All right, Smirnoff, official vodka of the NFL, world's number one vodka. Chris Cody, you're with me here. Smirnoff. Wow. You're on the money with Smirnoff. I'm going to ask you, Chris, what's your favorite game day food? Smirnoff. That's your favorite game day drink. What's your favorite game day food? Smirnoff. All right, here's the deal. Game day is everything. The noise, the rituals, the passion, the dip, the wings, the dip again. Smirnoff. Smirnoff belongs in that mix because if you're tailgating or hosting or just sitting there checking your fantasy lineup every 30 seconds, you need Smirnoff. Otherwise, it's not a real game day. They've been doing it since 1864, which is, I don't even want to do the math. It's a long time. It's like when Greg Cody was born. They're award-winning. They make cocktails super easy, and they're all about bringing fans together. So yeah, we do game days. That's their thing. And if you're over 21, you should, too. Why, Chris? It's Marinoff. Grab a bottle smear enough, smear enough. At your local retailer and head to smear enough. Com to find recipes of delicious cocktails perfect for game day. Smear enough. Please drink responsibly.
Smear enough. Number 21, vodka distilled from grain, 40% alcohol by volume, the Smear enough Company. New York, New York, please do not share with anyone under legal drinking age. Smear enough.
Now is a good time to remember where tequila's story truly began. In 1795, Cuervo invented tequila. Cuervo. What are you doing here? Cuervo. Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up. Well, I do know that to be true, but even during the end, reads like... Cuervo. I think you could lay out, especially for one of our great partners. Sweet, delicious Cuervo. Since then, Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion. Cuervo. So enjoy the tequila that started it all. Cuervo. Cuervo. The tequila that invented tequila. Proximo. Cuervo. Com. Please drink responsibly. Cuervo.
Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right?
Don't place parlays on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is one when it hasn't hit triple zero.
Always drink your Jägermeister ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion.
Everything else?
Everything else.
Wearing clean underwear every day?
Well, that's just a personal decision.
Brushing your teeth?
Obviously smart, but not a rule.
Never PP on an electric fence.
Okay, maybe there are two rules, but the one that is 100% that I insist on completely, Jägermeister must You drink ice cold. Or don't drink it at all. Damn, that's cold. Exactly. You're finally starting to get it.
Drink responsibly. Jägermeister L'Core, 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Mass Jägermeister US, White Plains, New York.
Welcome to the Big Souris. Presented by DraftKings.
Why are you listening to this show?
The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Lebitard podcast. I'm sorry. I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to this imaging.
I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it.
And now, here's the marching band to nowhere, Fatface and the Habitual Liars.
This episode of the Dan Leventard Show is presented by DraftKings. Draftkings, the Crown is yours. Oh, yeah.
A little play action there. Is that what he did? Yeah. Oh, he's going to run. No, he's throwing it. The Crown isOf course. Zaz, I don't know if you saw this over the weekend also. I see everything. Ja Morant? Yeah. You see this whole Ja Morant hub hub?
I did. Of course, I saw what's going on with Jah Marant.
If you could, for the audience, summarize what's happening with John Marant in Memphis. By the way, a mere month after their GM came out and very strongly said, Any talk about him being on the block is da, da, da, da, irresponsible. He's our guy, 10 toes down, and all that shit.
Well, I'll start by telling you he's 100% 100% going to get traded. That's the first thing I'm going to tell you.
100%? 100%.
Not 95? For this to happen, what are we talking? Six games into the season, and we're already doing the bullshit. If you don't know what the bullshit is, so let's play the clip for you. This is Ja Morant post-game. A couple of nights ago, it was a loss, right? It was a loss. He's averaging a season low in minutes. Excuse me, career low in minutes right now. He's average of 28 minutes per game. It was a game he really struggled. He was three for 14 from the floor. I don't think he played down the stretch. And apparently, there was a discourse between the coach, Tomas Isalo and Ja Morant. And then shortly after that, here's Ja with the reporters.
What went wrong to you today? I'll go ask the question, sir. Do you feel like it was anything you could do differently, I guess? You're right, sir. They had a whole spill in him.
From the outside, and the outside may be wrong, but from the outside, it didn't look like you had your usual energy tonight.
I'll ask a question, sir. Why? Okay. You feel like you should play more? I asked the coach to staff, should I play more or not?
What could have been done different, get a different outcome, other than asking the coach to staff?
According to them, probably don't play me, honestly. That's what basically the message was after some. It's cool. The coaching staff makes us with it? It's cool. We good?
You didn't have anything physically wrong in terms of his illness or anything?
No, we're under the way. Okay. I'm fine. All right.
I mean, this is a child.
Let me clean up a few things. Number one, I think this is one of those instances. A lot of times when you hear these terse answers, people think, Oh, the player hates the media or the media have been jerks. This is not about the media. This is him trying to, in his mind, I think, give sanitized answers to cover the incendiary remarks that he really wants to make. He ends up getting suspended. I don't believe he got suspended for those remarks. I think he got suspended because- For what took place right before that, apparently. The unsanitized version of the remarks that he delivered directly to the coaching staff.
