July 16, 2022 • 33 mins
The Houston Texans say the team settling with 30 women who accused Deshaun Watson isn’t an admission of guilt, and Jason Smith and Steve DeSaegher lend their thoughts! When are the Knicks getting Donovan Mitchell? Plus, NBA.com NBA Insider Mark Medina joins the guys to discuss more from the NBA!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
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(00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio. Welcome
inside our to The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon.
Special delivery Steve to Singer in from Mike Harmon and Uh,
we got a big, a different take on Kevin Durant
coming up in a couple of minutes after the news
today that the Nets have it liked any of the
(00:46):
offers they've gotten for Kevin Durant and a trade is
a ways away. But this has just come in about
fifteen minutes ago from Adrian Walt Garowski. Russell Westbrook has
parted ways with OH has parted ways with his long
time agents, Yeah Washerman Group. Uh, one of the league's
(01:09):
most prominent player representatives. UH, they are no longer representing
Russell Westbrook, Westbrook Siding and reconcilable differences, which is what
you say when you're getting divorced. It just means we
just can't get along. We got differences, we got different things.
We fight all the time. I think actually Westbrook was
upset because he didn't actually the agent deliver the Braves
latest proposal to him. It was something like that. I'm
(01:31):
not sure. I'm not sure that he was. He was.
He was crying at the press conference when oh, I
did never wanted to leave. I mean, Westbrook spend his
whole time in Atlanta. Of course, he's very attached to
the Brakes. Now, it reconcirable differences. According to the statement
to Woes, Yes, and Woj also says that there was
no longer full I'm reading from agent Walderowski now there
(01:53):
was no longer full alignment with Westbrook about whether he
should want to remain with the Lakers for the last
season of his forty seven million dollar contract. He believes
Westbrook and and his agent Fad Foscher says that the
best option is to stay with the Lakers, embrace the
starting role and support that Darvin Ham publicly offered. So
(02:14):
this tells you that Westbrook is thinking, I don't want
to be here. Best way for you is to stay
with the Lakers and make it work. Worst thing would
be to go someplace else. Now that snooze you consider
this snows do you don't? Well, yeah, because what Russell
Westbrook was, Oh, I'm opting in, I'm staying, I'm staying,
I'm staying. And then it has been I want out
and went out and went out and went out. Look,
how long do you need to hear this team is
(02:35):
trying to move you, This team needs to move on
before you realize it is ain't gonna work for me
here in l A Right, I mean, that's what it is.
But for Westbrook, it would be a better call for him.
Now if you're talking about what's the best call for
him to try to remake his career? Right, And I'm
putting this in and when you think about this in
terms of like Baker Mayfield, you kind of get a
(02:56):
little bit right because what did I say from Mayfield
was Mayfield's got to look out for the rest of
his career. What was the best thing for him? He's
twenty six. If he goes somewhere and doesn't win the
starting job or stinks, he's never gonna get to start again.
Like that's it. No one's ever gonna give me a
chance to start, and it'll be a backup quarterback the
rest of the way. If he goes to Carolina and
can't beat out Sam Donald, he's never gonna start again.
(03:19):
Was that the best thing for his career? No, the
best thing would have been for him to go somewhere
like Tampa or Buffalo and sit behind a star for
a year and get out of everybody's a line, like
is everybody's sick of reading stories about him every single
day because the more people read about him, the more
people think he's not a good quarterback. And we also
(03:39):
want to read about Aaron Rodgers every day, And and
you're not sick of that. I'm still waiting for the
tattoo explanation. You got the fifteen tattoos he's gonna explain?
Are we gonna get it? Like an advent calendar at
Christmas where you open a different box every day and
explaining this tattoo? What's the eye of Agamodo that you
have on there? Can you see the three eyes? Like
doctor Strange. Sometimes you just won't get the answers. We
(04:01):
talked about Tiger Woods earlier in the show and The
reason why he's limping around the course at the British
Open is because there was a car accident last year.
Aren't you still wondering? Okay, what caused the car? Actually,
because you know what caused the car accident, according to
the l A Sheriff's Department, excessive speed. Thank you didn't
realize that excessive speed? Okay, what caused that? Maybe that's
(04:22):
what we're asking. Some questions will go unanswered, Jason Smith.
They do no matter how many times you asked them.
We will never get answers. But if Mayfield, if Mayfield
did that, if Mayfield went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
learned under Brady stayed out of everybody's mind frame for
a year when teams are inevitably looking for quarterbacks out
we're not going to get our guy in the draft
(04:44):
this year because we're not drafting first or second. We're
not getting Bryce Young, We're not getting c. J. Strout.
We need somebody. Mayfield went somewhere for your boy. You know,
there's nobody else out there. Mayfield started for a while,
he wasn't number one pick. We can go back and
look at what he was like before the draft, and hey,
let's call Tampa. What what do you what do you
think about him? Oh, he's been great and everything and
he Tom Brady, what's he been like behind you? He's
(05:05):
been awesome. He's learned a lot. I'll tell you. He's
a different guy. He gets the maturity level on things now.
And if you're a team you be can you can
be convinced that Baker Mayfield can be our guy. And
he comes in with the full support of the organization.
We're signing you to be our bridge quarterback. Now, if
you play well enough, you're young enough that you can
be your quarterback. Going for look at Ryan Tannehill Wrights,
what happened to him? You can do that. That's the
(05:28):
best path for him to succeed. For Russell Westbrook, what's
the best path for him to reclaim his career? And
that is I agree with his agent. It's staying with
the Lakers because if he goes someplace else, he's off
the NBA map. No one's ever going to acquire him
again thinking he can be a difference maker for us.
(05:48):
No one's ever going to pay him again because he's
not a difference maker. You look at what happened when
the Lakers were an absolute and abject disaster. So if
somehow things change, let's just say they're able to make
a couple of moves, they get Buddy Heal, they get
Miles Turner, whatever it is, Westbrook coming back, he's going
to start with the Lakers. If the Lakers defy expectation
(06:10):
and they're good, guess who jump starts his career again,
Russell Westbrook. And whether he resigns with the Lakers for
more money because it works and Lakers go far in
the playoffs and Lebron says, a let's keep the gang
together for one more year and let's try to figure
it all out, or another team says, you know what, hey,
he can be our Chris Paul. We saw he was
back to being the dynamic player that he was he
was with Washington Oklahoma City. He can still do that. Yeah,
(06:33):
he's thirty three, thirty four. We can go get him
and give him a couple of years and see if
he is the missing piece for us. So that's really
the best path for him. I mean, obviously had to
opt into the forty seven million dollars a year because
no one else is gonna pay him. Though he's gonna
play under the option year, finish out the max contract.
But you mentioned his age. This is the agent he's
had since U c l A. So this is over
(06:53):
a decade with this guy that they are divorced years.
He was there with A fourteen years. So somewhere in
this when you gave the Baker Mayfield example, are you
saying that's also the Geno Smith route where you go
to another team and people forget about you and then
you get your chance. Is that Is that what you
just said, The Baker Mayfield is Geno Smith? No? No, no no,
(07:14):
The Geno Smith route is go to a team, don't
say anything, and then watch another hope the team trades
their quarterback and then forgets to get a new one
and they realize, oh, you're the only one there, the
other guy that can't play quarters. I guess that's how
it goes. I guess that's what we're doing. Okay, then
that's fine, But Russell Westbrook still has years plural left
(07:37):
in this league. As bad as last year was and
as bad as Russell Westbrook was in the paint, I'm
still astounded at a guy that's known for his athleticism
since U c l A. That's part of the reason
why he was a lottery pick, not just the defense.
He just was a waste in the paint. How a
guy could miss that many four or five footers and
(07:58):
in was a wounding to me. And so you can't
have you know, point guards tend to have a lot
of layup attempts. You can't have that as your ball handler.
And then you know the amount of hitting the side
of the backboard and those kind of things. But that's
going to count this year the one point something. You
(08:20):
get a half a point for the side of the backboard,
you get a quarter, you get a quarter and a
quarter of a point for the top of the backboard.
