March 4, 2021 • 40 mins
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon break down why Sam Darnold will be traded prior to the opening of free agency. FS1 NBA Insider Ric Bucher joins the guys to discuss issues with officiating in the NBA. Joel Embiid solidified his MVP campaign on Wednesday night. Plus, Jason isn't buying the belief that Trevor Bauer would have gone to the Mets out of guilt.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
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Find your local station for The Jason Smith Show with
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by searching f s R. This is the best of
(00:22):
the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
Today saw another day in which the off season in
the NFL changed because GM Joe Douglas of the New
York Jets, in a press conference, announced that yes, I
will be answering phone calls for Sam Donald. Up until now,
(00:46):
the company line had been we love Sam, we believe
in Sam. Sam is our guy. Today he says I'm
going to take phone calls. Doesn't mean they don't love Sam.
We think Sam is great and Sam, but I will
take phone calls. This tells you that the Jets are
moving on from Sam Donald and they will trade him
(01:06):
at some point in the coming weeks. All Right, Joe
Douglas knows what the market is going to be for
Sam Donald. He knows it's gonna be teams calling saying
a second and a third, a second and a player
something like that, and he's hoping, well, maybe with a
bidding war, we can get it up to two seconds
or a late first and a third or something like that.
(01:28):
He knows exactly what the market is for Sam Donald.
And to say I'm taking phone calls on it is
a big deal because if Sam Donald was their guy
and they were going into the season with him, he
wouldn't Sam taking calls on him? A right that That's
how big a deal this is. Because the Texans still
won't answer the phone. Undershawn Watson. You know they want
to trade him, all right, you know that's gonna happen.
(01:48):
The Seahawks don't want to trade Russell Wilson, but you
know what's gonna take three first round picks. So there's that.
Now you have the Jets saying we will take phone
calls on Sam Donald. He is as good as gone
and traded somewhere by the Jets at some point, probably
by the beginning of free agency. I don't think anybody
is going to uh, they're not gonna go. They're not
(02:09):
gonna go into free agency thinking well, maybe we swing
a deal for a quarterback after no. Donald will be
gone sometime by the beginning of NFL free agency. It
will happen fast. And I'll tell you this, Mike, they
wouldn't move on from him if they didn't have their
next quarterback ready to go. Look, I'm telling you, you you know,
there's there's things I know. There's a few things I
know I know better uh than the Jets. Uh. And
(02:32):
if they weren't sold on one of their guys, they
wouldn't be talking about moving Sam Donald right now. They
have two choices, right It's either take a quarterback with
the second pick, or it's make the trade for Deshaun
Watson right now. The best thing and this is where
the Jets are in a good spot. When's the last
time you ever said that the Jets are in a
good spot? Right? Hey, my team is in a good spot.
I'm so excited when they drafted Sam Donald. Yeah, I
(02:56):
thought that was gonna be the best draft pick of
fifty years. It turns out, how wrong. I Oh boy,
you know what, though, you just did something that most
sports talk radio host most sports television hosts won't do. Actually,
just say, you know what, I really screwed that up.
People will go down and change the narrative and come
(03:17):
at it from all the way around. I mean we're
talking three sixty degrees walking all the way back to
where they started without saying they were wrong, and really
just kind of moving the goalpost along the way. No,
you just flat out said no, I screwed that one up,
and Sam let me down. M M. That's happened. That's
how it went. I never think of myself now that
(03:40):
I did that. No, No, it's a listen, it's it's uh,
it's it's it's not me. It was it was. Yeah,
I was young, you know, I didn't know anything better.
I didn't any better. All right, So this is why
why they're going to move on. And I'll tell you
even who they're gonna get, because they're in a good
spot because they're not gonna go get a quarterback in
free agency, right, They're not going to go out and say, well,
we'll get Jimmy Garoppolo will do that. No, they're not
(04:02):
going to do that. Russell Wilson is not gonna get
traded to the Jets. There. Now, we told you last
night general principle. Because the Jets just gave them to
first for Jamal Adams. They're not gonna do that again
and have a real life draft day sequence where they
get made fun of forever there. The Seahawks are not
going to have that narrative. They're either going to get
DeShawn Watson in a trade or they're gonna take a
(04:24):
quarterback at number two, and if they don't get DeShawn
Watson by the draft, they're gonna move on, all right.
So it's very easy for the Jets. The two teams
in the easiest quarterback spot are the Jets and the
Dolphins because they're not chasing anybody in free agency. They
have the draft capital to get de Shaun Watson or
Russell Wilson if they want to, and they have the
quarterback that can go the other way if the other
(04:44):
team so desires. So the Jets and the Dolphins are
in a great spot. The Jets aren't counting on DeShawn
Watson and so they know that, well, if that comes up, hey,
we'll we'll get into it and we'll make that move.
But that's gonna be something before the draft, and the
Jets will move on. And I'm on you right now.
Their guy is Zach Wilson. They have said a week
ago they had to do a deep dive into Zach Wilson.
(05:06):
They were getting into it. Uh. Everybody that I've heard
and talked to has said, Hey, the Jets love this
kid and he is a fantastic prospect. And I don't
think it's a coincidence that they came out and said
today we'll take phone calls on Sam Donald. A week
before when they said we have to evaluate our quarterbacks
and Zach Wilson is a guy that we really like.
There is no coincidence between those headlines of the Jets
(05:29):
like Zach Wilson and today Joe Douglas says, yes, we're
gonna we're gonna take phone calls on Sam Donald. That
is absolutely related. So I fully expect Zach Wilson be
the Jets starting quarterback this year. They'll take him at
number two overall in the draft and off Urban Meyer
has a has a bit of a you know, crazy spell.
Come on, he wants to take Zach Wilson first. Aye,
it will take Trevor Lawrence and it's all good. But
(05:50):
this is how it's gonna go for the Jets. They
will trade Sam Donald by the start of free agency,
and they'll take Zach Wilson because he's their guy. Yeah,
we got two weeks together, we'll have activity, because you
don't want to be left standing there waiting for someone
to exit the carousel to your squad after they've all
well found other other people to walk away to the
next ride with. I mean, you just you just can't
(06:13):
do it, And especially if you're the Jets, right, you
know Wood, he came home, he's ready to run the
show again. Uh, you got, in theory, competent people running
your organization. Now, I say in theory because again it's
it's the start of it. And I think part of
it is you can't work on quarterbacks and in a
(06:34):
stealth mode either. I don't think it works. All of
these stories become public domain, and so why not raise
your hand and just say, you know what, we're open
to calls, because look if if the text Texans, they
keep claiming they're not and maybe their voicemails now full,
but they're taking calls on Deshaun Watson, and the Seahawks
(06:54):
are taking calls on Russell Wilson. Everybody can be had
for the right price. I mean Ted d beas he
was not wrong. Everybody's got a price, and any contract
any player can be had if you can see how
you put together the puzzle and there's a better fit
instead of smashing the piece in with your fist, which
(07:17):
I know you in your little ham hands did as
a child. That's gotta fit there. That's that piece. It
looks right, and you taught Zoe how to do that.
And then there's just you always win. You always get
the puzzle completed because you jammed it into into the spot.
But I think you have to say, well, of all
of these other big time guys, including a Super Bowl winner,
(07:38):
are in trade talks. As much as folks may protest it,
they're nodding as they're saying, no, we're not training him.
In other words, call me. So the Jets aren't gonna
be dumb in this process. They're gonna say, sure, we'll listen.
And Sam Donald's gotta be professional enough to know that. Right.
All bets are off this offseason. You can look at
(08:01):
tape and recognize where you fell short, where the team
fell short. But the larger thing is that the NFL
is changing and player feeling empowered or player agency, how
whatever term you want to use for it. Guys are
trying to force their way out in the new situations,
and teams are recognizing that. A number of the players,
(08:21):
and we can list the teams. You you talked about Garoppolo,
but just put him at the head of the list,
are guys you may not be able to get over with.
You might be competitive for a divisional crown, you might
get into the playoffs, maybe win a game, but do
you see yourself hoisting a Lombardi with them no, looking
into the future. If they had a crystal ball, they're saying,
you were good, but we're not great, and so let's
(08:43):
go try to find great. And and the Jets are
most certainly with a quarterback where they're saying that they
might not even have taken the time to look into
the crystal ball. They might have already just known it,
walked through that room and straight to the microphone to say, yes,
we are taking calls. Well, and here's at Smith. But
he but here's the other part of it. Why, why,
why it's even bigger than that, right, because here's Joe Douglas,
(09:06):
who's the Jets GM, Right, and just think about this
in job security for a second. He's well regarded throughout
the league. But he kind of whipped on free agency
last year. You know, he tried to sign a bunch
of band A guys. He's not the biggest free agency guy.
And he tried to sign some players, and I think
one or two. One or two of them, you can say,
maybe they're gonna work out for next year, right that
that's how So there's a lot of pressure on him.
