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- [00:00]
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- [01:30]
Daniel Cormier
This is Daniel Cormier from the Daniel Cormier Show. This podcast is sponsored by Total Wireless, the official wireless partner of ufc. Power doesn't wait in the octagon or outside of it. You either make the move or you miss the moment. That's why you need a network that's just as powerful as you are. With Total Wireless, you. You get unlimited 5G data keeping you in the action from the walkouts to the knockouts. Now that's a total power move. Make your total power move today. Visit totalwireless.com or stop by your neighborhood Total Wireless store. Additional terms apply. See total wireless.com for details.
- [02:05]
Colin Cowherd
Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now let's get this party started.
- [02:27]
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- [02:33]
Colin Cowherd
Good stuff today. It's a Tuesday. Bulls have a new gm. Knicks hammer the Sixers, Wemby and the Spurs. Top matchup with Minnesota Nick right around corner. So the Lakers Thunder play tonight. LeBron is a 15 point underdog. Colin, it's not Lebron it's the Lakers. It's LeBron. He's a 15 point underdog, biggest of his career. Yeah, we were talking about this yesterday. He can kind of play as long as he wants. He's such a play initiator. He's so smart. The question is, this is why I think JJ Redick is a great coach for him, because JJ's authentic. He doesn't have a filter. He's going to give you the truth if you, if he's upset with LeBron. LeBron respects him. And LeBron's always been that. LeBron likes smart people. His handlers are smart, his agent smart, his friends are smart. He likes JJ Redick. He likes smart people because LeBron doesn't have a lot of interest in playing with kids and teaching them how to play basketball. He loves Kevin Love or Chris Bosh or D. Wade, you know, he likes that. And very few young players he really likes playing with. And I think J.J. redick is authentic. There's no filter. But I think what's fascinating about LeBron is, and let's start with this. Mike Breen was on Ryan Rossillo's podcast yesterday, and what he says sounds outrageous, but I think Mike Breen is right. And he talked about LeBron's career going forward.
- [04:02]
News Anchor/Reporter
The guy's been an NBA player more than half of his life, which is kind of. Kind of hard to believe. And I do believe he could play for another what's. He's 41, he could play for another eight, nine years and like, he could come off the bench and average 18 minutes a game and give you 12, 7 and 5. I think he's. Because of his mind, his brilliant basketball mind, he could still do that.
- [04:29]
Colin Cowherd
I actually think, I thought more four to five. I don't think it's outrageous. We've said before, some usually hyper athletic athletes age quickly. Cam Newton, people like Jokic, where it's passing and screen setting and rebounding and shooting, you just age better. LeBron's very unique in that. You get both of them. You get. I mean, he still attacks the basket in transition. He bullies smaller defender defenders, generates very good shots. His jumpers always been hit and miss. So he didn't have a great year shooting the three, but his, his jump shot's been hit and miss, his free throw sh. He's not a naturally soft, fluid shooter. He's very muscular and a lot of bigger players. Larry Bird was an exception where you had a big forward who was the best shooter in the league. That's very, very rare. And so my take is, for LeBron going forward, it's a mind game. He's been a CEO for 20 years. He has a better resume than Rui Luca and Austin Reaves combined. And now you're going to ask him going forward, hey, CEO with the best resume and most brilliant mind, are you willing to just be an advisor? Are you willing to be a third option? So I think it's all mental going forward. I don't really worry about the physicality stuff. I really don't. Is that, you know, Tom Brady aged, but nobody said, okay, Tom, you're the backup quarterback, or we're going to have you place backup tight ender on special teams. He was still the quarterback taking the snaps for LeBron. What you're saying with Luca, who's the number one usage rate guy in the league is LeBron. Are you going to play off ball a lot? And LeBron's thinking, I'm in better shape than this guy. I'm stronger than this guy. I generate great shots like this guy. And he's a better player than Austin Reeves, who's a very good player. So I think there's a mind game going forward for LeBron. It's not the physical stuff. We all think it's the physical stuff. It's the mental stuff. Is he willing to be a third option when he's thinking, I just beat Houston largely by myself. I made Marcus Smart look nine years younger. Deandre Ayton Moody. Deandre Ayton was totally focused. I mean, Rui, who's always had talent, flourished. LeBron's thinking, you sure you want me to be a third option? But I do think LA for business and JJ Redick, the intellect, unfiltered, honest, secure with himself, long contract. I think Reddick's a perfect coach for him. He's just a perfect coach. With that, Nick Wright, first things first is joining us, you know, the first rounds. I said this yesterday, Nick, is that in the history. If they write the book on LeBron and there's 20 chapters, this may not even make the book the Houston.
- [07:18]
Nick Wright
Right?
