January 30, 2025 • 31 mins
On today’s episode, Jason discusses the sports media vitriol being aimed Bronny James in the wake of his lackluster performance on Tuesday against Tyrese Maxey, why it’s so hard to find a trade that makes sense for disgruntled Sacramento Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox and which NBA stars are legitimate number one options on a championship-level team.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up straight firefam, It's me Jason McIntyre, Straight
Fire for Thursday, January thirtieth, Holy cow. Is this month
flown by or I guess, depending on what Instagram accounts
you follow. This has been the longest January in the
history of januaries. But alas we have made it to
(00:31):
nearly the end of the month. And listen, man, you
guys know this post football season, everybody's kind of sort
of struggling for stories as we slowly pivot to college basketball,
which Rob G does not like me talking about. Just kidding,
nobody likes me talking about college basketball and the NBA.
As the NBA ramps up for the second half of
the season and things get super intense, but there's always
(00:54):
this this pop after football with one game left of
like either wacky NFL media feuds or some media news
or maybe the Sharks will circle on a second round
NBA pick who you want to call him a NEPO baby, Fine,
(01:15):
but I could not believe the outrage about Bronnie James
playing against the seventy six ers. I mean, I was
totally caught off guard and a peek behind the curtain.
So if the Herd has a morning meeting, I don't
go into that. I can call in via zoom because
Cowherd's a crazy person who's there at six o'clock every day.
(01:36):
And I'm still asleep, and you know, I hear Colin's
going to talk about Bronnie. I'm like, okay, I get it.
I'm not going to chime in. I'll wait for my
you know, for the show. And I didn't think he
would go as hard as he was. And he went
in hard on Bronnie and some hit shots at JJ
Reddick and then you see Steven A. Smith doing the
same thing on first take, and then you know, and
(01:57):
again this is stuff I just didn't see. But yesterday,
as the day goes on, it's just like, let's pile
on Brownie, let's take shots. And I don't know. I
was talking to Rob and I'm like, hold on. The
Lakers were on a back to back. Okay, they did
not have Gabe Vincent, who is would probably have chewed
up the Bronny minutes. Bronny's been playing out of his
mind in the G League, averaging twenty three, six and five,
(02:19):
And I know it's the G League fine, but he's
twenty years old. He was a second round pick and
he's been cooking forty five percent on threes. He dunked
on somebody and it went viral last week. Listen, Brodny's
had a really, really good stretch, so the Lakers called
him up. They're on a I believe six or seven
game road trip and a back to back. Yeah, let's
throw our. You know, you guys are tired. Road trips
(02:41):
are tough. Back to backs are tough, especially when you've
got old ass lebron And then Anthony Davis goes down
early in this one, and you could see the Lakers
were kind of you know, they got off to an
okay start, but you knew that, oh man, back to back.
I know it's Charlotte and Philly and both teams are
not headed anywhere this season, and Paul George was out
(03:03):
and bead was out, and it's like, okay, Lakers got
an easy win. Nothing's easy in back to backskys. And
so Bronnie comes in and hey, here's breaking news. A
second round pick who's a rookie struggled against third team
All NBA guard Tyrese Maxie. Maxie went off and if
you watch the highlights of Maxie, he made some tough
(03:24):
shots Bronnie. It wasn't like he was getting absolutely roasted.
Sure he got beat. I would expect a twenty year
old rookie who was a second round pick to get
beat by an All NBA guard who was an All
Star last year. And then JJ Reddick after the game
comes out and I saw it online where JJ said
something pretty nice about Bronnie about how, hey, he's been
(03:47):
on fire in the G League and I kind of
wanted a spark, We wanted his his energy coming off
the bench. And maybe it was a tough spot. You know,
he played in the G League, had to fly out
nationally televised game and before people are like, hey, nationally televised,
what does that mean? Just so you guys know how
the cake gets made. The NBA quote unquote saves a
(04:11):
lot of its best TV games for as the football
season is ending. Hence Lebron is force fed to everybody
in February and March because there's no NFL on, Let's
get Lebron on Saturday nights, there's no college football. Let's
get Lebron on in prime time. And Lebron gets a
lot of games. The Lakers, I believe, have four national
(04:32):
TV games in the next ten days, starting with that
Sixers game. And so yes, there is a bigger spotlight
on the nationally televised games. There's a larger crowd, there's
a more intense media scrum. It's just it's heightened, right,
And it was a lot for Bronny and he did
not shoot it well. He played I could get you
(04:53):
his line here, but he didn't have a great game. Fine, whatever,
he's a rookie. I didn't expect it. What I didn't expect, Rob,
was the piling on of Bronnie as if he was
like a lottery pick who got roasted. Even if a
lottery pick got cooked. And by the way, Trey Young
gets cooked every night. And he's like a five year
veteran and he wins playoff games.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
He's good.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
He can't guard anybody, and we're crushing Bronnie for steven
A to come out and plead lebron to please get
your son out of there, like, I don't know, it
felt a little angry and over the top. Now, Rob,
I do want to say, this could just be Hey,
NFL stuff ain't clicking. The Chiefs bills, dramas behind us,
(05:32):
the ref's dramas behind us. The super Bowl's not here yet.
It's tough to get people juiced up about the super Bowl,
which is a rematch from two years ago. You want
to get clicks, crush Bronnie James, you know, And it
felt like that's what the media did, And I just
felt it was a little unseemly to just totally blast
the kid. I understand the hey, yeah, yeah, he's the
(05:55):
son of lebron Why is he getting the past? He's
a NEPO baby. I understand all that, but the venom,
it just seemed a little over the top. Rob. I
don't know, maybe i'd being an old crotchety guy.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
No, I would agree with you. And to illustrate that point,
we did not talk about this on yesterday's podcast, which
came out after you know, the game, And yeah, we
text before you know, start recording, like, hey, what do
you think about this? With him? About this? We have
some back and forth and neither one of us thought that, hey,
Bronnie James, the fifty fifth pick in the NBA draft
(06:26):
getting cooked by ty resee MAXI warranted a lengthy discussion
because news flash, ty resee MAXI cooks damn near everybody
like that. There's nothing unique about that. So I guess
bad job by me and you. But for not addressing
it yesterday because apparently it was reasonable. I was saying, like,
I don't know, and so my only thought about it,
(06:49):
you know, as the hours and the day went by
on Wednesday, and like you said, the vitriol that came
out from not just like Colin and Stephen, because those
the two big brand names everybody knows about, but you know,
the lesser known, the podcasters, the blogger. They were all
piling on Bronnie James. And the only thing I can
think of as to why it became such an easy
(07:10):
target was the comment you alluded to by JJ Reddick
where he said, you know, maybe I put him in
a bad spot. And even this is me kind of
playing mental gymnastics to have it make sense. But the
only rationale I could come up with was it was
further illustration from the Lakers and Reddick, and you know,
(07:31):
by all accounts, lebron and JJ are tied at the head.
