January 9, 2020 • 33 mins
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon break down the secret code behind Tom Brady's recent cryptic Instagram post thanking the fans, entire staff, and the whole New England Franchise thus meaning he's out of the door and will not be a Patriot next year. Jerry Jones gave the highest praise possible welcoming in Mike McCarthy as the new head coach for the Cowboys saying he heard bells the very first moment they met. Plus, Jason Smith has all the answers the Lakers need to fix the team and win a championship!
Guest: Dan Woike - National NBA Writer & Insider at LA Times
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every week night from ten pm to two a m.
Eastern seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Find your local station for The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream
us live every night on the I Heart Radio app
by searching fs R. This is the best of the
(00:22):
Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaking of Tom Brady, Tom Brady had the story of
the day today by posting on Instagram and hinting about
his future. Brady put a big post showing himself running
(00:43):
out onto the field that you're lette stadium. This a
couple of days after the loss to the Titans and
knocked him out, and this is the message that he
put out there. I'm not gonna read the whole thing,
but I'm gonna give you the best of and I'm
not gonna leave anything out that's Germaine to the conversation
we're gonna have. I just wanted to say to all
our fans, thank you. After a few days of reflection,
(01:04):
I am so grateful and humbled by the unconditional support
you have shown me the past two decades. Running out
of that tunnel every week is a feeling that is
hard to explain. I wish every season ended in a win,
but that's not the nature of sports or life. He
goes on to talk about winning and losing for a second.
Then he goes on to say, every one of us
that works at Gillette Stadium strived to do their best,
(01:25):
spent themselves at a worthy cause, and prepared to fail
while daring greatly hashtag Teddy Roosevelt. He goes on to
talk about giving and the team being important, and then
he ends with this, which is the money part of
this Instagram post. In both life and football, failure is inevitable.
It's kind of sounded like al Pacino in life and football,
(01:48):
these inches are everywhere around them. In both life and football,
failure is inevitable. You don't always win. You can, however,
learn that from failure, pick yourself up great enthusiasm and
place yourself in the arena again. Get a little Teddy
Roosevelt going on there, and that's right where you will
find me, because I know I still have more to
(02:10):
prove again at the end place yourself in the arena
again and that's right where you will find me, because
I know I still have more to prove. The focus
all day today has been look at me. Stop. Short
of saying coming back, it's slept in the air. He's
maybe coming I to people need to be hit over
(02:31):
the head with the fact that Tom Brady is leaving
the Patriots. This is a post in which he is
thanking fans, right, He's thinking all the fans for their support,
what they've done from for twenty years. First of all,
it's a goodbye letter and a goodbye puss. But let's
just let's let's let's put a pin in that for
a second. This is a posting to all of the
fans who have supported him for the past twenty years.
(02:53):
His future is up in the air, right, we know this.
He doesn't know he's coming back, is he not. You're
Tom Brady, You're almost twenty years the new England Patriots, right.
What do you say to fans of the Patriots. I
hope I'm back in front of you next year doing
this again. No one would call Tom Brady out if
he wound up going someplace else, because all he's saying
(03:13):
is I hope I'm in front of you again. I
hope I'm playing for you again next year in New England.
But Brady can't even bring himself to say that, because
he's gone. No one's gonna say, wait, you wrote on
an Instagram post you hope to be back. Yeah, I
hope you're back and it didn't work out and I'm going.
He can't even bring himself to say I hope to
be back. I hope to be playing in front of you,
which is what anybody would do. Anybody would do that. Hey,
(03:36):
I hope to come back, doesn't mean I'm coming back,
doesn't mean I'm definitely back. He doesn't have to say
I'm back next year, don't worry, let's ride, let's roll.
He can't even bring himself to say that, which is
the easiest thing to do in this situation, and that
would get rid of a lot of tension. Past is
Tom Brady going? At least he said okay, he hopes
to be back. Everything is up in the air. He
specifically did not talk about coming back. He didn't mention
(03:59):
the Patriots. He said every one of us that works
at Gillette Stadium. He specifically went out of his way
to make this post the way he did. He is gone.
You need every day say you need no more evidence
than this, but this really is it. He can't even
say I hope to be back in front of you
next year with me, he could be lying. Everybody does it.
I hope to be back, but you know what, somebody
(04:20):
else offer me more money, so I'm going. Matt Rule
was more truthful with his team, saying, hey, Baylor, you
know what, I'll talk to the NFL. I'll say, I'll
have to talk to him. Then I'll say I'm not going.
I mean, he was more truthful. Brady can't even bring
himself to say that what what more evidence do you
need that he is not only checked out physically mentally,
he is gone from there. I don't need more. Uh.
(04:43):
First off, Matt Rule, I sent some money. He sounded
like a televangelist and we'll get into some of his
comments as the show goes on. UM. I felt like
I needed to add to his coffers because he got
me riled up, like I had an awakening. And now
that I do you see the light, I say, yes,
I do ask for this with Tom Brady. This is
for the three percent of people that thought he was
(05:05):
going to retire, right, because wasn't that the Robert Kraft
line of I hope he's playing for us or he retires.
This was the volley back to Robert Kraft saying, okay,
balls of your court, I'm not retiring. That's really all
I take from this this statement? Right, well, why can't you?
This is what anybody else would say. I hope to
(05:26):
be back playing in front of it's been twenty years.
I hope this. This is an eat. This is what's
called easy promotion. This is this is the easiest. He
still said no, and he still said nope, not gonna
say I'm coming back because I'm leaving. Well, but it's not.
It may not be his choice to come back. All
he's saying here is I'm not done playing. So now
it's going to be you read between the line. It's
(05:47):
on the Patriots to decide where this goes from here,
right because if they don't resign him, they've got the
dead cap issue third team. Point five million dollars is
not an insignificant amount of money when you're trying to
figure out your your roster going ahead, because you're gonna
have to bring in another quarterback as much as they
may extol the virtues of Jared Stidham and guys maybe
(06:08):
talking him up behind the scenes, that there's no guarantee
he's the guy that's ready. Right, We've seen the air
Apparents a few times that have come through, and it's
like Brady's you know, not not killing it, right. I mean,
how many lives as he had, right, I mean how
many times just Rob Parker and many other folks in
our media business try but but but there's always been
(06:29):
that guy and then he's gone. Yeah, but there there's
an easier way to make the Hey, I hope I'm back.
You're not losing anything, You're not doing anything but making
this not a story because if he says I hope
to be back in front of you next year, what happens?
All this, what is Tom Brady doing? Hits the backburner
for a little while, and Brady can enjoy his off
season the page, you can enjoy their off season because
(06:50):
all right, Tom said he hopes. So maybe they're gonna
work things out. It's the beginning of January. We're onto
the a f C and NFC divisional rounds, were on
onto the championship games of super Bowl. But no, all
he's got to do is say, and he knows Brady's
the guy that talked to the media once or twice
in the past eighteen years. All he's gotta do is say,
I hope to be back even if he's not. That's
I mean, literally, that is what everybody else in this
(07:11):
situation would say. I hope to be back, but I
don't know what the future is. He couldn't even say
I hope to be back playing in front of you.
Allays said was I know I'll be in the arena again.
That's a specific word this, I know. I know I'll
be back in jo Lette again, and I'll be back
in front of No. This is very craftily written to
let everybody know there is no two ways about it.
I I am gone. I this is I can't if
(07:32):
he could have just said, hey, I hope so all right,
but he couldn't even say no. But to me, this
is the way to say a Patriots, you know, I'm
putting it on them that if I leave, it's not
gonna be on me without making it at overtly adversarial. Right,
This is Hey, thanks, It's been a good run. Everybody
(07:53):
there works hard, whatever, so you can keep it. You
have a statement, right, because there's been so much speculation
all over the place. So this at least takes those
reports of hey, Tom Brady's old and he can retire.
