Pros and Cons for Kawhi Leonard Landing Spots

Episode Transcript
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we are Farmers. This is absolutely fascinating. We sit, we watch,

(00:53):
We wait, We sit, we watch, we wait. Kawhi Leonard
is still undecided. Apparently he's met with both the Clippers
and the Lakers. Some have reported that the Lakers lead.
I don't know exactly what that means. I can only
tell you. In recruiting, no matter what anyone says, until
you sign on the line that has dotted, no deal

(01:15):
is done. Anytime you're in negotiation and somebody says last
and final it's not really the last and final tell.
The paperwork is signed. I'm not taking anybody's word for it.
And so Kauai is left with three very different choices,

(01:36):
three different choices. It's really hard to do the pro
and con thing when there's three choices opposed to there's Toronto,
where you know what the upside is. The downside is, well,
it's kind of only one place to go, which is
down right. Now, you're gonna have massive expectations. You aren't
still in a foreign country. And while they'll still love

(01:59):
you in Canada, it will never feel as good as
it did the first time. I just won't. And with
all the things that have gone right and all the
things that went right for them last year, stands to
reason in the future things can go wrong. I don't
know if Philadelphia is better. I don't know if Boston

(02:19):
is better. I do think that the Nets are better
and we'll only get better. Miami appears to be a
playoff team now, Like you look around and everyone's going
and they're still the Milwaukee Bucks, and you would think
that Janice is going to get better, sure is not
gonna get worse. So all of those things, you know

(02:42):
what you have in Toronto, and if you can stand
the fact that it's going to be at best this
good and maybe slightly as good and cold in the future. Fine.
The Lakers are probably the most unknown because you'd be
joining two other superstars, one other massive ego, a coach

(03:05):
you haven't played for, a style which is undetermined. The
upside is the title. The downside. Downside could be two fold.
One it could be underachieving, or two it could be
achieving and not actually enjoying it because well, you don't
get to be the guy who gets to take the shot. Now.

(03:25):
I'm sure Lebron James has told him or his people
or whatever. Hey man, I've never been about taking the
big shot. I've always been about my teammates. I realize
where I am in my career, and that kind of
like Magic. He had Big Game James, he had Jabbar,
he had Byron Scott, he had other guys who could

(03:46):
make plays, and they all continue to read the benefits
of those long time liquor grade teams. And then you
have the Clippers, who have essentially done everything right. I
championship caliber coach, plenty of cap space um under underpaid

(04:08):
players like a Lou Williams right, all of these things,
all of these things bode well for the Clippers, and
in terms of kind of understated grittiness they have it.
It fits the persona of a guy from the Inland
Empire who went to San Diego State, who went to

(04:31):
the Spurs, who went to Toronto and has just gotten
better and better and better and done more and more work.
But it's still just the Clippers. Like the Brooklyn Nets,
the seventh most popular team in the Tri state area,
the Clippers are the third tenant in the building which

(04:52):
they play. This is the reality of it. And no
matter how good Kauai is or how good the Clippers are,
Clipper has been better than the Lakers for the last
half decade, it's still a Laker town. So I think
there are three really really interesting possibilities and choices. But

(05:21):
I I'm sitting here lost knowing what Kauai is going
to do. But I do think that Kauai's process is
the best of the processes. So oftentimes we reward people
who make a quick, knee jerk decision. So oftentimes we
think the one who makes the early decision is the

(05:42):
one who sets the trend. But the fact is that
Kauai Leonard was taking his time. He understands how big
this is. He understands how impactful he is, and how
big it is impactful it is to his own career.
All of these things things are interesting, and we sit
and we wait, and then there's the very selfish factor.

(06:06):
You know what next week is? Right? Next week is
the dead weekend sports. It's the Major League Baseball All
Star Game. You know, the day after the Baseball All
Star Game is when nothing really happens. That's why they
created the sp Awards and so um most people who
cover sports want to get the hell out of town.

(06:29):
That's really what it is. So their insistence of hey, Kauai,
get it done, we need to start. Some of it
is of the selfish nature because they just want to
get on their vacation and they got to file their story,
and they got to know what the Lakers, Clippers and
Toronto Raptors look look like so they can kind of
set and forecast, discuss it, dissected, and then get on

(06:50):
the first thing. Smoke into somewhere warm, somewhere with a
my eye tie. People ask me, ever, where I go?
Where's he going? I got no idea. I think he's
the best player in the NBA. I think there are
three unique choices. All of them are good. The best
fit is probably the Clippers because it's in l a

(07:13):
and because they fit his persona. But it has the
least amount of residents in terms of off the court stuff,
popularity within the city, feeling of being important. Like all
of these things make it interesting. But we sit and

(07:35):
we wait for Kauaid. Leonard doug otlip show rolls on
here on Fox Sports Radio, and then you have the
continued reaction to what does everybody else do? Ben Simmons
gets a max contract, uh extension, And I've heard people say,
I can't believe you're gonna pay a hundred six million dollars,
but we gott I can't shoot like Ben Simmons is

(07:56):
only played in the NBA for two years, He's been
under contract for three. He was a Rookie of the
Year even though he wasn't really honestly a rookie. He's
a double double close to triple double machine. And no,
he's not a good shooter. He doesn't shoot the basketball
like it's actually almost not determinable how good a shooter

(08:16):
he is because he won't shoot. But the fact is
that he's young, he's getting better, he's versatile, and he
got a chance if he can learn to make a
jump shot, which others have learned to be one of

(08:36):
the five most impactful players in the NBA. And oh yeah,
by the way, while there are some that would say, like, wow,
you know I assigned this, what do you what do
you suppose you do? They you trade him, right, you
pay him and then if you decide, well, you don't

(08:57):
like the way it's going, and then you can trade.
You can trade big tracks, especially saying the supermax that
he will probably earn by the time he gets to
his next contract, that will be more prohibitively difficult to trade.
But this one's not. We sit and we wait on
Kawhi Leonard, and we see the league kind of taking shape.

(09:19):
And while people think they know what Toronto is, it's
important to point out that's the highest of highs that
it will ever be. While people realize that there will
be um three different superstars with the Lakers, I would
point out, I'm not sure how it all fits. And

(09:39):
while the Clippers seem to fit the best with persona
and with style, still the Clippers we have breaking news
in US soccer. Do we have Dan Buyer? Is he?
Uh uh? Let's let's get you to Dan Buyer and
get you a quick kind of update as the US
women are currently taken on the bridge. Yes, Doug, Meghan

(10:02):
or Pino is not playing. How are the US women playing?
They are playing well right now, and in fact, Kristin
Press is just headed in a goal one nil United
States over England. The goal happening in the tenth minute
pretty much dominated the first ten minutes of this match
by the Americans, but they finally get one across coverage
right now on Fox Kristen Press's goal in the tenth

(10:24):
minute to give the Americans they want to lead on England. Yeah, now, listen,
it's been um You mentioned how dominant they've been. It
has been almost solely in England's goal box, right, That's
like they've just been. But there was a free kick,
there was a corner, there were several opportunities. The fact
that the um S women score it wasn't one of

(10:45):
those kind of flukey flukey runouts where the Brits have
been dominating much the way that that France at times
actually outplayed the U S women. Going back a couple
of days ago. Well, some who felt that the last
two matches the United States played maybe more difficult than
the one that they're playing against England. By the way,
press in the starting line up fort Megan Rappino, so

(11:06):
not missing a beat whatsoever. Good stuff, Dan buyer you
hear from him a half past the hour, T'll have
a store joins us upcoming next, are people wrong to
discount the Warriors? How wild the Angelo Russell play within
that style? Plus how will it all work if Kauai
goes to the Lakers. We'll discuss next. Be sure to

(11:27):
catch live editions of the Doug got Leaps Show weekdays
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(11:47):
Car and they enjoy more confident car buying experience. Doug
Gotlap Show, Fox Sports Radio. British woman look about as
slow as you think. The British men normally look in
the right Yeah, we're basically the same country, only we're
way more athletic. That's pretty much it. Yeah, yeah, anyway,

(12:12):
it's one nil the US women's national team. The big
story is Megan Rapino isn't playing, but the lady who
started in her stead what's up Press's first name? I
believe it's Christian Christian Press ends up starting for her.
By the way, we have a scoring update as I

(12:34):
chastise the British women for being slow. Now Johnny on
the spot, let's go over to uh dan by of
a quick update on the footie. England's tied it up.
I don't even know if that's an English accent, but yes,
England has just tied it up with a goal in
the nineteenth minute. Allen White, who has six goals and
five matches. Thanks for the Fox graphic there has just

(12:56):
even it up for the Americans at one apiece. Again.
You can see this Women's World Cup semifinal right now
on Fox. Beautiful cross and pretty much terrible defense. Who's
who's uh? Who's number seven or seven? Was not marking
her man, she wasn't marking us. It was pretty nasty. Actually,

(13:19):
all right, Tom hab A Strow, there were still efforting.
We're still efforting, all right, good, all right, so we
got that going for us one one. It's when Ghost
to eleven goes to eleven. That's what that's what it is.
That's that's my spinal tap. Your spinal tap. Guy that
Ramos Ramostar love spinal Tap. One of the best movies,
the funniest movies of all time. Act this one goes

(13:42):
to eleven. Tom Habitstro joins us from NBC Sports. He
covers the NBA. He knows all the things going on,
and it had an incredible number. What was the what
was the number you had in regards to a number
of ball screens that De'anzel Russell was involved in last
year with the Nets, Tom Tom, things are going swimmingly

(14:06):
here as we get Tom Tom Habastro from NBC Sports.
All right, we still we're still we're efforting him here
this great stat and I don't want to steal his thunder,
but it's the idea of like I I think that
everyone thinks that stats are transferable. You know, Kemba Walker
averages a career high in points. You put him on

(14:27):
the Boston Celtics who have had Isaiah Thomas and Kyrie
Irving and other guards go off and you're like, oh,
well he'll do even yes, but they were also he
was the guy in Charlotte and now we have Jayson
Tatum and Jalen Brown. They also have Marcus Smart and
other players to deal with in different style and games
are more important. Um, and so you're not scoring and

(14:49):
then I won't be empty stats? Are those stats in
fact transferable? I think it's a fascinating look. We look
at D'Angelo Russell. The style that the Golden State Warriors
play is completely different from the style that the Brooklyn
Nets play. Tom Abbastro joins us. Tom, what was the
number you had in the difference in number of ball

(15:10):
screens dangel Russell was involved in? Yeah, D'Angelo Russell last
year for the Brooklyn Nets had the second most pick
and roll attacks of any player in the NBA. The
only one that had more was Kemba Walker. So D'Angelo
Russell had nine and twenty pick and roll attacks last season.
The Golden State Warriors as a team had nine d

(15:32):
and so like, this is such a different uh playing style,
it's such a different system. The Golden State Warriors, as
you know, they love to pass and move the ball.
You know, Steve Kur always talked about the ball finds
energy and they just try to move the ball and
they don't get bogged down and pick and rolls. They
actually finished with the fewest pick and roll actions of

(15:54):
any team in the NBA. And now you're bringing in
D'Angelo Russell, who needs the ball in his hands, uh
to really thrive offensively. You take the ball out of
the hands of Steph Curry and you're running actions that
is so foreign to what the Golden State Warriors do traditionally.
This is gonna be a totally new team. Yeah, so
does it work? Does it fit together? I don't think so.

