April 19, 2021 • 39 mins
On today's episode, Jason does a deep dive into Zion Williamson's highly-suggestive comments about his future. Following the New Orleans Pelicans' loss to the New York Knicks, Zion told the media how much he loves playing in Madison Square Garden. With the Knicks suddenly in the playoff mix, NYC looks more attractive than ever. The Pelicans? Not so much. New Orleans has made a series of boneheaded moves that's left the future of the franchise in limbo. In fact, you could argue that the impending free agency of Lonzo Ball - who may or may not be all that good - could be what ultimately sways Zion's decision. Before guys like LeBron James and Kevin Durant left the Cavs and Thunder, respectively, at least the team had some level of success before their stars ultimately decided to bolt. To this point, the Pelicans have done nothing to inspire confidence in their ability to build a roster around their superstar; It's eerily similar to what went down with Anthony Davis a few years back. The Pels just might sneak into the play-in tournament, but after Zion's comments on Sunday, the entire New Orleans fanbase has to be miserable. In other NBA news, did you see that Kevin Durant got hurt again?!? The Brooklyn Nets have arguably the greatest trio in NBA history, but does it matter if they can't stay on the court together? James Harden is down with a bad hamstring, KD has a history of injuries dating back to his days in OKC, and Kyrie Irving regularly takes time away just because he feels like it. It's not time to push the panic button in Brooklyn, but it would be wise to locate it just to be safe.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up everybody? Monday,
April nineteenth, Straight Fire with Me Jason McIntyre, Thank you
for tuning in Hope. Everybody had an amazing weekend. I
will say, um, we've waited for this time for a
(00:26):
long and it has been thirteen months since coronavirus hit
and finally it feels like a sense of normals, he
said in I'll quickly go through the weekend. We had
between the two kids, three soccer games. We went two
and one and two basketball games a rare double basketball effort.
I did undisputed Friday, so it's a little worn down
(00:48):
Friday night, made it an early night, and then I
had the radio show Saturday. No rest for the weary people. Okay,
this is how we roll. And the weekend was pretty fantastic. Um,
I gotta say. It was like eighty degrees in southern
California on Sunday, one of the warmest days of the year,
and it was just it was a blast. And the
kids are going back to school more this week. It
(01:10):
was only two and a half hours. Now it's extending
to four and a half hours. So all the dads
in my area who listened to this, and there are
many are very excited. The moms are even more excited. Um,
it's just a sense of normalcy starting to set in.
People are starting to think about summer vacations. Stuff is
getting booked up quickly. It was just, uh, it was
(01:30):
one of these weekends. It's like, oh cool, with the
exception of course that not only do the parents at
sending soccer games have to wear masks, but so do
the kids playing. And two we have, you know, in
our little circle out here, we've got some doctor friends
to doctor friends on the team. Both were stunned that
(01:50):
the kids had to wear maskball playing. They're like, why,
you guys know, if you follow me on Instagram, we're
doing some you know, second and fourth grade basketball games
and we don't have the kid with a mask. We're outside.
You know, I don't want to go into coronavirus. But
quickly on sports opening up. It just feels good to
see the kids having fun again, chatting with their friends,
(02:12):
and like life is getting kind of back to normal.
Not for everybody, I hope wherever you live it's improving.
And um, you know, life is just getting back to
not the good old days, but I don't know, fifteen
months ago, everything was awesome, you know, at least uh,
you know, in in my little world of sports and life.
(02:33):
Um as for sports, Holy cow, what a weekend you have,
Dodgers Padres. I put this out on social media over
the weekend, and all these people got angry at me,
I said, Dodgers Padres, And yes, I'm now living in California,
so maybe this is checkered a little bit by that.
But my take is that is the new Red Sox
to Yankees. I mean, the Red Sox are an abomination.
(02:54):
Barely could put them on TV. Yankees don't really have
that juice right now. It's early. But Dodgers Padre, this
is really fun and exciting, heated game Friday night. But
we're not going to start the show today with baseball
because I've got to talk about a guy. And you know,
I don't want to give myself credit and injure my
shoulder patting myself on the back. But we have been
(03:16):
steadfast in the idea that the Pelicans are screwing up
Zion Williamson, and it happened again over the weekend. Folks,
This is staggering Sunday Pelicans Knicks big game, right Knicks
or a playoff team in the East, Pelicans trying to
get into the play in game. I mean, what they
all they keep doing is losing. Stan Van Gundi, I mean, listen,
(03:39):
I don't think he's gonna get fired after one game, sorry,
one season, but stan Van Gundy just continues to step
in it. And at the end of the game they're
up by three on the Knicks. Do you know the
strategy either foul or you don't give up a three pointer?
And what does Lonzo Ball do? A Lonzo Ball comes
off his guy on the perimeter to challenge a Derrick
(04:03):
Rose drive to the basket, and Rose kicks it out
and the Nicks set of three and we go to
overtime in the next win. And Sam mcgunny was ticked off.
He almost I don't think he called out Zion, not
Zion or Lonzo Ball, but he basically said his guys
were dumb and they made a catastrophic error. He's right.
I don't know if he's in a position to say that.
Maybe he's trying to light a fire under them or something.
(04:24):
But it was an awful turn of events for the Pels.
They lose their third straight. And then after the game.
If this wasn't twisting the knife, I don't know how
it could get much worse for the Pelicans. After the game,
of course, the New York media has got to find out, Zion, Hey,
would you think playing an MSG? You know, young guy,
you were supposed to come to the Knicks and they
(04:45):
tanked for you. Um, and then of course you know
they Nick did not get him. I'll get to that
in a moment, but Zia Williamson basically says the worst
possible answer if you are playing for the Pelicans or
a fan of the Pelicans in the front office of
the Pelicans. Here's what Zion Williamson said about New York City.
I'm glad you asked that. Actually, Uh, New York is
(05:08):
the mecca basketball. I love playing I love playing here.
Uh when I played here in college and this is
my first time player in the pros. And I mean this,
this atmosphere, you know, whether they're chairing for you, whether
they're blown for you. Uh, it's amazing. Honestly, I think
outside of New Orleans, obviously, I think this might be
my favorite place to play outside of New Orleans. I
can't even lie to you. I can't lie to you. Okay,
(05:30):
let that sink it. I honestly think outside of New Orleans,
this might be my favorite place to play. I can't
lie to you. Let's turn back the clock just a
few years. The Knicks, tanking for Zion, had the worst
record in the NBA, too, worse than the Calves. Okay,
(05:51):
Nick's Calves and sons all had a four percent chance
to land Zion. Nick's Calves and sons and none of
them him. The Pelicans, the Pells ended up sneaking up.
They only had a six percent chance to land Zion,
and they get him. And there was that viral video
that that night of the Pelicans war room just erupting
(06:13):
in cheer when they landed him, and or the land
of the first pick, which everybody knew was Zion. And
like listen, the Knicks did not get a bad consolation
prize in r J. Barrett. John Morant went second to
Memphis and r. J. Barrett went third to the next listen,
quick word on the next. Okay, obviously they'd love to
have Zion Williamson reunite him with his duke teammate r J. Barrett.
(06:36):
R J. Barrett, by the Way is getting no PUB
and he's playing out of his mind this year, folks.
R J. Barrett second year in the league. He's second
on the Knicks and scoring at seventeen a gamety percent
on threes. Oh yeah, the Knicks are in the playoffs,
but nobody's talking about r J. Barrett because Julius Randall
is you know, hashtag rob G former Laker. Julius Randall
(06:59):
is just on a miss in to prove everybody wrong.
And I guess he's on his uh second team third team,
I forget, but Julius Randol thirty three and ten and
five steals against against Zion and the Pelicans, and Julius Randol,
by the way, is on pace to be a third
(07:19):
team All NBA guy. As long as the Knicks get
in the playoffs, I don't think you can keep Julius
Randall off the All NBA team. And so R J.
Barrett is getting no PUB at all. But what's happening
is the Knicks are in the playoff mix, they suddenly
become attractive to Zion. And when Zion says this, listen,
Pelicans fans just went through losing Anthony Davis. Of course,
(07:40):
Anthony Davis didn't really do it the right way, but
he didn't have much of an option and it has
worked out for him. Just a reminder, Anthony Davis and
the Pelicans sweep I think it was Portlands in the
first round. Then they go to the second round and
lose to the Warriors. So everybody's like, oh, Anthony Davis
could stay, He's gonna build something in New Orleans. And
(08:00):
the next season they start off awful, terrible, I don't know,
have four and twelve whatever it was. Anthony Davis says,
I'm out trade me. Um, And of course then the
Lakers tried to trade for him, and they that blew
up in their face, and um, Lebron gets hurt. Bottom line,
they end up trading a D to the Lakers. Lakers
win a title the first year, so it worked out
(08:21):
well for a D and listen, karma shined on the
Pelicans they ended up with Zion. All that being said,
you have to feel like it is just a matter
of when Zion Williamson bolts for perhaps the Knicks. Um,
(08:41):
we don't know where Lebron is gonna be health wise
when he's is he gonna do command top dollars here?
