The Herd with Colin CowherdThe Browns and the Giants are looking to move down in the NFL draft
Even Jerry Jones is commenting on the horrible Luka Doncic trade
Guest: Nick Wright
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All right, here we go, it's our two. Thanks againing Jordan Schultz who filled in the last week. He did a great job. Jmack is back. Jmak travel. You're not messing around between jet Chat, GBT and Google Translate. You go all over the globe. You just point that Google Translate that app and can translate anything. Yeah.
We went to Japan and it was phenomenal, the culture, the food, the people love it.
Highly recommend for your next trip with A and M. Would love Japan. It is just phenomenal.
Do they have good wine?
Amazing food in Saki? I would do in sake bombs lefton righters them.
Between you and Ryan. Don't you guys ever, just go to Vegas for a weekend. Does everything have to be like a Singapore.
Air Been there, done that, you know a lot of it, but I do need to go to Vegas cast some winning tickets from the NFL season.
Got some cast color in my way.
All right, here's the story the Browns and the Giants according to Peter Schreger, who used to uh where did he work? Let me think for a second. AnyWho shreg is over at the other place. We love them. According to him, the Browns and Giants are are considering trading down. So the problem with this draft is it is a trade down draft. Even at the top of the draft. By the second pick, you get Travis Hunter, who wants to play both sides of the ball, and Greg Colesel last week brought up I think a pretty interesting point.
Imagine Nick Siriani walking into Vic Fangio on a Wednesday, you know, as they're preparing for a game and saying, hey, coach Vick, you know today Travis is going to be with the afense, not with you. Well, Vick's going to tell him, well, then you know what he's not. He's not playing on Sunday. But I don't care how gifted he is. But you know what, if he makes a mistake, we're giving up a sixty yard touchdown. So to me, it's not whether he's physically capable of doing it. He may be that freakish guy that is, because what he did in college is absolutely remarkable, ridiculous. But I think it's more about the preparation during the week. I'm not sure you can be a part time outside corner in the NFL.
You know, this is not college football where you're playing you know, Washington State and just athletic ability reigns like everybody's great and you may still be great, but you'll get worked if you're not sitting in those film rooms. So and that's the second player drafted by the third player, Abdul Carter. Potentially he's been advised to get surgery and he's like, I'm not getting surgery. So I already have issues with the second and third pick. There's only one player in this draft that I love unconditionally, and that's Mason Graham, the defensive tackle for Michigan. Productivity, toughness, durability, motor. I watched him play fifteen times the last two years. He ate everybody for lunch and people say, well, his ceiling isn't high all. I know every game I watched, he was in the backfield. Every game I watched didn't matter if it was Ohio State, it didn't matter if it was USC. It didn't matter if he had Harbaugh as a coach. It didn't matter if he had Harbaugh's replacement. Mason Graham was the one player that in this Again, if it was a great draft, maybe he'd go thirteen. But in this draft, I got no personality issues, no injury issues, productivity, durability, toughness, production. That's the only guy outside of that. I mean, the number two and three picks, there's dilemmas. So all right, let's go. This will be good today. We got a lot to talk about. Nick Wright, co host First Things, First three Eastern on our network. So you know, before I get to the NBA, I did say this. I like the draft. I've always been into it. There's one kid I just love. There's a lot of questions. So I did a mock draft last week and now now and you do this stuff real well, was there anything on this? I actually think some of most of the stuff is not just they're good players, but their needs. Like the Jets tight end situation, it's never productive. Gino Smith is actually good with a run game. Ashton Jenny Fitz there the Dolphins have to like it. Yeah, the Dolphins, please draft an offensive lineman. You just lost Tron Armstead. Most of these, I like, is there anything that jumped out to you on that?
Well, I'm glad you're asking me. You know, final mock draft comes out Thursday. On first things first, remember last year nineteenth most actor mock drafter in the entire world. Your guy Nick Wright picked it up as a hobby, and you know, top twenty in the world.
Nothing to talking about. So I kind of want to go through this if we can.
I love the draft.
I don't love.
