0:00

Thanks for listening to The Dan Patrick Show podcast.

0:02

Be sure to catch us live every weekday morning

0:05

nine to noon Eastern or six to nine

0:07

Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find

0:09

your local station for The Dan Patrick Show at

0:11

Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream

0:13

us live every day on the iHeartRadio

0:15

app by searching f s

0:18

R. You are listening to

0:20

The Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports

0:22

Radio. Happy Bobby Beni a

0:25

day, Welcome inside our two, The

0:27

Dan Patrick Show here on Fox Sports Radio.

0:29

Jason Smith, Doug gottlieb in for

0:32

Dan and the Dan Nets. As Bobby Benia

0:34

liked to say in an exclusive interview he did with Action

0:37

Sports, it's bigger than my birthday.

0:39

And you know, Doug, you asked me last

0:42

hour on the show, you know, as a Mets fan, I told

0:44

you how embarrassing. It's a really difficult optic,

0:46

even though it was a sound business decision

0:49

to defer payments to Bobby Beni, who's going to

0:51

be getting one point one million dollars

0:53

on this day every year

0:55

until twenty thirty five. Darren

0:58

Ravelle has a

1:00

story on this with new information that we

1:02

have never found out before because he sit down

1:04

with Bobby Beniah and Benia said

1:07

that the Mets actually tried to get him to retire,

1:10

and when they couldn't get him to retire, they

1:13

worked on this agreement and Bobby

1:15

Benia Day was born. So this is what I mean when

1:17

I say the optic from my team on this is just

1:19

terrible that they first they've tried to convince him

1:21

to retire because look, you don't want to pay you, we don't

1:23

think you're very good. Oh and instead, all right,

1:25

we're just gonna give you a million dollars a year for the next thirty

1:28

five years. This is what I mean about the optics

1:30

surrounding the Mets. Yeah,

1:32

but I mean, like, tell me a team that I'm like, I'm

1:34

an Angel fan. You think the optics with Albert

1:37

Poolhole Steel, you know it

1:39

was a good one where you

1:41

know, they they bought him out of the last

1:44

year of his disastrous contract,

1:46

and then he goes and plays with the Dodgers and now

1:48

he's back playing with the Saint Louis Cardinals. He's he's

1:50

still getting paid, I believe to be at

1:53

the end of his career to be a representative

1:55

of the Angels. Like in the know,

1:58

he's not an Angel anymore. It's

2:00

all these contracts exist and deferred

2:03

payments. I think it's only a bigger

2:05

thing because it's the Mets. I'll beat

2:07

completely honestly, because we have more Mets

2:09

fans that are broadcasters. It's

2:12

it's the same. The Mets have actually been a good team,

2:14

They've been in a World Series. There's so many other

2:17

organizations that are so much more poorly

2:19

run. The problem is that one of the Mets,

2:21

and you have a good number of people who are sportscasters,

2:24

broadcasters talking that are

2:26

Mets fans. And then of course they're in

2:28

the same city with the most successful baseball

2:30

franchise ever, you know, So you

2:32

have those two things which make

2:34

this mitch make all Mets stories bigger

2:36

stories than they actually are. Well, yeah, and it's

2:39

it's always the group of teams

2:41

in every sport that it's easy to

2:43

point fingers and go see they're always a laughing

2:45

stock, right whether whether and most of

2:47

them are my teams, because it's you know, it's the Knicks,

2:49

it's the Jets, you know, but it's the Lions, it's

2:52

the Raiders, it's the Browns. It's

2:54

certain teams that just, yeah, these headlines

2:56

follow them and they're always

2:58

more embarrassing and worse for them than they are.

3:01

If this happened to the Patriots, right, if the Patriots

3:03

had a free agent signing that didn't work and you

3:05

know, Bill Belichick agreed to pay a guy until

3:07

twenty thirty, it would be well, hey, no,

3:09

no, this was this was a smart business decision.

3:12

This is just a deal that didn't go a boy, what

3:14

a great trend setting for the future Bill Belichick

3:17

has thought of. It's all in the presentation

3:19

of it, and some teams that's how it goes for

3:21

them. The team like the Mets, it's, ah, let's

3:23

jump up and down on them. But other teams it would be,

3:25

you know, smart business decision. So it's just

3:28

a perspective that the teams have that that really hurt

3:30

them in that situation. There's there's there's

3:32

there's no no question about it. Can I ask

3:34

you something that this is interesting to me? Okay?

3:37

Um. It feels like with

3:40

this being the first full day of NBA

3:43

free agency and Kevin Durant

3:45

asking me treated yesterday, it

3:48

feels like that should be the biggest story.

3:51

But the usc UCLA thing

3:54

has so many different

3:56

layers to it and is so

3:58

massive in the landscape of all

4:01

college sports that I

4:03

feel like maybe

4:06

today it's equal footing with

4:09

KD or maybe even lesser

4:11

foot in the kiddie but a historically bigger

4:13

story. If you were seating

4:16

them in a tournament, which one would

4:18

you say is bigger today?

4:20

I would say it would be USC UCLA,

4:23

right because we had that. We had the big jarring

4:25

headline yesterday and it was jarring, but it

4:27

was only jarring for a few hours because then

4:30

and be a free agency Kevin Durant opts out.

4:32

And this is a year for free agency where you

4:34

know Lebron wasn't moving somewhere. You

4:36

know, you still had big names out there. But you

4:38

know, when when when the biggest thing going into free

4:40

agency is Jalen Brunson going

4:43

to the Knicks, it's all right, Maybe this year is

4:45

not quite the same. So we had the blockbuster

4:47

of Durant, but we didn't have a

4:50

resolution and we don't know where he's going,

4:52

and it's going to play out. But now the day

4:54

after people are starting

4:56

to see this USC UCLA and

4:58

they're gonna say, Wow, this is USC

5:01

leaving these this is these are the rock

5:03

stars of college football

5:05

that are leaving because even though USC

5:08

hasn't had the footprint the last few years

5:10

that they had in the early aughts, I mean, they

5:12

were easily the biggest rock star

5:15

program and still are and now we're expecting to be it

5:17

again with Lincoln Riley and all the recruits that are

5:19

following him and and and the fact

5:21

that these are the teams that are leaving

5:24

UH is a much bigger deal because

5:26

the you know, you know, this would be Alabama

5:28

leaving. You know, Alabama's leaving the SEC for

5:30

the Big ten. Why is Alabama leaving? That's

5:32

the impact USC has and UCLA

5:35

being part of it is great, But you're talking

5:37

about an entire market leaving you you're

5:40

the the ramifications of

5:42

what it means for the teams and the travel

5:45

and are other teams going to follow?

