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Exactly how they imagined it being read. So we have a new segment. Which is debuting today, a brand new segment, and it is called— Roy, you will hit the music— it's called NFL.
NFL!
That's right, this segment is called NFL. Chris, what do you got first for us for this new segment called NFL?
Training camp has started. Travis Kelce has shown up to Chiefs training camp, and I want to ask the question, is he looking a little hefty? Oh, yeah, it looks like he enjoyed his offseason. It looks like he out there. Looks like Tony out there. And I know I'm the last person that should be gut shaming, but he's a professional athlete and I'm not.
So it's always the fallback whenever— oh, what do you look like? Like, I'm not playing. If you're comparing me to someone who is Wayne, we're in trouble.
And I'm very pro Taylor and Travis. I'm very pro Travis. Like, I don't—
I—
but I'm being a jerk right now. But he does look a little thick.
Dave, you would probably know best. Like, you feel like he's looking a little, little heavy, a little heavy there?
I bet he would rationalize and say, I'mma bet I'll be ready to go in time for week 1. But I do wonder if after all of the success and how essential he's been in their Super Bowl run, here. Will Chiefs fans, or some percentage of Chiefs fans, turn against him if in his final chapter he gets fat and happy and is maybe disinterested, or at least a non-factor in the offense? I don't know.
I mean, look, it's not very common that you start talking about retirement and then 2 years later you're still playing. Like, normally when we start to have the retirement talk, it's like, uh, maybe like it might, it might be time to hang it up. But 2 years later, he's still out there playing. All right, Good start, good start. NFL! To the new segment, NFL. Amin, what do you got for us?
Well, this may not be news to anyone else, but it was news to me. Hard Knocks this year is with the Seattle Seahawks, meaning for the first time, I think, ever, we're getting Hard Knocks with the reigning Super Bowl champs.
Really?
I can't wait.
Really?
First time ever? Hard Knocks with the champs. OK. Well, what's— like, what's the interesting— I mean, look, forget about A, coming back off a Super Bowl, but is there— are there players you think that we look at where it's like, "Ooh, this could be a juicy angle"?
Zazz, this is the beauty of Hard Knocks. You go in, I don't know what they— I don't know who these people are, but then I get introduced to people.
The backup tight end.
The guy who's trying to make the roster as a 30-year-old rookie and, like, all these guys, and we get invested in them week by week. It's a great drama, and like all great dramas, it's character-driven, but you don't— it's not like the Hollywood of today where it's like, well, who are the big stars in this one? Like, no, no, let me just walk in and discover people.
I was out on Hard Knocks for a few years. I think recently I've gotten back in. Like, maybe I just needed a break.
Sometimes even when it's an interesting person or big-name person, but it's an interesting storyline you didn't know. Like, for instance, remember when Carson Palmer could tell what Gatorade it was just by tasting it? Remember that one when he's like, I could definitely do— Carson Palmer was like a a Gatorade, like, savant. He was like, you got to mix a little bit more water in this one. Oh, this one needs a little more powder. He was doing all this stuff. I'm like, I didn't know Carson Palmer knew so much about Gatorade.
Tony, what do you have for our brand new segment NFL called NFL?
We're heading over to Las Vegas, boys, in one of the more intriguing quarterback rooms on the planet. We have Kirk Cousins, who's already in mid-season form. Rolled the tape. We just got a tape of him running through some gassers, through some sprints here.
Look at the boy.
Ah, We're good.
Oh, Zazzle would look like running.
Yes, sir. Got a little, a little faster there. All right, they're not catching up the other way.
Not even close to touching the ground.
He is, he is in full mid-season form. And I want to go over to his other one where he was working on some rollout drills. Take a look at the pass here, getting around the corner there.
It's getting there.
Okay, he woke up with a bad bit.
Let's see Fernando throw. Okay, Fernando, good, good move. Get around the corner.
Oh, we got some zip.
Nice zip on that ball. So Kirk Cousins.
Oh, too soon for you guys down there at the U, right, to see Fernando out there? You remember his last game, right?
