REShow: Brian Windhorst - Hour 1

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Upgrade today by calling 877-ASK-DELL, that's 877-ASK-DELL, to save up to 48% on our latest technology. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Now the court of public opinion is trying to be swayed by an agent saying how the temerity. The Rich Eisen Show. This baseball organization not fly my client private to the all-star home run derby.

I can't think of something that fans would probably say GTOH. Today's guest ESPN Senior NBA Writer Brian Wintorse, NFL on Fox analyst and three-time Super Bowl Champion Mark Schleret, plus comedian David A. Arnold. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Well, yes it is. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. We are here in Los Angeles, California, the last full week of July. NFL training camps open up tomorrow.

The NBA non-playing season free agency window, the new league year that started weeks ago, is now kind of a little bit more explosive. Good to see you over there, Christopher Brockman. How are you, sir? Hey Rich, what's happening, man? You look much older than when I saw you on Friday.

That is not true. TJ Jefferson, how are you, lighting a candle? You look much older than the last time I saw you on Friday. Let me tell you something, Rich, my life's been dope and I've done dope stuff, so it makes sense that I look a little bit older today.

And DJ Mikey D is in these nights. Rich, I wondered when I saw the AARP cards that were hanging out over here, why they existed in the AARP. You and I are P?

Get out of here. You get one when you're 50 and you don't ask for it. You don't know, they just send it. It's just like, how did you know? I know. Why are you sending me this? I get it. You, I know, did not get one. TJ... Maybe got one? Yeah. He keeps on... I could be anywhere from like 35 to 65.

Do you like Marshall Faulk with his handicap? You don't tell us. You're leaving us guessing. You just want the candy. Well, my boy Gerald says, you're like Blade, bro. You never age. He goes, I got a picture of you from 2000 and one from last week. You look the same. Bless you. Bless you all.

Black don't crack. And normally I introduce you second, Mike. I introduce TJ.

TJ said, don't let it go round the horn. I like that. I didn't do that because you are the only one who doesn't have a birthday on July 23rd. No, I don't.

In this room. That's a greatness. That's crazy. That's greatness that day. It is.

It's really crazy. First day of the Leo. Also, Mike, this is your 10th straight day of work. So congratulations. Your residency continues. My gosh. It will end this week. When you announce you're joining the live tour.

It's a nice little string there. Tripling in salary. There's lots happening there. We'll hit on all that over the next three hours of this program right here on NBC Sports on Peacock. Thrilled to be on NBC Sports audio. Curious XM Channel 85, as we are every day after Dan Patrick's show. And I was just referring to the chat with Charles Barkley, which we'll talk about later on in this program. Also, we say hello to our terrestrial radio listeners, our Odyssey listeners, our podcast listeners. Cumulus Podcast Network is what puts our podcast out every day in spots where you can get any podcast you darn well please. And we also appreciate those who subscribe to our YouTube page, youtube.com slash Rich Eisen show for anything that you may have missed, okay.

So I'm somebody who's always very honest. And the worst take I've ever had in the history of this program, which turns eight years old in a couple of months, worst take ever was when Giannis Atetokounmpo had just, you know, hit free agents or was about to hit free agency after that bubble year in which the Heat made the finals but lost to the Lakers. And I said, do not trade for Giannis. If you are the Heat, do not break up your team for Giannis. Don't trade for Giannis.

Don't do it. You know, and which my head almost exploded for three days exploded and Brockman's exploded. And then every single NBA analyst that we had on the program, I tried to, you know, you know, what would be the word, not arm twist, but I tried to passive aggressively get them to join me in my opinion. And all of them, I think Richard Jefferson laughed, right?

Didn't he laugh? Like immediately for like a minute. Right. And every single time I walked in the door earnestly thinking somebody's gonna, has to agree with me, right? Nobody did.

And it's nobody did worst take I've ever had mea culpa, which I can't remember. I was kind of new here still. And after the second day you said it, I just didn't know if I could. This I didn't know if we were that type of show where I could just blatantly disagree with you. So by the third day, I'm just sitting here like, oh, no. So it is with that as a backdrop that I dip my toe into a similar pool. Once again.

Oh boy. With Kevin Durant now on the trading block. Don't trade for KB. I'm going to, I mean, I'm going to say that I'm going to say like, I have so many thoughts. What if you're the Celtics, don't trade for Durant. Why would you break up what you've got going on right now?

And again, it's the Eastern conference team that loses in the NBA finals. And I'm where I'm saying, don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. You agree with me? I got somebody here saying.

Like Will Ferrell in old school. Don't do it. Don't do it. The wodge bomb today is that Kevin Durant still out there with a trade request made public through reports on June 30th. And I was, we've been wondering, we've been sitting around here, like, why, why isn't Durant gone? That's the way it works. Right?

