Transcript of Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, And Miami Heat "Smoke" | Local Hour New

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Jonathan Sasslo.

Greg Cody.

Roy Bellamy.

Jeremy Tache.

Tony Colariu.

Chris Cody. Dan Levitar.

In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, mics up, cue.

This is the Dan Levitan Show. All right, look at this group. We did it, everybody, we made it to Friday.

We did it.

How about that? Look at this crew we got here today. I don't know if this group's worked together yet. We got Chris and we got Tony, we got Mike and Jeremy. Of course we got Dominique, who's wrapping up a very solid week with us. And how about out on the West Coast, we got Dave Damashek. Hello, Dave, how are you, pal?

I mean, I was, I was good until a couple seconds ago.

I, I just noticed, uh, who was missing from that new show open.

Oh, that's— they're— it's, it's only the people who are here every day. What are you talking about?

I'm, I'm sitting right here, right here. You talking to me?

Because I mean, your puppet was there.

Yeah, yeah.

I think there's a great shot of Greg Cody shoving his hand up your ass in that show open. So you were, you were in that video.

You're the puppet.

You're the puppet getting railed.

For those who dream come true, don't, um, who are audio-only listeners, which normally I am, is worth a shot. Go watch the video or go watch the intro. It's a new intro. There's lots of things in there that are worth discussing. Tony, I won't mention it.

Okay, they are worth discussing. Let's discuss it because yesterday was the first time I saw this. Oh, First thing that I noticed right away was I thought it was an actual hole that a hand was going in at first. I didn't quite grasp what was happening, and then I adjusted. I'm like, this looks really graphic.

And my wife was very taken aback when she saw it.

I get it, I was too. I would look at these pearls, I was clutching them.

Clutched.

And then do we have to show the full dick that Chris Cody was drawing? I think we could have gotten the gist without drawing the head.

I think that Dan would say that like you gotta walk up to the line like a little subtlety. We sledgehammered this one.

To Chris's credit, he didn't draw the little line at the top of the dick.

Well, uh.

I mean, maybe the camera cut away. We don't know for sure.

I mean, maybe that's a tank. It's a tank. Two wheels.

Could be.

This one's uncircumcised.

An anonymous drawn wiener gets more play than Damashet. I mean.

No, you're in it. You're featured.

Dave, you're, you're, You're not looking at the positives here because I don't know if you've noticed this, but you are now one of the cartoon faces on the slot machine in the, you know, during Shadow Show.

You don't look like a crackhead at all.

That's you, Dave. That's you. That's your cartoon face.

I look maniacal. I look like Antonio Brown railing against Zay Flowers. Sheesh, look at, look at, look at the anger in those eyes.

There you go. Yeah, you don't, you don't have a cartoon face on the slot machine if you're not someone who's appreciated, Dave. There you go. No, come on now.

Mike Ryan, you're right. I'm doing the Trump perp photo. That's exactly what I'm doing.

With a little methy lockjaw.

Cinema verite.

So we got a fun little show for everybody today on a Friday, help you get started with the weekend. But first, because we have not talked to Dave yet this week. Dave's in with us on Fridays, and I don't know if this has been covered in Football America this week, but Yannis Antetokounmpo. I don't know if you heard, Dave. Yannis, he's on the Heat now. Give me some thoughts here. This is very exciting, right?

It is very exciting. I'm happy for you. That was legitimately my—

specifically me—

how enthused— I mean, sincerely, yes. I knew you would be over the moon about it. Yes, I knew everybody in Miami would be happy. And I don't want to be a curmudgeon about it, but I'll be a curmudgeon about it. You know, I, you know, In much the same way you guys are excited about your new action hero, Giannis, I am a big fan of the mid-century architect— I mean, uh, archaeologist Dr. Indiana Jones and the surrounding excitement of his deeds out in the field. But if you think about Raiders of the Lost Ark, you know, the event— you remember 1936-ish, I think, is when, when it all went down, when they were chasing the Ark. The Nazi Scourge v. Dr. Jones. Um, if you think about it, if you remove Dr. Jones from all the events surrounding the ark, it still would have resulted in the Nazi, Nazi scourge being burned up when the ark flew open and a vengeful God took them all out with those lightning bolts. Remember all that and the face melting and all of that? That's kind of what Giannis is. Whatever happens with Giannis, I'm happy for you.

I hope it makes for a more exciting movie in the upcoming regular season, but it doesn't change the outcome. The big climax is going to be either the Spurs or OKC winning the championship, or maybe it'll be the Knickerbockers, or maybe it'll be the Celtics. I I mean, with all due respect, it creates an exciting ride for you upcoming these next whatever it'll be, 8 months or 10 months, but it doesn't change their chances of winning a title. Come on.