Gonna play on the cheap, the way Tom Brady's played
on the cheap, so they can bring everybody back to Tampa.
We don't know what's gonna happen, but I'll say this,
if you're a New Orleans Pelicans fan, you have to
be just feeling so horrible right now. A it's gonna
be a year two no play in, no playoffs. At
(09:03):
least it's looking that way. Zion saying really really nice things,
exceptionally nice things about New York, the Knicks suddenly turning
around with Thibodeaux Julius Randall. Now, is Zion a fit
with Julius Randall? That's a great problem the Knicks fans
would love to have, right It's like we haven't been
(09:24):
to the playoffs and forever we have been irrelevant forever um,
But is Zion gonna fit with Julius Randall? And I
don't know, three years or whatever, Zion can has the
chance to sign his rookie deal. Now the word of positivity,
because I'm it's not all negative for the Pelicans. Is
no star player that I can recall, And I tried
(09:47):
to look this up on Sunday. I couldn't find one example.
No star player who was on a rookie deal did
not sign the extension. Lebron signed the rookie extension. Now
that's going back fifteen years, really before the player empowerment started.
Lebron signed his extension after three years. The first year
(10:08):
after he signed it. He signed it in July two
thousand and six. The very next year, the Calves got
to the finals. So obviously Lebron and he made a
great decision. You know, look at that, the Calves are
building around him, they go to the finals. Three more
years they never get back to the finals. I maintained
it was not Lebron's fault. If you look at the
(10:30):
year they went to the finals, Lebron did everything. People
two thousand seven, Lebron carried a motley crew on his
back to the finals. If you really want to go
and turn back the clock, go look up Lebron Detroit
Pistons two thousand seven playoffs. I mean, he went bananas
in one game. It was one of the greatest performances
(10:50):
I've ever seen. And as soon as Lebron did that,
I became just such a huge fan. I mean, obviously
you like him before that, but that game was like,
this guy is a superstar, like you know I do.
Zach Lavin had like straight points recently in the game okay,
that's an April basketball game. Lebron did it as a
young guy against a former champion Pistons team, and he
(11:11):
did it in the playoffs on the road. It was amazing.
And after the year in the finals, Lebron three more
years and then he bolts from Miami, so he was
in Cleveland for seven years. The only other major mega
star that is in this stratosphere of Zion Lebron is
Kevin Duran. He was in Seattle slash okay see for
(11:32):
nine years. Now. Again, this is tricky. Lebron missed the
playoffs his first two years. Then they get to the
second round and you're like, oh, we've got something cooking. Lebron,
let's sign that extension. K D. In his fifth year
with James Harden, they get to the finals, It's like, oh, man,
where am I leaving for? We got everything? Then it
(11:55):
got complicated. We talked about it. Sam Presty foolishly trades
James Harden. Still has a chance to go down as
one of the dumbest trades ever. I think the Grizzlies
trading pau Gasol to the Lakers, and gifting Kobe two
titles certainly falls into that category. Although yes, I don't
think pau Gasol had ever won a playoff series, but
(12:16):
the talent was obviously there, and they gave up Hall
of Famer basically in his infancy to the Lakers, so
that James Harden's deal was awful. However, injuries hit, they
lost Russ in the playoffs, lose to the Grizzlies. They
go to the Conference finals against the Spurs. That was
the Kauai Tim Duncan Tony Parker team that um uh
(12:40):
face the heat and the following year injuries to k
D and Durant. They missed k D and Westbrook, they
missed the playoffs, and then the next year, his ninth
season in Okay. See another reason I can never get
on k D's case about leaving. He said, they're nine years.
He gave it as all. They got to the finals
once with him, and the conference finals two more times.
(13:01):
After that, they lose to the Warriors and gave seven
brutal series then he leaves. My question is to you, guys,
does Zion Williamson stick around that long to even have
a chance of getting to the finals with the Pelicans.
And I've got to be honest, it is still early
in the game, but after two years, I think Zion
(13:26):
can look around and say, what are they doing? What
is the game plan? What are we doing? Griff, Well,
what happened with Reddick? And I think I've said this before,
UM you know, full disclosure, my agent is at c A.
UM JJ Reddick is rapped by CIA. JJ Reddick said
how poorly the Pelicans handled his departure just last month
(13:50):
from UM New Orleans. He ended up in Dallas. He
told them he wanted to go to Brooklyn. They said, well,
we'll try to get to the northeast and they screwed him.
JJ Reddicks repped by CIA. Zion also repped by c A.
Just putting that out there as a reminder, of course,
agent talk, we know how that game is played. That
being said, I have a feeling Zion is building a
(14:16):
case to say I'm sorry, I don't think I want
to sign this rookie extension. They're gonna have one summer
to turn it around, because you can't go the first
three years with no playoffs and say yeah, I'm sticking around.
There's just no way now, rob g, I've been beating
this drum, banging it hard. I could end up looking
like a fool. Wouldn't be the first time. I just
wonder when you hear Zion say, man, New York is
(14:41):
the mecca a basketball I love playing here. Oh my gosh,
it's amazing. You have to feel like it's a wrap.
There's no way Zion stays in New Orleans. I think
you're getting wad of yourself at this point. Now, at
the earliest, the earliest he could leave would be because
(15:07):
even though he's a free agent restricted, which means, regardless
of what kind of offer he gets, the Palchier's gonna
match it. He's stuck. You stick around, So you have
what three more years for things to shake themselves out.
I would assume by then the Lakers are not, you know,
favorites in the Western Conference. Chris Paul's probably retires, so
(15:27):
the Sons maybe aren't as good. Uh. The Clippers, I'm
sure will be broken up by then. I don't think
there's any way that that nucleius last that long. Broken
up by then, yes, I could both this something. By
the way, it's quick aside. I did on disputed Friday,
I absolutely um just urinated all over the Clippers. It
(15:49):
was bad, and then I vomited on them and then
I took a dump on them. It was ugly and
Clipper fans all weekend, Robert, I don't know if you
saw this Clipper Darryl guy. Do you know him? Clipper?
He dedicated in tire Instagram post to me saying he
wants to fight me like Jake Paul because of Wow,
I disrespected the Clippers and all this nonsense. Like, I'm
not very familiar with this guy's work. Is he just
(16:11):
normally a loose cannon? Not at all? Clipper Daryl is
actually one of the more fun you know, quote unquote
celebrity fans that we have. I guess I just got
him worked into a lather. Yeah. I mean, if you
guarantee you ever saw him at Staples in it, which
I'm sure you will once, you know, we get more
fans in the building, you'll you and Clipper Daleill hit
it off stupidously. I mean, I'm a friendly guy. I'm
very nice, but I mean he loves trash talk, Andy,
(16:33):
but he's friendly with the trash talk. It's never how
can you trash talk is a Clippers fan, you don't
have a leg to stand on. Trash talk is a
U c l A. Bruins football fan, and my team sucks.
I'm a Raiders fan. Trash talk, so, I mean, but
the Raiders have won things in their history. And then
you could just say, hey, I'm a Raiders fan. I'll
(16:53):
cut you in the parking line. I got you, I
got you. That's how they roll stereotype. U c l A.
They call, and they've had some really good football players.
Josh Rosen, that's messed up, man, Troy. He wasn't even
really good, to be honest, it was like forty years ago.
But nevertheless, okay, continue, so Cliver, go ahead, break down
(17:15):
the entire So there's a lot, Okay, I mean, if
I were to bet in three years from now, which
teams do I think are kind of near the top
of the Western Conference? I would say Denver for sure. Grizzlies. Yeah,
I guess, I mean the Grizzlies. The problem though, is
that they have a lot of guys who are all
the same level. They need to consolidate them and get
(17:36):
more upper echelon talent. Like I think that they're their
numbers four through like twelve guys are all interchangeable, and
that's the problem. You need to consolidate that and get
some more higher end down um Utah, I think will
be good. I think that they're gonna be a great
regular season team for a long time. For sure. Um
Luca will be up there. So there there is definitely
(17:58):
room for the Pelicans to make some headway in the
Western Conference in the next two or three years. You've
forgot the Golden State Warriors. Okay, yeah, I have to
talk about I definitely did not forget the Golden State Warriors.
I just want to say, when was the last time
a high profile free agent went to New Orleans? There's
(18:19):
your answer. They it's tough to get free agents. So
how on earth are they supposed to build around Zion?
You know, in the offseason, Alonzo Ball's toast there, there's
no way to bring it. Well, I think that's I
think that's gonna be one of the big dominoes to fall.
If they decide that they're just gonna let him walk
for nothing, that could be a death now for the Pelicans.