Right. NBA all world best player on planet earth says, I want out and it doesn't matter if he's got four years and let me get this right. One hundred and ninety eight million dollars left on his contract doesn't matter. He wants out. You got to give him the door. You got to show him the door.

You got to work with him to get him out. And I even said that day, I'm like, what, why don't the nets just tell him no, why don't the nets just say you got four years left in your contract? Sorry.

Sorry. And so the fact that this thing is still going on, have the nets told him that is that entirely possible? Well, what would you saying the Celtics are now a team believed to be a front runner or interested or what's the verbiage he used here that the Celtics are among teams to engage in talks have emerged among teams engaged in talks and a possible deal.

That's the phrasing he used. And he said the Celtics appear no closer to acquiring Durant than others in discussions with the Nets. But Boston's ability to include all star forward Jalen Brown as a centerpiece and offers does help make the team formidable in his pursuit, sources say.

And that's where I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a minute. Why are the why are the Celtics going to cough up a twenty five year old with two years and fifty six million dollars left on his contract who just gets better and better and better every year and he's yours and you got him along with Tatum in picks you got from the Nets. Why are you going to even flip him to Brooklyn? Why would you do it? Oh, Kevin Durant. Yes, I get it, but I wouldn't do it.

I wouldn't do it. Now Shams Sharanya of the Athletic, he went a step further and said they've offered a package for Durant that includes Jalen Brown. A Jalen Brown package that Brooklyn turned down and countered where we countering counter account to offer. Countering, sorry, well, maybe it's Brown, plus it's got to include Brown, Brown and Tatum to see you want the Prudential building also. I saw something that was brown, smart, Derek White and a bunch of picks out here in a pack of red. I guess you're all right, so Time Lord's there and Tatum's obviously there and you get Durant.

Ages thirty three through thirty seven. I wouldn't do it. No. Now, again, I don't know if you want me on your side here, Chris.

No, Rich, I do want you on my side. Because I'm going to say don't trade for Giannis. Yes, but Giannis was twenty six when we were talking about trading him. Kevin Durant's going to be thirty four when the season starts with multiple big injuries in recent years. You're a team that was two.

That happened, right? We were two wins from the NBA championship. How many wins shy were the Heat in the bubble?

You looked that up. Well, Heat made the finals, so they were. I know. How many how many were they shy of winning it all? They got swept, right?

Were they, did they get swept? All I'm saying. I didn't mean to bust up your flow.

That's right, I was on one this morning when I saw when I woke up to this, I believe I responded with a curse word to the to our group text. Look, you were that close to the finals. You got better this off. OK, you got better. You improve your team.

That was so close to winning, right? Maybe you got there because Chris Middleton get hurt. And that's totally fine. Maybe talks of this or trade offer is an overreaction because you're just afraid of Giannis's power. Totally get that. You don't need Kevin Durant. Just cut the cut the turn, cut the turnovers by a quarter. Maybe like run it back. And by the way, turnovers by a quarter, Jalen Brown's workout video, the Celtics posted one over the weekend. He's like holding dumbbells and jumping out of the pool.

Awesome. How about how about some ball handling? Can we do some dribbling this offseason? You're playing some great defense. Don't bust it up. What are you doing?

Don't trade for Durant. I'm sorry to say it because, you know, I was so wrong. You know what, Rich? It's OK. It's OK to be wrong one time.

I do. But have an appropriate take the next time. This is the appropriate. Thank you. Do not trade for Kevin Durant.

I appreciate it. And if you're the Nets, you absolutely leak this. Why? Why would you leak it? Why would you get it out there?

Because it creates turmoil with my team. Put it up there. Jalen Brown with a three letter tweet. S.M.H. Shaking my head.

Now I read this to one of two ways, Rich, one of two ways. This S.M.H. is that report is BS. Like there's no way that's happening.

Or it's S.M.H. WTF. Why am I constantly involved nonstop in trade rumors, doesn't stop, whether it's Kawhi, whether it's whoever. He's always involved in trade rumors. He was on occasion the guy who was better than Tatum and needed for him to do it in order for them to win playoff games.

Most often than not in the NBA finals, he was our best player. What are we doing? I mean, we're doing cats and dogs, cats and dogs. Brad's been awesome this off season, but bro, do not break up the J's. There you go. You're loving this over there, Mr. Philadelphia, Mr. Harden, I'll take less.

Do whatever you want with the money. I don't care. As long as you win me, help me win a championship. We ain't got no problem. How about James Harden?

How about Harden? Give him honey buns back to the team. I mean, look, he's going to make it up.

He's going to get it made up. But you know what? Don't do it.