(16:15):
I don't think this is gonna be uh an easy
process integrating D'Angelo Russell, because I think you know, he
is and all. He can shoot off the ball. He's
he shot thirty nine percent on catch and shoot three
pointers last year, so that's a pretty good number. But
it's not Clay Thompson, and it's not certainly, um what
we'd expect offensively from Clay Thompson. D'Angel Russell is not

(16:36):
a great defender, and they lose andre I Guadala, who's
also a great ball mover on the offensive end, so
they're gonna have to make up so much of what
they got from the wing position with D'Angelo Russell, and
I just don't know how they defend with both of
those guys. Um. You know, there have been reports Dougs
that they're that they're taking in D'Angel Russell because they

(16:58):
didn't want to lose Kevin Rant for nothing, and they figured, hey,
why not we take a chance on this guy. And
there is some thinking to just holding onto him until
December fifteenth when they're allowed to trade him and then
move them to another team. But I think there is
some value. I don't thin this is. I don't think
this is the reason why they did this trade. I
think there is some value in just easing the burden

(17:20):
of Steph Curry and just letting him not have to
play forty minutes to night and have to do everything
for him. So I think there is some value in that.
I completely agree with with with with that thought that
that's exactly why I was on the cow heard earlier today.
That's exactly what I thought, because you had to wonder,
I mean, and I know NBA people have wondered, like,
all right, what Steph Curry looked like a year from

(17:42):
now when you know, they figure out what they're doing
with Draymond, when Clay's back fully healthy. They've reworked kind
of their bench over and now they want to compete.
You can't have a worn out you know, early thirties, Uh,
Steph Curry, who had to give so much of himself
just to get you through a season. And I think
they're in allies. The value to D'Angel Russell. Do you
love the way he plays? Probably not, but do you

(18:05):
swallow it and say, all right, it's just it's a
one year deal and we'll see if we can evolve
into something different, if he can kind of meet us halfway.
In the meantime, let's just get through two. Yeah, you know,
I think that's it. And I think they're going to
see how this this works out. You know, there is
some uh, you know, there there's some thinking to doing
the opposite, which is just don't don't use um, you know,

(18:28):
Dangelo Russell as a trade piece. You don't make the
tride to sign and trade with with the Brooklyn Nets.
You use Andrea Guadala and in terms of a trade
to another contender, and to use the picks that you
sent out in the trade as a package to get
another player that better fits the system. But I will
say this, when you look at the with the seventies
sixers did with Al Horford, I think a little bit

(18:49):
is the same thinking. When you have Al Horford now
being able to be the battery, the reliever for Joel
and beat in the regular season, we know it's an
eighty two game grind, and by the time these guys
get to the playoffs, you know you want to make
sure they're fresh. And what you saw with Kawhi Leonard
with with Pascal Siakam filling in and the Rautors going

(19:10):
seventeen and five in the twenty two games that he missed,
I think that's kind of the thinking what you're doing
with Al Horford not just playing the fourth position, but
when Joel Embiid is not feeling right or doesn't want to,
you know, over extend himself on a back to back,
you stick out Horford in at the five, and then
you give Joel and Be the night off and you
come into the playoffs with him playing sixty games versus

(19:32):
eight or trying to play every single night. And I
think that is where the NBA is going now is
trying to figure out way to keep these guys healthy
enough to compete at the highest level. You know, the
Rockets did that with Chris Paul and James Hard and
trying to ease the burden. So I think there's this
new trend in the NBA where you're trying to protect
your superstar from burning out in the playoffs like the

(19:52):
Rockets did in and trying to preserve these bodies because
right now, Steph Curry, Joel and beat James Harden, they
all want to win the cham mpionship and maybe a
guy who plays their position to kind of uh preserve
their energy for the playoffs. I think that's smart. Tom
Avastro joining us from NBC Sports Doug Gotlie Show here
on Fox Sports Radio. Um, we don't. I don't know

(20:15):
what's going to go into Kawhi Leonard's decision. I'm guessing
you don't either, But uh, in terms of fit and
style of play, what do you think? I mean, as
you a guy who studies this sort of thing in
the NBA, where does he actually fit best in your opinion? Well,
I think he fits best with the Toronto Raptors simply
because they have a style of play, they have a

(20:36):
championship caliber rotation, a championship caliber starting lineup. They have
checked every single box that you want from an organization,
except it's really cold in Toronto. Like that's the only
thing they don't have is the market. Um they don't
have the weather. And I don't think they're gonna, um,
you know, kill themselves over the fact that maybe Kawhi

(20:57):
Leonard goes back home. That's not the reason you You
you look at your organization and say, man, we should
have done this better, We could have done that better.
I think just right now, Kawhi Leonard is trying to
figure out what his you know, what he wants, whether
it is you know, winning championships with you know, Toronto Raptors.
Is that your part of the legacy that he wants,
because right now, you know, we don't know what the

(21:18):
roster for the Lakers looks like five through twelve. We
just have no idea and we don't know the kind
of fit you know, not just from an on court standpoint,
but the personality wise, the fit with Anthony Davis and
uh Lebron James, Because Doug, have you ever seen three
players three top five players. You know, if we want
to quibble about top five, the top five players. Yeah,

(21:42):
we've never seen this in the NBA where it's three
guys are in the top five on the same team.
Like Chris bosh In like that, he was really good.
Was he an MVP candidate every year? So I think
they're gonna be great. Um, But the roster fit, I
think it's all Toronto. Uh, I guess, um, I guess.
My thing with Toronto is obviously there's the Canada factor,

(22:06):
but too you know now that they've wanted it's it's
never the same the second time round. And let's kind
of be honest, like it did take a remarkable role
on that tie game against Philadelphia just to get them,
uh to the to to to the next round. I mean,
they're very easy, could have lost Philadelphia. It's going to
be different even if the personnel is relatively the same. Yeah.

(22:27):
And I just I know the Clippers have some more
assets to try to get a second star there for
for Kauai Leonard, but I don't know who that guy is. Uh.
And you know, a bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush. Where you want to have to
have those guys to sell Kauai, and like, you know,
it's one thing to say, look, we can get an
Anthony Davis type player on our team because we have
the assets, and it's another to have Anthony Davis walk

(22:50):
in the room, right. And I think that is a
big selling point for for the Lakers, is like we
have the superstars. That's the hardest thing to find in
the in the NBA, we can find the rotation guys.
We can figure that out. But my question is, you know,
in Miami, when Lebron James teamed up with Wayne Wade
and Chris Bosh, they had a culture in Miami, they
had a coach who had winning seasons in Eric Spoelstra.

(23:11):
They had pat Riley running the show. Now in in
the Lakers, who is the Who is the guy who's
running the show? Is it? Is it Frank Vogel who
has never coached a player of Lebron's caliber, much less
three of those guys. And you just wonder who's making
the decisions in the front office. And I think the
structure there, the infrastructure is nowhere near what you saw

(23:32):
in Miami or what we saw in Golden State. Uh.
And so that is a big question mark is do
we have the right people leading, uh, not just the
front office, but on the sidelines. It just isn't proven yet.
Tom Havastrow joining us in the Doug Gotlicks Show on
Fox Spoort Tradio. Okay, so, um the Kauai piece aside,
what what moves are you? Are you a fan of that?

(23:55):
Not enough people have to have discussed. Well, I just
love what the Utah Jazz have done this offseason. I
think they're the darling of the NBA media right now,
simply because you've got Mike Conley, who has been kind
of just in in basketball Siberia a little bit here
for the last couple of years with the Memphis Grizzlies.
The same deal with marcasoul If you get if you
pluck one of those veteran stars away from that situation, uh,

(24:18):
you know, it's gonna sneak up on people. And I
think the the Utah Jazz, if I could go to
Vegas right now and place a bet on a team
that is I think the dark horse team out in
the Western Conference. What they got with bog down by
Bajanovich is so good he is he averaged twenty points
a game um down the stretch, and the regular season
without Victor Oladipo. Their offense is so much better now

(24:39):
with Mike Conley uh and Begdanovitch uh, you know, surrounding
Donovan Mitchell. I love what they've done this offseason. And
Ed Davis is another guy who's gonna help them win
games behind Rudy Gobert good insurance at the five position.
I love what Utah Jazz have done. Um, but to me,
the big winner of the free agency so far is
U Philadelphias of any six years. I love what they

(25:01):
did with Al Horror and Josh Richie. Okay, then who's
the biggest loser? Uh the Knicks. I mean that's easy. Um,
you know, I I can't believe that with with teams
so desperate to unload money, unload players to try to
get under the cap, under the hard apron uh, that
that they didn't take in uh players to get get picks.

(25:23):
Like their decision to not take in players to get
picks and get AMMO and assets for the long haul
just screams short term thinking it. It is unbelievable, how mismanaged.
That's just that that organization is that they were just
rolling over these contracts until next year Julius Randall, Like,

(25:44):
where where does that get you? I don't understand going
a two year deal on Julius Randall when you know
they're not trying to win games right now. So look,
the New York Knicks, they get a bad rap because
of the fact that James Dolan hasn't put together a
winning organization. It's been bad pr of the last couple
of decades of man, they deserved, you know, a poor
rating this offseason. I do not agree with any of

(26:05):
the things they did this summer. Tom Havastro joining us
on the Doug Gotlip Show, Tom, great stuff as always
really appreciate, uh you spending some time and and and
love the work that you're able to put out there
on social media anytime. Tom Havastrow. John is super smart, guy,
knows this league, and I share his thoughts on the
Utah Jazz. I'm not as big as Bullish in the

(26:26):
Philadelphia seventy years, and we agree that the Nicks swung
and miss, but it was a swing they had to take.
Doug Gotlip Show here on Fox Sports Radio. You know
Magic is in this kind of suddenly enviable position, right
So Magic Johnson, I guess Kauai's uncle and like, look
ways uncle, like most dudes that are forty five plus

(26:50):
and he's forty five plus. You grew up in South
If you're around southern California during the era of Magic Johnson,
even post Magic Johnson career, you like Magic. It's impossible
not to like him. And so he's been brought in
on several of these discussions, and um, it's kind of

(27:12):
interesting that he's now in this position because he's smartly
leaked these stories about well, he's answered a couple of
questions for the Lakers and what their thoughts were. Magic's
put himself in position where if they signed Kawhi Leonard,
he's gonna get some credit. If they don't sign Kawhi Leonard,

(27:33):
he will get no blame because he's positioned himself as well.
You know, they came to me and I said only
great things about the Lakers, and they don't get him.
It's because Rob Blinket didn't don't know how to close
the deal. Really quite fascinating, a little bit diabolical, but

(27:54):
just fascinating use of the media, of his image, uh
of his popularity from the previous era with an older
generation and how it works. Rob Olinka hasn't said anything,
hadn't leaked anything, and yet somehow, even though the Lakers

(28:20):
are very much in discussion to get Kauai Leonard, they
have gotten Anthony Davis. And both of these things have
happened since Magic left the building. In spite of that,
Magic has found a way to thrust himself in the
forefront forefront and kind of made some made many believe

(28:45):
that he's the kingmaker, He's the dealmaker, He's the one
who can get this thing done. Even though he walked
away from his post because well, it was a job
that required actual work as absolutely stunning. Like I feel
like I feel like, twenty years from now, we're gonna

(29:07):
go and study this is a This is an interesting
conversation I had. I was driving home the night after
the election in two thousand six, Right, I was driving
home and I was talking to my boss and I
was working New York City at the time, and look
New York was it soundly very liberal democratic whatever, but

(29:30):
very much anti Trump. And when he won, I said, uh.
I called my boss and I was like, man, it's
really weird to be in New York. We do sports shows,
we don't talk about politics, and he my my boss
at the time. He said, you know, people got this

(29:50):
thing all wrong. I was like, what do you mean?
What you just saw was the greatest upset in the
history of political science. Here's a guy who really had
been a Democrat and and and donated to Democrats most
of his life, won the Republican Republican nomination over like

(30:12):
fifteen other people, and then took down the Clintons. I
forget about take the take the person and the politics aside.
You'd like him, you don't like him, you just sit
there and go it's a pretty amazing story, right. Don't
get me wrong. He he's a guy who was born
on third born on third base, and thought he hit

