February 3, 2025 • 39 mins
JMac steps in for Colin reacting to a blockbuster NBA trade sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers and Anthony Davis to the Mavericks
NBA reporter Rachel Nichols joins the show to talk about how Dallas arrived at the decision to trade the 25-year-old superstar Doncic
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, it is a super Bowl week and we
will be in New Orleans Thursday and Friday. It is
a wild Monday when we had probably the most staggering
memorable NBA or sports trade in a long time. Welcome
(00:46):
into the Herd, Jmax joining me. It's hard to dissect
what we saw yesterday because when you just set it
out loud, it looks like the Lakers stole at one
of the time three players in the league and gave
up a very very good player, but not much else.
And LA does have a history of always getting the guy,
(01:09):
the Lakers more so than even the Yankees get the guy.
So they have found their guy for the next we think,
five to ten years, and so let's try to dissect it.
So Nico Harrison has for not very long been the
general manager of Dallas and he's a risk taker. He
did the Kyrie move. Everybody criticized him.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
It worked.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
He made that big move at the trade deadline last year.
It got him into the finals. He's taken big swings.
He's different. But this feels like an absolutely egregiously bad moves.
So why did he make the move? Well, let's start
with this. I think the reason that Michael Jordan is
the most popular basketball player of all time. Kobe Bryant's
(01:53):
up there too, is that relentlessness, that work ethic.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
It's not Luca.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
He's often in poor shape and is a lousy defender,
and he's hurt increasingly more and more and more due
to his bad conditioning. So there's a little shack in Luca.
And the Lakers moved off Shack, right, They had a choice.
They took Kobe the relentless worker. So is that the
(02:24):
reason they moved off him? The Maverick owners are staring
down the barrel of seventy four million dollars a year contract,
and he doesn't defend. He's hard on teammates, but won't
play defense. There's a little barkley, there's a little shack.
He's not the hardest worker. The max contract now is
(02:48):
punitive if you get the wrong guy. Maybe the owners
look at Embiid's mess and Philly or the Kawhi saga
with the Clippers and said, new owners, no, thank you,
not interested. Now. That does not give you an excuse
to give away Luca for one first round pick. But
I do think if there would have been three first
(03:10):
round picks, Anthony Davis and maybe in Austin Reeves. Okay,
I should we consider that phone call. I can make
some sense of it because I don't think Luca is
the perfect player. He has now had three calf injuries
in four years, same calf, hasn't played since Christmas, missed
(03:31):
the last two training camps. There's stuff here, and clearly
a general manager who's willing to take massive swings. And
he has hit on the Kyrie move. That's been a hit.
He hit on the trade deadline move. Uh, there's there's
things here. I see Luca is being made out as
(03:53):
the perfect player, and there's a there's a little shack
a prodigy. But the Lakers eventually said we're gonna take
that works harder. I would not have made the trade.
I don't like the trade, but I but I get
the Mbid. The Kawhi, the injuries, the lack of conditioning,
these new Max contract extensions seventy four million a year.
(04:18):
What really bothers me, though, is the lack of resources
they got back. Because I love Anthony Davis. I think
he's a very good player. He's not offensively Luca, but
he's a much better defensive player, and he's older. But
the lack of resources is unbelievable. They got one draft pick,
Rudy Gobert got four, Kevin Durant got something like nine.
(04:41):
One draft pick, And if you're totally concerned about health
and availability, then why trade for Anthony Davis. It's it's
it's there were much better trade partners than the Lakers,
and they they traded it in a vacuum. It's like
they didn't tell anybody it was one team, one first
(05:03):
round pick. That's unforgivable. It's not even like they traded him,
it's like they discarded him. He's like an old surfboard
by somebody who's lived at the beach for twenty years
and bought a new one. Like, I don't even understand it.
Here's Nico Harrison. It's the resources and the lack of
return that to me just say it out loud. Sounds
(05:23):
like an awful move. Here's Jason Kidd and Nico Harrison as.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
We turned the page. I think it's important to know
that jakek and I we've had a vision in the
culture that we want to create since we've been here,
and the players that we're bringing in we believe exemplify that.
And you know, we think defense wins championships and we're
bringing in one of the best two way players in
the league.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
It is a little shocking, but like in the sense,
we have to push forward as an organization. As a team,
we have a game to play and we have to
be pros about it. But we understand what Luca has
meant to the Mavericks that we wish him and his
family the best in La also Maxie and Smooth. But
(06:06):
we have to push forward and we believe we have
a team that can do that.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
All Right, There's three primary reasons the Lakers stole him.
Number One, he's twenty five. He Dalton connect is twenty four.
This guy's barely in the league. He is just a
new kid. He's twenty five years old, He's already got
fifty playoff games, and he's so gifted offensively, He's never
really been pushed because he's been so good playing in
Europe forever. Number two is he finally lands with a
legend in Lebron James. And I mean, let's be honest
(06:34):
about this. Lebron is so dedicated that he has forced
quirky players before Anthony Davis was soft and j R.
Smith was squirrely and Kyrie Irving was high maintenance, and
he got him to work. And number three is the
Lakers are aspirational franchise with statues everywhere in the building.
And the bottom line here is I think we're going
to get a more dedicated Luca.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Easter not a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. All right, we're
back here on the Herd. They had to go to
the bullpen. Colin not feeling great, big weekend in Chicago.
He's back and he's just chilling out right now in
his dressing room, hopefully back tomorrow. So I'll step in
(07:17):
now and take the baton regarding this holy Cow Lakers trade. Yes,
we will get to Miles Garrett, who about thirty minutes ago,
demanded a trade out of Cleveland. We'll get to that.
A lot of stuff happening super Bowl week here, very excited.
I had a hot take that i'll fire off here
regarding the MAVs and the Lakers trade that shook the
(07:38):
NBA world over the weekend, and it was operating out
of a place of fear is the worst place to
operate out of. And I feel like that's what the
Dallas Mavericks did here. Okay, they were afraid of giving
Luca the super Max contract three hundred and forty five
million dollars. They were afraid because of why, Because just conditioning.
(07:59):
The guy's always out of shape. Luca shows up. There
were reports he was playing close to two hundred and
sixty pounds this season before the capstrain fear. They were
worried that Luca would never really get his act together
off the court. You guys have seen the video from
the NBA playoffs this year or this past season where
Luca was celebrating with a beer, an adult beverage after
(08:20):
the game, celebrating a big victory, and Michael Finley, the
assistant GM, just rolled up and casually here it is
on the screen. And off. This one casually just grabbed
the beer from Luca. Luca that's his father, I believe,
in the black shirt, and look at Luca's face. He's
just like wait, wait what. But they're in a good mood.
They're excited. Hey, we just want Luca just brushed it off.
(08:41):
But you could tell from that video it felt like
the beginning of the end. I believe that was May
thirty first of last year, and again, the Mavericks were
just simply worried. They were concerned that Luka Dancic would
never be that physical specimen, the guy who was working
out twenty four to seven like Lebron. You guys have
seen the videos on his Instagram, and they decided, let's
(09:01):
just get him out of town.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Obviously there's a mini revolt among MAVs fans right now,
but Dallas, I'm not going to totally pooh pooh the
trade from their end, yes, I saw multiple people grading
the trade. Lakers got an A. Obviously, you got a
generational talent, you get an A. A lot of people
gave them mAbs an f but there is some excitement.
Anthony Davis has a deep relationship not only with Jason Kidd,
(09:25):
the head coach. Jason Kidd, of course was with the
Lakers during the Bubble Championship run. But Anthony Davis knows
Nico Harrison well, the GM of the MAVs. Nico used
to be at Nike and Anthony Davis was one of
his signature clients, obviously after Kobe Bryant. But Nico signed
AD before the draft, and they've known each other for
over a decade, so there is that commonality between AD
(09:48):
and the MAVs. And let's not forget Michael Finley, the
assistant GM, the guy who took the beer from Luca.
He's from Illinois. He was like a high school legend,
ended up playing Michael Jordan back in the day one
on one. Anthony day das from Chicago, so they really
felt comfortable with Anthony Davis. And I think it kind
of makes sense from the MAVs on what they got
in return. What I didn't like, and I'm sure you
(10:11):
guys saw this over the weekend, was how could the
Mavericks not open this up to the entire league. Why
didn't they canvass the NBA and say, hey, maybe we
could get eight first round picks. I mean, mkill Bridges
Mikil Bridges to the Knicks was like five first round picks.
I mean, Luca's gotta be worth ten, right, twelve first
round picks. But it doesn't work like that. Guys. Remember
(10:33):
they had to ship Luca somewhere where they know he
would sign. Nobody's gonna try to rent Luca for a
year and then just have him walk and give up
the whole franchise. So I actually narrowed it down and
I came up with only a handful of teams. Three
actually that could have could have gone after Luca should
there have been a bidding war. And they're obvious, right,
the Celtics in Boston. We know the Boston has definitely
(10:57):
the Amo. Luca would fit there. Franchise one of the
winningest in professional sports in America. They make sense. The
New York Knicks makes sense, the aka Villanova Knicks, who
doesn't love to play for New York. Luca would have
clearly gone there and signed long term. And the other
one kind of a sleeping giant, the Miami Heat hashtag
heat culture. And yes, you can insert your jokes about
(11:19):
fat Luca not fitting into Heat culture, but trust me, guys,
pat Riley runs an amazing ship there in Miami, and
I believe that the heat could have been in play
should Dallas have opened it up. But you guys know
how this stuff works. Come on, there's no The second
that the league got wind of Luka Doncic being on
the market, it would have been a total disaster. The
(11:41):
price would have gone down, Luca would have checked out,
Kyrie Irving and company. What are we doing, We're trading Luca.
