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Right here on WSJS News Talk Sports for the Triad. Yes, it is. The drive, I am Will Dalton. I'm also known as the WD. As we come to you on Cinco DiMayo.
Happy Cinco DiMayo. And it also happens to be Taco Tuesday. Yeah. That's right.
So sit back. Relax. Get a margarita if that's what you're into. Eat a taco, if that's what you're into. Nachos, ACP.
Morgan, what are you going to have on Cinco DeMayo? I think we're having tacos tonight. Look at that. Taco Tuesday. You know what I'm having?
A Keynes dub. Let's talk about it. Three to two last night. An overtime win. in Raleighwood.
So the hurricanes last night demonstrated That they can actually be off of their game. Face a little bit of adversity, if you will. And still Get the job done as they now lead this series two to nothing heading to Philly. For the first time in these playoffs, Kane's got Got down. Faced a deficit.
Two quick goals for the Flyers. And Not only is this the first time in these playoffs that the Kanes have trailed. They haven't trailed since April 7th. Yeah, it's wild to think about. I didn't know that until I looked it up.
The Kanes Despite getting down though last night, they battled back. And they actually were in a position. To hit a game-winning goal. late in the third, but it got blocked. The Flyers goalie Dan Vladar.
Had 40 saves last night. He was on one. He was looking terrific. Overtime though. High stakes.
High intensity, high energy. Taylor Hall did this right here. Walker in over the line, got it for Hall. Hall, strong move coming in toward the net. Taylor Hall wins it in game two just electric.
Just electric over there. I've been at some of those games where It ends like that. There's just no better feeling than that. Than than once you get in that building. At the Lenny, as we call it.
Not their best night, by the way, the Kanes. Like, yeah, they faced a deficit, but you could face a deficit and it just be a back and forth battle of whoever's playing better. Keynes didn't have their best stuff. It's the first time that they've really not only faced a deficit. But they've experienced some adversity in the bigger picture of this.
In these playoffs, roll through the Senators, roll through the Flyers in game one. And They had to answer some questions. There were people out in the hockey world, national talking heads, that wondered: all right, when the canes actually get punched a little bit. What's that going to look like? What's that response going to look like?
You saw it last night. Here was Taylor Hall. after the game, actually talking about the Hurricanes not having their best stuff. You know, as you get older and you play this game a while, you got to figure out if you don't have your A game, like, do you maybe have your B minus game or something close to that?
So. You find a way to contribute. And he did. He was actually talking about himself there as well. He didn't feel like he had his best stuff either.
The good thing here is for the Kanes. It forced them to find a way. And they passed the test yet again. In terms of continuing, because sometimes teams will get down like this. For the first time in these pl in the playoffs or in a while.
And they might panic a little bit. Not the Kanes. They continue to play the game the right way. They stay true to their game plan and what they do. You know, sometimes if you just skate through with no adversity, No pun intended there.
When you finally get some, you might look like a deer in headlights. Keynes were not that. Here was Rod Brendemore. After the game. Speaking to the Kanes battling back after being down 2-0.
So that was not ideal, but I actually liked the way we played. for the rest of the first half of the game. Find a way to kind of get it close. I think that was the key, not to get it another one for them. And then uh you know too many penalties you know, that does just kills your team.
kills your momentum, kills everything. You're But you gotta give the guys credit that did a great job there and then Found a way to tie it up. They did. Penalties were an issue last night. And Luckily, it was kind of even in terms of the penalties.
It was eight to the flyer, seven, so it wasn't like it was. Yeah. That it you know, Flyers didn't have a few penalties to the Kanes. Eight. It was even.
But but even with that It causes the situation, the game flow to get a little choppy because you're constantly having to pause because of the penalties, guys going to the box. It doesn't allow you to get into a groove. And That's That can be a tough situation for a team.
So. The hurricanes, they answered a lot of questions last night. In terms of how they're going to respond in the face of adversity, and there will be more. Which is probably going to lead to Even more people, you know, the national talking heads that maybe Had questions about the canes? Not that their opinion really matters, but just to give you the context here.
They're actually going to start believing that The Kanes actually might be getting ready to hoist the Stanley Cup. for the first time since two thousand and six. 336-777-1600 is the number to call. The question I have is. Did last night Change how far you believe the hurricanes can go.
If you doubt it and you were like, maybe they can get to the Eastern Conference finals but no further, or get to the Stanley Cup and not win it, did last night change your mind? Or did it not change your mind? And you were like, yep, they did exactly what I thought they could do: 336-777-1600. That's one of our questions of the day. We're also asking you: how are you celebrating Cinco DiMayo?
How you doing it? I'll ask the question to Morgan Corson, our producer here. How are you going to celebrate? I'm going to watch the Lakers cover the spread tonight. Need some tacos.
And some tacos, yeah. I think we're having some some ground beef tacos for dinner. Love that. Oh yeah. You ever had chicken tacos?
I have. I've had chicken fajitas. I haven't had chicken tacos. Chicken fajitas are very good. I'm a fan of their work.
I think I'm going to get a marg. think it's what we're gonna do. Proper way to celebrate. Salt, not sugar, like a sane person. Going to our YouTube comments here.