- [07:19]
Colin Cowherd
It may. And I'm like, folks, you don't want to forget this, because what we just witnessed was a far deeper, younger, athletic. I mean, Jabari Smith and Jen Goon and Amen Thompson, you're like, yeah, what? I mean, I look at it and I'm like, this is. This is like fourth, fifth chapter. Like early LeBron Peak LeBron and whatever the hell. I just watched LeBron.
- [07:45]
Nick Wright
Yeah. And I'm so. I'm as a Sports fan and obviously a LeBron fan. I'm so grateful we got this chapter. You're right, Colin. It wouldn't be in the first 50 pages of his book. Even though it was a series where in the game that essentially won the series in a 90 minute span, he threw an alley oop to his son and then had the steal and game tying three. And then after everybody was like getting a little chesty in Houston. Oh, they're tired. We have the momentum. All of that, LeBron put on a 40 minute 28, 7 and 8 masterclass, controlling every aspect of the game and controlling every aspect of the series. And it also gave us, Colin, two real gifts. One sports fans and one media fan. So let me just tell you those real quick before we move on. First one is, listen, I'm bummed Lucas hurt, but had Luca not been hurt, we might not have ever gotten one more series where LeBron, hand on the joystick, follow me, guys. All control everything. And it was so gratifying to be able to watch that. Watch him figure out the series early, adjust late and then close it. And when he was in that Swiss army knife role, we wouldn't have gotten that. So without the Luke injury, that wouldn't have been there. So that was just fun. If it is, that could be the last playoff series win of his career.
- [09:23]
Ian Eagle
Right?
- [09:23]
Nick Wright
Any of these could be. So for that. And then from a media perspective, if I may just quickly, it was really delightful watching the progression of folks who have been, let's call it LeBron skeptics. Most of their television careers starting the series when they thought the Lakers had no chance. They were like, well, if LeBron pulls this off, then fine, maybe he's the goat, but they're getting swept. And then three days later they're like, you know what? The Rockets are just awful. Anybody could beat them. And then three days after that, when it looked like the Rockets might come back, they were like, you know what? I think this Rockets team can pull off the first ever 3, 0 comeback. What a stain on LeBron. And then when they win, it just immediately goes to. We'll see him do it against okc. Just a full tour de force of cope, which I really enjoyed from afar.
- [10:27]
Colin Cowherd
That was good. It's so true. So we're going to get to Wemby, but I want to talk about the Celtics. Is that I have struggled over here figuring the east out. I mean, Detroit's a number one seed. Are they a six in the West? I don't even know. Last year, the pacers with Halliburton you're like, are they the best team? And then the Celtics hung around without Tatum even though they're not very athletic. And Jaylen Brown's good, but they don't. They need like more athleticism. So I don't even know how good the Knicks are, but I said the Celtics. Losing is great because I don't think tanking is the end of the world. I think it's a uniquely loaded draft and about nine teams need a star. The warriors by the way, could do a Dallas get the BYU sensation and it would solve a lot of problems. But of the 11 three point shooting teams, one remains. And sports should be like a well balanced meal. Little protein, little carbs, little vegetables. I didn't like the Tush push. It got less effective. Good for the league. The Celtics were the new face of the three point shot and they embarrassed themselves shooting seven of them with three and a half minutes left, trailing by one. And you've never been a Boston believer. I have been more so. But what was your take on the way it ended? The ridiculousness of the dependent on the 3.
- [11:49]
Nick Wright
So well listen, and you're right that historically I've not been a Boston believer right up until this post season when I picked him to win the title. And then they go out like that. So that wasn't great for me. But so here is the thing. I totally agree with what you're going where you're headed, which is stylistically, everyone playing the same style would be bad for the health of the sport. Additionally, the fact that that style is one that minimizes the importance of athleticism, aggression and dunking on people's head and maximizes the importance of three point specialist. It's just bad for a TV product. That's why the Tush push comp is a good one. It's just bad television. And so I am glad that even if it was just bad luck that it didn't end up working out because we don't want everyone playing the same way. First of all, and there is absolutely, and you are seeing it every single night in the playoffs two different ways. You need to be able to win in this league. You need to be able to build a team that that can sustain an 82 game season comfortably, make the playoffs, have a decent seed and you need to have a team that can win possession battle playoff games. And very often that means get to the damn rim, go get a foul, a pull up jump shot. And it's really interesting, Boston under Missoula because it's been four years. The second they coasted to a championship, that banner hangs forever. But year one, they struggled mightily in round one. They were down 32 in round two, and then they were down 30 in the conference finals to an 8 seed and lost. The third year they blew back to back 20 point leads against the Knicks.
- [14:00]
Colin Cowherd
Yep.
