REShow: Jeffery Simmons & Howard Beck - Hour 3

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Seriously, though, see terms and check it out for yourself at discover.com slash match. This is The Rich Eisen Show with guest host Kirk Morrison. Let's start this program with Wyndham Clark's mother before she passed had a mantra of play big Wyndham Clark has played bigger than the biggest names of the game live from the Rich Eisen show studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show Raven Safety Marlin Humphries is the host of The Rich Eisen Show.

Marlin Humphries golf and college football writer for the athletic Brody Miller coming up Titans defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons. And now sitting in for rich it's Kirk Morrison. Our three here on The Rich Eisen Show Kirk Morrison here filling in for Richmond awesome show we got going today Brock Mendel twofold TJ we all here right here in the flesh. Hope you all had a Happy Father's Day weekend. Happy Juneteenth today as well. Everybody celebrating and funny Kirk it's Juneteenth and you and I are here and Rich isn't that just fun.

Yeah, I got you. I got one of the celebrities that wasn't I didn't get a chance to go to the LACC this weekend. Yeah, usually he's usually here but you know what I mean the golf course didn't they needed rich actually they probably did they needed another personality around but no celebrities were allowed. I got in though, but you know what? I had to go and find my way in.

I'm a man of the people. That's why I got a secret. You got a secret tunnel or something right?

Somebody got some had to get down there if he wants to but you know what? Man NFL offseason is the real offseason is now started because the OTAs and the minicamps and all that stuff is now over and you get a little chance to just take a breather. I talked about a little bit earlier in in the show just about the time to relax and just meditate reflect and a guy we could talk to about reflecting on a career so far has been outstanding is Jeffrey Simmons the Titans defensive tackle the number one draft already 19th overall pick back in the 2019 NFL draft joins the program and Mr. Simmons, I'll call you.

Mr. Simmons Jeffrey. Just tell me right now after this entire offseason is sort of now at any the part of the vacation and the resting part. Where does Jeffrey Simmons usually find his time now to get away from football? First off man, I appreciate y'all for having me but man you know, you really don't get away from the game of football, you know, what just the game the nature of the game we play, you know, you know, you get them couple months right after the season, but I mean we right after minicam, you got the OTA you got the minicamp in boom.

You got you got to go right back to training because you got that month or whatnot five weeks Mark just before training camp. So, you know, I but I do you know, I get the I get I enjoy just to be around my family, you know, I'm up here in Dallas. I'm getting some work in with my guy Adam and you know, also the thought of my field work. I just worked out with my uncle who played in the league Jason Hatcher.

Yeah, that's what I'm doing right now and I'm getting ready to actually get some field work in and a little bit man. It's amazing just to be around family and you know, do what I love doing a lot of outdoors. No fishing whatever may be. I'm trying to get into this golf team. It's not it's not the easiest thing. I'm very competitive. So I'm out there in my husband. I'm seeing him hit the golf balls make it look so easy. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to go get some lessons in tonight.

So so yeah, man. There's been finding things that you know, I've been in trying to enjoy doing I just had to fish in and now I'm just golf team. So I'm sure you guys golf and I know a lot better than me. So Trust me golf is always it's very humbling Jeffrey no matter how many times you play it. The course will continue to humble you each and every time but you know, I do want to go back a little bit just when you you're coming out of college Jeffrey and your training getting ready for the NFL draft and I remember you got hurt training. And so you had to miss a majority of that 2019 season and you came on and ever all the Titans fans were like, man, we may have something here and in two full seasons of play. You've established yourself Jeffrey as one of the top defensive tackles in the National Football League.

I mean three seasons of plus to say you've established yourself as one of the top defensive players and all of the game. How hard was that 2019 season for you to know you should be out there but having to rehab but now finally getting out there and showing you showing Titans fans in the league what we all expected from the 19th overall pick in 2019. I mean mentally it was it was it was hard, you know, I think when I reflect back on that and I met a space now where I look back and say yeah, it was supposed to happen that way, you know, everything happened for a reason and you know that whole season, you know, I get hurt that couple weeks right before the combine will go up there do the meetings and stuff right before you know that it was like that.

I think it was like February 13th from like that and I went out there doing a normal trailer. My ACL and you know, I'm thinking like what about to happen now, but man, I would say once I got drafted to Tennessee it just, you know, I think it's just been around the people, you know, in that building, you know, the organization I had a great career Casey being a random type of guy helped me out a lot mentally because you know one thing that, you know, helped me a lot was, you know, I think it was really just like, you know, go with you control. I think at that point it was just my rehab, I couldn't do nothing else.