Optically, it was a good move for him. Don't trade for Durant. Ooh, I don't know about that, man. I know it's going to... If you're Boston, don't do it. If you're Boston. If you're Boston, don't do it. Well, you have Malcolm Brogdon now. So Brown... Sit back.

Is expendable. Stop. No, he's not.

They're not. No, Brogdon already said, I'm good being the sixth man. Stay the course. We have a championship team. We're the betting favorite right now. What are we doing? Stay the course.

The energy's going to shift. That's a great hashtag. What's happened since then? I hate you, Rich. Red Sox have lost 910. Two minutes ago, we were friends, we were on the same page on this, and now we're not friends again. I gave up 28 runs over the weekend in one game.

By the way, I tweeted out that like... The line score by the sixth inning was like a lottery. It was like lottery numbers. When it was 10-0, I was like, cool, we're still in the All-Star break. And it was 25 runs.

That was a Powerball. When is Patriots camp open? Because I'm done with the Sox this year, dude. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. I'm over it.

Tomorrow. I'm over it. Okay. So, you know what? I just had a sense, I had a spidey sense yesterday, because, you know, I always think football first, right?

I'm always thinking football first. Why not? Why not? But I just had a spidey sense. I'm like, I need my... I need my Windhorst. Everyone knows it's windy. I kind of had like that sixth sense the way he had one about the impending Rudy Gobert trade about three weeks ago.

Why would they do that? Do we need the windy meme? His rust-cold type time is a flat circle soliloquy on ESPN, on Get Up.

Right? Windy. Windy just talking about, keep an eye on the Utah Jazz. Now why would they do that?

Why would they do that? And then boom, Gobert's at Timberwolf by lunchtime. That pointing going on, kind of like looking up at the sky. Everyone knows it's windy. And so I reached out to him, I'm like, would you like to come on? Would you like to come on?

We should introduce him with this music every time. Yeah. Pay the fine, Rich. Just pay it.

Who knows you should look to the Timberwolves for Rudy Gobert. It's windy. Okay. So...

I can't say that word. Oh, by the way, that means Brian Windhorst is going to join us, but we do have football on the brain. So Mark Schlereth will join us as well, NFL on Fox analyst and the comedian David A. Arnold, who has the current number one comedy special on Netflix.

Hey, now. It ain't for the week. He's coming here in studio. He's a diehard Browns fan. Maybe the Deshaun Watson news will break with him physically here because at some point we are going to find out he's there, by the way, Deshaun Watson's at Browns training camp.

Really? Of course he is. Quarterbacks report beforehand. Did they show that the Browns tweet out a video of him walking in?

I doubt it. Looking. No, their last video is still Chubb squatting 8,000 pounds. I know, with a bar that looks like licorice. He's lifting. He was lifting. By the way, that was more than 145, Mike.

What Chubb was squatting. So that's the way we're rolling here on this program. Let us take a break. Well, I would love to hear it from you 8, 4, 4, 2, 0, 4, rich number to dial.

If you think that Durant should not be acquired by the Celtics, I can't believe I'm saying these words and I can't believe you and I are agreeing. But then again, the Blue Jays just scored again, so we'll check on that. Everyone knows it's windy when we come back. Does your antiperspirant keep you dry all day? Dove Men Plus Care Dry Spray goes on instantly dry for a cleaner feel and offers 48 hours sweat and odor protection. Let me repeat that, 48 hours of sweat and odor protection.

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Goes on dry, clean feel all day. Rich Eisen Show 8, 4, 4, 2, 0, 4, rich number to dial here on Peacock Sirius XM and this terrestrial radio network and also the Odyssey app. He's, quite frankly, our favorite. Anytime he comes on the show, makes us smarter, loved chatting always with this man and thrilled that he is back here on the show with a lot popping in the association. The man from the worldwide leader in sports on the Mercedes-Benz Vans phone line, Brian Windhorst, back here on the program. How you doing, Brian? Hi, Rich. How are you? I'm doing fine. So, what is the latest from your end of things on what's going on with Durant, the Celtics, and anything else on that front?

Brian? Yeah, I know. Obviously, this comes out today from WOJ and so it's in front of everybody's mind. My feel is that those talks are not brand new. That the Celtics have been talking to the Nets all along. When they offered Jalen Brown, I don't know when that was, but it wasn't yesterday or the day before.

That offer's been there for a while. And the thing about it is, Rich, we're in such... This Durant situation is so different from all the star players who've asked for trades for the last decade because he's got four years on his contract. It's not like when Anthony Davis asked. It's not like when Kawhi Leonard asked.

It's just different and there's not a playbook for it. And so the Nets, because of that, are asking an obscene price. And so let's just go to our lives, whether we're ever in the bidding for something or we watch things, what happens when something is so expensive nobody wants to pay? You know, a Bugatti somebody found in a barn or oceanfront real estate in Santa Monica, that the price is so high.

