07-01-25 KOA Sports Hour 3 with Shelby Harris

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
For walking up to six o'clock.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
We haven things off to the Rockies as they're hosting
the Astros. Of course, we've been having a great time
reacting to NBA free agency. The Nuggets very very busy,
a lot of buzz around the team and to help
us break it all down, give us perspective as we
head on to the Kiawei Commas Spirit Health hoighline. Our
good friend Adam Mahras Adam, thank you so much for
the time, man.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
How are you?

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Oh, thank you guys for having me on. The sun
shining a little bit brighter today than I was expecting
it to, so things are looking good.

Speaker 4 (00:29):
Yeah, Adam, appreciate the time. We were talking about. Obviously
the deal yesterday with MPJ, have not had a chance
to visit with you. What's your take on that deal
and what do you think of some of the other
deals also the two today as well well.

Speaker 5 (00:44):
I think it all starts with the Michael.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Porter deal because the Nuggets signed Michael Porter to a
max contract five years ago, and I think that was
an aggressive signing at the time.

Speaker 5 (00:54):
But since then, the NBA has changed.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
Up their salary cap structure and it is very unpopular
and I think foolish to have three players on a
max contract to begin with, and that really is what
has hamstrung the Nuggets in my opinion over the last
five years, is they have a lot of money tied
up in three players.

Speaker 5 (01:12):
So finally having the ability to move off.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Of Michael Porter, I think the least producing of the
three max guys and Nicole jokis Jamal Murray the other
two getting off of him, And they got off of
him because they had a draft pick that was available
to trade for the first time. That twenty thirty two
pick only became available to trade yesterday, and on the
first day it was available to trade, they attached it
to Michael Porter to get a player in Cam Johnson,

(01:36):
who I think is identical and talent and skill set,
but better in terms of feel for the game and
the role Dever's going to need him to play. And
on top of that, obviously half the price, which has
afforded them the flexibility to make some of these other moves.

Speaker 6 (01:50):
Hey, Adam Shelby Harris here, what is has anyone heard
from the Polyokers about how he feels about Michael Porter
Junior being traded?

Speaker 3 (02:02):
I don't think there's anybody on the team has not said,
and he's not on record of commenting on any of
these moves, So the answer to that is no. But
I can tell you that I think Cam Johnson is
going to be the exact type of player he loves
playing with the way I would say it is he
is the skill set of Michael Porter, but with sort
of the mind and the approach to the game of

(02:22):
a Christian Brown or an Aaron Gordon, meaning he's going
to be able to shoot the ball. He provides that
shooting that you need, the height, all those different things,
but he reads the court a lot better than Michael Porter.
He's an unselfish guy. He doesn't really need touches or
need anything. But he moves off the ball really, really well,
a lot better than Michael Porter. And when you play
with Nikola Jokic, what you need is four guys around

(02:45):
him that all read the court well and are willing
to do the things you need. Cut screen, get out.

Speaker 5 (02:50):
Of the way in some cases, sprint to.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
The corner to provide spacing in some cases. Cam Johnson
is willing to do all of those things, but he's
also very good at reading them, so he doesn't miss
the signs. Jokic always talks about guys he likes when
they're in the right spots. Cam Johnson's the guy that's
always in the right spot.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, I like his fit specifically for that.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Also his defense probably a little bit of an upgrade there,
although and.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
I know you heard it as well.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Tim Bontemp's pretty critical of the move, not only the
trade but also training a future first round pick. When
he used these players more similar he thinks it's more
of a cost cutting move.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
What do you think about that?

Speaker 5 (03:26):
So I think he was actually half.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
Right on this because one important detail about what the
Denver Nuggets have done is they have gotten below the
tax We'll see if they actually get below the luxury
tax line, which would save the Kronky some money. So
you look at that and say they attached a pick
to have a player bond. TIMPs called him similar. I
think Cam Johnson's an upgrade for the reasons I just stated.
But it was a move that signaled the Nuggets saving money.

