Best of The Jason Smith Show

Jason Smith and Mike Harmon break down the Kevin Durant/ Nets settling with each other, the Angels have one choice and on choice only... selling everything and I mean everything and NBA Insider joins the show to talk Nets re-securing it's shiny toy. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:22):
Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
This is a story that I thought I wouldn't see coming,
and yet at the same time, I absolutely saw this coming.
Kevin Durant is going to stay with the Nets once again.
Harmon wins a Harmon winch stacked at those chips right
behind Aaron Rodgers and all these other guys. Um all bluster.

(00:46):
You did nothing, you lost. Kevin Durant is staying in Brooklyn.
He had a meeting with his agent, Steve Nash, Josiah,
the owner of the Nets, and his wife. Kyrie. Didn't
make that list. No, apparently not no Kyrie to make
that list. It wasn't part of the brain trust like
he thought. So a month after Kevin Durant says, either

(01:07):
Marx and Steve Nash go, the GM and the head
coach go, or I go Kevin Durant and everybody is
coming back. Well after he everybody's coming back after he
allegedly said that everybody's we get back to our sources, socks,
what's real, what's imagining? I still love those guys. We're

(01:27):
all coming back. Look this is where I say, hey,
we told you about this because the reason Kevin Durants
going back. The Nets can't find a trade for him.
Because Kevin Durant doesn't have the same cash and teams
don't want him. He's not the prize he would have
been a few years ago. Look what did the Memphis

(01:48):
Grizzly say yesterday? They were they were supposedly talking to
the Nets about Kevin Durant, wanted to pair him up
with John Rant Right Durant Urant, that would have been awesome,
But they said, we're not going to include Jaren Jackson Jr.
Who's gonna miss most of the season, or Desmond Bane.
You are now talking about teams that want a trade
for Kevin Durant, saying we are not going to include
not star players, but guys who are just good. Right, Well,

(02:11):
the biggest name that was said yes to was Jalen Brown.
That's his comp right now. Right. You always hear about
Compson in real estate, Well this house comps to this Now,
Kevin Durant comps to Jalen Brown and a bunch of
role players. That's Kevin Durant because he has heard his
brand so much over the course of the past couple
of years. Because his health is not great, he doesn't

(02:33):
play in a lot of games. His behavior, his lack
of leadership, has hurt his image. He's not the prize
he was coming off of. Hey, we're going back to
back to back finals with Golden State, and I'm winning
two m v p s and I probably would want
a third if I didn't tear my achilles. All of
those things. Kevin Durant is not sought after. And when
it first happened, we said it's gonna be a bit
of an eye opener because teams aren't gonna just blitz

(02:55):
and blow up whatever they have to bring in Kevin Durant.
He wants to go to a team that's a contender. Well,
guess what contenders want Kevin Durant. I'm not saying nobody
wants him. It's not like, hey, the Knicks are calling
trying to peddle a bunch of guys and say, hey,
how about you take Evan Fournier from us. But teams
are saying, yeah, we well, we would like Kevin Durant,
but we're not gonna give you any of our top
three players. We have to team him up with what

(03:15):
we have. So the big trade for Kevin Durant would
have been to a team like Portland's or Denver or
one of the almost contenders that would be desperate enough
to do it. But Brooklyn still couldn't find anybody when
you're when you're at the point where hey, Jaren Jackson,
Desmond Bane, there knows really that Susan Okay, And they're
just the latest in a group of players. We heard

(03:37):
that that team that said, yeah, we're not including this player,
this players player for Kevin Durant. He's not the prize
he once was. And he's and you know how piste
he is because he's out there right now thinking I'm Lebron,
I can call my shot. I want out, I'm getting
traded wherever I want to go. Oh wait, I'm not.
And now I gotta suck it up and stay with
Brooklyn for however long because I'm not that guy anymore.

