On today’s episode, Jason is joined by NBA Draft consultant and NBA Draft Junkies founder Rafael Barlowe. During the conversation, Barlowe discusses the narrative that the San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers should trade the #2 (Dylan Harper) and #3 (Ace Bailey) picks for established stars, why Kentucky seems to pump out guys who are even better in the pros, the Tre Johnson vs VJ Edgecombe debate, why he has Jeremiah Fears as a top-5 pick, Cooper Flagg’s long-term NBA outlook, why he’s expecting the first round of the NBA Draft to be filled with trades, and much more!
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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 Fire, Faym. It's me Jason McIntyre, Straight
Boyer for Tuesday at June the tenth. It's starting to
get into the dog days of summer, folks. I don't
know if I'm willing to commit to that in June.
But it's like, you know, you have dinner on Monday night,
(00:33):
you turn on the TV. You looking for some sports.
There's NHL Florida Panthers, Edmonton. M Sorry, I can't can't
get really into that, so I you know, what I
started watching again was All American, the show that was
on the CW. I don't know if it's Netflix exclusive now,
I have no idea, but I'm on you know, I
had started it and watching it on regular TV, and
now it's on like season seven, and some of the
(00:55):
cast has departed, as like, I guess everyone graduated college.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I forget.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
But it's not a terrible show, honestly, if you're into
you know, kind of some cheesy stuff and some high
school football, and you know, it's like nine oh two
one to zero in an urban setting in twenty twenty five.
That's essentially what the show is. And I was a
Big nine or two one oh fan. I love football,
and I don't mind watching a cheesy show like that
(01:21):
while I'm folding laundry or getting dressed for a men's
league game, you know, petting my dog. I've got fifteen
minutes to kill, so I don't know. I'm checking out
All American. After that, I got to get back to
Liones because there's just not a lot happening in sports
right now. Honestly, NBA Finals is not super interesting. We
have a guest today, Rafael Barlow. We start talking about
(01:42):
the NBA, but he's a big draft guy, so we
just end up talking about the draft for a long time.
And frankly, the draft is fascinating this year. So I
think you guys will like the interview Rafael Barlow. He
does the old chad Ford NBA Draft big board site,
really good stuff. He's got some interesting draft opinions. It
made me think, hopefully you like it. Here's Rafael Barlow.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
You know a guy Jason likes to think he knows
everything when it comes to sports.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
I know what sports fans want.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
But for everything he doesn't. He knows a guy who does.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Let's just say I know a guy who knows the
guy who knows another guy. All right, let's welcome into
straight Fire. A new face on the podcast. Haven't had
him on, but he's a big time hooped, does a
lot of really interesting stuff around, you know, the draft NBA,
and I think he may be aware of my take
on the NBA Finals. Rafael Barlow, Raphael, how you doing,
(02:37):
my man?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I'm doing great, man. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, I'm glad to have you. And I don't know,
like I don't know. The Finals are one to one.
We gotta wait till Wednesday for Game three. Not a
ton of juice in between in between days, not the
way we had it, you know, Super team Earrow with
like Curry and Lebron days off, we're already like, oh,
who's getting the next job? What's going on with Kevin Durant, Giannest,
(03:01):
what are the packages looking like? And it I just
I don't want to say I'm giving the finals not
the respect it deserves. But for me as an NBA guy,
it's like, I don't see a ton of interesting things here.
I'm obviously rooting Pacers, I'll be open, but I'm curious
where you are, where your circle of friends, you know,
your parents like, oh, how about that game too of
the Finals last night? Where are you on it?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yeah, I think a lot of people, and the numbers
actually show that what you're saying is is there's some
truth to it, just because I mean, there's not a
lot of interest. You have two smaller market teams. I'm
a basketball junkie. I actually blamed the NBA in a
sense for this because I grew up. I grew up
(03:47):
in the nineties. I grew up with inside stuff and
there were so many storylines. And yes, NBA fans have
been somewhat spoiled because I mean, let's just talk about it.
Dynasties have been norm you know, from the Lakers Celtics,
you had the Bulls dynasty, we had the Spurs and
Lakers again, and the two thousands. Then you had the Warriors.
(04:08):
So I think fans really liked that, even though people
may say, oh, I hated it. Well, you knew who
was going to be in the finals every year. But
I think the fans have kind of voted with their
with their eyeballs that they don't like parody. They would
rather see the lebrons and controversy and some of the
bigger market teams in the finals.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
What do you make of a Shack? Of course, one
of the you know, seminal figures in the league over
the last I don't know, thirty years and is on
the Number one show and he comes out after Game
two and says, Hey, I'm going on vacation. I'm not
going to even watch the rest of the finals. Now
he alluded to he had been drinking. It was like
a fun vibe. But for him to say that, and
then Kenny Smith is like, hey, there's TV's in the Bahamas.
(04:52):
He's like, I'm gonna be in the ocean. I'm not watching.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Again.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
I kinda went after inside the NBA earlier this year,
like they've done a lot of damage because Barklay's taking
dumps on the rockets and nobody's good and this guy
stinks and I'm sick of Lebron. I don't that can't
be how Adam Silver and Envision Shack talking about the finals?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Can it?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah? I agree, And honestly, I'm forty five, right, and
I think it's people from my generation are older that
just consistently bashed the product. And some of the reasons
they bash it is their own opinions, but this is
what they're seeing on TV, and then we've like made
it so we don't appreciate current players because every time
(05:33):
someone does something good, we compare them to someone from
a previous era. And so I think that a lot
of NBA fans just have not embraced change. But I
think like some of the comments, and I remember your
post about inside the NBA, and I remember arguing with
people for a long time like there's some truth to it,
But I don't think people really understand the point that
(05:55):
you were trying to make. And I feel like we
don't see it in baseball. We don't see it in
football basketball, and I think that's a problem.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah, we'll get to the draft shortly and some trades,
but I am curious you think the Pacers have any
chance to win this series. I know it's one one
and they're headed to Indiana, but I don't know the
way I see it. If Indiana doesn't win Game three,
it's gonna kind of sort of feel over uh. And
they have been less imposing, shall we say, at home,
as opposed to on the road in the postseason.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Indiana's a team you just can't count out, Like nobody
expected them to be here. They had some games where
it looked like, you know, they were it was over.
They came back and won. So I don't think they're
out of it. I just think they're a team that
you that you can't doubt. And even yesterday's game, I thought,
I guess I was looking for them to make another comeback.
But yeah, I think Indiana. I think Indiana is. I
(06:50):
think they have a really good chance of winning. I'm
in the minority here, maybe because my dad's from Indianapolis.
I'm not a Pacers fan, but I just don't think
this is a team you can count out.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I am curious when it comes to team building. I
will give Presty credit and I bashed him for years
because of James Harden move. He's done a pretty damn
good job. And we had Henry Abbott on last week
he said, listen, there's one team that can trade for
Gianni's and that's okay. See, they've got they're under the tax,
they've got young guys, they've got a billion draft picks.
(07:23):
They're perfectly positioned to take on Giannis without really losing anything.
I think it's a pipe dream, but I am curious
when it comes to team building, for you, what has
Presty done right? Because the draft is coming up and
I think we're gonna see some narratives start to shift.
We'll get to that shortly.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Well.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
I actually think San Antonio could make a compelling offer
for Jannis. I mean, they have the second pick in
the fourteenth pick, they had the Rookie of the Year
and Stefan Castle, So depending on how people feel about
giving up that much, but I think the Spurs and
they still have some picks, so I think the Spurs
could could possibly you know, be a player if he
Honis decides to be moved. I think there's just so
(07:58):
many different storylines in the Presty situation. One, I think
he has made a lot of good moves. I think
he's greatly benefited from being in Okay. See, if he's
in New York, the fans aren't going to be that
patient to just say, let's keep piling up these picks.
