December 6, 2022 • 35 mins
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon discuss Sean Peyton possible making a comeback sooner than later with Tom Brady, Baker Mayfield already knew that the Rams were going to pick him up, and Jerry Jones says there's no time line for Odell Beckham!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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irac dot com The way tire buying should be. Uh
so yes, big baseball headline. In the last half hour,
the Philadelphia Phillies continue to say, let's go get former Mets.
Maybe that's how we're gonna win. Uh They at Taiwan
Walker for four years and seventy two million dollars, so
now they give Trade Turner all that money. They give
(01:07):
Taiwan Walker all that money. The Phillies have decided, Hey,
you know what, eighty nine wins any we want more
than eighty nine wins the next couple of years. What
about when you get three years out and all those
deals are coming true and trade turners thirty three years
old and you two llion dollars worry about about tomorrow
another day, worry about that another day. That's fine, damn right.
(01:28):
Twenty nine starts last year for Walker thirty appearances the
year before, as opposed to the hundred two million dollars. That, uh,
you gave your closure, So that's okay, And they're looking
to go back to the World Series. Well this is
the thing, this is the thing. Dam it. Yeah, there's
(01:51):
nothing I can say. It really kind of just chopped
you down there. Look, I'm just glad it didn't they
didn't win it. It worked out fine that I wasn't
I was rooting. I was not rooting for the Phillies
to win the World Series. I couldn't. I wasn't rooting
for the Astros, but I was rooting against the Phillies
to win. I was rooting against fix. I couldn't see
them win, couldn't see in the team. I'm fine. I
(02:13):
could be okay rooting against a team than not rooting
for the team. They're playing against like somebody's gonna win,
somebody's gonna lose. That goes can how it goes No,
kay Upton's gonna wind up doing that at Mets games.
It's gonna be absolutely fine. She should be wearing these
big rhind stone Mets outfits, hitting the trash can, letting
everybody know what the pitch is gonna be. We are
(02:35):
gonna you have any idea how well the Mets are
gonna hit next year, knowing what pitches are coming, it's
gonna be so great. You you thought Peter Lonzo was
great in fifty home runs out He's gonna hit like
ninety home runs next year and they still wouldn't. Dude,
you talk about the Mets like we didn't win a
hundred games last year games we won a hundred games,
(02:56):
we won one. We won a hundred games, Yes we did.
Don't lie to people, don't lie to people, don't don't look,
don't lie, don't lie. I hate to say, but the
Mets didn't win a dred games. The Mets one games.
I don't where you want to bet, Let's bet what
do you want to bet? They do anything in? What
do you want to bet? Avoid a d let's bet. Uh.
(03:17):
So we talked about Baker Mayfield last hour on the show,
and and now that he's a member of the Rams,
and Rams looking at their long term quarterback future and
they signed him specifically, maybe he can be our quarterback
of the future. Not definitely, but maybe. Now for the
forty Niners, the biggest story in the NFL this week
the injury of Jimmy Garoppolo. Well, they got some good
(03:38):
news today and that he avoided a Liz Frank injury,
but did get a Lawrence Frank injury. Now, he avoided
a Liz Frank injury and he could be back if
they make a run to the playoffs. He could be
back in seven ish weeks or so. Okay, first, let
me tell you I'm doubling down. Brock Party will be
(03:59):
a starting coter back in the NFC Championship game. Right.
The Niners are quarterback proof. It doesn't matter, not that
not that it's a case of that Jimmy Garoppolo was
really bad, but the Niners are so loaded everywhere. All
you have to do is just get the ball to
the playmakers. Just get the Baldon McCaffrey, get it to Debo,
get it to Brandon, I you get it to Kittle.
(04:20):
The Niners have the best running back, top two wide receiver,
number one tight end combo in the league. There's nobody
more talented at those five positions or those four positions
in the forty Niners are number one running back, number
one tight end, top two wide receivers. Niners are the best.
They have at worst, the second best defense in the NFL.
(04:41):
Right as many good def look, I love the Jets defense.
Patriots defense is really good. Broncos and forty Niners, right,
those are the two best defenses you're talking about. These teams.
They are quarterback proof. Brock party is gonna be playing
in the NFC Championship Game because they're going to continue
to win because they're just this good. As they continue
to Gell Now, it's gonna be a little bit easier
(05:01):
knowing that, Okay, we don't have to get Garoppolo in
his mind. It's gonna be easier for them going on
knowing Brock Purti is our quarterback. And let's be honest,
if the Niners have this run to the playoffs, Mike
and they're in the plants and you're in a round
or two in the playoffs and Jimmy Garoppolo suddenly is healthy.
Are you really taking brock Purdy out to go back
to Jimmy Garoppolo? Of course thought, this is not Aaron
(05:23):
Rodgers coming back from injury. This, this is not this
is not Patrick Mahomes coming back from injury. And oh well,
no Chad, and he's gonna keep the jop know you're
talking about. Hey, brock Purdy has done well enough. Here
go the Niners into the playoffs. Jimmy Garoppolo was okay
this year, he has been okay. Why are you gonna
upset the apple cart and put a guy in that's
gonna need time to get back, to get his timing back,
(05:45):
to get everything back. Because if you're in the playoffs,
it means you're playing well and you're playing well enough,
and brock Purdy is playing well enough. So yeah, it's
great news that Garoppolo can make it back. And if
he makes it back as a backup, great, But he's
not gonna be starting. He's not gonna come back and
art for the forty Niners because I'll come back too
late for it to make a difference where you're not
going to change your quarterback at that point, I'm telling you,
(06:06):
Brock Party starting quarterback in the NFC Championship game for
the forty Niners. I just find it interesting that you
feel compelled to say, you know what, he could be
back in seven weeks and be a difference maker in
the playoffs. Like, yes, with this injury, he's gonna be
able to be back working out how soon? Right, we're
talking about recovery and then ramp up to get back
(06:27):
on a field to play. That seems very aggressive. I
don't pretend to play the doctor on the show, but
every now and again there there's something that just doesn't
feel right about the announcement other than yeah, well, we'll
just say he avoided the big ones, so you know
he'll be on track to get back. I I don't.
I don't necessarily buy this. Uh. As it were related
(06:49):
to the other pickup we talked about with the Rams
bringing in Baker Mayfield, evidently they were the only team's
team to make a claim on him, you know, neither
the forty Niners nor any other squad did, which is
kind of curious in and of itself in terms of
the last lifeline of Baker Mayfield. But for Jimmy Garoppolo
playing well and now than obviously given his history with
(07:12):
Kyle Shanahan and the success they've had. I I would
understand maybe an inkling if Purdy's just getting by to say,
all right, we flipped the switch back. But from what
we saw at least in week one of the Purty experiment,
he he looked a lot like Jimmy Garoppolo in terms
(07:34):
of his production and the way he progressed through reads
and everything else that you know. It's it's not to
use the old system quarterback, uh, platitudes that folks love
to to draw on, but it looks like a guy
that's learned how to work. Shanahan's often as offense. And
as you said, there there are so many stars that
(07:56):
are there. So long as they're healthy. You're always going
to have an out let, so long as the offensive
line can keep you upright. Yeah, it's it's it's not
a case of, hey, anybody who can play for the
forty Niners will be great. That's not what I'm saying.
What I'm saying is anybody who plays for the forty
Niners will be good enough because of the talent they have.
(08:17):
I don't expect Brock Purtty to come in and throw
four touchdowns a game. That's not what Garoppolo was doing.
I expected to come in and be and be a
little bit better than Cooper Rush. Right, Cooper Rush was
good for the Cowboys. He came in, he was able
to win games. He steadied the ship. The Cowboys saw, hey,
we have a little bit different philosophy and strategy that
we can exit with Cooper Rush. So yeah, okay, I
(08:39):
expect pretty to be a little bit better than that.
