Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. Sources from the sofa. This is me, Rome. We got Jason Aaron. Almost like an emergency pod. NBA free agency kicked off yesterday. We're recording Wednesday night well into the night. We had the knockoff game for the USA Mexico play the night before. Spectacular. All the games have been pretty spectacular. We had two come from behind wins early earlier today, including England getting two goals in the final 15 minutes to come back from behind to upset the Congo. And then we also had Belgium on the ropes, dead. And then Senegal with Mone, one of my favorite guys from Liverpool, previously of Liverpool. And Belgium scored two goals late in that game as well. And then another penalty kick and extra time to let to. To basically take away penalty kicks from us from that game. Senegal, I thought should have won, but Belgium came through.
Congo, I don't know, it depends on. I caught the second half of the game. I did not catch the first half, but it looked like they were kind of controlling the ball more or less throughout that game. And England scrapes away with two Henry Kane goals.
Erick, Harry Kane and pretty fascinating stuff.
Third game tonight. So we're gonna start off with the World Cup USA heavy favorites. I think it was like plus 800 moneyline against Bosnia, Herzogonia, whatever the long name is. Herzegovin, Govina,
[00:01:41] Speaker B: Bosnia for sure.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: Tight first half, man.
Not the same looking US Team that we've been seeing throughout the first three matches in group stage in the World Cup. But they did score a couple goals. They got called off sides, which I'm still iffy about. Like, what the fuck offsides mean sometimes? Because sometimes it looks like it's good. It doesn't look like it's good. Is it too much of an elbow, too much of a leg? I thought as long as they, they're. They're matching up with the defender, you're good to go.
They were matching, but like, you know, I don't know, whatever there was.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: There was one game, the guy had like 2 toes, offsides or something.
[00:02:18] Speaker A: Yeah, it's like, come on, man, come on. But rules are rules.
[00:02:23] Speaker C: Rome, you know, we just, you know, you're just speaking for the Americans who watch soccer once every four years and we just don't like it because it isn't where it at.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: Talking about, what I don't like is that red card. That's what I don't like. That was not an intentional move at all. It should have been a yellow card, if anything.
Twitter, X, whatever you want to call it, even Threads, they're up in arms like what the hell is that? You know, I guess what you were saying, Jason, everyone else that doesn't watch soccer was pretty, you know, caught off guard that one of our best guys in this World cup, who is technically born in the US but grew up in the UK and is of Nigerian descent, been a breakout star in this World cup, gets a red card in the second half and puts us with only 10 men with like another 30 minutes to go. That means he's suspended for the next game in the round of 16. A pretty big loss because he's been like our number one striker so far. So let's talk about that game first. But luckily, two zero, could have been three, could have been four, however you want to look at it, I'm glad that they got another goal in the final minutes to lock up this victory and go to the round of 16.
Thoughts on the US men's team right
[00:03:37] Speaker C: now, I agree with you. At the beginning of the game, it just didn't feel like we had at least the. We didn't have the possession, maybe a little bit of the speed there. There was a lot of stuff played in the USN where, you know, the keeper had to make, you know, two saves. They weren't, they weren't really hard. But, but, but it's still there. There was an offense for, for Bosnia at that point that was a little bit taken by surprise given, like, hey, what the favorites are going to be from the U.S. but I think so far in the tournament, you mentioned coming to these other games. Like, yeah, there's been some dogs that have just been super competitive and, and making some chances early in the game. But once the US Kind of got their feet underneath them a little bit, put a little more pressure. You mentioned a couple offsides that could have been goals and our best player and we'll get into the more the red car situation or at least our best goal scorer and best striker.
You know, Baligan, you know, pretty much almost scored the first one, then actually did, did score.
Did actually score the goal once it was on there. And I, I think there's just. There was some. There's something about him. And this is. We'll go into more if we preview the next game or talk about the next game. Like, there is something about just being around the net. We talk about hockey and stuff like that. There's a guy just around the net that's just gonna make something happen and get the goal, and that's what this guy plays like. Pulisic may be our most talented player. It has been you know, whatever it comes. But there's something has it.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: Whatever that is, he has it around the net.
[00:04:58] Speaker C: There is, there is a nose for
[00:05:00] Speaker B: the, he knows how to.
[00:05:00] Speaker C: There's a right. There's a nose for the goal whenever he gets around it. Even if it was, you know, the slightly offsides we talking through. But there he's. He's making something happen around there. And that's, and that's what that first goal really was for him. And then when it, when it comes to the red card, like, I mean, that is what all X is really talking about. I, I don't feel you could, you can slow this thing down in var. I think it's, I think it's more egregious when you look at it. It's like, hey, you reviewed this with like nine people in a dark room in some cave somewhere, wherever. FIFA's got this VAR team looking at it and we're doing this frame by frame, going down to him, stepping on a guy and twisting someone's letter. He's falling that way at the same time. And like to be able to say, this is a level of intent. You want to do a yellow card. Okay, that's fine. Yes, it was a foul is what it is, going for it. But like the level of intent, I mean, that's, that's where the things. I know we can be the, the American sports fan out of it, but I think even soccer experts that, you know, were on the broadcast that I've talked to in the past or some of the games, it's like, that is not. Yeah, that's not a red card. And it has ramifications for the tournament. I mean, you think if we compare this to basketball Rome, that's like when guys were getting like suspended the next game because they were on the bench and came off during like a tussle or something. And was it Amari Stoudemire like, you know, put a toe on onto the court or something and got suspended during a playoff game. And then we take somebody out, they
[00:06:16] Speaker B: turn and mess around. Back in the day, even if you stood out of your chair, you got suspended back then, didn't mess around.
[00:06:22] Speaker C: So, I mean, this, this has consequences for the tournament, but I, I feel like it's like, man, it wasn't like he just curb stomped him, Seth Rollins style. WWE that he was going to come down. I think there was, there's an active something for the ball. It was going for it. Yellow card, fine. And then, and then, and then it's tight. Going to the next game as far as the yellow card for him. But yeah, I, I think that's, that's.
I, I don't say the biggest story out of the game because it's just awesome. Just the way that, you know, the country is rallied around this team and where they're at. But man, it's just, it puts you down for as Aaron said, there's a nose for the ball as. As Baligan has it. And, and that's, and that's was going to put. Now this puts extra pressure on Pulisic or you know, G. If he's going to get the start over it or Berg Halter, whoever's. Maybe like. But someone doesn't have like we don't got the juice, you know, that we're getting for Baligan right now that that's going to get that goal. So there's going to have be other guys have to step up and, and, and to the team's credit, that's where the second goal was, man. Because you get this red card, you know.
You know, I, I always, I, I always try to be the smart ass of the group saying like, hey, they're on the penalty kill now. We got 30 minutes of the penalty kill. We're playing the man down and we're like, man, we're just on our heels the whole time. But this team didn't play on their heels. They played like, hey, we got 10 guys. We're gonna make this work. And I, I think Zlatan, you know, I want to talk a little more about the commentary, a little more present in this booth. I think Zlatan's, you know, said it perfectly where it's like that goal was two goals because it was a goal for the US but also defeating to Bosnia at that point is like, we're not, we're not getting this back. Like, it's over. We've taken, we've taken everything out for that goal. And just how beautiful that second goal was, you know, out of the free kick in the set piece and really put him away.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: Great goal. One thing that was interesting about this red card, everyone was in agreement, you know, soccer experts or, or not.
Lionel Messi had a similar play because I was watching that game as well. And he got the benefit of the doubt. This one though treatment, or you got a star treatment. This one was like, what? Like when you're watching Bang Bang, it's obviously just like a slip. Not a big deal. They could have given the yellow. I think it was intentionally screwing over the US and we still had like, what, 30 minutes to go, and you could see the US kind of taking a step back and like, oh, man, this looks like the old US Teams were like, they're playing timid and not aggressive, but they finally kind of picked up a little bit in the 80th minute. And after that, it was pretty fun to watch. Even with 10 guys, 11. So thank God we pulled the victory.
