On today’s episode, Jason discusses why Angel Reese getting the WNBA 2K26 cover over Caitlin Clark isn't as big of a deal as some people are making it out to be, whether or not Kirk Cousins is justified for feeling misled by the Atlanta Falcons during his free agency negotiations last year, and how Bradley Beal could single-handedly flip the balance of power in the Western Conference depending where he decides to play next season.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up straight Fire? I am It's me Jason McIntyre.
Straight Fire for Thursday, July the tenth. I'm back, baby.
I think it was about a week off. I've forgotten.
I mean, these summer days they just get so hazy.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
But it's great to be.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Back on the pod. Had some time off due to
I guess the Women's FIFA Club World Cup, which is
the thing also and it was airing on FS one,
so the herb was off, so they gave me time off.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I got to go watch my son play.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Volleyball in Orlando and tie up a couple fun business things,
saw some family.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
It was a really productive trip.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Didn't pay a ton of attention to social media though,
you know, I was on the Gram and I get
you know, I get back.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I'm starting to catch up on some stuff. I hit
Rob g. I was like, damn, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I had a couple of buddies hit me up, Hey,
what are you starting your fantasy football breakdowns?
Speaker 4 (01:07):
NFL gambling?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
And I'm like, well, I think the embers of NBA
free agency are still out there. Although that new Netflix
show Quarterback Season two with Kirk Cousins. I read some
sad stuff on Kirk Kirk Cousins is sad. We'll talk
about that, and of course, you know Caitlin Park, I
will say this, so.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
You guys know, a little over a year ago, my
son was like.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Dad, you got it.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
You got to do a YouTube page. That's where my
friends at school say they saw you. And I was like, well,
that's sad, but I guess the reality. So I started
a YouTube page. I just post some takes from the herd,
takes from here, and then I'll do the inner video interviews.
And it's like a slow grow, you know, like I
had listened to mister Beast talked to Joe Rogan about
YouTube growth, and they took him like a long time
(01:51):
before he had one big hit. And then occasionally other
hits started to happen. So a lot of video views
aren't big. And we did one recently with Kitlin Clark.
It was about the Katetler Clark book with Christine Brennan,
and I posted it and guys, I don't know if
it was the YouTube algorithm, but it got swept up.
It has more views than any interview video, every every
(02:14):
video interview I've done combined and the followers just keep
coming in, keep coming in, And so I figured we
might as well start with Kateler Clark because I was
unaware of this. So obviously she was injured for a
while and missed some time. She was still named to
the All Star team, and she returned bizarrely Tuesday afternoon.
(02:37):
I didn't know there were one o'clock tip offs of
the WNBA. Maybe Rob can tell me what that's about.
But they played the plucky Golden State Vlkyrie who beat
them the last time, and the fever just totally no showed.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Maybe it was a body clock thing.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Kateler Clark did return to action and was not particularly great.
Four of twelve May, two of five threes, you know,
four baskets, four turnovers, whatever. They lost it badly. By
nineteen Clark is still in the struggle bus. But what's
interesting was right around the time of this game, they
released the news they be in the WNBA and the
(03:13):
video game. I think it's thea Sports NBA two K
will have Angelries on the cover of the video game
for the upcoming season for twenty twenty six, and everybody's
celebrating it.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Again. If you're not on Twitter.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
You're missing this stuff, right, But I mean, really, you're
not missing anything, but the brush fire happens. I'll be honest,
I did not see it. Robbers are like, yeah, you know,
people were. It was not outraged, but there were pockets
of people upset. You know, the Kaitlin Clark fan base
for some reason, keeps you know, I don't want to
say swinging down. There's no rivalry between these two. It's
(03:47):
not quite Magic and Larry.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
It's just not.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
But people want to make it a thing because Angel
got the college ring and Caitlin Clark didn't. But whatever,
here's what's interesting. My first thought when said, oh yeah,
Angel Reesa on the cover of NBA two K, my
first thought, and this is sad, and you know, don't
get upset at me for this, but it was like,
I don't know that it's a huge deal. I mean,
(04:11):
think about who plays video games young guys, right, and
you know, obviously two Q is huge in the African
American community, and you know, I looked up on chat gibt.
Obviously their biggest age group is eighteen to twenty four,
you know, and their biggest ethnicity group is forty to
forty five percent African American. So it's like, well, they're
(04:34):
playing to their base by putting Angel Reese, who obviously
is attractive. Everybody knows Zach go look at her Instagram,
Like a lot of guys are jacket Angel rees. So
this to me was not a huge surprise. And if
you look at the Caitlin Clark fans, I think they
skew a little older. I don't have any data to
back that up, but it feels like she's more people
just like her Midwest, nice good story as opposed to
(04:59):
the younger I don't don't think the young crowd is
as into Caitlin Clark as they are Angel Reese. Now, Rob,
is that a fair statement. I'm sure somebody's gonna suggestion
that's being so racist.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I can't believe.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Like, again, that's just reality. If you're a video game,
you gotta play to your base. I don't know, are
they gonna put Luca on the When was the last
time a white guy was on the cover of two K, Like,
I don't know, I have to look it up, But like,
you play to your base.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Right, Rob, Yeah, this is one of those situations where,
like you, when I first saw it, I was really
taken it back because I'm full disclosure, I am not
like a diehard WNBA fan. I'll watch it when it's
on in the studio, I'll watch it if I have
nothing going on a TV. I'll put it on in
the background and it's on like ambient noise. However, I
do know enough about WNBA basketball to tell you that
(05:44):
Angel Reese is not a top five players, not a
top ten players, not a top fifteen, Like you'd have
to go pretty far down the list before you say, hey,
Angel Reese, Like that's that's the next tier, right, And
so just with that in mind, I'm like, Okay, well,
let me see who's been on the cover before, Like
maybe maybe this is not totally unheard of where you
(06:05):
have a to put it mildly, an unaccomplished professional player
on the cover of the of the two K. So
since they started doing the WNBA version of this NBA
two K, the cover athletes have been Candice Parker, Dana Tarassi,
Sue Byrd, Sabrina I and esqu and Asia Wilson. Now,
(06:26):
if you just look at that group, that is at
a minimum, for no doubt, first ballot Hall of Fame
level players. Parker Tarazi, Bird, Asia Wilson, Sabrina I and Escu.