And so I think that's that's been very, very important
because we've seen general managers, we've seen coaches get fired
(08:21):
for you know, they just want a championship and they
get fired. So Presty has had the luxury of being
in a small market team. Well, the fans are they
want to win now, but they have been patient. I
just think like the biggest issue for okay See going
forward is that apron. I mean, if they were afraid
to pay Harden. On one hand, you can say they've
(08:42):
learned their lesson, but I think this team could end
up being very, very expensive. But they also have enough
picks to where they can just you know, develop guys
and bring them in. But yeah, as far as team building,
Presty's just done the right things. He's made a lot
of good moves.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, he's pressed a lot of the right buttons in
the draft. I mean, listen, it's much easier when you
have more bites at the apple. But in regards to
the draft, I am very curious. Would you give up
that this is a good draft? Everybody said says that
and I think everyone agrees, But would you give up
the two pick, the number two pick in the package
for Giannis?
Speaker 3 (09:18):
I would? I would, just because with the parody in
today's NBA, I think you. I mean, there's a new
champion every year the last two years, So if you
can bring in a guy like Gianni's on top of
Victor wom Mayama, you just made a trade for Dearon Fox.
I was I would sling for the fences. Gianni's is
a known commodity. The number two pick isn't. And another
(09:40):
wrinkle to that is I like Dylan Harper. He's the
number two player on my board, but I don't know
if the fit is good with him. In San Antonio,
they brought in Fox. Defon Castle is best with the
ball in his hands. He took off when Fox got hurt.
Dylan Harper is best with the ball in his hands. Yes,
you're starting to see teams with multiple ball handler lineups,
but I don't know if those three guys really compliment
(10:02):
each other.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
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listen live.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
You could argue that Halliburton and Nemhard are in a
way what Harper and Fox could look like in San
Antonio if you keep it together right or do you
not think that's similar? I think Fox is a little
more ball dominant than Haliburton.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Well, Halliburn is a really good shooter and he's bigger.
So halliburnon at his size, gives you the luxury you
can put another smaller ball handler on the floor with
him and he can guard the two. Halliburn is very
unique because he can literally play with anybody in any situation.
And so I think with the Spurs, if they have
those three, even though Dylan Dylan Harper shot thirty seven
(10:50):
percent on catching shoot jumpers this year, I think all
three are like at best rhythm shooters and not necessarily
at their best playing all the ball all right.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
So in regard to the draft, historically, you know, the
last fifteen years, everybody's loved the young, unseen guys right
who haven't played a lot, didn't play a lot of college.
They want to go for the big lottery tickets. But
in recent years we've seen guys come out, and Nemhar's
a perfect example. It's like, oh, this guy's pretty damn good.
He can help someone right now. And I'm curious, you know,
(11:25):
if you look at a lot of mock drafts, they'll
have all freshmen in the top ten, And I'm just curious,
are you on board with that or do you think
there's a case to be made for a couple older guys,
a junior, a senior who maybe is a guy who
could help someone right now.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Yeah, I've long been a big verbal supporter of Stanford's
Maxine Reno And the reason why is just kind of
picture this. There's this guy that averaged twenty to ten
in the ACC. He has the second most three pointers
made in NCAA history, and a season by a seven footer.
He was second and the ACC and scoring first and rebounding.
(12:02):
And this guy entered college basketball or his freshman year
barely on a scholarship, and every year he's gotten better.
And so I think Renaul is that type of guy.
I think he's the most skilled being in the draft.
If you watch his film, He's got work on the block,
he finishes with both hands. He's a good athlete, he
attacks clothesouts, he runs the floor. I think he's a
(12:24):
guy that has been hiding and playing sight. And then
he had one game at the Combine. One game at
the Combine and everyone is starting to say, oh, yeah,
Maxine Renauld is skyrocketing, But he averaged twenty and eleven
all season long.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, why do you? Is just the kind of and
I don't want to knock Europeans, but this is a
kid from France and you know, average four and a
half points per game. I think something like that as
a freshman, and it's like, oh, he's not that guy.
But we saw Sheng Goon come to the draft and
with the Rockets a slow build, Yoki kind of a
slow build. Is there a similar vibe with Renault here?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
No, I guess there's a difference as he went to
college and so those guys were kind of like, well,
Yugers didn't go to college and Shagoon was like the
MVP of the Turkish League as a teenager. So I
don't think there's a lot of similarities there. I just
think that renauls that Stanford and Stanford hadn't been good,
and then people don't even know what conference Stanford is in,
(13:21):
to be honest with you, but I just think he's
been hiding in playing sight.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
So where are you on the whole? It almost seems like,
and again, group think is a big thing around the
NFL draft NBA draft, but it feels like everybody's like
Harper over Bailey one hundred percent, and we usually see
curveballs outside of Harper Bailey. Is there someone who think
who you think could sneak into the number two spot. Now,
it might be if some if the Spurs traded, But
(13:48):
is there a player you think could surprise everybody at two?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
No, I don't, I don't. I mean, I think it's
safe to say Harper goes to the Spurs. But will
he be playing in San Antonio. That's a different subject.
But I think it's it's Flag and Harper. I think
those are just absolute locks, and I can't see a
situation where it's any different. Three not three, I think,
is where the draft really starts at.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Well, why is that?
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I think Philly's in a weird spot. So you have
Paul George and Joel and b that you paid a
lot of money for last summer. Both were injured, so
you imagine Philly is in win now mode. You don't
give Paul George that type of money unless you believe
that he can be the piece to a championship and
be you know, like the Robin too Embiid's batman. Then
(14:35):
you have Tyrese MAXI who I think his Max deal
kicks in this season coming up, you had Jared McCain,
so you have a smallish, younger backcourt. But then you
have your two guys that are on the wrong side
of either thirty five or have long term injury concerns.
So I think with Philly, then you got a factory
(14:55):
in Boston is going to be without Tatum this year.
Philly may feel like, hey, we have a chance. I mean,
there's so much parody. We may have a chance this year.
So with that being said, I don't know which direction
do they go in. I think Ace Bailey is a
really good long term, long term prospect, but there may
be some guys that are ready to come in and
contribute right away. And so I just wonder if Philly
(15:16):
decides to want either trade to pick or if they're
going to look in another direction, because like I said,
they may find somebody that is probably more it's probably
better equipped to play in the next two years contribute
than Bailey.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Super hot take. Haven't heard of anybody say I've been
saving it. Is there a world where you think the
Sixers would try to pawn off Joel Embiid and say,
you know what, the only way we can get off
that contract. I mean, he's going to make sixty nine
mili in twenty twenty eight, twenty twenty nine. I don't
know if he's gonna be so walking at that age,
But can you package embid with the number three pick
(15:54):
to go get something just to move on from EMBIID
because you said when now, like, if you're able to
get off EMBIAD and you still have Paul George MAXI,
I like McCain a lot the little that I saw.
Do you think there's any way the Sixers try that.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I don't know. I think it's worth to try. But
if I'm another team, I'm like, man, do I want
to pay a guy sixty nine million who's not gonna
play back to backs?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
So I don't know.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
I think that that embid means so much to Philly
and he's been like their guy from the process. It
would be just a massive pr hit despite the fact
that you know he's been injured a lot, he's only
a couple of years removed from from winning the MVP.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
That's a fairpoint.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Yeah, so yeah, I think it would be tough, too
tough to move him for multiple reasons.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
All Right, I say VJ. Edgecombe and you say Trey Johnson.