All right, we're talking about Kirk Cousins here, not Fernando.
You can— yeah, we're okay.
Keep it quiet over there.
And welcome to the Bad Big Toe.
Dave Dameshek, what do you have now for, uh, for this new segment?
NFL.
I used to love Hard Knocks, by the way, and I was all the way in.
I—
the, the greatest part of Hard Knocks was always the cuts. And seeing how different teams—
Yeah, let me call them.
Oh, that was the best. The other thing I'm a curmudgeon about and always have been is, as much as I love football, the declaration that's going around all over the place right now is, we made it, it's football season, everybody. Preseason games kick off, and specifically next Thursday night, Panthers-Cardinals, the Hall of Fame game, and everybody will be swooning. I can't believe football's on my TV. No, it is not football. It is a Civil War reenactment. It is the same thing. It only looks like the real thing. It's the same thing as when you go to— if you ever have walked Gettysburg, you walk around those grounds and you're like, whoa, there's a reenactment going on over here. This looks like the Union soldiers over there, the Confederates. Wait a minute, that Confederate general's drinking a Mountain Dew. Something stinks here. Same thing, you'll be watching that Panthers-Cardinals game and you'll be like, Wait a second, this looks like— wait, the running back's white. Come on, everybody. You know, it's not— there are little details that are off. And so I am going to hold my powder and keep it dry until actual meaningful football games.
NFL!
Chris, you have another one for us?
I have another great one. Plexiglass Burris has compared playing with the Jets to prison.
Oh, I saw this.
He said, quote, they're both kind of similar because when I walked into prison for the first time, I was like, Damn, I'm a bleeping loser. I had the same exact feeling every day I walked through the doors with the Jets.
I gotta tell you, like, it's obviously a funny anecdote, but it's also really— I feel like it's endearing where he's—
Prison's not that bad.
No, that's not at all how I heard it.
That's what I took away from it.
Oh, the Jets are that bad.
No, no, the way that I heard it, like, it just felt very self-aware where he's looking back and he'd wake up in the morning in prison and just say to himself, man, like, I'm a real loser for being here.
Look down and he's like, he's wearing green. I'm like, damn.
I'll say, I've said it before, I'll say it again. Thank Jesus, everybody, for Woody Johnson and Browns ownership because without their ongoing incompetence, it would all be laid bare that the NFL is just straight up a communist league with a salary cap and everything being pushed towards parity. Every team's number would eventually come up were it not for just the devastating incompetence of ownership of a couple of NFL teams.
Guys, I'm surrounded by a wealth of NFL knowledge here with you guys.
NFL.
This is a segment called NFL.
NFL.
I have an NFL question.
Oh, oh.
So Max Crosby traded to the Ravens, trade rescinded.
Yeah.
Right? They say, oh, something in the physical. Comes back to the Raiders. We never find out what was the part that made him fail the physical. And now he's in trade rumors to the Cowboys. I'm like, wait, what was wrong with Max Crosby?
Nothing. I think the Ravens got super cold feet because of the reaction. And you could find anything in a physical. You know that. I mean, like, I'm not comfortable with this. And they rescinded the trade. That's right.
Wow. So they just thought it was a bad deal that they did?
Yeah. They had buyer's remorse. And they, and they had, they had a way out of it. And that's always going to be the physical.
Yeah.
Tony, got another one for us.
I got another one. The Saints just inked Cuban, by the way, Chris Olave, wide receiver, to a 4-year extension worth up to $132 million, $90 million guaranteed. Dave, dammit, last time I checked, he's missed a lot of games to concussions. Are you worried about that?
NFL?
Yes.
That was my reaction to it was really Chris Olave for that level of bank, given the number of games he's missed, how, how undependable. And the other thing is too, of course, these teams— Mickey Loomis, who has run the Saints forever, surely has considered the Michael Thomas situation, which isn't that far in the rearview mirror. And yet he still rolled the dice on another high-end wide receiver who's injury-prone.