Lil Dog writes in, Let's go, Keynes, that's right. Raleighwood. Jay Davis chimes in. WD, take Lakers spread tonight. 15 and a half.
It hadn't moved. At OKC. 8.40 p.m. tip. You just stick around for Dalton's dollars later on, and I'll tell you if I'm going to take that spread or not.
The biggest spread of being an underdog LeBron has faced in his career in the playoffs. Let's switch to the NFL. Let's talk some shield. Let's do that. Because The Chiefs.
They're about to be back in a major way this year after missing the playoffs. And as it's at this time that Morgan should be hitting the NFL, drop you! There it is. I was wondering where it was. That was kind of sad I didn't hear it.
It's like this energy drink I've got here just juices me up. That's what the NFL drop does. Uh, Chiefs, they're about to be back up. And it's kind of surprising that After missing the playoffs, For the first time in over a decade, A lot of people are out on the Chiefs or not really thinking about them as a possible contender in the AFC. You know, they've only been to five of the last seven Super Bowls, but you know, missing the playoffs one time in about 12 years or whatever, 11 or 12, whatever it is, you know, out.
See ya. Not the not me. Not me. And I'm not a Chiefs fan. But I'm just looking at this the way I think it is.
First of all, All signs are pointing to Patrick Mahomes being back. For week one, and don't just take it from me, here was Andy Reid. the other day talking about Patrick Mahomes and where he's at with his progress. If he can do some things, you know, phase two, remember, is there's there's no contact, there's no offense versus defense.
So Um it's phase three that you get into that and Once you start the clock, then the clock's got to be rolling. You got you just have to evaluate what you want to do there. But he's in a position where he's he can do everything, I think. Yeah. With SiriXM NFL Radio, the Chiefs general manager, Brett Veach, said that Patrick is.
quote way ahead of schedule. In his recovery.
So he also made a joke that the bigger concern the team has right now is making sure that he's protected from himself and doesn't like overdo it with his practice and with his training to get back. Yeah, Patrick Mahomes, he'll be back up week one, and I think he's going to be. charged up and ready to go. Also, Kenneth Walker, again. Such a massive addition to this team.
I was curious about this. Did you know that the Chiefs had the longest active streak in the NFL? of not having a thousand yard rusher on their team. I did not know that. Eight years.
It's That really surprises me, though. Because, I mean, Pacheco's good. Like, they've had some decent backs, but never, like, an elite. back, not since twenty seventeen when Kareem Hunt ran for one thousand three hundred twenty seven yards. That's the last time the Chiefs had an over one thousand yard rusher.
So it's been a little while, and that's really not so Patrick Mahomes really has never had that before. You give him Kenneth Walker. The Super Bowl MVP.
Now, the Chiefs have a run game that's actually going to be respected. And that's pretty significant. That's another threat here. It's like, all right, say whatever you want about Travis Kelsey having a down year. He's still a threat.
Patrick Mahomes himself is a threat. And now you've got Kenneth Walker in the backfield. Good luck. They got options here. Also, I can't emphasize enough how much I love the addition.
Of Monsoor Delaney drafting him out of LSU, such a big deal.
So When you look at a lot of the teams out of the AFC. that people talk about that could, you know. Get to the Super Bowl. your Broncos, your Bills, your Ravens. The Patriots to a degree.
I even say the Ben uh the Bengals as well. You better have some room for the Chiefs, or else they're going to make their own room. They're going to create their own spot. But best believe that. Chiefs are about to be back up.
Glad to have you on on Tuesday. Goes up on a Tuesday. Desmond Johnson. Of Tobacco Road Sports Radio, going to join us at 4:30. Gonna talk.
Panthers post-draft, what he liked from that. Gonna ask. Why he thinks Henry Vassar decided to go to the NBA. The NBA draft. When he would have made double the money and would have probably improved his draft stock under Michael Malone.
I'd like to know his answer to that. Because he does the podcast Believe in Heals Hoops. With our guy B Dot, who's going to join us tomorrow, and PJ Harrison, former Tari Heal. We'll talk to him about that here in about 15 minutes. You're on the triads-only live sports talk show, The Drive.
Can't you see? I'm just too swagged out. We say what you're yelling at your radio. Back at it on the drive. On Cinco de Mayo, right here on WSJS.
Desmond Johnson going to join us. In just under 15 minutes from the Tobacco Road Sports Radio. But let's start here. Stalk some college football. Because with NCAA tournament.
expansion last week. From 68 to 76. It has led to a lot more attention being placed on the possibility of college football playoff expansion. And 24 teams seems to be a number that continues to be thrown out there. Quite a bit.
Uh I would not be a fan of that. Many of you would not be a fan of that. Many that Played college football or cover it very closely would not be a fan of that. But Kevin Clark, who formerly of The Ringer, Um He actually went on the Paul Feinbaum show earlier today. And He was pretty fired up.
He had this. to say about the possibility of a 24-team playoff. I think that college football should be run by people who like college football. And every decision every every idea I've seen, Paul. about playoff expansion seems like it's come from people who don't Like college football, don't know why we like it.
and it's really starting to tick me off. A 2014 playoff Would be a disgrace. And I think that even now, I think for Frankly, I think 12 is too big. I thought 6 was the perfect playoff size if you wanted to stop there. But we know that they can't help themselves.