They would have been destroyed in the press. So technically,
I think Dallas handled this well. Now, I still think
obviously the Lakers won the trade. And if you're a
Mavericks fan and you listen to Nico Harrison and Jason
Kidd at at the podium, you're going to be a
(12:01):
little sick to your Stomach's here's Nico Harrison talking to
the media yesterday.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
As we turned the page. I think it's important to
know that Jak and I we've had a vision in
the culture that we want to create since we've been here,
and the players that we're bringing in we believe exemplify that.
And you know, we think defense wins championships and we're
bringing in one of the best two way players in
the league.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Yeah, no doubt about that. Anthony Davis. I mean that's
one of Colin's favorite guys. I mean Colin has him
like as an MVP candidate, top ten player in the league.
I have ad more in the top fifteen range, but
he's been incredible this weekend. Now we need to move
to the Lakers portion of the program. And you guys
on my coach my kids in sports. So we had
back to back games yesterday. My son played and then
(12:45):
my daughter. And yes, I am that guy who wore
a Lakers T shirt with a Lakers sweatshirt over it.
So when I take off the sweatshirt because I'm sweating
on the sidelines like a maniac coaching middle school kids,
I've still got Lakers gear on. And folks, I can
promise you if thirty people came up to me at
the game, Jay Mac, what do you think about the Lakers?
We got Luca thirty for thirty. Everybody was stoked. Now
(13:09):
one person was questioning this trade. This is rare that
everybody loves getting Luka Doncic and folks, I know Rob
Polinka has been one of the most maligned front office
guys in the league. Los Angeles for whatever reason people
cannot stand Rob Polenka. Guys, I'm telling you all he's
done is push the right buttons. He has now set
(13:30):
the Lakers up for success for at least at least
the next seven years. Maybe you want to extend it
to ten. Fine, but they had no plan post Lebron
and I think Colin and I had talked about this
on the show. Hey man, can you build around Anthony
Davis at thirty two to thirty three when Lebron leaves?
I just don't know that that makes sense. And you know,
(13:51):
Anthony Davis has a lot of wear and tear on
that body. We know Charles Barkley famously has called him
streak clothes because he's always injured. I don't know how
Ad is gonna fair health wise into his thirties. So
that's why Dallas win now kind of works. We'll get
back to Dallas later in the show. They're really built
to hang with the best teams in the West. So
why are Lakers fans excited? Well, I don't know. They
(14:13):
just got a guy who was first team All NBA
the last five years. I mean, he came into the
season as the MVP favorite. For my money, and you guys.
You can look it up on my Instagram. Last July
July fourth, I said Luka Donci's best player in the league.
I've held this for like three years. I know Jokic
is winning MVPs and everybody loves Joel Embiid. Just give
(14:34):
me Luca. He's unbelievable. And for the Jabbroni's out there
who want to say Luca doesn't play. And I get
fired up about this because Luca's dad gave an interview
over the weekend and it was translated from into English
and you could see what he was saying, and he's
kind of ticked off at this narrative that Luca's lazy, folks.
Luca donc has played seventy games last season, averaged thirty
(14:57):
five minutes a night. Okay, then he went to the
playlayoffs and carried carried Dallas on his back. I know
they had Kyrie and Dereck Lively in PJ Washington. It
was the Luca Show. In twenty two playoff games, he
averaged forty minutes a night, points, rebounds, assist, He's doing everything.
So he played ninety two games last year, and we're
(15:19):
concerned about Luca being fat and out of shape. This
is total nonsense. Yes, occasionally some of the European players,
Yokich is in the same boat. They got that dad bod. Okay,
I know Lucas twenty five and has a dadbod. Maybe
not great. But there's a quarterback here in the Super
Bowl who's gonna be playing this week who has embraced
the dad bod. His name is Patrick Mahomes. I don't
(15:39):
know if you're familiar with his work, but he also
is not a chiseled Lebron with six pack abs. That's
not how Mahomes rolls. That's not Yo kitchen, and that's
not Luca. There're three of the best players in their
respective sports. Luca's gonna be fine when you can build
around Luca for the next seven to ten years in
LA and not totally have to worry about Lebron. You've
(16:00):
got a secession plan and everybody knows, like, listen, Lebron,
maybe he's got this year left, maybe he's got two.
I mean, you could stretch it to two if you want.
And yes, I saw Lebron put up a triple double
and MSG over the weekend, no Ad beat the Knicks,
who were one of the best teams in the league,
one of the top five title contenders, Lebron put on
a show like he could still do it, and him
(16:22):
joining forces with Luka Doncics for a season. Folks, I
got a couple buddies out here with season tickets to
the Lakers. Trust me, I've already hit them up. Hey,
let me know, let me know when you need somebody
to wing man it to a game, because this is
going to be one of the best shows in the league.
Lebron and Luca essentially a passing of the torch, and
I do want to remind some people. Okay, it was
(16:44):
just last year that the Golden State Warriors made calls
to the Lakers about Lebron. They wanted to get in
the Lebron business. Okay, Lebron is not done. He's still
got gas left in the tank. I don't know how
this Luca Lebron thing is going to necessarily work it initially,
but Luca made it work with Kyrie Irving. There are
a lot of questions, Hey, are Luca and Kyrie gonna work?
(17:07):
They figured it out. They got to the finals. I
know they got smoked by Boston. Boston was a way
better team so now you join Luca and Lebron and
they're like, ooh ooh, the potentials off the charts, and yes,
I can hear you guys shouting, we don't have any defense.
Luca don't play defense. Austin Reeves is a turnstile, Lebron
can't guard anybody. Let's take a deep breath. The Lakers,
(17:28):
by winning this trade, did not give up both of
their future first round picks, so they still have AMMO
if they want to go out and chase a Miles
Turner in Indiana, if they want to get Clint Cappella,
Nick Claxton. There are bigs around the league that could
come in. I'm not saying the Lakers are winning the
chip this year, but how can you not be beyond
(17:49):
excited for the Lakers future with Luka Doncic. Okay, I
know everybody, well not everybody. Some people on social media
seem to think the league is rigged, which I guess
is the buzzword in twenty twenty five. Right uh, Kansas
City Chiefs. Obviously nobody thinks the NFL's rigged or the NBA,
but it's a funny topic, right boy, Lakers boy Magic
(18:13):
Johnson going back James Worthy. How are they always getting
great players? Shaq decided to pick the Lakers. Kobe Bryant
famously forced his way to the Lakers by telling Charlotte,
I will rather go to Italy and play, and they
had to move on and say, fine, fine, We'll trade Kobe.
And then they got Pau Gasol in one of the
great heists in NBA trade history. And now look at this,
(18:36):
Look at this the Lakers players acquired via trade. Wilket
Chamberlain decent. Okay, he's a top ten player all time. Jabbar,
he's a top five player all time. Kobe Bryant certainly
a top ten player all time. Paalgasol he's in the Hall.
He's gonna be in the Hall of Fame. Or is
a d who has a title and is on track
to be a Hall of Fame player, And now Luka Dantic, Like, guys,
(18:59):
that list is unbelievable. At some point we got to say,
you know, maybe the Lakers just know what the hell
they're doing in chasing stars, Okay, And you look around
the West and you're like, Okay, I got Luca and Lebron,
and I'm supposed to be afraid of Oka. See I
got Luca and Lebron and I'm worried about Yo kitchen,
(19:20):
the Nuggets, Like, I think the Lakers are going to
firmly be in the mix, assuming health. You know, everybody's
everybody's fine, and I do wonder you know I mentioned
Austin Reeves. He's my guy. Regular listeners and viewers of
this show, No, I'm an Austin Reeves defender. Not sure
how he really fits now with the Lakers, so I
put a pause on my buy the Austin Reeves Jersey
(19:43):
have not done that as yet, but Luka Donca Jersey
will be next. I think it makes sense. If you're
the Lakers, you say, can we package Ruey? Can we
packaged Austin Reeves and that number one pick? Go big
game hunting. Now we've got a rim protector. I know
people don't like it when the Lakers are on top,
but this Dantistick. I was grinning ear to ear so
Saturday night, I'm you know, my wife was out of
(20:04):
town with her friend and I'm in town with the kids.
We're watching this movie air Bud. I don't know if
you guys have seen this from like the late nineties.
I don't even think our producers were born when this
movie came out, and you know they need to go
to the bathroom. So I just look at my phone
and I've got this just a flurry of text messages
coming in, and the first one is from this guy
who played the high levels of basketball now a referee,
(20:27):
J Mack. I gotta ask, uh, this seems too good
to be true. How did we get Luca? And my
first reaction is, wait, Luca again. I'm watching Airbud. I
tell the kids, hold on, hold on, we gotta pause
the movie and I dive in and for the next hour,
I'm just riveted by this just unbelievable turn of events.
