July 2, 2025 • 50 mins
Jason McIntyre steps in for Colin to come to the defense of Luka Doncic from recent criticisms the young super star has received as the Lakers reset in the offseason to return to championship contention. He talks to U.S. Soccer legend Landon Donovan about the National Team’s run through the Gold Cup despite missing their best players and what this means for their World Cup preparation. Plus, NBA reporter Jovan Buha joins the show to tell JMac why LeBron James is not on the trade block and reacting to the Knicks hiring Mike Brown to be their next head coach
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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
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
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or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhert
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Hello, and welcome to the Herd. It's me Jason McIntyre
in for Colin Cowherd, who is yet sitting once again, Boy,
nobody travels like Colin Cowherd. I'm joined today by Alex Curry. Alex,
how are you feeling. We're on the eve of July
fourth here. I love this week. I mean, for growing
up for the.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
July was like my favorite holiday in Manhattan. Beach vibes
are immaculate down on the strand and on the beach.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Obviously a little different for me this year.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Because I'm in the red zone, like anything can happen
on but I'm.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
So so excited for it. I love her Yeah, and
we got great sports. Obviously a lot of soccer tonight.
We're talking soccer on the show. One of my favorite
soccer players of all time, Landon Donovan, joining the show
in about forty minutes. Very excited. We have a Lakers
insider coming on to talk. I know it hasn't been
a great start to free agency. Laker fans, take a
(01:21):
deep breath. It's gonna be fine. We're actually gonna start
the show ladies and gentlemen with the Lakers. And you know, listen,
we are in a hot take society right now. Everybody
knows that it's really difficult to cut through. There's so
many outlets and medium's TV radio, you got the web,
you got social media, YouTube, TikTok. To cut through, you
(01:44):
increasingly have to turn up the volume and get a
little hot. And folks, I've been seeing some stuff. You know,
I love a good hot take, hot take happy hour,
but I've been seeing some stuff lately about my main man,
Luka Doncic. Then I got to step in. It's time
for Jmac to jump in and be like, guys, can
we take a deep breath? Can we get some perspective?
I know, nuance isn't a thing a lot of people
(02:05):
like to do in July. It's either black or white.
You love him? You hate him, right, But let's just
pump the brakes on the Luka Doncic bashing. And yes,
I get it. He's coming off a season where he
was injured and he got traded and hey, if the
Dallas Mavericks can move off Luca, how good is he?
Speaker 5 (02:23):
Right?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I mean the guy doesn't play defense, he can't jump,
he only had one dunk last season. I mean, Luca,
what are we doing? Is he that good? J man?
He couldn't get out of the first round with Lebron James.
How good is Luca? And you start hearing all this
and I'm like, wait a minute, hold on, are we
talking about the same Luka Doncic that just thirteen months
(02:48):
ago put the Mavericks on his back and led them
to the finals. And now we've got hot takes like
this not just coming from dopey fans and not just
the media, but we're talking about former players and folks.
Avery Johnson, a point guard who knows a lot about basketball,
was asked who we'd rather have, Cooper Flag or Luka Doncic.
Take a listen, man.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Give me Cooper Flag. Really Cooper Flag in this team? Yeah?
Give me Cooper flagg Man you're talking about a team
when they're healthy. Got three future Hall of Famers with
Kyrie A. D and Klay Thompson. So this is really
exciting the Mavericks. Their future is bright, but they have
(03:31):
a window when they're healthy if the next two to
three years with this rosstass currently constructed.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah, I don't totally disagree with Dallas being good, but
Cooper Flag over Luka Doncic. And this is what I'm
talking about with society. It's becomes so hot taky that
a guy has a down year and we're just writing
him off, like I like Cooper Flagg. Do you guys
remember I don't know two months ago on the show,
Rick Buker sat here and I was like, over under
(03:59):
one and a half MVPs for Cooper Flag and he
laughed at me. He's like, what on earth are you
talking about. I'm like, I'm high on Cooper Flag. No
way on earth am I taking him over Luka Doncic.
Have we forgotten I'm not going to try it out
the resume, but have we forgotten that in the last
forty years, no player has started their NBA career as
(04:20):
good as Luka johnsch not Michael Jordan, not Lebron James,
not Shaq, Folks, Luca went Rookie of the Year and
then was First Team All NBA five straight years, First
Team All NBA, Top five player in the league for
five straight years in starting a year two. Like, that's
the kind of talent we're dealing with here. Nobody makes
(04:41):
their teammates better in the NBA better than Luka Doncics. Now,
I know Jokic has a strong case because he has
a title. He's a little older than Luca. Just put
that out there. But Luca raises the level of all this. Guys.
You remember two years ago Dallas, they had been fighting
for years. How do we build around Luca. Let's try
Jalen Brunson and crew that up. Let's try Porzingis and
(05:02):
he got hurt. This is what he does. Let's try
Kyrie Irving. Oh okay, Okay, so they bring in Kyrie Irving.
I remember being I think Live on the Herd when
it happened, I was like, oh my gosh, MAVs they're set.
They're going to the finals. They missed the playoffs that year. Okay,
do you remember how Luka Doncic responded The following year
he averaged thirty three to nine and nine, and the
(05:25):
MAVs went to the NBA Finals. So if you want
to write off Luca at twenty six and say, well
he's not Duncan anymore, he's become a step back artist,
that's fine. Do you do you, But here's the reality.
Luca went to the finals last year, exhausted, then played
in the Olympics, and oh, by the way, then comes
the calf injury. Remember on Christmas suffers the calf injury
(05:49):
and Luca, wisely, I might add, did not want to
rush it. He was seen on a scooter and it's like, oh, geez,
that's bad news. No, he was being cautious, which is
in hindsight. You remember when guy on the Pacers had
a calf injury in the finals and I was like, whoa, whoa,
whoaoa Haliburton, sit out, my guy. You don't want them
(06:11):
happ to miss a whole year. Haliburton plays good in
game six. Oh, he's fine, it's fine. Let's not even
rehash what happened in game seven. You don't rush back
from calf injuries. Nico Harrison wanted to rush Luca back.
Lucas said, no, oh, slow your role, man. He took
his time, they thought he'd gained weight. They shipped him
out of town. I am calling it now. Revenge season
(06:32):
is coming for Luka Doncic next year with the Lakers.
I don't know who the hell they're gonna have. We
can get into that later. I'm gonna go ahead and
assume Lebron's gonna be on the roster. I'm gonna assume
Austin Reaves, but that's not a lock. I think they're
gonna be okay with two of the greatest players in
the NBA currently, Lebron all NBA guy and Luca, who's
(06:53):
off to one of the best starts in NBA history
for a young guy. Can we just take our deep
breath with Luca. He's gonna be fine. All right now,
let's get to the big soccer matchup tonight USA Guatemala. Yes,
it's here on FS one, the Gold Cup semifinals. I
will reserve from making any Guatemalan jokes. I don't know
(07:14):
much about their soccer program, but I know this. We
all smoke them. I'm calling it now, just like I
told Colin three weeks ago, We're gonna be fine in
the Gold Cup. And now do you guys remember three
weeks ago in the Gold Cup USA, all of a sudden,
isn't getting their stars to play poolisic? I need some rest?
(07:34):
Oh no, what does that say? And then so one
of my funny joker soccer friends said saying, I don't
know about Poachattino, laughing like, well, we don't know about
this guy. Everything's been fine now. The bigger issue is
one that everybody, even if you're not a soccer fan,
con vibe with you In NFL and NBA, right, you
(07:56):
follow your team closely. I got some Jacksonville Jaguars, but
these fans, two of them, who I mean, they could
tell you everything that's going on on the too deep.
They know who's like on the bubble to make the roster.
They know everything about the Jags because that's their local team.
It's totally different with soccer. This happens in the NBA too.
Toronto Raptors fans can give you chapter and verse in
(08:18):
their salary cap situation in the next two years. That
doesn't apply to the US national soccer team, which puts
US every two to four years in this weird spot
of Oh hey, guys, it's time to pay attention to soccer. Wait,
are we gonna win this tournament? It's either boom or
bust when it comes to USA Soccer for casuals. Now,
(08:38):
you could argue, Hey, it's great that the casuals are
paying attention, but we just want to kind of educate
these guys so they get up to speed. Hey, this
is a be team in the Gold Cup. But here's
why it's a good thing. Nobody wants to hear that.
They're like, Oh, who's the new coach? What has he done?
Polistics not playing and you guys are missing out. Because
I'm here to tell you and I know this is positive.
(09:01):
Jason to start the show gassing up Luka doncic glazing
the US national team. We're gonna beat Guatemala, probably soundly tonight.
I'll go three to one, and then that'll lead us
into the game against likely Mexico Sunday, what will be
a heated game. Mexico has their a team, we don't,
but I think we're gonna be plucky in that one.
It should be a great game injuston on Sunday. But
(09:23):
when it comes to USA Soccer, the reason I get
excited about Gold Cup is because we're seeing like the backups,
the depth the bench that we've never really had, and
Colin likes to make this point, we just don't have depth.
We're building depth at the Gold Cup. They've got guys
who are showing very well. We've probably got two or
three starters. We might have our new goalie. And mister Freeze,
(09:45):
the freezeman was so good in PK's and as one
of the guys in the morning meeting noted, Hey, Turner,
the incumbent, he hasn't looked great internationally because he's not playing.
Freeze gets on the field and is a brick wall
in peak. So, folks, we're seeing depth. We're seeing the
new coach. And you guys know this happens, right, You
get a new coach, you got a new leader. Well
(10:07):
there's a new guy to impress. And guess who's got
a chance up close and personal to impress him. All
the guys playing in the Gold Cup. So you know,
Landon Donovan will come on and hopefully echo my sentiments here.
But I think this is a good thing. You know,
a five nothing against Haiti beating trinderd at it debate like, okay,
those are fine results, but it's more about the process
(10:29):
over the results. And I guess my issue is the
process can apply to your favorite NFL, your favorite NBA
team locally, it's tougher to apply the process to the
USA team because we just parachute in for the major
tournaments and we're like, oh, are we gonna win? Like
that's all it comes down to. There's no process. I
feel like we're seeing a tremendous process at the Gold Cup.
(10:52):
Poachactino is exerting his thoughts and beliefs and his value
system on the team and that will then trickle down
to the other guys. It's a good thing. Tyler Adams
is here, he was on the show yesterday talking about it.
Here's Alexi LALs earlier in the week, also saying very
positive things about the USA showing at the Gold Cup.
Speaker 6 (11:12):
It's almost a wonderful message to send an important message
to send to the guys that aren't here that you
know what, while while you're important, you're not a savior
and that and we can win games and we can
do things without you. Because I think it's going to
motivate them to come in and say, you know what,
(11:33):
you know what stinks, just like everybody else is America
doesn't give a crap how this US team plays. They
care that they win and that they are doing it
in a kind of raw, strangely ugly but beautiful way
that I think that resonates with people.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
He absolutely nailed it, and folks, I'll wrap up with this,
but continuity is huge. When I go to gamble for
the NFL in the offseason looking ahead to this coming season,
continuity matters. Did you keep your coach, your coordinators, how
many starters do you have back in college football? It's
huge NFL. I feel like it's very important. We don't
really have that in soccer because it's a national team
(12:13):
and guys are spread out all over the planet playing
in different leagues, and then you get them together for
the World Cup. They're kind of thrust together. So the
USA won't have continuity. But here's the positive. Most of
the starters in the World Cup next summer. We're gonna
have played in twenty twenty two and showed well against
England for moments against the Netherlands. And now we get
(12:35):
a coach who's got a different outlook, and I do
believe I know it's on US soil and I'm getting
a little flag wavy here, but I'm being dead serious, folks.
I do believe quarterfinals and semifinals could be in play
for US soccer. I know that's going to seem like
a hot take and you all are gonna laugh. But historically,
(12:55):
when you host the goal the World Cup, you have
a better tit if it in beds, you're familiar with,
You've got friends and family around, you're in your normal
time zone. Everything lines up for the US hosting the
World Cup next year. I'm thinking big things, and I
think this Gold Cup win tonight and maybe the win
in the final Sunday, will be a springboard to a
huge twenty twenty six in US soccer. All Right, we
(13:19):
got a phenomenal show today. Heading into July fourth, coming
up next, Yeah, we're going back to Lebron. There is
a lot of chatter about him switching teams. Does he
want out of La Talk about that next year on
The Herd.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Hi. This is Jay.
Speaker 7 (13:46):
I'm the producer of the Paul and Toni Fusco show.