Oh you take Johnson over Edgecombe?
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Yeah? All day? Wow?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, so what what now? That's interesting because Edgecombe was
in a weird spot. That Baylor team I didn't love,
but anytime I saw him, man, the guy that I
kept seeing was Russell Westbrook. And I don't obviously he
doesn't have like the bulk yet, but yeah, that's in
Trey Johnson.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Huh yeah, yeah, hear me out. Trey Johnson. SEC was
a tougher conference than the Big twelve. Trey Johnson led
the SEC in scoring, shot thirty nine percent from three
on six attempts per game. A lot of those heavily contested,
didn't have, you know, the best situation as far as
guy setting him up for threes. I think if you
put him in a situation where he's not shooting a
(17:32):
bunch of contested threes, I mean, what would his three
point percentage be? And he I mean, Texas didn't make
it to the NCAA tournament. They made it to the
first four, but they needed every bit of him and
every bit of those nineteen points per game. So with VJ,
I like VJ, I totally get the appeal. When I
look at him, I'm like, yeah, he's a phenomenal athlete,
(17:53):
but he shot like fifty eight percent at the rim.
Wasn't necessarily efficient at the rim. The shooting was up
and down. He has some really major struggles at the
beginning of the season against ranked opponents. But then also
look at what he did last summer for the Bahamas
national team that had DeAndre Ayton and Buddy Hill and
Eric Gordon, and he looked like the best player on
(18:14):
the floor. So he's a little bit of a difficult
evow for me. But I think Trey Johnson has at
least right now the skill set that he can hang
his hat on right now that you can say this
is what I'm going to get from him, and that
is elite shooting.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
So is your is a fair cop for Trey Johnson?
I mean, Paul George is probably not at not good.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah, different different size, different different games.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, he's closer to what six six tray. Yeah, So
is there is there an NBA player that you think
kind of matches up with his skill set that.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Like, like, for me, my question is why can't Strey
be Devin Booker? If you go back and look at
Devin Booker's if you look at like his scattering reports
coming out of out of Kentucky, they were like, yeah,
a good shooter. But is he a good enough athlete,
shoots a lot of may range jumpers, and Devin Booker
ended up being a lot better passer than then people
gave him credit for coming out of school. I think
(19:07):
Trey Johnson is a very underrated passer, and Trey knows
how to get to his mid range and he's a
very good shooter. So if he's Trey Johnson, maybe Tyler Hero.
I know that's back to back Kentucky guys. In Kentucky
guy sometimes kind of we're being held back in a
sense because of the system. But Tyler Hero is a
guy that people kind of boxed in as just a
(19:27):
good shooter and then you've seen him develop into an
All star and a guy that gets you about four
or five assist per game. And I think Trey Johnson
could have a similar path.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Okay, so I don't know how much you use chat ept,
but I I'm you know, doing it where you pay
money every month to use it, because I find it tremendous.
This is I just asked a good original NBA com
for Trey Johnson. Tell me what you think of these
Cam Thomas. I don't like that.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yeah, that's a lazy comparison.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, I get it. Alan Houston, remember the ten he
was at Tennessee. Then obviously with the next if you're
a nineties guy, yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
That's a win.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I think that's a good one. Now this one you're
gonna probably hate, and I don't. Duncan Robinson, No, I.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Get it. I think Trey's a better passer, can put
the ball on the floor a little bit better and
shoot the mid range shot. But at the minimum, if
he's just a movement shooter like Duncan Robinson, I think
I think there's value in that. You just wouldn't take it.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah. I think Edgecomb is the dude that oh Man did.
Do you n see a tournament. I think they lost
to Duke, but there was a moment I think he
tried to dunk on the entire Duke team and was
just fearless going in there. You know, Duke's got two
guys who are gonna do be top ten picks big
and Edgecombe was just like, I'm going up. But I
think it was against Duke.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
What's the skill set And it's not a knock on him,
but what's the skill set that he can hang his
hat on. Yes, he's a great athlete, but he hasn't
been a great finisher, good shooter, solid shooter. Yes he
can improve that, but it's not like he's a dead
eye shooter, good passer, but he's not like a great playmaker.
So that's kind of my concern. I'm a little bit
(21:04):
lower on him than the consensus, but I don't think
he gets past four at Charlotte.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
So I want to go back. So the toughest thing
about the NBA draft for me is anytime I talk
about guys, they're like, he can't do this, he can't
And my thing is, for me, it's less about what
they can or can't do, it's about what they could do,
what they could be down the road, Like Shay Gilgash,
Alexander coming out of Kentucky basically was what he is
(21:31):
now right, great at drawing fouls, amazing at the free
throw line, doesn't love three point shooting, and a good
solid passer. So you could actually see that coming out,
but he just he didn't play a ton to the walk.
I think that's kind of why he dropped it. Would
you agree, Well.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
I think it's a situation where Kentucky kind of held
him back. He didn't give an opportunity to really showcase
everything he could do. I actually had a conversation with
Bam out of BAIO a few years ago. I'm a
Blazers fan. I said, hey, man, why did my Blazers
pass on you for Zach Collins? And he said, well,
all the ball handling stuff that I'm doing now and
(22:09):
dhows you didn't see it At Kentucky. Everybody just thought
I was a guy that was just a dunker, spot
and play finisher. So when you look at you, you just Alexander,
you look at Devin Booker. If I'm not mistaken, Devin
Booker was coming off the bench.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Yeah, I know he was.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
So I think sometimes Kentucky guys have more game than
that they've been able to show, and I just think
SGA was just a victim of that.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
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 (22:42):
Boy, you want to see how quickly the NBA has turned.
So twenty eighteen Draft eight and went one, Bagley went two.
But by the way, both those guys are I don't
want to say out of the league, but underway out
right as a Blazer fan, you'd probably agree.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Aiden got a lot of money left on the table,
and he was yes flashes where he's product, he's gonna
be able to just keep I think he's gonna be
like Andre Drummond. He's just gonna keep getting checks. But
teams are gonna be afraid to give him a lot
of money. So he's just gonna be fighting for these
mid level exceptions because teams probably just aren't gonna trust him.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, that's fair. Uh, that thiss draft, So Luca went
through Jared Jackson four, Trey Young five. But again they
cared about big guys back then, Moe Bomba six, Wendell
Carter seven, and then like I can't believe the Colin Sexton,
Kevin Knox, Michel Bridges and SGA went eleventh. That is crazy.
(23:35):
He's gonna trade He's got an MVP.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
What's up to Charlotte? And they traded him, right.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Traded him to the LA Clippers. Charlotte has this foolish history, right,
remember Kobe Bryant and Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Was it Charlotte?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah, they traded Kobe to the Lakers when he made
those threats. I think it was Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Yeah, it was Charlotte. They traded him there you go.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah, Kobe was like, I'd rather play in Italy than
play for your shit franchise, And next thing you know,
he's with the Lakers.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Imagine to say that as a teenager. You know what
I mean? That's balls.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, but it is interesting, Like you on the hiding
Kentucky players, there was another one in recent oh oh, Dillingham,
but we haven't seen him in Shepherd, h We didn't
really see them a lot.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Do you expect the opposite what we've seen in the
year's past.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Well, it seems like Alexander Walker is going to move
on and Dillingham will be getting soak up his minutes.
I guess off the bench. I don't know. Shepherd. It's interesting.
There was so much buzz. Do you remember about his
buzz at the draft and then in Summer League you
were expecting people were betting him to win Rookie of
the Year.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Yeah, shows you Summer league means absolutely absolutely nothing like yeah,
and I remember thinking, yeah, he's too small, he's not
gonna make it, and bam, here he is.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, So I don't that's interesting. I had I gotta
do another mock. I had Trey Johnson four and then
Edgecomb seven. But the kid who is really electrifying is
Jeremiah Fears. What are you hearing about him? Man? What's
your vibe on him?