No, he's right about that.

Yeah.

I mean, also my college girlfriend, my college girlfriend cut my hair. Well, she would cut my hair periodically and every time she did, and it got to be really long.

Your college girlfriend would cut your hair?

Yeah. And when I was 38, which was why it was really weird, it was like she would come over like 20 years.

She's no longer cutting it.

No, yeah, no, but she, but no, now I cut my own hair ever since COVID You can tell from the caricature.

Yeah.

Yep, I mean, it got a couple laughs there.

I'm happy for you.

That was good. Now listen, she would cut my hair and it would go down the exact same way every time, which is about halfway through I'd say, let me just see, 'cause I just wanna see how it's going. 'Cause it wasn't a professional setup with a mirror right there or anything. So I would get up and I would go look in the mirror. I'd be like, what the hell's going on? And she'd be like, oh, we're not done yet. We're not done yet.

Dave!

Dave!

I've had zero criticism of Zazz with his steering wheel so far this week until this moment. Grab the reins!

Oh, I handed the reins over to Dave?

Yeah, we cannot let—

This is a make good for my absence from that opening video.

Well, we can find a way to make good for you without torturing everyone else like it. Dave is awesome; however, we can't just give him the reins. We got heat talk. We got Giannis. We got—

look, we got—

I mean, we don't got to go talk about Indiana Jones and I don't know who he was.

The Nazi Scourge.

The Nazi Scourge.

The what?

The Nazi Scourge.

The Nazi Scourge.

They're trying to get— they were trying to get the Ark of the Covenant.

Maybe, maybe my pronunciation is different, but I don't— I didn't know what the hell Dave was talking about.

I heard— Damechaq is Cedric Wilson 2.0 here to take up the entire afternoon of Dominique Foxworth. That's my goal here. Wow.

Reference.

But further right here, I can hear you say I do have to say, Dominique, on that, you were immodest. I heard you talking about the '05 title game a mile high in which number 7, Big Ben Roethlisberger, and the crew went in there and vanquished your club. For the record, Cedric Wilson's first touchdown was smoking not you, but Hall of Famer Champ Bailey. I mean, he whipped him real good on that play, and you're busy owning that it was your fault on some level, but really it was the guy on the other side. Go ahead, call out Champ Bailey if you want to.

So, no, you like Giannis, or you're in?

It sounds like you're in on—

yeah, I think, I think it's the same thing. Well, so with the Heat are concerned with my haircut, I would get up and I would look at it and I would say like, what are you doing? And she'd say, it's not done yet. So I think that's what I have to give. Let's recap here, Pat Riley and company. I think they, they obviously have a lot of work yet to do before we evaluate what this Miami Heat is going to be.

Let's recap here. I asked Dave about Giannis. And here's what we got. We got Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Nazi Scourge.

Hold up, we got a new pronunciation? Is there a T in that one?

Yeah.

Okay.

We got Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Nazi Scourge.

There we go, that's the one I'm familiar with.

I thought you were talking about the LaMelo Ball trade.

We got Dave getting a haircut by his college girlfriend, uh, still to this day.

Nazri.

We got Dave referencing Dominique's Broncos losing in the AFC Championship Game. And did I leave one out?

No, I think you're right.

No, I know. No, I don't know if it was you. Somebody left me out of that video though. Okay, for sure.

All right, so you covered a lot of bases.

I, I owe you an apology. This actually was a pretty fun ride. I, I'm sorry, Zach, that I criticized.

I know what I'm doing here.

You trusted the guy, you handed him the roller coaster.

I know what I'm doing.

And he took us all the way to the top and to the bottom and back up again.

And Dominique, to be fair, I speak a little bit of Dave Dameshek, and he made his Giannis point during the Nazi scourge argument, right? Which was No matter what happens at the end of the movie, you're gonna lose. Oklahoma City or San Antonio is going to be the spirits outside of the Ark of the Covenant with a vengeful God.

This fool.

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Dan Lebotard.

DJ Laz is playing Gulo in the back of my pitbull.

Here's Dave Demacek and he's like, hey guys, Pittsburgh, uh, alright. Everybody's like, who the fuck is this guy? Dave Demacek.

He goes, what TV is the Penguins game on?