(03:59):
He's just not sought after like he wasn't. Now people
are seeing it. Congratulates everybody to welcome to that take
that we talked about like a couple of months ago,
because that's been going around the last couple of days. Hey,
Kevin Durant, no one wants a trade. Yeah, we tell
you a month and a half ago. No one's training
for Kevin Durant. Not happening. Thirty four year old guy
thirty four at the end of September, so before the
season starts, injury issues, missing time, still an absolute assassin

(04:24):
on the court when he's available, and that's where we're
getting to. When he's available with the narrative be a
much different perhaps if he hadn't been wearing the clown
shoes a couple of years ago. Yeah, but we can't
take that out of the equation. It costs them. And
now you you move forward and to your point, right,
we we have New Orleans, we have Memphis. Couple of

(04:45):
teams on the Comptent's like, well we want some of
your young guys. No, No, the whole point is we
think we can contend if he shows up. So here's
ninety seven picks and two or three guys kind of
what the Knicks are trying to pedal to Utah. Not
to bring it back to your two failures. How about
eighteen protected first round picks and five guys that we

(05:06):
pick off our roster, and James Dolan will do a
free concert for you when you talk. The free concert
was a bridge too far, but we'll go to Park City.
It'll be great. You'll get to see some of the
Olympics stuff out and James Dolan will play the harmonic
you know what as a special thing. Will take everybody
to Red Rocks and he can perform like a b

(05:26):
and Jesus did Red Rock. Red Rock is different than
Red Rocks. Red Rocks. Red Rocks is where Jesus performed.
Red Rock is where I think Darius Rutger is performing.
Soon's Red Rocks. It's the Amphitheater. No. But but there's
Red Rock, which is the hotel and casino in Vegas.
Red Rocks is different from Red Rock. That's two different places.

(05:47):
You did another digits, I just blew you. Red Rock
is in Vegas, right and That's why. That's right. Red
Rocks is different. Red Rocks is wherever Red Rocks is, Yeah, Colorado, Colorado,
The Red Rocks in Colorado, Red Rock is in Vegas,
Round Rock is in Texas. Yes, the Rock is now
Dwayne Johnson. He's really selling me on Black Adam where

(06:10):
ever he can Yamna Rocky Blier was a running back
with the Pittsburgh Steel A legend, no question about it. Um,
Chris Rock is a comedian who got slapped on stage
of the Oscars. That's gonna be the first line of
the bio. Now, Chris Rock who was famously slapped on
stage during the Oscars by Will Smith. That's first line.

(06:30):
And whatever happened whenever he's done in his career, that's
the first line. Dude, you got slapped by Will Smith. Well,
the point I'm making is you you have all these
teams that have decided, we have, for lack of a
better term, untouchables for this type of negotiation because you
have to make the salaries match. So that's part of
the problem in this. You add all these component pieces

(06:50):
of what are you left with? Do you have a contender?
If Durant's missing thirty games you're gonna be good enough
to be in a spot to contend and Western Conference
probably not right. And that's where we kept seeing the
name pop up and all the rumor, conjecture, speculation. I
give the Nets full credit of finally being bold enough

(07:14):
to just say, no, this doesn't work. We're not we
We signed you to a four year deal. Whatever happens
with Kyrie happens with Kyrie at this point. But to
say we're gonna gut this, when we went all in
to bring you in and now we're gonna get it,
it's the fantasy equivalent that you get that trade off
for every year. Look, you've got three guys like yeah,

(07:35):
they're three oh three okay guys for your stud two
of whom you're probably gonna cut if you accept the trade. Right,
we're in the same thing here, is that you're gonna
end up with a couple of players that really offer
you no value to push you towards any meaningful end.
And let's face it, not everybody's Lebron. James is gonna

(07:55):
play another five to seven years. Even Lebron, he's missing
quarter seasons at this point. Look, everybody's going to play
in sixty all the stars. They only want to play
in sixty games. That's all I want. Give me fifty
five to sixty games. I'm gonna sit the rest of
the others. The outlier teams with filled with young up
and coming stars that haven't gotten their second contracts. Those

(08:15):
are the teams that, during the course of a regular
season might fight their way to the top of the
standings and have home court advantage. And then you're wishing, wanting,
hoping that include all the guys that we've mentioned through
the year, west Brook, Irving, James Davis, Durant, that these
guys are healthy when it matters, No thanks, I'll stay