5:47

There is a huge domino effect

5:49

for this, and I guarantee you this

5:51

weekend, like when when you and I are out and we're

5:53

hanging out with our friends and we're talking about it, we'll

5:56

talk about Kevin Durant for a few minutes

5:58

because obviously, why Katie, where do you think he's gonna

6:00

go? And but when it comes boy, this USUCLA

6:03

thing and that's more of the conversation. And

6:05

that's something that you know, twenty twenty five

6:07

minutes you can see going by talking

6:09

with your friends about it. Where KD you'll

6:11

be like a five minute conversation, then a bigger

6:13

one when he signs and you see where he goes and how

6:15

that affects the NBA. But right now this

6:18

thing has so many tentacles and angles

6:20

to it that it's just starting to become and

6:22

people are just starting to get the the the intricacies

6:25

of this and how big a deal this is. Well,

6:27

I'm gonna disagree with you in terms of my

6:29

weekend. I'm gonna be in a gym

6:32

coaching. So in basketball,

6:35

I think the KD and where will he go in the kyrie?

6:38

And you know, would you bite the apple

6:40

and bring in a kyrie? And

6:42

you know, should Lebron get rid of Anthony Davis?

6:44

I think that's I think that's a better

6:47

with the guys topic. But I think

6:49

the usc UCLA

6:51

thing is massive because

6:53

of not just that what

6:56

happens next? How does this affect

6:58

recruiting because here's

7:00

generally kind of the way works. You mentioned

7:03

that it's a it's a titan, and that's

7:05

The only reason they have value is there are a titan right

7:07

that they can it's the Texas. The schools

7:10

at rate rate regardless of Notre

7:12

Dame rates, Texas rates, USC

7:15

rates, Alabama rates, Oklahoma

7:18

rates, you know Clemson rates

7:20

like those are the ones at Michigan, Ohio

7:22

State, Penn State, those are the

7:24

ones that people care about. Those are the ones with value.

7:27

And forever they've had their value

7:29

tied up with a conference. And

7:31

there's a couple of schools Texas in USC

7:34

specifically that are bigger than

7:36

the rest of their conferences combined. And

7:38

now they flex their muscles and they've used that strength

7:40

and now they're in a conference of

7:43

of like like sized,

7:46

like you

7:48

know, a backing school if you will. But

7:51

you know what is it. It's going to be interesting. You know, the

7:53

SEC has recruited Southern California very well.

7:56

This opens up Southern California recruiting

7:58

to the big ten. It just because

8:00

now you can say, hey, you come here, we

8:03

have you know, we're a better school, better facilities,

8:05

completely invested, and we're going to

8:07

play in LA I think it now.

8:10

Does that mean that the UCLA and

8:12

USC can they go and recruit the Midwest

8:14

and say, you know, not only do you

8:16

get to get out of the cold and play in the sunshine,

8:19

but we were going to bring you home every year to play as

8:21

well. I think that does work kind of

8:23

both ways. And you know, the recruiting

8:26

aspect of it is fascinating to me. But then

8:28

it's what's next, or then it's what happens

8:31

is the Stanford and cal

8:34

r Like, I think the LA market

8:36

is huge in USC's bigger, and I

8:39

know that you know, Stanford students

8:41

and they don't fill up their stadium whatever, But

8:43

that's an incredible school

8:46

with remarkable alumni, and

8:48

it's in the conversation of the best all around

8:51

sports programs on Earth

8:53

in terms of the Olympic sports. And then you have cal

8:55

the number one public school in

8:59

the country, you know, in terms of ratings

9:01

of public universities and

9:03

a arrival and in the same system

9:05

the U SEE system as UCLA, Like, how

9:08

does that all work? Like that that

9:10

I don't know. That whole thing is interesting to me. How does

9:12

it interfect recruiting? What do the conferences

9:14

look like? You mentioned the Notre Dame you

9:17

and then there's there's Oregon, there's

9:19

Washington and then the last part too.

9:21

It is and this was the threat. I

9:24

don't I think you had left ESPN when

9:27

when the first

9:29

Big twelve, first Big ten expansion

9:32

happened. But there's always

9:34

the threat of

9:37

Congress saying, hey,

9:39

that tax shelter you got for college athletics.

9:42

This is this is a paid

9:44

enterprise. You're making money, you're

9:46

spending money to buy kids like

9:49

this. You're gonna have to if that happens.

9:52

Now the sport changes completely

9:55

and uh, you know, and

9:58

I don't know what happens to so many of these light department.

10:00

You know, if your Oregon state or your Washington state and

10:03

you get left behind and you're not in

10:05

one of these major conferences and you're not

10:07

getting money from your state for your for

10:09

your sports anymore, like your whole university

10:12

changes changes and

10:15

at some point this could you

10:17

know, whether it's privatized college athletics,

10:20

and everybody thinks they want that. It's

10:22

like people thinking they want college athletes

10:24

to be employees. You don't want them to be employees

10:27

because employees can be hired, they can also be fired,

10:30

you know, Uh, they employees will

10:32

have to pay taxes on all benefits. Those

10:34

things don't occur right now, they get all

10:36

the benefits of employees with really

10:38

very little of the downside. So I'm

10:40

interested in how in all

10:42

of it because it

10:45

is a bit of a house of cards, and I

10:47

think I think this se UCLA

10:49

thing may have pulled out the bottom. I don't know what

10:51

happens to the NCAA, but

10:54

I think this is a Titanic land shift

10:56

that here's the most

10:59

impressive thing. There were no rumors

11:01

of it, right, no rumors of

11:03

it. It came out, it was

11:05

done that night. That's how deals get

11:07

done, right, because once

11:09

there's the hemming and the hawing, that's when people

11:11

go, wait a second, this school it's not fair. There

11:14

were no rumors, no leaks. They got

11:17

it done, just like Texas and Oklahoma.