Usually in these promos they ask you to listen to
the show. I'm here to ask you please, don't listen
to the show. The hosts are two absolute morons who
have the dumbest takes on sports imaginable. Don't listen to
the show so it can get camp.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
What the hell are you doing in our studio again?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Ignore that fool. Listen to the Paulone Tony Fusco Show
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
He's still moving, obviously. Everybody very excited. Uh, USA Guatemala
tonight and then when we win, we'll face Mexico in
the final. Yes, we're gonna win. Let's talk to Landon Donovan.
(14:29):
Oh my gosh, a legend. You know, I get a
little gushy. I'm gonna be a little bit of a
fanboy here. Who couldn't love Landon Donovan. I was just
telling him how in the break stop it maybe Pochatino,
but that's about it. But during the break like I
remember the goal against Algeria in the World Cup watching
with my family, I'll never forget it. That's one of
the most seminal moments in USA soccer. So Landovan great Landon.
(14:51):
Great to have you on the show. Let's start with
this layup. How do you feel about the game against
Guatemala tonight? I think we got a gift.
Speaker 8 (15:00):
Guatemala played Canada the other night and Canada are a
much much better overall team than Guatemala. And I think
if they play that game ten times, Canada win eight.
Guatemala tai one and they win one and they tied,
went to penalty kicks and ended up losing the game.
So it's a bit of a gift for us. Guatemala
(15:23):
is not a top conker CAF team. This is the
first time, I believe in thirty something years they've been
to the semi finals of a Gold Cup, so I
expect us to win. It will not be easy. J
Mack Soccer never is because goals are hard to score.
But I expect that we'll win tonight.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
I'm just curious. Obviously you're not there talking to the players,
but how do you what do you think the mindset
is given free shows up in PKS. You know all
the criticism for the team, but they have been kind
of playing great. I didn't love the goal they gave
up in what the eighty fifth minute or whatever, But
overall they've played pretty darn good.
Speaker 8 (15:58):
No, they've been fantastic, and it's important to have the
context of what happened. So before the tournament, many players
opted out of the tournament, which you know, is a
whole nother story, and for people who have dreamt of
playing soccer their whole life, you know, it's pretty interesting
that people would not want to play for the national team.
A lot of players out injured, and then a third
(16:18):
set of players are out for the Club World Cup
that's going on concurrently. So this group of players is
a little bit of a makeshift, maybe one or two starters,
but the rest are a be maybe even in some
cases a C team or a C player. And what
they've done is they've taken the opportunity and j mac.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
You know, in sports, when someone leaves the.
Speaker 8 (16:38):
Door slightly open, you better be careful because someone else
might barge through.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
And these guys have barged through.
Speaker 8 (16:44):
And they've been really inspiring for those of us who
love this game and love this national team, it's been
really fun to watch them continue to grow and win
back hearts and minds of Americans.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Yeah, I didn't want to start with the controversy, but
let's go into it. You know, they didn't seem to
have an identity heading into the Gold Cup, Like, what
are they do you think that Pochettino has kind of
established this is what we are or is that still
a work in progress.
Speaker 8 (17:13):
So this is the hard part with soccer for people
who are new to it. You play for your club
team all the time, and let's use the analogy of
you play for the Lakers or the Celtics or the Yankees,
but then once a month, maybe once every couple months,
you come together for whatever country you represent, and you
represent your national team. The problem is is you're only
together for two or three days at a time and
(17:35):
then you go back to your club teams. What's happened
in this camp is Pochettino had two friendlies before this
camp started, so you had a week and a half
with these guys, two games, and now they've had their
going on I think two and a half or three
weeks together. Having that amount of time together is priceless.
With a national team, it's absolutely priceless. So in the beginning,
there was no identity. People didn't know what to expect.
(17:57):
Everybody's sort of looking around in camp.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Are you a leader? You're a leader with your club team,
but are you a leader here?
Speaker 8 (18:02):
And now you're starting to see roles define, You're starting
to see people take the opportunity. You saw Matt Freeze
say hey, no one else has claimed the goalkeeper spot,
why not me? And that's what guys have done this
entire tournament. It's been really fun to watch them grow.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Yeah, and you said the doors kind of open, And
I asked the more the staff here, like, how many
guys do you think currently on the goal club a
Gold Cup roster would maybe start next year in the
World Cup? And we came around two or three. I
don't know, am I missing anyone? I think Freeze might
have passed Turner just alone in this tournament. But who
(18:36):
else do you think is? Could Richards be a starter
next year in the World Cup?
Speaker 8 (18:40):
Well, look like politics, a year is a long time, right,
so a lot of things can happen in a year. However,
this is what I would say with Pochettino. Pochattino is
Argentina and he spent most of his career in Europe coaching.
He doesn't have any obligation to anybody who has name
recognition or has played in the past, or has been
a leader or being a captain.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
He just looks at this roster and says, these are
the guys I have.
Speaker 8 (19:06):
You show me that by your performance today today against
Guatemala that you deserve to play in the final if
we win, and if we play in the final against
Mexico Honduras, you show me again that you deserve to
play in the friendlies that are coming up in the fall,
and you deserve to play in the next one and
the next one in the next one. He does send
care if you have a big name or a big
contract or play for a big club. He can only
(19:27):
evaluate what he's seeing, and what he's seeing right now
are a bunch of guys who are taking advantage of
the opportunity.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Yeah, do you think Tillman is one of those guys?
I was looking at his background. Absolutely played on the
German national team, you fifteen through twenty one, and it's like, wow,
he looks outstanding. But I don't think of him as
better than Baligan, you know, and like some of the
other forwards, right or is that now a discussion?
Speaker 8 (19:49):
Yeah, but it is a discussion for what I just said.
And you know, the old adage the most important ability
in sports is availability. And Balagan is a fantastic player, talented.
Ricardo Peppi fantastic player, very talented. They've been injured. Both
of them have been injured a lot leak. Someone's not
an out.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
And out striker.
Speaker 8 (20:08):
There's a young man named Patrick Ajamong who has sort
of taken that role.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
And we'll see what happens.
Speaker 8 (20:15):
You know, j Mac, the telling sign will be in
the next camp after this Gold Cup. Does he just
readily invite all those guys back in or does he say,
you know what, these guys did a great job for
me in the Gold Cup. This B and C list
and maybe they become the A list and that's that's
gonna tell us a lot.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
That would ruffle some feathers. But I'm just curious, like
that sounds like a good talking point and hearing you
say it, like, yeah, there's something here. But in your
soccer experience, do you ever recall them going with bees
over a's just because the a's weren't there? No, and
and no.
Speaker 8 (20:48):
The reason why is because when you play with your
national team, and this is part of my frustration why
I'm outspoken about Yes, when you play for your national team.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
It just means more. It has to mean more.
Speaker 8 (21:00):
And I'm not saying people don't try with their club teams.
I'm not even saying people don't care sometimes when they
play with their national team. But if you're not willing
to do anything, in everything to win the game with
your national team, then you don't deserve to be there.
And the guys who are there right now have said
I don't care what happens.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
I'm not.
Speaker 8 (21:17):
You know, a guy Diego Luna young Man broke his
nose in a friendly in January and they said you
need to come out of the game, and he.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Said, I'm not coming out of the game. This is
my one chance.
Speaker 8 (21:27):
So you can pull me off the field, you can
carry me off, but I'm not coming out of the game.
Next thing, you know, he started every game in the
Gold Cup. If there, if the roster was announced tomorrow
for the World Cup, he is one hundred percent on
it and he came out of nowhere. And so that's
what it means to play for your national team. Malik
Tilman got kicked all over the field the other night
and he got up again, and got up again and
(21:48):
got up again. He missed a penalty in the game,
came back and made a penalty in the penalty kick shootout.
So they are showing Mauricio Pochettino what it means to
play for a national team. And there's no reason why
a lot lot of these guys one won't be on
the roster and two some of them would start. Now
are they all going to be starters? I don't think so,
but hopefully it sends a message to the rest of
the group that this is what's expected and if you
(22:10):
don't do it, you're.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Not going to be here. Yeah, all right, I got
to ask it. And obviously you know the drama with
Polisic and Pochettino. A have you heard from anybody in
either camp since the Gold Cup privately? If it's private
stuff and you don't want to talk about it, that's fine.
But have you heard from anyone in politics camp or Pochattinos? No?
Speaker 8 (22:30):
No, no, And I've I talked to many people behind
the scenes all week. J Mack in US Soccer And
the reality right now is.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
What I just said about Pochettino.
Speaker 8 (22:41):
He does not have he does not feel any obligation
to any player. Now, is Christian polistic more talented than
anybody on the current Gold Cup roster. Yes, by a
gazillion miles. But when you see when you play for
a national team, it doesn't always mean that. If you
watch do yourself a favor, go watch Argentina play Columbia
(23:02):
or Argentina played Brazil. When you watch that game, you
go there's a lot of soccer being played here. This
is just a battle, and these are some of the
best players in the world, and all the skill and
all the stuff gets thrown out the window for ninety
percent of the game and they just battle because that's
what it means to play for your country. So I
think the message is loud and clear. And I took
(23:23):
Christian's credit. I think when he shows up and plays,
he does play that way.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (23:27):
Now some of the other guys on the roster haven't,
and I think the message is becoming clear from Poachatino
you either do this or you're not playing.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Yeah, I feel like that was a shot at gill Reno.
But I'm just going to side Sam. It's we'll wrap
up with this.
Speaker 9 (23:41):
You know.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Freeze obviously was the hero in the PKS. Turner's kind
of been buried on the bench with his club team.
I don't know, do you think Freeze past them or
is it too early to tell? I want to separate.
Speaker 8 (23:52):
You know, people get excited in moments, right, Yes, you
know it'd be like if a guy gets fouled for
a three pointer and makes three free throws to win
the game. You wouldn't necessarily then say, oh, well, he's
the best player throughout the game, right because he made
those free three free throws. Matt Freeze is excellent clearly
at penalty kicks, and I will just say, let's say
he's not one of the best three goalkeepers. Generally, you
(24:14):
take three goalkeepers to the World Cup, there is every
opportunity that Poachatino says, you know what, I'm gonna take
him even as my third, even though he's not the best,
because we might get into a situation in a knockout
stage where we need to take penalty kicks, and I
could absolutely see that happen. Now, aside from that, I
think he's been okay. I don't think he is a
better goalkeeper than Matt Turner. But I talked earlier, you
(24:37):
leave that door open. You're Matt Turner and you didn't
play a lot of club soccer. The last year you
left the door open and someone said, bang, I'm kicking
that thing down and I'm coming in.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Yeah, and he has Landed Donovan, Fox Sports soccer analyst,
a legend on the pitch and off of it. Great stuff. Landon,
thanks a lot, and I appreciate you guys. Yeah, thank you,
all right, Landed Donovan really want listen. He's saying a
lot of stuff and you need to listen because I'm
sure he talks to everybody in USA soccer. He's probably
(25:06):
not saying everything. Alex you know soccer. Well, I think
based on some of the stuff Landon Donovan saying, uh,
you know, if you passed on this Gold Cup, you
may have not Polisic, but some of the other guys.
You want to be here.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Yeah, that's what this new coaching regime is about.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Show me that you want to be here. Yeah, oh boy, Yeah,
it's exciting.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a Empacific.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Our number two here on the Herd, Jason McIntyre in
for Colin Cowherd Jet setting. I don't worry Ebisa, is
that where he is right now?
Speaker 4 (25:40):
I have no idea. You tell me, I love Abisa.
I haven't been a wee honeymoon in Aviisa.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
What a late Alex Curry joining me. We got Jovon
Bouja coming up in I don't know five minutes. Listen,
Lakers fans are like on the edge, Alex, right now,
they're on.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
We're okay, okay. I'm not as concerned, I think as
everybody else.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
As we talked about last hour.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Lebron knows how to get the conversation going.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
This is what he does. What does his hat say?
Welcome home? Welcome home. Yeah, it's a message, but he
is back home. I thought he's might be in Ohio
with Lebron, like hanging around seeing what the hell's going on,
But he's out here anyways. All right, real quick, before
we get to Yovon, I just got to talk about it,
like I like Lamar Jackson. I know people think you
don't like him, Jay, you're critical. That's what we do.
(26:32):
We're critical of everybody. Patrick Mahomes, Jalen hurts, Lebron, everybody.
And Lamar Jackson is a two time MVP. He's a
dynamic player. When he's on, you're watching. He came out
here so far to play. I think it was a
Chargers even last year, two years ago. I was at
the game. He's electrifying. You can't take your eyes off him.
He's unbelievable. And he keeps coming up empty in the playoffs,
(26:54):
which is fine, you know, not everybody wins right out
of the gate. But Lamar went on some digital show
with Kevin Hart and need to take a quick time out.
Kevin Hart, for my money, is the funniest guy going.
I know people like Theo Vaughn and then all these
other comics. Kevin Hart's the man. I'm a huge fan
of movies, his stand up. I've seen him live. He's great.
