Speaker 1: Welcome to the best of the Week for What's Right
Speaker 1: with Nick Right the best takes in moments from this
Speaker 1: week on the show. Enjoy.
Speaker 2: So since the start of February, they are seven and fifteen,
Speaker 2: and like you just said, they have no injuries, so
Speaker 2: it's kind.
Speaker 3: Of weird whatever's going on over there.
Speaker 2: Their preseason projected win total was set at forty six
Speaker 2: and a half games, and it seemed like they might
Speaker 2: miss the play in. Do you think that you think
Speaker 2: the Suns are going to try to actually go on
Speaker 2: a run or are they going to tank here?
Speaker 1: Well, the coach and the owner want them to go
Speaker 1: on a run. I think the players might be over.
Speaker 3: Yea, I see him just seems more and more pissed
Speaker 3: these days.
Speaker 1: He see. Yeah, Katie doesn't seem happy. Coach Bud told
Speaker 1: Devin Booker basically to shut up the other day. That
Speaker 1: didn't go over well. I mean, they are not trying
Speaker 1: at all. On the defensive end, Luca was miked up
Speaker 1: against the Suns, and Luca just said, I had kind
Speaker 1: of been passing. I've never had so many open looks
Speaker 1: in my life. Look, I've been playing professional basketball since
Speaker 1: he's fifteen. He's like the worst defens I've ever seen,
Speaker 1: and Lebron wasn't even out there to open stuff up.
Speaker 1: And so uh, but the Suns, I don't know that
Speaker 1: this is a hot take. The Suns are in the
Speaker 1: worst position moving forward of any team in the league
Speaker 1: because Mattishpia came in and bought the team and traded
Speaker 1: away everything for Kevin Durant and then traded away everything
Speaker 1: they had left for Bradley Beal. Beal has a no
Speaker 1: trade and is not good. Durant is approaching thirty seven
Speaker 1: and not going to get you a ton in return
Speaker 1: and is gone this summer. And then you have Devin Booker,
Speaker 1: who's a real asset. But it doesn't really make sense
Speaker 1: to trade Booker because you would then be tanking and
Speaker 1: you don't demonse. They do not have their own pick
Speaker 1: until twenty thirty two. Twenty thirty two, it's twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: so they they traded their picks away, and then they
Speaker 1: swapped picks, and then as part of the Beal trade,
Speaker 1: they swapped the swaps. This is like a mortgage crisis,
Speaker 1: but in the NBA. So they over the next seven drafts,
Speaker 1: they either simply give their pick away or they are
Speaker 1: in a three way swap with other teams, where of
Speaker 1: the three teams they get the worst draft pick, so
Speaker 1: even if they're the worst team in the league, that
Speaker 1: doesn't help them. And they traded away most of their
Speaker 1: second round picks. So it was again I used to
Speaker 1: this is sorry for all these kind of non sequiturs.
Speaker 1: Today's a show. I'm gonna be totally honest. Today's show
Speaker 1: that is not necessarily going to go viral for a
Speaker 1: lot of things, but real folks that are real what's
Speaker 1: right or as awkward as this is to say, like
Speaker 1: Nick Wright fans are going to really be enjoying today
Speaker 1: because we talked hard cap, softcap, I did my basket,
Speaker 1: my March madness rant. I'm now going to talk about
Speaker 1: Ted Steppien for a second. So Ted Stepien was an
Speaker 1: owner in the NBA in the eighties, and he was
Speaker 1: so bad and so disastrous for the Calves. The NBA
Speaker 1: made a rule that's called the Stepian rule. That's about
Speaker 1: how many draft picks you can and cannot trade. You
Speaker 1: can't trade draft picks in consecutive years. That's why teams
Speaker 1: have to, like, you know, I'll trade you my twenty
Speaker 1: five and my twenty seven because you can't just trade
Speaker 1: away all your picks and you can only trade draft
Speaker 1: picks like six years out. You know, those seven years out.
Speaker 1: Those are the rules they put in to prevent an
Speaker 1: owner from just destroying a team. And there has been
Speaker 1: a lot of frustration from GM since then of like, man,
Speaker 1: I would like full flexibility to uh, you know, run
Speaker 1: my team as I see fit and not have these
Speaker 1: guardrails in there. And I think at one point there
Speaker 1: was a little momentum in the league like all right,
Speaker 1: we're not in the tape delayed ear of the eighties.