One of two things happen. It either sits on the market and doesn't get sold or the price drops. And if you don't want to pay the price and you're in the market for it, you wait for the price to drop. And that is exactly what's happening with Durant.

There is this something that is extremely valuable on the market and nobody wants to pay the price for it. And so they are now waiting for it to drop and the Nets are just waiting for someone to come up. And this is a stalemate for a highly valued NBA player. Well, I totally get that, Brian.

I totally understand. Why would the Celtics be willing to part with Jaylen Brown, do you think, on that front? So this is a nuanced answer. Jaylen Brown has a contract that he's very likely not going to extend. In the NBA, when you're in a contract and you want to extend your contract, as we just recently saw, for example, with Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns, you can only extend your contract a certain percentage.

It's one of the arcane rules. And so even if Jaylen Brown was over the moon excited with the Celtics, even if they had gone 82-0 last year and he had averaged 50 points a game and shot 100% from the field, and he was telling people that he never wants to leave the city of Boston again in his life, he would not extend his contract, because his contract that he's in right now limits how much he can extend for. So the Celtics, as they look long-term, are probably facing Jaylen Brown eventually becoming an unrestricted free agent on them in two years and them not having control over where he's going to go. It is, on the grand scheme of problems confronting the Celtics, it's not sitting there on the front burner.

But it is something that is an issue out there. By the way, this is exactly the core reason why the San Antonio Spurs traded to John T. Murray. You may have said to yourself, my God, why would they trade an all-star in the middle of his contract who's in his prime? And that's the reason, is that they were afraid they couldn't keep him, and you trade him when his value is higher. So I don't think that the Celtics are sitting there scheming about where they can trade Jaylen Brown.

Oh my God, we've got to trade him. I think they realize that there is a coming issue with his contract, and if you're ever going to trade him, why would you not trade him to get a player in Kevin Durant who could take you closer to a championship? I don't think they're making calls offering Jaylen Brown a round, but when this offer presented itself or this situation, I think they were remiss not to at least explore it. It doesn't mean they don't like him. Of course, I understand that that will be the premise out there, that once something like this gets out there, that it's like, oh my God, they want to get rid of him. They hate him. He's going to get rid of him in the next five minutes. He wants out of there.

That's not necessarily true, but I realize that it's all buried in nuance, and it's not always going to get translated. Brian Windhorst here on the Rich Eisen Show, and honestly, and I also get you saying that it's a dance between hoping that the price drops if you do want Durant and hoping that you can get through that period if you're the Nets. Any chance that the Nets have told Durant, forget it, you're staying here, we want you. Has that been a possibility at all? I think the Nets' position at the moment, Rich, and I really have to say at the moment because this is somewhat volatile, although I think it's dormant right now, but I think their position is we can't get our price for you, so we're going to try to run this back and see if we can do it better.

There is precedent for something like this. 2007, Kobe Bryant asked for a trade. In fact, if you remember, he went on Stephen A. Smith's show on national television and said the word, something to the effect of, I never am going to play for the Lakers again.

I've asked them for a trade. And the late, now at that time, Kobe, he might as well have had a four-year contract because he had a no-trade clause in his contract. He was able to veto any trade, and the Lakers went out and looked for offers, specifically with the Bulls, and they said, okay, Kobe, we're going to trade you the Bulls for these players. And Kobe said, no, you can't trade me for those players because then when I go to Chicago we won't be good enough. And they went around and around and around like this throughout the summer, and eventually they said, Kobe, you're under contract, we can't find a trade, let's just try to work this out. And Kobe came back, and later they traded for piles of salt, and they went to the next three finals. So I think there is precedent. Now the reality, Rich, is that Kevin Durant was the one who started this. He was the one who requested the trade.

It is he who will decide whether or not he remains pleased with the situation. But it's the same sort of deal. No team feels ready to offer the price that the Nets want for Durant.

And so again, if you can't get your price, I think it's common if you were trying to sell something that had extreme value to you, and you couldn't get your price, you're more likely to just pull it off the market as opposed to making a bad deal. So I think that's where the Nets are right now. We don't know where Durant is on that. Durant is tweeting about things that are not related to his situation.

He is not sharing where his feelings are on that. But I think that's where the Nets are right now. They are not giving the offers that they deem worth his value. And so I think they're like, look, we've got you under contract for four years.

Let's try to see if we can work this out in September. And then, of course, in the interim, you know, a lot of folks, Brian Winhorst, attempting to CSI to hit the DNA and on the decision by Durant to ask for the trade out of Brooklyn. And that being made public two days after Kyrie Irving ops back in with Brooklyn. And there's a lot of connecting those dots that Kyrie says, I'm back. And then Durant says, I'm out. Is that is that correlated in your mind of those of those two things mutually exclusive?