Speaker 3 (25:05):
I'm a big Jeremiah Fears fan. It was on my
podcast back in December my brother mentioned Jeremiah Fears as
a top five pick. We definitely got after and criticized,
But I really like Fears and this is one of
the things that I think, you know, it has to
go beyond your analytics and your measurables and so on.
(25:27):
Fears classified up Oklahoma was projected to be like fifteenth,
fifteenth in the SEC. He's a freshman guard. We talked
about how tough the SEC was this year and Oklahoma
at the end of the year needed him to basically
make the tournament and their seniors. College basketball is getting older.
Their seniors were like, hey, give this kid the ball,
(25:48):
get out the way. So I love the fact that
he wasn't their starting point guard at the beginning of
the year. He took the keys, he had some game
winning shots, and he just has like this this like
crazy confidence and and tangible and tangibles that I really
really like and a guy that you know could be
your alpha dog and I see that alpha dog mentality.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Yeah, man, I don't want to go too overboard with Fears.
I can't believe you're bro called that in December.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
That's amazing in December.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
I mean, this is like pie in the sky. Everything
goes right. Could he be Kyrie?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Irving? Kyrie is a one on one like I don't
even know if you can, like even as a trainer,
you can put your kid through some drills and say,
play like Kyrie, like the offensive creativity. I think he's
faster than Kyrie. Kyrie just it's just a wizard with
the basketball. But you know, maybe like maybe he's deering Fox.
You know a guy that just like.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
But he's been a little disappointing at least the first
year at San Aatonio. I'll get him a pass.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Yeah, but he's been an All Star, you know, I
mean he was he was an All Star and yeah,
Kings were they were good that you know that one year.
But I mean, if if Fears is Fox, you would take.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
That right at four or five. I don't know, it depends.
Is there someone who you think could be better than Fox?
Like the kid from b Yu, the big point guard Igor,
but she.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Doesn't shoot like he didn't bring the ball up the
court against like Fears, like had to carry his team.
Like there's no concerns about his assertiveness and how aggressive
he is with Yegor. Yes, he's bigger, and then the
size is more appilling. Yego is a better passer, but
there were times where he just didn't want to bring
the ball up the court. There were times where he
(27:33):
was not aggressive and assertive. So I think he's a
gonna be a really good like Connector, But I think
Fears in his mentality is like he's gonna be in alpha.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
So you don't think he could be Tyrese Haliburton. I
mean I'm just talking like absolute best case scenario.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I mean best case scenario. Yeah, you would take that.
But Halliburton was an elite shooter and his time at
Iowa State.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Yeah, I think guys seven percent on threes, although Fears
was only twenty eight percent.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Yeah, but eighty five percent from the foul line. So
I think if you believe free throw shooting is a
good indicative touch, then you have to leave there's some
upside there, and.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I guess we can wrap up. You know, it's mandatory.
I think contractually that if you talk about the draft,
you must talk about Cooper Flag. Obviously he's going one
to Dallas. The real interesting stuff is like, not necessarily
his NBA comp but like, is the hype for him
to the point where he has to win like multiple
(28:33):
MVPs and championships or it's like, ah, this guy's a
bum I because I see Kevin Garnett. I know people
hate the you know, white black comparisons, but I just
see a tenacious competitor. Who remember this guy's he was
eighteen for most of the season dominating college.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Basketball and started off as seventeen.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, I'm extremely bullish on Flag.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Yeah, I actually love the cross racial comparisons because it
forces you to think, like you have to think, Like
it's so easy to just say, you know, this guy
is this guy because they may look alike, or it's
so easy to compare European prospects to just European prospects.
So I actually love the Garnet comparison. Not as big
as Garnet, not as he's a competitor. Garnett was just
(29:18):
weirdly animated. But I like the fact that Flag has
just a lot of ways that he can impact the game.
He's actually been better than I thought. I was high
on him, but I didn't see him shooting thirty eight
and a half percent from three on a good volume.
So I think he's exceeded my expectations. I just hope
it's not a situation to where if he wins, like
(29:41):
like look at Anthony Davis for example, Anthony Davis has
won a championship, he's been all NBA, but coming out
of Kentucky, people were saying he's generational. This was even
before generational was thrown around all the time like it
is now. I think there was a quote where somebody
said that he's the best big since like Kareem O
dul Jabbar.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
It's some crazy coming out coming out of Kentucky.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Coming out of Kentucky with some crazy quote, and Anthony
Davis has had a really good career, but I think
people aren't going to appreciate it. Of course, a lot
of this is because he's, you know, been banged up
and people questioned, you know, his durability. But I don't
think people really appreciate how good Anthony Davis is. And
I think Anthony Davis is a you know, A one,
(30:24):
A one B. I don't know if he's like your
top dog, your closer. He has the talent to be.
So with that being said, I think that, you know,
it could be unfortunate if people are putting this label
on Cooper that he has to have like multiple MVPs
and so on to to have a great career.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
That's an interesting note about Davis. So he was drafted
in twenty twelve, right, that's right around the time that
the league started to pivot toward three pointers, right with
Harden and and then the Splash Brothers came up a
couple of years, really started to pop in a twenty fourteen,
so and the league is just right now. And the
weird part is Cooper Fly can do both. I mean
(31:03):
I saw him bringing the ball up against pressure in
the NCAA tournament and he's hitting threes. Anthony Davis knows
about that from tam usay like, I don't know what
Flag can't do.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Yeah, ye, earlier in the year, like there were some
issues where he was to relyingt on his spin move,
like he got pretty predictable. But I just love the
way he's added to his game and one of the
things that he did that I think is very underrated.
His last year playing grassroots basketball, I remember people criticizing
him because he played sixteen U. He didn't play seventeens.
He played with his buddies from Maine. But that whole
(31:35):
summer he was on a team of guys that, you know,
maybe low Division I prospects D two guys. But he
had to do everything for that team, and instead of
like training and working on his game, it was like
he spent a whole summer using defenders as live test dummies.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
In a sense, he.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Played the point, he had to play every single position.
He could have easily went to a loaded, powerhouse AU
team and just kind of helped him win. But I
just felt like he used that team as a developmental
team to work on his passing and and work on
his playmaking. I think it paid off. That's why he
exceeded my expectations.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Yeah, no, he was. I mean the whole Zion versus
Coup of Flag thing, I I was. I was as
big of a fan of Zion as you'll find, and
I think I think Flag certainly had a better career
than Zion. Zion's highlights were amazing, but.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Moved the needle like Obama was going to Zion's games.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Yeah, that's it. That's a different story. But like didn't
flag lead Duken literally every time of steels blocks.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I mean everything.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Yeah, guys, anyways, Rafael Barlow, great stuff. You know, I
don't know, like draft is coming up, are you what
would you? How would you characterize it as excited nervous
because again I'm not going overboard. It seems like everybody's
got largely the same seven or eight guys and that
you know, that's never how it works out.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Yeah, I think it's just gonna be a wild night
simply because there's gonna be a lot of movement, a
lot of trades, a lot of the guys that you know,
people like myself are projecting to go to this team.
I don't even know if that team is going to
be picking. I actually think the twenty twenty five NBA
Draft could be just as wild as the trade deadline
a few months ago, where there's a lot of stuff
that happened where you're like, dang, I didn't see that coming.
(33:19):
So I think it's going to be a very interesting night.