Speaker 1: It's smarter people running the teams. It's big money. Maybe
Speaker 1: we don't need to, you know, have these guardrails in.
Speaker 1: And then Mattishbia came along and is like Ted Steppi
Speaker 1: and hold my beer. I'm gonna show you. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: speed run, absolutely wrecking a decade of a team that again,
Speaker 1: the Suns right before he took over, made the finals
Speaker 1: and then where the number one seed sixty four wins
Speaker 1: or sixty some win team, and then Luca eviscerated him,
Speaker 1: and then they trade for KD. Then they trade for
Speaker 1: Beal and now they're just ruined, absolutely ruined to a
Speaker 1: point to where they even though the Mavericks are two
Speaker 1: to eight in their last ten, don't have any healthy players,
Speaker 1: their fans have turned on them. The Mavericks still have
Speaker 1: a cushion in the standings. It's really a remarkable, remarkable
Speaker 1: turn of.
Speaker 3: Events month away from the playoffs. Who do you see
Speaker 3: avoiding the play in.
Speaker 1: So this is where our friends at tankathon are super helpful,
Speaker 1: So where we can look at most difficult or easiest
Speaker 1: strength of schedule left. So as a for instance, Phoenix,
Speaker 1: who we're gonna get to in a minute, has far
Speaker 1: and away the hardest schedule remaining. Phoenix has games left
Speaker 1: against the Calves, the Thunder, two against Boston, the Knicks,
Speaker 1: the Rockets, and the Warriors, with only two like layup
Speaker 1: games the Spurs and the Bulls. So Phoenix, if they
Speaker 1: were fighting for something, you'd be like, oh, they're in
Speaker 1: rough shape. Here's why it matters. Minnesota has the third
Speaker 1: easiest schedule remaining. Minnesota. Now, it's a bad loss last night,
Speaker 1: but Minnesota is at you know, the teams they're up
Speaker 1: against have a combined winning percentage of four thirty, and
Speaker 1: they have games remaining against New Orleans, two of them,
Speaker 1: the Jazz, two against the net that's one against the Sixers.
Speaker 1: So you have five games remaining, no, I'm sorry, two
Speaker 1: against New Orleans, two against the Nets, one six Ers,
Speaker 1: one Jazz. Six games remaining against teams that actively want
Speaker 1: to lose. So that's super helpful for Minnesota. The Warriors
Speaker 1: are right at league average as far as their schedule remaining.
Speaker 1: Their easiest games are New Orleans, Toronto, two against San Antonio,
Speaker 1: Miami and Portland. Here's why it's to me somewhat noteworthy
Speaker 1: that's they they own as far as teams that want
Speaker 1: to lose. It's really only four for the Warriors as
Speaker 1: far as the games they have left, and it's six
Speaker 1: for Minnesota. So that plays in Minnesota's favor significantly. They
Speaker 1: you know that Minnesota has two fewer games left than
Speaker 1: Golden State. They have won more law Golden State. When
Speaker 1: I heard Steve Kerse say, you know we are you know,
Speaker 1: Steph's worn down, and that essentially we're going to take
Speaker 1: care of Steph down the stretch and rest him tomorrow
Speaker 1: or tonight, pardon me. Against Milwaukee. Now they don't have
Speaker 1: the Warriors don't have many In fact, they only have
Speaker 1: one No. Two back to back's left. They have a
Speaker 1: back to back at the Lakers and then home for
Speaker 1: the Nuggets, and then they have a back to back
Speaker 1: a week later at Phoenix and then a home for
Speaker 1: San Antonio. Right now, I would and this is not
Speaker 1: going to be where Vegas would have it, but right
Speaker 1: now I would anticipate that the Western Conference standings and
Speaker 1: mark this down and see how this ages. But I
Speaker 1: think the Western Conference standings are going to end up
Speaker 1: Minnesota six, Golden State seven, Clippers eight, with the Kings
Speaker 1: being the nine seed and then that ten seed being
Speaker 1: just the saddest competition ever between Dallas and Phoenix, just
Speaker 1: two teams who did not ever think this is where
Speaker 1: they were going to end up, but it's where they
Speaker 1: have ended up. And I talk one of the reasons, Actually,
Speaker 1: what's that might need you? Oh yeah, well, they might
Speaker 1: have to forfeit games. It's in so if people don't
Speaker 1: to understand the forfeiting games things with the MAVs, let
Speaker 1: me explain it. This is super nerdy, but I'll do
Speaker 1: my best to explain it. The NBA has Here's okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to talk about a few things here
Speaker 1: hard cap, softcap. Okay, hardcap is the NFL where the
Speaker 1: salary cap is a number and you must from the
Speaker 1: first day of the league year until the last day
Speaker 1: of the league year be under it at all times.