Roy, you got one for us? It is a new segment that we're doing here. It is called NFL.
Yeah, Browns capture door.
Sanders and Deshaun Watson alternated first-team reps, and it did not look good for Cleveland.
Dave, what do you got over there in Browns camp?
NFL. That's what I have. The Browns are still the Browns. What did I just say? Thank goodness for Woody Johnson with the Jets and Jimmy, Jimmy Haslam with the Browns. Were it not for their terrible enduring decision-making, we wouldn't be able to laugh like this and feel better about ourselves. You know, when I was growing up, I was never the first pick. You'll be surprised to learn and pick up anything. My goal then quickly became Just don't be the last guy picked in anything. And so the Browns exist for us to laugh at and point at and say, at least we're not them. And now they're down to Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders as their starting quarterback. Sad times, sad times to be a Cleveland Browns fan. But then again, it's always a sad time to be a Browns fan.
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Dan Lebotard.
Hey, uh, Damachek, you know about that Jadakiss?
Dave Damachek.
No, I don't.
Okay, I figured.
This is the Dan Lebotard Show.
So I'll put a bow on this brand new segment here called Annabelle. Yesterday, Baker Mayfield— this was the big story in the league yesterday— Baker Mayfield met with the media He wants a contract extension. All right. He's coming up on the last year of the deal. He wants a big extension. They're apparently not close. And here is a very emotional and, you know, disrespected Baker Mayfield.
Yeah, I mean, obviously I've told you guys I've been pretty upfront and honest about my feelings about Tampa, it being home for now, our family raising kids here. We love it here. I wanted the deal done and set the deadline and told them it was going to be all ball after that. And I did mean that. And I don't know if they thought I was just going to take some of the offers that they gave, but I'm at the point of my career and understanding what I've brought to this franchise. One, I'm very, very thankful for the chance they gave me. Do not get me wrong on that. But I've also know— I really know what I've brought to this franchise. Leadership-wise, um, and even play-wise. It's been some of the best years of my career, and I think it's only going to trend upwards. Just being comfortable and feeling that. So disappointing in that regard to not have, you know, to feel disrespected a little bit. And, um, that's really the disappointing part, to feel undervalued, uh, after, you know, thinking you've earned it.
Dave, can you set a deadline and tell the team that past this deadline it's going to be all about ball? And then you get up in front of the microphone and you talk about how disrespected you've been.
It is great. And the thing with Baker Mayfield that's striking is, is he definitely that guy? Is he, is he getting over his skis about who Baker Mayfield is in the quarterback league and where he ranks among those quarterbacks? Yeah. You know, it's usually a thing you hear from the team side is we got to go all ball here. It's all about team and it's about the season. And that's why we cut off. Some teams do that. In fact, like once we get to camp or once we we get close enough to the regular season, no more negotiating. So it's funny that the player would, would do that, and now the team is sort of like, sorry, Bake, we wish we could continue negotiations, but you don't want to.
I mean, he wants to be paid over $50, $55 million a year. He wants to be paid like one of the elite quarterbacks in the league. And I would say he's not one of the elite quarterbacks in the league. He's good, but that's where you're in this weird spot, man, where all these quarterbacks, they want to be paid in the top 7, 8, 9, whatever it is in the league. And if the team doesn't feel that you're in that elite tier, they offer you likely whatever the Bucs offered him. Because here's the thing, the Bucs apparently made a couple of different offers. And the weird thing is, it's not like, like Baker is disrespected. He feels disrespected. He doesn't like the deal that the team has given him. And it comes off to me, Dave, where It's like, unless the team gives you it, there's no negotiation. Because if the team doesn't give you what you want, then it's disrespectful. Anything less than exactly what you want is disrespectful. And I say that because it's not like the Buccaneers came into the negotiating table like, we're offering you $10 million a year. I'm sure that's not what they were offering him.