College football's much as you, but I think I love the draft as much as you. I cannot believe that you the man that coined the phrase better than Babe for show. Hey, Otani, you are not in love with Travis Hunter. Why are we putting a ceiling on what Travis Hunter can do? When we saw him all there, it had been at least eight years since a college football player did two hundred and fifty snaps on both sides of the ball. He did seven hundred on both sides of the ball. So I agree with you that he's going to go too. But just from your talk beforehand, it seems like you're not as in love with him as I am, So I'm just curious why.
I think a little bit is there's a rigidity to football because there's one game a week, and these defensive coordinators and offensive coordinators get very prickly and they want their guy in meeting rooms. I for the record, I think football players practice too much. I mean, Sean McVay it, we're not gonna have anybody play in the preseason now, nobody plays in the preseason, So I would argue a lot of its nonsense. I would. I think he's gonna be a brilliant NFL wide receiver. I do think, however, there's gonna be people on the defensive side that resent the fact that he's he's never in meetings. But I have him going too because he is a I mean, he's a transformational, all time talent. He's got something Michael Jordan had that I've never seen before. Michael's very rare. Michael could play eighteen holes of golf in the heat and then drop forty four and play forty eight minutes. Like some guys are built different. They just have this relentless, you know, ability to never get tired in the Kidcher.
So all right, So if we say I totally agree with you on the Jags taking Mason Graham, I think that's gonna happen. I absolutely agree about the Raiders in Ashton, Jen t Pete Carrow wants to win right now.
I think I'm higher on.
The Raiders than I guess just about everybody in the race to finish second in the AFC West, which is what the is.
I know this show is big on the Chiefs. I don't know probably having a top five pick next year.
Listening to you and Jmac how you think of Kansas City, But I think the Chiefs will win the division because they do every year. I think the Raiders going from bottom three quarterback to top twelve quarterback, bottom three coach to top ten coach if they take Gent, I think they could finish second in the division. I just so I agree with you on a lot of this. I want to ask you about the Giants because if you're the Giants and everyone's job is on the line, don't you probably try to double dip and by that I mean draft op dual Carter At three, everyone seemed to think Shador is gonna slip out of the top ten and then use next year's first round pick, which is someone else's problem if you get fired this year anyway, to then trade up and get Shador Like. I do think the Giants could end up with Shador, I just don't think they're gonna take him over Obdual.
Carter at three.
Okay, So this was my dilemma. I said this. I didn't include trades. A story came out which I just mentioned five minutes ago. I think the Giants want to trade down and get out of the Shaduur thing and then go get Jackson Dart at twenty eight if somebody moved up, which I don't love either, but I don't think my take was Abdul Carter is not worth half a point in the NFL, and if Schaduer can just stabilize the offense, he's worth four. And I also think Brian Davile is a pretty darn good coach offensively if he got Daniel Jones to win a playoff game. So to your point, I think they want to trade down. I think there's division in the room on Shaduer, but I would not include trades. So that was my toughest pike. I didn't know what to do with the Giants.
Yeah, listen, I'll tell you this much, and then I know you want to get to the NBA. Yeah, the Patriots would be thrilled with this because the Patriots are staring at a worst case scenario of it going cam Ward, then the two Blue Chippers Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter, and then they're like, well, what do we do here? Like, we just spent all that money in the offseason on the d tackle from Philadelphia, so we're probably not gonna take Mason Graham. We spent all of our money this offseason on the defensive side of the ball. We have no weapons for Drake may at all. I'm not as bullish on Stepan Diggs as I think some people are, but there's no wide receiver you can take it for. They're not gonna take gent at four, so I think they would then be in a spot where we're gonna take the short armed offensive lineman. Will cambell it four Like that's probably so. I think the Patriots the point of this is they would love if somehow another quarterback went in the top three in addition to cam Ward, and then they had the opportunity to draft ab dual Carter.
I just don't think that's how it's gonna fall for them.