(03:49):
But why What he think he got wrong was that
the Nuggets weren't just saving money. They were adding flexibility.
They were adding all of these other exceptions and ways
that they can add talent for the roster that has
allowed them now to add a Valanunis, to add Bruce Brown,
and to add a Tim Hardaway junior. And so a
team that didn't have a lot of depth last year,

(04:10):
in fact, that was their biggest weakness, has now put
together a roster.

Speaker 5 (04:13):
That I think runs nine.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
To ten maybe even eleven deep. And so he's right
to point out that the Cronkeys are shedding money, So
I think he's wrong to say that that was the
only or even the main motivation. It also opened up
a flexibility that has allowed them to fill out their roster.

Speaker 7 (04:29):
Yeah, yeah, I certainly agree with that.

Speaker 4 (04:32):
We were talking earlier on the show about Valentiunis and
some of the traits that he brings. Pretty skilled big man,
tough rebounder. But you've been involved watching the NBA, covering
the NBA for a long time. What if you had
two or three ways to describe what his game was about,

(04:53):
maybe Nuggets fans that might be unfamiliar with him, what
would they be?

Speaker 3 (04:58):
Well, first, he's enormous.

Speaker 5 (05:00):
He's a true seven footer.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
And he's a wide seven footer. Not a heavy guy
or a.

Speaker 5 (05:04):
Fat guy, but he's solid.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
I mean, he's built like a Viking. He's got that
big beard. He looks like a seven foot Viking. Just
a really thick bodied guy. In Denver. For the last
few years they've had DeAndre Jordan, who's a little long
in the two, it's a little more limited. Valanciunas is
a true seven footer, and in the Western Conference a
lot of these teams are loading up on multiple digs.
Houston Rockets they have three true centers. They played two

(05:27):
of them together often, but certainly when Yokich comes off
the court, Denver didn't have great options of true seven
footers to go battle on the boards with other teams
who had backup seven footers. So Number one, he provides
that size and rebounding that you need. Is a very
good rebounder.

Speaker 5 (05:42):
But he's also a guy that has a pretty good
post game.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
And the postgame has gone away from the NBA by
and large unless you're an elite guy like Anikoi Jokich.
But off that bench we saw last year there were
a lot of times when Denver didn't have shot creation.
I think Valenciunas is a guy that gives you at
least one option. I don't think it's the main option
or the only one, but he is an option of, hey,
if you have a mismatch, let's throw it down. Because
he's a very good low post scorer.

Speaker 5 (06:05):
Who's going to force other teams to have to.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Play big with him. And so that's his skill set,
rebounding sighs and the ability to play through him in
the post on occasion.

Speaker 6 (06:16):
My last question here, and I guess you know, obviously
what the team having these young guys that had to
contribute a little bit and they had under On Holmes
get hurt. What did his moves kind of do for
the young guys. You know, you're kind of pushing them
out a little bit, but how does this move affect
the young guys on the nuggas rosters.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
Well, I think what's really interesting about that question is
what David Adalman's approach will be this year, because I
think Michael Malan was a guy who was very averse
to playing young young players. And one of those reasons,
I believe, and it was well reported that him and
Calvin Booth had a difference of opinion and it was
almost like both guys were dug in on what they
thought was best and we're not gonna, you know, feed

(07:00):
the other person's vision. You have David Adaman now, and
if you look at how the Thunder won the title
this year, and I think every team is going to
have to learn from this because of this new salary
cap structure sort of requires that you have a lot
of depth. The Oklahoma City Thunder played twelve thirteen guys
throughout the regular season. That's how they survived.

Speaker 5 (07:19):
In an eighty two game season, and then when.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
They got to the playoffs, they would play nine or
ten guys, but it would be a different nine or
ten guys depending on the series. I look at Denver
situation and I think they have depth, but I don't
think they should pencil in anybody outside of the top five.
You've got five starters and now you've got five, six
or seven guys that all do different things.