(27:14):
Kevin Hart also does like an ice tub thing where
he invites people on and talks to him. And here's
what Lamar Jackson said to Kevin Hart about the one thing, okay,
one thing he needs to improve on to get the
Ravens over the hump just being a leader.
Speaker 10 (27:29):
Okay, I'm gonna say being a leader because I'm I
really don't. I'm really not outspoken, like being vocal with
my guys like oh let's do this, and that got
a great motivation of speech. I don't have that. You know,
I just pretty much lead by example. I go out there,
I'm gonna work hard. I expect that out of you.
But as I've been going, like growing in the league,
it's like, nah, you gotta talk to the guys coaches
(27:49):
and stuff. Like to talk to the guy right now.
I talked to him one on one, but certain things
I'm saying, I gotta voice it more. It's my opinion
more to those guys.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Yeah, I don't know. It's like when you're in a
job interview and you know, they ask you one of
these quess like what's your biggest weakness, and you give
one of these answers that says like, I don't have
a weakness, you know, not having a weakness, that's my weakness,
like something like that, and I'm like, really, leadership, you
either have that or you don't. I don't think like
(28:19):
five years in the league something snaps and you're a leader.
Like Justin Herbert is quiet and just doesn't say much.
That's who he is. He's not changing.
Speaker 8 (28:27):
You know.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Patrick Mahomes is a fiery dude. He was that way
at Texas Tech, He's that way in the NFL. He's
not changing. Lamar Jackson is a quiet guy. He doesn't
say a lot. Tom Brady, you remember him on the
sideline with the Patriots. He would f bomb people and
dog cuss him. That's who he was. Fiery. Everybody's different
when it comes to leadership. If Lamar was given truth
(28:48):
serum before the Kevin Hard interview, what's the biggest way,
Hey man, I've had some rotten playoff games going to Buffalo.
I couldn't do anything this past year in Buffalo. I
started slow, fumble interception, I got us in the hole.
I can't play like that on the road. I haven't
delivered in the playoffs. And it's like, yeah, I get it,
(29:09):
Mark Andrews. If he catches that, it's a different discussion.
But look at the game log of Lamar Jackson. He
has not been great in the playoffs, and yeah, I
see the drops on the screen and that's not always
on him. Obviously, what's his name? Against Kansas City when
they were at home, had to fumble the young receiver
Za Flowers had a brutal game, but right out of
the gate, like Lamar Jackson wasn't awesome. Teams have seen him,
(29:33):
they know how to game plan for him. He needs
to become a different quarterback in the postseason. And that's
not a knock, it's just a reality. Right now, that's
the only Kryptonite has. The calendar turns to January and
all of a sudden, Lamar Jackson, Oh shoot, what are
we getting here? Are we in trouble? I mean, look
at the numbers three and five in the playoffs. Completion
percentage down, passer rating down. It hasn't been great. Now
(29:54):
you're playing the best of the best. But for a
two time MVP, that to me is his weakness. I
don't want to hear this as leader ship nonsense.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
All right, be sure to catch live editions of The
Herd weekdays in neonon Eastern nine am Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Let's go back to the NBA and bring in Jovon Buha,
who covers the league. He covers the Lakers closely. Let's
welcome in Jovon, who's listen. The last time he was
her absolute fire. And now the pressure's on Yovann obviously,
not just because you're a free agent, but also there's
some free agent stuff swirling around and the Lakers fans
(30:33):
want to know right now what is the status with
DeAndre Ayton and Los Angeles.
Speaker 11 (30:37):
MI understanding is he's likely going to make his decision
today he clears waivers at five pm Eastern time. There's
a bit of a DeAndre eight and sweepstakes going on
right now for a guy who's on a thirty five
million dollar contract gets bought out and now is going
to be in that probably eight to eight to fourteen
million dollar range. So you got a couple of options
(30:59):
with the full non taxpayer mL Golden State in Indiana
both need starting centers.
Speaker 9 (31:03):
Indiana just lost Miles Turner.
Speaker 11 (31:05):
They also have a relationship with eight and they offered
him a max contract offer sheet back in twenty twenty two,
which he signed, So there was a second there where
it looked like he was going to be their center
of the future. Then you got the Lakers, who only
have eight point two five million dollars because they split
part of that mL on Jake Laavia. So I think
the Lakers probably provide the best opportunity. You're going to
(31:26):
be in the spotlight. You're going to be starting playing
with Luca, potentially playing with Lebron and theoretically being on
a team with some you know, contending odds, So I
think that's the best opportunity for him. But also like
money talks and other teams can offer him more money.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
I mean, he got number one pick money, he got
a second contract, which is huge. Yeah, I mean fourteen
million versus eight. If it just comes out to that,
Lakers are going to lose out on that, and.
Speaker 11 (31:52):
He's still getting the twenty five million from Portland, So
he would be taking like I guess, a one point
seventy five million shaving off of that thirty five if
he goes to the Lakers, whereas actually if he goes
to the other team, so he could technically make more
money on top of the thirty five because it would
be an offset of like four.
Speaker 9 (32:08):
Extra million dollars.
Speaker 11 (32:09):
But I think right now that they're weighing their options
is my understanding him and his camp. But it sounds
like around the time of him clearing waivers, we should
have a better ide Yeah, from.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Just a fit perspective, I got to ask, like, culturally,
did you read the article about him where it's like
he was late to flights. In practice, he couldn't make
it to a game because of icy roads, Like there
was a lot of stuff that apparently trickled out in Portland.
They were like, we got to get this guy out
of here, and now the Lakers want to bring him in.
Speaker 9 (32:39):
Yeah, I mean that's certainly concerning.
Speaker 11 (32:41):
But if you look at the center options right now
in free agency, the alternative is a thirty nine year old.
Speaker 9 (32:45):
Al Horford, who I think I would go out Horford.
I like Al Horford.
Speaker 11 (32:48):
I just think, you know, in comparison to like rebounding
rim protection, I think Deandreyton as a twenty six year
old is just at a different level than Al Horford
right now, like that they were load managing Al Horford
and Boston right and I don't think he's a guy
you can hold up over the course of an eighty
two game season. So I think the Lakers need a
legit starting center, and eight in is one. Now that
(33:09):
there are some flaws and there are some drawbacks, I
think he's very talented.
Speaker 9 (33:14):
He's very skilled.
Speaker 11 (33:14):
Of course, there have been times where it seems like
the motor or the motivation have not always been there,
and I think that's something that you know, he's in
a contract year effectively, so he's going to have to
prove himself.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
He doesn't really stretch the floor. He doesn't get to
the foul line. He's not I mean, I saw the
true catching some lobs, but he's not like the lively
Gafford type. He's more of a throwback back to the
basket guy.
Speaker 11 (33:38):
All seven years he's averaged a double double, So, like
you are getting a baseline level of rebounding with him.
Shot eighty percent at the rim last year, which I think,
you know that's not all dunks. But he's got a
soft touch with hook shots floaters. Like, I think the
offensive skill is there. I think he's arguably the best
like realistic offensive option they could get. It's the defensive
end that I'm interested to see.
Speaker 9 (33:59):
But some of his rent protection numbers are good.
Speaker 11 (34:01):
Good defensive rebounder like you could certainly do worst, which
I would argue the Lakers did last year with their senate.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
Yeah yeah, okay, so so Ayton, Let's say Ayton picks
the Warriors or whoever. Oh wow, they're just sending me
some breaking news. Are you ready for this? Sure it's
not Lakers related. The Knicks are expected to land Mike
Brown as the next head coach of the franchise. Wow,
So not a huge surprise and we'll come back to
the Nix.
Speaker 9 (34:27):
It's a favorite.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Yeah, he was a favorite. So if the Lakers don't
get Ayton and then Al Horford, is there anyone else
out there? I mean Luke Cornett got way too much money.
He would have been the starting center of the Lakers.
Speaker 9 (34:39):
Yeah, I mean Jackson Hayes is still out there.
Speaker 11 (34:41):
Alex Laddin can I can I sell you there's precious
Achua from New York who him?
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 11 (34:51):
So, but but I think at that point they have to.
Speaker 9 (34:53):
Pivot and make a trade.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Really at that Like, but then who do they have
to trade Ruey or Austin Reeves.
Speaker 11 (34:58):
Depends on the salary for the player, like a guy
like Walker Kessler, who is like they're not get I
don't think they're getting Walker Kessler, but like that he's
on a rookie scale contract.
Speaker 9 (35:08):
So you could do something like.
Speaker 11 (35:09):
The Mark Williams package of Dalton connect a first a
swap something like that where you're not really giving up
much in salary and you're trading a bench player for
a starter. So like that's probably the optimal trade.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
Oh, if they could get Walker Kesler for adulta cake.
Speaker 11 (35:23):
I don't think they're getting Walker Kessler. But could they
get a Nick Claxton from Brooklyn? Could they get a
Gafford from Dallas? Circle the block talk.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
About Dallas so and there's a Lebron There's so much
stuff I don't want to Actually, I'm sorry. Let me
go back to Jake Laurravia. A lot of Laker fans
are outraged, and there's these memes around what the hell
is it Jake Laurravia. But you told me something that
I hadn't seen online about Jake Laaravia. What's the connection
to the Lakers?
Speaker 11 (35:52):
Shares an agency with Austin Reeves, and he actually did
an interview this summer and at the end of the
interview he pans and he's in the car with Austin Reeves,
so that they were spending some time together this offseason.
So assuming Austin put on his recruiting hat and told
him about his experience in la and what it's like
to be a Laker, and that was a selling point
(36:13):
for sure. But I will say I've been in the
lab diving into the j Laaravia film, okay, and it's
it's impressive for.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
A twenty three year old. There we go, here we
go like, look.
Speaker 11 (36:23):
This is the guy is a former first round pick
from you know, he's played three years and he played
a Memphis and Sacramento, so though like he's not a
household name, he's playing in two small markets that don't
get a lot of attention. He was a bench player,
but they're counting on him to in some ways be
the Dorian Finney Smith replacement.
Speaker 9 (36:39):
And like watching his film.
Speaker 11 (36:40):
I have a film breakdown coming out on my YouTube
channel later, and like he's guarding Jokic and he's doing
the Caruso of fronting him, deflecting entry passes. He's switching
on to Tatum and Kawhi like he's I think people
look at him and they don't expect him to be
good defensively, but he is actually pretty good against wings
and then forty three percent three point shooter last year,
so I think he can actually do some things for them.
(37:02):
And six million dollars, like we're talking about, you know,
not even half the mid level, Like I think it's
pretty good value.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
It. So when you said Laaravia shares an agent with Reeve,
I instantly you don't going next step. They're not trading
Austin Reefs he's sticking around. You don't do that move
with Reeves's agent. You clearly like the agent and you
trust him, and you like Reeves and the work ethic
for Laavia. So they're not moving off Austin Reefs. Can
we just put that to.
Speaker 9 (37:24):
Bed or no?
Speaker 11 (37:25):
I think so for this summer. Of course, we'll see
how next season goes. And now there's this talk of
them having this twenty twenty seven plan and trying to
keep the cap sheet flexibility to go get a second
superstar in the summer of twenty twenty seven or maybe
trade for one going into that summer. So I think
depending on how this next season goes with him, how
(37:46):
he fares in the playoffs, and then also what type
of contract he gets, I think all those are factors
that could determine whether he ultimately gets traded at some
point in the future. But for this summer, they've been
telegraphing it like they've called him a pillar of the franchise.
Speaker 9 (37:57):
They offered him.
Speaker 11 (37:58):
The max contract, the extension that they could. It was
below market value, so he didn't take it. But I
think he is someone who is going to be a
part of the Lakers for at least next season and
then we'll see ultimately with the next contract.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Okay, so let's go to the breaking news here. So
the Knicks move off Tibbs last month and now bring
in Mike Brown. I'll bring it to Lebron in a second.
First of all, I'm curious, do you think Mike Brown
is an upgrade over Tibodau.
Speaker 11 (38:25):
I think it's close. I think from a personality perspective,
he is. And that's always the variable here that it
is hard to quantify of just TIBs can be grading
on people like we have enough of sample size of
that of some players just don't mesh well with that.
And I think that old school style of coaching has
kind of gone away in the NBA, So I think
(38:45):
from a personality perspective, So actually going to feels like
Golden State is the place as a retread head coach
you want to go to join that assistant coaching staff
and learn from Steve Kerr kind of the modern way
of coaching, which I think is a more player friendly
appro So I think from that perspective he will be
in terms of x's and o's defense, like Tip's pretty
good in that regard. I think he'll play a deeper rotation,
(39:08):
so I think that's.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Probably up grade.
Speaker 9 (39:09):
But so sometimes you just need a new voice.