So it's going to at least how no matter what
he does, he will draw some kind of points for
the Lakers. Next Well, he's still going to be in
this league for years, and I I stand by that plural. However,
what last year did is it kind of rearranged the
(08:44):
course of the flow of the river of his resume.
If you understand. It really got people thinking about him
in a way that they might start thinking about him
that way permanently. And so he's got to do something
now this year with the Lakers to to kind of
make up for last year. Nothing can make up for
(09:04):
last year. And you know what I mean, You've got
to change some minds. That's on you this year. And
this is my open letter to the Lakers for this
year because Frank Vogel didn't do it, and he should
have and it was a disaster from the beginning. Let's
just all be you know, we got pulp fiction on
our TVs right now here at Fox. Let's all be
five little fonds. He's gonna be cool for a second.
(09:26):
And understand what I'm saying is what the path is
for the Lakers going forward. Last year they got Russell Westbrook.
Russell Westbrook has done one thing for the past fourteen years.
He was playing point guard his way, and the system
of the team has always adjusted around Russell Westbrook, who
is a dynamic player. He is a volume shooter. He
(09:48):
doesn't always make the right decisions, but he hasn't always
been surrounded with the greatest talent. Sometimes he had great
talent around him, got to the NBA Finals, sometimes he didn't.
Still was able to win m v P in the NBA.
What did the Lakers do when they got Russell Westbrook? Again,
this is a guy who's been in the league now
for thirteen years. We're gonna change what you do. We're
gonna take you from being a ball dominant point guard
(10:10):
to being someone who maybe brings the ball up, splits
the job with Lebron, but sometimes stands in the corner
waiting for the ball. How was that ever going to
be and work out well for the Lakers. You took
a player who does one thing really well, and you're
gonna try to make Russell Westbrook a just and and
and do something that he's never done before, thinking that's
(10:31):
going to work. You can't do that with every player.
And maybe you're spoiled with Lebron because Lebron is someone
as we've seen, my goodness, the guy it's small forward,
power forward, point guard center last year. Maybe moving Lebron
to the five full time is how it's gonna go
and how he extends his career for another two or
three years just because you have Lebron, who can play
(10:53):
any position incredibly well. I mean, you can't just do
that with everybody. You can't take someone and say, okay,
this is what you've done, now we're gonna do this
to you. Here. I cringe Steve when I see the
Jets in the NFL draft, go, hey, we we let
you know. He was a defensive end in college, but boy,
he really projects well to be a defensive tackle in
the NFL. And I go, there's a bust. That guy's
(11:13):
never gonna happen because you're gonna change what the guy knows.
What he's done, well, it's gotten with the league. No, no,
we're gonna change your position because we think you can
do this better. And that's one thing to say when
a guy is young. But Westbrook thirteen years suddenly you're
gonna change what he does. He's gonna and he's gonna
buy in, and I don't know. You have to give
him the offense, you have to adjust around it, and
you have to let it go from there. I realized
(11:34):
that could rankle the feathers of a d and Lebron
a bit, going, this is kind of our team. But
this is who you wanted. You wanted Russell Westbrook. You
want the best version of Russell Westbrook. This is the
way to do it, and this is the best version
for the Lakers. The Lakers have more problems than just Westbrook.
Allow me to state the obvious because well, yeah, no.
But the way that people have talked about Westbrook, some
(11:55):
are getting the impression or you know, the foggy glasses
looking back to last season that he was the only problem. Please.
He has had a career where he's averaged at least
twenty points a game for a decade straight, but not
last year. He also has been the assists man so
often that he led the league in assists three out
of the last four years. Certainly not last year, not
(12:16):
on this team. And then when you have the warts
of his shooting, including the in the paint shooting, there
just was no avoiding how by his standard, this was
a bad year and it was a wolf a year
by the Lakers standard. But his three point shooting he
was under again from three point range. Why are you
trying three to five three pointers per game when you
(12:37):
can't make three out of ten And this has been
the case for the last five years from long distance
for this guy. So he needs to get it through
his thick skull on some points as well. Twitter, and
how about a fresca Jason Smith Steve to say, you're
in from Mike Harmon tonight. So look, it may not
be the best thing for the Lakers. But if he's
gonna be back, and this is what it is. And
again he's parting ways with his agent as they differed
(12:59):
over the direction of him. It looks like he wanted
to leave the Lakers. Now his agent wanted him to stay.
The best thing for everybody. He's got to stay. And
if he does stay and you can't move him, good, Look,
if you can move Russell Westbrook, you move him right
the Lakers. That's one thing that I'm not saying you
gotta keep him, But if you are forced to keep him,
that's the best way forward. The best to do is
(13:20):
be able to move him and bring somebody else in,
or make a train and get Kyrie Irving to come in.
That's the best thing. But if you are stuck with
him and you have no way to go forward, I
know it sounds weird, going, boy, we're stuck with him.
We're gonna give you the offense. That's the NBA. That's
not works. Sometimes we really don't want to, but we're
gonna give you so much responsibility. This is how people
succeed now in the world and outside of basketball. But
(13:41):
that's the way forward. If you're stuck with him, you
gotta keep him. You gotta let him be who he is.
That's the best way. And I thought it was a
very complementary statement from the agent, I mean up and
down talking about Well, of course he spent so much
time with him. This was presented as a very amicable
departure and yet a divorce. Nonetheless, well, what does the
(14:02):
agent care. He negotiated the last big contract he's ever
gonna get. That's what I mean. He has nothing to
gain from being right ultra nice right now. And he
states Russell's the first bell at Hall of Famer. He'll
prove that again before he's retired. But your reconcilable differences
as to his best path for breaking news, Russell Westbrook
is withholding payment of his former agent for the forty
(14:24):
seven million dollar contract extension is on uh. Auto Zone's
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(14:46):
got easier. Restrictions apply. So getting the zone auto zone, Well,
we had that bit of news. Wanted to bring you
here breaking here on the show. Coming up next, Hey,
Kevin Durant, might we be a ways away from a trade?
Is he real? He has sought after as we think
he is? What about Donovan Mitchell? The Utah Jazz want
everything including the Statue of Liberty? According to Nick sources,
(15:08):
how's this gonna play out? Very special? Guys stopping by
with the answers on Matt More next right here on Fox.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. So, wait, are we getting rick rolled or not?
I don't understand. We're not so we're not so this
(15:29):
is not a a rick rolled. We're not getting there?
All right? Very good Fox Sports Radio. That Jason Smith
Show is Steve de Sager in from Mike Harman. Tonight.
We can talk about how complicated other banks make it
to redeem credit card rewards, or we could talk about
how we discovered you can redeem your rewards for cash
in any amount at any time. I mean talk about amazing.
(15:50):
Learn more at discovered dot com slash redeemed rewards. That's
discovered dot com slash redeemed rewards limitations they do apply well.
Joining us now on the Hot Law longtime friend of
the show, NBA writer insider for NBA dot Com. It's
covered the Warriors, he's covered the Lakers, and he is
now Russell Westbrook's new agent. It is Mark Medina. He
(16:13):
is on Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina. Mark, congratulations,
hopefully you can figure out a solution for Russell Westbrook. Man,
I I think this gigs Russell's agent is gonna last
much shorter than my gay guys the Lakers head coach.
That wasn't less than a second. And the interview and
they showed me the door. So I'm sure Russ is
gonna read me out after this interview and so fired. Hey,
(16:35):
I tell you I made a recommendation for I told
you what to tell Rob Polink. It's not my fault.
You gotta do something for yourself. Mark. Hey, I I
had to speak from the heart, you know, like I'm
not gonna just act like I want this job when
I really didn't, So I just thought, you don't want
I'm gonna sabotage my camp and getting this that's such
a sign felt way to think about it. Look, I
don't really want the job, so I sabotage it and
(16:57):
they gave it to me anyway. Yeah it alright? So hey,
so real quick on Westbrook before we get into Kevin Durant,
Donovan Mitchell. Uh, you know, he split ways with his agent.