Who the hell is this guy? This is the Dan Lebotard Show. Considering that it is the local hour, let's talk about the Heat. And before we get to more Giannis stuff, because I mean, look, it's very exciting and every day we got new opinions and we're learning things and there are rumors out there. Are the Heat gonna do this? Are they able to keep this? We'll get to all that stuff in a second. But one thing that I do want to address in regards to the Heat and what they are potentially going to do over the next week now that we're headed toward the actual free agency period. Stop with the Miami Heat Kawhi Leonard stuff. Like, enough. And I see the look that you're making there, Mike. I'm not saying that I wouldn't want Kawhi Leonard on the Heat.

Okay.

Why wouldn't you want Kawhi Leonard on the Heat? Like, just in a vacuum, of course you would want Kawhi Leonard. But you cannot— in today's NBA, you cannot field a competitive team when you have 3 players making between $55 and $60 million a season. That's not the way today's NBA works. It's no longer the days of like when the Heat landed LeBron where it's, hey, you gotta get your Big 3 and we'll fill out the rest of the roster. It's okay as long as we put together all the talent. That's not the way the league works anymore. If you have 2 guys, it's— if you have 2 star players, preferably superstar players, if you have 2 star players, that's the money and then you're able to field out a deep roster with a lot of talented players. When you have 3 guys making that much money, you're the Phoenix Suns from a couple years ago with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, and your team sucks. You can't field a team anymore with 3 guys making that much money. That's not how today's NBA works anymore.

Yeah, I mean, I think this is a good— it's a really smart observation. The new NBA has changed a lot, and I've made the joke that it's been NFL NFL-ized, which means that like the value of the draft picks have gone up, right? And that was cost control, right? Yeah, the cost control, the harder cap makes it more difficult. So in the past you'd be able to sign a few big guys and then you find— use the many mechanisms that they offered to exceed the soft cap. You really can't do that in the modern NBA. And I was wondering, as the more I like think about this trade, the more I think about the way the modern NBA is up. And I kind of feel like it works in the Heat's advantage because this is a place where you can't go— and we're in a place where you can't go and acquire all the pieces that are already fully developed. You kind of have to develop the guys that are on your roster, finding value to some extent. And I know that the Knicks, a bunch of guys who weren't on their roster just happened to win a championship.

But I think the way that you're gonna have to do it is not the way of the past where you bring in all these top guys and then you can fit around them. You're gonna have to develop guys You might have to draft well every now and then, which the Heat haven't necessarily done historically. But if the options are the same everywhere else, which they might be because people won't be able to go over the cap, then the deciding factor might be the opportunity to come play in Miami with no state tax and good weather. I think maybe good weather for the rest of the year except for in June and July.

Is that like a huge thing that happens with like does, does when you have offers on the table from several teams, does your agent make sure he presents to you Hey, by the way, Florida, California, Texas, no state tax.

I mean, I'm sure everybody kind of knows it already, but for most guys, I don't think you have a ton of different choices in the NBA. I think, to be honest with you, the top guys, the money is so high that they really are choosing based on where they can go have success. The rest of those guys, I think, are doing a similar calculation. I would say the most important thing is who am I playing with? Like, how easy is my life going to be as a result of teaming up with this person? Position, then I think those other things, particularly if you're younger, I think those other things matter a little bit more. Like, yeah, I'd love to be in Miami if I'm a 25-year-old millionaire. That's pretty good.

So, so that's what I'm saying, Mike, in regards to the Kawhi stuff. Like, yeah, I want Kawhi to play for my team. Yeah, he's a real good player.

But once you do that, you have no more moves.

The Heat would have a major problem if you had Bam. Like, it's amazing that those words are coming out of my mouth, that the Heat would have a major problem if they had Bam, Giannis, and Kawhi. But they would have a major problem because the rest of their team would be minimum contract guys and like you would not be a good team.

Not only that, you're on two timelines with the Giannis and Bam core and then also bringing Kawhi because he says he's not going to sign an extension with the Heat. So you're basically bringing him in for a year and it's like, all right, hopefully we do something here. If not, he's gone. And then what do we do with the rest of the roster?

And Kawhi, like the— if we're going to talk seriously about Giannis health concerns, like we have to, of course, obviously talk seriously about Kawhi health concerns. Like he's been He's participated less than, um, Giannis. Of course, when he's healthy, he's as good as anyone in the NBA, but I think it's hard-pressed to rely on that guy to be healthy in the most important moments and for the stretch of an entire series. That's the interesting thing about his health issues is that they aren't like maybe something to go wrong. It's inevitable that his knees are going to wear down at some point the more he plays, especially in high-leverage situations.