Because Rush was putting one touchdown a week on the board.
Maybe right, so, but but but it doesn't matter. He
was still succeeding. But the Niners, because they have so
much talent, you're gonna you should back into two touchdown
passes a week, right, You should be able to back
into two hundred and fifty yards passing a week because
of what you have going on. As long as you
(08:59):
can go for your progressions and say, okay, it's not
debo on this play, it's not Auk, it's Kindle, this
is Ayuke, this is Deebo, this debo, this is debo.
It's debo. It's debo. It's debo. Because we have debo
and fantasy it's debo. It's deo. I mean, that's kind
of how it needs to be. You should be able
to back into that. And and the Niners aren't going
to start winning games. Every week's gonna be thirty eight
to ten look at this, No, but every week of
the forty Niners should be four ten, twenty four to thirteen,
(09:22):
twenty four to seven because the defense is that good
and the offense is gonna put enough points out there.
That's what I expect from brock Perty and not you
expect from anybody who plays quarterback. Forty. Yeah, I think
that's just it. You've got an offense that that has
shown that it works. And and it's funny when you
see the graphics of the success of Garoppolo and the
Winds losses. And that's the one on a sailable part
(09:47):
of the Jimmy Garoppolo experiment, because I know there's still
folks as he goes down just gonna he was just
a guy anyway, said no, no, no, you might not
love the style of play. He's not a guy that's
going to wing the ball around for three fifty and
four and carry you through. But that's not what that
team is designed to be. Right. It's why when there's
(10:08):
a criticism of what Lamar Jackson Cannon can't do in Baltimore, Well,
that's not the way it was designed. It was supposed
to be a running team to play defense, and neither
of those things have been able to happen. Ergo, it
all starts to fall apart when the only runner is
Lamar Jackson. He got him, and you got Mark Andrews,
and you got a bunch of guys, right, and and look,
(10:30):
what is it? What does it tell you that they
didn't even put a claim in on Baker Mayfield, didn't
even put a claim in on the guy, thinking, hey,
who what we have is okay, we don't worry about
another guy coming in learning the playbook for a month?
And then no, no, no, no, no, no, no, when
the night when when when the Niners got Jimmy Garoppolo,
he didn't play for like five weeks. Was where we're
(10:51):
gonna sit him for a while. What are you doing?
No play? And they played in the last five games
in this first season, and people thought, oh, he's gonna
be a superstar. So they didn't even put in for
Baker Bayfield're gonna be fine with Brock pretty fine with
them what he didn't put in for Baker because they
know Jimmy's coming back for the playoffs? Well do they
know it or is he? Of course they can do it.
He could not the beauty. They trolled the rams too.
(11:11):
Of course they knew it. But if but you could
easily have cut Baker Mayfield if you wanted to, you
could bring him back. Jimmy's back. Okay, thanks Baker, thanks
for everything. We appreciate it. We're giving you a shot here.
If they thought Baker Mayfield was any good, if they
thought he could help them, they would have signed him.
Jimmy was coming back in the playoffs. But you're not.
You're not. You're not sure. You think he could come back,
(11:31):
but you have no idea and you need and you
think don't really telling you what they know. And if
you thought you needed somebody in the next six weeks,
seven weeks, they would have gotten somebody. I'll just sign Mike, dude,
Are you kidding? Mike? Mike White? A year after this,
the Mike White contract Mike Harmon, Oh my god, he's
(11:52):
gonna forget about the money. Next man up making money. Nope,
Mike White, think about that. Think about the money Mike
White's gonna make enjoy it and outstand midnight. We could
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slash redem rewards terms they do apply. Big goings on
in the NBA. Joining us now on the hotline, no
one better. The longtime NBA insider you can follow on
(13:39):
Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina insider for the NBA
dot Com, former NBA writer for USA Today, Warriors, Lakers,
and a guy who told me today he has Anthony
Davis number one on his m v P ballot and
no other names. His is the only name on it.
What's happening? Mark? Hey, I gotta, I gotta the fake news.
(14:01):
I have a D you know six on the ballot here, Oh,
I think we jinx it though I was saying, hey,
I'll be I'll be ready, just like has been lately,
and uh, clearly only one of us has held up
to that bargain. Well, Frostburg just said, it's your last
appearance on the show now that you have a D six. Yeah,
decency biases need to really come to the top mark.
(14:22):
So I really needed to just jump past everybody for
two weeks of play. You're right, You're right, I should
give I'll give better hot ticks here. All right, well,
here here's the first hot take. Because this is a
big question we raised on the show the other night.
I was excited to talk to you about it here. Now, obviously,
we watched the Lakers. I'll lose tonight to the Cavaliers
one sixteen one O two. Don and Mitchell had a
big game. He had forty three. Anthony Davis left after
(14:45):
some flu like symptoms early, but his play the last
few weeks has been maybe the best stretch of play
he's had in his career, showing that yes, I do
have this level of play. What happened because this was
a this was a switch getting fla for him between
a game against Sacramento and a game against the Nets.
What happened to suddenly turn Anthony Davis from Hey, yeah,
(15:07):
I'm out here on my athletic ability, scoring twenty three
twenty four a night, pulling down seven eight rebounds to hey,
now I'm thirty five and fifteen every night with blocks
and wins and I got the team on my shoulders.
What happened to Anthony Davis? Yeah? I think it's two things. One,
he's been a lot healthier, um, not just from compared
to last season. Even this season he would get some
nicks and knack and you think, oh, this is the
(15:28):
latest injury. So far lately he's been good on that front.
But uh, the second part is he's taken ownership. Once
Lebron James was out for five games with his injury,
Clearly Anthony Davis had no choice but to be the guy.
And that's something that you know, maybe to his credit,
he would be a team player in defer to Lebron,
but to his detriment, he wasn't having enough of that
(15:51):
aggressiveness switched to, you know, relieve some of the pressure
on Lebron. But with that, with Lebron out. He knew, Hey,
only him can fill some sort of void, so he
did that, and then once Lebron James came back, he
still maintained that same level of energy, even though inevitably
the shot attempts that the touches themselves would go down. Um,
(16:13):
it was all about a d s mindset being aggressive
and also the Lakers being all about let's make him
the number one option. There would be times earlier in
the season where Anthony Davis in the first half would
look like the A D and the bubble uh during
the championship year, and then the second half they all
of a sudden wouldn't go to him and he would
(16:33):
look like a shell of himself. And a lot of
times that was a really good chicken and egg argument
of E d not being aggressive enough, therefore leading to
the Lakers not featuring him, and then the Lakers not
featuring him resulting A Dy not being aggressive enough. So
clearly they've been able to check those boxes. But I think,
as illustrated with this loss against Cleveland, you never know
(16:56):
how long a D can be durable, and the Lakers
have as much as they turned a corner, they also
were benefiting a playing not so good teams and now
they ran to an Eastern Conference powerhouse against Cleveland, So
they still have a lot of work to do. Yeah.
So if you're Rob Bolink, are you looking at this
as an opportunity to perhaps create a spinoff uh and
(17:17):
and get back on the phones with folks to restart
the process of what the next generation of this squad
is without a doubt. Look, you always want to sell
when the stocks are high, and you know a lot
of times the Lakers stocks weren't high. So um. I
think that the calendar also can do a part in this.
Right December, mark that date down that is when the
(17:40):
free agents that signed with teams last summer are eligible
to be traded. What does that mean for the Lakers?