(09:28):
He knows he's only going to get to pick a
new quarterback one time because if the Jets fail, guess
who's out. I don't care what kind of six year
contract he's got. If the Jets continue to stink and
they picked the wrong quarterback, he's gone. So what GM
wants to make sure, Hey, I know I gotta make
that move for a quarterback, and I gotta make sure
(09:48):
it's the right one. If there was any hesitation, Sam
Donald is the guy for this year, and then they
look into it a year after. Okay, what would work
in Robert Salas offense and and and La Fleur's offense.
What would they want to do? He gets one chance
at this So the fact that he's open to moving
Sam Donald to to to make room, knowing he's got
to get that quarterback, and this is his guy. They're
(10:10):
making the move, all right, He's he if if that's them,
if that's the situation, and that is Joe Douglass has
one chance, they're gonna have a new quarterback because and
he hopes he's right on it, and because if he is,
everything is great, gets to be a GM for a
longer time. If he's wrong, he's fired. They're ready to
make that move now. So what does that tell you?
I mean, really, there's all the signs today with such
a big day, because now when you didn't know if
(10:32):
Sam Donald was on the on the trading block or not.
Now teams who really love his talent and think he
can be terrific. Hey, make those phone calls, man, San Francisco,
make those phone calls. Call the Jets, see what you
can get. Call the Jets. Call um. Call Um called
call um called Hey, Chicago Bears, call him, call him,
call him, Alan Robinson for Sam Donald, call him, call him,
call um, call him. Make those phone calls. Because it's
(10:53):
happening you Allen Robinson and his social media activity certainly
getting you excited throughout the day. I'm just gonna say,
did you really need Joe Douglas to confirm this. We
knew Sam Donald was on the market. Smith, I didn't
need him to actually verbalize it to no. No, but
but this is it. But he's clearly telling you that
(11:14):
this is the way we're going now with the team.
He's sending signals to the NFL. This is why I'm
I'm motivated to make a deal. Right, He's motivated now
because if you sit here and do the whole Texans thing,
eventually people are just gonna get piste off and go,
I'm not gonna call it tech that I'm gonna go
to voicemail again and I'm not gonna call him. I'm
not gonna do it. Jack easter Be watches my funk.
He sees the area code and he lets it go
(11:34):
to voicemail. No. He he's saying, I am open for
business on Sam Donald. Right, if he wasn't motivated to
make a trade, he's saying, call me, let's make a move,
all right. This is the equivalent of the guy in
your fantasy league, you know, putting that one that message
out to the whole league. You know that that like
two people do per year because everybody else just text
messages each other, like in the in the third week
where the guy says, hey, looking for help at wide receiver.
(11:57):
Let me know what you like. You know, I'm motivated
to make a trade, and the Jets are motive that
that's the that's the signal he threw up. I'm motivated.
And he wouldn't say this if there wasn't already more
interest than say Carson Wentz because the Eagles, through Carson
Wentz out there not knowing that well, the interest in
him wasn't that great around the league, and they got lucky.
They made the deal they could and and you know
(12:18):
they they found fortune right there a little bit. But
if he didn't know that there was gonna be a
bit of a bidding war, there were a couple of
teams interested in Sam Donald. He's still playing at the
way it is, but he wants no, I'm motivated, let's
do it. We're moving on. We love Zack Wilson and
and this is how we're doing it here with the Jets,
and and we're gonna start our new team as soon
as we can. This is this is what he's doing.
(12:38):
I'm telling you it's going to happen by March seventeenth.
Happy St. Patrick's Day. Sam Donald will have a new
address Twitter, and how about a Frescup Mike gets Swollen Dome. Hey,
if you want to hit Mike up with all the
Jets postings that Allen Robinson liked today on social media
because you know now the Jets are gonna get Allen
Robinson too. That's kind of fun. Hit Mike up at
(12:59):
Swollen Dome. He will absolutely love, love, love to see those.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three time
pro bowler Lavarrington and I couldn't be more excited to
(13:19):
announce a new podcast called Up on Game? What is
Up on Game? You asked, along with my fellow pro
bowler t J. Hudshman's otta and Super Bowl champion. That's right,
Plexico Burds. You can only name a show with that
type of talent on it. Up on Game We're going
to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments.
(13:41):
Listen to Up on Game with Me LaVar Arrington t J,
Hudgmansatta and Plexico Birds on the I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast from joining
us now on the hotline will he agree or disagree
with my NBA MVP call for the first half? It
(14:02):
is Fox Sports one Insider extraordinariy Rick Buker. You can
fall on Twitter at Rick Buker. Rick, what's happening man?
I've been busy tonight. We've had a lot of games
of interest to me. They haven't all been exciting, but
they've been revealing. So let's have at it alright. So first,
and don't worry. I'm not going to give you a
(14:22):
nick thing first. You're not gonna say Julius Row. But
there will be there will There has to be a
well feel it. I can feel it in the air.
I also know that even if there isn't a knick thing,
there will be a knick thing on this show. Alright.
First things first, like you said, a huge night tonight.
In the end, baby watch Philadelphia beat Utah and over
time they win at one thirty three. Obviously, that Donovan
(14:45):
Mitchell ejection will get to in a second, but Joel
Embiid ties the game late in in the fourth quarter,
in the final seconds he goes for forty and nineteen.
I'm telling you, Rick, we we talk a lot about
m v P so far. There's nobody who's been more
concern asistant from the beginning of the year to where
we are now. Then em beat Lebron had his moment,
and then he kind of dovetailed, James Harden was lost,
(15:08):
then he's now he's been playing well for a month.
I really can't see there being anybody else but Embiad
for m v P right now. Yeah, Harton has been
consistent since he's gotten to Brooklyn. He certainly wasn't everything
was at the very start with Houston and then and
then had his down period. I don't have a problem
with m b being the m v P for the
(15:28):
first half of the season. They certainly have the record
for it. He has been a factor at both ends.
He's also a reflection of like you know, people say
the big man is back. I'd say the three point
shooting big man is back. If you're if you can't
hit threes, then you're a liability no matter what position
(15:48):
that you play. But with Mbiad and Nicolayokich in Denver,
both of the guys. Both of those guys are capable
of that. And I believe that, Embiid. I think you
thought against Gobert Um there there's a physicality. Uh. And
there is a a grit too, Embiid that those two
other bigs Gobert and Yo kids do not have and
(16:13):
it makes him dangerous. They won the game because of
Tobias Harris and the weakness that I see in the
Utah Jazz that I believe will be exposed in the postseason,
which is why I'm not really buying them as a
legit title contender. Uh. They were able to go at
Bogdanovitch with Tobias Harris. You got plenty of wings, quality
wings in uh in in the Western Conference, that teams
(16:35):
are gonna be able to do the same thing in
crunch time. And and that's the that's the Achilles Heel
between Joe Ingalls and Bogdanovitch. There's always going to be
somebody that they can attack and uh, and that's exactly
what Philly did. I was interested in this game just
because I thought it was the It's the two teams
that not only have big men, but they play big
(16:56):
and I wanted to see who was the best between them.
Philip Elfie had demonstrated clearly, even though that the game
went to overtime, that they are the better big man team.
Other m v P candidate, you mentioned James Harden and
how well he's played. How much does the human factor
play in of Hey, he forced his way out of
(17:17):
here and reflects uh negatively in terms of m v
P voting. But I thought that they should have just
put the jersey up in the rafters tonight with the
tribute video and everything else. Just get it out of
the way and put all of the the bad juju.
Just push it out right now and it's gone. Just
go straight to James Harden today. I'm not there, although
(17:38):
I get I don't know because not having fans in
the stands and doing it now, okay maybe, but I
think as soon as you have fans in the stands,
there'll be somebody there with a BB gun shooting that
thing down. Um. I the it's too close, and I
think the feelings for Rockets fans is still too raw. Uh.
(17:59):
You don't have to go to immediately. He was so
great and he because he was and he had a
great run with the Rocket. But I just don't believe
that Rockets fans have forgotten how he forced his way
out and whether it's a video tribute. Okay, and and
the video tribute was really an effort because they showed
(18:20):
some of his humanitarian stuff in Houston. I thought it
was a real effort to remind people like James Harden
is a person too. He's and he's a good person.
I never doubted that. But look, he turned his back
on the organization, and I fought the organization in part
because he told him during the summer I don't want
to be here, and they dragged their feet and finally
he acted out in order to make it happen. But
(18:43):
there's there. He still could have been more professional about it.
I I don't have a problem with recognizing him. I
don't have a problem with acknowledging him. I don't have
a problem with retiring his number. I just don't know
that you do it right away and you immediately you're
you're you are far more forgiving than I am. I
would have waited, I would have let this settle a
(19:03):
little bit and then come back to it. Well, I'll
tell you and tell you this though, Rick. The reason
I also wanted done, because if he wins the title
and then he's got to come back by the way
he forced his way out on a title he was
near and dear to her hearts once upon a time,
please a new champion. That's that's fair. If he wins
the title. I mean maybe maybe he wins the title.
(19:25):
Then maybe Tilman takes it back and goes, you know,
on the second thought, you already got you got what
you needed. Uh, you've put that banner up in here.