I get that.
So 12, and then if you have to in a decade, go to 16. Fine. But the idea of 24, the idea I've seen floated of 32, I just think it's ludicrous. Yeah. So he had a lot more that he said after that, but didn't want to play the full two-minute clip for you.
But he. He's not a fan of this at all. And that clip has sparked a little bit of reaction, like it sounds like Morgan wants to right here. Yeah, I L One of the things that is getting tossed out with this is that the FCS, so which is a lower level of Division I football. has a twenty four team tournament at the moment.
The difference between FBS and FCS is that the FCS, the top 25 teams, are so much closer. And level, like playing level. Then the top 25 teams Of the FBS. Think about we saw James Madison. We did.
Like that. that think about twenty four of those teams where you have four or five James Madisons, it just dilutes the overall product. Yeah, and then they get whacked by an Oregon or a Michigan. It's it's just not the same. I think twelve is probably the best number, I don't they're gonna expand 'cause it's money.
But I I think twelve to sixteen is the sweet spot for these playoffs. I agree with that. There's like I said, there's been some reaction to this clip. Like Albert Breer. Had this to say.
He was like, I agree with Kevin. 12 is more than enough. It should be hard to get in. The regular season should matter. And that's where I come at.
Like, that's where I land on this: the fact that. I don't know that like March Madness, the NCAA tournament, basketball expanding from 68 to 76, really like. dilutes and Hurts the regular season that much. I think it definitely waters things down. And it expands the teams that are on the bubble to a degree.
But I feel like college football is a much More regular season sport. Than college basketball is. I'm not saying college basketball regular season doesn't matter because it does, but you and I both know that we live for Saturdays in the fall. Where If an Alabama or if a Georgia loses to two of the right teams, around that are around 500 or whatever it is, they're on the cut line for the playoff. If Notre Dame loses to their two best opponents on the calendar, they're not looking great.
There's steaks to it, and that adds juice. And if you add tw if you make it twenty-four teams, it just... It again, it dilutes it. You have that perspective, but then you have. Other people like Tim Brando, who Completely disagree with this.
Stance? He feels that If you expand to 24, Saturdays are going to have even more games of importance. Which I see where he's trying to come from. But I don't I don't know about all that. I just don't.
I I think you need to keep it where it is. Um I think that's I think that's where you're going to keep the juice in the regular season, where. A couple of losses, two or three, depending on who it's against. And depending on where you're at in the rankings, like your season's done. Like, that's exciting to me.
Yeah, and I think there's other things that we could be focusing on to fix the tournament before we expand it and cause more problems. I agree. Like the first round buys being two or three weeks after the team had played. We've seen that that hurts teams. Look at Texas Tech.
Last year, they were a fantastic team that just couldn't hold their momentum after not playing for three weeks. And not only that, like, we just expanded a few years ago. Like, settled down, everybody. Like well let let it simmer. Like let's it let's let's let this thing Play out at 12 right now.
But anyway, college football playoff expansion. That conversation is not going anywhere anytime soon. This is a conversation that's interesting. Oh, by the way, speaking of college football. Do you know the next time we're going to see uh Football on national T V is Carolina TCU.
In August in Dublin. That's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. I'm hungry for some football.
I was wondering, it's like, when's the first nationally televised? Oh, Carolina TCU part two. Bill Belichick. Hopefully he'd Comes out a little bit better on the right side of that one this time around. Um Kevin Durant.
The Houston Rockets.
So after The Lakers eliminated the Rockets from the playoffs. There's been quite a bit of discussion. About what the future could hold for KD. There's actually apparently a stat out there somewhere that shows Like The rockets are plus A certain amount when Katie's off the floor. And then, plus, a certain amount when he's on it.
And it's actually the Rockets are better offensively slightly to a degree when he's not on the floor. Which is interesting. I didn't know that. He's still a baller, though.
Some people might hear that stat and get carried away. It's like it's still Kevin. Durant we're talking about here. But it makes you wonder. Do the Houston Rockets want to did you find something?
Yeah, I saw their 4-0 this season without KD scoring an average of 117 points a game.
Okay, well I just Houston, they might want to build around their young core. And move K D? to add to that, get some more assets. Or they might want to stick with Kevin Durant. I did not realize this was as much of a conversation as it is until.
The Rockets looked like they were going to get eliminated and then did. And now you got Ramona Shelburne out here of ESPN reporting that apparently KD's moodiness. you know, got tiresome. to the younger players on the team. I don't know how much credence I give that.
Yeah, KD. Can appear moody on social media. He's also just a hooper. He's a baller and he's a troll. You know, he has that.
I don't give a bleep energy about him, which I really like. I appreciate that type of energy, just kind of doing your own thing, whatever.
So I don't know how much oxygen I want to give that report or how much does that really matter? Yeah, if I'm the Rockets I would heavily consider trading. KD.
Okay, where would you like to see him go? Anywhere. If I'm like looking at the what a great option anywhere, just get him out of here. Really, like if you can get a first, Charlotte, if you can get a first or the Clippers would be great. No bias there whatsoever.