No, I didn't feel I didn't feel like I was part of that team because not one really going to the means I want doing a walkthrough going camp. I just want to rehab, you know, maybe seeing me straight back to rehab but I gotta say it's all worked out fun. I'm, I'm in a space now where, you know, I'm so grateful and I'm grateful to be in Tennessee, the fans, you know, I love them.

I'm grateful for the city, especially Miss Amy mad. They took a chance on me and, you know, just gave me another sentence or working out just fine for me. The all pro defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons on the Tennessee Titans joined the rich eyes and so you mentioned it. The big contract extension one of the highest paid defensive players in the National Football League and you mentioned that you had to prove it in the path that you did get to here. You mentioned that you had to continue to keep showing hey this is what the future is going to look like. Does that now give you added pressure, even more now to continue to keep living up to what you've already accomplished?

I wouldn't say added pressure. I think when I, when I look back on it, when I, I know what I expect out of myself and I know what Tennessee expect out of me, it just with me, how can I be a better me each and every day? You know, I'm not going into this season trying to overdo it. I think each year you figure that what you can get better with your game and that's kind of one of the things I have been, I looked at, you know, I'm watching fan with Coach Ray, I'm watching fan with Coach C and then, you know, I'm watching him up here when the medallion is just, I want to find that next, what could take my game to the next step. And I think that's the pressure right there for me. Like, how can I get better from last year to now to pick my game and elevate my game?

You know, I know that you're going into year five, so I wouldn't say no added pressure. I just want to, you know, continue to be dominant. I want to be more consistent with my play so that can, you know, help my team in the best way I can. So I think that's, that's my goal this year. You know, I took a lot of things from, you know, going to the meets in OTA and minicamp, just, you know, hearing what I need to work on.

I think that's been my mindset, you know, just trying to focus on those things just off season so I can be a better Jeffery Simmons for this upcoming season. Jeffery, how is it being coached by Mike Vrabel? What is it like being in, for a guy who's won Super Bowls in this league, who played for the Patriots for a long time, was an outstanding player in his own right.

What is it like being coached by Mike Vrabel? Oh man, I love it, man. You know, he pushes, you know, especially me, you know, he'll tell you that. I saw something the other day, he thought my bark is, my bark is louder than my bike, bigger than my bike.

Something like that. But, you know, it's fun, you know, having a coach like that, that you get, you know, talked smack to during practice, especially when you make a play or whatever it may be, just to talk smack to him and, you know, but it's all, it's all good, you know, because, you know, one thing he always says, you know, he gonna, he gonna hold his, the best players or whatever it may be, to the higher standard. And I would say he hold me to one of the highest standard in the good. And so, you know, I enjoy playing for him, man. He a real player coach, you know, he wanted, he wanted the best, he liked to win. So, you know, I love to win.

So, you know, we get along wonderful. So, man, it's, like I say, it's good playing for Coach Rabe. I know one of the things now is that when you look at Coach Vrabel, obviously there's always been this mentality that you guys play with, this toughness, especially on defense, but you look at the other side of the football, the offensive side, it's also a running back by the name of Derrick Henry. You've been around him now four seasons. What is it about Derrick Henry that makes him so special that we don't see? Obviously, we see him running the football, but the dude seems like he's about the same size as you running downhill. What is it about Derrick Henry that you see that a lot of other people don't get a chance to see every day?

I mean, I mean, we see it every now and then on social media, but just his work ethic, man, like, you know, he put so much work in. You know, I was talking to him right before we left and, you know, he trained up here in Dallas as well. And he asked me, he said, I was like, man, I'm going to come get some hills in with you. And I'm like, I think he said he run like 21 of them. I'm like, how long?

How many? And that hill, that's a pretty long hill. But when I talk to him, though, you know, it's just his mindset. You know, it was a day, you know, he'll come in and work out this morning going to minicamp. And then, you know, I'm thinking he's done. He go to practice. Now, see, I'm going back to the weight room after the minicamp practice. I'm like, what you going to do? He said, I'm going to get another lift in. Come on.