It really felt like a dream, guys. It genuinely felt wait,
(20:51):
did this really happen? Like? Who trades one of the
best players in the NBA in his prime? It's just
an unfathomable turn of events. And we're gonna have Rachel Nichols,
longtime NBA insider, She's gonna come on the set here
next and talk about the Lakers acquiring Luca. The dynasty
continues in La. Lakers exceptionalism it's a thing, people. So
(21:14):
we're back after this with Rachel Nichols Talking Lakers. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and
neon Eastern nn AM Pacific.
Speaker 5 (21:21):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
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Speaker 2 (21:34):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
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(21:56):
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Speaker 2 (22:18):
Back here on the Herd, Jason McIntyre step it in
for Colin Cowherd joining us now on the set The
Great Rachel Nichols Fox Sports NBA Insider covered the NBA forever. Rachel,
how you doing?
Speaker 6 (22:30):
I am better than Colin apparently who's six. So you
and I are healthy and that's that's a good day
for us.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
And listen, great time, great day to be on the
show talking NBA. I mean, Rachel, you know you talk
to people around the league, Yes, Like, what has been
the reaction around the league since you know, the earth
shook Saturday night when the Lakers got Luca.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
It's really almost impossible to quantify the amount of shock
that we have felt from every corner of the NBA.
I have been covering this league for the better part
of three decades. You have g executives who are brown
around the league for forty fifty years and have never
seen anything like this. And part of it is the
surprise of trading away a twenty five year old who
(23:11):
has made the five last All NBA teams, who's a
perennial MVP candidate who took his team to the NBA
Finals seven months ago. But in addition to that, even
more so than the fact that they wanted to trade
him away, it was how they did it. And I
think part of that is the nitty gritty of NBA
front offices. They're always interested in that aspect, maybe more
(23:31):
than the fans. But how they did it has been
a huge shock because it seems that the Mavericks, in
trading away this incredible asset, left a bunch of other
things on the table that they could have gotten for him,
and really no one understands that.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Yeah, it seems like the tipping point may have been, hey,
we just got to the finals, Luca comes back kind
of out of shape. Then he has the CAF injury again.
There were reports he was close to two sixty. That's
like Miles Garrett size. I don't know, do you get
a sense that's kind of what precipitated this deal.
Speaker 6 (24:03):
I mean, I think it's a lot of things over
a lot of years, and I will say, we don't
know everything, and I have to assume Nico Harrison is
a smart guy.
Speaker 7 (24:11):
Jason Kidd is a smart guy.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
I know Jason wasn't directly involved in this trade, but
in general, this is not a dumb team that has
a history of terrible transactions. Right, So you know they
obviously traded away a few guys under the Mark Cuban
era you'd like to have back. But my point is
that there must have been something that they knew that
we don't know. What we do know is that, yes,
there have been conditioning issues with him over the years.
Speaker 7 (24:33):
If he really is in.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
The two sixties, that's nearly twenty pounds overweight, and we
know that leads to soft tissue injuries, which Luca has
had several of. In fact, he's out with one right now.
So the idea that he might be perennially unavailable, whether
he was sort of flouting team rules, whether there was
a bit of sort of hey, we've asked you to
do this and you've refused time and time and time again,
whether it's the arguing with officials that they have asked
(24:55):
him to tone down and that has actually cost his
team specific losses that you can point to. And I
have to assume there's more to the story, right, So
if you add all of that stuff up over all
the years, I personally would still not trade Luca Dodge.
I don't know what the unknown thing is that we
don't know, so maybe that would tip me over as well.
(25:17):
But in general, the idea of trading a twenty five
year old who really isn't even in his prime yet,
you are a betting against the next ten years of
Luca's future. That is a heavy bet to make with
a guy who has frankly been a prodigy since he
was eleven years old, and who you were incredibly lucky
by like six strokes of luck to get.
Speaker 7 (25:39):
Him in the first place. You'd added other front.
Speaker 6 (25:41):
Agents, front offices in front of you, you know, to
make decisions that they probably shouldn't have made just for
you to get him, and the idea that they did
and then decided to trade him away is shocking.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
So you did doing media longer than I have. But
there have been people who've doubted us. I'm sure everybody
in any job's been doubted, and you know Luca essentially,
the Atlanta Hawks were like, eh, we like him, but
we'd rather have Trey Young. Yeah, Sacramento drafted I believe
it was Marvin Badley over Luka Doncic and now Dallas
had him, he took him the finals and they trade him.
So that's three teams that have quit on him or
(26:14):
passed on him. And he's only twenty five and Dallas
cost him over one hundred million dollars with the super Max.
Do you think all of this added up to Luca
maybe being more locked in and mean, like, hey, nobody
believes in me. I'm gonna get my I'm gonna get
my butt in shape and take over. This could be
a springboard to Luca for even more greatness, if that's possible.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
Look, if he does need a wake up call, this
was it right? If it really is a matter of hey,
he just needs to change his attitude, change his approach.
If this doesn't wake you up, I don't know what will.
And again, the Mavericks are betting against his next ten years.
The Lakers are obviously betting on his next ten years,
that he will be that superstar that they need to
follow Lebron James, that he will get his act together
(26:55):
in the ways that the Mavericks felt.
Speaker 7 (26:56):
That he couldn't. And I have to think it's possible.
Speaker 6 (26:59):
Lucas not a dumb guy, and in fact, one of
the guys he really is close with and looks up
to in the league is Nikola Jokic, who went through
a little bit of the same thing, obviously not with
quite the attitude issues that were described around Luca. Again,
I don't know, I'm not in the room, but Jokic
certainly had a very leis a fair approach to his
diet right and sort of the team would ask him
(27:20):
to get in shape, and he really was kept drinking
cokes every.
Speaker 7 (27:22):
Day and all the other stuff. It wouldn't really work out.
Speaker 6 (27:25):
And he just decided kind of going into the twenty
nineteen twenty twenty season that things had to change, and
he had a severe alteration to his diet, to his
workout routine, to what he did during this season, and
it obviously paid off immediately and he led him to
multiple MVPs. It led him to become a champion. So
if that happens to Luca, if Yokich pulls him aside
(27:46):
and said all right, now, this is it. Now it's time,
If someone in his family or if Luca himself decides
this is it, then we could see a very determined,
very different player for the Lakers that the Mavericks and
their fans are going to have to watch for them.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Next ten years. Speaking of MAVs fans, so I'm sure
you've seen the memes kids crying with like six Luca
Jerseys next to them in their bedroom. It's understandable. However,
there is a positive here. Anthony Davis is a plug
and play guy. Now you've got a lot of depth.
He gets to play four right lively when he comes back,
and then Gafford the Biggs. They're kind of built to
(28:20):
hang with Denver. I think Max Christy, I know people
are like forgetting him. He's a good defender. I think
the Lakers are fifteen and eight since he became a starter,
Like there's a world where they can hang with SGA
and Okac, Like sorry SGAA yeah, and okay, see do
you think that Dallas there's a world where they maybe
get back to the finals this year?
Speaker 6 (28:39):
I mean sure, I mean no one expected them to
get to the finals last year and they did it,
so yes, of course that kind of scenario is possible.
And I don't think there's any question or not much
of a question that they are a better team this
year this season with Anthony Davis in there than with Luca,
who's had a ton of injury issues this year. However,
that's this season, which last what four more months?
Speaker 7 (29:01):
I mean, come on, and by the way, they have
other injuries on their team that they still have to
deal with. Dallas does.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
But you cannot underscore, underplay anything what the next ten
years that you just traded away was. And look, Luca
was due for a supermax contract. He could have signed
it as early as this summer. That also precipitated some
of this discussion. Nico Harrison said as much during his
press conference yesterday that look, it's clear that they were
(29:26):
nervous about signing him for three hundred and fifty million
dollars and then getting into a situation with injuries or
other things where they're in the Philadelphia Joel Embiid situation,
right or oh gosh, where are the Clippers doing with
Kawhi Leonard. Now he's on a better contract than he
was before, but still like you're paying for a guy
who generally hasn't been there for big stretches of this season.
The fear of that was clearly a huge motivator. I
(29:50):
would argue you could have still signed him to that
supermax and then traded him a year later. There's a
mandatory waiting period, but you could have traded him after
that and you still gotten a ton of takers around
the league. And by the way, if you had done that,
then you really could have opened up the missing Now.
The argument is they did a one team trade with
the Lakers because they didn't want to sort of make
(30:11):
a mess of the season stuff you were talking about
in the last segment that you know they wanted to
not have that discussion of where will he go and
therefore being railroaded into only one or two choices. To me,
that doesn't really hold because the Lakers traded for him
sight unseen. The Lakers traded for him without knowing what
kind of contract he would sign a year and a
half from now. And by the way, I think if
(30:32):
you polled most teams in the league, not all, but most,
they would take a guaranteed year and a half of
Luka Doncic, which is still left on his current contract
right now, and say we can convince him that this
is the place he wants to.
Speaker 7 (30:44):
Stay, give us a year and a half.
Speaker 6 (30:45):
The Mavericks did it with Kyrie Irvins when they traded
for him and only had three.
Speaker 7 (30:49):
Months to convince him.
Speaker 6 (30:51):
They traded for him near the trade deadline, and then
he was going to be a free agent that summer,
and they gave a bunch of stuff away for him,
and their goal was, Hey, we think when he's here,
he's got a great relationship with Jason Kidd, we can
convince him to stay.
Speaker 7 (31:04):
And by the way they did so, the idea that.