You know, the folks that are shouting that from the
rooftop that didn't watch any Patriots games. I'm not saying
he's the guy he was three years ago, five years ago, whatever,
(08:14):
but he's still better than an awful lot of quarterbacks.
If he had, you know, wide receivers with a pulse
and knew how to run a route, he could finish
off drives. I mean, you had the that's the Joe
Judge Wide Receiving Corps at your service right there. Well,
you go talk to the giants about that. I'm not there. Guys,
young guys with talent, but it takes time to work
(08:35):
into a system, right And the two veterans that they had,
Gordon gets sent away, and then we all know about
the trials and tribulations of one Antonio Brown and his
music career that is now being furthered. I just say this,
this pushes it aside for now saying hey, just buckle,
buckle your chin strap. We gotta a ride. To go,
(08:55):
but it's gonna be on. Look, once Bill Belichick's done
voting for whatever all time him team he's working on now,
maybe it'll get back to work. Yeah. But still but
even if he says I hope to be back, that
puts the onus on the Patriots, and that puts the
onus on Craft and Belichick, which if Brady wanted to
play it that way would be a great thing because
now some fans, the fans of media would say, oh,
(09:17):
so Brady wants to come back now, oh, or the
are the is the are the ownership and the coach
really gonna push him out of town? But he still
didn't say that, but it would have helped him. But
why why make it antagonistic? Right now? I'll be in
the arena again, I mean that, everybody. Why can't he
(09:37):
say supposed to stay? Be sure to catch live editions
of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at
ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and the I Heart Radio app. Today was also a
very revealing day for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys,
(09:58):
who introduced Mike McCarthy as their new head coach and
in the process of doing this, Jerry Jones pretty much,
let's slip what really went on as far as the
hiring of Mike McCarthy went. And I remember Mike McCarthy's
name wasn't brought up for the Dallas Cowboys all last week.
Then suddenly Friday night we find out Dope Cowboys gonna
(10:19):
talk to Mike McCarthy Marvin Lewis. Saturday night, Mike McCarthy
was staying at Jerry Jones's house. Next day he had
the job. Whoa whoa, whoa, whoa whoa came together pretty fast.
But listen to Jerry Jones, hell it from today, and
Mike McCarthy was always his guy. I knew Mike McCarthy
before he ever walked through these doors, and I knew
it from a lot of different directions. So that while
(10:42):
our time together initially talking about this job was meaningful,
so much more went into how and why he's sitting
at this table today. So this is Jerry Jones saying,
I've known Mike McCarthy. He's my guy. He's my guy.
He actually went on to tell this really weird story
(11:03):
about how he heard bells from Mike McCarthy's name it's
a very he as a pope. No, it's a very
strange story in which he was he was talking about
his sister's divorce, and you know, he asked, why you're
getting divorced? And she says, I don't hear bells anymore,
I meaning the excitement of the marriage has gone. Don't
hear bells. And you know, that was how it was
at first explained to Jerry Jones when he was younger.
But he says so but hearing bells from Mike McCarthy,
(11:25):
he heard bells, meaning this is a marriage that was
meant to be. Now, let's understand what Jerry Jones said,
and I'll tell you really how this how this went out.
When this whole fiasco slash drama began to play out,
Jerry Jones still had not fired Jason Garrett. Beginning of
the week after Week seventeen, Jason Garrett had a job.
(11:49):
Then they met every day for four days in a row.
Jason Garrett still had a job, had a job, had
a job, had a job, had a job. All the
names that had been mentioned to interview for head coaching
jobs in the NFL, like McCarthy was out there and
Matt wool was out there, all the names you had heard,
and the Cowboys still had Jason Garrett as their head coach.
There was nothing else that told you the Cowboys are
(12:12):
ready to make him move, ready to make a higher
which when that story unfolded the way it did, I
told you he's got a couple of names, their big names,
and that's what he's trying to work on. And that
who's gonna wind up being the head coach of the
Dallas Cowboys. Because why are you if Mike McCarthy is
(12:33):
your guy, why are you going through a whole week
where Jason Garrett still has the job. You have not
scheduled interview with him, not anything. You're watching an interview
with the Giants, who are allowing him to talk to
other teams, talk to the Cleveland Browns. If he is
your guy, and you love him this much, and you
heard bells and and I saw McCarthy when he he
stayed over wearing the Cowboys pajamas and myles on Saturday
(12:53):
and we played pictionary untill four in the morning. He
was my guy. Then I made waffles. And if he
was your guy, why would you risk losing him? He
was too shy to approach a pretty girl in high school.
You think Jerry Jones is shy to approach anybody. No.
I thought it was just a funny analogy and would
give you a story of some time that there was
a girl across the home room that you just couldn't
(13:17):
pull it together. I'm Jerry. You must have smelled my
money coming from about a hundred and fifty yards away.
Uh So, why would you risk losing Mike McCarthy if
he is your guy? Because there was nothing about Mike
McCarthy and then he was interviewing with the giants on Friday,
and then suddenly Friday night it was cowboys to interview
Mike McCarthy and Marvin Lewis. Right now, that Marvin Lewis
(13:39):
thing that was completely ridiculous, and that was just to
satisfy the Rooney rule. And he was never really a candidate.
But the next day McCarthy interviews, he sleeps over, he
has a job the next day. That's not how you act.
If he's your guy, you never want to worry about
losing him. I guarantee you that this is what happened.
What we said at the beginning, Jerry Jones had those
big names on his wish list that he thought he
(14:00):
was gonna make happen. Whether it was urban Meyer, whether
it was Lincoln Riley had coached Oklahoma, whoever was, he
had it and that's what he wanted to make happen.
He found out he couldn't make it happen. For whatever reason.
Urban Meyer said no, Lincoln Riley said no, Jim Harbaugh
said no. Whatever it was, he found out he couldn't
make it happen. So suddenly they pivoted to Plan B,
which was Mike McCarthy. And I give them credit because
(14:22):
they got the best guy out there, with a great
resume and a guy that's developed quarterbacks. It's just a
CEO type person. They got the right guy. But there's
no way this was. Plan A was to allow Jason
Garrett to twist in the wind, keep the job for
four days, then hastily schedule the interview with Mike McCarthy,
then talked to him and give him the job a
day and a half later. There's no way. That's not
(14:43):
how it unfolds. If that's your guy, that's your guy.
The Panthers loved Matt Rule from the beginning, but Matt
Rule still wanted to talk to other teams, but the
Panthers never wavered he is our guy. Early in the process,
the day after the season ended, Matt Rule is our guy.
We did not hear Mike McCarthy at all until an
entire week goes by Friday night, Jerry got no from
whoever he really wanted and then said, Okay, let's go
(15:05):
get McCarthy, and the power of the Dallas Cowboys made
it happen for him. But there's no way this was Hey,
I loved you from you had me at Hello. There's
no way that was that been folded this way. No.
And I think when we watched the way Jason Garrett
was still going to the facility. All the assistance were
going to last Friday, so they were finally told, hey,
don't come in on Monday. So something was hitting the
(15:29):
proverbial fan or thrown against the wall at that point.
But for Jason Garrett, he was gonna still pitch to
keep his job. And I think, you know, since he
had to the fourteen to work out the glitch, as
I so eloquently put it, at the end of last week, right,
there was no reason to rush Garrett out of the
building while you were trying to make your pitch to
other coaches. Whether it was Urban Meyer, whether it was
(15:55):
any number of those, Lincoln Riley was the guy you wanted.