I'm sure they were offering him a respectable contract, which is definitely below what he wants, but it's like anytime it's, it's, it's not the contract that you want, apparently it's disrespectful. It's like the player, it's always business, right? And when the team looks at it and says, hey, this is business here, these guys are paid what they're paid because they're at this level, we think you're at this level. Oh no, you're disrespecting me. No, no, we're doing business here. And anytime that the player doesn't get what he wants It's always personal. It's disrespectful.
I hear you. And I think in my head it goes to where the Buccaneers may perceive him to rank among his peer group. But of course, what Baker Mayfield understands is, what are you going to do if, if I disappear? You cannot— whether or not you can pick apart, well, Bake, as a franchise, we're looking at you versus the very best or where you stand among the very best. And do we see you among that? That's not really the conversation. If you're Baker Mayfield's side of this sort of thing. You want to go out into the abyss without me? Do you remember what was going on before me? You had to go and scrape around and then you got the old man, Tom Brady. And then after that, where would you be without Baker? Oh, Baker here. Don't you think that there is some sort of, some sort of payout for how I've transitioned us out of the Brady into where we are? We're relevant in the playoff chase going into 2026.
I mean, they win 8, 9 games every year. I know they're not a great team. They win the— it's the worst division in football and they're routinely winning it with 9 wins. I don't know, it's not that. And by the way, he wasn't great last year. Like, the, the amazing year he had was 2 years ago. It wasn't great last year.
Well, and, and then that points to Mike Evans, who— Mike Evans has, for whatever, um, attributes you would place with any other pass catcher in the league, Mike Evans has a pretty consistent sort of track record going back to Johnny Football at A&M. He's one of those cats who makes quarterbacks better than they otherwise might be. And so maybe— I bet the Bucs are kind of looking at this, can we get through this season and consider tagging Bake for $50 million in the offseason? Because we want to see what he looks like without the Hall of Fame wide receiver named Mike Evans.
I still feel like he's a top 12 quarterback in the league. Is that fair to say? 12.
I don't know, count. It's always a great game to play of like, oh, he's obviously a top 10 QB. Go ahead and start listing them. Where does he come down?
I mean, I'd rather look up— I'd rather look up this— I'd rather look up the top 12 salaries for quarterbacks in the league and see where he fits there.
You know, the interesting—
wouldn't it be interesting? Wouldn't it be interesting to see, in the same way that contracts are now structured for first-round picks, that, you know, it's a, it's a grading, you know, from 1 down to 32 based on your draft slot It would be if there were some universal evaluation of quarterbacks and you ranked them 1 through 32. It's like, well, you're the 11th best quarterback, ergo we're gonna pay you $31 million this year.
But I think kind of when you talk about this, it comes down to tiers, right? There's a tier of like, these are the elite quarterbacks, right? Okay, they're worth whatever. And then there's another tier like, they're not elite but they're, they're pretty, pretty freaking good. And then there's a tier of like, yo, this ranking is very fluid. One year it might be him and then the next year it's someone else. And it's like, that's where I think Baker Mayfield falls. And that's where the evaluation is harder as far as how much do I pay you if you are in a sense interchangeable with like X amount of other guys. Whereas those higher tiers, you can say, hey, I can't get another Justin Herbert, right? I can't get another, uh, Josh Allen, right? Whereas where Baker Mayfield is like, good quarterback, I feel good if he's my quarterback, but I also feel like there are other guys. I'm still looking.
Disagree. I think that 10, 12 years ago, I posed the question, how in a world of 7 billion people can we not find 32 humans to play competent quarterback in pro football? It really is mind-bending. So, okay, so let's eliminate half that based on gender. So 3.5 billion people, but still there should be plenty of arms available to succeed to some degree in the NFL. And yet we can't get there. If you draft a guy and you develop him for 5 years, on his rookie deal. The Rams did this, um, before they had to trade for Matthew Stafford. But I understand where the Rams were with Jared Goff. They bring him in, Sean McVay obviously likes him enough to, to draft him, they develop him, and then they get to the critical moment where, okay, is he really our franchise QB? Because now we have to pay him like that with his second contract. And the decision then is, we don't think he's the best quarterback in the league, But also, we don't want to go into the abyss, so we're going to retain him because of the time spent with this guy. And we've had relative success.