Or is that a direct line? Kyrie says, I want back and Durant says, I want out. What do you think? Well, one of the things that we do know, Rich, is that Durant and Kyrie were talking during Durant's during Kyrie's negotiation for his contract. We know this because Kevin said as much in the last his last comments on the situation. He did a podcast on his podcast network and and said he was communicating with Kyrie, although he said he wasn't telling him what to do.

He was standing back. So I doubt I don't know for sure. OK, to be 100 percent clear, I don't know for sure I didn't tap their phone lines, but I doubt that Kevin's trade demand came as a surprise to Kyrie Irving. But I do think that Kyrie was worried about making the best deal for himself. And considering there was no way he was going to get that thirty seven million dollars out on the market, not so much because nobody valued him, it was just that there wasn't teams with cap space this summer who needed a player like him or in position to go for a player like him.

I think he made his mind up relative to his own situation. But having said that, I don't think that the Nets do something with Kyrie Irving until they know what's happening with Durant, because at the end of the day, if the smoke clears and they still have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on their roster, they've got a very formidable team. Now, whether they can hold it together is a different question.

And the crazy thing about this is rich. I know that this statement is going to sound wild, I'm about to make, but I actually like the Nets off season to this point, added added a couple of nice veterans. They traded for Royce O'Neill from the from the from the Jazz with the exact type of player they need.

It was a defensive three point shooter. They're going to get they're going to get healthier. Some of their players who were out last year are going to be healthier coming back. They're going to have great shooting on their team. I think they could be pretty darn good if they could hold it all together.

Of course, the holding all together is the problem. Brian Windhorst here on the Rich Eisen show. So you just mentioned Royce O'Neill, the acquisition for the Nets from from the Jazz.

And that leads me to your, I think, very viral moment, Brian, from a couple of weeks ago where you went on and what I thought was a very rust cold, true detective type soliloquy on time is a flat circle. Watch the Jazz. You keep an eye on the Jazz and then boom. We saw Rudy Gobert get traded later on that night. Your phone must have blown up on that. You see all the memes, too, with the pointing and the fingers and all that business.

Brian, you see that stuff? Yeah, I mean, I think I mean, the situation was this. I knew that Rudy Gobert was very close to getting traded, but, you know, I wasn't 100 sure he was going to get traded because obviously that was a pretty complicated, wild deal. But when I knowing that Gobert was about to go traded and having seen that Royce O'Neill trade, which was indicating that potentially two superstars or stars were about to be on the market, that was sort of my way of of of telling the viewer.

And, you know, the first letter in ESPN does stand for entertainment. I know that I know that it's taboo to do anything too, too edgy. But sometimes we try to have a modicum, just a little teeny bit of fun, teeny bit of fun we're allowed to have. We're not descended on like locusts by aggregators. And so I was trying to you know, I was trying to avoid coming out and saying Rudy Gobert was about to get traded. So if I had said that, then I would have been married to that. And for the next 72 hours, there would have been an all out attack coming at me from 15 different sides demanding Rudy Gobert updates and information.

Brian, what is the very, very, very, very, very, very latest on the Rudy Gobert trade docs? And I just didn't want that in my life because I also knew that there's a possibility he wasn't going to get traded because I thought he was going to get traded the night before and they didn't put the deal together. Because as you later found out that the deal was pretty complicated. So really what I was just trying to do, number one was have some fun because rich the a block of first aid lasts about 25 minutes. You know, you have a little bit of time there. And Stephen A was out, he was, he was, he was on, he was out that week.

So you know, Stephen A wasn't there. And so like I had a little bit of time, I was just trying to have a little bit of fun without going too far with what I said. And I guess people liked it. And it also helped that it was Friday of a holiday weekend where the holiday was on Monday. So it was a long weekend where not much happened and people were able to have fun on the internet. It was riveting television, Brian.

And I love that there was a method to the madness right there. So clearly you're the man to ask what's going on with Donovan Mitchell then? Is he going or staying? What's the scoop with him? Or is Utah going to end up clearing the whole deck there?

What do you think? Well, let's judge the Jazz and the New York Knicks on their actions. Okay? Let's, let's take the words and just ignore them because the Jazz were telling people openly we're not going to trade Rudy Gobert. And then they were saying we're not going to trade Donovan Mitchell.

And I don't know if their credibility is the greatest right now. So if you look at what Danny Ainge has traded stars for, whether it was Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce or now Rudy Gobert, his price is awfully high. And you saw what he just got for Gobert.

It was a haul. One of the highest price trades in NBA history. Right up there with Paul George. But of course the Paul George one has a bit of an asterisk on it because the Clippers were kind of trading for Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

This for a single player acquisition is just absolutely breathtaking. So with that is what you know about Danny Ainge. I think you can rest assured that he is not going to trade Donovan Mitchell until he gets the price that he has in his mind. And that could come tomorrow. I doubt it. That could come in a month.