(08:38):
a where at him and I like he's clapping back
and fighting with everybody and whatever. But to the Nets credit,
they finally stopped everything and just said, no, we're not
trading him for less than just because he wants to
be upset. Two damn bad for the Nets. If you're
trying to be good, this is the best thing for

(08:59):
you because you have Durant back, and at some point
you'll make a decision with Kyrie Irving maybe and you'll
have the Big three together. It's a craptastic and dysfunctional
way to get there. But if you're trying to be good,
this is what works for you with the nets. But
the nets, the nets had to realize that, Okay, we're
not getting what we thought and and if you're gonna

(09:19):
move on from and eventually you're gonna want to because
eventually Kevin Durant and this is not gonna work out.
It's gonna be a four year deal. No, no, you
have to understand that. Okay, you're only gonna get what
you get for k D. You're you're not. This is
not three years ago. And Kevin Durant is not the
slim reaper that's gonna bring us a championship. He's a
talented player who has not been able to lead in Brooklyn,

(09:40):
who is hurt and hurts his own image by how
he does not lead. And yeah, that's what the league
thinks of Kevin Durant. You're only it's it's like buying
a baseball card, right, It's only worth what people are
willing to pay for it. Right, It's only where you
could say this baseball card is worth two million dollars,
but if someone only wants to pay five round four it,

(10:00):
then it's worth five under grand Kevin durants the same thing,
k D. But k D is worth all this, No,
he's worth what the best offers. But yeah, you got
and and the best offer you're gonna get was from
the Celtics, which was Jalen Brown, a couple of players
and a couple of first round picks. That's the deal
you should have done if you were there, if you
really wanted to move on, that's the deal you should
have done. But they thought, a, we're gonna get something better,

(10:23):
and be ah, I don't know if we want to
send him to Boston because he really in the backyard
and we don't want to. We don't want him to
haunt us. Right there, they thought we're gonna get more
from him, and they realized, oh crap, we're not. Teams
are really not giving anything up. Look, the Pelicans said
they would't even give up brandon Ingram in a trade.
This is where you are, k D. These are just
these are just younger good players. These aren't superstars. And oh, hey, well,

(10:46):
we're not gonna trade Jayson Tatum for you. Okay, well
Jason Tatums, but look at the young but level down
from that, Look what New Orleans did, Look at what
Memphis did to take those two teams in particularly. Look
at the way they jelled this past year, right, and
it took not only the starting lineup, you had to
go deep into the bench, and they had a great rotation.
With New Orleans, they're looking at things led by Brian

(11:06):
and Ingram like, we're already getting Zion back, so we're
that much better? Are we going to disrupt the chemistry
that was there? That was part of the argument as
Zion was allegedly reportedly cleared down the stretch, was all right,
do we force him in to where maybe we aggravate
the injury, but we also disrupt the minutes and flow

(11:26):
of what we've been getting on a surgeon team. They
opted for what the team was about. Likewise, Memphis very
much so of close knit group. We had insiders on
and folks that broadcast for the squad. Same thing. There's
just that camaraderie you bring Kevin Durant. It's not saying
you can't re establish it, but it's gonna take some time, right,

(11:48):
and guys have to retreat out of roles that they've
become accustomed to. So everybody said, no, dicey, it's me.
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
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(12:11):
bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so do yourself
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pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and

(12:32):
the I Heart Radio app. Today, in Major League Baseball,
two really big headlines. One involves a team that is
now for sale, the other one involving a player. Well,
his his pride and his soul was for sale and
he sold it to the AZL Bubble for the talent
that he has. We'll get to Fernando Tatis coming up
in a bit. But uh, maybe you woke up earlier today,

(12:54):
like I got the Easel Bubba, the yeszelbubb as a
devil put right by, but it was by Land. It
was Beazel bub when I was growing up. And now
because of Freddie Mercury. It's be Y Maybe maybe quietly
the folks that were teaching me in the Catholic school,