They did the one year, they, they, they do it. And then Sean McVay realizes we've taken this as far as we can go. Let's flip him for Matthew Stafford. But the Bucs are in the same spot. You can criticize Baker Mayfield, and that will be the PR game that they play as they attempt to arrive at a contract that is satiating to the quarterback as well. But the, but the Buccaneers side of things is, you ain't that guy. And Baker Mayfield's response is, I'm better than the great unknown, which is what you're about to go into if you don't retain me.
And you look at stats across the league, right? Like there's some stats where Baker's superior and there's some— we talk about surface-level QB stats just on touchdowns, completions, completion percentage, all that stuff. And Baker has an interesting, interesting thing where touchdown-wise he's in the upper echelon, yards-wise in the upper echelon. But then sacks, completion percentage, stuff like that, QB rating, QBR, all that stuff is kind of low.
Not a lot of winning going on there either.
And not a lot of winning, but obviously we talk about winning not being a QB stat. It just feels like Baker— all right, I'm going to pose a couple of quarterbacks to you, Dave, and I want to see if you think Baker or this person.
Oh, I like Baker.
But first, Tony, stipulate this, stipulate this. The only guys to a means point a couple minutes ago, we want to convince ourselves, franchises want to convince themselves that they have the right guy in-house. And how do we bring him along and, and win a championship with him. But in fact, there are only 3 to 6 guys total who are the real deal, can drag any roster into the playoffs or at least make them relevant around the playoffs in late December. And those guys are who? I mean, we know who they are. They're Mahomes, Allen, um, right? Burrow is, is sort of on the cut line there. Is Jalen Hurts even that guy? I don't think a lot of Eagles fans would say definitely So it all fall— yeah, and Josh Allen. And like, that's about your list there. Matthew Stafford's old now, but he probably is in that legit top 5 tier still at this point. But yeah, after that, you're sort of blurring your eyes to convince yourself that this guy is definitely capable of dragging us to a Super Bowl. Tony's game sounds fun.
NFL!
Dave, would you take Baker Mayfield or Trevor Lawrence?
Boy, you're, you're betting on the future if you go Trevor Lawrence. And again, you're talking about Bake, who was a first overall pick, so the pedigree is high there. I gotta go with the results that we've already seen. I, I, it's hard for me to, to say this out loud, but give me Bake over Trevor Lawrence.
And Trevor got the $250 million deal.
Trevor Lawrence makes on average per year, he makes $55 million.
Yeah.
So, all right, Baker Mayfield.
You like that team, right?
Right.
I do.
I do like that Jags team. Baker Mayfield or Caleb Williams?
Caleb Williams.
You got to.
You got to.
You got to.
It is easy. After one decent year, not even one great year, one decent year from Caleb, it's easy. It's very easy.
Yeah, there's no question. And by the way, it's not as though you're— I mean, Trevor Lawrence hasn't had playoff success. Caleb Williams is you know, kind of sort of all the electricity around how they got to the playoffs this year. Yeah, the future feels bright.
I think they both won one playoff game, and obviously Lawrence has been in the league a lot longer.
And Bake— Bake is accurate but also throws a fair amount of picks, uh, here and there. He can spray the ball a little bit. He can be gunslinger.
But he is the final gunslinger.
Yeah, who, Caleb or Bake?
No, Baker. He is the final gunslinger. I think the final evolution, because we have The great one is Matthew Stafford, but I feel like all the other quarterbacks after him are now getting taught to not be the gunslinger of old.
The others, they didn't learn from me.
Caleb is definitely the— is a gunslinger. He's never— I mean, the idea that, well, Josh Allen got more accurate, so therefore Caleb will too, is, uh, is some fuzzy math.
All right, give another, Tony. Give another.
Baker Mayfield. Or Bo Nix?
This one's tough.
It's a good question. You go Baker?
Yeah.