We're not We're not gonna put your number up up
there either, which which which frankly, how good would that be? Oh? Yeah,
good would that be? He gets his ring. Finally he
wins it for the nets and the rockets go yeah.
I second thought, Uh, we thought you're gonna bring that here,
(19:47):
and since you've demonstrated that you could do it, but
you didn't do it here. Um, let's x nay on
the uniform retirement ray Um so I I love I
love that idea that if he gets it and you look,
you may there's not gonna be any time where people
(20:07):
aren't gonna feel sore about it. It's the same with
you know, k D leaving Golden State and forgot to
say he brought them two rings and people were still
upset that he bailed. So, I mean, I think that happens.
I just I don't know. You know, this is months
after he basically said, uh to everyone in Houston, I
love you, but you're just not good enough to get
(20:29):
me where I want to go. And and here's the
other thing. If I'm an owner, um, and and you're
you know, you're you're trying to avoid stars working their
way out of organizations. Uh, and you want to take
back some of that empowerment. Um. The immediate forgiveness for
(20:50):
doing what he did really doesn't doesn't dissuade anybody from
doing it. It's like, yeah, I got my way, I
acted bad. Lee. Oh and you're still going to retire
my jersey and you're still going to do a video tribute.
What exactly did I lose by behaving that? Rick Bucker
(21:11):
with us the Jason Smith Show, It's Mike Harmen live
from the Farmer's Insurance Studios. All right, now, I'm with
you on harden. Rick. Now, let's let's see where you
are on this. And we mentioned it, we kind of
came back to it. Uh here for a second. Uh
In the MBAD game. You know he had a huge game.
Donovan Mitchell gets thrown out in overtime with with a technical.
We watched Devin Booker get thrown out of the game
(21:31):
last night for reasons passing understanding. You know where are
you on these big calls the last couple of nights,
because I'll tell you what, Adam Silver's inbox is full
from complaints about what's been going on. It's not just
the last couple of nights for me. It's been the
officiating all year long, and it's made it impossible. I
just I look at the the three point shots that
(21:53):
are being rewarded um for fouls. When you have shooters
that are throwing themselves into the defender, it's made it
impossible defend. And without the training camp and a variety
of reasons, the defense hasn't been good anyway and then
but the the officiating has only made it far, far
(22:14):
more difficult. And I don't blame the officials because essentially
they're doing what the league wants them to do. I
don't know where and when they became so frightened of
physicality or that they try or trying to make basketball
a non contact sport. But it is a contact sport.
There is physicality in it, and it's just makes it
(22:36):
hard to watch. And I the seeing key players uh
tossed for what seems to be like when you're when
you're watching it. Some of this, obviously is because we
don't have fans in the stands and we don't have
the broadcasters in the stand and so when somebody gets tossed,
and you've got to figure out, Okay, so why why
(22:57):
did that guy get tossed? Because we can't the monster
Bela see it, then Uh, it raises a question about
the validity of the guy being officiated. Normally, you know,
it's either it's it's obvious and I am struggling with it.
But I've struggled with it all year long. I do
not think the product is very good right now. And
(23:20):
the way the league is approaching, we're just we're not
gonna allow any contact, We're not gonna allow any motion,
We're not gonna allow any reaction. Uh. Look, that has
been an important part of the fiber of the NBA
and basketball forever, and when you legislate that out, I
(23:40):
think that it really affects the integrity of the game.
And it's certainly affects the entertainment value alright, one that
the players aren't excited to go. But here we are
All Star weekend. Other than the rest, What are you
looking for to get a win out of this weekend? Oh?
My goodness, I don't nobody gets hurt and that you know,
(24:02):
we we see some sort of competition. But I mean,
I'm I'm interested to see I'm interested to season three
point shooting contest, Devin Booker versus Steph Curry. I am
interested in. Oh, I'm interested in Anthony Simmons from Portland.
Uh can he win the dunk contest? Uh? And kind
(24:25):
of put his name out there because I think he's
a really special player that people don't really know about.
And that is probably about it. The selection of the
teams and where that goes might provide a little fodder,
but y'aw on that. I mean, that's that's kind of it.
The only reason that they're having the All Star Games
(24:46):
because it's tied into a lot of corporate packages and
so they have to maintain that for the for the
integrity of those packages. But beyond that, I just you know,
having the dunk contest at halftime of the game It's
just they are just trying to squeeze this thing thing
in somehow, some way. And uh, look, I just hope
(25:07):
we get to Monday and nobody's suffered any serious injury. Well, see,
I thought you were going to kind of jump the
fence when they say, what are you most looking forward
to the All Star Break weekend, and you're gonna say no,
forget about that. Tomorrow night, the Nicks could finish the
first half over five hundred. I thought that's where you
were gonna go with that. Well, actually, I you know,
I am remiss. What I am looking forward to is
(25:29):
seeing Julius Randall when All Star m v P. That's
what I'm looking forward to. Oh okay, they're my favorite.
I'm tweeting that out right now from Rick Buker Julius
for m v P hashtag hashtag Julius for m VP. Uh.
You can follow on Twitter at Rick Buker, That is
at Rick Buker. Rick as always, buddy, appreciate your time,
(25:51):
Enjoy the rest of the week, and we will talk
to you next week, my friend. Have fun, my pleasure.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. One of the other big games that just
finished tonight. You talk about NBA Finals preview, you're saying,
wait a minute, wait, NBA Finals. The Lakers didn't play tonight.
(26:12):
Who are the Clippers playing? No NBA Finals potential preview tonight?
And boy was it a fun one and overtime and
the seventy Sixers pull out the win thanks to Joel
Embad and his forty points. Tobias Harris to embeat and
beat is pushed by Bogdanovitch nine seconds ago, couples beyond
the arc, fakes at three, shoot the three, it's up
head good five point nine ago and beat Us tied
(26:34):
it at one eight Aaron Is Sixers Radio network and
Beat ties the game part of his forty point nineteen
rebound night. And it is clear right now. And I
can't be more clearer than this. And I don't even
know that there's there's a way to dispute this. Right now,
we're getting to the halfway point of the NBA. The
next few nights, we're gonna talk about all different things.
(26:55):
At the halfway point, here's the NBA All Star Break
is coming. Everybody finishes up tomorrow night. They finished the
first half the m v P. In the NBA, right
now is Joel Embiid, and there's nobody else that's close.
Joel Embiid has withstood all the challengers because he has
been great from the opening game two now right Lebron
(27:16):
James had a nice run and then he took a dovetail,
and James Harden had a really rough beginning, and he's
been great the last month. But nobody's been better from
the beginning of the season until now besides Joel Embiid.
I mean, nobody has been this good he has taken
this year and and the the jump that we thought
we would get from him at some point, because you know,
(27:36):
you look back and and Shaquille O'Neil really, uh, when
we think about this, it's something that's become a thing
to compare it to now, is it. Look, Shaq got
halfway through his career, right he was having fun making
movies and and and making songs. He was Kazam and
he's on TV shows, man, and then he decided, you
know what, I really got to start winning at some point,
So you know, I gotta get out of Orlando. I
(27:57):
gotta get to the Lakers. He gets the Lakers, he
INDs three championships, he wins a fourth with the Heat,
and now the Mercer legacy is secure, the Shaquille O'Neal
legacy is secure. He got to that point where he knew,
I need to start winning. I have to get more
serious about my career. Joel Embiid, the exact same thing
has happened. Right. He's always been a terrific player, but
(28:17):
him and Ben Simmons had been having fun the last
few years. But when they're a nice fifty win team
year after year and they lose in the second round
of the playoffs at best and they go home, and
that's kind of what it is. And you were waiting,
and I was waiting for m B to take this
next step because he is that dominant and this year
he has done it. I mean, he has played with
(28:38):
with a new sense of now I know what my
legacy needs to be. Right. The guy's thirty and twelve.
You know this season he is having a fantastic year.
And it was it was something that happened right from beginning.
I gotta give Doc Rivers a lot of credit because
he got it out of him. And look, the first
couple of years with Doc Rivers, We've said this many times,
have always been the best years. Uh, in Doc Rivers
(28:59):
years as being a head coach. It's the later years
are struggling. But and bead tonight and beat tonight is
showing you putting the exclamation point on the first half
going I am the m v P in this league
and really there's nobody else. Look, Steph Curry had a
nice week and a half run of always scoring thirty
five a game. No Joel embiads the m v P. Yeah,
I know he's been amazing all the way through. I
(29:20):
mean another forty nineteen night tonight, no overtime. Uh, we're
gonna have to effort the sound DOWNO than Mitchell going
off on officials as he was ejected. Uh, much like
Devin Booker was last night. I don't know. Giving them
early exits to the to the half halftime break here
of the season and the All Star break, I'm not
quite sure what the the pushes. But for for Joel
(29:44):
embiid we as you said, we it's been years in
the waiting right, this is already year five, which is
amazing how time flies by far his point per game
production is up rebounds on par with his career average.
His best was in where he averaged thirteen point six.