(18:45):
A year is going to be at that film. But
the thing is, like I said, I'm higher on a
Lonzo Ball than you are. But the one thing that
good franchises absolutely do not do under any circumstance is
let guys leave for nothing. When Golden State lost Kevin Duran,
they knew they were gonna lose Kevin durand to Brooklyn,
they negotiated a sign and trade for D'Angelo Russell so
(19:06):
that at minimum they could either keep Dangel Rusto or
they can trade him down the road, which is what
they did when um Boston. You know, as much ship
as I talked about Danny Ainge when he knew he
was looding Gordon Hayward, they did a sign and trade
to get a trade exception. So if they end up
deciding we're just not going to match a Lonzo Ball offer,
(19:27):
that is crippling for a franchise moving forward, because say
what you wanted about a Lonzo, but he's an above
average player in the NBA, and you don't let those
guys leave for nothing. Okay, So I don't remember everybody
in the Anthony Davis deal, but Julius Randall was in it. No,
he was not. Julius Randall actually les But this tells
(19:48):
you what you know. The good franchise thing the Lakers
let Julius Randall leave for nothing before Lebron got there. Oh,
because they wanted they wanted the cap space. Oh man,
that's brutal. However, heard that being said, they had Julius
Randall in New Orleans, we could have seen Zion and Randall.
But I would argue the opposite. If uh, if they
sign Lonzo, you will now have basically two borderline max
(20:13):
spots to Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball and Folks. I
don't know how anybody can make a case that that
Nucleus is anything close to a contending team in the West.
And I don't know they've improved their playoff team. I mean,
what do you do with their Whatso you know they're
locked into Steven Adams like rob they're going nowhere fast.
(20:36):
They're wasting Zion Williamson's early career and that is probably
a sign he ain't gonna be coming back. There's no
foundation there where. Hey, we've got really promising young talent. Yeah,
Carol Lewis is a nice little player. Jackson Hayes is
a good player. Um, I like the kid. Alexander Wolfe
(20:57):
from Alexander, Sorry, Alexander Nicol from virg in attack like
they've got good young players, but you're not getting the
playoffs with that. You're just not Like Rob. They need
to get wise quickly and say what can we package
for Bradley Beale? What can we package for whatever other
potential start can we get Zach Lavine? Like They've got
(21:19):
to do something, Rob. You can't just say we're gonna
have a bunch of young guys play around Zion and
hope for the best. Because the Calves, if you remember,
did the opposite with Lebron. Let's bring in some veterans
like Antoine Jamison and Shock at thirty five or whatever
it was in uh, who's he Larry Hughes like they
brought in a bunch of guys Like, no, that's not
(21:41):
gonna do it. You gotta go big game hunting. And
the problem is nobody wants to part with draft picks
because they think there's such um currency on social media.
We gotta win the trade, we gotta have first round
picks like good luck. I see no path to keeping
Zion Williamson for the Pelicans. None. Well see. I would
actually are argue that had they just stayed with the
(22:02):
youth movement, they'd be better along than what they are now.
When they decided when they made the trade and got
a Lonzo Josh Hart Brandon Ingram to go with Zia Williamson,
that right there alone should have given you a Boston
Celtics esque window. We're like, hey, I don't know if
these guys are gonna win a championship, but I do
know that Brandon Ingram is at it. You could tell
(22:25):
then he was going to be an all star potential
level player. We assumed when Zion was drafted he was
gonna be a superstar level potential player. So you could
have assumed that those guys could have grown together in two,
three or four years and would have been a playoff team.
Maybe they get to the upper half of the Western Conference.
I don't know if they ever win a championship, but
at least they're solid competitive year in year out. Team. Wait,
(22:48):
let me ask you this. If Brandon Ingram is your
number two guy, are you a playoff team in this NBA?
Of course? Oh see. Where I think where they went
wrong is they try to, like you said, bringing veterans
quote unquote fast track the process, and their problem is
they brought in Steven Adams and extended him, which didn't
(23:11):
make any sense. They brought in a big man who
doesn't fit next to your superstar player Zion Williamson needs
the floor spread so we can go to the basket
at will over and over and over and over. Steven
Adams does nothing but clogged the pain. He doesn't even
rebound at a high enough rate for you to stay well.
You know he's helping on that end. He's not a
(23:31):
switchable defender, so you can say, hey, he's taking some
over the No, he's an old school seven foot plotter.
That's number one, number two. When they got Eric Bledsoe,
not only did he take away some point guard minutes
from who you were hoping at the time might be
a port guarder of the future, a Lonzo Ball, but
he also took away minutes from Nikki Alexander Walker. He
(23:52):
took away minutes from uh Josh Hart. And so these
young guys that you want to develop and you want
to see what they're doing are getting blocked by Eric Blitzer,
who fell off a cliff as soon as he left Milwaukee.
And the book was already out when he was in
Milwaukee that he was an overrated player then, so in
order for them to even get a Bradley Beal to get.
(24:14):
I mean, I wouldn't put zach Levina because I don't
think zach Levine is that great. I think he's just
the stats guy. But to get who whatever star you want,
you're in a situation now where you have to give
up Alonzo Ball, a Brandon Ingram, somebody like that, all
of those draft picks that you have because you blocked
yourself in with those two horrible moves. Wow, that's correct.
(24:36):
I didn't realize how bad Bloods had been. Uh So,
if you look at the stats and then you look
at the player efficiency rating on the pels, Zion is
number one seven, He's like top ten in the league.
I think Ingram is at twenty. Eric Bledsoe is ten
point seven player efficiency rating below the young kid. Lewis
the behind someone named Nagy Marshall, behind John Heart, Alexander Walker,
(25:02):
Alonzo at It like Bledsoe has been a disaster, like
that trade that was horrible? How is how is uh
Griff still the GM there? Like all he's done is
make horrible moves. Now somebody might have to come in
and clean it up. I don't know. Rob. Basically, you've
said nothing that shows this team is a bound for
the playoffs in the next year, right right, Well, I mean,
I guess the positive of that people around the NBA
(25:25):
think about David Griffin is he has like eleven thousand
draft picks. So you know, we're still in that world
where people think draft picks are better than actual players
for whatever reason, I don't know. You know, if you
ask Lebron about draft picks, he like doesn't play with
young guys at all. And look at the Warriors. You
know they got all these young guys, I mean, steps
playing with a G League roster. James Wiseman's down Ton
(25:45):
done for the season, and Steph's putting the team on
his back trying to carry them. There's it's so difficult
to win with nineteen and twenty year olds. And I
know what you're saying, Well, Jason, you just said Zion
should leave because he's not winning. He's twenty. I understand
that Zion is your foundational young guy. Put smart, talented
(26:06):
veterans around it. Like, honestly, it's tough for me to
hYP this team hold on. The Atlanta Hawks have this
year done a damn good job putting people around Trey Young. Okay,
Bogdanovich has played very well. I'm stunned and out. Well
he's been. Clint Cappella, I mean, nobody's really noticed it
(26:27):
because it's the Atlanta Hawks. Clint Cappella leads the Hawks
in player efficiency better than Tray Young. Cappella is regularly
putting up fifteen and fifteen like that's all he does.
You put veterans around the young guys and you can win.
You just gotta pick the right veterans. And that's the
hard part. Listen, this is not rocket science. It's very difficult.
(26:48):
Go ahead, Well, I was just gonna say, I'm glad
you brought the Hawks. What they did is they built
their entire roster around Trey Young. That's what they did.
I mean, when they got Clint Cappella, they said, hey,
we're gonna have a lob threat for for Trey Young.
You have the ball every every time. We're gonna get
Genroo didn't really work out, because we want a guy
who's a veteran presence behind him that might be able
(27:09):
to help him play off the ball. We're gonna get
Gallinari because he can stretch the floor as as a four.
What new Orleans is doing is the exact opposite. They've
got guys that don't fit with him and so. But
like I said, the reason why I think that it's
unfair to suggest that maybe they might not get better
is because even when you outside of Lebron James, every
(27:31):
single great player took time to win. Okay, hold let
me let me stop you there. Yes that is true,
but only using the last I don't know, fifteen twenty years.
You could even start with Kobe. Yes, he needed a
couple of years to win. I got it. That being said,
by year three, I think every single one of these
young guys was in the playoffs. Lebron second round of
(27:52):
the playoffs in year three. Okay, I gotta look up
what how when Durant got in him and you know
Russ were pups. But by year three you have to
have some progress. Uh, there has to be progress. And
I don't know, Rob, I I see none of it
from Zion. Imagine Luca Done comes into the league really
(28:13):
really good. Second year they make the playoffs. Third year
they make the playoffs. Like Zion's out here, like yo,
we're not in the playoffs. In the year too. Luca
pushed the Clippers. He challenged the Clippers almost by himself
with a pretty good roster, even though Porzingis has already hurt.