Bo is circumstantial, right? Sean Payton likes him in his offense. It doesn't mean that Bo Nix's powers are transferable. Yeah, I think you go back.
Yeah, go one more, Tony.
Baker Mayfield or CJ Stroud?
Oh, it's a good one too. After Yesterday, it's going to—
I'm going CJ Stroud.
Really?
I'm betting on the X and O guys. I had Nate Tice on Football America a couple of weeks ago, and I was stunned to learn that he was more enthusiastic. I like the Texans this year.
He loves them.
In fact, he said, if I have to pick an AFC representative for the Super Bowl right now, I'm going Houston, Texas. My jaw nearly hit the floor.
All right, so that wraps up, uh, another—
you guys want one more? I got a good one.
All right, fine.
Baker Mayfield or Brock Purdy?
Whoa, what?
What, Dave?
Bake would be better on more teams if you just traded him away today and then, hey, he had to play a game tomorrow. I'll take Bake. But Brock Purdy with Shanahan, I'll take that situation.
And Purdy makes $52 million a year. All right, there you go.
Dan Levitar.
The Packers win or the Bears lose? Bears lose.
Jonathan Sasslo.
Shit, do you want to know how that— what were the kids doing?
This is the Dan Levitar Show.
Amin, I want to get your thoughts here, Amin, on something we spoke about earlier in the week, but you weren't here earlier in the week. You've been with us the last few days. So since Giannis has been traded— Giannis has been the guy the last couple of years that the media is all over. Oh, you got to get out, you got to ask out, all right? You got it, you, you need a trade. And the media, the NBA media, always has to have a guy that they talk about. He's the next guy who needs to ask for a trade, he needs to get out and get to a better situation. And I think one of those guys that it could be now is Steph Curry. I think Steph Curry could be the guy that is at the forefront of he needs to ask for a trade, he needs to get to a better situation. And I want to get your thoughts here, Amin, because if the Warriors were to trade Steph Curry, they could still get a lot for him, a lot. And there are rumors out there about Charlotte, like Charlotte apparently, Del Curry, they just put up his jersey, it's where he's from, you know, that Charlotte, that could be a fun story that Steph Curry would finish his career there.
What do you make of what's going on there? Because they're apparently just running it back, the Warriors. They're running it back with a team that has Jimmy Butler shelved for at least half the season. That was their big move two seasons ago. It's a team that wasn't that good this past year. It's a team that I don't believe is even a playoff team this year, but they are just content on running it back because the owner, Joe Lacob, He said they are focused on what the future looks like after Steph Curry. And I would say, okay, that's a fine tack to take, but if you're focused on what the future looks like after Steph Curry, then you should trade Steph Curry because that helps your future after Steph Curry. It's like you're, you're stuck in this in-between where you're saying that you're focused on the future, but you're not actually doing the thing that's going to set you up for Yeah, we talked about it briefly earlier in the week.
I was on my hit on Monday, but I didn't have a whole lot of detail. I just told you guys, hey, a story about like, this is the insane stuff that they have in this arena. It's all because people come to see this guy play. I have some more details. So you guys know about those jersey patches? Yeah, they sell the sponsorships, right? And you know, you get a couple million off of that, that's a good deal. They're saying, uh, You know, Philly's jersey patch is about to come up in 2027. Like, if LeBron's still on the team, what value is that going to have for it? You know what the number one jersey patch in the NBA is?
Like what the sponsor is?
No, like which team has the best deal?
I don't know. Who?
It's the Golden State Warriors. They make $50 million a year.
It's awesome.
Off their jersey patch. That's not because, oh, we got some great up-and-coming guys. Our future is bright. It's about that dude.
All right, but that day is gonna come one day.
And so let that day come. That's how the day's gonna come.
Cool.
Why are we fast-forwarding that day? Hey, you know what, let me give up all these millions right now because that day's coming one day.