(30:04):
He's at eleven point three. Free throw percentage is at
a career best. One of those guys that four straight years,
you're you're seeing an increase and in in that aptitude
and in that in his field goal percentage of career high.
Like everything just breaking through. And we know there's you're
always looking for a new narrative. So the big thing
is for the Sixers. He's got to stay healthy quite obviously,
(30:27):
but they they need to keep a top the the
Eastern Conference, and I think he breaks through, right. Likable guy,
pretty good with the media. Remember him shagging fly balls
at the the All Star Game from Major League Baseball.
I mean that was just unfair, those big mits going
out and catching catching baseballs, and everybody's just got to
(30:48):
get out of the way. But he's the guy that's
the the new kid on the block, as it were,
even in the year five. You know what we talk
about all of these stars and what they've done hardens
a fun story. How many guys are gonna hold his
wanting out of Houston against him, right because that's the
other factor, right, stant's perspective, maybe yeah, the personality thing
(31:13):
may may hit him there. I'm not saying it's right
or wrong. I'm just saying it's human nature and humans
are voting on it, which means, all right, positivity, where's
the positivity. If they win it, that's great, but you
have to vote before that's decided. As for Joel Embiid,
you know, sixers trying to trying to make some noise,
(31:34):
which means we would get more video of Moses Malone
and maybe some more Alan Iverson appreciation. So I'm all
good with that. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten
pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
the I Heart Radio app A crazy story today out
of Major League Baseball, uh courtesy of Trevor Bower's agent,
(31:58):
Rachel Luba, who was appearing on the Barstool Sports podcast
starting nine, and she told a story about how well,
according to Rachel Luba, that Trevor Bauer nearly signed with
the Mets over a merchandise snaff. Foo. Now, if you
remember the day that Trevor Bauer made his decision to
sign with the Dodgers over the Mets. Uh it Mistakenly,
(32:20):
some merchandise went out that Trevor Bauer autographed the Mets
hat and it had the hashtag lf GM on it,
which is the Mets hashtag Lets Blanket Go Mets, which
was coined by Pete Alonso. And when this got out there,
Trevor Bauer was really concerned about it. According to Rachel
Luba on the podcast, she said, I was getting screenshots.
I didn't know what was going on. I called Trevor,
(32:41):
you know that's marketing. It's not me. Uh. Trevor was
very upset that this got out, and he just said,
you know what, it's the Mets. I'm gonna go to
the Mets. I can't disappoint the fan base. I can't
do this. I have to go to the Mets. And
Rachel Luba said, why don't you take some time? Why
don't you you know, I I understand it's a big decision.
Watch take some time. Why don't you go out and
(33:02):
go for a walk and come back and tell me
about it and give me your decision. And Trevor Bauer said, nope, sorry,
it's done. I can't do this, it's the Mets. I'm
gonna go play there. And then she again said to him,
listen how you reacted. Just now, you know you have
to think this through more. It's a life changing decision.
And then Rachel Lubis said that Trevor Bauer returned and
(33:24):
told her I want to go to the Dodgers. And
this is how Trevor Bauer wound up going to the Dodge.
So this, this, uh, this leak of of Mets merchandise
with Bowers name on it associated with him nearly caused
Trevor Bauer to go to the Mets. About that, Let
me think if I first of all, let me think
if I really believe that story. I really want to
(33:46):
go to the Dodgers, my lifelong dream. Look at the
money they're giving me. Oh it got out there that
I autographed the hat for the Mets. Oh all that
that I should go to the Mets. Really? Really was
that club? Really? I mean, Trevor Bauer is that kind
of guy going, well, the guy out, I'll take the
next three years of my life in New York. I
guess even though I really want to go to the Dodgers. Now,
then autograph had got out I'm gonna go to the Mets. Really,
(34:07):
I mean, look, do I think for a second there
was some kind of conversation about this. Of course there was,
but really, Trevor Bowers, you know, for the next three
years because this gets out somehow, I'm gonna go play
with the Mets my second choice instead of the Dodgers
my first choice. No way, no, I don't. I don't
believe this part of the story at all, that that
almost caused him to go to the Mets instead of
(34:28):
the Dodgers, that he twice told his agent. Nope, it's
the Mets of decisions done. It's that it was made
for me, the snaff food that came out, it was
made for me. I can't got, can't do it. I
can't go to the Mets. I'm going to the Mets.
I'm gonna do it, even like don't want to go there.
And I used the Dodgers, used the Mets leverage the
entire time so I could get this off from the Dodgers. No, no, no,
I will go to the Mets. Yeah. Yeah, I'm believing that.
It's brilliant. I I enjoy it immensely and I believe
(34:51):
every word. No, you're you're coming up with no, no,
it's fairy tales. Uh. As we go through this, Uh,
it's it's done. Why why do you need to keep
talking about it any spin? I mean, do you really
want to keep pushing this? It's just starting to look
silly the more you talk about it. Let's take nothing
(35:14):
away from whatever the negotiations were, whatever the final pieces
were to get him to l A. But the it's
it's a done deal. Don't don't belabor it because I
think you're starting to cheapen. Uh, the act of what
Trevor Bauer accomplished last year and the contract you were
able to negotiate. I mean, what, what's going to be
(35:36):
the next fairy tale that they go out? He had
a dream. He saw it while he was in a
sauna or a sweat lodge. I mean, you know, he
sat outside, had a nice fire going. He saw one
of those videos on Instagram where you learn how to
cook a steak over the open firefights, you know, random
(35:56):
logs in the in the field, and there it is
the you know, basically an endorsement of cast iron skillets.
Always being in the back of your truck with a
piece of meat and a cleaver. I mean, I don't know,
it's just you know, for I saw this earlier and
immediately texted, you go here you go more fairy tales
about how this came to pass. I mean, really, I
(36:21):
can understand where maybe there was that moment of Okay,
now I get down to this decision. It's really tough
and there's waffling, right, I I get that. I get
the decisions. It's a big decision to make, but I'm
not making the decision. Nobody makes decision based on well
fate intervened. And because that lf GM had got out
there with my autograph on it, I I gotta go there. No, No,
(36:43):
that's not that's not happening. I think that's a fun
story and it's something that clearly you know, cut through
because it's been picked up by a lot of places.
But there there's not a second I believe that. I
mean for a guy that's as calculating as Trevor Bower is,
because that's the one thing the guy is calculating. He
knows everything about what he wants to do with his brand,
and this is why he has Rachel Luba as his agent. Right,
(37:04):
She's she's new. You know, she's next level what it
means to be able to market yourself in a social
media age. And this is why he's that's that's why
they're together, right, this is why she's the next Scott Boris.
There's no way that this is. Oh well, that's too
bad that I would love to play for the Dodgers.
To man, that would have been great. But well, now
that that autographed hat got out, so alright, three years
(37:27):
in Flushing, yea, I'm gonna go do it. I mean,
I mean, I really there. There's just no one, but
but I want to be a man of my word. Look,
we teased it with merch. You could have just said,
got out. I'm sorry, you have to go now the
merch got out. Yes, we pushed a mock up page.
(37:48):
Who hasn't heard that from a million websites and whatever
through the years, right, and something that has a bunch
of Latin on it, because you want to see how
it renders in different browsers. And obviously this is now
very particular and specific, being a Mets hat that's autograph.
But you can just say, hey, we had a bunch
(38:08):
of these prepared, and unfortunately we pushed that one. Sorry,
here's a big virtual hug and if you need to, hey,
we'll do an auction for ten other hats. I'll set
and sign more Mets hats for you and you can
you can wear them or you want Dodger hats or
baseballs or or cleats or whatever it is, and you
(38:31):
can do some good for the community. Right. He still
came up with a bunch of money that's gonna and
and greetings and good tidings for one day next play
at City Field. So I mean there's some good that
came out of it that way. But yeah, this story
just became a alright, just just stop, just stop adding it.
Oh he really almost did that. Okay, because I know
(38:54):
about embellishing stories. I'll do that once. So like if
I'm telling a story in in mixed company, like off
the like off the Air, and I'm telling the stories,
oh the story would go better. Or if I'm telling
a story to my team, you know, and I want
to tell them an analogy soccer or baseball that works,
And if I'm working blue, hey, you all you're twelve
year olds, get around me, all right? Did I'm to
(39:16):
say some words here that you guys are gonna like.
But you know what, blank all of you. Okay, this
is what I got to say. So I always, you know,
I'll find a way if I want to give them
you know, that's that's basically when it happens sometimes, like
all right, I want to basically tell them a good
story and give them an analogy, and okay, well I
embellish stuff. Yeah, sure, I'll do that. And I always
get caught by Zoe because she's the cop and she
says me, Dad, that story didn't happen that way. I'm like, shoot,
(39:38):
you stop him shopting. Uh so it's kind of funny.
And I'll go, well here and she goes, oh, okay,
I get it. I'm like, yeah, don't, don't. Don't sit
there and go Dad, that story didn't happen that way.
It's okaya, lies just it's all right, this is how
it goes. All right, this is what happens. I'm telling
(39:58):
a great story, and are team is going to play
better because I'm telling this story just so we all know.