- [14:00]
Nick Wright
And this year they, they blow a 31 lead against a Sixers team that granted, finally got healthy at the end of the year, but you wouldn't have been been in that position had you taken care of business earlier. And so I think that if I'm Boston, if I'm running the team, I do. I have two major questions this summer. One is, is Jalen Brown a piece we should move? Does he even want to? Does he? When he says, this was the best, most fun I've ever had in any year of my career. And it's like, really? You guys went out in round one and your co star was injured all year, that's not great. And the other one is, do we need to turn the throttle down a bit on the 3 point variance? Are we underselling how talented we are and our ability to beat teams and kind of straight up rather than adding so much randomness to games?
- [15:01]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, no, yeah. Listen, I, and I also frankly just don't like math. Deciding sports. I always say, man, analytics.
- [15:07]
Matt Hasselbeck
Yes.
- [15:07]
Colin Cowherd
Like last night's a great example. I want to shift to this Minnesota, their GM built Denver. It a team that could kind of beat anybody. He leaves, it's not the same roster. Overpaid in a couple players, goes to Minnesota. And I said it yesterday, I'm like, guys, they're a tough matchup for San Antonio. Julius Randle is the kind of guy that can give Wemby problems, get him off balance, bully him. I mean, he's like 250. He's like Zach Randolph, 255 of muscle and he's just a lot. And you may not love him in the three point analytic world. Julius Randall's a hell of a basketball player. And I'm watching that series last night and I'm like, offensively, they got Wemby totally off his game. And I'm like, I don't think that was fourth quarter. You know who, if this game's tied in the fourth, Minnesota's gonna win every time. And I think, I think, I think San Antonio's in a bit of a. I think they're in a little bit of trouble.
- [16:03]
Nick Wright
Oh, I think it's more than a little bit of trouble. I think There's I. So I think there's a lot to unpack here. First of all, remember the big argument that we, not you and I had, but that was being had when Wimby was like, hey, defense is 50% of the game. Well, then I get. Then I guess last night's game from Wemby is right Alongside Michael Jordan. 63 point playoff lost too, right? 12 blocks. Never seen anything like it. But 12 blocks with minimal offensive impact and all of a sudden the team's beatable. You have one of the greatest defensive performances any players had since Wilt Chamberlain in the playoffs. And your team loses because you can't get enough buckets. That's first point. Second point is this. You were talking Julius Randle. There is no player in the league more prepared to give Wimby trouble than Rudy. Rudy's known him since he was a kid. He is the second longest guy in the league to Wimby and he's so much stronger than him. And so it is a very interesting chess match right now, which is this, Colin. When Rudy is on the court, both teams offenses are going to struggle. The, the, the Timberwolves offense will struggle because when Rudy's on the court, Wimby doesn't have to guard anybody out on the perimeter. He can just patrol the rim. And the spurs offense is going to struggle because when Rudy's on the court, Wimby can only be out on the perimeter offensively because Rudy can keep him out of the paint. And then when you take Rudy off the court like they did in the fourth quarter, all of a sudden Wimby's got to guard the perimeter. Now you can get to the rim. And so if Anthony Edwards is just going to get healthier and all of a sudden Terrence Shannon Jr. Looks like the second fastest player in the league to Maxi. They're going to keep coming at you with Naz Reed and Julius Randle. Jaden McDaniels was in foul trouble the whole game and they were fine. Minnesota had they lost last night. If it had been stolen, like if they had blown it at the end, I think that's a very, very tough one to get over. But they escaped even though they kind of screwed up down the stretch. I think right now they're the favorites in the series. I think right now Minnesota is the favorite. I know they're not. Literally, I think they are the favorite in the series.
- [18:22]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I said earlier the most disrespected pro sports franchise in the league. They've been to back to back Western Conference finals, they match up with everybody and we treat them like the Pelicans. It's like, guys, the coaching, the experience, they're the best fourth quarter team left in.
- [18:35]
Nick Wright
The coaching is unbelievable. Chris Finch is great and Anthony Edwards is just. And this goes back to your three point shooting thing. You know what, people like watching Anthony Edwards trying to dunk on people.
- [18:50]
Colin Cowherd
Thank you.
- [18:51]
Nick Wright
Naked aggression, that is, that is one of the cool things about the NBA. So if Adam Silver is not going to take my free advice from two years ago, which is don't change the court, don't get rid of the corner three, all you got to do is say, hey, guess what? Dunks also worth three points. Now go get it, fellas. If you're not going to do that then, then it is probably good to have some of the three point shooting teams clipped in the playoffs.
