July 11, 2025 • 43 mins
Jason McIntyre fills in for Colin to breakdown Cooper Flagg's summer league debut and why criticisms of his performance are overblown.
Jalen Williams signs max extension in OKC. Is the big 3 sustainable?
Guest: Mark Medina
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Pat me Friday, Everybody, what is up? It's your boy Jason.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
MacIntyre in for Colin Coward. He is Becca Monday. I
know you're excited, boy, a lot of venom online yesterday
for some of the takes. But hey, it's Friday. Take
Happy Hour in full effect. I'm joining on this beautiful
Friday by Alex Curry.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Alex, I know.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
You're excited for your big leave that's coming up.
Speaker 5 (00:52):
Yeah, I'm excited. There's a lot, there's the unknown, you know,
but we're one day at a time. So we're here today.
We're gonna have a rate last day.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
We are.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
I love that you were getting beat for your takes
yesterday because that means that they were polarizing, which is
what you want to do.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah. I want to be loved, guys. I just want to.
Speaker 6 (01:12):
Be going to be loved in this industry.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Although I'll say there was a story that dropped like
eight minutes before we walked on a set Ooh it
is spicy, and we'll get to that shortly. I don't
want to say Lebron versus Luca, but something's happening in
LA and it does not look good for the King.
We got a great show lined up, a lot of
exciting fun guests will do Summer League stuff, little NFL,
but we're gonna.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Start with the big debut.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Last night, Cooper Flag, the eighteen year old phenom from Duke,
in his first NBA Summer League game. Now, I know
everybody wants to draw dramatic sweeping conclusions from a Summer
League game in Vegas. I'm just gonna warn you don't
do that. Okay, The eighteen year old Cooper Flag had
an uneven game. Listen, this is what happens. Remember when
(01:58):
Bin Yama last year came out in his first Summer
League game and was kind of awful, and everybody's, Oh,
he's going he's gotta be fine. That was two years ago.
But Cooper Flag last night shoots five of twenty one,
zero for five on threes, and all I hear is well,
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
His shot doesn't.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Look good, Jay, I didn't. Where is he elite? I'm like, guys,
we saw him for a full season of Duke. He's
elite everywhere. I mean, I just thought the overreaction to
Cooper flag shooting last night was goofy. Let me tell
you what he does? Well, the guy's a winning basketball player.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Should I mention?
Speaker 4 (02:35):
With seventy seconds left, he makes the game saving block
on a layup attempt by a Laker guard, just swats
it out of thin air and then gets what happens?
He comes down on the fast break and Cooper Flag
makes the game winning assist to a young memoarrd, Boy,
did that kid look good? And the MAVs pull out
the win over the Lakers, And somewhere along the line
(02:58):
in the NBA mostly we got to this, Hey, hey,
if you're a jack of old trades but master of none,
I don't know. It's just what are you a leite at? Well?
Let me ask you, guys. When Nikola Jokic came into
the NBA at twenty, what was he elite at anyone? Anyone?
What about janis he gets to the league at nineteen,
(03:19):
This spindly young fellow from Greece. What does yiannisy lead
at Jay? Hey? Sorry, length, Okay, that's not an elite trade.
That's not a skill that carries over. Like Yannis came
into the league, he wasn't an e leite at anything.
Cooper Flag comes in more advanced than those guys as
an eighteen year old. Remember a month ago he should
have graduated high school. That's when you usually graduated high school.
(03:41):
Right eighteen and a half, eighteen ish, he had completed
a season at Duke, was utterly dominant, and now is
in the NBA Summer League at eighteen and a half.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Doesn't turn nineteen.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Until later this year. That's crazy. And all these people
who are like Jason He shot five of twenty one.
Look the form on his shot, Guys, take a time out,
take a deep breath. He played thirty two minutes last night. Okay,
this guy's been working for the last decade to get
to this moment. As a young guy. Of course, he
had butterflies. I will point out he shot eighty four
(04:14):
percent from the line at Duke last season. Okay, three
point shooting. You know how you shoot free throws as
a better descriptor of how your three point shooting could go.
Cooper's gonna be fine from three shot thirty eight percent
of Duke. I don't expect him to shoot thirty eight
percent in the NBA is a rookie, but he's gonna
be fine. I just think the overreaction and this whole
(04:36):
like he's Andre Carolinko.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Can we stop with that nonsense. It's just goofy.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
People forget when it comes to the draft, it's not
about what you are, it's about what you can be.
I've tried to hammer this home in the NFL. I
try to hammer this home in the NBA. Nobody cares
about what vj. Edgecomb is as a rookie in Philly.
He's drafted super high because what's he gonna be in
(05:04):
three four, five years. We've got him on the rookie deal.
What can he be? Well, I'm here to tell you.
Cooper flag to me. I look at him, and I
see a young Kevin Garnett. And I know everybody who's
gonna hear that and see it online is gonna say, well,
wait a minute, Kevin Garnett wont an MVP. Kevin Garnett
was leading in the league in rebounds for four straight years. Yeah,
when he's like twenty seven Cooper Flag at eighteen, it's
(05:28):
better than Kevin Garnett was at eighteen.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Period.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
I mean, you can look up the stats.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Kevin Garnett's rookie year.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
He was fine. Cooper Flag will be better because he's
more of an advanced player at this juncture. Now the
question becomes will he continue to improve the way Yannis,
the way Yo Kisch, the way kg Those guys improved dramatically.
Guys like Lebron and Luca came in not as finished products,
but they were different. Okay, Luca was like twenty one
(05:56):
seven and six as a rookie. Lebron I think was
like averaging nineteen point five boards, five assists. Those are
other worldly numbers. Extraordinary players, historic greats. I think Cooper
Flag can get there. He's obviously not there yet. But
can we please stop overreacting to him shooting five of
twenty one in what he called one of the worst
games of his life. Here's Cooper Flag on his Summer
(06:18):
League debut.
Speaker 7 (06:20):
I just kind of really get into a rhythm. You know,
it's a different environment, you know, I think it's obviously
very different college. It's probably very different from what you
know the real ND is. That'd be like, I'm not
necessarily worried, but obviously just not happy with that win,
but you know, and the day would get the way.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Yeah, I mean, listen, the win matters, I'm sure to
those who care about Summer League, and Cooper Flag obviously
wants to start his career with a win. I'll just say,
I see a guy who does everything well at eighteen,
and that frankly terrifies me. Winning and what he is,
he's a winning player. I mean, don't let's not bring
up the loss to Houston that costs me a lot
of money in the NCAA tournament. That was not on
(06:56):
Cooper Flag. He's got to get the ball. And oh,
by the way, just one last thing for the basketball
hoop head's out there. Go look at the reel of
Cooper Flag last night. Every time he got in the lane,
two three defenders waiting for not gonna happen. In the NBA, folks,
he'll be surrounded by real NBA players like Klay Thompson
who you can't leave open, like PJ. Washington, who becomes
(07:18):
all of a sudden a good shooter. When he's around
Luca and Kyrie, he's gonna have NBA players around him.
You're not gonna be able to clog the lane. And
Cooper Flag's gonna be duncan on a lot of people
and have a really good rookie year. All right, I
want to pivot now to a story that was just
breaking right before we came on air about a fractured
relationship between the Lakers and Lebron James. Now, if you've
(07:43):
been paying attention for a couple of weeks, it's been
smelling a little funky in LA.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Things have not been trending well.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
And according to a big deep dive from Brian Windhorst
and Ramona Shelbourne, Lebron James is pretty ticked off. And listen,
you can see from his actions that he's not thrilled
with what's going on. And according to the story, and
Windhorst is a great reporter and I know him well,
and Ramona Shelburn, they're good, they're buttoned up. This is
top level stuff. This isn't transactional reporting. They are handed
(08:16):
to you from agents. This is stuff you got a
fish for. And it sounds like the gist of it
is Hey, Lakers, Let's remember a few things here. Lebron
picked the Lakers. Lebron dragged the Lakers out of the wilderness.
Everybody wants to remember. Kobe's final game was awesome. It
was the final five years before Lebron got there, the
(08:39):
Lakers were a dumpster fire.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
It was the worst.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Stretch in franchise history. Lebron saved them. He pulled them
out of that disaster, okay, and within a couple of
years brought them a title, got them Anthony Davis. Okay,
Lebron saved the Lakers franchise. That's not hyperbole, that's fact.
He saved him.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
And now as.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
He ages into his forties, Lebron is feeling like the
love is not quite there anymore and the focus is
on the new shiny toy Luka Doncic. And this article
really articulates how there was a big whine and dine
between the powers that be of the Lakers and Luca
(09:23):
and Lebron didn't get the invite. Maybe he has got
lost in the mail. And it was basically, how can
we move forward, here's our game players that we want
to do, And it was like Lebron was not an
integral part of that, and you could see how he
would feel salty. He was a second team All NBA. Guys,
he's the greatest player in the history of basketball, and
he was awesome last year at this age, Like, can
(09:45):
we respect him a little bit now? From the Lakers camp,
they will certainly push back, Well, well, wait a minute, Lebron,
what are you talking about last year? You want us
to draft your boy bronni We drafted him last year.
You want a JJ Reddick as head coach, We got him.
So we're still catering to you, my guy. You're still
(10:05):
in our game plan. But the problem is things have
changed since last summer. The Luka Doncics trade changed everything.
Remember before the Lakers were like, oh, we can build
around Anthony Davis going forward. As Lebron gets into his forties,
ad will be our centerpiece. Lakers had an opportunity to
get younger and better and they did that.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
And it's pretty clear.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
There's some mending of fences to be done with Lebron
and Jovann Buja, who covers the Lakers closely. He was
on here yesterday talking about this relationship. Lebron wants him
to spend all the picks here's Jovann talking about the issues.
Speaker 8 (10:46):
This is the first time you could say in Lebron's
career he hasn't been the sole focus or the primary
focus of his franchise that.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
He's been on.