Lots of cheers. Awesome goal, set piece curling around. I think it hit one defender slightly on the head, and then it bounced off the goalie's hand as he was diving for the ball. So two, Two deflections to go inside the goal.
Quite beautiful, man. That's a highlight play nonetheless.
[00:09:05] Speaker C: So, yeah, just amazing shot by Tillman. I think even, even his teammates were just like, it wasn't about power in that shot. And I think that's where, you know, know, as a bunch of, as a bunch of novices watching soccer, like, that was it. It was almost to a chip shot to a degree. Obviously, there's a little more power, but that, but, like, literally, it's, it's placement, it's a certain amount of speed, a certain amount of, like, you know, bend, if you will, around, around that to go to a perfect point. And it's just amazing. I think that's, Those are, those are the, like, you always talk about, whether it's like, Olympic moments or things like that, like, that's a moment Tillman's never to forget. And for the country, like, when we talk about, like, what is this generation of US soccer going to be like, that's an ultimate moment because that was the death nail for Bosnia at that point. We're moving on, thank God. And it's just. Yeah. And it's just, it is just everything you want. Like, those, those are the. You remember everything about the game. And there's probably two things, but that, that's a, that's a the World cup moment. And the type of goal that you
[00:10:02] Speaker B: remember, it was good.
[00:10:03] Speaker A: They're still aggressive.
Well, I was gonna say after that,
[00:10:09] Speaker C: the aggressiveness to speak to that Rome, because I, I. You have mentioned watching USA Soccer. I think for the last 20 years, for us in our adult lifetime. I, I would say, like, we're just like, sitting there praying they're gonna play defense and, like, somehow get a lucky goal and it's all defense. We're just like, we're just, don't let him score. And then maybe something will happen and we'll get a goal. Like, every bit of this World cup, even when they were playing all the reserves against Turkey A, like, it was like, attack, attack, attack. And maybe it could have been a different, you know, detriment to the defense in certain aspects. And maybe the start of this game where it's like, maybe they're too aggressive. That's why Bosnia was getting some of the possession back into the US in the US Zone. But, like, there's. There's a better feel for the style to play, is like, we're not playing to lose. We're playing every game to win.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Yeah, well, we gotta remember this group hadn't played, what, in a week and a half because we had, what, nine, ten subs going in against Turkey A.
So, yeah, I mean, it took them a little bit to get their feet under them, but, you know, Bosnia was playing the back five. They were playing defense, looking for chances to capitalize on the counter. They had a couple good chances early.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: Tough. They were tough.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: So, you know, USA kind of just stuck with the game plan, like you guys said. Stayed aggressive, stayed aggressive. Finally got that kind of deflection on the pass ball again, gets that shot, goes in. He had a couple offsides that were, you know, they were. They were offsides. They weren't really close ones. I mean, if you look at the digital line, their full bodies were offside. So it wasn't like we're talking to shoulder and arm like we've seen in some of these other games. But, yeah, I mean, Team usa, you know, they go down the red card, obviously, I agree with you guys, was should not have been called a red card. I mean, you got two guys just playing for the ball foul. I mean, they didn't even. The referee didn't even assess a yellow card during the game. So, I mean, the VAR should have really never even got involved. I mean, if you get a yellow card, they want to get involved and looked at more. Okay, But I mean, this. I mean, there was a number of yellow cars that could have been called on Bosnia for pulling jerseys, ripping jerseys.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: I mean, it was like, really anything.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Yeah, they weren't calling anything. And then to see this red card pop up at, what, 65th minute, whatever it was, 30 minutes left. I was. I was worried, right? USA, I was worried. But then you get the free kick, and I guess that's Tillman's kind of specialty, right? He's that go to guy that round the net there. That's good for these free kicks. Gets it over the wall.
Nice touch power, the whole nine yards. Great location. Once that went in, I think everybody, Team USA fans, everybody just Kind of, like, took a deep breath and, like, we got this right. Even if we give up a goal, we're still gonna go through.
But, yeah, Roman, you touched on Belgium. That. That was a crazy finish by them, and it's gonna be a heck of a game. But without Bell again, it's gonna be a tough, tough matchup without our lead striker, for sure.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: Tough match. I was gonna say it was something about. About the VAR bar.
They haven't really opposed going against the ref in any of the games so far. The fact that this is, like, one of the first ones, they actually went against it complete. And they did it pretty quickly, too. It was. It wasn't even, like, cut and dry like that. So I don't know. I have.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: Well, yeah, I mean, like, we touched on. If you really pause and look at the ankle and the foot, I mean, like, it looks like red card, like 100.
[00:13:12] Speaker A: Yeah, but.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: But if you watch the plate unfolding, they're both. You're looking at it like, hey, this is like a basic foul challenge by both guys. Let's just play on. It's unfortunate, but, yeah, I did the two most.
[00:13:24] Speaker C: The two most memorable Vs in the last 24 hours was this play. And then in the Ecuador, Mexico game where we var, the guy covering the. Covering his mouth review that, and that guy red got red carded, like, the 93rd minute or something like that.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: That was pretty funny.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: That's an automatic objection. That's an automatic red card, right? Fe is like, hey, if you cover your mouth, you're automatically gone. He wanted to get tossed. He knew.
[00:13:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: It's been, like, a lot of racism, so. So they're trying to curb it at this World Cup. So. Yeah, that guy didn't give a. Dude, no.
[00:13:54] Speaker C: He knew they were losing and stuff. But it's just funny to me, like, we've used. Review. It isn't like, you know, Aaron mentioned the. The offsides by, like, a toe. Okay, cool. We're using. We're using the technology for, like, strategical, you know, rule placement. At this point, it's like we're talking about a judgment call on, you know, a tackle with two guys going for the ball and then, you know, mouth cover. That's, like, the two things in the last 24 hours. I remember from the. From the VAR officials
[00:14:22] Speaker A: real quick.
Norway, they took care of business towards the end of the game. 21 against Ivy Coast. France dominated against Sweden.
They look.
Everyone's saying they look like the best out there. Mexico, a big win. They dominated that whole game. 2 0.
Both goals in the first half. Second half was basically them just controlling the paint or I didn't recognize that Ecuador team.
[00:14:49] Speaker B: Not the same team from the group stage that I saw.
[00:14:51] Speaker A: Not the same group.
So Mexico, first time they've won a knockout.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: England on 40 years.
[00:15:00] Speaker A: That's be really good, actually, because England's been kind of shaky, but that altitude in Mexico City is like, no joke, man. That's going to be really tough. And it's hot and humid. It's the middle of summer right now, so I don't know, man. Like, Mexico has, like, a really good shot of moving on. England lucky to escape the other Congo. Earlier today, they were down 1 0. Congo scored like, at the seventh minute, and then Kane at the end, I think it was the 75th minute or 73rd. He gets the equalizer and then gets the other one with like, what, six, five minutes ago, Whatever.
[00:15:34] Speaker B: It was two minutes, something like that.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: Breaking for the Conga, man, we've only. We've almost had some, like, close upsets at this World Cup. It's been a lot of fun. It's nice to see, like, not like the traditional dominant teams just like, taken away a lot of San San Antonio spurs meltdowns, I would say, in this World cup, which is classic. It's, like, really good.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: It's carrying over, man, from one ball sport to another one here.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: Senegal, solid, heartbreaking loss, man. I. I thought they should have won.
I think it's gonna be a good match against Belgium. Belgium has a lot to prove. Usa, you're right. Maybe they look a little bit tired for not playing a full game in more than a week. And then they're gonna be losing, you know, missing one of their main guys. But that should be pretty exciting Monday night.