And I don't know, man, I'm almost disappointed that Zion
(28:35):
is not crushing it. I kind of am well. I mean,
Zion himself is playing great. Yeah, he's dominated, but not
crushing like into the playoffs because the NBA needs him
and we've gone over this. I'm not gonna fight people
on this. The NBA would love Zia Williamson to get
into playing game. They would love more than anything a
play in game between Steph and Zion, Right, I don't
think there could be a better unless you want to
(28:56):
put Lebron in the playing a game or whatever. I mean,
what one thing that doesn't help Zion's case, and this
is no fault of his own, is that he's not
a ball dominant player. Only in the last what month
and a half of they if they experimented with point Zion,
which has been great, But what helped Luca speed up
the process a little bit was that he has been
(29:18):
used to dominating the ball and going back to when
he played overseas, you know, Trey Young came came into
the league, say what you want about their method, but
they decided you're our guy. You're we're child by fire.
We're gonna go as you go. And Zion up until
recently needed someone to set him up. He needed a
point guard to get him the ball in the right spots.
(29:38):
Brandon Ingram is not a point guard. And the problem
is when your best player also like to shoot a lot,
it's hard to develop a second guy. So it's up
until recently that Zion started to play, point Ingram starting
to round in the form I guess at the number two,
even though you can tell he's bucking that a little bit,
I don't think he thinks himself as a number two.
I think he thinks he's their best play I think,
(30:00):
and that's you know, we could look at this, rob
so we could do an hour going through the league,
like is this Can this guy get to the playoffs?
If he's your number two or number three? And I firm,
I mean, I like Brandon Ingham. He's a really good player.
He's gonna have a long career. Um, if he's your
third best player, you are in great, fantastic shape. If
Brandon Ingram is your second player, I don't know if
(30:21):
you're a playoff team. Wow, I don't I like him.
I mean, he he's a good player, but does he
impact winning that much? He's in like year five. You
could say that about Bradley Beale. Does Bradley Beale impact
winning that much? He's been in the playoffs multiple times?
(30:41):
And he was just like it was John Wall was
John Walls team. That's fine, he was number two. So
if Beal is your two, I think you're a better
shape than if Ingrams your two. Of well, I mean
that by that point it was veteran Beal. You're still
pretty early with Ingram And whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa?
How are we Brandy? Well? Yeah, but he's in like
(31:02):
his fifth year. Hold on, let me call up the
stats on Ingram and this is the This is one
thing I don't like going talking about these guys because
then everybody's like, why do you hate Brandon Ingram? I
don't write Brandon Ingram at all. So, yeah, he is
in his fifth year in the league. I mean last
year average twenty three. This year he's averaging shooting thirty eight, uh,
thirty eight percent from three. He's he's a very good
(31:23):
basketball player. They're not in the playoffs. And I know
nobody wins on their own, but he feels like, uh, okay,
small forward, right, that that would be He's that that's
his position, right, I would say DeMar de Rosen, and
you know he keeps coming up for whatever reason. Um,
(31:44):
also a small forward and would he would you call
him a shooting guard? He's a shooting guard. Okay, We'll
give me a small forward and let's see if he
falls into the second best player for third best player.
Joe Harris stop Lebron. James J. Harris is an Olympian,
and I consider it more of a shooter. Um, Jimmy Butler, Okay,
(32:09):
is he a one or two on that team? He's
a one and they got to the finals? Now does
that go? Well? It was a bubble year, Jason? You know,
I don't know. I mean Paul George established himself as
a one in Indiana, right, couldn't get to the finals,
but went toto toe with Lebron for a couple of
years in the East, gets injured, comes back to Okay. See,
(32:31):
is he a one? Is he a two? He was
nearly the m v P of the league. I think
he finished top five in Okay see then he goes
to the Clippers. He's clearly the number two. They should
be great. They're very, very good. Like Paul George is,
is he your perfect number two? Because he was he
was a number one in Indiana. I think if Paul
George is if you look at the ones and the twos,
(32:52):
and maybe we'll do a list on this or something
one day, but I think Paul George has to be
near the top of number two. Is Anthony Davis? Of course?
Is he more of a one B than or two?
I think he's clearly a two. Well he was a
one in New Orleans and they got to the second round.
But if you make him a two, like, you're really
really devastating. Yeah, you know, if Kyrie Irving is your
(33:16):
third best player, you're probably gonna go to the finals, right.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app.
Search f s R to listen live. Did you see
that Kevin Durank got hurt again? Katie's my guy? Um,
(33:38):
he's played twenty three games this year. What was he
gonna play like? I know he's coming off the Achilles.
But remember he missed the entire last season. I think
the Achilles was in June, so he had something like
fifteen months off. Sixteen months off, and he keeps getting hurt.
He is thirty two. I you know, I am team Kevin,
(34:02):
Kevin Durant. I think he's in the top fifteen all
time discussion. I thought he had passed Lebron a few
years back. I'd caught a heat for saying that, Um,
the injuries, man, I mean, go look at the history
of this guy. Okay, see he had injuries. Golden State
miss twenty games, ms uh sixteen games, and now in
(34:26):
Brooklyn coming off to kill He's like, I would love
him for him to be healthy. Man, he's on threes.
Can he ever stay healthy? Rob? I'll tell you what
I believe. If this was a playoff, he'd be You
would have finished the game, he would have kept playing.
I don't think it's that serious injury, but Brooklyn has
definitely decided that the regular season is not important in
(34:46):
any way, shape or for him, so they're going to
be ultra conservative. Don't be surprised if he's out for
a week, you know, to let a bruise heel, which
I don't know. You know, I don't know how that's okay.
How about I'm gonna ask you a question, Um, who
do you think Steve Nash's favorite player is on the
NETS this year? Take your time on this one, any
(35:10):
player or one of the stars on no, no, no,
any player. See now you're onto it. You know it
was a bit of a trick question, uh, Bruce Brown,
mm hmm. I would I would guess Jeff Green veteran
that he's gonna show up for work every damn day.
(35:31):
He's not gonna give you a lip. He's not gonna
take bad shots, he's not gonna ask for a day off.
He's not gonna oh my knee. He's a professional. And
I'm starting I don't want to say anymore, but I'm
starting to have some reservations about the Nets. No, it
doesn't have to do with the loss to Miami. Um,
I don't want to say I've heard stuff because I
(35:51):
don't want this getting aggregated and then I become like, oh,
what does Jason know? Who's you talking. I'm just gonna
say I'm starting to have some more concern about the Nets. Um,
And we'll see if Harden's back this week. By the way,
my son's fantasy team, we did make the playoffs. We
get super lucky in that this week we faced the
team with Damian Lillard, Grant from the Pistons, and Donovan Mitchell,
(36:17):
and all three of them have been injured and we
will not have hard in this week. But I think
we should advance to the semifinals, which will be a
real test. But I just got it. Add that any
final parting shots um rob g whether it's Zion, whether
it's Kevin Durant, whether it's Bradley Beal, I I don't know.
(36:37):
Maybe we should do an entire show on Bradley Bald
trades that need to happen, because all these teams just
sitting on draft picks and feeling like they need to
make a move. Like how many teams rob Brick at
the trade deadline? When you look around the league at
the injuries, I mean somebody had I mean, if somebody
had made an offer for Bradley Beale, holy hell, then
(37:00):
I guess the opposite is true. The Denver Nuggets go
in get uh Aaron Gordon. Everything's looking great, and then
Jamal Murray has done for the season. You know, and
and it's Denver, which I have a feeling I was
going to be right that they were going to go
to the conference finals. Again, I mean, nobody's I don't
think they're a factor, do you. No? Unfortunately not, Jamal
Murray eliminates them completely. So yeah, I don't know that.
(37:27):
That's just those are my thoughts on Zion Williamson, and
I just I don't feel good. I don't know how
you can feel good if you're griff, if you're staying
Van Gundy, if you live in the Greater Louisiana area,
if you bought a Zion Williamson Jersey. Um, yeah, I
don't know. Put me down for he ain't staying. Um
all right, Robert, I'll give you the final word. Two
(37:49):
quick things. Number one, A D is on the way,
So it's very exciting. Has to end on Laker stuff
from Naker fan number one. Number two. We know this
is the tease ahead is something we're doing later in
the week. I got some Steph Curry slander in the chamber.
How can you ask Steph Curry when he scored ten
(38:09):
straight games the thirty or more points, that's like a
Michael Jordan type deal. And got took some mental gymnastics,
but I have some some stats that will work against him. Uh. Hey,
by the way, I'm gonna humor you and the audience,
and this is what we'll go out on. I am
going to um give you the guys around Steph Curry
(38:32):
and Saturday Nights lost to the Celtics, where Curry was
otherworldly again. He had forty seven hit eleven threes. Okay,
he played with Juan Toscano Anderson, he played with Jordan's
pool Gary Payton. The second I didn't even know he
was on the team. Uh, I'm assuming this is Damien
Lee and your boy Kemp bays More Andrew Wiggins who
(38:59):
I mean, you could probably make an argument that he's
the most overpaid player in the league. Um, Draymond Green?
