HOUR 2 - NBA, Lakers, Cowboys

Could Kyrie Irving be traded to the Lakers?

Update on Aaron Donald and the Los Angeles Rams

The Cowboys did not have a good offseason

What will the Pelicans do with Zion Williamson?

 

Guest: Bill Oram

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Are you sure
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(00:27):
live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may
be and however you may be listening I Heart Radio,
Fox Sports Radio FS one. Our producer Ryan is back.
He was on a two week trip to Italy. We're
just a crew of international travelers. I'm here. The Herd
is global, at least in our perspectives. You know what

(00:49):
I followed last night on Twitter? I went down some
rabbit hole. Oh it was a British sports talk radio station.
Oh it was just delicious. It is unbelievable. It was
Debate City. Oh it's great, it was just great. We
have some fans in Australia, we do How do you
know that they reach out? Oh yeah, they listened to

(01:13):
the show. So sports talk radio in Great Britain. It's
just like here, it's just a bunch of nonsense and
people arguing and occasionally with a little bit of wit.
But I got down this rabbit hole. You know, my
mom was from there. Obviously, I've talked about that, and
so I went there a couple of times once as
a kid. And they can argue about soccer, just like

(01:34):
we do about the NFL and NBA. That's what sports is, really,
just arguing. Yeah, I mean there's there's room for debate.
How many how many light conversations have you had about
sports with someone? Even people you like and like enjoy
being around, you just almost have to fundamentally agree or
the conversation is not interesting. Well, my USC conversations are
all combative now because they're going to be great fast

(01:56):
and nobody wants to hear it. No one wants to
hear it. And you have been officially branded as a
as a USC homer. Yeah whatever, you know, whatever. Everybody's
got their team, all right. So what we do before
big championship games, We did it before the Super Bowl.
We take the ten best players we believe and it
gives us some sense of who's going to win this series. So,
you know, and we've had some success. We did it

(02:17):
with the Rams and the Bengals, and I think we
thought the Rams had the six of the ten best players.
And sometimes the team with fewer great players has one
or two at the top, but not the depth. So
let's do the ten best players in the finals. Here
we go. Number ten would be the Celtics big guy,
Robert Williams. Best defensive rating of any Celtic defensive player,

(02:39):
and that's saying something. Now, he's had injuries, he's missed
a lot of games, but if he's on the floor,
he shut down Bama to Bayou. And you know Draymond
Green was telling me yesterday. I talked to Draymonds, like,
if that guy's on the floor, we're not scoring inside.
So number ten would be Robert Williams. Number nine I
would say Al Horford. He's mister double double. In the playoffs.

(03:01):
He'll give you twelve and twelve. He's also been a
very efficient three point shooter in the series. He's experienced
high IQ basketball player, a little better defender than people
give him credit for. But I was going to give
you double doubles as much as anybody in this finals.
Number eight I would say Jordan Pool. Now he comes
off the bench, but he averages over seventeen and the

(03:21):
difference between him and Horford and Robert Williams. If he
scored thirty in one of these games, you wouldn't be shocked.
He's got a huge ceiling, very clever, lightning, fast first step.
Jordan Pool seventeen a game off the bench. One of
the reasons I like Golden State. They've got a lot
of people that can beat you. Number seven, maybe a
little old Marcus Smart. His thing is inconsistency. When he scores,

(03:45):
they don't lose. He's a great defensive player. Again, he's
offensively is a struggle for him. He's not a natural
fluid offensive player. But about every third or fourth game
he'll give you twenty plus and when he's done it.
In the playoffs, the Celtics are five and number six
Andrew Wiggins. The best thing I can say about Andrew Wiggins,
and a lot of people don't mind the plus minus.

(04:06):
He's got the best in the finals among all players.
But when he's on the floor, you feel like the
Warriors are more athletic and better defensively, And that's the
best thing I can say about him. When he's on
the floor, I feel like he's just a six seven
and a half springy, twitchy athlete. He could score twenty.
He could shut Jason Tatum down for moments. Andrew Wiggins

(04:27):
number six. Number five is the catalyst often Draymond Green.
He's leading all remaining players in assists, believe it or not,
and he doesn't hit many threes, but in the twenty
games this year he hit one. They won nineteen, So
and Draymond will get the toughest defensive assignment. He is

(04:47):
annoying and difficult. He's the Rodman of this era, but
a little better offensively, a lot better offensively because he
is often the catalyst of this offense. Number four is
Clay Thompson. Listen, they've made the finals in six straight
years when he's healthy. The two years he wasn't, they stunk.
So Clay allows Steph Curry breathing room. On the defensive end.