That's what we're led to believe that we're supposed to
treat Brownie with kid gloves. Because if this were he
thought with team anymore. Maxwell Lewis, you know, he got
he went to Brooklyn, got hurt, but he was with
the Lakers for a minute. If Maxwell Lewis gets thrown in,
he gets cooked by Tyrese Maxey. I'm willing to bet
(07:51):
number one people don't care about it, but number two,
JJ Reddick probably doesn't say, yeah, I put him. I
kind of threw him into a bad spot there, like,
because it's not even a question, it's like, hey, it's
the six string guard. He's going to gets an All
NBA player. Something bad happen. It is what it is.
And so I'm assuming that because JJ said he put
him in a bad spot, it lends credence to the
(08:13):
idea that you know, I know everybody knows that Brownie's
not an NBA caliber player at this point or right no,
right now, he's not. He's not. And were it not
for his last name being James, he wirelessly would not
have been drafted, just he didn't have a good college
career to come off the heart issue. And so we
understand that, and I think that so many people are
(08:36):
aware of it, and it's publicly accepted that that's what
it is that any chance they get to point that
out that he does not belong here, we are gonna
point it out, and we're gonna bring him to the table.
And we're not just gonna say it. We're gonna scream
it to the high heavens and get on our soapbox.
(08:56):
Because sports are supposed to be a meritocracy. And again
that's just me trying to get into their minds as
to why it's such a big deal. But like you,
he's the fifty fifth pick, it's an All NBA player.
He's supposed to get. If Tyrees Maxey did not cook
Bronnie James on Tuesday night, that's a bigger story than
what he did.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, just a weird moment in the NBA. I mean
I thought, I think the deer and Fox stuff is
infinitely more fascinating. Jimmy Butler, I'm sure you saw went
viral because he tried to get a coffee in Miami
and he's been suspended by the team, so he was
declined getting coffee in my own funny, you know, like
there's a lot of stuff going on in the NBA.
(09:40):
It just felt very strange to go after Bronnie. Now,
I do want to ask you, Rob, And this is
you know, Rob and I we love the NBA. We
love the NFL. I like the WNBA a lot. You know,
baseball is fun when the Dodgers and Yankees are good.
We just like a lot of stuff. So but in
the NBA, Rob, for some reason, there's always underlying story,
(10:01):
and there is one that I don't have an answer to.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
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Speaker 2 (10:16):
Now, Robin, I didn't tell Rob I was gonna talk
about this, but I keep you know, I listen to
Brian Windhorse who comes onto this pod sometimes, and I
and I read between the lines on some other guys.
And since there was this Steph Curry comments recently, and
all this stuff keeps adding up to this. So we
know Jimmy Butler could be on the move, We know
dearon Fox could be on the move. But for some reason,
there's a constant like quote about how other stars who
(10:42):
could be on the move this summer, And I keep
hearing this phrase, but none of the reporters are putting
names on who these stars are. And I'm looking around
the league and I'm like, for the first time, you know,
we were everybody who's on Carl Anthony Towns Okay, we
all knew he was not long from Minso and he
was gonna be on the move. Here's the weird thing.
(11:03):
I keep looking around. I don't know who this mystery
player or players are. When Steph Curry says let's keep
our powder drive for the offseason, what does that mean?
Does he have an inkling that somebody's gonna hit the
market and who might that somebody be? Like, Listen, I
don't think they would be doing this rob being all
coy if it were say Trey Young, Okay, I don't
(11:24):
think he's like, oh my gosh, eight teams want to
get in the tray Young business. I don't think it's
inbeed Okay. I can't imagine that as Paul George. I mean,
I guess there could possibly be some interest in LaMelo ball.
I think Donovan Mitchell's pretty securely locked into Cleveland, and
now if they lose in the first round, you know,
(11:45):
anything's on the table. And I'm looking around the league.
I can't find who that guy could be. But the
one interesting name I'll push your way, Rob just one
is Kevin Durant. I know I had said I would
I would consider moving off Durant if I were the Suns.
He can get you a haul. I don't think they're
(12:08):
moving Booker. The Sons are currently eight in the West.
They're starting to play better. I don't know that they're
gonna win a first round playoff series with Butler. Maybe
they really pop, But to me, I think it's gotta
be KD and I'm gonna I'm gonna also just put
it out there. I don't think Curry asked for a trade,
but I will be fascinated if they're, Like, there'll probably
(12:28):
be a big market for Curry because of what he
is as a player, what he's done, what he's capable of.
But I don't know. Is there somebody I'm potentially missing
who could maybe be on the move, who would like,
oh wow, that's a game changer.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Well, it's interesting because when you hear those kind of comments,
you know, especially coming from Windy, when he's he knows
so much more than he can actually say, and that's
why we like him. I love right, And so the
first thing I did when you started reading that story
is I looked up the twenty twenty five free agents
and it's a it's a weak class to put him.
I mean, you got forty year old Lebron Jimmy Butler,
(13:03):
who may or may not be like the have the
worst pr rep right now in the league, with the
way he's do the things in Miami. You know, Kyrie
technically could be a free agent. You know, James hard Like.
You're really struggling at this point. Not only are these
guys older, but either they're in good situations like Kyrie
or you know, do you really want thirty six year
(13:23):
old James harden Like? I don't think so. So as
you were reading that, I looked at twenty twenty six
and the first name that I saw that raised my
eyebrows was Kevin Durant because he could technically become a
free agent twenty twenty six if he wants to. And
with the way Phoenix is looking right now, you're not
gonna trade Devin Booker in one because he's younger and
he's your franchise guy number two. Bradley Beal has made
(13:45):
it abundantly clear that he will not waive his no
trade clause for damn near anybody, Like I've never seen
an agent come out and publicly list like sevent teams like, no,
we're not waving it for La, We're not waving it
for Ammy, We're not waving for it. Like he's really
flexing his muscle in that regard. So that only leaves
Kevin Durant and Phoenix. I think it's pretty clear that
(14:07):
if you can't get Jimmy Butler, and the only way
you can get him is if Brett Beal waves is
no trade And if you can't do that, then you
got to find a way to number one, maximize this
Booker Beale pairing for whatever it might be. And number two,
you got to find a way to get back assets
that you lost in these trades. And there it all
(14:28):
screams to one thing, and that is see what you
can get for KD. I know he's gonna be what
thirty seven next year when he hits free agency, But
if you're a Golden State, hypothetically, you know he works
with Steph Curry. I would hope that him and Draymond
could patch things up, and if they can't, then buy
the Draymond Like you've already broken up the triumphant with
Klay Thompson. What's it matter if you lose Draymond at
(14:51):
this point and you kind of sort of owe it
to Steph to give him one last shot at doing something,
and if you're not gonna go for KD the only
other name that I could see conceivably teams kind of
you know, keeping the powder dry, as they say, is
Luka Doncic. No, he's a potentially a free agent twenty
(15:15):
twenty six. He'll be entering it to age twenty seven season.
He's smacked down in the middle of his prime. If
things don't go the way we think they're gonna go
in Dallas, like you know that the Derek Lively injury
is a big deal. And let's say they get a
bad draw in the postseason and they end up getting
God forbid one and done or you know, to and
(15:36):
done like most people were probably project in that situation.