Who is this upbro claim best player? Uh in defense
in the history of the league. And um, who's the
other guy they started? Oh? Kevon Looney? How could I
forget Kevon Looney? I mean that is is at an
upgrade from the Davidson team, Sep Curry hatter or down ground?
(39:22):
I just had to ask. I don't know, Steph Curry
slander when he's putting at seven a game. Unbelievable, forty
a game in the month of April. That's all all right, everybody.
We'll talk to you tomorrow.
This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up everybody? Monday,
April nineteenth, Straight Fire with Me Jason McIntyre, Thank you
for tuning in Hope. Everybody had an amazing weekend. I
will say, um, we've waited for this time for a
(00:26):
long and it has been thirteen months since coronavirus hit
and finally it feels like a sense of normals, he
said in I'll quickly go through the weekend. We had
between the two kids, three soccer games. We went two
and one and two basketball games a rare double basketball effort.
I did undisputed Friday, so it's a little worn down
(00:48):
Friday night, made it an early night, and then I
had the radio show Saturday. No rest for the weary people. Okay,
this is how we roll. And the weekend was pretty fantastic. Um,
I gotta say. It was like eighty degrees in southern
California on Sunday, one of the warmest days of the year,
and it was just it was a blast. And the
kids are going back to school more this week. It
(01:10):
was only two and a half hours. Now it's extending
to four and a half hours. So all the dads
in my area who listened to this, and there are
many are very excited. The moms are even more excited. Um,
it's just a sense of normalcy starting to set in.
People are starting to think about summer vacations. Stuff is
getting booked up quickly. It was just, uh, it was
(01:30):
one of these weekends. It's like, oh cool, with the
exception of course that not only do the parents at
sending soccer games have to wear masks, but so do
the kids playing. And two we have, you know, in
our little circle out here, we've got some doctor friends
to doctor friends on the team. Both were stunned that
(01:50):
the kids had to wear maskball playing. They're like, why,
you guys know, if you follow me on Instagram, we're
doing some you know, second and fourth grade basketball games
and we don't have the kid with a mask. We're outside.
You know, I don't want to go into coronavirus. But
quickly on sports opening up. It just feels good to
see the kids having fun again, chatting with their friends,
(02:12):
and like life is getting kind of back to normal.
Not for everybody, I hope wherever you live it's improving.
And um, you know, life is just getting back to
not the good old days, but I don't know, fifteen
months ago, everything was awesome, you know, at least uh,
you know, in in my little world of sports and life.
(02:33):
Um as for sports, Holy cow, what a weekend you have,
Dodgers Padres. I put this out on social media over
the weekend, and all these people got angry at me,
I said, Dodgers Padres, And yes, I'm now living in California,
so maybe this is checkered a little bit by that.
But my take is that is the new Red Sox
to Yankees. I mean, the Red Sox are an abomination.
(02:54):
Barely could put them on TV. Yankees don't really have
that juice right now. It's early. But Dodgers Padre, this
is really fun and exciting, heated game Friday night. But
we're not going to start the show today with baseball
because I've got to talk about a guy. And you know,
I don't want to give myself credit and injure my
shoulder patting myself on the back. But we have been
(03:16):
steadfast in the idea that the Pelicans are screwing up
Zion Williamson, and it happened again over the weekend. Folks,
This is staggering Sunday Pelicans Knicks big game, right Knicks
or a playoff team in the East, Pelicans trying to
get into the play in game. I mean, what they
all they keep doing is losing. Stan Van Gundi, I mean, listen,
(03:39):
I don't think he's gonna get fired after one game, sorry,
one season, but stan Van Gundy just continues to step
in it. And at the end of the game they're
up by three on the Knicks. Do you know the
strategy either foul or you don't give up a three pointer?
And what does Lonzo Ball do? A Lonzo Ball comes
off his guy on the perimeter to challenge a Derrick
(04:03):
Rose drive to the basket, and Rose kicks it out
and the Nicks set of three and we go to
overtime in the next win. And Sam mcgunny was ticked off.
He almost I don't think he called out Zion, not
Zion or Lonzo Ball, but he basically said his guys
were dumb and they made a catastrophic error. He's right.
I don't know if he's in a position to say that.
Maybe he's trying to light a fire under them or something.
(04:24):
But it was an awful turn of events for the Pels.
They lose their third straight. And then after the game.
If this wasn't twisting the knife, I don't know how
it could get much worse for the Pelicans. After the game,
of course, the New York media has got to find out, Zion, Hey,
would you think playing an MSG? You know, young guy,
you were supposed to come to the Knicks and they
(04:45):
tanked for you. Um, and then of course you know
they Nick did not get him. I'll get to that
in a moment, but Zia Williamson basically says the worst
possible answer if you are playing for the Pelicans or
a fan of the Pelicans in the front office of
the Pelicans. Here's what Zion Williamson said about New York City.
I'm glad you asked that. Actually, Uh, New York is
(05:08):
the mecca basketball. I love playing I love playing here.
Uh when I played here in college and this is
my first time player in the pros. And I mean this,
this atmosphere, you know, whether they're chairing for you, whether
they're blown for you. Uh, it's amazing. Honestly, I think
outside of New Orleans, obviously, I think this might be
my favorite place to play outside of New Orleans. I
can't even lie to you. I can't lie to you. Okay,
(05:30):
let that sink it. I honestly think outside of New Orleans,
this might be my favorite place to play. I can't
lie to you. Let's turn back the clock just a
few years. The Knicks, tanking for Zion, had the worst
record in the NBA, too, worse than the Calves. Okay,
(05:51):
Nick's Calves and sons all had a four percent chance
to land Zion. Nick's Calves and sons and none of
them him. The Pelicans, the Pells ended up sneaking up.
They only had a six percent chance to land Zion,
and they get him. And there was that viral video
that that night of the Pelicans war room just erupting
(06:13):
in cheer when they landed him, and or the land
of the first pick, which everybody knew was Zion. And
like listen, the Knicks did not get a bad consolation
prize in r J. Barrett. John Morant went second to
Memphis and r. J. Barrett went third to the next listen,
quick word on the next. Okay, obviously they'd love to
have Zion Williamson reunite him with his duke teammate r J. Barrett.
(06:36):
R J. Barrett, by the Way is getting no PUB
and he's playing out of his mind this year, folks.
R J. Barrett second year in the league. He's second
on the Knicks and scoring at seventeen a gamety percent
on threes. Oh yeah, the Knicks are in the playoffs,
but nobody's talking about r J. Barrett because Julius Randall
is you know, hashtag rob G former Laker. Julius Randall
(06:59):
is just on a miss in to prove everybody wrong.
And I guess he's on his uh second team third team,
I forget, but Julius Randol thirty three and ten and
five steals against against Zion and the Pelicans, and Julius Randol,
by the way, is on pace to be a third
(07:19):
team All NBA guy. As long as the Knicks get
in the playoffs, I don't think you can keep Julius
Randall off the All NBA team. And so R J.
Barrett is getting no PUB at all. But what's happening
is the Knicks are in the playoff mix, they suddenly
become attractive to Zion. And when Zion says this, listen,
Pelicans fans just went through losing Anthony Davis. Of course,
(07:40):
Anthony Davis didn't really do it the right way, but
he didn't have much of an option and it has
worked out for him. Just a reminder, Anthony Davis and
the Pelicans sweep I think it was Portlands in the
first round. Then they go to the second round and
lose to the Warriors. So everybody's like, oh, Anthony Davis
could stay, He's gonna build something in New Orleans. And
(08:00):
the next season they start off awful, terrible, I don't know,
have four and twelve whatever it was. Anthony Davis says,
I'm out trade me. Um, And of course then the
Lakers tried to trade for him, and they that blew
up in their face, and um, Lebron gets hurt. Bottom line,
they end up trading a D to the Lakers. Lakers
win a title the first year, so it worked out
(08:21):
well for a D and listen, karma shined on the
Pelicans they ended up with Zion. All that being said,
you have to feel like it is just a matter
of when Zion Williamson bolts for perhaps the Knicks. Um,
(08:41):
we don't know where Lebron is gonna be health wise
when he's is he gonna do command top dollars here?
Gonna play on the cheap, the way Tom Brady's played
on the cheap, so they can bring everybody back to Tampa.