Speaker 6 (31:07):
Luca could have made a list and that you know,
they wouldn't have been able to have any takers if
it wasn't his quote preferred destination.
Speaker 7 (31:14):
I personally don't really buy that.
Speaker 6 (31:16):
I think Luka Doncic is such a unique talent, and
the idea that you would get him for a year
and a half. Look what Toronto did with Kawhi Leonard, right,
they were like, great, we've got him for a year.
We hope we can convince him to stay, but even
if we can't, it's worth it. And guess what, they
couldn't convince him and it was still worth it. So
I don't really buy the whole Hey, if you had
had opened it up and his preferred destinations and that
(31:37):
would have put us in a worse position, I can't
imagine it would put you in a worse position than
negotiating with only one team and having.
Speaker 7 (31:47):
That team not even give up. It's full arsenal.
Speaker 6 (31:49):
And again this goes back to your first question of Hey,
what are people around the league saying? It's the methodology
as much as the actual trade itself. The Lakers had
two first rounders they could have given up, and they didn't.
They only gave up one. And I see from the
Lakers side why they're a thrilled about that and be saying, hey,
we don't know he could go anywhere in a year
and a half. I mean, I understand their argument to Dallas.
(32:11):
If I am Dallas, I am saying that's great, we
need both your picks to make this work. Otherwise I'm
opening it up to the rest of the league. And
I guarantee you, especially in a franchise where ownership really
values having a star, that Lakers would have said, all right, Ari, fine,
here's the second pick.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
So do you think the Lakers use that other pick
and maybe Austin Reeves, maybe Ruy to go get a center.
I know MAXI can kind of play center, Markis Morris,
but they're small ball guys. They're not protecting the room.
They're not stopping Jokic. No, your thoughts to the Lakers
make another move.
Speaker 6 (32:42):
I mean they're in a great position to make another
move now, right because before it was I don't know,
do you get rid of Austin Reeves because of what
he means the team? Right now, well you don't need
that anymore because you have Luka Doncic, and so I
think that they are much more flexible. They still have
a first round pick to give out. There is no
question a. They need a center present, and they need
a defensive center because the downside of this trade that
(33:04):
the Lakers just made is that they might score two
hundred points a game, but the other team might score
two hundred and thirty. So you know, they have got
to get a strong defensive presence in the middle.
Speaker 7 (33:13):
And I expect them to.
Speaker 6 (33:14):
Go out and do that because they have assets now
that they didn't even have before this. Because of now,
they have more flexibility with their roster, and they still
have the first round pick that should be in Dallas.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
So I'll get to the super Bowl in a second.
But one other trade that went down, we haven't even
touched on a Darren Fox in a bizarre trade goes
from the Sacramento Kings to now plus the Spurs playing
with webbin Yama. They didn't give up Castle or Vassal like.
Spurs look kind of dangerous. They're only outside looking in. Now,
Zach Lavine, I'm a big Zach Lavine guy. He goes
to the Kings. You look at the Spurs once they
(33:46):
make a move, and they will. Is this a team
that could upset at Houston or a Memphis in the
first round. I'm excited for webbin Yama.
Speaker 7 (33:54):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (33:55):
Look, I think and have been saying since before he
was drafted. Mark my words, people, Victor webbin Yama will
be a top ten player of all time, all period.
Speaker 7 (34:05):
He could be a top I can say that with
much less certainty.
Speaker 6 (34:10):
I would put Victor Webinyama ahead of any one other
young player in the NBA in terms of my prediction
of that. In fact, I put him ahead of I
don't know. I mean, Lebron James obviously is ahead of that.
But there's a very few guys I would put ahead
of him in my all time prediction because I mean, look,
he could get injured and obviously all bets are off,
but the way his motor is his talent, his alien
(34:33):
form quote unquote that we've never seen before in this league,
his drive, and the fact that he's in an organization that,
as you just pointed out, makes super smart moves, has
a great coaching tree. Whatever happens with Greg Popovich going forward,
he will clearly be around the team, and therefore his
people will be around the team. I mean, he is
in the driver's seat of this entire next generation of
(34:54):
the NBA.
Speaker 7 (34:55):
And Darren Fox, as far.
Speaker 6 (34:56):
As I'm concerned, won the lottery of getting to be
the point guard who has the first major audition of Hey,
I could be this guy's partner for the next five
to seven to ten years, and the idea that you
could get partnered as a point guard with Victor and
you're basically saying, yes, sign me.
Speaker 7 (35:14):
Up for those championship rings. It's a great deal for Fox.
Speaker 6 (35:17):
It's why he targeted the Spurs in this trade, saying
that he didn't want to resign with Sacramento. And yeah,
san Antonio made a great deal, as they do, and
as we would have hoped the Mavericks would have done
with the asset that they had.
Speaker 7 (35:30):
Very good.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
I would ask about zach Lavine, but the producers will yell,
we don't do kings on the show. You know, is
really weird. Not you Ryan, But let's go to the NFL.
So I grew up in the DC area and my
parents would get the Washington Post and I would get
it every morning read sports section. Rachel was one of
the prominent writers. Will Bondcourt, I love the Washington Posts,
and you obviously have covered DC sports for a while.
(35:51):
The Commanders just made an incredible run in the postseason.
Cowherd did make that call. I gotta give him credit.
Speaker 7 (35:57):
Look at my face.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
I know you're very excited, but I have to ask.
The way it ended was rough? Eagles? Look good? Do
the Eagles have a chance to thwart the three peat
here that the Chiefs are going for.
Speaker 7 (36:09):
I didn't just work in Washington, d C. I grew
up in that area.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
So I am really genetically engineered to never say anything
nice about the Philadelphia Eagles or anyone else in the
NFC East. So as far as I'm concerned, Chief Chief, Chief,
Chief Chiefs, and look, I didn't like.
Speaker 7 (36:24):
The one thing I didn't like about.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
The way the Chiefs have approached this season is right
on the podium after they won number two last year,
they were already talking about three peating and number three,
and I always think that's incredibly dangerous. It's not how
you should be focusing on, you know, Bill Belichick. One
game at a time, one day at a time. That
sort of thing is how you stack up multiple championships.
That being said, even though they've had a ton of
(36:47):
close calls this season, they keep winning.
Speaker 7 (36:50):
And I am just not betting against Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 6 (36:52):
I'm not doing it, and I'm especially not doing it
against an NFC East team, Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
And I meant I wanted to start with Washington because
we haven't got to the Miles Garrett stuff. It's such
a busy morning. But I made a list before the
show of teams that make sense for Miles Garrett, who
demanded a trade from the Browns, And at the top
of my list is Washington. I mean, you got the
quarterback on the rookie deal. You can spend the defense
when they give up fifty five to the Eagles, Miles
Garrett is an exceptional player. I mean, Washington is drafting
(37:19):
late first round. I believe it's twenty nine. Yeah, I mean,
are you willing to part with the pick and whatever
within reason. Yeah, I mean, Miles Garrett will make a
ton of sense in DC.
Speaker 6 (37:28):
I'm always a big believer as a sports analysis, in
a sports analyst and sort of just as a fan.
Frankly too, is that the known quantity is better than
the pick. I know a lot of GM's.
Speaker 7 (37:38):
Always love the pick. Give me the pick. The pick
is full of possibilities.
Speaker 6 (37:41):
Guess what you are betting if you prioritize the pick,
that that pick is going to be better than Miles.
Speaker 7 (37:47):
Guess what. I'm not willing to take that chance. I
just want Miles. Yeah, bring him in absolutely.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
And the other team I would have is a team
out here that you know well, the Rams, who love
to swing for the fences. I'm in the front office,
very savvy. Do they do you can you see them
making a move? One last push sounds like Stafford's in
based on the late reports last week. Do you think
any chance the Rams get involved with the Miles Garrett,
who you know is a transformational defensive player.
Speaker 7 (38:14):
Yeah, I absolutely do.
Speaker 6 (38:15):
First of all, they have a very savvy front office
and they are more in the win now mode with
Stafford than they would be if they had a younger
quarterback who was, you know, just starting out. Obviously Jayden
Daniels is a younger quarterback, but that situation is a
little bit unique and different. I absolutely think it would
be smart for the Rams to get involved. This is
a proven guy, and again, that is hard to come
by in any of these leagues.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
All Right, Rachel Nichols, she wore red. Is the red
for Washington or Kansas City? Ill to I like it? Hey,
thanks for rescuing me here in the final hour. You know,
you know, the first hour felt like a final hour.
Speaker 6 (38:52):
Can I say one more thing about the Mavericks and
their fans. I think that's the other underrated part of
all of this is that you mentioned the MAVs fans
and the cry. They actually had a casket out there
at the arena yesterday protesting, and there were profanity written
on the sidewalk in front of the Dirk statue. These
people thought they were getting a Lucas statue. Next to
(39:13):
the Dirk statue. There's an expression, as I'm sure you know,
MAVs Fans for Life MFFL.
Speaker 7 (39:18):
That's the sign off. That's the tag that they put
at the.
Speaker 6 (39:21):
End of every social media post. This really shook the
four life part of a lot of Dallas fans, and
I do think that damage with the fans is something
the franchise did not anticipate.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Yeah, all right, fifteen seconds over under one and a
half titles for Luca with the Lakers.
Speaker 6 (39:38):
I don't know, I don't know, I don't go over,
I hit the time.
Speaker 7 (39:43):
I'm not willing to make that bet.