I guess is the closest comp because when she was
the cover, she hadn't won a championship yet. She had
kind of just I think won the inaugural three point
(06:47):
shooting contest thing right with Steph. Wasn't that? I think
that was her? So maybe they were capitalizing on that.
And even still that feels like a stretch because up
until this point, all due respect to Angel Reese, she's
best known for the me bounds, which is a wild
stat to keep.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
By the way, what is what I totally missed that first?
Some random person online just started calling it me bounds.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Yeah, like you miss a shody, you get your own rebounds.
They call it a me bound because that's where a
lot of her rebounds were coming from for a hot second.
She's known for that. She's known for being an antagonizer
of Caitlin Clark and if you want to make an
NBA comparison, she's basically like the Draymond Green of the WNBA.
Draymond is a great player at what he does. He's
(07:35):
a defender, he's a rebounder, he's a bomb over. In
the WNBA, at this point right now, Angel Rees is
not much of an offensive threat. She can score when
she gets put backs, things like that, but she's a
great rebounder, she's a good hustle player, she's got strong effort,
and she's marketable. So I understand that point, but it
just feels weird that if you're not gonna pick somebody
(07:57):
like just looking at the current WNBA mvprds, if you're
not going to pick Brianna Stewart, who's currently second, who's
like a multiple time champion college and pro, if you're
not going to pick the current heavy heavy favorite favorite
for NBA or w NBA MVP and Aficia Collier, then
why wouldn't you just say, Hey, low hanging fruit, here's
Caitlyn Clark. To your point, maybe it doesn't feed the
(08:20):
base like you would want, but maybe it opens up
to a whole nother base, because.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Hold on, hold on, rob did you just say the
favorite for MVP with.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
Somebody to call here? Yes?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yes, yeah, So nobody would know her if they put
her on the cover, right.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Do people know Sga he's on the cover of the
men's edition.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I mean, he was just the MVP.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Of the league.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
The MVP of the Finals, like he.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
So, I guess, I guess that's the confusion is the
NBA version has done a very good job if you
look back at their covers and it's not an exact science,
it's either a legend like somebody who has done a
lot of Kobe's been on it, Vince Carter's been on it.
You know, Carmelo's on this one, as like the Legends edition,
Michael Jordan's been on it. But if it's not that,
then it's somebody who either won the championship or somebody
(09:07):
that has really broken through in a big way. So
you've had Jason Tatum beyond the cover as shea you
just mentioned Devin Booker had that run in the finals.
To your point, Luka, Doncics had been on the cover
after they had a good deep playoff run the first time.
So like, they do a good job of capitalizing on
this kind of stuff for the most part. And with
Angel Reese, it just feels like a like a money grab,
(09:30):
like to your point, like, hey, we're gonna market to
our demographic, We're not looking to expand anything. She's very
popular with this segment of the population. She has a
huge social media following, and she's gonna be a good
partner when it comes to tweety stuff out.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Yeah, probably TikTok. I'm sure she's big on. I can't
do the TikTok. I mean, are you do you even
have an account?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Rob n No, I do not. You know, a satisfy five
year ol daughter and knows how to work TikTok and
I don't.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Yeah, that's the thing my kids are. It's just easy
for them.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
But when the screen pops up, there's just so much
happening that I just get rattled and I'm like, I
can't do this.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Let's pivot from Caitlin Clark real quick to this Quarterback
Season two. I'm not a I think I've talked about this.
I'm not a huge documentary guy. Coward loves documentaries and
I'm just like, eh, you know, I'd rather read about
it on an airplane than watch a documentary. A lot
(10:32):
of these I haven't seen Quarterback Season. When I watched
a couple of highlights that I saw online, but I
didn't actually watch them, like guys, you know, I still
remember where I was. I think it was like I
had an internship at a newspaper in Greensboro, North Carolina
when the first season of the show Survivor, I think
it was the first season came out and everybody was
(10:54):
so buzzing in the newsroom, Oh Survivor, And I'm like,
I was a young college kid.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
I was like, who care? Why do I care about
these people? Who are they?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Like?
Speaker 3 (11:04):
I don't do any reality shows. I don't know, Rob,
do you watch any reality shows?
Speaker 4 (11:08):
I do? That's one of the few things that mean.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Wait, like Love Island and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
We haven't started that one, but we used to watch
Love is Blind. You know. I watch all of the
like shas anything on Bravo. I was on for a
hot second. For sure. Your wife was on and you
joined or you were in, Like there were few things
we could watch together, you know, because I'm all sports stuff.
She's in a lot of like Crime Investigate Discovery, like
it's always like some serial killer in Minnesota, and I'm like,
(11:32):
I'm kind of don't need to see all that. Yeah,
But the one thing that we could always veer together
was trashy. Reality television just makes me feel better about that.
But you don't watch it by yourself though, No, not
by myself, but only if she's it.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Okay, Okay, gotcha, because I just my my big hang
up is it's all fake and scripted, and I think
that applies to stuff like the quarterback thing on Netflix.
Now I haven't seen the full thing, but obviously there's
so much has been already written about Kirk Cousins in Atlanta,
and like, I'm not gonna lie, like I'm surprised he's
(12:05):
showing up to camp and I'm surprised that he's, you know,
taking this as as well as he is. I didn't
things I did not know about Kirk Cousins. So he
was married in Atlanta. His son is named Turner after
Ted Turner. Okay, I didn't know those things. So he
has like a connection to the city. So when he
(12:26):
went to the Falcons and he said in his introduction
of press conference, like, yeah, I want this, I want
my career to end. I want this, you know, maybe
my last stop. Like he was all in on Atlanta,
and within eight weeks, six to eight to ten weeks
somewhere around there, the Falcons just decided, oh yeah, let's
draft Michael Pennix too, and Cousins was obviously gutted. He
(12:49):
did not play particularly great, ends up getting benched, and
now Pennix is the guy we know PANICX is gonna
be the starter. I personally don't foresee a way for
Cousins to get back in as the starter short of injury.
I don't know if you guys have followed the Falcons,
but like, Michael Pennocks is kind of good, but he
(13:10):
was not amazing as a rookie. Now it was only
a handful of games. But bottom line is, Kirk Cousins
comes off like a little fake in this. Now that's
been a knock on him. Oh he's two aweshucks, He's
got this fake fugazi attitude.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
This can't be real.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Him and his buddies go out for drinks and he
has a water because it's in season, and it's just
it feels like scripted bs to make him look good.