We don't know what's gonna happen, but I'll say this,
if you're a New Orleans Pelicans fan, you have to
be just feeling so horrible right now. A it's gonna
be a year two no play in, no playoffs. At
(09:03):
least it's looking that way. Zion saying really really nice things,
exceptionally nice things about New York, the Knicks suddenly turning
around with Thibodeaux Julius Randall. Now, is Zion a fit
with Julius Randall? That's a great problem the Knicks fans
would love to have, right It's like we haven't been
(09:24):
to the playoffs and forever we have been irrelevant forever um,
But is Zion gonna fit with Julius Randall? And I
don't know, three years or whatever, Zion can has the
chance to sign his rookie deal. Now the word of positivity,
because I'm it's not all negative for the Pelicans. Is
no star player that I can recall, And I tried
(09:47):
to look this up on Sunday. I couldn't find one example.
No star player who was on a rookie deal did
not sign the extension. Lebron signed the rookie extension. Now
that's going back fifteen years, really before the player empowerment started.
Lebron signed his extension after three years. The first year
(10:08):
after he signed it. He signed it in July two
thousand and six. The very next year, the Calves got
to the finals. So obviously Lebron and he made a
great decision. You know, look at that, the Calves are
building around him, they go to the finals. Three more
years they never get back to the finals. I maintained
it was not Lebron's fault. If you look at the
(10:30):
year they went to the finals, Lebron did everything. People
two thousand seven, Lebron carried a motley crew on his
back to the finals. If you really want to go
and turn back the clock, go look up Lebron Detroit
Pistons two thousand seven playoffs. I mean, he went bananas
in one game. It was one of the greatest performances
(10:50):
I've ever seen. And as soon as Lebron did that,
I became just such a huge fan. I mean, obviously
you like him before that, but that game was like,
this guy is a superstar, like you know I do.
Zach Lavin had like straight points recently in the game okay,
that's an April basketball game. Lebron did it as a
young guy against a former champion Pistons team, and he
(11:11):
did it in the playoffs on the road. It was amazing.
And after the year in the finals, Lebron three more
years and then he bolts from Miami, so he was
in Cleveland for seven years. The only other major mega
star that is in this stratosphere of Zion Lebron is
Kevin Duran. He was in Seattle slash okay see for
(11:32):
nine years. Now. Again, this is tricky. Lebron missed the
playoffs his first two years. Then they get to the
second round and you're like, oh, we've got something cooking. Lebron,
let's sign that extension. K D. In his fifth year
with James Harden, they get to the finals, It's like, oh, man,
where am I leaving for? We got everything? Then it
(11:55):
got complicated. We talked about it. Sam Presty foolishly trades
James Harden. Still has a chance to go down as
one of the dumbest trades ever. I think the Grizzlies
trading pau Gasol to the Lakers, and gifting Kobe two
titles certainly falls into that category. Although yes, I don't
think pau Gasol had ever won a playoff series, but
(12:16):
the talent was obviously there, and they gave up Hall
of Famer basically in his infancy to the Lakers, so
that James Harden's deal was awful. However, injuries hit, they
lost Russ in the playoffs, lose to the Grizzlies. They
go to the Conference finals against the Spurs. That was
the Kauai Tim Duncan Tony Parker team that um uh
(12:40):
face the heat and the following year injuries to k
D and Durant. They missed k D and Westbrook, they
missed the playoffs, and then the next year, his ninth
season in Okay. See another reason I can never get
on k D's case about leaving. He said, they're nine years.
He gave it as all. They got to the finals
once with him, and the conference finals two more times.
(13:01):
After that, they lose to the Warriors and gave seven
brutal series then he leaves. My question is to you, guys,
does Zion Williamson stick around that long to even have
a chance of getting to the finals with the Pelicans.
And I've got to be honest, it is still early
in the game, but after two years, I think Zion
(13:26):
can look around and say, what are they doing? What
is the game plan? What are we doing? Griff, Well,
what happened with Reddick? And I think I've said this before,
UM you know, full disclosure, my agent is at c A.
UM JJ Reddick is rapped by CIA. JJ Reddick said
how poorly the Pelicans handled his departure just last month
(13:50):
from UM New Orleans. He ended up in Dallas. He
told them he wanted to go to Brooklyn. They said, well,
we'll try to get to the northeast and they screwed him.
JJ Reddicks repped by CIA. Zion also repped by c A.
Just putting that out there as a reminder, of course,
agent talk, we know how that game is played. That
being said, I have a feeling Zion is building a
(14:16):
case to say I'm sorry, I don't think I want
to sign this rookie extension. They're gonna have one summer
to turn it around, because you can't go the first
three years with no playoffs and say yeah, I'm sticking around.
There's just no way now, rob g, I've been beating
this drum, banging it hard. I could end up looking
like a fool. Wouldn't be the first time. I just
wonder when you hear Zion say, man, New York is
(14:41):
the mecca a basketball I love playing here. Oh my gosh,
it's amazing. You have to feel like it's a wrap.
There's no way Zion stays in New Orleans. I think
you're getting wad of yourself at this point. Now, at
the earliest, the earliest he could leave would be because
(15:07):
even though he's a free agent restricted, which means, regardless
of what kind of offer he gets, the Palchier's gonna
match it. He's stuck. You stick around, So you have
what three more years for things to shake themselves out.
I would assume by then the Lakers are not, you know,
favorites in the Western Conference. Chris Paul's probably retires, so
(15:27):
the Sons maybe aren't as good. Uh. The Clippers, I'm
sure will be broken up by then. I don't think
there's any way that that nucleius last that long. Broken
up by then, yes, I could both this something. By
the way, it's quick aside. I did on disputed Friday,
I absolutely um just urinated all over the Clippers. It
(15:49):
was bad, and then I vomited on them and then
I took a dump on them. It was ugly and
Clipper fans all weekend, Robert, I don't know if you
saw this Clipper Darryl guy. Do you know him? Clipper?
He dedicated in tire Instagram post to me saying he
wants to fight me like Jake Paul because of Wow,
I disrespected the Clippers and all this nonsense. Like, I'm
not very familiar with this guy's work. Is he just
(16:11):
normally a loose cannon? Not at all? Clipper Daryl is
actually one of the more fun you know, quote unquote
celebrity fans that we have. I guess I just got
him worked into a lather. Yeah. I mean, if you
guarantee you ever saw him at Staples in it, which
I'm sure you will once, you know, we get more
fans in the building, you'll you and Clipper Daleill hit
it off stupidously. I mean, I'm a friendly guy. I'm
very nice, but I mean he loves trash talk, Andy,
(16:33):
but he's friendly with the trash talk. It's never how
can you trash talk is a Clippers fan, you don't
have a leg to stand on. Trash talk is a
U c l A. Bruins football fan, and my team sucks.
I'm a Raiders fan. Trash talk, so, I mean, but
the Raiders have won things in their history. And then
you could just say, hey, I'm a Raiders fan. I'll
(16:53):
cut you in the parking line. I got you, I
got you. That's how they roll stereotype. U c l A.
They call, and they've had some really good football players.
Josh Rosen, that's messed up, man, Troy. He wasn't even
really good, to be honest, it was like forty years ago.
But nevertheless, okay, continue, so Cliver, go ahead, break down
(17:15):
the entire So there's a lot, Okay, I mean, if
I were to bet in three years from now, which
teams do I think are kind of near the top
of the Western Conference? I would say Denver for sure. Grizzlies. Yeah,
I guess, I mean the Grizzlies. The problem though, is
that they have a lot of guys who are all
the same level. They need to consolidate them and get
(17:36):
more upper echelon talent. Like I think that they're their
numbers four through like twelve guys are all interchangeable, and
that's the problem. You need to consolidate that and get
some more higher end down um Utah, I think will
be good. I think that they're gonna be a great
regular season team for a long time. For sure. Um
Luca will be up there. So there there is definitely
(17:58):
room for the Pelicans to make some headway in the
Western Conference in the next two or three years. You've
forgot the Golden State Warriors. Okay, yeah, I have to
talk about I definitely did not forget the Golden State Warriors.
I just want to say, when was the last time
a high profile free agent went to New Orleans? There's
(18:19):
your answer. They it's tough to get free agents. So
how on earth are they supposed to build around Zion?
You know, in the offseason, Alonzo Ball's toast there, there's
no way to bring it. Well, I think that's I
think that's gonna be one of the big dominoes to fall.
If they decide that they're just gonna let him walk
for nothing, that could be a death now for the Pelicans.
(18:45):
A year is going to be at that film. But
the thing is, like I said, I'm higher on a
Lonzo Ball than you are. But the one thing that
good franchises absolutely do not do under any circumstance is
let guys leave for nothing. When Golden State lost Kevin Duran,
they knew they were gonna lose Kevin durand to Brooklyn,
they negotiated a sign and trade for D'Angelo Russell so
(19:06):
that at minimum they could either keep Dangel Rusto or
they can trade him down the road, which is what
they did when um Boston. You know, as much ship
as I talked about Danny Ainge when he knew he
was looding Gordon Hayward, they did a sign and trade
to get a trade exception. So if they end up
deciding we're just not going to match a Lonzo Ball offer,
(19:27):
that is crippling for a franchise moving forward, because say
what you wanted about a Lonzo, but he's an above
average player in the NBA, and you don't let those
guys leave for nothing. Okay, So I don't remember everybody
in the Anthony Davis deal, but Julius Randall was in it. No,
he was not. Julius Randall actually les But this tells
(19:48):
you what you know. The good franchise thing the Lakers
let Julius Randall leave for nothing before Lebron got there. Oh,
because they wanted they wanted the cap space. Oh man,
that's brutal. However, heard that being said, they had Julius
Randall in New Orleans, we could have seen Zion and Randall.