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, it is a super Bowl week and we
will be in New Orleans Thursday and Friday. It is
a wild Monday when we had probably the most staggering
memorable NBA or sports trade in a long time. Welcome
(00:46):
into the Herd, Jmax joining me. It's hard to dissect
what we saw yesterday because when you just set it
out loud, it looks like the Lakers stole at one
of the time three players in the league and gave
up a very very good player, but not much else.
And LA does have a history of always getting the guy,
(01:09):
the Lakers more so than even the Yankees get the guy.
So they have found their guy for the next we think,
five to ten years, and so let's try to dissect it.
So Nico Harrison has for not very long been the
general manager of Dallas and he's a risk taker. He
did the Kyrie move. Everybody criticized him.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
It worked.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
He made that big move at the trade deadline last year.
It got him into the finals. He's taken big swings.
He's different. But this feels like an absolutely egregiously bad moves.
So why did he make the move? Well, let's start
with this. I think the reason that Michael Jordan is
the most popular basketball player of all time. Kobe Bryant's
(01:53):
up there too, is that relentlessness, that work ethic.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
It's not Luca.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
He's often in poor shape and is a lousy defender,
and he's hurt increasingly more and more and more due
to his bad conditioning. So there's a little shack in Luca.
And the Lakers moved off Shack, right, They had a choice.
They took Kobe the relentless worker. So is that the
(02:24):
reason they moved off him? The Maverick owners are staring
down the barrel of seventy four million dollars a year contract,
and he doesn't defend. He's hard on teammates, but won't
play defense. There's a little barkley, there's a little shack.
He's not the hardest worker. The max contract now is
(02:48):
punitive if you get the wrong guy. Maybe the owners
look at Embiid's mess and Philly or the Kawhi saga
with the Clippers and said, new owners, no, thank you,
not interested. Now. That does not give you an excuse
to give away Luca for one first round pick. But
I do think if there would have been three first
(03:10):
round picks, Anthony Davis and maybe in Austin Reeves. Okay,
I should we consider that phone call. I can make
some sense of it because I don't think Luca is
the perfect player. He has now had three calf injuries
in four years, same calf, hasn't played since Christmas, missed
(03:31):
the last two training camps. There's stuff here, and clearly
a general manager who's willing to take massive swings. And
he has hit on the Kyrie move. That's been a hit.
He hit on the trade deadline move. Uh, there's there's
things here. I see Luca is being made out as
(03:53):
the perfect player, and there's a there's a little shack
a prodigy. But the Lakers eventually said we're gonna take
that works harder. I would not have made the trade.
I don't like the trade, but I but I get
the Mbid. The Kawhi, the injuries, the lack of conditioning,
these new Max contract extensions seventy four million a year.
(04:18):
What really bothers me, though, is the lack of resources
they got back. Because I love Anthony Davis. I think
he's a very good player. He's not offensively Luca, but
he's a much better defensive player, and he's older. But
the lack of resources is unbelievable. They got one draft pick,
Rudy Gobert got four, Kevin Durant got something like nine.
(04:41):
One draft pick, And if you're totally concerned about health
and availability, then why trade for Anthony Davis. It's it's
it's there were much better trade partners than the Lakers,
and they they traded it in a vacuum. It's like
they didn't tell anybody it was one team, one first
(05:03):
round pick. That's unforgivable. It's not even like they traded him,
it's like they discarded him. He's like an old surfboard
by somebody who's lived at the beach for twenty years
and bought a new one. Like, I don't even understand it.
Here's Nico Harrison. It's the resources and the lack of
return that to me just say it out loud. Sounds
(05:23):
like an awful move. Here's Jason Kidd and Nico Harrison as.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
We turned the page. I think it's important to know
that jakek and I we've had a vision in the
culture that we want to create since we've been here,
and the players that we're bringing in we believe exemplify that.
And you know, we think defense wins championships and we're
bringing in one of the best two way players in
the league.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
It is a little shocking, but like in the sense,
we have to push forward as an organization. As a team,
we have a game to play and we have to
be pros about it. But we understand what Luca has
meant to the Mavericks that we wish him and his
family the best in La also Maxie and Smooth. But
(06:06):
we have to push forward and we believe we have
a team that can do that.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
All Right, There's three primary reasons the Lakers stole him.
Number One, he's twenty five. He Dalton connect is twenty four.
This guy's barely in the league. He is just a
new kid. He's twenty five years old, He's already got
fifty playoff games, and he's so gifted offensively, He's never
really been pushed because he's been so good playing in
Europe forever. Number two is he finally lands with a
legend in Lebron James. And I mean, let's be honest
(06:34):
about this. Lebron is so dedicated that he has forced
quirky players before Anthony Davis was soft and j R.
Smith was squirrely and Kyrie Irving was high maintenance, and
he got him to work. And number three is the
Lakers are aspirational franchise with statues everywhere in the building.
And the bottom line here is I think we're going
to get a more dedicated Luca.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Easter not a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. All right, we're
back here on the Herd. They had to go to
the bullpen. Colin not feeling great, big weekend in Chicago.
He's back and he's just chilling out right now in
his dressing room, hopefully back tomorrow. So I'll step in
(07:17):
now and take the baton regarding this holy Cow Lakers trade. Yes,
we will get to Miles Garrett, who about thirty minutes ago,
demanded a trade out of Cleveland. We'll get to that.
A lot of stuff happening super Bowl week here, very excited.
I had a hot take that i'll fire off here
regarding the MAVs and the Lakers trade that shook the
(07:38):
NBA world over the weekend, and it was operating out
of a place of fear is the worst place to
operate out of. And I feel like that's what the
Dallas Mavericks did here. Okay, they were afraid of giving
Luca the super Max contract three hundred and forty five
million dollars. They were afraid because of why, Because just conditioning.
(07:59):
The guy's always out of shape. Luca shows up. There
were reports he was playing close to two hundred and
sixty pounds this season before the capstrain fear. They were
worried that Luca would never really get his act together
off the court. You guys have seen the video from
the NBA playoffs this year or this past season where
Luca was celebrating with a beer, an adult beverage after
(08:20):
the game, celebrating a big victory, and Michael Finley, the
assistant GM, just rolled up and casually here it is
on the screen. And off. This one casually just grabbed
the beer from Luca. Luca that's his father, I believe,
in the black shirt, and look at Luca's face. He's
just like wait, wait what. But they're in a good mood.
They're excited. Hey, we just want Luca just brushed it off.
(08:41):
But you could tell from that video it felt like
the beginning of the end. I believe that was May
thirty first of last year, and again, the Mavericks were
just simply worried. They were concerned that Luka Dancic would
never be that physical specimen, the guy who was working
out twenty four to seven like Lebron. You guys have
seen the videos on his Instagram, and they decided, let's
(09:01):
just get him out of town.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Obviously there's a mini revolt among MAVs fans right now,
but Dallas, I'm not going to totally pooh pooh the
trade from their end, yes, I saw multiple people grading
the trade. Lakers got an A. Obviously, you got a
generational talent, you get an A. A lot of people
gave them mAbs an f but there is some excitement.
Anthony Davis has a deep relationship not only with Jason Kidd,
(09:25):
the head coach. Jason Kidd, of course was with the
Lakers during the Bubble Championship run. But Anthony Davis knows
Nico Harrison well, the GM of the MAVs. Nico used
to be at Nike and Anthony Davis was one of
his signature clients, obviously after Kobe Bryant. But Nico signed
AD before the draft, and they've known each other for
over a decade, so there is that commonality between AD
(09:48):
and the MAVs. And let's not forget Michael Finley, the
assistant GM, the guy who took the beer from Luca.
He's from Illinois. He was like a high school legend,
ended up playing Michael Jordan back in the day one
on one. Anthony day das from Chicago, so they really
felt comfortable with Anthony Davis. And I think it kind
of makes sense from the MAVs on what they got
in return. What I didn't like, and I'm sure you
(10:11):
guys saw this over the weekend, was how could the
Mavericks not open this up to the entire league. Why
didn't they canvass the NBA and say, hey, maybe we
could get eight first round picks. I mean, mkill Bridges
Mikil Bridges to the Knicks was like five first round picks.
I mean, Luca's gotta be worth ten, right, twelve first
round picks. But it doesn't work like that. Guys. Remember
(10:33):
they had to ship Luca somewhere where they know he
would sign. Nobody's gonna try to rent Luca for a
year and then just have him walk and give up
the whole franchise. So I actually narrowed it down and
I came up with only a handful of teams. Three
actually that could have could have gone after Luca should
there have been a bidding war. And they're obvious, right,
the Celtics in Boston. We know the Boston has definitely
(10:57):
the Amo. Luca would fit there. Franchise one of the
winningest in professional sports in America. They make sense. The
New York Knicks makes sense, the aka Villanova Knicks, who
doesn't love to play for New York. Luca would have
clearly gone there and signed long term. And the other
one kind of a sleeping giant, the Miami Heat hashtag
heat culture. And yes, you can insert your jokes about
(11:19):
fat Luca not fitting into Heat culture, but trust me, guys,
pat Riley runs an amazing ship there in Miami, and
I believe that the heat could have been in play
should Dallas have opened it up. But you guys know
how this stuff works. Come on, there's no The second
that the league got wind of Luka Doncic being on
the market, it would have been a total disaster. The
(11:41):
price would have gone down, Luca would have checked out,
Kyrie Irving and company. What are we doing, We're trading Luca.