But I just think after like maybe pick three, it's
all in the eyes of the beholder. Somebody that most
people think is going to go at the bottom of
the lottery could end up going four or five. So
I think it's just gonna be a crazy night. Good stuff, all.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Right, Rafaeyel Big NBA, big board dot Com. Check that out.
He's all over the draft. Good stuff, man, Thanks a
lot
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Thanks for having me on
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up Fire, Faym. It's me Jason McIntyre, Straight
Boyer for Tuesday at June the tenth. It's starting to
get into the dog days of summer, folks. I don't
know if I'm willing to commit to that in June.
But it's like, you know, you have dinner on Monday night,
(00:33):
you turn on the TV. You looking for some sports.
There's NHL Florida Panthers, Edmonton. M Sorry, I can't can't
get really into that, so I you know, what I
started watching again was All American, the show that was
on the CW. I don't know if it's Netflix exclusive now,
I have no idea, but I'm on you know, I
had started it and watching it on regular TV, and
now it's on like season seven, and some of the
(00:55):
cast has departed, as like, I guess everyone graduated college.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I forget.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
But it's not a terrible show, honestly, if you're into
you know, kind of some cheesy stuff and some high
school football, and you know, it's like nine oh two
one to zero in an urban setting in twenty twenty five.
That's essentially what the show is. And I was a
Big nine or two one oh fan. I love football,
and I don't mind watching a cheesy show like that
(01:21):
while I'm folding laundry or getting dressed for a men's
league game, you know, petting my dog. I've got fifteen
minutes to kill, so I don't know. I'm checking out
All American. After that, I got to get back to
Liones because there's just not a lot happening in sports
right now. Honestly, NBA Finals is not super interesting. We
have a guest today, Rafael Barlow. We start talking about
(01:42):
the NBA, but he's a big draft guy, so we
just end up talking about the draft for a long time.
And frankly, the draft is fascinating this year. So I
think you guys will like the interview Rafael Barlow. He
does the old chad Ford NBA Draft big board site,
really good stuff. He's got some interesting draft opinions. It
made me think, hopefully you like it. Here's Rafael Barlow.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
You know a guy Jason likes to think he knows
everything when it comes to sports.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
I know what sports fans want.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
But for everything he doesn't. He knows a guy who does.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Let's just say I know a guy who knows the
guy who knows another guy. All right, let's welcome into
straight Fire. A new face on the podcast. Haven't had
him on, but he's a big time hooped, does a
lot of really interesting stuff around, you know, the draft NBA,
and I think he may be aware of my take
on the NBA Finals. Rafael Barlow, Raphael, how you doing,
(02:37):
my man?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I'm doing great, man. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, I'm glad to have you. And I don't know,
like I don't know. The Finals are one to one.
We gotta wait till Wednesday for Game three. Not a
ton of juice in between in between days, not the
way we had it, you know, Super team Earrow with
like Curry and Lebron days off, we're already like, oh,
who's getting the next job? What's going on with Kevin Durant, Giannest,
(03:01):
what are the packages looking like? And it I just
I don't want to say I'm giving the finals not
the respect it deserves. But for me as an NBA guy,
it's like, I don't see a ton of interesting things here.
I'm obviously rooting Pacers, I'll be open, but I'm curious
where you are, where your circle of friends, you know,
your parents like, oh, how about that game too of
the Finals last night? Where are you on it?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yeah, I think a lot of people, and the numbers
actually show that what you're saying is is there's some
truth to it, just because I mean, there's not a
lot of interest. You have two smaller market teams. I'm
a basketball junkie. I actually blamed the NBA in a
sense for this because I grew up. I grew up
(03:47):
in the nineties. I grew up with inside stuff and
there were so many storylines. And yes, NBA fans have
been somewhat spoiled because I mean, let's just talk about it.
Dynasties have been norm you know, from the Lakers Celtics,
you had the Bulls dynasty, we had the Spurs and
Lakers again, and the two thousands. Then you had the Warriors.
(04:08):
So I think fans really liked that, even though people
may say, oh, I hated it. Well, you knew who
was going to be in the finals every year. But
I think the fans have kind of voted with their
with their eyeballs that they don't like parody. They would
rather see the lebrons and controversy and some of the
bigger market teams in the finals.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
What do you make of a Shack? Of course, one
of the you know, seminal figures in the league over
the last I don't know, thirty years and is on
the Number one show and he comes out after Game
two and says, Hey, I'm going on vacation. I'm not
going to even watch the rest of the finals. Now
he alluded to he had been drinking. It was like
a fun vibe. But for him to say that, and
then Kenny Smith is like, hey, there's TV's in the Bahamas.
(04:52):
He's like, I'm gonna be in the ocean. I'm not watching.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Again.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
I kinda went after inside the NBA earlier this year,
like they've done a lot of damage because Barklay's taking
dumps on the rockets and nobody's good and this guy
stinks and I'm sick of Lebron. I don't that can't
be how Adam Silver and Envision Shack talking about the finals?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Can it?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah? I agree, And honestly, I'm forty five, right, and
I think it's people from my generation are older that
just consistently bashed the product. And some of the reasons
they bash it is their own opinions, but this is
what they're seeing on TV, and then we've like made
it so we don't appreciate current players because every time
(05:33):
someone does something good, we compare them to someone from
a previous era. And so I think that a lot
of NBA fans just have not embraced change. But I
think like some of the comments, and I remember your
post about inside the NBA, and I remember arguing with
people for a long time like there's some truth to it,
But I don't think people really understand the point that
(05:55):
you were trying to make. And I feel like we
don't see it in baseball. We don't see it in
football basketball, and I think that's a problem.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah, we'll get to the draft shortly and some trades,
but I am curious you think the Pacers have any
chance to win this series. I know it's one one
and they're headed to Indiana, but I don't know the
way I see it. If Indiana doesn't win Game three,
it's gonna kind of sort of feel over uh. And
they have been less imposing, shall we say, at home,
as opposed to on the road in the postseason.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Indiana's a team you just can't count out, Like nobody
expected them to be here. They had some games where
it looked like, you know, they were it was over.
They came back and won. So I don't think they're
out of it. I just think they're a team that
you that you can't doubt. And even yesterday's game, I thought,
I guess I was looking for them to make another comeback.
But yeah, I think Indiana. I think Indiana is. I
(06:50):
think they have a really good chance of winning. I'm
in the minority here, maybe because my dad's from Indianapolis.
I'm not a Pacers fan, but I just don't think
this is a team you can count out.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I am curious when it comes to team building. I
will give Presty credit and I bashed him for years
because of James Harden move. He's done a pretty damn
good job. And we had Henry Abbott on last week
he said, listen, there's one team that can trade for
Gianni's and that's okay. See, they've got they're under the tax,
they've got young guys, they've got a billion draft picks.
(07:23):
They're perfectly positioned to take on Giannis without really losing anything.
I think it's a pipe dream, but I am curious
when it comes to team building, for you, what has
Presty done right? Because the draft is coming up and
I think we're gonna see some narratives start to shift.
We'll get to that shortly.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Well.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
I actually think San Antonio could make a compelling offer
for Jannis. I mean, they have the second pick in
the fourteenth pick, they had the Rookie of the Year
and Stefan Castle, So depending on how people feel about
giving up that much, but I think the Spurs and
they still have some picks, so I think the Spurs
could could possibly you know, be a player if he
Honis decides to be moved. I think there's just so
(07:58):
many different storylines in the Presty situation. One, I think
he has made a lot of good moves. I think
he's greatly benefited from being in Okay. See, if he's
in New York, the fans aren't going to be that
patient to just say, let's keep piling up these picks.