By the way, the remarks he delivered to the coach staff was apparently because new head coach, Tomasi Salo, who apparently challenged him in the locker room about, A, his leadership, and B, his effort. And then Ja Moran's response was deemed inappropriate. And let me also add on Amazon, on the Prime games that night, their postgame show, which is like Blake Griffin and Udonis Haslem. And Blake Griffin went at Ja Morant with video evidence and everything, how his effort was really, really poor in this game.
I just want to point out not only career lows in minutes, but also in field goal percentage, in assists, and three-point percentage. He's having the worst year of his career right now.
I mean, this is a player who, leadership-wise, has been a disaster off the court, has done zero winnings. He's been at the first round one time in his career. Last year was out for a lot of the season. Team played well. When he came back, didn't like the style of play that they were playing, got the coach fired. All right. And now six games into this year, we're doing the bullshit? Come on.
I don't know if he got the coach fired. I'm not going to go that far. The coach got fired, sure. But I think one of the things that's really important in the league, everything you say about Ja, yes, he bears responsibility for it. But for the best player in this franchise, for him, six games in, to have this loggerheads with the coaching staff.
It's ridiculous.
It's a two-way street, though. I think one of the big things for an NBA coach is you have to connect with your star player, and it has to happen pretty much the moment you got the job, for sure. But day one of the offseason where it's officially mine, and now I get to shape it the way I want to. He should have been with John every day because if you haven't sold your vision to your best player, I don't give a damn how good of a coach you are, your Xs and O's, your brilliance. If your best player, it's not just the best player because we have a bad team and he just happens to be the best. He's a really good player. If he's not bought in, then none of it matters after that. I got to put some of it on the coaching staff because clearly, you all hadn't sold division, six games in. Now, if 40 games in, he's like, I don't think this is working. That's different. But six games in, you haven't tried, I don't think.
It feels like the distinction was made that it's like Jaron Jackson Jr's team more so than it is John Morant's team. It feels like the vision was sold to Jaron Jackson Jr, and they want to start building around what he does more than what John Morant is doing. You can't give a half-ass, piss-poor effort and expect everything to be okay. He knew what he was doing. He knew the repercussions of what was going to happen.
What Buster coaches it to not confront what's supposed to be the best player of the leader?
If you don't do it, you're a sucker.
Yeah, a total Buster if you don't call him out after that effort.
No, of course. I guess my thing is, six games in, and that's the reaction you're getting from him. Clearly, there was no sell job earlier.
But You know what? Let me ask you this, right? Why does there have to be this all-out sell job by the new coach to Ja Morant when they've done no winning? Imagine, imagine if the Florida Panthers, and I'll give a local example. Imagine the Panthers coming off of the most points in the regular season, and they bring in a new coach who completely changes the style of play. And guess what? For most of that regular season, they were mediocre. Why didn't any of the Panthers leaders or best players come out challenging their new head coach who changed everything? Why can't the coach coach the team?
Matthew Kutchuck's dad did.
There's a couple of the number one.
But at least Matthew Kutchuck's dad did after a game like 75.
This is what I would say. Number one is the coach came in with a resume. The Panthers. Yeah, the Panthers coach came in with a resume. In professional sports, in the NBA, specifically, there is a level of like, who the hell are you? It's a The reason why people say, Oh, why do these former players keep getting jobs? Because players will listen to former players. At least when the door opens and you walk in and you're a former player, they'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Now, you might lose the benefit of the doubt when you start opening your mouth, but they'll give you that. If you're not a former player, then the stakes get a lot higher. So you have to have been probably an assistant a lot of places for a long time, because what ends up happening is guys say, Your new coach is Jonathan Zazel. And then they call, Oh, man, who the hell is Jonathan Zazel? You We were in Miami. Was he there? Yeah, man, he's good. He's really good. A word? Okay. Now, I'll give you the benefit of that.
They would say that about me.
Coach Isolo, he's very experienced, but he coached over there in Europe. And by the way, in Finland. So it's not like, Oh, he was in Spain. And, Yeah, I remember so and so played with me in Chicago. He played for him in Spain. You don't have a lot of people to vouch for you. So you come in and it goes, I'll go back to, Your exes and os might be salient. It might be right. Yeah, build it over around, Darren Jackson, we're going to play this way. But if you don't come in with the stamp of approval, we're not going to listen to you. David Blatt was one of the winningest coaches internationally, anywhere. Objectively, a great coach on every level. He came here and these guys are like, Who the hell are you? And he didn't take the time to build that reputation or that rapport with players. And so he ended up running them out. And he was successful. He was 30 and 11 when they fired him. So it's It sounds unfair, but man, this happens every year in the NBA. I keep saying it. Your number one ability as a head coach is for people to listen to you.