Maybe I can watch that with you guys down there in SoCal. That'll be a lot of fun. But knockout stages, so good so far. We have some really fun ones coming up tomorrow, which by the time the pod comes out, my Spain plays tomorrow morning. You got Portugal, Croatia, Switzerland, Algeria. That's gonna be really good tomorrow night.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: So
[00:16:44] Speaker A: any thoughts on the World cup overall on knockout stages? You guys digging it?
[00:16:49] Speaker C: Yeah, there's been some great stuff you talked about. The few games today prior to the U.S. i think, you know, England and the England. In the England game, the Harry King goals, I'd say if, you know, if everyone's watching the broadcast stuff or even just seeing clips online, like I've. We talked about the broadcast a little bit, I'm sure. I want to talk about as far as we, we mentioned Alexi Lawless, but I think comparing I, I really think like between Zlatan and Terry and I re like there, there's some really great stuff as those guys have kind of talked through and I think just educating the, you know, the audience on stuff. And Henri breaking down like Harry Kane's goal of literally like how difficult it is like he basically was falling to his right and like reaching his foot out to come to the side to like pull it back and him like breaking down like where his foot was placed and how, you know how it was to be able to execute that angle and not like completely fall over to your right. And, and so I mean it's just like some of these details of like breaking down where it's not like a hot take to hot take debate that you're gonna get on ESPN over like some fundamental things and just the excellence on display in this tournament. Obviously Kane for England, Holland for Norway and you know, and then just Mbappe for, for France. I think you, you, you kind of glossed over them. There's some great stuff where you just watch France right now and these guys are just, just, I mean they're kind of at another level and I don't, I don't even know if the US plays them until maybe like the finals or something. But you look at like midfield speed of like France and I just feel like they could just outrun just anybody. They're just going to get the ball and just like it's, It's a different 40 yard dash they're doing compared to the rest of the world.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Do they're really good. I think we would play with the quarters which would be crazy if we get that far, but that'd be.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: Well, yeah, I mean if we do beat Belgium, theoretically you could be looking at Spain or Portugal right in that final eight. Let's see.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: We'll see what happens. Are vulnerable. Both are vulnerable. Who knows? Spain is. Was the happy cravings coming in but they've been kind of slow.
[00:18:48] Speaker B: Not given up a goal yet. They're one of like two teams that have not given up a goal I think in this tournament.
[00:18:52] Speaker A: So the other one.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: Mexico's been playing phenomenal, dude.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: Them you would have told me two weeks ago Rome. I would have said no chance against England. I, I think they're probably should be the favorite going in against England the way they're playing.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: A pretty good chance actually.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: Altitude at home.
It's going to be tough travel for England too.
[00:19:11] Speaker C: I, I will say the they did the, the host countries getting, I guess, the host privilege of home field advantage between Mexico and the United States. I mean, like, at this point, the US has stayed on the west coast between la, San Francisco and Seattle. And Seattle, Mexico pretty much staying, hasn't left home.
[00:19:33] Speaker B: Basically Mexico City.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:35] Speaker C: And they're, I mean, I don't know if you guys play the NCAA football on EA Sports where you, like Stadium Pulse when you're, like, playing Big House
[00:19:45] Speaker A: and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:19:46] Speaker C: The controller is shaking.
[00:19:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:47] Speaker C: I feel, I feel England. Mexico this week is. England's gonna walk on the field like it is Sunday night at the Big House in Michigan, and just like, everything's gonna be shaking there. In. In was a Stadium Azteca down in Mexico City.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: I don't know if you guys been keeping track, though, but on. On X, there's been, like, a lot of fans from the opposing team saying how racist Mexican fans are. It's not really making the media right now, but I guess they're pretty brutal on the pitch and also, like, around the hotels and just like, making it really uncomfortable then.
I don't know. I, I, you know, it is what it is. But there, there is some, there is
[00:20:25] Speaker C: some great stuff for the rest of the world acknowledging that the, the, the Latin audience on Twitter is the most ruthless. People, like, yeah, people are calling for
[00:20:35] Speaker A: Mexican fans to be banned from future World Cups. Let's just put it that way. It's like, wow.
[00:20:40] Speaker C: Well, even like, Mexico, the night before the game, they were, like, all outside their hotel with, like, drums and everything like that, trying to keep the team awake.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: So good. So good.
[00:20:52] Speaker B: It's almost like if you're England, you just got to show up game day. Right. Kind of like how the Rams did when they went to London. Just show up the day the game, get off the flight, go over there and play the game.
[00:21:03] Speaker A: I mean, you might as well, dude,
[00:21:04] Speaker B: because you're not gonna get a good night's sleep like you guys said you can, are you got to pay, like, somebody to say, hey, we're staying at this motel, hotel, whatever, and, you know, just lie to somebody so you get a good night's sleep somewhere or keep Harry Kane somewhere else and cozy him up. So that's the guy. That's the only guy scoring right now for England. Really?
[00:21:24] Speaker A: Yeah, there's some nice hotels there, but, like, it's like Europe, too. Those buildings are old as hell and they're made out of cement. It's just. So, yeah, you can't get a good Night's sleep.
Well, I'm excited. Maybe we get on another pod before the next round Monday night. Maybe not. Not sure yet. But World cup.
This one's been a lot of fun. They're killing it. So looking forward to the games over the weekend. Let's take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to talk about the crazy NBA offseason that just kicked off on Tuesday night.
Okay, time to talk a little bit. NBA this offseason has been like no other. It's been so many trades, so many implications that are going to that we're going to be feeling the ramifications from seasons on out.
I don't even know where to start where, like where the biggest trade was because I think last time we were on, we talked about Giannis, right, Going down to Miami. They got nobody left. They were expecting to sign maybe Powell.
[00:22:25] Speaker B: Powell.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: Guys, the Chicago Bulls, great signing. I think it's a pretty good contract for them. Team friendly new coach. I'm kind of digging what the Bulls have been doing so far this offseason.
[00:22:36] Speaker C: All the makings of an 8 to 10 seed. I'm not thinking. Aaron, right?
[00:22:40] Speaker A: Definitely back.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: Definitely back in the picture for sure. I'm already penciled it in. That's a yes on that prop bet. They're back in.
[00:22:48] Speaker A: Lakers made a lot of noise earlier today, Wednesday by signing four guys within 30 minutes. It was ridiculous. In the morning I was just like, who? Who, who?
I like all the guys that the Lakers sign. Pretty cool. People are saying like Plinka is cooking, he's saving his job because they were not happy with Polinka. There's like a lot of back and forth with the Lakers, whether you want to believe it or not. LeBron not going back. That's news that was kind of surprising.
Rich Paul with his podcast on the ringer with Max Kellerman, he was saying how that came about. That's a pretty interesting interview if you guys want to go check that out. But everything stole the show today when Jalen Brown, it was announced he's being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. Four who, two first round picks, two second round picks. And Paul George.
What?
That's it? A guy 35 plus two first round picks, two second round picks.
Like there was no market for Jalen Brand apparently.
I even was up on X, you know, making comments. I was pretty active today.
People like all Lakers could have got that. They like paid more than that for the guy to Utah.
And it's like, dude, no one's gonna give The Lakers, Jalen Brown. So that was never going to happen. That was. I, I don't know how that deal came to be.
Obviously 76ers, in my opinion, win that outright.
Celtics, I don't know why they still went forward to it. Like, how come they couldn't take Jalen Brown out for like a little dinner, you know, like, hey, sorry, we tried training you for Giannis. That come through, but let's patch things over. That happens all the time in professional sports. He didn't even ask for a trade. Maybe it's him doing conferences up in Europe and you know about media and like racism or whatever.
The, the twitch trains weren't really great since the offseason kind of kicked off.