(30:33):
a triple right. I mean, he's born into wealth and
made more money because of it, and we still don't
know how much. But that's not again, that's not even
the point. The point is he beat fifteen other people
running for the Republican nomination, found a way to craft
a style that the media both hated and couldn't get

(30:56):
enough of, and then took down the Clinton machine, which
is previously unthinkable. Like you gotta understand if you lived
through the Clinton era, Bill Clinton was impeached. Could if
he could have been run for president again, he would
have won again. He was that popular. If he ran,

(31:19):
he would win again. That's how popular he is. And
yet Trump beat the Clinton machine. I bring that up
because it feels like, twenty years from now, we're gonna
study this thing and we're gonna realize kind of the
though the there though there are flaws, the kind of

(31:41):
amazing manipulation of the media and ability to use one's
brand tied to the Lakers brand Like I often thought,
no way Magic ever owns the Lakers. If he gets
this thing downe with Kauai, I don't think it's that
that far fetched, could be wrong. I think we're gonna

(32:01):
go back and study and go like man, Magic was amazing,
even though when you actually look at it, like well,
he didn't really work that hard and many of the
people he'd liked to bring in didn't fit. So what?
And then he went on TV and crushed the same
organization that he claimed to love. Who made the best
moving free agency? Will rank them next? Be sure to
catch live editions of The Doug Dot Leap Show weekdays

(32:23):
at noon eastern three pm Pacific. In Sports of trade
can make or break your team. It's no different when
it comes to selling or trading your car. You need
to make good choices. And with True Car you gotta
star in your roster. So when you're ready to sell
or trade in your car, checkout True Car True Cash
offer not available in all areas. Tug Got Leap Show
here on Fox Sports Radio. Uh, we will discuss the

(32:49):
Betsy Ross controversy. Top of the hour. Yeah, Betsy Ross controversy.
Top of the hour eight seven, seven nine nine. Box
is the phone number Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Tradio.
Every day at this time we get you caught up
on stories, the day, thoughts of the moment. We do
so by playing a game bag. This is game time

(33:13):
Tide on the Doug Gottlieb Show. Damn bye, when you
got my man, Doug. The game today is all right.
I want you to rank the top three moves that
you love the most in free agency. Could be benefiting
a player, could be benefiting a team. But the top
three moves that you love the most in the NBA? Okay, oh?

(33:36):
Any three? Yeah? Any three that you just you love
this from who's from? Whose perspective? Well, That's that's the point.
Like you maybe you love a player going there, or
you just love how the team filled out any certain
You know you were talking about the Jazz with Tom
Haberstro Do you like the Jazz. The Jazz would be Uh,
the Jazz would be number one, just because I think

(33:57):
they know who they are, Like, look, we know we
need Bogdanovitch. Um, Bogdanovitch is a guy who can really
shoot the basketball, can also guard. Uh is like an
underrated defender. And you know they went and got a
solid point guard Mike Conley. I don't think Conley as
a star anymore. I do think there was a time

(34:20):
in which he was a star and not a superstar.
But they knew where they were and Uh, they're built
around a tremendous talent who's not always a consistent shooter,
and the defensive Rudy Gobert and like all those fieces picked,
all those pieces fit together. That doesn't mean that they're
the best team, but the pieces do fit together. So
I'll do Jazz at one. Um. I'm not as high

(34:43):
on the Sixers as Tom Habistro is. I like the pieces.
I like Josh Richardson, but they need shooting. I like
Al Horford and he does shoot the ball well and
he's solid, but I feel like there's a little bit
of redundancy there with Joel Embiide, So I don't I
don't love that one. UM, I actually might. Number three

(35:04):
would be the Phoenix Suns. They needed a point guard
all year and they didn't get greedy and get a
guy who would handle the ball too much. They actually
got the opposite of pass first guy and Ricky Rubio.
So I like that, UM, and then I would say
the number two would be end of the day. I

(35:26):
still think the Lakers getting Anthony Davis, I don't is big.
But what New Orleans has done and putting together a
team and giving themselves hope, I mean they got they
got a bunch of different options. Sall do Jazz one,
Nola to Nolah's entire thing, and Phoenix three. All right
now ask for the second and knowing only what we know,
who are the best three teams in the NBA right now?

(35:49):
Only what we know right now? So Kawhi Letard doesn't
have a team right now, So it's a very it's
a hard one. UMS. That affects three team. Yeah, I
know Rockets one, Rockets one. Um, shoot Bucks Bucks too,

(36:11):
and I'll go, uh six or three? All right, grank
the three players you're most excited to see compete in
the home run derbyond Monday. We know six of the players,
Vlad Guerrero Junior, Josh Bell, Pete Alonzo, Christian Yellows, Ronald
Kuna Jr. And Carlos Santana. Uh. Well, I would say
Christian Yellis thirty right, say Christian Yellich Um, and I'll

(36:36):
say Ronald Kuna Jr. Cuna Matata, and then I will
go with uh. I'll go with Lad Garro Junior because
he's been a YouTube sensation and we finally get to
see him in the home run derby. Now, you mentioned
this yesterday because Wimbledon got underway. You said you always
would like to make a trip to the All England Club.
Rank the three sporting events and I know you've seen

(36:56):
a bunch, but that you still would like to see
top three World Cup one. Um, I want to see NASCAR,
but I want to see the daytill of five hundred.
I want to see like Talladega or something like real,
like under the lights at Bristol. I want to see
some real Nascar you know where yeah, yeah, something where

(37:18):
you're you're if you're missing the front teeth tooth, you're
like feel super comfortable at home. And then number three
would be Wimbledon. I'd like to see, all right, And
I think it's an annual tradition. Ranked the three by
stardoms to grill on the fourth of July in order
we need to know brocks burgers, dogs, ribs. We got

(37:38):
chicken wings to grill Burgers one rots to um. Disappointing
appearance by the hot dog hot dog. Hot dog would
be three. Hot dog would be three. Although most people
would link the hot dog and the brots, I will
not do such things. That's smart. This is game time

(38:03):
on the Duck Gottlieb Show. Also important to point out
that grilling is not barbecuing. Grilling is grilling. Barbecuing is barbecuing. Right,
you can barbecue foods on the grill, but simply putting
ribs on the grill is not barbecuing ribs. I'm just

(38:27):
I hate to be that guy. I don't actually hate
to be that guy. I am that guy, and I
will point that out. There's some Betsy Ross controversy. We'll
get into it. Up Coming next The Doug Gotlieb Show,
Fox Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at Fox Sports Radio dot Com and within the I

(38:49):
Heart Radio app. Search f s R to listen live.
What Up Tug Gotlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio. This is
to you buy Farmers. At Farmers, we've seen almost everything
is gonna cover almost anything when it's game time. Having
experienced player help you stay at the game, put their
experience into play. At Farmers dot com. Uh well, kid

(39:12):
tinue to track whether or not Kauai Leonard becomes a Laker,
a Clipper, or returns to the Toronto Raptors. That's really
the domino we're waiting to fall and determine the balance
of power in the NBA. He's that important. He's the
number one. He's the best player in the world. The
best player doesn't always win the NBA finals m v P.
But when you're a top five player and you're the

(39:34):
only one healthy and you're in your athletic prime and
you've shown to play about, then's the floor and you
won your second finals MVP, we continue the best player
in the world. Um I'm I'm big. I enjoy the
fourth July. I don't know if it's my favorite holiday,

(39:57):
but it's in the conversation. It celebrates our country to
the fireworks. I do like blowing stuff up, right, we
don't like blow don't like blowing stuff up. And I
survived childhood with all my fingers at times blowing stuff
up at times just watching other people blowing stuff up.
All these things I celebrate. Plus, whether you grill or barbecue,
I like eating and smelling food that's cooked outdoors. It's

(40:21):
watermelon season. My favorite fruit. It's watermelon is undefeated. Don't
love a wushy, mushy watermelon. And one of the great
scientific achievements of our lifetime is whoever invented the seedless watermelon? You,
sir or ma'am or madam, deserve a round of applause, right,
very nice. I mean, this was a this is a

(40:42):
big problem, you know, right. I get. I have some
flower seeds on a daily basis. It's one of the
things I love most about baseball. But let's be honest,
the spinning of the seeds, the spinning of the shells,
can be at tiresome. It could be tedious and as
good as watermelon is. It's lone flaw. It's fatal flaw

(41:05):
was it wasn't just seeds, big black seeds that you
felt like it do I swallow or they got to
grow in my stomach. It just it took away from
the enjoyment of such an amazing product. So I'm like, look,
I've lived in other parts of the world. I've actually
lived in other countries, Russia and Israel. I visited by

(41:29):
fifteen other countries and they're all unique, special, many ways great.
Like I was in Mexico City for a week and
a half. It was dangerous, beautiful, dangerous, overcrowded, sprawling, it
just the city never ends. And yet I'd go back.

(41:52):
It was cool, food was interesting, culture was amazing, a
lot of historic ruins. But every time I get on
the plane, every single time and I land l A
X JFK O'Hare Dallas, whatever airport I'm coming in from.

(42:15):
And I've been to Mexico, to Russia, to Israel, to France,
to Yugoslavia, to Lithuania, to Denmark, to Poland, to the
Czech Republic. Anywhere I've been Israel, you see old glory
and you're like, man it's good to be home. So

(42:41):
when I when I heard there was this controversy over
Betsy some Betsy Ross inspired sneakers, I was like, Betsy Ross,
the one who made the old flag, huh okay, and
it was a Nike my favorite shoe. I'm a Nike guy.

(43:06):
Do I wear Nikes because Jordan were not more Nikes? No,
I mean, in all honesty, like there's about four or
five pairs of Jordan's that are really cool. There's lots
of Jordan's that are like that was a lot. They
put a lot into it, and there's a lot of something.
But I didn't play in him like I like Nikes.
So Nike was gonna put out this uh Betsy Ross

(43:29):
inspired air Max for the fourth of July, and Colin Kaepernick,
who of course is uh who were you know who
they have supported is an endorser of Nike apparently mixed
it because the flag of that era. He felt like

(43:56):
the snapshot of that era was it was one of oppression,
slavery and was offensive. Now it's one of the things
you like about kind of diverse thoughts right where you
sit there and you go like I never really thought
about that was an error of slavery, and it was
a time in which we had different thoughts on you know,
we pointed out like the Constitution and the Bill of

(44:18):
Rights to celebrate it, but it didn't actually consider people
of color to be man right, it didn't. So I
understand it. But has anyone ever looked at a historic
flag and thought that's offensive? What are we exactly doing now?

(44:41):
It's okay to study and celebrate history and understand that
years ago we were flawed and that though we had
different ideals of what um freedom was, it doesn't mean
we away from every historic symbol, does it? Is that

(45:05):
what we want to do. I'm sorry, Betsy Ross, and
inspired flag is not is not offensive, has never been offensive.
And when we continue to react to the smallest number
of people, what you end up doing is kind of
the opposite of the intended effect. The intended effect is
to bring attention to like we're all aware that slavery

(45:28):
exists any but not aware that slavery exists in their country.
Do new Oh, really, there's slavery. It didn't know? Come
on that segregation occurred in our country. We're all aware
of that, yes, I just I don't know what you're

(45:49):
bringing attention to other than yourself. You're not solving any problems, right,
So let me get this straight. The same guy who
does not believe the flag, he wants to stand for
the flag because the things the flag represents or the
people who you know, whether it's first responders or police
officers or whatever. So that flag is not good enough,

(46:10):
but the old flag is not good enough. Help me
out here. If you're going to be somebody who says
a previous flag was from an error you didn't like,
and you don't like this era, what era do you like? Um?