You know, how patient is he going to be because
at that point, Kyrie's in his mid thirties and he's
a small guard. They'll usually don't end too well, you
don't age too well in that situation. You know that
teams like the Lakers and the Heat and in this
case Golden State, they the metropolis would love to get
(15:58):
Luka Doncic So he's the only only one I could
think of.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Wow, So it's interesting. I just looked at the standings
Dallas's slip sliding. They are ninth.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Well, Luca's hurt.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Luca's still good, but he's not coming back anytime soon.
It looks like, right, is he still on the scooter.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
I haven't seen the photos recently.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
You're right, No, Lively, No Luca. I mean there's a
world where they missed the playoffs. Let's be real. They're
only one and a half games up on the Warriors,
who are are eleventh Sacramento, my gut. Do you think
they will end up trading Deer and Fox?
Speaker 3 (16:34):
No, I think it'll be in the offseason.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
By the way, where are you? I didn't get to
ask you where are you? On Fox? Because you know
name alone. He's really good. He was a All NBA
guy once, he was an All Star once, and the
Kings have been to the playoffs once. He is probably
not an All NBA guy this year. And I was
looking at the point guards in the league. He's no Sga,
(17:00):
no Brunson, LaMelo and Maxie. Again, we've seen more Fox.
I like, I don't know how good deeron Fox is.
Mckil bridges fetched. I believe five first round picks right, yep.
Now none of them were amazing. Is is deeron Fox
getting you five first? I don't think so, do you?
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Probably not. I think that that was a very unique circumstance,
only because of the Nova Knicks connection. And you know,
the idea was I think it actually was a wind
Horse podmey, it wasn't him. They might have been either
McMahon or his co hosts. That said. The problem with having,
you know, like the Knicks at the time had like
ten first round picks is once we know how many
(17:43):
you have, the asking price is ten. So, for example,
if you're going to call the Lakers about potential dearon
Fox deal, you're saying, we want Austin Reeves and we
want all the picks you can offer, which in the
case like two or three. Like, so are you doing that?
By the way, I mean, I would love to I
like to Fox. I think he's great, and I think
he'd pay.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Hey, I just like Austin Reeves so much.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
I like him too, But it's just like It's just
that's the scenario is like, when you know that the
most you can offer is this guy and four picks
or whatever, then that's what we're asking for. If it's Houston,
we're asking for seven picks because we know you have
twenty of them. If it's Okay, See, we're asking for twelve.
And so like, I think that the market is gonna
(18:24):
kind of dictate. It's gonna correct itself in that regard.
The other problem that de Aaron Fox is having, and
I think this is why when NA see it's the
to the offseason, is there are so many good point
guards in the NBA. That's yeah, and the as a result,
even though he's a great player, his market gets suppressed
because who you looking for. It's not gonna be an
(18:45):
also ran team that trades for him. It's gonna be
another team on the come up where you think they
can win something big in the next two or three years,
or a team that's already in their window. And if
you just look at the standings, you're like Cleveland, no Boston,
no Nicks, no Bucks, no, and it Pacers no. Like
where do you find a team that needs a point
guard that fits that sweet spot? Where they can use
a de Aaron Fox. That's why I think we're not
(19:06):
going to see this trade get done in the next
week or so.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Fox is interesting because you know he's on the smaller
side as a point guard. I heard for years you
can't win with Jalen Brunson or a small guard as
your as your alpha. Brunson was the number one, and
they got to these conference semifinals last year. I think
the lost of the Pacers. I mean, there was a
litany of injuries, but I do believe Brunson's position to
get to the conference finals this year or the NBA
(19:31):
Finals and he's their number one. Can Fox be a
one on a on a contender or does he have
to be a two?
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Oh? Is that a two at best?
Speaker 2 (19:42):
At best best.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
He's a two.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I would say he's the one in Sacramento.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yeah, but to win a championship, at best he's a
two because if he was anything more than that, then
the Kings would not be fighting for the play in
like the last year.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
So Fox and Wemby, which everybody speculating, is that good
enough to win a title? I gotta see what's around him.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Oh yeah, like two years maybe? Yeah, for sure, because
we're projecting one b to be in the conversation for
the greatest players of all time like that, that's the
that's the difference that changes the calculus completely. If you
have Dearon Fox and we'll say, uh, whatever the Clippers.
You know, if it's him and Kawhi, can you win
a championship? Probably not, Like you'd kind of be on
(20:27):
the periphery. You wouldn't really What.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
If you went to Miami and he was paired with
bam Adebayo and Tyler Herroll. I don't know if the
one is bam or Fox, but and it's gonna sound
so nerdy, maybe the one there is heat culture.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
I hate their cultures so much. The Lakers have been
burned so many times by heat culture. Let me tell
you so.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
No, I don't know it gave Vincent the latest, but
but it makes me wonder, like is Fox a one
or two? Like if listen, if Dearon Fox is your three,
I think you're you're the best team in the league.
That's that's a tough one. I think he could be
a two on a contender. I mean he was a
one when the Kings won fifty game.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Yeah, he's got to find the right one is the
problem because he doesn't shoot it all that well from deep.
He's okay, he's.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Not thirty thirty.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
He's a he's a quick. He's a good defender because
he's fast. He's he's lightning, quaking and score in bunches.
He's great in the mid range. So you need his
number two to be a big a lah wenby ad
Yiannis type.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Oh oh oh wait, let me let me interrupt. Sorry,
if he goes to goes home to the Houston Rockets,
I I don't even know who's there one right now, Shngoon,
probably j Green, probably Okay, if Fox goes there, he's
there one, and I would I would in a heartbeat
part with I'm not giving up Amen Thompson. He looks
(21:49):
really scary good and I know he's young. I would.
I would move off Jalen Green or Van Vliet or both.
Although I don't think you trade your starting back court.
But I think Fox could be a one on uh
on a on a rocket because like the Rockets are
second in the West now and they don't have a.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
One, but nobody the championship team they're they're a great
regular season team.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Okay, So are they Are they the new OKC?
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I mean I would say they're closer to the new
Memphis Grizzlies. But before Jaw had his you know incidents,
they were fifty seven win team, like they were way
up there. And then you get him in a postseason
situation against the Lakers fresh off of playing and the
Lakers stole their lunch money like that. There there there's
(22:39):
levels to this, like we we kind of know who
the the inner circle is at this point.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
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Speaker 2 (22:56):
Who's the one on Cleveland? Is it Donovan Mitchell? Yes?
Is he a one?
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
I mean I thought we established in Utah he was
a one, but he had a ceiling he does.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
But the difference is that in Cleveland the supporting cast
is so much better than it was in Utah.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
He had go Bear.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
You did you say that with a straight face? He
had go Bear.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Bear's all NBA a half a dozen times.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Okay, go Bear by himself versus Mobley and Allen.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
I mean, I don't think Jared Allen's ever been a
freaking all.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Yeah, he's been an All Star. And I had to
have a second guy as Darius Garland, who can score.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
A bunch of Yeah, Garland's good. All right, So let's
go through the league real quick and they name the ones.