- [19:17]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, I want to end with this. I've said that I think Mike Brown deserves a lot of credit. Making Cat a point center was brilliant. He's doubled his assist totals. It takes some of the heat off Brunson to have to just create everything. So I think first of all, coaching first three games of the Hawks series, you're like, Quinn Snyder's changing the series. Since then, Mike Brown has done really good job. Cat's always been an incredibly skilled little. Flaky little odd, but incredibly skilled big. And now their offense looks different. But I struggle with the Knicks because I said this earlier. Last year, suddenly the Pacers were great. Or were they? This year it's the Pistons or are they people of the Cavs? I don't like them. I'm like, I don't know what to make of the Knicks. They're like a really good football team and a bad conference. What do I make of what the Knicks are doing?
- [20:10]
Nick Wright
Well, so I couldn't believe our great stats guy Josh told me this this morning. I could not believe it. The Knicks last three games, they won all of them by 25 plus. That's never happened in the history of the NBA in the playoffs. But think about that. So like think about all the walkover round one sweeps. The Shaq Kobe Lakers or the Step Durant warriors or the MJ Bulls or the LeBron Heat have never once did they have three straight 25 point victories. So the fact that they've done that makes me. You have to sit up and take notice. Last night I did, you know, I picked yesterday and again my finals was Celtics over Nuggets. So take it for what you will. I, it's pretty rare. You don't have either finalist make it out of round one. But I said I thought the Sixers, if they're healthy, will win the series. But I expected them to lose last night because the 3:1 comeback, the emotion of game seven. Yeah, but they didn't just lose. Oh, well, they got curb stomped. And the Knicks right now are in the midst of the best four game stretch of basketball they've had. I mean, honestly, maybe of my lifetime. And so you have to take them seriously. I do wonder, you know, as the series evolves, if they're going to be able to keep Maxey in check, if Embiid looks better in the next game. But I do think this, and I would imagine everyone, with respect to the Pistons, I think everyone probably agrees with this, the winner of this series will be a big favorite in the conference finals. Yes, I feel like this, the winner of whoever gets through this series will represent the east in the NBA Finals, which might very well be against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Like that is on the board. That with that Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves get all the way to the finish line here.
- [22:14]
Colin Cowherd
Finally, much to the chagrin of JMac, Brett Ve said Mahomes is way ahead of schedule. And everybody loves to bury, you know, they everybody loves to bury. And I always say in the NFL it's pretty simple. Is your owner, your gm, your coach and your quarterback A's. You're competitive now. You may have a down year, you lose a tackle, but they addressed all of it in the draft. Just some thoughts on Mahomes being ahead of schedule.
- [22:40]
Nick Wright
Well, I have a lot of thoughts also speaking of Jmax, shout out. I don't know if you saw this on Twitter a couple weeks ago, Colin Shout out to Patrick Mahomes not only being one of the two greatest quarterbacks ever to live in, the best quarterback currently playing, but also such a gracious good sport.
- [22:56]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [22:56]
Nick Wright
As he shook J. Mack's hand after, I don't know, a half decade of J. Mack burying him at every, every chance he gets. I thought it was a great job by Patrick there now on the Chiefs. I am, I've been saying for months, Patrick Mahomes is going to be dancing at Travis Kelce's wedding and he's going to be starting in week one. And I think he is on track to do both of those things. And anybody that thinks that any time in NFL history where you have an A plus quarterback and an A plus coach and a smart front office that you're about to enter the wilderness of a Rebuild. I just show it to me where it's happened. Danny on overtime yesterday had Kenneth Walker on. I do think the most important off season addition was the fact that the Chiefs are now going to have a running game. You have to respect. They are tied Colin with the Jets. I think it's the jets but they are. They are tied for the longest streak of seasons without a thousand yard rusher. They've never had a thousand yard back Patrick's whole career. Now you're going to have to respect the run game. Listen, I color me crazy but I do think the team that has been to five of the last eight Super Bowls is going to be okay. But I guess we'll see.
- [24:15]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. Good senior.
- [24:17]
Nick Wright
Very, very as well.
- [24:19]
Colin Cowherd
Good energy. First things first.
- [24:20]
Nick Wright
Might have been 5 of 7 actually I think I undersold the Chiefs. I think it's five of the last seven. They all run together so much they've won three of something like that. I don't know. Talk to you later.
- [24:30]
Colin Cowherd
It's hard to keep track of Nick. First things first after our show. Yeah, it's the two, the two off season moves I love Kenneth Walker to the Chiefs, Tyler Linderbaum to the Raiders. Those feel like they'll produce wins like you will generate W's off those. You go ask Matt Hasselbeck about having a great center. The history I started watching football in the 70s. Mike Webster was the center for the dynasty, the Steelers and after that it was Jim Otto for the Raiders. And then I think the Dolphins had a great center. I don't remember off the top of my head they had a great center when they had the Bob Greasy teams like it just. It's one of those positions that gets lost. We always talk left tackles. Tyler Linderbaum. I mean if you start looking at why the Chargers through the years have struggled, it's not been quarterback. They've had some good coaches, they've had great pass rushers. It's like they can't get the O line right. And specifically they have struggled often at that center position. Thoughts on Aaron Rodgers getting very interesting in Chicago. It's the Herd.
