JR SportBrief Hour 1

It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Shout out to everybody listening and locked in all across North America. This is where and when I start the show. This is where I hang out. Atlanta, Georgia. Super producer and host Ryan Hickey. He is holding it down for us in New York City. Me, Atlanta, Georgia.

And you? You could be on the free Odyssey app. You could be listening on your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate. You could be locked in on Sirius XM Channel 158. If you?re smart enough to have a smart speaker pat yourself on the back.

All you have to do is ask that speaker to play CBS Sports Radio. I?m here every weeknight. I get started at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. What a busy, busy afternoon. What a busy evening we have in store for you. But this is what we do. So it shouldn?t be too much of a shock or a surprise.

Except for the news changes every single day. In a few minutes we?re going to have a conversation about a trade of an NBA All-Star that is pretty much set and done. It involves Pascal Siakam leaving Toronto and joining the Indiana Pacers.

We?re going to get into that. A matter of fact, in about 20 minutes from now, we?re going to have a conversation with someone who knows a whole hell of a lot more than I do about the Indiana Pacers. He?s there every day. His name is Tony East. He covers the Pacers for WTHR.com and then also Forbes. And so speaking of trades, Derrick Henry, who?s expected to no longer be a member of the Tennessee Titans.

He sat down with the Bussin It With the Boys podcast, Hi Taylor Lewan. And Derrick Henry says he was almost traded. Are we trading out some owners in the NFL and the NBA? Jim Dolan of the New York Knicks appears to be in some trouble. This is another Jim. Jim Irsay of the Indianapolis Colts. It appears that he is also in some trouble. I mean, damn it, if you?re Jim Irsay, you probably are thankful that you are alive. We?ll explain at the top of the hour as unfortunately it appears that he might have overdosed.

This is terrible, terrible news. Jim Harbaugh overdosing on joy, I would say. Jim Harbaugh, last night I get off the air, I guess this is what the Atlanta Falcons like to do late at night. You know, push out messages about future potential head coaches. They let everybody know that Jim Harbaugh has also interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons. So chalk that up to Bill Belichick with an interview, Jim Harbaugh with an interview.

Those are probably the two top dogs at the top of the heap. We?re getting ready for some great divisional matchups in the NFL playoffs. The Buffalo Bills are going to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. The players have spoken. We will hear from them. It is Wednesday. If you?re still getting acclimated to the new time and the new slot for the JR Sport Brief Show, you should know that every Wednesday I deliver to you a new top six list.

Last week I had to travel to CES in Vegas, so I missed out, but I?m back today. And with all of the head coaching changes, I just told you about what the Falcons are doing, trying to talk to everybody and their mother about the open head coaching possibility or opportunity. I?m going to share with you a top six list of the best coaching jobs available in the NFL.

And by the way, there are seven jobs that are open. There?s going to be a team that won?t even make the list. One of the newest hires in the NFL, Gerard Mayo, he was introduced today by the New England Patriots. We?ll hear from Gerard Mayo. Last night while I was on air, there was a cool battle going on between Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic. We?ll get into that. We heard from Jason Kelsey on his own podcast.

There?s not necessarily a guarantee that he?s going to retire. Alabama is getting picked apart in the transfer portal, so we got a lot to do. And I like to have fun. I?m not going to sit here and just run my damn mouth, because who wants to hear any one individual just talk for four hours?

Not me. If you want to talk to me, if you want to be a part of the show, it?s real simple. The phone number is 855-212-4CBS.

That?s 855-212-4CBS. If you are someone who uses the Internet, whether you use it for good reasons, you make money, whether you?re wasting your time, whether you?re arguing with strangers, whether you?re sharing an opinion that no one cares about, I?m there too. Congratulations. Feel free to hit me up. I am at JR Sport Brief everywhere.

Just everywhere. And I?ve shared this message on X, on Twitter, on Facebook, on all of the social media platforms where people waste their time. Hey, Ryan Hickey, man. How you doing, man? Not wasting your time. We?re hanging out, having a good time, right?

You know it. How am I doing? I am cold, JR. It is freezing. What?s the temperature in New York City? Is it like 10 degrees, 15?

