it's a stack roster.
I think they're the Niners, but with younger players. I
think they're the Niners with a more talented quarterback. They
were number three in total offense, number two in passing offense.
They can play from behind, they can play with the lead.
(18:30):
They got the conference championship first time since ninety one.
They added Marcus Davenport off the edge. Carlton Davis, I've
always liked him in Tampa. The corner, and then they
went out and got Terry and Arnold another corner. So
their big issue last year was like Philadelphia a lot.
It's like bad at corner getting torch. They addressed both.
They improved their pass rush. I like them Number two Ravens.
(18:52):
They were the best team for most of the regular season.
White don't I like him. They went and got the
Derrick Henry. They lose Gus Edwards and Dobbins, but they
get Derek Keny. Listen, they had a disappointing post postseason.
They rolled teams last year. They rolled teams like Miami.
They rolled teams in the regular season. So there's no
reason I'm not gonna like him. Lamar's in his prime.
The coaching staff is great. I had an NFL GM
(19:15):
tell me this weekend that he thinks Baltimore is the
best run team along with Kansas City and the Rams
in the NFL. Baltimore at two, number one Kansas City
until somebody knocks them off. Travis Kelsey Chris Jones signed extensions.
Xavier Worthy. I don't know how good he'll be. He
worries me as size track guy, but if anybody's gonna
make it work, it'll be Kansas City. They added Hollywood Brown,
(19:38):
so I think they go into the season Rashid Rice.
Cross your fingers on that. But if he returns, I
think their receiving court will be much more worthy of
a claim that it was this last year. And listen,
last year was the year to beat him. If you
couldn't beat them last year with that offense, they're gonna
be better this year. And so there's my Herd hierarchy.
(19:59):
I don't think any surprises. I have Cincinnati at number
eleven just out of respect for Joe Burrow, but I
gotta see it, and there's a lot of noise around Cincinnati.
What I don't love T Higgins the edge guy, So
I don't know exactly what I'm getting. I do think
I may have Houston a little bit low Jmack. I
also think Indianapolis and Jackson Millert close. What say you?
Speaker 4 (20:19):
The Rams are plus thirty five hundred to win the
Super Bowl, far behind the Jets, Falcons, Dolphins, and yes,
Chicago Bears.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
The LA Rams do not belong in your top ten.
I'll accept the oversight.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
McVeigh, Stafford cup Pooka. Do you see what they did
with the offensive line? Oo smoking Nick right now joining
us live. I gotta tell you something. I was this
close to doing Baltimore one Kansas City too.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
Yeah, well, I know you wanted to. That doesn't surprise
me at all. But this is this is the you know,
graphical version of you bending the knee, you finally admitting
that the Chiefs for here time immemorial need to stay
at number one. I agree with your smoke on the Rams.
I disagree with j mackin with Vegas. I think the
(21:12):
Rams are you know a couple plays go different in
that wild Card game, it wouldn't have shocked me if
the Rams ended up in the super Bowl, so that
Los Angeles team I understand. But I must admit Colin
to you and the audience. For a long time I thought,
and I never told you this. I was like, Colin
must be buddies with someone with the Chargers because he
(21:35):
loves them and he overrates them and all this stuff.
But then they fired everybody, and you still love him.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
And overrate them.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
Everyone else on that list was good last year, they
won five games, got rid of both of their receivers,
and you're like top ten that I don't understand. Maybe
it's the sea air. Maybe they have practice facilities by
your palatial state.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
I really like the herd hierarchy. Number ten doesn't make
sense to me.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
I gotta tell you, yeah, probably I am having dinner
with the spanos Is in two weeks. So maybe that said,
I say, okay, there, you are right. So maybe that's
what it is.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
The figure.
Speaker 5 (22:16):
Something's going on with Colin and the Chargers. I'm not
trying to ary you out, but it doesn't make sense
they won five games that Quentin Johnson is the number
one receiver.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
It's a problem, all right. That's good point, all right.