But I still find myself feeling terrible for him, and honestly,
I think the Falcons screwed him rob. I mean, there's
no way he's signing there if they say, hey, we
want Michael Penox in the draft. Would you agree with that?
(13:49):
I don't think screwed is a heavy word to be
using with Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Oh, I'm one of the people in this situation. It's
kind of weird because, like you mentioned, they make the commitment,
but then they kind of have their side chick already made.
Well that's just a I know it's not a correct reference,
but it's for the lay person like you. You wipe
up this girl and you already have the other one
waiting in the wings. But with Kirk Cousins, I understand
feeling misled, But could you say the RG three fell
(14:14):
misled when they traded the farm to dropped him number two,
and then they took Kirk Cousin in the fourth round like that?
That's that's one.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
The fourth round isn't a big commitment, Okay, so it's
like a backup.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Okay, that's fair. That's fair. So here's a better question.
Do I feel any sympathy for Kirk Cousins, who has
won exactly one playoff game and who has this reputation
for being one of the worst, if not the worst,
prime time quarterbacks in NFL history, and even with that
in mind, has made, including this upcoming season, just under
two hundred and ninety five million dollars in football earnings.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Yeah, he's made a lot of money.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Like, why would I feel bad for you?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (14:50):
I feel misled as a football fan. It's thinking you
were a great quarterback because how much you're getting paid.
You're getting guarantee contract after guarantee contractor for guarantee contract.
Is that hard?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
It's kind of no, no, here, You're right, and listen, you
can't feel bad for somebody with generational wealth in the bank.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
Uh, he's done nothing on the field to really justify
that amount of He's kind of a really good regular
season quarterback. Yeah, he's just not in prime time games.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Has Philip Rivers been that much better in his career
than Kirk?
Speaker 4 (15:20):
I mean he wants some divisions, right, He won the
he won the AFC West that three or four times.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I'd have to look closely, but I mean I understand
that Rivers is better, but I don't think it's like
the gap is that big.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Kirk Cousins is a one playoff win. Okay, Kirk Cousins
or Drew Brees. Oh sorry, I'm so sorry. Derek Carr.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Don't even delete that leader Derek Carr or Kirk.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Cousins, Kirk Cousins. Yeah, Kyler Murray or Kirk Cousins for
Kirk Cousins. Oh but that's like, is that's really a
high bar to clear number one overall pick? Yeah, but
he hasn't played well in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I mean, okay that this will be tough, This will
be tough. Randall Cunningham or Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Oh God, now I didn't get to he might be
before your time. Yeah, it's littally. I mean, all I
know from him is the highlights on what I read.
But based on the lore, I would assume Randall Cunningham
Cunningham has He was on that that Vikings team, right
that went fifteen to one. Wasn't that him as the quarterback?
That was before Colpepers. It must have been conting.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Damn, No, no, not ninety seven? Was it ninety eight?
Speaker 4 (16:28):
Yes? He was?
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Damn would I do that? Weren't you in diapers at
that age?
Speaker 4 (16:34):
No?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Oh my gosh, he was. Cunningham was a runner up
for MVP that year. Cuttingham has three playoff wins, six
playoff losses.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
That's two more than Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Wow, Cunningham was on the custs with the Super Bowl
in that ninety eight What happened to them in ninety eight?
Speaker 4 (16:56):
That was the missed field goal, right, the more than
Anderson like he had missed the field ball again and.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Lost to the Falcons thirty to twenty seven. I think
they had swept the Falcons. No, they didn't play them,
dumb dumb dump that, Jamal Anderson. Yeah, Jamal Anderson, that's right.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Oh in overtime woo. Yeah, that was that was a
good game. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
The flankings were favored by eleven in that game and
ended up losing out right. Okay, anyways, so I guess
that's my Anything else happened in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Worthy of discussion or not really not yet.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
I mean it's all building. You can feel like the
Micah Parsons contract, you know, sitting there, TJ. Watt, He've
been on this one for months. You applause to you
who floated this out a year ago. Hey, maybe they
should considered trading TJ. Watt. And then flash forward to
what two or three weeks ago, right before you left vacation,
there was speculation that they might trade TJ Watt if
they can't read the long term contract. So yeah, J
(17:52):
Max never wrong, He's just early, just early.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Yes, I like that Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup. And then catch all of our shows
at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app
search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
We could wrap up with just some NBA real quick
rob a lot of Laker fans. The chase for Bradley
Beal is gonna get like everybody's getting their ducks in
a row because it seems like the Sons cannot trade
Beal and they're gonna, you know, take their cues from
the The Sons cannot trade bial They're gonna take their
cues from the Bucks, like what they did to Dave
(18:30):
Millard and wave and stretch Beal.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
That seems like what's gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
At that point, he almost becomes Russell Wilson ish start
to shoehorn an NFL metaphor. And but when Russell Wilson
got dumped by the Broncos, remember they had to still
pay his salary the next year, so anybody could pick
him up on the minimum. And that's when he went
to the Steelers. I believe right, Yeah, Russell Wilson went
(18:56):
Broncos to Steelers and they had a nice little run
before petering out.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
So Bradley Beal, if he gets waves and stretched, could
go anywhere.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
And the Clippers moved off Norman Powell, though, that's a
larger discussion, and they have a shooting guard spot and
Brill could slide right in next to James Harden and
Kawhi Leonard and that would be pretty damn good. That
being said, Rob, I know you're you've got your ear
to the ground on the Lakers. Do you think there's
(19:28):
a world where they could steal Bradley Beal from the
paper clips?
Speaker 4 (19:34):
That's the million dollar question Because all the reporting by
those in the know, including friend of the Show, you know,
Brian Wenthorse, Zach Lowe, pick your favorite person, they all
it feels like the Norm Powell trade was the precursor
to the Bradley Beal acquisition. Now the question then becomes, though,
is does he value the marketability and everything that comes
(19:57):
with being a Laker and the spotlight, Because if he
performs well with the Lakers, I have a feeling that's
gonna do better for him. Come free agency next year,
than if he performs well for the Clippers. Now that's
inexact science. I don't know if that would really play out,
But if he goes to the Clippers, I would assume
(20:17):
he's the sixth man, similar to.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Would do with the Lakers who shooting guard for them.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
I mean, James Marten is your point. You'd have to
have some kind of balance, right, so it'd be hardened.
I would think Chris Dunn might start like he did
last year, Kawhi Leonard, and then we'll see if they
go small or big, because if they go big, they'll
have John Collins at the four and Zubats at the five.