Okay, we got good NBA stuff, So I'm gonna start with this. Yeah, don't you can't get too caught up in Game one. I'm gonna get back to the Lakers a second. But Vegas is telling you they're a five and a half point favorite. They had eight days off, they just weren't ready to play. And Minnesota is one of those teams that loves like the Baltimore Ravens. They love ugly sports, they love to bang. They're not artistic, they're not aesthetically pleasing. That was perfect rusty Laker team, not ready to play, and we just get to be ugly physical. So I'm not worried about the Lakers. But there's a problem with the Knicks. There is a big problem. They are a campaign fourth quarter from being owing to at home. Timms is not an offensive coach, and they got offensive issues, and I think a bad time to try and solve them is going on the road at one one in the playoffs. I think the Knicks could be in a little trouble. What you were there last night.
So I was there last night.
I had pretty amazing seats I paid for. By the way, I'm not gonna nobody gives me tickets to our friends at seat Geek.
I guess helped me out a bit, but I bought.
Them, and I was right behind the Knicks bench, and I'm shocked they.
Lost that game.
Shocked.
You're right that.
Now in retrospect, you look back and you say, man, eight quarters of this series, the Pistons have been the clearly better team for six or seven of them.
Yeah, but going into last night, I.
Thought, okay, the Pistons got demoralized by that fourth quarter. Yeah, a twenty one to nothing run in this series. If you were to say, hey, who are the five best players in the series.
The nick should have four of the five.
Madison Square Garden is one of the only true home court advantages that exist. It's still in the NBA because it's so loud. They don't play the goofy music throughout the game. The fans are really into it. I know I sound like an old man, but it's true. And Kate Cunningham and those kids on the Pistons, along with the you know, veterans and Tobias Harrison Shruder said no, not today and Jalen Brunson. He played well, but was really trying to get everyone in foul trouble.
And that maybe took him a.
Little bit out of rhythm early, even though he finished with thirty seven. Karl Anthony Towns went total Milk Carton mode, where he was nowhere to be found for the final twenty game minutes of that game, Michale Bridges played I thought fine, but missed some open shots, and now all of a sudden, you find yourself in a fight with a team that crowd in Detroit Colin the last playoff game the Detroit Pistons won prior to last night, Paul Pierce was their opponent. It was against the eight Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, So that crowd is going to be out of their mind, and so I think, all of a sudden, instead of this being what it should have been a tidy five games for New York, it's looking like it's going to be six or seven with Tibbs playing his guys forty plus minutes every single night, and then they're gonna walk into a buzz saw against Boston. So I still think the Knicks are going to win this series. I think they have more talent than the Pistons. And I don't think as great as Cade was last night, and he was great all year, I don't think he's gonna throw up thirty three and twelve every game. But the Knicks needed to win this series quickly to have any shot against Boston, which they probably didn't to begin with anyway, and I no longer think they're gonna be able to do that.
Yeah, so I'll get to the Lakers again in a second. I want to go to Houston. I pick Houston to win, and I me too in six or seven.
I think they need to score, they need to make some shot.
It's really interesting. I want to throw this at you. This is almost bigger than the series. Jalen Green and a Men Thompson. They didn't go to college. They went and got some money, went to these other leagues. And I watched Jalen Green and I'm like, what is he? He's just an athlete. I mean, the staff clearly doesn't trust him. And I sat and I watched it and I thought, and I don't want to go too into the weeds on this, but I'm like, here's what worries me about Houston. A bunch of great athletes. I trust one guy in the half court offense, Shen Goo shit than that. I trust Butler. I trust staff pods I actually think can hit big shots Draymond. I trust the catalyst. I may be on the wrong side of this. Golden State has been in so many of these games, you know, Nick, playoff basketball is often half court basketball, and Houston's not good at it.
All right, so there's a lot here. You know.
How they give us those inside the coach huddles soundbites, and normally they're super sanitized because they're not allowed to give us any strategy. I thought TNT released a clip during the game of Kerr talking that I thought the Warriors might get mad at because it was a little revealing where Kerr says, if we stop turning the ball over, they can't score, and then he's added, they cannot score on our.
Half court defense.
That was correct, but it also showed I think how little respect Golden State understandably has for Houston's half court offense.