Speaker 5 (07:40):
And for David Adaman.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
To succeed, I think he has to play Peyton Watson,
Julian Strawther, they' Ron Holmes. He has to give those
guys minutes. But he also has to play the veterans
that they brought in. You know, Zeke Naji who's still
on the roster. He has to play Bruce Brown, Tim
Hardaway Junior. These guys are good too, and I don't
think it's in either or. I think it's an ad
to survive the regular season.

Speaker 5 (08:01):
All of those guys have to play.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
And when you get to the playoffs, one series might
be a Peyton Watston series. One series might be a
Tim Hardaway Junior series. And that's how you make it
through four rounds.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
Adamara is last one.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
I have four.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
You appreciate the time. You were very propthetic by.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
The way in the yonas Valanchiunas addition, he actually tweeted
it out moments before it happened. He said, you know,
the Nugget should really go back and revisit that, and
then boom.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
As if by magic.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
How on a scale of one to ten, how surprised
were you actually by the trade of Michael Porter Junior.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Well, I was very surprised by that one, for sure,
because that was one that we knew. We long knew
Michael Porter was overpaid relative to what he contributed to
the Nuggets. He's on a max contract basically I think
forty something million dollars, so I knew the team wanted
to move him, but I was surprised that they actually
pulled it off and the team had signaled and all
of their press conferences. I don't know if we'll make

(08:57):
any major moves. We're going to build around the margins,
some guys on minimums. So to trade one of the
starters who's been here for seven eight years was very surprising.
And to get it done at the price of one
draft pick, and by the way, very good draft pick.
Who knows where the Denver Nuggets will be in twenty
thirty two, that'll probably be a very valuable pick. But
to only have to give up one trade ship to

(09:19):
be able to replace Michael Porter, in my opinion fully
and maybe even then some to me, was an incredible move.
And this front office is one week into their tenure
at the Helm and to pull off a move that
shocking and in my opinion that favorable was really impressive.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
Adam Oh, I appreciate the time, man, Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
Thank you guys, have a good one.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
Thanks Adams, Suf Adam Aris. So there you go.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
He was surprised, like I was, okay, well, well surprised,
Oh what happened?

Speaker 6 (09:49):
I expected that.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
But seriously, to his point, man, it's hard for you. No, no, no, well.

Speaker 7 (09:57):
No, it's just a hard surprise hard I.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
Want to exactly, I want to tip the cap to
this new front office construction because this has been a
very exciting free agency.

Speaker 4 (10:08):
For that, I think they honestly, I don't think it
realistically could have gone better.

Speaker 6 (10:14):
Agreed, Yeah, but yeah, sometimes when you do too much
in free agency, it doesn't always work out. But I
do believe though that the Nuggets have nailed it, and
we have you know, a year in a year out
though the NBA. You know, you look at who you
think nails free agency, and the season comes and it's

(10:34):
a completely different story, you know, and once again it's
everything that's great on paper. But I believe Cam Johnson
is going to be a great addition, you know, a
way better I hate to say it like this, but
a better fit for what this team needs right now,
no question, to be a championship contending team. I think

(10:55):
he is a perfect cag for that. But I haven't
had a good point though, with the changing of salary
cap and everything, you can't have three backs players. It
is kind of what it is right now. So I
would be very interesting season, be very interesting. Is Valentiunis
of Russian dissent.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
Where is he from?

Speaker 6 (11:15):
I don't think from.

Speaker 8 (11:18):
As you both type, yeah, Lithuania, Okay, yeah, yeah, Adam
said something else that and you I'm glad you asked
about the young players because this has been sort of
a point of discussion over the last several years, especially
with Michael Malone.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
And with the new CBA.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
You ask him about if this was going to sort
of push out for some of the young players.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
I think nothing else gives David Adaman options.