You started getting a tattoo with a Dallas door on
your leg, which was really kind of odd thinking that
was coming to Fruition. But whomever it was, it seemed
that it was all right, we're playing this over here,
and we're getting a stiff farm. We might not be
getting the full no, but it's enough that we're not
(16:15):
kicking Jason Garrett out of here right. Otherwise you would
have moved on from the process altogether. How the Giants
let Mike McCarthy get out of the room, and who knows,
the judge could end up becoming a brilliant future star
in the coaching ranks. But McCarthy gets to Dallas and
as soon as Jerry was to that point rebuffed and
(16:38):
the deck chairs being filled said that's our guy because
Matt Rule. He wasn't gonna match what Matt Rule got
from Temper, and Temper gave him the kings to the
Kingdom and everything else. Mike McCarthy, you want to come
here and work for me, I'll do all the press okay,
worked out pretty nicely. Be sure to catch live editions
of The Jason Smith Show with Mike harmon weekdays at
ten pm Eastern seven pm. Pasif egg, uh So, now
(17:02):
I'm going to solve all the Lakers problems. It's because
they've they've been so it's well, it's it's about what's next.
It's about how are they going to advance on the
playoffs when they're a very thin team. It's Lebron, it's
Anthony Davis, and it's oh boy, lookout. The a D situation,
(17:25):
you would hope would be a wake up call where
the Lakers would have to realize, oh, in a minute,
we we really got to go out and get some
shooters because they have no other players they can count
on for offense. And you're not gonna win and championship
with that roster. You're just not. It's a regular season
dominant roster because in one out of a D two games, Hey,
it's it's tough beating Lebron, and it's tough beating Lebron
and a D. Look how many nights we watch Cleveland
(17:47):
and the Cavaliers with a really bad roster, but Lebron
still had him at the top because it's one out
of eight two and you lose to Lebron all the time.
This is how it works. But in the playoffs it's different.
And if you don't have a D team, you are
going home. The Lakers need is offense, and Dan Boyki
is right, Kyle who's is not going to bring back
(18:08):
a lot in the trade. He's not. He's an intriguing
young player. But suddenly you're not gonna get a really
big important cog to this machine that's gonna come back,
and suddenly this is now our third best player. Well,
it does lend some some other alternate theories to what
happened at the last trade when they got rid of
everybody else. Wait, you didn't want Kyle here. We thought
(18:28):
they were protecting him the whole way we could. But
the Lakers need shooters, they need they need more players
who can provide offense. That is the way they have
everything else. They got sized, they have the attitude, they
have everything else they need from the bench guys. They
just have nobody who can score, and their supporting players well,
and nobody they can count on to score. But the
scoring also being able to generate a shot. Forget about
(18:48):
just being shooters, right if Lebron's taking his twelve minutes
off or whatever that number is, and obviously in the playoffs,
that will fluctuate. But you need a guy that's gonna
be able to create for himself and for others, and
that that guy's not on the team. Know that that's
what It's not about one guy. It's the Seriously, the
Lakers need three guys that can shoot. They need three guys,
(19:09):
and it doesn't need to be the superstar guys to
score eighteen points a game. They just need shoot one
dimensional players that can shoot. That's all they need. Those
guys are very cheap and they're very gettable. You don't
have to worry about the fact the Lakers don't have
a first round pick until in fact, I think the
Mets are done paying Bobby Bnia before the next Lakers
(19:30):
first round pick. I think they're tied together where he
actually has to play and be rostered by the the
Lakers for at least one of them. Bobby Bow, you
can know he can shoot. At this point. You see
Bobby bo Bobby Bos working down in the low post man.
That's the one mother take Bobby Bones. He champion Bobby
(19:52):
Bones to you brand is blowing up. This is very
simple in that when you're looking for a one dimensional score,
you can get those guys. It's not gonna be very expensive.
It's not gonna be something that's gonna cost you. You're
gonna find teams that are gonna fall out of contention
and want to offload players. Potentially a team like the
Pelicans would off want to offload J. J. Reddick, whatever
(20:13):
it is you have. Teams are gonna want to worry
about sound. Those guys are gonna be out there. You
just have to be as stute enough to go get them.
Don't worry about making the big trade and what's Kyle
Kuzma gonna bring back? So I feel like the Lakers
have put everything in the what will Kyle Kuzma bring
back in a trade basket? And that's not gonna be
what helps you hold on to Kuzma. Go get a
(20:35):
couple of guys. Al Right, Igua Dolla is sitting around. Eventually,
you gotta think Igua Dolla is gonna find a way
gonna get extricated out of Memphis. Something's going to happen.
But you have to be able to go get those
guys when they can don't focus on who to trade.
What can you get for next to nothing, for relieving
salary cap money from another team, whatever it is to
get those shooters to come in. That's where you gotta
(20:58):
be focused for you're the Lakers, not all Let's talk
to all these teams and what's the best offer for
Kyle Kuzma, Because look, I agree with Dan Woikie. We we
we said this left, it's not this is not Kyle
Kuzma in the middle of last season, right. The best
thing for the Lakers would be that if Anthony Davis
is hurt and Kuzma has a few big games, all
right now, you really want to trade him, all right,
his value is high, let's go do it. But that's
(21:18):
really not feasible in my mind. What's feasible is, all right,
who are these guys. Let's let's go identifying and we
wait and as they fall out of contention, they will
be very cheap. You will get them, but you need
to or three of them if you're gonna win the championship. Well,
but I think one of the big pieces also to
make the make that evaluation now, right, start working on that,
because otherwise the Clippers and other would be contenders. They're
(21:41):
gonna be going after the same chips. So start start
making those back channel work and get Rich Paul to
do some more other than looking at m R. S. Well,
that's the thing. What Rich Paul can do with all
those clients. He can steer clients from other teams, two
different teams. Oh, I gotta really help a d out here.
So listen, you're gonna ask for this trade, You're gonna go,
You're gonna do this and do this week can help
(22:02):
a d L. I'll take care of you next year.
Another track where you got a giant painting of Rich
Paul as the NBA puppet master. It's brilliant. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app.
Joining us now on the hot Line National NBA writer
(22:23):
insider for the Los Angeles Times, it is friend of
the show who had a bruised tailbone for the entire
decade of the two thousand's Dan Woiki, what's happening? Dan?
I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one
who saw a Sacle Contusion starring Shannon Tweet. You find
(22:44):
it on IMDb. It's there, it's there. It is a
run tomatoes, very undervalued tables seen alone. I mean the
sequel was even better. One of those rare, very sexual.
You know, it's either that Dan or Sacrale Contusions. When
you go to a festival, right music festival all day
(23:06):
Saturday at the fair Grounds, Hey, Metallica is gonna headline
at eleven o'clock. That's pretty cool. At night. The first
band that goes on at like two o'clock in the
afternoon is Sacral Contusion. They played twenty minutes and you
can't even buy t shirts at the tenth No, we
don't have Cacle Contusion stuff. Man. Sorry, it's gonna be
like the first It's gonna be like the first day
of Wade Cella, the three day Dwayne Wade Festival with
(23:28):
the retire Well, I'm gonna they're gonna bring out former
to Paul Great, Kevin Edwards on day one earlier or
something like that. Wow. You know, just just really quick
on on weight Cella, which I like, I feel like
the Miami Heat are doing it because if they don't
Dwyne Dwayne Wade will cry and moan and complain about
(23:49):
why they're not doing enough for him. So this is listen,
let's just you know, let's let's cut this off at
the past. We'll do this great stuff for Dwayne Wade
doesn't have to complain about we're not doing anything for him.
I just think god's that number twenty um, you know,
I think looks it is a very unique UM fan
based star player relationship. Even though he was never the
(24:12):
best player in my opinion, on any of their title teams.
I think Shack still was the best player on the
first team, even though Wade was terrific in those finals,
or at least you shot a lot of free throws, um.
And then obviously you know there was lebron Um. But
but I just I just think that maybe it was
style or seam on a nightly bassis just watching him
just like fly into people or whatever it is. Um.
(24:34):
The relationship between Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat fans
is a that's a real one. And look, three days
is that overkill? Like absolutely, you know, how how how
slow are they going to move the jersey up to
the rabid But but but but I think you know,
whatever we're talking about it. I guess good on them.