They would have been destroyed in the press. So technically,
I think Dallas handled this well. Now, I still think
obviously the Lakers won the trade. And if you're a
Mavericks fan and you listen to Nico Harrison and Jason
Kidd at at the podium, you're going to be a
(12:01):
little sick to your Stomach's here's Nico Harrison talking to
the media yesterday.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
As we turned the page. I think it's important to
know that Jak and I we've had a vision in
the culture that we want to create since we've been here,
and the players that we're bringing in we believe exemplify that.
And you know, we think defense wins championships and we're
bringing in one of the best two way players in
the league.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Yeah, no doubt about that. Anthony Davis. I mean that's
one of Colin's favorite guys. I mean Colin has him
like as an MVP candidate, top ten player in the league.
I have ad more in the top fifteen range, but
he's been incredible this weekend. Now we need to move
to the Lakers portion of the program. And you guys
on my coach my kids in sports. So we had
back to back games yesterday. My son played and then
(12:45):
my daughter. And yes, I am that guy who wore
a Lakers T shirt with a Lakers sweatshirt over it.
So when I take off the sweatshirt because I'm sweating
on the sidelines like a maniac coaching middle school kids,
I've still got Lakers gear on. And folks, I can
promise you if thirty people came up to me at
the game, Jay Mac, what do you think about the Lakers?
We got Luca thirty for thirty. Everybody was stoked. Now
(13:09):
one person was questioning this trade. This is rare that
everybody loves getting Luka Doncic and folks, I know Rob
Polinka has been one of the most maligned front office
guys in the league. Los Angeles for whatever reason people
cannot stand Rob Polenka. Guys, I'm telling you all he's
done is push the right buttons. He has now set
(13:30):
the Lakers up for success for at least at least
the next seven years. Maybe you want to extend it
to ten. Fine, but they had no plan post Lebron
and I think Colin and I had talked about this
on the show. Hey man, can you build around Anthony
Davis at thirty two to thirty three when Lebron leaves?
I just don't know that that makes sense. And you know,
(13:51):
Anthony Davis has a lot of wear and tear on
that body. We know Charles Barkley famously has called him
streak clothes because he's always injured. I don't know how
Ad is gonna fair health wise into his thirties. So
that's why Dallas win now kind of works. We'll get
back to Dallas later in the show. They're really built
to hang with the best teams in the West. So
why are Lakers fans excited? Well, I don't know. They
(14:13):
just got a guy who was first team All NBA
the last five years. I mean, he came into the
season as the MVP favorite. For my money, and you guys.
You can look it up on my Instagram. Last July
July fourth, I said Luka Donci's best player in the league.
I've held this for like three years. I know Jokic
is winning MVPs and everybody loves Joel Embiid. Just give
(14:34):
me Luca. He's unbelievable. And for the Jabbroni's out there
who want to say Luca doesn't play. And I get
fired up about this because Luca's dad gave an interview
over the weekend and it was translated from into English
and you could see what he was saying, and he's
kind of ticked off at this narrative that Luca's lazy, folks.
Luca donc has played seventy games last season, averaged thirty
(14:57):
five minutes a night. Okay, then he went to the
playlayoffs and carried carried Dallas on his back. I know
they had Kyrie and Dereck Lively in PJ Washington. It
was the Luca Show. In twenty two playoff games, he
averaged forty minutes a night, points, rebounds, assist, He's doing everything.
So he played ninety two games last year, and we're
(15:19):
concerned about Luca being fat and out of shape. This
is total nonsense. Yes, occasionally some of the European players,
Yokich is in the same boat. They got that dad bod. Okay,
I know Lucas twenty five and has a dadbod. Maybe
not great. But there's a quarterback here in the Super
Bowl who's gonna be playing this week who has embraced
the dad bod. His name is Patrick Mahomes. I don't
(15:39):
know if you're familiar with his work, but he also
is not a chiseled Lebron with six pack abs. That's
not how Mahomes rolls. That's not Yo kitchen, and that's
not Luca. There're three of the best players in their
respective sports. Luca's gonna be fine when you can build
around Luca for the next seven to ten years in
LA and not totally have to worry about Lebron. You've
(16:00):
got a secession plan and everybody knows, like, listen, Lebron,
maybe he's got this year left, maybe he's got two.
I mean, you could stretch it to two if you want.
And yes, I saw Lebron put up a triple double
and MSG over the weekend, no Ad beat the Knicks,
who were one of the best teams in the league,
one of the top five title contenders, Lebron put on
a show like he could still do it, and him
(16:22):
joining forces with Luka Doncics for a season. Folks, I
got a couple buddies out here with season tickets to
the Lakers. Trust me, I've already hit them up. Hey,
let me know, let me know when you need somebody
to wing man it to a game, because this is
going to be one of the best shows in the league.
Lebron and Luca essentially a passing of the torch, and
I do want to remind some people. Okay, it was
(16:44):
just last year that the Golden State Warriors made calls
to the Lakers about Lebron. They wanted to get in
the Lebron business. Okay, Lebron is not done. He's still
got gas left in the tank. I don't know how
this Luca Lebron thing is going to necessarily work it initially,
but Luca made it work with Kyrie Irving. There are
a lot of questions, Hey, are Luca and Kyrie gonna work?
(17:07):
They figured it out. They got to the finals. I
know they got smoked by Boston. Boston was a way
better team so now you join Luca and Lebron and
they're like, ooh ooh, the potentials off the charts, and yes,
I can hear you guys shouting, we don't have any defense.
Luca don't play defense. Austin Reeves is a turnstile, Lebron
can't guard anybody. Let's take a deep breath. The Lakers,
(17:28):
by winning this trade, did not give up both of
their future first round picks, so they still have AMMO
if they want to go out and chase a Miles
Turner in Indiana, if they want to get Clint Cappella,
Nick Claxton. There are bigs around the league that could
come in. I'm not saying the Lakers are winning the
chip this year, but how can you not be beyond
(17:49):
excited for the Lakers future with Luka Doncic. Okay, I
know everybody, well not everybody. Some people on social media
seem to think the league is rigged, which I guess
is the buzzword in twenty twenty five. Right uh, Kansas
City Chiefs. Obviously nobody thinks the NFL's rigged or the NBA,
but it's a funny topic, right boy, Lakers boy Magic
(18:13):
Johnson going back James Worthy. How are they always getting
great players? Shaq decided to pick the Lakers. Kobe Bryant
famously forced his way to the Lakers by telling Charlotte,
I will rather go to Italy and play, and they
had to move on and say, fine, fine, We'll trade Kobe.
And then they got Pau Gasol in one of the
great heists in NBA trade history. And now look at this,
(18:36):
Look at this the Lakers players acquired via trade. Wilket
Chamberlain decent. Okay, he's a top ten player all time. Jabbar,
he's a top five player all time. Kobe Bryant certainly
a top ten player all time. Paalgasol he's in the Hall.
He's gonna be in the Hall of Fame. Or is
a d who has a title and is on track
to be a Hall of Fame player, And now Luka Dantic, Like, guys,
(18:59):
that list is unbelievable. At some point we got to say,
you know, maybe the Lakers just know what the hell
they're doing in chasing stars, Okay, And you look around
the West and you're like, Okay, I got Luca and Lebron,
and I'm supposed to be afraid of Oka. See I
got Luca and Lebron and I'm worried about Yo kitchen,
(19:20):
the Nuggets, Like, I think the Lakers are going to
firmly be in the mix, assuming health. You know, everybody's
everybody's fine, and I do wonder you know I mentioned
Austin Reeves. He's my guy. Regular listeners and viewers of
this show, No, I'm an Austin Reeves defender. Not sure
how he really fits now with the Lakers, so I
put a pause on my buy the Austin Reeves Jersey
(19:43):
have not done that as yet, but Luka Donca Jersey
will be next. I think it makes sense. If you're
the Lakers, you say, can we package Ruey? Can we
packaged Austin Reeves and that number one pick? Go big
game hunting. Now we've got a rim protector. I know
people don't like it when the Lakers are on top,
but this Dantistick. I was grinning ear to ear so
Saturday night, I'm you know, my wife was out of
(20:04):
town with her friend and I'm in town with the kids.
We're watching this movie air Bud. I don't know if
you guys have seen this from like the late nineties.
I don't even think our producers were born when this
movie came out, and you know they need to go
to the bathroom. So I just look at my phone
and I've got this just a flurry of text messages
coming in, and the first one is from this guy
who played the high levels of basketball now a referee,
(20:27):
J Mack. I gotta ask, uh, this seems too good
to be true. How did we get Luca? And my
first reaction is, wait, Luca again. I'm watching Airbud. I
tell the kids, hold on, hold on, we gotta pause
the movie and I dive in and for the next hour,
I'm just riveted by this just unbelievable turn of events.
It really felt like a dream, guys. It genuinely felt wait,
(20:51):
did this really happen? Like? Who trades one of the
best players in the NBA in his prime? It's just
an unfathomable turn of events. And we're gonna have Rachel Nichols,
longtime NBA insider, She's gonna come on the set here
next and talk about the Lakers acquiring Luca. The dynasty
continues in La. Lakers exceptionalism it's a thing, people. So
(21:14):
we're back after this with Rachel Nichols Talking Lakers. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and
neon Eastern nn AM Pacific.