Help me out here. The real field today was six. The real field temperature in New York City was six degrees. Not that I?m a tough guy, per se. I don?t try to be, but I will say I have a newfound respect for NFL players who played in that frigid conditions, whether it?s in Buffalo on Monday or Kansas City Saturday, or even the fans that went to the game in Kansas City.

I thought I could last, or if I had to be in that situation, I?d be fine. Considering it?s like 40 degrees colder there than what it is today, yeah, I could not be that tough. Oh, wow.

Okay. Holy cow. Well, I don?t know what the hell the temperature is now. I could easily go ahead and, you know, open up the weather app and look. It says that right now in Atlanta it?s 31 degrees. You know, at overnight the temperature?s gonna drop down to 12. Well, the low was 12, so it?s only gonna drop to 24. I know this morning when I got up the temperature was like 15, but who cares? Not me. 15 degrees?

What?s that? Come on. You gotta be outside, like really, really be outside to be feeling it, right?

No. What did you do? Get on the subway, or you drove? I did get on the subway, and it?s like a block or so walk from my apartment, so a block there, a block from our studios to the subway, so, I mean, reality, I was outside for maybe 10 minutes today. Do you gotta, where you live, are you one of the indoor subways, or are you outside in the elements? It is an indoor subway, yes.

Okay. Well, it gets cold down in the tunnels, man. It gets cold, you know?

The wind is whipping, like? No heat, no heat, no tunnels. No heat. Yeah, if the MTA wanted to be nice in New York, they?d install the heaters. I think maybe 14th Street, I think, might have Union Square, maybe has heaters, I don?t know, but everybody else has to suffer in the subway in New York. You gotta suffer with the rats, the garbage, the pollution, the filth. And now the cold. The crime, I?m still going, Ryan.

Add it on. Crime, yeah, it?s crime. They can help the case. Anyone out there listening wants to move to New York City, JR just made the case for you to come.

Where else would you rather be? Yeah, bring, no, I was gonna say bring mace, but mace is illegal in New York, isn?t it? Oh, it is.

I did not, if that?s the case, I did not know. Yeah, I think the next time somebody approaches you and you pull out the mace, Ryan, just know that you? I?m breaking the law. The person robbing me is fine. I?m the one breaking the law for trying to defend myself. Isn?t that what we do? Backwards. The people protecting themselves always get taken advantage. There?s more protection for the criminals than there are for the people who are the actual victims, right? That?s the world we?re living in in 2024.

Yeah, don?t worry about it. Just be proactive and whooping ass and everything will go out there and work out. Shout-outs to everybody in New York. I love New York. You can catch me in New York on Saturday afternoons on WFAN New York City.

But I?m here now. I?m talking to the whole damn country, and this is some big news that popped off. Before we get into the NFL head coaches and I give you my top six list of job openings and what have you, let?s get to some NBA news that came down the pipe a few hours ago. I was just minding my business, what I tend to do throughout the course of the day, and I heard this. I heard this via CBS Sports HQ.

Listen. In some big breaking news in the NBA, the Indiana Pacers are acquiring Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors in a three-team trade with the Pelicans. In return, the Raptors receive Bruce Brown, Jordan Wura, and three first-round picks from Indiana, as well as Kira Lewis from the Pelicans.

Now, Siakam, who is in the final year of his current deal, is a two-time All-Star former NBA champ who is averaging 22 points per game this season. I love the breaking news music. Hey, Ryan, let?s just hear the beginning again. It makes me perk up and pay attention.

Let?s just hear that part. Yeah, it?s like something important is getting ready to be said. Now, in the grand scheme of things here in the NBA, yeah, this is important.

This ain?t no game, super-changing move. I mean, if you are a fan of the Indiana Pacers, you certainly are happy with this, right? Pascal Siakam, someone who won a championship standing next to Kawhi Leonard. Pascal Siakam, one of the best defenders in the league, someone who doesn?t need the ball, who?s going to run up and down the court like a crazy person, is going to be paired up with Tyrese Halliburton whenever he comes back from that sprained, strained hamstring.