So yeah, but I mean to the point where it's
going to change lit I mean no, I mean really
be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific,
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every weeknight from ten pm to two a m.
Eastern seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Find your local station for The Jason Smith Show with
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by searching f s R. This is the best of
(00:22):
the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
Today saw another day in which the off season in
the NFL changed because GM Joe Douglas of the New
York Jets, in a press conference, announced that yes, I
will be answering phone calls for Sam Donald. Up until now,
(00:46):
the company line had been we love Sam, we believe
in Sam. Sam is our guy. Today he says I'm
going to take phone calls. Doesn't mean they don't love Sam.
We think Sam is great and Sam, but I will
take phone calls. This tells you that the Jets are
moving on from Sam Donald and they will trade him
(01:06):
at some point in the coming weeks. All Right, Joe
Douglas knows what the market is going to be for
Sam Donald. He knows it's gonna be teams calling saying
a second and a third, a second and a player
something like that, and he's hoping, well, maybe with a
bidding war, we can get it up to two seconds
or a late first and a third or something like that.
(01:28):
He knows exactly what the market is for Sam Donald.
And to say I'm taking phone calls on it is
a big deal because if Sam Donald was their guy
and they were going into the season with him, he
wouldn't Sam taking calls on him? A right that That's
how big a deal this is. Because the Texans still
won't answer the phone. Undershawn Watson. You know they want
to trade him, all right, you know that's gonna happen.
(01:48):
The Seahawks don't want to trade Russell Wilson, but you
know what's gonna take three first round picks. So there's that.
Now you have the Jets saying we will take phone
calls on Sam Donald. He is as good as gone
and traded somewhere by the Jets at some point, probably
by the beginning of free agency. I don't think anybody
is going to uh, they're not gonna go. They're not
(02:09):
gonna go into free agency thinking well, maybe we swing
a deal for a quarterback after no. Donald will be
gone sometime by the beginning of NFL free agency. It
will happen fast. And I'll tell you this, Mike, they
wouldn't move on from him if they didn't have their
next quarterback ready to go. Look, I'm telling you, you you know,
there's there's things I know. There's a few things I
know I know better uh than the Jets. Uh. And
(02:32):
if they weren't sold on one of their guys, they
wouldn't be talking about moving Sam Donald right now. They
have two choices, right It's either take a quarterback with
the second pick, or it's make the trade for Deshaun
Watson right now. The best thing and this is where
the Jets are in a good spot. When's the last
time you ever said that the Jets are in a
good spot? Right? Hey, my team is in a good spot.
I'm so excited when they drafted Sam Donald. Yeah, I
(02:56):
thought that was gonna be the best draft pick of
fifty years. It turns out, how wrong. I Oh boy,
you know what, though, you just did something that most
sports talk radio host most sports television hosts won't do. Actually,
just say, you know what, I really screwed that up.
People will go down and change the narrative and come
(03:17):
at it from all the way around. I mean we're
talking three sixty degrees walking all the way back to
where they started without saying they were wrong, and really
just kind of moving the goalpost along the way. No,
you just flat out said no, I screwed that one up,
and Sam let me down. M M. That's happened. That's
how it went. I never think of myself now that
(03:40):
I did that. No, No, it's a listen, it's it's uh,
it's it's it's not me. It was it was. Yeah,
I was young, you know, I didn't know anything better.
I didn't any better. All right, So this is why
why they're going to move on. And I'll tell you
even who they're gonna get, because they're in a good
spot because they're not gonna go get a quarterback in
free agency, right, They're not going to go out and say, well,
we'll get Jimmy Garoppolo will do that. No, they're not
(04:02):
going to do that. Russell Wilson is not gonna get
traded to the Jets. There. Now, we told you last
night general principle. Because the Jets just gave them to
first for Jamal Adams. They're not gonna do that again
and have a real life draft day sequence where they
get made fun of forever there. The Seahawks are not
going to have that narrative. They're either going to get
DeShawn Watson in a trade or they're gonna take a
(04:24):
quarterback at number two, and if they don't get DeShawn
Watson by the draft, they're gonna move on, all right.
So it's very easy for the Jets. The two teams
in the easiest quarterback spot are the Jets and the
Dolphins because they're not chasing anybody in free agency. They
have the draft capital to get de Shaun Watson or
Russell Wilson if they want to, and they have the
quarterback that can go the other way if the other
(04:44):
team so desires. So the Jets and the Dolphins are
in a great spot. The Jets aren't counting on DeShawn
Watson and so they know that, well, if that comes up, hey,
we'll we'll get into it and we'll make that move.
But that's gonna be something before the draft, and the
Jets will move on. And I'm on you right now.
Their guy is Zach Wilson. They have said a week
ago they had to do a deep dive into Zach Wilson.
(05:06):
They were getting into it. Uh. Everybody that I've heard
and talked to has said, Hey, the Jets love this
kid and he is a fantastic prospect. And I don't
think it's a coincidence that they came out and said
today we'll take phone calls on Sam Donald. A week
before when they said we have to evaluate our quarterbacks
and Zach Wilson is a guy that we really like.
There is no coincidence between those headlines of the Jets
(05:29):
like Zach Wilson and today Joe Douglas says, yes, we're
gonna we're gonna take phone calls on Sam Donald. That
is absolutely related. So I fully expect Zach Wilson be
the Jets starting quarterback this year. They'll take him at
number two overall in the draft and off Urban Meyer
has a has a bit of a you know, crazy spell.
Come on, he wants to take Zach Wilson first. Aye,
it will take Trevor Lawrence and it's all good. But
(05:50):
this is how it's gonna go for the Jets. They
will trade Sam Donald by the start of free agency,
and they'll take Zach Wilson because he's their guy. Yeah,
we got two weeks together, we'll have activity, because you
don't want to be left standing there waiting for someone
to exit the carousel to your squad after they've all
well found other other people to walk away to the
next ride with. I mean, you just you just can't
(06:13):
do it, And especially if you're the Jets, right, you
know Wood, he came home, he's ready to run the
show again. Uh, you got, in theory, competent people running
your organization. Now, I say in theory because again it's
it's the start of it. And I think part of
it is you can't work on quarterbacks and in a
(06:34):
stealth mode either. I don't think it works. All of
these stories become public domain, and so why not raise
your hand and just say, you know what, we're open
to calls, because look if if the text Texans, they
keep claiming they're not and maybe their voicemails now full,
but they're taking calls on Deshaun Watson, and the Seahawks
(06:54):
are taking calls on Russell Wilson. Everybody can be had
for the right price. I mean Ted d beas he
was not wrong. Everybody's got a price, and any contract
any player can be had if you can see how
you put together the puzzle and there's a better fit
instead of smashing the piece in with your fist, which
(07:17):
I know you in your little ham hands did as
a child. That's gotta fit there. That's that piece. It
looks right, and you taught Zoe how to do that.
And then there's just you always win. You always get
the puzzle completed because you jammed it into into the spot.
But I think you have to say, well, of all
of these other big time guys, including a Super Bowl winner,
(07:38):
are in trade talks. As much as folks may protest it,
they're nodding as they're saying, no, we're not training him.
In other words, call me. So the Jets aren't gonna
be dumb in this process. They're gonna say, sure, we'll listen.
And Sam Donald's gotta be professional enough to know that. Right.
All bets are off this offseason. You can look at
(08:01):
tape and recognize where you fell short, where the team
fell short. But the larger thing is that the NFL
is changing and player feeling empowered or player agency, how
whatever term you want to use for it. Guys are
trying to force their way out in the new situations,
and teams are recognizing that. A number of the players,
(08:21):
and we can list the teams. You you talked about Garoppolo,
but just put him at the head of the list,
are guys you may not be able to get over with.
You might be competitive for a divisional crown, you might
get into the playoffs, maybe win a game, but do
you see yourself hoisting a Lombardi with them no, looking
into the future. If they had a crystal ball, they're saying,
you were good, but we're not great, and so let's
(08:43):
go try to find great. And and the Jets are
most certainly with a quarterback where they're saying that they
might not even have taken the time to look into
the crystal ball. They might have already just known it,
walked through that room and straight to the microphone to say, yes,
we are taking calls. Well, and here's at Smith. But
he but here's the other part of it. Why, why,
why it's even bigger than that, right, because here's Joe Douglas,
(09:06):
who's the Jets GM, Right, and just think about this
in job security for a second. He's well regarded throughout
the league. But he kind of whipped on free agency
last year. You know, he tried to sign a bunch
of band A guys. He's not the biggest free agency guy.
And he tried to sign some players, and I think
one or two. One or two of them, you can say,
maybe they're gonna work out for next year, right that
that's how So there's a lot of pressure on him.
(09:28):
He knows he's only going to get to pick a
new quarterback one time because if the Jets fail, guess
who's out. I don't care what kind of six year
contract he's got. If the Jets continue to stink and
they picked the wrong quarterback, he's gone. So what GM
wants to make sure, Hey, I know I gotta make
that move for a quarterback, and I gotta make sure
(09:48):
it's the right one. If there was any hesitation, Sam
Donald is the guy for this year, and then they
look into it a year after. Okay, what would work
in Robert Salas offense and and and La Fleur's offense.