(46:35):
I just we've gotten to this point where every corporation
is so scared about offending the one or two of
you almost champion. Remember the Washington Redskins. Remember that there
was there were a couple of years there were people.
I'm not going to I'm not gonna say the Redskins
nickname because nowadays, if you did call somebody a redskin

(46:58):
and be like what are you? How old? They're like,
what are you even talking about? You don't call somebody
a redskin. I don't call you a black skin or whatever.
But I think we all know that the idea of
celebrating Native Americans now even though we've removed them from
many many nicknames all across the country. There isn't the

(47:20):
negative connotation of you go back to the early nine hundreds, right,
or even the nineteen fifties where they used to tell
stories about the cowboys and the Indians, and the Indians
were the bad guy. Like, we don't do that now. Now.
We look at the name Redskins and we think, oh,
Native American warrior, right, but we don't even allow Marquette

(47:40):
to be the warriors anymore now that the Golden Eagles,
because somehow warrior is offensive. When you're a Native American warrior,
that's kind of not offensive. You fought for your land
for the things you believed in. Yeah, they weren't the
ones that did anything wrong. So I we we do

(48:03):
live in a time where we have interesting thoughts. We
we don't want we don't want to be oppressive, we
don't want to limit the freedoms of others. And just
because all of our history isn't great history, I do
think we should take back and understand the context of

(48:24):
the time. The context of the time tells everything. And
the more you bring political thought, especially political thought from
people who don't have well rounded political thought into sports,

(48:44):
the more you're going to push people away instead of
bringing everybody in. I don't know a human being alive
that looked at the Betsy Ross flag and said before
Colin Kaepernick and said that's offensive to me, right, offensive
things is kind of like you know it when you
see it, right, it's like the definition of pornography. And

(49:07):
celebrating our first flag, which is sewn together by a
lady and it was uniting thirteen different colonies, a place
of religious freedom, a place uh that that broke out
from another country from under the regime of another country,
and slowly but surely has evolved and worked things out

(49:30):
to truly be the land of the free and the
home of the brave. I gotta be honest, I'm kind
of offended that somebody would be offended over that flag,
but I'm not so offended that anything should be done
about it, because my level of offense doesn't really rise
to the level of anybody reacting to it. And if

(49:53):
not that this made sense to you, good, it doesn't
make any sense to any of us. What are we doing?
Asked this all the time, What are we doing? I
don't know why people react to idiots on social media.
I don't they're idiots on social media. Now I'm not
talking about reputable people. But we do this on entertainment tonight,

(50:14):
on a nightly basis. I every once a while flip
around there like, uh, Melissa Melana was criticized by so
and so on Twitter, Like who cares? Publicizing some idiot
with fifteen followers is doing what they want you to do.
It's giving the voice to people who don't deserve, haven't
earned the right to have a voice. And while Colin

(50:35):
Kaepernick made like, Okay, so this is the one you're
gonna stick your flag behind. Sorry, I can't use the
word flag Colin Kaepernick because every flag seems to be
one that carries something that he doesn't like. But this
is the thing, Like, look, dude, I have a pretty

(50:55):
I have a pretty open mind about Kaepernick. I mean,
I don't think he had any idea what he was
doing when he did it, But once he did it,
he didn't take ownership of it. And he wasn't smart
enough to not wear the pig socks. He wasn't smart
enough to not wear the castro castro t shirt. More
than anything, he's a he's a voiceless leader of a

(51:17):
movement which he started, but it did hit, but there
was never a second step to it. Yes, he donated
money and he did some good works, but he didn't
know how to celebrate it and champion it and build
on it. And then Nike kind of resurrected it. But
but this is what you're going to waste our time
with the celebration of our country's independence. You're going to

(51:44):
pick out something that we know all existed. We're fully aware,
we're fully aware, and you're going to tell a company
to not celebrate our first flag because you deem it
as the first human being on earth breathing air for
it to be offensive. Sorry, that feels like the person

(52:07):
on social media that wakes up in the morning and
looks for something to be offended by. That doesn't help anybody,
That doesn't teach anybody anything, That doesn't cure anything, that
doesn't make anything better. It only makes us think, well,
you're really really reaching and really wasting all of our time.
And somebody at Nike spent a lot of time designing
a shoe and it went through a bunch of layers.

(52:29):
People like, oh, that's a good idea, and They're like, now,
Colin Calvernick is offended. So let's cut it off. What
are we doing here? What was the purpose of the shoe?
What was the purpose of the design? What is the
percentage of people who could possibly be offended by a design?

(52:53):
And I can't believe that Nike is so quickly back down,
But that's the air in which we live. Just the
idea that a corporation could possibly offend the smallest percentage
of people causes them to you know, I'll just just
I just just not worth it. We are in the

(53:15):
least fun era ever. Comedians can't be funny. History can't
be celebrated, even if we know what parts of the
history don't deserve to be celebrated. All right, let's get
back after it. Bill orm joined us up coming next,

(53:36):
Where are we with Kauai and the Lakers? How did
they go from no chance to I think they might
get this thing done? How involved is Maggie Johnson? Where
is Rob Polinka? And um, you know they need like
ten other guys. Get to all that next. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Doug Dot Leap Show
week days at noon eastern three pm Pacific on Fox

(53:58):
Sports radio and the radio whip. Car shopping can be
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and they enjoy more confident car buying experience. Doug Gottlieb Show,
You're on Fox Sports Radio. I find this to be interesting.

(54:23):
The Clippers and the Lakers executives are not saying anything
because Kawhi Leonards people want all radio silence. Huh funny
because the only leak said of this seemed to becoming
from Magic Johnson. Why is he laking and talking to people?
Let's ask Bill Orham, who covers the Lakers for the
Athletic Um. Why is Magic Johnson talking when Kawhi Leonards

(54:46):
people order radio silence? Well, I think I think this
is where the Lakers can can lean on the terms
of Magic's departure and and and say, hey, he doesn't
represent us officially. This is not our guy, So anythink
he does does not vio late. You know, whatever agreement
they've made about about saying quiet um, you know that
may be a little bit uh, semantics at this point.

(55:07):
But you know, Magic, I think we know is a
little bit of a um a maverick on these sorts
of things. He's going to say what he feels, which
obviously got him in trouble when he worked with the Lakers,
and you know, from that standpoint, could be getting him
in trouble, uh now that he's no longer there. But
Kawhi Leonard apparently wanted to talk to Magic Johnson in
this process and he had to know what that entailed.
So um, you know, from the Lakers standpoint, I mean

(55:27):
what mark Stein said is is true. I have not
you know, Lakers people are not talking at all about this.
They are not giving any sort of hints. They're not
willing to try to read the tea leaves. I mean,
they are waiting, just like everybody else to see what
Kawhi Leonard is going to do. Um. You know, they're
one of the three teams that have been you know,
kind of held in status by this process. But what's
interesting is, you know, the Lakers probably have the most

(55:49):
um at stake here just in terms of of what
they what they don't have, you know, what they what
they gave up, what they passed up on in free
agency to wait on Kawhi Leonard Um. You know, they
have five guys on the roster, counting the second round
pick if they don't get quiet and obviously two of
them are transcendent, transcendent talents. But they've gone all all
in on kwhile interview. Yeah, and and they have. And

(56:11):
that's the challenge, right, He's smartly taking his time and
seeing where the chips fall. On the other hand, to
the detriment of one possible destination, how much I just
how much did the Darren Collinson thing throw everybody for
a little because it felt like he was one of
the people they felt like would be there for him,
having been an l A guy and salary wise, you know,

(56:34):
if they didn't get Kauai, and that made other teams
kind of reach for point guard needs that also would
have been on that list. Darren Coulison kind of screwed
this thing up a little bit, too, didn't he. Yeah.
I think you know, it's funny because you know, you
go back a few weeks ago, before the Anthony Davis
deal was consummated, before you knew that the Lakers actually
gonna be able to pull that off. Two of the
names that were at the top of their list were

(56:54):
Darren Caullison and Nico Lamerticch And all of a sudden,
either of those guys are going to be in the
NBA next year, Um, you know, due to you know,
deciding to do something else with their lives, and you
know that. I think that kind of was the first
Domino free agency in terms of kind of um ramping
up the pressure teams fell so to get shooters and
get guys who could you know, fill those roles. And
for the Lakers, point guard is is obviously the biggest need,

(57:17):
especially if they use up all their cap space on
a Max guy and Kawhi Leonard where they're gonna have
to do it on a minimum or the room exception
which is just four point a million dollars. So, um,
there's not a lot that they can do with that.
In terms of the point guard market right now, Rajon
Rondo is still out there. Um, Alex Caruso, who is
a two way player for them, who they like a lot,
is still hasn't qualifying offers a restricted free agents so

(57:38):
there's still a good chance they bring him back. But um,
the point guard market is really, really dried up, which
is again kind of the the they sacrifice the Lakers
have made to beat in the mix for Kawhi Leonard
at this point, and if they do not get Kawhi Leonard,
and I know that there are people there who are
sweating this just from a now what standpoint, um, the
roster they can put together is is, you know, going

(58:00):
to be piecemeal and going to just have to be
good enough. And certainly if they've gone into free agency
knowing they weren't gonna Getkawhile Leonard, they could have attacked
it a lot differently and there would have been a
you know, a lot more um uh variations of that
where they still come out looking like, you know, the
favorite to win the championship. Instead they are going for broke.
This is a put together the best arguably the best

(58:21):
Big three in NBA history, three m v P caliber
players on on one roster. Um something you know, beyond
anything we've seen in this modern era. Okay, so let's
hypothesize for me a little bit. And obviously you have
a ton of knowledge. Um, So it's not all hypotheses.
Some of it is is theorized for me, Bill Orum
joining me from the athletic. Let's say they get them. Right,

(58:43):
So let's say they get them, they have a mid
level exception um and they have all you know, minimum
contracts after that, Andre Godala, Alex Caruso j R. Smith Right,
those are those are three likely, if not potential guys
that end up there. Who else? Who else can they

(59:04):
fill out this roster with? I mean there's Kyle Korver,
who's a guy I mean top of Stuffalosha I think
is still unsigned. Um, Noah von Lay is a young guy.
I mean I think that they need some and they
need they need some youth on this roster because the
one risk I think you run this way is just
having is up being old. And I think the Lakers
really need to avoid being too old with this roster.