(24:55):
I'm excited for wage tell I'm very excited. I'm gonna
do so much Molly guys, oh sacle contusion is playing
very early away, jealous. I'm make sure you get full
effects by time the headliners on and you can take
it early. Dan, Obviously the Lakers get dodge a bullet
with the help of a d whether he plays Friday
or in the second game, at least he's traveling with them.
(25:16):
Does this give them a bit of a scare to say, hey,
we gotta make sure we we fill out this roster
and the Kyle Kuzma trade talking all the Laker trade
talk kind of amps up a little bit because of
this scare. I mean he kind of the effects of
this right so um Well, Frank Boldo was talking yesterday
as the ACE reporter that I am. I was camped
(25:37):
out in the Staple Center's hallways trying to like get
a glimpse of how they were gonna get a d
out of the building. They were trying to clear out
media and they didn't want anybody to see when like
this is a guy who was literally like kind of
like George Constanza, the time a sort of deduction post
that's like sort of how he's laying on the back
of a golf cart like he can't fit right and
he can't and he can't walk, and you watch him
(26:00):
kind of really gingerly like get in the back stat
of a car, and it's just sort of like, oh,
like this doesn't look great. Um obviously X rays negatives,
um m r. I do you know show the musclers
like he's gonna be okay. Um, but if they were scared, like,
wouldn't he just take these two games off? Like wouldn't
he just stay at home? And kind of you know,
(26:24):
I don't know, sitting up spath or whatever it is
you do for this injury. Uh. To me, it's they
are attacking the regular season with the tanasa. It should
be rewarded and it should be applauded. Um. But and
I've said this to you guys before, I've said it
to Lebron, I've I've said it to anybody who listen.
The single biggest thing that opposing executives say when they
(26:46):
kind of wonder about where the Lakers are at, it's
sort of like what are they doing right now? Like
why is why? Every time. If someone questioned, will do this,
do they play? Um? You know, And it's not it's
not saying take nights off for the sake of just
taking names off these guys that are literally playing through illness,
playing through you know, injuries. Lebron before the game against
the Knicks, you know, I was walking around the locker
(27:08):
room with a he's he's you know, he's sick. He's
walking on the locker room with you know, his sweats on,
a winner hat and literally a like gallon bag of
sliced oranges. He's trying everything again to like either you know,
I guess that there are lemons to avoid scurvy, but like,
you know, trying his best to just vitamin C up.
(27:30):
And it's just sort of like for what And I
and and I get that there are fans that paid
a lot of money to go to that game to
see Lebron James playing, and I applaud his sort of
his desire to to fulfill his I guess, his duty
to those people and to fulfill sort of his duties
of the Lakers. And they talked about this, They say, like,
you know, they see one guy player, they all want
(27:51):
to play hurt. And I just I just don't get
it right now, they're the best team in the West.
They might be the best team in the NBA despite
losing wice to the Clippers, despite losing to the Box
like big, big, big picture, and by that I don't
mean three years from now big picture. I mean this
seems got to be right come you know, May and
June and playing through Sort Groins and Bruce coxases and
(28:16):
or cox i um or whatever. It just seems to
me like a little short sighted Jason Smith Show with
Mike Carbon from the get go Fox Sports Radio Studios.
I had so many one liners there that it's too
early in the evening to just work with those. It's
Dan Woike, our body, national NBA rider and insider at
the l A Times at dan Wicky Sports is where
(28:38):
you find him on Twitter. Just to stay with that though, Dan,
you know a lot of the rumors about Kyle Kuzma
and his future go back to the trainer comments and
everything else. Lebron holds grudges, but it's really no secret
to anybody that's watched that they need some help. I mean,
he's the third leading score at eleven eight, and he's
been inconsistent throughout. So how much different is this roster
(29:00):
look at a couple of weeks from now. Well, I
mean I think right like, Darren Collinson to me is
sort of the plug and play person. Um, assuming he
wants to play, assuming he wants to come back. That
seems to me to be the the straightest line towards improvement. Um.
The Kuzma thing is tricky because, um, his value is
not tremendous like they're they're they're definitely scouts in the league,
(29:22):
guys that are paid to kind of evaluate these guys
who will go as far as to say that, like,
you know, I hate this guy as a player. Um,
now they're like he has bigger fans than that, but
like he also has some people are pretty strong detractors,
and I think, yeah, he's a young guy, but like
young guys who only score. Um, you know, it's it's
(29:42):
just not that it's just not that appealing, um to
a lot of scouts, to a lot of teams. Um,
you have to have the ball in his hand a
lot that mitigates what your other guys in the cork
can do. And the first starting thing with a guy
like Kyle Kuzma is like if you watched him for
a week. You could talk to yourself and him being
you know, kind of the sharp shooting. You know, he's
got great size, he moves about the ball. Um. You know,
(30:03):
he's a guy physically who should be able to compete
on defense and you know being that's what all the
talk was out of Team USA. UM, but that's not
really it's just out there every night. It just isn't.
And yeah, playing with Lebron and playing with a D
is tough for a guy who um was allowed to
shoot every time he touched it, you know, the first
(30:23):
two years in the NBA. I think that's an adjustment.
But you know, I still don't know, like if the
goal is to find a guy who can average sixteen
or seventeen points a game, right, if that's like sort
of the goal. I don't know how Kyle Kuzma gets
you bad, Um. You know, I don't think he gets you.
Marcus Morris, I don't think that's enough. Um. You know
(30:44):
his salary, you know, does he get you Robert Covington
in Minnesota? Do you feel better if Robert Covington's the
third best player? I'm the Lakers Like maybe a little um,
but it's not like sort of that big jump guy.
It like, you know, I I they're not going to
get um, you know, playing Bogdanovitch for this or I'm
sorry for for you know, straight up for him. It's
(31:06):
just not gonna happen. And even still, that's still a
pretty big leap and responsibility from being a guy who
comes off the bench and sector end up being the
third best layer. Um. So I think their pathways to
improve it via trade obviously they all run through a
Kyle queensmdial. It's just I'll be interested to see how
much Rob Blincol can can a drum up an interest
in him. Can you sell him to other other executives? Um,
(31:29):
get guys overlook as flaws and be can you work
the salary cap math in a way where you know
they can bring back a guy who makes fourteen million
dollars um, you know, and can it can make a
real impact instead of just making finding a guy who's
just a marginal improved. Well, and it's gonna find a
way to bring some first round picks back and then
you make make chase a lot easier. Sure, yeah, I
(31:51):
mean I mean that's the other problem too, Right, It's
like it's not only God Sweetens like they don't like
so um, you know, they have one other young player
essentially on the Austar and Taylon Horton Tucker, Um, you know,
who's been up and back between the G League mostly
in the Glas all year and um, you know, guys
like him. He's an interesting player. But it's and I
don't think he's a guy like let's say, you know,
it's the Knicks for instance, Like I don't think he's
(32:13):
a guy, where Steve Mills is like okay, like yeah,
like Wilson Bucket Morris, Now it's the Knicks. Come on,
it's the Knicks. You never know, it's it's it's a possibility,
I suppose. But uh, you know, I think it's just
like they're the bidding for all of these other players
because there are other contenders that are looking for these
types of players too. Um, and those teams can simply
(32:35):
off from more. Um. What they really do is theyde
Kyle Kuzman to have like three awesome weeks and string
together some consistency and stuff like that in a way
that he has an all season, stay healthy, stay on
the court. Um you know, and it's it's weird. I
kind of thought, actually maybe the the injury, if he
missed a week or two, would be a silver lining.