But then my counter to that though, Amin, would be if, if you're gonna keep Steph Curry, isn't it F them picks? Like, do whatever it takes to win as much as possible with Steph Curry. So that doing what they're doing right now, which is literally Nothing. So how is that—
it's not— now you're doing the Mike Ryan thing, that because the absence of activity means like they're not doing anything. No, they're doing— sometimes it just doesn't work. They try to get Anthony Davis, it didn't work, right? So Draymond opted out because they were trying to do something, not because they just wanted, hey, look, what would it be like for a few months if Draymond wasn't a Warrior? Like, that's not what they did. They were trying to make things happen, it just didn't work out. But I do agree with you, when you, when you've got a superstar who's at that age, you, and who has done so much for your franchise, I believe you owe it to him to exhaust every opportunity to give him the best possible roster to try to win a championship. You can't be like, oh, what's tomorrow gonna be like? No, you gotta go now for every, every way. But again, like, what does now mean? Is getting Daniel Gafford a move for now? Not really, 'cause we know that doesn't move the needle. The Warriors need a needle-moving transaction in order to take that leap. Or a genie that makes everybody healthy and a little bit younger than they were a couple, you know, right now.
Those are hard to get.
Yeah, those ones are a little bit harder to get than a game changer. But to me, you say Steph Curry's that next guy, I've got a list for you guys.
Oh, alright. Top 5?
It could be a top 5. I didn't rank them, but yeah, it could be a top 5 if you want.
You're very big on giving us like 5 guys but not actually giving an order.
Okay.
Well, usually you take an order at Five Guys, so I'm gonna give an order. Anthony Edwards. If this Minnesota LaMelo Ball experiment does not work, everybody is salivating, chomping at the bit at Anthony Edwards. Man, you need to get somewhere where they gonna treat you right and get yourself— and then, you know, the number one place that Anthony Edwards is like, hey man, you could really look good here. Yeah, your former head coach Tom Crean, you know, he coached another guy that played here.
Yep.
Right?
I like how you're thinking.
Okay, here's another name for you. I just named him Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis. Like, everyone thinks this Washington thing is, is a hoax. So it's like, there are people tell me he's not—
he's like, the Wizards are trying to trick everyone.
He's not— like, there are people tell me he's not going to play a second for the Wizards. I'm like, I think it's kind of late in the game to have that conversation. But the reality is, if the Wizards do not pony up, and because he's extension eligible coming up in August, they don't pony up then it's like, all right, get me out of here. So Anthony Davis— all the Antonys— Anthony Davis is a guy who's absolutely a needle mover, a game changer. The risk, of course, is he gets hurt a lot. You want another name?
Yeah.
Also based off of things don't go right. How about a guy named Joel Embiid? Right?
Like, it's like that.
Yeah, you know, like, hey, you know, Maxie's all in, right? BJ Edgcomb, everyone's excited about LeBron. Is LeBron right? Jaylen Brown, man, that guy puts in work.
You can't though. You're, you're, that's like you're sounding the alarms in the middle of the season if you do that.
I'm not saying the middle season, I'm just saying who's, who might be the guy that's on the move. Like, again, if Embiid is not committed in the way that everyone else on that team seems to be committed to their bodies and their health and their diet and all that stuff, then maybe it's that this is finally the time. And remember, Mike Ganzey I didn't draft this dude. I got nothing to do— it's just a guy on my roster, and if someone gives me a great deal, I might have to explore it.
Wow.
Wow.
I thought there was gonna be a bigger reaction than that, just a couple, couple wows.
I mean, you know, trading Joel Embiid is the mark that like, all right, yeah, this experiment, this era of the Sixers is done. Like, we're building— this is Maxie's team now.
Wow.
I might— the process may not end up working out, as it turns out. So are you saying, I mean, these are just guys who could be on the move? You're not saying that they specifically should be moved to Golden State or that Golden State should be chasing one of or some of these guys to benefit Steph Curry. Because I think, Zazz, I hear you completely, and it's super unsatisfying, especially if you're a fan base and a, a town that has grown accustomed because of Steph Curry's greatness to championship-level basketball. But I think the answer might be you have to straddle the two eras, which is allow the Steph Curry You understanding you're not going to win a title with Steph Curry, because if you give away the future, man, you're really going into the abyss when Steph Curry hangs it up. It's sort of like, you know, I know maybe hockey is— people don't care about Pittsburgh Penguins stuff, but that's exactly where they are with Sidney Crosby and those guys as they're 40 years old. Like, what are you supposed to do? Try to give away all the future for right now? And then the next decade or 20 years is going to be just bum teams?