Speaker 5 (21:21):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something, right. So
check us out. We like to get you involved too,
(21:56):
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the most interactive show on planetar. Be sure to
check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports Radio
and the iHeartRadio app from five to seven pm Eastern,
two to four Pacific, and if you miss any of
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get your podcasts, and of course on social media that's
Cavino and Rich.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Back here on the Herd, Jason McIntyre step it in
for Colin Cowherd joining us now on the set The
Great Rachel Nichols Fox Sports NBA Insider covered the NBA forever. Rachel,
how you doing?
Speaker 6 (22:30):
I am better than Colin apparently who's six. So you
and I are healthy and that's that's a good day
for us.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
And listen, great time, great day to be on the
show talking NBA. I mean, Rachel, you know you talk
to people around the league, Yes, Like, what has been
the reaction around the league since you know, the earth
shook Saturday night when the Lakers got Luca.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
It's really almost impossible to quantify the amount of shock
that we have felt from every corner of the NBA.
I have been covering this league for the better part
of three decades. You have g executives who are brown
around the league for forty fifty years and have never
seen anything like this. And part of it is the
surprise of trading away a twenty five year old who
(23:11):
has made the five last All NBA teams, who's a
perennial MVP candidate who took his team to the NBA
Finals seven months ago. But in addition to that, even
more so than the fact that they wanted to trade
him away, it was how they did it. And I
think part of that is the nitty gritty of NBA
front offices. They're always interested in that aspect, maybe more
(23:31):
than the fans. But how they did it has been
a huge shock because it seems that the Mavericks, in
trading away this incredible asset, left a bunch of other
things on the table that they could have gotten for him,
and really no one understands that.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Yeah, it seems like the tipping point may have been, hey,
we just got to the finals, Luca comes back kind
of out of shape. Then he has the CAF injury again.
There were reports he was close to two sixty. That's
like Miles Garrett size. I don't know, do you get
a sense that's kind of what precipitated this deal.
Speaker 6 (24:03):
I mean, I think it's a lot of things over
a lot of years, and I will say, we don't
know everything, and I have to assume Nico Harrison is
a smart guy.
Speaker 7 (24:11):
Jason Kidd is a smart guy.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
I know Jason wasn't directly involved in this trade, but
in general, this is not a dumb team that has
a history of terrible transactions. Right, So you know they
obviously traded away a few guys under the Mark Cuban
era you'd like to have back. But my point is
that there must have been something that they knew that
we don't know. What we do know is that, yes,
there have been conditioning issues with him over the years.
Speaker 7 (24:33):
If he really is in.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
The two sixties, that's nearly twenty pounds overweight, and we
know that leads to soft tissue injuries, which Luca has
had several of. In fact, he's out with one right now.
So the idea that he might be perennially unavailable, whether
he was sort of flouting team rules, whether there was
a bit of sort of hey, we've asked you to
do this and you've refused time and time and time again,
whether it's the arguing with officials that they have asked
(24:55):
him to tone down and that has actually cost his
team specific losses that you can point to. And I
have to assume there's more to the story, right, So
if you add all of that stuff up over all
the years, I personally would still not trade Luca Dodge.
I don't know what the unknown thing is that we
don't know, so maybe that would tip me over as well.
(25:17):
But in general, the idea of trading a twenty five
year old who really isn't even in his prime yet,
you are a betting against the next ten years of
Luca's future. That is a heavy bet to make with
a guy who has frankly been a prodigy since he
was eleven years old, and who you were incredibly lucky
by like six strokes of luck to get.
Speaker 7 (25:39):
Him in the first place. You'd added other front.
Speaker 6 (25:41):
Agents, front offices in front of you, you know, to
make decisions that they probably shouldn't have made just for
you to get him, and the idea that they did
and then decided to trade him away is shocking.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
So you did doing media longer than I have. But
there have been people who've doubted us. I'm sure everybody
in any job's been doubted, and you know Luca essentially,
the Atlanta Hawks were like, eh, we like him, but
we'd rather have Trey Young. Yeah, Sacramento drafted I believe
it was Marvin Badley over Luka Doncic and now Dallas
had him, he took him the finals and they trade him.
So that's three teams that have quit on him or
(26:14):
passed on him. And he's only twenty five and Dallas
cost him over one hundred million dollars with the super Max.
Do you think all of this added up to Luca
maybe being more locked in and mean, like, hey, nobody
believes in me. I'm gonna get my I'm gonna get
my butt in shape and take over. This could be
a springboard to Luca for even more greatness, if that's possible.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
Look, if he does need a wake up call, this
was it right? If it really is a matter of hey,
he just needs to change his attitude, change his approach.
If this doesn't wake you up, I don't know what will.
And again, the Mavericks are betting against his next ten years.
The Lakers are obviously betting on his next ten years,
that he will be that superstar that they need to
follow Lebron James, that he will get his act together
(26:55):
in the ways that the Mavericks felt.
Speaker 7 (26:56):
That he couldn't. And I have to think it's possible.
Speaker 6 (26:59):
Lucas not a dumb guy, and in fact, one of
the guys he really is close with and looks up
to in the league is Nikola Jokic, who went through
a little bit of the same thing, obviously not with
quite the attitude issues that were described around Luca. Again,
I don't know, I'm not in the room, but Jokic
certainly had a very leis a fair approach to his
diet right and sort of the team would ask him
(27:20):
to get in shape, and he really was kept drinking
cokes every.
Speaker 7 (27:22):
Day and all the other stuff. It wouldn't really work out.
Speaker 6 (27:25):
And he just decided kind of going into the twenty
nineteen twenty twenty season that things had to change, and
he had a severe alteration to his diet, to his
workout routine, to what he did during this season, and
it obviously paid off immediately and he led him to
multiple MVPs. It led him to become a champion. So
if that happens to Luca, if Yokich pulls him aside
(27:46):
and said all right, now, this is it. Now it's time,
If someone in his family or if Luca himself decides
this is it, then we could see a very determined,
very different player for the Lakers that the Mavericks and
their fans are going to have to watch for them.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Next ten years. Speaking of MAVs fans, so I'm sure
you've seen the memes kids crying with like six Luca
Jerseys next to them in their bedroom. It's understandable. However,
there is a positive here. Anthony Davis is a plug
and play guy. Now you've got a lot of depth.
He gets to play four right lively when he comes back,
and then Gafford the Biggs. They're kind of built to
(28:20):
hang with Denver. I think Max Christy, I know people
are like forgetting him. He's a good defender. I think
the Lakers are fifteen and eight since he became a starter,
Like there's a world where they can hang with SGA
and Okac, Like sorry SGAA yeah, and okay, see do
you think that Dallas there's a world where they maybe
get back to the finals this year?
Speaker 6 (28:39):
I mean sure, I mean no one expected them to
get to the finals last year and they did it,
so yes, of course that kind of scenario is possible.
And I don't think there's any question or not much
of a question that they are a better team this
year this season with Anthony Davis in there than with Luca,
who's had a ton of injury issues this year. However,
that's this season, which last what four more months?
Speaker 7 (29:01):
I mean, come on, and by the way, they have
other injuries on their team that they still have to
deal with. Dallas does.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
But you cannot underscore, underplay anything what the next ten
years that you just traded away was. And look, Luca
was due for a supermax contract. He could have signed
it as early as this summer. That also precipitated some
of this discussion. Nico Harrison said as much during his
press conference yesterday that look, it's clear that they were
(29:26):
nervous about signing him for three hundred and fifty million
dollars and then getting into a situation with injuries or
other things where they're in the Philadelphia Joel Embiid situation,
right or oh gosh, where are the Clippers doing with
Kawhi Leonard. Now he's on a better contract than he
was before, but still like you're paying for a guy
who generally hasn't been there for big stretches of this season.
The fear of that was clearly a huge motivator. I
(29:50):
would argue you could have still signed him to that
supermax and then traded him a year later. There's a
mandatory waiting period, but you could have traded him after
that and you still gotten a ton of takers around
the league. And by the way, if you had done that,
then you really could have opened up the missing Now.
The argument is they did a one team trade with
the Lakers because they didn't want to sort of make
(30:11):
a mess of the season stuff you were talking about
in the last segment that you know they wanted to
not have that discussion of where will he go and
therefore being railroaded into only one or two choices. To me,
that doesn't really hold because the Lakers traded for him
sight unseen. The Lakers traded for him without knowing what
kind of contract he would sign a year and a
half from now. And by the way, I think if
(30:32):
you polled most teams in the league, not all, but most,
they would take a guaranteed year and a half of
Luka Doncic, which is still left on his current contract
right now, and say we can convince him that this
is the place he wants to.
Speaker 7 (30:44):
Stay, give us a year and a half.
Speaker 6 (30:45):
The Mavericks did it with Kyrie Irvins when they traded
for him and only had three.
Speaker 7 (30:49):
Months to convince him.
Speaker 6 (30:51):
They traded for him near the trade deadline, and then
he was going to be a free agent that summer,
and they gave a bunch of stuff away for him,
and their goal was, Hey, we think when he's here,
he's got a great relationship with Jason Kidd, we can
convince him to stay.
Speaker 7 (31:04):
And by the way they did so, the idea that.
Speaker 6 (31:07):
Luca could have made a list and that you know,
they wouldn't have been able to have any takers if
it wasn't his quote preferred destination.