Uh and this this came up about a half hour ago,
agent war Janowski reporting it and reportedly it's over a
difference of opinion is to what the best thing for
(17:17):
his career is. The agent says, I wanted Westbrook to
stay with the Lakers and start and get in with
Darvin Hammond potentially Russell. Westbrook side of it is, I
want out. Uh what's the best thing for Westbrook? What
do you think? Yeah, it's interesting. I think from a
I think the best thing for him is to be
with the Lakers so he can keep that money and
I have to worry about a build and see if
(17:37):
he can you know, uh, salvage his relationship and with
the Lakers and his teammates and also rehab his professional
career because last year was a disaster. Now Russ might
not even have any choice. Um, you know, he might
get his wish because the Lakers are trying to still
make deals. You know. I I got breakfast in Vegas
(17:59):
earlier this week with Genie Buss, and she made it
clear to me. When I sat down with her for
an on the record two and a she said, Hey,
the work's not done. We're still trying to make moves
and and it wouldn't surprise me if we do. And
when I asked her, look, she can't talk specifics, but
I think you can read between the lines. When I
asked her about you know, where do you draw the
line in terms of draft picks and other assets, she said,
(18:21):
Look like when we traded for Anthony Davis, we gave
up a lot. But when you want to get something,
you have to give up a lot and return. So
I think, you know, she's pushing the organization and not
worry about, Hey, how many draft picks are we giving up.
She's very mindful of last season's playoff disass her and
her expectations they they at least make the playoffs because
(18:41):
that will allow them to try to get back to
that championship contention like they were two years ago. Probably
a stretch to say at least they can get back
to that, But it's her expectation that they at least
make you know, the playoffs and the second round lest
finals ideally, and if not, you know, maybe more changes
come on the horizon. In terms of the front off,
Marcus is Steve. There's really two things with the Westbrook
(19:03):
story coming out tonight. One that the l a time
says Westbrook has never requested a trade from the Lakers.
The other is the quotes to Woes about or from
the agent that I believe that Westbrook's best option is
to stay with the Lakers and they've parted. So what
do you conclude? Does the opt in actually mean that
Westbrook is and wants to stay with the Lakers. I'm
(19:25):
divided here, I'm getting I'm I'm getting conflicting messages. Well, look,
these things don't necessarily have to be conflicting. Um, he
never would have to request a trade of the Lakers.
They've been trying to get rid of them the entire
off season, Like they don't need his permission to say,
you know what, I want to go. They've been trying
to pack his suitcases up and shove them out the door.
(19:47):
But there's no lift driver that's been willing to accept
the ride. So yeah, I mean Russ may not have
requested trade. I don't think he has wanted to do
that because it sends the wrong message. But the Lakers
have been trying to find deals for him, and even
though that, they've been publicly and privately talking about, you
know what, we think with Darvin Hammon's coaching staff, this
will get um, you know, more out of him, and
(20:09):
we didn't feel like Frank Vogel will used him the
right way. That's not to say they still want to
find a deal even if they are kind of bullish,
and the fact that they think they can still get
the best out of him with the new coaching staff
and presumably more than twenty one games that he played
last year with Lebron James and Anthony Davis, they still
have tried to shop him. And you know, Russ doesn't
(20:30):
need again to make a request the Lakers because they've
already been trying to see what they can get on
it with them on the market now. Mark, So some
of the other big dominoes are waiting to fall, and
Kevin Durant obviously is one of them. Uh. Today we
find out the Nets have not been overwhelmed with a
lot of offers. They didn't like the offer from the
Phoenix Suns, which is one of Kevin Durant's biggest priorities.
(20:52):
You know, we heard it was it was the Sons
and the Heat potentially the top of his list, is
there Pine? And I'm just saying, is there a possibility
out there that maybe the value league wide of Kevin
Durant in trade is not what we thought it was
going to be. Well, I think it's it's almost like
the state of the economy these days, right where it's contradictory.
(21:16):
I think that there's a market for Kevin, and there's
obviously interests with twenty nine teams, but it's about what
are you willing to give up? And I think the
danger is there's you know, there's a market interest for
Kevin Durant the talent, but because of how amazing he is,
I think teams either don't have the necessary assets that
the Nets are looking for, and if they do, they think, Okay,
(21:39):
if we got rid of all these things that we have,
we'll basically have Kevin Durant and no one else on
the team that's good. And so I think that these
teams want to avoid becoming what the New York Knicks
were in two thousand and eleven, if if I'm not mistaken,
when they got Clarmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets, they
basically gave the Nuggets their entire roster, and then Mellow
(22:00):
showed up at the Garden and had no one around
him to pass the ball. Now, in Mellow's case, and
maybe that's not a problem because he still likes to shoot,
but from a team standpoint, they weren't really good when
he first arrived there. And so I think that's the
precarious situation that you know, the Nets are facing with
the deal with Kevin Durant, And that also explains why
I think they've been leading in all the fact that
(22:22):
you will, maybe we just keep him next season. We're
not obligated to trade him just because he asked. He's
still under contract for four more years, so let's see
if we can make the best of it. I was
sure that sentence of years was going to be teams
don't want to become what the New York Knicks are. Well,
you know what, not on I mean they got Jalen
Brunton and I get Donovan Mitchell NB of Today. Then yeah, yeah,
(22:46):
Mark mded officially the greatest NBA analysts we've ever had
on the show. That that is my title, not the
Lakers head coach, not Russell Westbrook's agent, the greatest NBA
analysts on the show. When you were in Vegas, did
you see many Summer League games? Did anybody stand out? Yeah?
You know, I take Summer League games for a grain assault,
(23:07):
you know, but I certainly watched games. I obviously paid attention,
most notably to the ones that had the top picks,
and so you know, both during the California Class against
San Francisco and Summer League in Vegas. Really impressed with
Keegan Murray. That's probably not surprised as number four picked
for a reason, but um, even with all the caveats
of Summer League, it just seems like he plays the
(23:28):
game the right way in terms of knowing when to score,
knowing when to pass. Um. He has a really understated
demeanor about him, and he has you know, from my
conversations talking with King's coach Mike Brown, and uh, you know,
some people around Keegan Murray they feel like he has
these old, this old school mentality of just you know,
(23:49):
really you know, being disciplined with his work and not
caring about, you know, the limelight and you know, putting
stuff on his Instagram profile right like he has an
old soul and a young audie. And I think that
because of that, there's a lot of optimism of not
just how good of a player he is, but that
he's going to have sustain all star caliber success for
(24:10):
his career. And that's sooner rather than later. He's gonna
end this King's Playoff carount uh which has been going
on some two thousand six. So he's got a lot
of responsibilities. But I think that because of his skills
and his personality, um, he's equipped for the challenge. NBA
dot Com inside Mark Medina with us here Fox Sports Radio. Now,
(24:30):
I wasn't going to bring this up, but since you
brought it up, I figured you'd want to talk about this.
You mentioned Donovan Mitchell to the Knicks. Uh New York
Post reporting today that the uh Nick's Jazz trade maybe
hung up for a little bit because, according to sources,
the Jazz want everything in the Statue of Liberty, potentially
four first round picks and four young players. H Mark.
(24:55):
I don't know the Jazz have the leverage on this
they think they do with Rudy Gobert. Because you're listening
for Anovan Mitchell. If that's where he wants to go,
they're gonna have to get it done. Uh. Is this
gonna wind up being postponed a bit? Or are we
gonna see Mitchell to the Knicks pretty soon? I don't
know if it's pretty soon, but I think that's gonna
be the ultimate end game. Now. Um, when that happens,
who knows. I think there's gonna be a lot of
(25:16):
negotiations back and forth. I also want to be surprised
if some of these executives take some time off. I
mean they've been working around the clock and spindgell y.