No, he's not going to go there. I think that Milwaukee's an interesting suit if they can keep Giannis. Say. I heard Chris Broussard. Bring that up yesterday.
See, my T V stays on FS1 in this studio. It just does. Like they're talking about the Lakers and the Thunder right now, and they have these graphics that they put in the bottom of the screen with the cute captions. This one says, weather the storm. It's not their best work.
Um But he made the point like Milwaukee could make one last push or one last attempt with Giannis, by packaging something together to get K D to join. Which I don't know what you can give them. You'd have to give at least one or two firsts. And I don't know if Milwaukee has that. See, I don't either.
Some other teams that have been thrown out there, the Miami Heat. That's somewhere Kevin Durant apparently wanted to go years ago. just didn't work out. Maybe Package together Tyler Hero and something else. Pair him with Bam.
That'd be a lethal, lethal team. That's what people would say. Or Orlando Magic. They're trying to make a buzz. They're trying to make a splash here.
Trade Paulo. Maybe. Package something together there. What about Denver? A Jamald Murray for K D?
Denver's interesting. You could maybe package Jamal Murray with something to get KD, pair him with Jokic. I don't hate that idea. A reunion with the Warriors, anybody? I'm not seeing that one happen.
No? No, I don't think that ended too well. I don't think the Warriors, like, you know what? Let's get him back in here. Let's get this thing going again.
I I just think they're looking for something new. Kevin Durant. Houston Rockets. What does the future hold? Check this out.
We're on in five. We've got opinions hotter than your car seat right now. You're on the drive. We had to queue up some good music for Desmond Johnson now. We welcome him to the show.
Dez, how we doing? I like that coming on a little Dr. Dre snoop dog. That's right up my alley, a little 90s hip-hop. Shout out to your producer.
That was well done. Chef's kiss. Yeah, we just had to do it, man. We do it in style. We're going to talk some Panthers.
We're going to talk some. Carolina basketball, but I did want to ask you this because You know, the NBA playoffs are going on, and I'm sure you're watching that closely. And We were discussing Kevin Durant and maybe what his future could look like in Houston. Is it going to be in Houston? Is it going to be somewhere else?
What do you think the future should hold for Kevin Durant? I mean, looking at his track record, odds are he won't be in Houston next year. He'll be someplace else. He's, I mean, Easy Money Sniper is living up to his Twitter handle. He's literally.
I feel like, what's the line from the Batman movie? Play the hero long enough that you become the villain or something like that. I think that's what's happening to Kevin Durant right now, where he's stuck around so long and he's bounced around to so many different teams. He's become this like assassin for hire. Like, I don't think of the word loyalty when I think of Kevin Durant.
You know, so it's. You start thinking about where he could go. He starts getting an itch. I went back to go look last year when he ended up getting traded to Houston. It was Houston.
Uh Miami. And there was another one. I can't remember what there were three teams he said he wanted to get to. It might have been the Knicks that he said he would go to. And right now, I kind of think that Miami's the one spot he hasn't been that would probably welcome him in and putting him and Bam together.
If they can keep Bam and Tyler Hero, and bring in Durant somehow. That could be a big three that's enough in the Eastern Conference. It's really in flux right now with. a lot of youth starting to take over the Eastern Conference. That could be a.
Aged veteran team that can make some noise in the Eastern Conference next year. But to be honest, I haven't been a Kevin Durant fan. Since Oklahoma City Thunder days, I never respected when he went to Golden State. I don't really respect the two finals MVPs he got off of Steph Curry's back, in my opinion. I don't think he would have a ring if he hadn't gone to Golden State.
And then. For him to kind of Just leave the way he did. Yeah. Because whatever happened with him in Draymond, that made me lose a lot of respect for him. And if you look at what he's done since he's left Golden State, I don't think he's been out of the second round in the East or the Western Conference.
So, yeah. Kevin Aurant's a weird case of Yeah, it's top 25 all-time player, but do you really respect it? And that's kind of where I'm at with him.
So, yeah, and I mean, when you look at all the places he's gone, like there was the Brooklyn thing with Kyrie, James Harden joined that for a brief time, Phoenix, Houston now. It's like he's looking for a shortcut. And he didn't even play in this series. That's the thing that bothers me the most about what we're watching right now. We're watching this generation of stars that's been here for like the past 15 years.
We're seeing them cycle out, like the Chris Pauls, LeBron's on his last wing, Durant, Steps, 37. And in my lifetime, the last I remember, it was like 2003. When the stars in the 90s were starting to cycle out.
So, like, you had. Patrick Ewing in Seattle, or Hakeem Alajwan was in Toronto. You know, like this, they were just randomly at the end of their careers being spots. And we're going to that right now. The problem is.
Everyone's more healthier in their late 30s than they were in the 90s because they didn't get beat up as much throughout their careers playing NBA ball.
So now you're seeing guys go to 39, 40 years old playing in the NBA. The whole is Turant. Turant is 30. Yeah, he's getting close to that 40 number. He's 37.
37, but keep in mind, he kind of has a year of tread that's not on those tires because he missed a year due to injury.