And so I think that's that's been very, very important
because we've seen general managers, we've seen coaches get fired
(08:21):
for you know, they just want a championship and they
get fired. So Presty has had the luxury of being
in a small market team. Well, the fans are they
want to win now, but they have been patient. I
just think like the biggest issue for okay See going
forward is that apron. I mean, if they were afraid
to pay Harden. On one hand, you can say they've
(08:42):
learned their lesson, but I think this team could end
up being very, very expensive. But they also have enough
picks to where they can just you know, develop guys
and bring them in. But yeah, as far as team building,
Presty's just done the right things. He's made a lot
of good moves.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, he's pressed a lot of the right buttons in
the draft. I mean, listen, it's much easier when you
have more bites at the apple. But in regards to
the draft, I am very curious. Would you give up
that this is a good draft? Everybody said says that
and I think everyone agrees, But would you give up
the two pick, the number two pick in the package
for Giannis?
Speaker 3 (09:18):
I would? I would, just because with the parody in
today's NBA, I think you. I mean, there's a new
champion every year the last two years, So if you
can bring in a guy like Gianni's on top of
Victor wom Mayama, you just made a trade for Dearon Fox.
I was I would sling for the fences. Gianni's is
a known commodity. The number two pick isn't. And another
(09:40):
wrinkle to that is I like Dylan Harper. He's the
number two player on my board, but I don't know
if the fit is good with him. In San Antonio,
they brought in Fox. Defon Castle is best with the
ball in his hands. He took off when Fox got hurt.
Dylan Harper is best with the ball in his hands. Yes,
you're starting to see teams with multiple ball handler lineups,
but I don't know if those three guys really compliment
(10:02):
each other.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
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 (10:15):
You could argue that Halliburton and Nemhard are in a
way what Harper and Fox could look like in San
Antonio if you keep it together right or do you
not think that's similar? I think Fox is a little
more ball dominant than Haliburton.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Well, Halliburn is a really good shooter and he's bigger.
So halliburnon at his size, gives you the luxury you
can put another smaller ball handler on the floor with
him and he can guard the two. Halliburn is very
unique because he can literally play with anybody in any situation.
And so I think with the Spurs, if they have
those three, even though Dylan Dylan Harper shot thirty seven
(10:50):
percent on catching shoot jumpers this year, I think all
three are like at best rhythm shooters and not necessarily
at their best playing all the ball all right.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
So in regard to the draft, historically, you know, the
last fifteen years, everybody's loved the young, unseen guys right
who haven't played a lot, didn't play a lot of college.
They want to go for the big lottery tickets. But
in recent years we've seen guys come out, and Nemhar's
a perfect example. It's like, oh, this guy's pretty damn good.
He can help someone right now. And I'm curious, you know,
(11:25):
if you look at a lot of mock drafts, they'll
have all freshmen in the top ten, And I'm just curious,
are you on board with that or do you think
there's a case to be made for a couple older guys,
a junior, a senior who maybe is a guy who
could help someone right now.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Yeah, I've long been a big verbal supporter of Stanford's
Maxine Reno And the reason why is just kind of
picture this. There's this guy that averaged twenty to ten
in the ACC. He has the second most three pointers
made in NCAA history, and a season by a seven footer.
He was second and the ACC and scoring first and rebounding.
(12:02):
And this guy entered college basketball or his freshman year
barely on a scholarship, and every year he's gotten better.
And so I think Renaul is that type of guy.
I think he's the most skilled being in the draft.
If you watch his film, He's got work on the block,
he finishes with both hands. He's a good athlete, he
attacks clothesouts, he runs the floor. I think he's a
(12:24):
guy that has been hiding and playing sight. And then
he had one game at the Combine. One game at
the Combine and everyone is starting to say, oh, yeah,
Maxine Renauld is skyrocketing, But he averaged twenty and eleven
all season long.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, why do you? Is just the kind of and
I don't want to knock Europeans, but this is a
kid from France and you know, average four and a
half points per game. I think something like that as
a freshman, and it's like, oh, he's not that guy.
But we saw Sheng Goon come to the draft and
with the Rockets a slow build, Yoki kind of a
slow build. Is there a similar vibe with Renault here?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
No, I guess there's a difference as he went to
college and so those guys were kind of like, well,
Yugers didn't go to college and Shagoon was like the
MVP of the Turkish League as a teenager. So I
don't think there's a lot of similarities there. I just
think that renauls that Stanford and Stanford hadn't been good,
and then people don't even know what conference Stanford is in,
(13:21):
to be honest with you, but I just think he's
been hiding in playing sight.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
So where are you on the whole? It almost seems like,
and again, group think is a big thing around the
NFL draft NBA draft, but it feels like everybody's like
Harper over Bailey one hundred percent, and we usually see
curveballs outside of Harper Bailey. Is there someone who think
who you think could sneak into the number two spot. Now,
it might be if some if the Spurs traded, But
(13:48):
is there a player you think could surprise everybody at two?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
No, I don't, I don't. I mean, I think it's
safe to say Harper goes to the Spurs. But will
he be playing in San Antonio. That's a different subject.
But I think it's it's Flag and Harper. I think
those are just absolute locks, and I can't see a
situation where it's any different. Three not three, I think,
is where the draft really starts at.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Well, why is that?
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I think Philly's in a weird spot. So you have
Paul George and Joel and b that you paid a
lot of money for last summer. Both were injured, so
you imagine Philly is in win now mode. You don't
give Paul George that type of money unless you believe
that he can be the piece to a championship and
be you know, like the Robin too Embiid's batman. Then
(14:35):
you have Tyrese MAXI who I think his Max deal
kicks in this season coming up, you had Jared McCain,
so you have a smallish, younger backcourt. But then you
have your two guys that are on the wrong side
of either thirty five or have long term injury concerns.
So I think with Philly, then you got a factory
(14:55):
in Boston is going to be without Tatum this year.
Philly may feel like, hey, we have a chance. I mean,
there's so much parody. We may have a chance this year.
So with that being said, I don't know which direction
do they go in. I think Ace Bailey is a
really good long term, long term prospect, but there may
be some guys that are ready to come in and
contribute right away. And so I just wonder if Philly
(15:16):
decides to want either trade to pick or if they're
going to look in another direction, because like I said,
they may find somebody that is probably more it's probably
better equipped to play in the next two years contribute
than Bailey.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Super hot take. Haven't heard of anybody say I've been
saving it. Is there a world where you think the
Sixers would try to pawn off Joel Embiid and say,
you know what, the only way we can get off
that contract. I mean, he's going to make sixty nine
mili in twenty twenty eight, twenty twenty nine. I don't
know if he's gonna be so walking at that age,
But can you package embid with the number three pick
(15:54):
to go get something just to move on from EMBIID
because you said when now, like, if you're able to
get off EMBIAD and you still have Paul George MAXI,
I like McCain a lot the little that I saw.
Do you think there's any way the Sixers try that.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I don't know. I think it's worth to try. But
if I'm another team, I'm like, man, do I want
to pay a guy sixty nine million who's not gonna
play back to backs?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
So I don't know.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
I think that that embid means so much to Philly
and he's been like their guy from the process. It
would be just a massive pr hit despite the fact
that you know he's been injured a lot, he's only
a couple of years removed from from winning the MVP.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
That's a fairpoint.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Yeah, so yeah, I think it would be tough, too
tough to move him for multiple reasons.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
All Right, I say VJ. Edgecombe and you say Trey Johnson.
Oh you take Johnson over Edgecombe?