(05:09):
I don't think he's as good defensively as he was
before the injuries, but in that last game against Dallas,
it was like, oh, and it should be noted he's
shooting better in the postseason than in the regular season,
and I don't think that's necessarily physical. I think a
lot of that is mental coming off injuries. So Clay
looks like he's got his stroke back and he could

(05:30):
be the difference in this series. A Number three Jalen Brown,
who has not had the surgeries but gives you some
of the dimensions of Clay. Good three point shooter, very
good defensively, and he's the second leading scorer for the Celtics,
very dependable player. I never thought he would be this
good offensively in the league. I thought he would be
an NBA player, he'd be an all defensive super athletic

(05:51):
at Cal. But he's become a very consistent offensive player.
And in the conference finals he made more threes than
any other player. He made nineteen, So he's a little
Klay Thompson for them. But I think physically now he
hasn't had to combat some injuries. Number two Jason Tatum,
one of the best young players in the game. I

(06:13):
got no holes in his game. I don't think he's
a terrific ball handler. He can be a little sloppy
and turnover prone, but so can the number one player,
and that Steph Curry. He was the leading scorer in
the off season, the most lethal scorer, the fastest score
the game changer. He is the most active player without
the ball in the league. He's the table setter, he's

(06:36):
the finisher, he's the culture setter, he's the leader. He
can be a little sloppy like Tatum, a little showy
at times, but his influence I still I don't understand,
and you don't hear it much anymore, But whenever I
hear shade thrown at him, I'm like, I don't get it.
I mean, he is. He is the most influential, not

(06:58):
the best, but he's the most influential player of my life.
Basketball does not look the same as it did like
ten years ago. Michael Jordan's the best player, arguably, but
I saw some of that with Kobe. I'd seen a
lot of springy athletic players. Steph is like one of one,
a lot of people trying to duplicate it, and there's

(07:18):
nobody out there with that. Bill Larem at the Athletic
We should be their pr firm today has been covering
the Lakers for almost a decade, and actually he's covering
a more than that because he covered him with local newspapers.
Orange County Register covered the Jazz as well. We bring
them on off and here, okay, so let's just start
with this. I threw something out earlier and this is

(07:39):
what you do for a living, so you can shoot
holes in it. But I said everything with the Lakers
tends to get out and mostly because they wanted out right.
So when this thing is we're not moving off Westbrook,
and part of me thinks, well, that's what you should say.
Don't look desperate, and then maybe there's a lot of
truth to it, but not. I still think they would
take calls. So I'm just gonna throw something at you, Bill,
and this is you can rip it to shreds. And

(08:01):
I'm totally okay with this, but I think you have
to move off Westbrook. Because of the toxicity around his game.
He can't play off ball. He lacks a certain self awareness.
Kyrie Irving came out a month ago and said I
screwed up Lebron. I screwed it up, and I was like, wow,
that's pretty good. Lebron was crushed when he left. Kyrie

(08:23):
is a better player. Katie wants out of Kyrie, but
he won't say it publicly. He wouldn't have to play
with Westbrook. You inherit the contract, don't play him movement,
the deadline, and then you're free. Lakers are not patient.
I don't believe they're gonna draft and develop. I know
who they are, and Lebron doesn't want to wait for
the Westbrook thing to unravel? Is that nuts? Kyrie La

(08:46):
Westbrook Brooklyn tell me I'm wrong. I don't think it's nuts,
and you know what's you know, I don't know that
it's going to happen, but it makes sense. And so
from a logical standpoint, yeah, the Nuts are absolutely, you know,
kind of sick of the Kyrie Irving as the Lakers
are sick of the Russell Westbrook experience. That said, the
Nets know they have the better player and the more
valuable asset to spite all of his idiosyncrasies. So if

(09:08):
I'm the Lakers, I'm just wondering what is what else
it might cost? But you know, Lebron and Kyrie, Kadie
and Russ, I mean, those are relationships that go really,
really deep. So if you're looking for sign off from
the superstars, um, you would have to think you're going
to get it there. Um. I feel like it's one
of those deals that it just it maybe almost makes
too much sense on the outside, but I think the Nets,

(09:29):
you know, the Nets are very much in win championships
now and you have a you know, an all time
great in in Kevin Durant. You know, do you feel
like you can win with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook
And if not, and you have to kind of you know,
take your medicine for a year with Rustum, who do
you replace them with in another year? So you know,
it makes a lot of sense for the Lakers. You know,

(09:50):
sure the Lakers would be first first in line to
you know, stamp the approval on that deal. But looking
long term for the Nets, as as big of a
pain as Kyrie Irving has in and as much as
he hurt them last year, you know, who's going to
give you your best you know, when you know the
Rubbert meets the road, who's going to be the best
player for you and who's going to give you the

(10:11):
most chance of winning? And it's probably not Russell Westbrook
at based on what we've seen from him over the
last couple of years. So Lebroun, initially there were reports
that he wanted Doc, then they got Darvin Ham. Then
he rushed a social media to say I'm good with it.
I don't know enough about Darvin Ham. I remember him
playing I think for a Pistons team that beat the Lakers.