If they don't do that, you're screwed. Now, if the organization is like, Yeah, we've been trying to move off of Ja anyway. That's a different story for a coach. But if that's not the situation, like these are our cornerstones, and one of your cornerstones says, To hell with this, then you haven't done a good enough job selling your vision.
In this specific instance with this specific team and this specific player, When has it ever been Ja's fault? When has Ja ever taken any responsibility?
I think- The gun thing.
Yeah.
He did?
I mean, it didn't reach satisfactory levels for certain folks.
The second time, he did. The first time, no. The second time, then he was like, yeah.
That's where I want to go with the conversation because Ja Morant had the world by the balls. He was christened as the next guy. It had been a while since you had an American basketball player be that star. So likable. He had a rocket ship attached to his back. And now, several years later, it seems like a bygone era. He had a real opportunity there to be a face of the league, if not the face. And now this is going down a weird like Stefan Marbury type of path where you wonder what could have been. Is this guy going to be a journeyman? Are a bunch of teams going to try their hand at seeing if this guy can be that pro?
They're going to be teams that line up for it.
You got one on your shirt. The internet likes to think that this is a perfect fit.
I'm glad you said that because I wouldn't go in that direction, me personally, but the heat are 1,000% going to try and trade for it.
Really? I mean, they're culture fit. What do you think of that?
I think Pat Reilly is going to try and hold and hold, but eventually.
What's chat about Miller light? That's right. Football season is in high gear. The leaves are turning. That means these football games have more consequence. That means you'll be tense. You want to enjoy these games. Well, enjoy these games like I enjoy these games with a Miller light by my side. It makes tailgating better. It makes catching up with friends easier. Game day just hits different with a Miller light in your hand. From jaw-dropping touch downs to fantasy heartbreak, it's a beer that has been there for every moment. Fifty years of great taste, simple ingredients in that iconic golden color that you can spot from across the room. Look at that beauty. And here's the kicker. It's just 96 calories, 3. 2 carbs per 12 ounces. The original light beer since 75 and still hitting five decades later. So whatever your game day looks like, remember, Miller Time is always a good time. Miller Light, great taste, 96 calories. Go to millerlite. Com/dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller Time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.
2 carbs per 12 ounces. Quick time out here. Talk to you about the official ticketing partner of the Dan Levitard show. Speaking, of course, about game time. The game time app gives the advantage back to you fans. It's the hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in just a few taps. It's incredibly easy to use. And the game time guarantee means you'll trust that you'll get 100 % authentic tickets on time and at the best price. Plus, fees are always included. So what you see is what you pay. They got favorites, they got zone deals. They get panoramic seat view as my favorite feature, the low price guarantee, and game time's unparalleled ticket coverage, which means your purchase is covered with the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry. Take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with game time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code Dan for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code D-A-N for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download the Game Time app today.
Thursday Night Football is on, and it's only on Prime Video. This week, it's an old-school rivalry as the Las Vegas Raiders Collide with the Denver Broncos. Coverage begins at 07: 00 PM Eastern with football's best party, TNF Tonight. Not a prime member? Not a problem. Simply sign up for a 30-day free trial. It's the Raiders and the Broncos on Thursday at 07: 00 PM Eastern, only on Prime Video. Restrictions apply. See amazon. Com/amazonprime. Com. For details.
Don Levatard. John, can you rate my Al Pacino from that billiard scene in Carlito's way, if I do it for you? I think it's pretty good.
Yeah.
Okay. Stugatz. You think you're Big Tom?
Or you're going to die.
Big Tom.
That is on my infamous scale of 1-10. That's a 7.
6.
Solid.
Good job, Dan. Good job, Dan.
That's a Sui nominate right there. That's really good.
This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugats.
It's the other issue, too, is there's no adults in the room in Memphis. You look around like Desmond Bain was that guy. Jaron Jackson Jr, not really that guy. John Marant, not that guy.
Why can't he be an adult? They pay you to be the leader of the team.
Why can't he be the adult? You need good vets in your locker room, guys that are going to make sure that you're on the up and up and doing things the right way. It feels like Memphis doesn't have that or at least anybody of note or repute that would actually be worth listening to.
I would say, absolutely, going back to the original gun thing. There were warning signs leading up to that, notably the incident with the Indiana Pacers and the bus claiming to have a- Loading talk, yeah.
Oh, damn. I forgot about that one. That was a bad scene.
Those are all things. I get it. Again, I'm very much for personal responsibility, and John has not behaved the way he should have. I don't think his supporting circle, I think his father at some point, which is ironic because I remember interviewing John Morant before the draft, and we asked him, Why do you think you're going to be in the league? You came from a small school, and he said, Because my father is my biggest hater. And I said, What? He said, My father all my life, everything I've done, he's like, That's not good enough. You think so? Basically keeping him grounded. And I was like, Wow, that's a really cool interesting dynamic.
He's got kushelash.