But like because maybe Kyle Kuzman will do on track,
(32:56):
is more of a focal point in the offense and
and do that. But that doesn't appear. That's like, that's
gonna be that the case. He's gonna have to figure
out what those are those guys on the floor. The
Twitter account is dan wiki Sports. That's Dan wiki Sports,
national NBA writer for The l A Times. Dan has
always appreciated We'll look forward. I'll try to get tickets
for us for Waite Chella. Yeah, I'm very excited to
(33:17):
thank you.
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every week night from ten pm to two a m.
Eastern seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Find your local station for The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream
us live every night on the I Heart Radio app
by searching fs R. This is the best of the
(00:22):
Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaking of Tom Brady, Tom Brady had the story of
the day today by posting on Instagram and hinting about
his future. Brady put a big post showing himself running
(00:43):
out onto the field that you're lette stadium. This a
couple of days after the loss to the Titans and
knocked him out, and this is the message that he
put out there. I'm not gonna read the whole thing,
but I'm gonna give you the best of and I'm
not gonna leave anything out that's Germaine to the conversation
we're gonna have. I just wanted to say to all
our fans, thank you. After a few days of reflection,
(01:04):
I am so grateful and humbled by the unconditional support
you have shown me the past two decades. Running out
of that tunnel every week is a feeling that is
hard to explain. I wish every season ended in a win,
but that's not the nature of sports or life. He
goes on to talk about winning and losing for a second.
Then he goes on to say, every one of us
that works at Gillette Stadium strived to do their best,
(01:25):
spent themselves at a worthy cause, and prepared to fail
while daring greatly hashtag Teddy Roosevelt. He goes on to
talk about giving and the team being important, and then
he ends with this, which is the money part of
this Instagram post. In both life and football, failure is inevitable.
It's kind of sounded like al Pacino in life and football,
(01:48):
these inches are everywhere around them. In both life and football,
failure is inevitable. You don't always win. You can, however,
learn that from failure, pick yourself up great enthusiasm and
place yourself in the arena again. Get a little Teddy
Roosevelt going on there, and that's right where you will
find me, because I know I still have more to
(02:10):
prove again at the end place yourself in the arena
again and that's right where you will find me, because
I know I still have more to prove. The focus
all day today has been look at me. Stop. Short
of saying coming back, it's slept in the air. He's
maybe coming I to people need to be hit over
(02:31):
the head with the fact that Tom Brady is leaving
the Patriots. This is a post in which he is
thanking fans, right, He's thinking all the fans for their support,
what they've done from for twenty years. First of all,
it's a goodbye letter and a goodbye puss. But let's
just let's let's let's put a pin in that for
a second. This is a posting to all of the
fans who have supported him for the past twenty years.
(02:53):
His future is up in the air, right, we know this.
He doesn't know he's coming back, is he not. You're
Tom Brady, You're almost twenty years the new England Patriots, right.
What do you say to fans of the Patriots. I
hope I'm back in front of you next year doing
this again. No one would call Tom Brady out if
he wound up going someplace else, because all he's saying
(03:13):
is I hope I'm in front of you again. I
hope I'm playing for you again next year in New England.
But Brady can't even bring himself to say that, because
he's gone. No one's gonna say, wait, you wrote on
an Instagram post you hope to be back. Yeah, I
hope you're back and it didn't work out and I'm going.
He can't even bring himself to say I hope to
be back. I hope to be playing in front of you,
which is what anybody would do. Anybody would do that. Hey,
(03:36):
I hope to come back, doesn't mean I'm coming back,
doesn't mean I'm definitely back. He doesn't have to say
I'm back next year, don't worry, let's ride, let's roll.
He can't even bring himself to say that, which is
the easiest thing to do in this situation, and that
would get rid of a lot of tension. Past is
Tom Brady going? At least he said okay, he hopes
to be back. Everything is up in the air. He
specifically did not talk about coming back. He didn't mention
(03:59):
the Patriots. He said every one of us that works
at Gillette Stadium. He specifically went out of his way
to make this post the way he did. He is gone.
You need every day say you need no more evidence
than this, but this really is it. He can't even
say I hope to be back in front of you
next year with me, he could be lying. Everybody does it.
I hope to be back, but you know what, somebody
(04:20):
else offer me more money, so I'm going. Matt Rule
was more truthful with his team, saying, hey, Baylor, you
know what, I'll talk to the NFL. I'll say, I'll
have to talk to him. Then I'll say I'm not going.
I mean, he was more truthful. Brady can't even bring
himself to say that what what more evidence do you
need that he is not only checked out physically mentally,
he is gone from there. I don't need more. Uh.
(04:43):
First off, Matt Rule, I sent some money. He sounded
like a televangelist and we'll get into some of his
comments as the show goes on. UM. I felt like
I needed to add to his coffers because he got
me riled up, like I had an awakening. And now
that I do you see the light, I say, yes,
I do ask for this with Tom Brady. This is
for the three percent of people that thought he was
(05:05):
going to retire, right, because wasn't that the Robert Kraft
line of I hope he's playing for us or he retires.
This was the volley back to Robert Kraft saying, okay,
balls of your court, I'm not retiring. That's really all
I take from this this statement? Right, well, why can't you?
This is what anybody else would say. I hope to
(05:26):
be back playing in front of it's been twenty years.
I hope this. This is an eat. This is what's
called easy promotion. This is this is the easiest. He
still said no, and he still said nope, not gonna
say I'm coming back because I'm leaving. Well, but it's not.
It may not be his choice to come back. All
he's saying here is I'm not done playing. So now
it's going to be you read between the line. It's
(05:47):
on the Patriots to decide where this goes from here,
right because if they don't resign him, they've got the
dead cap issue third team. Point five million dollars is
not an insignificant amount of money when you're trying to
figure out your your roster going ahead, because you're gonna
have to bring in another quarterback as much as they
may extol the virtues of Jared Stidham and guys maybe
(06:08):
talking him up behind the scenes, that there's no guarantee
he's the guy that's ready. Right, We've seen the air
Apparents a few times that have come through, and it's
like Brady's you know, not not killing it, right. I mean,
how many lives as he had, right, I mean how
many times just Rob Parker and many other folks in
our media business try but but but there's always been
(06:29):
that guy and then he's gone. Yeah, but there there's
an easier way to make the Hey, I hope I'm back.
You're not losing anything, You're not doing anything but making
this not a story because if he says I hope
to be back in front of you next year, what happens?
All this, what is Tom Brady doing? Hits the backburner
for a little while, and Brady can enjoy his off
season the page, you can enjoy their off season because
(06:50):
all right, Tom said he hopes. So maybe they're gonna
work things out. It's the beginning of January. We're onto
the a f C and NFC divisional rounds, were on
onto the championship games of super Bowl. But no, all
he's got to do is say, and he knows Brady's
the guy that talked to the media once or twice
in the past eighteen years. All he's gotta do is say,
I hope to be back even if he's not. That's
I mean, literally, that is what everybody else in this
(07:11):
situation would say. I hope to be back, but I
don't know what the future is. He couldn't even say
I hope to be back playing in front of you.
Allays said was I know I'll be in the arena again.
That's a specific word this, I know. I know I'll
be back in jo Lette again, and I'll be back
in front of No. This is very craftily written to
let everybody know there is no two ways about it.
I I am gone. I this is I can't if
(07:32):
he could have just said, hey, I hope so all right,
but he couldn't even say no. But to me, this
is the way to say a Patriots, you know, I'm
putting it on them that if I leave, it's not
gonna be on me without making it at overtly adversarial. Right,
This is Hey, thanks, It's been a good run. Everybody
(07:53):
there works hard, whatever, so you can keep it. You
have a statement, right, because there's been so much speculation
all over the place. So this at least takes those
reports of hey, Tom Brady's old and he can retire.
You know, the folks that are shouting that from the
rooftop that didn't watch any Patriots games. I'm not saying
he's the guy he was three years ago, five years ago, whatever,
(08:14):
but he's still better than an awful lot of quarterbacks.