(10:31):
That jumps out to me, tough guy, got a presence.
He'll get respect from players he played in the game.
We also have momentum in the league where players coaching
is working, and it's working kind of quickly, so I
think there'll be some buy in. But I do wonder
Lebron's not overly patient. I mean, what did you make

(10:51):
of the higher how does it work? What does it
look like a year from now, or let's say, what
does it look like at the All Star break? Well,
I think I think they made the right choice of
the advay Noble candidates. You know, I think that you know,
we saw, we know Ron Polinka has you know, was
always looking for, you know, star power, So I'm sure
he was hoping someone maybe a bigger name was going
to shape free, whether it was Doc Rivers or Quinn Snyder.
I mean, obviously there was the nick Nurse chatter very

(11:13):
early on, but I mean Darvin Ham is a guy
who you know, you talk to people around the league
about about him getting this job, and the word that
comes up most is overdue, and you know, this is
somebody who deserves an NBA job, but this is not
a typical NBA job, And so does he have the
right traits to come in and manage a locker room
that potentially, if Russell Westbrook is back, you know has
some you know, has some bad blood in it. If

(11:34):
you go back to how Russell Westbrook kind of talked
about his first Lakers year at the end of the season,
is he the right guy to sort of repair those relationships?
And you know, people say he is. I mean, he
has a presence, like you said, Um, you know, players
relate to him. I mean, he obviously relates to players
somebody who spent eight years in the NBA. And it's
part of the reason I think that you can sort

(11:54):
of envision bringing Russell Westbrook back next year column where
I disagree with you a little bit. If you would
bringing a coach that is going to bring a new presence,
a new voice, and maybe some new ideas, it's worth
seeing what it looks like. If it's if the deal
that you're going to have to make is going to
cost you additional assets and hamstringing more down the road. Um,

(12:15):
I'm really interested to see see how Darvin works with
Lebron in a d because he has talked about, you know,
in interviews in the past about holding every single player accountable,
not just you know, the role players you can make
an example of, but really holding star players accountable as well.
And now he's got probably you know, he's gotten great
opportunity here because he's got two, if not three superstars
who all kind of come with their own their own quirks,

(12:37):
especially when you talk about Lebron and russ Um. You know,
Lebron says he likes being coached, and then you see
sometimes that maybe that's not as true as as it sounds.
So um, but I think having the Lebron seal of
approval is huge from Darvin Ham for Darvin Ham. Um.
You know, you can look at it just as you know,
what else is he going to say? Of course he's
going to tweet that, you know, he's excited about the coach,

(12:57):
but he doesn't always do that, and he doesn't always
come out and say, you know, I believe in our coach.
He'd like to let things take time to go back
to Luke Walton and even Frank Vogel, Um, you know,
those that have been things that developed over time. So
an instant you see have approval from Lebron on darmacam
I think is a big deal for this Lakers team
going forward and sends an important tone. So, um, you know,

(13:17):
James Worthy came out recently and he sounded a little
like old guy in the lawn, a little bit like
they don't draft and develop. And my takeaway as well,
either of the Yankees, you know, I mean some some
teams green Bay needs to uh you know, Lakers don't
really need to. Um. You know, this is a city
that when any like Miami Heat, draft and develop a little.
But the bottom line is a lot of players in

(13:39):
a winner league want to plan a state with no
state tax with beautiful, beautiful people like not everybody is
a draft and develop franchise. So I didn't think that
was a fair criticism. But this is a this is
a really old roster and there's limitations on what you
can do in a year. There's been push and pull

(13:59):
on Lebron's influence. Klutch says it's not as great as
stated most of us believe it is. He is entering
his twentieth year bill he's almost doubled as Net worth
in five years. This has been very good for his
business and tremendous for his family. Lebron likes it here
a lot, and I think the Lakers have more leverage
in this then maybe Lebron or Clutch are comfortable with.