And then it just flipped. The kid makes a draft, it makes a league, and now the father is like a cheerleader, just like, Yeah, let the good times roll. That was one of those things where I'm like, Yo, if your inner circle doesn't have people who check you, that's issue. Beyond that, every NBA organization, when you get a star player who is a rookie, I say the same thing every single time. No matter how entitled that kid is, the reality is they don't know what the NBA is. They have no idea. Whatever you do, they're going to assume that this is the NBA. So if you come in and act like he's a savior and give him every concession, let's you take the third bus, which I didn't even know existed until recently, do all these concessions so that they can do whatever they want. You can't then come back later and be like, Hey, okay, enough of this. It's my shit right here. You're on my plane. I'll fly it, right? The only thing that seems to reset that for guys is getting traded because you go somewhere else and the new team is like, This is how we do it here.
I'm like, What? But in Memphis, no, it's in Memphis no more, man. And so when you have the precipitous fall that Jazz had in terms of reputation, like you guys said, the guy thought he was going be the face of the league. He's exciting. And Zaz, I would argue with you, they have been winning. Winning in our league should not be just, did he win a title? No, they shut the hell up.
They've been at first round one time.
They've had injuries and all that, but they've been winning. Years and years ago, people got upset. I made a De'Aaron Fox comparison to John Marant, and my thing was like, Yeah, because De'Aaron Fox doesn't win shit. You want to talk about a guy who's never won? There it is. John Marant objectively makes his team better. Objectively, they win games. Objectively, he's gotten them to a point. Then from there, like I said, he's let himself down and let everybody else down with some of his behaviors and his actions. But the reality is, he gets to a new situation. They're not going to, unless it's someone more desperate than Memphis, they're not going to put up with that shit. Here is one of those places where they don't put up with that shit. The beauty of Miami is that the word is out already. It's not like you got traded to, let's say, Charlotte No more Mr. Nites guy. Like, oh, shit. Wait a second. I played you guys. I know who you guys are.
No, you're the best guy.
You can't act that way now with me. Miami, however good or bad they are as a program winning, you know when you step in the horror stories, oh, they do the body fat thing. Oh, man, the coach, don't play.
Well, look, the first thing Blake Griffin said on that Amazon Prime broadcast was he looked right to his left to UD and said, you wouldn't allow this if you were still in that locker room, right?
But that's why I go back to Memphis allowing, right? Whether Whether it's his teammates, whether it's front office, whether it's the coaching staff, they allow that shit to happen. He's messing up like that. Nobody put him in check. No one in his inner circle, no one in the locker room, no one upstairs, no one in the coaching staff, right? Again, I get it. It's his responsibility first before we point any fingers at all these other people. But even as he's messing up, when everybody else just, What's his job? What are you going to do? If that's your attitude, you have contributed. You're not the main contributor. He is, but you have absolutely contributed. Yeah.
The Miami thing is really interesting from multiple perspectives, because you look at that locker room, you look at that organization, it's the perfect place to check him where he is and get him to buy in. But their open offense right now was just implemented by a consultant, Noah LaRouge.
That name sounds familiar.
Noah is the guy who implemented this offense in Memphis. So you can look at it one of two ways.
The offense while Ja was out, right? It was more so when he wasn't playing, no?
I mean, look, it's the offense that they're still playing.
And he's clearly not happy.
Correct. They made a decision to go to a more motion-based offense last year. I might add Taylor Jenkins was not the reason they did that. And then Taylor Jenkins ends up getting fired, him and Noah La Roche. They were the only two that got fired from the staff because of an offense that they didn't like for some reason. They ended up going to more pick and roll stuff to end the season, and that's what got them into the play in the playoffs. But the point remains, the guy who was the brains behind the architect, I should say, behind that system, advised was a consultant here in Miami. For this offense that they're really excited about and it seems to be working, which regardless of who the architect is, seems to be antithetical from the way that Ja wants to play.
That's exactly right. And so you can look at it one of two ways. Either you get him to buy in. He already knows how this offense works because it's been implemented at his previous spot. And it works perfectly because he does seem like the type of athlete and basketball player who can really benefit from this type of offense. Or you're trading for a guy who has out loud said, I don't like the style of basketball that you play, and he becomes a malcontent in a locker room that is getting along in an incredible way right now after dealing with a malcontent last year.
Yeah, it's tough because you found something that's successful and you found great chemistry. At the same time, you know that this incarnation of the heat has a ceiling, and that ceiling is not a championship, and it's probably not even conference finals.
Heat fans are a living embodiment, though, of a meme. Anytime a superstar is available in this situation, heat fans will naturally think that it's their time to go whale hunting, but they do make a lot of sense. You look at the teams and the lay of the land, they probably make the most sense in terms of a team that could use his services in a place with a culture that might be strong enough to absorb him at this stage in his development. But it does seem a little risky, and you did just have a superstar nuke your season last year, despite all We'd point to, Hey, we have Bam. He'd be a good leader. I know Jimmy's at a different stage in his career, but they weren't able to corral Jimmy at the end.