Speaker 11 (39:11):
Tims was there for five years and does feel like
with the coaching cycle now, guys get three to five
years and you got to try to maximize that.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
So I'll ask you about Mike Brown, dating back to
his early Lebron days, can you really judge Mike Brown
from coaching? Lebron won fifty games, one fifty, lost in
the conference finals, won sixth, like I don't really count that.
So then you got one year with the Lakers and
then he got fired the next year like five games in,
and then he was pretty good in Sacramento. I don't
(39:40):
really know. But what some of my Knixt friends are saying, Jay,
there's one potential landing spot for Lebron, and that could
be the New York next the Calves would probably have
to give up too much. Mike Brown knows Lebron. What
about Lebron getting traded to the Knicks for an og
Mitchell Robinson? Whatever. Do you think there's any the world
(40:00):
where Lebron gets traded.
Speaker 11 (40:02):
I think there's a world, but I think it's I
would put the odds very low right now.
Speaker 9 (40:06):
I mean, he has not asked for a trade.
Speaker 11 (40:07):
There's been no discussion between Rich Paul and the Lakers
about a potential trade. It's hard to look at that
statement and not read into it and then see these
subsequent actions by the Lakers of not retaining Dori and
Finney Smith and then signing a twenty three year old
in Jake Lauravia, then having the support come out that
they're looking at twenty twenty seven as the summer to
(40:28):
really get that second.
Speaker 9 (40:28):
Star build around Luca.
Speaker 11 (40:30):
So the moves they're making are trending in a younger,
short term window and not necessarily win now, maximize Lebron's
twenty third season, maximize Lebron's potential twenty fourth season. So
if I'm Lebron, and I think they kind of put
it out in statement like it's been a good partnership
that they've had seven years together. He won a championship,
(40:50):
he benefited from the Lakers brand, They've benefited from him
coming there, bringing Ad there, winning a championship, so like
it's been a mutually beneficial partnership. I just think at
this point, if you're Lebron, it's hard to like I
think right now, they're probably the fifth best team in
the West, and that's not a spot that lebre the top.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
Let me guess, Houston, Denver, Oka, See who's the other one?
Speaker 11 (41:12):
Minnesota back to back conference finals. I mean they lost, nah,
but that's a big It is a big loss. But
I mean I think that they just meet the Lakers
in five, and you could argue that Lakers are currently
worse than they were. I mean, Golden State's in the mix,
the Clippers in the mix. I really like the Brook
Lopez signing for them.
Speaker 9 (41:29):
So the West is tough. And then you got Dallas
just looming.
Speaker 3 (41:32):
So Dallas. So of these you see on the screen,
four teams have required about Lebron. Everybody says it's Dallas
after the Luca trade. I cannot envision a world where
they're doing another deal.
Speaker 11 (41:42):
I'm part of the everybody because I put it out there,
like I heard over the last couple of weeks that
if Lebron asked out, which is an if, right, that
Dallas would be among the teams that would be on him.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
Shop that trade. Let's just just humor me. Who the
hell are they getting for for Lebron? They're not.
Speaker 9 (41:58):
I've been on the trade machine, give it up Cooper.
Speaker 11 (42:00):
No, so I think Cooper Flag eighty, Kyrie, Derek Lively,
those four are off the table.
Speaker 3 (42:05):
Can't get Lively.
Speaker 9 (42:06):
I don't think so.
Speaker 11 (42:07):
I mean maybe, but Thompson, Yeah, I think it's Gafford, PJ. Washington,
Klay Thompson, Max Christie that those four work financially.
Speaker 9 (42:16):
I don't even you throw from You're throwing a pick?
Speaker 3 (42:18):
No, be good.
Speaker 9 (42:19):
You could get the Lakers.
Speaker 11 (42:20):
Lakers could get their pick back from the Luca trade potentially.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
Yeah, can I get super Max Christie back?
Speaker 9 (42:26):
No? Yeah, I mean it's it's yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
So Dallas is one, Cleveland is another, and it's.
Speaker 11 (42:32):
Just their second Apron team. So that's it's good, like tricky.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
Did you see the instagram today of Lebron in Ohio
playing golf wearing a hat that says welcome home.
Speaker 9 (42:42):
Yeah, okay, go.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
Ahead and give me your thoughts on it, because he
loves to play these games.
Speaker 9 (42:47):
He does.
Speaker 3 (42:48):
From the statement from Rich Paul, the Lakers seem to
counter with their own twenty twenty seven and now Lebron
countering with his welcome home part for the course, ah
golf analogy or is there something more here?
Speaker 9 (42:59):
I think there's a little bit more here, just because
the finish line is in sight. Right.
Speaker 11 (43:03):
So, again going back to Lebron, like because Lebron has
done this before, right, He's at various points of his career, health,
his team to their feet, to the fire with the
one plus ones, and some of the cryptic things he'll do,
and he went to the Cleveland playoff game and like,
so there's been a little bit of smoke with that, right,
But it's different to actually ask out right and demand
(43:24):
a trade.
Speaker 9 (43:25):
He's never been traded.
Speaker 11 (43:26):
I think that's been a point of pride for him
that he, you know, look at even though he's bounced
around a little bit, it's always been him making the decision, him.
Speaker 9 (43:33):
Being the driving force behind it. He's never been traded, which.
Speaker 11 (43:36):
Not every star, Yeah, especially stars that have been on
multiple teams can say so. I think that's the point
of pride. But again, the finish line's in sight. It's
one year left, it's maybe two years, three years. If
he really wanted to stretch it out, and if he
wants to get that fifth ring. You could argue there
are several teams that would make more sense.
Speaker 3 (43:57):
You trusted, like Atlanta detro So.
Speaker 9 (43:59):
I think it has to be a big market.
Speaker 11 (44:01):
I don't see because people have floated Denver, which now
it's a little trickier with Poet like I think MPJ
would have had to have been.
Speaker 9 (44:08):
The salary and they just trade for Cam Johnson.
Speaker 11 (44:10):
But that one, I'm just like, I don't see Lebron
living in Denver and playing for Denver.
Speaker 9 (44:14):
I think.
Speaker 11 (44:15):
So that's why the four I mentioned on my show
where Golden State, New York, Cleveland, Dallas.
Speaker 9 (44:20):
Cleveland's the one small market.
Speaker 11 (44:22):
But that's obviously home and you got the homecoming narrative
for the second time. But then Dallas, Golden State, New
York are all big market teams.
Speaker 3 (44:29):
Yeah, all right, let's go from Lebron to Luka donchet.
So I opened the show defending Luca. The disrespect is
getting a little out of control. Yeah, have you heard
the Avery Johnson sound about? He was asked, who would
you rather have, Cooper flag or Luka donct And I
think we could play it for you. Here here's Avery Johnson.
Speaker 5 (44:48):
Man, give me Cooper flag. Really Cooper flag in this team? Yeah,
give me Cooper flag. Man.
Speaker 3 (44:55):
You're talking about a team when.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
They're health He got three future Hall the famous with
Carrie A. D and Klay Thompson. So this is really
exciting the Mavericks. Their future is bright, but they have
a window when they're healthy of the next two to
three years. What does rostass currently constructed?
Speaker 3 (45:16):
Okay, listen, Avery Johnson is a smart guy. He probably
knows more basketball than you and I combined. Yeah, this
is just crazy? Is best hoop crazy?
Speaker 9 (45:26):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (45:27):
Correct?
Speaker 9 (45:27):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (45:28):
Why are people hadding on Luca like one bad season?
And by the way, hey, if he had rushed back
from his Catholic Nico Harrison wanted, would he beat Tyrese Haliburton? Now,
I don't know.
Speaker 11 (45:39):
Yeah, I mean maybe it's the jersey he's wearing. Now,
I think that comes with some extra criticism sometimes, I
mean I do think the way like I think some
of the stuff that came out from the Dallas side
has been taken as gospel, right with the conditioning and
their concerns, and it almost was like, we can believe
(46:00):
that this trade is real, so we have to validate
anything that's coming from their side too, to even make
it like plausible that they would consider trading Luca. And now,
of course Nico's still gotten his fair share of jokes,
and he's.
Speaker 9 (46:13):
Been roasted, and you know, we'll probably be roasted forever.
Speaker 11 (46:16):
But I think there has been like a tarnishing of
Luca and his image and just his status in the
league because I think for a lot of people he
was like a top two or top three player pre
Lakers trade. Now he's being talked about in like top five,
top seven, top test.
Speaker 3 (46:32):
I slip it, would you take Sga over Luca going forward?
Right now? I think you asked me this last time
I was on again, because he's now finals, I.
Speaker 9 (46:39):
Think I would come on. But more so it's more
of the defense.
Speaker 11 (46:45):
I think that like that's I think that's the real
knock on Luca's Like you have to build a particular lineup,
and now we have the proof of concept with Sga.
Of like I think previously I had some concerns could
Sga be the best player? We hadn't seen it yet,
Like that was one thing we had discussed of, you know,
talking about like him versus Harden. It was like, can
he get over that hump? Can you get to the finals?
Can you win a championship? He did it and he
(47:07):
was awesome, and so I think like for now, I
think Shaye deserves his props.
Speaker 9 (47:12):
MVP Finals, MVP. I think both were deserved.
Speaker 11 (47:15):
But you know, I think I'll say it's close, like
I think Lucas probably the third or fourth best players.
Speaker 9 (47:21):
It's right there with the honest.
Speaker 3 (47:22):
So I was gonna I was gonna ask you this,
but now it probably hurts your chances. So your background
is Eastern European rus because I fall you know in
Serbia stuff. Right, what's Luca's background?
Speaker 11 (47:32):
Uh, he's Somnia, but there their close Balkan region former Yugoslavia,
and then that has some Serbian roots.
Speaker 3 (47:40):
When he's going back this summer, are you headed back
there to maybe?
Speaker 11 (47:44):
So he is actually going to be in Serbia in August.
They're playing a friendly against Serbia. And we were actually
talking about it at the end of the season. Luca
and I after the Lakers were eliminated, were walking to Was.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
That any different language?
Speaker 5 (47:57):
Uh?
Speaker 11 (47:57):
No, we were talking in English. We have done a
little talk in Serbia. I speak a little bit. I
wish I spoke for you walk into the walk into
the car area, you know, doing the sidling. We were
chatting and I was saying it might be going this summer,
and he was saying when he was going to be there,
so maybe it's it's TVD right now.
Speaker 3 (48:13):
Well, it would have helped. All this is to say,
of course, Luca over SGA. Yeah, welcome you.
Speaker 9 (48:18):
And I mean I've spoken very highly of Luca.
Speaker 11 (48:20):
Yeah, you know, I think he's again I think Luca
over Cooper Flag ten out of ten times. Like we'll
see with Flag, right, he could develop into that type
of player, but I think Luca is clearly the engine
of you could win a title with him as your
best player, number one option. Cooper Flag, I think like
maybe he's more of a number two, but could be
(48:41):
because he could do so many other things and he's
like a defensive Player of the Year type defender like
I don't know, more like a Kevin Garnett or something
like that, where you know, I don't know if he's
the number one option, but he can do so many
other things that it makes up for it.
Speaker 9 (48:54):
All right.
Speaker 3 (48:54):
Last one, I thought the Lakers would be in the
mix to get some not ring chasers, but oh damn,
I could play with Luca and Lebron and then I
see like Tim Hardaway's going to the Nuggets. I mean,
that's got to hurt right, those guys could have been
huge for the Lakers to get just shooters.
Speaker 11 (49:09):
Yeah, So with that, I would say, right now, there's
just to hold up with the Eton situation and what
they do with their non taxpayer m lee. They have
the bi annual exception five point one million, So I
think there are going to be some guys that Chris
Paul I don't think he's probably one of the Lakers.
It seems more like the Clippers. But gosh, Chris, what
the heck? But like d Anthony Melton is a name
(49:29):
I like who a former was he hurt last year?
Speaker 9 (49:32):
Trojan?
Speaker 11 (49:33):
Yeah, he towards the ACL last year, so that's the
reason why he's available.
Speaker 9 (49:36):
But is a.
Speaker 11 (49:37):
Defensive energy guard I think, a good guard off the bench.
Gary Payton second is still out there, a mere coffee
clipper bench wing who is athletics score. So like that,
There's some names that I think Lakers could sign depending
on what they have available. But I think you'll see
them get like right now is just being held up
(49:57):
by once they have the clarity with eight and then
they'll move forward.
Speaker 3 (50:00):
Super hot take just hit me, why the hell not
Celtics don't have Tatum next year? It would never happen.
But what if there was a Hey, Jalen Brown, let's
get him off our books. We'll take Lebron for a year.
He could do his victory lap with the Celtics lead
us to I don't know what in the East, and
you guys can have Jaylen Brown because they're not gonna
(50:20):
be able to pay Tatum and Brown sixty five million
each and build a team. That's pretty clear any shot
the Celtics get involved for Lebron.