So I was saying this. I was saying, listen, Denver's
really good, and why Denver beats the Lakers is because
none of their best four players I would count KCP
as maybe their fifth. You know what you're getting with
their players? None of them have disappearing games. Ruey disappears,
(22:44):
d Lo disappears, even a D I love him. His
second half offense can disappear because he plays so hard
defensively against bigger bodies. Lebron's the most consistent liker. I
almost know exactly what I'm getting a D second and
his offense dries up late again, fairly regularly. Sure, Yet
this morning it's Darvin Ham, and my take is they
(23:07):
out played Denver and they're not close in the starting five,
and depth is overrated in the playoffs? Aren't we being
Isn't this another point fingers at a Lebron coach argument?
Speaker 5 (23:19):
Okay, well, so all right, so let's let's dissect this
because it's like, oh, point fingers at a Lebron coach. Well,
what are the coaches that Lebron has pointed fingers at?
David Blatt? So they went to the finals? Are the
best record in the East? Oh my god, what does
Lebron want? Well, he got fired and has n't been
back stateside since, so I think the NBA world didn't
think he was doing a great job. Frank Vogel, Oh
(23:40):
you want a title? What more do you want from
Frank Vogel? Frank Bogelo, who got fired by the Magic
fired by the Lakers, and here in the next I
would imagine forty eight hours might be fired by the Suns.
And then there's Darvin Ham, who objectively Colin did a
poor job. Now your point that the Nuggets are better?
If I am power thinking blame before I would put
(24:02):
Darvin Ham. I would certainly put the front office who
just stood Pat didn't make even a move in the margins.
People laughed at me at the trade deadline when I
was frustrated because I wasn't asking the Lakers to make
a major move. But you look at a move that
Dallas made that I talked to out at the time,
adding Daniel Gafford, a backup center who gives them twenty
(24:25):
good minutes a night. People are like, oh, is that
going to make the difference?
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Well, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
They just lost Game two in Game five on buzzer
beaters where they had to play Jackson Hayes real minutes
in the playoffs, so maybe it would have and when.
And I think the problem people have with Darvin Ham
is the lack of accountability when he says, well, what
do you want me to do when we don't have
guys available and we have all these injuries. All four
(24:51):
of your best players played seventy one, seventy six, seventy
six and eighty two games this year. It was not Yes,
the the deep rotation was riddled with injuries, that is true,
but the Lakers got a healthier season than you could
have expected out of Lebron the healthiest season of Anthony
Davis's career. Yet they were the seventh seed because they
(25:13):
started twenty four and twenty five, which had to do
with roster construction and the wrong starting lineup. And then
in this series, Michael Malone says, well, we have adjustments
to make, but we just don't have to make them.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Every game of the series.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
The Lakers lead at halftime, and then once adjustments happened,
they lose the third quarter. The Nuggets were the better team,
The Nuggets were the rightful winner. But I don't think
it's unfair to say that the Lakers were let down
by coaching and by the roster construction. I think that
part is true, even if this wasn't a championship level team.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Eastern nin a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (25:57):
Hey, this is Tom Ferducci from Fox or MLB Network
and Sports Illustrated.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
And I'm Joe Madden, and we're going to be around
to talk a little bit about managerial decisions and what
may have occurred to todgot maybe in the nineteen eighties.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
It's the Book of Joe podcasts. I can't wait for this, Joe.
We're gonna dive into what goes on in the dugout
and behind the scenes in Major League.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Baseball, cars, wind, whatever else we want to talk about.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
Yeah, well there are no boundaries, right. Listen to the
Book of Joe podcast on the iHeartRadio app, on Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
So it's very rare when you go into a playoff series.
You could probably count them on one hand. Where one
team has two stars, one team has one, and the
team with one is really controlling the series. So either
Maxi and m beat are overrated or Brunson's underrated. But
every game that's close in that series, I, with utter
(26:49):
confidence felt Denver would beat the Lakers and the nixt
will beat the Sixers. I feel like the Knicks are
going to win all these close games. Is it coaching?
Is it beat em beats? Fascinating? He can't win a
second round playoff series in the East. I don't think
there's a big guy that plays small more often than him.
He's a non factor on the boards late in games.