Speaker 8 (10:53):
Like even with Ad, it was all like it was
always Lebron trying to pass the baton to Ad. Luca
just came in and got the baton, right.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I get it. He's a guy who's about to.
Speaker 8 (11:02):
Enter his prime, has already led a team to the finals.
But Lebron's just I think the big thing is like
he sees the finish line, whether it's another year, two years,
and he wants to win that fifth ring, and it
doesn't feel like the Lakers are going all in on
this year's roster.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
So now that's a decent point. Lebron's looking around being like,
are we better? Can we compete with Denver and Houston?
I think DeAndre Aiden, I know the take yesterday did
not go over well on the Andrew Webbs. Let's just
be real, guys, DeAndre Aiden at eight million dollars is
a heist next year for the Lakers.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Absolute steel.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
You take him over Rudy Gobert for thirty six million
in a heartbeat. All right, so the Lakers did get better. Obviously,
Aiden's got a bit of an ugly history being a malcontent.
But let's see if he shapes up with Luca and.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Lebron on the roster. And I got to ask this
Bradley Beal thing.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
A lot of people are projecting the Clippers to get him.
If the Lakers get Beal, I don't want to hear this.
It's like Russell Westbrook. It's absolutely not. They're not even
close to the same player. Westbrook's kind of an unhinged
I'm gonna get mine.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
I can do it myself.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Guy. That's not Bradley Beal. Bradley Bial's never want anything,
never been anywhere. He'll fall in line. I think. Obviously
Lebron is upset with how things went. Remember at the
deadline they could have got Mark Williams, which would have
been good.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Lakers nixed that trade.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
I think in hindsight we'll look back at that moment
and be like that was smart. Why Because the Lakers
are not gonna be hamstrung for the next three four
five years. They're able to build quickly around Luca and
I guess I can wrap up with this the whole
two timelines thing is difficult. You want to know, go
ask the Golden State Warriors. Remember after Durant left, they
(12:43):
had injuries to Clay and Curry. They end up with
a top five pick, and that's where they've got James
Wiseman and they also got Jonathan Kuminga, And those were
two guys they thought they could build around going forward.
But they had this old old regime Draymond Green, Clay
Thompson Lebron. How do you merge those two timelines and
(13:03):
get them on the same page.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Now, the Warriors, while.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
They technically couldn't figure it out, they did figure it
out because they got another title, but they didn't secure
the long term with Wiseman and comingo. Wiseman got shipped
out of town. He really hasn't panned out anywhere. And
Kaminga is probably gonna land elsewhere here in the next
ten days.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
So that timeline's done.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
It's difficult to thread that needle between young guys and
old Luca. What twenty six Lebron forty, that's gonna be
immensely difficult. There are gonna be some hiccups. I think
they just Lakers need to man up, get to the table.
Tell Lebron, hey, we can compete. DeAndre Hey. By the way, Lebron,
did you watch how Okasey struggled against Jokic? Did you
(13:50):
see how okase struggled against Zubac. They can't handle Biggs,
then they gotta go Bigs and their strength of guards
and wings goes out the window. We've got eight. Obviously
he's not Jokic, but he can hang inside. He'll give
Okay see problems like there is a world where the
Lakers compete. But I think Lebron just needs to be
shown to love and frankly, sometimes we all need a
(14:13):
little bit of love. Right. We have a phenomenal show
today and coming up next, OKC, You know I just
mentioned them.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
They just signed another guy to a massive contract.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
But their title window it's smaller than you think because
of some dumb NBA rules. That's next year on The Herd.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 9 (14:42):
Hey what's up, everybody? It's me three time pro bowler
LeVar Harrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce
a podcast called Up on Game. What is up on Game?
You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler TJ. Huschman,
Zada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico. You
can only name a show with that type of talent
(15:03):
on it. Up on Game We're going to be sharing
our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to
Up on Game with me lebar Arrington, T J. Huschman's
Ouda and Plexigo Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast
or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
From back here on the Herd. Very fun stuff coming up.
Marlon Humphrey, the Baltimore Ravens cornerback. We'll be dropping by
next hour. Oh be asking him probably some tough Lamar
Jackson questions.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Or maybe not.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
But I highly recommend that Lebron story. We just talked
about this Lebron Lakers rift. I wonder if Luca feels
like he's caught in the middle like a lover's coral
a spat. The word microaggressions appears in the article gos
I love a good microaggression. All right, I want to
quickly pivot to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Congratulations guys, you
(16:03):
won your championship. When do we start tearing the team down? Folks?
This is staggering. So they win the championship, obviously, win
game seven, Tyres Haliburton gets her.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Blah blah blah.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
This is what they've done since the finals. They inked
twenty six year old Sga to a four year, two
hundred eighty five million dollar contract. That's crazy money. Obviously,
he's the MVP of the finals, MVP of the season.
He's young, understandable. Then they inc Chet Hombrid who's twenty three,
to a five year, two hundred and fifty million dollar deal. Okay,
(16:40):
there will not be a math question at the end
of this. I'll just give you the answer. Then yesterday
they announced Jalen Williams aka J Dubb got a five year,
two hundred eighty seven million dollar deal. He's only twenty
four years old. So in the span of ten days,
twelve whatever, they signed eight hundred twenty two million dollars
(17:01):
of contracts to three players. Eight hundred twenty two million
to three players. Now, because they're citing them early and
they contracts don't all kick in immediately, they will not
be in the luxury tax next year, So they're fine.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
They could repeat.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
I don't think they will, but they could. However, in
the twenty six twenty seven season, just with those three players,
they will be over the luxury tax and over the
first and.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Second apron on three players.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Now, obviously they have a billion draft picks and they
have a salaries they can move.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
It's probably gonna be okay.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
But the NBA wanted this crap, and I'm just telling you,
I'm calling a crap. I'm sorry. I think this is horrible.
The way the Celtics built an amazing team and had
to instantly tear it down because of one injury and
avoiding the luxury tax and second and repeater. It has
made this this new NBA where the days of hey,
(18:06):
let's build a Kobe in Shaq, a tandem that brings
us rings. Oh wait a minute, we're gonna have to
tear it down in a minute. Well that kind of stinks. Hey,
let's build an awesome team, Michael Jordan's type bull team.
Is it gonna last three years because you just gotta
tear it down instantly? And I don't like this at all.
(18:27):
I'm just telling you, guys, the NBA over the last
fifteen years we were spoiled. Okay, you would go into
free agency and be like, Ooh, where's what's gonna happen
with Kawhi? Where's he gonna go? What's Kevin Durant doing?
What's Lebron doing?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
That?
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Stuff's not happening anymore. We're not seeing any of that. Now.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
You could say, well, Jay, we're gonna see it. There's
no sign that this is on the horizon. And that's
where the NBA got super interesting stars leaving teams, stars
staying whatever.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
It's boring.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
It's not that. Frankly, is there anything sexy about Oka
See keeping their three stars. They're not polarizing at all.
They're not like driving a wedge between the fan base
and and other fan bases. Nobody cares like, oh okay
See won the title and they're keeping everybody in there.
Oh my gosh, they're paying everybody and they have dropped it.
It's not fun and exciting. We heard Chris Haynes, a
(19:20):
respected reporter, say that this new CBA kind of killed
free agency, and then I look around free agent, I'm like,
what's happened? Oh, Kevin Garnett, Sorry, Kevin Durant got traded
to the Rockets. What's been the second biggest deal, Miles
Turner going to the Bucks because Deck doesn't really move
(19:42):
the needle at all. It doesn't really help the Bucks.
It hurts the Pacers a little. But that's not like
a sexy move. And I just I know some people
will disagree, and everybody wants their their stars to stay
in their towns, but like, that's not fun and exciting.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
What made the NBA fun was player.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Movement, and I think you need to get back to that.
And okay, see signing these three guys to eight hundred
twenty two million dollars of contracts, Like, what what.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Are we even doing? They're gonna have to.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Tear this down in like two years, so hey, let's
build it up. Sign the guys to the big deals
and then we can move them. I mean this Devin
Booker move where he signed a contract he's gonna get
seventy two and a half million dollars for the next
couple of years. We talked about this yesterday. It's like,
how is that good for anyone other than Devin Booker.
Is not good for the Suns, It's not good for
the rest.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Of the league.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Can we get Devin Booker to I don't know, the
Miami Heat, that would be interesting. And I just I know,
okay See signed their guys, and okay See fans are happy,
but for the rest of the league, it's just not
fun or exciting. And I'm sure you guys are gonna
hate that, but that's how I feel. Let's go to
Alex Curry with the news.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
No, no turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
This is the headline.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
News, Jay Mike.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
I think the other interesting thing we kind of touched
on yesterday is just the mentality after you get paid
like these this okay See team that won a championship,
all these guys were playing on the rookie deal. Now
they're all like, like the high some of the highest
paid players in the league, which is insane.
Speaker 6 (21:11):
So that's going to be something interesting to keep an
eye on.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
Two just to kind of meant, Jalen Williams at like
eight million dollars is fine. Jala Williams at.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Like sixty it's like insane.
Speaker 5 (21:21):
Jumps for like all the guys that they've paid. Okay,
let's start in the NFL. Though Dak Prescott season ended
prematurely last year after tearing his hamstring in Week nine
and the team they missed him. They finished seven to ten,
missing the playoffs. With Cowboys training camp said to open
on July twenty second, Dak spoke to where his health.
Speaker 6 (21:38):
Stands ahead of the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
I'm healthy.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
I'll be full go for camp.
Speaker 7 (21:44):
I'm healthy. Yeah, I look I think shown are. I'll
probably get an official sign off from Don, but I'm healthy.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
He needs to have a strong season.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Dak is officially the highest paid quarterback in the NFL.