That could come in three months. He has Donovan Mitchell under contract for four years. And from what I am, from what I understand Donovan Mitchell, while he recognizes that he doesn't want to be on a total rebuilding team, which is where the Jazz are headed, he is not forcing the issue. I think he is not, I think he realizes he's probably going to get traded at some point and anything that he does to cause waves might delay that or complicate it. And so he is planning on being a good professional, reporting and just waiting to get traded.

And so as a result I think you're going to see it drag out. Now let's go to the Knicks. Now granted it was a different front office, but it was the same owner. This is very comparable to me to when the Knicks were really wanting to get Carmelo Anthony.

If you remember, that played out over six, seven months, Rich. And we talked about dozens of different trade scenarios. There was times where another team, the Brooklyn, I guess the New Jersey Nets at the time, maybe they moved to Brooklyn, were almost traded for him. At the end of the day, the Knicks basically paid a massive amount for Carmelo Anthony. They ended up giving the Nuggets just about everything that they wanted. And so if you're at any age and you know that that's what the Knicks and the same ownership might do, and you have held your price out, I think what you will see there is, because the Knicks have, I know there are other teams interested, but what the price that the Jazz are looking for, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of that four first round picks that they got for Gobert and then other players, I think the Knicks are the team that can pay it. I think the Knicks are the team that the Jazz want to do the business with. And I think, you know, the Knicks ultimately will probably feel some pressure to execute that deal, especially if the season starts and they don't start out super hot. So I would guess that eventually Donovan Mitchell is a Knick, that's an educated guess.

I don't know, of course. And I think it's really right now all about the two sides doing their own posturing and negotiation on what the price is going to be. Brian Windhorst here on the Rich Eisen Show.

In the couple of minutes I have left, one last tea leaf read from you, Brian Windhorst. And this is involving Russell Westbrook and his agent breaking up. Now, normally I don't pay attention to that sort of stuff, but there was a very compelling statement put out by his former agent of 14 years saying that the trade that Westbrook might need to get out of Los Angeles would require additional value, meaning, you know, everybody's saying the Lakers have got to include first round draft choices and they're not going to do that. Even then, such a trade may require Russell to immediately move on from the new team via buyout. There was a statement saying that the agent's belief is that this type of transaction only serves to diminish Russell's value and his best option is to stay with the Lakers and embrace the starting role and support that Darvin Ham publicly offered. And then they broke up saying that's an irreconcilable difference. Does that mean Russ wants out?

Is that what you're, is that what we're to read here and what's going on, Brian? I don't know if he wants out. I think what seems to be clear from that statement, which Rich, I agree, I've never seen anything like it in the 20 years I've covered the NBA and his agent, his now ex-agent Thad Fauchet is a veteran, long time agent. The guy's done, I don't want to shortchange it, maybe he's done a billion dollars in deals, maybe more.

He is not, he is not without experience. And so I think the most interesting thing about that is that what basically Thad is saying there is that if Russ gets traded, he's being traded basically just as a contract and that he will be likely released by his new team because his only value is as a cap clearer, as a, you know, as an accounting move. And that he's saying, basically without saying it, that the role that Darvin Ham is offering him, which is as a starting point guard but as a role player, Darvin Ham is pretty much spelled out exactly what he wants from him, is better than he could get if he gets traded.

I'm not sure that, I'm not sure that if Russell Westbrook was traded to a team and released tomorrow, I'm not sure that he would have a team right away. I think he would eventually get back into the league, but I think this concept that people would immediately want to sign him, and again, it's not so much that people don't, I know that there are Russ fans out there, Rich, who find this absolutely an insult and I'm sure Russ himself clearly doesn't believe this because he's fired his agent over it, but it's not so much what his abilities are, it's what he's willing to do for a team. It's what he, it's what his, you know, what he's willing to accept as a role in more than his actual skills and so that's where the Lakers are trying to squeeze him into a box. I don't think it will be successful, Rich, because I think what Darvin Ham is asking him to do, which is to set screens, play defense first and stand in the corner and be a floor spacer, I don't think he's equipped to do that. And maybe if he worked tirelessly over the summer, maybe he would have a shot at it, but it sounds like he's spending more time trying to break out of that situation than to fall into it.

And my question is, if Russ doesn't embrace what Darvin Ham has put in front of him, and it seems like he's not based on what Thao Sheh said in that statement, what do the Lakers do? If he's not willing to accept the role, how do they approach him in the season if they can't trade him? Because trading him is complicated.

He makes $47 million. It's hard to find a trade. I mean, there are trades out there they can do. I'm not saying it's impossible.