What are we to make of Philadelphia of the process, Embiid, Simmons, Harden,
(27:13):
can we just flow it up and start over. It's
not working.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
So it's so tough because every postseason with Embiid there
has been a significant drop off, but there also has
been an injury related explanation. Well, I mean twice he's
had his orbible bone fractured. He's obviously dealt with a
knee this year, he's dealing with a knee and Bell's
palsy of all things. So you don't want to put
(27:39):
it all the way on him the way you would
James Harden, you know who has had a lot of
postseason legit and meltdowns, not injury related.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Listen.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
I also, I was at that game in Philly on
Sunday and Embiid was clearly worn out by the end.
But that is a little bit of a devil's bar
in this regard Colin.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
He was worn.
Speaker 5 (28:03):
Out because he didn't sit a single minute in the
second half. He didn't sit a single mine in the
second half. Because when he sat for two minutes in
the second quarter, a ten point lead became a three
point lead. They can't sustain without him, and so on.
I think Embiid's playoff resume is fair to pick at Listen,
every MVP in league history except for Joel Embiid has
(28:25):
at least been to a conference finals, and only two
Steve Nash Derek Rose along with Embiid haven't been to
an NBA final, So that part's fair. The other side
of it is this, what Jalen Brunson's doing is remarkable.
Combined eighty five points twenty assists in back to back
playoff games, ye had never been done in NBA history
(28:48):
by anyone. This guy's six feet nothing and just did it.
And having a forty seven to ten in a game
where your team scores ninety seven. It is remarkable. And
I know I will be the first to admit I
liked him coming out of Dallas. I thought it was
a smart signing by the Knicks, but I thought he
was the third best player on a champion, the second
(29:11):
best player on a good team, and the best player
on a bad team. Instead, he's the best player on
a team that might show up in the conference finals
or further. It is unbelievable what he's doing, and I
certainly didn't see it coming.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
So maybe I was too hard on KD. But I said,
you know, the NBA is a players league like international soccer.
NFL is about the shield, the owner, the GM, the
coach has great power. If Mahomes would say at any point,
I'm leaving the Chiefs to play for the Jets because
I really like this slot receiver, we would go, you're
out of your mind. KD left the best run franchise
(29:49):
and the best team in the last twenty years arguably
to go to Brooklyn. And we said, well, you know,
he's an artist, and since he left them, that was
a mess. Phoenix is a mess. And I'm sorry, Nick.
It affects how I look at Katie. It would affect
if Mahomes went to the Jets. I would be like, yeah,
he's got great talent, but he's a little kooky. What
(30:10):
is Katie's legacy today?
Speaker 5 (30:12):
Okay, all right, So this is a layered question. First,
a lot of what you said is fair, but the
front end I just have to disagree with you on.
In this regard, we can't compare Katie leaving the Warriors
to Mahomes leaving the Chiefs unless we were in a
context where for three years, the vast majority of football
(30:33):
media anytime Mahomes name came up. They said, fake rings,
fraud ring.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Those don't count, those don't count. We don't like it.
Speaker 5 (30:41):
Yeah, you're ruined the league, I mean, and so we can't.
And I know you weren't one of the people killing
him for going to Golden State, but the majority of
the media was. And so what Katie heard was anything
I do here doesn't count. So I guess I have
to leave. So to me, I don't blame him for
leaving Golden State. Now, he obviously has made some poor
(31:05):
choices in who he teams up with, in Kyrie and Brooklyn,
even though Kyrie is working now with Luca, and then
in going to Phoenix, even though I would think Katie
the basketball mind would understand that roster might not work.
Those have been some poor choices. And now to get
to your question, of course, the legacy is impacted. The
(31:26):
fact that Kevin Durant, and this is an unbelievable stat,
Kevin Durant since twenty eighteen, since June of twenty eighteen,
in the last six years, has played eleven minutes of
playoff basketball after round two is insane. The fact that
(31:50):
Kevin Durant, since the foot on the line game has
won five total playoff games is insane and unfathomable. The
fact that Kevin Durant is going to go through this
half decade of his career not seeing a conference finals
(32:11):
when the first decade of his career he lived in
the conference and NBA finals is bizarre. And when you
put pinned to paper, I did this the other day.