What would they want to do? He gets one chance
at this So the fact that he's open to moving
Sam Donald to to to make room, knowing he's got
to get that quarterback, and this is his guy. They're
(10:10):
making the move, all right, He's he if if that's them,
if that's the situation, and that is Joe Douglass has
one chance, they're gonna have a new quarterback because and
he hopes he's right on it, and because if he is,
everything is great, gets to be a GM for a
longer time. If he's wrong, he's fired. They're ready to
make that move now. So what does that tell you?
I mean, really, there's all the signs today with such
a big day, because now when you didn't know if
(10:32):
Sam Donald was on the on the trading block or not.
Now teams who really love his talent and think he
can be terrific. Hey, make those phone calls, man, San Francisco,
make those phone calls. Call the Jets, see what you
can get. Call the Jets. Call um. Call Um called
call um called Hey, Chicago Bears, call him, call him,
call him, Alan Robinson for Sam Donald, call him, call him,
call um, call him. Make those phone calls. Because it's
(10:53):
happening you Allen Robinson and his social media activity certainly
getting you excited throughout the day. I'm just gonna say,
did you really need Joe Douglas to confirm this. We
knew Sam Donald was on the market. Smith, I didn't
need him to actually verbalize it to no. No, but
but this is it. But he's clearly telling you that
(11:14):
this is the way we're going now with the team.
He's sending signals to the NFL. This is why I'm
I'm motivated to make a deal. Right, He's motivated now
because if you sit here and do the whole Texans thing,
eventually people are just gonna get piste off and go,
I'm not gonna call it tech that I'm gonna go
to voicemail again and I'm not gonna call him. I'm
not gonna do it. Jack easter Be watches my funk.
He sees the area code and he lets it go
(11:34):
to voicemail. No. He he's saying, I am open for
business on Sam Donald. Right, if he wasn't motivated to
make a trade, he's saying, call me, let's make a move,
all right. This is the equivalent of the guy in
your fantasy league, you know, putting that one that message
out to the whole league. You know that that like
two people do per year because everybody else just text
messages each other, like in the in the third week
where the guy says, hey, looking for help at wide receiver.
(11:57):
Let me know what you like. You know, I'm motivated
to make a trade, and the Jets are motive that
that's the that's the signal he threw up. I'm motivated.
And he wouldn't say this if there wasn't already more
interest than say Carson Wentz because the Eagles, through Carson
Wentz out there not knowing that well, the interest in
him wasn't that great around the league, and they got lucky.
They made the deal they could and and you know
(12:18):
they they found fortune right there a little bit. But
if he didn't know that there was gonna be a
bit of a bidding war, there were a couple of
teams interested in Sam Donald. He's still playing at the
way it is, but he wants no, I'm motivated, let's
do it. We're moving on. We love Zack Wilson and
and this is how we're doing it here with the Jets,
and and we're gonna start our new team as soon
as we can. This is this is what he's doing.
(12:38):
I'm telling you it's going to happen by March seventeenth.
Happy St. Patrick's Day. Sam Donald will have a new
address Twitter, and how about a Frescup Mike gets Swollen Dome. Hey,
if you want to hit Mike up with all the
Jets postings that Allen Robinson liked today on social media
because you know now the Jets are gonna get Allen
Robinson too. That's kind of fun. Hit Mike up at
(12:59):
Swollen Dome. He will absolutely love, love, love to see those.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me three time
pro bowler Lavarrington and I couldn't be more excited to
(13:19):
announce a new podcast called Up on Game? What is
Up on Game? You asked, along with my fellow pro
bowler t J. Hudshman's otta and Super Bowl champion. That's right,
Plexico Burds. You can only name a show with that
type of talent on it. Up on Game We're going
to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments.
(13:41):
Listen to Up on Game with Me LaVar Arrington t J,
Hudgmansatta and Plexico Birds on the I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast from joining
us now on the hotline will he agree or disagree
with my NBA MVP call for the first half? It
(14:02):
is Fox Sports one Insider extraordinariy Rick Buker. You can
fall on Twitter at Rick Buker. Rick, what's happening man?
I've been busy tonight. We've had a lot of games
of interest to me. They haven't all been exciting, but
they've been revealing. So let's have at it alright. So first,
and don't worry. I'm not going to give you a
(14:22):
nick thing first. You're not gonna say Julius Row. But
there will be there will There has to be a
well feel it. I can feel it in the air.
I also know that even if there isn't a knick thing,
there will be a knick thing on this show. Alright.
First things first, like you said, a huge night tonight.
In the end, baby watch Philadelphia beat Utah and over
time they win at one thirty three. Obviously, that Donovan
(14:45):
Mitchell ejection will get to in a second, but Joel
Embiid ties the game late in in the fourth quarter,
in the final seconds he goes for forty and nineteen.
I'm telling you, Rick, we we talk a lot about
m v P so far. There's nobody who's been more
concern asistant from the beginning of the year to where
we are now. Then em beat Lebron had his moment,
and then he kind of dovetailed, James Harden was lost,
(15:08):
then he's now he's been playing well for a month.
I really can't see there being anybody else but Embiad
for m v P right now. Yeah, Harton has been
consistent since he's gotten to Brooklyn. He certainly wasn't everything
was at the very start with Houston and then and
then had his down period. I don't have a problem
with m b being the m v P for the
(15:28):
first half of the season. They certainly have the record
for it. He has been a factor at both ends.
He's also a reflection of like you know, people say
the big man is back. I'd say the three point
shooting big man is back. If you're if you can't
hit threes, then you're a liability no matter what position
(15:48):
that you play. But with Mbiad and Nicolayokich in Denver,
both of the guys. Both of those guys are capable
of that. And I believe that, Embiid. I think you
thought against Gobert Um there there's a physicality. Uh. And
there is a a grit too, Embiid that those two
other bigs Gobert and Yo kids do not have and
(16:13):
it makes him dangerous. They won the game because of
Tobias Harris and the weakness that I see in the
Utah Jazz that I believe will be exposed in the postseason,
which is why I'm not really buying them as a
legit title contender. Uh. They were able to go at
Bogdanovitch with Tobias Harris. You got plenty of wings, quality
wings in uh in in the Western Conference, that teams
(16:35):
are gonna be able to do the same thing in
crunch time. And and that's the that's the Achilles Heel
between Joe Ingalls and Bogdanovitch. There's always going to be
somebody that they can attack and uh, and that's exactly
what Philly did. I was interested in this game just
because I thought it was the It's the two teams
that not only have big men, but they play big
(16:56):
and I wanted to see who was the best between them.
Philip Elfie had demonstrated clearly, even though that the game
went to overtime, that they are the better big man team.
Other m v P candidate, you mentioned James Harden and
how well he's played. How much does the human factor
play in of Hey, he forced his way out of
(17:17):
here and reflects uh negatively in terms of m v
P voting. But I thought that they should have just
put the jersey up in the rafters tonight with the
tribute video and everything else. Just get it out of
the way and put all of the the bad juju.
Just push it out right now and it's gone. Just
go straight to James Harden today. I'm not there, although
(17:38):
I get I don't know because not having fans in
the stands and doing it now, okay maybe, but I
think as soon as you have fans in the stands,
there'll be somebody there with a BB gun shooting that
thing down. Um. I the it's too close, and I
think the feelings for Rockets fans is still too raw. Uh.
(17:59):
You don't have to go to immediately. He was so
great and he because he was and he had a
great run with the Rocket. But I just don't believe
that Rockets fans have forgotten how he forced his way
out and whether it's a video tribute. Okay, and and
the video tribute was really an effort because they showed
(18:20):
some of his humanitarian stuff in Houston. I thought it
was a real effort to remind people like James Harden
is a person too. He's and he's a good person.
I never doubted that. But look, he turned his back
on the organization, and I fought the organization in part
because he told him during the summer I don't want
to be here, and they dragged their feet and finally
he acted out in order to make it happen. But
(18:43):
there's there. He still could have been more professional about it.
I I don't have a problem with recognizing him. I
don't have a problem with acknowledging him. I don't have
a problem with retiring his number. I just don't know
that you do it right away and you immediately you're
you're you are far more forgiving than I am. I
would have waited, I would have let this settle a
(19:03):
little bit and then come back to it. Well, I'll
tell you and tell you this though, Rick. The reason
I also wanted done, because if he wins the title
and then he's got to come back by the way
he forced his way out on a title he was
near and dear to her hearts once upon a time,
please a new champion. That's that's fair. If he wins
the title. I mean maybe maybe he wins the title.
(19:25):
Then maybe Tilman takes it back and goes, you know,
on the second thought, you already got you got what
you needed. Uh, you've put that banner up in here.
We're not We're not gonna put your number up up
there either, which which which frankly, how good would that be? Oh? Yeah,
good would that be? He gets his ring. Finally he
wins it for the nets and the rockets go yeah.