11:19

And now of a sudden, that Big ten deal

11:22

is going up exponentially, and I wonder what's

11:24

next. So I'm going to disagree. I think this weekend

11:26

people are still talking about ball and what happens

11:29

with all these all this different movement the NBA.

11:32

But long term, the ramifications

11:35

of UCLA and USC being in the Big ten are

11:37

massive. Jason Smith Doug Gottlieb

11:39

here on the Dan Patrick Show, Well, I'll take you to

11:41

what's next, which is which is where things

11:44

get even more out of control, because look,

11:46

college football is about chaos, and

11:49

I love the chaos and how things change,

11:51

and there's no real leadership

11:53

and everybody's kind of just doing what's

11:55

best for them. And we talked about this with Petros

11:57

Papa Dacas last hour that hey,

12:00

this is a money move clearly for USC UCLA,

12:02

and everybody can cut this up and and you

12:04

can be upset about the travel, but

12:06

this is about money and what they're making the

12:10

model of college football with NIL

12:12

deals and trans reportal Right,

12:14

now it's unsustainable, right, the NIL

12:17

is completely going to get out of control. It's

12:19

already spiral out of control. I

12:21

like to think that maybe some of

12:23

the powers that be understood that, Okay, our

12:26

conferences, this may not be great

12:28

for half of our teams because they can compete

12:30

and it's going to be difficult and we may

12:32

have to do something here for it. And then this

12:34

move happens and it's going to be Well if

12:37

they can go and just basically you

12:39

know, inject cash into

12:41

the school and into their program, well

12:44

why should we figure anything else out for

12:46

NIL? Yeah? You know what door is open, and

12:48

it's going to get even more out

12:50

of control as this gets into orbits. So I

12:53

don't know that this did anything for

12:55

that than just hey, maybe we were

12:57

going to slow down a little bit and we're going to pull

12:59

the emergence see break and say, okay, let's let's let's

13:02

realize what this model of college football

13:04

and how sustainable it is. And I don't believe

13:06

it is at all, And then this story happens,

13:08

yes, and it's okay, Well, now now that can happen.

13:10

Now more nil deals are are gonna go

13:12

off, and the rich are going to continue to get richer, and there's

13:14

going to be more money coming in, and Notre

13:16

Dame is going to realize we have to join a conference

13:19

because of all this money coming in and everything

13:21

we thought we were gonna get. There's gonna be no

13:23

reset, because that's normally what happens

13:26

is that when a story gets this out

13:28

of control, there's some kind of reset. All right,

13:30

well this is going to happen, right, Salaries got out of control

13:32

in the NFL for draft picks who had never played

13:35

a down before. So Sam Bradford

13:37

was the last number one pick who got paid like a guy

13:39

who's hitting free agency at the age of twenty

13:41

six needs a superstar. So the NFL pool

13:44

the emergency break there and said, Okay, we need to get

13:46

back to this a little bit. I don't see there

13:48

being any emergency break in college

13:50

football after this story yesterday. Well,

13:53

I think that you're I think you're combining

13:56

kind of two different things, and I understand

13:58

it is kind of one story in one sport. Um

14:01

Look, generally, what what most

14:03

of this is is a breakaway from

14:08

I don't even want to say that. Everybody says the NCAA, But

14:10

the NCAA is all it is is a voting

14:12

body of all the schools, right and

14:14

the and and and people

14:16

can say, hey, the College Football

14:18

Playoff was the breakoff, and like it wasn't. The BCS

14:21

wasn't. That wasn't the nca

14:24

The bowl system has them in the nca the nca has

14:26

them been involved in postseason. The

14:28

high major Division one college football

14:31

in in our lifetime hasn't been involved in it.

14:33

It's always been operated by outside

14:35

operators and by the by the power brokers

14:37

that be. That that's a that's a fact,

14:39

that it's not something I'm making up or that's not breaking

14:42

information. What's what changed

14:44

was they allowed so

14:46

many other schools to have Division one

14:49

status, not just in football

14:51

but obviously in basketball. It's over three hundred and fifty

14:53

schools now. And then everyone

14:55

has the same voting rights, right,

14:57

So it's like instead of being

15:00

like Congress, instead

15:02

of being like the House, they're like the Senate, all

15:04

right, where everybody gets the same number of votes per

15:07

state, and they they

15:09

needed to be more like like the

15:11

House, where you

15:13

know, the Texas is the Ohio

15:15

states of the world they

15:17

get They just get more, more votes, more

15:19

saying how things are done, because

15:22

what's what's good for you

15:25

know a What's I mean even in

15:27

the big what's good for Mountain West schools,

15:29

it's not good for USC, what's

15:31

good for MAX schools is not good

15:34

for Ohio States, et cetera, et cetera. But

15:36

that's not how it's how it's seen

15:39

and how it's perceived by these

15:41

presidents, athletic directors and boosters.

15:44

So I think ultimately there will be the breakoff,

15:47

and that's what this is of whatever

15:49

the elite are, and everybody's

15:52

just trying to make sure they have a

15:54

spot, right. They got a chair when the music

15:56

stops playing. That's the big thing. I think

15:59

this really helps to twelve. You

16:01

know, if the Big twelve can smartly add

16:03

more pieces and somehow

16:06

like is it the Big ten? Is it the sec

16:08

No. I would tell you that the Big

16:10

twelve the meat

16:12

of the Big twelve, you know, especially

16:15

if they add to Colorado, Utah

16:17

and Arizona and Arizona State and maybe

16:19

you know, maybe you shoot for the stars and get try

16:21

and get the whole West or whatever, that would

16:23

be as good or better

16:26

than the meat of the acc.