Now, I don't know if you've noticed, but over these last— everybody's got opinions about Giannis, okay? And what We're so back, we're so back, the Miami Heat, where everyone's hating on us. I love it, it's fuel for me, alright? Inject it right into my veins, I love it. It's my drugs, I love it. I love when you're doubting the Heat. I love all the nasty things, I love all the negative things that you're saying about my favorite basketball team. And I don't know if you've noticed, but Michael Wilbon, Michael Wilbon is on tour right now.

Oh.

Yeah, he's on tour. He's on the "let everybody know that Giannis is not a big-time player anymore" tour. And the tour took a stop yesterday on the Stephen A. Smith Show. Give this a listen.

That structure, that culture, the greatness of that coach and Bam Adebayo and Bobby Portis on the front line. Mike Wilbon, I can't sneeze on that.

I can't.

But it's just like, it's the reverse of what we talked about with, with Minnesota. I mean, are they going to be able to keep— and by the way, Wiggins, you know, there in whatever capacity, I mean, you can have him, a guy with a championship ring But Stephen, they can't keep Norman Powell. Okay, if you could tell me—

no, they can't.

Norman, they can't. They can't.

Okay, they can't afford them.

I feel better about it. Here's my other part. Giannis, it's not about how much, it's about when. Giannis has been a rumor in April and May, and he ain't even been on the floor in June. Yes, he's been a rumor.

I'm sorry, 5 years is too long when you're 32 years old to—

but Questions.

Okay, the first thing that I want to ask you guys is, is the Miami Heat's acquisition of Giannis and pairing Giannis and Bam something that you cannot sneeze on?

I mean, I feel like it's not up to you what you sneeze on. I've never decided when I'm sneezing.

Yeah, I feel like I don't have a ton of control, right, Dave? Like, I, I don't know about you, I don't have a ton of control when I sneeze. It just, it just happens.

He's right about it.

You don't know how to trigger But somebody told me a long time ago, and it absolutely is true, or is that if you feel a sneeze coming on and you want it to work, is to close your eyes and then look at a light and it makes you sneeze.

Really?

Absolutely. Yeah. Try it out next time you feel one coming on and you feel like it's 50/50 if it's actually going to work. Just like look at a light, like darkness, light. Then all of a sudden you'll find yourself sneezing. What occurs to me is with what you guys are talking about there is the inversion of college basketball and the NBA over the last 5 to 10 years, right? That all of a sudden that the second apron and NIL and it all adds up that NBA teams are now operating like college basketball teams used to, which was to steep young players and bring them along over 3 to 4 years. And now it's swing big to get a couple of names in college basketball, kind of completely 180 degrees reversed, right?

How would you grade your performance so far today, Chris? How you feeling about it? A-plus. Yes. Yeah, okay. What is the best way to sneeze?

Like, Dave's hair.

Dave is— so Dave's telling us how not to sneeze. Pulling the nose hair, guaranteed great way to—

no, no, no, you will sneeze if you look at a light.

The light will make you sneeze.

I haven't—

if you say—

if you feel a sneeze coming on, you say applesauce a bunch of times.

That is one way to fight it.

Chris, pull the nose hair.

I'm a Cody, I do have some nose hairs.

Let me see.

Pulling the nose hair is guaranteed way to sneeze.

That makes you sneeze?

Oh yeah.

You get one yet?

It's never made me sneeze. It just like— there's like a little pain in there.

It doesn't make you sneeze.

Makes me sneeze.

Like, I can't me too, every time.

I mean, the answer to the question, the best way to sneeze is when you're by yourself and no one's watching you. You don't have to worry about getting people sick, and you rear back and just rip. Uh, when's the last time that you really just allowed yourself to just rip a sneeze? It's spitty everywhere. It's mess— that's a good sneeze. I think you guys just—

when I'm outside, when I'm outside, nobody's around, I'll let that thing go.

Oh, it's a great reset for your body, like a snot rocket.

Yeah.

Oh dude, I let the snot rocket fly in the shower.

Well, you know, you know, one time, like, it used to be a thing in like Looney Tunes type of cartoons where, you know, if, if you sniff salt, like, the salt would make you start sneezing everywhere. Or maybe it was pepper. And so I tried that one time as a kid, you know, I was very influenced by television as a kid. And I tried that one time where like I decided to sniff the pepper or the salt. It was like I was having a seizure.

Can I ask a question? Did you also try to paint a tunnel on a rock and run through it?

Put it on the poll though, Juju. Is the combination of Bam and Giannis something you cannot sneeze on? That's number one. Very important to understand there. Uh, the second thing I would say is stop saying who the Heat can and can't sign. All right, can't sign Norman Powell.