(59:26):
If if you just have Kauai and a d and
then you know a bunch of guys who played with
Lebron with the Calves, I mean that that feels a
little tenuous. So um, you know, on minimums you can
really take a risk with a guy like Noah von
Lay and maybe and and and bring him along. Can
tabious call up Hope? I mean not not great last
year at the Lakers shot in the mid thirties from
three UM, but did make thirty million dollars from the

(59:49):
Lakers over the last two years as a clutch client.
Maybe he owes the Lakers a a little bit of
a giveback year. UM. So, uh, there's names out there,
and there are guys who are credible and be a players. Um,
it's just gonna be a matter of who's left by
the time Kawhi Leonard makes his decision and whether and
whether um they view their a spot there. But I
think the whole idea that the Lakers had, which was

(01:00:11):
use that max slot in Kauai and there's guys who
are gonna want to take a haircut to play with
with that Big three and win a championship, has dried
up a little bit. I mean, one all the guys
that you kind of heard like, oh, maybe Trevor Reasa
is gonna come on the minimum. Trevor Reason is making
a ton of money. They play in Sacramento. Um, New
York signed a bunch of the guys that you thought,
oh well, maybe the Lakers could get them on a minimum.
I mean, those guys are all gone and they're making

(01:00:32):
a lot more money. So the plan has to have
changed Doug gotlib show here on Fox Sports Radio. Okay,
so let's say they don't get him and they have
that money. Is there anything that like all those same
guys you mentioned, Is there anybody of more value who's available. Well,
it's gonna it's gonna be interesting to see how Danny

(01:00:53):
Green reacts to what Kauai does. I mean, Danny Green
obviously has been waiting to see how that first shoe drops,
and then the question becomes he to take less money
to go with Kauai or is he want to take
more money and still a spot that Kauai would have
otherwise had, Because I think the Lakers would be in
a position to um really bolster their back court with
with with Danny Green. UM maybe overpay on a one
year deal to get him there with the Lakers. Um

(01:01:15):
he would be a perfect complimentary player to Lebron James Um.
That's probably the best player out there right now. I
know DeMarcus Cousins is available. I have not heard his
name related to the Lakers whatsoever. I don't know what
their level of interest would be in the situation, in
the event they missed out in Kauai. But I mean,
obviously there was some success with Anthony Davison and de

(01:01:35):
Marcus Cousins in New Orleans. So I mean I find
that to be an interesting option. Um, but you know,
I think really, I mean, the names don't change that much. Um,
you know, but there is the possibility of is there
a trade they can make to take somebody else's contract
into space. I know there was some thought that Gore
and Drags would be on the move earlier this week. Um,
that's a contract the Lakers could take on if the

(01:01:55):
Heat still wanted to move him. Um. So they could
potentially get creative, and it would really have to to
get the kind of, you know, a list player that
they felt like they should get in this free agency period.
Um okay. Uh, So it could end up working out
to have this incredible group of three top five players

(01:02:18):
in the NBA. And any sense of how involved Lebron
has been, because he said before he was involved in
recruiting in Cleveland, how involved is he in recruiting right
now with Kauai. Um in terms of specifics, Uh, you know,
It's it's another one of those things that nobody really knows.
I mean, I mean, this is the sense going into

(01:02:39):
free agency was Lebron and Kawhi Leonard were absolutely going
to talk. There would be a conversation, whether it was
in the Lakers formal pitch meeting or whether it be
um dinner or Kauai would come over to drink ice
tea at Lebron's pool. It wasn't clear what it would
look like. But at this point, day three of free
agency got to be stunned if that conversation hasn't happened. Um,
and you know, Sam A mcmcaulleague get the Athletic had
a great piece kind of aligning what uh Lebron's pitch

(01:03:02):
to Kawhi Leonard would be. And now I think we
know that what Lebron says in free agency or excuse me,
in July, maybe it's a little different from what's actually
gonna play out in November, December, January, but he made,
you know, has basically made the case that he will
be as deferential as he's been in his entire career
and will do what he can to set Kauai and
Anthony Davis up to really take ownership in this team

(01:03:24):
from now into you know, the future and the rest
of their career. So you know, which is the message
he was trying to send by um giving up the
number twenty three to Anthony Davis. So I mean, that's
you know, that's what if you're Kauai you want to hear.
Because the reason everybody was skeptical about Quie being interested
in joining the Lakers as Lebron's number two as second
Phil was that even if you're the best player on
the team, you're still gonna be You're gonna be the

(01:03:46):
also ran, and if things go wrong, it's gonna be
your fault because it's never Lebron's faults. So I think
Lebron has gotten the message that there is this narrative
that guys are skeptical of playing with him, and he's
trying to take that head on. So if if they
have had that conversation, if they still are going to
have conversation, that's the message he's supposed expected to give.
And I don't know what he what else he could
say that it could be more appealing to quiet letter.
He still may not choose the Lakers, but that's probably

(01:04:08):
as good of a pitch as as Lebron can make.
I'm thirty five years old. I don't know what I'm
gonna look like. In the coming years. You know, this
is this is going to be your team. But I mean,
the reality is that this is still going to be
The offense is still going to be run through Lebron
and and the culture is still gonna be set by Lebron.
But that doesn't mean he can't empower a d and
Kauai to take the reins long term. You got a

(01:04:30):
feeling either way, you know, I mean it's strictly a
gut saying, but considering the the way that you know,
the narrative has changed from two weeks ago when the
Lakers weren't even a thought in the national narrative for Kauai,
and now um, the Clippers and Raptors look at the
Lakers as a real genuine threat. I mean, it just
feels like the momentum is going is going that way.

(01:04:51):
But it also just doesn't really line up with what
we think we know about Kauai. So I'm torn. But
I guess, just you know, just because maybe I've been
swept up in the narrative, it does feel like there's
a really good shot he's coming to La to play
with the Lakers. Get any idea when we're gonna know,
I don't. I thought it was gonna be yesterday, to
be honest, So now i'm kind of I mean, I'll
be honest, like I did you a fourth of July.
Festivities have started, you know around here, and you know,

(01:05:14):
looking at my phone every twelve seconds thinking there's gonna
be a buzz, so we'll see, all right, Well, I mean,
like you, like the rest of us, I'm selfishly. I
know somebody in my colleagues like, look, I want to
get on vacation, but we gotta know what's going on here. Obviously.
Either way, it makes for a very interesting year with
the Lakers. Of course, Bill orm covers it for the

(01:05:34):
athletic kind of to spend some time this here on
the Doug Gotlip Show. Thanks so much. Man. All right,
we had a goal, or did we for people didn't
see it? What what was the what was the actual
how did it go down? What was the actual call?
See Ellen White split the two defenders for the United States,
and it was maybe maybe by a foot she was

(01:05:58):
offsides and by a foot and don't mean twelve inches,
I mean by her foot that gave her the advantage.
But that was the video review. It was a very
close call. It was the right call, but it was
just very very close on the off side call. She
was able to split the two, but it didn't look
like she got a head start by about six or
eight inches. Mhm. But you thought it was a good call.

(01:06:23):
I think it was the correct call. Yes, that was.
That wasn't my That wasn't what I said. That was,
you know, stuff like that. I mean, it's just I mean,
we're I think we talked about it a week ago.
You know, we're splitting hairs here on a play like that.
It was the correct call. I don't know if it's
a good call, um, And and now they haven't they

(01:06:45):
have another review here there there seemed to be a
tackle in the box um on Ellen White to his
England's best player. She has the she she she has,
she hasn't there's a cross to her. She's open and
now it's flop. Yeah. I think I think you're right.
She did her. They ran into her leg. I don't

(01:07:05):
know the rule there, Yeah, so does any that would
be incidental conduct if it was a wide receiver. But
I don't know the rule in soccer. Does anybody know
the rule in soccer? Let's go to our soccer coach
a y s SO coaching legend John Ramos. Question there,
what's the question? I'm sorry? Okay, So, so Ellen White, right,
I see it? Yes, okay, Ellen White is there's a

(01:07:28):
cross to her. She's probably gonna score a goal if
she makes contact with the ball, but she as she's
going to kick the ball the American defender. Um, what's
that called. It's called flat tire when you hit their
their back foot, but instead of flat tiringer, it actually
hits the back of her leg. I would I would
say that that is not a a foul, not a
fountain crossed in front of her. Now, if the USA

(01:07:50):
player ran into her, she didn't run into her. She
her her leg. No, really she did. Hey, let's go
to twitter. Marcus Thompson of the Athletics says she didn't.
With Mike Decorsi of the Sporting News, it's a whiff,
will black men. We hear hear him here on Fox
Sports Radio. That's a flop. It's not a flop. They

(01:08:11):
made contact. If you make if you make contact, does
that yes, that's hey, it's a good call. Can you
repeat the question please? Um? Yeah, I guess this is
when you know, like, look, I love my country. But

(01:08:31):
there it's about the I agree with you, and I
don't know the rule. I guess if you run into somebody,
apparently that's legal, that's frowned upon. So who's our goalie now?
Because Hope Solos not our goalie now, right? Who who's
Who's who's the goal? You have no idea? Does anybody
have any idea? This is where she makes a name
for herself. This is where she becomes greatest goalkeeper ever.

(01:08:53):
And remember she also can't because of the video review.
She can't step over that line until the ball like
she can't move until the ball is kicked. And they
are very used to it, used to be able to
kind of guess a listen there is that sounds correct
a listener, I don't know, And yeah, sure like you could.
You could say her name was Alyssa Silverstein and I
would say, sure, that sounds correct as well. I literally

(01:09:16):
have no idea. She's either about to be make the
greatest save in the history of US soccer since Brianna's
story what she did, but she did it is there
and she says, narre your gold, let's go. What English
stereotypes should she have done? After stopping that like Alex
Morgan did the sipping tea, sipping tea and crumpets. I

(01:09:41):
really she guessed and guessed right, that was man Ellen White.
That was a poor That was a poor effort. She
basically is like, all, I'm gonna kick it as close
to her as possible, just to my left her right.
Did you see what she did? What she didn't brush
her teeth? No, I'm just kidding, John, keep your mic
ont at least laugh. That was in the third minute,

(01:10:07):
so there's like, you know, Ted is left in this
thing and the best player from the English team Mr
had a p K. That was not that was It
was not a great effort. I mean, you can't ask
for more than that, right, your best player taking the
shot to tie the game. She doesn't hit it. What
are you gonna do? You can't say like, wow, wasn't

(01:10:28):
our best player? No? It was? Yeah, yeah, yeah, alright.
Coming up next with Kauai joining Lebron in l a
hurt Lebron's brand. Wait to hear what con Cowherd to
say next. Be sure to catch live editions so the
Doug Dot Leap Show week days at noon eastern three

(01:10:48):
pm Pacific. In Sports of trade can make or break
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(01:11:10):
Doug Otlieve show Fox Sports Radio every day. This time
you'd like to play for you a portion of a
show previously on Fox Sports Wonder Fox Sports Tradio, we
call it. This was Colin Cowherd on what adding Kawhi
Leonard could mean for Lebron James brand. Lebron's legacy is impenetrable,

(01:11:30):
and his brand is mobility. What does he do with
his TV shows and movies? Brings stars to sit in
a room together. What does he do with basketball? He
brings stars to Miami and Cleveland and Los Angeles together.
This is his brand. His brand is not an Iso act.
It's not Jimmy Butler. I want to be the man
that's not his, that's not his brand. Lebron's versatility and mobility,

(01:11:53):
and so I actually think this place right into his brand.
And I also think when you're as big, I mean
think about here, what's how popular he was and now
how unpopular he was? And then we all sat in
the couch and cried as he won the Masters. We
generally look back at greatness with great fondness and we
just forget what a pain in the butt you were. Oh,
I don't think there's any doubt if he has Kawhi Leonard,

(01:12:15):
it helps his legacy, It helps his brand because if
there's detractors from his brand, it's well, if you're so great,
why didn't anybody want to play with you? Why did
anybody choose? In an era of free agency where people
where stars can choose their own adventure, why haven't they
chosen you? To be fascinating, But it eliminates that if

(01:12:42):
in fact, um they get this deal done, because it
would be Kawhi Leonard who previously had been standoffish about
joining Lebron James regime, and if anything, we would say
the opposite, in spite of the fact they had been
mismanaged it spite of fact they had a coach that
Lebron head in hand picked. It's a bite of the
fact they only had five guys in their contract on

(01:13:04):
the roster. In spite of all of that spite of
all of that, he still chose the Lakers, and it
was more than just being about home and more than
just being about brand. It'll be at least on some
level about playing with Lebron James. Um, we have one
other one as well. I believe it's Nick right and

(01:13:27):
uh here's Nick earlier today on First Things, First Morning
show on Fox Sports Radio, and he's talking about Jimmy
Butler's decision to leave Philadelphia at a max contract on
the table to go to Miami. On a basketball side
of things, he believes what Kawai Leonard just did he
can do. Now. I don't think he's right. I think

(01:13:49):
Jimmy Butler's a tear beneath that level of player. I
don't think he can be the best player on a
championship team, but he believes he can be. In more
power to him, he believes he was the play are
on track to be the player that Kwi Leonard has
turned into. The two way force, wing player, great defender,
score from all three levels, all those things, and he
wants to go do it in Miami for a great organization.