That might be ready for you know a little bit
of a weekend break, right. Um. But yeah, I think
the writing is on the wall that Donovan Mitchell is
going to be a nick uh player and the Jazz
(25:37):
will get assets. Now will they get the same assets
they got from Minnesota for Rudy Golbert? I don't think so.
But the Knicks will have to give up a lot
and to the next credit. They do have a lot
of assets to offer, So, um, I think it's gonna happen.
It's it's just a matter of when, not if. And uh,
you know that that Mitchell Brunson backcourt could be enticing
(25:57):
or if Brunson wine up being on the Jazz that
would be interesting. But I don't think that could actually
happen now that I think about, because you just signed
and there's rules there. Um. But to the next crop.
They also have a lot of other assets that they
can dangle to make this work. So looking ahead to
the future a couple of months, what will be your
impression of the Knicks this year? Knowing Jason Smith that
(26:21):
they not only missed the play in, they were light
years from the play in in the Eastern Conference last year.
What is realistic you think for the Knicks expectations heading
in the camp. Yeah, I think it's about you know,
their playoff team now that they're not going to be
the best in news your conference just yet are to
burst your bubble here. But there's a team called the
(26:42):
Milwaukee Bucks with Jannison to the kompo on it. He's
kind of good. Um, so I think it will be
then I think will be the Sixers and then you
know what, let's put the Knicks in third place. Is
that good? Yeah, buddy, I like the Knicks mats are
going to be terrible next whether Katie and Brook or
Kyrie were on the team, because it's either going to
(27:02):
be drama filled or they're gonna be in rebuilding mode.
So yeah, New York will be number three in these
He may not only be the greatest NBA analyst, he
may be the greatest human being who has ever graced
the planet. Like a Lebron podcast Mark Medina. He's on
Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina. Check out his latest
(27:24):
on NBA dot com, including his interview with Genie Buss,
who talks about everything over the course of the past
few weeks. They're off season plans, what she meant were
her Kobe tweet? And more. Again it's at NBA dot com. Uh.
Marc has always I really appreciate your time and anytime
you want to just call and just call it like
you had to call in with with with a Knicks take,
and they may even be better. Just call. We'll get
(27:45):
you right up and be can right on the air.
Appreciate you guys. When I call in. I'll try to
change my voice and have a fake name and see
if you guys can him pick up on that. Okay,
this is tips from New York calling and okay, let's
go to tips tips. Let's you have to say taking
easy money, happy weekend? They care about all? Right? There
he goes. You know, I like how he said, listen,
you know they're they're they're we're talking about playoffs. They're
(28:06):
not a team like Milwaukee or the Sixers. But how
about third. I was like, yeah, I'm gonna say, listen,
you get into play and you're a five or six.
I thinking, Hey, like, you know, Cleveland people are thinking
they're gonna move up. You know, he's just gonna call
in under an assumed voice and say he's he's Mike
Messina instead of Be sure to catch live editions of
(28:27):
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 it's me Rob Parker.
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk, featuring the
biggest name to newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe
(28:50):
in analytics for the eye test, We've got all the
bases cover. New episodes drop every Thursday, So do yourself
a favor and listen to Inside the Partner with Rob
Partner on the I Heart Radio app or wherever you
get your podcast. Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show
is Steve de Sager in from my bas friend Mike Harmon.
(29:13):
Very sexual, strong Twitter game. End of the sixth inning.
That was pretty fast workman like ka ten in the
bottom of the sixth. Ten pitch inning for Clayton Kershaw,
and now he takes his perfect game against the Angels
(29:34):
to the seventh inning. He has thrown fifty nine pitches,
very economical, just four strikeouts on night, so it's not
one of those. He's got eleven twelve mowing him down.
He's got a couple of big defensive plays you talked
about him a few minutes ago. But a perfect game
for Clayton Kershaw. The game is not in doubt anymore.
We're going to the top of the seven. The Dodgers
put four on the board in the sixth, it's eight nothing,
(29:56):
and now Clayton could be on verge of his first
ever and what should have been second ever perfect game.
I don't know what should have you're talking about should
have had the chance for it, whether he would have.
He was perfectly seven against the Twins, eighty pitches. He
was gonna get it. He's gonna get it. You know
(30:18):
what I want? I want Clayton Kershaw to get it.
And then when Dave Roberts does the interview, the first
question you go, Dave, do you think Clayton should have
too now? Because you pulled him way too early against
boy Because two perfect games in a season, We've never
seen that. Man, that's outstanding. It wouldn't be a legitimate question,
but I'd be entertained by it. That would be awesome.
(30:38):
The other one would be this would be, Hey, Matthew Stafford,
what do you think should Clayton Kershaw have two perfect
games this year? Do you think they should? So? Again,
we'll update you on this throughout the rest of the night. Now,
Clayton Kershaw through six a perfect game against the Angels. Meanwhile,
we talked to Mark Mede in a few minutes ago
NBA dot Com, NBA Inside. We talked about the Donovan
Mitchell situation, in which The New York Post has a
(31:00):
report that the Jazz want everything in the Statue of
Liberty for Donovan Mitchell. They want four first round picks
and potentially four of the Knicks young players. They want
Quentin Grimes, they want Obie Topping. Uh they do not
want R. J. Barrett, but they want Grimes, They want Topping,
they want a manual quickly, Um, this is a lot.
And the Knicks right now said, hey, okay, hang on
(31:22):
a second. They they know that the statue is attached, right,
it's permanent. No, we can't just give you. What if
we just gave you the torch, just just the torch,
because remember the statue was a gift to the French
gave it to us, Remember it was I. I can't
I can't be that person to give it to you,
but I can give you part of it, not regifting this.
I can get you a tour of this, get you
a tour if you want to go to the top
(31:42):
and see everything. Uh so right now things are a
little bit well, wait a minute, I don't know that
we want to do that, because they still want to
trade four four first round picks and four of a
starting five for the Jazz, because that's a lot to
give up. So what's gonna happen now? Is this Steve?
It's it's very simple. The Jazz, we don't have to
trade Donovan. We can keep him. No, you can't. You
(32:03):
can't now because you went out of your way to
say we are going to listen for Donovan Mitchell and
they're engaging the Knicks. If they really wanted to keep
Donovan Mitchell and they were okay with it, this wouldn't
be a story. This would be the Knicks called we
hung up that set. But now we're getting reports of
players and what the Jazz want. No, they are motivated
to trade Donovan Mitchell. So all don and Mitchell has
(32:24):
to do is take a page out of the James
Harden book, because now he can taste it being with
New York, where he wants to be, where he grew up.
It's so close. I want this. Oh wait a minute,
now the Jazz are making this hard. Hey guess what, everybody,
I'm Donovan Mitchell. I got an interview here going on. Um,
I can't be there anymore. It's done. They don't believe
in me, they don't believe in the team. I want out.
They they must trade me, and then Donovan Mitchell gets traded,
(32:48):
he's gonna have to go full heel. He's gonna have
to say this is what I want, or the Jazz
are able to sit back and we don't like this
off for we don't like this, and they wind up
playing it out. If he really wants out, he's got
to be okay being the bad guy and saying, I
have to get to the Knicks. You trade me there
right now. I'm not coming back to this team now.
If you're in the new guy running Utah, don't you
(33:08):
think their perspective is we got how much for Gobert? Oh?
Everybody's available? Are you kidding? If these are the current prices,
everybody is available, including him. Yeah, But I think if
you're the Jazz, you have to realize that. Okay, listen,
you got away with it once, you got way more
than you should and everybody just because you've got that
doesn't mean it's gonna be bigger for Donovan Mitchell. Just
stop with that silliness. So the Nicks, you're giving him
(33:30):
a reality check right now, and every other team will
as well. No one's gonna give up four first round
picks and four good young players. Not happening Ricky Williams
general manager. That was in the nineties. Okay, that's not
gonna happen now, was in the nineties. Eras fat here Twitter?