I?m not a doctor. To me, sprained, strained, don?t matter. I saw Tyrese Halliburton do a full-ass split on the basketball court, and the man came up grabbing his crotch, okay? There?s nothing good about that, and he has been, or has been, probably still is, I think, the best passing point guard, when you think about, like, not Nikola Jokic, in the game right now. Tyrese Halliburton averaging 24 points and 12 assists per game, and he doesn?t turn the ball over. He?s one of the most efficient guards in the league. The all-star game is going to take place next month in Indianapolis, and the NBA is going all out to highlight and promote Tyrese Halliburton. And the Pacers just played against the Lakers in that NBA end-season tournament, and saw a lot of reasons for Tyrese to be elevated.

Well, now he has a new running mate. He can run down the court, and he can just pass the ball to Pascal and tell him to go to work. Now, I?ve heard a lot of people say this about Pascal Siakam. He?s in the final year of his contract. They?re paying him $38 million. Why the hell would you make the trade, and he?s going to be a free agent?

Simple, folks. Yeah, there?s a risk involved. I don?t think that Kevin Pritchard and the Indiana Pacers are that stupid to give away all these first-round picks, three of them. Two of the first-rounders are this year. You can?t trade them in back-to-back seasons.

The other one is in 2026. Bruce Brown, who, yeah, he?s a nice ancillary piece for a team that just won a championship. And forget Jordan Norah. Who cares about him? He?s averaging, what, five point-nothing points a game? So you don?t trade all of that unless you feel comfortable that Pascal Siakam is going to stick around, unless you have an inkling that he is. And I?m sure, and I?ve heard this, this is what I?ve heard, that there?s mutual interest in getting him a contract extension. Come on, folks.

It?s not that difficult to follow. And so for the Indiana Pacers, let?s think about this. Off the top of my head, if I got to think about the NBA and its Eastern Conference, we know who?s at the top of the totem pole. That?s the Boston Celtics. We know about the team that just made its own huge trade.

That?s Damian Lillard. If I got to think about another team out in the East, then it continues on. Maybe, are you looking at the Philadelphia 76ers, and then we start running into other teams. Are the New York Knicks going to continue to climb up, or, I don?t know, is Miami elevating, but the Indiana Pacers will now get to running with Tyrese Halliburton. They still have Buddy Heald. You can go ahead and plug Pascal Siakam into that mix.

Miles Turner. They always play them stupid jet, not jet, race car engines with the Pacers. Always the room, Ryan, you?ve heard the race engines in the back, the Indy 500, you hear that at the Pacers games?

Oh, all the time. Yeah, they?re really going to be running now, and the Pacers are going to be good. I?m not prepared to put them in championship good. Still a young team, bench is still unproven, you can have players step up. I would say, though, if a team goes down with an injury, if a team has a bad day, maybe, maybe the Pacers can go to the East Finals.

Maybe, but champions? Nah, not yet, not this season. I need to see a whole hell of a lot more of Tyrese Halliburton being an absolute destroyer before I go ahead and believe that. And for the Toronto Raptors, well, they?re just thinking about the future. They?re thinking about the deal that they?re ultimately going to go out there and give Scotty Barnes. I know that they just traded for R.J. Barrett.

They have Emmanuel quickly there as well. If you?re a Toronto Raptors fan, enjoy the ride. Y'all ain?t getting any better. The team has to mesh, and if you have to think about the roster, it?s full of young, unproven talent. This is a reset for the Toronto Raptors. When they picked up these first-round picks, they?re trying to move forward with young assets, and I know they?re going to try and net themselves a superstar, even if it?s another rental, the same way that they did with Kawhi Leonard. They?re hoping that Scotty Barnes can continue to roll and get better and improve, especially for a dude who?s only 22, and they?re hoping to just bring in more assets.

It?s a long way from 2019, let?s just put it that way, when Pascal Siakam was winning a title with Kawhi Leonard. So the JR Sport Reshow here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We?re going to take a break.

When we come back, I told you we?re getting started. We?re going to get into Derrick Henry and Jim Irsay and James Dolan. We?ll talk about the Bills and the Chiefs and Jim Harbaugh.