How about a guy like Patrick Beverley. They got him
in a deal last year, um, and he hasn't really
held up his end of the bargain, but he could
be a good trade chip for a playoff team that needs,
you know, one of those pest he guys that gets
(18:00):
under the superstar skin on the other team. So with that,
it's it's not like it's a dramatic market shift, but
I think with the improved play with the Lakers and
with Russ and with Patrick Beverley now being a trade candidate,
that could lead to some more market activity. But another
day to keep in mind is February nine. That's the
(18:22):
trade deadline, and inevitably that's when most of the action
takes place. So be interesting to see what the Lakers
can get on the market and ultimately what they value
and where they draw the line of their willingness or
unwillingness to part away with those draft picks. See I
have that is the day you take over for Darvin
hamm as Lakers head to February. Nice. Here, here's the thing.
(18:44):
If I forgot to, you know, give props to Darvin Ham,
if I took that head job that turned out last summer,
they would have been losing every single game here and
we would have talked about eighties or surgeons. Darvin Ham
and his motivational speeches. Alright, let's stay stay in the West.
The Golden State Warriors, James Wiseman is going to get
the call up? Is that gonna help them win a
(19:06):
road game every now and again? I mean, what do
you do to save this rotation and turn things to
the proper way? Yeah, I think it's too early to say.
I think the the interesting thing about James Wiseman is
no doubt ideally, you know, someone of his caliber, number
two pick is playing in NBA games as opposed to
the G League. But I think it was also a
(19:27):
product of the fact that, you know, he hasn't played
a lot of games because of different injuries, and he
just needs to play basketball for extended period of time.
So you do look at it as hey, on one hand,
he hasn't developed quite enough UH for them for him
to be in the rotation, but it's also product of, Hey,
he just needs more reps and that's not realistic in
(19:49):
an actual NBA game. I think the Warriors have turned
a corner lately. You know, whether that means that they're
going to be what they were last season is a stretch.
But compared to the beginning of the season, they've clearly
made a lot of progress. But you know, I wouldn't
say similar to the Lakers because their identity is different,
but as far as you know them having different struggles,
(20:12):
that's still going to happen. Allah. The Indiana Pacers lost
recently without Andrew Wiggans, so I think that the road
record is going to improve. But I don't think it's
gonna have to do with James Wiseman. It's going to
go back to the common characters with Steph Curry, Draymond Green,
Clay Thompson, and now Jordan Poole. Alright, Mark, we're sitting
(20:32):
here now, we're getting to the third pole of the season.
We're getting about a third way through the season. If
I had to say to you, fill in the blank,
the team to beat in the East is blank, and
the team to beat in the West is blank. Who
are you giving me? Yeah, interesting question. I think in
the Eastern Conference, it's all about the Boston Celtics. Uh,
you know, they're twenty and five, they're only two games
(20:53):
over the Bucks. But it just seems like they've really
picked up right where they left off, even though they
have a different coach on the sidelines. But that's a
testament to Jason Tatum around in a corner with his
game and adding more elements to his game. He's a
lot healthier, he had time to, uh, you know, train
this offseason, be a lot more aggressive at the room.
(21:14):
You attached that as well to guys like Jalen Brown
and Marcus Smart, Uh, so I give them the nod
that they're the team to be in the East and
that there's a lot of separation between them and everyone
else as far as the Western Conference is concerned, that
there doesn't seem to be a clear contender. I mean
from a standing standpoint, yeah, Phoenix and New Orleans are leading,
(21:37):
but it just seems like there's a lot of jumbleness
where you know, one through ten, there's really not a
lot of separation. I mean, the Warriors are tenth right now,
they're three and a half games back for the first
spot in the West. But I think on paper right now, uh,
Phoenix has still been an amazing team because they have
(21:59):
the famili your elements that got them to the finals
in or one excuse me um with with Devin Booker
and DeAndre and even though Chris Paul has been out
for extended period of time, everything else has really clicked
on all cylinders where you look at the rest of
the teams, you know, New Orleans and Memphis have risen
(22:21):
new you know, Denver is still a force, and then
there's been teams that have underachieved because of injuries, like
the Clippers, and then you know, like the Trailblazers with
being really good and then not so good when Damian
Lillard has been out, Sacramento being a feel good story.
So with here, with all this jumble oldness and these
teams I'm listening off, there's a lot of competitiveness and parody,
(22:43):
but there's not a lot of dominance. So it will
be interesting to see if there's, you know, ultimately a
team that rises that crop there Western Conference jumbled. It
is fun to see the Pelicans and Grizzlies there, particularly
when you got John Morant making headlines for getting thrown
out of the game, you know at an official uh
and the fact that Zion Williamson is actually playing. Yeah,
(23:04):
what's offering to the Jazz? I mean, I thought that
there are going to be like bottom of the standings,
trying to get Victor Webman Yama next season. But they've
been competitive now. They were first before and they've dropped
to eighth. But they have a really good nuquist and
I know, talking to the guys when they're in l
A a few weeks ago, like there's very much an
inner confident that this is sustainable because you know, guys
(23:27):
like Mike Connolly and Jordan Clarks and are serviceable players.
Lorie Marketing's turn to Corn is already an All Star consideration.
So while I do expect that Danny Ainge is going
to be that guy that you know has already made calls,
but it's gonna, you know, multiply that by who knows
what December fifteen, leading into the trade deadline. Um, there
(23:48):
is a lot of optimism that even though it's inevitable
they're going to make moves, that they can still hold
the fort down until roster changes are made, that they're
still a viable playoff to him. All right, Mark Lastie,
let me ask you this, because I feel like NBA
players and teams they just want awards. They want more
things they can win. They want they want to, they
(24:09):
want to they want to feel like, Hey, I'm really
the m v P, I'm the second six man. Uh.
The Maury's potal Off Trophy was added earlier today. Uh
to the NBA team with the best regular season record
is now going to get a trophy named for the
first commissioner of the NBA. No, is this gonna be
one of those trophies that we don't pay attention to,
(24:29):
or this gonna be Hey, we got the total off trophy,
and guys gonna be sprating champagne over each other, said
after they win it. Yeah, I think. You know, if
there's a team that has an amazing turnaround story, like
say the Sacramento Kings, if they get that, I think
that they would embrace it because they've been trying to
break a streak that's much more important of not making
(24:50):
the playoffs since two thousand six. But I think in
normal circumstances, um, it's gonna be even less than wild
teams react when they get a vision banner right like,
it's going to be an eye roll and a shrug.
I think, really, if they want to create more incentive,
let's go for the best record. You know, you already
have home court advantage for higher seeds in the playoffs.
(25:14):
You know. I was talking to someone just now with
the team that said, hey, what if you add even
another home game in a playoff series where it's not
you know, uh in a in a playoff series where
it's four and three, but you added even more so
that there's a two games separation. Maybe that does the
trick here. But just this trophy for a team that's
(25:35):
already in championship contention. Um, I think it'll be met
with the same indefferences when a superstar player gets like
an Eastern Western Conference Player of the Week award, like
they'll quickly forget about it. Can you go in retroactively
trying to hand some piece of hardware to the Warriors
for I'm sure you know, maybe they could do something,
(25:59):
but they would probably just throw in the trash gun.
I remember when Kobe Bryant was uh, you know, back
in the day, was asked by a reporter like, oh,
what did it mean to you that you were named
Western Conference Player of the Week, And he was like,
are you serious? Like I don't care. And someone asked like,
do you ever get anything for these awards? He's like never,
like not even a piece of paper. And I don't
think he was clamoring for it either. Yeah, legitimately, if
(26:22):
you at least got a check out of the deal,
then maybe there's something doing. But you know, here's a
metal Yeah, you know, financial incentive has never hurt. But
even then, I think the end of the day, it's
it's always going to be about what's going to help
them win a championship, and having the best record doesn't
always guarantee that Like a lot of times when I've
(26:45):
talked to two UH coaches around the league about when
you weigh all the things that you know determine a
championship run, like where do you wast home court advantage?