I second thought, Uh, we thought you're gonna bring that here,
(19:47):
and since you've demonstrated that you could do it, but
you didn't do it here. Um, let's x nay on
the uniform retirement ray Um so I I love I
love that idea that if he gets it and you look,
you may there's not gonna be any time where people
(20:07):
aren't gonna feel sore about it. It's the same with
you know, k D leaving Golden State and forgot to
say he brought them two rings and people were still
upset that he bailed. So, I mean, I think that happens.
I just I don't know. You know, this is months
after he basically said, uh to everyone in Houston, I
love you, but you're just not good enough to get
(20:29):
me where I want to go. And and here's the
other thing. If I'm an owner, um, and and you're
you know, you're you're trying to avoid stars working their
way out of organizations. Uh, and you want to take
back some of that empowerment. Um. The immediate forgiveness for
(20:50):
doing what he did really doesn't doesn't dissuade anybody from
doing it. It's like, yeah, I got my way, I
acted bad. Lee. Oh and you're still going to retire
my jersey and you're still going to do a video tribute.
What exactly did I lose by behaving that? Rick Bucker
(21:11):
with us the Jason Smith Show, It's Mike Harmen live
from the Farmer's Insurance Studios. All right, now, I'm with
you on harden. Rick. Now, let's let's see where you
are on this. And we mentioned it, we kind of
came back to it. Uh here for a second. Uh
In the MBAD game. You know he had a huge game.
Donovan Mitchell gets thrown out in overtime with with a technical.
We watched Devin Booker get thrown out of the game
(21:31):
last night for reasons passing understanding. You know where are
you on these big calls the last couple of nights,
because I'll tell you what, Adam Silver's inbox is full
from complaints about what's been going on. It's not just
the last couple of nights for me. It's been the
officiating all year long, and it's made it impossible. I
just I look at the the three point shots that
(21:53):
are being rewarded um for fouls. When you have shooters
that are throwing themselves into the defender, it's made it
impossible defend. And without the training camp and a variety
of reasons, the defense hasn't been good anyway and then
but the the officiating has only made it far, far
(22:14):
more difficult. And I don't blame the officials because essentially
they're doing what the league wants them to do. I
don't know where and when they became so frightened of
physicality or that they try or trying to make basketball
a non contact sport. But it is a contact sport.
There is physicality in it, and it's just makes it
(22:36):
hard to watch. And I the seeing key players uh
tossed for what seems to be like when you're when
you're watching it. Some of this, obviously is because we
don't have fans in the stands and we don't have
the broadcasters in the stand and so when somebody gets tossed,
and you've got to figure out, Okay, so why why
(22:57):
did that guy get tossed? Because we can't the monster
Bela see it, then Uh, it raises a question about
the validity of the guy being officiated. Normally, you know,
it's either it's it's obvious and I am struggling with it.
But I've struggled with it all year long. I do
not think the product is very good right now. And
(23:20):
the way the league is approaching, we're just we're not
gonna allow any contact, We're not gonna allow any motion,
We're not gonna allow any reaction. Uh. Look, that has
been an important part of the fiber of the NBA
and basketball forever, and when you legislate that out, I
(23:40):
think that it really affects the integrity of the game.
And it's certainly affects the entertainment value alright, one that
the players aren't excited to go. But here we are
All Star weekend. Other than the rest, What are you
looking for to get a win out of this weekend? Oh?
My goodness, I don't nobody gets hurt and that you know,
(24:02):
we we see some sort of competition. But I mean,
I'm I'm interested to see I'm interested to season three
point shooting contest, Devin Booker versus Steph Curry. I am
interested in. Oh, I'm interested in Anthony Simmons from Portland.
Uh can he win the dunk contest? Uh? And kind
(24:25):
of put his name out there because I think he's
a really special player that people don't really know about.
And that is probably about it. The selection of the
teams and where that goes might provide a little fodder,
but y'aw on that. I mean, that's that's kind of it.
The only reason that they're having the All Star Games
(24:46):
because it's tied into a lot of corporate packages and
so they have to maintain that for the for the
integrity of those packages. But beyond that, I just you know,
having the dunk contest at halftime of the game It's
just they are just trying to squeeze this thing thing
in somehow, some way. And uh, look, I just hope
(25:07):
we get to Monday and nobody's suffered any serious injury. Well, see,
I thought you were going to kind of jump the
fence when they say, what are you most looking forward
to the All Star Break weekend, and you're gonna say no,
forget about that. Tomorrow night, the Nicks could finish the
first half over five hundred. I thought that's where you
were gonna go with that. Well, actually, I you know,
I am remiss. What I am looking forward to is
(25:29):
seeing Julius Randall when All Star m v P. That's
what I'm looking forward to. Oh okay, they're my favorite.
I'm tweeting that out right now from Rick Buker Julius
for m v P hashtag hashtag Julius for m VP. Uh.
You can follow on Twitter at Rick Buker, That is
at Rick Buker. Rick as always, buddy, appreciate your time,
(25:51):
Enjoy the rest of the week, and we will talk
to you next week, my friend. Have fun, my pleasure.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. One of the other big games that just
finished tonight. You talk about NBA Finals preview, you're saying,
wait a minute, wait, NBA Finals. The Lakers didn't play tonight.
(26:12):
Who are the Clippers playing? No NBA Finals potential preview tonight?
And boy was it a fun one and overtime and
the seventy Sixers pull out the win thanks to Joel
Embad and his forty points. Tobias Harris to embeat and
beat is pushed by Bogdanovitch nine seconds ago, couples beyond
the arc, fakes at three, shoot the three, it's up
head good five point nine ago and beat Us tied
(26:34):
it at one eight Aaron Is Sixers Radio network and
Beat ties the game part of his forty point nineteen
rebound night. And it is clear right now. And I
can't be more clearer than this. And I don't even
know that there's there's a way to dispute this. Right now,
we're getting to the halfway point of the NBA. The
next few nights, we're gonna talk about all different things.
(26:55):
At the halfway point, here's the NBA All Star Break
is coming. Everybody finishes up tomorrow night. They finished the
first half the m v P. In the NBA, right
now is Joel Embiid, and there's nobody else that's close.
Joel Embiid has withstood all the challengers because he has
been great from the opening game two now right Lebron
(27:16):
James had a nice run and then he took a dovetail,
and James Harden had a really rough beginning, and he's
been great the last month. But nobody's been better from
the beginning of the season until now besides Joel Embiid.
I mean, nobody has been this good he has taken
this year and and the the jump that we thought
we would get from him at some point, because you know,
(27:36):
you look back and and Shaquille O'Neil really, uh, when
we think about this, it's something that's become a thing
to compare it to now, is it. Look, Shaq got
halfway through his career, right he was having fun making
movies and and and making songs. He was Kazam and
he's on TV shows, man, and then he decided, you
know what, I really got to start winning at some point,
So you know, I gotta get out of Orlando. I
(27:57):
gotta get to the Lakers. He gets the Lakers, he
INDs three championships, he wins a fourth with the Heat,
and now the Mercer legacy is secure, the Shaquille O'Neal
legacy is secure. He got to that point where he knew,
I need to start winning. I have to get more
serious about my career. Joel Embiid, the exact same thing
has happened. Right. He's always been a terrific player, but
(28:17):
him and Ben Simmons had been having fun the last
few years. But when they're a nice fifty win team
year after year and they lose in the second round
of the playoffs at best and they go home, and
that's kind of what it is. And you were waiting,
and I was waiting for m B to take this
next step because he is that dominant and this year
he has done it. I mean, he has played with
(28:38):
with a new sense of now I know what my
legacy needs to be. Right. The guy's thirty and twelve.
You know this season he is having a fantastic year.
And it was it was something that happened right from beginning.
I gotta give Doc Rivers a lot of credit because
he got it out of him. And look, the first
couple of years with Doc Rivers, We've said this many times,
have always been the best years. Uh, in Doc Rivers
(28:59):
years as being a head coach. It's the later years
are struggling. But and bead tonight and beat tonight is
showing you putting the exclamation point on the first half
going I am the m v P in this league
and really there's nobody else. Look, Steph Curry had a
nice week and a half run of always scoring thirty
five a game. No Joel embiads the m v P. Yeah,
I know he's been amazing all the way through. I
(29:20):
mean another forty nineteen night tonight, no overtime. Uh, we're
gonna have to effort the sound DOWNO than Mitchell going
off on officials as he was ejected. Uh, much like
Devin Booker was last night. I don't know. Giving them
early exits to the to the half halftime break here
of the season and the All Star break, I'm not
quite sure what the the pushes. But for for Joel
(29:44):
embiid we as you said, we it's been years in
the waiting right, this is already year five, which is
amazing how time flies by far his point per game
production is up rebounds on par with his career average.
His best was in where he averaged thirteen point six.
(30:04):
He's at eleven point three. Free throw percentage is at
a career best. One of those guys that four straight years,
you're you're seeing an increase and in in that aptitude
and in that in his field goal percentage of career high.