I?ll give you a top-six list of the best coaching jobs available in the NFL. We?ll hear from Gerard Mayo from his press conference earlier today. But on the other side of this break, it?s time to go to Indianapolis, having a conversation with Tony East, who knows all about the Pacers, representing WTHR.com, and Forbes. It?s the JR Sport Reshow, CBS Sports Radio. You?re listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

It?s the JR Sport Reshow here with you on CBS Sports Radio. I guess fans of the Indiana Pacers, they are certainly feeling some joy right now. Today, they acquire two-time NBA All-Star, two-time NBA All-This, All-That Pascal Siakam. He?s entering into the final year of his contract. They gave up quite a bit for him. I would assume that they feel very strongly on their ability to resign him. There appears to be potentially a mutual interest. To talk about this a little bit more in-depth is someone very familiar with the Pacers and everything going on with them.

It?s time to have a conversation with Tony East, who covers them for WTHR.com, as well as Forbes. Hey, Tony, how are you, man? Thank you for taking the time to hop on. You got it hectic day, but happy to talk to the Pacers. Absolutely. Well, we heard this coming down the pipe over the past 24 to 48 hours. Pascal Siakam has been rumored to be traded for the past several years. What are your initial reactions when the trade went down? Yeah, it was not super surprising. The first time I heard that Siakam would be available potentially to the Pacers was actually back in summer league last July. So in terms of surprise about a trade actually happening, none of that for me.

But the way it was done, the price, all that stuff was very fascinating. Three first-round picks, like you said earlier. Quite the commitment from the Pacers and certainly an endorsement on their end of the day. I believe perhaps they can keep him long-term, even beyond this season. And this Pacers team has needed forwards forever. Absolutely lacking forward depth. They've been trying some threes at the power forward spot, like Gary Nesmith, who's 6'5". They've been trying some centers at the power forward spot. They just haven't had anybody for really four years now. So to lock up one of the premier talents in the league at that spot is very significant for a team on the rise that has Tyrese Halliburton in the way.

Yeah, it's Tyrese Halliburton. We know he's out with that hamstring injury. What's the status? What's the latest with him? When they announced it, that was a Grade 1 strain.

Halliburton was thrilled. He wasn't sure how bad it would be or if it would be something super long-term. Something like that is usually two weeks, maybe a little over that for NBA players. Pacers currently on a road trip. Halliburton actually went with the team, even though he's not playing, just because he could be with the team positions, with the physical therapist. You get the treatment on the road, be with his team, which if it was really serious and he needed some specialized treatment or needed to stay back.

So I think that is important to the Pacers, that he could have done that and shows that it's not going to be a significantly long thing. Perhaps he could be re-evaluated as soon as they come back and his return could come soon after. They've got three more games on their current road trip.

Tomorrow in Sacramento is the first one of those. But they've been okay without them. They won in Atlanta.

They beat the Wizards who just completely stink. But I think they're hoping to see that maybe close to the end of the month. They'll be re-evaluated at the end of their current trip.

Okay, great. Tony East is joining us. Covers the Indiana Pacers for wthr.com as well as Forbes. You know, I was even looking towards the NBA All-Star game. We know that's going to take place in Indianapolis. It takes place, goes down, I should say, on February 18th.

And we know that's pretty much a, I don't want to say a coming out party. But it's a showcase really a lot for him. He's going to be a centerpiece. So you think he'll be all set and ready to go by then? Yeah, I would imagine so. They even played the Sacramento Kings in early February.

February 2nd here in Indy. And you know, guys love going against their former team. I think he's going to be, if he can be, I think he's going to be ready for that one. But yeah, I mean it's a huge deal to be able to be an All-Star in your city and even potentially a starter. He has the second most votes, the fan votes, of any card in the league behind anybody except for Luca. He's got more than Steph. He has the last round of voting, which is just crazy to see given those players' popularity. And he's earned it. He's been fantastic. He's been fun to watch.

He got him to the in-season tournament finals. It's just in a market like Indiana to see something like that is crazy. So yeah, it could be a coming out kind of party deal. You know, they were thinking that it would be a big deal for Donovan Mitchell in Utah, but then they traded him before it. And Cleveland had that kind of deal with Donovan Mitchell funnily enough and Darius Garland.