And a lot of times that was always listed a
distant third behind health and talent. So with that, you
know goes where this all man's that it's really not
(27:08):
worth that much. He's NBA insider Mark Medinia can farm
on Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina. NBA dot com
is where he lives and be in tune coming up
later on. I believe it's gonna be in January. I'm
kind of letting the cat out of the bag here,
but there will be the Mark Medina Award in the
NBA for the for the person who least likely should
(27:30):
be a head coach in the league, And that award
is gonna go h And that's gonna be award at
the end of this year, and it is an award
people will care about who shouldn't get a gig the most.
That's the Mark Medina Award winner. Right Hey, taking easy money.
We'll talk to you next week. Awesome stuff from Mark Medina. Look,
(27:52):
I mean, you know that the thing is that the
pot Off Trophy was the m v P Trophy. Still,
maybe they're gonna rename the m v P Trophy. Maybe
it'll be the Kobe Trophy. Me something like that could
be coming to the NBA. But I mean, you know what,
what is he here's a trophy for for winning coming
in first place? I mean do we think do we
get a couple of ping pong balls in the draft
(28:13):
lottery for giggles? Like, I mean, what's the incentive? See,
I what do I get? That's the thing. Just think
about this for a second, right, is that the potal
Off Trophy was the m v P Trophy? Right when
when when Yokich won the last two years, Um, you know,
he won the potal Off Trophy and he gets sulky
and rode around with his horse. Yeah, I wonder just
(28:34):
think about this. Could the NBA be renaming the m
v P Trophy for Kobe Bryant? Right? Think about that?
And then and they didn't want to just not you know,
and to do nothing for potal Off because it's been
a trophy for a while. The guy's the first commission
the NBA. So It's like, let's invent something that we
can make the potal Off Trophy. Have the team with
(28:56):
the best record done, you get the potal Off Trophy
and the Kobe Trophy becomes the m v P Trophy.
If that's what they're gonna do in the NBA, awesome,
I am all for that. That would be fantastic. That's
a pretty good strategy there. You can be the insider
and head of marketing and reorganization for the NBA. Do
you know who will never be touching the puddle Off Trophy.
(29:21):
Let's see best record in the East. Yeah, it's probably
not gonna happen. That's probably not gonna happen. It just
got it funny that, you know he was lying in
wait for that the entire time. I can see him
leaning up towards his microphone like, come on you, yeah,
but that's okay. Literally just came to mind Frostberg is
already never gonna call Mark mcdeen again because of what
he said about a d the Celtics of the team
to beat in conference. Oh no, no, that's put on
(29:43):
a side. Do you have a five six? Now? He
said six guys are making it worse to have him
in this top five. I mean that doesn't even go
on the first graphic. That's on the second one. This know,
when he's saying six, it's like you didn't watch basketball
(30:04):
the last two weeks? Hey, what are we doing? And
he definitely knows his basketball, but that one, I don't
know that. It's the Mark Medin Award for guests who
are no longer on the show. Hey, we used to
have a list of us. So you guys are saying,
he's going on the whiteboard or what boy? Oh, well,
we have we have. We haven't put somebody that we're
never gonna call again on our white board. Then it's
(30:25):
about time we do. So we'll take up We'll take
up ball when we come back. Yeah, I've got some
fresh dry erase markers. Let's go. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike harmon
weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio. Fox Sports Radio.
It is The Jason Smith Show with my best friend
(30:47):
Mike Harman. I hate that song A love from the
tire rack dot Com Studios. What is it like Industry Tuesday?
I think so specials of the clubs, music is going
and Jake and Lwood at your celebrity bartenders. The Odell
Beckham victory tour as well, not piling up many victories.
(31:08):
When Beckham decided to give us his quote finalists, and
they were the Cowboys, the Bills, and the Giants. Right,
he's gonna visit all these teams and make a decision.
What did we tell you a couple of weeks ago. Um,
he's not gonna work out for teams. What kind of
difference is he really gonna make? Is he really recovered
(31:30):
from his A c L surgery. He's not been with
a team, He's not been rehabbing around a team. We
have no idea where he is. Is he gonna be
able to jump right in and play at a high level,
or is he gonna take some time he's It looks
like he's just trying to get somewhere with a team
where he wants to be, where he can sign a
contract and get paid. And the Cowboys were a team
(31:51):
that says we don't care. We don't care why, we
don't care if you fall to sleep on a plane,
we don't care. We want Odell O'Dell is our guy.
Mike McCarthy said, no, we're going after Odell. Looks like
they set Odell up to be their savior even though
they're nine and three. Odell's coming, O'Dell's coming well after
today and after getting the talk to him Jerry Jonason
(32:13):
on one oh five three the Fan, maybe things are
a little bit different than they were before. Jerry, have
you ever signed a player in an instance like this,
a player coming off an injury that you didn't see
work out? Oh? Yes, I sure have. The classic for
me is really Alonzo haigh Smith. And uh, Alonzo Highsmith
(32:35):
was so high they thought of, particularly by our young
coaching staff, and I had still have them. I had
three letters handed to me by three different doctors that said, Jerry,
this is bone on bone, he can't play. This won't work.
And uh, I went ahead and signed him and we
made that trade and he never touched the field. And
(32:57):
then then I watched Alonzo which was and Zell's character
and training day and uh, you know, but that was
that was some kind of performance and that's uh that
was good too. What was sorry? What was the question? Uh?
You could tell right there by Jerry Jones that Odell
Beckham Jr. May not work out. According to ESPNS ed Warder,
(33:19):
the Cowboys have not been impressed enough to ensure that
he's going to play before the middle of January. And
it's possible that if you signed Beckham now, he wouldn't
have any benefit until the three season. The Cowboys now
have a bit of a red flag. The guy wasn't
gonna work out. What did you think was gonna happen?
If he's not gonna work out, guys have not worked
(33:41):
out before. I get it. But you're coming off a
big injury. No one's seen you do you're gonna work out?
I'm not gonna work out. How do you think he's ready?
We told you he wasn't good. I can be an
NFL insider. Two weeks ago when it came out, O'Dell
is not gonna work out on his tour. How healthy
is he? Stay away? Odell is still dinged up and
he's not ready to play. I could have put that
out there. I have sources a lot of people that said, oh,
(34:02):
Jason really knows, but I said it without sources up.
But who turned out to be right? Odell beck He's
not gonna be healthy. And now the Cowboys got to
backtrack it because they had it as Hey, whatever problems
we have Odell is gonna solve, and now it's oh,
maybe we're not gonna have Odell. Way to go. Jerry Jones,
nice job well putting this out here. Though I heard
this this bite earlier and just kind of did that.
(34:26):
I don't know that that's good for business. Uh, certainly
not not good for Odell Beck and Junior's business and
for the cowboys. Well, it's into Jerry being Jerry once again.
But never never believed for a second that it was
all right, instant impact. Forget about the locker room guy.
Guys recognized, Hey, folks want to come in and take
my reps, you're gonna have to come in and beat
(34:48):
me for reps. Uh. And they just got Gallop back.
They're looking to get James Washington back. It was gonna
be a crowded receiving room anyway. But the fact that
Jerry went public with this and then starts to go
down the yeah, you know, let's talk about Highsmith and
all his stuff is like wow, man, just just that
that's one that putting into the memoir, you know, in
(35:10):
in the papers for later on. You shouldn't be talking
about it's out of school on these telling you, I
told you, we told you Odell was not look Odell
doesn't look like he's gonna be ready. I We'll have
more on this story, plus another big story out of
Major League Baseball with Aaron Judge next on Fox
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
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you're listening to Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio The
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(00:45):
irac dot com The way tire buying should be. Uh
so yes, big baseball headline. In the last half hour,
the Philadelphia Phillies continue to say, let's go get former Mets.