I'm looking like, yeah, you different. I think that's the thing with Gary, man, just his work ethic, how much he put into this game, you know, what's going on here. I think he was seven or eight for them. I mean, you know, I don't I don't see him decline. I just see because his work ethic and the way he still getting out, I just see him keep elevating. You know, Jeffrey, you had a couple of seasons in Tennessee to where you guys have been the number one seed. You get to the playoffs last year. A lot of expectations on you guys.

You guys don't make the playoffs and you continue to have this. The expectation of, okay, we got to get here or else or the window is closing. But for you outside of that, when you get away from all of the noise, when it comes to the NFL, when you sit down and just reflect or just relax, what is it? You mentioned the outdoors. You mentioned going fishing.

How was that? How do you get that piece before you get back out on the football field? I just I go back to my family, you know, when I go home, you know, one of the things I try to do is just get away from the game for a minute, you know, especially after the wins or even the losses, man. Because, you know, when I reflect, I think that's the reason why I do play the game of football. You know, of course, I love the game. But, man, I just I know my son and my sisters and they you get asked in about all the all the families. My sister's going to be the loudest in the stadium. So it's just when I see the joy on their face, I know I can have one of the baddest games on Sunday and they'll say, oh, you play great. And that's the reason why we do it, man. Just that family atmosphere, like when I go home, you know, I can feel like, okay, everything is okay.

You know what I'm saying? So I think, like I said, it's just my family, man, because I don't really do that much during the season other than, you know, be with my family and I do my massages and all that. But at the end of the day, you know, I just like to be around my family. You know, Jeffrey, you were also a two time all academic SEC. What did you major in at Mississippi State? So I was in Kinesiology starting off in my freshman year of college. And then, you know, I had a mindset of, you know, I want to leave college in three years, but I want to graduate in three years. And it was like, that's no way you graduated with Kinesiology. So I changed my major.

It's called Human Developed Family Science. And the major that, you know, I'm planning on finishing this off-season, the upcoming off-season. I mean, I think when I picked the major, you know, I didn't realize that I was going to have to do all these hours of like, you know, the services and like the, I guess, I want to call it community service. But I think it's just the hours where you have to go into like a boys and girls club. I think I had to do like 450 hours.

I'm like, whoa. I'm like, I'm leaving in December. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do that. But yeah, my goal is to go back.

I got like three or four classes left. My goal is to go this off-season, this upcoming off-season and training my degree. Just a couple more questions here for Jeffrey Simmons, Titans defensive tackle. You know, Jeffrey, obviously, earlier we had Marlon Humphrey on, another player from the SEC, such as yourself. As you watch SEC football on Saturdays, and obviously you see a lot of guys who played in the SEC on Sunday that you're going up against. What is it about that conference, in your eyes, what did you see in college that made you or prepared you for the NFL game on Sunday? I mean, when you look at it, you know, a lot of these, you know, I feel like talent, you know, you got talent, you know, no matter where you go play ball at, it's going, you know, people going to see that.

But at the end of the day, man, it just, it felt like it got me so ready for the NFL early. Because, you know, when a lot of guys are like, man, the SEC different, it's different. In the trenches, you got these, like I remember playing against in college and that's when I, like I would say, like my mindset was still like kind of how it is now, but I'm better. But I remember in college, I'm like, we're going to play bama. And we're playing against like Lester Cotton, he's 350 pounds.

I'm like, I'm just 305 because I'm like, what am I going to do with a double team with that? So I think it's different in the SEC, man. The guys, the speed, you know, the talent, like I said, the talent is everywhere. But I just feel like the SEC just attract more, you know, higher, whatever you want to call it. But yeah, that – especially playing in the trenches, it's different and it got me ready, I feel like, for where I'm at now.

Well, Jeffery, I'm going to get you out of here on this one because I know you're going to get to the workout and get ready. But what is it like now this year knowing the Titans or the underdog? They're not going in as a favorite to win the AFC South, they're going in as an underdog because of, you know, what the Jacksonville Jaguars did last year. The Colts will be different at quarterback. They possibly could be different at quarterback as well. What is it like now with the mindset of going in as the underdog rather as a favorite as you were last year?

I mean, it don't matter. I think that's – when you look at it, you know, we were the favorites last year and look where we ended at. I think all that preseason and, you know, that ranking stuff don't matter to me.

I go in the mindset that, you know, I want to win. We're going to take one game at a time. And at the end of the day, that's about how much we could put together as a team during camp and stick together and keep doing that each and every game during the season.