- [25:43]
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One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.
- [25:52]
Colin Cowherd
Hey, it's Cabino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio. Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show yup that's right. You can now watch Covino and rich live on YouTube every day. All you got to do Search COVINO and Rich FSR on YouTube again. Go to YouTube search COVINO Enrich FSR. Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe. Hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.
- [26:23]
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- [27:09]
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- [27:44]
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- [28:09]
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It's smart to always have a few financial goals and a really smart one. You can set earning cash back on what you buy every day. And with Discover you can get this Discover automatically matches all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year. Seriously, all of it. And we trust you to make smart decisions. I mean, after all, you listen to this show. See terms@discover.com credit card
- [28:36]
Colin Cowherd
Frank Isola NBA writer and analyst Been covering the Knicks for a long time. Time feeling good in New York Yankees Giants are about ready to turn it around. New York Knicks J. Mack with the
- [28:49]
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- [28:52]
Daniel Cormier
Turn on the news.
- [28:53]
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- [28:56]
Ian Eagle
Let's get started with my main man, Victor Wembanyama set an NBA record last night with a staggering 12 blocks. I don't know where you guys are seeing all these goal tens. I didn't see them. Everything looked clean to me. He just was dominant on the interior. Colin, here's one thing I have not heard anybody say this morning. I was reading online. Did you see how many minutes Wambanyama played last night? 40 minutes. Tied for a season high.
- [29:21]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, he averaged, what, 28 and a half during the right week. Now, we knew you and I had discussed this. We knew he would play more in the postseason, but that was a real stretch for him.
- [29:31]
Ian Eagle
And that's the problem. Colin, he hasn't done 40 minutes except once this season. Did you see what happened the game after he did 40 minutes? So he played 40 minutes against Denver in that overtime thriller one day off. Then he played philly. He played 16 minutes. So I don't know how Wemby's going to bounce back from this because there's not any data to show when he plays this many minutes on that kind of frail frame, how he bounces back. Colin, he was 5 of 17, shooting over 8 from 3. I love Wembanyama. He was great defensively.
- [30:00]
Colin Cowherd
Well, they got him off his game. There's no question.
- [30:02]
Ian Eagle
And the other thing that people aren't talking about is Chris Finch benched Gobert for, like, the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter, and that's when Minnesota pulled away, because then you space the floor with Nas. Reed Wemby, not as effective. I think he had maybe one block in the fourth quarter, but Chris Finch pushed all the right buttons. And listen, I still like the spurs in the series. I don't know if Wemby's going to be a big force in game two. I think it's got to be de' Aaron Fox. De' Aaron Fox killed them last night. High or largest plus minus on the team. He was. He was awful. Listen, if you're into prop betting, I would take a gander at some unders on Wemby. Don't fire on anything. But Colin, again, there isn't data of him. How's he gonna play after 40 minutes? Did you see him turn an ankle late in the game? Landed on. I think it was Randall. Landed on his elbow, too. Another time. This. This frame for Wembanyama is going to be a big story.
- [30:53]
Colin Cowherd
It is, absolutely.
- [30:54]
Ian Eagle
Yeah. All right, let's move on to the Houston Rockets and Kevin Durant. I know you and Nick just buried Kevin Durant and. And rightfully so. You know, listen, the Guy played a lot last year and then just doesn't show up in the playoffs injured. Well, Raphael Stone, the GM of Houston, is taking some flack because he's saying, well, we didn't just get KD for championship or bust. Really. Here's what he said.
- [31:18]
Raphael Stone
The goal is to put a roster in place that has a chance to compete for a championship. But that doesn't mean, mean, that doesn't mean if you don't, if you make the, if you don't make the finals or something, you, you fail. Not once did I ever say with, with respect to bringing Kevin in, that it was championship or bust. I never said that to him. I never said that to anybody. That's, that's very much not our attitude. We, we thought he could be additive to the team, to the young guys, of, of how to work like a professional, how to, how to like really hone in, of your craft. I thought he did a really good job of that.
- [31:54]
Ian Eagle
You buying that?