Maybe that's how we're gonna win. Uh They at Taiwan
Walker for four years and seventy two million dollars, so
now they give Trade Turner all that money. They give
(01:07):
Taiwan Walker all that money. The Phillies have decided, Hey,
you know what, eighty nine wins any we want more
than eighty nine wins the next couple of years. What
about when you get three years out and all those
deals are coming true and trade turners thirty three years
old and you two llion dollars worry about about tomorrow
another day, worry about that another day. That's fine, damn right.
(01:28):
Twenty nine starts last year for Walker thirty appearances the
year before, as opposed to the hundred two million dollars. That, uh,
you gave your closure, So that's okay, And they're looking
to go back to the World Series. Well this is
the thing, this is the thing. Dam it. Yeah, there's
(01:51):
nothing I can say. It really kind of just chopped
you down there. Look, I'm just glad it didn't they
didn't win it. It worked out fine that I wasn't
I was rooting. I was not rooting for the Phillies
to win the World Series. I couldn't. I wasn't rooting
for the Astros, but I was rooting against the Phillies
to win. I was rooting against fix. I couldn't see
them win, couldn't see in the team. I'm fine. I
(02:13):
could be okay rooting against a team than not rooting
for the team. They're playing against like somebody's gonna win,
somebody's gonna lose. That goes can how it goes No,
kay Upton's gonna wind up doing that at Mets games.
It's gonna be absolutely fine. She should be wearing these
big rhind stone Mets outfits, hitting the trash can, letting
everybody know what the pitch is gonna be. We are
(02:35):
gonna you have any idea how well the Mets are
gonna hit next year, knowing what pitches are coming, it's
gonna be so great. You you thought Peter Lonzo was
great in fifty home runs out He's gonna hit like
ninety home runs next year and they still wouldn't. Dude,
you talk about the Mets like we didn't win a
hundred games last year games we won a hundred games,
(02:56):
we won one. We won a hundred games, Yes we did.
Don't lie to people, don't lie to people, don't don't look,
don't lie, don't lie. I hate to say, but the
Mets didn't win a dred games. The Mets one games.
I don't where you want to bet, Let's bet what
do you want to bet? They do anything in? What
do you want to bet? Avoid a d let's bet. Uh.
(03:17):
So we talked about Baker Mayfield last hour on the show,
and and now that he's a member of the Rams,
and Rams looking at their long term quarterback future and
they signed him specifically, maybe he can be our quarterback
of the future. Not definitely, but maybe. Now for the
forty Niners, the biggest story in the NFL this week
the injury of Jimmy Garoppolo. Well, they got some good
(03:38):
news today and that he avoided a Liz Frank injury,
but did get a Lawrence Frank injury. Now, he avoided
a Liz Frank injury and he could be back if
they make a run to the playoffs. He could be
back in seven ish weeks or so. Okay, first, let
me tell you I'm doubling down. Brock Party will be
(03:59):
a starting coter back in the NFC Championship game. Right.
The Niners are quarterback proof. It doesn't matter, not that
not that it's a case of that Jimmy Garoppolo was
really bad, but the Niners are so loaded everywhere. All
you have to do is just get the ball to
the playmakers. Just get the Baldon McCaffrey, get it to Debo,
get it to Brandon, I you get it to Kittle.
(04:20):
The Niners have the best running back, top two wide receiver,
number one tight end combo in the league. There's nobody
more talented at those five positions or those four positions
in the forty Niners are number one running back, number
one tight end, top two wide receivers. Niners are the best.
They have at worst, the second best defense in the NFL.
(04:41):
Right as many good def look, I love the Jets defense.
Patriots defense is really good. Broncos and forty Niners, right,
those are the two best defenses you're talking about. These teams.
They are quarterback proof. Brock party is gonna be playing
in the NFC Championship Game because they're going to continue
to win because they're just this good. As they continue
to Gell Now, it's gonna be a little bit easier
(05:01):
knowing that, Okay, we don't have to get Garoppolo in
his mind. It's gonna be easier for them going on
knowing Brock Purti is our quarterback. And let's be honest,
if the Niners have this run to the playoffs, Mike
and they're in the plants and you're in a round
or two in the playoffs and Jimmy Garoppolo suddenly is healthy.
Are you really taking brock Purdy out to go back
to Jimmy Garoppolo? Of course thought, this is not Aaron
(05:23):
Rodgers coming back from injury. This, this is not this
is not Patrick Mahomes coming back from injury. And oh well,
no Chad, and he's gonna keep the jop know you're
talking about. Hey, brock Purdy has done well enough. Here
go the Niners into the playoffs. Jimmy Garoppolo was okay
this year, he has been okay. Why are you gonna
upset the apple cart and put a guy in that's
gonna need time to get back, to get his timing back,
(05:45):
to get everything back. Because if you're in the playoffs,
it means you're playing well and you're playing well enough,
and brock Purdy is playing well enough. So yeah, it's
great news that Garoppolo can make it back. And if
he makes it back as a backup, great, But he's
not gonna be starting. He's not gonna come back and
art for the forty Niners because I'll come back too
late for it to make a difference where you're not
going to change your quarterback at that point, I'm telling you,
(06:06):
Brock Party starting quarterback in the NFC Championship game for
the forty Niners. I just find it interesting that you
feel compelled to say, you know what, he could be
back in seven weeks and be a difference maker in
the playoffs. Like, yes, with this injury, he's gonna be
able to be back working out how soon? Right, we're
talking about recovery and then ramp up to get back
(06:27):
on a field to play. That seems very aggressive. I
don't pretend to play the doctor on the show, but
every now and again there there's something that just doesn't
feel right about the announcement other than yeah, well, we'll
just say he avoided the big ones, so you know
he'll be on track to get back. I I don't.
I don't necessarily buy this. Uh. As it were related
(06:49):
to the other pickup we talked about with the Rams
bringing in Baker Mayfield, evidently they were the only team's
team to make a claim on him, you know, neither
the forty Niners nor any other squad did, which is
kind of curious in and of itself in terms of
the last lifeline of Baker Mayfield. But for Jimmy Garoppolo
playing well and now than obviously given his history with
(07:12):
Kyle Shanahan and the success they've had. I I would
understand maybe an inkling if Purdy's just getting by to say,
all right, we flipped the switch back. But from what
we saw at least in week one of the Purty experiment,
he he looked a lot like Jimmy Garoppolo in terms
(07:34):
of his production and the way he progressed through reads
and everything else that you know. It's it's not to
use the old system quarterback, uh, platitudes that folks love
to to draw on, but it looks like a guy
that's learned how to work. Shanahan's often as offense. And
as you said, there there are so many stars that
(07:56):
are there. So long as they're healthy. You're always going
to have an out let, so long as the offensive
line can keep you upright. Yeah, it's it's it's not
a case of, hey, anybody who can play for the
forty Niners will be great. That's not what I'm saying.
What I'm saying is anybody who plays for the forty
Niners will be good enough because of the talent they have.
(08:17):
I don't expect Brock Purtty to come in and throw
four touchdowns a game. That's not what Garoppolo was doing.
I expected to come in and be and be a
little bit better than Cooper Rush. Right, Cooper Rush was
good for the Cowboys. He came in, he was able
to win games. He steadied the ship. The Cowboys saw, hey,
we have a little bit different philosophy and strategy that
we can exit with Cooper Rush. So yeah, okay, I
(08:39):
expect pretty to be a little bit better than that.
Because Rush was putting one touchdown a week on the board.
Maybe right, so, but but but it doesn't matter. He
was still succeeding. But the Niners, because they have so
much talent, you're gonna you should back into two touchdown
passes a week, right, You should be able to back
into two hundred and fifty yards passing a week because
of what you have going on. As long as you
(08:59):
can go for your progressions and say, okay, it's not
debo on this play, it's not Auk, it's Kindle, this
is Ayuke, this is Deebo, this debo, this is debo.