Like I said, we're trying to build something in Tennessee right now. A lot of people say it's the rebuild year. And I told them, like, I'm not looking forward to the rebuild. I'm looking forward to the win. So, you know, our mindset is, you know, block out the outside north, just focus on our team. And, you know, whenever we get to the season and see, especially whoever we play, I know we open up with the same thing. Whenever we get to that point, we'll worry about that then. But right now I feel like we're still trying to build our team.

And especially with the new guys, you know, trying to get them to buy in what we do in Tennessee, how we play in Tennessee. And I think that's our main goal right now and our focus right now. Well, you know, I'll leave it at that because I know you got to get to those 22 heels right now.

So, I'll let you go run your 22 heels. And we'll catch up later. I'm going to hold off on that one right now. Hey, Jeffrey, man, appreciate the time. Continued success. Congratulations on the contract. And we're going to see what these Tennessee Titans of 23 have in store, man. Appreciate it as always.

Yes, sir, appreciate you guys. That's Jeffrey Simmons, all-pro defensive tackle from Mississippi State. Man, one of three first rounders that came out of Mississippi State back in 2019.

He, Jonathan Abram, safety, and Montez Sweat with the Washington commanders. So, that was a stacked defensive line. And I think we don't talk enough about the Tennessee Titans. They're not the big sexy team, right? They're not the Cowboys. They're not the Jets now, all right?

They're not all these. But then, obviously, there's one of those teams that with Mike Vrabel, I turn on the TV. I know what I'm going to get. They're going to be physical.

They're not flashy. But we got to see what if Will Leviss, the starting quarterback. Well, no, that's starting quarterback.

I should say in the quarterback competition. When will he play? Will he play? Will he not?

We'll see. So, that's one of my storylines going into the season. NBA storylines have been fast and furious, though. We've already been talking some stuff already today in terms of Draymond Green. We got to talk Bradley Beal. What does this mean now? He's traded to the Phoenix Suns. What happens to Chris Paul?

We got so much to get to. And my guy Howard Beck, the veteran NBA reporter, he's going to join us coming up next. Break it all down for us right here on The Rich Eisen Show. The average on-farm income in the United States was a loss of $1,100. Sixty percent of U.S. pork comes from one company wholly owned by the Chinese. And farmers are more likely to commit suicide than veterans.

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Pick it up. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show Radio Network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. I said the NBA news was Fast and Furious on Friday and then you had Breaking News yesterday, Sunday about Bradley Beal. No longer a Washington wizard. Now becoming a Phoenix Suns and they're actually finalizing that deal.

Some hold ups. Possibly Chris Paul not wanting to go to Washington. There's a lot that still has to go down but a guy who could break it all down for us.

A guy who truly I respect in the game. Veteran NBA reporter Howard Beck joins the Rich Eisen Show and Howard are we shocked by the move? Banks always seem to be in contention in the Bradley Beal trade. But what are we thinking that's going to hold this up or will this all finally get pushed all the way through?

Well it seems pretty clear it's going to go through. The only question is whether they might expand the deal. We've seen this in the past with several different deals and in fact we saw it with another Wizards deal a couple years back involving their other all-star guard at the time, Russell Westbrook. That deal eventually was expanded when they were sending him to the Lakers.

And so if I'm recalling that one correctly I may be conflating that with another one. And the Anthony Davis one actually several years ago was like this to come to terms on the principles of a deal and then if you have no particular urgency and they've got some time here before Chris Paul's, they've got their contract guarantee date that they're coming up on but they've got a little bit of time before that often will then search the league but he else can participate in the deal for a different variety of reasons. In this case for one specific one which is that the Wizards have no use for Chris Paul at this stage of his career.

He certainly I'm sure would like to land somewhere else, the Clippers obviously are the team mentioned most often, and if you can find a way to involve a third team and if you're Washington maybe extract even more assets in a three team deal than you would in a two team deal there's certainly incentive to do that, sometimes there are cap savings involved or trade exceptions involved, sometimes you're just trying to get a few more picks somehow involved in the deal so you're going to do your diligence and see where that leads. In terms of surprise I mean the only thing I'm surprised about is that the Suns were this aggressive to get Beale in the first place because I just don't think it's the right move. Yeah I can say that I was looking at the roster this morning and it's Beale, Booker, Durant, Aiden, I think one more player and that's it, they don't even have a full roster yet so what are they, do they even have enough to even put around them because they looked like Howard, they're right in the same situation that they were in during the playoffs this past season. A great starting five but there's nobody to really come off the bench and be a contributor. Yeah and this is why I also just caution people not to judge the deal too harshly yet like I will judge it based on the fact that I don't think Bradley Beale was the right move for them at all and I think it may exacerbate some of the issues that you just listed but overall we can't really judge what the Suns will be and all these question marks until the rest of the offseason plays out right like they're I think they're probably going to trade DeAndre Aiden and bring back multiple pieces and that will help replenish some of the depth that they badly need. As we sit here right now you're wondering well who's their point guard or are they going to go without a point guard and it's just some combination of Beale and Booker and Durant handling the ball that has its own implications but maybe they're going to go get a point guard if they're trading DeAndre Aiden who's the new starting center. They already had just a you know bereft bench in the playoffs as you noted and it was part of why they lost when they did and so they've got time to figure all that out.