(14:24):
Where does the Laker front office Polenka, Genie Clutch, Lebron Bill,
where does it stand today? You know, I think that
it is. I think everybody feels like they need one
another in this situation. Lakers. You know, the Lakers, as
we've seen, are really nothing as an NBA power player

(14:44):
without a star, without an a list star, and if
it's not Lebron, the question becomes who is it. Yeah,
you have cap space and you can throw it at
somebody in two three years. That's great, But you know
you currently have the face of the NBA, and that
is you know, that is something the Lakers value as
much as almost anything else. And by the way, a
guy who you know, there's every reason to believe you
can still win with, so they really value him and

(15:07):
they value what what employing Lebron James represents to the
rest of the league. Um, you know, kids are going
to grow up watching Lebron as a Laker there, that's
going to help. UM, that's going to help cultivate not
only fan base, but players feeling it attachment to the
Lakers when they become free agents themselves. Um, you know,
and how they treat Lebron is going to influence how

(15:29):
other players view the Lakers when they're free agents. So
if you know they you say they have leverage with Lebron, Well,
if they trade Lebron to UM Indiana or someplace he
doesn't want to go, no shate it. Indiana a beautiful place.
But if they trade, if they trade Lebron somewhere he
doesn't want to go, or isn't he doesn't sign off
on UM, that's going to affect the willingness of other
guys to come to LA. That's how the Lakers see it.

(15:50):
So it's very important to them that they keep Lebron
James happy, that they take care of him. But Lebron,
I think also knows that you know, he has it
as good here as he's going to have it anywhere,
because where else is he going to get the same,
the same treatment and the same influence. As you said,
as you know, a twentieth year pro, you know, getting
very close to his forties. Um, you know, is another
team going to you know, kind of give him the

(16:12):
sort of intellectual equity that the Lakers have at this
at the stage in his career. So this feels like
a real marriage of necessity and one that you know,
they obviously hope can still be productive and you'll you know, results.
But right now this is just a this is just
a marriage of two two sides or you know, twelve
sides however you want to, you know, divide it everyone
who really needs each other. Bill Orem the Athletic Laker update.

(16:35):
Great seeing your Bill, Yeah you too, call and thank you.
You know, it's interesting talking about Lebron. Think how big
Brett Farve was and the NFL is significantly more popular
than the NBA. Far at the end was just it
was a mess. And that's that's after an unbelievable, storied
career with an organization that America loves, and he had

(16:57):
all the relatable commercials and the Wrangler and Farv was
as popular as anybody in the country. It's kind of
a mess. You look at that Peyton Manning thing at
the end again, wildly popular bench for brock Osweider, you
know what I mean. Eroded physically Michael Jordan. A lot
of you are not old enough to remember the Wizards.
I do. He was non vertical. None of his teammates

(17:17):
liked him. It was awful. Shack was the king of
the world and in the end he was just bouncing
around to bad teams. It mostly Joe Nameth, Johnny Unitis.
It ends poorly like what Brady's doing, and this is
just a testament to his commitment and his sort of
ability to kind of see around business corners. Belichick now

(17:38):
is not ending well. I mean, Bobby Bowden didn't end
well in coaching, Joe Paterno didn't then well, Woody Hayes
didn't then well like it. It mostly in sports does
not end like Derek Jeter didn't he have like a
hit or something his last at bad at Yankee Stadium,
but something like that. So with Lebron, you think to yourself,

(17:59):
he's got control, but he's given you about fifty a game.
Lakers could be a mess. What if Westbrook and Anthony
Davis come back next year. Anthony's hurt fifteen games in
Westbrook is Westbrook? Like? That's what I said. I think
you bring Lebron back and build around him. As an
element to it. But this stuff the organization, even for

(18:21):
iconic players, it ends poorly. It. Brady is a complete,
utter outlier. It's not the way it worked. Montana got
shipped off to Kansas City, Farv got moved. You think
it can't happen. I say this before. As good as
Lebron is, he'll never be Michael in terms of popularity.
Michael stayed out of politics. Michael was cooler. Michael was

(18:44):
as joyous pointed out, we didn't have social media, so
Michael's games felt more special. Michael was six for six
in the finals with six MVPs. Michael is the only
thing that compares to Michael Jordan in my life. Muhammad Ali,
but it wasn't as big because boxing isn't as popular.
And Tiger Woods in his prime literally changed the way
we all watched television, like golf was getting the purses

(19:07):
of golf like tripled. Tiger made more people rich, from
caddies to golf pros to sponsors to clubs than anybody
of all time. But it usually ends poorly. And I
can see a scenario in which the Lakers you're like,
doesn't man, somebody gave us two picks and a good player.
We're out and you end up in a place where

(19:28):
you don't want to retire, you want to play with
your son. Now. Lebron still, I just saw a stat
the other day, is the best player in the league
by a long shot in field goal percentage on twos.
He's still get a bucket guy. Lebron is just a
great get a bucket guy. And I think in spaces,
in spots, he can still be a very effective defender.