So it can be a huge deal to have that in your city, to have that coming out party be in your backyard. And I think that's a big opportunity for Halbert and something he's looking forward to this year. Tony East is joining us at the JR Sportbree Show on CBS Sports Radio. Good to know that Tyrese Halliburton will be back sooner than later, hopefully. And when you look at the way the team is currently constructed, having Halliburton and Heald shooting, and Pascal Siakam running, and Miles Turner, he's pretty up and down himself. This is already a team in the Pacers that leads the NBA in scoring. Are they going to now inch that forward? Like, how much more can they do out there?

Yeah, it's kind of hard to imagine what better would look like. I mean, Siakam is more efficient than some of their options at the four, so that could make their offense even better somehow, which is hard to imagine. I think that he'll actually help them on defense more than offense funnily enough. Like, they're consistent second score in a way that they don't have. They have a bunch of guys who can be that.

Benedict Matheran, Miles Turner, Aaron Neesmith, Buddy Heald, they've all done it at times this season. And that's when they're all good players. But Siakam can do it almost every night, if not every night, which I think is a pretty big deal for this Indiana team to have that sort of consistency. So, I think he'll make their offense at their peak more often, I'd say is how I would describe his impact on that end.

But they can't guard big force. You know, all these guys have huge nights against them. Aaron Gordon puts up 20-10 every time they play. Harrison Barnes has big games against them.

Gordon Hayward, right? Obviously, the Stars do well against everybody, but the Pacers haven't had answers for that kind of player, that size of player for years. And I think Siakam, just by naturally being that size and being pretty mobile, well it pays just a ton on that end of the floor. And I think their offense will be a little better, but I think it's actually their defense that has been quite frankly horrible this season.

Well, will be a little bit better with them in the mix. Well, we know in the Eastern Conference, there are a lot of big forwards that are going to be opposing Pascal Siakam. And he's certainly going to help out to your point, whether it's someone like a Tatum or you look at a Giannis Atetokounmpo. I'm sure Siakam is going to be tasked with going out there and trying to put the pause on them. When you look at the other teams in the East, have the Indiana Pacers, in your opinion, elevated themselves up to some of these other squads in their level?

Nobody can really stop Giannis or Tatum, but at least Siakam can make them work for them, have less energy for a 48-minute game. And the Pacers ran a tight race in that 4-8-ish in the East right now with the Cavs, the Magic, the Knicks, who are on fire in the heat. And they're currently 6th right now, so separating themselves from that group in any way would be significant because if you're 6th, you're in the playoffs. If you're 7th, you're in the play-in and it's just a little bit tougher, a little bit riskier getting into the playoffs itself. And I think they can separate from that group. The Cavs have won 5 in a row, they're on fire.

So they might be tough to catch. The Knicks are obviously better after getting in an OB. The Heat somehow win.

You and I can play for the Heat and they would win games somehow. But if the Pacers now with Siakam can eke out some wins and stay ahead of two teams in that group, it's huge for their long-term outlook to maybe be, one, a postseason team and, two, a team that maybe can win a round or at least can put up some fight that was unexpected. They have some inexperienced young guys on their team.

Tyres Halberd never played a playoff game. So it's hard to know what they're going to look like when the postseason comes. Now, they have Siakam who's won a title as a premier option for the Raptors that can really help them in that setting and can help them get there in the first place. So I think they've elevated themselves enough to hopefully separate. They'll think at least in that 4-8 group. But after that, they've got to make some noise if they want to win a round because the top three is still looking tough. Tony East is here with us.

The JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. What is the sentiment among Pacers fans that you've, I guess, heard on the radio, that you've seen on social media, especially knowing that Siakam is in the last year of his deal and that there were three first-rounders giving up? Yeah, it's both scary and exciting if you're a fan of the team. The exciting part is that Pascal Siakam will be on the Pacers, right?

That's a huge deal. He's a terrific player and you always hope to have those on your team as a fan. And the Pacers kept all their young guys. I think that's one of the things fans are excited about to see. You know, Jeris Walker, Benedict Mather, and Andrew Nembhard, they're all still on the Pacers, right? So they have young talent to still develop even though they don't have this many draft picks going forward.

But of course, that's the scary part, right? Is they've got to keep them now. They've got to be willing to pay them. They've got to be willing to pay them when it takes to keep them because otherwise this is a very risky trade going forward. And the Sixers are sitting out there with cap space this summer. Maybe they could be aggressive in trying to get Siakam. So it might take a pretty penny to keep them. That's the next step for the Pacers is figuring that out.

