The Denver Nuggets, PGA/LIV, and free agent RBs

All right, so all hail the Denver Nuggets.

They win the NBA title, their first in history. I'm going to start this with, you're going to hear from Nikola Jokic in a second, but I'm going to start this with more of a big picture comment on the game. And it was close. Miami was right there in the fourth quarter and could, they had the lead at one point. They took the lead with like five minutes to go or something like that. They could have easily won the game, but Miami lost this game in the first half when Jokic and Gordon and who was it Murray, whoever, they had like half their team in foul trouble and you were, you were the better team and you got to halftime and you were only up seven. That was a problem. When you are the better team and you're the opening is presented to you as Denver presented the opening.

If you don't bash the door down, you're going to lose. And what we're watching the game and my son is avidly rooting for Miami and I wanted Miami to make it a series. And he's talking about how great my movement like Jack, it's just a five point game.

Yeah. They're kicking Denver's rear end here, but they're not getting anything out of it. Miami had to be up 18 points at halftime. That's the way the game was presented to them, but they weren't.

And that was always going to be a problem. It took six minutes of the third quarter to flip the game completely. Six, it's all it took six minutes and Denver wasn't even good in the third quarter. I'm not sure Denver was really good at offensively anyway, at any point in the game. Anyway, Nicola Jokic, MVP of the series, 30 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists. This, these are the averages. He shot 58% from the field, 42% from three point range, 84% from the line.

He averaged a block and a half per game. Here's Jokic because now we can't be just content with what we just saw. Right? Can we do it again?

Five hours ago. Here's Jokic on can they do it again? To be honest, I don't think about the next year. I'm going to ask the coach to give me a couple of weeks, a couple of weeks more off so I can, I can be ready for the season.

That's supposed to be a joke and you never laugh. Good job guys. Yes, but you know, we have, we have, we have, we have a, but it's not a starting unit guys, for real. It's the whole team. Like I said, since day one in San Diego, it was something different about this team. I felt it, I felt it something, some different, different energy and every day since, since, since delay it was, I had the same feeling. So I'm not really an optimistic guy, but that, that gave me a hope that we can do something.

We can do something. Yeah, of course they, I mean, they could, they have an outstanding team. They don't figure to lose much off of that current roster if they lose any key pieces off that roster going forward. I loved Aaron Gordon in the series. I'm not sure he wasn't their most important player, not named Nicole Jokic. And that is with the fact that Jamal Murray had an outstanding series.

He, he wasn't always like a prolific scorer, but he averaged 10 assists. Now Murray, like I guess the famous story is that when he tore his ACL a couple of years ago, he wasn't sure if the team was going to keep him. He thought that they were going to get rid of him.

So, and he didn't have a great start to the season, but here's Jamal Murray. You can hear it in the crowd. Just the excitement, you know, we have the best home court for a reason.

I just felt like, you know, all season long, even the past couple of seasons, we were hurt. You know, they were just there for us when we didn't have the energy, they brought us energy. They gave me energy. Like they gave me energy to come out and, and do an arrow or make a couple of shots or show a little bit more emotion than normal.

You know, like they would really help me go in. That's why everybody loves to play at home. I can't, you know, shout these fans enough. I just so happy for the city of Denver.

I'm cronkeys. You know, we, we really, really earned this one and yeah, it's surreal to see it through. Look, Murray was clearly emotional after the game. I, I'm, there's a lot, you win a title and you're going to be emotional about it. I want to get back to Yokichiro in a second though. But with all the things that he went through, you know, the doubts about his own ability, doubts whether his team would keep him.

This was obviously a very emotional thing. He's an outstanding player, an outstanding player. Real quick about Yokichiro. Did you see the, the interview on the court after the game where they, they asked him, you know, about it? How do you feel? He just won a title. He goes, I feel, I feel good. The job is done. Now we can all go home.

Right. And he just made the joke in the, in that little soundbite we played. He's got a great sense of humor.

He loves to play around. So he was, he just deadpanned on the court. We, we finished the job. Now we can go home.

Yeah, we're done here. Like he is every man. Well, those questions. How do you feel after you just won the championship? I feel bad. Like, no, of course you feel great. What's going through your mind? We just won.

This is awesome. Yeah. All of those questions there. Yeah. I mean, I get it.

They have to ask right now, but we just, what are you feeling right now? Yeah. And then you get him, you know, throwing a little joke out there. He's very funny. Yeah.

Absolutely. Very funny. The nuggets were trashed from three point range. They were worse from the free throw line until they weren't the new Chevy Silverado HD puts you in command own strength with its enhanced available Duramax 6.6 liter turbo diesel V8 on the lake with its available advanced towing technology and own technology with an available 13.4 inch diagonal touch screen. The new Chevy Silverado HD own work, own play, own life. Learn more at chevy.com.