(19:49):
So I think you build around Lebron and he's going
to have to come to terms with though. We gotta
get some young guys on this roster, like we are
just way too old and way too injured. But you know,
I think the Lakers have a lot more leverage here.
And you start looking around at the Rams and the
Chargers and the Clippers and the Dodgers. Stars want to

(20:10):
play in California. Despite what some media outlets will tell you,
stars aren't leaving here. They're coming here. Is entertainment and
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app search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever

(20:32):
you like. Saturday to the USFL's best square off as
the New Orleans Breakers face the league leading Birmingham Stallions
at dree Eastern. Then Sunday the Panthers Battle of Stars
at Newniestern. Don't miss the USFL football this weekend on Fox.
Interesting story with Aaron Donald of the Ram is making
national news today. He ranks one hundred second in the

(20:55):
NFL in contracts, but it's misleading. I'll get to that
in a He says he would be at peace if
he does not get a new deal. Here's Aaron Donald
on the podcast. I am an athlete talking about his future,
his contract go ahead. It ain't about the money. It's
a business at the end of the day. That's that's
what you gotta see. So it's about for me, it's

(21:17):
about winning. If I don't want to play football, if
I can't win anyway. So I feel like if it
were lying and I got to, like a real opportunity
to win another Super Bowl, then it makes sense to play.
But again, it's still a business. We got to handle
the business side of things. And if if that wasn't
to get handled then you know it is what it
is type situation. I'll be fun regardless. Now it's important.

(21:38):
The Rams would love to have him back. Obviously he's great,
but his best season was four years ago and interior
defensive lineman canage are really fast. He is still fantastic,
but he did get a huge signing bonus four years ago.
He got forty million cash, so let's not make it
like that. Even this year, he's a twenty seven million
dollar cap hit. Now a lot of that's not in cash,

(22:00):
but he got paid, and when he got paid, he
was the first twenty million dollars a year player who
wasn't a quarterback. So when you start reading about his contract,
and this is not a knock at him because he's unbelievable,
low maintenance, just absolutely there's no comp in the league
for him, and the Rams absolutely won him back. But
remember Number one in this organization is Sean mcvagh because

(22:21):
Aaron Donald was losing before McVay and Sati and Saint Louis,
and he was losing in LA before McVeigh, so mcvay'
is the most important guy in this organization. Number two
is Matt Stafford because of the position and I would
argue number three because of the way the league is
moving is Cooper Cup, who's like one hundred and fifty
catches a year. I mean, he's just so productive. And

(22:42):
then you get into Aaron Donald. And that doesn't mean
Aaron Donald won't be viewed historically as better than Stafford
and better than Cup. But I do think with Aaron
Donald there is a price. He's thirty one, he's an
interior defensive lineman. And also you gotta remember with the Rams,
Stafford didn't take the most money. Cooper Cup is not
going to take the most money. Cooper Cup talked about
his contract, which an extension is coming. I mean, I

(23:06):
don't think that's really kind of the approach that I take.
I definitely think there's a place that you want to be. Um,
there's a place that I think you feel like it's fair. UM.
And I'm in a place for both, you know, for
me and just for this organization, and UM, I want
to be there. I'm not trying to beat anybody. I'm
not trying to, um, you know, compare myself to anyone else.

(23:29):
It's more of just you know, being in a place
that is I think the uh, I don't know, yeah,
being in a in a place that it's just right
for both sides. Now again, Stafford and Cooper Cup didn't
take the most money. That's not saying that Aaron Donald can.
But it's important to know interior defendom lineman had his
best year four years ago. Not that he's not that
it's been a huge dep but that position ages fast.

(23:51):
He's talked about I'd be willing to retire Cup and
McVeigh and Stafford. I don't think they're moving off football soon.
So I do think with certain great players there is
a price, and it's often dictated by age and position.
Now again, he's the only interior defensive lineman that is
a serious pass rushing threat. I mean there's probably a

(24:13):
couple others in the league. Bit a v is great,
but he's more of a run stopper. And I think
the Rams I've been told this, but I know they
love him and you have to love him, and he
made the play in the Super Bowl. But it is
these are hard. It's the salary cap with the Rams
works because they're really smart in the front office and
they've drafted well, and there is there is no other
I mean, there may be a Stafford on the market

(24:34):
and a Cooper Cup in the market. You're not gonna
find Aaron Donald on the market. And that's really his
leverage point. And that's why at thirty one, I would
give him a big deal. But I would have paid
whatever whatever for Matt Stafford. I'd pay whatever for Sean McVay.
If it costs twenty million bucks a year and I
own the team, I'd pay that to McBay. I'd pay
whatever for Matt Stafford, Cooper Cup, I'd pay a ton.

(24:56):
And that's how I kind of feel with Aaron Donald,
though there is a price here age his willingness to move.
And let's be honest, as great as he is and
as great as some linebackers are, the game is changed.
I mean it's really changed. Wide receivers now are wildly important.