Have you some movie passes right Twitter? And nowt about
a Fresca coming up next. We'll keep you updated on
(33:51):
Clayton Kershaw and a big story out of the NBA.
This is Fox.
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
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 Mike Harmon at Fox
Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every night
on the I Heart Radio app by searching fs R.
(00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio. Welcome
inside our to The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon.
Special delivery Steve to Singer in from Mike Harmon and Uh,
we got a big, a different take on Kevin Durant
coming up in a couple of minutes after the news
today that the Nets have it liked any of the
(00:46):
offers they've gotten for Kevin Durant and a trade is
a ways away. But this has just come in about
fifteen minutes ago from Adrian Walt Garowski. Russell Westbrook has
parted ways with OH has parted ways with his long
time agents, Yeah Washerman Group. Uh, one of the league's
(01:09):
most prominent player representatives. UH, they are no longer representing
Russell Westbrook, Westbrook Siding and reconcilable differences, which is what
you say when you're getting divorced. It just means we
just can't get along. We got differences, we got different things.
We fight all the time. I think actually Westbrook was
upset because he didn't actually the agent deliver the Braves
latest proposal to him. It was something like that. I'm
(01:31):
not sure. I'm not sure that he was. He was.
He was crying at the press conference when oh, I
did never wanted to leave. I mean, Westbrook spend his
whole time in Atlanta. Of course, he's very attached to
the Brakes. Now, it reconcirable differences. According to the statement
to Woes, Yes, and Woj also says that there was
no longer full I'm reading from agent Walderowski now there
(01:53):
was no longer full alignment with Westbrook about whether he
should want to remain with the Lakers for the last
season of his forty seven million dollar contract. He believes
Westbrook and and his agent Fad Foscher says that the
best option is to stay with the Lakers, embrace the
starting role and support that Darvin Ham publicly offered. So
(02:14):
this tells you that Westbrook is thinking, I don't want
to be here. Best way for you is to stay
with the Lakers and make it work. Worst thing would
be to go someplace else. Now that snooze you consider
this snows do you don't? Well, yeah, because what Russell
Westbrook was, Oh, I'm opting in, I'm staying, I'm staying,
I'm staying. And then it has been I want out
and went out and went out and went out. Look,
how long do you need to hear this team is
(02:35):
trying to move you, This team needs to move on
before you realize it is ain't gonna work for me
here in l A Right, I mean, that's what it is.
But for Westbrook, it would be a better call for him.
Now if you're talking about what's the best call for
him to try to remake his career? Right, And I'm
putting this in and when you think about this in
terms of like Baker Mayfield, you kind of get a
(02:56):
little bit right because what did I say from Mayfield
was Mayfield's got to look out for the rest of
his career. What was the best thing for him? He's
twenty six. If he goes somewhere and doesn't win the
starting job or stinks, he's never gonna get to start again.
Like that's it. No one's ever gonna give me a
chance to start, and it'll be a backup quarterback the
rest of the way. If he goes to Carolina and
can't beat out Sam Donald, he's never gonna start again.
(03:19):
Was that the best thing for his career? No, the
best thing would have been for him to go somewhere
like Tampa or Buffalo and sit behind a star for
a year and get out of everybody's a line, like
is everybody's sick of reading stories about him every single
day because the more people read about him, the more
people think he's not a good quarterback. And we also
(03:39):
want to read about Aaron Rodgers every day, And and
you're not sick of that. I'm still waiting for the
tattoo explanation. You got the fifteen tattoos he's gonna explain?
Are we gonna get it? Like an advent calendar at
Christmas where you open a different box every day and
explaining this tattoo? What's the eye of Agamodo that you
have on there? Can you see the three eyes? Like
doctor Strange. Sometimes you just won't get the answers. We
(04:01):
talked about Tiger Woods earlier in the show and The
reason why he's limping around the course at the British
Open is because there was a car accident last year.
Aren't you still wondering? Okay, what caused the car? Actually,
because you know what caused the car accident, according to
the l A Sheriff's Department, excessive speed. Thank you didn't
realize that excessive speed? Okay, what caused that? Maybe that's
(04:22):
what we're asking. Some questions will go unanswered, Jason Smith.
They do no matter how many times you asked them.
We will never get answers. But if Mayfield, if Mayfield
did that, if Mayfield went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
learned under Brady stayed out of everybody's mind frame for
a year when teams are inevitably looking for quarterbacks out
we're not going to get our guy in the draft
(04:44):
this year because we're not drafting first or second. We're
not getting Bryce Young, We're not getting c. J. Strout.
We need somebody. Mayfield went somewhere for your boy. You know,
there's nobody else out there. Mayfield started for a while,
he wasn't number one pick. We can go back and
look at what he was like before the draft, and hey,
let's call Tampa. What what do you what do you
think about him? Oh, he's been great and everything and
he Tom Brady, what's he been like behind you? He's
(05:05):
been awesome. He's learned a lot. I'll tell you. He's
a different guy. He gets the maturity level on things now.
And if you're a team you be can you can
be convinced that Baker Mayfield can be our guy. And
he comes in with the full support of the organization.
We're signing you to be our bridge quarterback. Now, if
you play well enough, you're young enough that you can
be your quarterback. Going for look at Ryan Tannehill Wrights,
what happened to him? You can do that. That's the
(05:28):
best path for him to succeed. For Russell Westbrook, what's
the best path for him to reclaim his career? And
that is I agree with his agent. It's staying with
the Lakers because if he goes someplace else, he's off
the NBA map. No one's ever going to acquire him
again thinking he can be a difference maker for us.
(05:48):
No one's ever going to pay him again because he's
not a difference maker. You look at what happened when
the Lakers were an absolute and abject disaster. So if
somehow things change, let's just say they're able to make
a couple of moves, they get Buddy Heal, they get
Miles Turner, whatever it is, Westbrook coming back, he's going
to start with the Lakers. If the Lakers defy expectation
(06:10):
and they're good, guess who jump starts his career again,
Russell Westbrook. And whether he resigns with the Lakers for
more money because it works and Lakers go far in
the playoffs and Lebron says, a let's keep the gang
together for one more year and let's try to figure
it all out, or another team says, you know what, hey,
he can be our Chris Paul. We saw he was
back to being the dynamic player that he was he
was with Washington Oklahoma City. He can still do that. Yeah,
(06:33):
he's thirty three, thirty four. We can go get him
and give him a couple of years and see if
he is the missing piece for us. So that's really
the best path for him. I mean, obviously had to
opt into the forty seven million dollars a year because
no one else is gonna pay him. Though he's gonna
play under the option year, finish out the max contract.
But you mentioned his age. This is the agent he's
had since U c l A. So this is over
(06:53):
a decade with this guy that they are divorced years.
He was there with A fourteen years. So somewhere in
this when you gave the Baker Mayfield example, are you
saying that's also the Geno Smith route where you go
to another team and people forget about you and then
you get your chance. Is that Is that what you
just said, The Baker Mayfield is Geno Smith? No? No, no no,
(07:14):
The Geno Smith route is go to a team, don't
say anything, and then watch another hope the team trades
their quarterback and then forgets to get a new one
and they realize, oh, you're the only one there, the
other guy that can't play quarters. I guess that's how
it goes. I guess that's what we're doing. Okay, then
that's fine, But Russell Westbrook still has years plural left
(07:37):
in this league. As bad as last year was and
as bad as Russell Westbrook was in the paint, I'm
still astounded at a guy that's known for his athleticism
since U c l A. That's part of the reason
why he was a lottery pick, not just the defense.
He just was a waste in the paint. How a
guy could miss that many four or five footers and
(07:58):
in was a wounding to me. And so you can't
have you know, point guards tend to have a lot
of layup attempts. You can't have that as your ball handler.
And then you know the amount of hitting the side
of the backboard and those kind of things. But that's
going to count this year the one point something. You
(08:20):
get a half a point for the side of the backboard,
you get a quarter, you get a quarter and a
quarter of a point for the top of the backboard.