- [31:56]
Colin Cowherd
I think next year. So just think about this. Fred Van Vliet returns and then shepherd and Amen Thompson, who are more natural off ball guards than on ball, but they're getting more reps at that. They'll be more comfortable with the ball. KD is not a ball handler. I mean, when you trap him still to this day, I mean, we saw, we saw the Lakers do it. They trapped him, it just discombobulated him. What you're going to see with Katie going forward as Amend Thompson grows and Jabari Smith and, and shepherd and now Fred Van Vliet, he's just going to get fewer touches this year without. I mean, a lot of times they just needed Kevin to have the ball in his hands next year. If they don't make a trade, they don't.
- [32:46]
Ian Eagle
Well, that's interesting. They make a trade. I'm not certain Kevin Durant on the Rockets next year, like, well, if I don't know that it's a lot.
- [32:55]
Colin Cowherd
My guy, Jason Tim made a really good debate. He said, when you look at San Antonio and okc, this Houston team needs to take a big swing. Jabari Smith, Shen Goon and maybe three draft picks or two. Then you could have Giannis with Van Vliet, then it's Kevin Durant, then it's, I mean, Milwaukee's not, he's not, they're not trading him with Golden State. They don't have anything they're going to get in return. Same with the Knicks, although the Knicks could give you OG and draft picks. I think Houston's in a Very. You're going to need some very savvy GMing in Houston because I like their young players a lot. But you start looking at OKC in San Antonio, they're third.
- [33:39]
Ian Eagle
So one of the problems is Tari Eason, the small forward who was great against the Lakers. He could be on the move because I think he's a free agent. And a lot of teams are going to kick the tires on a small ball three and D guy. He could play four. So you lose him. And if you're talking about moving Jabari Smith and Shen Goon, what do you do? You got like four guys to play with Giannis. I mean, we're seeing that. You need the deeper roster, okc, spurs, you need seven, eight guys to get through the regular season and then the playoffs. So I am the Giannis. One's interesting. Let me float this to you. So there is a team that really struggled in the first round. I think we mentioned this during the regular season, the Detroit Pistons did nothing at the deadline. They have Cade Cunningham, a big gap and two bigs. What if the Pistons lose to the Cavs? Do they make a swing on kd? Hey, we've got our leader in Cade.
- [34:27]
Colin Cowherd
I don't think.
- [34:27]
Ian Eagle
Just come play the wingman.
- [34:29]
Colin Cowherd
No, I just. I don't. And this is nothing against kd. Does he. Is he really what they need? They're a young team that plays intense defense with a star. Now, again, Cade needs the ball in his hands. KD doesn't. But I like what Detroit's doing. I like what I. I kind of like.
- [34:44]
Ian Eagle
You like it. Down three or one to Orlando.
- [34:46]
Colin Cowherd
Again, this. This is part of a process. They're not Oklahoma City yet. They don't have a Wemby. But I. In the East. I don't think Detroit should make a rash move. I don't think that's the play for them. I don't.
- [34:58]
Ian Eagle
Okay, well, we'll see what happens against the Cavs. I'm taking the Cavs tonight. But that's.
- [35:02]
Colin Cowherd
I'm taking the Pistons in that series.
- [35:04]
Ian Eagle
Yes, you and America. All right, let's go to the final story. Colin. And that's the Green Bay Packers. I don't know if you've noticed, they've had some quiet moves offensively. They lost Romeo Dobbs to the Patriots. Yeah, they lost Don Tavian Wicks to the Eagles. That opens the door for Matthew golden, the burner from Texas, to have a big season. He kind of. Listen, I don't. I'm not calling him anybody a bust. He Had a quiet season. I think he went like the longest stretch for any first round receiver without a touchdown in like 20 years. He did nothing most of the season. And then you see against the Bears, he had an electric touchdown.
- [35:38]
Colin Cowherd
I think you got to be careful, Roma. Dunze hasn't done anything for the Bears and I like both.
- [35:43]
Ian Eagle
He did some stuff last. I mean, golden did like nothing.
- [35:46]
Colin Cowherd
I think he's pretty talented.
- [35:47]
Ian Eagle
I like him.
- [35:47]
Colin Cowherd
Oh, I love.
- [35:48]
Ian Eagle
I think he's going to be fantasy football guys. Put golden on your, on your flag list. He only had 29 catches for 361 yards. Colin, that's like a two week stretch for Jamar Chase. Okay. We gotta see more.