Speaker 1: You cannot go a dollar over the hard cap. Now,
Speaker 1: because of the way NFL contracts are structured, you can
Speaker 1: always manipulate that year's cap guys cap figures by turning
Speaker 1: salaries into signing bonuses, spreading them out over multiple years,
Speaker 1: so it can feel like a soft cap at times.
Speaker 1: But the cap is the cap, and however you need
Speaker 1: to manipulate it. You can manipulate your own guys' salaries,
Speaker 1: but you can't ever be over it. That's why the
Speaker 1: NFL doesn't have things like a luxury tax, because chery
Speaker 1: tax is for a soft cap sport like the NBA,
Speaker 1: where we have a cap, but you can go over
Speaker 1: it for various reasons. You can go way over it
Speaker 1: at times. You just pay a penalty in luxury tax.
Speaker 1: And one of the reasons the NBA kind of has
Speaker 1: to work like that is because NBA player contracts are
Speaker 1: guaranteed for the most part, you can't really manipulate a
Speaker 1: player's contract like oh, we're turning your salary into a
Speaker 1: signing bonus. It's not how it works. So they need
Speaker 1: a soft cap. Except and of course, there are certain
Speaker 1: things NBA teams can do transactionally which triggers an actual
Speaker 1: hard cap. So if you're an Apron team and do
Speaker 1: a sign in trade, all of a sudden, you have
Speaker 1: a hard cap. If there's certain things, we need Bobby
Speaker 1: Marts to really explain all of it. But there are
Speaker 1: certain things that can happen where oh no, now you
Speaker 1: do have an NFL style hard cap. The MAVs are
Speaker 1: a team with a hard cap. So here's why you're
Speaker 1: hearing about the MAVs potentially having the forfeit games. You
Speaker 1: must have eight healthy players ready and able to play.
Speaker 1: The MAVs are close to exhausting their limit on two
Speaker 1: way guys, guys from their G league team that can
Speaker 1: call up, send down, call up and send down. They
Speaker 1: have had all these injuries, and because of the hard
Speaker 1: cap demons, they are not allowed to sign another minimum player.
Speaker 1: They can't go over the hard cap. They are running
Speaker 1: out of two way guys' eligibility. Even they are so
Speaker 1: close to the hard cap, they don't have the space
Speaker 1: for another minimum guy they can't sign their version of
Speaker 1: and Alex Lynn just be like, hey, come off the
Speaker 1: street and play for us.
Speaker 3: So to be a perfect situation for Browny right.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, or for any young player or any draft
Speaker 1: pick right to get some burn. But they they suited
Speaker 1: up eight healthy guys the other day. Yeah, So it
Speaker 1: would be I've never in my life watching the NBA,
Speaker 1: I've never seen a team have to forfeit games because
Speaker 1: they didn't have eligible players. It would be kind of
Speaker 1: the crowning achievement of what has been six weeks of
Speaker 1: just a fever dream of terror for MAVs fans, starting
Speaker 1: with the Luca trade, then the added pain of Ad
Speaker 1: getting hurt, then the real pain of Kyrie blowing out
Speaker 1: his knee, then the like, oh, you've got to be
Speaker 1: kidding me. Quinton Grimes all of a sudden is a
Speaker 1: star player in this league. We gave him away for
Speaker 1: Caleb Martin for no reason whatsoever, and now we're gonna
Speaker 1: have to maybe forfeit games. Unpresced in it, just unpressed
Speaker 1: in it. But flip side of that is AD's ramping
Speaker 1: up and they might make the playoffs or the play
Speaker 1: in Over the damn suns who desperately want to win
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Speaker 3: Yeah so funny.