So, and he's basically a jump shooter at this point. He can still get you 25, 26 pretty easily. But In terms of where to put him, he's in that weird spot where if you trade him, the team that has him is going to demand so much back. Durant's going to a team is going to be similar to the team he's leaving. And that's kind of what's happened with Phoenix and Houston, where if he just stayed in Phoenix and let them build, Who knows?
They might have been the next Houston, but Houston was like the two seed last year without Durant.
So. I don't know. I think he's just kind of. LeBron is shepherding this kind of. Party with your get the best team around you.
Kind of don't worry about six years of struggle with get it now type vibes. And that isn't really the NBA anymore. That was like a little stretch. And that's kind of died out. And these stars are still chasing it.
So you're seeing them bouncing around. Desmond Johnson, Tobacco Road Sports Radio, joining us here on WSGS. Let's get to the Carolina Panthers real quick because. They had a really good draft, another really good draft, back-to-back years that. They've gotten the A-plus from Pro Football Focus, however much stock you put into that.
Um when you look at this draft for the Carolina Panthers. What's something that stands out to you? Like, what was the one thing that stood out to you the most? Um Honestly, probably. Either the free line pick at 19, because there was so much smoke about them possibly going for yet another wide receiver there, that when they actually made the pick, it made the most sense.
And When you look at the left and right tackles for Carolina, Taylor Moten's got, I think this is his next to last year on his contract, but he's 31.
So he's the vet, the veteran in that room. We don't really know what's up with Ikeyaquanu. They haven't really said anything about six to 12 months. Like six to 12 months is a super long window. That kind of tells me we don't know if he's going to be back.
So, like, if that's the case. And the fact that Freeland can play both left and right tackle, which they like with all those positions on the offensive line. You kind of solidify that for the future, it made perfect sense. They didn't lose any capital trading up for the guy, uh, dude, 6-7-3-15. He's built for this.
Like, I mean, he can be Bryce Young's blonde side for the next decade, you know, if it works out that way. I just, I think the thing for me that I'm noticing, I talked about this with Jonathan Stewart this morning when we were taping Believe in Panthers. The thing with Dan Morgan, when you see drafts usually, In the NFL, the first and second round are guys where you're like, okay, at least first round, you're looking for a starter. The second round, you're hoping to get a starter, at least someone that can contribute. Then from third round on, it's like depth.
backup guys, special teams, stuff to kind of fill out the roster. If you look at Dan Morgan's drafts the past two years and get deep into them, like fourth round, fifth round, sixth round. He's picking guys I expect to play. Like he's literally, there's like Leighton Ransom last year, fifth round pick at safety. Got a lot of playing time by the end of the year.
And I expect them to grow even further now with them hiring. Mike Adams to the staff. They announced that yesterday, or yeah, it was yesterday, I believe. Former safety for the Panthers. He played here in 2017 and 18.
And he came in through the Bill, uh, the Bill Walsh fellowship thing they have for coaches that come in, kind of like an internship. But to have these young safeties here, and you got uh. The other kid that they drafted in the fifth round, the other safety, Zakai Wheatley. Just to get that kind of thing, that might be the still of the draft, honestly. And that was in the fifth round.
Like, you might have got two starters at safety in back-to-back years in the fifth round of the NFL draft. Like, Dan is getting so much quality at the back end. His starting center, Sam Heck's probably going to be the starting center for this team. They got him in the fourth round or whatever. Like, didn't have to really do a whole lot to get him.
Chris Brazzle, the second. You get somebody who can take the top off the back of a defense without having to move a whole lot of parts around. He's just, it's just masterclass. And then. Dan, the one thing that he does that I love the most when the draft is over, the past two seasons, he has brought in someone from undrafted free agency that has contributed to the roster as a whole.
You know, just Coker two years ago, and he's literally wide receiver number two going into next year. That's right.
This year. I think it's going to be this quarterback, King King. Yeah, George Brown from Georgia Tech. Did not realize until we started prepping for the show. For Believing Panthers this morning.
Hans King was the 2025 ACC player of the year. I forgot Georgia Tech was like undefeated for like nine, 10 weeks this season. And he's built like Taysom Hill. They already take out Bryce for like third and one, like short situations, stuff like that. Can you imagine if they could figure out a way to use Haynes King in a Taysom Hill type role where you aren't roading Bryce anyway?
They're bringing Andy Dalton for it.
So you bring this guy in, he's a gadget-type guy. You run that same kind of RPO-type system they do with Taysom Hill, and this offense just turns into something else completely. I'm just excited for what they find after the draft because he finds nuggets that nobody finds. That's why the Panthers are in the position they're in right now. Desmond Johnson, Tobacco Road Sports Radio, with us here on WSJS.
Let's get to Carolina basketball because since you, yeah, well, that's a good start. Since we last had you on the show. The heels did a Lose Henry Vessar. To the NBA draft. And my question to you about this is, because I mean, like the highest I've seen him projected is late first round.
And in that case, he would be getting like two something and million dollar, like two point something million dollars if that's where he went, as opposed to the four I think that Carolina was offering him. Why do you think he opted to go to the draft now and not, you know, play a year with Malone, improve his draft stock? I mean, this is a really good draft class this year. He might even go higher next year, probably would have, and made more money to do it. Why do you think he made that decision?