So it's going to at least how no matter what
he does, he will draw some kind of points for
the Lakers. Next Well, he's still going to be in
this league for years, and I I stand by that plural. However,
what last year did is it kind of rearranged the
(08:44):
course of the flow of the river of his resume.
If you understand. It really got people thinking about him
in a way that they might start thinking about him
that way permanently. And so he's got to do something
now this year with the Lakers to to kind of
make up for last year. Nothing can make up for
(09:04):
last year. And you know what I mean, You've got
to change some minds. That's on you this year. And
this is my open letter to the Lakers for this
year because Frank Vogel didn't do it, and he should
have and it was a disaster from the beginning. Let's
just all be you know, we got pulp fiction on
our TVs right now here at Fox. Let's all be
five little fonds. He's gonna be cool for a second.
(09:26):
And understand what I'm saying is what the path is
for the Lakers going forward. Last year they got Russell Westbrook.
Russell Westbrook has done one thing for the past fourteen years.
He was playing point guard his way, and the system
of the team has always adjusted around Russell Westbrook, who
is a dynamic player. He is a volume shooter. He
(09:48):
doesn't always make the right decisions, but he hasn't always
been surrounded with the greatest talent. Sometimes he had great
talent around him, got to the NBA Finals, sometimes he didn't.
Still was able to win m v P in the NBA.
What did the Lakers do when they got Russell Westbrook? Again,
this is a guy who's been in the league now
for thirteen years. We're gonna change what you do. We're
gonna take you from being a ball dominant point guard
(10:10):
to being someone who maybe brings the ball up, splits
the job with Lebron, but sometimes stands in the corner
waiting for the ball. How was that ever going to
be and work out well for the Lakers. You took
a player who does one thing really well, and you're
gonna try to make Russell Westbrook a just and and
and do something that he's never done before, thinking that's
(10:31):
going to work. You can't do that with every player.
And maybe you're spoiled with Lebron because Lebron is someone
as we've seen, my goodness, the guy it's small forward,
power forward, point guard center last year. Maybe moving Lebron
to the five full time is how it's gonna go
and how he extends his career for another two or
three years just because you have Lebron, who can play
(10:53):
any position incredibly well. I mean, you can't just do
that with everybody. You can't take someone and say, okay,
this is what you've done, now we're gonna do this
to you. Here. I cringe Steve when I see the
Jets in the NFL draft, go, hey, we we let
you know. He was a defensive end in college, but boy,
he really projects well to be a defensive tackle in
the NFL. And I go, there's a bust. That guy's
(11:13):
never gonna happen because you're gonna change what the guy knows.
What he's done, well, it's gotten with the league. No, no,
we're gonna change your position because we think you can
do this better. And that's one thing to say when
a guy is young. But Westbrook thirteen years suddenly you're
gonna change what he does. He's gonna and he's gonna
buy in, and I don't know. You have to give
him the offense, you have to adjust around it, and
you have to let it go from there. I realized
(11:34):
that could rankle the feathers of a d and Lebron
a bit, going, this is kind of our team. But
this is who you wanted. You wanted Russell Westbrook. You
want the best version of Russell Westbrook. This is the
way to do it, and this is the best version
for the Lakers. The Lakers have more problems than just Westbrook.
Allow me to state the obvious because well, yeah, no.
But the way that people have talked about Westbrook, some
(11:55):
are getting the impression or you know, the foggy glasses
looking back to last season that he was the only problem. Please.
He has had a career where he's averaged at least
twenty points a game for a decade straight, but not
last year. He also has been the assists man so
often that he led the league in assists three out
of the last four years. Certainly not last year, not
(12:16):
on this team. And then when you have the warts
of his shooting, including the in the paint shooting, there
just was no avoiding how by his standard, this was
a bad year and it was a wolf a year
by the Lakers standard. But his three point shooting he
was under again from three point range. Why are you
trying three to five three pointers per game when you
(12:37):
can't make three out of ten And this has been
the case for the last five years from long distance
for this guy. So he needs to get it through
his thick skull on some points as well. Twitter, and
how about a fresca Jason Smith Steve to say, you're
in from Mike Harmon tonight. So look, it may not
be the best thing for the Lakers. But if he's
gonna be back, and this is what it is. And
again he's parting ways with his agent as they differed
(12:59):
over the direction of him. It looks like he wanted
to leave the Lakers. Now his agent wanted him to stay.
The best thing for everybody. He's got to stay. And
if he does stay and you can't move him, good, Look,
if you can move Russell Westbrook, you move him right
the Lakers. That's one thing that I'm not saying you
gotta keep him, But if you are forced to keep him,
that's the best way forward. The best to do is
(13:20):
be able to move him and bring somebody else in,
or make a train and get Kyrie Irving to come in.
That's the best thing. But if you are stuck with
him and you have no way to go forward, I
know it sounds weird, going, boy, we're stuck with him.
We're gonna give you the offense. That's the NBA. That's
not works. Sometimes we really don't want to, but we're
gonna give you so much responsibility. This is how people
succeed now in the world and outside of basketball. But
(13:41):
that's the way forward. If you're stuck with him, you
gotta keep him. You gotta let him be who he is.
That's the best way. And I thought it was a
very complementary statement from the agent, I mean up and
down talking about Well, of course he spent so much
time with him. This was presented as a very amicable
departure and yet a divorce. Nonetheless, well, what does the
(14:02):
agent care. He negotiated the last big contract he's ever
gonna get. That's what I mean. He has nothing to
gain from being right ultra nice right now. And he
states Russell's the first bell at Hall of Famer. He'll
prove that again before he's retired. But your reconcilable differences
as to his best path for breaking news, Russell Westbrook
is withholding payment of his former agent for the forty
(14:24):
seven million dollar contract extension is on uh. Auto Zone's
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(14:46):
got easier. Restrictions apply. So getting the zone auto zone, Well,
we had that bit of news. Wanted to bring you
here breaking here on the show. Coming up next, Hey,
Kevin Durant, might we be a ways away from a trade?
Is he real? He has sought after as we think
he is? What about Donovan Mitchell? The Utah Jazz want
everything including the Statue of Liberty? According to Nick sources,
(15:08):
how's this gonna play out? Very special? Guys stopping by
with the answers on Matt More next right here on Fox.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harman weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. So, wait, are we getting rick rolled or not?
I don't understand. We're not so we're not so this
(15:29):
is not a a rick rolled. We're not getting there?
All right? Very good Fox Sports Radio. That Jason Smith
Show is Steve de Sager in from Mike Harman. Tonight.
We can talk about how complicated other banks make it
to redeem credit card rewards, or we could talk about
how we discovered you can redeem your rewards for cash
in any amount at any time. I mean talk about amazing.
(15:50):
Learn more at discovered dot com slash redeemed rewards. That's
discovered dot com slash redeemed rewards limitations they do apply well.
Joining us now on the Hot Law longtime friend of
the show, NBA writer insider for NBA dot Com. It's
covered the Warriors, he's covered the Lakers, and he is
now Russell Westbrook's new agent. It is Mark Medina. He
(16:13):
is on Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina. Mark, congratulations,
hopefully you can figure out a solution for Russell Westbrook. Man,
I I think this gigs Russell's agent is gonna last
much shorter than my gay guys the Lakers head coach.
That wasn't less than a second. And the interview and
they showed me the door. So I'm sure Russ is
gonna read me out after this interview and so fired. Hey,
(16:35):
I tell you I made a recommendation for I told
you what to tell Rob Polink. It's not my fault.
You gotta do something for yourself. Mark. Hey, I I
had to speak from the heart, you know, like I'm
not gonna just act like I want this job when
I really didn't, So I just thought, you don't want
I'm gonna sabotage my camp and getting this that's such
a sign felt way to think about it. Look, I
don't really want the job, so I sabotage it and
(16:57):
they gave it to me anyway. Yeah it alright? So hey,
so real quick on Westbrook before we get into Kevin Durant,
Donovan Mitchell. Uh, you know, he split ways with his agent.