Speaker 2: Luca actually came out and said that any team that
Speaker 2: has Yokis is always going to be dangerous. But like
Speaker 2: you just said, Jokis and Murray didn't play, so Luca
Speaker 2: let them up. La Cruz that you Yeah, he's he's
Speaker 2: looking really good. He's also had his six thirtieth point
Speaker 2: game in a month of March. What do you think
Speaker 2: about the Nuggets resting their guys again?
Speaker 1: Though, so listen, Joker plays as much as anybody. Michael
Speaker 1: Malone was correct that Jokers played I think the second
Speaker 1: most games of any player in the last decade, So
Speaker 1: I'm not going to kill him for it. I'm not
Speaker 1: certain exactly why Jamal Mury, you know, Jamal Murray couldn't play.
Speaker 1: Maybe because Jamal Murray without NIKOI Jokic, you know, doesn't
Speaker 1: quite look like the Jamal Murray that a lot of
Speaker 1: folks like to believe. He can be. I I will
Speaker 1: say this, the Nuggets are no longer a bad matchup
Speaker 1: for the Lakers. The Lakers are a bad matchup for
Speaker 1: the Nuggets. And that's with or without Joker. And there's
Speaker 1: multiple reasons for this. Uh. I understand Daniel, our producer,
Speaker 1: saying Jamal was hurt last game two. I get it, man,
Speaker 1: I'm the I'm not accusing anyone of anything, do I
Speaker 1: Does anybody think that if this were a playoff game,
Speaker 1: Joe Kitchen Murray wouldn't wouldn't have played. Of course not
Speaker 1: They're not that injured, But that's totally fine. You want
Speaker 1: them to be rested and healthy. You'd prefer it not
Speaker 1: happen on a national TV game. You'd prefer it not
Speaker 1: have to happen in back to back games. But it
Speaker 1: is what it is, so to speak like, you deal
Speaker 1: with it, and you, you know, you move forward. I
Speaker 1: think a lot of people assumed that the Nuggets, because
Speaker 1: they rested those guys or they didn't play against the Warriors,
Speaker 1: that they would play in the next game. But whatever.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to kill him for that. What I
Speaker 1: am going to talk about is if this is a
Speaker 1: playoff matchup, it favors the Lakers heavily because here is
Speaker 1: the thing. The Lakers scored one twenty last night, could
Speaker 1: have scored one forty, and I said it on the
Speaker 1: TV show. I will say it again with this question
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, if you get Lakers Nuggets, if Aaron
Speaker 1: Gordon is primarily matched up on Lebron, who is guarding Luca?
Speaker 1: They tried some Peyton Watson last night, how'd that work?
Speaker 1: Luca had twenty before you turn the game on, and okay, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon's gonna guard Luca? Then who is guarding Lebron?
Speaker 1: It ain't Michael Porter Junior in his bad back, It
Speaker 1: ain't Russell Westbrook. It certainly ain't Christian Brown. Who are
Speaker 1: we talking about? Concr He ain't doing it, Gonna dust
Speaker 1: off Dario, sorrych he ain't doing it. It's it's certainly
Speaker 1: not the two guys who were missing last night and
Speaker 1: Joe Kitchen Murray. The Nuggets are a bad defensive team
Speaker 1: at this point, and having you go Kitchen Murray out
Speaker 1: doesn't hurt their defense. And the Lakers scored at will
Speaker 1: without Lebron. Now, the Lakers, I think are going to
Speaker 1: actually end up being the best offense in the league,
Speaker 1: and you're starting to see it where they are generating
Speaker 1: so many great looks from three, so many wide open threes,
Speaker 1: and that's without Lebron on the court. And here's the
Speaker 1: other thing about the Lakers Nuggets matchup. The best thing
Speaker 1: the Nuggets had going for them in these playoff matchups
Speaker 1: is Joker, no question. The second best thing they had
Speaker 1: going for him was Di'angelo Russell minutes. And the third
Speaker 1: best thing they had going for him was Darvin Ham's coaching,
Speaker 1: which is why there was nobody that was a bigger
Speaker 1: Darvin Ham defender than Michael Malone. Michael Malone out there
Speaker 1: defending Darvin Ham, like Darvin Ham owes him money and
Speaker 1: he needs him to stay employed to get it. He's like,
Speaker 1: this is unfair that guy took him to the conference final.