You say, Mitchell, what we would agree? Tatum is a one?
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Yep?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Is Jalen Brown one? If he were to go to
I don't know, Chicago.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Ooh.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I don't think for a championship team. No, but he
could be like a really good team.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Okay, So like Andrea Gudala was the MVP of the Finals,
nobody thought he was a one exactly, But that could
be Jaalen Brown.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Okay, Jalen's better than Inguodala.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
But yeah, I believe Jalen Bruns is a one. Not
everybody does. Where do you come in?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
I think he is. I think he hit The sample
size is too large now at this.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Point, Jannis a one for sure. Ye, Halliburton.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
He needs a specific team kind of around him for him.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
They're starting to percolate. Yeah, Miami, he bam at a
bio not they don't have a one. Well, Jimmy Butler,
but I don't know if his days is a one
or still.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
I think I think they're done. That's for him.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Orlando Paolo probably cave cutting him in Detroit. Yep, he
looks good. By the way, I think we've established, tray
Young is no longer a one, right.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
No, not if you went on like again, he's one
of those guys where if you want to be plucky
and competitive, like Halliburn, he's that guy. And he needs
a very specific team around him because he doesn't defending
the certain things he just can't do because of his size.
So if you can get the right mix of guys
around him, you can make a little bit of a run,
but you're never really considered a title team. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
By the way, they seem done now with this. Jalen
Johnson is.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Yeah, hair of Doc, he's good. I like him, dude.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Here's the thing. It says toward Labrahm in his shoulder,
something's up with my labram and I've been all I've
been doing in the last twenty four hours is looking
it up. So I gotta stop lifting. But I think
I could choot because it's not my shooting arm. Man.
There you go, we're back, So uh, trade not a one.
I don't think the Bulls have a one. I thought,
I think Lavigne might be the best two in the league.
(25:23):
But I think some people would disagree. Sixers are interesting. Max.
He's not a one.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Right not yet? If he is, he not not yet.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Embiid has played himself out or injured himself out of one.
And then what do you do with Paul George. He's
a well established too.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I get. I mean Paul George. The fall off has
been precipitous, like he's not even in the two conversation anymore,
like that they are legitimate. I've listened to NBA podcasts
where Sixers beat writers and media members and fans have said, hey,
can we get Tobias hairs back? Oh no, I swear
to you.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
I've heard that's how bad it.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
That's how bad it's number one. He hasn't been good
on the court, but doesn't play anymore.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah, Raptors, I don't. I don't even know what their
roster is.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
You think he's not one?
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Brooklyn has your boy D'Angelo Russell former Lakers. Right now
is LaMelo ball of one.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
He doesn't play enough. He's hurt again right now. He
just brained his ankle on Tuesday, yeah, that.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Guy always and then in the West real quick SGA
obviously a one. We said the Rockets Sengoon is there one,
but they don't have one. Memphis. I don't know. Worry
on Jaw.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I think on a really legitimate challenge, he's a number
two or his number two has to be like a D,
like that level of two.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Right, Yeah, I would agree with that, you kitch, obviously
a D.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
I don't think he's probably not.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
He's an exceptional two right now.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
He's probably the best two in the league. The problem Lebron, Yeah,
the problem is that Lebron is not at the peak
of his powers anymore and otherwise, especially defensively right exactly,
He's perfected the stand in point defense. That's his thing.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Oh damn clipper paper clip what Norm Powell?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
But Kawhi again doesn't play.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Come on, yeah, Anthony Edwards, we know is sons now.
D book is interesting because he was the one they
didn't win anything. Then he became, you know, the one
b to Chris Paul who was like the leader, and
they went to the finals and then they got Durant.
I don't really know where he fits in. I don't
know what Booker is I like him a lot.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
He might be in that category with I mean it's
where they places Tham KD, where they have number one
game and you can tell by watching him this is
one of the great you know, ten twelve players in
the league. But there's something emotionally and spiritually that they
just do not have to galvanize the rest of the team.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
That's deep and emotionally.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
I mean, like KD is fucking awesome. I know you
and him have like your Instagram tips, but just when
you watch him play. He's seven foot tall, he can
do everything. He can score from anywhere. He can shoot,
he can rebound, he can defend, he can pass a
little bit, and for whatever reason, he lacks that little
(28:07):
qua that the all time great players have. He just
doesn't have it.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
I think he was a one back in the day.
At this stage, I don't think he can be your
best player on a championship team. But Butler, Booker and Durant,
then you basically have one ABC, which I don't know
that we've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Because then it's I think one to night to night.
Then it's okay, yeah, we.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Agree, lucas a one. I think we're at the stage
where deer and Fox is probably ideally suited as your
second best player, right, Yes, Steph Curry I still think
has one in him. He's just surrounded by an aptitude
at this point.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
He's having a down season too, and people don't really
noticing it because the rest of the team has kind
of falling off so bad.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
It's well teams are. It's easier to defend him.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Now, yeah, because you don't have to worry for anybody else.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, exactly. Wemby obviously, I don't know what hell the
hell's going on in Portland. Scoot Henderson has just not
lived up to expectation. Zion. He has, but it's a
love pill climb, Zion. You never know when he's gonna play.
And then the Utah Jazz are awful. So there's just
not a lot of superstars in the league. It's like
the NFL with quarterbacks, right, we know there's ten, maybe twelve,
(29:17):
maybe fifteen really good quarterbacks that you can win with, yep,
and then there's like the rest of the league, which
is like Sam Darnold. It can have a good season
and then playoffs come and there's your guy you know
so well.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
And even to that point in the NFL. If we're
really being honest, there's like four guys who you feel
are the cream of the crop. No matter who's around him,
they're going to be competitive. It's Mahomes obviously, Alan Jackson
and Burrough And if you play that game in the NBA,
if you're being really honest, like the legitimate superstar, like
no matter where he is, this guy's team is a contender.
(29:50):
There's probably like four or five of them. Jokic for sure, Jokic, Jannis,
Luca and that might even be the list that might
be it. Everybody else is kind of situational and what
they have around him.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah, I mean, and people thought him bide two years ago.
No more. Yeah, all right, quickly, final shout out, guys.
I just ask I know we got some young guys
listening to the podcast. Just just be smart. I just
read that story about the kid in Philly celebrating the
Eagles win. He climbed a street pole and then you
(30:24):
know he's got a great gymnastics background. He falls down,
lands on his head, was in a coma, and now
he's dead. And he was eighteen years old freshman at Temple.
It is I mean, by the way, did you see
the videos of the scenes from Philadelphia rob Like a
car driving over people. Guy whips out a gun, just
starts shooting in the air. Like I don't. I just
(30:45):
just be smart people, large crowds. I'm not just down
with any of that stuff. I get it. You're drinking,
you're inebriated, they're going you're climbing a lamp post fault
and it's over. Like as you're climbing the lamp post.