Real bossy today.

Stop.

Yes, that's right. I'm telling you what you can and can't do today. Stop saying— You just said they can't get Kawhi though.

Yeah.

No, no, no. They can get Kawhi. I'm saying it's not a winning formula.

I don't want Kawhi.

This guy doesn't want Kawhi.

No, no, no. It's not a winning formula. I do want—

To amass the 3 greatest defenders of the generation.

Mike, you can have those 3 great players. If the rest of your roster is minimum players, your team is gonna suck.

They are.

Your team's gonna suck.

I'm gonna go out and say that team is not gonna suck if they're healthy.

So I disagree. I strongly disagree.

Well, you don't know ball. I think if you ask anybody, a team with Kawhi, Bam, and Giannis all healthy, does that team suck? Tony, I, you know, I don't know ball as much as—

It's not big— this is the Big 3. It's not 3-on-3. It's not 3-on-3.

I think to—

for—

Zazz is a radio professional, so he understands that hyperbole sells a little bit more. I think what he's saying is that team will be very good, but he wouldn't favor them to win a championship. I don't think Zazz is crazy enough to think that those 3 guys, your team's gonna suck.

Like, that's what he said.

I know, but that's— it's like he's doing a thing, it's a little hyperbole, get him going. He's gonna suck if he says, you know what, that seems to be pretty good, not win the championship. I'm changing it.

You might be on to something. You might be on to something there. That, that is not a team that is going to go far in the playoffs.

That's what he means.

So that team draws the Cavs in the playoffs, you're like, well, we got no shot. We got Kawhi, Bam, and Giannis, we're toast here.

Like I said, it's not 3 on 3, it's 5 on 5.

No, I heard that part.

Those guys— I'm gonna keep saying it.

Yeah, but trust me, I'm pretty sure—

you don't tell me what I can't say.

He will put 2 other players on the court.

My certain—

my guess is that if you have those 3 guys, you could afford to have a couple of guys who are really good shooters who aren't great at defense, and your team's probably gonna— if they're healthy, your team's probably going to be very good and could win a championship. I'd be pretty happy be with a team that consists of Bam, Giannis, Kawhi, and 3 guys that can really shoot. Yeah, I think we could beat something.

Ryan Conwell and, and Trey Donaldson. Yeah, let's, let's go to war. You could get—

let's go.

You could get a couple good shooters on minimum, and, and they want— you're just gonna get open shots. Like, who you want to double? The guy who scored 80? Nah, he's the third option on offense.

Yeah, I'm solid. I'll sign that up. I'll sign up for that right now.

So Trey Donaldson, we like Trey Donaldson. All right.

And I don't even know if he's making the team, although I think he can help.

But you think he's a—

he's a piece to a championship team as long as the other 3 guys are there.

You're telling me right now you would rather sign up for all the unknown and maneuvering that Pat Riley and this front office have to do, which is a lot.

I'm confident.

Yeah, you would rather sign up for that, or option B, if you walk through this door, I can give you a starting 5 right now that, yes, features Trae Donaldson, you're counting on some rookies, but you got Kawhi, Giannis, and Bam.

To be clear, let me remind you who Kawhi is. He's the guy that had LeBron in the Finals saying damn at the free throw line because he was coming in the game.

And to remind you, Kawhi just had his best season.

Dan Levitar. I don't think strange, strange for me, but like Mike Ryan.

Oh boy.

This is the Dan Levitar Show.

Dave, yeah, I, I, I would love to hear the fearmongering that you're kind of doing with yourselves as, uh, is sort of assuming that the guys who are going to round out the starting 5 and the rotation are those silhouette of, of a person kind of images. Let's put some actual names to this. Who are the realistic names that would flesh out that, that Heat rotation?

Well, I mean, first of all, they have guys that are under contract, all right, who are going to be part of the team. And it's, you know, you got Wiggins, you got Powell Larson, you got Davion Mitchell, you got Bobby Portis. Like, though, like, I would rather have Giannis and Bam Giannis, who is a top 3 player in the world, Bam, who is immediately the best player Giannis has ever played with, and I would rather surround those 2 guys with very capable players like the ones that I just mentioned, as opposed to, alright, let's take away all of those capable players, instead we'll have Kawhi, and like, we'll figure out the rest of the roster with minimum guys.

Is that the way it goes though, Zazz?

I'd rather have the former.

If you get Kawhi, you have to dispatch those other guys?