Speaker 1: There is an outrage and Michael Malone now of a sudden,
Speaker 1: Lakers got real coach. And by the way, are we
Speaker 1: done with that demands? I haven't checked the scoreboard. Is
Speaker 1: JJ Reddick now just Lakers head coach? Or is he
Speaker 1: still you know Lebron's podcast buddy, or now that everybody
Speaker 1: knows he's a great coach, or we just saying no,
Speaker 1: he's a Lakers head coach, because I know if he
Speaker 1: wasn't a great coach, it would be Lebron's podcast, Buddy.
Speaker 1: It'd be like, I'm I just again, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: the exact rule, right, and I'm not sure about the
Speaker 1: rules of any of this stuff. What I do know
Speaker 1: is this Nuggets are in real, real trouble and the
Speaker 1: Lakers are real, real dangerous.
Speaker 2: You don't think, Anya, you're just like resting there guys strategically,
Speaker 2: like the same thing Golden State did with Steph Curry.
Speaker 1: I think that's a game they wanted to win that
Speaker 1: you're fighting for seating. I I don't right now. The
Speaker 1: Western garment standings go like this, Oklahoma City has locked
Speaker 1: the one seed. It's so bananas they they have lock
Speaker 1: locked up the well, I guess technically they're their magic
Speaker 1: number for locking up the one seed is one game
Speaker 1: with fifteen or how however we eat thirteen games remaining. Uh,
Speaker 1: they have fifty seven wins. No one else in the
Speaker 1: conference can get to fifty eight. So Oklahoma City's locked.
Speaker 1: And then it gets interesting. The Rockets have twenty five losses.
Speaker 1: The Lakers have twenty five losses. The Nuggets have twenty six,
Speaker 1: the Grizzlies have twenty seven, the Warriors have twenty nine,
Speaker 1: Clippers thirty, Timberwolves thirty one. So four five six, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: two three four five two games apart, two three four
Speaker 1: one loss apart, and I don't think the Nuggets want
Speaker 1: to give these games away. Say it again, it would be.
Speaker 3: In their best interest being one game.
Speaker 2: I mean they were tied before last night and then
Speaker 2: not absolutely.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And the other piece of it is because of last
Speaker 1: With a win yesterday, they would have locked up the
Speaker 1: season series three to one, which would have given them
Speaker 1: the head to have tybreaker if they finished with the
Speaker 1: same record. Now it's two to two, so I'm not
Speaker 1: even sure what tybreaker it goes to. Now the Nuggets,
Speaker 1: do they get Portland next, then Houston Chicago? Like I'm
Speaker 1: just looking at their easy, tough games. I think they
Speaker 1: When we went to Tankathon before and we checked it,
Speaker 1: I thought the Nuggets were league average essentially remaining strength
Speaker 1: strength of schedule. They have a little tougher than league average.
Speaker 1: They have the eleventh hardest strength of schedule left the
Speaker 1: Lakers by the way of the third hardest strength of
Speaker 1: schedule left Houston tenth hardest. I'm just doing the teams
Speaker 1: fighting for this seed, Memphis seventh hardest, Golden State with
Speaker 1: the easiest of the group with the eighteenth hardest. So
Speaker 1: but here's the other piece of it. For the Lakers,
Speaker 1: as I said the other day, you can now kind
Speaker 1: of definitively say, even though they lost those first three
Speaker 1: without Lebron, they have survived his injury. They I said,
Speaker 1: if you miss ten games, going six and four would
Speaker 1: be a great result. And six and four is now
Speaker 1: very on the board, and I don't know that he's
Speaker 1: gonna miss four more. But the Lakers are three and three.
Speaker 1: Lost to Brooklyn, bad loss, lost to Milwaukee, lost to Denver,
Speaker 1: and what would have been an unbelievable win when Denver
Speaker 1: had all its guys and Lakers without six of their
Speaker 1: time eight and then blue out Phoenix, blew out San Antonio,
Speaker 1: blew out Denver. And now the next four home for Milwaukee,
Speaker 1: tonight home for Chicago at Orlando, at Indiana. Can you
Speaker 1: go three to one in those four You should be
Speaker 1: able to even if Lebron's not back. And that's the
Speaker 1: other piece of last night, the blowout being awesome Luca
Speaker 1: only played thirty two minutes. Reeves probably played a little
Speaker 1: more than he needed to, but so be it. And
Speaker 1: so the Lakers are really well positioned. Houston keeps winning. Houston,
Speaker 1: to their credit, has really taken advantage of the absolute
Speaker 1: softest stretch of their schedule imaginable, and they have won
Speaker 1: more soft game Friday against Miami. But their schedule during
Speaker 1: this winning streak has been the following teams for Houston,
Speaker 1: New Orleans, New Orleans, Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Philly, Orlando.