Maybe he put a bad vibe in everybody's mouth, but that kind of stole the show. But there was like a lot of movement here. I don't think we've seen movement this much in an offseason in a very, very long time. Lakers lose LeBron, they lost Marcus Smart, a few other guys.
Giannis is gone. Browns traded Lonzo Balls now on the Timberwolves. People either like it, they love it, they don't. Nobody trusts Lonzo Ball, that's for sure. That's been like the consensus all around. Java Rant now a Portland Trailblazer. That was huge. That was a big trade. Big block buzzer trade. Basically, the Grizzlies have torn apart their young promising team from a few years ago that were just on the doorstep of a Western Conference finals. So lots of crazy stuff here. I don't know where you guys want to start, where you guys want to break it down, some feedback, what you guys think, but take it away.
[00:25:37] Speaker C: I don't know if the Sixers won this trade room.
I would put it down that I've seen some stuff that the Celtics have a better winning percentage without Jalen Brown every season.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: Analytics are not favoring Jalen Brown, but that's been the criticism.
[00:25:56] Speaker B: Well, I mean to touch on what Jason is saying. The Sixers just beat the Celtics in the playoffs.
[00:26:03] Speaker C: So I, I, that's what I, I don't know if it's a slam dunk, because I think part of, I'm, I'm sure the basketball Twitter's running with it. They're talking, is Nico Harrison running the Celtics right now?
But two first round picks ain't nothing. Two seconds.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Obviously Nico, he wouldn't take all those drafts until he wants one guy.
[00:26:23] Speaker C: That's fair.
[00:26:23] Speaker B: He would have taken, he would have taken Embiid. Give me a bead. In a, in a first round and we're done.
[00:26:29] Speaker C: When you think about the, like what the, what the Thunder have done as far as draft picks and assets and stuff and what these things turn into, like, I think it's the never know part, but I think there's something about the Celtics. They're confident with what they have in Tatum and you're gonna, you know, pair Paul George and you know, he's been a good. Probably number two in a couple of these different teams, so I'm not really sure. I think. You said Brown didn't ask for the trade. It seemed like he was asking for the trade.
[00:26:56] Speaker A: Yeah, he didn't ask for it publicly.
[00:26:58] Speaker C: He said it was the best year. That was his favorite year or best year of his career when. Because Tatum wasn't on the floor.
[00:27:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:04] Speaker C: And so, yeah, I mean, if you're saying that it's like, okay, I can't run with the one, two guy and this other is going to be number one and I want to be number one. Like, it. It's probably not going to work. Also their style, I don't know if the style works. And like, what are you going to change with this? Because, you know, you're basically like, it's a three pointer bust. And when the threes ain't going in, you lose in the first round or lose in the second round. Like, you know, we, we thought this team was going to be a dynasty and run with it. And it was one and done. And I don't think the, the formula is there. You got to make a change. It's drastic. I think they got a good, they got a good pl. A good player in return, obviously on the back side of his career. And there's future assets, you know, you should do with them. So, I mean, in the NBA, trades are weird because you kind of.
You're not getting. Someone's not getting the better end of the deal and you're from the current, but also maybe the future.
I mean the, I think the one thing about this is Paul George is the most valuable player ever in the NBA. There's, there's a. I saw that.
[00:27:59] Speaker A: I saw that.
[00:28:00] Speaker C: Yeah, you saw that. Of what has been traded for Paul George.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Teams have gotten a, an ass load of assets from him.
[00:28:08] Speaker B: Like Paul George was on a trajectory to be really, really good and then he broke his leg. Remember that Team USA that in Vegas during camp and never really was the same player. I mean, he's still. He was a good player, but never really kind of materialized to what People thought, remember him? LeBron, kind of Eastern Conference finals, Pacers, Miami.
[00:28:29] Speaker A: I do.
[00:28:30] Speaker B: Frank Vogel, when he got his first as a head coach, that was kind of like the team that was coming up. And Indiana just never got over the hump there against Miami.
I mean, if I'm Philadelphia, I get why they made the move. They wanted to get Paul George off their books. I mean, that contract for him and what he gave them in the playoffs was not great. I mean, against New York, he was there in the first half, wasn't there in the second half. And all. In all those games, four games, but they did give up a lot of draft picks. So I think that's what Boston really liked. Hey, like, we got George for two years. We don't have to worry about the Jalen Brown saga. We got, what, two first and two second round picks. Maybe they can package those together and get another player, another star player gets later on.
I like to trade right now for Philly, I mean, because I like Maxi, I like Brown.
I'm not a big fan of what Embiid's got left in his game, but I do like. I do like their coach, Nick Nurse. I. I'm not sure who the new GM is there because obviously Darren Moore is no longer there. I'm not sure who the new guy
[00:29:30] Speaker A: is, but I can't remember.
[00:29:31] Speaker B: But I think moving off Paul George is something they wanted to do. I don't know necessarily. I think this is probably the best trade for Boston as far as players in return they could have got. I mean, we were talking last week about, you know, they obviously they were trying to get Giannis and then they get Paul George. You look at Giannis, Paul George, big difference there.
We threw out a couple teams, Clippers, Nuggets. I know Portland was kind of heavily in the mix as well for Brown. I think they could have got some young, but they could have got maybe Scoot, Henderson, a couple other guys back there in return for Portland.
But, yeah, we'll see what happens. I mean, Brad Stevens, I think he knows what he's doing. He's been a pretty good GM head coach there and running that organization for a while.
So I don't know.
You know, these.
[00:30:16] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:30:17] Speaker B: A lot of stuff's going down in the east, man. I mean, everyone. A lot of stuff is going down in the East.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: It's like the great arms race, you know, in the 70s or 80s where whenever, you know, Russian, the US they're all trying to go to the moon or whatever, get new.
[00:30:32] Speaker B: This Is the new NBA what? I mean, we've talked about what we've had eight new NBA champs over the last eight seasons. So everybody just wants a piece of the pie, right? I mean, Mitchell Robinson's gone. He goes to the Celtics. We didn't even talk about that. Leaving the next thing. That's interesting.
[00:30:46] Speaker A: So they've lost a few backup guys, reserve guys.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: That truck that he had in the parade, Rome, that's going to get changed a little green now, no longer that blue and orange leaving the Knicks. So he's got to get that re modeled up. But the 47 million shouldn't have a problem with that.
[00:30:59] Speaker A: No.
Yeah, and, and even Tobias Harris leaving the Pistons. I thought that's a great pickup for the Spurs. That's a little dangerous, man. That's a, that's a low key big move. Pacers picked up some guys though. They should be a little reactive. Retool. I think they bounced back really well from not getting a high end draft pick this year. Let's talk about The Lakers though. LeBron letting the team know that he's not coming back. It was kind of like, do you want me? Do you not? It's kind of like that. Like everybody knows that they're breaking up, but nobody wants to.
[00:31:30] Speaker B: Lakers want to move on from LeBron because I saw some things that maybe the Lakers said, hey, you aren't really in our plans anymore.
[00:31:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I think they wanted LeBron back. They also didn't want to insult him by giving him like a low amount. Because honestly, like, if you just said like, hey, I'm down to just take like a $2 million contract for like another two years, I think they would have been more than gracious of signing it. But he never said that. And now he's coming out publicly saying like, you know what, I'm open to sign with any contender. Obviously he doesn't see the Lakers as that. And Laker Nation has been pretty vocal. Jamie Foxx, by the way, I'm a big Jamie Foxx fan. He's been talking a lot of like saying like, everyone's a clown. Like Laker fans. Jamie, you're not from LA, dude. LeBron was never an LA guy. You know, die hard Laker fans, like, we appreciated the, you know, the COVID championship. We appreciated him bringing the team back to relevancy for those eight years. Were they a little underwhelming, you know, first round exits? Yeah, you had a couple like crazy Jokic contending teams there. We made to the Western Conference finals, a couple tough losses. You know, contending in the first round. But it was just one chip. But he, he was, it's always going to be Kobe's town. You know, he just passed away. That's just the way it is.