Yeah, I mean, you would be taking up like $180 million between those 3 guys. You have nothing left. You have no— you're already at the salary cap. Like, you have, you have no money left at that point. And I don't think that's, uh, I don't think that is a formula for success long-term, especially when you would consider, let's be honest here, while he had a predominantly healthy year, Kawhi Leonard, he's gonna miss a lot of games. And all of a sudden now Kawhi is missing 25, 30 games if you're lucky. And you have only Giannis and Bam and a bunch of minimums.

But what the— I think what is fun at this point is thinking of the people that you can get. And I think what I lose interest when we start talking about Pat Riley's gonna do this, they're gonna develop these names that I don't know. Are there people out there who we know to be solid players at least that could potentially fit into this current situation?

Hi, hello, can I introduce you to LeBron James?

Because we're doing this.

Oh, we're not We're not doing this because there's no reason to do this. It only continues to escalate. I'm not the only one doing it now. Like, where we are, I might have—

name names—

I might have brought it to the forefront, but here's where we stand. We're looking at yesterday a report from Shams Charania that says the Lakers have not offered LeBron a contract yet. There has not been any communication. That confirms what Ramona Shelburne told us when I asked her about this possibility of not ruling out LeBron James.

You like how he mentioned that when I asked him? He did.

Paul said he started it. He's the first person to—

I did.

LeBron down to Miami.

I was the first person who said it. I was the first person who said LeBron to Miami. I was the first person who said it. You can ask these guys. I've been talking about it since January back here, since before the trade deadline.

Yeah, he's been talking since then.

About Giannis and LeBron, and I haven't stopped talking. It's been a long run-on sentence. Then, how about continuing with Rich Paul, who, with Max Kellerman, said the word shooting is very misleading. This is when it comes to the Heat's future roster. In the playoffs, you need a guy that has the skill set of shooting with also the skill set of playmaking. You gotta have guys who can put the ball on the floor. If you're them, you want a $30 million guy that you got for $18. If you could pull that off, you're in good shape. Or a $40 million guy. Now, if Andrew Wiggins opts out and re-signs for a lower amount, you're looking at an MLE of $15 million.

Which is a very real possibility.

Absolutely. You're looking at an MLE of $15 million. We're also talking about $18 million. That is available to the Miami Heat in straight-up free agency at the moment and that floating Norman Powell potential sign-and-trade that exists. And then this morning, there's a tweet here from something Nick Wright said.

Go on.

Nick Wright, who poo-pooed the Giannis and Bam combination, said, I think if he were to go to Miami, meaning LeBron, a Miami team that I don't really believe in right now, but he would solve a lot of what their potential issues are. That Miami team could win the title. Now, who is Nick Wright represented by? Klutch Sports.

Is that even true?

I don't know.

That's true.

Yeah, that would explain a lot.

That would explain a whole lot.

So we yesterday, it was can't rule it out, right?

Oh yeah, it feels like smoke now.

I'm still not willing to get involved in this. Is this smoke or is it like the spark of the flint?

Like, it's not smoke.

I think I actually, I kind of like that. I think you're right. I think we're starting to get there. Look, 15 minutes ago I would have said we were at ch-ch-ch. Now with these couple of updates, literally since I've walked into this room, I feel like we're that much closer to there being real smoke on LeBron to Miami.

On this ladder at the top is not 3, not 4, not 5, right? That's, that's the top. When you get them, they show up, they rise up from the floor, they do a press conference. At the very bottom, I think, is where we were yesterday, where it's like, can't rule it out.

Do we have like a pyramid? Do we have a—

let's try. Okay, so if we started can't rule it out, we have the, the flint rock. Let's write the flint rock there. Is there anything before that?

Is on top of can't rule it out?

Yeah, I think can't rule it out is the very—

so is it the top or the bottom? No, no, no, I think the bottom is it's ruled out. Okay, so start with ruled out, then can't rule it out, can't rule it out, then we're at Flint.

Well, you know You know what is different than can't rule it out.

You know what?

Yo, you know what is higher than can't rule it out.

Yeah, I think can't rule it out.

I say rule it out, can't rule it out, then you know what, then we got Flintstone.

Can't rule it out feels like when you say nothing's impossible, right?

Yeah, very low.

Nothing's impossible is different than can't rule it out. I feel like nothing's impossible is lower on, on this list than can't rule it out. I think it's ruled it out, nothing's impossible Can't rule it out, Chris.

I've heard worse ideas.

You got the YouTube comments open, right? I gotta imagine they're losing their minds right now because, you know, they—

why?

Because I'm right, right?