He doesn't have the playoff success. He's two and five
but hasn't won a divisional round. The Cowboys in general
haven't had the playoff success. They haven't made the NFC
Championship game J Mack since nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 6 (22:09):
That's thirty years.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
They have the longest NFC Championship game playoff drought. Last
time that they were in is when they won the
Super Bowl at ninety five. That means every other team
in the NFC has gotten to the championship game over
the cow since the Cowboys have last been there. I'm
not buying Cowboys stock until he's showed me something.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Will Dak Prescott win another playoff game with the Cowboys.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
I mean, they got a lot of new this year,
their first time head coach. Right, they did get him
another weapon in George Pickens, But he's a bit of
a we've heard, Well.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
They don't it's a contract.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
How is he going to be a number two behind
Ceedee Lamb too? Like, and he's going to have like
ten times the amount of spotlight on him now that
he's a Cowboy opposed to when he was a Steeler.
So like everything's going to be picked apart. Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 6 (22:59):
I mean I.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Don't know if the Deck will win another playoff game
in Dallas. Whoa, he's probably only got two years left.
I mean they're making the playoffs this year, I don't
think so.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
And then next no, I mean if Philly Commanders, I
mean I think they finished what third in the NFL
in the division?
Speaker 4 (23:15):
Yeah, in the division, probably not gonna cut it given
the Vikings, Packers, Lions, Bears could be in the mix, Rams,
Niners tough. Yeah, I don't, I don't.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
I don't I don't either, which is and again first
time head coach. Yeah, like there's a lot of SHODDI
who said that he's still developing, Like they're just weird.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
A lot of weird.
Speaker 6 (23:36):
Energy coming out of Cowboys camp.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
So again, I'm not buying stock. I'll believe it when
I see it. Okay, let's move to la crazy story
from the Chargers, where offseason addition Najie Harris apparently suffered
an eye injury on the fourth of July. According to
his agent, Harris has a superficial eye injury after a
fireworks mishap, but the expectation is that he'll be ready
(23:58):
for the upcoming season. Chargers have declined to comment on
the matter. Now, he's not the first and he's not
going to be the last of Fourth of July accidents.
I mean, remember when Jason Pierre Paul lost his index finger,
part of his thumb and a fireworks.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
I just I don't what are people.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
Going to understand It is not safe to play with fireworks,
especially when you use your hands for your career. Like again, like,
it's not totally clear what this eye injury is, but
if you lose any part of your vision.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
That's your career.
Speaker 6 (24:33):
A superficial eye injury, what does that mean? I don't know.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
That's what they're like, and the Chargers aren't commenting on it,
and they only signed him to a one year deal,
so like, your future is not guaranteed past the season.
Plus the Chargers they drafted Hampton out of North Carolina,
Like it's they already have their future, They're already thinking
of their future.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
So the San Francisco Chronicle had a story about this. Yeah,
it happened at like twelve twenty, you know, like early morning.
I'm guessing there was some partying going on. One of
the guys in the crew lost a couple fingers. But
I hear superficial eye injury, and I'm kind of like
you have. I don't know what that means.
Speaker 6 (25:12):
Did it brush your eye? You can't see it? Like again,
if you lose any part of your vision.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
So wait, it's July eleven. Has happened six days ago.
If it was superficial, just coming front the camera, I'm fine.
I can't wait to get ready to start the season.
Liter like hiding ARLs, what are you gonna do?
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Superficial?
Speaker 4 (25:32):
Super The fun story is this, not that this is funny,
but yesterday, I guess just started to blow up online
and it was in certain pockets and there were some.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Text threads going around here. Naja Harris might have lost.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
An eye, and it's like, Okay, well we gotta wait,
and I guess one article prompted Schefter and others to
finally hit up the agent and they were like, Okay,
here we go. But like it almost feels like they
were trying to hide this story. Definitely, but it just
got out somehow.
Speaker 6 (25:58):
Definitely. I mean, what is a superficial eye injury? Anything
to your eye?
Speaker 5 (26:03):
You can't see if you can't if you don't have
your full vision in a job where you need your
full vision, like that could be your.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Freep messing around fireworks. I never had fireworks.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
I had this fear like when people told me things
when I was young, it like stuck with me. And
I grew up in an all wood house and my
mom was like, fireworks could burn down the house. So
in my mind I equated fireworks with our house burning down.
Speaker 6 (26:29):
So I was like, never.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
Wanted to do it. We had a fireman who lived
on a block, so like he would do the fireworks
on the block growing up, but I never I don't
like things that are that are dangerous, like I'm afraid
of knives. I don't like sharp items. I don't like fireworks,
Like life is good.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Well, I don't like it.
Speaker 6 (26:46):
I don't need to.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Okay, how about this?
Speaker 4 (26:47):
Do you do at amusement parts? Do you do the
scariest rods? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (26:51):
Okay, love rollercoasters, grill definitely love the thrill like those
are tested though.
Speaker 6 (26:57):
Oh so another little.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Safe for them, by the way, was labeled as a
high grade firework.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Yes, what are we talking like?
Speaker 4 (27:03):
An M eighty?
Speaker 3 (27:05):
I don't know, guys, I don't know. Just going forward.
People do be smart.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
It's let other people mets around the works, not you
watch it.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Yeah, watch the watch safe. You use your hands in.
Speaker 6 (27:15):
Your eyes for your career. Yeah, it's just it's heartbreaking, honestly.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
But let's finish In the NBA, where Steph Curry is
entering his seventeenth NBA season and has been fielding questions
about his NBA future. At thirty seven years old, Curry
has two years left on his current contract and recently
told The Athletic that he doesn't know how much longer
he has left, adding that he's taking it two years
at a time, obviously referencing his contract. But is this
(27:41):
kind of like what we've seen Lebron do with his
last few contracts?
Speaker 6 (27:44):
The one year with the player option.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
So you kind of get to gauge where the team
is at after a year. I mean, Golden State's chances
this season, all their major pieces are coming right. They
picked up Jimmy Butler last season. We saw potential there
when everyone was how free. But they haven't made any
(28:06):
real big moves this offseason yet. Maybe we're hearing they'll
add Al Horford, but we haven't heard anything yet. And
right now, the Warriors odds to win the NBA title
or middle of the pack there plus twenty five hundred,
they're tied with the Hawks.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
That's tied with the Hawks.
Speaker 6 (28:22):
Yeah, that's literally.
Speaker 5 (28:23):
Tied for tenth best or middle of the back.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
It's whoa, there's.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
Not I mean they won game won in Minnesota, but
Curry got hurt and otherwise they win that series. And
I don't know how they would have fared against Okay,
see probably would have lost, but.
Speaker 6 (28:37):
Amy because that haven't done much right now.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
With they had the same odds as the Hawks. Yeah,
that's wild. Yeah, I'm bullish on the Hawks, but not
that bullish.
Speaker 6 (28:47):
Yeah, I guess they're in the East ten best.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
But this whole taking it two years at a time,
it's interesting because in that Lebron article, Lebron was upset
the Lakers didn't come to him with the contract offer
as like an extension. So I wonder if Golden State
would do that with Curry.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
I just different though I like it because you have
to remember, like Golden State was a dynasty for eight years.
They won what was it four titles in eight years
in an eightth something around that, Like, and.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
He was he's the face of the franchise. It's different.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
It's different when you are and have always been the franchise.
So I think he might be treated a little differently
Warriors stuff with Lebron.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
And they drafted him.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Yeah, he's like I guess maybe if Yannis came over
via trade, then you start to build around Yiannis and
you face Kurry out, which isn't right.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
Again, I think there would be a respect factor of
like where do you want to go? Do you want
to go somewhere else? Do you want to stay here?
Well you would think that, but the Lakers aren't doing
that with Lebron. Different though different. This is like someone
who like made your franchise what it is.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
Well, Lebron got the Lakers back to what.
Speaker 5 (29:58):
They did but like he also is with two other franchises,
and he's been a bunch of other places, and it's
new ownership, Like you also have to remember the Lakers,
it is new ownership. He signed on with the Bus family,
which is like family friendly deals. This is a completely
new situation, almost a new team with the Lakers since
(30:19):
Lebron signed on. As you mentioned, like once they got
Luca mid season, everything changed and then this off season
it's new ownership.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Yeah, it's all different. Seven thirty seven.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
I could see him playing the Lebron's forty like he's
still Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 5 (30:34):
The way he played, the way he plays the game,
like it allows him, I think, to play with shooters.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Have a longer look at that.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
Oh yeah, got highest career points per game post thirty five,
Katie Lebron Curry. Yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
It's great.
Speaker 5 (30:48):
I mean, I hope people he's one of my multime
favorite players.
Speaker 6 (30:51):
Obviously it's my cousin. We share the last name.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
So so I told Maty it's so funny.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
That's after thirty five.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
So Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isaiah Tom they were all
done by thirty five.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Yea, like non factors, it's different than elite.
Speaker 5 (31:03):
It's different now because everyone takes such like intense care
of their body is by what they eat, how they train,
how they work out the off season regime. It's just
a different lifestyle now, which is why we're able to
see these athletes play into their forties.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Alex with the news.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
Herd Line News.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
All right.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Coming up next, we're going to Vegas.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
Did Cooper Flag live up to the hype last night
in Vegas? We'll talk about that next.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern non a Empacific.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Welcome back, great.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Game last night from Cooper Flag. I know the shooting
numbers weren't there, but we're going live to Vegas right
now to talk to Martin Medina, who covers the NBA.
He was court sided for Brownie versus Cooper Flag. We'll
get to the bronny level aspect of it in a minute, but.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Mark, I want to start Cooper Flagg.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
Your first impressions not talking to people, just you watching
the game court side in Vegas last night.
Speaker 10 (32:10):
Yeah, j Max, similar to what you just said, Yes,
he didn't shoot the ball well ten points, five to
twenty one from the field, didn't make a three, but
he had a complete game all the way around, six boards,
four assists, three steals, one block. Loved his competitive juice.
I think the fact that he was able to defend
it multiple positions, move really up and down the court
pretty fast.