(13:17):
maybe they were Freddie Mercury fans, because it was always
be elsabum for me, Beazel bubb so Brent Blema. Okay,
so you probably saw the news today that hey, the
Angels are for sale. Art Artie murraina in the worst

(13:39):
example of when to buy a team. He buys them
the year after they win the World Series and they've
been completely irrelevant since. No, no, no, what are you
talking about? What? What's what? Winning is nice? Yes? No, yeah,
look look what did he pay for the at the

(14:00):
Angels for a hundred and forty million dollars and now
they're worth over two billion. He's going to make out
in this deal. But you know, owners, your money is money,
and you want to talk about having a legacy. And no,
he buys the team after they win the World Series?
Buy and I and what have been in the playoffs
once since Mike transpen what six playoff games his entire career?

(14:23):
And now the Angels are for sale. And this is
not one of those exploratory maybe we're for something. No,
this is Artie Marinos, saying in a statement, I have
enjoyed my time owning the Angels. This is like I
don't even want to come into work anymore. I want
to have the paperwork done tomorrow and I want to
check that says two point two billion dollars in my
bank account tomorrow morning. That I want this done now.

(14:45):
I am finished. I'm moving on. Well, because you've had
a bunch of off field scandal, but the overarching narrative
of the Angels, because of the way they started this
year and where it all went to hell, you finally
at BO caught up on what you and I have
been saying on these airwaves going on at least nine
years plus my Sunday shows before that of what a

(15:08):
train wreck this organization has been from the minor league
system and their inability to consistently bring up bring players
through two viability the past three agent signings. I mean,
right now, you look at the Anthony ren don't and
you've got the gift of Shohei Otani going to you

(15:28):
instead of the Yankees and these other or the Red
Sox or anybody else that was looking to come on board,
he came to your squad and put so much cash
in your pocket, all of those things. So then they
have the hot start, look at the angels, and then
it blows up. Madden gets fired. Madden says, they're dead
to me. You know that all day. I gotta wash

(15:50):
my hands again. You know, the Paul Serveno thing, uh,
and so on? You after a lifetime, That's what it
was forever, a right, thousand bucks for a lifetime. But
that's who we're at with Hardie Marino. But like all
of a sudden, you had the cacophony of voices coming
through and saying, what a terribly run organization. We've been

(16:11):
watching it for years, We've been calling it out. How
many times did I use the phraseology of Mike Trout
hasn't taken a meaningful at bad except for Opening Day
and trying to win a truck at the All Star Games.
I don't know how meaningful is opening Day when after that?
But there's excitement, the hope, and there's meaning. There's exciting,
Like I'm excited for the Jets season. There's gonna be

(16:32):
no meaning in it. Childer down fifteen. Uh, of course
the first I'll be excited the first series and I'm done,
all right, Yeah, that you know, touchdown and point differential
really starts to balloon, which it will. I just spent

(16:53):
all that money on Jet Skire and I bought the
Sunday package. Now I gotta get rid of it because
they stink. But the Jets aren't going anywhere. No, they
will be there to disappoint you after some excitement, some
build up, and a meaningful quarter of football again. Now
there's some firecracker stuff going on here with the Angels
being for sale, because look, you're right, they have been mismanaged.
Their farm system is awful. It was pretty good ten

(17:16):
twelve years ago, fifteen years ago, but it's not. And
Artie Marino wanted to try to buy the land around
Anaheim stadiumy wouldn't let him buy it. He wanted to
try to buy the stadium. They wouldn't let him buy it.
So he's like, okay, I'm done. Now, I'm only gonna
go so far, and clearly it's not going anywhere, so
I'm moving. So now what does this mean? A right,
there's three big things that that this means for the

(17:37):
Angels and and for Major League Baseball and fans. Number One,
a new owner is gonna come in and are they
gonna want to sit back and say, well, we're gonna
suck for a while and we're paying Mike Trout and
we're paying show hey Otani. No, Within the next year,
Otani and Trout will both be dealt because the new
owner is gonna come in. Because here's number two. The

(17:58):
Angels will rebrand as a SMA all market farm system
type team. They're gonna be like they're they're They're just
gonna be. There's gonna be the Halos, just the hair
were you associated with where you know the eight moneyball
as Yeah, we're gonna be even a step lower than
that because that's the only way you can go because
your future is what You've tried paying money for free agents.