You know, well, sometimes the simplest answer is the best answer. And I think he was just tired of school. My man is 24, I believe. He's about to get married. I think he has a kid on the way.
And sometimes you're just tired of doing schoolwork. Like, you just don't want to do this anymore. Like, he's a grown man. Like, he's, you know, probably drinking a beer at halftime and games and smoking cigarettes or whatever he was doing. He.
I went to go look at the scale. And the last thing I saw from a mock from yesterday, they have him 28th going to the Denver Nuggets, which will actually be fantastic for Henry Vasari. He'd be playing behind Joker. And I looked at the rookie scale for this year. For this year, PIC28, year one, they made about $2.7 million.
Um we don't have anything to to know for sure. But we had heard rumors that Henry had asked for as much as as much as $6 million in NIL money, which would have been almost a third of their entire NIL budget, which I don't think you should do in today's NIL world. But I'm sure there's going to be some teams out there to do it. Kentucky.
So I don't really know. Uh I have Caroline while I'm going on that route. We don't have like that Duke NIL Amazon money to play with to be able to pay for people.
So, you know, I'm looking at it. I'm like, okay, plus something people don't talk about too. The sooner he gets into the NBA, the sooner his clock starts to get to his second contract. And once he, and if he's already 24, 25. He's kind of on that back end where He showed what he could do.
A lot of the big men that are star big men came back to college basketball for next year. The kid from Michigan. Um The kid that was at Kansas that transferred to Louisville has like everyone like right now. I don't know if you're paying attention to what they've been doing in the portal. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. Who's the kid's name from Kansas? Started with a B. Badunga. Badunga, they got him.
Yeah, they're not the top. They're nice. Big men didn't go out.
So it kind of automatically pushed Henry up into the lottery. Where once they start doing like drills and stuff, he starts performing for teams. Don't be surprised if Henry gets up towards the lottery around the 14th. I think the lottery starts at 15 now.
So. or 16. It's like half the league.
So it's like it, if he gets up there. All bets are off, really. And now you're talking like, you know. 10 million, 9 million a year. And that's a different kind of bet altogether.
He's betting on himself, which I can't be mad at at all. And Really, the only people that are on this team next year that he played with this year is Jared Stevenson.
So, I mean, what is he coming back to?
So, I understand why he's leaving. And if he wants to start a family and. get married and do all this stuff now. Get it while you can. The average NBA career is three years.
So, you know, go get what you can. Hone your craft, and hopefully, you land it with a team in the late first round.
So, you're not considered, don't go like the Brooklyn, you know, or someplace where they're going to be like, Hey, we need you to score 28 points every night. That's not Henry Vassar. But if you get him. 12 points a night, couple threes, right system. If you landed in Denver, That would be perfect for him.
So, yeah, I understand why he left now that I've had. Yeah. 10 days to sit on it and stew. Let me ask you this on the way out, and we appreciate you joining us. Who do so now that Vasar is gone?
Who do you think the dude is on this Carolina team? Is it Terrence Brown, Matt Abel? Is it this Cyan Kaida, the seven-footer they're bringing in from FC Barcelona? Who do you think it is? Or do they have one?
I know who I want it to be.
Okay. It should be Jaron Stevenson. Like that, should be the guy. He, the story writes itself. He's he went to high school in Chapel Hill.
Had to go away for a year. Alabama played because Carolina didn't really recruit him. He was the Gatorade. North Carolina High School Basketball Player of the Year in 2024. That was like two years ago.
Like five-star kid goes to Alabama, helps beat UNC in the NCAA tournament with that game. He hit like six threes or something in the second half. comes to Carolina on a transfer. Literally playing down the street, probably from his mom and dad's house. And he decides to come back after a coaching change.
Like that, to me, that tells me he wanted to be a Tar Hill more and he wanted to play for Hubert Davis. Like, he's grown up wanting to be a Tar Hill. What better situation for Jaron Stevenson going into his senior year? No, junior year, I believe, where. He's going to have basically.
The ability to be a functional, like a main focal point of the offense. He's 6'10. He can shoot threes. He can get down.
Well, we haven't really seen it, but I'm sure he can get down in the paint. Maybe we will this year. But Michael Malone's offense kind of is perimeter-oriented and it goes through the bigs.
So, I would say Jaron Stevenson. He's the one, but. Neo is the one that I'm thinking might be the guy that. Is our main scorer and Virginia Tech transfer? Yeah, Neo, our Dallas, I believe I said, I might not have nailed it.
But Neo, at 6'9 wing, they'll probably get him in and out, down in the paint, and out where he's comfortable. But I started to think about today. He's the one where I'm like, okay, if I had to pick one guy that might be a surprise, like Henry Bassar was, it's probably gonna be Neo. But I'm hoping Jaron Stevenson is the main leader of this team. that they all follow.
And he will be a senior going into next year. He's always a senior.
Okay. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. Desmond Johnson, Tobacco Road Sports Radio.
Be sure to check him out. Check out the YouTube, believe in Heels Hoop, believe in Panthers. A lot of content to be had from our guy, Des. We appreciate the time as always, and we'll do it again here sometime soon. All right, brother.