Speaker 11 (50:27):
I think Lebron would rather retire and play for the Celtics.
Well said, and he's got the no trade class, so
you would block it.
Speaker 3 (50:35):
He can take sight. I'd to fire up. Why not
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 Sports Radio 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 Cowhert
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Hello, and welcome to the Herd. It's me Jason McIntyre
in for Colin Cowherd, who is yet sitting once again, Boy,
nobody travels like Colin Cowherd. I'm joined today by Alex Curry. Alex,
how are you feeling. We're on the eve of July
fourth here. I love this week. I mean, for growing
up for the.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
July was like my favorite holiday in Manhattan. Beach vibes
are immaculate down on the strand and on the beach.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Obviously a little different for me this year.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Because I'm in the red zone, like anything can happen
on but I'm.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
So so excited for it. I love her Yeah, and
we got great sports. Obviously a lot of soccer tonight.
We're talking soccer on the show. One of my favorite
soccer players of all time, Landon Donovan, joining the show
in about forty minutes. Very excited. We have a Lakers
insider coming on to talk. I know it hasn't been
a great start to free agency. Laker fans, take a
(01:21):
deep breath. It's gonna be fine. We're actually gonna start
the show ladies and gentlemen with the Lakers. And you know, listen,
we are in a hot take society right now. Everybody
knows that it's really difficult to cut through. There's so
many outlets and medium's TV radio, you got the web,
you got social media, YouTube, TikTok. To cut through, you
(01:44):
increasingly have to turn up the volume and get a
little hot. And folks, I've been seeing some stuff. You know,
I love a good hot take, hot take happy hour,
but I've been seeing some stuff lately about my main man,
Luka Doncic. Then I got to step in. It's time
for Jmac to jump in and be like, guys, can
we take a deep breath? Can we get some perspective?
I know, nuance isn't a thing a lot of people
(02:05):
like to do in July. It's either black or white.
You love him? You hate him, right, But let's just
pump the brakes on the Luka Doncic bashing. And yes,
I get it. He's coming off a season where he
was injured and he got traded and hey, if the
Dallas Mavericks can move off Luca, how good is he?
Speaker 5 (02:23):
Right?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I mean the guy doesn't play defense, he can't jump,
he only had one dunk last season. I mean, Luca,
what are we doing? Is he that good? J man?
He couldn't get out of the first round with Lebron James.
How good is Luca? And you start hearing all this
and I'm like, wait a minute, hold on, are we
talking about the same Luka Doncic that just thirteen months
(02:48):
ago put the Mavericks on his back and led them
to the finals. And now we've got hot takes like
this not just coming from dopey fans and not just
the media, but we're talking about former players and folks.
Avery Johnson, a point guard who knows a lot about basketball,
was asked who we'd rather have, Cooper Flag or Luka Doncic.
Take a listen, man.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Give me Cooper Flag. Really Cooper Flag in this team? Yeah?
Give me Cooper flagg Man you're talking about a team
when they're healthy. Got three future Hall of Famers with
Kyrie A. D and Klay Thompson. So this is really
exciting the Mavericks. Their future is bright, but they have
(03:31):
a window when they're healthy if the next two to
three years with this rosstass currently constructed.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah, I don't totally disagree with Dallas being good, but
Cooper Flag over Luka Doncic. And this is what I'm
talking about with society. It's becomes so hot taky that
a guy has a down year and we're just writing
him off, like I like Cooper Flagg. Do you guys
remember I don't know two months ago on the show,
Rick Buker sat here and I was like, over under
(03:59):
one and a half MVPs for Cooper Flag and he
laughed at me. He's like, what on earth are you
talking about. I'm like, I'm high on Cooper Flag. No
way on earth am I taking him over Luka Doncic.
Have we forgotten I'm not going to try it out
the resume, but have we forgotten that in the last
forty years, no player has started their NBA career as
(04:20):
good as Luka johnsch not Michael Jordan, not Lebron James,
not Shaq, Folks, Luca went Rookie of the Year and
then was First Team All NBA five straight years, First
Team All NBA, Top five player in the league for
five straight years in starting a year two. Like, that's
the kind of talent we're dealing with here. Nobody makes
(04:41):
their teammates better in the NBA better than Luka Doncics. Now,
I know Jokic has a strong case because he has
a title. He's a little older than Luca. Just put
that out there. But Luca raises the level of all this. Guys.
You remember two years ago Dallas, they had been fighting
for years. How do we build around Luca. Let's try
Jalen Brunson and crew that up. Let's try Porzingis and
(05:02):
he got hurt. This is what he does. Let's try
Kyrie Irving. Oh okay, Okay, so they bring in Kyrie Irving.
I remember being I think Live on the Herd when
it happened, I was like, oh my gosh, MAVs they're set.
They're going to the finals. They missed the playoffs that year. Okay,
do you remember how Luka Doncic responded The following year
he averaged thirty three to nine and nine, and the
(05:25):
MAVs went to the NBA Finals. So if you want
to write off Luca at twenty six and say, well
he's not Duncan anymore, he's become a step back artist,
that's fine. Do you do you, But here's the reality.
Luca went to the finals last year, exhausted, then played
in the Olympics, and oh, by the way, then comes
the calf injury. Remember on Christmas suffers the calf injury
(05:49):
and Luca, wisely, I might add, did not want to
rush it. He was seen on a scooter and it's like, oh, geez,
that's bad news. No, he was being cautious, which is
in hindsight. You remember when guy on the Pacers had
a calf injury in the finals and I was like, whoa, whoa,
whoaoa Haliburton, sit out, my guy. You don't want them
(06:11):
happ to miss a whole year. Haliburton plays good in
game six. Oh, he's fine, it's fine. Let's not even
rehash what happened in game seven. You don't rush back
from calf injuries. Nico Harrison wanted to rush Luca back.
Lucas said, no, oh, slow your role, man. He took
his time, they thought he'd gained weight. They shipped him
out of town. I am calling it now. Revenge season
(06:32):
is coming for Luka Doncic next year with the Lakers.
I don't know who the hell they're gonna have. We
can get into that later. I'm gonna go ahead and
assume Lebron's gonna be on the roster. I'm gonna assume
Austin Reaves, but that's not a lock. I think they're
gonna be okay with two of the greatest players in
the NBA currently, Lebron all NBA guy and Luca, who's
(06:53):
off to one of the best starts in NBA history
for a young guy. Can we just take our deep
breath with Luca. He's gonna be fine. All right now,
let's get to the big soccer matchup tonight USA Guatemala. Yes,
it's here on FS one, the Gold Cup semifinals. I
will reserve from making any Guatemalan jokes. I don't know
(07:14):
much about their soccer program, but I know this. We
all smoke them. I'm calling it now, just like I
told Colin three weeks ago, We're gonna be fine in
the Gold Cup. And now do you guys remember three
weeks ago in the Gold Cup USA, all of a sudden,
isn't getting their stars to play poolisic? I need some rest?
(07:34):
Oh no, what does that say? And then so one
of my funny joker soccer friends said saying, I don't
know about Poachattino, laughing like, well, we don't know about
this guy. Everything's been fine now. The bigger issue is
one that everybody, even if you're not a soccer fan,
con vibe with you In NFL and NBA, right, you
(07:56):
follow your team closely. I got some Jacksonville Jaguars, but
these fans, two of them, who I mean, they could
tell you everything that's going on on the too deep.
They know who's like on the bubble to make the roster.
They know everything about the Jags because that's their local team.
It's totally different with soccer. This happens in the NBA too.
Toronto Raptors fans can give you chapter and verse in
(08:18):
their salary cap situation in the next two years. That
doesn't apply to the US national soccer team, which puts
US every two to four years in this weird spot
of Oh hey, guys, it's time to pay attention to soccer. Wait,
are we gonna win this tournament? It's either boom or
bust when it comes to USA Soccer for casuals. Now,
(08:38):
you could argue, Hey, it's great that the casuals are
paying attention, but we just want to kind of educate
these guys so they get up to speed. Hey, this
is a be team in the Gold Cup. But here's
why it's a good thing. Nobody wants to hear that.
They're like, Oh, who's the new coach? What has he done?
Polistics not playing and you guys are missing out. Because
I'm here to tell you and I know this is positive.
(09:01):
Jason to start the show gassing up Luka doncic glazing
the US national team. We're gonna beat Guatemala, probably soundly tonight.
I'll go three to one, and then that'll lead us
into the game against likely Mexico Sunday, what will be
a heated game. Mexico has their a team, we don't,
but I think we're gonna be plucky in that one.
It should be a great game injuston on Sunday. But
(09:23):
when it comes to USA Soccer, the reason I get
excited about Gold Cup is because we're seeing like the backups,
the depth the bench that we've never really had, and
Colin likes to make this point, we just don't have depth.
We're building depth at the Gold Cup. They've got guys
who are showing very well. We've probably got two or
three starters. We might have our new goalie. And mister Freeze,
(09:45):
the freezeman was so good in PK's and as one
of the guys in the morning meeting noted, Hey, Turner,
the incumbent, he hasn't looked great internationally because he's not playing.
Freeze gets on the field and is a brick wall
in peak. So, folks, we're seeing depth. We're seeing the
new coach. And you guys know this happens, right, You
get a new coach, you got a new leader. Well
(10:07):
there's a new guy to impress. And guess who's got
a chance up close and personal to impress him. All
the guys playing in the Gold Cup. So you know,
Landon Donovan will come on and hopefully echo my sentiments here.
But I think this is a good thing. You know,
a five nothing against Haiti beating trinderd at it debate like, okay,
those are fine results, but it's more about the process
(10:29):
over the results. And I guess my issue is the
process can apply to your favorite NFL, your favorite NBA
team locally, it's tougher to apply the process to the
USA team because we just parachute in for the major
tournaments and we're like, oh, are we gonna win? Like
that's all it comes down to. There's no process. I
feel like we're seeing a tremendous process at the Gold Cup.
(10:52):
Poachactino is exerting his thoughts and beliefs and his value
system on the team and that will then trickle down
to the other guys. It's a good thing. Tyler Adams
is here, he was on the show yesterday talking about it.
Here's Alexi LALs earlier in the week, also saying very
positive things about the USA showing at the Gold Cup.
Speaker 6 (11:12):
It's almost a wonderful message to send an important message
to send to the guys that aren't here that you
know what, while while you're important, you're not a savior
and that and we can win games and we can
do things without you. Because I think it's going to
motivate them to come in and say, you know what,
(11:33):
you know what stinks, just like everybody else is America
doesn't give a crap how this US team plays. They
care that they win and that they are doing it
in a kind of raw, strangely ugly but beautiful way
that I think that resonates with people.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
He absolutely nailed it, and folks, I'll wrap up with this,
but continuity is huge. When I go to gamble for
the NFL in the offseason looking ahead to this coming season,
continuity matters. Did you keep your coach, your coordinators, how
many starters do you have back in college football? It's
huge NFL. I feel like it's very important. We don't
really have that in soccer because it's a national team
(12:13):
and guys are spread out all over the planet playing
in different leagues, and then you get them together for
the World Cup. They're kind of thrust together. So the
USA won't have continuity. But here's the positive. Most of
the starters in the World Cup next summer. We're gonna
have played in twenty twenty two and showed well against
England for moments against the Netherlands. And now we get
(12:35):
a coach who's got a different outlook, and I do
believe I know it's on US soil and I'm getting
a little flag wavy here, but I'm being dead serious, folks.
I do believe quarterfinals and semifinals could be in play
for US soccer. I know that's going to seem like
a hot take and you all are gonna laugh. But historically,
(12:55):
when you host the goal the World Cup, you have
a better tit if it in beds, you're familiar with,
You've got friends and family around, you're in your normal
time zone. Everything lines up for the US hosting the
World Cup next year. I'm thinking big things, and I
think this Gold Cup win tonight and maybe the win
in the final Sunday, will be a springboard to a
huge twenty twenty six in US soccer. All Right, we
(13:19):
got a phenomenal show today. Heading into July fourth, coming
up next, Yeah, we're going back to Lebron. There is
a lot of chatter about him switching teams. Does he
want out of La Talk about that next year on
The Herd.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Hi. This is Jay.
Speaker 7 (13:46):
I'm the producer of the Paul and Toni Fusco show.
Usually in these promos they ask you to listen to
the show. I'm here to ask you please, don't listen
to the show. The hosts are two absolute morons who
have the dumbest takes on sports imaginable. Don't listen to
the show so it can get camp.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
What the hell are you doing in our studio again?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Ignore that fool. Listen to the Paulone Tony Fusco Show
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
He's still moving, obviously. Everybody very excited. Uh, USA Guatemala
tonight and then when we win, we'll face Mexico in
the final. Yes, we're gonna win. Let's talk to Landon Donovan.