(25:17):
Quarterbacks have never been more important. So interesting to see
how it develops. Joey Taylor with the news. Turn on
the news, this is the herd line news. Well, the
Lakers have hired a new coach, Buck's assistant coach, Darvin
Ham as their next head coach, deal reportedly for four years,

(25:37):
and that is significant because they're also doing some other
different things with Darvin that they did not do with
Frank Vogel. Vogel had a three year deal and got
a one year extension before he was let go, and
according to reports, Ham will also be allowed to hire
his own staff, which they did not allow Frank Vogel

(25:59):
to do. He will have a large amount of autonomy.
He was also promised that Laker's senior advisor Kurt Rambis
will not be present in regular coaching meetings like he
was with Frank Vogel. That is, and I like Kurt,
but that you can't have that. That's not the way
it should work. Coaches should have autonomy and not have
somebody hovering over them. Oh. I mean, that's why I

(26:22):
just think it's like, I'm glad that they gave Darvin
the job, but that's why I think it's it's it's
kind of laughable that you're blaming last season on Frank
Vogel when you have Kurt Rambis and meetings. He wasn't
allowed to hire his own staff. He obviously did not
have autonomy. He couldn't even set his own lineups. He
had to get permission to remove Russell Westbrook from the
closing lineups. Can you imagine Bill Parcel's standing for that. No,

(26:46):
I mean, it's not even about standing for it. Like,
if you're a coach in this organization, you just generally
don't have that kind of power. It's it's kind of
similar to being a coach with the Dallas Cowboys. Now,
the Dallas Cowboys swear up and down that the coaches
are allowed to coach, but we know who makes the
final decision in those in that organization, and the Lakers
are very similar in that way. So I do like
that they are at least at least putting out there

(27:08):
that they're doing things differently. Now, how long will this last?
Will this actually end up being the case? We will see.
But they are letting him hire his own staff and
he's going to be able to make the decisions on that.
They did give him a four year deal, and Kurt
Rambis will not be in meetings. Again, not really innovative.
That's how all functioning organizations do things. They give coaches

(27:31):
the runway they need to be successful and build a
roster and put together their staff, and you know, then
when you fire a coach, you know you're actually firing
the coach and their decisions as opposed to blaming it
on someone when all this other chaos was going on
that probably infiltrated the job, but they were able to
do so. I know I sound a little pessimistic about
all of it, but actually we talk about this all

(27:52):
the time. If you make mistakes, fix them. That's not
the way you run a functioning organization is having a
million people telling your coach what to do, not allowing
the coach to pick his ingredients if you will, and
then change the ingredients if it's not working. So that
is reportedly what the Lakers are doing. He is going
to meet with Lakers staff members this week, and Woage

(28:12):
also reported that he's expected to hire a former NBA
head coach as one of his assistants, and that was
a big reason why Tyler and Monty Williams reportedly said
no to the Lakers before because they wanted to hire
their own staff. So Aaron Donald is skipping OTAs while
he seeks new contract with the Rams as you were
just discussing, and he also said on the I Am
Athlete podcasts recently that he has decided to join Kanye

(28:34):
West's Donda Sports to further his career. Hearing a whole
you know, spectrum of you know, everything that was going on,
what they was going to be bringing the family atmosphere
that they get in Donda Sports, and not just me
but my wife being a port of that. For me,
it was a no brainer. So I think it was.
It's a hell of opportunity to open up a lot

(28:54):
of different doors and a lot of different you know things.
I'll say at a football that I want to be
involved and I want to do and my wife want
to do so um to be a part of that,
and you know, we excited about it, and um, you know,
we're gonna see what this thing, where this thing goes.
He is the first active athlete to sign with Donda Sports.

(29:14):
Donta Sports launson January, signing Antonio Brown, who is also
the presidents of Donta Sports. Who is Antonio Brown. I
don't love that, Yeah, I don't. I'm not against the
idea of, uh, you know, new representation. Um, I mean

(29:34):
Rock Nation obviously was very successful. Clutch was you know,
an innovative amounts very common place now, but at the
time was an innovative new approach representation. Rich Paul and
Jay z are more sidly successful and stable personalities. I
didn't know Ab was the president of that. Oh yeah,

(29:55):
that's that's not People want ownership over their careers. I
personally wouldn't attach my myself to anything. And Antonio Brown
is doing I just I didn't know that, So it's
like I don't know. But the company's also looking to
try to purchase the Broncos, so there's that as well.
I mean, look, Aaron Donald is Aaron Donald is the
name you would want if you are establishing in an

(30:16):
organization and a you know, an agency like this. Listen,
if I was Aaron it was just Kanye, and Kanye
hired a president like a business person, I'd be like, yeah,
I get it to me. If somebody's going to be
running parts of my business, one of the things I
want is stability. Yeah, I wouldn't sign with Kanye either
if I'm well, that's so I got Kanye and Antonio Brown,

(30:37):
and they're both highly He's a musical genius, but that's
I'm gonna leave it at that. Not so, but again,
Aaron Donald knows what he's doing. He's done an incredible
job with his career, and we'll see if he ends
up retiring. I doubt that he will. I think he's
he still has years of prime left in his career.
I think he just wants to take more control over it.