Find new roads Chevrolet. They're the percentages in the first three quarters. I think they were under 10% from three point range. They were basically 50% from the free throw line until the fourth quarter rolled around.

And then all of a sudden, nothing mattered. It was just like the first three quarters weren't even a thing and they pulled away. Jimmy Butler for all that he did in the first three rounds of the playoffs. This was not a fine NBA finals that Jimmy Butler is going to put, you know, on the mixtape. He certainly had his moments and he scored 13 straight points for Miami in the fourth quarter that put them in the lead.

But ultimately he made two really bad decisions late. One was not trying to score when he was right near the rim. Now, did he pass for an open shot in the corner to Max Truce? Yeah, but that was the wrong play.

Jimmy, just go up at the very least. You're going to get fouled. And then he got caught in too deep, threw the ball away. It went the other way for, it was either a layup or a foul.

Didn't matter at that point. That was the end of the game and Miami didn't even make Denver play it out. You know, the last 14 seconds of Miami just went out. We're good. We're fine. But with 24 seconds left and Miami having the ball down three, they did not need a three, but they jacked up a three right away.

I'm like that? Eric Spulcher is the best coach in the NBA. No way. That's what you came up with. Hey, quick, get it to Jimmy and let him just turn and chuck one at the rim. There was 24 seconds left, not 2.4. Miami's end of game was bad, but Denver was better throughout.

Bam Adebayo was excellent early, couldn't sustain it. They need more. Is Tyler Hero the answer? Don't know. We'll talk about all of this with Jay Williams a little bit later on. It has been a very strong 18 months for Stan Kroenke, the owner of the Denver Nuggets. Been a very strong 18 months.

Think about this. The Rams, he owns them. They won the Super Bowl February of 2022, right? The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup last year. Arsenal in the Premier League, got back into Champions League football. I mean, for the first time is like, I don't know, six, seven years, something like that, since Arsenal has been in Champions League.

And I look, I know. You could say they choked away the Premier League in a way they did. I'm not arguing that, but they finished second. And they probably, if you looked at their roster, they had some holes in the roster, certainly behind their first 11. They had a great year.

And the Nuggets just won an NBA title. So that's three championships and a spot in Champions League football, all in a span of 18 months. It's actually less than 18 months.

It's more, it's closer to 16 months. That is incredible. One owner. And as I will like to remind people, let's all remember that Stan Kroenke, with the help of the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, completely screwed over St. Louis. Screwed over a city. But who cares, right? Nobody cares except for the people in St. Louis. Nobody cares about them. The Rams got to their palace in LA. It's the only thing that matters.

We don't care about like actual citizens and cities. Yeah, but it's a good run for Stan Kroenke. So there you go. We've got the Stanley Cup final scheduled for tonight.

If you are listening in Raleigh, we will have it right here on 99.9 The Fan. Little football stuff here. Because we have running backs in the news. And I'm going to ask, I'm going to pose a question.

We'll get to this with Will Brinson later in the show as well. But real quick, couple of quick things about the NFL. First, Saquon Barkley. I mean, Giants took him number two overall, what, four years ago? Yeah, he or five years ago, he was going to play the Giants franchise tagged him. He says he will not play on the franchise tag.

He will not report to minicamp until he has a contract. He says, I'm not trying to be the the, you know, highest paid running back. Well, well, let's let him assess the running back market, shall we?

But what I will say about the running back market and the value of it, what do you think is going to happen? They tagged the top three guys. We didn't get a chance to hit the open market. So when we don't get a chance to hit the open market, it hurts a guy like Miles. It hurts all those other guys.

They put the cat at ten. And then when they have the tag, they have all the leverage. And that's the reality of it. But there is a bit there is a personal side of it, too. There's a human side of it, too.

And going off, that's a question with Kim said how I felt like that there to mention what I've done since I was eighteen. I'm not saying that, but everyone will talk about the running back market in this nine to 30. Every team is different.

Like everyone is a there's a thing that goes up. And I think you mentioned it before about, oh, quarterbacks in the Super Bowl and how many rushing yards the top rusher. But every team is not like everything. Pat Mahomes, the two time Super Bowl MVP, two time MVP. And like this is not everybody had Pat Mahomes. And this is no not to Daniel Jones.

So don't even try to flip like that. And then you look at the Eagles who play Jalen Hurts, a great quarterback. That team is amazing. But every team is not the Eagles.

Every team don't have that much talent. And when you come to my situation, come to me personally, I feel like that I helped our team a lot. I feel like not only on the field, but off the field.

I feel like as a leader, I feel like obviously this conversation of my numbers going down, I think there's a whole lot of other stuff that happened to place NFL. You know, we were a one dimensional team in the beginning of the season. We're running the ball. We have a great coach. We played Detroit Lions.

They came in, bust that ass, stopped me. We had a we had to switch it up. And we have a great coach with days with calf. And we had a whole new game plan.