Speaker 2 (11:42):
And and and hey, it's great to be able to
see if some of the young players do step up
into more prime roles. Hey, Julian Strather takes a step forward,
if Doron Holmes is better early on than expected. I mean,
all those are good things. That's what you want to see.
But they haven't had options. And in fact, to the
thing that Bondtips was talking about that you and I
were referencing, Dave, he was saying, are we going to

(12:04):
really be back here again? Saying, well, they need the
young players to step up. Well, since then, they've added
Valan Chunis, and they had of Tim Hardaway, and of
course they add of Bruce Prust. They added guys that
give them options. The point of it is is you
aren't just relying on the young guys. It's great if
they get there, but if they don't get there, you
have other players you can plug in.

Speaker 7 (12:22):
See I look at it differently.

Speaker 4 (12:24):
I think with Julian straw the if and I'm not
saying he can't develop into a like really solid NBA
VET capable of getting you twenty plus occasionally. But if
the Nuggets had complete, I mean complete confidence in Julian

(12:46):
Strawther right now, to me, there's no way in the
world you go after Tim Hardaway Junior because Tim Hardaway
Junior represents perimeter scoring and a guy who's I think
he's a LUs defender. Okay, who does that? I mean,
what's Julian Strawther. What is his role for this team?

Speaker 1 (13:11):
I mean he's a shooter, he's your backup small forward.

Speaker 4 (13:14):
I guess no, No, I mean I don't think Strather
can play three. I think he's got to play two.
And to me again, I mean I'm not saying he can't,
because I mean the playoff game he had, you know
he's got some ability. I remember watching him in college
in person thinking okay, that kids, that kid's pretty good.
But that said if I do now they even even

(13:37):
if I'm right, which I don't know, the Nuggets would
never admit this publicly. But my sense of this whole
thing is if they thought Strather was like that close,
I mean, he just needs a great summer, he's gonna develop,
He's gonna be a guy that's gonna come off the
bench at six or seven. He's gonna get us twenty
minutes a game. Uh, He's he's got enough energy and
strength that he can play defense, and you know he's

(13:59):
gonna knock you down. If all that, if they had
complete confidence in that, to me, you don't go out
and sign Tim Hardaway Junior one hundred percent.

Speaker 6 (14:08):
That's why I asked the question in the first place,
because it seems like you wouldn't sign some people where
your young guys are supposed to step in and actually play.
But the issue, I guess is you can't wait for
them to get ready, and it's a lot of unknown
if you're actually trying to take advantage of this championship window.
You know it's a very short window. Now with this
new CBA, everyone has a short window, and it's and

(14:31):
the CBA is punishing teams that are too top heavy
on their roster, So you would think that, you know,
just like Oklahoma City did, they're using.

Speaker 7 (14:40):
A lot of young guys.

Speaker 1 (14:41):
He's a deal, I know.

Speaker 7 (14:43):
But once again, but what does that mean? What does
that mean?

Speaker 2 (14:47):
Well, I'm just saying that this is not like we're
talking about Duncan Robinson in the break right, and he's
got it. He's making forty eight million, right, Well, you
invest that kind of money, that guy's gonna play. That
guy's gonna start, he's gonna play Tim Hardaway on a
vet min D doesn't tell me you don't believe in
your young guys, That's what I mean.

Speaker 7 (15:03):
Why would you sign it?

Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yeah, because you want to give yourself options. You want
to give yourself more than just a reliance on this
one guy.

Speaker 4 (15:10):
If you believe in Jillian Strawther like one hundred percent,
And again this is not me throwing shade at Julian.
I still think he can be a good player. He's
got a ways to go. But if you were totally
I won't say committed, if you had total confidence about
his game right now and say next year he's going
to be a dog, right, you.

Speaker 7 (15:31):
Don't to me, you don't sign Tim Hardaway junior.

Speaker 6 (15:33):
Okay, well said though, like you just don't you lay
the framework for him to have this role with the team.