Speaker 11 (32:30):
It's a lot of good signs to come.
Speaker 10 (32:33):
And even with it being Summer League and you take
it for what it's worth, it's got Mark Cuban pretty giddy.
I mean, he was talking about how he has a
step back shot that reminds him of Dirk Novinsky. He
has a lot of competitive juices like Kobe Bryant. So, yeah,
the shooting wasn't there, but everything else was. So this
is just the beginning of what should be a pretty
(32:54):
fun career to follow.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Yeah, and this is what's difficult about the Cooper flag discussion.
Everybody wants to say, well, wait, jerk Noovisky, he's not there. Well,
obviously he's eighteen. It's not about what he is now,
it's about what he can be. I've said Kevin Garnett.
But hearing you talk about Mark Cuban gushing about Kobe,
I mean, that's next level stuff we don't normally hear that.
(33:17):
Is this just your typical hype machine or is there
a lot more behind this?
Speaker 10 (33:23):
Well, Mark Cuban always likes to feed the hype machine,
but I think there is some context.
Speaker 11 (33:27):
He made it clear he's not comparing him to Kobe Bryant.
They have completely different games.
Speaker 10 (33:31):
Kobe, he was very much having a scores mentality even
though he had a balanced game. Cooper Flag is pretty
much all around where Mark Cuban came up with. The
Kobe idea was just more of his trajectory. Even though
we know Kobe Bryant as this five time NBA champion,
one of the best players ever in the league, it
took him a while to develop. He got drafted out
(33:54):
of high school, but he didn't start most of his
games his rookie season, so he became a very very
special player. But I think Mark's point is because Cooper
Flag is on a team with Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis,
Klay Thompson, he's not going to have the same kind
of pressure as most number one picks have to carry
a franchise and beat that franchise savior right away. He
(34:15):
can kind of grow organically as well as Leon and
all those players as mentors, and so that's where the
comparison lies.
Speaker 11 (34:23):
But the game itself is completely different.
Speaker 4 (34:25):
So let me ask. It looked like they wanted him
to handle a lot last night, and he did. I mean,
I know the Lakers double team did, and we're really
physical with him, which is a little while. But what
do you anticipate him playing. Obviously, is just one summer
league game, But I thought all to talk about him
maybe being a point guard was goofy. But the way
he played last night, you know, and we have positionless
(34:47):
basketball now, you play with multiple guards. If Max Christy
Clay and Cooper Flag start in the back court, there's
no point guard per se.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
But do you think he starts.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
I thought he would come off the bench as a rookie,
at least for the first half of the season.
Speaker 10 (35:01):
I think it's all fluid, but I don't want to
be surprised if he starts, because we have to keep
a few things in mind. One, Cooper Flag is really
good at a lot of good things. One Two, Jason
Kidd is trying to make him feel comfortable with running
the offense and really make him feel empowered to allow
him to make decisions on the court without any fear
of making mistakes. And three, Kyrie Irving is not going
(35:22):
to be with the Mavericks to start the season. He
has at ACL injury. You never know timeline specifically at
this point, but most players that are coming back from
ACL injuries the previous season is to do not come
back until middle of the season. So it's inevitable that
he's going to have a heightened role. So even when
you add in the fact that they got D'Angel Russell
(35:42):
in the offseason, he's a really good point guard. They
have a lot of good depth around him. They're going
to really lean on Cooper Flag to fill a lot
of different roles.
Speaker 4 (35:49):
Actually, you're right, Dangel Russell probably starts a point but
my gosh, that's not going to be for long. Moving
all right, let's move to the other side of the
MAVs Lakers game last night. As Bronnie, I know, sample
size is tiny. The Bronnie I've watched so far in
the summer League, whether it was versus the Warriors and
whatever that California thing was, I see a totally different player.
(36:10):
I'm not saying he's a starter or a six man.
He just looks like a much much better player than
he did last year.
Speaker 11 (36:18):
Yeah, I completely agree. Much different player.
Speaker 10 (36:20):
Obviously, California Classic Las Vegas Summer League, much different comparison
than an actual NBA regular season game. But I think
that from what you saw last year and Brownie's Summer
League debut, you've seen a lot better shooting. You see
Bronni hitting some shots here to open the night. He's
a lot more aggressive, He's a lot more decisive. He
(36:40):
was really gained into it with Cooper Flag trying to
size him up defensively despite having that size disadvantage so
much that I think that he did force a turnover.
The officials called him for a foul, but I think
that he got a steal. So what this means for
next season, who knows. He didn't get a lot of
playing time beyond that debut with Lebron James opening night,
(37:04):
but there is a pathway for him to at least
be at the end of the rotation.
Speaker 11 (37:09):
Because he has a great practice player.
Speaker 10 (37:11):
He's all about the right habits, and he doesn't have
any kind of sense of entitlement, even though you know
Lebron is his dad. He is very coachable and is
someone that really tries to, you know, chip away at
his different weaknesses. But the biggest thing that he's shrying
to really lean on with his calling card is defense.
Speaker 4 (37:30):
Yeah, and that's why, you know, in our morning meeting,
I was like, Hey, is there a world where you
know Bronnie fashions himself as.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Like a TJ McConnell.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
And I know some people will scoff and be like,
come on, no way, TJ McConnell. Yes, he had like
eighteen points in a quarter of the NBA Finals. That's
veteran TJ McConnell. I'm saying, a young one who's an
energy guy coming off the bench, give me ten to
eighteen minutes a night. You don't need a lot of shots.
I want ninety four feet of defense, harassment energy. Can
(38:00):
he be that guy as like a number nine or
ten guy in the rotation?
Speaker 10 (38:05):
Well, Jay MC, I don't see that right now because
of his skill set. But I remember, even before he
got drafted, talking to some executives about what his trajectory
could be, and they all acknowledged the unknown, but they
said the very worst that because of the intangibles I
talked about and his professionalism, work ethic, that he could
carve out a pretty good career being an end of
(38:27):
a rotation guy, because you need good practice players. You
need guys that don't cause problems when you're playing time
is sporadic. And I think the third point is that
they didn't want to necessarily put a ceiling on specifically
if he could be a rotation guy or not, because
a lot of times players in those positions they always
overachieve because of their work ethic and practice have it.
(38:51):
So you know, let's be clear, no one's mistaking that
Browny could have an all star kind of caliber career,
but as far as you know where it ends up
being the end of the rotation or being part of
a rotation coming off the bench, it very well could
happen depending on how discipline he continues with his.
Speaker 11 (39:10):
Work hapets and his attitude. So far, so good.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
Let me ask the thunder just locked up sga Chet
and J Dubb for eight hundred and twenty two million
dollars worth of contracts.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Mark.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
I don't know who you're listening to, but all I
heard leading up to free agency was this could be
the wildest craziest free agency. Since twenty nineteen, there's been
like no movement. It was a Kevin Durant mouse turner.
That's it. Nothing else spicy. Interesting. Did this new collective
bargaining agreement kind of kill free agency? Because even though
(39:42):
the thunder are retaining all their guys, they're going to
be in the second apron and the repeater and all
that stuff in a few years and then have to
dismantle this thing the way the Celtics are. So, I
don't know, there's a lot there your thoughts on free
agency and what's happening because it hasn't been as exciting
as anticipation.
Speaker 10 (40:02):
Yeah, I mean, the NBA indirectly eliminated free agency once
they allowed players to become eligible for Supermax extensions before
the end of their contract actually expired, and the thought
process what with that was allowing teams to have a
better opportunity to retain their stars number one and number
two to avoid the scenario when star players are playing
(40:23):
the final year of the contract.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
There's a lot of.
Speaker 10 (40:26):
Oxygen stucked out of the room as far as in
the locker room, the uncertainty on if he's going to
stay or not and how that final season could dictate things.
But as a result of that, you're not having these
elaborate free agent pitch meetings that were used to seeing
with star players. You're not seeing those star players' decisions
create a domino effect with the rest of the role
(40:48):
players once free agency starts in early July or late June.
So yeah, all the actions already taken care of well
before that. And really, what's happened with these extension talks
is even if a player has a misgiving or a
team has a misgiving, nine times out of ten, they
signed the extension for the player because of the money
(41:09):
for the team, because they can solve that problem later
when they have to. It's much easier to have some
level of commitment now and deal with any potential tough
choices later down the line.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
All right, last one, we got about a minute left.
Devin Booker just signed a two year deal basically paying
him seventy two and a half million dollars for each
of the next two seasons. I'm happy for Devin Booker.
I'm sure he's going to buy a bunch of new,
cool cars. But I'm going to ask you, is this
a terrible contract or an awful contract? Because it makes
(41:42):
no sense for the sounds Mark I.
Speaker 11 (41:43):
Mean none, Jay Mack, you can disagree all you won here.
I think it's actually a good contract. I mean, look,
this Phoenix Suns have not been.
Speaker 10 (41:52):
Well run in the last few years because of the
top heavy roster and the construction around their star players.
But I think Devin Booker has shown this past decade
since entering the league that he's not a stat filling
guy on a bad team. He's a winning player. I
think it's very telling. When he was on the Olympic
team last year, Steve Kerr described him as my favorite
(42:13):
kind of FIBA player because he can score, he can defend,
He's very amenable to different roles, and so again, there
was a lot of different issues with injuries, roles with
everyone else on the Suns. I think Devin Booker was
really the beacon of consistency everywhere else. So yeah, they
have a lot of questions how they build around Devin,
but I think that it was a no brainer to secure.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
All right, good disagreement to wrap up on Friday.
Speaker 4 (42:38):
All right, Mark Medda, enjoy the rest of the summer league.
Speaker 3 (42:40):
Cooper flags up again this weekend.
Speaker 4 (42:42):
We'll talk to you too, buddy.
Speaker 11 (42:44):
I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 4 (42:46):
Yeah, all right, strong, Devin Booker, take all right, coming
up next. Yesterday we did a six pack of NBA teams.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
Today is the six
Speaker 4 (42:53):
Pack, A sixer of NFL's Super Bowl teams.