Like everything just breaking through. And we know there's you're
always looking for a new narrative. So the big thing
is for the Sixers. He's got to stay healthy quite obviously,
(30:27):
but they they need to keep a top the the
Eastern Conference, and I think he breaks through, right. Likable guy,
pretty good with the media. Remember him shagging fly balls
at the the All Star Game from Major League Baseball.
I mean that was just unfair, those big mits going
out and catching catching baseballs, and everybody's just got to
(30:48):
get out of the way. But he's the guy that's
the the new kid on the block, as it were,
even in the year five. You know what we talk
about all of these stars and what they've done hardens
a fun story. How many guys are gonna hold his
wanting out of Houston against him, right because that's the
other factor, right, stant's perspective, maybe yeah, the personality thing
(31:13):
may may hit him there. I'm not saying it's right
or wrong. I'm just saying it's human nature and humans
are voting on it, which means, all right, positivity, where's
the positivity. If they win it, that's great, but you
have to vote before that's decided. As for Joel Embiid,
you know, sixers trying to trying to make some noise,
(31:34):
which means we would get more video of Moses Malone
and maybe some more Alan Iverson appreciation. So I'm all
good with that. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten
pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
the I Heart Radio app A crazy story today out
of Major League Baseball, uh courtesy of Trevor Bower's agent,
(31:58):
Rachel Luba, who was appearing on the Barstool Sports podcast
starting nine, and she told a story about how well,
according to Rachel Luba, that Trevor Bauer nearly signed with
the Mets over a merchandise snaff. Foo. Now, if you
remember the day that Trevor Bauer made his decision to
sign with the Dodgers over the Mets. Uh it Mistakenly,
(32:20):
some merchandise went out that Trevor Bauer autographed the Mets
hat and it had the hashtag lf GM on it,
which is the Mets hashtag Lets Blanket Go Mets, which
was coined by Pete Alonso. And when this got out there,
Trevor Bauer was really concerned about it. According to Rachel
Luba on the podcast, she said, I was getting screenshots.
I didn't know what was going on. I called Trevor,
(32:41):
you know that's marketing. It's not me. Uh. Trevor was
very upset that this got out, and he just said,
you know what, it's the Mets. I'm gonna go to
the Mets. I can't disappoint the fan base. I can't
do this. I have to go to the Mets. And
Rachel Luba said, why don't you take some time? Why
don't you you know, I I understand it's a big decision.
Watch take some time. Why don't you go out and
(33:02):
go for a walk and come back and tell me
about it and give me your decision. And Trevor Bauer said, nope, sorry,
it's done. I can't do this, it's the Mets. I'm
gonna go play there. And then she again said to him,
listen how you reacted. Just now, you know you have
to think this through more. It's a life changing decision.
And then Rachel Lubis said that Trevor Bauer returned and
(33:24):
told her I want to go to the Dodgers. And
this is how Trevor Bauer wound up going to the Dodge.
So this, this, uh, this leak of of Mets merchandise
with Bowers name on it associated with him nearly caused
Trevor Bauer to go to the Mets. About that, Let
me think if I first of all, let me think
if I really believe that story. I really want to
(33:46):
go to the Dodgers, my lifelong dream. Look at the
money they're giving me. Oh it got out there that
I autographed the hat for the Mets. Oh all that
that I should go to the Mets. Really? Really was
that club? Really? I mean, Trevor Bauer is that kind
of guy going, well, the guy out, I'll take the
next three years of my life in New York. I
guess even though I really want to go to the Dodgers. Now,
then autograph had got out I'm gonna go to the Mets. Really,
(34:07):
I mean, look, do I think for a second there
was some kind of conversation about this. Of course there was,
but really, Trevor Bowers, you know, for the next three
years because this gets out somehow, I'm gonna go play
with the Mets my second choice instead of the Dodgers
my first choice. No way, no, I don't. I don't
believe this part of the story at all, that that
almost caused him to go to the Mets instead of
(34:28):
the Dodgers, that he twice told his agent. Nope, it's
the Mets of decisions done. It's that it was made
for me, the snaff food that came out, it was
made for me. I can't got, can't do it. I
can't go to the Mets. I'm going to the Mets.
I'm gonna do it, even like don't want to go there.
And I used the Dodgers, used the Mets leverage the
entire time so I could get this off from the Dodgers. No, no, no,
I will go to the Mets. Yeah. Yeah, I'm believing that.
It's brilliant. I I enjoy it immensely and I believe
(34:51):
every word. No, you're you're coming up with no, no,
it's fairy tales. Uh. As we go through this, Uh,
it's it's done. Why why do you need to keep
talking about it any spin? I mean, do you really
want to keep pushing this? It's just starting to look
silly the more you talk about it. Let's take nothing
(35:14):
away from whatever the negotiations were, whatever the final pieces
were to get him to l A. But the it's
it's a done deal. Don't don't belabor it because I
think you're starting to cheapen. Uh, the act of what
Trevor Bauer accomplished last year and the contract you were
able to negotiate. I mean, what, what's going to be
(35:36):
the next fairy tale that they go out? He had
a dream. He saw it while he was in a
sauna or a sweat lodge. I mean, you know, he
sat outside, had a nice fire going. He saw one
of those videos on Instagram where you learn how to
cook a steak over the open firefights, you know, random
(35:56):
logs in the in the field, and there it is
the you know, basically an endorsement of cast iron skillets.
Always being in the back of your truck with a
piece of meat and a cleaver. I mean, I don't know,
it's just you know, for I saw this earlier and
immediately texted, you go here you go more fairy tales
about how this came to pass. I mean, really, I
(36:21):
can understand where maybe there was that moment of Okay,
now I get down to this decision. It's really tough
and there's waffling, right, I I get that. I get
the decisions. It's a big decision to make, but I'm
not making the decision. Nobody makes decision based on well
fate intervened. And because that lf GM had got out
there with my autograph on it, I I gotta go there. No, No,
(36:43):
that's not that's not happening. I think that's a fun
story and it's something that clearly you know, cut through
because it's been picked up by a lot of places.
But there there's not a second I believe that. I
mean for a guy that's as calculating as Trevor Bower is,
because that's the one thing the guy is calculating. He
knows everything about what he wants to do with his brand,
and this is why he has Rachel Luba as his agent. Right,
(37:04):
She's she's new. You know, she's next level what it
means to be able to market yourself in a social
media age. And this is why he's that's that's why
they're together, right, this is why she's the next Scott Boris.
There's no way that this is. Oh well, that's too
bad that I would love to play for the Dodgers.
To man, that would have been great. But well, now
that that autographed hat got out, so alright, three years
(37:27):
in Flushing, yea, I'm gonna go do it. I mean,
I mean, I really there. There's just no one, but
but I want to be a man of my word. Look,
we teased it with merch. You could have just said,
got out. I'm sorry, you have to go now the
merch got out. Yes, we pushed a mock up page.
(37:48):
Who hasn't heard that from a million websites and whatever
through the years, right, and something that has a bunch
of Latin on it, because you want to see how
it renders in different browsers. And obviously this is now
very particular and specific, being a Mets hat that's autograph.
But you can just say, hey, we had a bunch
(38:08):
of these prepared, and unfortunately we pushed that one. Sorry,
here's a big virtual hug and if you need to, hey,
we'll do an auction for ten other hats. I'll set
and sign more Mets hats for you and you can
you can wear them or you want Dodger hats or
baseballs or or cleats or whatever it is, and you
(38:31):
can do some good for the community. Right. He still
came up with a bunch of money that's gonna and
and greetings and good tidings for one day next play
at City Field. So I mean there's some good that
came out of it that way. But yeah, this story
just became a alright, just just stop, just stop adding it.
Oh he really almost did that. Okay, because I know
(38:54):
about embellishing stories. I'll do that once. So like if
I'm telling a story in in mixed company, like off
the like off the Air, and I'm telling the stories,
oh the story would go better. Or if I'm telling
a story to my team, you know, and I want
to tell them an analogy soccer or baseball that works,
And if I'm working blue, hey, you all you're twelve
year olds, get around me, all right? Did I'm to
(39:16):
say some words here that you guys are gonna like.
But you know what, blank all of you. Okay, this
is what I got to say. So I always, you know,
I'll find a way if I want to give them
you know, that's that's basically when it happens sometimes, like
all right, I want to basically tell them a good
story and give them an analogy, and okay, well I
embellish stuff. Yeah, sure, I'll do that. And I always
get caught by Zoe because she's the cop and she
says me, Dad, that story didn't happen that way. I'm like, shoot,
(39:38):
you stop him shopting. Uh so it's kind of funny.
And I'll go, well here and she goes, oh, okay,
I get it. I'm like, yeah, don't, don't. Don't sit
there and go Dad, that story didn't happen that way.
It's okaya, lies just it's all right, this is how
it goes. All right, this is what happens. I'm telling
(39:58):
a great story, and are team is going to play
better because I'm telling this story just so we all know.
So yeah, but I mean to the point where it's
going to change lit I mean no, I mean really
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