If you are talking all of NBA history, Kevin Durant
is far closer to twenty than to ten. Yes, which
five years ago would have been unfathomable. Right, It would
(32:34):
have been unfathomable that Kevin Durant was going to be
a fringe top twenty all time guy. When it looked
like he was going to be a fringe or inside
the top ten. That did happen. And it's a damn
shame as a basketball fan.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Okay, So Lebron talked about his future. I don't think
he's going anywhere. I think he's fantastic. I think he
fits with AD, I think his business is here. But
here's Lebron last night talking about his future with the Lakers.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Here we go and he thought, at all, you know,
this could have been your last game with the Lakers.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I'm not gonna answer that Lebron is always strategic, So
the idea is not sure he sure. What did you
make of it?
Speaker 5 (33:18):
Well, yeah, I mean I think he wants to exert
leverage where he can. He has been kinder and gentler
to the Lakers from a leverage standpoint.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Than he ever was.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
Yeah, his second stint in Cleveland. Yes, in Cleveland it
was one year deals and one year deals and.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
You better move, you better move.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
The Lakers. He has given them real security and I
think he feels they haven't rewarded that as of you know,
the deadline this time as an example. And by the way,
I can hear people yelling at their TVs across the country,
Oh my god, he made them trade for Westbrook.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
What more does he want?
Speaker 5 (33:53):
This idea that Lebron James had the power to force
Rob Blinka's hand to make a franchise altering trade, but
didn't have the power to get tylu hired when he
wanted him, didn't have the power to get anything done
at this deadline, didn't have the power to get them
to trade for Kyrie last year. Like, yes, he wanted
Russ on the team, but yes, Polink has had plenty
(34:13):
of instances where he told him no on other things.
I think there are certain things Lebron wants. I, as
a basketball fan, would love to see him have one
final arc somewhere else. I think Lebron James bringing the
New York Knicks to the NBA Finals for the first
time in a quarter century would be pretty great. I
think he would fit, you know, in that Julius Randalls
(34:35):
spot quite well. I also think four rings for four
franchises would be unbelievable. All of that is doable. I
don't think it's realistic. I don't think it's going to happen.
I think you know, Philly has max salary cap spot.
I think that makes sense. Cleveland is going to hit
their head on a round two ceiling again, you know,
I think that would make sense. They need a power forward.
(34:57):
I don't think he's gonna do any of that. I
think he's gonna sit back and see what they do
this summer. See you are their next coaches, See them
draft Bronnie at fifty five and then sign a three
year max contract with a no trade clothes. That's what
I think he's going to do. But for my sleep
schedule and my ability to watch Lebron James in person.
Just come out East man. I the water's not warm,
(35:18):
but it's nice, Like, come out East. Win a title
with the Knicks, and by the way, get all those
Knicks fans that never like Jordan to begin with on
your side in the goat debate. That's like an electoral
college thing. It's like flipping Texas all of a sudden,
the math is different forever.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
So it's just the thought, just the thought that's actually funny.
What's interesting about Jalen Brunson, who I think is just wonderful,
But you know when he played with Luca, it's like, hello,
I'm good. Here would he and I think he's a
great kid. But what he want Lebron who needs the
ball in his hands? If I was Jalen Brunson and
(35:55):
he's a team guy, but he gets to control that
whole offense, you don't.
Speaker 5 (36:00):
With my still well well again a year twenty two,
age forty, Lebron, maybe you could. The problem, Probably the
biggest problem with my Lebron to the Knicks pipe dream
isn't about his family or his businesses or any of that.
It probably has to do with the fact that Tom
Thibodau would be Lebron. It's February eight. You got forty
six minutes in your buddy. I think I'm gonna need you.
(36:23):
I think I'm gonna need you to go the whole
game tonight. It's probably not the best idea.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
You had a two hour practice in Milwaukee. Yeah, on
an office.
Speaker 5 (36:31):
Not great.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Good seeing your first things first after our show. Thanks buddy,
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