If they go small, then it's Kawhi at the four,
and then maybe you have to start Derek Jones junior,
(20:44):
just because you don't want Kawhi to have to be
checking the best wings. And if he goes to the Lakers,
you know to be determined with Lebron James. But if
he goes to the Lakers, I can't imagine he'll have
an easier time getting looks than what he will with
Luca Austin and Lebron. So I don't see him going
to milwaukeeve though it's probably the best landing spot in
(21:07):
terms of stack collecting, would just be to go to
Milwaukee where there's no you know, nobody there. Minnesota. I
think it's easy for when to get shouts there, but
by all accounts, he wants to be in a warm
weather city. He wants to be there in La or Miami.
And then with the Norm Powell news, Miami's basically off
the list. So it's down to Lakers' Clippers. I still
think it's gonna be Clippers, but I'm not like stamp
(21:27):
it clippers yet.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, I wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I don't know if you remember when he came on
the pod, but the trainer Drew Hanlon, Yes, he's Tatum's guy.
He was from I believe, Missouri and like him and
Bradley Beal had a connection way back. And I just
wonder if there's a world where the Celtics sneakily get involved,
move off in Perny Simons and somehow get Beeal in
(21:49):
there and Beal and Brown is not bad at all.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
That that's probably top six in the East.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
But just a quick thing on Bradley Bill because I
know a lot of people are like, why are you
talking about him he sucks. First of all, he does
not suck. Yes, he's only a three time All start
and made one All NBA team. But what really hurt him,
besides John Wall getting hurt in DC when they were
starting to do some things, was COVID.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
That COVID year, he was having the best season of
his career.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
They were awful, but he was averaging thirty a game,
and the following season averaged thirty one. But he never
got back to those levels that demanded a trade and
Phoenix was a train wreck. However, he does have a
little injury history in the last few years, obviously, but
this is a guy. Last season, Rob shot forty nine
percent from the field thirty eight percent from three seventeen
(22:37):
points per game on a dog water team with I
mean that never got their act together. I think you
can instantly bump up those numbers just by playing with
Luca and Lebron. And if you're telling me down the
stretch in a game, the Lakers can go DeAndre Ayd
and Lebron, Luca bal and Reeves. That's a pretty prolific offense.
(23:03):
Lucas setting it up Reeves and Beal shooting, Lebron setting
it up I mean, you just take your turn, your turn,
my turn.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Let me set it up.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Let's see what they do and manipulate the defense. I
don't know if we've talked a lot out. Did we
talk DeAndre aiding.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
A lot on here?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
No, because it was done after Okay, we could save
that for tomorrow. But this spiel thing, I'll be honest.
I think Beal swings things considerably in the West.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
I agree people don't want to believe he's good.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Folks.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Again, at fifty one million or whatever he was making,
he ain't great. But if you have Bradley Beal for
four or five million, which is what he could make,
it fe us on the Lakers or Clippers. That's a
steal one of the best contracts in the league for
four or five mili at his production. So I think
if he goes to the Clippers, that's not good for
the Lakers. I would say the Clippers are higher than
(23:51):
the Lakers in the West. If he goes to the Lakers,
I put the Lakers right there with Denver, Houston and
okay See, and Lakers could even be the best team
in the West with that.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
And I know Bill doesn't play a ton of defense.
I'm just gonna remind you, Bless, they got fifty wins
last year.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Now, Rob is, a spokesperson for Lakers Nation, might be
too bullish on the Lakers and their Bradley bial efforts.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
I don't think they could be the first in the
West because I think that's a different animal. Like the
regular season, young legs is usually what gets it done.
That's why I think, Okay, see, the odds say that
they are the highest win totals since the Katie Steph Warriors.
Like that, that's what we're expecting from them from who
from Oka see, you know, because they have so many
young guys. The regular seamon on Tuesday in Charlotte, they're
still running and gun and versus a team like the
(24:35):
Lakers and the Clippers, we're like, hey, you know, we'll
we'll put like eighty percent seventy percent effort intoe what happens.
But as far as like how they would match up
with those teams, obviously, defensively, it'd be a big struggle
because none of those guys are Four of those five
guys are not great defenders. And that's even if you
count eight and as a good defender. So basically all
five of those guys are subbar defenders, but they would
(24:55):
be able to score with anybody. And to your point,
Bradley Beal at fifty one fifty three million with a
no trade clause is probably the worst contract in sports,
not just in the NBA, but arguably in sports. Barnutt
Bradley Beal at five million dollars on a flyer to
get an all star level player on a for basically
the vet minimum, almost just a shade over that, like,
(25:18):
are you kidding me? That's why we'll get to Andrea tomorrow.
DeAndre Ayden at thirty four million is like no, no, no,
I mean he's too much of a head case, he's inconsistent,
his motor's not there. No thank you. DeAndre Ayden at
eight million dollars with a player option, like are you
kidding me?
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Give me that?
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Exactly so again, Bradley Beal, depending where he goes, could
easily swing the balance of power to making a team
an Inner Circle contender, or depending where he goes, if
he goes to the East, I don't think he would
go to the East making them a heavy finals favorite
to come out of the East if he goes to Milwaukee.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
So if he goes Lakers. Do you think he I
don't think he starts. I don't think you start him
with Luca Reeves and Lebron. I think you probably start
Ruly and Ayton, right, but closing is more important.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
I don't really starting is over read.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Yeah, And honestly they would never do this, But if
they hypothetically get got Beal, I would rather put Austin
at the bench than Beal. I mean though, but I
think he's just a more creative playmaker, like to get
another guys involved, so deals a score scorer, scorer, and
I don't know if that's what you want as a
guy leading your second unit.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah, I just they're not going to have problems creating offense.
Like say Lebron goes down for two weeks, you still
have Luca bal and Reeves. Last year it was just
Luca and Reeves, because you know a DFS, he's not creating.
I know people are gonna be like Bradley Bill, you're
out of your mind. I'm just telling you, guys, he's
still very good. This guy's only thirty two years old.
(26:47):
And remember Drew Holliday, and it was mostly for defense,
literally swung the balance of power when he went to
the Bucks like the Bucks needed one piece.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
It was Drew Holliday.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
I don't know Bradley Beal's a final piece, but I
do feel great about the Lakers that they're able to
get it.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
All right, it's good to be back.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
We are back tomorrow, obviously hosting The Herd today and tomorrow.