It's debo. It's debo. It's debo. Because we have debo
and fantasy it's debo. It's deo. I mean, that's kind
of how it needs to be. You should be able
to back into that. And and the Niners aren't going
to start winning games. Every week's gonna be thirty eight
to ten look at this, No, but every week of
the forty Niners should be four ten, twenty four to thirteen,
(09:22):
twenty four to seven because the defense is that good
and the offense is gonna put enough points out there.
That's what I expect from brock Perty and not you
expect from anybody who plays quarterback. Forty. Yeah, I think
that's just it. You've got an offense that that has
shown that it works. And and it's funny when you
see the graphics of the success of Garoppolo and the
Winds losses. And that's the one on a sailable part
(09:47):
of the Jimmy Garoppolo experiment, because I know there's still
folks as he goes down just gonna he was just
a guy anyway, said no, no, no, you might not
love the style of play. He's not a guy that's
going to wing the ball around for three fifty and
four and carry you through. But that's not what that
team is designed to be. Right. It's why when there's
(10:08):
a criticism of what Lamar Jackson Cannon can't do in Baltimore, Well,
that's not the way it was designed. It was supposed
to be a running team to play defense, and neither
of those things have been able to happen. Ergo, it
all starts to fall apart when the only runner is
Lamar Jackson. He got him, and you got Mark Andrews,
and you got a bunch of guys, right, and and look,
(10:30):
what is it? What does it tell you that they
didn't even put a claim in on Baker Mayfield, didn't
even put a claim in on the guy, thinking, hey,
who what we have is okay, we don't worry about
another guy coming in learning the playbook for a month?
And then no, no, no, no, no, no, no, when
the night when when when the Niners got Jimmy Garoppolo,
he didn't play for like five weeks. Was where we're
(10:51):
gonna sit him for a while. What are you doing?
No play? And they played in the last five games
in this first season, and people thought, oh, he's gonna
be a superstar. So they didn't even put in for
Baker Bayfield're gonna be fine with Brock pretty fine with
them what he didn't put in for Baker because they
know Jimmy's coming back for the playoffs? Well do they
know it or is he? Of course they can do it.
He could not the beauty. They trolled the rams too.
(11:11):
Of course they knew it. But if but you could
easily have cut Baker Mayfield if you wanted to, you
could bring him back. Jimmy's back. Okay, thanks Baker, thanks
for everything. We appreciate it. We're giving you a shot here.
If they thought Baker Mayfield was any good, if they
thought he could help them, they would have signed him.
Jimmy was coming back in the playoffs. But you're not.
You're not. You're not sure. You think he could come back,
(11:31):
but you have no idea and you need and you
think don't really telling you what they know. And if
you thought you needed somebody in the next six weeks,
seven weeks, they would have gotten somebody. I'll just sign Mike, dude,
Are you kidding? Mike? Mike White? A year after this,
the Mike White contract Mike Harmon, Oh my god, he's
(11:52):
gonna forget about the money. Next man up making money. Nope,
Mike White, think about that. Think about the money Mike
White's gonna make enjoy it and outstand midnight. We could
talk about how complicated other banks make it tour a
deem credit card rewards, or we could talk about how
we discover you can redeem your rewards for cashing any
amount at anytime. I mean talk about amazing learn more
(12:13):
discovered dot com slash redeem rewards. That's discovered dot com
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You can use the I Heart Radio app wherever you
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(12:35):
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this for you every single night. Be sure to catch
(12:56):
live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon
weekdays at n pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific, Fox Sports Radio.
The Jason Smith Show with my best friend Mike Harmon
Live from the tire Act dot Com studios. We could
talk about how complicated other banks make it to redeem
credit card rewards, or we could talk about how with
Discover you can redeem the rewards for cash and any
(13:18):
amount at any time. I mean, talk about amazing. It's
not just the Mets getting Verlander. I'll learn more at
discovered dot com slash redeem Rewards. That's discovered dot com
slash redem rewards terms they do apply. Big goings on
in the NBA. Joining us now on the hotline, no
one better. The longtime NBA insider you can follow on
(13:39):
Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina insider for the NBA
dot Com, former NBA writer for USA Today, Warriors, Lakers,
and a guy who told me today he has Anthony
Davis number one on his m v P ballot and
no other names. His is the only name on it.
What's happening? Mark? Hey, I gotta, I gotta the fake news.
(14:01):
I have a D you know six on the ballot here, Oh,
I think we jinx it though I was saying, hey,
I'll be I'll be ready, just like has been lately,
and uh, clearly only one of us has held up
to that bargain. Well, Frostburg just said, it's your last
appearance on the show now that you have a D six. Yeah,
decency biases need to really come to the top mark.
(14:22):
So I really needed to just jump past everybody for
two weeks of play. You're right, You're right, I should
give I'll give better hot ticks here. All right, well,
here here's the first hot take. Because this is a
big question we raised on the show the other night.
I was excited to talk to you about it here. Now, obviously,
we watched the Lakers. I'll lose tonight to the Cavaliers
one sixteen one O two. Don and Mitchell had a
big game. He had forty three. Anthony Davis left after
(14:45):
some flu like symptoms early, but his play the last
few weeks has been maybe the best stretch of play
he's had in his career, showing that yes, I do
have this level of play. What happened because this was
a this was a switch getting fla for him between
a game against Sacramento and a game against the Nets.
What happened to suddenly turn Anthony Davis from Hey, yeah,
(15:07):
I'm out here on my athletic ability, scoring twenty three
twenty four a night, pulling down seven eight rebounds to hey,
now I'm thirty five and fifteen every night with blocks
and wins and I got the team on my shoulders.
What happened to Anthony Davis? Yeah? I think it's two things. One,
he's been a lot healthier, um, not just from compared
to last season. Even this season he would get some
nicks and knack and you think, oh, this is the
(15:28):
latest injury. So far lately he's been good on that front.
But uh, the second part is he's taken ownership. Once
Lebron James was out for five games with his injury,
Clearly Anthony Davis had no choice but to be the guy.
And that's something that you know, maybe to his credit,
he would be a team player in defer to Lebron,
but to his detriment, he wasn't having enough of that
(15:51):
aggressiveness switched to, you know, relieve some of the pressure
on Lebron. But with that, with Lebron out. He knew, Hey,
only him can fill some sort of void, so he
did that, and then once Lebron James came back, he
still maintained that same level of energy, even though inevitably
the shot attempts that the touches themselves would go down. Um,
(16:13):
it was all about a d s mindset being aggressive
and also the Lakers being all about let's make him
the number one option. There would be times earlier in
the season where Anthony Davis in the first half would
look like the A D and the bubble uh during
the championship year, and then the second half they all
of a sudden wouldn't go to him and he would
(16:33):
look like a shell of himself. And a lot of
times that was a really good chicken and egg argument
of E d not being aggressive enough, therefore leading to
the Lakers not featuring him, and then the Lakers not
featuring him resulting A Dy not being aggressive enough. So
clearly they've been able to check those boxes. But I think,
as illustrated with this loss against Cleveland, you never know
(16:56):
how long a D can be durable, and the Lakers
have as much as they turned a corner, they also
were benefiting a playing not so good teams and now
they ran to an Eastern Conference powerhouse against Cleveland, So
they still have a lot of work to do. Yeah.
So if you're Rob Bolink, are you looking at this
as an opportunity to perhaps create a spinoff uh and
(17:17):
and get back on the phones with folks to restart
the process of what the next generation of this squad
is without a doubt. Look, you always want to sell
when the stocks are high, and you know a lot
of times the Lakers stocks weren't high. So um. I
think that the calendar also can do a part in this.
Right December, mark that date down that is when the
(17:40):
free agents that signed with teams last summer are eligible
to be traded. What does that mean for the Lakers?