They're exploring them and maybe they'll find something. But if he's not willing to fill that role, what do you do? Do you even bring him to camp? And so Russ is on the edge right now. It could go a multitude of different ways, but I would say that that statement and that breakup did not help the Lakers, either with their relationship with Russ, with Darvin Ham's hopes of getting him into that role or in their hopes of trading him. Yeah, because I mean, why break up with your agent? When you said Thao Sheh, you know, you don't want to shortchange him a billion dollars worth of contracts. You could say that that's all Westbrook's money, right? So it's insane how successful this relationship is and for the agent to basically come out and say, I'm telling him to stay and this is an irreconcilable difference.

We're done. I mean, that is more of an indication you need to know that Westbrook isn't buying what Ham is selling. Right. I mean, and I don't know how that's tenable for the Lakers. I don't know exactly why Saad did that, but I almost think it was him trying to help Russ.

Right. You know, him trying to say, Russ, like this is where it is. But you know, from what I understand, Russ is out there shopping for a new agent and he's looking at big names and if he lands a big name agent, what is he going to task that agent to do? Why go out and hire another agent? You know, what's you know, what is the new agent going to ask for that Thad Foushee wouldn't do? So that's like you're jumping to a conclusion that it might mean leaving the Lakers.

I don't want to jump to that conclusion, but you're not you're not you're not ridiculous in saying that. Brian, thanks for the time, man. Really love the chat again. You never disappoint.

You always overdeliver. Greatly appreciate it. Let's chat again soon. Look for my text. Look for my call. OK, talk to you later. Thanks again, man.

That's at Windhorse DSPN. The best. Love him. And again, just real quick. This is not a tenable stance for the Lakers. If Russell Westbrook is saying back to Darvin Ham, who gave him verbal bouquet after verbal bouquet in his introductory press conference with Westbrook off to the side. If he is not going to accept the Ham's vision for him, then he's got to go. Because if I'm the Lakers and I'm bringing in Darvin Ham and this is the closing window of LeBron's final years there, right?

And he and you're handing off the keys to the store to him. You are not going to let something going on between Westbrook and the coach tear anything else apart. This is an important moment for the Lakers, for Ham to put his own stamp on this team, certainly with LeBron sitting right there. And if the agent of 14 years is saying, I'm telling him, this is a bad move to leave here because he's going to get released. And that's bad for the Westbrook brand, which he said throughout this statement is first ballot all-famer.

And I think we all agree. Bad for the Westbrook brand, for him to be traded and then released and then sat there as a free agent. And the next spot won't be crypto.com, sorry Lakers fans, that's what it's called, with LeBron and AD and Ham and the Lake show. And if Westbrook doesn't buy that, then I'm selling out. It's worth it. It's worth the pain of whatever picks you have to give to get him out, let Ham have his own way, his own stamp and his own team.

And it shows everybody, it doesn't matter if you're first ballot all-famer, if you don't see the vision of our new coach, out. Take a break. 844-204-rich, number to dial here on the Rich Eisen Show. We'll take your calls when we come back.

Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, 844-204-rich being the number to dial and some of our favorites have already done so. Jeff in Detroit, back here on the program, well, how you been, Jeffrey? What's going on, it's my cousins, man, bro. Hey, Jeff. Now, Jeff, Jeff, just before we jump in for you here, I got to be honest with you.

We always are straightforward with all of our friends. Last time you called, you mentioned you're only 5'5", and it just threw all of us for a loop. Like we all thought you, I don't know why we thought like you would be like 6'6", or something like that.

I don't know what it is. Probably because I got a big mouth and all, you know, usually when I take a picture, I take it from a certain angle so it looks like I'm big, but hey, listen, and I kid you not, I was 5'5", in the 7th grade, so I started growing and I was kind of tall, and I'm thinking I'm going to play basketball. So much for that. So much for that. Well, okay, I just, I don't know, we just wanted to just tell you that.

We all, like, as soon as you hung up, we're like, did you catch that one? So what's on your mind today, Jeff? Yeah, TJ's height, or even Chris Bachner's height, wouldn't you Chris like 5'8"? No, no, no, no, no, no. You're 6 in front of that, Jeff.

You are wading into some very dicey territory. He's probably close to 5'8", yeah. TJ's the tallest of all of us here. TJ is tall. But Rich and I are the same height. And then for some reason, the initial photoshopping of the shot of all four of us together, Del Tufo was bigger than, like, you know, was bigger than TJ. I am bigger than Bryce. And Brockman took real offense to the fact that Mike was taller. Yeah, he's not proportionally... That's a big problem.

He did a big problem. Alright, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go in there. Go for it.

What else you got? What's in your mind, Jeffrey? Oh, no problem, no problem.