16:28

Right, You're not going to compete with Florida

16:31

State in terms of their history when they're right,

16:33

or Miami and their history when they're right,

16:35

or Clemson and what they've been able to put together.

16:38

But the but you know, Oklahoma

16:40

State and Utah

16:43

and Colorado they're they're better and

16:46

better and financially supported programs for

16:48

football, and they resonate more than

16:51

Duke than Wake Forest,

16:53

you know even then kind of Virginio whatever,

16:56

which is kind of us you know, Stanford Light if

16:58

you will, in football. So this

17:01

is all about the breakaway and

17:03

who's who's with the big boys,

17:05

and who's with the also rands. And

17:08

I think I think what's next and who

17:11

ends up not having a chair when

17:13

the music stops is going to be sad,

17:15

but it's gonna be very telling for what

17:18

their future looks like in the future of the sport looks

17:20

like. Jason Smith and Doug gottlie

17:22

Been for Dan Patrick. Today here on Fox Sports Radio

17:24

eight seven, seven ninety nine on Fox is the

17:26

Number Twitter at how about a Fresca Doug

17:28

at Gottlieb Show. We'll have more on

17:31

college football and the seismic shift

17:33

thanks to UCI and USC coming

17:36

up and straight ahead, got a special

17:38

guest stopping by to breakdown what we have seen

17:40

so far an NBA free agency.

17:43

Where could Kevin Durant wind up? Where could

17:45

Kyrie Irving wind up? We're going to see another big

17:47

trade, requests for a big star. Keep it

17:49

right here, Jason and Doug, This is Fox. Be

17:52

sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick

17:55

Show week days at nine am Eastern six

17:57

am Pacific on Fox Sports

18:00

in the iHeart Radio app Fox

18:19

Sports Radio, The Dan Patrick Show, Happy

18:21

Bobby BENI a Day. Jason Smith, Doug

18:23

Gottlieb in for Dan and the Dan

18:25

Nets. Today is NBA Free

18:27

Agency Enters Day two we had

18:29

big signings, We had big stories with Kevin

18:32

Durant telling the Nets he wants a trade

18:34

away already the Suns and

18:37

Heat have become the preferred destinations

18:39

for him. Joining us down the hot line to help

18:41

us break it all down. NBA analysts

18:43

former NBA player and coach, college

18:45

head coach Rex Walters, Rex, what's happening

18:48

man? How are you? I'm good? How are you

18:50

doing? Jason doug what's up? Well?

18:54

Kevin Durant wants to be traded? What's

18:57

your reaction? Surprise?

19:00

It's a little bit, especially after Kyrie signed

19:02

the extension for one year saying all

19:04

that, Obviously Brooklyn is

19:06

not thinking about having Kyrie

19:08

long term. There's some serious

19:11

damage going off in terms of that relationship

19:14

because of all the stuff that's gone on these past

19:16

two years. So I think Kevin looked

19:18

at it and said, hey, I got four years

19:21

on the contract, but this is not what I signed

19:23

up for. I think it's in

19:25

that roster, you know, quite honestly, as much shooting

19:27

this as they have, they don't have much size, don't

19:30

have length, They are not great defensively.

19:32

And I think the other thing that people forget is Kevin Durant

19:35

knows what it's supposed to look like. He's

19:37

been in Golden State for four years. They

19:39

went to really four finals,

19:41

they won twice. Like, he

19:44

knows what it's supposed to look like. And he's looking at Brooklyn saying,

19:47

this is not what it's supposed to look like. So I need

19:49

out is he going to be able to get

19:51

his way because this is not a

19:53

great situation with the Nets. Right away, the

19:55

Nets didn't say we want to keep Kade. We want

19:57

to be able to try to figure out away from

19:59

the take the floor for us, it's we're gonna make the best trade

20:01

possible. Uh. Is he gonna get to

20:03

a team that he wants to get to? If if, in fact,

20:06

like the Suns and the Heat at the top of his

20:08

trade destination list, that'll

20:11

be tough. I think you know, at the end of the day, Brooklyn

20:13

has a has a leverage

20:15

in this in terms of they have to get something

20:18

back. And you're talking about a top one

20:20

one a one B player

20:23

in the NBA, and and and also the

20:25

contracts have to work. So

20:28

that's a that's a big price to pay to give

20:30

someone like Kevin Durant up. You've got to make sure

20:32

you're getting qualise things back. I

20:35

mean, Sean Marks, right now, is this thing. I

20:37

respect the fact that they went forward, they went

20:39

forward with with KD. Kyrie,

20:42

James Harden. Then after that,

20:44

you know, we talked about um,

20:46

you know, Ben Simmons, and now

20:49

it's all kind of blown up. So now Sean Marks is like, wellk

20:51

and now I'm in like, we got to make something out

20:53

of this mode. They've given up a lot to be

20:55

in this situation and now it's all

20:57

blown up. So there are teams out

21:00

there. I mean, I hate to say this, but you

21:02

look at the Lakers. They've got two guys that are

21:04

very similar in terms of salary,

21:08

in terms of Anthony Davis availability.

21:10

And that's the Lakers, right you got two guys with two

21:13

big contract that's ther Kyrie and Kevin

21:16

Durant. Have I think if you if you talk

21:18

about Miami, I don't know if they

21:20

have necessarily assets that Brooklyn wants,

21:22

especially with the situation with Bam Auto

21:24

Bio and Ben Simmons being on

21:27

you know, still their first contracts. So

21:29

it'll be interesting. And then you've got to get DeAndre

21:32

Aid to sign off on the side trade

21:34

to go to Brooklyn, and then Deandre's got to

21:36

be asking up, what am I walking myself into

21:39

going to Brooklyn. So there's

21:41

a lot of work to be done. It'll be interesting

21:43

to see how this all plays out. If

21:45

you're Lebron James. Yeah,

21:48

let's just imaginary scenario and

21:51

you can either roll with Anthony

21:53

Davis or roll with Kevin

21:56

Durant. What do you do? Oh,

21:59

it's not even close. I'm rolling with Kevin Durant.