(18:18):
It doesn't work. The Padres took a long time to
build up their farm system and now they're good. So
this is what you are. If you're the Angles, you
gotta hire the right people and they will rebrand. That's
who they'll be. They'll be a team that tries to
bring up all their talent through the through the farm system.
That's how they'll rebrand. So you'll be able to get
in the next year Otani, Mike Trout, they will both
be eminently available because the new owners aren't gonna want

(18:42):
to be on the hook. Wait, I let's got five
hund million dollars than No, I'm not doing it. So
to sell a team that's worth two point two billion.
You don't want to be saddled already with a five
million dollar deficit, especially when you're not going to be good.
If this was Hey, the Angels were good and boys
were just to step away from the World Series, Okay,
but they're not Like Steve Cohen bought the Mets and said, boy,
the Mets, but we got some good pieces here, we

(19:03):
got some good players. We've got to grind. Yeah, I'm ready.
I'm pouring my money and so we can win. And
look at the Mets now, they're having a great season.
But for the Angels, you're not. You want to sell it. Okay,
we're two point two billion. Oh, by the way, and
here's five hundred million dollars. You oh, trout five hundred
million dollars. They'll go. Those guys are gone. You will
be able to They will be both being different addresses
and will be Otani first, and then it will be Trout.

(19:24):
It will be difficult to trade Mike Trout, but they're
gonna have to do it. You've seen the best of
his career. He's thirty years old, and they're going to
have to do it now. The other part of this
is that you're gonna have two great guys and and
then sometime in the next seven years, the Angels will
move right there. They're they're married to Anaheim for a while.
Longer they can move somewhere in the area. Yeah, pass,

(19:48):
they can move somewhere in the area. All the long rooms,
all they go to Long Beach. But eventually they'll be
able to move Las Vegas someplace else. It won't be
for another seven years. I don't think they can get
out until after nine. So they're they're they're locked into
the greater Los Angeles area. So whether it's a short move,
but the new owners will come in and go, yeah,
I'm in this for the long haul. I want a

(20:09):
team in Vegas. Maybe the A's don't even go to Vega.
Maybe the a stay now and it's the Angels that
go to Vegas. We have another team there because hey,
we're in the We're in the in the shadow of
the Dodgers. We're gonna be forever in the shadow of
the Dodgers. So we're gonna go those three things happen
with the Angels, trout, no Tani or traded, they rebrand
as a small market team, and they will move in
the next seven years. Well, we know the uh push

(20:32):
in the minor leagues is certainly there because they drafted
nothing but pictures a year ago. I was great. I
love that draft. Just gonna keep going. Alright, it's like
the end of your draft. All right, everybody's got a draft,
a kicker, I don't care, and just just let it
auto pick who's gonna take h and you move forward.
I would agree on the Otani side of things, but

(20:56):
depending on the ownership group. Let's see who who pops
up that wants to be part of things. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific,
pinning us now on the Hotline. You can follow him
on Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina. That's Mark g
Underscore Medina, NBA writer and insider friend BA dot Com.

(21:19):
He covered the Warriors of Kevin Durant for years. Longtime
friend of the show who came in second to Darvin
ham In being named Lakers head coach. So, Mark, congratulations
that could you still keep a better gig than coaching
the Lakers? Hey, look, it could be worse. You could
be Seawn Marks or Steve Nash, two guys that Kevin
Durant wanted fired last week, but now all of a

(21:39):
sudden is willing to be colleagues again. Uh so yeah,
I mean you keep it on perspective, I feel pretty
good if I'm either of those guys proud, I'm gonna yeah, exactly,
Hey pick me. How that is amazing? I mean usually
in today's NBA, uh, if an mp A superstars demanding