Appreciate you, man. Thanks for everything you do. You got it. There he goes, Desmond. Johnson.
The Drive, the triad's longest-running live sports talk show. Clock out, buckle up, and let the takes fly. Back at it on a Tuesday drive, a Taco Tuesday drive on Cinco DiMayo. It's Bachelor Foo Day. Yeah.
Yeah. LeBron James. I love that. Speaking of that LeBron James guy. I got a decision to make.
Oh, by the way, Jay Davis on our YouTube comments here, because we were talking about Jaron Stevenson last segment, who's going to be a senior going into this coming year. He points out Jaron Stevenson will get a fifth year if they do pass that rule. Yeah, that's true, he would.
So maybe he'll be around for a couple of years more. We'll see. Jay Davis also wants me to take the Lakers spread tonight, which is 15 and a half. LeBron Being a 15.5 point dog, that's the biggest spread of his career in the playoffs. Let's decide what to do about it in Dalton's dollars.
Stack it up, stack it back, gotta stack it up. Get the money, get the money on the side up. It's time to cash in. Welcome to Dalton's Dollars. Drop me the money!
Yeah. Show me the money. Breaking down the board and billing the bankroll. I'll leave you in suspense on that Lakers pick for a few more minutes, Jay Davis. Let's start with Detroit.
Fresh off of the 3-1 comeback against Orlando. The other night? Calves polished off the raptors on the same night. I Really like the way. Detroit's playing.
Believe it or not, I actually have Cleveland going to the conference finals. I really hope they prove me right on that. There's times in that Toronto series, I wasn't feeling too great about it, but. In Detroit tonight, 7-10 tip. I just think the Pistons at this particular moment in time are playing better.
Then Cleveland.
So I'm going to take that Detroit spread. I get it at minus 108 odds. Or excuse me, minus 112 odds. Give me the piston spread. Show me the light!
Yeah. sticking with that game. Donovan Mitchell. I think the Pistons are gonna lock him down tonight. I think they're gonna put the clamps on him.
I think he goes under 25 and a half points. Joe Bigo! Love Detroit's defense. Cade Cunningham Tobias Harris, they can score with the best of them, but. Don't forget about the defense either.
Now we get to the Lakers. What to do, what to do. Fifteen and a half is such a massive spread, such a massive number. It's in OKC. I think I'll take the thunder to cover that.
Don't be delighted! I'm sorry, Jay Davis. I'm sorry, LeBron. I love LeBron James. He's my favorite basketball player.
He might be one he's one of my favorite athletes. But in OKC, you know that building is going to be jumping. It's one of the best environments in the NBA, might be the best. Environment in terms of just loud hypeness in the NBA, and we are not going to see Luka Doncic tonight, he's been ruled out. I think the Thunder cover that and they popped the Lakers game one.
I think so. And in the NHL. One game tonight. Wild, Avalanche, Colorado leads a Series 1-0. Game two was on their ice.
Colorado. I think I'm gonna take the wild uh puck line. Stroll vegan! I think that's what I'm gonna do. I get that at plus 162 odds.
So pretty good value. And It's a little bit of a gamble, but that is why they call it gambling after all.
So we'll do that.
So that's the card tonight. Not gonna add any baseball to it. I thought about it. Nah. Focused on basketball, focused on hockey when it comes to the money.
So, in recap, Detroit minus three and a half against the Cavs. Game one of that series tonight. Donovan Mitchell under 25.5 points. Thunder do cover as 15 and a half point favorites. Against the Lakers at home, and we're taking the wild puck line.
against the avalanche. I'm proud of that card. I'm proud of it. I don't care what anybody says. I took a little hiatus and I feel good about my chances tonight.
Jay Davis. That's a good sign you taken thunder spread. R remember the last time I told you to take the Lakers? I took the Lakers and then they lost. Thunders do not have Jalen Williams.
We'll see what happens. I do too, right? It's good. I don't know, just. Got a feeling about that.
I know it's in Colorado, but... You know. I like the wild. I like them to even that series tonight, even with the Avalanche being favorite. It's a perfect bounce back spot.
And good news in the world is greatest entertainer. The hardest working man in show business. Ladies and gentlemen. Will Dalton is live, local, and locked in. You're on the drive.
Every time I hear this, I think about that scene in the sand lot. Where they come together on the bikes. You can't even lick the dirt off our cleats! It's my favorite sports movie, by the way. Just in case you didn't know that.
You have something? I haven't seen it in a hot minute. Oh, I thought you were going to add something to that. Gosh, Morgan. He's just thinking about the tacos.
That's the burritos. I'm so hungry. This guy gets so hungry. Like, he comes in every day and he tells me what he had for lunch. Not, you know, two ham sandwiches.
He has some good stuff every once in a while. He gets very excited when he has his little Caesars, too. I love little Caesars. You should just get them to sponsor the racing segment at this point. That's a good idea.
Free pizzas for Morgan. He wouldn't know what to do with himself. I do know what he knows to do right now though. And that is to give us some interesting facts we didn't know we needed to know. Things you want to know, you should know, but you don't know.
Oh my. The game within the game. What do you mean by that? Let me give you an example. Time for stuff you didn't know, you needed to know.