Is it worth it? That, of course, will make fans nervous. But if you get past Pascal Siakam and you can keep them for multiple years, you've got to do it. And that's the Pacers hope, certainly.

Yeah. Congratulations to the Pacers. I think they have improved as a team. And I just hope that they stay healthy.

I'd love to see how they battle some of the more established teams in the East. Hey, Tony, where can people follow you and keep up with all of your work? Yep, yep. I'm on Twitter or whatever, X, at Tony RE.

And all my socials and places I write can be found right in my bio on there. And I have a podcast called Locked On Paces that comes out every single day about this team if you want to hear more about this trade. Well, thank you so much, Tony.

Appreciate it. And have a good time. Hey, what are your plans for All-Star? What are you going to be doing besides running around like a crazy person, probably? Yeah, I'm going to try to go to every event I can.

The two arenas everything's in are only like a mile apart. So I think it'll be possible. Maybe I'm going to try to be one of those people that hold the celebrity seat until they show up, right? Just so I can sit with all the celebs and feel cool for a couple of minutes before I actually work. So you're going to do the celebrity game in Indiana and then you're going to go, wait, the celebrity game?

Is that before or after? What are they doing this year? Are we doing Rising Stars, USA versus the – what are we doing this year? Yeah, they're doing the celeb game with captains that are social media people. I hate to say this, but I don't know who they are.

It's okay. I guess they're involved in it. And yeah, they're still doing Rising Stars. They're doing that G-League All-Star game now, too. And then the actual All-Star game is back to East versus West, which I think is cool. If I could make them make one more change, it would be that the guys get to wear their own team's jersey. I think that was a really cool thing to do in the past, but they're not going back to that.

Yeah, that'll confuse the hell out of me. The last time I can visually remember that was Madison Square Garden in like, I don't know, 96-98? Whatever year they did not have a dunk contest is the last time. I can't remember. I remember like Alex and his 6-0 jersey going out in the All-Star game. Like that just looks cool. They need to bring that back. Yeah, we'll see.

Maybe they can also change the name on the in-season tournament. They got a list. Tony, appreciate you, man. Have a good time out there, okay? Well, let's get you back on when the All-Star game swings around. You got it. Thanks for having me.

No problem. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you on CBS Sports Radio. It's impossible going to NBA All-Star Weekend and hitting up every event. Like Tony is going to have to spend an hour here and then, you know, dip and run away to another event. And we got the social media. I guess the social media All-Stars are going to be playing ball now for the celebrity game.

I remember for a few years there, Kevin Hart was winning like MVP. And these All-Star games change so much. I can't keep up. Like the NFL is getting ready to have its Pro Bowl festivities in a few weeks. And what are these dudes going to be doing?

Running a race and playing dodgeball? What are they doing? Hey, Ryan Hickey, do you have any ideas like American Gladiators for NFL players, right? What are they, two-hand touch, flag football?

What are they doing? I was going to say, I think it's every game possible except tackle football. Flag football, probably some dodgeball, I think, is back. Dodgeball. Races, maybe? Yeah.

Anything you can think of like from like your high school gym days, they're probably bringing back this year. Hey, Rich Ackerman, I heard that they need a ref. Are you available to go down to Florida to help them out? Absolutely.

To get out of New York when it's 20 degrees? Absolutely. I'll be on the next flight.

Okay. What are you most qualified to help referee? Is it a little bit of flag football, dodgeball? What are we doing here?

I'll take them all. I think I'll get the hang of it. I'm a very good dodgeball player. I have a trophy from day camp in my room at home.

Get out of here. You won a trophy in dodgeball? Yes. How old were you?

I was seven or eight. You still have this trophy? Yes. Why would you throw it out? I keep everything. I'm that guy.

Oh my God. I got to ask my mother, maybe there's a trophy of me from academic something. I don't got nothing. I didn't get any academic trophies.

I can promise you that. Dodgeball? You got dodgeball?

I got dodgeball, yes. Hey, let's trade. Nobody has to know the difference. We can trade a few of them.