(14:29):
Oh my gosh, a legend. You know, I get a
little gushy. I'm gonna be a little bit of a
fanboy here. Who couldn't love Landon Donovan. I was just
telling him how in the break stop it maybe Pochatino,
but that's about it. But during the break like I
remember the goal against Algeria in the World Cup watching
with my family, I'll never forget it. That's one of
the most seminal moments in USA soccer. So Landovan great Landon.
(14:51):
Great to have you on the show. Let's start with
this layup. How do you feel about the game against
Guatemala tonight? I think we got a gift.
Speaker 8 (15:00):
Guatemala played Canada the other night and Canada are a
much much better overall team than Guatemala. And I think
if they play that game ten times, Canada win eight.
Guatemala tai one and they win one and they tied,
went to penalty kicks and ended up losing the game.
So it's a bit of a gift for us. Guatemala
(15:23):
is not a top conker CAF team. This is the
first time, I believe in thirty something years they've been
to the semi finals of a Gold Cup, so I
expect us to win. It will not be easy. J
Mack Soccer never is because goals are hard to score.
But I expect that we'll win tonight.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
I'm just curious. Obviously you're not there talking to the players,
but how do you what do you think the mindset
is given free shows up in PKS. You know all
the criticism for the team, but they have been kind
of playing great. I didn't love the goal they gave
up in what the eighty fifth minute or whatever, But
overall they've played pretty darn good.
Speaker 8 (15:58):
No, they've been fantastic, and it's important to have the
context of what happened. So before the tournament, many players
opted out of the tournament, which you know, is a
whole nother story, and for people who have dreamt of
playing soccer their whole life, you know, it's pretty interesting
that people would not want to play for the national team.
A lot of players out injured, and then a third
(16:18):
set of players are out for the Club World Cup
that's going on concurrently. So this group of players is
a little bit of a makeshift, maybe one or two starters,
but the rest are a be maybe even in some
cases a C team or a C player. And what
they've done is they've taken the opportunity and j mac.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
You know, in sports, when someone leaves the.
Speaker 8 (16:38):
Door slightly open, you better be careful because someone else
might barge through.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
And these guys have barged through.
Speaker 8 (16:44):
And they've been really inspiring for those of us who
love this game and love this national team, it's been
really fun to watch them continue to grow and win
back hearts and minds of Americans.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Yeah, I didn't want to start with the controversy, but
let's go into it. You know, they didn't seem to
have an identity heading into the Gold Cup, Like, what
are they do you think that Pochettino has kind of
established this is what we are or is that still
a work in progress.
Speaker 8 (17:13):
So this is the hard part with soccer for people
who are new to it. You play for your club
team all the time, and let's use the analogy of
you play for the Lakers or the Celtics or the Yankees,
but then once a month, maybe once every couple months,
you come together for whatever country you represent, and you
represent your national team. The problem is is you're only
together for two or three days at a time and
(17:35):
then you go back to your club teams. What's happened
in this camp is Pochettino had two friendlies before this
camp started, so you had a week and a half
with these guys, two games, and now they've had their
going on I think two and a half or three
weeks together. Having that amount of time together is priceless.
With a national team, it's absolutely priceless. So in the beginning,
there was no identity. People didn't know what to expect.
(17:57):
Everybody's sort of looking around in camp.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Are you a leader? You're a leader with your club team,
but are you a leader here?
Speaker 8 (18:02):
And now you're starting to see roles define, You're starting
to see people take the opportunity. You saw Matt Freeze
say hey, no one else has claimed the goalkeeper spot,
why not me? And that's what guys have done this
entire tournament. It's been really fun to watch them grow.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Yeah, and you said the doors kind of open, And
I asked the more the staff here, like, how many
guys do you think currently on the goal club a
Gold Cup roster would maybe start next year in the
World Cup? And we came around two or three. I
don't know, am I missing anyone? I think Freeze might
have passed Turner just alone in this tournament. But who
(18:36):
else do you think is? Could Richards be a starter
next year in the World Cup?
Speaker 8 (18:40):
Well, look like politics, a year is a long time, right,
so a lot of things can happen in a year. However,
this is what I would say with Pochettino. Pochattino is
Argentina and he spent most of his career in Europe coaching.
He doesn't have any obligation to anybody who has name
recognition or has played in the past, or has been
a leader or being a captain.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
He just looks at this roster and says, these are
the guys I have.
Speaker 8 (19:06):
You show me that by your performance today today against
Guatemala that you deserve to play in the final if
we win, and if we play in the final against
Mexico Honduras, you show me again that you deserve to
play in the friendlies that are coming up in the fall,
and you deserve to play in the next one and
the next one in the next one. He does send
care if you have a big name or a big
contract or play for a big club. He can only
(19:27):
evaluate what he's seeing, and what he's seeing right now
are a bunch of guys who are taking advantage of
the opportunity.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Yeah, do you think Tillman is one of those guys?
I was looking at his background. Absolutely played on the
German national team, you fifteen through twenty one, and it's like, wow,
he looks outstanding. But I don't think of him as
better than Baligan, you know, and like some of the
other forwards, right or is that now a discussion?
Speaker 8 (19:49):
Yeah, but it is a discussion for what I just said.
And you know, the old adage the most important ability
in sports is availability. And Balagan is a fantastic player, talented.
Ricardo Peppi fantastic player, very talented. They've been injured. Both
of them have been injured a lot leak. Someone's not
an out.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
And out striker.
Speaker 8 (20:08):
There's a young man named Patrick Ajamong who has sort
of taken that role.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
And we'll see what happens.
Speaker 8 (20:15):
You know, j Mac, the telling sign will be in
the next camp after this Gold Cup. Does he just
readily invite all those guys back in or does he say,
you know what, these guys did a great job for
me in the Gold Cup. This B and C list
and maybe they become the A list and that's that's
gonna tell us a lot.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
That would ruffle some feathers. But I'm just curious, like
that sounds like a good talking point and hearing you
say it, like, yeah, there's something here. But in your
soccer experience, do you ever recall them going with bees
over a's just because the a's weren't there? No, and
and no.
Speaker 8 (20:48):
The reason why is because when you play with your
national team, and this is part of my frustration why
I'm outspoken about Yes, when you play for your national team.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
It just means more. It has to mean more.
Speaker 8 (21:00):
And I'm not saying people don't try with their club teams.
I'm not even saying people don't care sometimes when they
play with their national team. But if you're not willing
to do anything, in everything to win the game with
your national team, then you don't deserve to be there.
And the guys who are there right now have said
I don't care what happens.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
I'm not.
Speaker 8 (21:17):
You know, a guy Diego Luna young Man broke his
nose in a friendly in January and they said you
need to come out of the game, and he.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Said, I'm not coming out of the game. This is
my one chance.
Speaker 8 (21:27):
So you can pull me off the field, you can
carry me off, but I'm not coming out of the game.
Next thing, you know, he started every game in the
Gold Cup. If there, if the roster was announced tomorrow
for the World Cup, he is one hundred percent on
it and he came out of nowhere. And so that's
what it means to play for your national team. Malik
Tilman got kicked all over the field the other night
and he got up again, and got up again and
(21:48):
got up again. He missed a penalty in the game,
came back and made a penalty in the penalty kick shootout.
So they are showing Mauricio Pochettino what it means to
play for a national team. And there's no reason why
a lot lot of these guys one won't be on
the roster and two some of them would start. Now
are they all going to be starters? I don't think so,
but hopefully it sends a message to the rest of
the group that this is what's expected and if you
(22:10):
don't do it, you're.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Not going to be here. Yeah, all right, I got
to ask it. And obviously you know the drama with
Polisic and Pochettino. A have you heard from anybody in
either camp since the Gold Cup privately? If it's private
stuff and you don't want to talk about it, that's fine.
But have you heard from anyone in politics camp or Pochattinos? No?
Speaker 8 (22:30):
No, no, And I've I talked to many people behind
the scenes all week. J Mack in US Soccer And
the reality right now is.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
What I just said about Pochettino.
Speaker 8 (22:41):
He does not have he does not feel any obligation
to any player. Now, is Christian polistic more talented than
anybody on the current Gold Cup roster. Yes, by a
gazillion miles. But when you see when you play for
a national team, it doesn't always mean that. If you
watch do yourself a favor, go watch Argentina play Columbia
(23:02):
or Argentina played Brazil. When you watch that game, you
go there's a lot of soccer being played here. This
is just a battle, and these are some of the
best players in the world, and all the skill and
all the stuff gets thrown out the window for ninety
percent of the game and they just battle because that's
what it means to play for your country. So I
think the message is loud and clear. And I took
(23:23):
Christian's credit. I think when he shows up and plays,
he does play that way.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (23:27):
Now some of the other guys on the roster haven't,
and I think the message is becoming clear from Poachatino
you either do this or you're not playing.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Yeah, I feel like that was a shot at gill Reno.
But I'm just going to side Sam. It's we'll wrap
up with this.
Speaker 9 (23:41):
You know.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Freeze obviously was the hero in the PKS. Turner's kind
of been buried on the bench with his club team.
I don't know, do you think Freeze past them or
is it too early to tell? I want to separate.
Speaker 8 (23:52):
You know, people get excited in moments, right, Yes, you
know it'd be like if a guy gets fouled for
a three pointer and makes three free throws to win
the game. You wouldn't necessarily then say, oh, well, he's
the best player throughout the game, right because he made
those free three free throws. Matt Freeze is excellent clearly
at penalty kicks, and I will just say, let's say
he's not one of the best three goalkeepers. Generally, you
(24:14):
take three goalkeepers to the World Cup, there is every
opportunity that Poachatino says, you know what, I'm gonna take
him even as my third, even though he's not the best,
because we might get into a situation in a knockout
stage where we need to take penalty kicks, and I
could absolutely see that happen. Now, aside from that, I
think he's been okay. I don't think he is a
better goalkeeper than Matt Turner. But I talked earlier, you
(24:37):
leave that door open. You're Matt Turner and you didn't
play a lot of club soccer. The last year you
left the door open and someone said, bang, I'm kicking
that thing down and I'm coming in.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Yeah, and he has Landed Donovan, Fox Sports soccer analyst,
a legend on the pitch and off of it. Great stuff. Landon,
thanks a lot, and I appreciate you guys. Yeah, thank you,
all right, Landed Donovan really want listen. He's saying a
lot of stuff and you need to listen because I'm
sure he talks to everybody in USA soccer. He's probably
(25:06):
not saying everything. Alex you know soccer. Well, I think
based on some of the stuff Landon Donovan saying, uh,
you know, if you passed on this Gold Cup, you
may have not Polisic, but some of the other guys.
You want to be here.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Yeah, that's what this new coaching regime is about.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Show me that you want to be here. Yeah, oh boy, Yeah,
it's exciting.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a Empacific.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Our number two here on the Herd, Jason McIntyre in
for Colin Cowherd Jet setting. I don't worry Ebisa, is
that where he is right now?
Speaker 4 (25:40):
I have no idea. You tell me, I love Abisa.
I haven't been a wee honeymoon in Aviisa.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
What a late Alex Curry joining me. We got Jovon
Bouja coming up in I don't know five minutes. Listen,
Lakers fans are like on the edge, Alex, right now,
they're on.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
We're okay, okay. I'm not as concerned, I think as
everybody else.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
As we talked about last hour.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Lebron knows how to get the conversation going.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
This is what he does. What does his hat say?
Welcome home? Welcome home. Yeah, it's a message, but he
is back home. I thought he's might be in Ohio
with Lebron, like hanging around seeing what the hell's going on,
But he's out here anyways. All right, real quick, before
we get to Yovon, I just got to talk about it,
like I like Lamar Jackson. I know people think you
don't like him, Jay, you're critical. That's what we do.
(26:32):
We're critical of everybody. Patrick Mahomes, Jalen hurts, Lebron, everybody.
And Lamar Jackson is a two time MVP. He's a
dynamic player. When he's on, you're watching. He came out
here so far to play. I think it was a
Chargers even last year, two years ago. I was at
the game. He's electrifying. You can't take your eyes off him.
He's unbelievable. And he keeps coming up empty in the playoffs,
(26:54):
which is fine, you know, not everybody wins right out
of the gate. But Lamar went on some digital show
with Kevin Hart and need to take a quick time out.
Kevin Hart, for my money, is the funniest guy going.
I know people like Theo Vaughn and then all these
other comics. Kevin Hart's the man. I'm a huge fan
of movies, his stand up. I've seen him live. He's great.
(27:14):
Kevin Hart also does like an ice tub thing where
he invites people on and talks to him. And here's
what Lamar Jackson said to Kevin Hart about the one thing, okay,
one thing he needs to improve on to get the
Ravens over the hump just being a leader.