Really? 336-777-1600 is the number to call if you want in on the show. As somebody decided to call in right when Morgan was about to tell us some interesting things that we didn't know we needed to know. Which is also why the music is extremely loud and hasn't come down yet because he can't hear it.
Now he did.
Alright. Let's hop to it here. You got some good stuff.
Alright, so golf was banned in England in 1457 because it was considered a distraction from the more serious pursuit of archery. The nerve. How dare we interfere with archery? Have you ever shot a bow and arrow? I have.
Was it was it difficult? They didn't string it right, so they didn't. My string just fell off, so it was a failure, yeah. See, the only type of archery I've ever done is on the Wii Sports. The Wii Sports.
I was pretty good at it too. I actually kinda wanna go play it now. Sticking with golf, the average golf ball has 336 dimples on it. See, these are the things you need to know. You can literally take this knowledge with you to a.
a bar and win a bet.
So we all know about the NFL Super Bowl rings. But did you know that refs get rings as well? Do they re do they get like the same ones as the Chiefs ring? No, the NFL actually gives them a Super Bowl champion ref ring. Let me see if I can find a picture of one.
It was pretty easy to find one. I just looked up ref ring five. That would be the that would that's what you would do Anyway, until nineteen thirty six, a jump ball. and basketball took place at center court after every single basket that was made.
So every time they like had to reset. They're gonna jump ball every time you made your layup. Or your hook shot.
So it's literally like a game of 21 or like one-on-one out on the street where you check up. After every play, only the checking up is the the tip-off. Must have been electric though. Indeed. I would love to know how long these games took though.
But they probably had like a different amount of time that they played. Why don't we do this for the All-Star game next year? Yeah. I'd watch it. They need to do something.
Corubus of Elias. A Greek cook, baker, and athlete nailed it. Yeah. Won the very first recorded. Olympic Games in 776 BC.
He won the stadion. 192 meter, or if you're in America, 630 foot sprint. which was the only event in the inaugural Olympics. And he was a chef. Yeah.
Huh. Uh he made heroes. A man of many talents. Yeah. That's pretty cool.
Imagine that. It's like, hey, I'm a chef, but on the side, you know, the Olympics. Got a medal hanging up here. No, we got the NHL playoffs. We do.
The canes are doing great, but you wanna know what they're not using as a puck right now? Cow poop. Because in informal hockey in the 1800s, they often used frozen cow poop they called ro. They called them road apples. Road apples?
Yeah. Road apple. What does that even mean? What is the apple? Where does that come from?
I don't want to know. Our friends to the north, what are we doing? I want to know the origins of why they called it a Road Apple. Yeah, I didn't want to. There's the podcast title: Road Apples.
Jumping over. That is disgusting. Yeah, it's horrible. Um. Lexus The Toyota-owned luxury car brand actually stands for something.
Luxury Exports to the United States, LEXUS. Really? Okay, that's interesting. See, I I just bought a car the other day. Yesterday.
And I got an accura. But I was also looking at Lexus and Uh infinity. And I did not know that Alexis actually stood for something.
Now I want to know what Acura stands for. I don't think you have that one on hand, do you? No. By the way, there's a. There's a singing band from the seventies.
called the road apples. They're a Massachusetts-based quintet.
So There's an there's another little nugget you didn't know you needed now. Yeah, Acura is uh ACU, the beginning of it, is Latin, meaning done with precision or mechanical preciseness. Oh.
So I'm very precise out on the road. Mechanically. On the highways. Let's go to Davin Clements. He wants in on Taco Tuesday.
Dave, go right ahead. Is he already eating the tacos? There he is. Yay, shout out to Lexis real quick. I drive one, man, and I always say once you go, Lexus, you never go back, baby.
Love that. But yeah, I wanted s I wanted in on some uh Taco Tuesdays All right. What do you what do you uh what do you got? It's breaking up.
Sounds like he's already eating the taco. If I'm being the Carco Man, I got a couple major red flags, some things I want to get off my chest with it. First off, If You're thinking. Talk. That Style is so tiny, like trying to get your toppings into the shell is a nightmare.
So you're loading your chicken, your beef, whatever into that taco, your cheese. Like, half the time, the shell's already broken in half. I agree. And if you. if you do happen to be able to get your toppings into the taco, once you take a bite of that taco, half the time it explodes, crumbles, whatever you have.
All over the place.
So that's another beef with the taco, and the last beef with the taco is. Half the time you take one big vibe of a t and you're like So I'm gonna have Dave call us back. Because I can't hear a word he's saying. He has beef with tacos. Does he have beef with beef tacos?
I don't know. Signal was a little choppy there, so I want to make sure we have a clean call here, but I. I wonder if he meant it for the pun. I wonder if he intended for that.
Now, a question I've seen circulating social media is: do you turn the taco for you or do you turn your head for the taco? Come again? It's like you can t some people tilt the taco and put it in their mouth or do you tilt your head to put the taco in your mouth? I've never thought about that one day in my life. I just eat it.
I I just I just did it. I I can't even I I I don't know. Yeah, I don't know the answer to that question. I really don't. We'll see if we can get Dave back on the line.
for when we come back after this break here.