(30:57):
The issue with the with the and Fell contract structure,
as you can't just sit out like if you're not
gonna play for a year, that is that's catastrophic to
where you stand in your you know, your career, especially
as a position like he is. He's not a wide receiver,
and you know, he's got a Hall of Fame career.
He's been an unbelievable player and now he has a championship.

(31:19):
So I'm sure that changed his perspective on everything. So
Jameis Winston suffered a torn acl during Week eight last season,
causing him to miss the rest of the year. He's
now back on the field with the Saints Rhodesia's, but
according to Nick Underhill of New Orleans Football, he has
a visible whimp if he suffers a setback. Andy Dalton
and Ian Book would be the next in line. We

(31:40):
saw a little bit from Ian Book last year. This
team is not tanking. This team's gonna win games the
NFC in that division. Yeah, We're not in a situation
like the Seahawks or Gogument. The Panther or Houston or
no way right, they're in that sort of middle space
where they have a good defense, they have some pieces
on offense. Sasom Hill is out of the quarterback room

(32:02):
now for twenty twenty two, so he's going to be
that hybrid player they have. They have a half dozen
elite players old lineman, d lineman, corners, pass rushers, and
they draft well. So last year's draft a couple of
guys could really play this year's draft. So now it's
a different team. It's it's being coached by someone other
than Sean Payton, which is which is significant. He is

(32:24):
he is one of those coaches that has that sort
of influence on a roster and in an offense. But
if Jameis Winston is not able to play, I think
that I agree with you, which you said earlier. I
think that firmly puts them in play for a guy
like Baker Mayfield. Yeah. Now again, Jimmy Garoppolo is Jimmy
Garoppolo to me is slightly more of a bridge than

(32:44):
Baker Mayfield because Jimmy Garoppolo's injury history. He's had a
more successful career than Baker Mayfield. But the injury history.
He's dinged up all the time. Yes, even when he plays,
he's dinged out. So if you were going to make
a move and give up assets for a player, I
would go with Baker Mayfield for that reason that Baker
hasn't had injury issues outside of this year. So in

(33:04):
that and if you're placing a potentially injured player, Jimmy
Garoppolo is not the best option there. Jimmy Garoppolo is
a fourth place that is going to be I believe
in a desperate situation where they have their guy, but
he happens to get injured. Yeah, which happens every single year.
Joy with the news, Well, Dallas Cowboys and Zion story
I want to talk about next. Be sure to catch

(33:26):
live editions of The Herd Weekdays and nun Easter nine
am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the
iHeart Radio app. Hey what's up everybody? It's me three
time pro bowler Le Barrington and I couldn't be more
excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game?
What is up on Game? You asked? Along with my
fellow pro bowler t J. Hushman Zada and Super Bowl

(33:49):
champion Yep that's right, Plexico Burris. You can only name
a show with that type of talent on it. Up
on Game, We're going to be sharing our real life
experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game
with me lebar Arrington, TJ. Houtchman's Out Of and Plexico
Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you

(34:12):
get your podcasts from, whatever your happy place is, sof
on a game day, fishing boat, whatever it is. Driveway
dot com lets you buy or sell a car from
their driveway dot Com. So Dak Prescott was talking and
talking about there have been substantial losses for the Cowboys
this year. It was not a good offseason. I don't

(34:33):
like their last two drafts at all. And I think
even for the Patriots in Belichick and Brady, if you
have three or four drafts where you don't hit guys,
you know, Brady left not because he didn't like Belichick,
not because the defense, not because of Robert Kraft. He
left as they had no receivers. Tom felt like, as
I'm aging, it's why he chose Tampa. He didn't uose
Tampa because of the coach of the winning culture. He

(34:55):
chose it because they had great receivers and great players
and they draft well, and some teams do. In New
England over the last several years, hasn't and I don't
like what Dallas has done in the offseason the last
two years. But Dak was talking about this year, and
you know, he does have the benefit of a pretty
weak division. He said, talents one thing, but if you
don't fulfill it doesn't really mean anything. I'm excited for