(01:14:11):
By the way, Miami Heat since pat Riley has been there,
have done things the right way consistently. Now they have
never they have not yet fully recovered from lebron leaving
and then Bosch's blood clots and Wade fallen off, but
they stayed relevant, they never tanked, they never fell off,
and now they have Jimmy Butler. So I don't think
you should look at this as an indictment on Philly

(01:14:31):
at all. Jimmy wanted his own team, he wanted the
Miami weather. He enjoys his somewhat newfound celebrity lifestyle, good
friends with Mark Wahlberg and some other people. So that
this was about Jimmy Butler, not about the Philadelphia seventies six. Yeah, this, that, this,
and but that's really what Jimmy Butler's about. That's the

(01:14:52):
important part. Nick's not wrong. Nick obviously knows Jimmy or
people close to Jimmy, and that's what they went out there.
This is about Jimmy. It's not about that. But that's
really why he's worn out, as welcome some in Chicago,
in Minneapolis, and frankly in Philadelphia that Jimmy's about Jimmy.
And while you can criticize others for not being about championships,

(01:15:16):
I don't think anybody thinks that Jimmy Butler's about championships.
If Miami is a decision, that doesn't mean being critical
about it, doesn't mean that he's he doesn't have the
right thoughts and idea and process in mind. But let's
not kid ourselves. You're not anywhere near winning an NBA
championship if Jimmy Butler is your best player. And I
think Jimmy Butler knows that especially well, that's not why

(01:15:40):
he chose to play in Miami. Is that it is
it over yet? Now it's a seven minutes of stoppage time, alright,
seven minutes of stoppage time, all right? So that's so.
The US women are seconds away from advancing to the
final right finals of the World Cup, and they're gonna

(01:16:03):
take down the British women barring some epic and complete collapse,
which will not happen here. As they cleared the ball
one last time in the nineties six and a half
minute and take one last flop as uh, they'll get
one more free kick, they need a little help from
video replay, although the video replay also gave the British

(01:16:23):
women a penalty kick in the eighty third minute. So
I guess it all evens out and to do without
making a pinots pretty good stuff. He replacement ends up
scoring a goal. Everyone is waiting on kawhile and all right,
it's the final US Women? When will react to that?
Plus Kawhi Leonard? When will the final Domino fall? Find out?

(01:16:45):
Next to Doug Gatlup Show Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports
Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app. Search f
s R to listen live What Up Stuck Gotlip Show,
Fox Sports Radio. M m m m m m m

(01:17:08):
m m m m m m m m m m.
I hope you are having a great day. Mm hmmm.
I hope you're having a great day. I hope you're
enjoying a summer and a victory over England. I think

(01:17:31):
we're the better team. Does that really matter? Alright? One,
So the US Women are in the finals. So who
do they play? Ramos? Do you have any idea? Like
you say the winner of the Sweden Netherlands game. The
other semifinal is Swedener Netherlands. Any good? Ah, they may
be better than each other, but they're probably not better
than an American team. Yeah, usually the the French women

(01:17:55):
are good and the Japanese women are good. Aren't things that?
Do you see what happens? I would say, I can't
speak on the Japanese team, but I think French is yeah,
pretty good team. And and many people believe that the
frenchwoman actually outplayed the Americans last time around. All right,
so uh, the United States speaks England two to one. No.
Megan Rappino I think is the big and Alex Morgan

(01:18:17):
scores on her birthday, scores on her birthday. We're still
waiting on Kauai Leonard, waiting, waiting, waiting. And I'll say
this about Kauai. I don't know where he's going. I
don't know anyone who truly knows where he's going. Of

(01:18:39):
the great mysteries on this earth, Kauai Leonard is right
up there with all the rest of them, right, Like,
tell me about Kawhi Leonard. I got nothing for you,
and I literally can tell you not a thing. So
when I look at it, I try and figure it out,
trying to think Kawhi Leonard. I don't know. There's pluses

(01:19:04):
and minuses if he goes to the Clippers. That feels
like a really well, really well run organization. They still
have some cap space, have some things, they can move around,
and you get a chance to live in l A
and kind of have his own team. If he stays
in Toronto, they want a championship. You feel like they'll
be good. If he goes to l A. They should
be really good and have three of the top five

(01:19:24):
players in the league. And it is, in fact the Lakers.
So I don't know. I I think he's played this
very smart. Oh he's He's not gone anywhere because of
anyone friend. He's allowed all of the dust to settle.

(01:19:46):
He's trying to figure out what he wants to do.
He doesn't have to rush. And yeah, it does screw
up the Lakers. If he doesn't go there, it probably
screws up the Raptors. It probably screws up the Clippers.
But that's not his concern. You know, when when you
are when you're making a life changing decision of this magnitude,

(01:20:09):
you can't really concern yourself with how it affects a
couple of others. I would say the same thing, you know,
the Jimmy Butler thing. It's like, well, that's what Jimmy
Butler just said. And yeah, the difference is that Jimmy
Butler wasn't choosing any three any of three teams that
you could you could see winning a championship, are competing

(01:20:29):
for a championship that could be a very championship in Miami.
No one thinks that, No one. So I'm fasting to
try and figure out exactly what's coming up next. And
there'll be people that are critical of Ben Simmons getting
this contract extension of a hundred and seventy million dollars.

(01:20:50):
I don't think they're actually realistic and understand like, Ben
Simmons is pretty spectacular talent. Does he have to shoot
the basketball better? Absolutely? Absolutely, But there's no reason to
believe he can't put the time in. Like there are
things that he does you cannot teach. Shooting is something

(01:21:11):
that can be taught. Shooting something that can be improved.
Will he ever be a shooter? No? Well, will he
be somebody who can make a shot. There's no reason
he cannot. But I look at Kawhi Leonard and you
know this is one of those takes all the time
you need. I think the most odd part about this

(01:21:31):
is the insertion of Magic Johnson into the discussion, right
because Magic quit. That Magic went on TV twice and
try to paint the picture of why he quit, and
after paying the picture, it looked like he was leaving
behind a dysfunctional front office, one that was devoid of

(01:21:55):
any sort of trust. And so we're supposed to believe
that Magic Johnson is now a conduit to the Lakers
and somebody who is helping sell Kawhi Leonard on the
Lakers because his uncle reached out to him. Like that
one's weird. And then if you read any of these

(01:22:16):
uh Mark mark Stein tweets right for the New York Times,
the reason you haven't heard from the Clippers and Lakers
is that Kawhi Leonards people asked for radio silence. The
only person talking is Magic Johnson. Well, he's not talking
out loud specifically, but sources close to the situation, I
have Magic john Like, dude, that's magic. That is Magic

(01:22:41):
Johnson can't stop talking, and he's trying to sell it
to us as a win for Magic, a win for
Magic if they get Kawhi Leonard and a loss for
Rob Polinka if they don't. Hey, they called me and

(01:23:02):
I told him it's great and everything is great, and
I told him he needs to be a Laker, and
how great Lebron James is. If you don't get them,
it's up to you, not up to me. Everyone is
waiting for like everyone. The Lakers are, the Clippers are,
the Raptors are, the country of Canada, and most sportswriters,
sports columnist, radio show host, TV host, we're all waiting

(01:23:23):
on KWHI Leonard one because he's the best player in
the NBA. He's the sitting finals m v P. It
does determine who will be the favorite in the NBA
next year. If he goes to the Clippers, I think
the Rockets are probably the favorite, although the Clippers are
right there as co favorites in the West. If he
goes to Lakers, the Lakers are the favorite. He goes
to the Raptors, the Raptors of the favorite of the East,
and the Rockets I believe in the West, or maybe

(01:23:45):
the Lakers. I don't know. Oh yeah, And most dudes
take off next week because now like going on Baseball,
All Star Game, etcetera, etcetera. So everywhere I've gone, But
where's he going? I don't know. May sometimes it benefits

(01:24:06):
a guy that doesn't say anything and gives nal facial
effect him. We're just trying to read. Well. He was
wearing a Toronto Blue Jay's jersey when he was on vacation.
All right, I'm sure somebody gave it to him. I've
worn swag before that I would. I don't really want
or I don't really want to be seen in, you know,
like teams that I don't care about. But somebody give

(01:24:26):
me a free T shirt and it's a soft. If
you give me a soft, a soft T shirt, you know,
all the cotton, Now that's soft, I'll wear it. I'll
wear it. I'm not gonna lie to you. I may
not wear in public, I may wear it to work
out or to sleep in, but I'll wear it. I
get all the time, like why are you wearing that shirt?
Like because it was comfortable, because it matched my shorts.

(01:24:50):
That's about it. So we wait and we wait and
we wait and we try and figure out is magic
screwing this thing up? Is magic trying make himself look good?
And what does Kauaide Leonard think a guy who gives
us no facial effect, no tweets, no, I g s

(01:25:12):
no reason to think we know what he wants or
what he's going to do. We just try and read
tea leaves that might not actually be tea leaves. Of
all the bizarre things that we've seen, right, like, think
of all the situations and how it's gone down, this

(01:25:36):
one seems to be the oddest of all because he's
the guy who gives us no reason to no reason
to know exactly what's going on. All right. We got
controversy at the at the World Cup where the British
women had a goal taken away, that the English woman
had a goal taken away, and then they missed the
penalty kick that I do think they earned or deserve

(01:26:00):
based upon based upon a reviewed call. So instant replay
gave him a call and took away a goal all
at once, and the US women ended up prevailing. There
is an entire league out there, all right. First, what
I want to know next is what do the Lakers
do if they don't get Kauai Leonard? And even if

(01:26:21):
they do, how do they put together a team? Uh?
What do we make of what's become of the Philadelphia
seventies sixers? Like? I like Al Horford, but I don't
like him for four years, and I really don't think
I like him With Joel Embiid like on the court
at the same time late in the playoff game, that

(01:26:41):
doesn't make a ton of a sense. West Wilcox is
gonna join us. Former NBA g M, current NBA TV analyst,
he'll join us. Who's he like? Who does he not like?
What do you make of Philadelphia? Does he like? What
what New York has decided to do? Does Brooklyn end
up working out? And what do the Lakers do if
they don't get Kawhi? Leonard doug got leap shows brought

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At Farmers, we've seen almost everything, is going to cover
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(01:28:28):
You're gonna hear um over the next couple of days
a good amount of discussion of the NFL and how
they may they they want to get this collective bard
In agreement done before the season begins. I gotta tell
you that does not seem to bode well for the players,
right Like do I think it'd be smart for both sides.

(01:28:52):
You get it done so we don't hear about the nonsense.
Absolutely absolutely, But you know, the longer it goes, it
always favors the owners because even though they don't want
to lose money, they're billionaires versus thousand aires and millionaires
for players, And really a lot of it comes down

(01:29:14):
to the rank and file stuff like we worry about, like, well,
what about the running back franchise tag? What that does? Look?
The franchise tag ease, they get a guarantee one year contract,
which is the average of the top five players at
that position. Those are one per centers in the NFL.

(01:29:36):
Like all of the guys making the league minimum, they
have an equal or actually greater number of votes. Like
the backup running backs there are two of them, right,
that's those two thirds of your running backs in your backfield,
or three fours or four fifths if you're running back.
They don't care about the top level guys. They care
about the bottom and so I don't see that changing.