Those are the final few minutes of your life on
planet Earth. Just be smarter, all right. That's it. Storry
to end on our down note. We're back tomorrow. Let
see you
This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up straight firefam, It's me Jason McIntyre, Straight
Fire for Thursday, January thirtieth, Holy cow. Is this month
flown by or I guess, depending on what Instagram accounts
you follow. This has been the longest January in the
history of januaries. But alas we have made it to
(00:31):
nearly the end of the month. And listen, man, you
guys know this post football season, everybody's kind of sort
of struggling for stories as we slowly pivot to college basketball,
which Rob G does not like me talking about. Just kidding,
nobody likes me talking about college basketball and the NBA.
As the NBA ramps up for the second half of
the season and things get super intense, but there's always
(00:54):
this this pop after football with one game left of
like either wacky NFL media feuds or some media news
or maybe the Sharks will circle on a second round
NBA pick who you want to call him a NEPO baby, Fine,
(01:15):
but I could not believe the outrage about Bronnie James
playing against the seventy six ers. I mean, I was
totally caught off guard and a peek behind the curtain.
So if the Herd has a morning meeting, I don't
go into that. I can call in via zoom because
Cowherd's a crazy person who's there at six o'clock every day.
(01:36):
And I'm still asleep, and you know, I hear Colin's
going to talk about Bronnie. I'm like, okay, I get it.
I'm not going to chime in. I'll wait for my
you know, for the show. And I didn't think he
would go as hard as he was. And he went
in hard on Bronnie and some hit shots at JJ
Reddick and then you see Steven A. Smith doing the
same thing on first take, and then you know, and
(01:57):
again this is stuff I just didn't see. But yesterday,
as the day goes on, it's just like, let's pile
on Brownie, let's take shots. And I don't know. I
was talking to Rob and I'm like, hold on. The
Lakers were on a back to back. Okay, they did
not have Gabe Vincent, who is would probably have chewed
up the Bronny minutes. Bronny's been playing out of his
mind in the G League, averaging twenty three, six and five,
(02:19):
And I know it's the G League fine, but he's
twenty years old. He was a second round pick and
he's been cooking forty five percent on threes. He dunked
on somebody and it went viral last week. Listen, Brodny's
had a really, really good stretch, so the Lakers called
him up. They're on a I believe six or seven
game road trip and a back to back. Yeah, let's
throw our. You know, you guys are tired. Road trips
(02:41):
are tough. Back to backs are tough, especially when you've
got old ass lebron And then Anthony Davis goes down
early in this one, and you could see the Lakers
were kind of you know, they got off to an
okay start, but you knew that, oh man, back to back.
I know it's Charlotte and Philly and both teams are
not headed anywhere this season, and Paul George was out
(03:03):
and bead was out, and it's like, okay, Lakers got
an easy win. Nothing's easy in back to backskys. And
so Bronnie comes in and hey, here's breaking news. A
second round pick who's a rookie struggled against third team
All NBA guard Tyrese Maxie. Maxie went off and if
you watch the highlights of Maxie, he made some tough
(03:24):
shots Bronnie. It wasn't like he was getting absolutely roasted.
Sure he got beat. I would expect a twenty year
old rookie who was a second round pick to get
beat by an All NBA guard who was an All
Star last year. And then JJ Reddick after the game
comes out and I saw it online where JJ said
something pretty nice about Bronnie about how, hey, he's been
(03:47):
on fire in the G League and I kind of
wanted a spark, We wanted his his energy coming off
the bench. And maybe it was a tough spot. You know,
he played in the G League, had to fly out
nationally televised game and before people are like, hey, nationally televised,
what does that mean? Just so you guys know how
the cake gets made. The NBA quote unquote saves a
(04:11):
lot of its best TV games for as the football
season is ending. Hence Lebron is force fed to everybody
in February and March because there's no NFL on, Let's
get Lebron on Saturday nights, there's no college football. Let's
get Lebron on in prime time. And Lebron gets a
lot of games. The Lakers, I believe, have four national
(04:32):
TV games in the next ten days, starting with that
Sixers game. And so yes, there is a bigger spotlight
on the nationally televised games. There's a larger crowd, there's
a more intense media scrum. It's just it's heightened, right,
And it was a lot for Bronny and he did
not shoot it well. He played I could get you
(04:53):
his line here, but he didn't have a great game. Fine, whatever,
he's a rookie. I didn't expect it. What I didn't expect, Rob,
was the piling on of Bronnie as if he was
like a lottery pick who got roasted. Even if a
lottery pick got cooked. And by the way, Trey Young
gets cooked every night. And he's like a five year
veteran and he wins playoff games.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
He's good.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
He can't guard anybody, and we're crushing Bronnie for steven
A to come out and plead lebron to please get
your son out of there, like, I don't know, it
felt a little angry and over the top. Now, Rob,
I do want to say, this could just be Hey,
NFL stuff ain't clicking. The Chiefs bills, dramas behind us,
(05:32):
the ref's dramas behind us. The super Bowl's not here yet.
It's tough to get people juiced up about the super Bowl,
which is a rematch from two years ago. You want
to get clicks, crush Bronnie James, you know, And it
felt like that's what the media did, And I just
felt it was a little unseemly to just totally blast
the kid. I understand the hey, yeah, yeah, he's the
(05:55):
son of lebron Why is he getting the past? He's
a NEPO baby. I understand all that, but the venom,
it just seemed a little over the top. Rob. I
don't know, maybe i'd being an old crotchety guy.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
No, I would agree with you. And to illustrate that point,
we did not talk about this on yesterday's podcast, which
came out after you know, the game, And yeah, we
text before you know, start recording, like, hey, what do
you think about this? With him? About this? We have
some back and forth and neither one of us thought that, hey,
Bronnie James, the fifty fifth pick in the NBA draft
(06:26):
getting cooked by ty resee MAXI warranted a lengthy discussion
because news flash, ty resee MAXI cooks damn near everybody
like that. There's nothing unique about that. So I guess
bad job by me and you. But for not addressing
it yesterday because apparently it was reasonable. I was saying, like,
I don't know, and so my only thought about it,
(06:49):
you know, as the hours and the day went by
on Wednesday, and like you said, the vitriol that came
out from not just like Colin and Stephen, because those
the two big brand names everybody knows about, but you know,
the lesser known, the podcasters, the blogger. They were all
piling on Bronnie James. And the only thing I can
think of as to why it became such an easy
(07:10):
target was the comment you alluded to by JJ Reddick
where he said, you know, maybe I put him in
a bad spot. And even this is me kind of
playing mental gymnastics to have it make sense. But the
only rationale I could come up with was it was
further illustration from the Lakers and Reddick, and you know,
(07:31):
by all accounts, lebron and JJ are tied at the head.