Here is the reason.
I because I picked the Rockets in seven, and admittedly I was watching that game like, okay, if this gets to seven, is there a single player on the Rockets other than Shingoon and Fred van Bliet that aren't going to be terrified.
To shoot the ball. So that gave me some trepidation.
But here are the two reasons that I think you and I might be be okay with our picks. First one is this for a game where the Rockets couldn't score, for them to be down twenty three in the late third quarter and still claw their way back, not to get it to a four point game, not be because they hit a bunch of threes, but because their defense is that good and can slow down the Warriors as.
Much as it did. That to me was a positive sign.
And the other one is Steph and Jimmy combined for fifty six and the Warriors still only score ninety five points. You're higher on pods than I am. I'm old enough to remember you call him Klay Thompson replacement. That was maybe a little premature, but Ilid is their third best offensive player. Draymond doesn't want to shoot, Moody doesn't want to shoot. They're playing Gee Santos, who shouldn't be in the playoffs right now, Quinton Posts.
Who all he wants to do is shoot.
Like the Warriors are a couple bodies short of being a championship caliber team. Now, maybe they can get past Houston based on the brilliance of Steph anyway, but here's one other note. Three years ago, when Steph was thirty four not thirty seven, and the Warriors won the championship that entire season run, he played more minutes than he did in Game one this past game one time, like the Warriors already are going to the man. We are gonna die when Steph or Jimmy isn't on the court. And so if the Rockets can get the split in Game two and extend this series, I think they could be okay. But somebody's got to make some shots and somebody's got to play confidently offensive basketball.
Okay, we get to the Lakers. I think the market sometimes tells you five and a half point favorites at home. I thought Austin Reeves got bullied. They depended greatly on Luca who didn't pass but scored, and Lebron had eight days off and just didn't I mean, listen, it was the classic underdog comes in told they're facing the league's marquee franchise, big chip on their shoulder. Well, coached, and the Lakers were caught flat footed and just never could shift. I do think they're just built, and I think Ant's become a tremendous player. But I do think the Lakers are built to win this series because as much as we love defense, you gotta get buckets, and they got three playmakers. What say you, I think the Lakers take tonight and control of the series.
Well, listen, I do think they win tonight, and I'd be shocked if they lose tonight. But I was shocked the way they looked in Game one, and I agree with you that offensively, the Lakers will be much better. Austin will be better, Lebron will be more assertive, They'll hit more threes Offensively, I do not worry about the Lakers. Here, though, is the way the Timberwolves can win tonight or win this series. I think that the Lakers defensive approach of we are going to make Aunt a playmaker instead of a scorer was the exact opposite, because I think that has serious knock on effects. First of all, the Timberwolves over the last few years are in the regular season. I think at twenty one three, when Anthony Edwards has eight or more assists, and the three losses, they scored a ton of points, they just couldn't get stops. They are at their best when ANT is playmaking, because A you have good three point shooters that are getting wide open looks, and B everyone knows when guys are getting the ball and seeing the ball go in. They then defend better because they're more locked into the game. So I thought the Lakers approach would be and I think it should be ANT. You're gonna be single guarded, and if you score forty, we'll deal with it. Basically what the Timberwolves did to Luca. The Timberls said, Luca, if you get forty, so be it. You're not gonna get ten assists. The Lakers had the opposite approach. I think that's a mistake. I also think when it comes to Jackson Hayes, JJ's got to make a decision zero minutes or fifteen plus, but eight minutes is nonsense, like it's not enough time to get in a rhythm, but it's enough time to do some damage to your own team. So he's got to make a decision there. I think the Lakers' best five man lineup involves asking a forty year old guy in year twenty two to play center. But I think Luca Austin, Dorian Ruey and Lebron with Lebron at the five might be the lineup that gives Minnesota the most trouble because the way to punish that lineup would be have Rudy Gobert get the ball. But they won't pass the ball to Rudy Gobert and he can't score, So that's what I would do. I think the Lakers will win tonight, and I think they're fine, but I was a nine out of ten inconfidence going into the series. I would say I'm a seven out of ten after the first game.