I think Laker fans are really appreciative, but it was just, he's just not an LA guy. So I think, I think LeBron knows that and he wanted to go in his career somewhere else where he could be content and happy.
[00:32:54] Speaker C: You're the Laker fan room, so you can speak to me on this. But I think about the legends of the Lakers and they have so many.
But I think when you think of the, the kind of pairings over time and you start with, at least for, I guess for us you start in the 80s. You had, you had Kareem, that was probably the, you can say he was the greatest player of all time, at least the greatest scorer of all time. But then you had Magic. And I don't, I don't know if people like will consider Kareem this all time great Lakers. He's probably a little bit underrated compared to probably his reputation given how great he was because it was Magic's team. Like Magic was of the 80s, that, that was the guy. And even though Kareem's a Laker, he spent all those years with the Laker, like Magic was his team. And then when you look at the Shaq and Kobe era, like it was two and they deliver the championships and Shaq will be, you know, somewhat synonymous with that jersey. But I, you know, I, you know, I think of him as a kid in Orlando. You think of him with the championship, with the Heat and at the end of his career bouncing to the Celtics and the Cavs and different stuff. But then Kobe, it's like it's the Laker. And so like there's, I think there's this tears to it where you have like this Magic in Kobe where these guys were purple and gold the entire time. They deliver these championships. They never left. Even though Kobe wanted to be a bull. But we'll go over that. But
[00:34:15] Speaker B: Magic wanted out year one or two. Right too. Because he was frustrated with everything.
[00:34:20] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:34:21] Speaker C: But, but they didn't happen. So their legacy was there. And so the Lakers are known for bringing in the stars, but there's some transient to, to, to most of the stars. But the guys that you said it's Kobe's town because hey, like they were praising this guy even when the Lakers were bad and you came to LeBron and like he delivered you The COVID championship. But it's. It's funny when. When I just think of it, you said eight years.
It doesn't feel like he was there for eight years. I think that was his longest tenure of any like one stint with a team. And none of us are considered like LeBron was a Laker.
[00:34:52] Speaker A: That that's the irony because yeah, you're right because both of his stints with Cleveland in totality I think was is 11 years. But yeah, straight eight years continuous. It's amazing.
[00:35:03] Speaker B: I mean the eight years. But it wasn't really a successful eight years. I mean without kind of the play in tournament and all that the Lakers.
[00:35:10] Speaker A: Well, without the plane which we have not talked about it. Yeah they would have missed out on even more playoffs probably I think. What two more.
[00:35:16] Speaker B: Yeah. So when you look at it, I mean I don't know where they ranked before COVID hit where they were in the seatings in the west.
But obviously that was a big, big help for them winning and they won it giving the credit for that.
But they never really were contending for championships. They made it. They were kind of a surprise when they made it to the Western Conference finals and got what's swept by the Nuggets. That was kind of. That to me was probably the best Laker team outside of the one that obviously during COVID won in that those
[00:35:46] Speaker A: are all close games when they got swept.
[00:35:48] Speaker B: But yeah, yeah, but they never kind of really got back to that point and just seemed like the Lakers were always a sixth, seventh ape seed or a play in under LeBron's tenure. And then obviously they got Luca. So is it really been LeBron's team for the last year and a half or has it been Lucas team? There's kind of a back and forth discussion and look at LeBron.
Whatever he said is, you know, came out wants to go somewhere where he's going to be happy and can win a championship and obviously wasn't happy in LA being number two or three now with Reaves getting that big contract and the Lakers look at the Lakers aren't a real threat to win a championship. So I see them getting out of there.
[00:36:27] Speaker A: Well thing with the Reaves, Detroit really wanted him. Lakers had no choice but to re sign him. So like I don't think they want to repeat what they did with what's his face and you know walking away to the Thunder. I think he walked away through the Bulls first.
[00:36:42] Speaker B: Yeah, Caruso.
Yeah, a lot cheaper books but.
[00:36:46] Speaker A: Yeah but. But they did acquire Walker Kessler. I don't know too much of his game. I know of him. I've seen some of his games. I know he's like highly regarded on the potential.
[00:36:55] Speaker B: Nobody, nobody knows any of the potential that comes out of Utah.
[00:36:58] Speaker A: Nobody knows first round.
[00:36:59] Speaker B: Nobody sees those guys play.
[00:37:00] Speaker A: Two more swaps plus two second round picks. Pretty crazy stats wise. He's the best. One of the best shot blockers and offensive rebound guys in the world.
If wembanyama did not exist, Kenny actually put a whole season together that has not happened in his whole NBA career aside from his rookie year. So crazy. They also got that guy out of Toronto. Big guy shooting three talented. You know that fits well with Luka. They got Quentin Grimes, Colin Sexton. I think the contracts were okay maybe like a little bit on the higher side. But if you're looking at what fits around Luka, some. Some pretty solid fit fittings is the
[00:37:42] Speaker C: problem just going to be wrong. This is a 50 win team that probably loses in the first round and if they're lucky they can make it to the second round.
[00:37:48] Speaker A: I don't know. Depends how the rest of the West. I just think.
[00:37:51] Speaker C: I just. I just think they're looking at coming. I think the Lakers are coming at this. Like I don't think it's a bad team and you probably are set up but this just isn't. This isn't a dynasty building team right now. So what's doing. And you don't have a first round pick till like 2039 or something like that.
[00:38:06] Speaker A: I'm not a big fan. I'm pretty sure they'll get some back in return off of something. But I still think they have the chance to be in the same range.
Not having LeBron's going to be pretty tough. Everyone has to stay healthy though. But really interesting though. Obviously Lakers have a new regime running things.
Palinka man, just like another version of Mitch cup check. I don't know what to think.
[00:38:30] Speaker B: He's going to be out soon.
[00:38:31] Speaker A: He might be. I don't know. But
[00:38:35] Speaker C: overall they gotta fire him soon enough because I need the made for TV movie with Rob Lowe.
It's just all I want.
[00:38:44] Speaker B: I don't think you can hang out at one of these.
[00:38:46] Speaker C: There's no better casting in anything that just like Rob Lowe is Rob pulling.
[00:38:51] Speaker A: I like the moves that Lakers have done so far. Could they have given away a little bit less? I. I think so.
You know, kind of reminds me like the Timothy Mozgov contract. But it's not as bad, right? These guys, I mean they Good potentials.
[00:39:05] Speaker B: I mean, Kessler's been rumored. The Lakers been interested in him for a while.
[00:39:09] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:39:11] Speaker B: Utah's not really been willing to give him up. I mean, look at Utah. I think offered him 140 million. He didn't want him really sign an offer sheet. He didn't want. He didn't want to be in Utah, right?
[00:39:22] Speaker A: No.
[00:39:23] Speaker B: And so the Lakers need a big man. They need a rim protector. A guy that can rebound, a guy that can block shots. That's what Luca needs. Look, when you got two bad perimeter players in Luca and Reeves, you need a rim protector.
[00:39:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:36] Speaker B: I mean, so. I mean, every team in the NBA wants those guys. So look, now the Lakers got it, so they had to overpay for it.
[00:39:42] Speaker A: Right.
[00:39:43] Speaker B: They could. I mean, Duran was another guy that they were interested in.
[00:39:46] Speaker A: Detroit's gonna match everybody. Yeah.
[00:39:48] Speaker B: Detroit said they would match that offer. Personally, I would probably. I'm not a big durian guy. I think he's undersized for a center, and I don't think he's worth the money. If I was to try to probably move off him as well. But they're gonna keep him, it sounds like.