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 3 (00:26):
Pat me Friday, Everybody, what is up? It's your boy Jason.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
MacIntyre in for Colin Coward. He is Becca Monday. I
know you're excited, boy, a lot of venom online yesterday
for some of the takes. But hey, it's Friday. Take
Happy Hour in full effect. I'm joining on this beautiful
Friday by Alex Curry.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Alex, I know.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
You're excited for your big leave that's coming up.
Speaker 5 (00:52):
Yeah, I'm excited. There's a lot, there's the unknown, you know,
but we're one day at a time. So we're here today.
We're gonna have a rate last day.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
We are.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
I love that you were getting beat for your takes
yesterday because that means that they were polarizing, which is
what you want to do.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah. I want to be loved, guys. I just want to.
Speaker 6 (01:12):
Be going to be loved in this industry.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Although I'll say there was a story that dropped like
eight minutes before we walked on a set Ooh it
is spicy, and we'll get to that shortly. I don't
want to say Lebron versus Luca, but something's happening in
LA and it does not look good for the King.
We got a great show lined up, a lot of
exciting fun guests will do Summer League stuff, little NFL,
but we're gonna.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Start with the big debut.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Last night, Cooper Flag, the eighteen year old phenom from Duke,
in his first NBA Summer League game. Now, I know
everybody wants to draw dramatic sweeping conclusions from a Summer
League game in Vegas. I'm just gonna warn you don't
do that. Okay, The eighteen year old Cooper Flag had
an uneven game. Listen, this is what happens. Remember when
(01:58):
Bin Yama last year came out in his first Summer
League game and was kind of awful, and everybody's, Oh,
he's going he's gotta be fine. That was two years ago.
But Cooper Flag last night shoots five of twenty one,
zero for five on threes, and all I hear is well,
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
His shot doesn't.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Look good, Jay, I didn't. Where is he elite? I'm like, guys,
we saw him for a full season of Duke. He's
elite everywhere. I mean, I just thought the overreaction to
Cooper flag shooting last night was goofy. Let me tell
you what he does? Well, the guy's a winning basketball player.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Should I mention?
Speaker 4 (02:35):
With seventy seconds left, he makes the game saving block
on a layup attempt by a Laker guard, just swats
it out of thin air and then gets what happens?
He comes down on the fast break and Cooper Flag
makes the game winning assist to a young memoarrd, Boy,
did that kid look good? And the MAVs pull out
the win over the Lakers, And somewhere along the line
(02:58):
in the NBA mostly we got to this, Hey, hey,
if you're a jack of old trades but master of none,
I don't know. It's just what are you a leite at? Well?
Let me ask you, guys. When Nikola Jokic came into
the NBA at twenty, what was he elite at anyone? Anyone?
What about janis he gets to the league at nineteen,
(03:19):
This spindly young fellow from Greece. What does yiannisy lead
at Jay? Hey? Sorry, length, Okay, that's not an elite trade.
That's not a skill that carries over. Like Yannis came
into the league, he wasn't an e leite at anything.
Cooper Flag comes in more advanced than those guys as
an eighteen year old. Remember a month ago he should
have graduated high school. That's when you usually graduated high school.
(03:41):
Right eighteen and a half, eighteen ish, he had completed
a season at Duke, was utterly dominant, and now is
in the NBA Summer League at eighteen and a half.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Doesn't turn nineteen.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Until later this year. That's crazy. And all these people
who are like Jason He shot five of twenty one.
Look the form on his shot, Guys, take a time out,
take a deep breath. He played thirty two minutes last night. Okay,
this guy's been working for the last decade to get
to this moment. As a young guy. Of course, he
had butterflies. I will point out he shot eighty four
(04:14):
percent from the line at Duke last season. Okay, three
point shooting. You know how you shoot free throws as
a better descriptor of how your three point shooting could go.
Cooper's gonna be fine from three shot thirty eight percent
of Duke. I don't expect him to shoot thirty eight
percent in the NBA is a rookie, but he's gonna
be fine. I just think the overreaction and this whole
(04:36):
like he's Andre Carolinko.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Can we stop with that nonsense. It's just goofy.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
People forget when it comes to the draft, it's not
about what you are, it's about what you can be.
I've tried to hammer this home in the NFL. I
try to hammer this home in the NBA. Nobody cares
about what vj. Edgecomb is as a rookie in Philly.
He's drafted super high because what's he gonna be in
(05:04):
three four, five years. We've got him on the rookie deal.
What can he be? Well, I'm here to tell you.
Cooper flag to me. I look at him, and I
see a young Kevin Garnett. And I know everybody who's
gonna hear that and see it online is gonna say, well,
wait a minute, Kevin Garnett wont an MVP. Kevin Garnett
was leading in the league in rebounds for four straight years. Yeah,
when he's like twenty seven Cooper Flag at eighteen, it's
(05:28):
better than Kevin Garnett was at eighteen.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Period.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
I mean, you can look up the stats.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Kevin Garnett's rookie year.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
He was fine. Cooper Flag will be better because he's
more of an advanced player at this juncture. Now the
question becomes will he continue to improve the way Yannis,
the way Yo Kisch, the way kg Those guys improved dramatically.
Guys like Lebron and Luca came in not as finished products,
but they were different. Okay, Luca was like twenty one
(05:56):
seven and six as a rookie. Lebron I think was
like averaging nineteen point five boards, five assists. Those are
other worldly numbers. Extraordinary players, historic greats. I think Cooper
Flag can get there. He's obviously not there yet. But
can we please stop overreacting to him shooting five of
twenty one in what he called one of the worst
games of his life. Here's Cooper Flag on his Summer
(06:18):
League debut.
Speaker 7 (06:20):
I just kind of really get into a rhythm. You know,
it's a different environment, you know, I think it's obviously
very different college. It's probably very different from what you
know the real ND is. That'd be like, I'm not
necessarily worried, but obviously just not happy with that win,
but you know, and the day would get the way.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Yeah, I mean, listen, the win matters, I'm sure to
those who care about Summer League, and Cooper Flag obviously
wants to start his career with a win. I'll just say,
I see a guy who does everything well at eighteen,
and that frankly terrifies me. Winning and what he is,
he's a winning player. I mean, don't let's not bring
up the loss to Houston that costs me a lot
of money in the NCAA tournament. That was not on
(06:56):
Cooper Flag. He's got to get the ball. And oh,
by the way, just one last thing for the basketball
hoop head's out there. Go look at the reel of
Cooper Flag last night. Every time he got in the lane,
two three defenders waiting for not gonna happen. In the NBA, folks,
he'll be surrounded by real NBA players like Klay Thompson
who you can't leave open, like PJ. Washington, who becomes
(07:18):
all of a sudden a good shooter. When he's around
Luca and Kyrie, he's gonna have NBA players around him.
You're not gonna be able to clog the lane. And
Cooper Flag's gonna be duncan on a lot of people
and have a really good rookie year. All right, I
want to pivot now to a story that was just
breaking right before we came on air about a fractured
relationship between the Lakers and Lebron James. Now, if you've
(07:43):
been paying attention for a couple of weeks, it's been
smelling a little funky in LA.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Things have not been trending well.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
And according to a big deep dive from Brian Windhorst
and Ramona Shelbourne, Lebron James is pretty ticked off. And listen,
you can see from his actions that he's not thrilled
with what's going on. And according to the story, and
Windhorst is a great reporter and I know him well,
and Ramona Shelburn, they're good, they're buttoned up. This is
top level stuff. This isn't transactional reporting. They are handed
(08:16):
to you from agents. This is stuff you got a
fish for. And it sounds like the gist of it
is Hey, Lakers, Let's remember a few things here. Lebron
picked the Lakers. Lebron dragged the Lakers out of the wilderness.
Everybody wants to remember. Kobe's final game was awesome. It
was the final five years before Lebron got there, the
(08:39):
Lakers were a dumpster fire.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
It was the worst.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Stretch in franchise history. Lebron saved them. He pulled them
out of that disaster, okay, and within a couple of
years brought them a title, got them Anthony Davis. Okay,
Lebron saved the Lakers franchise. That's not hyperbole, that's fact.
He saved him.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
And now as.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
He ages into his forties, Lebron is feeling like the
love is not quite there anymore and the focus is
on the new shiny toy Luka Doncic. And this article
really articulates how there was a big whine and dine
between the powers that be of the Lakers and Luca
(09:23):
and Lebron didn't get the invite. Maybe he has got
lost in the mail. And it was basically, how can
we move forward, here's our game players that we want
to do, And it was like Lebron was not an
integral part of that, and you could see how he
would feel salty. He was a second team All NBA. Guys,
he's the greatest player in the history of basketball, and
he was awesome last year at this age, Like, can
(09:45):
we respect him a little bit now? From the Lakers camp,
they will certainly push back, Well, well, wait a minute, Lebron,
what are you talking about last year? You want us
to draft your boy bronni We drafted him last year.
You want a JJ Reddick as head coach, We got him.
So we're still catering to you, my guy. You're still
(10:05):
in our game plan. But the problem is things have
changed since last summer. The Luka Doncics trade changed everything.
Remember before the Lakers were like, oh, we can build
around Anthony Davis going forward. As Lebron gets into his forties,
ad will be our centerpiece. Lakers had an opportunity to
get younger and better and they did that.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
And it's pretty clear.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
There's some mending of fences to be done with Lebron
and Jovann Buja, who covers the Lakers closely. He was
on here yesterday talking about this relationship. Lebron wants him
to spend all the picks here's Jovann talking about the issues.
Speaker 8 (10:46):
This is the first time you could say in Lebron's
career he hasn't been the sole focus or the primary
focus of his franchise that.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
He's been on.
Speaker 8 (10:53):
Like even with Ad, it was all like it was
always Lebron trying to pass the baton to Ad. Luca
just came in and got the baton, right.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I get it. He's a guy who's about to.