Then Cow hurts back from a two week vacation. Man,
that guy travels like nobody's business.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
All right, we'll talk to you.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
That
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up straight Fire? I am It's me Jason McIntyre.
Straight Fire for Thursday, July the tenth. I'm back, baby.
I think it was about a week off. I've forgotten.
I mean, these summer days they just get so hazy.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
But it's great to be.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Back on the pod. Had some time off due to
I guess the Women's FIFA Club World Cup, which is
the thing also and it was airing on FS one,
so the herb was off, so they gave me time off.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I got to go watch my son play.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Volleyball in Orlando and tie up a couple fun business things,
saw some family.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
It was a really productive trip.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Didn't pay a ton of attention to social media though,
you know, I was on the Gram and I get
you know, I get back.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I'm starting to catch up on some stuff. I hit
Rob g. I was like, damn, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I had a couple of buddies hit me up, Hey,
what are you starting your fantasy football breakdowns?
Speaker 4 (01:07):
NFL gambling?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
And I'm like, well, I think the embers of NBA
free agency are still out there. Although that new Netflix
show Quarterback Season two with Kirk Cousins. I read some
sad stuff on Kirk Kirk Cousins is sad. We'll talk
about that, and of course, you know Caitlin Park, I
will say this, so.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
You guys know, a little over a year ago, my
son was like.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Dad, you got it.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
You got to do a YouTube page. That's where my
friends at school say they saw you. And I was like, well,
that's sad, but I guess the reality. So I started
a YouTube page. I just post some takes from the herd,
takes from here, and then I'll do the inner video interviews.
And it's like a slow grow, you know, like I
had listened to mister Beast talked to Joe Rogan about
YouTube growth, and they took him like a long time
(01:51):
before he had one big hit. And then occasionally other
hits started to happen. So a lot of video views
aren't big. And we did one recently with Kitlin Clark.
It was about the Katetler Clark book with Christine Brennan,
and I posted it and guys, I don't know if
it was the YouTube algorithm, but it got swept up.
It has more views than any interview video, every every
(02:14):
video interview I've done combined and the followers just keep
coming in, keep coming in, And so I figured we
might as well start with Kateler Clark because I was
unaware of this. So obviously she was injured for a
while and missed some time. She was still named to
the All Star team, and she returned bizarrely Tuesday afternoon.
(02:37):
I didn't know there were one o'clock tip offs of
the WNBA. Maybe Rob can tell me what that's about.
But they played the plucky Golden State Vlkyrie who beat
them the last time, and the fever just totally no showed.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Maybe it was a body clock thing.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Kateler Clark did return to action and was not particularly great.
Four of twelve May, two of five threes, you know,
four baskets, four turnovers, whatever. They lost it badly. By
nineteen Clark is still in the struggle bus. But what's
interesting was right around the time of this game, they
released the news they be in the WNBA and the
(03:13):
video game. I think it's thea Sports NBA two K
will have Angelries on the cover of the video game
for the upcoming season for twenty twenty six, and everybody's
celebrating it.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Again. If you're not on Twitter.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
You're missing this stuff, right, But I mean, really, you're
not missing anything, but the brush fire happens. I'll be honest,
I did not see it. Robbers are like, yeah, you know,
people were. It was not outraged, but there were pockets
of people upset. You know, the Kaitlin Clark fan base
for some reason, keeps you know, I don't want to
say swinging down. There's no rivalry between these two. It's
(03:47):
not quite Magic and Larry.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
It's just not.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
But people want to make it a thing because Angel
got the college ring and Caitlin Clark didn't. But whatever,
here's what's interesting. My first thought when said, oh yeah,
Angel Reesa on the cover of NBA two K, my
first thought, and this is sad, and you know, don't
get upset at me for this, but it was like,
I don't know that it's a huge deal. I mean,
(04:11):
think about who plays video games young guys, right, and
you know, obviously two Q is huge in the African
American community, and you know, I looked up on chat gibt.
Obviously their biggest age group is eighteen to twenty four,
you know, and their biggest ethnicity group is forty to
forty five percent African American. So it's like, well, they're
(04:34):
playing to their base by putting Angel Reese, who obviously
is attractive. Everybody knows Zach go look at her Instagram,
Like a lot of guys are jacket Angel rees. So
this to me was not a huge surprise. And if
you look at the Caitlin Clark fans, I think they
skew a little older. I don't have any data to
back that up, but it feels like she's more people
just like her Midwest, nice good story as opposed to
(04:59):
the younger I don't don't think the young crowd is
as into Caitlin Clark as they are Angel Reese. Now, Rob,
is that a fair statement. I'm sure somebody's gonna suggestion
that's being so racist.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I can't believe.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Like, again, that's just reality. If you're a video game,
you gotta play to your base. I don't know, are
they gonna put Luca on the When was the last
time a white guy was on the cover of two K, Like,
I don't know, I have to look it up, But like,
you play to your base.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Right, Rob, Yeah, this is one of those situations where,
like you, when I first saw it, I was really
taken it back because I'm full disclosure, I am not
like a diehard WNBA fan. I'll watch it when it's
on in the studio, I'll watch it if I have
nothing going on a TV. I'll put it on in
the background and it's on like ambient noise. However, I
do know enough about WNBA basketball to tell you that
(05:44):
Angel Reese is not a top five players, not a
top ten players, not a top fifteen, Like you'd have
to go pretty far down the list before you say, hey,
Angel Reese, Like that's that's the next tier, right, And
so just with that in mind, I'm like, Okay, well,
let me see who's been on the cover before, Like
maybe maybe this is not totally unheard of where you
(06:05):
have a to put it mildly, an unaccomplished professional player
on the cover of the of the two K. So
since they started doing the WNBA version of this NBA
two K, the cover athletes have been Candice Parker, Dana Tarassi,
Sue Byrd, Sabrina I and esqu and Asia Wilson. Now,
(06:26):
if you just look at that group, that is at
a minimum, for no doubt, first ballot Hall of Fame
level players. Parker Tarazi, Bird, Asia Wilson, Sabrina I and Escu.
I guess is the closest comp because when she was
the cover, she hadn't won a championship yet. She had
kind of just I think won the inaugural three point
(06:47):
shooting contest thing right with Steph. Wasn't that? I think
that was her? So maybe they were capitalizing on that.