- [36:03]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. And they also had a lot of mouths to feed. I mean, they. I don't know, I think, I don't worry about the. I don't worry about their tight end and wide receiver group. I think their offense is fine. I don't worry about Green Bay. My take on Green Bay is, you know, Kenny Clark, Rashawn Gary are gone. It's Micah Parsons who's not great against the run. Jeff Halfley left. So I leave this as great defensive court coordinator. I lose a couple of my bigs up front. Mike is not good against the run. How can you. Well, I mean, whenever I find a team like Green Bay that I really like their coach, I really like their offensive pieces, my question is, well, can you keep their offense off the field? That's why it's so important. Like the reality is with Chicago, the knock on not getting an edge rusher, I mean, if you look at what they've. What Chicago did in the draft is they think their offense is going to be so gifted. They're going to, they're going to ball control. You're not going to get the ball back. I don't think Green Bay has Chicago's offensive talent and I don't think. I think Ben Johnson's more creative than LaFleur. I'm not sure he's a better coach, but he's more creative. So I don't worry about Green Bay and points and skill.
- [37:10]
Ian Eagle
So this is probably the most fun division to talk about. Colin, we could probably do an hour on this. So let's go through the four teams real quick. Detroit Lions, you hyped up their schedule this year.
- [37:17]
Colin Cowherd
I think they're very easy.
- [37:18]
Ian Eagle
Everybody loves the Lions, right?
- [37:20]
Colin Cowherd
11 and 12 win Team Detroit.
- [37:22]
Ian Eagle
Okay, hold on. So Detroit's 1112 Chicago Bears just pushed the Rams to the brink. And every arrow is pointing up.
- [37:29]
Colin Cowherd
The Bears top five, 10 to 11 wins. Schedule much tougher. Still need an edge rusher. Like him a lot.
- [37:35]
Ian Eagle
Two great teams. Let's skip to the Minnesota Vikings. Add Kyler Murray to go with the great. You love Kyler Murray. He throws a great deep ball.
- [37:42]
Colin Cowherd
Tyler Murray will not be as good as Darnold in this offense, but he's an upgrade. That's probably an eight win team.
- [37:48]
Ian Eagle
So is either the packers are not going to be great or people are sleeping on them and they're undervalued. I'll just remind everybody, that game against Denver, they were one of the top teams in the nfc. They're leading. They lose Watson and Micah Parsons in like a four minute span. Season just ended and fell apart there. Yeah, you buying? Packers 12 wins.
- [38:08]
Colin Cowherd
Chicago and Detroit in division.
- [38:10]
Ian Eagle
So no playoffs for Green Bay, remember?
- [38:12]
Colin Cowherd
I don't, it's not that I don't like them. They were, they were the team last year that I waited the last week to make my prediction. I feel the same way.
- [38:23]
Ian Eagle
I might just go Packers Super Bowl. You're so against them. You hate them.
- [38:26]
Colin Cowherd
I'm not, I'm not against them. I just think Detroit, I think Detroit, if I had to pick today, Detroit's a playoff team. Are they division champs or wild card? They solve their left tackle issue. That's the one thing I worry about. Everything else with Detroit, I like, I think they're, I think they solved. Penny Sewell is going to be a first ballot hall of Famer, right tackle. I think Detroit solved their primary issue and I think they're going to be really good.
- [38:51]
Ian Eagle
By the way, I saw your buddy Jared Goff over the weekend at a music festival. He looked so in shape, ready to rock.
- [38:58]
Nick Wright
Yeah.
- [38:58]
Colin Cowherd
Is that, was that that Beaches Life thing?
- [39:00]
Ian Eagle
Yes, Beach Life. They were asking about Lincoln. Riley was there. People were asking him, J. Mack, where's Coward? I was like, I don't know. He's in Chicago, like bundled up. I think he's wearing a scarf right now.
- [39:09]
Colin Cowherd
Well, I, I, I wasn't at Beach's Life. I was at Burbs's Life in Chicago. J. Mac with the news.
- [39:16]
News Anchor/Reporter
Well, that's the news.
- [39:17]
Ian Eagle
And thanks for stopping by the Herd line.
- [39:20]
Colin Cowherd
You tell me what decision you would make, I'll explain next.
- [39:25]
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- [41:47]
Ian Eagle
night on Fox, and this week Jordan Walker looks to keep his breakout season rolling as he leads the Cardinals against Manny Machado and the Padres or Mets Diamondbacks. Saturday at 7 Eastern, only on Fox.