That's what we're led to believe that we're supposed to
treat Brownie with kid gloves. Because if this were he
thought with team anymore. Maxwell Lewis, you know, he got
he went to Brooklyn, got hurt, but he was with
the Lakers for a minute. If Maxwell Lewis gets thrown in,
he gets cooked by Tyrese Maxey. I'm willing to bet
(07:51):
number one people don't care about it, but number two,
JJ Reddick probably doesn't say, yeah, I put him. I
kind of threw him into a bad spot there, like,
because it's not even a question, it's like, hey, it's
the six string guard. He's going to gets an All
NBA player. Something bad happen. It is what it is.
And so I'm assuming that because JJ said he put
him in a bad spot, it lends credence to the
(08:13):
idea that you know, I know everybody knows that Brownie's
not an NBA caliber player at this point or right no,
right now, he's not. He's not. And were it not
for his last name being James, he wirelessly would not
have been drafted, just he didn't have a good college
career to come off the heart issue. And so we
understand that, and I think that so many people are
(08:36):
aware of it, and it's publicly accepted that that's what
it is that any chance they get to point that
out that he does not belong here, we are gonna
point it out, and we're gonna bring him to the table.
And we're not just gonna say it. We're gonna scream
it to the high heavens and get on our soapbox.
(08:56):
Because sports are supposed to be a meritocracy. And again
that's just me trying to get into their minds as
to why it's such a big deal. But like you,
he's the fifty fifth pick, it's an All NBA player.
He's supposed to get. If Tyrees Maxey did not cook
Bronnie James on Tuesday night, that's a bigger story than
what he did.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, just a weird moment in the NBA. I mean
I thought, I think the deer and Fox stuff is
infinitely more fascinating. Jimmy Butler, I'm sure you saw went
viral because he tried to get a coffee in Miami
and he's been suspended by the team, so he was
declined getting coffee in my own funny, you know, like
there's a lot of stuff going on in the NBA.
(09:40):
It just felt very strange to go after Bronnie. Now,
I do want to ask you, Rob, And this is
you know, Rob and I we love the NBA. We
love the NFL. I like the WNBA a lot. You know,
baseball is fun when the Dodgers and Yankees are good.
We just like a lot of stuff. So but in
the NBA, Rob, for some reason, there's always underlying story,
(10:01):
and there is one that I don't have an answer to.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
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 (10:16):
Now, Robin, I didn't tell Rob I was gonna talk
about this, but I keep you know, I listen to
Brian Windhorse who comes onto this pod sometimes, and I
and I read between the lines on some other guys.
And since there was this Steph Curry comments recently, and
all this stuff keeps adding up to this. So we
know Jimmy Butler could be on the move, We know
dearon Fox could be on the move. But for some reason,
there's a constant like quote about how other stars who
(10:42):
could be on the move this summer, And I keep
hearing this phrase, but none of the reporters are putting
names on who these stars are. And I'm looking around
the league and I'm like, for the first time, you know,
we were everybody who's on Carl Anthony Towns Okay, we
all knew he was not long from Minso and he
was gonna be on the move. Here's the weird thing.
(11:03):
I keep looking around. I don't know who this mystery
player or players are. When Steph Curry says let's keep
our powder drive for the offseason, what does that mean?
Does he have an inkling that somebody's gonna hit the
market and who might that somebody be? Like, Listen, I
don't think they would be doing this rob being all
coy if it were say Trey Young, Okay, I don't
(11:24):
think he's like, oh my gosh, eight teams want to
get in the tray Young business. I don't think it's
inbeed Okay. I can't imagine that as Paul George. I mean,
I guess there could possibly be some interest in LaMelo ball.
I think Donovan Mitchell's pretty securely locked into Cleveland, and
now if they lose in the first round, you know,
(11:45):
anything's on the table. And I'm looking around the league.
I can't find who that guy could be. But the
one interesting name I'll push your way, Rob just one
is Kevin Durant. I know I had said I would
I would consider moving off Durant if I were the Suns.
He can get you a haul. I don't think they're
(12:08):
moving Booker. The Sons are currently eight in the West.
They're starting to play better. I don't know that they're
gonna win a first round playoff series with Butler. Maybe
they really pop, But to me, I think it's gotta
be KD and I'm gonna I'm gonna also just put
it out there. I don't think Curry asked for a trade,
but I will be fascinated if they're, Like, there'll probably
(12:28):
be a big market for Curry because of what he
is as a player, what he's done, what he's capable of.
But I don't know. Is there somebody I'm potentially missing
who could maybe be on the move, who would like,
oh wow, that's a game changer.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Well, it's interesting because when you hear those kind of comments,
you know, especially coming from Windy, when he's he knows
so much more than he can actually say, and that's
why we like him. I love right, And so the
first thing I did when you started reading that story
is I looked up the twenty twenty five free agents
and it's a it's a weak class to put him.
I mean, you got forty year old Lebron Jimmy Butler,
(13:03):
who may or may not be like the have the
worst pr rep right now in the league, with the
way he's do the things in Miami. You know, Kyrie
technically could be a free agent. You know, James hard Like.
You're really struggling at this point. Not only are these
guys older, but either they're in good situations like Kyrie
or you know, do you really want thirty six year
(13:23):
old James harden Like? I don't think so. So as
you were reading that, I looked at twenty twenty six
and the first name that I saw that raised my
eyebrows was Kevin Durant because he could technically become a
free agent twenty twenty six if he wants to. And
with the way Phoenix is looking right now, you're not
gonna trade Devin Booker in one because he's younger and
he's your franchise guy number two. Bradley Beal has made
(13:45):
it abundantly clear that he will not waive his no
trade clause for damn near anybody, Like I've never seen
an agent come out and publicly list like sevent teams like, no,
we're not waving it for La, We're not waving it
for Ammy, We're not waving for it. Like he's really
flexing his muscle in that regard. So that only leaves
Kevin Durant and Phoenix. I think it's pretty clear that
(14:07):
if you can't get Jimmy Butler, and the only way
you can get him is if Brett Beal waves is
no trade And if you can't do that, then you
got to find a way to number one, maximize this
Booker Beale pairing for whatever it might be. And number two,
you got to find a way to get back assets
that you lost in these trades. And there it all
(14:28):
screams to one thing, and that is see what you
can get for KD. I know he's gonna be what
thirty seven next year when he hits free agency, But
if you're a Golden State, hypothetically, you know he works
with Steph Curry. I would hope that him and Draymond
could patch things up, and if they can't, then buy
the Draymond Like you've already broken up the triumphant with
Klay Thompson. What's it matter if you lose Draymond at
(14:51):
this point and you kind of sort of owe it
to Steph to give him one last shot at doing something,
and if you're not gonna go for KD the only
other name that I could see conceivably teams kind of
you know, keeping the powder dry, as they say, is
Luka Doncic. No, he's a potentially a free agent twenty
(15:15):
twenty six. He'll be entering it to age twenty seven season.
He's smacked down in the middle of his prime. If
things don't go the way we think they're gonna go
in Dallas, like you know that the Derek Lively injury
is a big deal. And let's say they get a
bad draw in the postseason and they end up getting
God forbid one and done or you know, to and
(15:36):
done like most people were probably project in that situation.