Absolutely. I'm with it. I'll see you down in Orlando for the Pro Bowl.

Me and Rich will figure out a way to ref. It's the J.R. Sporprey Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. 855-212-4CBS is the number.

That's 855-212-4CBS. We're going to take a break. When we come back on the other side, yes, Pascal Siakam was traded. There's an NFL player, maybe a future Hall of Famer who just shared with the world, he was almost traded this past season. I will fill you in on who it is. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. It's the J.R. Sportbrief Show here on CBS Sports Radio.

You could be a first time listener, a long time listener, a new listener to this time slot. Thanks. What else am I supposed to say? I can't do nothing but say thank you. I appreciate that. Anyway, 855-212-4CBS is the number.

That's 855-212-4CBS. In our last break, we had a conversation with Tony East. He joined us from Indianapolis. He covers everything Pacers for WTHR.com as well as Forbes.

We learned earlier today, earlier this afternoon that Pascal Siakam is no longer a member of the Toronto Raptors. He will be running up and down the court with Buddy Heald and then more importantly Tyrese Halliburton when he comes back from injury. And it appears that Tyrese Halliburton might be back from that sprained hamstring, strained hamstring, maybe by the end of the month.

That'd be pretty cool. And it's nice to know that he didn't suffer a major injury because when he hit the deck and he hit the splits, it did not look good at all. This should be fun for the East to see what Pascal Siakam helps bring the Indiana Pacers. On the football side of things, there's an NFL star. I know he's getting older.

He just turned 30 years old. His name is Derrick Henry. His time has probably come to an end with the Tennessee Titans. He's entering free agency. We know about the value of running backs in the NFL. We can look at Saquon Barkley. Giants didn't want to pay him. You know, we can look at Josh Jacobs with the Raiders. He did not want to be well, he wanted to be paid and the Raiders didn't want to pay him. Christian McCaffrey is making himself a cool 16 million dollars per. And you could say that Derrick Henry was out there for the Titans playing on a discount, sitting at around 13.

He's going to be a free agent now. He said his goodbyes to everybody in the Tennessee Titans organization. He grabbed the microphone in their final game of the season and thanked the fans. And this is what I really appreciate.

By the time he sat down and did his press conference, he thanked every member of the staff from marketing folks to cleaning people. That's good that I respect someone that has not lost step or touch with reality. And so Derrick Henry had to finish up his career as a Titan is probably a loser.

Not probably. He was on a losing team. Tennessee Titans went six and eleven. They ultimately passed the baton, the torch to Will Levis. We know that Ryan Tannehill, after his ankle injury, he is probably done. I can imagine him being a backup somewhere or being a starter on a crap team. And so Derrick Henry how now has to look elsewhere. This is a multiple time pro bowler and all pro the 2020 Offensive Player of the Year. The only reason outside of Mike Vrabel. Well, let's say the key offensive reason that this team even went to an AFC championship game was because of Derrick Henry.

And for a team that is obviously rebuilding a team that put its future in the hands of a rookie quarterback, a team that traded Kevin Bayard back in October, sent him up to the Philadelphia Eagles. Derrick Henry revealed on the busting it with the boys podcast. He said, I almost got traded to listen. I didn't know what was going on.

KBA got traded, so I'm trying to wrap my head around that. I'm just like, dang. And then, you know, after that happened, I'm just like, well, maybe they're going to get all of us out of here. So at that time, I'm just trying to figure out, you know, what's going on on my side with my team and talking to my agent and everything.

You know, seeing, you know, what he can find out because all this stuff is out on the Internet about me being shot and me being traded. So I'm like, oh, you know, I had to let my girl know. I mean, I didn't know what was going on. But yeah, I felt like it was.

It almost went down, I think. He never specified and not that he would. Why would he? Like where he could potentially have gone. I mean, you would think and I think this is an error and maybe it wasn't there for a running back. But you would think Derrick Henry would have some type of value for a late round pick for a team that was going nowhere. Where were the Tennessee Titans going to go? Did they just want to hold on to, you know, just Derrick Henry because him being handed the ball from Will Levis was going to help his development?