I'm gonna throw a take at you before we go, so I love it. You're old enough to have seen MJ play a lot. I'm old enough to remember all of it, including the bad games. But I've always said Lebron's always been more magic. I mean, really, the personality, passing, ball, handling, elevating evers. Lebron's more magic than MJ. Kobe was MJ light, But I've also I do believe this, if you combine Kawhi and Kobe, that is MJ. Is that hand size strength, Nobody fat, strength, mid range brilliance. Michael had personality and durability. Kawhi doesn't. But Kobe didn't have hand size or that kind of strength that basically if you never saw MJ play, Kobe had his flair, his personality and durability. Leonard had the hand size, the strength that I mean he I mean, he'll take on anybody. He doesn't even need picking rolls. It's like, just bring on Gordon, bring on Porter that. I think there are times that I do see some Michael where I'm like, God, if he just was able to play and had a little personality, what.
Do you make of Kawhi, Well, listen, Kawhi, I saw James Harden, you know, basically be like he's been disrespect or underrated. I think Kawhi is one of the only superstars in the league who there has never been a day of his career he was underrated. He's always either been properly rated or there was a brief moment when he went to the Clippers and people were talking about it like he was the best player in the league where he was a touch overrated, But he's been properly rated. I think everyone understands that a healthy Kawhi Leonard is year in and year out, a top five playoff performer in the league.
That is what he is now.
I think that he has earned that right over a decade of playoff performances, all of them saved the bubble when he and the Clippers fell apart. When he's been healthy, he's been really good. So set the health aside, put it in a drawer, and hope that he's actually healthy. I do think that we have become so incredibly prisoner of the moment, tee about everything that it's not about what happened last year or even last week. Game one of this series, he was the third or fourth best player in the game, and James Harden was better, Joker was better. Jamal Murray had an argument now. Game two, he gave us the best game any player has had in any game this postseason. And so I think Kawhi is a brilliant player who the Knights that his mid range is falling like it was last night. There truly is nothing you can do with him. And it was a great win and a great performance, But because I think we feel like we were cheated out of a few years of Kawhi playoff runs, we maybe when we see it, you know, get a little over our skis about you know, where he is in the NBA hierarchy or how often we can rely on that.
But he was unbelievable last night.
And the other takeaway from last night before we go just fair is fair. It doesn't happen often, but when it happens, it has to be acknowledged. Nikola Jokic, that was the worst playoff game he's had in a few years, and he's a big part of the Yeah, he lost track of the clock, took a terrible shot when there was plenty of time. The final shot of the game, Aaron Gordon's wide open. He forces it when he doesn't need to. He has seven turnovers, he has miss free throws. Their path is Joker being the best player in the world. He wasn't anywhere close to that last night. So again, heavy is the head that wears the crown. He wears the best player in the world crown.
Last night. I expect him to bounce back. But if you just get an.
Average Joker game last night, the Nuggets are up to nothing and it's a very different series.
Nick Right co hosts. First things First, you look great as always buddy crush it today.
Thank you you too, See you soon.
Yeah, he pays for his own seats. That's a real journalist America. No freebies, no uh freebies. Nick right out there grabbing his wallet.
Just confirmed. Albeit Lakers Timberwolves tonight.
How'd you get those tickets?
What's it to you?
As the gold standard of journalism in American cable television?
It's you know, my buddy has season tickets. So I got the invite. I got tapped on the shoulder, like to go to the bullpen. J Mack, can you come?
I was like, yeah, just all.
I mean, between your international travel and Laker tickets, you're like you're almost a member of the kardash.
I'll be in the doghouse for this one for a couple of days, probably with the wife.
Yeah.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Dog Manchay is going to join us. He was great last week on the draft. There's a lot of rumblings Cleveland and the Giants we're gonna move down. It is a move down draft. Here is the well traveled Jmack with the news.
Now, this is the herd Line News. So we've got some great news on the NBA front. Giannie is getting back his wingman. Yes, Damian Lillard has been cleared from his blood clot and he will play tonight.