Speaker 10 (27:29):
Okay, I'm gonna say being a leader because I'm I
really don't. I'm really not outspoken, like being vocal with
my guys like oh let's do this, and that got
a great motivation of speech. I don't have that. You know,
I just pretty much lead by example. I go out there,
I'm gonna work hard. I expect that out of you.
But as I've been going, like growing in the league,
it's like, nah, you gotta talk to the guys coaches
(27:49):
and stuff. Like to talk to the guy right now.
I talked to him one on one, but certain things
I'm saying, I gotta voice it more. It's my opinion
more to those guys.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Yeah, I don't know. It's like when you're in a
job interview and you know, they ask you one of
these quess like what's your biggest weakness, and you give
one of these answers that says like, I don't have
a weakness, you know, not having a weakness, that's my weakness,
like something like that, and I'm like, really, leadership, you
either have that or you don't. I don't think like
(28:19):
five years in the league something snaps and you're a leader.
Like Justin Herbert is quiet and just doesn't say much.
That's who he is. He's not changing.
Speaker 8 (28:27):
You know.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Patrick Mahomes is a fiery dude. He was that way
at Texas Tech, He's that way in the NFL. He's
not changing. Lamar Jackson is a quiet guy. He doesn't
say a lot. Tom Brady, you remember him on the
sideline with the Patriots. He would f bomb people and
dog cuss him. That's who he was. Fiery. Everybody's different
when it comes to leadership. If Lamar was given truth
(28:48):
serum before the Kevin Hard interview, what's the biggest way,
Hey man, I've had some rotten playoff games going to Buffalo.
I couldn't do anything this past year in Buffalo. I
started slow, fumble interception, I got us in the hole.
I can't play like that on the road. I haven't
delivered in the playoffs. And it's like, yeah, I get it,
(29:09):
Mark Andrews. If he catches that, it's a different discussion.
But look at the game log of Lamar Jackson. He
has not been great in the playoffs, and yeah, I
see the drops on the screen and that's not always
on him. Obviously, what's his name? Against Kansas City when
they were at home, had to fumble the young receiver
Za Flowers had a brutal game, but right out of
the gate, like Lamar Jackson wasn't awesome. Teams have seen him,
(29:33):
they know how to game plan for him. He needs
to become a different quarterback in the postseason. And that's
not a knock, it's just a reality. Right now, that's
the only Kryptonite has. The calendar turns to January and
all of a sudden, Lamar Jackson, Oh shoot, what are
we getting here? Are we in trouble? I mean, look
at the numbers three and five in the playoffs. Completion
percentage down, passer rating down. It hasn't been great. Now
(29:54):
you're playing the best of the best. But for a
two time MVP, that to me is his weakness. I
don't want to hear this as leader ship nonsense.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
All right, be sure to catch live editions of The
Herd weekdays in neonon Eastern nine am Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Let's go back to the NBA and bring in Jovon Buha,
who covers the league. He covers the Lakers closely. Let's
welcome in Jovon, who's listen. The last time he was
her absolute fire. And now the pressure's on Yovann obviously,
not just because you're a free agent, but also there's
some free agent stuff swirling around and the Lakers fans
(30:33):
want to know right now what is the status with
DeAndre Ayton and Los Angeles.
Speaker 11 (30:37):
MI understanding is he's likely going to make his decision
today he clears waivers at five pm Eastern time. There's
a bit of a DeAndre eight and sweepstakes going on
right now for a guy who's on a thirty five
million dollar contract gets bought out and now is going
to be in that probably eight to eight to fourteen
million dollar range. So you got a couple of options
(30:59):
with the full non taxpayer mL Golden State in Indiana
both need starting centers.
Speaker 9 (31:03):
Indiana just lost Miles Turner.
Speaker 11 (31:05):
They also have a relationship with eight and they offered
him a max contract offer sheet back in twenty twenty two,
which he signed, So there was a second there where
it looked like he was going to be their center
of the future. Then you got the Lakers, who only
have eight point two five million dollars because they split
part of that mL on Jake Laavia. So I think
the Lakers probably provide the best opportunity. You're going to
(31:26):
be in the spotlight. You're going to be starting playing
with Luca, potentially playing with Lebron and theoretically being on
a team with some you know, contending odds, So I
think that's the best opportunity for him. But also like
money talks and other teams can offer him more money.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
I mean, he got number one pick money, he got
a second contract, which is huge. Yeah, I mean fourteen
million versus eight. If it just comes out to that,
Lakers are going to lose out on that, and.
Speaker 11 (31:52):
He's still getting the twenty five million from Portland, So
he would be taking like I guess, a one point
seventy five million shaving off of that thirty five if
he goes to the Lakers, whereas actually if he goes
to the other team, so he could technically make more
money on top of the thirty five because it would
be an offset of like four.
Speaker 9 (32:08):
Extra million dollars.
Speaker 11 (32:09):
But I think right now that they're weighing their options
is my understanding him and his camp. But it sounds
like around the time of him clearing waivers, we should
have a better ide Yeah, from.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Just a fit perspective, I got to ask, like, culturally,
did you read the article about him where it's like
he was late to flights. In practice, he couldn't make
it to a game because of icy roads, Like there
was a lot of stuff that apparently trickled out in Portland.
They were like, we got to get this guy out
of here, and now the Lakers want to bring him in.
Speaker 9 (32:39):
Yeah, I mean that's certainly concerning.
Speaker 11 (32:41):
But if you look at the center options right now
in free agency, the alternative is a thirty nine year old.
Speaker 9 (32:45):
Al Horford, who I think I would go out Horford.
I like Al Horford.
Speaker 11 (32:48):
I just think, you know, in comparison to like rebounding
rim protection, I think Deandreyton as a twenty six year
old is just at a different level than Al Horford
right now, like that they were load managing Al Horford
and Boston right and I don't think he's a guy
you can hold up over the course of an eighty
two game season. So I think the Lakers need a
legit starting center, and eight in is one. Now that
(33:09):
there are some flaws and there are some drawbacks, I
think he's very talented.
Speaker 9 (33:14):
He's very skilled.
Speaker 11 (33:14):
Of course, there have been times where it seems like
the motor or the motivation have not always been there,
and I think that's something that you know, he's in
a contract year effectively, so he's going to have to
prove himself.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
He doesn't really stretch the floor. He doesn't get to
the foul line. He's not I mean, I saw the
true catching some lobs, but he's not like the lively
Gafford type. He's more of a throwback back to the
basket guy.
Speaker 11 (33:38):
All seven years he's averaged a double double, So, like
you are getting a baseline level of rebounding with him.
Shot eighty percent at the rim last year, which I think,
you know that's not all dunks. But he's got a
soft touch with hook shots floaters. Like, I think the
offensive skill is there. I think he's arguably the best
like realistic offensive option they could get. It's the defensive
end that I'm interested to see.
Speaker 9 (33:59):
But some of his rent protection numbers are good.
Speaker 11 (34:01):
Good defensive rebounder like you could certainly do worst, which
I would argue the Lakers did last year with their senate.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
Yeah yeah, okay, so so Ayton, Let's say Ayton picks
the Warriors or whoever. Oh wow, they're just sending me
some breaking news. Are you ready for this? Sure it's
not Lakers related. The Knicks are expected to land Mike
Brown as the next head coach of the franchise. Wow,
So not a huge surprise and we'll come back to
the Nix.
Speaker 9 (34:27):
It's a favorite.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Yeah, he was a favorite. So if the Lakers don't
get Ayton and then Al Horford, is there anyone else
out there? I mean Luke Cornett got way too much money.
He would have been the starting center of the Lakers.
Speaker 9 (34:39):
Yeah, I mean Jackson Hayes is still out there.
Speaker 11 (34:41):
Alex Laddin can I can I sell you there's precious
Achua from New York who him?
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 11 (34:51):
So, but but I think at that point they have to.
Speaker 9 (34:53):
Pivot and make a trade.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Really at that Like, but then who do they have
to trade Ruey or Austin Reeves.
Speaker 11 (34:58):
Depends on the salary for the player, like a guy
like Walker Kessler, who is like they're not get I
don't think they're getting Walker Kessler, but like that he's
on a rookie scale contract.
Speaker 9 (35:08):
So you could do something like.
Speaker 11 (35:09):
The Mark Williams package of Dalton connect a first a
swap something like that where you're not really giving up
much in salary and you're trading a bench player for
a starter. So like that's probably the optimal trade.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
Oh, if they could get Walker Kesler for adulta cake.
Speaker 11 (35:23):
I don't think they're getting Walker Kessler. But could they
get a Nick Claxton from Brooklyn? Could they get a
Gafford from Dallas? Circle the block talk.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
About Dallas so and there's a Lebron There's so much
stuff I don't want to Actually, I'm sorry. Let me
go back to Jake Laurravia. A lot of Laker fans
are outraged, and there's these memes around what the hell
is it Jake Laurravia. But you told me something that
I hadn't seen online about Jake Laaravia. What's the connection
to the Lakers?
Speaker 11 (35:52):
Shares an agency with Austin Reeves, and he actually did
an interview this summer and at the end of the
interview he pans and he's in the car with Austin Reeves,
so that they were spending some time together this offseason.
So assuming Austin put on his recruiting hat and told
him about his experience in la and what it's like
to be a Laker, and that was a selling point
(36:13):
for sure. But I will say I've been in the
lab diving into the j Laaravia film, okay, and it's
it's impressive for.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
A twenty three year old. There we go, here we
go like, look.
Speaker 11 (36:23):
This is the guy is a former first round pick
from you know, he's played three years and he played
a Memphis and Sacramento, so though like he's not a
household name, he's playing in two small markets that don't
get a lot of attention. He was a bench player,
but they're counting on him to in some ways be
the Dorian Finney Smith replacement.
Speaker 9 (36:39):
And like watching his film.
Speaker 11 (36:40):
I have a film breakdown coming out on my YouTube
channel later, and like he's guarding Jokic and he's doing
the Caruso of fronting him, deflecting entry passes. He's switching
on to Tatum and Kawhi like he's I think people
look at him and they don't expect him to be
good defensively, but he is actually pretty good against wings
and then forty three percent three point shooter last year,
so I think he can actually do some things for them.
(37:02):
And six million dollars, like we're talking about, you know,
not even half the mid level, Like I think it's
pretty good value.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
It. So when you said Laaravia shares an agent with Reeve,
I instantly you don't going next step. They're not trading
Austin Reefs he's sticking around. You don't do that move
with Reeves's agent. You clearly like the agent and you
trust him, and you like Reeves and the work ethic
for Laavia. So they're not moving off Austin Reefs. Can
we just put that to.
Speaker 9 (37:24):
Bed or no?
Speaker 11 (37:25):
I think so for this summer. Of course, we'll see
how next season goes. And now there's this talk of
them having this twenty twenty seven plan and trying to
keep the cap sheet flexibility to go get a second
superstar in the summer of twenty twenty seven or maybe
trade for one going into that summer. So I think
depending on how this next season goes with him, how
(37:46):
he fares in the playoffs, and then also what type
of contract he gets, I think all those are factors
that could determine whether he ultimately gets traded at some
point in the future. But for this summer, they've been
telegraphing it like they've called him a pillar of the franchise.
Speaker 9 (37:57):
They offered him.
Speaker 11 (37:58):
The max contract, the extension that they could. It was
below market value, so he didn't take it. But I
think he is someone who is going to be a
part of the Lakers for at least next season and
then we'll see ultimately with the next contract.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Okay, so let's go to the breaking news here. So
the Knicks move off Tibbs last month and now bring
in Mike Brown. I'll bring it to Lebron in a second.
First of all, I'm curious, do you think Mike Brown
is an upgrade over Tibodau.
Speaker 11 (38:25):
I think it's close. I think from a personality perspective,
he is. And that's always the variable here that it
is hard to quantify of just TIBs can be grading
on people like we have enough of sample size of
that of some players just don't mesh well with that.
And I think that old school style of coaching has
kind of gone away in the NBA, So I think
(38:45):
from a personality perspective, So actually going to feels like
Golden State is the place as a retread head coach
you want to go to join that assistant coaching staff
and learn from Steve Kerr kind of the modern way
of coaching, which I think is a more player friendly
appro So I think from that perspective he will be
in terms of x's and o's defense, like Tip's pretty
good in that regard. I think he'll play a deeper rotation,
(39:08):
so I think that's.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Probably up grade.
Speaker 9 (39:09):
But so sometimes you just need a new voice.
Speaker 11 (39:11):
Tims was there for five years and does feel like
with the coaching cycle now, guys get three to five
years and you got to try to maximize that.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
So I'll ask you about Mike Brown, dating back to
his early Lebron days, can you really judge Mike Brown
from coaching? Lebron won fifty games, one fifty, lost in
the conference finals, won sixth, like I don't really count that.