(35:15):
the guys. We're going to continue to get better and
that's what this offseason's about. My question is, listen, Dak
is a franchise quarterback. Take his six years. There's young
Dak and now he's experienced Dak. And if you look
at dak six years, the numbers are pretty good. He
completes sixty six percent of his throws. Not great, but
certainly solid. Passer ratings close to ninety nine. That's very

(35:37):
close to elite three to one touchdown to interception ratio.
He's more mobile than most quarterbacks, and he wins a
lot of games. So he's a franchise quarterback. I see
him more of a B to B plus. Many see
him as an A. The concerning part is the offensive
line for Dallas, the run game, the weapons, the head coaching,
and the pass rush all not as special as two

(35:58):
years ago. So I think what's happening to Dak is
what you're going to see over the next several years.
He's going to move into the Derek car territory, which
is he gets all the heat because of the position
he plays, but he's going to be the life preserver
to a franchise that doesn't do many things well. And
that's Derek Carr. And so Dak early in his career

(36:19):
was sort of hoisted up by a surrounding talent. Now
he's going to be the most dependable thing they have
and take more criticism. So and I think that's been
Derek Carr. He's been a life preserver for a sinking franchise. Finally,
now you know, it goes in waves, and now the
wave to Derek carrys He's finally got support. Dak had

(36:39):
it early and now I don't think he has much
of it. The good news this will not be a
mystery for very long because when you look at the
Dallas schedule, you're gonna get the truth really early. They
opened with Brady and Burrow, a couple of weeks later,
they're at Matt Stafford and at Philadelphia, and then they
get Detroit at home. But I think Detroit's more of
the toughest average to bad teams in the league. So

(37:00):
you're gonna know by the time we've moved into November
what they have, and my guess is they'll be about
a five hundred team. Here's another story, Zion Williamson. Of course,
all these young guys want to max. According to a report,
Brian Windhorst, who I trust ESPN, says Pelicans are not
going to guarantee him five years. Gail Benson, who owns

(37:24):
the Pelicans and the Saints, is going to give him
a football style offer, which is a lot of money,
huge contract. They're not going to guarantee all of it.
And the NBA you usually have guarantees. I like Zion,
but here's a reality. I cannot make the highest paid
employee at my company somebody that's available thirty eight percent
of the time for work and I don't care how

(37:46):
talented you are. And the other thing about Zion, and
I've said this with Luca. We know lucas great, but
there's holes in the game. Zion. There's more holes. He's
not available. He's a poor defender, and I'm not sure
at this point if he elevates others or he's just great.
The other thing about the Pelicans, and I agree with
what GAYL Benson would do here is a pretty feisty

(38:08):
They gave Phoenix trouble. They got some young players, they
added CJ. McCullum, and you know what I mean. I
look at this, folks, I set it two weeks ago.
Find me the championship level club in the NBA currently
or the last five years with a terrible contract. Golden
State didn't have one. Boston doesn't have one, Milwaukee doesn't

(38:30):
have one, Dallas did, Porzingis got rid of it. Find
me the championship level team in the NBA. Phoenix doesn't
have one. Chris Paul is not a terrible contract. Chris
Paul has been great for them. He's paid more than
I'd like. It's not a terrible contract. So you sign
Zion and he doesn't play, that's a terrible contract. And
so in Zion's become something and were I think we're

(38:52):
both fans here, but he's become a little bit of
an oddity and fascinating, which is great if you're available,
but he's not a lot. And I also think it's
a genuine concern when big guys have weight issues and
health issues. I get it at thirty two, at twenty two,

(39:17):
that worries me. So he's got weight stuff and injury stuff,
and it's young, so let's see how it plays out.
I do believe this team's on an upward trajectory. Brandon
Ingram has been great. I think they like the coach.
I think they like the GM. They got nice players,
and they gave Phoenix a lot of trouble. Was that
surprised all of us. I mean, we thought Dallas could

(39:39):
play with him, right Phoenix man't think the Pelicans would
play with him. So I think you make calls on Zion.
I don't think Zion would be offended if he ended
up somewhere else, and I think he make calls on him. Listen,
the kid is crazy fun. It didn't play like anybody
in this league. And if he stays healthy, I'm sure

(40:01):
there's no duplicate of him on the market. I mean,
there's nothing else like him in the market. He didn't
even he didn't play. I mean, the highlights are insane,
but he's become kind of an oddity, a fascinating player
that's unavailable. Great when he's there, he's not there, and again,
I don't know if he elevates others at this point
or he's just great when he's available. So keep you posted.

(40:24):
That's a fascinating story because he'd have bidders. That kid
can sell tickets. Not a lot of twenty two year
olds in any pro league that can sell tickets. You'd
pay to watch John Morant, you'd pay to watch Zion,
you'd pay to watch Luca. That's rare.