And what do I know? Rand Carthon knows a whole hell of a lot more about the inner workings of the NFL than I do. Right. But I would think that you would want to trade him for something. Y'all ain't going anywhere. The Tennessee Titans are going to have the seventh pick in the draft. You mean to tell me that Derrick Henry is and I know it's not all closed and shut in stone that he's not going to return. But you could have traded something and got something back in return. In the case of Kevin Byard, they got a fifth and a sixth round pick. You want to tell me that they can't move up in the draft? That they can't ultimately combine those picks to get a better pick? Like this seems like a loss for the Tennessee Titans.

And what do I know? Maybe a team like the Ravens said, not worth it for us. You would think a team competing for Super Bowl would say, yeah, sure. What the hell do we want with a fifth or sixth rounder? We're not worried about the draft.

We're trying to compete for a championship in February. And so now Derrick Henry is going to be free. And now we just got to see what type of contract that he gets. He was second in the NFL in rushing this season, almost twelve hundred yards. He was first in carries. What else is new? He played all 17 games this year. Eventually, you know, people are going to look and say, hey, where's the tread on the tire? It's starting to look a little bald. This man had the lowest yards per carry that he's had since early in his career at only four point two.

And nothing lasts forever. The man is a bruiser, a rare bruiser at the running back position. I would have loved to seen him on a team like, I don't know, the Ravens.

He got the speed of Lamar Jackson, the elusiveness, and then you have the power of a Derrick Henry. If I should be so lucky, then maybe I see it at some point next year. Possibly eight, five, five, two, one, two, four CBS. That's eight, five, five, two, one, two, four CBS. Let's go to beautiful Miami, Florida, and let's talk today. Hey, Dave, you want CBS Sports Radio, the JR sport reef show? JR, Mr. Positive, how are you, sir? I'm good. What's on your mind, please?

I just want to talk about it. Actually, Derrick Henry, I was going to talk about something else just to get it. I actually watched him when he was in Alabama, and he was a stud back then.

I think he could still be a right now on a good team, but I don't know where he would fit nowadays. That's all I got for you, JR, and follow your dreams, sir. Thank you. All right, well, thank you, Dave, for calling from Miami. Hey, Ryan, we got a little bit of a future beef brewing here? Did I notice some subtle jabs at another caller? Oh, exchanging barbs? I mean, it's also exchanging, I guess, pleasantries in a way, right? Oh, I don't know.

I don't know. It's like, hey, I only know one guy from Michigan who calls up and talks about positivity. Maybe we need to set up a grudge match between Michigan and Florida.

Florida man versus Michigan man. And the most positive wins. Loser, I guess, has to be less positive.

Is that how it's going to work? Loser has to be less positive. Oh, man. Yeah, I like that. The loser has to be less positive.

Well, anyway, I'm sure we'll hear from Greg from Michigan at some point throughout the show, and we can ask him if he heard the comments from Dave in Miami. I like listening to beef. Me, I'm not here for positivity.

Anyway, I'm being a jerk. Hey, when it comes down to his question about Derrick Henry, though. Yeah, we know Derrick Henry. He ain't he ain't going to be the centerpiece of an offense like he was in Tennessee. He was the offense for the Tennessee Titans.

I've been saying this for years. Ryan Tannehill has needed to give Derrick Henry a commission that contract extension that he got when he was moved from Miami. He needs to take a piece of that and give it to Derrick Henry.

Derrick Henry can fit in anywhere. Are you an NFL team? Do you need a running back?

Do you need a change of pace? I know at one point in time we had in New York, you had two running backs, Thunder and Lightning, Tiki Barber and Ron Dang. Let's recreate Thunder and Lightning with a quarterback and a running back. I'd be here for that. You know, every now and then you need somebody to go out there and abuse the defensive backs.

That'd be Derrick Henry. I wouldn't be mad at that at all. I'd love to have seen it. Maybe I will. It's the J.R. sport brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. When we come back on the other side of the break. Sigh.

Yes, I verbalized a sigh. This is the type of abuse that you don't want. Substance abuse. There's an NFL owner who unfortunately it appears that an addiction has reared its ugly head. There is an NBA owner who's in the news again and not for positive reasons. I'm going to fill you in on the other side of the break. Maybe the Colts, maybe the Knicks, maybe at some point they have new owners. I'll explain here on CBS Sports Radio.