But I would argue the opposite. If uh, if they
sign Lonzo, you will now have basically two borderline max
(20:13):
spots to Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball and Folks. I
don't know how anybody can make a case that that
Nucleus is anything close to a contending team in the West.
And I don't know they've improved their playoff team. I mean,
what do you do with their Whatso you know they're
locked into Steven Adams like rob they're going nowhere fast.
(20:36):
They're wasting Zion Williamson's early career and that is probably
a sign he ain't gonna be coming back. There's no
foundation there where. Hey, we've got really promising young talent. Yeah,
Carol Lewis is a nice little player. Jackson Hayes is
a good player. Um, I like the kid. Alexander Wolfe
(20:57):
from Alexander, Sorry, Alexander Nicol from virg in attack like
they've got good young players, but you're not getting the
playoffs with that. You're just not Like Rob. They need
to get wise quickly and say what can we package
for Bradley Beale? What can we package for whatever other
potential start can we get Zach Lavine? Like They've got
(21:19):
to do something, Rob. You can't just say we're gonna
have a bunch of young guys play around Zion and
hope for the best. Because the Calves, if you remember,
did the opposite with Lebron. Let's bring in some veterans
like Antoine Jamison and Shock at thirty five or whatever
it was in uh, who's he Larry Hughes like they
brought in a bunch of guys Like, no, that's not
(21:41):
gonna do it. You gotta go big game hunting. And
the problem is nobody wants to part with draft picks
because they think there's such um currency on social media.
We gotta win the trade, we gotta have first round
picks like good luck. I see no path to keeping
Zion Williamson for the Pelicans. None. Well see. I would
actually are argue that had they just stayed with the
(22:02):
youth movement, they'd be better along than what they are now.
When they decided when they made the trade and got
a Lonzo Josh Hart Brandon Ingram to go with Zia Williamson,
that right there alone should have given you a Boston
Celtics esque window. We're like, hey, I don't know if
these guys are gonna win a championship, but I do
know that Brandon Ingram is at it. You could tell
(22:25):
then he was going to be an all star potential
level player. We assumed when Zion was drafted he was
gonna be a superstar level potential player. So you could
have assumed that those guys could have grown together in two,
three or four years and would have been a playoff team.
Maybe they get to the upper half of the Western Conference.
I don't know if they ever win a championship, but
at least they're solid competitive year in year out. Team. Wait,
(22:48):
let me ask you this. If Brandon Ingram is your
number two guy, are you a playoff team in this NBA?
Of course? Oh see. Where I think where they went
wrong is they try to, like you said, bringing veterans
quote unquote fast track the process, and their problem is
they brought in Steven Adams and extended him, which didn't
(23:11):
make any sense. They brought in a big man who
doesn't fit next to your superstar player Zion Williamson needs
the floor spread so we can go to the basket
at will over and over and over and over. Steven
Adams does nothing but clogged the pain. He doesn't even
rebound at a high enough rate for you to stay well.
You know he's helping on that end. He's not a
(23:31):
switchable defender, so you can say, hey, he's taking some
over the No, he's an old school seven foot plotter.
That's number one, number two. When they got Eric Bledsoe,
not only did he take away some point guard minutes
from who you were hoping at the time might be
a port guarder of the future, a Lonzo Ball, but
he also took away minutes from Nikki Alexander Walker. He
(23:52):
took away minutes from uh Josh Hart. And so these
young guys that you want to develop and you want
to see what they're doing are getting blocked by Eric Blitzer,
who fell off a cliff as soon as he left Milwaukee.
And the book was already out when he was in
Milwaukee that he was an overrated player then, so in
order for them to even get a Bradley Beal to get.
(24:14):
I mean, I wouldn't put zach Levina because I don't
think zach Levine is that great. I think he's just
the stats guy. But to get who whatever star you want,
you're in a situation now where you have to give
up Alonzo Ball, a Brandon Ingram, somebody like that, all
of those draft picks that you have because you blocked
yourself in with those two horrible moves. Wow, that's correct.
(24:36):
I didn't realize how bad Bloods had been. Uh So,
if you look at the stats and then you look
at the player efficiency rating on the pels, Zion is
number one seven, He's like top ten in the league.
I think Ingram is at twenty. Eric Bledsoe is ten
point seven player efficiency rating below the young kid. Lewis
the behind someone named Nagy Marshall, behind John Heart, Alexander Walker,
(25:02):
Alonzo at It like Bledsoe has been a disaster, like
that trade that was horrible? How is how is uh
Griff still the GM there? Like all he's done is
make horrible moves. Now somebody might have to come in
and clean it up. I don't know. Rob. Basically, you've
said nothing that shows this team is a bound for
the playoffs in the next year, right right, Well, I mean,
I guess the positive of that people around the NBA
(25:25):
think about David Griffin is he has like eleven thousand
draft picks. So you know, we're still in that world
where people think draft picks are better than actual players
for whatever reason, I don't know. You know, if you
ask Lebron about draft picks, he like doesn't play with
young guys at all. And look at the Warriors. You
know they got all these young guys, I mean, steps
playing with a G League roster. James Wiseman's down Ton
(25:45):
done for the season, and Steph's putting the team on
his back trying to carry them. There's it's so difficult
to win with nineteen and twenty year olds. And I
know what you're saying, Well, Jason, you just said Zion
should leave because he's not winning. He's twenty. I understand
that Zion is your foundational young guy. Put smart, talented
(26:06):
veterans around it. Like, honestly, it's tough for me to
hYP this team hold on. The Atlanta Hawks have this
year done a damn good job putting people around Trey Young. Okay,
Bogdanovich has played very well. I'm stunned and out. Well
he's been. Clint Cappella, I mean, nobody's really noticed it
(26:27):
because it's the Atlanta Hawks. Clint Cappella leads the Hawks
in player efficiency better than Tray Young. Cappella is regularly
putting up fifteen and fifteen like that's all he does.
You put veterans around the young guys and you can win.
You just gotta pick the right veterans. And that's the
hard part. Listen, this is not rocket science. It's very difficult.
(26:48):
Go ahead, Well, I was just gonna say, I'm glad
you brought the Hawks. What they did is they built
their entire roster around Trey Young. That's what they did.
I mean, when they got Clint Cappella, they said, hey,
we're gonna have a lob threat for for Trey Young.
You have the ball every every time. We're gonna get
Genroo didn't really work out, because we want a guy
who's a veteran presence behind him that might be able
(27:09):
to help him play off the ball. We're gonna get
Gallinari because he can stretch the floor as as a four.
What new Orleans is doing is the exact opposite. They've
got guys that don't fit with him and so. But
like I said, the reason why I think that it's
unfair to suggest that maybe they might not get better
is because even when you outside of Lebron James, every
(27:31):
single great player took time to win. Okay, hold let
me let me stop you there. Yes that is true,
but only using the last I don't know, fifteen twenty years.
You could even start with Kobe. Yes, he needed a
couple of years to win. I got it. That being said,
by year three, I think every single one of these
young guys was in the playoffs. Lebron second round of
(27:52):
the playoffs in year three. Okay, I gotta look up
what how when Durant got in him and you know
Russ were pups. But by year three you have to
have some progress. Uh, there has to be progress. And
I don't know, Rob, I I see none of it
from Zion. Imagine Luca Done comes into the league really
(28:13):
really good. Second year they make the playoffs. Third year
they make the playoffs. Like Zion's out here, like yo,
we're not in the playoffs. In the year too. Luca
pushed the Clippers. He challenged the Clippers almost by himself
with a pretty good roster, even though Porzingis has already hurt.
And I don't know, man, I'm almost disappointed that Zion
(28:35):
is not crushing it. I kind of am well. I mean,
Zion himself is playing great. Yeah, he's dominated, but not
crushing like into the playoffs because the NBA needs him
and we've gone over this. I'm not gonna fight people
on this. The NBA would love Zia Williamson to get
into playing game. They would love more than anything a
play in game between Steph and Zion, Right, I don't
think there could be a better unless you want to
(28:56):
put Lebron in the playing a game or whatever. I mean,
what one thing that doesn't help Zion's case, and this
is no fault of his own, is that he's not
a ball dominant player. Only in the last what month
and a half of they if they experimented with point Zion,
which has been great, But what helped Luca speed up
the process a little bit was that he has been
(29:18):
used to dominating the ball and going back to when
he played overseas, you know, Trey Young came came into
the league, say what you want about their method, but
they decided you're our guy. You're we're child by fire.