And even still that feels like a stretch because up
until this point, all due respect to Angel Reese, she's
best known for the me bounds, which is a wild
stat to keep.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
By the way, what is what I totally missed that first?
Some random person online just started calling it me bounds.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Yeah, like you miss a shody, you get your own rebounds.
They call it a me bound because that's where a
lot of her rebounds were coming from for a hot second.
She's known for that. She's known for being an antagonizer
of Caitlin Clark and if you want to make an
NBA comparison, she's basically like the Draymond Green of the WNBA.
Draymond is a great player at what he does. He's
(07:35):
a defender, he's a rebounder, he's a bomb over. In
the WNBA, at this point right now, Angel Rees is
not much of an offensive threat. She can score when
she gets put backs, things like that, but she's a
great rebounder, she's a good hustle player, she's got strong effort,
and she's marketable. So I understand that point, but it
just feels weird that if you're not gonna pick somebody
(07:57):
like just looking at the current WNBA mvprds, if you're
not going to pick Brianna Stewart, who's currently second, who's
like a multiple time champion college and pro, if you're
not going to pick the current heavy heavy favorite favorite
for NBA or w NBA MVP and Aficia Collier, then
why wouldn't you just say, Hey, low hanging fruit, here's
Caitlyn Clark. To your point, maybe it doesn't feed the
(08:20):
base like you would want, but maybe it opens up
to a whole nother base, because.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Hold on, hold on, rob did you just say the
favorite for MVP with.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
Somebody to call here? Yes?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yes, yeah, So nobody would know her if they put
her on the cover, right.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Do people know Sga he's on the cover of the
men's edition.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I mean, he was just the MVP.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Of the league.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
The MVP of the Finals, like he.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
So, I guess, I guess that's the confusion is the
NBA version has done a very good job if you
look back at their covers and it's not an exact science,
it's either a legend like somebody who has done a
lot of Kobe's been on it, Vince Carter's been on it.
You know, Carmelo's on this one, as like the Legends edition,
Michael Jordan's been on it. But if it's not that,
then it's somebody who either won the championship or somebody
(09:07):
that has really broken through in a big way. So
you've had Jason Tatum beyond the cover as shea you
just mentioned Devin Booker had that run in the finals.
To your point, Luka, Doncics had been on the cover
after they had a good deep playoff run the first time.
So like, they do a good job of capitalizing on
this kind of stuff for the most part. And with
Angel Reese, it just feels like a like a money grab,
(09:30):
like to your point, like, hey, we're gonna market to
our demographic, We're not looking to expand anything. She's very
popular with this segment of the population. She has a
huge social media following, and she's gonna be a good
partner when it comes to tweety stuff out.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Yeah, probably TikTok. I'm sure she's big on. I can't
do the TikTok. I mean, are you do you even
have an account?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Rob n No, I do not. You know, a satisfy five
year ol daughter and knows how to work TikTok and
I don't.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Yeah, that's the thing my kids are. It's just easy
for them.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
But when the screen pops up, there's just so much
happening that I just get rattled and I'm like, I
can't do this.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Let's pivot from Caitlin Clark real quick to this Quarterback
Season two. I'm not a I think I've talked about this.
I'm not a huge documentary guy. Coward loves documentaries and
I'm just like, eh, you know, I'd rather read about
it on an airplane than watch a documentary. A lot
(10:32):
of these I haven't seen Quarterback Season. When I watched
a couple of highlights that I saw online, but I
didn't actually watch them, like guys, you know, I still
remember where I was. I think it was like I
had an internship at a newspaper in Greensboro, North Carolina
when the first season of the show Survivor, I think
it was the first season came out and everybody was
(10:54):
so buzzing in the newsroom, Oh Survivor, And I'm like,
I was a young college kid.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
I was like, who care? Why do I care about
these people? Who are they?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Like?
Speaker 3 (11:04):
I don't do any reality shows. I don't know, Rob,
do you watch any reality shows?
Speaker 4 (11:08):
I do? That's one of the few things that mean.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Wait, like Love Island and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
We haven't started that one, but we used to watch
Love is Blind. You know. I watch all of the
like shas anything on Bravo. I was on for a
hot second. For sure. Your wife was on and you
joined or you were in, Like there were few things
we could watch together, you know, because I'm all sports stuff.
She's in a lot of like Crime Investigate Discovery, like
it's always like some serial killer in Minnesota, and I'm like,
(11:32):
I'm kind of don't need to see all that. Yeah,
But the one thing that we could always veer together
was trashy. Reality television just makes me feel better about that.
But you don't watch it by yourself though, No, not
by myself, but only if she's it.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Okay, Okay, gotcha, because I just my my big hang
up is it's all fake and scripted, and I think
that applies to stuff like the quarterback thing on Netflix.
Now I haven't seen the full thing, but obviously there's
so much has been already written about Kirk Cousins in Atlanta,
and like, I'm not gonna lie, like I'm surprised he's
(12:05):
showing up to camp and I'm surprised that he's, you know,
taking this as as well as he is. I didn't
things I did not know about Kirk Cousins. So he
was married in Atlanta. His son is named Turner after
Ted Turner. Okay, I didn't know those things. So he
has like a connection to the city. So when he
(12:26):
went to the Falcons and he said in his introduction
of press conference, like, yeah, I want this, I want
my career to end. I want this, you know, maybe
my last stop. Like he was all in on Atlanta,
and within eight weeks, six to eight to ten weeks
somewhere around there, the Falcons just decided, oh yeah, let's
draft Michael Pennix too, and Cousins was obviously gutted. He
(12:49):
did not play particularly great, ends up getting benched, and
now Pennix is the guy we know PANICX is gonna
be the starter. I personally don't foresee a way for
Cousins to get back in as the starter short of injury.
I don't know if you guys have followed the Falcons,
but like, Michael Pennocks is kind of good, but he
(13:10):
was not amazing as a rookie. Now it was only
a handful of games. But bottom line is, Kirk Cousins
comes off like a little fake in this. Now that's
been a knock on him. Oh he's two aweshucks, He's
got this fake fugazi attitude.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
This can't be real.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Him and his buddies go out for drinks and he
has a water because it's in season, and it's just
it feels like scripted bs to make him look good.
But I still find myself feeling terrible for him, and honestly,
I think the Falcons screwed him rob. I mean, there's
no way he's signing there if they say, hey, we
want Michael Penox in the draft. Would you agree with that?