(22:01):
a coach or GM to be fired, like they asked, uh,
you know, how high should we jump? And here they
didn't blink. They said, no, we are keeping Steve Nash,
We're keeping Shawn Barks. Uh you know, f you Kevin Durant. Right,
So it's just interesting and sad to say the least,
that both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, uh this offseason

(22:23):
try to pull up George Costanzo. Right, they said, you
know what, I quit, I'm leaving this job. And then
you know the next week they come back to the
office acting what nothing happened to the other one where
he's dragging a trophy around although they didn't win a trophy,
so they'd have to substitute something else. And I can't
get fired. Can't fire me if you can't find me. Nope,

(22:43):
can't fire me. He's working really hard. Uh. This is
the craziest part to me, Marcus, that it's embarrassing for
Kevin Durant to to pull the Hey, I can make
whatever I want to happen happen, and now clearly he can't.
And I look back at this and I say, this
is part of the microcosm as to why he's still
a Brooklyn Net. He thought he had one kind of

(23:04):
impression and image around the league when clearly he's not
the prize that he once was, and nobody wanted to
trade for him, and that's why he's back with the Nets. Yeah,
and look, I think that there's some layers to this
that you know, there was certainly interest for Kevin Durant
because he still is one of the best players. But
I think gierpoint teams through the line in the stand

(23:25):
at what costs. None of those teams we're going to
be giving their best player away. A lot of teams
included be Golden State Warriors, wanted to value team continuity.
So while you also factor in look, the Nets, we're
just gonna take any deal. It's not like other teams
were willing to give up the moon to get Kevin Durant. Um.
I think the second thing here, Uh that's interesting is

(23:49):
that you know, I don't fault Kevin Durant for not
for wanting to leave Brooklyn. Like if I'm Kyrie Irving's teammate,
I would have been very frustrated with his behavior and
his lack of availability last season. Same thing with Ben Simmons.
He did not play a single game with the Nets
last season after getting acquired from the Philadelphia so many

(24:10):
sixers in a trade. Uh, Steve Nash, look, he's a
Hall of Fame point card, but he hasn't proven yet
to be a really good coach. Sean Marks has had
a proven track record and building a good team. But
you know, ever since acquiring Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irvan,
they haven't put the right roster around them. But I
think the problem with Kevin Durant, Uh, you know, making

(24:33):
these kind of demands is he is the culture here's
responsible for why the Nets are where they are. Um,
you know, Sean Marks was willing to listen to Kevin
named Kyrie's wishes as far as trade away their young
assets to get guys like a DeAndre Jordan's or getting
James Harden and all of a sudden trading him less

(24:53):
than a season later. And they also listened to their
voice about having Steve Nash and look, Steve Nash again
as basketball credentials, but the knock against him before was, hey,
he's never been a head coach ever. And uh, you know,
they got rid of Kenny Atkinson who's been having a
proven track record with having a really great uh player

(25:14):
development approaches as well as an offensive mind. Um, so well,
I don't fault Kevin for being upset with the Nets culture.
The problem is he is the Nets culture at and
of itself. So it is a classic example of uh,
you know, the pot calling the kettle black. Jason Spit
Show with Mike Harvit here, Fox Sports Radio on the

(25:36):
Hotline with us NBA writer NBA dot Com. You've read
them on USA Today, The Mercury News, l A Daily News.
Find him on Twitter at Mark g Underscore mcdina joined us,
talking about all the silly season here in the NBA
and one of the great stories that was the thread
uh is now dead, so there's more dominoes to fall,

(25:57):
of course. But let's go back to your time covering
the Warriors Mercury News and Kevin Durant. What was he
like then? Was there any inkling that this was on
the horizon? Well, look, uh, you know, I loved covering
covering Durant. I think personally he was always professional with me.
You know, there were a few times where you know,
he actually I would say only really one time that

(26:18):
he didn't take. Finally, after the Draymond pren altercation where
I asked, you know, the next game that they started playing,
how things are and he said, don't ask me that
question ever again. But his credit, he apologized. We had
a really great working relationship and I think we still do. Um.
So those things were great, and I think, you know,
the results speak for itself his time with the Warriors.