But Kessler, if he stays healthy. Look, your two best players, or two of your three best players now are injury prone.
Kessler's played 63 games the last two years.
Luca, we know he always gets hurt, is going to come up lame and miss 15 to 25 games some point in the season. Whether it's a calf, a hamstring, whatever it is, something happened.
So again, like Jason said, are the Lakers a 48 to 52 win team, a 4, 5, 6 seed?
Maybe they get out of the first round because they don't have to play the Nuggets and the T Wolves because that's probably your first round matchup. And if they do beat them, they're not good enough to beat the Thunder. And they're not good enough to beat the spurs, who both teams have gotten better through the draft. The Thunder added more size, and now size has been added into bias. Harris, which we touched on, is a, you know, six man of the year candidate that they can bring off the bench. Now it's the size factor, though.
[00:40:55] Speaker A: Like, I. I think you guys are underselling this. Like, the Lakers decide to go big to kind of compet against. They have to offset Thunder and. And the Spurs. So I don't know how this seems to look.
[00:41:03] Speaker B: 73 centers now in your conference, you need a 72 guy that can play. I don't know you need it.
[00:41:09] Speaker A: I still think they could still be a 51 team. How everything else plays out, I don't know. But it's. It's a tough conference. I do like the moves, but you know, we'll see what happens real quick before we bounce out.
Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors.
If you guys know, I have my neighbor over here.
There, there's beers in the fridge if you want.
Yeah, just pour me a shot too.
[00:41:40] Speaker B: I thought you quit drinking, Roman. Now here you are drinking again. You caught this on on air, right, Jason? It's being recorded, remember? Hey, I'm done drinking. I don't drink anymore. Bam, here he is. Pour me a shot.
[00:41:51] Speaker A: Quiet, Leonard. Man, this aspiration deal like NBA.
I kind of wish we had Stern back because he would have closed his door a long time ago.
Probably their owners kicked out of the league.
There's probably like four or five first round picks and like a hundred million dollar fine coming the Clippers way. But that's not happening yet, so we'll see what happens. But it's really funny though, and I thought some.
Somebody had a podcast about it. It's really funny though how Kawhi just wanted to deal with the Raptors. The Clippers just want to deal with the Raptors. Remember Raptors want to re sign him after the championship. He was a free agent.
There was some mumblings about like some deals how the rappers didn't want to give like some side money, you know, with, with Uncle Dennis. And all of a sudden he signs with the Clippers.
[00:42:36] Speaker B: Private plane and ownership. Montreal Caterpillar.
[00:42:40] Speaker A: Remember Paul George was on the Thunder. The Thunder had a really good team with I think Carmelo and Paul George and Russell. Like they did pretty well that year. You know, they only had half a year. Then all of a sudden everything happened where he was in La La Land on, on the paperclips. And now he miraculously goes back on a very friendly trade with the Toronto Raptors. Kind of like hush hush money. That's what this feels like to me. But on the plus side though, I don't know if you look at the odds this makes Toronto a contender or a pretender.
[00:43:12] Speaker C: East feels just so, so wide open.
[00:43:14] Speaker A: Wide open.
What happened to Boston, man? They kind of shot themselves in the foot, I think. I think the New York Knicks got everybody scared.
[00:43:23] Speaker C: I just think there's an opportunity at the same time. I mean, the Knicks won. Yes. Oh man. Maybe he did quit drinking, man. He can't do shots anymore. Whatever you're drinking over there.
[00:43:32] Speaker A: I Have shot glasses. You give me a little sauce container,
[00:43:36] Speaker B: fire chicken sauce or whatever you had earlier.
[00:43:40] Speaker A: I did quit drinking for a few days.
[00:43:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it's, it's, it's Team USA1. We've got to have a shot for victory.
[00:43:49] Speaker C: No, I. Roma. I still think it's wide open in the East. I mean, you had, I mean, you had the Pacers basically throwing in the towel for the season.
I think Boston's retooling to a degree. Miami's making a splash to get something. I, I don't know what they're gonna put around. Bam.
[00:44:08] Speaker A: I think they shot themselves in the foot.
[00:44:09] Speaker C: I don't think so. I mean, I, I could pull up some stats. I think Tom Haberstro had. When you look at Boston, but like that, that winnings percentage, aren't you guys
[00:44:16] Speaker A: like not into dboa, whatever that is? I don't want to hear your stats right now.
[00:44:20] Speaker C: For Beth, I'm talking about winning percentage. Like not DVOA, but like the last three seasons, they're 850, an.857 winning percentage without Jaylen Brown. So I think everyone like overreacting of like maybe what this team is and isn't without Jaylen Brown. But like, you could be right. But, but I still think it's, it's wide open. People are making moves and I don't. You know, the Knicks had maybe the run and if you look at the, the recent trend of the NBA, last eight seasons, eight different championships, there's a path, there's a path in the east where in the west you got two powerhouse monsters that maybe own that conference
[00:44:54] Speaker A: for a decade who can take down the thunder of the Spurs. Yeah, yeah.
[00:44:58] Speaker B: I mean, the west, the west, you know who the two teams are to be in the east, you know, who is the team to beat? Is it the Knicks? I mean, they've lost, you know, they lost backups.
[00:45:09] Speaker A: These backups were like, like star studded players. But they played some valuable minutes in
[00:45:13] Speaker B: the playoffs and one of the reasons why they were so good in the playoffs was their bench. Their bench actually produced in these playoffs.
[00:45:19] Speaker A: They lost two bigs that were really huge around protecting the rim.
Huge.
[00:45:24] Speaker B: So you got that. The Pacers. We'll see what happens with Halliburton. They signed I.
O'.
[00:45:30] Speaker A: Brie. Yeah.
[00:45:31] Speaker B: From the Sixers, which is a nice wing addition player, good pickup. He can, he can shoot, he plays defense, he brings energy type of guy that the Pacers like.
You know, we talked, we touched on it. Miami, I think Miami. Miami's in Like a little three year window where I think this is going to be a fill out year for them. Like if there's a point where maybe mid season they can make another trade to go for it, they will. But they're going to kind of see what they got and then kind of build around that. Another piece is 76ers.
Do they leap Boston now that they got Jaylen Brown? I think they do. At least this year I think they do, I think Brown, but again, I don't know how much do they, how much are they going to pit in Embiid, right? I mean Emed's, let's be realistic. He's playing on like one and a half legs. He's just, he's, he's, he's going to get hurt again. He's going to play 45, 50 games.
So we'll see what happens there.
Orlando, I mean no one's talking about Orlando. Everybody expected big things for them last year. Can they get back into the mix to new coach?
They may try to make a move.
So we'll see. I think to me the east, the east is open in Detroit.
Everyone's already moved them down to like the second tier teams and they were the top seed in the east last year.
[00:46:47] Speaker A: So I'm surprised because Detroit, Orlando, me and you, Aaron, we've been pretty up on them. I can't remember if you were up on them or not Jason, but I really liked them a year ago before they started making the runs. Young, talented teams, they made a lot of changes, find their coaches, lost some backup guys. I don't know what this means for them, losing some continuity.
Philly is always kind of the mix but never really doing anything. Brooklyn has made some moves too in
[00:47:12] Speaker B: the west, the polls, the Bulls, we touched on it. But look, where does LeBron, where does LeBron end up? I mean Cleveland, Miami are both still in the mix.
[00:47:22] Speaker A: Where I want to end this with Braun can be like if he's willing to take the minimum. Dude, Aaron, you threw out the Spurs. Spurs.
But there's a lot of rumors like could he go to Minnesota?
[00:47:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I heard that.
[00:47:36] Speaker A: I don't know where else actually I think that's one. I think it's the most sense.
[00:47:39] Speaker B: Minnesota.
What? Cleveland, Miami and Warriors, those are your top four now.