If he had, you know, wide receivers with a pulse
and knew how to run a route, he could finish
off drives. I mean, you had the that's the Joe
Judge Wide Receiving Corps at your service right there. Well,
you go talk to the giants about that. I'm not there. Guys,
young guys with talent, but it takes time to work
(08:35):
into a system, right And the two veterans that they had,
Gordon gets sent away, and then we all know about
the trials and tribulations of one Antonio Brown and his
music career that is now being furthered. I just say this,
this pushes it aside for now saying hey, just buckle,
buckle your chin strap. We gotta a ride. To go,
(08:55):
but it's gonna be on. Look, once Bill Belichick's done
voting for whatever all time him team he's working on now,
maybe it'll get back to work. Yeah. But still but
even if he says I hope to be back, that
puts the onus on the Patriots, and that puts the
onus on Craft and Belichick, which if Brady wanted to
play it that way would be a great thing because
now some fans, the fans of media would say, oh,
(09:17):
so Brady wants to come back now, oh, or the
are the is the are the ownership and the coach
really gonna push him out of town? But he still
didn't say that, but it would have helped him. But
why why make it antagonistic? Right now? I'll be in
the arena again, I mean that, everybody. Why can't he
(09:37):
say supposed to stay? Be sure to catch live editions
of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at
ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and the I Heart Radio app. Today was also a
very revealing day for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys,
(09:58):
who introduced Mike McCarthy as their new head coach and
in the process of doing this, Jerry Jones pretty much,
let's slip what really went on as far as the
hiring of Mike McCarthy went. And I remember Mike McCarthy's
name wasn't brought up for the Dallas Cowboys all last week.
Then suddenly Friday night we find out Dope Cowboys gonna
(10:19):
talk to Mike McCarthy Marvin Lewis. Saturday night, Mike McCarthy
was staying at Jerry Jones's house. Next day he had
the job. Whoa whoa, whoa, whoa whoa came together pretty fast.
But listen to Jerry Jones, hell it from today, and
Mike McCarthy was always his guy. I knew Mike McCarthy
before he ever walked through these doors, and I knew
it from a lot of different directions. So that while
(10:42):
our time together initially talking about this job was meaningful,
so much more went into how and why he's sitting
at this table today. So this is Jerry Jones saying,
I've known Mike McCarthy. He's my guy. He's my guy.
He actually went on to tell this really weird story
(11:03):
about how he heard bells from Mike McCarthy's name it's
a very he as a pope. No, it's a very
strange story in which he was he was talking about
his sister's divorce, and you know, he asked, why you're
getting divorced? And she says, I don't hear bells anymore,
I meaning the excitement of the marriage has gone. Don't
hear bells. And you know, that was how it was
at first explained to Jerry Jones when he was younger.
But he says so but hearing bells from Mike McCarthy,
(11:25):
he heard bells, meaning this is a marriage that was
meant to be. Now, let's understand what Jerry Jones said,
and I'll tell you really how this how this went out.
When this whole fiasco slash drama began to play out,
Jerry Jones still had not fired Jason Garrett. Beginning of
the week after Week seventeen, Jason Garrett had a job.
(11:49):
Then they met every day for four days in a row.
Jason Garrett still had a job, had a job, had
a job, had a job, had a job. All the
names that had been mentioned to interview for head coaching
jobs in the NFL, like McCarthy was out there and
Matt wool was out there, all the names you had heard,
and the Cowboys still had Jason Garrett as their head coach.
There was nothing else that told you the Cowboys are
(12:12):
ready to make him move, ready to make a higher
which when that story unfolded the way it did, I
told you he's got a couple of names, their big names,
and that's what he's trying to work on. And that
who's gonna wind up being the head coach of the
Dallas Cowboys. Because why are you if Mike McCarthy is
(12:33):
your guy, why are you going through a whole week
where Jason Garrett still has the job. You have not
scheduled interview with him, not anything. You're watching an interview
with the Giants, who are allowing him to talk to
other teams, talk to the Cleveland Browns. If he is
your guy, and you love him this much, and you
heard bells and and I saw McCarthy when he he
stayed over wearing the Cowboys pajamas and myles on Saturday
(12:53):
and we played pictionary untill four in the morning. He
was my guy. Then I made waffles. And if he
was your guy, why would you risk losing him? He
was too shy to approach a pretty girl in high school.
You think Jerry Jones is shy to approach anybody. No.
I thought it was just a funny analogy and would
give you a story of some time that there was
a girl across the home room that you just couldn't
(13:17):
pull it together. I'm Jerry. You must have smelled my
money coming from about a hundred and fifty yards away.
Uh So, why would you risk losing Mike McCarthy if
he is your guy? Because there was nothing about Mike
McCarthy and then he was interviewing with the giants on Friday,
and then suddenly Friday night it was cowboys to interview
Mike McCarthy and Marvin Lewis. Right now, that Marvin Lewis
(13:39):
thing that was completely ridiculous, and that was just to
satisfy the Rooney rule. And he was never really a candidate.
But the next day McCarthy interviews, he sleeps over, he
has a job the next day. That's not how you act.
If he's your guy, you never want to worry about
losing him. I guarantee you that this is what happened.
What we said at the beginning, Jerry Jones had those
big names on his wish list that he thought he
(14:00):
was gonna make happen. Whether it was urban Meyer, whether
it was Lincoln Riley had coached Oklahoma, whoever was, he
had it and that's what he wanted to make happen.
He found out he couldn't make it happen. For whatever reason.
Urban Meyer said no, Lincoln Riley said no, Jim Harbaugh
said no. Whatever it was, he found out he couldn't
make it happen. So suddenly they pivoted to Plan B,
which was Mike McCarthy. And I give them credit because
(14:22):
they got the best guy out there, with a great
resume and a guy that's developed quarterbacks. It's just a
CEO type person. They got the right guy. But there's
no way this was. Plan A was to allow Jason
Garrett to twist in the wind, keep the job for
four days, then hastily schedule the interview with Mike McCarthy,
then talked to him and give him the job a
day and a half later. There's no way. That's not
(14:43):
how it unfolds. If that's your guy, that's your guy.
The Panthers loved Matt Rule from the beginning, but Matt
Rule still wanted to talk to other teams, but the
Panthers never wavered he is our guy. Early in the process,
the day after the season ended, Matt Rule is our guy.
We did not hear Mike McCarthy at all until an
entire week goes by Friday night, Jerry got no from
whoever he really wanted and then said, Okay, let's go
(15:05):
get McCarthy, and the power of the Dallas Cowboys made
it happen for him. But there's no way this was Hey,
I loved you from you had me at Hello. There's
no way that was that been folded this way. No.
And I think when we watched the way Jason Garrett
was still going to the facility. All the assistance were
going to last Friday, so they were finally told, hey,
don't come in on Monday. So something was hitting the
(15:29):
proverbial fan or thrown against the wall at that point.
But for Jason Garrett, he was gonna still pitch to
keep his job. And I think, you know, since he
had to the fourteen to work out the glitch, as
I so eloquently put it, at the end of last week, right,
there was no reason to rush Garrett out of the
building while you were trying to make your pitch to
other coaches. Whether it was Urban Meyer, whether it was
(15:55):
any number of those, Lincoln Riley was the guy you wanted.
You started getting a tattoo with a Dallas door on
your leg, which was really kind of odd thinking that
was coming to Fruition. But whomever it was, it seemed
that it was all right, we're playing this over here,
and we're getting a stiff farm. We might not be
getting the full no, but it's enough that we're not
(16:15):
kicking Jason Garrett out of here right. Otherwise you would
have moved on from the process altogether. How the Giants
let Mike McCarthy get out of the room, and who knows,
the judge could end up becoming a brilliant future star
in the coaching ranks. But McCarthy gets to Dallas and
as soon as Jerry was to that point rebuffed and
(16:38):
the deck chairs being filled said that's our guy because
Matt Rule. He wasn't gonna match what Matt Rule got
from Temper, and Temper gave him the kings to the
Kingdom and everything else. Mike McCarthy, you want to come
here and work for me, I'll do all the press okay,
worked out pretty nicely. Be sure to catch live editions
of The Jason Smith Show with Mike harmon weekdays at
ten pm Eastern seven pm. Pasif egg, uh So, now
(17:02):
I'm going to solve all the Lakers problems. It's because
they've they've been so it's well, it's it's about what's next.