Speaker 8 (11:02):
Enter his prime, has already led a team to the finals.
But Lebron's just I think the big thing is like
he sees the finish line, whether it's another year, two years,
and he wants to win that fifth ring, and it
doesn't feel like the Lakers are going all in on
this year's roster.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
So now that's a decent point. Lebron's looking around being like,
are we better? Can we compete with Denver and Houston?
I think DeAndre Aiden, I know the take yesterday did
not go over well on the Andrew Webbs. Let's just
be real, guys, DeAndre Aiden at eight million dollars is
a heist next year for the Lakers.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Absolute steel.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
You take him over Rudy Gobert for thirty six million
in a heartbeat. All right, so the Lakers did get better. Obviously,
Aiden's got a bit of an ugly history being a malcontent.
But let's see if he shapes up with Luca and.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Lebron on the roster. And I got to ask this
Bradley Beal thing.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
A lot of people are projecting the Clippers to get him.
If the Lakers get Beal, I don't want to hear this.
It's like Russell Westbrook. It's absolutely not. They're not even
close to the same player. Westbrook's kind of an unhinged
I'm gonna get mine.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
I can do it myself.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Guy. That's not Bradley Beal. Bradley Bial's never want anything,
never been anywhere. He'll fall in line. I think. Obviously
Lebron is upset with how things went. Remember at the
deadline they could have got Mark Williams, which would have
been good.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Lakers nixed that trade.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
I think in hindsight we'll look back at that moment
and be like that was smart. Why Because the Lakers
are not gonna be hamstrung for the next three four
five years. They're able to build quickly around Luca and
I guess I can wrap up with this the whole
two timelines thing is difficult. You want to know, go
ask the Golden State Warriors. Remember after Durant left, they
(12:43):
had injuries to Clay and Curry. They end up with
a top five pick, and that's where they've got James
Wiseman and they also got Jonathan Kuminga, And those were
two guys they thought they could build around going forward.
But they had this old old regime Draymond Green, Clay
Thompson Lebron. How do you merge those two timelines and
(13:03):
get them on the same page.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Now, the Warriors, while.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
They technically couldn't figure it out, they did figure it
out because they got another title, but they didn't secure
the long term with Wiseman and comingo. Wiseman got shipped
out of town. He really hasn't panned out anywhere. And
Kaminga is probably gonna land elsewhere here in the next
ten days.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
So that timeline's done.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
It's difficult to thread that needle between young guys and
old Luca. What twenty six Lebron forty, that's gonna be
immensely difficult. There are gonna be some hiccups. I think
they just Lakers need to man up, get to the table.
Tell Lebron, hey, we can compete. DeAndre Hey. By the way, Lebron,
did you watch how Okasey struggled against Jokic? Did you
(13:50):
see how okase struggled against Zubac. They can't handle Biggs,
then they gotta go Bigs and their strength of guards
and wings goes out the window. We've got eight. Obviously
he's not Jokic, but he can hang inside. He'll give
Okay see problems like there is a world where the
Lakers compete. But I think Lebron just needs to be
shown to love and frankly, sometimes we all need a
(14:13):
little bit of love. Right. We have a phenomenal show
today and coming up next, OKC, You know I just
mentioned them.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
They just signed another guy to a massive contract.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
But their title window it's smaller than you think because
of some dumb NBA rules. That's next year on The Herd.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 9 (14:42):
Hey what's up, everybody? It's me three time pro bowler
LeVar Harrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce
a podcast called Up on Game. What is up on Game?
You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler TJ. Huschman,
Zada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico. You
can only name a show with that type of talent
(15:03):
on it. Up on Game We're going to be sharing
our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to
Up on Game with me lebar Arrington, T J. Huschman's
Ouda and Plexigo Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast
or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
From back here on the Herd. Very fun stuff coming up.
Marlon Humphrey, the Baltimore Ravens cornerback. We'll be dropping by
next hour. Oh be asking him probably some tough Lamar
Jackson questions.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Or maybe not.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
But I highly recommend that Lebron story. We just talked
about this Lebron Lakers rift. I wonder if Luca feels
like he's caught in the middle like a lover's coral
a spat. The word microaggressions appears in the article gos
I love a good microaggression. All right, I want to
quickly pivot to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Congratulations guys, you
(16:03):
won your championship. When do we start tearing the team down? Folks?
This is staggering. So they win the championship, obviously, win
game seven, Tyres Haliburton gets her.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Blah blah blah.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
This is what they've done since the finals. They inked
twenty six year old Sga to a four year, two
hundred eighty five million dollar contract. That's crazy money. Obviously,
he's the MVP of the finals, MVP of the season.
He's young, understandable. Then they inc Chet Hombrid who's twenty three,
to a five year, two hundred and fifty million dollar deal. Okay,
(16:40):
there will not be a math question at the end
of this. I'll just give you the answer. Then yesterday
they announced Jalen Williams aka J Dubb got a five year,
two hundred eighty seven million dollar deal. He's only twenty
four years old. So in the span of ten days,
twelve whatever, they signed eight hundred twenty two million dollars
(17:01):
of contracts to three players. Eight hundred twenty two million
to three players. Now, because they're citing them early and
they contracts don't all kick in immediately, they will not
be in the luxury tax next year, So they're fine.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
They could repeat.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
I don't think they will, but they could. However, in
the twenty six twenty seven season, just with those three players,
they will be over the luxury tax and over the
first and.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Second apron on three players.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Now, obviously they have a billion draft picks and they
have a salaries they can move.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
It's probably gonna be okay.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
But the NBA wanted this crap, and I'm just telling you,
I'm calling a crap. I'm sorry. I think this is horrible.
The way the Celtics built an amazing team and had
to instantly tear it down because of one injury and
avoiding the luxury tax and second and repeater. It has
made this this new NBA where the days of hey,
(18:06):
let's build a Kobe in Shaq, a tandem that brings
us rings. Oh wait a minute, we're gonna have to
tear it down in a minute. Well that kind of stinks. Hey,
let's build an awesome team, Michael Jordan's type bull team.
Is it gonna last three years because you just gotta
tear it down instantly? And I don't like this at all.
(18:27):
I'm just telling you, guys, the NBA over the last
fifteen years we were spoiled. Okay, you would go into
free agency and be like, Ooh, where's what's gonna happen
with Kawhi? Where's he gonna go? What's Kevin Durant doing?
What's Lebron doing?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
That?
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Stuff's not happening anymore. We're not seeing any of that. Now.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
You could say, well, Jay, we're gonna see it. There's
no sign that this is on the horizon. And that's
where the NBA got super interesting stars leaving teams, stars
staying whatever.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
It's boring.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
It's not that. Frankly, is there anything sexy about Oka
See keeping their three stars. They're not polarizing at all.
They're not like driving a wedge between the fan base
and and other fan bases. Nobody cares like, oh okay
See won the title and they're keeping everybody in there.
Oh my gosh, they're paying everybody and they have dropped it.
It's not fun and exciting. We heard Chris Haynes, a
(19:20):
respected reporter, say that this new CBA kind of killed
free agency, and then I look around free agent, I'm like,
what's happened? Oh, Kevin Garnett, Sorry, Kevin Durant got traded
to the Rockets. What's been the second biggest deal, Miles
Turner going to the Bucks because Deck doesn't really move
(19:42):
the needle at all. It doesn't really help the Bucks.
It hurts the Pacers a little. But that's not like
a sexy move. And I just I know some people
will disagree, and everybody wants their their stars to stay
in their towns, but like, that's not fun and exciting.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
What made the NBA fun was player.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Movement, and I think you need to get back to that.
And okay, see signing these three guys to eight hundred
twenty two million dollars of contracts, Like, what what.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Are we even doing? They're gonna have to.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Tear this down in like two years, so hey, let's
build it up. Sign the guys to the big deals
and then we can move them. I mean this Devin
Booker move where he signed a contract he's gonna get
seventy two and a half million dollars for the next
couple of years. We talked about this yesterday. It's like,
how is that good for anyone other than Devin Booker.
Is not good for the Suns, It's not good for
the rest.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Of the league.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Can we get Devin Booker to I don't know, the
Miami Heat, that would be interesting. And I just I know,
okay See signed their guys, and okay See fans are happy,
but for the rest of the league, it's just not
fun or exciting. And I'm sure you guys are gonna
hate that, but that's how I feel. Let's go to
Alex Curry with the news.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
No, no turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
This is the headline.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
News, Jay Mike.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
I think the other interesting thing we kind of touched
on yesterday is just the mentality after you get paid
like these this okay See team that won a championship,
all these guys were playing on the rookie deal. Now
they're all like, like the high some of the highest
paid players in the league, which is insane.
Speaker 6 (21:11):
So that's going to be something interesting to keep an
eye on.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
Two just to kind of meant, Jalen Williams at like
eight million dollars is fine. Jala Williams at.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Like sixty it's like insane.
Speaker 5 (21:21):
Jumps for like all the guys that they've paid. Okay,
let's start in the NFL. Though Dak Prescott season ended
prematurely last year after tearing his hamstring in Week nine
and the team they missed him. They finished seven to ten,
missing the playoffs. With Cowboys training camp said to open
on July twenty second, Dak spoke to where his health.
Speaker 6 (21:38):
Stands ahead of the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
I'm healthy.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
I'll be full go for camp.
Speaker 7 (21:44):
I'm healthy. Yeah, I look I think shown are. I'll
probably get an official sign off from Don, but I'm healthy.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
He needs to have a strong season.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Dak is officially the highest paid quarterback in the NFL.