22:01

He's seen firsthand what Kevin Durant

22:03

can do. That that whole thing when

22:06

you talk about those great you know finals

22:08

with the Golden State and Cleveland, it

22:10

became a non factor. When Kevin Durant

22:12

joined the Warriors, it was a no brainer.

22:15

The other thing is Kevin Durant, even though he's

22:17

had some issues with injuries like

22:19

this, dude loves to play, loves

22:21

to work. Everything I've ever heard about Durant

22:23

is he loves to play, loves to

22:25

compete, wants to win, wants to have his

22:28

own type of legacy in terms of and I don't

22:30

think he thinks long term like this that, but he

22:32

loves to ball. That's what he's all about.

22:35

Whereas Anthony Davis has had his issues with

22:37

injuries, so yeah,

22:39

there's no question and you're talking about switching

22:41

light size. They're both going to play the three

22:43

four. You get a guy like Kyrie as

22:45

well, who knows how to play with Lebron. That

22:48

would be really interesting when you talk

22:51

about, you know, the Warriors dynasty.

22:53

Now the Lakers are right back in the mix

22:55

in terms of and you can have, you

22:57

know, and they're going after size and length

23:00

in terms of offensive minded guys

23:02

with minimum contractor or lower salary

23:04

guys with those three and

23:06

if they're all available, that becomes really scary.

23:09

You know. It's it's interesting you mentioned how much he loves

23:11

the ball. Remember the Anthony Davis story

23:13

came out that he hadn't touched a basketball in two months.

23:15

Like Kevin Rants a guy. Now he's had injury

23:17

issues as well, but Kevin Rants a guy

23:20

who probably hasn't gone two days without

23:22

touching the basketball and not not two months. Rex.

23:24

That's that's sort of it's crazy

23:25

about well, and when

23:27

you talk about you know, this is a guy that, over

23:30

the course of crews played over eighty games

23:32

three times. He's played over seventy games

23:35

multiple multiple times, like Anthony Davis

23:37

that that just hasn't happened, you know. And so

23:40

you talk about for Kevin, he's got to be excited to go to

23:42

a major media outlet. He's got a chance

23:44

to you know, kill some

23:46

some ghosts in terms of the Warriors,

23:49

you know, and what they've been able to do is to have

23:51

those two teams on the West Coast

23:53

battling and out would be phenomenal.

23:56

But yes, I think that Lebron would know, Hey,

23:58

this is someone that I have the utmost

24:00

amount of respect. And you've got really the two best

24:03

players probably over the last ten years

24:05

on the same row. And that's what the Lakers have always

24:07

been. They've been about great, great players,

24:10

right that are available to play to

24:12

win championships. So

24:14

wreck do you think that that Kyrie finds

24:17

his way to the Lakers? And and this is

24:19

this is We're going into the season

24:21

and Kyrie and Lebron are trying

24:23

to wreck it in the Western Conference. I

24:25

think that that's everything that I've heard and

24:27

read is saying that Kyrie, that's something Kyrie wants

24:30

to do. I think the other thing too is, you

24:32

know, Kyrie's got a reputation

24:34

now and I love Kyrie. I love to

24:37

watch him play. As a coach,

24:39

it was hard to coach against him and

24:41

the game plan, but he does have a reputation,

24:44

right, So Cleveland left it on a sour

24:46

note, Boston left it on a sour

24:48

note, and then Hubbly Brooklyn that's

24:51

been a sour note. So you know, with a guy

24:53

like Kadi and Lebron, I

24:55

think that the Lakers say, hey, we can we can actually

24:58

not manage Kyrie, but they'll

25:00

have guys that can help hold him accountable

25:03

and bring out the greatness that he we all know he

25:05

has inside of him.

25:08

Rex. I'm

25:10

intrigued by Brad Beale. Okay,

25:13

does he go back to Washington? Does he try

25:15

and get to a team, get

25:18

to a franchise where he

25:20

feels like he can legitimately compete?

25:22

What do you think Brad bial does well?

25:24

I think that the new thing nowadays is number

25:26

one, gets your money. That's the number

25:29

one thing. Get your money, make sure it's

25:31

guaranteed, and then hey, okay, now what

25:33

are you gonna do to allow us to

25:35

be a real contender?

25:37

Right? And I think Brad Lebiale is a and again

25:40

another guy as I coached in

25:42

the NBA, and as I get game plans

25:44

and watch players are like, this dude

25:46

is special, but is he an elite?

25:48

Elite you're talking about the KDS, Lebron's

25:51

those type of guys. He's not that, But he's a second

25:53

tier. So you're gonna need another two

25:55

or three guys like that. Is

25:57

porzingis that type of guy? Question?

26:00

Is still really out on that one? And then

26:02

who else can they add to that roster

26:05

right to really take them

26:07

to another level in a great Eastern

26:09

Conference because they're gonna need great players

26:12

around him. He needs at least two other guys

26:15

that are close to his level for them to

26:17

have a chance to be really competitive in

26:19

the Eastern Conference. And if that doesn't happen, I

26:21

can see him saying, Hey, this time for me to

26:23

move on. You know, he'll do the same thing that

26:25

a lot of players are doing. That's the new thing now. It's

26:27

like the NBA Transfer portal. They say, Hey,

26:30

I'm ready to move on. Here's my list of

26:32

teams that I want to go to. Let's make it

26:34

work. Rex what

26:37

we've seen so far, you know, we're into day two

26:39

of free ze. We've seen some players signed. What's

26:41

the move you've liked the most so far, And if you say

26:43

Jalen Bruns into the Knicks, I'm okay with that as a Knicks

26:45

fan. So if that's your answer, I'm fine with it. But

26:48

what even like so far? Wow,

26:51

it's been kind of crazy, to be honest

26:53

with you, that the money that has been out there.