It's about how are they going to advance on the
playoffs when they're a very thin team. It's Lebron, it's
Anthony Davis, and it's oh boy, lookout. The a D situation,
(17:25):
you would hope would be a wake up call where
the Lakers would have to realize, oh, in a minute,
we we really got to go out and get some
shooters because they have no other players they can count
on for offense. And you're not gonna win and championship
with that roster. You're just not. It's a regular season
dominant roster because in one out of a D two games, Hey,
it's it's tough beating Lebron, and it's tough beating Lebron
and a D. Look how many nights we watch Cleveland
(17:47):
and the Cavaliers with a really bad roster, but Lebron
still had him at the top because it's one out
of eight two and you lose to Lebron all the time.
This is how it works. But in the playoffs it's different.
And if you don't have a D team, you are
going home. The Lakers need is offense, and Dan Boyki
is right, Kyle who's is not going to bring back
(18:08):
a lot in the trade. He's not. He's an intriguing
young player. But suddenly you're not gonna get a really
big important cog to this machine that's gonna come back,
and suddenly this is now our third best player. Well,
it does lend some some other alternate theories to what
happened at the last trade when they got rid of
everybody else. Wait, you didn't want Kyle here. We thought
(18:28):
they were protecting him the whole way we could. But
the Lakers need shooters, they need they need more players
who can provide offense. That is the way they have
everything else. They got sized, they have the attitude, they
have everything else they need from the bench guys. They
just have nobody who can score, and their supporting players well,
and nobody they can count on to score. But the
scoring also being able to generate a shot. Forget about
(18:48):
just being shooters, right if Lebron's taking his twelve minutes
off or whatever that number is, and obviously in the playoffs,
that will fluctuate. But you need a guy that's gonna
be able to create for himself and for others, and
that that guy's not on the team. Know that that's
what It's not about one guy. It's the Seriously, the
Lakers need three guys that can shoot. They need three guys,
(19:09):
and it doesn't need to be the superstar guys to
score eighteen points a game. They just need shoot one
dimensional players that can shoot. That's all they need. Those
guys are very cheap and they're very gettable. You don't
have to worry about the fact the Lakers don't have
a first round pick until in fact, I think the
Mets are done paying Bobby Bnia before the next Lakers
(19:30):
first round pick. I think they're tied together where he
actually has to play and be rostered by the the
Lakers for at least one of them. Bobby Bow, you
can know he can shoot. At this point. You see
Bobby bo Bobby Bos working down in the low post man.
That's the one mother take Bobby Bones. He champion Bobby
(19:52):
Bones to you brand is blowing up. This is very
simple in that when you're looking for a one dimensional score,
you can get those guys. It's not gonna be very expensive.
It's not gonna be something that's gonna cost you. You're
gonna find teams that are gonna fall out of contention
and want to offload players. Potentially a team like the
Pelicans would off want to offload J. J. Reddick, whatever
(20:13):
it is you have. Teams are gonna want to worry
about sound. Those guys are gonna be out there. You
just have to be as stute enough to go get them.
Don't worry about making the big trade and what's Kyle
Kuzma gonna bring back? So I feel like the Lakers
have put everything in the what will Kyle Kuzma bring
back in a trade basket? And that's not gonna be
what helps you hold on to Kuzma. Go get a
(20:35):
couple of guys. Al Right, Igua Dolla is sitting around. Eventually,
you gotta think Igua Dolla is gonna find a way
gonna get extricated out of Memphis. Something's going to happen.
But you have to be able to go get those
guys when they can don't focus on who to trade.
What can you get for next to nothing, for relieving
salary cap money from another team, whatever it is to
get those shooters to come in. That's where you gotta
(20:58):
be focused for you're the Lakers, not all Let's talk
to all these teams and what's the best offer for
Kyle Kuzma, Because look, I agree with Dan Woikie. We we
we said this left, it's not this is not Kyle
Kuzma in the middle of last season, right. The best
thing for the Lakers would be that if Anthony Davis
is hurt and Kuzma has a few big games, all
right now, you really want to trade him, all right,
his value is high, let's go do it. But that's
(21:18):
really not feasible in my mind. What's feasible is, all right,
who are these guys. Let's let's go identifying and we
wait and as they fall out of contention, they will
be very cheap. You will get them, but you need
to or three of them if you're gonna win the championship. Well,
but I think one of the big pieces also to
make the make that evaluation now, right, start working on that,
because otherwise the Clippers and other would be contenders. They're
(21:41):
gonna be going after the same chips. So start start
making those back channel work and get Rich Paul to
do some more other than looking at m R. S. Well,
that's the thing. What Rich Paul can do with all
those clients. He can steer clients from other teams, two
different teams. Oh, I gotta really help a d out here.
So listen, you're gonna ask for this trade, You're gonna go,
You're gonna do this and do this week can help
(22:02):
a d L. I'll take care of you next year.
Another track where you got a giant painting of Rich
Paul as the NBA puppet master. It's brilliant. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app.
Joining us now on the hot Line National NBA writer
(22:23):
insider for the Los Angeles Times, it is friend of
the show who had a bruised tailbone for the entire
decade of the two thousand's Dan Woiki, what's happening? Dan?
I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one
who saw a Sacle Contusion starring Shannon Tweet. You find
(22:44):
it on IMDb. It's there, it's there. It is a
run tomatoes, very undervalued tables seen alone. I mean the
sequel was even better. One of those rare, very sexual.
You know, it's either that Dan or Sacrale Contusions. When
you go to a festival, right music festival all day
(23:06):
Saturday at the fair Grounds, Hey, Metallica is gonna headline
at eleven o'clock. That's pretty cool. At night. The first
band that goes on at like two o'clock in the
afternoon is Sacral Contusion. They played twenty minutes and you
can't even buy t shirts at the tenth No, we
don't have Cacle Contusion stuff. Man. Sorry, it's gonna be
like the first It's gonna be like the first day
of Wade Cella, the three day Dwayne Wade Festival with
(23:28):
the retire Well, I'm gonna they're gonna bring out former
to Paul Great, Kevin Edwards on day one earlier or
something like that. Wow. You know, just just really quick
on on weight Cella, which I like, I feel like
the Miami Heat are doing it because if they don't
Dwyne Dwayne Wade will cry and moan and complain about
(23:49):
why they're not doing enough for him. So this is listen,
let's just you know, let's let's cut this off at
the past. We'll do this great stuff for Dwayne Wade
doesn't have to complain about we're not doing anything for him.
I just think god's that number twenty um, you know,
I think looks it is a very unique UM fan
based star player relationship. Even though he was never the
(24:12):
best player in my opinion, on any of their title teams.
I think Shack still was the best player on the
first team, even though Wade was terrific in those finals,
or at least you shot a lot of free throws, um.
And then obviously you know there was lebron Um. But
but I just I just think that maybe it was
style or seam on a nightly bassis just watching him
just like fly into people or whatever it is. Um.
(24:34):
The relationship between Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat fans
is a that's a real one. And look, three days
is that overkill? Like absolutely, you know, how how how
slow are they going to move the jersey up to
the rabid But but but but I think you know,
whatever we're talking about it. I guess good on them.
(24:55):
I'm excited for wage tell I'm very excited. I'm gonna
do so much Molly guys, oh sacle contusion is playing
very early away, jealous. I'm make sure you get full
effects by time the headliners on and you can take
it early. Dan, Obviously the Lakers get dodge a bullet
with the help of a d whether he plays Friday
or in the second game, at least he's traveling with them.