He doesn't have the playoff success. He's two and five
but hasn't won a divisional round. The Cowboys in general
haven't had the playoff success. They haven't made the NFC
Championship game J Mack since nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 6 (22:09):
That's thirty years.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
They have the longest NFC Championship game playoff drought. Last
time that they were in is when they won the
Super Bowl at ninety five. That means every other team
in the NFC has gotten to the championship game over
the cow since the Cowboys have last been there. I'm
not buying Cowboys stock until he's showed me something.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Will Dak Prescott win another playoff game with the Cowboys.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
I mean, they got a lot of new this year,
their first time head coach. Right, they did get him
another weapon in George Pickens, But he's a bit of
a we've heard, Well.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
They don't it's a contract.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
How is he going to be a number two behind
Ceedee Lamb too? Like, and he's going to have like
ten times the amount of spotlight on him now that
he's a Cowboy opposed to when he was a Steeler.
So like everything's going to be picked apart. Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 6 (22:59):
I mean I.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Don't know if the Deck will win another playoff game
in Dallas. Whoa, he's probably only got two years left.
I mean they're making the playoffs this year, I don't
think so.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
And then next no, I mean if Philly Commanders, I
mean I think they finished what third in the NFL
in the division?
Speaker 4 (23:15):
Yeah, in the division, probably not gonna cut it given
the Vikings, Packers, Lions, Bears could be in the mix, Rams,
Niners tough. Yeah, I don't, I don't.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
I don't I don't either, which is and again first
time head coach. Yeah, like there's a lot of SHODDI
who said that he's still developing, Like they're just weird.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
A lot of weird.
Speaker 6 (23:36):
Energy coming out of Cowboys camp.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
So again, I'm not buying stock. I'll believe it when
I see it. Okay, let's move to la crazy story
from the Chargers, where offseason addition Najie Harris apparently suffered
an eye injury on the fourth of July. According to
his agent, Harris has a superficial eye injury after a
fireworks mishap, but the expectation is that he'll be ready
(23:58):
for the upcoming season. Chargers have declined to comment on
the matter. Now, he's not the first and he's not
going to be the last of Fourth of July accidents.
I mean, remember when Jason Pierre Paul lost his index finger,
part of his thumb and a fireworks.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
I just I don't what are people.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
Going to understand It is not safe to play with fireworks,
especially when you use your hands for your career. Like again, like,
it's not totally clear what this eye injury is, but
if you lose any part of your vision.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
That's your career.
Speaker 6 (24:33):
A superficial eye injury, what does that mean? I don't know.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
That's what they're like, and the Chargers aren't commenting on it,
and they only signed him to a one year deal,
so like, your future is not guaranteed past the season.
Plus the Chargers they drafted Hampton out of North Carolina,
Like it's they already have their future, They're already thinking
of their future.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
So the San Francisco Chronicle had a story about this. Yeah,
it happened at like twelve twenty, you know, like early morning.
I'm guessing there was some partying going on. One of
the guys in the crew lost a couple fingers. But
I hear superficial eye injury, and I'm kind of like
you have. I don't know what that means.
Speaker 6 (25:12):
Did it brush your eye? You can't see it? Like again,
if you lose any part of your vision.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
So wait, it's July eleven. Has happened six days ago.
If it was superficial, just coming front the camera, I'm fine.
I can't wait to get ready to start the season.
Liter like hiding ARLs, what are you gonna do?
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Superficial?
Speaker 4 (25:32):
Super The fun story is this, not that this is funny,
but yesterday, I guess just started to blow up online
and it was in certain pockets and there were some.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Text threads going around here. Naja Harris might have lost.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
An eye, and it's like, Okay, well we gotta wait,
and I guess one article prompted Schefter and others to
finally hit up the agent and they were like, Okay,
here we go. But like it almost feels like they
were trying to hide this story. Definitely, but it just
got out somehow.
Speaker 6 (25:58):
Definitely. I mean, what is a superficial eye injury? Anything
to your eye?
Speaker 5 (26:03):
You can't see if you can't if you don't have
your full vision in a job where you need your
full vision, like that could be your.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Freep messing around fireworks. I never had fireworks.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
I had this fear like when people told me things
when I was young, it like stuck with me. And
I grew up in an all wood house and my
mom was like, fireworks could burn down the house. So
in my mind I equated fireworks with our house burning down.
Speaker 6 (26:29):
So I was like, never.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
Wanted to do it. We had a fireman who lived
on a block, so like he would do the fireworks
on the block growing up, but I never I don't
like things that are that are dangerous, like I'm afraid
of knives. I don't like sharp items. I don't like fireworks,
Like life is good.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Well, I don't like it.
Speaker 6 (26:46):
I don't need to.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Okay, how about this?
Speaker 4 (26:47):
Do you do at amusement parts? Do you do the
scariest rods? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (26:51):
Okay, love rollercoasters, grill definitely love the thrill like those
are tested though.
Speaker 6 (26:57):
Oh so another little.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Safe for them, by the way, was labeled as a
high grade firework.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Yes, what are we talking like?
Speaker 4 (27:03):
An M eighty?
Speaker 3 (27:05):
I don't know, guys, I don't know. Just going forward.
People do be smart.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
It's let other people mets around the works, not you
watch it.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Yeah, watch the watch safe. You use your hands in.
Speaker 6 (27:15):
Your eyes for your career. Yeah, it's just it's heartbreaking, honestly.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
But let's finish In the NBA, where Steph Curry is
entering his seventeenth NBA season and has been fielding questions
about his NBA future. At thirty seven years old, Curry
has two years left on his current contract and recently
told The Athletic that he doesn't know how much longer
he has left, adding that he's taking it two years
at a time, obviously referencing his contract. But is this
(27:41):
kind of like what we've seen Lebron do with his
last few contracts?
Speaker 6 (27:44):
The one year with the player option.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
So you kind of get to gauge where the team
is at after a year. I mean, Golden State's chances
this season, all their major pieces are coming right. They
picked up Jimmy Butler last season. We saw potential there
when everyone was how free. But they haven't made any
(28:06):
real big moves this offseason yet. Maybe we're hearing they'll
add Al Horford, but we haven't heard anything yet. And
right now, the Warriors odds to win the NBA title
or middle of the pack there plus twenty five hundred,
they're tied with the Hawks.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
That's tied with the Hawks.
Speaker 6 (28:22):
Yeah, that's literally.
Speaker 5 (28:23):
Tied for tenth best or middle of the back.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
It's whoa, there's.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
Not I mean they won game won in Minnesota, but
Curry got hurt and otherwise they win that series. And
I don't know how they would have fared against Okay,
see probably would have lost, but.
Speaker 6 (28:37):
Amy because that haven't done much right now.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
With they had the same odds as the Hawks. Yeah,
that's wild. Yeah, I'm bullish on the Hawks, but not
that bullish.
Speaker 6 (28:47):
Yeah, I guess they're in the East ten best.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
But this whole taking it two years at a time,
it's interesting because in that Lebron article, Lebron was upset
the Lakers didn't come to him with the contract offer
as like an extension. So I wonder if Golden State
would do that with Curry.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
I just different though I like it because you have
to remember, like Golden State was a dynasty for eight years.
They won what was it four titles in eight years
in an eightth something around that, Like, and.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
He was he's the face of the franchise. It's different.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
It's different when you are and have always been the franchise.
So I think he might be treated a little differently
Warriors stuff with Lebron.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
And they drafted him.
Speaker 4 (29:31):
Yeah, he's like I guess maybe if Yannis came over
via trade, then you start to build around Yiannis and
you face Kurry out, which isn't right.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
Again, I think there would be a respect factor of
like where do you want to go? Do you want
to go somewhere else? Do you want to stay here?
Well you would think that, but the Lakers aren't doing
that with Lebron. Different though different. This is like someone
who like made your franchise what it is.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
Well, Lebron got the Lakers back to what.
Speaker 5 (29:58):
They did but like he also is with two other franchises,
and he's been a bunch of other places, and it's
new ownership, Like you also have to remember the Lakers,
it is new ownership. He signed on with the Bus family,
which is like family friendly deals. This is a completely
new situation, almost a new team with the Lakers since
(30:19):
Lebron signed on. As you mentioned, like once they got
Luca mid season, everything changed and then this off season
it's new ownership.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Yeah, it's all different. Seven thirty seven.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
I could see him playing the Lebron's forty like he's
still Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 5 (30:34):
The way he played, the way he plays the game,
like it allows him, I think, to play with shooters.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Have a longer look at that.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
Oh yeah, got highest career points per game post thirty five,
Katie Lebron Curry. Yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
It's great.
Speaker 5 (30:48):
I mean, I hope people he's one of my multime
favorite players.
Speaker 6 (30:51):
Obviously it's my cousin. We share the last name.
Speaker 5 (30:53):
So so I told Maty it's so funny.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
That's after thirty five.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
So Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isaiah Tom they were all
done by thirty five.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Yea, like non factors, it's different than elite.
Speaker 5 (31:03):
It's different now because everyone takes such like intense care
of their body is by what they eat, how they train,
how they work out the off season regime. It's just
a different lifestyle now, which is why we're able to
see these athletes play into their forties.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Alex with the news.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
Herd Line News.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
All right.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Coming up next, we're going to Vegas.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
Did Cooper Flag live up to the hype last night
in Vegas? We'll talk about that next.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern non a Empacific.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Welcome back, great.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Game last night from Cooper Flag. I know the shooting
numbers weren't there, but we're going live to Vegas right
now to talk to Martin Medina, who covers the NBA.
He was court sided for Brownie versus Cooper Flag. We'll
get to the bronny level aspect of it in a minute, but.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Mark, I want to start Cooper Flagg.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
Your first impressions not talking to people, just you watching
the game court side in Vegas last night.
Speaker 10 (32:10):
Yeah, j Max, similar to what you just said, Yes,
he didn't shoot the ball well ten points, five to
twenty one from the field, didn't make a three, but
he had a complete game all the way around, six boards,
four assists, three steals, one block. Loved his competitive juice.
I think the fact that he was able to defend
it multiple positions, move really up and down the court
pretty fast.
Speaker 11 (32:30):
It's a lot of good signs to come.