The problem is the combination of their new big three and call it a big four for the moment and throw Aiden in there right. Those four guys are making one hundred and sixty two million combined. The projected salary cap for next season is 134.

The projected tax line is 162. So they're already at the projected tax line with just four players. And you know as you I'm sure are aware like the new CBA comes into effect on July 1st and makes it far more difficult to keep adding players once you have hit these so-called aprons. And so this is the wrong time to be all in with you know the multiple max guys including one in Bradley Beale who can't even stay healthy. Veteran reporter and host of the NBA locked on podcast Howard Beck joining the Rich Eisen show and look Howard I was just thinking about you mentioned DeAndre Aiden and I don't know if because of what the Denver Nuggets did just in winning the NBA Finals and the way that Jokic played is there a resurgence of trying to keep a DeAndre Aiden more so or is it just what Jokic presents teams are just going to have to figure it out because you're never going to have a big man who can actually guard Jokic or give you the key minutes that you need. So it's just either out score the Denver Nuggets who don't seem like they're going anywhere or to try to find a center who can try to at least slow Jokic down. I don't know what the answer to the Jokic puzzle is and I don't think many teams do right now and that's part of why the Nuggets are champions. But for everybody in the Western Conference or anybody with championship aspirations I just I think it's part of your calculus but it's not the whole thing. I remember you know when Shaq and Kobe were winning championships at that time I was covering the Lakers a bunch of teams were loading up on big not because they thought they had anybody who could stop or slow down Shaquille O'Neal but just they just you know they want a bunch of different guys they could throw at him with different styles and physicality and more fouls to spend whatever. So I've seen that in the past where a single player will cause everybody to go into the off season with the thought in mind of both now. Now this is the guy we're chasing. How do we deal with him.