- [42:02]
Colin Cowherd
So I think a lot of it's gamesmanship. You know, when you get into the Aaron Rodgers business, he's going to do things. He's a little indifferent to his off seasons. And the Steelers went out with kind of a quirky tender. They offered to put the pressure on him. Then all of a sudden a story leaks out that Arizona is interested. And I think the initial response by people is I'm not. He's not that interested. Folks. I can tell you, as you age in your profession, different stuff matters in the times I've left in my career, stuff that mattered when I moved in my 30s doesn't matter as much now. And so I said, I always get out and I tell my kids this. Get a yellow pad out in a pen and write it down and look at it and sleep on it and look at it and look at the words you write. Because I've moved cross country three or four times. It really matters, not just thinking about it or talking about it. Write it down when you're going to make a huge career change. So I said, let's take the yellow pad out. People think you stay with the Steelers. Arizona's a mess. I think it's a lot closer than people think. So take the yellow pad out. Let's do pros for Arizona. So you take the yellow pad out. Young offensive head coach Aaron sees himself as a young 40 year old guy. That's just the way he operates. He knows Nat Hackett. Nat Hackett, regardless of what you think, was a pretty good offensive coordinator. And that's his guy. Tremendous. McBride's an in tremendous tight end. I think their running back and tight end talent is exceptional. It's closer to California. Again just for a lot of people. You want to get closer to family. He's closer to California, his place in Malibu and he gets to play indoors at this point. California kid, you want to play in hail storms and snowstorms and 12 degrees. All right, let's go pro. Steelers, they had a pretty good offensive line last year. They put some draft capital on it. I think it's pretty good. He knows the locker room. It's his guys now for one year but they like them better ownership stability, much easier division. Although I think Cincinnati's in play this year and if Jesse Minner can coach and my guess is he can Baltimore and Cincinnati should be pretty good. And say what you want about Cleveland, they've had back to back great drafts. Cleveland's got dudes and they've got playoff momentum now. I know year to year things change but they, they got into the playoffs. That feels pretty good. Now let's, let's look at cons. Ownership for Arizona is not ideal. Division is brutal though. I think San Francisco is getting really, really long in the tube. Offensive line not good. They addressed it, but it pretty shaky. Offensive line and Aaron as he's aged, they don't want to get hit. I totally get it. Cons on the Steelers, you can say what you want but DK Metcalf, 59 catches, he is on the other side. Yards and catches. He was just not a factor last year. And you can, you could. He's got the build of a number one wide receiver, but you start looking around at the offensive talent. This league is DK Metcalf now just a physically imposing number two. Friarmouth is a nice tight end, but the other tight ends, more of a. More of a blocking guy. The head coach is Mike McCarthy. McCarthy, he's more than capable, but let's be honest, it didn't feel like they were. They vibed in Green Bay. You suddenly think an older Mike McCarthy vibes now, and you're a West coast guy. I mean, there's. It's okay living in the East Coast, New York, D.C. i think Pittsburgh, I got nothing against it, but, you know, Aaron Rodgers, kind of cool California guy. Pittsburgh, whatevs. So I think when you. When you look at pros and cons, I said yesterday, I think I would choose Arizona. I think you're going to have an offensive culture. Nat Hackett, young offensive coach from McVeigh System. Tremendous talent. I think Harrison, I don't know, J. Mac, how you feel, but I do think he's developing into something. I think Arizona's offensive talent is good. Yes, the division's very good. You're going to lose to Seattle and the Rams, I would presume, but it's like Cincinnati and Baltimore. Cincinnati's defensive line now has got actually some guys with Dexter Lawrence in the drafts the last two years. Well, if. Here's Matt Hasselbeck yesterday on. On the rumor about Aaron Hackett in Arizona.
- [46:34]
Matt Hasselbeck
Aaron Rodgers is like, you know, affection for Nathaniel Hackett, it's. It's well known, it's well documented. Like, you just. I have those guys in my life. You just talk to them all the time and it, you know, you talk about your team. Oh, yeah, we're good, man. Like, we got a great wide receiver. You know, Marvin, he's so great. And we got this tight end, he's the best I've ever seen. And, you know, we're going to get this guy in this running back. You know, we just need, you know, we just need Jacoby to play, you know, at elite level, you know, that kind of thing. Like, you kind of just, like, you dance around it. But I do think that he doesn't mind toying with everybody the way that he does, especially in the media.
- [47:12]
Colin Cowherd
I honestly think if I was Aaron Rodgers at his age. Jeremiah Love, Algiers. At running back, McBride, Harrison. I mean, you say, well, the division's tough. You're not winning a Super bowl in Pittsburgh. You're not winning it in Arizona. It's quality of life. What am I surrounded with? I'm playing indoors. I'm close to Malibu. I think I choose Arizona.
- [47:31]
Ian Eagle
Let me flip it on you, though, okay? The jets tried the same thing with Rogers, okay? Did not work. No playoffs. They had to do Justin Fields last year. Now they're doing Geno Smith. Okay? The Steelers. Look at them. They're stuck in the middle. Do it. Does Arizona want to try to win seven games with Rogers or bottom out and go for a quarterback in next year's draft?
- [47:53]
Colin Cowherd
I think I'd take Aaron Rodgers. Oh, stop it. I think I would. I think I would. Our three
- [48:01]
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- [48:55]
Colin Cowherd
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Colin Cowherd
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Colin Cowherd
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