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Yeah? All day? Wow?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, so what what now? That's interesting because Edgecombe was
in a weird spot. That Baylor team I didn't love,
but anytime I saw him, man, the guy that I
kept seeing was Russell Westbrook. And I don't obviously he
doesn't have like the bulk yet, but yeah, that's in
Trey Johnson.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Huh yeah, yeah, hear me out. Trey Johnson. SEC was
a tougher conference than the Big twelve. Trey Johnson led
the SEC in scoring, shot thirty nine percent from three
on six attempts per game. A lot of those heavily contested,
didn't have, you know, the best situation as far as
guy setting him up for threes. I think if you
put him in a situation where he's not shooting a
(17:32):
bunch of contested threes, I mean, what would his three
point percentage be? And he I mean, Texas didn't make
it to the NCAA tournament. They made it to the
first four, but they needed every bit of him and
every bit of those nineteen points per game. So with VJ,
I like VJ, I totally get the appeal. When I
look at him, I'm like, yeah, he's a phenomenal athlete,
(17:53):
but he shot like fifty eight percent at the rim.
Wasn't necessarily efficient at the rim. The shooting was up
and down. He has some really major struggles at the
beginning of the season against ranked opponents. But then also
look at what he did last summer for the Bahamas
national team that had DeAndre Ayton and Buddy Hill and
Eric Gordon, and he looked like the best player on
(18:14):
the floor. So he's a little bit of a difficult
evow for me. But I think Trey Johnson has at
least right now the skill set that he can hang
his hat on right now that you can say this
is what I'm going to get from him, and that
is elite shooting.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
So is your is a fair cop for Trey Johnson?
I mean, Paul George is probably not at not good.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah, different different size, different different games.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, he's closer to what six six tray. Yeah, So
is there is there an NBA player that you think
kind of matches up with his skill set that.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Like, like, for me, my question is why can't Strey
be Devin Booker? If you go back and look at
Devin Booker's if you look at like his scattering reports
coming out of out of Kentucky, they were like, yeah,
a good shooter. But is he a good enough athlete,
shoots a lot of may range jumpers, and Devin Booker
ended up being a lot better passer than then people
gave him credit for coming out of school. I think
(19:07):
Trey Johnson is a very underrated passer, and Trey knows
how to get to his mid range and he's a
very good shooter. So if he's Trey Johnson, maybe Tyler Hero.
I know that's back to back Kentucky guys. In Kentucky
guy sometimes kind of we're being held back in a
sense because of the system. But Tyler Hero is a
guy that people kind of boxed in as just a
(19:27):
good shooter and then you've seen him develop into an
All star and a guy that gets you about four
or five assist per game. And I think Trey Johnson
could have a similar path.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Okay, so I don't know how much you use chat ept,
but I I'm you know, doing it where you pay
money every month to use it, because I find it tremendous.
This is I just asked a good original NBA com
for Trey Johnson. Tell me what you think of these
Cam Thomas. I don't like that.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yeah, that's a lazy comparison.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, I get it. Alan Houston, remember the ten he
was at Tennessee. Then obviously with the next if you're
a nineties guy, yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
That's a win.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I think that's a good one. Now this one you're
gonna probably hate, and I don't. Duncan Robinson, No, I.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Get it. I think Trey's a better passer, can put
the ball on the floor a little bit better and
shoot the mid range shot. But at the minimum, if
he's just a movement shooter like Duncan Robinson, I think
I think there's value in that. You just wouldn't take it.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah. I think Edgecomb is the dude that oh Man did.
Do you n see a tournament. I think they lost
to Duke, but there was a moment I think he
tried to dunk on the entire Duke team and was
just fearless going in there. You know, Duke's got two
guys who are gonna do be top ten picks big
and Edgecombe was just like, I'm going up. But I
think it was against Duke.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
What's the skill set And it's not a knock on him,
but what's the skill set that he can hang his
hat on. Yes, he's a great athlete, but he hasn't
been a great finisher, good shooter, solid shooter. Yes he
can improve that, but it's not like he's a dead
eye shooter, good passer, but he's not like a great playmaker.
So that's kind of my concern. I'm a little bit
(21:04):
lower on him than the consensus, but I don't think
he gets past four at Charlotte.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
So I want to go back. So the toughest thing
about the NBA draft for me is anytime I talk
about guys, they're like, he can't do this, he can't
And my thing is, for me, it's less about what
they can or can't do, it's about what they could do,
what they could be down the road, Like Shay Gilgash,
Alexander coming out of Kentucky basically was what he is
(21:31):
now right, great at drawing fouls, amazing at the free
throw line, doesn't love three point shooting, and a good
solid passer. So you could actually see that coming out,
but he just he didn't play a ton to the walk.
I think that's kind of why he dropped it. Would
you agree, Well.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
I think it's a situation where Kentucky kind of held
him back. He didn't give an opportunity to really showcase
everything he could do. I actually had a conversation with
Bam out of BAIO a few years ago. I'm a
Blazers fan. I said, hey, man, why did my Blazers
pass on you for Zach Collins? And he said, well,
all the ball handling stuff that I'm doing now and
(22:09):
dhows you didn't see it At Kentucky. Everybody just thought
I was a guy that was just a dunker, spot
and play finisher. So when you look at you, you just Alexander,
you look at Devin Booker. If I'm not mistaken, Devin
Booker was coming off the bench.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Yeah, I know he was.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
So I think sometimes Kentucky guys have more game than
that they've been able to show, and I just think
SGA was just a victim of that.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
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 (22:42):
Boy, you want to see how quickly the NBA has turned.
So twenty eighteen Draft eight and went one, Bagley went two.
But by the way, both those guys are I don't
want to say out of the league, but underway out
right as a Blazer fan, you'd probably agree.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Aiden got a lot of money left on the table,
and he was yes flashes where he's product, he's gonna
be able to just keep I think he's gonna be
like Andre Drummond. He's just gonna keep getting checks. But
teams are gonna be afraid to give him a lot
of money. So he's just gonna be fighting for these
mid level exceptions because teams probably just aren't gonna trust him.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, that's fair. Uh, that thiss draft, So Luca went
through Jared Jackson four, Trey Young five. But again they
cared about big guys back then, Moe Bomba six, Wendell
Carter seven, and then like I can't believe the Colin Sexton,
Kevin Knox, Michel Bridges and SGA went eleventh. That is crazy.
(23:35):
He's gonna trade He's got an MVP.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
What's up to Charlotte? And they traded him, right.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Traded him to the LA Clippers. Charlotte has this foolish history, right,
remember Kobe Bryant and Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Was it Charlotte?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah, they traded Kobe to the Lakers when he made
those threats. I think it was Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Yeah, it was Charlotte. They traded him there you go.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah, Kobe was like, I'd rather play in Italy than
play for your shit franchise, And next thing you know,
he's with the Lakers.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Imagine to say that as a teenager. You know what
I mean? That's balls.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, but it is interesting, Like you on the hiding
Kentucky players, there was another one in recent oh oh, Dillingham,
but we haven't seen him in Shepherd, h We didn't
really see them a lot.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Do you expect the opposite what we've seen in the
year's past.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Well, it seems like Alexander Walker is going to move
on and Dillingham will be getting soak up his minutes.
I guess off the bench. I don't know. Shepherd. It's interesting.
There was so much buzz. Do you remember about his
buzz at the draft and then in Summer League you
were expecting people were betting him to win Rookie of
the Year.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Yeah, shows you Summer league means absolutely absolutely nothing like yeah,
and I remember thinking, yeah, he's too small, he's not
gonna make it, and bam, here he is.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, So I don't that's interesting. I had I gotta
do another mock. I had Trey Johnson four and then
Edgecomb seven. But the kid who is really electrifying is
Jeremiah Fears. What are you hearing about him? Man? What's
your vibe on him?