Speaker 1: So those are the worst, like some of the worst
Speaker 1: teams in the league, plus Orlando, which has been really
Speaker 1: bad for months, and Phoenix, which hates itself, and now
Speaker 1: you have Miami, and then it gets way tougher for Houston.
Speaker 1: So I because after Miami, Houston goes Denver, Atlanta, Utah, Phoenix,
Speaker 1: Lakers Utah Oka see Golden State Clippers Lakers Denver. What
Speaker 1: a final stretch for Houston final five games Oka see
Speaker 1: Golden State Clippers Lakers Denver. I wonder what OKAC is
Speaker 1: gonna do down the stretch because they will have locked
Speaker 1: up the one seed and with the Cavs losing all
Speaker 1: of a sudden as of Lake, they won't you know,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be in a good position for the number
Speaker 1: one overall seed. But I expect Houston to drop back.
Speaker 1: And I am the Lakers got a real shot at
Speaker 1: the two, a real shot at the two, and so
Speaker 1: I you know, I think And Daniel tells me LA
Speaker 1: is the tiebreaker because they win win their division. Oh,
Speaker 1: the stupid divisions are the next tiebreaker. Oh well, then
Speaker 1: last night's game was even bigger for Denver because now
Speaker 1: if they finished with the same record, Lakers have the tiebreaker.
Speaker 1: That's noteworthy. That's really really noteworthy. All right, Ask what
Speaker 1: are the follow ups here?
Speaker 2: Pal, Well, who do you think needs to adjust more
Speaker 2: when Lebron does come back, because you know, Lucas obviously
Speaker 2: getting into a groove. So Lebron Luca, Oh, Lebron's Lebron.
Speaker 1: Lebron can do more different things. Lebron can play so
Speaker 1: many different ways, So it wouldn't make sense to ask
Speaker 1: Luca to adjust because Lucas not going to be great
Speaker 1: at other things. Lebron can be great at playing almost
Speaker 1: any style of offensive basketball. So Lebron should and will
Speaker 1: look like And so that to me is not even
Speaker 1: a concern, and one of the benefits demonse you having
Speaker 1: every single statistical record in NBA history already accomplished, you
Speaker 1: don't have to worry about your stats as much like
Speaker 1: when you already have all the records, you already have
Speaker 1: all the all nbas, all the points, all the all
Speaker 1: of that you can, you don't really have to necessarily
Speaker 1: put that first and foremost in your mind. Now, I
Speaker 1: will tell you this a sneaky stat that Lebron cares about.
Speaker 1: That is such a silly one.
Speaker 3: The double digit what oh.
Speaker 1: Well, no, no, no, that one's not sneaky. That one's definitive.
Speaker 1: The thirteen hundred straight games of at least ten points.
Speaker 1: But he doesn't have to try to get that one.
Speaker 1: It's that he has averaged at least twenty five points
Speaker 1: per game to the tenth of a point in every
Speaker 1: single year of his career except for his rookie season,
Speaker 1: twenty one straight years. And the reason I know he
Speaker 1: cares about it is a few years ago, post ankle injury,
Speaker 1: going into the final game of the year, he needed
Speaker 1: a bucket. I think he knew the exact amount of
Speaker 1: points he needed, and he needed a bucket late and
Speaker 1: went and got it, so he finished that year averaging
Speaker 1: twenty five point zero zero zero. Right now this moment,
Speaker 1: Lebron has played fifty eight games and has scored one
Speaker 1: thy four hundred and fifty points. So let's just do
Speaker 1: the math on that fourteen point fifty divided by fifty eight,
Speaker 1: that is twenty five point zero zero zero zero zero.
Speaker 1: So here's the point I'm making. I do think Lebron
Speaker 1: will want to make sure when he comes back he's
Speaker 1: still getting twenty five at night. I haven't talked to him,
Speaker 1: but I think that is a sna niki one that
Speaker 1: he would be annoyed if he missed it by a
Speaker 1: couple one hundredths of a point.