Speaker 7 (15:41):
And but for.

Speaker 6 (15:42):
Me, it just tells me that they're not completely sure
about the young guys they have with the team, and
just for insurance, you get you get a Tim Hardaway
junior to get a Bruce Brown.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
But once again, think we're basically say the same thing.

Speaker 6 (15:57):
Then no, But I guess the issue is if you
were believing in your in your guys, you don't need
to go get them.

Speaker 2 (16:04):
Well, there's believing in your guys and then there's being
reckless like and I think I think we could we
can maybe say that the plan, especially since the front
office and the coaching staff didn't see eyed I was
maybe reckless. It was reckless to a fault because you
got into a position where you're playing your vets, your
starters more specifically, more minutes than you really needed to

(16:25):
do that because you didn't have the requisite depth, because
those young guys hadn't stepped into more prominent roles because
you didn't develop them. I mean, it's all certain, you know,
cyclical at that point. My point, my point here is
I don't know if for me, This doesn't say that
that you don't think much of Julian Strawther or j
Jaln Pickett who that by the way, they don't. That's
your backup point guard right now. We can get into
that at some point, but you don't have another pack

(16:47):
up point guard unless.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Bruce Brown's gonna fiddle it.

Speaker 2 (16:49):
But what is you probably do this new CBA want
guys like Strawther, want these younger guys to step into
that role, and then Hardaway is there, But that's not
that's not the role that you know.

Speaker 7 (17:02):
Who's a better player right now?

Speaker 2 (17:04):
Well?

Speaker 1 (17:04):
Who would I bet on being a better player?

Speaker 7 (17:06):
Who's a who? No, who's a better player?

Speaker 4 (17:08):
Stop reframing the question who's a better player? Right now?
Come on, man, what are we doing? It's not even close,
it's not probably.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
But we know what straw like, I don't know, I don't.

Speaker 2 (17:25):
Know what it is.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
It's it's right now. It's like, what color shirt are
you wearing right now? If you say, well, I didn't
go to Ryan's closet this morning, he's probably got a
multitude shirt right now? Tim Hardaway is a better player?
You just you were just on here saying on open threes.
You want another cupcake? Hardaway was what sixty six percent? Yeah, yeah,

(17:51):
you're going to go with that guy?

Speaker 2 (17:52):
Okay, here your numbers, let me come over.

Speaker 6 (18:02):
No, I'll just say using your numbers to prove that,
you know, argument is not that hard. You know, it
takes it just takes some It takes something to like
be able to have a proven guy out there than
an unproven guy.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
But so are we are we now the door closed
on trailer.

Speaker 4 (18:26):
What he's got, I'll tell you what, got a lot
of work to do, Okay. I'd come to camp like
ready to go. I'd be working out and be like okay,
because to me that that's a sign like I need
to prove to them I can fit in here, otherwise
I might not be here.

Speaker 7 (18:44):
That's that's how I look at that.

Speaker 6 (18:46):
The league is always an option, always an option, because
it's just this playing you add in his players is
going to be tough to find playing time and unless
magically knows how to play point guard.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
Yeah, and that's that's about the only other position at
this point. I mean, and maybe we can talk about
this on their side. For free agency, they checked as
many boxes that we needed them to check.

Speaker 1 (19:13):
I mean, I don't know what else is missing.

Speaker 6 (19:16):
They need a point guard. They checked the two.

Speaker 4 (19:19):
To me, they checked the two most pressing needs. You
needed a perimeter shooter, you needed a backup big a
rim protector, and you got both.

Speaker 7 (19:30):
Yea.

Speaker 6 (19:31):
But the issue is you need another guy to come
in and be able to bring the ball up. And
that was the greatest part about Russell Westbrook. That's that's true,
you know. I mean, you need you need a guy
to run that second unit. We saw how important that
was with Alex crusso they can bring the ball up.