At least a Giannis thing happened. Yeah, sweet relief. 3 years of content and chasing the whale, like, that's done. And in this segment, we've discussed Kawhi to the Heat and LeBron to the Heat.

Yeah, they're mad. Well, one of them's realistic.

So do we have this pyramid, this, this pyramid rumor mill.

Okay, so we're there. We have ruled it out. Nothing's impossible. Can't rule it out. You know what, Flint Rock— where, where is Smoke? Is that right after? Where's Buzz?

I mean, there's Buzz around. No, Buzz is underneath Smoke.

Okay, Smoke means it's more realistic because I think where there's smoke, there's fire, right?

Yeah, eventually. You make that up eventually though.

I just came over there on the side.

So Buzz is right after Flint Rock. So you got Flint Rock Spark.

Yeah.

And then you got Buzz after that.

Yeah.

I'd like to add to the list, you can do a lot worse.

Hmm.

Does that come after, by the way, you know what, I'm not sure where, but Zazz, isn't this what the Heat are now? When you bring in and you premise your team around Giannis at his age, isn't it taking the swings with fellow guys who are on the wrong side of 30?

Yeah, sort of where they are at a reasonable price. Absolutely, at a reasonable price for sure. I mean, that's what the Heat team back 15+ years ago with LeBron was doing. You were getting those older veteran players at really good— like Shane Battier signed for a minimum, Ray Allen signed for a minimum, Mike Miller took a really low number. Like, that's, that's— you're getting those players at valuable prices, and I imagine that's what this team is going to look for. But But you can't sign another guy making $55 million and expect to field a competitive team. That's the only point I'm trying to make.

What would they rather us do right now? Like, I don't want to put you, Mike, or Chris, or Jeremy on the spot.

Put me on the spot.

It's okay. Or you, Zazz. I get that maybe they don't want us to do like we're hunting another whale talk, but I'm not sure what the conversation is to have. So we had Giannis is here, then we had the conversation this team can't win a championship. Now the next step is what can we do to win a championship? And there's no other thing to talk about other than the moves that we can make or talk about how everyone around them is worse. Like, that's, that's where we are.

I just think let's be realistic, that's all, right? We could be realistic and have this conversation.

Where's that on the totem pole? Yeah, well, yeah, being realistic, that doesn't exist. Is that anywhere?

Get it out of here. That's not fun.

Well, we, we got to talk about, like, Dominic's right, okay? What direction do you go? And we gotta have things to talk about, okay? Okay, has anyone mentioned yet what the addition of Giannis to this team does to Bam Adebayo? All right, well, Vince Carter took this lane. Vince Carter, he'll tell you here what he believes happens to Bam with this team.

Like you said, complete— my, my take on it, I was, I was, I was like, wow, I think Bam was having such a great year and he was ascending and he was growing as now out, you know, probably I guess the longest tenured Heat player.

Yeah.

And now playing through him a little more, you know, he had the obviously the magical game, but that with the 83 or whatever. But my point is he was becoming more of a complete player. And now what happens when you get in those situations where you don't see the double big anymore? So now he's more of a perimeter player. He's more of a stretch 4 just to give Giannis some space pace? That's, that is my concern. Does he, does he still continue to grow as a player? And I'm talking about Bam. And because you still have Giannis, who is Giannis, 2-time MVP, a champion, all of these things. You have to give him the rock. You have to play through him also. So I'm just interested to see how they utilize the two of them. But I still agree with both of you. You still need a closer. And what does that do for, for him? I mean, how do you navigate?

You have to turn into you late in your career, what you did.

Who, you?

Who'd you say? Bam, bam, got a spot up.

I don't think you can shoot the—

I don't think you can shoot the long ball like VC.

Jada, I see you, Jada.

You're asking the right questions.

Doesn't adding one of the best players in the world who's going to attract the entire defense, wouldn't that help other players develop? I mean, VC knows a whole lot more about basketball than I do, that's for sure, but I feel like being open On the offensive end of the floor, probably helps you.

Probably does. It would probably help Kawhi, but you don't want that.

Okay, you're— you're— see, you don't want Kawhi.

I put you down already. See, you're doing the same thing as doesn't want Kawhi.

You're doing the same thing that all of the insane soccer heads have been doing over the last week with me, where I've now become the face of ugly American. This right here, you're not ugly. This pun him right here. Here. This pun is ugly American. I've become the face of ugly American who loves commercial breaks during soccer. I've become the face of that, apparently, which is not at all what I said last week. And now you're making me the face of someone who doesn't want Kawhi Leonard when that is not at all the point.