Look, it's Peanut Pete, man. Look at that guy. Hampton Farms' own Peanut Pete just hanging out in the office.
This is very He wants to come in. Does he? He wants to take part in our nomination today for Nuttiest Fan. What?
What up, though?
A celebrity in our midst. It's Peanut Pete.
We've been chopping these sweet honey peanuts.
I dapped them up, my bad. I said a high five.
Let me tell the people, the nuttiest fan is brought to you by Hampton Farms. Get nutty with Hampton Farms, the official peanut of bowl season. Vote for your favorite nutty fan at Lebitard Show on Instagram. We have two colonies today, both coming from the Colorado Boulders.
What? Colorado Boulders. I like that team. The Buffalo.
The Buffalo. That's my bad. There's two nominees. We have a fan with a six-pack.
A fan with a six-pack?
It should be the Boulders.
It should be the Boulders, right?
We have a fan here with a six-pack classic. He shaved his belly hair to look like a six-pack. It looks like Marty Wang. Then we have Andy Reid. Then we have Andy Reid, shirtless.
Whoa.
At the Boulders.
At the Boulders game, In Boulder.
Is that Andy Reid?
I think it's Andy Reid. I don't think he would have missed a Colorado Boulder's game. I think he would have been there.
Big quarterback change for the Boulders.
I'm telling you, it's a good name.
Can I throw in a third nominee? I know this is supposed to be a football thing, but I got one from college basketball. Let's see. I don't know if any of you guys saw it.
Season starts today. I'm so ready.
What do we got here? It's Lemoyne against Dillard. Guy goes up, misses the dunk, lands, and then I'm assuming he feigns an injury because he just happens to grab his leg a second later, then limps on the wrong leg, then has to call out, then he's limping on the other leg now. As he's going, the crowd is going nuts, including one guy grabbing his name.
Look, they're on the ground grabbing their leg.
That's a good crowd right there. We don't have the audio, Zaz.
The crowd going what? Look at me, he's limping. He's got the leg.
They're going nuts. Zaz, we don't have the audio. I don't know. What they're saying, I swear to God, you can hear it on the broadcast. They're My leg, my leg. Here we go. He faked the injury. He faked the injury. Lord. It's so good. It is so good. That's what being a good fan is, folks. Not obsenities, not talking about someone's mama or personal stuff. Just ridiculing the guy for what he just did.
Throw yourself on the floor and pretending you also have the same injury he faked.
Not storm in the field, throwing you upside down.
He's lipping on the wrong leg. You hear him?
He's wearing different-colored shoes, too.
That's the thing. When you wear the Kobe Grinches and then the reverse Grinches, you got to make that dunk.
Look at him lipping.
What do we think, Pean-Up? That's a hot crowd. You like all those, huh? All of them. Look at that. He's very emotive.
Great to finally meet you, peanut pea. Yeah.
Thanks to all the peanuts.
Love that guy.
Wow. What flavor did you get? I got salted and roast. Kind of like that guy. He got salted and roast.
Colorado boulders.
Colorado boulders. Thanks a lot, peanut Pete. We appreciate you.
Just loiter around.
Yeah, hang out again. Partake. We got breakfast, we got coffee, we got some Coke cans that are always hot somehow at lunchtime. You already had some. How does that happen?
See you.
Why is it always warm at lunchtime?
Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right?
Don't place parlays on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is one when it hasn't hit triple zero.
Always drink your Jägermeister ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion.
Everything else?
Everything else.
Wearing clean underwear every day?
Well, that's just a personal decision.
Brushing your teeth?
Obviously smart, but not a rule.
Never PP on an electric fence.
Okay, maybe there are two rules, but the one that is a A hundred % that I insist on completely, Jägermeister must be drunk ice cold. Or don't drink it at all. Damn, that's cold. Exactly. You're finally starting to get it.
Drink responsibly. Jägermeister L'Core, 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Mass Jägermeister US, White Plains, New York.
You ever notice how everything keeps going up? Rents going up, streaming services going up, even your favorite burrito spot suddenly thinks that salsa should cost extra. But with Boost Mobile, you and your phone bill doesn't have to play the Will this go up soon game. Why? Because Boost Mobile has an unlimited talk, text, and data plan at a price that will never go up. In fact, it's the same price you'll pay for life. So switch now for unlimited wireless at a price that will never go up only at Boost Mobile. After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience slower speeds. Customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the Boost Mobile unlimited plan.
Don Lebatard. Again, started on the Breakfast Flaw.
Oh, man, I've been singing a song to myself all morning while I'm, Breakfast Flaw. Stugatz. Have you never heard the Breakfast Flawne song?
No, hit me with it. Okay.
I wish I had some breakfast fun. Breakfast Flawne. Breakfast Flawne. Where can I find a breakfast like that?
This is the Dan Levatard show with the Stugats.