Speaker 3 (25:05):
I'm a big Jeremiah Fears fan. It was on my
podcast back in December my brother mentioned Jeremiah Fears as
a top five pick. We definitely got after and criticized,
But I really like Fears and this is one of
the things that I think, you know, it has to
go beyond your analytics and your measurables and so on.
(25:27):
Fears classified up Oklahoma was projected to be like fifteenth,
fifteenth in the SEC. He's a freshman guard. We talked
about how tough the SEC was this year and Oklahoma
at the end of the year needed him to basically
make the tournament and their seniors. College basketball is getting older.
Their seniors were like, hey, give this kid the ball,
(25:48):
get out the way. So I love the fact that
he wasn't their starting point guard at the beginning of
the year. He took the keys, he had some game
winning shots, and he just has like this this like
crazy confidence and and tangible and tangibles that I really
really like and a guy that you know could be
your alpha dog and I see that alpha dog mentality.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Yeah, man, I don't want to go too overboard with Fears.
I can't believe you're bro called that in December.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
That's amazing in December.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
I mean, this is like pie in the sky. Everything
goes right. Could he be Kyrie?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Irving? Kyrie is a one on one like I don't
even know if you can, like even as a trainer,
you can put your kid through some drills and say,
play like Kyrie, like the offensive creativity. I think he's
faster than Kyrie. Kyrie just it's just a wizard with
the basketball. But you know, maybe like maybe he's deering Fox.
You know a guy that just like.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
But he's been a little disappointing at least the first
year at San Aatonio. I'll get him a pass.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Yeah, but he's been an All Star, you know, I
mean he was he was an All Star and yeah,
Kings were they were good that you know that one year.
But I mean, if if Fears is Fox, you would take.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
That right at four or five. I don't know, it depends.
Is there someone who you think could be better than Fox?
Like the kid from b Yu, the big point guard Igor,
but she.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Doesn't shoot like he didn't bring the ball up the
court against like Fears, like had to carry his team.
Like there's no concerns about his assertiveness and how aggressive
he is with Yegor. Yes, he's bigger, and then the
size is more appilling. Yego is a better passer, but
there were times where he just didn't want to bring
the ball up the court. There were times where he
(27:33):
was not aggressive and assertive. So I think he's a
gonna be a really good like Connector, But I think
Fears in his mentality is like he's gonna be in alpha.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
So you don't think he could be Tyrese Haliburton. I
mean I'm just talking like absolute best case scenario.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I mean best case scenario. Yeah, you would take that.
But Halliburton was an elite shooter and his time at
Iowa State.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Yeah, I think guys seven percent on threes, although Fears
was only twenty eight percent.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Yeah, but eighty five percent from the foul line. So
I think if you believe free throw shooting is a
good indicative touch, then you have to leave there's some
upside there, and.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I guess we can wrap up. You know, it's mandatory.
I think contractually that if you talk about the draft,
you must talk about Cooper Flag. Obviously he's going one
to Dallas. The real interesting stuff is like, not necessarily
his NBA comp but like, is the hype for him
to the point where he has to win like multiple
(28:33):
MVPs and championships or it's like, ah, this guy's a
bum I because I see Kevin Garnett. I know people
hate the you know, white black comparisons, but I just
see a tenacious competitor. Who remember this guy's he was
eighteen for most of the season dominating college.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Basketball and started off as seventeen.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, I'm extremely bullish on Flag.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Yeah, I actually love the cross racial comparisons because it
forces you to think, like you have to think, Like
it's so easy to just say, you know, this guy
is this guy because they may look alike, or it's
so easy to compare European prospects to just European prospects.
So I actually love the Garnet comparison. Not as big
as Garnet, not as he's a competitor. Garnett was just
(29:18):
weirdly animated. But I like the fact that Flag has
just a lot of ways that he can impact the game.
He's actually been better than I thought. I was high
on him, but I didn't see him shooting thirty eight
and a half percent from three on a good volume.
So I think he's exceeded my expectations. I just hope
it's not a situation to where if he wins, like
(29:41):
like look at Anthony Davis for example, Anthony Davis has
won a championship, he's been all NBA, but coming out
of Kentucky, people were saying he's generational. This was even
before generational was thrown around all the time like it
is now. I think there was a quote where somebody
said that he's the best big since like Kareem O
dul Jabbar.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
It's some crazy coming out coming out of Kentucky.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Coming out of Kentucky with some crazy quote, and Anthony
Davis has had a really good career, but I think
people aren't going to appreciate it. Of course, a lot
of this is because he's, you know, been banged up
and people questioned, you know, his durability. But I don't
think people really appreciate how good Anthony Davis is. And
I think Anthony Davis is a you know, A one,
(30:24):
A one B. I don't know if he's like your
top dog, your closer. He has the talent to be.
So with that being said, I think that, you know,
it could be unfortunate if people are putting this label
on Cooper that he has to have like multiple MVPs
and so on to to have a great career.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
That's an interesting note about Davis. So he was drafted
in twenty twelve, right, that's right around the time that
the league started to pivot toward three pointers, right with
Harden and and then the Splash Brothers came up a
couple of years, really started to pop in a twenty fourteen,
so and the league is just right now. And the
weird part is Cooper Fly can do both. I mean
(31:03):
I saw him bringing the ball up against pressure in
the NCAA tournament and he's hitting threes. Anthony Davis knows
about that from tam usay like, I don't know what
Flag can't do.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Yeah, ye, earlier in the year, like there were some
issues where he was to relyingt on his spin move,
like he got pretty predictable. But I just love the
way he's added to his game and one of the
things that he did that I think is very underrated.
His last year playing grassroots basketball, I remember people criticizing
him because he played sixteen U. He didn't play seventeens.
He played with his buddies from Maine. But that whole
(31:35):
summer he was on a team of guys that, you know,
maybe low Division I prospects D two guys. But he
had to do everything for that team, and instead of
like training and working on his game, it was like
he spent a whole summer using defenders as live test dummies.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
In a sense, he.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Played the point, he had to play every single position.
He could have easily went to a loaded, powerhouse AU
team and just kind of helped him win. But I
just felt like he used that team as a developmental
team to work on his passing and and work on
his playmaking. I think it paid off. That's why he
exceeded my expectations.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Yeah, no, he was. I mean the whole Zion versus
Coup of Flag thing, I I was. I was as
big of a fan of Zion as you'll find, and
I think I think Flag certainly had a better career
than Zion. Zion's highlights were amazing, but.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Moved the needle like Obama was going to Zion's games.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Yeah, that's it. That's a different story. But like didn't
flag lead Duken literally every time of steels blocks.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I mean everything.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Yeah, guys, anyways, Rafael Barlow, great stuff. You know, I
don't know, like draft is coming up, are you what
would you? How would you characterize it as excited nervous
because again I'm not going overboard. It seems like everybody's
got largely the same seven or eight guys and that
you know, that's never how it works out.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Yeah, I think it's just gonna be a wild night
simply because there's gonna be a lot of movement, a
lot of trades, a lot of the guys that you know,
people like myself are projecting to go to this team.
I don't even know if that team is going to
be picking. I actually think the twenty twenty five NBA
Draft could be just as wild as the trade deadline
a few months ago, where there's a lot of stuff
that happened where you're like, dang, I didn't see that coming.
(33:19):
So I think it's going to be a very interesting night.
But I just think after like maybe pick three, it's
all in the eyes of the beholder. Somebody that most
people think is going to go at the bottom of
the lottery could end up going four or five. So
I think it's just gonna be a crazy night. Good stuff, all.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Right, Rafaeyel Big NBA, big board dot Com. Check that out.
He's all over the draft. Good stuff, man, Thanks a
lot
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Thanks for having me on
Host
Jason McIntyre
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