(26:40):
Two NBA titles out of three finals appearances, two finals
m v P S. I think that the underrated thing
about him and the Warriors is that as much as
people like to say, oh, well there was just a
team full of all stars. He rolled a ball on
the floor. Um, all those guys were able to sacrifice,
complement each other's role while still doing what they do best.

(27:03):
So Kevin deserves a lot of credit with that. But
I think with his final season there, it was clear
that it was likely he was going to leave, not
necessarily because the Warriors or even the Draymond Green altercation,
but more of everything external. When he wanted his first
NBA championship. It didn't provide any sort of source of
validation for him, and he wasn't always getting you know,

(27:26):
kind of those asterisk commentary of no matter what he accomplished,
it was held against him that you know, he won
a championship with the star stud of Warriors. So I
think with that he wanted to take on a new challenge,
not because he wanted to be the band, but I
think to show that he could still win titles elsewhere
without being part of the Warriors. Uh, you know, culture

(27:48):
and star power. But I think that mindset is understandable,
but it's a huge leap of faith to then say,
you know what, I'm gonna go to the Brooklyn Nexts
and team up with Kyrie Irving because even though Kyrie
I means as amazing talent he wanted title with Lebron,
he he doesn't exactly represent any form of leadership or
dependability as it pertains to his availability. Amazing talent, but

(28:13):
you never know when he's going to show up. So
when it comes to the future, Katie's going to stay
in net? Is he a NET forever? Is he a
net until the trade deadline? As are he and Kyrie
Irving playing together? How do you see this next year unfolding?
Look flip a coin. I mean, look, he threatened to
break up and then they're willing to get back together.

(28:34):
Does that mean it's going to be a long last marriage?
Though maybe it might mean another fight here, But the
reality is I think that they both the NET and
Kevin Durant finally realized today. And except the fact that
they're better off with each other, they have a lot
of question marks. I think Kevin's the least of them
because to his credit, he was he was always dependable

(28:55):
when he was healthy, and I don't think that he
was going to boycott, you know, going into training camp,
like Ben Simmons said last year with the Sixers. But
there's questions about Kyrie's availability, his leadership, the when's Ben
Simmons can ever play? And how healthy will he be?
And how about the rest of the supporting cast it's
basically lacking. And how will Steve Nash continue to addust

(29:15):
as a coach. Those are a lot of question marks
that have to be checked. So while there is precedent
with Kobe Bryant with the Lakers in two thousand seven
after he went score shirt, the manager trade, you know,
hurling personal insults at Cherry Boston, Mitch cup Check, you know,
they're willing to, you know, co exists and make it work,
and they wound up getting a really good package trade

(29:38):
with pal Gasol before the trade deadline. Then they made
the NBA Finals. They lost that year to Boston, but
then they won back to back titles. Um, there is
an avenue for the Nets to do that, but I
think it's a lot easier said than done because there's
a lot more question marks this Nets franchise has to
answer than that Lakers franchise had to answer at that time. Mark,

(29:58):
out of all the reports, you got the brain trust together,
I thought Kyrie was supposed to be inner circle. What
happened I mean, I don't think I was ever in
his circle. I mean, did you have any illusions there? No, no, no,
just saying in his inner circle like he was gonna
help run things. He's not even at the table him. No, No,

(30:19):
I know if you were, that'd be even better. I
was hoping I was stumbled on to something there and
I didn't think I didn't think it was telling it
after his after the season ended on how he he
and Kevin Durant, We're gonna huddle up with Sean with
Sean Marks to the figure out what's the best course, uh,
and excluding Steve Nash as if he's like not in

(30:40):
charge as a head coach. So yeah, I think it's
rich and it's very it's a very astute observation you
made that Kyrie Irving was not part of that meeting,
I think, And that's the side of draw line in
the sand and say, you know what, we're not going
to allow uh, you know, the shenan Shenanigans to go on,
and we're gonna exert some sort or to the authority

(31:00):
here and try to act professional