I was looking at the 2019 NBA draft.
Yikes.
That's the John Marant, Zyme, William.
That's the day I interviewed him, and he said, My dad is my biggest hater.
I'm going to give you guys the top 10 real quick. Zyme went one. Okay. Ja Morant went two.
Exciting. Pelicans row in seven, by the way.
Pelicans row, we need to talk about them later. We do?
Yeah, we do.
We got to talk about them.
I don't think we do.
R. J. Barrett went three.
He's having a little bit of revival.
Deandre Hunter, 4. Solid. Solid? Not bad. Darius Garland, five.
Yeah, good. All-star, yeah.
Never plays.
Jared Culver, not in the league anymore. Oh, my.
You went six? I like that.
Yeah, he went six. Jesus. Kobe White.
Injured, but also has had a revival of late.
Jackson Hayes.
I guess. Playing for the Lakers.
I heard the heat last night.
Rui Hachimura. Was he one of the white guys?
No. Oh, that's in Weekend Observation.
Please hold on to that thought. Please hold. And to round it out at 10, Kam Redish.
It's not good top 10.
No, he's in Turkey. I think he's in Turkey. Who's in the box? Who's a few picks after?
P. J. Washington.
There you go.
And after that?
Jeremy, who do you want to say? Tyler here right after.
Tyler Hero. I was going to say nick Klaxon. Nick Klaxon, second-round player.
nick Klaxon, later on.
Daniel Gaffer, second-round pick.
Ty Jerome.
Ty Jerome, late first-round pick.
Jordan Pool, first-round pick.
Jordan Pooh, late first-round pick. Speaking of the Pelicans.
Rome just owned the heat last year in that postseason series.
The thing is that you think about these massive draughts, and it's like, next year, a big draft for the NBA, and then you do the math five years later, and it's like, it was sucked.
Look, I've got a draft.
Big draft, by the way, only It means it's got three guys at the top were really good. That's all it means.
This is what I'll do. I've got the pics in front of me, and I'll tell you, Zion went one, and we all thought he was going to go one. I guess people would argue he would still go one. I would say that I wish his career had been managed better. Again, I know it sounds like I'm absorbing the kid and putting it all on the system, whatever. But when a dude comes to a team dinner and orders a pitcher of Coke, not like a Coke. Just for himself. You know how restaurants, when they want to do refills instead They just keep coming back. They just put a pitcher of Coke?
Were they a Pizza Hut? A pitcher of Coke?
A pitcher of Coke, yeah. When you see that, ultimately, there's a sign that there's some control issues there. John Marant, still a great player. R. J. Barrett struggled with the Knicks, but has had a lot more success in Toronto, growing into who he should have been, which is a guy who should never have the ball in his hands. Should be coming off with downscreens and playing like a-Yeah, R.
J. Barrett is a worthy top five in a draft.
I'd probably put Garland in front of him.
I would put Garland in front of him. In front of R. J. Barrett. Absolutely. Hunter solid player. But even on draft day, I was like, He's an upperclassman. He's okay.
But he's not- Just won the national title.
Yeah, but he was just a solid player. Culver, I was like, What? Kobe White, again, has found himself recently I don't know if we would consider him a top 10 talent even now.
Who did he play for? Chicago. He's still in Chicago.
Yeah, he just hurt.
The 5-0 Chicago Bulls.
Oh, they lost. Jackson Hayes flamed out. Oh, they did? Yeah, they lost to the Knicks.
Big one for the Knicks last week.
They didn't catch that one. Josh Skittles' playing well.
Yes, he is playing really well.
He played really well in the season last year, too.
They weren't 15 and 5 to end the season last year. Then you get to Jackson Hayes, Rui Atchimour, Kam Redish. There were question marks on all of those guys on draft day. Jackson Hayes was like, Yo, he's very raw. Rui Atchimour, he's old and undersized a little bit and not a good shooter at the time. Kam Redish was like, he's talented, but a space cadet. Kam Johnson, he's old, but he's reliable. He's actually had a much better career than I thought he would have. Pj Washington has really turned out really well, especially since he's come to Dallas. Tyler Hero. He's a hero. Tyler Hero is okay.
We're going through the 2019 draft class instead of talking about Game 7 on the World Series. It is pretty wild.
This is what we would look good in the meta.
We were talking about John Maran, NBA draft class. We're talking about John Maran.
Yeah, talk about John Maran.
Oh, okay.
If we have to redraft this, who goes one?
It's still Zion one and John Maran. Really?
You think Zion still goes one? Knowing what you No.
So you're saying Ja would be one?
I don't even know if Ja would be one. What would it be then?
It would be Ja.
It'd be Ja, man. It would be Ja. Ja. Ja.
Heroes got a...
This is not going to work. Not for number one overall. Okay, who's one? Don't give me some...
Who's the Who's the best player today? Who's the best at basketball today?
Player for your life.