Speaker 4 (19:46):
The problem with Pickett is his size, and he is
I think again.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
He is a liability on defense. If he plays too much,
he gives you effort. I think it's a tough kid.

Speaker 1 (20:00):
I thought he developed a little bit as a score.

Speaker 4 (20:04):
He can handle it. Okay, good enough to play, but you.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
Can't you you can't.

Speaker 7 (20:08):
I don't think playing.

Speaker 4 (20:09):
Him too many minutes otherwise he gets exposed defensively.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
M Yeah, that's interesting stuff.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
Do you guys see the what we get into the
same On the side, the odds, the championship bonds of
the Nuggets.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
Have been pretty impressive.

Speaker 7 (20:20):
Yes, yes, save increase. I've increased.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
I think that's because Julian Strather's pencil in is the
key backup. I think if people started to think about
it more though, I would get it better. Okay, yeah,
with a thousand dollars coming up, that is five minutes.
Thanks to Colorado Joint Replacement coloradjoint dot org.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
We'll get that interview up at Kway Colorado dot com.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
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Speaker 1 (20:51):
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Speaker 2 (20:52):
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Hill text line will gets the Rockies here at the
top of the hour, Big series against the Astros.

Speaker 1 (21:07):
They're in town. We're talking about this during the break.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
I do want to get to the odds and how
they have shifted for the Nuggets.

Speaker 1 (21:14):
What do you think Michael.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
Malone's thinking right now as he's watching the Nuggets bringing
all these vets.

Speaker 4 (21:22):
I think he's thinking, I got ten million reasons not
to get too caught up with what the Nuggets are doing,
and I wonder where I'm gonna land in my next
head coaching gig.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
So you pay no mind.

Speaker 4 (21:39):
I mean I don't, honestly I don't. I don't know
Michael well enough many one time.

Speaker 7 (21:44):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (21:44):
I don't know him well enough to really know kind
of you know, his mindset or how he operates. But
that I think, to me, would be the soundest thing
to do. I mean, you're you're making ten million or
whatever you're making next year, not to coach. I mean
I'd be playing from golf and trying to hang out
with the family and my agents saying what do you

(22:07):
think what looks like the next place?

Speaker 6 (22:10):
Yeah, I'll be a little frustrated, just a little, just
because everything that you've been asking you.

Speaker 4 (22:16):
Didn't put your headphones on. I said ten million.

Speaker 7 (22:18):
I know, I get it. I would still be a
little frustrated. Browns cut you tomorrow.

Speaker 4 (22:23):
But they said, you know what, just because you've been
a good dude, we're gonna cut you and we're gonna
give you ten million.

Speaker 6 (22:32):
Like I'll be happy to make ten and that work.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that. But what
I'm saying is I'd be frustrated just for the fact
that this is everything you've been asking for. That's really
that's really more of what I'd be frustrated about. Hey,
good luck, guys, But you know, I'm sitting on the
beach sipping a pina colada and relaxing, you know what
I mean. But at that point, though, that's exactly really yeah,

(22:53):
maybe so I feel like that's what he's been begging for.
I can get like, hey, like I want vests and
they're like, no, play the young guys place brother, and
he's like, man, I went rusts out there instead, you
know what I mean. Like it's it's it's to be
able to trust certain guys. But if I'm not even
talking about the you know, the trade and to send
an MP out, I'm talking about Jonas Valancho, Tim Hardaway, Junior,

(23:17):
Bruce Brown Jr. Those are the guys that I would
have been like, Yes, these are these are you know,
the you know, not starters, but guys that come off
and give me quality minutes. I would love to have
Bet to do that instead of doing an experiment with
a young guy.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
You asked an interesting question in the break Shelby.

Speaker 2 (23:35):
You said, if you were going to do this, and
you were going to make the point about bringing in bets,
why not keep Michael Malone all along.

Speaker 6 (23:41):
Yeah, that's kind of the whole point is what was
the point of switching coaches if you were going to
go by what he is philosophy anyway.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
Keep his keep his former assistant coach.