I— it's a— it's an interesting question you pose.
As—
got one more name for you: Kevin Durant. Yeah, he's all— he's always on the move, baby. Come on now. And, and he's still great. 25 points a game.
Yep.
Great percentages from the field. He's still an excellent scorer.
Let me ask you something. Kevin Durant, over-under the remainder of his career, 1.5 more teams played for?
Oh, that's a great line.
I'm gonna say over because I think his career is gonna last for a while. I think he's gonna play for like— it's not like 1 or 2 more years. I think he's gonna go keep going. And so he's gonna play for another team after the Rockets. You're asking me, is he gonna play for— is that gonna be his last team? I'm gonna say no.
How many has he played for now? Oklahoma City, Golden State, Brooklyn, Phoenix, Houston. This is 15.
Seattle. Don't forget Seattle.
Nah, counts.
Oklahoma City franchise though.
Don't be—
but which would you be though? Would you rather be Kevin Durant forget the titles and all of that, but just who would you rather be? Uh, Kevin Durant, sort of a mercenary trying to fill in spots with championship contenders to get another ring, or would you rather be Steph Curry? My entire career has been here. I know we're not going to win a title in my final days here, but of course I don't want to move here. I want to be the legend of this franchise for all of time.
Curry, you know what's funny? This is how I know these are all old clichés, right? They feel like modern constructs of sports talk, but like they're old clichés because Moses Malone played for 8 billion teams and we never said anything about that. Just like when people are like, oh, what kind of guy would go to a team with the best record? I'm like, yeah, that's right. What kind of guy would win MVP and then that very next year go to a team that lost in the finals, in the conference finals, and won 57 games? Oh, that's right, Moses Malone did that. And they won the title in '83. But nobody said shit about it because we're all a bunch of babies that think that— you know what, I'd like to propose a toast to all the babies out there. All the babies.
The baby's getting a toast.
The babies are getting a toast. You know what, give me a beverage here. Wow. Give me some Cuervo, please.
And let me remind people, Worth a Toast presented by Cuervo. Keep it fun, keep it Cuervo.
Wow.
To all you babies that think like everything that happens in the NBA is brand new and we've never had this before. Guess what? We've had just like we've had these drinks.
Cheers to you.
Cheers to you.
Keep it, keep it Cuervo.
I would say to be able to answer your question though, Dave, I would rather be Curry because I want there to be a team that a fan base that loves me. Is there a fan base that loves Kevin Durant?
I know.
And that's exactly right. I mean, it's sort of like if I were an 18-year-old blue chip runner running back. Would I rather go to USC and be the next in a long lineage of great running backs, or would I rather go to Oregon State where if I succeed they will make us— they'll build a big statue of me and I will be the one of one for that program for the next 50 years? That the latter is more appealing to me as well. Uh, Zazz, can I just tell you, by the way, no matter what, just mercenary behavior.
Can I just tell you, by the way, Moses Malone was so good. Oh my God, yeah, we should give a toast to Moses Malone. I mean, the baby's got a toast, but I mean, Moses Malone was so good.
Yeah, he was amazing. You know who else is amazing? Kevin Durant.
"Wait, the running back's white? Come on, everybody."
We debut a new segment on the show we like to call "NFL!" We cover some of the big-time topics around the league as every team is now officially in training camp, including QB battles in Las Vegas and Cleveland, Baker Mayfield's contract situation in Tampa Bay, and Chris Olave getting a massive extension from the New Orleans Saints. Plus, Amin gives a toast to the babies and tells us about five NBA stars who could be the next guys on the move.
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