We're gonna go as you go. And Zion up until
recently needed someone to set him up. He needed a
point guard to get him the ball in the right spots.
(29:38):
Brandon Ingram is not a point guard. And the problem
is when your best player also like to shoot a lot,
it's hard to develop a second guy. So it's up
until recently that Zion started to play, point Ingram starting
to round in the form I guess at the number two,
even though you can tell he's bucking that a little bit,
I don't think he thinks himself as a number two.
I think he thinks he's their best play I think,
(30:00):
and that's you know, we could look at this, rob
so we could do an hour going through the league,
like is this Can this guy get to the playoffs?
If he's your number two or number three? And I firm,
I mean, I like Brandon Ingham. He's a really good player.
He's gonna have a long career. Um, if he's your
third best player, you are in great, fantastic shape. If
Brandon Ingram is your second player, I don't know if
(30:21):
you're a playoff team. Wow, I don't I like him.
I mean, he he's a good player, but does he
impact winning that much? He's in like year five. You
could say that about Bradley Beale. Does Bradley Beale impact
winning that much? He's been in the playoffs multiple times?
(30:41):
And he was just like it was John Wall was
John Walls team. That's fine, he was number two. So
if Beal is your two, I think you're a better
shape than if Ingrams your two. Of well, I mean
that by that point it was veteran Beal. You're still
pretty early with Ingram And whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa?
How are we Brandy? Well? Yeah, but he's in like
(31:02):
his fifth year. Hold on, let me call up the
stats on Ingram and this is the This is one
thing I don't like going talking about these guys because
then everybody's like, why do you hate Brandon Ingram? I
don't write Brandon Ingram at all. So, yeah, he is
in his fifth year in the league. I mean last
year average twenty three. This year he's averaging shooting thirty eight, uh,
thirty eight percent from three. He's he's a very good
(31:23):
basketball player. They're not in the playoffs. And I know
nobody wins on their own, but he feels like, uh, okay,
small forward, right, that that would be He's that that's
his position, right, I would say DeMar de Rosen, and
you know he keeps coming up for whatever reason. Um,
(31:44):
also a small forward and would he would you call
him a shooting guard? He's a shooting guard. Okay, We'll
give me a small forward and let's see if he
falls into the second best player for third best player.
Joe Harris stop Lebron. James J. Harris is an Olympian,
and I consider it more of a shooter. Um, Jimmy Butler, Okay,
(32:09):
is he a one or two on that team? He's
a one and they got to the finals? Now does
that go? Well? It was a bubble year, Jason? You know,
I don't know. I mean Paul George established himself as
a one in Indiana, right, couldn't get to the finals,
but went toto toe with Lebron for a couple of
years in the East, gets injured, comes back to Okay. See,
(32:31):
is he a one? Is he a two? He was
nearly the m v P of the league. I think
he finished top five in Okay see then he goes
to the Clippers. He's clearly the number two. They should
be great. They're very, very good. Like Paul George is,
is he your perfect number two? Because he was he
was a number one in Indiana. I think if Paul
George is if you look at the ones and the twos,
(32:52):
and maybe we'll do a list on this or something
one day, but I think Paul George has to be
near the top of number two. Is Anthony Davis? Of course?
Is he more of a one B than or two?
I think he's clearly a two. Well he was a
one in New Orleans and they got to the second round.
But if you make him a two, like, you're really
really devastating. Yeah, you know, if Kyrie Irving is your
(33:16):
third best player, you're probably gonna go to the finals, right.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app.
Search f s R to listen live. Did you see
that Kevin Durank got hurt again? Katie's my guy? Um,
(33:38):
he's played twenty three games this year. What was he
gonna play like? I know he's coming off the Achilles.
But remember he missed the entire last season. I think
the Achilles was in June, so he had something like
fifteen months off. Sixteen months off, and he keeps getting hurt.
He is thirty two. I you know, I am team Kevin,
(34:02):
Kevin Durant. I think he's in the top fifteen all
time discussion. I thought he had passed Lebron a few
years back. I'd caught a heat for saying that, Um,
the injuries, man, I mean, go look at the history
of this guy. Okay, see he had injuries. Golden State
miss twenty games, ms uh sixteen games, and now in
(34:26):
Brooklyn coming off to kill He's like, I would love
him for him to be healthy. Man, he's on threes.
Can he ever stay healthy? Rob? I'll tell you what
I believe. If this was a playoff, he'd be You
would have finished the game, he would have kept playing.
I don't think it's that serious injury, but Brooklyn has
definitely decided that the regular season is not important in
(34:46):
any way, shape or for him, so they're going to
be ultra conservative. Don't be surprised if he's out for
a week, you know, to let a bruise heel, which
I don't know. You know, I don't know how that's okay.
How about I'm gonna ask you a question, Um, who
do you think Steve Nash's favorite player is on the
NETS this year? Take your time on this one, any
(35:10):
player or one of the stars on no, no, no,
any player. See now you're onto it. You know it
was a bit of a trick question, uh, Bruce Brown,
mm hmm. I would I would guess Jeff Green veteran
that he's gonna show up for work every damn day.
(35:31):
He's not gonna give you a lip. He's not gonna
take bad shots, he's not gonna ask for a day off.
He's not gonna oh my knee. He's a professional. And
I'm starting I don't want to say anymore, but I'm
starting to have some reservations about the Nets. No, it
doesn't have to do with the loss to Miami. Um,
I don't want to say I've heard stuff because I
(35:51):
don't want this getting aggregated and then I become like, oh,
what does Jason know? Who's you talking. I'm just gonna
say I'm starting to have some more concern about the Nets. Um,
And we'll see if Harden's back this week. By the way,
my son's fantasy team, we did make the playoffs. We
get super lucky in that this week we faced the
team with Damian Lillard, Grant from the Pistons, and Donovan Mitchell,
(36:17):
and all three of them have been injured and we
will not have hard in this week. But I think
we should advance to the semifinals, which will be a
real test. But I just got it. Add that any
final parting shots um rob g whether it's Zion, whether
it's Kevin Durant, whether it's Bradley Beal, I I don't know.
(36:37):
Maybe we should do an entire show on Bradley Bald
trades that need to happen, because all these teams just
sitting on draft picks and feeling like they need to
make a move. Like how many teams rob Brick at
the trade deadline? When you look around the league at
the injuries, I mean somebody had I mean, if somebody
had made an offer for Bradley Beale, holy hell, then
(37:00):
I guess the opposite is true. The Denver Nuggets go
in get uh Aaron Gordon. Everything's looking great, and then
Jamal Murray has done for the season. You know, and
and it's Denver, which I have a feeling I was
going to be right that they were going to go
to the conference finals. Again, I mean, nobody's I don't
think they're a factor, do you. No? Unfortunately not, Jamal
Murray eliminates them completely. So yeah, I don't know that.
(37:27):
That's just those are my thoughts on Zion Williamson, and
I just I don't feel good. I don't know how
you can feel good if you're griff, if you're staying
Van Gundy, if you live in the Greater Louisiana area,
if you bought a Zion Williamson Jersey. Um, yeah, I
don't know. Put me down for he ain't staying. Um
all right, Robert, I'll give you the final word. Two
(37:49):
quick things. Number one, A D is on the way,
So it's very exciting. Has to end on Laker stuff
from Naker fan number one. Number two. We know this
is the tease ahead is something we're doing later in
the week. I got some Steph Curry slander in the chamber.
How can you ask Steph Curry when he scored ten
(38:09):
straight games the thirty or more points, that's like a
Michael Jordan type deal. And got took some mental gymnastics,
but I have some some stats that will work against him. Uh. Hey,
by the way, I'm gonna humor you and the audience,
and this is what we'll go out on. I am
going to um give you the guys around Steph Curry
(38:32):
and Saturday Nights lost to the Celtics, where Curry was
otherworldly again. He had forty seven hit eleven threes. Okay,
he played with Juan Toscano Anderson, he played with Jordan's
pool Gary Payton. The second I didn't even know he
was on the team. Uh, I'm assuming this is Damien
Lee and your boy Kemp bays More Andrew Wiggins who
(38:59):
I mean, you could probably make an argument that he's
the most overpaid player in the league. Um, Draymond Green?
Who is this upbro claim best player? Uh in defense
in the history of the league. And um, who's the
other guy they started? Oh? Kevon Looney? How could I
forget Kevon Looney? I mean that is is at an
upgrade from the Davidson team, Sep Curry hatter or down ground?
(39:22):
I just had to ask. I don't know, Steph Curry
slander when he's putting at seven a game. Unbelievable, forty
a game in the month of April. That's all all right, everybody.
We'll talk to you tomorrow.
Host
Jason McIntyre
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