Colin.
This is kind of sort of shocking.
Now, he's been only out since March eighteenth, so not that long when you consider other blood clots ended guys seasons.
Dame Lillard is coming back.
At his first practice last Thursday, and now he did have some beef with Tyrese Haliburton in Game one while Dame was on the bench talking trash. They go back to I think it was the what's a mid season tournament whatever that thing's called.
Dame's a box or you don't want to mess with Dame.
I don't know.
I like Halliburton. He seems like he's just out there having fun. I don't like dam Dame's a little combat.
I will say this about the Pacers. I don't think people give them respect. She aw comes great, Halliburton's a great young player. Indianna gets overshadowed it. Man, they got dudes, that's a really, really good roster. They got closures they can play half court basketball, they can get it up the floor. They are better than the Bucks.
So most people like the zig zag theory in the NBA playoffs. Who if you win game one, bet on the dog in game two to come back and Wayne work last night for both teams. This one tonight, I believe is four or four. It was it was four one, up to six, then back to four with the Dame News, I think the Pacers winning this one.
I'm not sold in this Bucks now. I don't think they're very good.
I picked the Pacers in the series. I think most teams in the NBA we know they're good. I think Indiana's good and nobody outside of Indiana gives them a lot of love. I think they have really good players. I like watching them plug.
Yeah, for all the talk about you know, people don't play their bench in the playoffs. You only play like six or seven guys. Pacers have like nine guys. They can throw out of you, and that matters. The kind of like the Pacers to.
Win to They can get up and down the floor, they can do the half court stuff.
Yeah.
You know, certain teams like Houston, they look lost in the half court set.
Port Houston.
Anyways, let's go to the second story, and that's the Detroit Pistons Colin. One of the best stories in the playoffs so far. Look at Kane cutting him and then he points at Carmelo Anthony, who was in the right. Listen man, Kate Cunningham looks like a legit baller twenty three years old and absolutely carried Detroit lesson.
Yeah, he was so clutched.
Well he was. He was Oklahoma state guy. Wasn't he a number one?
Number one over all?
Yeah?
He was hurry just to be He was young when he came in.
I put out for fun last night on Twitter. Who would you rather build around Kate Cunningham or John Moran?
Oh, Kate Countingham easily.
That's I didn't think it would be universal. Kate cunning out and John Muran's won a lot of playoff games, He's done some Damn.
Untie John Moran. You people think I am.
I'm not.
But after about four different incidences, I have my reservations like you are. It's one thing when you come into the NBA, like I mean his zion ever really changed? No, still still injuries and maturity, like I think generally mature kids, mature adults were mostly mature kids. Yeah, you don't find go to go to college with the craziest guy you were in college, probably doesn't end up a CEO. Praying out by the way, doesn't mean he can't be successful and a wonderful person. But if I think of the biggest part of yours, the wildest guys in college, they're a version of that. Now interesting.
So anyways, it was Detroit's first playoff win since two thousand and eight. Colin, I don't think FS one existed in two thousand and eight. You were on the other side of the country. I wasn't here. Here's Tom Thibodeau, very upset. The Knicks coach is talking about how the refs say they had a factor in the result.
Obviously huge discrepancy and free throws huge, huge, So I got to take a look at that, right. So, you know, I don't understand, you know how on one side that you know you talk about the direct line drives the guys getting fouled and as not being a call. Right So, and look, I really don't give a crap how they call the game as long as it's consistent on both sides. Well, so if Cunningham's driving and there's marginal contact and he's getting to the line and Jillen deserves to be getting to the line.
Okay, you got to remember refs aren't paid to be fair. Okay, they're not paid to be fair. The Celtics, by the way, don't shoot a lot of free throws because they jack up a lot of three. Right. So the reality is Detroit is initiating contract contact. They're moving the ball better, they're attacking more consistently. Kat didn't have a field goal. There was like six minutes left in the second quarter. He never scored again.
Well, I'll say dilgel in.