Speaker 10 (32:33):
And even with it being Summer League and you take
it for what it's worth, it's got Mark Cuban pretty giddy.
I mean, he was talking about how he has a
step back shot that reminds him of Dirk Novinsky. He
has a lot of competitive juices like Kobe Bryant. So, yeah,
the shooting wasn't there, but everything else was. So this
is just the beginning of what should be a pretty
(32:54):
fun career to follow.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Yeah, and this is what's difficult about the Cooper flag discussion.
Everybody wants to say, well, wait, jerk Noovisky, he's not there. Well,
obviously he's eighteen. It's not about what he is now,
it's about what he can be. I've said Kevin Garnett.
But hearing you talk about Mark Cuban gushing about Kobe,
I mean, that's next level stuff we don't normally hear that.
(33:17):
Is this just your typical hype machine or is there
a lot more behind this?
Speaker 10 (33:23):
Well, Mark Cuban always likes to feed the hype machine,
but I think there is some context.
Speaker 11 (33:27):
He made it clear he's not comparing him to Kobe Bryant.
They have completely different games.
Speaker 10 (33:31):
Kobe, he was very much having a scores mentality even
though he had a balanced game. Cooper Flag is pretty
much all around where Mark Cuban came up with. The
Kobe idea was just more of his trajectory. Even though
we know Kobe Bryant as this five time NBA champion,
one of the best players ever in the league, it
took him a while to develop. He got drafted out
(33:54):
of high school, but he didn't start most of his
games his rookie season, so he became a very very
special player. But I think Mark's point is because Cooper
Flag is on a team with Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis,
Klay Thompson, he's not going to have the same kind
of pressure as most number one picks have to carry
a franchise and beat that franchise savior right away. He
(34:15):
can kind of grow organically as well as Leon and
all those players as mentors, and so that's where the
comparison lies.
Speaker 11 (34:23):
But the game itself is completely different.
Speaker 4 (34:25):
So let me ask. It looked like they wanted him
to handle a lot last night, and he did. I mean,
I know the Lakers double team did, and we're really
physical with him, which is a little while. But what
do you anticipate him playing. Obviously, is just one summer
league game, But I thought all to talk about him
maybe being a point guard was goofy. But the way
he played last night, you know, and we have positionless
(34:47):
basketball now, you play with multiple guards. If Max Christy
Clay and Cooper Flag start in the back court, there's
no point guard per se.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
But do you think he starts.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
I thought he would come off the bench as a rookie,
at least for the first half of the season.
Speaker 10 (35:01):
I think it's all fluid, but I don't want to
be surprised if he starts, because we have to keep
a few things in mind. One, Cooper Flag is really
good at a lot of good things. One Two, Jason
Kidd is trying to make him feel comfortable with running
the offense and really make him feel empowered to allow
him to make decisions on the court without any fear
of making mistakes. And three, Kyrie Irving is not going
(35:22):
to be with the Mavericks to start the season. He
has at ACL injury. You never know timeline specifically at
this point, but most players that are coming back from
ACL injuries the previous season is to do not come
back until middle of the season. So it's inevitable that
he's going to have a heightened role. So even when
you add in the fact that they got D'Angel Russell
(35:42):
in the offseason, he's a really good point guard. They
have a lot of good depth around him. They're going
to really lean on Cooper Flag to fill a lot
of different roles.
Speaker 4 (35:49):
Actually, you're right, Dangel Russell probably starts a point but
my gosh, that's not going to be for long. Moving
all right, let's move to the other side of the
MAVs Lakers game last night. As Bronnie, I know, sample
size is tiny. The Bronnie I've watched so far in
the summer League, whether it was versus the Warriors and
whatever that California thing was, I see a totally different player.
(36:10):
I'm not saying he's a starter or a six man.
He just looks like a much much better player than
he did last year.
Speaker 11 (36:18):
Yeah, I completely agree. Much different player.
Speaker 10 (36:20):
Obviously, California Classic Las Vegas Summer League, much different comparison
than an actual NBA regular season game. But I think
that from what you saw last year and Brownie's Summer
League debut, you've seen a lot better shooting. You see
Bronni hitting some shots here to open the night. He's
a lot more aggressive, He's a lot more decisive. He
(36:40):
was really gained into it with Cooper Flag trying to
size him up defensively despite having that size disadvantage so
much that I think that he did force a turnover.
The officials called him for a foul, but I think
that he got a steal. So what this means for
next season, who knows. He didn't get a lot of
playing time beyond that debut with Lebron James opening night,
(37:04):
but there is a pathway for him to at least
be at the end of the rotation.
Speaker 11 (37:09):
Because he has a great practice player.
Speaker 10 (37:11):
He's all about the right habits, and he doesn't have
any kind of sense of entitlement, even though you know
Lebron is his dad. He is very coachable and is
someone that really tries to, you know, chip away at
his different weaknesses. But the biggest thing that he's shrying
to really lean on with his calling card is defense.
Speaker 4 (37:30):
Yeah, and that's why, you know, in our morning meeting,
I was like, Hey, is there a world where you
know Bronnie fashions himself as.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Like a TJ McConnell.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
And I know some people will scoff and be like,
come on, no way, TJ McConnell. Yes, he had like
eighteen points in a quarter of the NBA Finals. That's
veteran TJ McConnell. I'm saying, a young one who's an
energy guy coming off the bench, give me ten to
eighteen minutes a night. You don't need a lot of shots.
I want ninety four feet of defense, harassment energy. Can
(38:00):
he be that guy as like a number nine or
ten guy in the rotation?
Speaker 10 (38:05):
Well, Jay MC, I don't see that right now because
of his skill set. But I remember, even before he
got drafted, talking to some executives about what his trajectory
could be, and they all acknowledged the unknown, but they
said the very worst that because of the intangibles I
talked about and his professionalism, work ethic, that he could
carve out a pretty good career being an end of
(38:27):
a rotation guy, because you need good practice players. You
need guys that don't cause problems when you're playing time
is sporadic. And I think the third point is that
they didn't want to necessarily put a ceiling on specifically
if he could be a rotation guy or not, because
a lot of times players in those positions they always
overachieve because of their work ethic and practice have it.
(38:51):
So you know, let's be clear, no one's mistaking that
Browny could have an all star kind of caliber career,
but as far as you know where it ends up
being the end of the rotation or being part of
a rotation coming off the bench, it very well could
happen depending on how discipline he continues with his.
Speaker 11 (39:10):
Work hapets and his attitude. So far, so good.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
Let me ask the thunder just locked up sga Chet
and J Dubb for eight hundred and twenty two million
dollars worth of contracts.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Mark.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
I don't know who you're listening to, but all I
heard leading up to free agency was this could be
the wildest craziest free agency. Since twenty nineteen, there's been
like no movement. It was a Kevin Durant mouse turner.
That's it. Nothing else spicy. Interesting. Did this new collective
bargaining agreement kind of kill free agency? Because even though
(39:42):
the thunder are retaining all their guys, they're going to
be in the second apron and the repeater and all
that stuff in a few years and then have to
dismantle this thing the way the Celtics are. So, I
don't know, there's a lot there your thoughts on free
agency and what's happening because it hasn't been as exciting
as anticipation.
Speaker 10 (40:02):
Yeah, I mean, the NBA indirectly eliminated free agency once
they allowed players to become eligible for Supermax extensions before
the end of their contract actually expired, and the thought
process what with that was allowing teams to have a
better opportunity to retain their stars number one and number
two to avoid the scenario when star players are playing
(40:23):
the final year of the contract.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
There's a lot of.
Speaker 10 (40:26):
Oxygen stucked out of the room as far as in
the locker room, the uncertainty on if he's going to
stay or not and how that final season could dictate things.
But as a result of that, you're not having these
elaborate free agent pitch meetings that were used to seeing
with star players. You're not seeing those star players' decisions
create a domino effect with the rest of the role
(40:48):
players once free agency starts in early July or late June.
So yeah, all the actions already taken care of well
before that. And really, what's happened with these extension talks
is even if a player has a misgiving or a
team has a misgiving, nine times out of ten, they
signed the extension for the player because of the money
(41:09):
for the team, because they can solve that problem later
when they have to. It's much easier to have some
level of commitment now and deal with any potential tough
choices later down the line.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
All right, last one, we got about a minute left.
Devin Booker just signed a two year deal basically paying
him seventy two and a half million dollars for each
of the next two seasons. I'm happy for Devin Booker.
I'm sure he's going to buy a bunch of new,
cool cars. But I'm going to ask you, is this
a terrible contract or an awful contract? Because it makes
(41:42):
no sense for the sounds Mark I.
Speaker 11 (41:43):
Mean none, Jay Mack, you can disagree all you won here.
I think it's actually a good contract. I mean, look,
this Phoenix Suns have not been.
Speaker 10 (41:52):
Well run in the last few years because of the
top heavy roster and the construction around their star players.
But I think Devin Booker has shown this past decade
since entering the league that he's not a stat filling
guy on a bad team. He's a winning player. I
think it's very telling. When he was on the Olympic
team last year, Steve Kerr described him as my favorite
(42:13):
kind of FIBA player because he can score, he can defend,
He's very amenable to different roles, and so again, there
was a lot of different issues with injuries, roles with
everyone else on the Suns. I think Devin Booker was
really the beacon of consistency everywhere else. So yeah, they
have a lot of questions how they build around Devin,
but I think that it was a no brainer to secure.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
All right, good disagreement to wrap up on Friday.
Speaker 4 (42:38):
All right, Mark Medda, enjoy the rest of the summer league.
Speaker 3 (42:40):
Cooper flags up again this weekend.
Speaker 4 (42:42):
We'll talk to you too, buddy.
Speaker 11 (42:44):
I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 4 (42:46):
Yeah, all right, strong, Devin Booker, take all right, coming
up next. Yesterday we did a six pack of NBA teams.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
Today is the six
Speaker 4 (42:53):
Pack, A sixer of NFL's Super Bowl teams.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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