(25:16):
Does this give them a bit of a scare to say, hey,
we gotta make sure we we fill out this roster
and the Kyle Kuzma trade talking all the Laker trade
talk kind of amps up a little bit because of
this scare. I mean he kind of the effects of
this right so um Well, Frank Boldo was talking yesterday
as the ACE reporter that I am. I was camped
(25:37):
out in the Staple Center's hallways trying to like get
a glimpse of how they were gonna get a d
out of the building. They were trying to clear out
media and they didn't want anybody to see when like
this is a guy who was literally like kind of
like George Constanza, the time a sort of deduction post
that's like sort of how he's laying on the back
of a golf cart like he can't fit right and
he can't and he can't walk, and you watch him
(26:00):
kind of really gingerly like get in the back stat
of a car, and it's just sort of like, oh,
like this doesn't look great. Um obviously X rays negatives,
um m r. I do you know show the musclers
like he's gonna be okay. Um, but if they were scared, like,
wouldn't he just take these two games off? Like wouldn't
he just stay at home? And kind of you know,
(26:24):
I don't know, sitting up spath or whatever it is
you do for this injury. Uh. To me, it's they
are attacking the regular season with the tanasa. It should
be rewarded and it should be applauded. Um. But and
I've said this to you guys before, I've said it
to Lebron, I've I've said it to anybody who listen.
The single biggest thing that opposing executives say when they
(26:46):
kind of wonder about where the Lakers are at, it's
sort of like what are they doing right now? Like
why is why? Every time. If someone questioned, will do this,
do they play? Um? You know, And it's not it's
not saying take nights off for the sake of just
taking names off these guys that are literally playing through illness,
playing through you know, injuries. Lebron before the game against
the Knicks, you know, I was walking around the locker
(27:08):
room with a he's he's you know, he's sick. He's
walking on the locker room with you know, his sweats on,
a winner hat and literally a like gallon bag of
sliced oranges. He's trying everything again to like either you know,
I guess that there are lemons to avoid scurvy, but like,
you know, trying his best to just vitamin C up.
(27:30):
And it's just sort of like for what And I
and and I get that there are fans that paid
a lot of money to go to that game to
see Lebron James playing, and I applaud his sort of
his desire to to fulfill his I guess, his duty
to those people and to fulfill sort of his duties
of the Lakers. And they talked about this, They say, like,
you know, they see one guy player, they all want
(27:51):
to play hurt. And I just I just don't get
it right now, they're the best team in the West.
They might be the best team in the NBA despite
losing wice to the Clippers, despite losing to the Box
like big, big, big picture, and by that I don't
mean three years from now big picture. I mean this
seems got to be right come you know, May and
June and playing through Sort Groins and Bruce coxases and
(28:16):
or cox i um or whatever. It just seems to
me like a little short sighted Jason Smith Show with
Mike Carbon from the get go Fox Sports Radio Studios.
I had so many one liners there that it's too
early in the evening to just work with those. It's
Dan Woike, our body, national NBA rider and insider at
the l A Times at dan Wicky Sports is where
(28:38):
you find him on Twitter. Just to stay with that though, Dan,
you know a lot of the rumors about Kyle Kuzma
and his future go back to the trainer comments and
everything else. Lebron holds grudges, but it's really no secret
to anybody that's watched that they need some help. I mean,
he's the third leading score at eleven eight, and he's
been inconsistent throughout. So how much different is this roster
(29:00):
look at a couple of weeks from now. Well, I
mean I think right like, Darren Collinson to me is
sort of the plug and play person. Um, assuming he
wants to play, assuming he wants to come back. That
seems to me to be the the straightest line towards improvement. Um.
The Kuzma thing is tricky because, um, his value is
not tremendous like they're they're they're definitely scouts in the league,
(29:22):
guys that are paid to kind of evaluate these guys
who will go as far as to say that, like,
you know, I hate this guy as a player. Um,
now they're like he has bigger fans than that, but
like he also has some people are pretty strong detractors,
and I think, yeah, he's a young guy, but like
young guys who only score. Um, you know, it's it's
(29:42):
just not that it's just not that appealing, um to
a lot of scouts, to a lot of teams. Um,
you have to have the ball in his hand a
lot that mitigates what your other guys in the cork
can do. And the first starting thing with a guy
like Kyle Kuzma is like if you watched him for
a week. You could talk to yourself and him being
you know, kind of the sharp shooting. You know, he's
got great size, he moves about the ball. Um. You know,
(30:03):
he's a guy physically who should be able to compete
on defense and you know being that's what all the
talk was out of Team USA. UM, but that's not
really it's just out there every night. It just isn't.
And yeah, playing with Lebron and playing with a D
is tough for a guy who um was allowed to
shoot every time he touched it, you know, the first
(30:23):
two years in the NBA. I think that's an adjustment.
But you know, I still don't know, like if the
goal is to find a guy who can average sixteen
or seventeen points a game, right, if that's like sort
of the goal. I don't know how Kyle Kuzma gets
you bad, Um. You know, I don't think he gets you.
Marcus Morris, I don't think that's enough. Um. You know
(30:44):
his salary, you know, does he get you Robert Covington
in Minnesota? Do you feel better if Robert Covington's the
third best player? I'm the Lakers Like maybe a little um,
but it's not like sort of that big jump guy.
It like, you know, I I they're not going to
get um, you know, playing Bogdanovitch for this or I'm
sorry for for you know, straight up for him. It's
(31:06):
just not gonna happen. And even still, that's still a
pretty big leap and responsibility from being a guy who
comes off the bench and sector end up being the
third best layer. Um. So I think their pathways to
improve it via trade obviously they all run through a
Kyle queensmdial. It's just I'll be interested to see how
much Rob Blincol can can a drum up an interest
in him. Can you sell him to other other executives? Um,
(31:29):
get guys overlook as flaws and be can you work
the salary cap math in a way where you know
they can bring back a guy who makes fourteen million
dollars um, you know, and can it can make a
real impact instead of just making finding a guy who's
just a marginal improved. Well, and it's gonna find a
way to bring some first round picks back and then
you make make chase a lot easier. Sure, yeah, I
(31:51):
mean I mean that's the other problem too, Right, It's
like it's not only God Sweetens like they don't like
so um, you know, they have one other young player
essentially on the Austar and Taylon Horton Tucker, Um, you know,
who's been up and back between the G League mostly
in the Glas all year and um, you know, guys
like him. He's an interesting player. But it's and I
don't think he's a guy like let's say, you know,
it's the Knicks for instance, Like I don't think he's
(32:13):
a guy, where Steve Mills is like okay, like yeah,
like Wilson Bucket Morris, Now it's the Knicks. Come on,
it's the Knicks. You never know, it's it's it's a possibility,
I suppose. But uh, you know, I think it's just
like they're the bidding for all of these other players
because there are other contenders that are looking for these
types of players too. Um, and those teams can simply
(32:35):
off from more. Um. What they really do is theyde
Kyle Kuzman to have like three awesome weeks and string
together some consistency and stuff like that in a way
that he has an all season, stay healthy, stay on
the court. Um you know, and it's it's weird. I
kind of thought, actually maybe the the injury, if he
missed a week or two, would be a silver lining.
But like because maybe Kyle Kuzman will do on track,
(32:56):
is more of a focal point in the offense and
and do that. But that doesn't appear. That's like, that's
gonna be that the case. He's gonna have to figure
out what those are those guys on the floor. The
Twitter account is dan wiki Sports. That's Dan wiki Sports,
national NBA writer for The l A Times. Dan has
always appreciated We'll look forward. I'll try to get tickets
for us for Waite Chella. Yeah, I'm very excited to
(33:17):
thank you.
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.