26:55

When you think about Yoki, She's gonna make fifty

26:57

million dollars a year when it

26:59

gets that extension, and guess what he might

27:01

be worth it? Like if you're gonna if I'm gonna

27:04

throw big money Devin Booker, I'd I'd

27:06

be interested to see what happens when Chris Paul leaves

27:08

Phoenix. Right, Is Devin Booker going

27:11

to have the same type of impact because he's a great, great

27:13

player. Again, I've been more intrigued

27:15

with some of the signings of players. I'm

27:17

like, how did he get that type of money? And

27:19

God bless him? Like I'm all for players

27:21

making their money, but you look at

27:23

Oklahoma City and lou Dort

27:26

is a tough, physical guard,

27:28

He's not a great shooter. To give that guy

27:30

over eighty million, I was like scratching

27:32

my head a little bit. So you know, I'm not answering

27:34

your question, but I'm more intrigued by

27:36

some of those moves where guys are getting

27:39

crazy money and they haven't proven

27:41

that they could win and really you

27:43

know, be an efficient, effective player

27:45

in the NBA on both sides of the ball. Yeah,

27:49

but Rex, I think part of it is when we struggle

27:51

with this is the scale changes, right,

27:53

Like lou dort eighty million dollars jumps out at

27:55

you. But then you go like, did you see

27:58

what the back end of Yokich and

28:00

Carl Anthony Towns deal plays? Did you guys

28:02

see this their final year of their Supermax

28:05

deal they just agreed to yesterday is

28:07

sixty

28:10

sixty two point one million dollars

28:12

for one season, And so

28:15

like, I mean, obviously there's inflation,

28:17

but with all the money, like we

28:19

just have to look what happens is we look at we're

28:21

like, I can't believe that guy's making fifteen

28:23

now, like yeah, but the best players

28:25

are making sixty, so fifteen

28:29

kind of fits. It's say, it's really hard

28:31

for us to wrap our heads around when

28:33

the numbers when the numbers

28:36

jump like this, But then you kind of relate it

28:38

to like did you ever think you're gonna be paying six

28:40

dollars a gallon for gas, right,

28:42

I mean, every everything

28:44

has everything has jumped. But I

28:46

saw that that Town's deal and the

28:48

Yo Kids deal and Yo kiss An MVPs

28:50

are great player, but sixty two million dollars

28:53

is unbelievable. Yeah,

28:56

it is. It's really interesting. And then you got to look at

28:58

your roster construction and how

29:00

are you going to be able to put

29:03

players around, players like Cat You know, Ant's

29:05

gonna come up pretty soon and he's gonna

29:07

be asking for crazy money. And then you've

29:09

got you know, what are they gonna do with Deelo de'angelo

29:11

Russell. He's making a good amount

29:14

of change. And then can you put the right pieces

29:16

around in a smaller market like Minnesota?

29:19

And I root for Minnesota. My daughter's a video

29:21

associate with the Timberwolves, so I root

29:24

for them. And then you know they've got new ownership

29:26

that that's kind of transitioning in. They've got

29:28

a new GM that is again you're

29:30

in the Western Conference, and you know every job

29:33

is difficult, and Finch has done a great job.

29:35

Again, you've got to put together a roster

29:38

that allows you to compete at the highest level.

29:40

And when a guy is making sixty million, it makes

29:42

a difficult but this is an elite

29:45

three point shooting four or five

29:47

in cat and now you want to see

29:49

the winning go along with it. So hopefully

29:51

that happens to I help it for my daughter because then

29:54

she's employed, but also hope it for that franchise

29:56

because you've got to put good pieces, defensive

29:59

minded eyes that are skilled, that can

30:01

shoot the basketball around check, and those

30:03

guys aren't going to be coming cheap with

30:05

the money coming in. A man who'll be using his daughter's

30:07

influence to come out of retirement and play for the Timberwolves

30:10

this year for fifteen million a year. Rex

30:12

Walters. Rex has always buddy appreciated

30:15

man. Thanks so much for making time for us. Appreciate

30:17

you guys. Have me have a good one. You got it. Doug.

30:20

You you're gonna come out of retirement and play right for

30:23

sixty million dollars? No, no no, no, you're not gonna get sixty

30:26

You'll get fifteen million. I mean, come on, you're not gonna

30:28

get You're not gonna get Yoka money, but you'll get fifteen million.

30:31

I would pay for I would play in that league

30:33

for five hundred dollars that way, that would be fine. Just always

30:35

always wanted my name on the back of one of those one

30:37

of those jerseys. But no, it's it's really

30:39

interesting, like we're you

30:41

know, I remember what Kevin Garnett was, the first

30:44

one hundred million dollars contract, And

30:46

I just wonder how many years away we are

30:48

from the first one hundred million

30:51

dollars per year athlete.

30:53

Right, we're creeping closer. We got to fifty

30:55

in football, now we're gonna get We're

30:57

a couple of years away, obviously from sixty in basketball.

31:00

How many years away are we from somebody getting

31:02

one hundred million dollars for one year of

31:05

their of their sport. If I told you twenty

31:07

thirty, would you take the over or the under?

31:09

By twenty thirty, someone's going

31:11

to be getting one hundred million dollars a year, either

31:14

in the NFL or the NBA. I mean probably not in

31:16

Major League Baseball, but you never know, but somebody

31:18

in one of them. By twenty thirty, would you

31:20

take? Yes, that would happen, or it might be a little

31:22

bit after that. I'm

31:26

gonna go I'm gonna take the under. I'll say, before

31:28

twenty thirty, and this is not

31:31

this is salary contract

31:34

salary, right because you know people go,

31:36

well, you know Lebron made over un Tiger

31:38

Woods been. No, no, I'm saying, and

31:41

didn't feel blow through one hundred million dollars in gambling. Now, I'm

31:43

kid, it's like forty and four years. I

31:45

mean is this I mean like it's like the live golf

31:48

money is real money. Tiger turned

31:50

that down. But I'm talking, we're just baseball,

31:53

basketball, football. I will take

31:55

the under in twenty thirty in

31:57

someone playing for one hundred million

31:59

dollars a year. Okay, if I said,

32:02

if I said twenty twenty five for

32:04

someone making seventy five, oh

32:07

sent twenty

32:09

twenty five wow,

32:13

three years, Wow,

32:17

I'll still go under. I'll still go

32:19

over over on that one. But very

32:21

close. I mean, that's that's pushed level. I mean

32:23

because look, I mean incrementally quarterbacks

32:26

have creeped up, right, and that that salary,

32:29

that salary pool is only going to get bigger. That that's

32:31

what this comes from. And then of course you got

32:33

baseball, Like I don't think I

32:36

don't think we're there with baseball. Baseball, they stretch

32:38

it out over so long. We're still in the

32:40

thirties, right, we haven't reached but for football

32:43

quarterback and supermax

32:46

deal in basketball, and you

32:48

know it'll have to be one of these young

32:51

players that has gone cycled through two

32:53

contracts that gets to the third one. If

32:56

you're a value customer, you deserve a simple gesture

32:58

of appreciation from your credit card. It's why

33:00

discover matches all the cash back you've earned the end of

33:02

your first year. Discover exceptionally

33:04

common sense. Learn more at discovered dot com slash

33:07

match. That's discovered dot com slash

33:09

match limitations they do apply

33:11

well. Speaking of guys making money,

33:14

new report coming up next. Someone's

33:16

really getting paid nearing a

33:19

two hundred and thirty million

33:21

dollar max deal? Is

33:23

he worth it? That's tradehead right

33:25

here. Jason and Doug. This is Fox Sports Radio.

33:28

Fox Sports Radio has the best sports

33:30

talk lineup in the nation. Catch all

33:32

of our shows at foxsports Radio dot

33:34

com and within the iHeartRadio

33:37

app. Search FSR to listen

33:39

live Fox

33:47

Sports Radio. Happy Friday, Happy Bobby

33:49

Benie a Day. Jason Smith and Doug

33:51

Gottlieb in for Dan and the Dants.

33:54

Today is day two of NBA

33:56

Free agency continues.

33:59

We had a big time money conversation with Rex

34:01

Walters a few minutes ago, and now it's time

34:03

for more money, you know. And that's a thing,

34:05

Doug. I've known you know, knowing you for this long that

34:08

anytime there's a conversation, as

34:10

long as it's about a lot of money, I know

34:13

that gets your interest because there's certain topics that we

34:15

get into that. But when it gets to money,

34:17

it's just I you know, and part of me is

34:19

I understand more the ramifications

34:21

of certain things when you deal with that money, because

34:23

I can hear the excitement in your voice, like when you talk

34:26

about things like, hey, here's Nicola yok it's gonna

34:28

make sixty two million dollars in the final

34:30

year of his deal. Well, I just I mean

34:32

the number jumps out at you, right, doesn't it. I

34:34

mean you just sit there and go like, wow, I had I

34:36

didn't. I didn't do that. I was doing the math. That's

34:39

a lot of how has it broken down? And then when

34:41

I saw a six and then a

34:43

two in the final year of the deal, that

34:46

was that was different. That was

34:48

that was different. Okay, So what's the next

34:50

money store you wanted? You got for me? So according

34:52

to Shams who's got this a few minutes ago.

34:55

Zion Williamson will be signing

34:57

a five year rookie Max contract

35:00

extension worth up to two hundred and thirty one million

35:02

dollars. This from Sham's on the Athletic.

35:04

The commitment's going to take Williamson's new deal through

35:06

the twenty twenty seven twenty eighth

35:09

season. Now, at first you look at this and go, wow,

35:11

he's gonna resign with New Orleans because I

35:14

thought that for the longest time he's

35:16

going to be the guy. He's going to be the next Shack.

35:19

He's gonna say, yeah, you can give me a lot

35:21

of money, but I need to get someplace else other than

35:23

New Orleans. But when you hear Rex Walters

35:25

say, hey, guys, say I'm gonna get paid

35:27

first and then figure everything out, I

35:30

still don't know that Zion Williamson's career

35:32

is going to end up being something that's long

35:34

term in New Orleans. He has said I want to sign

35:36

this deal as soon as possible. He's had injury

35:38

issues, so now he's got paid. I

35:41

don't know that this takes him out of Hey, yeah, I got

35:43

paid, but now I'm eventually going to find my way

35:45

out of New Orleans and get someplace else. Yeah,

35:49

I think that's more for guys that are further

35:51

along. Take a guess how

35:53

many games Zion

35:55

Williamson has played in the NBA.

35:59

It's at fifty. Has he played fifty games?

36:02

Over that? Over that? So

36:05

let's see eighty five

36:08

games. Eighty five games exactly,

36:10

that's how many. Wow, really, I gotta right in the second time.

36:12

That's awesome. I didn't even look that up. I swear to god, I

36:14

didn't looking up on the computer. That was really good.

36:16

That's really good of you. Um Man,

36:19

What else am I thinking here, James? That's not

36:23

That's not creepy at all. No really, no, no no, no,

36:26

you're thinking. You're thinking about a sandwich right now where

36:29

you are, You're thinking about a sandwich. I

36:31

am thinking about a sandwich.

36:34

Tell me mustard or mail. Anyway,

36:36

He's played eighty five games, so this

36:39

is one of those. I mean, I don't

36:42

first I actually like what New Orleans has.

36:44

They have a nice they got a good

36:46

they got a good group, and then you add Zion

36:48

to it and it that could

36:51

be one of those sneaky Holy

36:53

Cow or the Pelicans. They're really really

36:55

good. I think

36:58

there's a little bit of a leap of faith here

37:00

from New Orleans, and I would guess

37:03

that Zion gets that, like, look, we're gonna

37:05

give you a max deal, but you

37:08

got to keep yourself in better shape and condition. We've

37:10

never they've done a really good job of

37:12

never calling him out on this physical condition,

37:14

but it's been bad, So I

37:16

do think, And there was a you're right.

37:18

There was a lot of talk of he's disconnected with the team,

37:20

he's not working out with the team.

37:23

Suddenly they start talking about two hundred million dollars and

37:25

he's all about the Pelicans. But I'm gonna

37:27

buy that this one. He plays at

37:29

least all but the last year. You

37:31

know, you get to the last year if you want

37:33

to steer your way out of it. Maybe, But he's only played

37:36

he's essentially played one NBA season

37:38

and he's going into his fourth year.

37:41

So I and he hasn't stayed health, didn't

37:43

stay healthy at Duke, didn't stay healthy in Summer

37:46

league, hadn't stayed healthy at all in the NBA,

37:48

and they missed all of this season. Next

37:51

year is the years where he needs to deliver on the

37:53

goods. And I

37:55

think this is a leap of faith contract. There's

37:57

a difference in the NFL and the NBA. Right in

37:59

the NFL get paid for what you're gonna do,

38:01

and the NBA, you get paid for what they hope you're gonna

38:03

do. I look

38:05

at at Zion, and that was always

38:07

the only concern I had. You know, his weight,

38:10

and he had gotten hurt every single year

38:12

in his career, going back to high school. You know,

38:14

missing the end of high school. He's missing a lot of time with

38:16

Duke, missing time here. If he

38:18

goes and and look, the NBA is

38:21

very fickle. If he just proves

38:23

that for the majority of this year he

38:25

stays healthy, then

38:28

other teams, I think you're gonna Okay, Now we

38:30

can be into we can believe in him, because we'll believe in him

38:32

sooner rather than later, and Zion will accelerate

38:35

that process. Now, if he still stays hurt and

38:37

he's playing thirty five games a year because

38:39

he can't stay in the lineup, no, I agree. But

38:41

if he just has shows

38:43

this year he can do it. No, I think

38:45

that you can. You can look at a big power play

38:47

the year after for Zion saying okay, I showed

38:49

you how good I can be. I'm the next hood

38:52

ornament of the league because he has an IT factor unlike

38:55

anybody else in the league, you know. I mean the thing

38:57

about Zion is, as we talked about the little

38:59

bit of time that he's played, the interest

39:01

level in him is kind of very Shaquille O'Neil

39:04

asked that we want to see him. They're gonna put

39:06

his games on national TV as much as

39:08

they can. He will gain that power

39:10

pretty quickly. I think he might be surprised

39:12

how fast Zion could be able to call the shots as

39:14

long as this year he shows, Hey, I'm healthy

39:17

and I'm dominant like I was in the glimpses I've shown

39:19

so far. Yeah, I mean, I still

39:21

think at the end of the day, you know, organizations,

39:26

you know, one, it all comes down to the

39:28

type of person you are and where you are

39:30

your life, you

39:32

know, and and how organizations are structured.

39:35

I think there's a there

39:37

is a certain group of organizations that do

39:39

get pushed around and players

39:42

are able to dictate

39:44

and determine where they're gonna go and what they're gonna do, and

39:46

there's some that aren't, you know, like

39:48

we don't hear all this noise from every

39:50

player, So I'm

39:53

not into these Zion's going to control and get himself

39:55

out of New Orleans like they did

39:57

him a favorite game of Supermax because they think

39:59

that's what he can be. He's

40:02

gotta stay healthy and he's got to be able

40:04

to shoot the basketball. But he's so

40:06

explosive, and

40:09

you know, he's that perfect small ball four five.

40:11

You know, he's really only about six foot five,

40:14

but he can guard, you know, and he can't guard

40:16

centers traditional centers per se, but

40:18

they can't guard him either, and he is an

40:20

absolute freak. So I hope he's healthy

40:22

because I think that Pelicans team is a really good

40:24

one and a fun one to watch. If

40:27

I now speaking over run, we did over under

40:29

for one hundred million dollars a year players

40:31

in the Major League Baseball NFL

40:33

NBA a few minutes ago. If I put the over under

40:36

for Zion's games played this year

40:38

at fifty five over over

40:41

for Zion fifty five, see, I would still take the

40:43

under because I don't know. I don't know

40:45

how how much he can stand the

40:47

riggers of playing a regular schedule

40:50

once it gets past twenty twenty

40:52

five, thirty games. I mean, I don't you know, if you play

40:54

a lot in au and but you know this is different

40:56

now and you're talking about the pounding of the NBA. I

40:59

would still take the if he played forty

41:01

games this year, I would say that that's probably what I would

41:03

expect from him. If he plays in the in the somewhere

41:05

in the low forties, all right, that's kind of what I would

41:07

get from zion Um.

41:10

I don't know, he played sixty one games two years ago,

41:12

so I think

41:14

he'll I think he'll hit the over there. Look,

41:17

it's the big thing is what

41:20

is the weight that he's going to play at. You know, if

41:23

he's going to show up in the high twos and

41:25

the three bills like you're you're going

41:27

to be right something. A body

41:29

is not supposed to have that much weight and

41:31

that much power, that much explosiveness. It's

41:34

just it. But I truly

41:37

believe that you miss a year and

41:40

you sit there and watch, and you go through the fluctuations

41:42

and wait, and at some point in time, the light switch

41:45

goes on. And I'm

41:47

hoping that with all that money, the light

41:50

switch goes on. Don't know if it will, but

41:52

it feels like again and I'm based upon

41:54

posts on social media, feels like it

41:56

has. But that that's what's going to happen.

41:59

He's got to spend Let me look at happen for Joel

42:01

Embid this year right, spend time dedicated

42:03

his body and what he eat it and when he ate and look at out

42:05

what kind of year he had. Twenty

42:08

twenty two. Mercedes Ben's Family of SUV's

42:10

Extraordinary is one test drive away.

42:12

Learn more at MBUSA

42:14

dot com. So there it is. According to Shams the Athletic,

42:17

we have a two hundred thirty one

42:19

million dollar extension for Zion which

42:21

is coming right now. Coming up next,

42:24

we get back into Kevin Durant and the big

42:26

ramifications of his trade request

42:29

fowks