Speaker 4 (23:54):
There's a lot of other things I think involved, including
interaction with play and interaction with the front office. So
I mean, I listen, I liked him alone. I liked
the fact that he barked at people, and he occasionally,
you know, I know it didn't set well with everybody,

(24:15):
but he occasionally was fired up enough in a postgame
press conference where he'd speak his mind and just say,
you know, whether he'd say, hey, we didn't we didn't
play any defense.

Speaker 7 (24:26):
I mean, to me, we can't.

Speaker 4 (24:29):
We can't be so soft as modern day athletes now
that the head coach can't criticize. I mean, you got
to be careful how you do it in a public way.
But I liked ma alone, I think just by his
nature and his I think high strung demeanor in his aggressiveness,

(24:50):
as his temperament. I think it wasn't like he was
here a minute. He was here like ten years, and
I think he probably I think even he might admit, like,
you know, I'm sure I warned some people and it
was probably looking back, it was probably probably time.

Speaker 6 (25:07):
Isn't that crazy? The difference between football and basketball, you know,
just of how you can coach your players, you know,
not you basketball. They don't want you yelling at them
too much, and you know, don't be too aggressive, don't
be too mean. They don't kind of baby them a
little bit very much. Players lead in the NFL. They
don't care how you feel. And if your play starts

(25:28):
slipping because you're getting yelled at, that'd be even more
reason to get you out the door, you know what
I mean. Like that's the difference, the mental you know, toughness.
I would say the difference between football and basketball. But
like I coached like Mike Malone. The coach like Michael
Malone would be perfectly fine the NFL, you know, no doubt,
Like there would be no like he you know, we

(25:50):
would look at Mike Tomlin and bark to other's dudes,
you know what I mean? Like that that type of stuff,
it doesn't bother us, It doesn't bother football players, but
basketball players, since it is a player orientedly, you know,
and when they look at it, some of these players
are bigger than the organizations they played for. You're gonna
do That's how you get that pushback like that. But
an NFL where they make it clear you got nobody's

(26:12):
bigger than the shield, nobody's bigger than the team. You know,
that's something that would always be tolerated.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
So the Nuggets odds were plus seventeen hundred plus sixteen
hundred in that range for most bettings.

Speaker 7 (26:27):
Plus so they were plus one thousand.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
There were some places, but I'm saying, like before the trade,
before the MPJA trade, they were like bet MGM had
a plus sixteen hundred. I think FanDuel had him plus
seventeen hundred in a couple places. Now plus seven fifty
plus eight fifty, they have the second best odds to
win the championship.

Speaker 4 (26:49):
Behind yeah, behind okay. See and and you're saying better
odds than Houston.

Speaker 1 (26:53):
Sorry, second best odds to win the.

Speaker 7 (26:56):
West ahead of Houston.

Speaker 4 (26:58):
Yes, yeah, interesting that well that was not the case
this morning. So that Jove was because of the guy
Ryan that you liked so much. Tim Hardaway Junior and
balance UTIs, but.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
It's a combination.

Speaker 2 (27:15):
Hold on's stop stop right there, because because what you're
trying to do is paint me into a different corner here,
and I'm not I am not going to allow this
to say, even on your day, I am not going
to allow this to stand. I I never said that
I was not in favor of trading MPJ. I just

(27:36):
didn't think they would be in favor of trading MPJ,
in part because of things that Actually you said, what
did I say? You said that you didn't know what
kind of value they were going to be able to
get for him. They were not going to give him away.
I did say that. I said, they will not give
him away. Yes, but I would be very surprised if
he was not traded. And I thought once they fished

(27:56):
him out there and and and saw what kind of
bites they were getting, they were going to recognize there
was not enough value.