You know, how patient is he going to be because
at that point, Kyrie's in his mid thirties and he's
a small guard. They'll usually don't end too well, you
don't age too well in that situation. You know that
teams like the Lakers and the Heat and in this
case Golden State, they the metropolis would love to get
(15:58):
Luka Doncic So he's the only only one I could
think of.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Wow, So it's interesting. I just looked at the standings
Dallas's slip sliding. They are ninth.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Well, Luca's hurt.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Luca's still good, but he's not coming back anytime soon.
It looks like, right, is he still on the scooter.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
I haven't seen the photos recently.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
You're right, No, Lively, No Luca. I mean there's a
world where they missed the playoffs. Let's be real. They're
only one and a half games up on the Warriors,
who are are eleventh Sacramento, my gut. Do you think
they will end up trading Deer and Fox?
Speaker 3 (16:34):
No, I think it'll be in the offseason.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
By the way, where are you? I didn't get to
ask you where are you? On Fox? Because you know
name alone. He's really good. He was a All NBA
guy once, he was an All Star once, and the
Kings have been to the playoffs once. He is probably
not an All NBA guy this year. And I was
looking at the point guards in the league. He's no Sga,
(17:00):
no Brunson, LaMelo and Maxie. Again, we've seen more Fox.
I like, I don't know how good deeron Fox is.
Mckil bridges fetched. I believe five first round picks right, yep.
Now none of them were amazing. Is is deeron Fox
getting you five first? I don't think so, do you?
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Probably not. I think that that was a very unique circumstance,
only because of the Nova Knicks connection. And you know,
the idea was I think it actually was a wind
Horse podmey, it wasn't him. They might have been either
McMahon or his co hosts. That said. The problem with having,
you know, like the Knicks at the time had like
ten first round picks is once we know how many
(17:43):
you have, the asking price is ten. So, for example,
if you're going to call the Lakers about potential dearon
Fox deal, you're saying, we want Austin Reeves and we
want all the picks you can offer, which in the
case like two or three. Like, so are you doing that?
By the way, I mean, I would love to I
like to Fox. I think he's great, and I think
he'd pay.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Hey, I just like Austin Reeves so much.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
I like him too, But it's just like It's just
that's the scenario is like, when you know that the
most you can offer is this guy and four picks
or whatever, then that's what we're asking for. If it's Houston,
we're asking for seven picks because we know you have
twenty of them. If it's Okay, See, we're asking for twelve.
And so like, I think that the market is gonna
(18:24):
kind of dictate. It's gonna correct itself in that regard.
The other problem that de Aaron Fox is having, and
I think this is why when NA see it's the
to the offseason, is there are so many good point
guards in the NBA. That's yeah, and the as a result,
even though he's a great player, his market gets suppressed
because who you looking for. It's not gonna be an
(18:45):
also ran team that trades for him. It's gonna be
another team on the come up where you think they
can win something big in the next two or three years,
or a team that's already in their window. And if
you just look at the standings, you're like Cleveland, no Boston,
no Nicks, no Bucks, no, and it Pacers no. Like
where do you find a team that needs a point
guard that fits that sweet spot? Where they can use
a de Aaron Fox. That's why I think we're not
(19:06):
going to see this trade get done in the next
week or so.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Fox is interesting because you know he's on the smaller
side as a point guard. I heard for years you
can't win with Jalen Brunson or a small guard as
your as your alpha. Brunson was the number one, and
they got to these conference semifinals last year. I think
the lost of the Pacers. I mean, there was a
litany of injuries, but I do believe Brunson's position to
get to the conference finals this year or the NBA
(19:31):
Finals and he's their number one. Can Fox be a
one on a on a contender or does he have
to be a two?
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Oh? Is that a two at best?
Speaker 2 (19:42):
At best best.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
He's a two.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I would say he's the one in Sacramento.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yeah, but to win a championship, at best he's a
two because if he was anything more than that, then
the Kings would not be fighting for the play in
like the last year.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
So Fox and Wemby, which everybody speculating, is that good
enough to win a title? I gotta see what's around him.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Oh yeah, like two years maybe? Yeah, for sure, because
we're projecting one b to be in the conversation for
the greatest players of all time like that, that's the
that's the difference that changes the calculus completely. If you
have Dearon Fox and we'll say, uh, whatever the Clippers.
You know, if it's him and Kawhi, can you win
a championship? Probably not, Like you'd kind of be on
(20:27):
the periphery. You wouldn't really What.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
If you went to Miami and he was paired with
bam Adebayo and Tyler Herroll. I don't know if the
one is bam or Fox, but and it's gonna sound
so nerdy, maybe the one there is heat culture.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
I hate their cultures so much. The Lakers have been
burned so many times by heat culture. Let me tell
you so.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
No, I don't know it gave Vincent the latest, but
but it makes me wonder, like is Fox a one
or two? Like if listen, if Dearon Fox is your three,
I think you're you're the best team in the league.
That's that's a tough one. I think he could be
a two on a contender. I mean he was a
one when the Kings won fifty game.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Yeah, he's got to find the right one is the
problem because he doesn't shoot it all that well from deep.
He's okay, he's.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Not thirty thirty.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
He's a he's a quick. He's a good defender because
he's fast. He's he's lightning, quaking and score in bunches.
He's great in the mid range. So you need his
number two to be a big a lah wenby ad
Yiannis type.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Oh oh oh wait, let me let me interrupt. Sorry,
if he goes to goes home to the Houston Rockets,
I I don't even know who's there one right now, Shngoon,
probably j Green, probably Okay, if Fox goes there, he's
there one, and I would I would in a heartbeat
part with I'm not giving up Amen Thompson. He looks
(21:49):
really scary good and I know he's young. I would.
I would move off Jalen Green or Van Vliet or both.
Although I don't think you trade your starting back court.
But I think Fox could be a one on uh
on a on a rocket because like the Rockets are
second in the West now and they don't have a.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
One, but nobody the championship team they're they're a great
regular season team.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Okay, So are they Are they the new OKC?
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I mean I would say they're closer to the new
Memphis Grizzlies. But before Jaw had his you know incidents,
they were fifty seven win team, like they were way
up there. And then you get him in a postseason
situation against the Lakers fresh off of playing and the
Lakers stole their lunch money like that. There there there's
(22:39):
levels to this, like we we kind of know who
the the inner circle is at this point.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
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Speaker 2 (22:56):
Who's the one on Cleveland? Is it Donovan Mitchell? Yes?
Is he a one?
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
I mean I thought we established in Utah he was
a one, but he had a ceiling he does.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
But the difference is that in Cleveland the supporting cast
is so much better than it was in Utah.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
He had go Bear.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
You did you say that with a straight face? He
had go Bear.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Bear's all NBA a half a dozen times.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Okay, go Bear by himself versus Mobley and Allen.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
I mean, I don't think Jared Allen's ever been a
freaking all.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Yeah, he's been an All Star. And I had to
have a second guy as Darius Garland, who can score.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
A bunch of Yeah, Garland's good. All right, So let's
go through the league real quick and they name the ones.