We know who the most talented player on that list is. I'll probably go Ja one. Ja is the most talented player on that list. What's going on with Ja is between the ears and his approach to the game.
Well, I mean, you could argue the same thing about Zion You could argue the same thing.
I like Ja's ceiling higher than Zion's ceiling.
This is what I would say. Whenever Zion plays, he is legitimately a Hall of Famer.
It could be 2020 if he played and had his head on his ceiling off.
It would never be 2020 because he doesn't grab 20 rebounds.
He doesn't rebound enough.
He doesn't rebound well, which he didn't do in college either, by the way.
If he applied himself, he could grab a rebound.
If he applied himself, he wouldn't look like the Good Year blend. But that's what I'm saying. Oh, sorry.
What's what I'm saying? Is he applied himself?
He's a better shape But yeah, I think Zion ultimately... Because if we're doing caveats about between the ears, then I got to go Ja number one still. But Zion, I mean, a Zion number one still. Ja is right there with him, which is ironic because That's how people felt a little bit on the draft day. But then it's like Darius Garland would be three.
And Hero four.
I think Garland and Hero, that's a toss-up.
I don't think Garland would be three or four. Hero would be three or four. I don't think so. I think I'd rather have Garland and Hero. Really? Yeah.
Even with the injuries, both obviously having injuries?
They both have injuries.
I go with Garland. Are the heat about to trade Hero for Tomarant?
I don't think so.
The Trade works, by the way. I put it in the machine. Trade works. It works.
Oh, you got that Trade Machine cooking?
Let me pull it up real quick.
You know about that Trade Machine?
Tell me about it.
Let me ask something. We hear Andy Ellsberg, The Heat, Salary Cap, all that stuff. He's amazing at it. Do MBA executives pull up the ESPN Trade Machine?
No, they have their own in-house proprietary thing that is way more complex and sophisticated. Now, RealDiem, which was the first to have the Trade Machine, they are one of the proprietary software people, so they have a souped-up version that they license to teams. Got you. But everyone uses something more sophisticated than what we have available.
Good business model for them. We get this, we sell it to you.
Great business model. You use it, we get paid. You know who else had a great business model like that? A little outfit called Draft Express. Yes, we do scouting, and then we sell you scouting reports, too. And then they turn around and sell it back to the Australian teams and stuff like that. It's a very sophisticated hustle that Draft Express is going on.
You got that NBA Trade Machine? I got the Trade Machine rolling Zaz. There we go. Grizzly's acquired Tyler Hero and Kashad Johnson.
Do we have to give him any pics?
No pics for John Marantz straight up. And it passes.
Yeah, it passes The Trade Machine.
It passes The Trade Machine in money.
This is one of those ones where it's like, you're holding and holding and holding, and she's already gone. She's left. She's like, Wait, I'm still holding. I'm still holding.
You guys there? Hello?
Yeah. I'm by myself.
I mean, the grizzly would never do that trade without at least a pick or two being involved.
I don't know that the heat would, in this scenario, move Hero from Marant simply because of, well, A, they know that Tyler is bought into what they're doing, and that does matter at the moment. But B, all we've heard from all of the, at least national reporters and even the local reporters, is, Oh, the heat are really interested in having flexibility this offseason.
Tyler- The flexibility.
Flexibility. Don't worry about it.
It's the question of whether or not- When's the last time that flexibility mattered? Never. I'm just talking about whether or not you think that committing 42 million and 44 million over the next couple of years to Ja Morant, who presently is all of the things that you just describe.
You don't have to. I mean, look, I'm not in on Ja Morant. I think that he are going to be, but me personally, I'm not in on Ja Morant.
When people say this, I always fire back with this. How many times, Mike, you back me up on this, are people like, Oh, we don't want him. And then he goes somewhere and it's like, damn, he's pretty good, man. I wish we had gone after him.
Yeah, Pascal Siakam, one of those.
James Harden.
Where he thought that they were too good for Pascal Siakam. No, we need something bigger than that.
I'm just talking about from what we've heard in terms of what the Heats approach is planned to be this obviously. Now, they might not have considered that Ja would be available now, and that could change what the thought process would be. I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm saying, based off of what we know today, it would surprise me if a hero for Marant move was made. I don't know about the future.
The rebuttal is basically this. You get the flexibility because you hope to add a talent that's as good as John Marant. Exactly. It's the old family guy bit. A boat's a boat, but the mystery box could be anything. It could be a boat. If we're trying to have this flexibility because we're going big game hunting, and here comes big game in the room. No, I need this for when I go big game hunting later. I'm like, I'm big game. No, but not that big game.
Another big game.
Or not big game right now or whatever. Again, the thing that I always remind people, you almost never get a superstar who's happy with the situation. You're always getting someone where things have flamed out a little bit in their prior stop.
Is there a collective package that exists that does not include Tyler Hero? I just wonder, I have the question as to whether or not you can do that. Because Norman Powell is here, and he has not been offered an extension either. Do you make this move with the idea of, Hey, some of those younger guys, Andrew Wiggens, who we all know the heat at least came in.