Speaker 2: So to make the adjustments with Luca like him getting
Speaker 2: twenty five points isn't like a stretch like.
Speaker 3: I don't think that's no aim.
Speaker 1: I actually think his scoring might go up with the
Speaker 1: new role, because I think his assists will plummet, and
Speaker 1: scoring go up a bit, and rebounding go up a lot.
Speaker 1: That's what I would anticipate is gonna happen here when
Speaker 1: it comes to college basketball in March Mania, one thing's
Speaker 1: for sure. Nothing is for sure. Upsets Buzzer beater, Cinderella
Speaker 1: is advancing top seeds going home early. It's all gonna happen.
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Speaker 3: Bengals Bengals bangles Man so, Jamar Chase and T.
Speaker 2: Jiggins are now the highest paid non quarterbacks in history,
Speaker 2: and Hey is the highest highest wide receiver two so
Speaker 2: for their cap is going to those players. Put your
Speaker 2: gam hat on. How would you fix this? Oh, my goodness,
Speaker 2: they're screw me.
Speaker 1: They don't well, I mean they don't think they're screwed.
Speaker 1: I think it's an insane way to run a team.
Speaker 1: And I think it's a low So here's what Higgins becomes,
Speaker 1: as Demant said, the highest paid wide receiver two in
Speaker 1: the league, Chase becomes the highest paid non quarterback in
Speaker 1: the league. And Burrow's got a huge salary as well.
Speaker 1: It's not that you can't win with three huge contracts.
Speaker 1: It's that having all of your huge contracts just be
Speaker 1: about the passing game doesn't make a ton of sense,
Speaker 1: and having all of your resources debt like it's a
Speaker 1: low key insult to Burrow. And I know it's what
Speaker 1: Burrow wanted, so he doesn't view it this way. But
Speaker 1: here's what I mean. It operates as if you're not
Speaker 1: gonna have an elite passing game unless you have both
Speaker 1: of these elite weapons. And I think Joe Burrow's better
Speaker 1: than that. I think Joe Burrow would be just fine
Speaker 1: with just one of these guys. And I think that again,
Speaker 1: the example people use as a defense of this is
Speaker 1: Peyton's Cults. But here's the problem with you. Because Peyton's
Speaker 1: Cults had Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison. The problem with
Speaker 1: using that as an example is they also had Dwight
Speaker 1: Freenian Robert Mathis as bookend defensive ends. But the other
Speaker 1: problem with that is Peyton's Colts with respect underachieved. You
Speaker 1: had thirteen years of Peyton manning, eleven of those are
Speaker 1: peak Peyton Manning years. You made two Super Bowls one
Speaker 1: to one. Compare that to the Broncos who had four
Speaker 1: years of Peyton Manning only three of those peak Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning years. They also went to two Super Bowls and
Speaker 1: one one by building a well rounded team. Compare it
Speaker 1: to the Chiefs who had a choice to make a
Speaker 1: few years ago. We are not going to be able
Speaker 1: to pay Tyreek and Chris Jones, so you know what,
Speaker 1: We're gonna move Tyreek to save the money for Chris
Speaker 1: and ask Patrick to do more with less. And they've
Speaker 1: been to every Super Bowl since then and so and yeah,
Speaker 1: mahomes last two years as numbers of DIP. Now his
Speaker 1: first year without Tyrek, he won the MVP at the
Speaker 1: most yards of any player in a season ever, first
Speaker 1: player win League MVP and Super Bowl MVP since Kurt Warner.
Speaker 1: But set that aside, Uh, it is just to me
Speaker 1: the wrong approach to building a team. So what would
Speaker 1: I have done? I would have a year ago, A
Speaker 1: year ago traded T Higgins when I could have gotten
Speaker 1: a first round pick for him and dedicated more resources
Speaker 1: to the defense. But here is what I'll say about it,
Speaker 1: demonse I Burrow wanted this, and it's fine. But he's
Speaker 1: a smart guy and he understands the resources are limited.