You say, Mitchell, what we would agree? Tatum is a one?
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Yep?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Is Jalen Brown one? If he were to go to
I don't know, Chicago.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Ooh.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I don't think for a championship team. No, but he
could be like a really good team.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Okay, So like Andrea Gudala was the MVP of the Finals,
nobody thought he was a one exactly, But that could
be Jaalen Brown.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Okay, Jalen's better than Inguodala.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
But yeah, I believe Jalen Bruns is a one. Not
everybody does. Where do you come in?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
I think he is. I think he hit The sample
size is too large now at this.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Point, Jannis a one for sure. Ye, Halliburton.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
He needs a specific team kind of around him for him.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
They're starting to percolate. Yeah, Miami, he bam at a
bio not they don't have a one. Well, Jimmy Butler,
but I don't know if his days is a one
or still.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
I think I think they're done. That's for him.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Orlando Paolo probably cave cutting him in Detroit. Yep, he
looks good. By the way, I think we've established, tray
Young is no longer a one, right.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
No, not if you went on like again, he's one
of those guys where if you want to be plucky
and competitive, like Halliburn, he's that guy. And he needs
a very specific team around him because he doesn't defending
the certain things he just can't do because of his size.
So if you can get the right mix of guys
around him, you can make a little bit of a run,
but you're never really considered a title team. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
By the way, they seem done now with this. Jalen
Johnson is.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Yeah, hair of Doc, he's good. I like him, dude.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Here's the thing. It says toward Labrahm in his shoulder,
something's up with my labram and I've been all I've
been doing in the last twenty four hours is looking
it up. So I gotta stop lifting. But I think
I could choot because it's not my shooting arm. Man.
There you go, we're back, So uh, trade not a one.
I don't think the Bulls have a one. I thought,
I think Lavigne might be the best two in the league.
(25:23):
But I think some people would disagree. Sixers are interesting. Max.
He's not a one.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Right not yet? If he is, he not not yet.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Embiid has played himself out or injured himself out of one.
And then what do you do with Paul George. He's
a well established too.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I get. I mean Paul George. The fall off has
been precipitous, like he's not even in the two conversation anymore,
like that they are legitimate. I've listened to NBA podcasts
where Sixers beat writers and media members and fans have said, hey,
can we get Tobias hairs back? Oh no, I swear
to you.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
I've heard that's how bad it.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
That's how bad it's number one. He hasn't been good
on the court, but doesn't play anymore.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah, Raptors, I don't. I don't even know what their
roster is.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
You think he's not one?
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Brooklyn has your boy D'Angelo Russell former Lakers. Right now
is LaMelo ball of one.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
He doesn't play enough. He's hurt again right now. He
just brained his ankle on Tuesday, yeah, that.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Guy always and then in the West real quick SGA
obviously a one. We said the Rockets Sengoon is there one,
but they don't have one. Memphis. I don't know. Worry
on Jaw.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I think on a really legitimate challenge, he's a number
two or his number two has to be like a D,
like that level of two.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Right, Yeah, I would agree with that, you kitch, obviously
a D.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
I don't think he's probably not.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
He's an exceptional two right now.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
He's probably the best two in the league. The problem Lebron, Yeah,
the problem is that Lebron is not at the peak
of his powers anymore and otherwise, especially defensively right exactly,
He's perfected the stand in point defense. That's his thing.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Oh damn clipper paper clip what Norm Powell?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
But Kawhi again doesn't play.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Come on, yeah, Anthony Edwards, we know is sons now.
D book is interesting because he was the one they
didn't win anything. Then he became, you know, the one
b to Chris Paul who was like the leader, and
they went to the finals and then they got Durant.
I don't really know where he fits in. I don't
know what Booker is I like him a lot.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
He might be in that category with I mean it's
where they places Tham KD, where they have number one
game and you can tell by watching him this is
one of the great you know, ten twelve players in
the league. But there's something emotionally and spiritually that they
just do not have to galvanize the rest of the team.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
That's deep and emotionally.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
I mean, like KD is fucking awesome. I know you
and him have like your Instagram tips, but just when
you watch him play. He's seven foot tall, he can
do everything. He can score from anywhere. He can shoot,
he can rebound, he can defend, he can pass a
little bit, and for whatever reason, he lacks that little
(28:07):
qua that the all time great players have. He just
doesn't have it.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
I think he was a one back in the day.
At this stage, I don't think he can be your
best player on a championship team. But Butler, Booker and Durant,
then you basically have one ABC, which I don't know
that we've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Because then it's I think one to night to night.
Then it's okay, yeah, we.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Agree, lucas a one. I think we're at the stage
where deer and Fox is probably ideally suited as your
second best player, right, Yes, Steph Curry I still think
has one in him. He's just surrounded by an aptitude
at this point.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
He's having a down season too, and people don't really
noticing it because the rest of the team has kind
of falling off so bad.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
It's well teams are. It's easier to defend him.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Now, yeah, because you don't have to worry for anybody else.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, exactly. Wemby obviously, I don't know what hell the
hell's going on in Portland. Scoot Henderson has just not
lived up to expectation. Zion. He has, but it's a
love pill climb, Zion. You never know when he's gonna play.
And then the Utah Jazz are awful. So there's just
not a lot of superstars in the league. It's like
the NFL with quarterbacks, right, we know there's ten, maybe twelve,
(29:17):
maybe fifteen really good quarterbacks that you can win with, yep,
and then there's like the rest of the league, which
is like Sam Darnold. It can have a good season
and then playoffs come and there's your guy you know
so well.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
And even to that point in the NFL. If we're
really being honest, there's like four guys who you feel
are the cream of the crop. No matter who's around him,
they're going to be competitive. It's Mahomes obviously, Alan Jackson
and Burrough And if you play that game in the NBA,
if you're being really honest, like the legitimate superstar, like
no matter where he is, this guy's team is a contender.
(29:50):
There's probably like four or five of them. Jokic for sure, Jokic, Jannis,
Luca and that might even be the list that might
be it. Everybody else is kind of situational and what
they have around him.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah, I mean, and people thought him bide two years ago.
No more. Yeah, all right, quickly, final shout out, guys.
I just ask I know we got some young guys
listening to the podcast. Just just be smart. I just
read that story about the kid in Philly celebrating the
Eagles win. He climbed a street pole and then you
(30:24):
know he's got a great gymnastics background. He falls down,
lands on his head, was in a coma, and now
he's dead. And he was eighteen years old freshman at Temple.
It is I mean, by the way, did you see
the videos of the scenes from Philadelphia rob Like a
car driving over people. Guy whips out a gun, just
starts shooting in the air. Like I don't. I just
(30:45):
just be smart people, large crowds. I'm not just down
with any of that stuff. I get it. You're drinking,
you're inebriated, they're going you're climbing a lamp post fault
and it's over. Like as you're climbing the lamp post.
Those are the final few minutes of your life on
planet Earth. Just be smarter, all right. That's it. Storry
to end on our down note. We're back tomorrow. Let
see you
Host
Jason McIntyre
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