[00:47:44] Speaker A: Now I just think they're contending with the Warriors. Like you don't want like a whole bunch of like 40 old guys. Like they'll, they might be good for three months but are they gonna all stay healthy? I don't know.
[00:47:54] Speaker C: I just think, I think there's something in it for LeBron. He's already done it where he goes and plays with his friends.
And from the Miami factor. And even when he went to Cleveland, I don't want to say it's his friends, but remember when he went back to Cleveland the second time it was you're trading the first overall pick and Wiggins or whatever and you're getting me Kevin Love and I choose to play with Kyrie type of stuff. And so like there's, there's an.
And he wanted Anthony Davis when he went to the Lakers. And I don't know if I don't know if it's true or everyone's just reading into it, but the Luca thing never really seemed like it was him signing off on what that was going to be with the Lakers.
[00:48:28] Speaker A: And so backyard deal.
[00:48:31] Speaker C: Yeah. So the warriors deal to me is like, hey, I like Steph. I feel like they have something, there's something with Draymond. The Anthony Davis to the Warriors, I think is the fourth piece of somehow
[00:48:42] Speaker A: getting that or whatever.
[00:48:43] Speaker B: The Wizards don't want to make that move.
[00:48:45] Speaker A: Right.
[00:48:45] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:48:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:48] Speaker B: So that's why that's kind of lost steam there.
[00:48:50] Speaker A: One thing about the, about the Kessler trade real quick with Utah, if you remember when they got Luca, Danny Ainge did not know that Luke was part of the deal. It was another player from the Lakers going to Utah Jazz. I feel like one of those extra first round picks was. Thank you.
[00:49:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, I think it's an iou, Ron. That's a really good point.
[00:49:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Everyone's saying like, oh, Danny H. Owned the Lakers again. I really think like it was like
[00:49:12] Speaker B: a, they owed him.
[00:49:13] Speaker A: They kind of you on this last trade because we gave you like a, you know, a second round pick 20 minutes.
But yeah, this was a payback. I, I, I, I, I seriously do think that thoughts on that, but I,
[00:49:24] Speaker B: I would agree with that, Rome. I mean they could have probably moved Kessler to other places too, but he knows that the Lakers kind of always wanted them. And I actually like your angle though, Rome. I believe there's a lot of truth in that. LeBron Warriors, I mean, look, they did sign Pozingis or whatever to a two year deal. Draymond's likely to resign there. Adam, they want them. But the Wizards, I would say never say never. Right. If you give the Wizards grumblings, what's which ones?
[00:49:51] Speaker A: Well, AD saw that Young got a new contract and he wants a new contract from the Wizards in order to
[00:49:59] Speaker B: Stay and they're going to have to give him it. Right. Because if not, I mean, they were going to get what, Jimmy Butler and whatever back in return. So that's a contract they probably don't want.
But yeah, the LeBron sweepstakes are interesting. I, I think top three, Minnesota. Minnesota is an interesting team now that they got ball Edwards.
They've moved off Randall. Go bear.
[00:50:22] Speaker A: LeBron took Reynolds spot. I think that might be a champion team.
[00:50:26] Speaker C: I just don't see LeBron going to Minnesota.
[00:50:29] Speaker A: I. Yeah, it's not, it's not fancy market.
[00:50:32] Speaker B: It's weird.
[00:50:32] Speaker A: It sounds
[00:50:35] Speaker B: okay.
[00:50:35] Speaker C: Like if he's gonna go somewhere, like
[00:50:38] Speaker A: you think he goes back home, is it back to Cleveland or is it back to like a reunion with Miami, which he has not repaired that relationship with Riley yet?
That's not happening. I just don't see.
[00:50:47] Speaker C: That's the thing. I don't, I don't see that with Riley. I don't know where, you know, I don't know.
[00:50:50] Speaker A: He's a cocky, no apologies kind of guy.
[00:50:53] Speaker B: He's.
[00:50:54] Speaker A: He's a stubborn old man. He's already in his 80s. We've talked about old men in executive positions and the show plenty of times. That's not happening.
[00:51:01] Speaker C: I, I don't know the financials with a Cleveland. That's. That's the one thing is like they're the second apron.
[00:51:05] Speaker A: They're already.
[00:51:06] Speaker B: Well, Cleveland, supposedly Cleveland. Well, that's why Harden hasn't signed yet because they're gonna have to do some kind of trading. They were talking about trading two players. I can't remember the names of the players. To free up space to get LeBron and then harden could then resign a new deal.
[00:51:23] Speaker A: The apron. I can't remember how it works, man. It's like something like you, you. You're kind of forfeiting your, your draft rights.
[00:51:30] Speaker B: Well, we talked about it. Rome. You can't, you can't.
You can't trade picks.
[00:51:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:51:36] Speaker B: You can't trade picks until you get out of the apron or whatnot. So whatever. You can't, you can't swap out first rounds and you can't swap out cash considerations.
[00:51:44] Speaker A: You can't have an exception either.
[00:51:45] Speaker B: Right.
[00:51:45] Speaker A: Is that the other correct.
[00:51:46] Speaker B: You can't sign a mid level. Like, you can't sign five million dollar players.
Yeah.
[00:51:51] Speaker A: They're the only team that hits that. I think this year.
[00:51:53] Speaker C: I think that's just where the comp. The complications of that just make it seem like the warriors are just a.
[00:51:58] Speaker A: This CBA sucks, dude.
[00:52:01] Speaker B: Well, it's kind of weird.
[00:52:02] Speaker C: I think, I think, I think this where you could defend world soccer for bring into it. I think they just like I'm giving you like $500 million in a transfer fee and this is, and this is the guy I get. I get Mbappe to re Real Madrid or whatever the heck it is.
[00:52:15] Speaker A: I'm not liking the cba. It's bad. It's bad.
[00:52:18] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, yeah, I'm not really sure because LeBron says he wants to go somewhere where he's happy. He wants to stay close to home. He wants to win a championship. Well, Cleveland and Miami aren't close to la, so the Warriors, I mean, I, I've been saying for two years that I always thought he was going to end up with the warriors, so that's what I'll stick with.
[00:52:34] Speaker A: He just want like a little Globetrot. Well, you know, they almost tried doing that trade too.
[00:52:38] Speaker B: They've been trying to get, they've been trying to get him for a few years. Every year at the trade.
[00:52:41] Speaker A: Mike Dunleavy though, I think he's a idiot. I'll go on the record of saying I look it.
[00:52:45] Speaker B: I think I've said off the record before. We were recording that the Dudley Beast, both of them been over their heads for a while.
[00:52:50] Speaker A: And what did you say about the Levy one time? It was so good. It was so insane. It was good.
[00:52:55] Speaker B: I don't remember.
[00:52:55] Speaker A: Oh, dude, maybe we had it recorded.
[00:52:57] Speaker B: I don't remember if we had it recorded or not.
[00:52:59] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I, I just don't think you, this guy's a good gm, man. Not, not at all. All right, final comments on anything else. Your, your Bulls signing pal, big pickup, thinking pretty good contract as well. Anything else you guys want to speak on for the free agency? As it stands right now, we didn't
[00:53:17] Speaker B: touch a lot on the ball trade to Minnesota because that kind of happened, what a day or two after Giannis I liked to see because I mean, look it, Minnesota gave up a lot of size. We talked about teams in the west gaining size. They got rid of Nazride and Randall.
[00:53:33] Speaker A: I saw like that.
[00:53:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I didn't like giving up Reed, but yeah, we'll see. We'll see what happens there. I, I, I haven't really ever watched ball play because the Hornets, I just never watch them play and they're never in the playoffs. That's when I really watch the N.
[00:53:46] Speaker A: So from an offensive standpoint, it makes them really dangerous. Like, like if they can actually integrate. It got Anthony if they can get LeBron. Oh, my God.