You love the show with that.

That's exactly what you said. Okay, you said you, you love hydration breaks and commercials, and then you literally I said this team would suck.

You said they would suck. Yeah, that is something that you said a minute ago. You said that the Miami Heat with Giannis, Kawhi, and Bam would suck.

That was a little bit hyperbolic.

There we go.

The point being, I feel like you're mocking me. I'm gonna let it slide. Yeah, you let it for now.

For now.

For now. You're lucky that today's Friday and I'm in a good mood.

I love that.

That's why Hey, Damachek, you know about that Jadakiss?

No, I don't.

Okay.

I figured.

Let's make that a rejoin.

What's going on with the Panthers and Connor Hellebuck? I saw that the Carolina Hurricanes actually made a good offer for Connor Hellebuck, the Winnipeg Jets goalie who wants out. The Hurricanes, they offered a first-round pick and also a really good player, right? And apparently that has not happened yet because it feels like Connor Hellebuck, who has a no-trade clause, is tell them, yeah, I'm not going to accept the deal to Carolina, I only want to go to Florida. And I legitimately don't know what's going to wind up happening now, Dave, because you have the player here who wants a trade, has a full no-trade clause, which I think is the worst thing in sports. Dominik probably cringes when I say something like that because obviously he's a pro player and that's fine. I hate no-trade clauses unless it benefits my team, which then I'm very for it because I'm self-aware with my hypocrisy. But Connor Hellebuck is not taking a trade anywhere and is trying to force his way to Florida, and Florida is unwilling to give up anything of value, Dave.

That part with Florida, but really they're in the position of luxury, right? They're getting to pick and choose because it does seem as though the vast majority of available hockey players want to go and live in the Sunshine State, and specifically down in Miami more and more, right? It's a real issue and is gonna get even worse for the NHL well when its biggest star right now, Connor McDavid, maybe has one more year left. It's not even implausible that they deal him before this season. And then what, Canada? The, the— it's wild they— that, uh, the fan base is all in Canada and the northern portion of these United States, but all the hockey players want to live down below in the Sun Belt, right? It's very weird and is putting the, the league in a, in an odd spot. All the farm boys from Canada want to live where it's sunny, obviously. They're rich and 25 years old.

What do Panthers fans call themselves? Like, is there like a name for the fan base of the Panthers?

Panther fans.

Well, I mean, I feel like you get hella buck.

Like, you got— I nailed it, right?

You got to become hella buck girls. Like, oh, oh, you got to become hella buck girls.

I'll be back.

I'll be back. Right?

The beat.

I ain't no hella buck girl. I ain't no hella buck girl.

But you are hella buck girls when it comes down here.

—Oh, Jeremy's going into the lab. Look at him. There he goes. I'm looking— oh, yes!

I've never said anything that got Jeremy more excited than Hellebuck girls. Oh, I like that.

Mike, are they gonna get Connor Hellebuck? Like, how— I don't— I really don't know what the ending here is because he's got the no-trade clause, he told them I don't want to play for you anymore, and it seems like if he's not— and by the way, Carolina's making a good offer, and he's saying no to joining the Stanley Cup champions.

A lot of people are raw about that, and a lot of people in the media, even some of the biggest insiders in the sport who I respect tremendously, they're making Connor Hellebuck the villain. And this is something I—

you can understand that, right?

No, I, I can't. And yeah, it's convenient for me to not understand that when my team appears to be a benefactor here, but when Winipeg gave him a no-movement clause. So many players—

why does every player in the NHL seemingly have no-movement clauses?

They gave it to him. Like, they gave him that leverage in a negotiation to make one of the game's best players sign with the Winnipeg Jets. That's how they sweeten the pot. And then everyone, not just the team, but everyone covering the sport takes the attitude of, man, Hellebuck, you're a real jerk. Why? That's— it's in his deal. He can pick and choose if they want to trade him, which, look, Winnipeg wasn't exactly thrilled with Hellebuck after he won the gold medal. His fan— the fans over there booed him. It wasn't a great situation. Historically, not a great performer in the playoffs, which is why some of this started with Hellebuck, although he kind of shifted that narrative a little bit. And then we all saw what happened in the Olympics with one of the greatest clutch saves of all time. Time as the U.S. finally wins a gold medal against Canada. But like, he— they— it seems mutual, and they can get something for him. Florida still has a lot of players on the roster. They didn't give up much for Brady Tkachuk. I don't understand— I understand the frustration from the fan, but I don't understand making Connor Hellebuck this ultra villain just because Winnipeg decided to give him this contract.