Uh and this this came up about a half hour ago,
agent war Janowski reporting it and reportedly it's over a
difference of opinion is to what the best thing for
(17:17):
his career is. The agent says, I wanted Westbrook to
stay with the Lakers and start and get in with
Darvin Hammond potentially Russell. Westbrook side of it is, I
want out. Uh what's the best thing for Westbrook? What
do you think? Yeah, it's interesting. I think from a
I think the best thing for him is to be
with the Lakers so he can keep that money and
I have to worry about a build and see if
(17:37):
he can you know, uh, salvage his relationship and with
the Lakers and his teammates and also rehab his professional
career because last year was a disaster. Now Russ might
not even have any choice. Um, you know, he might
get his wish because the Lakers are trying to still
make deals. You know. I I got breakfast in Vegas
(17:59):
earlier this week with Genie Buss, and she made it
clear to me. When I sat down with her for
an on the record two and a she said, Hey,
the work's not done. We're still trying to make moves
and and it wouldn't surprise me if we do. And
when I asked her, look, she can't talk specifics, but
I think you can read between the lines. When I
asked her about you know, where do you draw the
line in terms of draft picks and other assets, she said,
(18:21):
Look like when we traded for Anthony Davis, we gave
up a lot. But when you want to get something,
you have to give up a lot and return. So
I think, you know, she's pushing the organization and not
worry about, Hey, how many draft picks are we giving up.
She's very mindful of last season's playoff disass her and
her expectations they they at least make the playoffs because
(18:41):
that will allow them to try to get back to
that championship contention like they were two years ago. Probably
a stretch to say at least they can get back
to that, But it's her expectation that they at least
make you know, the playoffs and the second round lest
finals ideally, and if not, you know, maybe more changes
come on the horizon. In terms of the front off,
Marcus is Steve. There's really two things with the Westbrook
(19:03):
story coming out tonight. One that the l a time
says Westbrook has never requested a trade from the Lakers.
The other is the quotes to Woes about or from
the agent that I believe that Westbrook's best option is
to stay with the Lakers and they've parted. So what
do you conclude? Does the opt in actually mean that
Westbrook is and wants to stay with the Lakers. I'm
(19:25):
divided here, I'm getting I'm I'm getting conflicting messages. Well, look,
these things don't necessarily have to be conflicting. Um, he
never would have to request a trade of the Lakers.
They've been trying to get rid of them the entire
off season, Like they don't need his permission to say,
you know what, I want to go. They've been trying
to pack his suitcases up and shove them out the door.
(19:47):
But there's no lift driver that's been willing to accept
the ride. So yeah, I mean Russ may not have
requested trade. I don't think he has wanted to do
that because it sends the wrong message. But the Lakers
have been trying to find deals for him, and even
though that, they've been publicly and privately talking about, you
know what, we think with Darvin Hammon's coaching staff, this
will get um, you know, more out of him, and
(20:09):
we didn't feel like Frank Vogel will used him the
right way. That's not to say they still want to
find a deal even if they are kind of bullish,
and the fact that they think they can still get
the best out of him with the new coaching staff
and presumably more than twenty one games that he played
last year with Lebron James and Anthony Davis, they still
have tried to shop him. And you know, Russ doesn't
(20:30):
need again to make a request the Lakers because they've
already been trying to see what they can get on
it with them on the market now. Mark, So some
of the other big dominoes are waiting to fall, and
Kevin Durant obviously is one of them. Uh. Today we
find out the Nets have not been overwhelmed with a
lot of offers. They didn't like the offer from the
Phoenix Suns, which is one of Kevin Durant's biggest priorities.
(20:52):
You know, we heard it was it was the Sons
and the Heat potentially the top of his list, is
there Pine? And I'm just saying, is there a possibility
out there that maybe the value league wide of Kevin
Durant in trade is not what we thought it was
going to be. Well, I think it's it's almost like
the state of the economy these days, right where it's contradictory.
(21:16):
I think that there's a market for Kevin, and there's
obviously interests with twenty nine teams, but it's about what
are you willing to give up? And I think the
danger is there's you know, there's a market interest for
Kevin Durant the talent, but because of how amazing he is,
I think teams either don't have the necessary assets that
the Nets are looking for, and if they do, they think, Okay,
(21:39):
if we got rid of all these things that we have,
we'll basically have Kevin Durant and no one else on
the team that's good. And so I think that these
teams want to avoid becoming what the New York Knicks
were in two thousand and eleven, if if I'm not mistaken,
when they got Clarmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets, they
basically gave the Nuggets their entire roster, and then Mellow
(22:00):
showed up at the Garden and had no one around
him to pass the ball. Now, in Mellow's case, and
maybe that's not a problem because he still likes to shoot,
but from a team standpoint, they weren't really good when
he first arrived there. And so I think that's the
precarious situation that you know, the Nets are facing with
the deal with Kevin Durant, And that also explains why
I think they've been leading in all the fact that
(22:22):
you will, maybe we just keep him next season. We're
not obligated to trade him just because he asked. He's
still under contract for four more years, so let's see
if we can make the best of it. I was
sure that sentence of years was going to be teams
don't want to become what the New York Knicks are. Well,
you know what, not on I mean they got Jalen
Brunton and I get Donovan Mitchell NB of Today. Then yeah, yeah,
(22:46):
Mark mded officially the greatest NBA analysts we've ever had
on the show. That that is my title, not the
Lakers head coach, not Russell Westbrook's agent, the greatest NBA
analysts on the show. When you were in Vegas, did
you see many Summer League games? Did anybody stand out? Yeah?
You know, I take Summer League games for a grain assault,
(23:07):
you know, but I certainly watched games. I obviously paid attention,
most notably to the ones that had the top picks,
and so you know, both during the California Class against
San Francisco and Summer League in Vegas. Really impressed with
Keegan Murray. That's probably not surprised as number four picked
for a reason, but um, even with all the caveats
of Summer League, it just seems like he plays the
(23:28):
game the right way in terms of knowing when to score,
knowing when to pass. Um. He has a really understated
demeanor about him, and he has you know, from my
conversations talking with King's coach Mike Brown, and uh, you know,
some people around Keegan Murray they feel like he has
these old, this old school mentality of just you know,
(23:49):
really you know, being disciplined with his work and not
caring about, you know, the limelight and you know, putting
stuff on his Instagram profile right like he has an
old soul and a young audie. And I think that
because of that, there's a lot of optimism of not
just how good of a player he is, but that
he's going to have sustain all star caliber success for
(24:10):
his career. And that's sooner rather than later. He's gonna
end this King's Playoff carount uh which has been going
on some two thousand six. So he's got a lot
of responsibilities. But I think that because of his skills
and his personality, um, he's equipped for the challenge. NBA
dot Com inside Mark Medina with us here Fox Sports Radio. Now,
(24:30):
I wasn't going to bring this up, but since you
brought it up, I figured you'd want to talk about this.
You mentioned Donovan Mitchell to the Knicks. Uh New York
Post reporting today that the uh Nick's Jazz trade maybe
hung up for a little bit because, according to sources,
the Jazz want everything in the Statue of Liberty, potentially
four first round picks and four young players. H Mark.
(24:55):
I don't know the Jazz have the leverage on this
they think they do with Rudy Gobert. Because you're listening
for Anovan Mitchell. If that's where he wants to go,
they're gonna have to get it done. Uh. Is this
gonna wind up being postponed a bit? Or are we
gonna see Mitchell to the Knicks pretty soon? I don't
know if it's pretty soon, but I think that's gonna
be the ultimate end game. Now. Um, when that happens,
who knows. I think there's gonna be a lot of
(25:16):
negotiations back and forth. I also want to be surprised
if some of these executives take some time off. I
mean they've been working around the clock and spindgell y.
That might be ready for you know a little bit
of a weekend break, right. Um. But yeah, I think
the writing is on the wall that Donovan Mitchell is
going to be a nick uh player and the Jazz
(25:37):
will get assets. Now will they get the same assets
they got from Minnesota for Rudy Golbert? I don't think so.