Speaker 4 (28:04):
Well, Cam Johnson's pretty good bite.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
They and Adam said the same thing. They did far
and away better than I ever thought they could have.
I'll give them credit for that. I mean they did.
I did not think they would get a player of
the same caliber, similar caliber to what MPJ was that
they hadn't trade a first.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
Round pick in it.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
But honestly, I would have traded too to get this
deal off the table so that you can have the
flexibility to do everything else you did. But the fact
I just didn't, and maybe that was me not having
the site that they had.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
I just never saw.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
A comparable value player coming back, and they needed that
because you're in a window where you can't just take
draft picks. You can't just take a bunch of depth
players and hope it works out well.

Speaker 6 (28:43):
I'm just I'm also confused about what Brooklyn's doing because tank.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
They've been trying to trade Camp.

Speaker 6 (28:51):
They've been trying to trade Cam Johnson though for multiple years,
every trade deadline. He's one of the top guys, like
the last couple of years, he was, this year, this year,
and then finally you do it. But yeah, you know, tanking,
it can happen in all different types of ways. But
in the NBA, you know it happened. That's you know,
it's gonnappen.

Speaker 4 (29:11):
The Nuggets are gonna win the West, Brooklyn is going
to be the surprise winner of the East. Here we go,
and they're gonna play in the finals, it'll be MPJ
and Cam Johnson going head to head.

Speaker 7 (29:22):
Wouldn't you love it? Listen?

Speaker 2 (29:25):
For me, yes, there's a certain amount of of kind
of appreciation of that, especially with MPJ, who's probably averaging
thirty five points per game because they have they really
go out.

Speaker 6 (29:34):
It's no they have Cam Thomas and they have MPJ,
and that's it, like that's the bulk of their scoring.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
So you know, like years ago when they did that
trade with the Celtics for the Big Three with Kevin
Garnett and Paul Pierce and yeah and Ray Allen and
they tried to build that up and that was obviously
a disaster, and then they went back to the well
again with a big three with Kevin Durant and Kyrie
Irving and his hard Jameson.

Speaker 4 (30:01):
That's right, Oh my god, it's Harden after the listen,
I'm just going to say after the final playoff series
against the Nuggets, which he gave like almost zero effort defensively,
he signed he signed an extension for whatever was it

(30:23):
for one hundred million?

Speaker 7 (30:24):
Yep?

Speaker 6 (30:24):
Yeah, No, it was two for eighty, was it?

Speaker 7 (30:28):
Like IoT?

Speaker 4 (30:29):
I thought it was three for one of the eight
or who could be wrong.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
Eighty one point five, yeah, two year eighty one.

Speaker 2 (30:38):
So forty forty eight years yeah.

Speaker 6 (30:42):
Jeez, yeah, you know it could it, Dave. That's the
NBA for you, though, And then you wonder why you
get the same results every year. But maybe at some
points you got to realize that it's not always about winning.
Sometimes it's about collecting that check.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
And today we'll be back at it tomorrow. Three o'clock.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
We got Rockies baseball cut up here at the top
of the hour five six six line zeros okay with
common spirit hell text line this one. I saw a
description of valentiunis having a quote unquote feathery touch.

Speaker 4 (31:13):
Oh nice, nice with the feathery touch and supple hands.

Speaker 7 (31:20):
Perfect combination.

Speaker 4 (31:21):
The feathery touch is so much more basketball term, right.
I can't think of a proper way to describe a play.

Speaker 2 (31:31):
In football that would be a feathery There isn't. Shelby
Harris breaks through the line. I'm not going to put
a lot of.

Speaker 4 (31:39):
Enthusiasm, tackles Patrick Mahomes back at the forty seven yard
line and with a feathery touch, dumped the Chiefs quarterback
on his head.

Speaker 7 (31:54):
You know it doesn't quite Yeah.

Speaker 6 (31:57):
I had this one second on Brady barely barely had
his shirt his undershirt, and he just fell.

Speaker 7 (32:05):
And so that's more of a father RETI nice, Okay,