How about a guy like Patrick Beverley. They got him
in a deal last year, um, and he hasn't really
held up his end of the bargain, but he could
be a good trade chip for a playoff team that needs,
you know, one of those pest he guys that gets
(18:00):
under the superstar skin on the other team. So with that,
it's it's not like it's a dramatic market shift, but
I think with the improved play with the Lakers and
with Russ and with Patrick Beverley now being a trade candidate,
that could lead to some more market activity. But another
day to keep in mind is February nine. That's the
(18:22):
trade deadline, and inevitably that's when most of the action
takes place. So be interesting to see what the Lakers
can get on the market and ultimately what they value
and where they draw the line of their willingness or
unwillingness to part away with those draft picks. See I
have that is the day you take over for Darvin
hamm as Lakers head to February. Nice. Here, here's the thing.
(18:44):
If I forgot to, you know, give props to Darvin Ham,
if I took that head job that turned out last summer,
they would have been losing every single game here and
we would have talked about eighties or surgeons. Darvin Ham
and his motivational speeches. Alright, let's stay stay in the West.
The Golden State Warriors, James Wiseman is going to get
the call up? Is that gonna help them win a
(19:06):
road game every now and again? I mean, what do
you do to save this rotation and turn things to
the proper way? Yeah, I think it's too early to say.
I think the the interesting thing about James Wiseman is
no doubt ideally, you know, someone of his caliber, number
two pick is playing in NBA games as opposed to
the G League. But I think it was also a
(19:27):
product of the fact that, you know, he hasn't played
a lot of games because of different injuries, and he
just needs to play basketball for extended period of time.
So you do look at it as hey, on one hand,
he hasn't developed quite enough UH for them for him
to be in the rotation, but it's also product of, Hey,
he just needs more reps and that's not realistic in
(19:49):
an actual NBA game. I think the Warriors have turned
a corner lately. You know, whether that means that they're
going to be what they were last season is a stretch.
But compared to the beginning of the season, they've clearly
made a lot of progress. But you know, I wouldn't
say similar to the Lakers because their identity is different,
but as far as you know them having different struggles,
(20:12):
that's still going to happen. Allah. The Indiana Pacers lost
recently without Andrew Wiggans, so I think that the road
record is going to improve. But I don't think it's
gonna have to do with James Wiseman. It's going to
go back to the common characters with Steph Curry, Draymond Green,
Clay Thompson, and now Jordan Poole. Alright, Mark, we're sitting
(20:32):
here now, we're getting to the third pole of the season.
We're getting about a third way through the season. If
I had to say to you, fill in the blank,
the team to beat in the East is blank, and
the team to beat in the West is blank. Who
are you giving me? Yeah, interesting question. I think in
the Eastern Conference, it's all about the Boston Celtics. Uh,
you know, they're twenty and five, they're only two games
(20:53):
over the Bucks. But it just seems like they've really
picked up right where they left off, even though they
have a different coach on the sidelines. But that's a
testament to Jason Tatum around in a corner with his
game and adding more elements to his game. He's a
lot healthier, he had time to, uh, you know, train
this offseason, be a lot more aggressive at the room.
(21:14):
You attached that as well to guys like Jalen Brown
and Marcus Smart, Uh, so I give them the nod
that they're the team to be in the East and
that there's a lot of separation between them and everyone
else as far as the Western Conference is concerned, that
there doesn't seem to be a clear contender. I mean
from a standing standpoint, yeah, Phoenix and New Orleans are leading,
(21:37):
but it just seems like there's a lot of jumbleness
where you know, one through ten, there's really not a
lot of separation. I mean, the Warriors are tenth right now,
they're three and a half games back for the first
spot in the West. But I think on paper right now, uh,
Phoenix has still been an amazing team because they have
(21:59):
the famili your elements that got them to the finals
in or one excuse me um with with Devin Booker
and DeAndre and even though Chris Paul has been out
for extended period of time, everything else has really clicked
on all cylinders where you look at the rest of
the teams, you know, New Orleans and Memphis have risen
(22:21):
new you know, Denver is still a force, and then
there's been teams that have underachieved because of injuries, like
the Clippers, and then you know, like the Trailblazers with
being really good and then not so good when Damian
Lillard has been out, Sacramento being a feel good story.
So with here, with all this jumble oldness and these
teams I'm listening off, there's a lot of competitiveness and parody,
(22:43):
but there's not a lot of dominance. So it will
be interesting to see if there's, you know, ultimately a
team that rises that crop there Western Conference jumbled. It
is fun to see the Pelicans and Grizzlies there, particularly
when you got John Morant making headlines for getting thrown
out of the game, you know at an official uh
and the fact that Zion Williamson is actually playing. Yeah,
(23:04):
what's offering to the Jazz? I mean, I thought that
there are going to be like bottom of the standings,
trying to get Victor Webman Yama next season. But they've
been competitive now. They were first before and they've dropped
to eighth. But they have a really good nuquist and
I know, talking to the guys when they're in l
A a few weeks ago, like there's very much an
inner confident that this is sustainable because you know, guys
(23:27):
like Mike Connolly and Jordan Clarks and are serviceable players.
Lorie Marketing's turn to Corn is already an All Star consideration.
So while I do expect that Danny Ainge is going
to be that guy that you know has already made calls,
but it's gonna, you know, multiply that by who knows
what December fifteen, leading into the trade deadline. Um, there
(23:48):
is a lot of optimism that even though it's inevitable
they're going to make moves, that they can still hold
the fort down until roster changes are made, that they're
still a viable playoff to him. All right, Mark Lastie,
let me ask you this, because I feel like NBA
players and teams they just want awards. They want more
things they can win. They want they want to, they
(24:09):
want to they want to feel like, Hey, I'm really
the m v P, I'm the second six man. Uh.
The Maury's potal Off Trophy was added earlier today. Uh
to the NBA team with the best regular season record
is now going to get a trophy named for the
first commissioner of the NBA. No, is this gonna be
one of those trophies that we don't pay attention to,
(24:29):
or this gonna be Hey, we got the total off trophy,
and guys gonna be sprating champagne over each other, said
after they win it. Yeah, I think. You know, if
there's a team that has an amazing turnaround story, like
say the Sacramento Kings, if they get that, I think
that they would embrace it because they've been trying to
break a streak that's much more important of not making
(24:50):
the playoffs since two thousand six. But I think in
normal circumstances, um, it's gonna be even less than wild
teams react when they get a vision banner right like,
it's going to be an eye roll and a shrug.
I think, really, if they want to create more incentive,
let's go for the best record. You know, you already
have home court advantage for higher seeds in the playoffs.
(25:14):
You know. I was talking to someone just now with
the team that said, hey, what if you add even
another home game in a playoff series where it's not
you know, uh in a in a playoff series where
it's four and three, but you added even more so
that there's a two games separation. Maybe that does the
trick here. But just this trophy for a team that's
(25:35):
already in championship contention. Um, I think it'll be met
with the same indefferences when a superstar player gets like
an Eastern Western Conference Player of the Week award, like
they'll quickly forget about it. Can you go in retroactively
trying to hand some piece of hardware to the Warriors
for I'm sure you know, maybe they could do something,
(25:59):
but they would probably just throw in the trash gun.
I remember when Kobe Bryant was uh, you know, back
in the day, was asked by a reporter like, oh,
what did it mean to you that you were named
Western Conference Player of the Week, And he was like,
are you serious? Like I don't care. And someone asked like,
do you ever get anything for these awards? He's like never,
like not even a piece of paper. And I don't
think he was clamoring for it either. Yeah, legitimately, if
(26:22):
you at least got a check out of the deal,
then maybe there's something doing. But you know, here's a
metal Yeah, you know, financial incentive has never hurt. But
even then, I think the end of the day, it's
it's always going to be about what's going to help
them win a championship, and having the best record doesn't
always guarantee that Like a lot of times when I've
(26:45):
talked to two UH coaches around the league about when
you weigh all the things that you know determine a
championship run, like where do you wast home court advantage?