The first half, Detroit I think attempted thirteen three throws, the Knicks one and the next drive. Dylan Bruns is driving all day, So I thought it was a little By the way, free throw advantage was twenty eight makes to sixteen.
Man, because you know, the NBA is like, we want to get the Knicks out of the playoffs.
Noll I just you know the whistle. That game was super physical.
By the way, we've talked about this regular season and analytics is totally different from.
The NBA playoffs.
What we saw last night. This physical lot of grabby stuff. I don't love that.
Well, that's the playoffs.
Then blull the whistle and tell them guys stop doing that, and we want to see basketball.
Not a lot of ball seasons play hurt. Here was the reality of us.
Here we got all right, final story, Colin, Let's go to the NFL. NFC North has become one of the toughest divisions in football the last couple of years. Lions have dominated the last two seasons and the success is it getting to their head team president making some interesting comments when talking about bringing the draft back to Detroit from green Bay.
Trying to get the NFL that consider bringing it back because I don't think they'll ever topic so and I told you off stage, you know there's no way green Bay will come close and they'll finish finished second or as I said to Brad on stage third like they did last year.
Ooh ooh a lot but a couple of grenades there.
Yeah, the trash talk in this division has gotten.
Oh it's a good division. A lot of a lot of a lot of talk. That was pretty interesting.
I mean, you know, what was the what did Michael Jordan's say in the in that docu series Hey, it's easy to talk trash when you're winning. Yeah, talk tracks when you're losing. Nobody does that. Detroit's won the division two years in a row. They're rolling, and now he's throwing this stuff at Green Bay. I think this is risky because I might be on an island. I think Detroit's coming back down to the pack a little bit here, like maybe.
Aiden Hutchinson does come back.
One guy that can fix the defense, their best guy on me. Their coordinators gone.
So that's I think the one thing that really worries me. Whenever an organization loses a star coordinator and they hire within. I'm not a fan of that. I am not now. Sometimes there's a certain culture, like Nike years ago brought somebody from outside the company to run it was a disaster. Sometimes there's a certain culture where you like people in Google. No Google, you don't want to bring in somebody from another company. They may not get the culture of it. But in football, generally, if you have a coordinator opening, go get the best coordinator in the world. It's the NFL. All these teams are printing money.
That the problem with the best coordinator in the world, he wants to be a head coach.
He doesn't want to be to.
Make a lateral move to coordinator. It is really tough to find great offense.
But that's the downside, the hiring good people, they may leave. Yeah, that's three ality along.
That's a good point.
Jmack with the news.
Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the Herd line.
Ja, he's already gambling and getting free Laker tickets. It's like it's like he never left. Todd McShay last Hour Live in Lance Heard.
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I talked about this earlier. If you're gonna make a massive trade, you got to get a lot of opinions on it before you make it. And I can't believe nobody stood up before that Luca trade of the Lakers. In any room, it doesn't matter if you're on the phone, a zoom call, somebody would go, yeah, I don't feel good about this at all. So is Luca or is Nico Harrison a loaner to private and only surrounds himself with yes man or just a nept All of them don't qualify you to be a GM of an NBA team. I don't know the man, but he just should stop talking. But here's Jerry Jones on that deal.
The world knows that I've got my hands full thinking about what we think about over here, much less trying to figure out I look at the Maverick to very much entertainment ee and Jane lives and dies with that basketball and just cried when Luca left.
But if I understand that, yeah, I mean, it's a very rarely in my life. I mean, if you, I don't even have a list of him, But very rarely in life have I seen a trade in pro sports and immediately went, oh, that's awful. If the media summarily acknowledges that's a whiff. It generally is I've said this about stars before. Sometimes we hype people up, but when we really go overboard, like Bryce Harper, Lebron James or Tiger Woods, it's generally warranted. Right Like it's like like Christian Polisic, like he's he's our best attacker, he's our best pure soccer talent ever, and people have been on him since he was like fourteen years old. It was warranted. Now we went to little bunkers on Freddie you do, but moved off that pretty quickly. But the Luca trade is what in the hell is that? What are we doing here? And you know, I think most of the time your instincts, your first up opinion on a move is WHOA And I said, I would have slept on it. A D Austin Reeves, three first round picks. I would have slept on it because he'd missed back to back camps plays. No defense can be ball centric, doesn't elevate necessarily everybody. I mean, the other night he had one assist, and that's playing with Lebron and Austin Reeves, so he didn't share the ball a lot. But I mean, one thing is clear Nico Harrison. I heard this yesterday. This is hard for me to come to terms with.