(13:49):
I don't think screwed is a heavy word to be
using with Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Oh, I'm one of the people in this situation. It's
kind of weird because, like you mentioned, they make the commitment,
but then they kind of have their side chick already made.
Well that's just a I know it's not a correct reference,
but it's for the lay person like you. You wipe
up this girl and you already have the other one
waiting in the wings. But with Kirk Cousins, I understand
feeling misled, But could you say the RG three fell
(14:14):
misled when they traded the farm to dropped him number two,
and then they took Kirk Cousin in the fourth round like that?
That's that's one.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
The fourth round isn't a big commitment, Okay, so it's
like a backup.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Okay, that's fair. That's fair. So here's a better question.
Do I feel any sympathy for Kirk Cousins, who has
won exactly one playoff game and who has this reputation
for being one of the worst, if not the worst,
prime time quarterbacks in NFL history, and even with that
in mind, has made, including this upcoming season, just under
two hundred and ninety five million dollars in football earnings.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Yeah, he's made a lot of money.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Like, why would I feel bad for you?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (14:50):
I feel misled as a football fan. It's thinking you
were a great quarterback because how much you're getting paid.
You're getting guarantee contract after guarantee contractor for guarantee contract.
Is that hard?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
It's kind of no, no, here, You're right, and listen, you
can't feel bad for somebody with generational wealth in the bank.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
Uh, he's done nothing on the field to really justify
that amount of He's kind of a really good regular
season quarterback. Yeah, he's just not in prime time games.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Has Philip Rivers been that much better in his career
than Kirk?
Speaker 4 (15:20):
I mean he wants some divisions, right, He won the
he won the AFC West that three or four times.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I'd have to look closely, but I mean I understand
that Rivers is better, but I don't think it's like
the gap is that big.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Kirk Cousins is a one playoff win. Okay, Kirk Cousins
or Drew Brees. Oh sorry, I'm so sorry. Derek Carr.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Don't even delete that leader Derek Carr or Kirk.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Cousins, Kirk Cousins. Yeah, Kyler Murray or Kirk Cousins for
Kirk Cousins. Oh but that's like, is that's really a
high bar to clear number one overall pick? Yeah, but
he hasn't played well in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I mean, okay that this will be tough, This will
be tough. Randall Cunningham or Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Oh God, now I didn't get to he might be
before your time. Yeah, it's littally. I mean, all I
know from him is the highlights on what I read.
But based on the lore, I would assume Randall Cunningham
Cunningham has He was on that that Vikings team, right
that went fifteen to one. Wasn't that him as the quarterback?
That was before Colpepers. It must have been conting.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Damn, No, no, not ninety seven? Was it ninety eight?
Speaker 4 (16:28):
Yes? He was?
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Damn would I do that? Weren't you in diapers at
that age?
Speaker 4 (16:34):
No?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Oh my gosh, he was. Cunningham was a runner up
for MVP that year. Cuttingham has three playoff wins, six
playoff losses.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
That's two more than Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Wow, Cunningham was on the custs with the Super Bowl
in that ninety eight What happened to them in ninety eight?
Speaker 4 (16:56):
That was the missed field goal, right, the more than
Anderson like he had missed the field ball again and.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Lost to the Falcons thirty to twenty seven. I think
they had swept the Falcons. No, they didn't play them,
dumb dumb dump that, Jamal Anderson. Yeah, Jamal Anderson, that's right.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Oh in overtime woo. Yeah, that was that was a
good game. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
The flankings were favored by eleven in that game and
ended up losing out right. Okay, anyways, so I guess
that's my Anything else happened in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Worthy of discussion or not really not yet.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
I mean it's all building. You can feel like the
Micah Parsons contract, you know, sitting there, TJ. Watt, He've
been on this one for months. You applause to you
who floated this out a year ago. Hey, maybe they
should considered trading TJ. Watt. And then flash forward to
what two or three weeks ago, right before you left vacation,
there was speculation that they might trade TJ Watt if
they can't read the long term contract. So yeah, J
(17:52):
Max never wrong, He's just early, just early.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Yes, I like that Fox Sports Radio has the best
sports talk lineup. And then catch all of our shows
at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app
search FSR to listen live.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
We could wrap up with just some NBA real quick
rob a lot of Laker fans. The chase for Bradley
Beal is gonna get like everybody's getting their ducks in
a row because it seems like the Sons cannot trade
Beal and they're gonna, you know, take their cues from
the The Sons cannot trade bial They're gonna take their
cues from the Bucks, like what they did to Dave
(18:30):
Millard and wave and stretch Beal.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
That seems like what's gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
At that point, he almost becomes Russell Wilson ish start
to shoehorn an NFL metaphor. And but when Russell Wilson
got dumped by the Broncos, remember they had to still
pay his salary the next year, so anybody could pick
him up on the minimum. And that's when he went
to the Steelers. I believe right, Yeah, Russell Wilson went
(18:56):
Broncos to Steelers and they had a nice little run
before petering out.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
So Bradley Beal, if he gets waves and stretched, could
go anywhere.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
And the Clippers moved off Norman Powell, though, that's a
larger discussion, and they have a shooting guard spot and
Brill could slide right in next to James Harden and
Kawhi Leonard and that would be pretty damn good. That
being said, Rob, I know you're you've got your ear
to the ground on the Lakers. Do you think there's
(19:28):
a world where they could steal Bradley Beal from the
paper clips?
Speaker 4 (19:34):
That's the million dollar question Because all the reporting by
those in the know, including friend of the Show, you know,
Brian Wenthorse, Zach Lowe, pick your favorite person, they all
it feels like the Norm Powell trade was the precursor
to the Bradley Beal acquisition. Now the question then becomes, though,
is does he value the marketability and everything that comes
(19:57):
with being a Laker and the spotlight, Because if he
performs well with the Lakers, I have a feeling that's
gonna do better for him. Come free agency next year,
than if he performs well for the Clippers. Now that's
inexact science. I don't know if that would really play out,
But if he goes to the Clippers, I would assume
(20:17):
he's the sixth man, similar to.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Would do with the Lakers who shooting guard for them.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
I mean, James Marten is your point. You'd have to
have some kind of balance, right, so it'd be hardened.
I would think Chris Dunn might start like he did
last year, Kawhi Leonard, and then we'll see if they
go small or big, because if they go big, they'll
have John Collins at the four and Zubats at the five.