[00:53:55] Speaker B: That. That would be really interesting.
[00:53:57] Speaker A: The thing with Minnesota is they mentioned, like, Chris Finch, you know, the coach, Anthony Edwards. Like, it's a lot of strong personalities. And plus, you got Gobert. Like, gobert gets shitted on by the rest of the NBA, but he has a lot of respect in the locker room. Defensive player of the year multiple times. They got a good, solid team. Man, if this team was in the 90s, they're at least stealing one chip, I think.
[00:54:16] Speaker B: Well, think about this starting five. You got ball. Edwards, McDaniels, LeBron, Rudy.
[00:54:21] Speaker A: That's a hell of a.
[00:54:22] Speaker B: That's. It's. That's a five that can play of anybody. And they already got a couple players on the bench, obviously.
[00:54:28] Speaker A: Tough, dude. Tough. You can't fold, like, mentally unless they're injured like they were this year. Like, they're. You up.
[00:54:36] Speaker B: It's a good team for LeBron because Edwards and McDaniels I'm not sure about ball can defend perimeter guards really well. And you got Gobert to protect the rim. And LeBron always loves a rim protector.
[00:54:47] Speaker A: Well, I'm pretty sure they won't let ball take more plays off than he usually does. This guy's a little aloof on defense, but he is capable, though.
[00:54:55] Speaker B: Hey, he's capable of taking out the other team's best player early in games and making it look accidental as well. Just ask Miami about that one. So. Hey, I gotta watch that. That would have been a red card in soccer. In the NBA. It's just a play on in the playoffs, dude.
[00:55:09] Speaker A: Wemby would have got ejected in game one of the NBA finals.
All right, Any other comments?
Crazy NBA off season, dude. Nuts. Crazy. 48 hours.
We'll talk more about the World cup next time we're on.
We'll catch up on F1 as well, I think. Next time.
Were you guys surprised by the results this past weekend?
[00:55:38] Speaker C: A little surprised in the degradation in Ferrari.
[00:55:41] Speaker A: A little bit.
[00:55:42] Speaker C: A little surprised in the.
The Red Bull power train that was supposedly the best off the measurements kind of showed itself a little bit. But, you know, maybe Rome and I. A little bit too quick to the Ferrari competition. Mercedes on there.
[00:55:59] Speaker A: I forgot about the Ferrari.
[00:56:02] Speaker B: The tri tip was.
It's almost on my mind Sunday.
[00:56:06] Speaker C: That's fine.
[00:56:07] Speaker B: It's on my mind.
[00:56:07] Speaker C: That's what it looked like. It was on my mind, too. We could talk more about that, but. Yeah, but that's still, you know. Still. Still a lot to go. I. Lots of. Lots of race. The The Mercedes reliability I think is still, still looming a little bit around there too.
[00:56:21] Speaker A: So there's George Russell steals a few more wins. I'm going to be stressing out a little bit.
[00:56:26] Speaker C: I mean and just the, the battle with him in Kimi, like where do they give points back? So a lot to go.
[00:56:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I do worry about the, the battery unit for Mercedes, but if that doesn't fail, I, I believe one of those tours definitely should win this thing.
[00:56:40] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:56:41] Speaker C: It's, it's tough for me in this realm. I mean we can get Andrew on the pod, but you know, Lewis made me a Mercedes fan, but I got a root for the Mercedes guys, but I do got to root for the goat, my favorite, Lewis Hamilton. So I am, I got three drivers going into a Sunday and it's very difficult to have.
[00:56:56] Speaker A: Jesus.
[00:56:57] Speaker C: Well, I mean, I'm rooting for team Mercedes, but I'm rooting for Lewis Hamilton. I don't, I don't know what to tell you. You know, it's hard to explain but you know, this is what it is.
[00:57:03] Speaker B: And the Verstappen, Ruben, we're so I have to get into those too. Those be picking up a lot as well.
[00:57:08] Speaker C: Zach Brown heavily denying anything with McLaren.
[00:57:12] Speaker B: I don't, I kind of buy that for a minute.
[00:57:14] Speaker C: I do, I do. I just, I, I don't.
But, but you talk. Zach Brown, you NBA free agency, IndyCar free agency right now. Zach Brown head of McLaren Racing, also for the aero McLaren IndyCar team. Hot rumors that they are signing Scott Dixon who's pretty much a 20 plus year IndyCar veteran going from Chip Ganassi Racing to Arrow McLaren. So there's, there's a lot in the Indy 500 winner Felix Rosenquest, which we talked about. The Indy 500 recap just announced he's leaving Meyer Shank Racing to potentially go to Errol McLaren or Chip Ganassi or Andretti Global. So we got, we got driver swapping in the IndyCar circuits too. Rome, excited to talk about that. You know, free agency everywhere.
[00:58:01] Speaker A: Yeah, I have not been keeping track of that nor NHL free agency. I know there's been some trades too, some big ones, but the Blackhawks, we
[00:58:09] Speaker C: talked about that trade. I am still. I don't know how to talk about the Blackhawks trade. It's still.
[00:58:12] Speaker A: We can talk about next time.
[00:58:14] Speaker C: Ah, man.
[00:58:17] Speaker A: Daughters, by the way, on a tear right now. Just want to say congrats. Dave Roberts. A thousand wins. I'm sorry I doubted you and I wanted you fired five seasons ago. Don't Feel bad.
[00:58:29] Speaker C: First place and I'm still first place in the only fantasy league if Rome. If you just wanted the weekly update
[00:58:34] Speaker A: on that, what's the lead?
[00:58:36] Speaker C: I think we're down to 15 and a half.
[00:58:38] Speaker A: Wasn't it 50?
[00:58:41] Speaker C: No, no, no, no.
[00:58:42] Speaker B: I was like 20, 20, 22 maybe at one point.
[00:58:45] Speaker C: But yeah, I, I, I've come down in points a little bit. You know, I get some, I got Mike Soroka, Neil Crusoe on the il.
So we're getting, we're into the dog days of summer. Injuries are going to happen. Aaron talked about my regression back to the field. It was bound to happen. We just keep plugging away. Just need some good performances out of, you know, Baldwin and I. Just the James woods second half slump. That is what I'm just like praying against last year.
[00:59:11] Speaker B: I don't think, I don't think it's going to happen. I think, I don't think, I think he's matured.
[00:59:15] Speaker C: I, I hope so. But yeah, we're still, we're still there. We had it. We had a good call yesterday in the the weekly waiver wire.
[00:59:21] Speaker B: Goodness.
[00:59:25] Speaker A: All right, we'll talk more baseball next time. I do want to talk more about baseball next time. Just because things are starting to heat up.
[00:59:34] Speaker B: It's almost midnight here on the West Coast.
[00:59:37] Speaker A: I just want like a little break, though. Like after the World Cup. I'm just, I don't want to watch one thing of sports for a few weeks until football starts.
[00:59:46] Speaker B: When we get that break room.
[00:59:48] Speaker C: I think you have the, I think it's a perfect time break. The World cup ends and F1 goes into basically the, the summer break.
[00:59:53] Speaker B: Summer break.
[00:59:54] Speaker A: Another one. Yeah.
[00:59:55] Speaker B: And then when it comes out of the summer break, we basically got F1 in college football. Everything kind of kicking off right there.
[01:00:00] Speaker A: Thank God. Thank God.
Crazy summer. All right, I'll do it. Source from the sofa NBA Free to see recap.
I forgot what we talked about. First half. Oh, yeah. World cup recap.
US men's onto the round of 16. Mexico onto the round of 16. First time that's happened for both teams in a very, very long time.
And we'll see how it all breaks down. We'll hop on sometime. Next few days.
Catch us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts where you listen to your favorite podcast. Like, subscribe, show some love.
We are out.