But the Knicks will have to give up a lot
and to the next credit. They do have a lot
of assets to offer, So, um, I think it's gonna happen.
It's it's just a matter of when, not if. And uh,
you know that that Mitchell Brunson backcourt could be enticing
(25:57):
or if Brunson wine up being on the Jazz that
would be interesting. But I don't think that could actually
happen now that I think about, because you just signed
and there's rules there. Um. But to the next crop.
They also have a lot of other assets that they
can dangle to make this work. So looking ahead to
the future a couple of months, what will be your
impression of the Knicks this year? Knowing Jason Smith that
(26:21):
they not only missed the play in, they were light
years from the play in in the Eastern Conference last year.
What is realistic you think for the Knicks expectations heading
in the camp. Yeah, I think it's about you know,
their playoff team now that they're not going to be
the best in news your conference just yet are to
burst your bubble here. But there's a team called the
(26:42):
Milwaukee Bucks with Jannison to the kompo on it. He's
kind of good. Um, so I think it will be
then I think will be the Sixers and then you
know what, let's put the Knicks in third place. Is
that good? Yeah, buddy, I like the Knicks mats are
going to be terrible next whether Katie and Brook or
Kyrie were on the team, because it's either going to
(27:02):
be drama filled or they're gonna be in rebuilding mode.
So yeah, New York will be number three in these
He may not only be the greatest NBA analyst, he
may be the greatest human being who has ever graced
the planet. Like a Lebron podcast Mark Medina. He's on
Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina. Check out his latest
(27:24):
on NBA dot com, including his interview with Genie Buss,
who talks about everything over the course of the past
few weeks. They're off season plans, what she meant were
her Kobe tweet? And more. Again it's at NBA dot com. Uh.
Marc has always I really appreciate your time and anytime
you want to just call and just call it like
you had to call in with with with a Knicks take,
and they may even be better. Just call. We'll get
(27:45):
you right up and be can right on the air.
Appreciate you guys. When I call in. I'll try to
change my voice and have a fake name and see
if you guys can him pick up on that. Okay,
this is tips from New York calling and okay, let's
go to tips tips. Let's you have to say taking
easy money, happy weekend? They care about all? Right? There
he goes. You know, I like how he said, listen,
you know they're they're they're we're talking about playoffs. They're
(28:06):
not a team like Milwaukee or the Sixers. But how
about third. I was like, yeah, I'm gonna say, listen,
you get into play and you're a five or six.
I thinking, Hey, like, you know, Cleveland people are thinking
they're gonna move up. You know, he's just gonna call
in under an assumed voice and say he's he's Mike
Messina instead of Be sure to catch live editions of
(28:27):
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 it's me Rob Parker.
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk, featuring the
biggest name to newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe
(28:50):
in analytics for the eye test, We've got all the
bases cover. New episodes drop every Thursday, So do yourself
a favor and listen to Inside the Partner with Rob
Partner on the I Heart Radio app or wherever you
get your podcast. Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show
is Steve de Sager in from my bas friend Mike Harmon.
(29:13):
Very sexual, strong Twitter game. End of the sixth inning.
That was pretty fast workman like ka ten in the
bottom of the sixth. Ten pitch inning for Clayton Kershaw,
and now he takes his perfect game against the Angels
(29:34):
to the seventh inning. He has thrown fifty nine pitches,
very economical, just four strikeouts on night, so it's not
one of those. He's got eleven twelve mowing him down.
He's got a couple of big defensive plays you talked
about him a few minutes ago. But a perfect game
for Clayton Kershaw. The game is not in doubt anymore.
We're going to the top of the seven. The Dodgers
put four on the board in the sixth, it's eight nothing,
(29:56):
and now Clayton could be on verge of his first
ever and what should have been second ever perfect game.
I don't know what should have you're talking about should
have had the chance for it, whether he would have.
He was perfectly seven against the Twins, eighty pitches. He
was gonna get it. He's gonna get it. You know
(30:18):
what I want? I want Clayton Kershaw to get it.
And then when Dave Roberts does the interview, the first
question you go, Dave, do you think Clayton should have
too now? Because you pulled him way too early against
boy Because two perfect games in a season, We've never
seen that. Man, that's outstanding. It wouldn't be a legitimate question,
but I'd be entertained by it. That would be awesome.
(30:38):
The other one would be this would be, Hey, Matthew Stafford,
what do you think should Clayton Kershaw have two perfect
games this year? Do you think they should? So? Again,
we'll update you on this throughout the rest of the night. Now,
Clayton Kershaw through six a perfect game against the Angels. Meanwhile,
we talked to Mark Mede in a few minutes ago
NBA dot Com, NBA Inside. We talked about the Donovan
Mitchell situation, in which The New York Post has a
(31:00):
report that the Jazz want everything in the Statue of
Liberty for Donovan Mitchell. They want four first round picks
and potentially four of the Knicks young players. They want
Quentin Grimes, they want Obie Topping. Uh they do not
want R. J. Barrett, but they want Grimes, They want Topping,
they want a manual quickly, Um, this is a lot.
And the Knicks right now said, hey, okay, hang on
(31:22):
a second. They they know that the statue is attached, right,
it's permanent. No, we can't just give you. What if
we just gave you the torch, just just the torch,
because remember the statue was a gift to the French
gave it to us, Remember it was I. I can't
I can't be that person to give it to you,
but I can give you part of it, not regifting this.
I can get you a tour of this, get you
a tour if you want to go to the top
(31:42):
and see everything. Uh so right now things are a
little bit well, wait a minute, I don't know that
we want to do that, because they still want to
trade four four first round picks and four of a
starting five for the Jazz, because that's a lot to
give up. So what's gonna happen now? Is this Steve?
It's it's very simple. The Jazz, we don't have to
trade Donovan. We can keep him. No, you can't. You
(32:03):
can't now because you went out of your way to
say we are going to listen for Donovan Mitchell and
they're engaging the Knicks. If they really wanted to keep
Donovan Mitchell and they were okay with it, this wouldn't
be a story. This would be the Knicks called we
hung up that set. But now we're getting reports of
players and what the Jazz want. No, they are motivated
to trade Donovan Mitchell. So all don and Mitchell has
(32:24):
to do is take a page out of the James
Harden book, because now he can taste it being with
New York, where he wants to be, where he grew up.
It's so close. I want this. Oh wait a minute,
now the Jazz are making this hard. Hey guess what, everybody,
I'm Donovan Mitchell. I got an interview here going on. Um,
I can't be there anymore. It's done. They don't believe
in me, they don't believe in the team. I want out.
They they must trade me, and then Donovan Mitchell gets traded,
(32:48):
he's gonna have to go full heel. He's gonna have
to say this is what I want, or the Jazz
are able to sit back and we don't like this
off for we don't like this, and they wind up
playing it out. If he really wants out, he's got
to be okay being the bad guy and saying, I
have to get to the Knicks. You trade me there
right now. I'm not coming back to this team now.
If you're in the new guy running Utah, don't you
(33:08):
think their perspective is we got how much for Gobert? Oh?
Everybody's available? Are you kidding? If these are the current prices,
everybody is available, including him. Yeah, But I think if
you're the Jazz, you have to realize that. Okay, listen,
you got away with it once, you got way more
than you should and everybody just because you've got that
doesn't mean it's gonna be bigger for Donovan Mitchell. Just
stop with that silliness. So the Nicks, you're giving him
(33:30):
a reality check right now, and every other team will
as well. No one's gonna give up four first round
picks and four good young players. Not happening Ricky Williams
general manager. That was in the nineties. Okay, that's not
gonna happen now, was in the nineties. Eras fat here Twitter?
Have you some movie passes right Twitter? And nowt about
a Fresca coming up next. We'll keep you updated on
(33:51):
Clayton Kershaw and a big story out of the NBA.
This is Fox.
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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