First of all, real quick suggestion, man. Hulu has a series out called The First Lady, don't know if you guys have caught it. It's kind of like The Power Behind the Throne. Betty Ford, Michelle Obama, and Eleanor Roosevelt go through their lives and kind of draw them together how they were so separate, but so together, especially with them being The Power Behind the Throne. So it's really, really a really good series to check out.

Noted. As far as the Celtics situation, KD to the Celtics, no, no, no, no, no. And I fear you, Chris, because the Celtics have the brightest future of any NBA team, number one. Number two, I've always thought that Jason Tatum losing was probably one of the best things that happened to him because that's what turns a star into a superstar. He's going to go back, and I believe that KD joining the Celtics will probably kind of curtail that. You're messing up the apple crop, man, you guys really, in all honesty, if they don't make it to the finals next year, it's a bust.

But I definitely would not bring KD in. It's like a hired hand. Thanks for the call, Jeffrey.

Greatly appreciate it. Be well, Jeff. By the way, the greatest hired hand in the history of hands and hiring hands, I mean, that's the temptation. And that's why we have Brian Windhorst on when I always say he makes us smarter. He tells us what we may not know, and I did not know that Jaylen Brown's contract requires him in order to make the most money to be an unrestricted free agent. It does not suit him. It is not best for him. It does not make him the most money to merely extend it. So the Celtics know that, and they know at some point two years from now, Jaylen Brown, in order to make what he wants to make, will affect a free agency period. And they know that. And once that happens, anything can happen.

You can lose him at age 27, so why not purposely lose him at age 25 if it nets you Kevin Durant? Knowing that, Chris, does that change your opinion? No. You'd rather run it back for two more years? Let's run it back. We're not supposed to do this. We're arguably one of the best teams in the league.

But it's your job. Boom, I've just made you Brad Stevens. Congratulations. Apparently he's got a very good golf game. Ooh, I'll take that. How can he beat Chris? So I know that because my brother-in-law has played with him for the Jimmy V events that he helps run. So congratulations, you're Brad Stevens.

It's your job to look over the steering wheel. And you know this is coming in two years, so why not give it... You're not getting Durant in two years. So are we going to roll the dice with a three to four-year Durant window instead? I don't know. It's not much of a dice roll. I mean, there is a dice roll, but... It's Kevin Durant.

You know who it is. You're going to hit the point. You're going to hit the point.

It's a dice roll in terms of injury. You've got to think about it. I still stand pat. I just want to keep going.

I don't want to do it. With your young coach, everything's just in the right direction, pointing in the right direction. It's Kevin Durant.

It's hour number two, let's talk some football when we come back. Yeah, I know it's Kevin Durant, but it's going to be... You know who he is. It's going to be 34-year-old Kevin Durant off of some big injuries in the last three or four years. And why is it not an appropriate dot connect to go from June 28th, Kyrie says, I'm back.

Oh, I'm with you there. June 30th, Durant says, I'm out. Right.

How is that not a dot connect? Because one would think Durant's staying if Kyrie stays, because that's the reason why you convened in Brooklyn. That's why that's their best shot. That's their difference-making duo. Right?

Yes. I mean, you're looking for the difference makers in this league, which is why the Knicks are apparently considering... I saw that trade while I was on vacation as well. RJ Barrett quickly and multiple, what, six first rounders? Was that the rumor? Six first rounders?

Yeah, it was something like crazy. Like you're giving it away every other day. Like a Knick fan could be born in New York City, have a bris, and before their bar mitzvahed, the Knicks haven't had a first round draft choice in consecutive years of his entire life.

Cool. That's, I mean, 12 years of non-consecutive first round draft selections? Now, I just don't know what a first round pick in the NBA means compared to obviously the sport that I cover day in and day out.

I don't know. I would definitely, if I'm the Lakers, I would definitely cough up whatever first round choices I need to make Westbrook disappear if Westbrook is not accepting what Darvin Ham is selling or he's not all in on it. After last year, no way. You've got yourself a new coach, a new situation coming in, a whole new feeling.

It's his show. Done. If you're not all in, if we're not all rowing in the same direction, whatever long time sports cliche you want, I'd attach the first round picks there. But if I'm the Knicks' six first round picks, and quickly, and RJ IQ in six first rounders, no thanks. That's not Michael Jordan reincarnated, is it?

I guess they're just thinking they could scam Dolan. I don't get it. For the real story behind some of wrestling's biggest moments, it's Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson, too. All-time Hogan opponents, Macho Man's got to be in the conversation. Where's Andre for you? I've always said Andre was number one. Wow. Because even going back before Hulk Hogan was a babyface, Hulk and Andre were able to go in and headline at the New Orleans Superdome, at Shea Stadium in Japan. Wherever they went, that was an attraction. Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.