(01:30:03):
I don't see longer guaranteed contracts changing. The big question
becomes can the NFL push to get to eighteen games?
I think they will. I think they will. I think
they'll eliminate the preseason games. I think the length of
the season, and I think the sale will be from
the owners. Hey, we'll create five more roster spots on
game day from tote. Do the math. Thirty two teams,

(01:30:29):
five roster spots. That's a hundred and sixty hundred and
sixty more jobs. My guess is that if the deal
gets done early rather than dragging out, and there's really
no blood and no thoughts of missing while, it'll feel
like a total win for the league, and it will
be it'll be lost for the players. All Right. The

(01:30:50):
US women's team took down England two to one to
advance the finals in the World Cup. We'll get to that. Plus,
James Conner of Pittsburgh Steelers will join us about ten
minutes or so. Let's check in with West Wilcox, the
former NBA g M. Of course you see him on
NBA TV and we're all West just waiting on Kauai Leonard.
Do you get any sense for the longer this goes,

(01:31:11):
who's who it favors? Hey? Do well, First of all,
it's great to be on with you guys. Um and
uh no, I don't you know, we know the three
teams that are in the race, uh Toronto, the Lakers
and the Clippers. And there's a great argument to be
made for him to go to all three spots. And

(01:31:32):
you know, he's he has the right to make this
decision on his timeline. And you know that that probably
is is most you know challenging for the Lakers as
the you know, the second tier free agents, the third
tier free agents are largely signed, um, but that's only
a problem if he if he doesn't pick them. So

(01:31:53):
it's a fascinating it's a fascinating thing that we're all
kind of waiting on. I've seen these the boards or
the us that teams have where you're like, all right, well,
you know here's the basically salary scales or whatever. Who's
so the thought is that you've got a chance to
get iggy if he gets bought andreadal if he gets
bought out right and j R. Smith, assuming he gets
bought out, Danny greenstell like who else is out there?

(01:32:18):
For who the well, if let's just start for the Lakers,
because that that would be the most pertinent like who
who else is out there? And so are we Lakers
with or without. That's a great, great question, let's start without.
So without you have the chance. You have the chance
to break. But you're gonna need two starters, right, you
had a mid level exception and then you have I

(01:32:39):
guess you could break it up. And so you can
probably get three players out of those. The amount of
money they have left, Yeah, so thirty two million dollars
of room, and then after they spend their room, they'll
have what's called the room team exception, which is this
you know, oftentimes you see this two year, ten million
dollar deal that's actually most often the room team exception,
starting around four point eight million for a second year
of about five million just rounded up to ten for

(01:32:59):
a two year deal. So let's say that thirty two
million in room. The two names that jump out of
Marcus Morris and Danny Green. Um. Now, if Kauai goes
to the back to Toronto, Danny Green might be able
to resign there because Toronto still has Danny Green's bird
rights because they're operating over the cap. And Marcus Morris
might be able to go back to Boston because Boston

(01:33:21):
maybe operating as a team above the cap because they
did the signing trade for Kemba Walker and Terry Rosier. So, um,
if if, if Kauai signs with the Lakers, they're looking
at the room team exception, that two year, ten million
dollar contract, and that's gonna be hard to spend right
now because there's not a lot of names out there. Um.

(01:33:43):
But maybe it's a you know, a region rondo that
ends up, you know, returning to the Lakers. Or maybe
Danny Green would sign for that two year, ten million
dollar room team exception, second year player option. Maybe he
opts out re enters the market, you know, a summer
for now, so gets tight for the Lakers to pull
out the roster if they end up with Kauai and

(01:34:04):
without Kauai right like, it's a little easier because you
have more money to spend on those two players, though
like we just said, they could also end up elsewhere.
It really is interesting how how they make this work.
Um and this is again more of a guest than
than knowing less. Wilcox joined his former NBA G mcm
on NBA TV Doug Gotlip Show, Fox Sports Radio. But

(01:34:25):
you're reading from Mark Stein that hey, the Clippers and Lakers,
you got radio silence from their executives because that's what
Kauai's people want. Well, if that's the case, why are
there the leagues coming from Magic Johnson's camp about his
conversations with Kauai. If Kauai's people want radio silence? Yeah,
because Kauai doesn't work for the Lakers anymore, and he

(01:34:45):
has he has you know, he doesn't have a constituency,
um though he certainly you know, with love for for
Kauai to play with the Lakers. And you know, Magic
plays an important role for the Lakers and to the
NBA is an abassador for the game. So I think
the rules are different for a guy like Magic. They've
always been different for the superstars. And I think my

(01:35:06):
guess is co I understand that, and we all kind
of get that. Okay, let's let's let's get to some
of the other things that have gone on the league.
Ben Simmons signs an extension today. Do you like that
deal for Philadelphia? Yeah? I do. And this was this
was something that most of us, you know, working around
the league, kind of expected. Um. You know, Rich Paul
is a friend going back to you know, his time

(01:35:27):
in Cleveland when he was just you know, getting started,
and I was running around as an advanced scout, and
so I had a pretty good sense that they would
be able to get to this deal. Um. Now what's
fascinating is, you know, Philly is is their payrolls manageable
this year? But when that extension kicks in next season,
based upon some of the stuff they've done, you know
they're going to be an incredibly expensive team. And you know,

(01:35:50):
spending the money is one thing. The flexibility that comes
with that is another thing. And oftentimes it's a flexibility
that's more challenging because you just don't have the pieces
to add to that team. And so I like what
Philly has done. It's a little bit unconventional. Um, they
did a fantastic job, you know, pulling Josh Richardson if
you want to peel it all the way back, that
trade was really Dario Sarich and Robert Covington for a

(01:36:13):
rental of Jimmy. That turned into of course, Josh Richardson,
who's just a really nice player going back to his
time at Tennessee. And you know, I know he didn't
shoot a great last year, Um, but he's an improved shooter,
versatile player. The big question with Philly, of course, is
shot shooting, and so that's that's what we're gonna have
to see and how it's answered. But you know, they're

(01:36:34):
not done. They're going to find other ways to add
to their team. And uh, but in general, I like it.
I don't really get the Horford things, Like I guess
I get it for the regular season because you don't know,
you don't have to have you know, you don't have
to have the big fella every game. But when if
they want to win championships, did you need a starting
power forward or center to go along with Joel Embiid,

(01:36:55):
especially when you have Ben Simmons who is like a
power forward, Like I kind of feel like there's some
redundancy there. Yeah, No, I think I think you raised
a good point. Um, if we peel it back. You know,
we had Elton brand here in Atlanta for two years
when we were just kind of getting started and now
so of course he was a teammate of Al Horfords

(01:37:17):
at the time, and we all know the incredible character,
in person and leader, culture driver that Al Horford is.
So there's there is value there. There's certainly value in
that relationship. And yes, there's value in you know, all
just being a really good player, and then you know
the protection against and Bead on the flip side. I
think what you're you're bringing up, you know, one of

(01:37:39):
the challenges is you want to spend the majority of
your money in a in a way that can play
together as much as possible. So if we would just
take the four and the five, you've got ninety six minutes,
and if you could spend that six minutes or spend
most of your money in positions that can play ninety
six minutes together, that would be preferred. And you know,

(01:37:59):
in reality, I was going to play a lot of
time at the five, and and Bead's not gonna play
any time at the five all I'm sorry, anytime at
the four, excuse me. So, so I think that's what
you're getting to is, you know, how do you really
spend the money and and and maximize the you know,
those two guys playing together. But as your point, they're
so versatile, it may be that that's Ben Simmons in

(01:38:21):
some of those minutes. So you're spending it. Now, you're
spending a ton of money on Ben Simmons too, right, Yeah,
But I don't know that you have a you know,
one of the challenges with the NBA is with success
comes a crazy pay roll. And that's why it's important
to be in a great market and to have a
management team in an ownership group that's willing to spend
what it takes to to basically keep a team together

(01:38:44):
to give itself its best chance. And you know, sometimes
it's not good enough, but you just had to spend
your way into being the best you can. And so
we'll see if if this works out and Stilly ends
up being a true contender, Mike gets they got a
good shot here to do so, um, but we don't know.
We'll see. Um, there are there are a couple of
other teams that are super super interesting to me. Mike

(01:39:06):
crazy to like what Phoenix did. Like everybody's talking Utah.
I like Utah, And I know that Phoenix has been
off the radar, but they badly need a point guard.
But they didn't need one of these scoring point guards
because they have plenty of offense. And I don't think
Ricky Rubio is nearly what people thought he would be,
but he's more than serviceable. It kind of feels like
Phoenix under the radar has done a nice job here,

(01:39:28):
So I agree. I really like the Ricky Rubio signing
for Phoenix. He he fits in just as you said, Um,
I think some people would look at the draft and say,
you know, six, they start with six and they moved
back to eleven and basically net Sari and Cam Johnson.

(01:39:49):
When people thought that Kim Johnson could have been, you know,
drafted later, there were some current some concerns as you know,
about some medical stuff with him, and just in general,
people I think had him later in the draft. On
the flip side of that, there's just the argument to
go draft who you like, because one thing we know
that's absolutely true about the draft is the day after

(01:40:10):
the draft, the draft position doesn't matter because we reevaluate
all these guys, and we see it all the time
that a guy drafted thirty should have been drafted five,
you know, and the guy that was drafted six shouldn't
have been drafted at all. So I I give him
credit for just sticking to their guns and drafting the
guy they want. But I think some of what you're
hearing is people just thinking that they might have been
able to maximize six a little bit better. Um. But

(01:40:32):
that may or may not be true, if depending upon
how you know, Sergeant Cam Johnson end up working out
so um fair point on on the unknown of six
and eleven and how they did in the draft. But
I agree with you. I really like what they did
with Rubio Okay DiAngelo Russell obviously completely changed his image
and improved his game with the Brooklyn Nets. But he's

(01:40:53):
a ball screen guy who needs the ball in his hands,
and he's going to the team that uses the balls
green less than anybody else in the NBA. And I granted,
some of that's gonna change is they're gonna have to
get away from the Hampton five lineup, right, Um, But
is this a move to ultimately move him or is
this a move to just take some of the ball

(01:41:15):
dominance off of Steph Curry so he can simply survive
this year so that in future years that compete for
a championship. So it's probably it's probably both, they're probably
saying themselves listening. He's an all star, he's young, he's
he's improved significantly in this time in the n b A.
Maybe we can help him with the style of play,

(01:41:36):
um when he joins our group, and maybe he really
fits And certainly he's you know, he's shown that, you know,
he's an elite level score when given some freedom, though
stylistically he might not be the perfect fit for our
for our environment. The other part of this is like,
is the Warriors saying, Okay, Katie's leaving. We thought he

(01:41:57):
was going to the Knicks, where there was no opportunity
maybe to do something like this. He goes to Brooklyn,
how can we how can we extract any value we
can out of this? And so the sand and trade
kind of materializes. Now some would say that, yeah, but
in order to make that sound and trade, they gotta
lose Igu Dolla and they got to send out two

(01:42:17):
first round picks. And what could they have gotten with
Iger Dolla and two first round picks versus you know
what they what they what they ended up with. You know,
they basically made a trade, right Igo Dolla to first
for um D'Angelo Russell. But I think they get the
use of D'Angelo like we just talked about, and then
they are probably thinking down the line, you know, if

(01:42:39):
this doesn't work, we're gonna be able to move D'Angelo
on for at least what we gave up. And so
this really checks three boxes for them It gives him
a shot to be to see if he works within
the system. It helps him maximize the loss of Kevin Durant,
and it gives them something into the future that they'll
likely be able to trade and recoup all love and

(01:43:00):
maybe even more what they gave up to pull this
thing off. Now, does the Brooklyn thing work? This is fascinating.
I have no I have no idea, and I'm I'm
you know, very close with a lot of people there
in Brooklyn. We had Kenny Atkinson, Um, Jeff Peterson, the
assistant GM or a assistant GIM we kind of hired

(01:43:20):
here in Atlanta and raised Andy Bird Songs and assistant
GIM that we worked together very closely here in Atlanta
for a long time. So I'm I'm very hopeful that
all of this works out for them. Um, you know
that they've just done a masterful job of setting this
thing up and put themselves in position. And what Sean
has done over the course of you know, three seasons,
and what Kenny has done in developing guys. So so