If they go small, then it's Kawhi at the four,
and then maybe you have to start Derek Jones junior,
(20:44):
just because you don't want Kawhi to have to be
checking the best wings. And if he goes to the Lakers,
you know to be determined with Lebron James. But if
he goes to the Lakers, I can't imagine he'll have
an easier time getting looks than what he will with
Luca Austin and Lebron. So I don't see him going
to milwaukeeve though it's probably the best landing spot in
(21:07):
terms of stack collecting, would just be to go to
Milwaukee where there's no you know, nobody there. Minnesota. I
think it's easy for when to get shouts there, but
by all accounts, he wants to be in a warm
weather city. He wants to be there in La or Miami.
And then with the Norm Powell news, Miami's basically off
the list. So it's down to Lakers' Clippers. I still
think it's gonna be Clippers, but I'm not like stamp
(21:27):
it clippers yet.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, I wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I don't know if you remember when he came on
the pod, but the trainer Drew Hanlon, Yes, he's Tatum's guy.
He was from I believe, Missouri and like him and
Bradley Beal had a connection way back. And I just
wonder if there's a world where the Celtics sneakily get involved,
move off in Perny Simons and somehow get Beeal in
(21:49):
there and Beal and Brown is not bad at all.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
That that's probably top six in the East.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
But just a quick thing on Bradley Bill because I
know a lot of people are like, why are you
talking about him he sucks. First of all, he does
not suck. Yes, he's only a three time All start
and made one All NBA team. But what really hurt him,
besides John Wall getting hurt in DC when they were
starting to do some things, was COVID.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
That COVID year, he was having the best season of
his career.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
They were awful, but he was averaging thirty a game,
and the following season averaged thirty one. But he never
got back to those levels that demanded a trade and
Phoenix was a train wreck. However, he does have a
little injury history in the last few years, obviously, but
this is a guy. Last season, Rob shot forty nine
percent from the field thirty eight percent from three seventeen
(22:37):
points per game on a dog water team with I
mean that never got their act together. I think you
can instantly bump up those numbers just by playing with
Luca and Lebron. And if you're telling me down the
stretch in a game, the Lakers can go DeAndre Ayd
and Lebron, Luca bal and Reeves. That's a pretty prolific offense.
(23:03):
Lucas setting it up Reeves and Beal shooting, Lebron setting
it up I mean, you just take your turn, your turn,
my turn.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Let me set it up.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Let's see what they do and manipulate the defense. I
don't know if we've talked a lot out. Did we
talk DeAndre aiding.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
A lot on here?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
No, because it was done after Okay, we could save
that for tomorrow. But this spiel thing, I'll be honest.
I think Beal swings things considerably in the West.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
I agree people don't want to believe he's good.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Folks.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Again, at fifty one million or whatever he was making,
he ain't great. But if you have Bradley Beal for
four or five million, which is what he could make,
it fe us on the Lakers or Clippers. That's a
steal one of the best contracts in the league for
four or five mili at his production. So I think
if he goes to the Clippers, that's not good for
the Lakers. I would say the Clippers are higher than
(23:51):
the Lakers in the West. If he goes to the Lakers,
I put the Lakers right there with Denver, Houston and
okay See, and Lakers could even be the best team
in the West with that.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
And I know Bill doesn't play a ton of defense.
I'm just gonna remind you, Bless, they got fifty wins
last year.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Now, Rob is, a spokesperson for Lakers Nation, might be
too bullish on the Lakers and their Bradley bial efforts.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
I don't think they could be the first in the
West because I think that's a different animal. Like the
regular season, young legs is usually what gets it done.
That's why I think, Okay, see, the odds say that
they are the highest win totals since the Katie Steph Warriors.
Like that, that's what we're expecting from them from who
from Oka see, you know, because they have so many
young guys. The regular seamon on Tuesday in Charlotte, they're
still running and gun and versus a team like the
(24:35):
Lakers and the Clippers, we're like, hey, you know, we'll
we'll put like eighty percent seventy percent effort intoe what happens.
But as far as like how they would match up
with those teams, obviously, defensively, it'd be a big struggle
because none of those guys are Four of those five
guys are not great defenders. And that's even if you
count eight and as a good defender. So basically all
five of those guys are subbar defenders, but they would
(24:55):
be able to score with anybody. And to your point,
Bradley Beal at fifty one fifty three million with a
no trade clause is probably the worst contract in sports,
not just in the NBA, but arguably in sports. Barnutt
Bradley Beal at five million dollars on a flyer to
get an all star level player on a for basically
the vet minimum, almost just a shade over that, like,
(25:18):
are you kidding me? That's why we'll get to Andrea tomorrow.
DeAndre Ayden at thirty four million is like no, no, no,
I mean he's too much of a head case, he's inconsistent,
his motor's not there. No thank you. DeAndre Ayden at
eight million dollars with a player option, like are you
kidding me?
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Give me that?
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Exactly so again, Bradley Beal, depending where he goes, could
easily swing the balance of power to making a team
an Inner Circle contender, or depending where he goes, if
he goes to the East, I don't think he would
go to the East making them a heavy finals favorite
to come out of the East if he goes to Milwaukee.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
So if he goes Lakers. Do you think he I
don't think he starts. I don't think you start him
with Luca Reeves and Lebron. I think you probably start
Ruly and Ayton, right, but closing is more important.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
I don't really starting is over read.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Yeah, And honestly they would never do this, But if
they hypothetically get got Beal, I would rather put Austin
at the bench than Beal. I mean though, but I
think he's just a more creative playmaker, like to get
another guys involved, so deals a score scorer, scorer, and
I don't know if that's what you want as a
guy leading your second unit.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah, I just they're not going to have problems creating offense.
Like say Lebron goes down for two weeks, you still
have Luca bal and Reeves. Last year it was just
Luca and Reeves, because you know a DFS, he's not creating.
I know people are gonna be like Bradley Bill, you're
out of your mind. I'm just telling you, guys, he's
still very good. This guy's only thirty two years old.
(26:47):
And remember Drew Holliday, and it was mostly for defense,
literally swung the balance of power when he went to
the Bucks like the Bucks needed one piece.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
It was Drew Holliday.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
I don't know Bradley Beal's a final piece, but I
do feel great about the Lakers that they're able to
get it.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
All right, it's good to be back.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
We are back tomorrow, obviously hosting The Herd today and tomorrow.
Then Cow hurts back from a two week vacation. Man,
that guy travels like nobody's business.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
All right, we'll talk to you.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
That
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kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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