I did know that Luca was important to the to the fan base, I didn't quite know it to what level. But really the way we looked at it is, you know, if you're putting on the if you're putting the team on the floor, that's Kyrie, Clay PJ, Anthony Davis and Lively. We feel that's a championship caliber team and we would have been winning at a high level and that would have quieted some of the outrage now U.
In fairness, if the team didn't fall apart physically and won on a nine game winning streak, it would have helped a little. I think the only thing that can save Nico Harrison because I do like the Mavericks talent. They'll be a playoff team next year. I really believe that if Kyrie Irving comes back and they get a good draft pick, they'll be a good team. But if they got Cooper Flag, and we've looked at the odds for that, I do think if they got Cooper Flag, eventually ad Kyrie Cooper Flag, I think that would be the life preserver for Nico Harrison's career. But it is anytime you see a trade and your first reaction is the hell, what is that? It's a bad trade, and I, yeah, it's it's I mean, I remember. I don't even want to mention this because it seems like I'm picking on him, but I can remember a quarterback getting drafted really really high in a Midwestern franchise and just thinking this is an horrendous draft pick. Based on what I thought and what several people who I trust in the NFL thought, no reason to pick on him. Charles Barkley was more direct last night.
Man, don't do no more press conferences, Like, I don't even know what you're doing.
I really don't. Like.
I got sympathy and love for you, but I have zero idea what you're trying to do.
This war is over, brother, you.
You go to take you take in the IL. I hope you keep your job. I hope that team get healthy. But man, don't do any more interviews.
Yeah, and if you do, I've said this about NFL coaches before, if you do a press conference on Wednesday, don't wing it. Like the answer to almost anything as a public figure is politician, football coach, GM, don't wing it, and I feel I do feel bad. But the craziest part about this is did nobody for the Mavericks raise their voice or their hand before this was considered, which leads me to believe I mean, Jason Kidd didn't know, Mark Cuban didn't know. And both of those guys, especially Cuban, Cuban's a talker, he's social, he's verbal. If Mark didn't know, if Jason Kidd didn't know, well, then you're relying on like what junior staffers for the biggest move in the history of the franchise. If I was going to make a massive career move, I have four or five people. I'd call all of them much more successful than me, and I'd say, hey, you tell me you've been in this business for twenties. I wouldn't go to interns. Hey, Sparky, what do you think like Jason kiddn't know, Mark Cuban didn't know. Those are the Jason Kidd's top five point guard ever, and Cuban's one of the smartest people in the country in tech and frankly been a good owner.
If you didn't.
Include those two guys, who were you including in the conversation?
A lot of people just want to be surrounded by yes men, Colin. They want to be told they reinforce your belief.
We like everybody just agreed with it. If you had five guys that didn't that liked the NBA but didn't love it, If you had five year buddies and said, hey, we're gonna trade Luca for Max Christy Anthony Davis in the first round. Pick all five of your buddies, even if they don't love the NBA, would have been that's stupid.
But we see this in NFL NBA politics. You don't want to be challenged.
You want you believe you're smarter than everyone else and you can make all the decisions. And that's what this guy believed. Hey, I know a D and Kyrie from my dealings at Nike.
We're good. We're gonna win.
Even you're out here saying, hey, with Kyrie next year, they're really good.
If Kyrie's back, he ain't gonna be back by Christmas?
Is he bad? Trade? Bad message?
And by the way, chances to get Cooper Flagg one point eight percent to get the number one over a pick that's not happening.
So you're saying there's a chance. Okay, he went from Nike to the front office. Maybe it's just on a good fit. Maybe it's just that our three, Todd McShay