And a lot of times that was always listed a
distant third behind health and talent. So with that, you
know goes where this all man's that it's really not
(27:08):
worth that much. He's NBA insider Mark Medinia can farm
on Twitter at Mark g Underscore Medina. NBA dot com
is where he lives and be in tune coming up
later on. I believe it's gonna be in January. I'm
kind of letting the cat out of the bag here,
but there will be the Mark Medina Award in the
NBA for the for the person who least likely should
(27:30):
be a head coach in the league, And that award
is gonna go h And that's gonna be award at
the end of this year, and it is an award
people will care about who shouldn't get a gig the most.
That's the Mark Medina Award winner. Right Hey, taking easy money.
We'll talk to you next week. Awesome stuff from Mark Medina. Look,
(27:52):
I mean, you know that the thing is that the
pot Off Trophy was the m v P Trophy. Still,
maybe they're gonna rename the m v P Trophy. Maybe
it'll be the Kobe Trophy. Me something like that could
be coming to the NBA. But I mean, you know what,
what is he here's a trophy for for winning coming
in first place? I mean do we think do we
get a couple of ping pong balls in the draft
(28:13):
lottery for giggles? Like, I mean, what's the incentive? See,
I what do I get? That's the thing. Just think
about this for a second, right, is that the potal
Off Trophy was the m v P Trophy? Right when
when when Yokich won the last two years, Um, you know,
he won the potal Off Trophy and he gets sulky
and rode around with his horse. Yeah, I wonder just
(28:34):
think about this. Could the NBA be renaming the m
v P Trophy for Kobe Bryant? Right? Think about that?
And then and they didn't want to just not you know,
and to do nothing for potal Off because it's been
a trophy for a while. The guy's the first commission
the NBA. So It's like, let's invent something that we
can make the potal Off Trophy. Have the team with
(28:56):
the best record done, you get the potal Off Trophy
and the Kobe Trophy becomes the m v P Trophy.
If that's what they're gonna do in the NBA, awesome,
I am all for that. That would be fantastic. That's
a pretty good strategy there. You can be the insider
and head of marketing and reorganization for the NBA. Do
you know who will never be touching the puddle Off Trophy.
(29:21):
Let's see best record in the East. Yeah, it's probably
not gonna happen. That's probably not gonna happen. It just
got it funny that, you know he was lying in
wait for that the entire time. I can see him
leaning up towards his microphone like, come on you, yeah,
but that's okay. Literally just came to mind Frostberg is
already never gonna call Mark mcdeen again because of what
he said about a d the Celtics of the team
to beat in conference. Oh no, no, that's put on
(29:43):
a side. Do you have a five six? Now? He
said six guys are making it worse to have him
in this top five. I mean that doesn't even go
on the first graphic. That's on the second one. This know,
when he's saying six, it's like you didn't watch basketball
(30:04):
the last two weeks? Hey, what are we doing? And
he definitely knows his basketball, but that one, I don't
know that. It's the Mark Medin Award for guests who
are no longer on the show. Hey, we used to
have a list of us. So you guys are saying,
he's going on the whiteboard or what boy? Oh, well,
we have we have. We haven't put somebody that we're
never gonna call again on our white board. Then it's
(30:25):
about time we do. So we'll take up We'll take
up ball when we come back. Yeah, I've got some
fresh dry erase markers. Let's go. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike harmon
weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio. Fox Sports Radio.
It is The Jason Smith Show with my best friend
(30:47):
Mike Harman. I hate that song A love from the
tire rack dot Com Studios. What is it like Industry Tuesday?
I think so specials of the clubs, music is going
and Jake and Lwood at your celebrity bartenders. The Odell
Beckham victory tour as well, not piling up many victories.
(31:08):
When Beckham decided to give us his quote finalists, and
they were the Cowboys, the Bills, and the Giants. Right,
he's gonna visit all these teams and make a decision.
What did we tell you a couple of weeks ago. Um,
he's not gonna work out for teams. What kind of
difference is he really gonna make? Is he really recovered
(31:30):
from his A c L surgery. He's not been with
a team, He's not been rehabbing around a team. We
have no idea where he is. Is he gonna be
able to jump right in and play at a high level,
or is he gonna take some time he's It looks
like he's just trying to get somewhere with a team
where he wants to be, where he can sign a
contract and get paid. And the Cowboys were a team
(31:51):
that says we don't care. We don't care why, we
don't care if you fall to sleep on a plane,
we don't care. We want Odell O'Dell is our guy.
Mike McCarthy said, no, we're going after Odell. Looks like
they set Odell up to be their savior even though
they're nine and three. Odell's coming, O'Dell's coming well after
today and after getting the talk to him Jerry Jonason
(32:13):
on one oh five three the Fan, maybe things are
a little bit different than they were before. Jerry, have
you ever signed a player in an instance like this,
a player coming off an injury that you didn't see
work out? Oh? Yes, I sure have. The classic for
me is really Alonzo haigh Smith. And uh, Alonzo Highsmith
(32:35):
was so high they thought of, particularly by our young
coaching staff, and I had still have them. I had
three letters handed to me by three different doctors that said, Jerry,
this is bone on bone, he can't play. This won't work.
And uh, I went ahead and signed him and we
made that trade and he never touched the field. And
(32:57):
then then I watched Alonzo which was and Zell's character
and training day and uh, you know, but that was
that was some kind of performance and that's uh that
was good too. What was sorry? What was the question? Uh?
You could tell right there by Jerry Jones that Odell
Beckham Jr. May not work out. According to ESPNS ed Warder,
(33:19):
the Cowboys have not been impressed enough to ensure that
he's going to play before the middle of January. And
it's possible that if you signed Beckham now, he wouldn't
have any benefit until the three season. The Cowboys now
have a bit of a red flag. The guy wasn't
gonna work out. What did you think was gonna happen?
If he's not gonna work out, guys have not worked
(33:41):
out before. I get it. But you're coming off a
big injury. No one's seen you do you're gonna work out?
I'm not gonna work out. How do you think he's ready?
We told you he wasn't good. I can be an
NFL insider. Two weeks ago when it came out, O'Dell
is not gonna work out on his tour. How healthy
is he? Stay away? Odell is still dinged up and
he's not ready to play. I could have put that
out there. I have sources a lot of people that said, oh,
(34:02):
Jason really knows, but I said it without sources up.
But who turned out to be right? Odell beck He's
not gonna be healthy. And now the Cowboys got to
backtrack it because they had it as Hey, whatever problems
we have Odell is gonna solve, and now it's oh,
maybe we're not gonna have Odell. Way to go. Jerry Jones,
nice job well putting this out here. Though I heard
this this bite earlier and just kind of did that.
(34:26):
I don't know that that's good for business. Uh, certainly
not not good for Odell Beck and Junior's business and
for the cowboys. Well, it's into Jerry being Jerry once again.
But never never believed for a second that it was
all right, instant impact. Forget about the locker room guy.
Guys recognized, Hey, folks want to come in and take
my reps, you're gonna have to come in and beat
(34:48):
me for reps. Uh. And they just got Gallop back.
They're looking to get James Washington back. It was gonna
be a crowded receiving room anyway. But the fact that
Jerry went public with this and then starts to go
down the yeah, you know, let's talk about Highsmith and
all his stuff is like wow, man, just just that
that's one that putting into the memoir, you know, in
(35:10):
in the papers for later on. You shouldn't be talking
about it's out of school on these telling you, I
told you, we told you Odell was not look Odell
doesn't look like he's gonna be ready. I We'll have
more on this story, plus another big story out of
Major League Baseball with Aaron Judge next on Fox
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