Speaker 7 (31:14):
I personally don't really buy that.
Speaker 6 (31:16):
I think Luka Doncic is such a unique talent, and
the idea that you would get him for a year
and a half. Look what Toronto did with Kawhi Leonard, right,
they were like, great, we've got him for a year.
We hope we can convince him to stay, but even
if we can't, it's worth it. And guess what, they
couldn't convince him and it was still worth it. So
I don't really buy the whole Hey, if you had
had opened it up and his preferred destinations and that
(31:37):
would have put us in a worse position, I can't
imagine it would put you in a worse position than
negotiating with only one team and having.
Speaker 7 (31:47):
That team not even give up. It's full arsenal.
Speaker 6 (31:49):
And again this goes back to your first question of Hey,
what are people around the league saying? It's the methodology
as much as the actual trade itself. The Lakers had
two first rounders they could have given up, and they didn't.
They only gave up one. And I see from the
Lakers side why they're a thrilled about that and be saying, hey,
we don't know he could go anywhere in a year
and a half. I mean, I understand their argument to Dallas.
(32:11):
If I am Dallas, I am saying that's great, we
need both your picks to make this work. Otherwise I'm
opening it up to the rest of the league. And
I guarantee you, especially in a franchise where ownership really
values having a star, that Lakers would have said, all right, Ari, fine,
here's the second pick.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
So do you think the Lakers use that other pick
and maybe Austin Reeves, maybe Ruy to go get a center.
I know MAXI can kind of play center, Markis Morris,
but they're small ball guys. They're not protecting the room.
They're not stopping Jokic. No, your thoughts to the Lakers
make another move.
Speaker 6 (32:42):
I mean they're in a great position to make another
move now, right because before it was I don't know,
do you get rid of Austin Reeves because of what
he means the team? Right now, well you don't need
that anymore because you have Luka Doncic, and so I
think that they are much more flexible. They still have
a first round pick to give out. There is no
question a. They need a center present, and they need
a defensive center because the downside of this trade that
(33:04):
the Lakers just made is that they might score two
hundred points a game, but the other team might score
two hundred and thirty. So you know, they have got
to get a strong defensive presence in the middle.
Speaker 7 (33:13):
And I expect them to.
Speaker 6 (33:14):
Go out and do that because they have assets now
that they didn't even have before this. Because of now,
they have more flexibility with their roster, and they still
have the first round pick that should be in Dallas.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
So I'll get to the super Bowl in a second.
But one other trade that went down, we haven't even
touched on a Darren Fox in a bizarre trade goes
from the Sacramento Kings to now plus the Spurs playing
with webbin Yama. They didn't give up Castle or Vassal like.
Spurs look kind of dangerous. They're only outside looking in. Now,
Zach Lavine, I'm a big Zach Lavine guy. He goes
to the Kings. You look at the Spurs once they
(33:46):
make a move, and they will. Is this a team
that could upset at Houston or a Memphis in the
first round. I'm excited for webbin Yama.
Speaker 7 (33:54):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (33:55):
Look, I think and have been saying since before he
was drafted. Mark my words, people, Victor webbin Yama will
be a top ten player of all time, all period.
Speaker 7 (34:05):
He could be a top I can say that with
much less certainty.
Speaker 6 (34:10):
I would put Victor Webinyama ahead of any one other
young player in the NBA in terms of my prediction
of that. In fact, I put him ahead of I
don't know. I mean, Lebron James obviously is ahead of that.
But there's a very few guys I would put ahead
of him in my all time prediction because I mean, look,
he could get injured and obviously all bets are off,
but the way his motor is his talent, his alien
(34:33):
form quote unquote that we've never seen before in this league,
his drive, and the fact that he's in an organization that,
as you just pointed out, makes super smart moves, has
a great coaching tree. Whatever happens with Greg Popovich going forward,
he will clearly be around the team, and therefore his
people will be around the team. I mean, he is
in the driver's seat of this entire next generation of
(34:54):
the NBA.
Speaker 7 (34:55):
And Darren Fox, as far.
Speaker 6 (34:56):
As I'm concerned, won the lottery of getting to be
the point guard who has the first major audition of Hey,
I could be this guy's partner for the next five
to seven to ten years, and the idea that you
could get partnered as a point guard with Victor and
you're basically saying, yes, sign me.
Speaker 7 (35:14):
Up for those championship rings. It's a great deal for Fox.
Speaker 6 (35:17):
It's why he targeted the Spurs in this trade, saying
that he didn't want to resign with Sacramento. And yeah,
san Antonio made a great deal, as they do, and
as we would have hoped the Mavericks would have done
with the asset that they had.
Speaker 7 (35:30):
Very good.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
I would ask about zach Lavine, but the producers will yell,
we don't do kings on the show. You know, is
really weird. Not you Ryan, But let's go to the NFL.
So I grew up in the DC area and my
parents would get the Washington Post and I would get
it every morning read sports section. Rachel was one of
the prominent writers. Will Bondcourt, I love the Washington Posts,
and you obviously have covered DC sports for a while.
(35:51):
The Commanders just made an incredible run in the postseason.
Cowherd did make that call. I gotta give him credit.
Speaker 7 (35:57):
Look at my face.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
I know you're very excited, but I have to ask.
The way it ended was rough? Eagles? Look good? Do
the Eagles have a chance to thwart the three peat
here that the Chiefs are going for.
Speaker 7 (36:09):
I didn't just work in Washington, d C. I grew
up in that area.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
So I am really genetically engineered to never say anything
nice about the Philadelphia Eagles or anyone else in the
NFC East. So as far as I'm concerned, Chief Chief, Chief,
Chief Chiefs, and look, I didn't like.
Speaker 7 (36:24):
The one thing I didn't like about.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
The way the Chiefs have approached this season is right
on the podium after they won number two last year,
they were already talking about three peating and number three,
and I always think that's incredibly dangerous. It's not how
you should be focusing on, you know, Bill Belichick. One
game at a time, one day at a time. That
sort of thing is how you stack up multiple championships.
That being said, even though they've had a ton of
(36:47):
close calls this season, they keep winning.
Speaker 7 (36:50):
And I am just not betting against Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 6 (36:52):
I'm not doing it, and I'm especially not doing it
against an NFC East team, Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
And I meant I wanted to start with Washington because
we haven't got to the Miles Garrett stuff. It's such
a busy morning. But I made a list before the
show of teams that make sense for Miles Garrett, who
demanded a trade from the Browns, And at the top
of my list is Washington. I mean, you got the
quarterback on the rookie deal. You can spend the defense
when they give up fifty five to the Eagles, Miles
Garrett is an exceptional player. I mean, Washington is drafting
(37:19):
late first round. I believe it's twenty nine. Yeah, I mean,
are you willing to part with the pick and whatever
within reason. Yeah, I mean, Miles Garrett will make a
ton of sense in DC.
Speaker 6 (37:28):
I'm always a big believer as a sports analysis, in
a sports analyst and sort of just as a fan.
Frankly too, is that the known quantity is better than
the pick. I know a lot of GM's.
Speaker 7 (37:38):
Always love the pick. Give me the pick. The pick
is full of possibilities.
Speaker 6 (37:41):
Guess what you are betting if you prioritize the pick,
that that pick is going to be better than Miles.
Speaker 7 (37:47):
Guess what. I'm not willing to take that chance. I
just want Miles. Yeah, bring him in absolutely.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
And the other team I would have is a team
out here that you know well, the Rams, who love
to swing for the fences. I'm in the front office,
very savvy. Do they do you can you see them
making a move? One last push sounds like Stafford's in
based on the late reports last week. Do you think
any chance the Rams get involved with the Miles Garrett,
who you know is a transformational defensive player.
Speaker 7 (38:14):
Yeah, I absolutely do.
Speaker 6 (38:15):
First of all, they have a very savvy front office
and they are more in the win now mode with
Stafford than they would be if they had a younger
quarterback who was, you know, just starting out. Obviously Jayden
Daniels is a younger quarterback, but that situation is a
little bit unique and different. I absolutely think it would
be smart for the Rams to get involved. This is
a proven guy, and again, that is hard to come
by in any of these leagues.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
All Right, Rachel Nichols, she wore red. Is the red
for Washington or Kansas City? Ill to I like it? Hey,
thanks for rescuing me here in the final hour. You know,
you know, the first hour felt like a final hour.
Speaker 6 (38:52):
Can I say one more thing about the Mavericks and
their fans. I think that's the other underrated part of
all of this is that you mentioned the MAVs fans
and the cry. They actually had a casket out there
at the arena yesterday protesting, and there were profanity written
on the sidewalk in front of the Dirk statue. These
people thought they were getting a Lucas statue. Next to
(39:13):
the Dirk statue. There's an expression, as I'm sure you know,
MAVs Fans for Life MFFL.
Speaker 7 (39:18):
That's the sign off. That's the tag that they put
at the.
Speaker 6 (39:21):
End of every social media post. This really shook the
four life part of a lot of Dallas fans, and
I do think that damage with the fans is something
the franchise did not anticipate.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Yeah, all right, fifteen seconds over under one and a
half titles for Luca with the Lakers.
Speaker 6 (39:38):
I don't know, I don't know, I don't go over,
I hit the time.
Speaker 7 (39:43):
I'm not willing to make that bet.
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Colin Cowherd
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