(01:43:42):
I have a soft thought and I have a belief
that that these guys are really smart. They do a
great job, and they're gonna figure it out, um, but
we don't know. You know, Kyrie is obviously a great,
great player. How he's gonna fit within that young group
is unknown, and how Kevin's gonna come back from his
injury isn't is unknown. So I think some of the
questioning is is fair. People people don't know how it's

(01:44:02):
gonna play out. None of us do. But I would
just bet on those people they're making some really smart
decisions because they have some really smart people know and
they've done an amazing job. But it's still in the
hands of a you know, a guy who's coming off
an achilles injury a year from now, and Kyrie, who
everyone raved about the culture in Boston and there was
some chemical imbalanced there with that entire team last year.
We'll see how they adjust to Kyrie's style, uh in

(01:44:25):
this year as he goes to get another new team
West great stuff. Can't wait to have you on again.
Thanks so much for joining us, some great job in
NBA TV. You're welcome, Thank you, Steck got leave show.
You're on Fox Sports Radio. James Conner of the Pittsburgh
Steelers joining us on behalf of the Polaris Sling Shot
The three wheeled Roadster is celebrating the Summer of fund
by giving customers the chance to win a trip for

(01:44:46):
two to Maui and drive the iconic road to Hannah
just by going to a local dealer and taking a
test drive. James, Um, I I have this like secret
fantasy to have a sling shot. Have you of him
win yet? Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. Um
you know, stick, I forgot a lot more work to
do to figure out how to drive, but then it's

(01:45:08):
been awesome so far. I got one, I got I'm
sitting right behind one. I got a black and yellow one.
Is really really cool. Man, three wheels and been really
fast and I drove in a couple of them too,
And uh, this is an awesome, awesome experience man, like
you said macilarious slingside dot com. Go to the local
dealership and test drop one and you could be in Hawaii,
you know, driving one of those and had no roof

(01:45:28):
on it and see how the beautiful scenery in Hawaii.
So is definitely something that everybody should go out and
do if they wanted three trips to Hawaii. That's the
road to Hunah's beautiful. I've actually done that's gotta be
Have you done that? Have you that? Like that's got
to be part of the deal, dude, right, Like do
you get to the road hunter now that we're talking about.
I actually never been to Hawaii, So that's something I
gotta do. I might. I might show up with him

(01:45:49):
whoever wins. I might. I might go through the contest
with Okay. So, um, let's just like for you, like
this last year, there was so many questions about Levian obviously,
then throughout the year that became questions not just about
when Levian would come back, but then ultimately about Antonio Brown. Um,

(01:46:11):
what's this year been? Like? Um, you know, it's been Uh,
it's been fun. So that's all I can say. It's
been fun. I Mean we've t and many can't win
great and so um it's a little different, you know what.
I'm not being there, but you know they moved on
and uh you know so that we so you know,
we got our you know, we've got a nice schedule

(01:46:33):
this year. So we're excited. Man. I'm excited Attorney Campus
to get back and and be around on my teammates
and get the ball rosin on this year and try
to do something special, So that's that's fun. Obviously, I
think most people know about your personal journey, but what
about your personal journey in the league and with this team.
To to have the type of support you had last year?

(01:46:53):
How do you? How do you? How do you? How
do you handle that right when it's Sometimes it's easier
to handle when people tell you you're not good or
they're not because then you want to prove them wrong.
How did you handle it when your offensive lineman, your quarterback,
your coach, everybody was showing such support very early on?
Then it was easy. You know a lot of I know,
a lot of people didn't really expect me to to

(01:47:16):
do much, and so, um, there was this, you know,
the expect expect paces on me were were low, you know,
according to the outside world. So I knew my time
of level. I knew what I brought to the table.
So and it was just fun to be a part of.
It was fun to go out and compete every weekend
and try to put a big games together and try
to win. So, um, you know, it was it was
easy to handle. So we're only going up from here.

(01:47:37):
James Connor joining us to the Pittsburgh Deals. Who's that
in the background, James, can't you can you keep keep
people in line? Don't they know how important you are?
No talk, good man. I'm at Bamritos. Like now there's
a little summer camp going on, so little kids in
the back. But it's all good. Uh, you grew up
going to what kind of summer camps? Um? Football camps?

(01:47:59):
You know. I've been involved in football for a while,
so they really doing my summer cancel. There's a lot
of football count Were you always a running back? Always? Um?
Since I was a little I mean, I got a
scholarship to pit to play defensive ends. Actually I switched
to my junior and senior year. But when I got
to pit, they wanted me to to go back to
running back. So the best at that works. But you know,
I like to say, and I'm an athlete that can

(01:48:20):
do a couple of the things. Uh. My my favorite
part about playing football and running back is a little
kid is like when you get around the edge and
there's nothing between you and the end zone, right and
you just hear your own breath. But to do it
in the NFL the way in which you've done it,
what's that like when you break through traffic and you

(01:48:40):
see Patriot, you see the Inso for somebody, like all
of us, we've never experienced it. What goes on in
your mind? Man? You just think, really, uh, it's fun.
You know, you're playing the game, so you know what
I mean. You never lose the fact that it's fun.
But you just think that you got to get there
as bast as you can, you know, because there's people
chasing it and be the safety. Then they're fast, so

(01:49:01):
it's it's rare that I get some fresh air in
my face. But when you do, uh, you definitely take
it all in and like you're going to slow mo
and just enjoy that moment because you don't know what
it's gonna happen again. Uh, last thing, and I know
you gotta go. Now you got like Benny Snell, like
all of a sudden, now you're the old head. What's
it like to be the veteran? I mean it's really
cool because you know, I always feel like and I'm

(01:49:23):
a good teacher and leader as well. So you know
now with me going into my third year and heaven
you know too, well, a lot of talent to the
younger guys, you know, in that running back room and uh,
you know I could like to, you know, tell them
my saint telling things that I see, you know where
I'm watching our practice taking stuff and they're listening. It's
it's really cool too because like with me teaching them,
you know, I'm learning, it's just like it's a rerun

(01:49:44):
for me. You know, it's like a reassurance from me
now that I'm make sure I'm on my game and
doing the right thing. So mean, I'm loving it, you know,
getting older and get more experience and getting some strikes
in this league and so just an awesome just teaching
them and seeing them grow and uh, you know, growing
with them. Hey, congrats on what was the amazing year
last year. Look forward to seeing you ride this slingshot.
I'll make sure you get that ride to Hannah and

(01:50:06):
uh can't wait, can't wait to see it. Uh, It's
it's a good thing the league starts you off with
a soft opponent with the Patriots um for the for
the first week of the season. James, thanks for joining us,
have a great summer. We'll talk soon. That's James Conner.
The Pittsburgh Stealers join us in the Doug Gotlip Show
on Fox Sports Radio. Two meetings down, one to go.

(01:50:26):
When will Kauai let us know? Find out next? Be
sure to catch live edition. So the Doug dot Leaps
show weekdays at noon Eastern three pm Pacific every day.
This time the Doug Gotlip Show, Fox Sports Radio. We
get you caught up on the stories of the day,
getting ready for the games of the night. We call
it the press, the press. Damn buye what he got Doug.

(01:50:49):
If you missed its United States moving past England and
the Women's World Cup winning today in the semi finals
two to one, so they'll face either the Dutch or
the Swedes coming up on Sunday. The US today played
without Megan Rapino, who had a hamstring injury. It's a
little of minor strain day to day, but I feel
like I'll be ready for the final. Is a little

(01:51:09):
one with it's hard. Three days on the bounce in
this old body. That was Repeino with Fox after the
American victory today. Fair enough. You know the Dutch. Two
things I can't stand a people who are intolerant of
other cultures and the Dutch is that Austin powers very nice,
all right, very nice. I like it. The country's Holland,

(01:51:34):
we call it the Netherlands, and then we call him
the Dutch, the Dutch, the Dutch, the Dutcher. Who else?
What's that? Who is? The other team said, like, the
country's Holland, we call it the Netherlands, and we call
them the Dutch. I don't know, just it seems to
work well. I think they call themselves the Dutch. Right.
We didn't like we didn't come up with that. Oh,

(01:51:57):
I don't think it was, but just saying we as
people all one got it. Espiot reports Kawhi letter has
completed meetings with the Clippers and Lakers, and now we'll
meet with the Toronto Raptors later today. The New York
Times adds that Drake is wanting his own recruiting plan
to keep Kawai in Toronto. Um, what is Drake's recruiting?

(01:52:18):
He does have that cool plane. Yeah, put him on
his album album? I mean again, like, does that does
that mean anything? You put on it? Lou Williams was
He's singing a song about Lou Williams. Lou Williams is
the Clipper now so underpaid clipper by the way, you know,
when Kawhy didn't make his decision right away, I thought

(01:52:38):
bad news for the Raptors, and not the longer that
it's gone, I'm like, good news for the Raptors. I
like now, I'm just sitting there wondering if he's like
the only thing that he really knows is at least
what happened in the year in Toronto. I don't know.
Nobody knows, nobody knows. The Undefeated reports that Kevin Durant
felt disrespected in Golden State this past year, respect with

(01:53:00):
all the negative things that transpired during the season, which
is one of the reasons why he apparently left for Brooklyn.
I felt someone, maybe I was call Caliberson, be getting
that disrespect. It's the whole the whole respect thing. I
know the league is all about respect. The whole thing
is obnoxious. Um. I thought the Warriors went out of

(01:53:20):
their way to say how great they thought he was.
Obviously he got into it with Draymond Green, like, look
that happens. That happens. I've heard on Colin Show they
played the clip of Bob Buyer's busting his chops. Like.
The weird thing about Kevin Durant is he claims the
reason he wants he likes, he comes back at people

(01:53:41):
on social media. Is that's just how he lives his life, right, Like,
he comes back if he likes to argue. But he
apparently he's one of those guys that can take it
but dish it but can't take it. That's really what
it is. A couple of other Warriors notes Klay Thompson
had surgery today to repair as torn a c l
and Willie Cauli Stein is going to sign with the Warriors,
according to report. Yeah, Willie cully Stein think. Look, it

(01:54:02):
basically means they're gonna have to either stretch Sean Livingston's
contract or get rid of Sean Livingston. Um. But I mean,
look that the Warriors are gonna look very, very different
next year when they take the court. No Steph Curry,
let me excuse me. No, no Clay Thompson, no Kevin Durant.
They will have come on Looney um, but they won't

(01:54:23):
have Andredala won't have Sean Livingston. Like it's's gonna be
a different basketball team. Steve Tawboys running back Ezekiel Elliott
confirmed that he met with Commissioner Roger Goodell today following
that incident in Vegas. Elliott said that he apologized to
the security guard that he made fall down and says
that he is rededicating himself to all the resources provided
by the NFL. Rededicating himself. Yeah, I thought that was

(01:54:44):
a key line in this as well. By the way,
do all messages now just be made on the notepad
on your iPhone? He does anybody have a laptop with
the word document that maybe you could send over put
it on letterhead. Everything is made from notes now. I
love that. I love that you point that out. It
is weird, right, You couldn't just do it in video, right,

(01:55:06):
you had to write it out. So he thought about it.
Lead it it is and just the whole making your
own announcement or personally. I like Clay Thompson doing Wolf
of Wall Street as a way of announcing he's come
back so far. That's one of the free agency period
get out there and that was the press all right,
Dan Buyer, call it. Where's Kauai going? I'll say, stay

(01:55:28):
was with Toronto? Now you're you're shifting gears. Stays with Toronto?
What about you? Ramos Lakers? I think the Lakers as well.
I don't know why it doesn't seem to make sense,
but it probably happens Doug gotlip show,

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