Better not mention Jaume Jaques, because I'll tell you what, we're going to have a conversation about Jaume Jaques.
Are you brought in?
We're going to have a conversation. We're going to have a conversation about him? Cody, I think we're going to have a conversation right now.
I'm the B of the Day.
I'm a... Tony, if we're going to talk MVP- I care about you, Zaz. We better have a conversation about Jaime Jaques Jr. He better be in the conversation for MVP. Do you understand what he's... Last night, Jaime Jaques 31 points, eight rebounds off the bench. He was 11 to 16 from the floor. He went to the free throw in 13 times.
We don't need Ja Morant. We got Ja Morant.
If we're going to talk about MVP, I mean, better have a conversation about Jaimeh Haukez Jr.
Got a great plus minus on the season, too.
Of course he does.
Those stats are crazy.
A win would have been nice.
That's a tough turn. No North Powell. You care about wins and losses right now? What's wrong with you?
Dude, how crazy is Luka?
That's why he's my MVP.
I'm going to tell you something. Luka, I got a stat of the day. You know what? Pull up the stat of the day music. This is the insane thing.
Start of the day, start of the day. This year's start of the day. Start of the day, start of the day. This year's start of the day. Start of the day, start Start of the day. Start of the day. Start of the day. Start of the day. This year's start of the day.
Shout out to Outkast. Oh, really? Yeah, they produced that one for us.
Big boy, you're on to your family. Thanks.
Luka Dines is averaging 41 points a game through four games, right? How has he ever done? This is the craziest part of this. Somehow, that's not crazy to me. What's crazy to me is he's shooting 78% on 2. 5 field goals. Everything inside the three-point arc, he's shooting 78 %. That's insane. That's crazy. That's insane. And let's just say, how many attempts? Thirteen attempts a game. He's not missing. Your best What I hope as a defender right now is that he says, I'm going to try this three-pointer.
A step-back one at that.
A step-back one at that.
Can I tell you something? Yeah. Lebron James. Oh, man. His plan has backfired. Go on. His plan has backfired in a big Okay. Sciatica? No one believes that. Lebron doesn't have sciatica. All right, your grandma has sciatica. Lebron doesn't have sciatica. I have sciatica. He's sitting there on the bench like a gargoyle, expecting this Laker team to stink with his phony sciatica holdout. So he returns. Oh, thank God. You see how important I am? The Lakers are five and two while LeBron is sitting back and watching.
Look at this.
This has backfired on LeBron. The heat back?
Big way. All it took was getting rid of Rozier. I told you. Now we got to choose between LeBron and Ja Moran.
Well, what's crazy is that now also you can't use Rozier as part of the salary filler in any of these meetings. The heat are being punished. They're being absolutely screwed by the NBA.
I'm glad you brought that up because I heard, Oh, this is so good for the heat.
I'm like, No, this is bad for the heat. This is a nightmare. This is the worst case scenario. You're not only not getting any of the pics back, you're not getting anything. You're stuck. You can't move him. And that was the only reason I think you hold on to Rozier going into this season was to be able to make a move at the deadline where you can use that salary, and now that's gone.
Barry Jackson asked all the relevant questions, which is, how much did everyone know? Did the league know? Did the Hornets know? This is at the time of the trade. Did they know? Of course they knew.
It seems like everybody knew, except the heat.
If they knew, then there's gross negligence by the NBA to not have the heat informed on that because not only, like you said, the giving up of the picks, but the insolvency. I can't cut him because he's just going to sit on my books, and I can't trade him because he's just off the table now. What am I supposed to do?
You just have to put money in an escrow account.
That's all you're allowed to do. Got another trade machine. Yeah. Draw Marant. Draw Marant. Draw Marant. Draw Marant. Draw Marant. Andrew Wiggens and Nikola Jovich.
Who are we getting? Four. For Draw Marant?
Okay, hold on. Andrew Wiggens and Jovich. Wiggens and Jovich. You know what Jeremy just did? He tried to hold, he tried to hold, but you gave him that one, and this is exactly... Yeah, it happens.
I'm intrigued. I wanted to grab one.
Might get on that. No pat, paper. Colorado Boulders.
Now is a good time to remember where tequila's story truly began. In 1795, Cuervo invented tequila. Cuervo. What are you doing here? Cuervo. Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up. Well, I do know that to be true, but even during an ad reads like... Cuervo. I think it could lay out, especially for one of our great partners. Sweet, delicious Cuervo. Since then, Cuervo has stayed true to its roots. The same family, the same land, the same passion. Cuervo. So enjoy the tequila that started it all. Cuervo. Cuervo. The tequila that invented tequila. Proximo. Cuervo. Com. Please drink responsibly. Cuervo.
"That coach is a buster!"
Ja Morant. Miami Heat. Collision course. Also, uhhhhhhhh, World Series? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Walker Buehler?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices