2.8.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 1

Tess here. I've always had problems sleeping and once I fall asleep, I couldn't stay asleep. I searched getting to sleep ASAP.

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Tess here. I've always had problems sleeping and once I fall asleep, I couldn't stay asleep. I searched getting to sleep ASAP.

So check this out. Sleep ASAP is a real product by NutriStrips. It's not a pill or drug. It's this amazing little thin strip you put right on your tongue and it activates immediately.

Tastes great too. Best night's sleep ever. Go to mysleepasap.com and discover how you can try a full month's supply free. That's mysleepasap.com. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

It is the JR Sport Brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Happy hump day. Happy Wednesday. Happy middle of the week. Happy we're almost closer to the Super Bowl. Happy evening.

Happy everything. It is the JR Sport Brief show here on CBS Sports Radio. It's my job to hang out here with you for the next four hours and that's exactly what I am going to do. I'm being joined by super producer and host Dave Shepherd. He's coming to you live from New York City.

I'm coming to you live from Phoenix, Arizona. And we're having a good old week. I think Russell Westbrook. I think he's having a good day. I don't know what's going on with him. He just got traded. We're going to talk about that.

Obviously. It's Wednesday night. Every Wednesday night I give you a new top six list. And this evening we're going to take a look at just top six star athletes who can't catch a break. It doesn't matter what they do, what happens.

Something always goes wrong. And so we'll have that top six list to you two hours from now. A lot of press conferences and such today in Phoenix for the NFL. The NFL Players Association.

I don't want to say ruffling feathers, not at all. But certainly making it known that they want to eliminate the NFL combine. Demoris Smith, the executive director of the Players Association said the combine is useless. Everything that you need to know about the NFL prospects is inside of their game tape. Roger Goodell also spoke to the media today. Roger Goodell says, Hey folks, our officials are fine. Our referees are umpires.

They are doing an excellent job. They just had the best season ever. There's a lot of aftermath with LeBron James passing Kareem last night. A lot of things have been patched up momentarily, I guess, between Kareem and LeBron.

And also as an ancillary, Kareem and Shaq, they patch things up as well. And so yeah, it's been busy in Laker Land as as even Russell Westbrook has been traded to the Utah Jazz where everyone knows he will not stick and or stay. If you follow me on social media at JR sport brief, you will already know everything that we will discuss tonight. You can always listen to this show on the free Odyssey app. You can tune in on your local affiliate. You can get and stay locked in on Sirius XM channel 158.

And then you can always go ahead and listen on a smart speaker. Busy, busy, busy. Right before we went on air, I guess a little more than an hour ago, the whole world found out about this trade of Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz and it's a it's a three-way trade.

If you're not familiar with the details, I can go ahead and share them with you now. The Minnesota Timberwolves get Mike Conley, veteran point guard, Nikhil Alexander-Walker, the Utah Jazz, they get Russell Westbrook, Juan Toscano Anderson, Damian Jones, the Utah Jazz, also have the Los Angeles Lakers 2027, and they also have the Los Angeles Lakers 2027 first round pick as long as it's not top four. The Lakers, they get reunited with D'Angelo Russell. Malik Beasley comes in. You got another scoring guard off the bench. You have a versatile wing in Jared Vanderbilt. And I don't want to make one big yawn about these, uh, the prospects for each one of these teams, but this is almost one big yawn.

Here's the deal. Russell Westbrook did not last two full seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, may I remind you, back in 2021 decided to move on from Caldwell Pope and Kuzma to bring on Russell Westbrook, a third star that I assume, or they assume, that LeBron assumed, that everybody assumed was going to help them out. And we saw that that's another failure, especially when you look at someone like Kintavious Caldwell Pope, who right now is continuing to shoot the three ball at an elite level, 46% from downtown this year, 39% last year.

You look at Kuzma. I don't think anyone will ever confuse him with being a knockdown three-point shooter, but he's a versatile scorer. And then you got Westbrook, who's not cooked, but his skill set is pretty much lost here on the Los Angeles Lakers. Russell Westbrook, 17 points this year per game, six assists.

He's shooting 46% from deep, a surprising 39% from three, but he's not engaged. Russell Westbrook was pretty much relegated to being nothing but a dude off the bench to get points and try to stay out of the way. Last night, in their loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, yes, the same game that LeBron James ended up passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it was reported that Russell Westbrook had a beef at halftime with his own head coach, Darvin Hamm. And so now Westbrook is gone. I mean, there were rumors last week, obviously, with Kyrie Irving. Oh man, well, Russell, what happens if Kyrie comes? How will you handle it being shipped off or traded?

And Westbrook said this last week, the end of last week, he's like, listen, folks, it's all it's all business. I know trade rumors are nothing new to you. Do you feel added pressure coming toward the deadline with just your name circulating? No, I do not.

That's not up to me. Like I said, man, I've known this as a business since I was 18, 19 years old. So I got my dad taught me that, you know, okay, just when you get to this league, it's a business and people make businesses, whatever decision that they make.

And I make sure I'm ready professionally, like I've always have been and always will be. Yeah, this, this is a business. It's not a bad business. Russell Westbrook is making $47 million this year, $47 million. He's been traded to the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz don't want him.

He does not want the Utah Jazz. And pretty much they'll agree to a buyout and Russell Westbrook can go whatever the hell he wants. Russell Westbrook, whether you love his game, whether you like his game, whether you believe he's disrespected, overrated, a stat chaser, a shot chucker, he's going into the hall of fame. He has the numbers, the stats, the accolades to prove it and not one in particular, not just triple doubles, an MVP, assists. There's an accumulation of numbers and accolades that will get him into the hall of fame.

That's it. Russell Westbrook could retire from basketball today and Russell Westbrook could go right into the hall of fame. But now it's a matter of where he goes next. I'm sure by now you've heard the rumors and the likelihood, you know, the Miami Heat for, it seems like since Kyle Lowry showed up, they're sick of him. Russell Westbrook might be able to, you know, help the Heat be competitive in the East. If Russell Westbrook ends up on the, I don't know, the Bulls, what does that do?

Rejuvenate that team that's going nowhere? And then we've also heard about the other team in Los Angeles. And by the way, Russell Westbrook is from LA.

It didn't work out with his hometown team, the team that he rooted for as a child. It didn't work out with the Lakers, but it just might work out with Russell Westbrook being a member of the Los Angeles Clippers. This is the team with Kawhi. This is the team with Paul George.

This is the team with Nate, or excuse me, Norman Powell. They got guys who can go out there and get buckets when they play. That's the thing about the Clippers, will they play?

All the Clippers seem to care about is the postseason and can they stay healthy? Steve Ballmer's going to spend the money. Microsoft man is going to stand and scream and yell and make noise on the baseline. He will make noise in his new arena when it's built.

He will spend the money. That doesn't guarantee that his players are going to be healthy. John Wall didn't work out. And the NBA trade deadline is tomorrow, Thursday afternoon. We might have some other trades.

Things aren't done. Teams are in the process of trying to clear cap space for the offseason. They're trying to offload bad trades. They're trying to add bad contracts.

They're trying to be the best, quote unquote, that they can be to finish out the season. And so we have enough leeway and enough room to talk about where Westbrook should end up next. Does he want to just take a million shots? Does he just want to be a member of the Bulls? Yeah, I know they got Levine, got DeRozan.

What's the point? He'd go to Miami. What would that do? Is that supposed to catapult the Miami Heat into contention back to a finals?

I don't think so. And then if Russell Westbrook were to go to the Clippers, that would be the best case scenario for him. Is he willing to play third banana again? Potentially first banana if Kawhi or Paul George are not playing? Just go to the Clippers, man. The Clippers are okay and I'm sure that there might be additional moves and God knows what will happen. At the end of the day, Russell Westbrook is the dude on an expiring contract.

He would quote on quote be a rental player through the end of the season and then he'll have the option to once again sign wherever he wants. And for the Los Angeles Lakers bringing back D'Angelo Russell, good move on their part. He's an 18 to 20 point per game scorer. He's been an underrated shooter throughout the course of his career and now he is right back in Los Angeles. Not expected to lead the world, not expected to be a multiple-time All-Star, just expected to make right decisions, mind his business, put up points, pass the ball, and make open threes.

All things that he's capable of doing. D'Angelo Russell is also a free agent at the end of the year. It's not too shabby for the Los Angeles Lakers to also be a free agent. Shabby for the Los Angeles Lakers to also pick up depth. Beasley, no slouch scoring.

He can get you ten. He's serviceable. Vanderbilt, okay go play some defense.

At least try to play some defense. It's just a young forward. Undeveloped, raw forward. The Lakers are still going nowhere with D'Angelo Russell. They parted ways with their 20-27 pick. They didn't get Kyrie Irving.

I guess they wanted to swing and grab something. And D'Angelo Russell will be a free agent at the end of the season and the Lakers will still go out to try and find some help for LeBron and an Anthony Davis who is seemingly always broken. And then the Utah Jazz, it's just cap space, picks, and development. Ain't nobody thinking about the Utah Jazz. So unfortunately for all of these teams involved, yeah the Wolves got Mike Conley a little bit of help. He's not going to be mad. He'll probably do very good.

Very, very good for Anthony, Ant-Man Edwards. The Wolves could actually use an adult in the locker room. The Jazz got what they want clearance. The Lakers have an experiment for the rest of the year. With D'Angelo Russell, it is an improvement. Not a championship one unless they have some of the moves up their sleeve.

I don't think it exists. And then Russell Westbrook gets what he wants as well. Nothing. There's also another trade just took place. The Knicks are trading Cam Reddish in a future first rounder to the Blazers for heart. Wow.

Interesting. New York Knicks also a team. Going nowhere. Get ready folks. The NBA trade deadline is tomorrow. And Russell Westbrook, he's already been moved.

A mistake here. A mistake for the Los Angeles Lakers. Russell Westbrook is free.

Where is the best landing spot? It's only a matter of time before Utah lets Westbrook go. They got no use for him. He has no use for them. Anywhere that Westbrook goes, he ain't going to be the main leader on the team. Them days are over.

They probably never existed. If I were Westbrook, just go to the Clippers and try it out. Because there is no location. There is no other team that he could legitimately join and compete on. He's a tough fit anywhere. And it's just a sad way if you ask me to finish up his career unless the Clippers just strike it rich. Russell Westbrook is almost a, he's a sad story, but he better stay in Los Angeles.

And when he gets released, choose the other LA team. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We are just getting started. The phone lines are open. That's 855-212-4 CBS.

That's 855-212-4 CBS. Russell Westbrook is finally gone from the Lakers. Where's the best place for him to continue his career and have success? We'll talk about it on the other side, and we'll talk about LeBron.

We got a lot to do. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. JR wants to hear from you. Call him now at 855-212-4 CBS.

That's 855-212-4227. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Russell Westbrook, this man has been traded. Three team trade. Russell Westbrook will be joining the Utah Jazz where he's expected to be released.

Yeah, no sense in those two parties getting together. And then D'Angelo Russell is being moved back to the Los Angeles Lakers. Mike Conley moving on from the Utah Jazz, now a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. There are some ancillary pieces that are part of the trade, but the big name is Russell Westbrook. He went home, wasn't two complete seasons, was scapegoated a good part of last year despite the injuries to Anthony Davis.

Russell Westbrook did play his part as well and kind of helping that joint stink up. And then he's been moved this year. There were conversations all offseason about moving him and moving on. An ill fit with Anthony Davis and Lebron.

And now he's gone. And so where does Russell Westbrook go next? Is there any location where he can continue his career, contribute, and not just become washed up? He can still play. He's talented. He actually plays basketball.

He sees an Ironman to a certain degree in his own right. You can count on Russell Westbrook to be available. Can you count on him to make smart basketball decisions and not be cantankerous?

That's a little difficult. There's one answer here for Russell Westbrook that makes sense this year where a team would want him and he might actually help them out. It's the Clippers. It's the other team that plays in crypto.com arena.

The team that does have Kawhi Leonard also has Paul George and has a John Wall who unfortunately got hurt and is still a shell of the player that he used to be. It's like a match made in heaven. Russell Westbrook and the Clippers.

I think they go together. 855-2124 CBS. That's 855-2124 CBS. What are your thoughts on Russell Westbrook? Where does he go? Where should he go? And is he actually going to help anybody anywhere?

And before I get to the phone lines, I might as well let you know this. Right now Kyrie Irving making his debut with the Mavericks against those Clippers. Kyrie Irving here in the first quarter of the Mavericks lead 31-18. Kyrie not wasting any time. Eight points scored here in the first. Three of six. No Luca as Luca has been dealing unfortunately with a heel injury. So Kyrie Irving making sure he gets all of those buckets right out of the gate with no Luca Doncic. Reggie Bullock also on a hot start here for the Dallas Mavericks. 15 points out of the gate.

All five with threes. 855-2124 CBS. John is here from Houston. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. Hey, how are you doing? Excellent John. What's on your mind?

Okay, first comment. Hey, Russell Westbrook could work in Houston. They need a veteran to show the young guys that they're showing the young guys in Houston how to play. Wait, wait, wait.

Wait, wait, John. Yes. Why, why would the Houston Rockets want to bring on Russell Westbrook again to quote unquote help the young guys play? He'd be, he'd be taking away minutes and shots from dudes who need to develop. He, there's no point. You think he wants to play with young guys or try to win? Well, no, no. I agree that they need to develop but, but they need, they need a veteran leader to help them develop the right way to learn to be professional. Not him. Going out there and playing, getting, getting your head bashed in and say, hey, I got minutes. I'm not getting any better.

I got minutes. But they need a veteran president. Not yet. Not, not him though.

That, that, that there's no desire for him to go there and I don't think there's a desire to bring him in. Oh, okay. Hey, can I make one more comment, JR? You sure can.

Go ahead. I know you've had a lot of shows and you don't remember them but once upon a time I talked to you and you had a debate like who's going to be the next superstar, Trae Young or Devin Booker and I said, uh, no, I didn't. No, I didn't.

No, it was, it was just a debate that you had the callers calling in on. And so I said, hey, it's going to be Jamal Murray. And you were like, hey, he's always hurt.

But I, I stand by that. I think Jamal Murray is going to be one day the equivalent to, um, uh, Paul Pierce. Uh, you know, I think Trae Young is most going to be like Gus Williams, uh, world be free. And I think, uh, Devin Booker might be the next Tracy McGrady, but I think, uh, uh, Jamal Murray has something special. Okay. Well, thank you, John, for calling from Houston. Now that's, uh, those are some interesting observations.

Uh, now I certainly have anything about who's the next superstar and whatever you called me, if you spoke about Jamal Murray, I'm sure maybe at that time he was hurt with a blown out ACL. Let's, let's pump the brakes. Oh my God.

Those comparisons are pretty wild and out there. Eight five five two one two four CBS road is calling from Virginia. You're on the JR sport brief show. What's up road. Hey, how's it going? It's going very well, man. What's up.

Okay. Westbrook with your son. They have week four, which you can't rebound. He's a rebounder. Uh, he would help them out from the guard position.

Yeah. Unless you, you find something magic to kind of, of move Chris Paul out of, uh, you know, just off the team. I know they tried to trade him for Kyrie Irving. Do you, do you think that helps with Chris Paul and, and Booker and, and, and all of their other guards or, or forwards on the team?

Yeah, because they can't win it all with the team here. They got, they're too small in that forward. I mean, you having another guy who's smaller than the forwards they got, but he rebounds, he, he rebounds, he rebounds and plays defense. He, where are you putting him on the floor to rebound the ball?

Who are you taking off? You want to get shorter just because he rebounds? Uh, the backup for Chris Paul.

What, Damien Lee? Um, Chris Paul is usually hurt in the playoffs anyway. Okay.

All right. So let's bring in a shot Jack and Russell Westbrook, uh, to disrupt Devin Booker. And he, he's six, he's six four and he rebounds. He's not rebounded at the same rate as he was a few years ago.

Uh, but he, he rebounds a road. I think that's a bad idea. Just letting you know. Oh, okay. Okay. Thank you. All right. Love yourself.

Well, thank you so much. Look, they, they can try to bring it in. Look, Russell Westbrook still wants to dribble the ball. I don't, I'm not sure that Phoenix wants to, you know, rock the boat. They want someone who can be healthy enough to distribute. It's not so much about rebounding. They need a floor general, somebody who can help out in the playoffs, as you mentioned. So Devin Booker isn't running around and he needs to do better. He's also hurt. They need somebody, they need Chris Paul from five years ago. They got him too late and he's falling apart.

It's unfortunate. Eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS.

That's eight five five two one two four CBS. We're going to take a break and when we come back, I'll leave the phone lines open. I want to give you an update on some comments LeBron James made last night. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about his new incoming teammates.

But LeBron James, he made a few people feel uncomfortable when he was asked about his status, his status in the league, his status as one of the best players. I'll share that with you on the other side. Eight five five two one two four CBS. We'll get Shep's thoughts on Russell Westbrook now moving on and then we got a lot to do as it relates to the NFL. It's the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, I love your show. I love you brother. I worked. I worked. I worked the graveyard shift and I listen to you every night.

It's a pleasure talking to you and you be well brother. Call in now at eight five five two one two four CBS. Russell Westbrook is gone. He's on the Utah Jazz for now.

Expect it to be released and then he can go join a team that wants him. Could be the Heat. It could be the Clippers. Someone mentioned the Rockets for what? There's no point there for either one of them. The Suns are more realistic of a possibility but even that doesn't doesn't make sense. It doesn't move the needle.

I don't think it would be worth the stress at all for anybody. The Lakers get back DeAngelo Russell. Who cares? Like big deal. Whoopty do.

But the trade deadline is tomorrow. Let's see if any of this makes a difference. Eight five five two one two four CBS.

It's eight five five two one two four CBS. You know, Shep, I want to get your thoughts. Where do you believe is the best landing spot for Russell Westbrook? Uh, a jump-shooting coach, JR.

I don't say that facetiously. He's got to, if I were Russell Westbrook, honestly, I think there's been so much emotional baggage for him the last couple years. So many scars emotionally. Just take the, if it's possible, take a month off and just get a shooting coach and just develop a mid-range game because the game has passed him by. So the answer is nowhere.

Right now, nowhere. He's not gonna help anybody. He couldn't even, he couldn't even help the, I mean, they were begging him not to play, let alone shoot.

Okay. His mid-range game is actually very well. He's shooting a high percentage, the best of really of his career from three. I mean, I don't think he's the really of his career from three.

I don't, I don't think he needs to take time off and, and get a shooting coach. Yeah. I think.

I understand what you're saying. He's, uh. Yeah.

He's a, he's a difficult one. If there is, I mean, people, we have callers are gonna say it. I'm, I'm with these callers.

If you want a reunion and a good, you know, uh, heartfelt story, it'd be nice to see him link up with that number 35 used to play in OKC. Oh, number seven in Brooklyn. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

That's not happening. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. It's 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. Bryant is calling from North Carolina.

You're on the Gerald sport brief show. What's going on there? How are you doing? I'm good. How are you? I'm doing good.

Doing good. Um, I think the part, I think the perfect, um, spot for Russell is possibly going to be the wizards. I'm thinking that only because I don't think he needs a spotlight. I think Lakers, um, and LA in general have, I mean, the Clippers and the Lakers that spotlight that's on that town in general.

I think he just needs to go back to what's worked for him more recently. I think the wizards offer that. And that's one of the reasons why LeBron and AB wanted them on that team in the first place.

Cause they saw Bradley bill and him working together. Um, right now they got, um, I think, uh, Morris at the point, uh, and he's day to day he's injured, uh, Kuzma as well. Um, he has been hurt seems like forever.

Yeah. So I, I think once he gets in, like you said, it's, it's expected for him to get released. He's going to have to take a significant pay cut.

I mean, nobody's yeah. Brian, we know that it's not about the money. He's going to sign for the minimum.

It's not about the cash. I think there's two things that Russell Westbrook would want to worry about. It's Hey, am I going to have an opportunity to actually shoot the basketball contribute and play?

And am I going to have an opportunity to win? We know if he were to join the Washington wizards, there would be no winning. Uh, he would have to fight.

He would have to fight to get into the playoffs. He may have to get into the plan. He might be completely wasting his time.

There was almost without a shadow of a doubt that there are more interesting options. If he wants to play competitive basketball deeper into spring, as opposed to going back to the wizards. Do you think that's, I don't, I just don't think that's been his thing for the past. I mean, I would think he wants to win at this point of his career.

Yeah. I'll put it to you this way, Brian, you know, the first thing that any NBA player wants, the first thing any player wants, unless you're just guaranteed a contract, which most of them are highly, not even most, most NBA players aren't running around with 50 and 40 million and 20, $30 million deals out of the draft. That's a select few first rounders. Most of the guys in the league are not first rounders.

They were on the backend. Most every, every NBA player, the first thing they want is money and a check. Russell Westbrook has that Russell Westbrook's going into the hall of fame. I think the next thing that he would want to do is play winning basketball and contribute.

There will be better options than the wizards for him to go backwards. I appreciate you for calling from North Carolina. Chuck is here from Virginia.

You're on CBS sports radio. All right. How are you doing? I'm good. Chuck.

What's up? No, you show man. Uh, so chef kind of already beaten toe with the reunion with KD. Why do you think it's not, not going to happen?

Oh man. These, these guys could barely stand each other when they played basketball in Oklahoma city. Uh, Kevin Durant has already made it clear from even playing with Kyrie Irving that he didn't necessarily want to be there. And the East is, is pretty tough as it stands. If you have to go ahead and think about what you have already with the Milwaukee bucks, you think about the Celtics, what they have, it's why do it? Nostalgia? I can't, I mean, that's, I couldn't say that's facts.

That's facts. So if they go put that personal beef to the side, as far as just strictly basketball, I don't think it's a personal beef. I think it is a basketball beef. What we heard after with Kevin Durant moving on became a personal, Oh, well, you didn't want me here, or you didn't want to be with me anymore, which is fine.

People can be in their feelings about it. Oh, you didn't let me know he was moving or there were enough times. We have watched enough basketball for enough years to see a great player like Kevin Durant, look over at Russell Westbrook, take a dumb shot and then run back the other way. They've done it.

They're older. I don't think that's what Kevin Durant would want to do at this point in his career. Kevin is calling from San Antonio. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Yes.

Yes. I am so, I'm so glad I, by West Westbrook, he didn't belong to the Lakers. He didn't, you know, he's a ballharder. That's why he did not get along with Kevin Durant. So where do you believe he should go next?

That was a long time ago. He'd been a ballharder. Kevin, Kevin, where do you believe he should go next?

I think he should, really, he should go back to Oklahoma City. They have no use for him. They have two young guards and Giddy, Shay Gilgus, Alexander. There's no point of him being with that squad. Well, wow.

I know that, but even if he's not with that squad, I know that, but you know, the best thing I could say for him. Yeah. It's okay. It's undecided, man, because I don't think nobody can not use him. Okay. Well, thank you, Kevin.

What do you think? Oklahoma City has zero players on the team? Are they an expansion franchise?

They start from scratch? They have an emerging guard who's a freak that nobody talks about in Giddy. Most people don't know who he is yet. And then you have Gilgus Alexander, who's going right into the All-Star game. He gets any point, any time, anywhere that he wants it and nobody could stop him.

No, there's no, no going back. We're just kind of just shooting ideas out at this point in time. Jamil calling from Ohio. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show.

Yes. I want to know how you would feel about him being on the Miami Heat. Do you think he could contribute on the Miami Heat?

I don't see, I don't see anything lost. It would not elevate the Miami Heat into like the top tier of contenders in the East, but I'd certainly believe he'd give them more than what Kyle Lowry has been able to deliver. I'd still not be so, so sure or certain about the shooting. I mean, yeah, you can have Struce out there. They don't play Duncan Robinson because he can't guard a light post.

It can't be worse than what they have with Lowry, but I don't, I don't think I would up them into that upper tier. They, they have to do some work. Right. All right. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Thank you, Jamil. Appreciate you.

Cliff is here from Indiana. Hey, JR. Thanks for taking my call. Love your show.

Listen to you every night on my way home. What I think, man, is he's got the money. He's, you know, he definitely got the money.

He's, he's going to be in the record books. I think it's time for a ring. And what I think he needs to do, sir, is either go to Golden State Warriors, go to the Mavericks, come off the bench, there'll be that score and helper, that six man, or that backup player that's coming off the bench and go ahead and get that ring, man. He has nothing else to prove. He just needs to get that ring.

Yeah. Well, the way the Warriors play basketball as a team, uh, with their system, with their movement built around Steph Curry, to me, it sounds like an ill fit. I know Steph Curry is going to be out for, I would assume, you know, three weeks, probably at minimum because of his knee injury, but the Warriors move the ball and that is not a system that, that Russell Westbrook works in. He's not going to work standing around. I mean, we've seen wilder things happen. And then the Dallas Mavericks already have two dudes who handle the hell out of the basketball.

It's a, that's a tough one. Lonnie's here from Houston. Hello. Yeah. You're live Lonnie. Go ahead. Yeah.

This is Lonnie from H town. Um, I think Westbrook would probably be better than going into Charlotte or maybe go play with the Pelicans, the Hornets. I mean, he was a waste of time when he was here. He didn't play back to back games. He looked washed up. That's why they called him Westbrook. You know, I mean, I just think he needs to get in a team where he can just be the mediocre player. Now. Um, I just think he needs to go to a team that he can't really make a difference as a team.

That's really not going to go very far. And you know, and he's just going to, he just had the functional player. And if you put him on a great team like Dallas, he got a Luca and then he's just going to miss the system up. Would you say a player averaging 17 to 18 points, six assists and knocking down almost 40% of his threes, is that mediocre?

I think so. I mean, when, when he was here in Houston and H town, I mean, it was just, he couldn't get along with Harding. He, he didn't play back to back. Well, that, that I wouldn't, I don't know if that has anything to do with him being mediocre. If you want to call that mediocre, uh, by his standards, I certainly understand that. If you want to look at his statistics and his numbers and his contributions to a basketball team right now, what he could do, I would not call that mediocre. There aren't a lot of players running around who can give you 17 to 18 points, six assists and 40% from three. In a lot of cases, in some cases that might get you into the league as a backup on an all star team. If you're on a good team, but for Russell Westbrook, based on his reputation, based on what he's accomplished, being an MVP, having more triple doubles than any player player ever that's ever been on planet earth.

Yeah. He's, he's not the same dude. Russell Westbrook is going to find it difficult and tough to fit into any scenario and situation.

We can start plugging him into garbage teams. Think about this from his perspective. Why would he go? Why would he go to the pelicans?

For what? To worry about if Zion is going to stick to his diet? Why would he go to the Wizards? Because he loved playing in Washington, DC so much, going to the playoffs to be eliminated.

Like we got to be realistic. Oh, he doesn't play winning basketball. That doesn't mean the guy doesn't want to win. Is he stubborn? Yes. Is his style of play a pain in the ass?

Yes. If he is still willing to adjust his game again in a different scenario, he might be able to help a team win. Might. And yes, it's a big might, but he's going to have to continue to change. His game is going to have to evolve and playing with different players might pull that out of you.

It's tough. There is no ideal situation, but the team with the best talent, with a chance to win and be competitive, and they have some ifs, ifs as in injuries, it's the Clippers. It's Kawhi Leonard, who you never know what he's going to do. And then there's Paul George. And you never know if he's going to be healthy either. I guess Russell Westbrook would fit in.

Just another giant if on a team full of them. Stay in Los Angeles. Stay home.

Go play for the Clippers. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. When we come back, we're going to talk about the combine.

Yeah, the NFL combine. There was some news made today to get rid of it. And then I want to share with you some words from LeBron last night that made quite a few people uncomfortable. Don't move here on CBS Sports Radio. Tess here. I've always had problems sleeping. And once I fall asleep, I couldn't stay asleep. I searched getting to sleep ASAP.

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