So then you got one year with the Lakers and
then he got fired the next year like five games in,
and then he was pretty good in Sacramento. I don't
(39:40):
really know. But what some of my Knixt friends are saying, Jay,
there's one potential landing spot for Lebron, and that could
be the New York next the Calves would probably have
to give up too much. Mike Brown knows Lebron. What
about Lebron getting traded to the Knicks for an og
Mitchell Robinson? Whatever. Do you think there's any the world
(40:00):
where Lebron gets traded.
Speaker 11 (40:02):
I think there's a world, but I think it's I
would put the odds very low right now.
Speaker 9 (40:06):
I mean, he has not asked for a trade.
Speaker 11 (40:07):
There's been no discussion between Rich Paul and the Lakers
about a potential trade. It's hard to look at that
statement and not read into it and then see these
subsequent actions by the Lakers of not retaining Dori and
Finney Smith and then signing a twenty three year old
in Jake Lauravia, then having the support come out that
they're looking at twenty twenty seven as the summer to
(40:28):
really get that second.
Speaker 9 (40:28):
Star build around Luca.
Speaker 11 (40:30):
So the moves they're making are trending in a younger,
short term window and not necessarily win now, maximize Lebron's
twenty third season, maximize Lebron's potential twenty fourth season. So
if I'm Lebron, and I think they kind of put
it out in statement like it's been a good partnership
that they've had seven years together. He won a championship,
(40:50):
he benefited from the Lakers brand, They've benefited from him
coming there, bringing Ad there, winning a championship, so like
it's been a mutually beneficial partnership. I just think at
this point, if you're Lebron, it's hard to like I
think right now, they're probably the fifth best team in
the West, and that's not a spot that lebre the top.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
Let me guess, Houston, Denver, Oka, See who's the other one?
Speaker 11 (41:12):
Minnesota back to back conference finals. I mean they lost, nah,
but that's a big It is a big loss. But
I mean I think that they just meet the Lakers
in five, and you could argue that Lakers are currently
worse than they were. I mean, Golden State's in the mix,
the Clippers in the mix. I really like the Brook
Lopez signing for them.
Speaker 9 (41:29):
So the West is tough. And then you got Dallas
just looming.
Speaker 3 (41:32):
So Dallas. So of these you see on the screen,
four teams have required about Lebron. Everybody says it's Dallas
after the Luca trade. I cannot envision a world where
they're doing another deal.
Speaker 11 (41:42):
I'm part of the everybody because I put it out there,
like I heard over the last couple of weeks that
if Lebron asked out, which is an if, right, that
Dallas would be among the teams that would be on him.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
Shop that trade. Let's just just humor me. Who the
hell are they getting for for Lebron? They're not.
Speaker 9 (41:58):
I've been on the trade machine, give it up Cooper.
Speaker 11 (42:00):
No, so I think Cooper Flag eighty, Kyrie, Derek Lively,
those four are off the table.
Speaker 3 (42:05):
Can't get Lively.
Speaker 9 (42:06):
I don't think so.
Speaker 11 (42:07):
I mean maybe, but Thompson, Yeah, I think it's Gafford, PJ. Washington,
Klay Thompson, Max Christie that those four work financially.
Speaker 9 (42:16):
I don't even you throw from You're throwing a pick?
Speaker 3 (42:18):
No, be good.
Speaker 9 (42:19):
You could get the Lakers.
Speaker 11 (42:20):
Lakers could get their pick back from the Luca trade potentially.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
Yeah, can I get super Max Christie back?
Speaker 9 (42:26):
No? Yeah, I mean it's it's yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
So Dallas is one, Cleveland is another, and it's.
Speaker 11 (42:32):
Just their second Apron team. So that's it's good, like tricky.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
Did you see the instagram today of Lebron in Ohio
playing golf wearing a hat that says welcome home.
Speaker 9 (42:42):
Yeah, okay, go.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
Ahead and give me your thoughts on it, because he
loves to play these games.
Speaker 9 (42:47):
He does.
Speaker 3 (42:48):
From the statement from Rich Paul, the Lakers seem to
counter with their own twenty twenty seven and now Lebron
countering with his welcome home part for the course, ah
golf analogy or is there something more here?
Speaker 9 (42:59):
I think there's a little bit more here, just because
the finish line is in sight. Right.
Speaker 11 (43:03):
So, again going back to Lebron, like because Lebron has
done this before, right, He's at various points of his career, health,
his team to their feet, to the fire with the
one plus ones, and some of the cryptic things he'll do,
and he went to the Cleveland playoff game and like,
so there's been a little bit of smoke with that, right,
But it's different to actually ask out right and demand
(43:24):
a trade.
Speaker 9 (43:25):
He's never been traded.
Speaker 11 (43:26):
I think that's been a point of pride for him
that he, you know, look at even though he's bounced
around a little bit, it's always been him making the decision, him.
Speaker 9 (43:33):
Being the driving force behind it. He's never been traded, which.
Speaker 11 (43:36):
Not every star, Yeah, especially stars that have been on
multiple teams can say so. I think that's the point
of pride. But again, the finish line's in sight. It's
one year left, it's maybe two years, three years. If
he really wanted to stretch it out, and if he
wants to get that fifth ring. You could argue there
are several teams that would make more sense.
Speaker 3 (43:57):
You trusted, like Atlanta detro So.
Speaker 9 (43:59):
I think it has to be a big market.
Speaker 11 (44:01):
I don't see because people have floated Denver, which now
it's a little trickier with Poet like I think MPJ
would have had to have been.
Speaker 9 (44:08):
The salary and they just trade for Cam Johnson.
Speaker 11 (44:10):
But that one, I'm just like, I don't see Lebron
living in Denver and playing for Denver.
Speaker 9 (44:14):
I think.
Speaker 11 (44:15):
So that's why the four I mentioned on my show
where Golden State, New York, Cleveland, Dallas.
Speaker 9 (44:20):
Cleveland's the one small market.
Speaker 11 (44:22):
But that's obviously home and you got the homecoming narrative
for the second time. But then Dallas, Golden State, New
York are all big market teams.
Speaker 3 (44:29):
Yeah, all right, let's go from Lebron to Luka donchet.
So I opened the show defending Luca. The disrespect is
getting a little out of control. Yeah, have you heard
the Avery Johnson sound about? He was asked, who would
you rather have, Cooper flag or Luka donct And I
think we could play it for you. Here here's Avery Johnson.
Speaker 5 (44:48):
Man, give me Cooper flag. Really Cooper flag in this team? Yeah,
give me Cooper flag. Man.
Speaker 3 (44:55):
You're talking about a team when.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
They're health He got three future Hall the famous with
Carrie A. D and Klay Thompson. So this is really
exciting the Mavericks. Their future is bright, but they have
a window when they're healthy of the next two to
three years. What does rostass currently constructed?
Speaker 3 (45:16):
Okay, listen, Avery Johnson is a smart guy. He probably
knows more basketball than you and I combined. Yeah, this
is just crazy? Is best hoop crazy?
Speaker 9 (45:26):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (45:27):
Correct?
Speaker 9 (45:27):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (45:28):
Why are people hadding on Luca like one bad season?
And by the way, hey, if he had rushed back
from his Catholic Nico Harrison wanted, would he beat Tyrese Haliburton? Now,
I don't know.
Speaker 11 (45:39):
Yeah, I mean maybe it's the jersey he's wearing. Now,
I think that comes with some extra criticism sometimes, I
mean I do think the way like I think some
of the stuff that came out from the Dallas side
has been taken as gospel, right with the conditioning and
their concerns, and it almost was like, we can believe
(46:00):
that this trade is real, so we have to validate
anything that's coming from their side too, to even make
it like plausible that they would consider trading Luca. And now,
of course Nico's still gotten his fair share of jokes,
and he's.
Speaker 9 (46:13):
Been roasted, and you know, we'll probably be roasted forever.
Speaker 11 (46:16):
But I think there has been like a tarnishing of
Luca and his image and just his status in the
league because I think for a lot of people he
was like a top two or top three player pre
Lakers trade. Now he's being talked about in like top five,
top seven, top test.
Speaker 3 (46:32):
I slip it, would you take Sga over Luca going forward?
Right now? I think you asked me this last time
I was on again, because he's now finals, I.
Speaker 9 (46:39):
Think I would come on. But more so it's more
of the defense.
Speaker 11 (46:45):
I think that like that's I think that's the real
knock on Luca's Like you have to build a particular lineup,
and now we have the proof of concept with Sga.
Of like I think previously I had some concerns could
Sga be the best player? We hadn't seen it yet,
Like that was one thing we had discussed of, you know,
talking about like him versus Harden. It was like, can
he get over that hump? Can you get to the finals?
Can you win a championship? He did it and he
(47:07):
was awesome, and so I think like for now, I
think Shaye deserves his props.
Speaker 9 (47:12):
MVP Finals, MVP. I think both were deserved.
Speaker 11 (47:15):
But you know, I think I'll say it's close, like
I think Lucas probably the third or fourth best players.
Speaker 9 (47:21):
It's right there with the honest.
Speaker 3 (47:22):
So I was gonna I was gonna ask you this,
but now it probably hurts your chances. So your background
is Eastern European rus because I fall you know in
Serbia stuff. Right, what's Luca's background?
Speaker 11 (47:32):
Uh, he's Somnia, but there their close Balkan region former Yugoslavia,
and then that has some Serbian roots.
Speaker 3 (47:40):
When he's going back this summer, are you headed back
there to maybe?
Speaker 11 (47:44):
So he is actually going to be in Serbia in August.
They're playing a friendly against Serbia. And we were actually
talking about it at the end of the season. Luca
and I after the Lakers were eliminated, were walking to Was.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
That any different language?
Speaker 5 (47:57):
Uh?
Speaker 11 (47:57):
No, we were talking in English. We have done a
little talk in Serbia. I speak a little bit. I
wish I spoke for you walk into the walk into
the car area, you know, doing the sidling. We were
chatting and I was saying it might be going this summer,
and he was saying when he was going to be there,
so maybe it's it's TVD right now.
Speaker 3 (48:13):
Well, it would have helped. All this is to say,
of course, Luca over SGA. Yeah, welcome you.
Speaker 9 (48:18):
And I mean I've spoken very highly of Luca.
Speaker 11 (48:20):
Yeah, you know, I think he's again I think Luca
over Cooper Flag ten out of ten times. Like we'll
see with Flag, right, he could develop into that type
of player, but I think Luca is clearly the engine
of you could win a title with him as your
best player, number one option. Cooper Flag, I think like
maybe he's more of a number two, but could be
(48:41):
because he could do so many other things and he's
like a defensive Player of the Year type defender like
I don't know, more like a Kevin Garnett or something
like that, where you know, I don't know if he's
the number one option, but he can do so many
other things that it makes up for it.
Speaker 9 (48:54):
All right.
Speaker 3 (48:54):
Last one, I thought the Lakers would be in the
mix to get some not ring chasers, but oh damn,
I could play with Luca and Lebron and then I
see like Tim Hardaway's going to the Nuggets. I mean,
that's got to hurt right, those guys could have been
huge for the Lakers to get just shooters.
Speaker 11 (49:09):
Yeah, So with that, I would say, right now, there's
just to hold up with the Eton situation and what
they do with their non taxpayer m lee. They have
the bi annual exception five point one million, So I
think there are going to be some guys that Chris
Paul I don't think he's probably one of the Lakers.
It seems more like the Clippers. But gosh, Chris, what
the heck? But like d Anthony Melton is a name
(49:29):
I like who a former was he hurt last year?
Speaker 9 (49:32):
Trojan?
Speaker 11 (49:33):
Yeah, he towards the ACL last year, so that's the
reason why he's available.
Speaker 9 (49:36):
But is a.
Speaker 11 (49:37):
Defensive energy guard I think, a good guard off the bench.
Gary Payton second is still out there, a mere coffee
clipper bench wing who is athletics score. So like that,
There's some names that I think Lakers could sign depending
on what they have available. But I think you'll see
them get like right now is just being held up
(49:57):
by once they have the clarity with eight and then
they'll move forward.
Speaker 3 (50:00):
Super hot take just hit me, why the hell not
Celtics don't have Tatum next year? It would never happen.
But what if there was a Hey, Jalen Brown, let's
get him off our books. We'll take Lebron for a year.
He could do his victory lap with the Celtics lead
us to I don't know what in the East, and
you guys can have Jaylen Brown because they're not gonna
(50:20):
be able to pay Tatum and Brown sixty five million
each and build a team. That's pretty clear any shot
the Celtics get involved for Lebron.
Speaker 11 (50:27):
I think Lebron would rather retire and play for the Celtics.
Well said, and he's got the no trade class, so
you would block it.
Speaker 3 (50:35):
He can take sight. I'd to fire up. Why not
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