We came out and found a way to get the job done and make it to the playoffs. But going to the running back market, we talk about the running back. No, I don't agree with that. I think that it's not fair because I don't think Tennessee Titans, Tennessee Titans, a great team. But Derek Henry's one of those guys on the team. St. Fran's a great team. But Christian McCaffrey is one of those guys on the team.

Josh Jacob, the list go on and on. And I think when you talk about the New York Giants, you know, I think even Pierce came on and said it. I have a lot of respect in this league and I think that's how it should be.

All right. Every team is different. Every situation is different. I think the bigger picture here is how the National excuse me, how the National Football League looks at running backs. And I'm not sure that there will ever be another big money contract offered to a running back. Now it is it is such a disposable position. What I think you'll see is running backs like Saquon Barkley. Now he might be the last of a dying breed. Is he going to get a three year deal worth 40 million dollars?

Maybe. I just can't see a lot of it being guaranteed. He does have a little bit of an injury history, although he was great last year. Christian McCaffrey, he got the big deal. Yeah, right.

He did. The weird thing is that McCaffrey got the big deal, didn't have an injury history at the time, and then developed one. Now, I don't believe McCaffrey is really an injury risk any more than any other running back is. But every running back is an injury risk.

And because the the position is so disposable, I just can't. It's bad business to give away a lot of money to a position where let's just plug this guy in. We got in the fourth round who can run. We have too much of that in the NFL, too much of it, whether it's wasting a first round pick. And I realize the teams that draft running backs in the first round don't feel like they have wasted it. But boy, 30 years down the road when you're looking for another running back, I can't help but think that was a wasted pick.

Yeah, it is a rarity. I think when you see the running back position really have some staying power. Barkley could be different.

I don't know. But I think what you're going to see is the likes of Dalvin Cook and Ezekiel Elliott. They can help teams on probably one year deals. If I was a kid, if I was a running back as a in high school and there's something cool about being a running back, right?

Sure. Especially in in high school and in college, you get the ball a lot. But I would want to go to a place where I didn't have to play as in college.

I would go to want to go to a place where all they don't need me to play as a freshman or just play me as a junior. Let me play one year and get out of here because there are only so many carries you can take. There is such a shelf life for players at that position.

It is so difficult. Emmitt Smith is giving Ezekiel Elliott advice on moving forward in his career. The one thing I would say to any young player, including the ones that you mentioned, is you're not a star yet. You're not a goat yet and you're not great yet. You have to win championships in order to become all of that. Yes, you're on the most visible football team in the entire world and you're playing with a great organization. But your greatness is when you finish and you finish well. In order to become a legendary legend or legendary, you have to eliminate all of these things that we're talking about. Period.

Outside of that, you will be living in the shadows of what came before you. Yeah, Ezekiel Elliott will never be the best running back in Dallas Cowboys history. That's Emmett Smith.

Emmett, who was one of the rare long term running backs. There just aren't that many. No, you don't have many Emmett Smith's Ledanian Tomlinson's Adrian Peterson's of the world. Heck, the closest thing we have to it in today's NFL is Derrick Henry.

Yeah, I mean, that's just we just don't have many that year after year after year. Like Le'Veon Bell found out about it that you can't even take time off. But the franchise tag, there's a bigger conversation about how evil the franchise tag is because it flat out is. If if I if I were the head of the NFL Players Association, it would be not my number one goal to get rid of the franchise tag. Have that eliminated from the collective bargaining agreement because it essentially allows teams to you can only do it with one player, but it allows a team to say to a Saquon Barkley. Yeah, we're not committing to you for more than a year.

I know you're not under contract right now, but because we have offered you the franchise tag, you're our property. The new Chevy Silverado HD puts you in command. Own strength with its enhanced available Duramax 6.6 liter turbo diesel V8. Own the lake with its available advanced towing technology and own technology with an available 13.4 inch diagonal touchscreen. The new Chevy Silverado HD own work own play own own life. Learn more at chevy.com.

Find new roads, Chevrolet main as soon as they and as soon as they offer you the tag, it's not like you can go out and shop. Yeah, you either play on the tag or you don't play gives you the warm and fuzzies. So it's it's it's a terrible, terrible part of the CBA from a player's perspective. Awful. There's a lot of things about the NFL Collective bargaining agreement that are bad.

That's to me the worst of them. The five year contract link for they call them rookie deals, ain't rookie deals. More than half the players in the league don't see the end of the rookie deal. So but I would get if I were Damaris Smith, the first thing I would want to do would be to get rid of the franchise tag.

Because while there is money involved, there's no security involved and NFL play any player would want security almost over anything else. The new Chevy Silverado HD puts you in command own strength with its enhanced available Duramax 6.6 liter turbo diesel v8 on the lake with its available advanced towing technology and own technology with an available 13.4 inch diagonal touchscreen. The new Chevy Silverado HD own work own play own life. Learn more at chevy.com. Find new roads Chevrolet