Speaker 1: He understands what this means. It kind of removes a
Speaker 1: little bit of the if next year goes how last
Speaker 1: year went, where Burrow's numbers are unbelievable, the Bengals offense
Speaker 1: is excellent and they missed the playoffs because the defense
Speaker 1: is terrible. It's not quite as an accomplishment for Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow as this year he got MVP votes because it
Speaker 1: was like, oh my god, he's doing his job. What
Speaker 1: can he do about the defense being awful? Well, when
Speaker 1: you go on every talk show imaginable and say you
Speaker 1: need Higgins and Chase back and you understand what that
Speaker 1: means about your ability to improve your offensive line in
Speaker 1: your defense, well, now it probably is a little more
Speaker 1: fair to at least put some of potential Bengals struggles,
Speaker 1: even if they're defense related, at the feet of their quarterback.
Speaker 1: I know that sounds odd, but I just think it's
Speaker 1: I think it's probably the wrong approach. To building a
Speaker 1: sustainable champion, and it also is it It is to
Speaker 1: me certainly not the right approach to win that division.
Speaker 1: And the problem with that is, I don't think you
Speaker 1: have any shot of winning three straight road AFC playoff
Speaker 1: games that'll probably be outdoors, probably in cold weather cities,
Speaker 1: with a defense that looks like the Bengals is going
Speaker 1: to look for the near future. So I just think
Speaker 1: I think it's a mistake, even though it's fun. All right,
Speaker 1: let's talk Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, Aaron Rodgers still does not know where he
Speaker 3: wants to go.
Speaker 2: Talks are if the Vikings don't want him, he might
Speaker 2: retire or do you think you see Aaron Rodgers going?
Speaker 1: I mean probably the Steelers. But Rapaport reported this morning
Speaker 1: that he might not decide until after the draft. The
Speaker 1: draft drafts in like forty days, and I understand actually
Speaker 1: why he would wait until after the draft, because he
Speaker 1: doesn't want to pick Pittsburgh and then see you know,
Speaker 1: as a for instance, Schaedor drop and then the Steelers
Speaker 1: draft a quarterback and he's like, what the hell, so
Speaker 1: or pick the Giants and then they draft shot or
Speaker 1: at three like who knows? But I am I'm over
Speaker 1: the Aaron Rodgers story in this regard. I just I
Speaker 1: don't think the twentieth best quarterback in football is worth
Speaker 1: this time or attention. And I really don't understand why
Speaker 1: the Vikings would be entertaining this Demond's unless they are
Speaker 1: unless they have undisclosed news about JJ McCarthy's injury that
Speaker 1: they sum. But the only way that even makes sense
Speaker 1: is if they got this news somehow in the short
Speaker 1: window of time between when they let Donald walk and
Speaker 1: you know this last week, which was only a few days.
Speaker 1: Because now that we have the actual Sam Darnold contract details.
Speaker 1: Another one up to the sports media on Budsman by
Speaker 1: the way, who said, instead of all these tweets just
Speaker 1: giving love to the agents that negotiated the deals, can
Speaker 1: we please get accurate contract info. For a week we
Speaker 1: were told Sam Darnald got fifty five million guaranteed. Turns
Speaker 1: out he got thirty seven million guaranteed. Turns out the
Speaker 1: contract Sam Donald got is essentially one year, thirty seven
Speaker 1: and a half million dollars and then two team options afterwards.
Speaker 1: Who to funk it. If that's all it was going
Speaker 1: to take to keep Donald, they could have gotten him
Speaker 1: essentially for one year forty million bucks. If you're worried
Speaker 1: about JJ McCarthy, then do that. Yeah, he's better than
Speaker 1: Rogers at this point, kind of a.
Speaker 3: Like why would any team want it?
Speaker 2: Like just not even a football standpoint, just him as
Speaker 2: a I'm not trying to attack his.
Speaker 3: Character or anything, but he just he ruined stuff.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, I mean I think it's fair to attack
Speaker 1: his football character and yeah, leadership and also like why
Speaker 1: is he taking this long? I think because he can,
Speaker 1: and because it is a good way to make it
Speaker 1: clear who has the upper hand in the relationship from
Speaker 1: the moment the relationship starts, like if if you can
Speaker 1: make some an entire organization, Wait, poor Russell Wilson's like,
Speaker 1: I can't even sign with a team until this guy does,
Speaker 1: like and so it's just asserting asserting dominance, I guess,
Speaker 1: is what some would say.