Look I don't I don't know that there is an answer there. You know like Joel Embiid is probably the only guy who's going to present a real challenge at both ends to Jokic on a consistent basis and you know the teams are going to have to find other ways to deal with the Nuggets and the Nuggets aren't just Jokic they're you know Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon Michael Porter junior and the rest and so it's more about the totality of the Nuggets offense and the way Jokic leverages all of his teammates that makes them so effective. So you know I think push comes to shove I think you're the sun you'd rather still have DeAndre Ayton but there are questions about just his overall makeup before any of this and now there are salary cap issues to boot and depth issues on top of it all. So I just think the only practical way forward Jokic or no Jokic is to trade your starting center DeAndre Ayton and break up his 32 million dollar salary into multiple pieces because you need to find another way to fill out your roster now. Yeah you're trying to fill out a roster but then there's other teams who are trying to still draft players to figure out their roster as well and I think about this week it's like NBA draft week right everybody's excited about what the draft may bring you as a franchise we all know that San Antonio Spurs are going to take Victor Wimbunyama and the expectations are they are one of the most highly sought after or one of the best prospects we've seen since LeBron James and always say this when you have those types of expectations there's a lot that has to happen. What will the San Antonio Spurs get in Victor Wimbunyama but more importantly what does this mean for them in terms of going getting a title get building a franchise around him to where they can be a consistent or consistent contender year in and year out? Way too early to talk about them as a contender although not too early to think about the fact that Victor Wimbunyama will make that possible. Everybody in the league is in love with this guy it's not just that he's well over seven feet with guard skills and really fluid too it's that his love for the game is apparent his character everybody believes is very high he's engaging he's got a personality and look we've seen all kinds of players come along in recent years that we refer to as you know these so-called unicorns guys who are at or above seven feet or within you know six ten to seven feet range with guard skills and some of them move better than others right some you know you think of a guy like Giannis moves really well but Giannis isn't a shooter you know Kristaps Porzingis who Durant named the unicorn was kind of awkward in the way Porzingis moved even before his knee injury Wimbunyama is as tall as Porzingis but moves as fluidly as Kevin Durant does and shoots way better than Giannis does he just he has everything he has ball handling skills he has range like he like he's a guy you invent in you know I don't know if you could go to that far in NBA 2k I'm not a video game guy but like he's a guy you you would invent right I'm gonna make a guy who's got guard skills but he's a seven footer and can block shots and can cover every inch of the court that's Wimbunyama and the Spurs are getting him yeah you call them the creative players right you create them just put them all the way together Howard so the one thing that I'm hearing about a former number one overall pick in Zion Williamson chatter in New Orleans that possibly he's trying to force his way out or the trade discussions for Zion Williamson is it obviously the injury history is something that you just can't predict but it has been a key to why the Pelicans haven't been good over the last couple seasons but is there really a possibility of trading Zion Williamson you think to get one of these top draft choices to come in on on Thursday hard to say it's it's interesting considering as ions a former number one overall pick yeah considering that at the time he was picked we were talking about him as being possibly the best pick since LeBron James and given that when he has played he has played at an absolutely just incredible level a dominant level for a guy with that profile I will nevertheless say this I don't know what his trade value is and I'm not sure across the league if you could get a consistent feel for what his trade value would be because he's on a max deal paying him well over I think 240 250 million he's you know injured for two-thirds of every season of his career so far he's now got some off-court stuff that we don't need to go into right this cast some more doubts about his judgment and his maturity correct and I listen if you're the Pelicans I would I could totally see the motive in wanting to trade him for somebody more reliable you've got other good players in Ingram and CJ McCollum and Herb Jones and then this young group of players that I think have a lot of promise and maybe you just want to move forward but if you're another team out there you know you're taking on all the risks that the Pelicans are now trying to shed of whether or not Zion will stay in shape of whether or not he'll stay healthy of whether or not he'll you know conduct himself in a way that doesn't make the franchise cringe and so I don't even know how you assess his total value if you put him out there right now in the market and it's not too clear how aggressively they're doing that I think you find a wide range of what teams would say he's worth and I think there are probably some that would say you know what given how expensive he is and how much risk is associated I think there are teams that would probably say you know what I'd rather just you know steer clear do my own thing yeah just stay away veteran NBA reporter Howard Beck host of the locked on NBA podcast join the rich eyes and so just a couple more questions for you Howard just because we know Victor Winbunyama will be the one overall pick the first selection on Thursday who's number two and what does the draft sort of look like when you get from two through five two through six anybody else stand out that possibly we could be talking more about after Winbunyama the two guys who are you know next in line are Scoot Henderson who was playing for the G League Ignite that's their development great from high school in fact I do that and Brandon Miller from Alabama like those are the two guys that is weighing at number two it's not clear where Charlotte's going there or Charlotte might move that pick which then will affect Portland because Portland is at number three and they have a decision to make they have multiple decisions because they have to decide are they trading the pick whoever it may be for immediate help to try to keep to try to you know get Dame Willard as a decent supporting cast in the near term or would Portland keep the pick with a trade game or would they keep the pick and and say you know what we'll just bridge the gap between the youth and Dame and we'll just figure it out I think it's there's a thousand questions about the Blazers alone and then it keeps getting stranger because the Rockets are at number four and they've already got a bunch of young players projects there's every indication they're trying to now turn this thing around there they're done with their tanking phase or at least they'd like to believe so and so they want to win and they're they're aiming to start winning immediately well another 19 or 20 year old isn't going to help you immediately and the Pistons are at number five and they're in the same position as the Rockets and in terms of wanting to turn the corner and another 19 year old again 19 year olds don't usually get you immediate wins in the NBA so and then you know you jump down to seven the Pacers are said to have be shopping for that pick there's just a lot of fluidity I think in this draft because there's a lot of teams that I don't think necessarily want to be exactly where they are or might want to trade down or trade out yeah I feel like it's like the AAU portion when it comes to the Rockets and the Pistons and all and I just a bunch of young buys going out there and hopefully they change things around but last question for you however before I let you go is you mentioned Dame Lillard he's one of those big names that possibly could be dealt Chris Paul in this trade for Bradley Beal could be a buyout situation which makes him a free agent how do you see Chris Paul who I think is the biggest name but does have at least a bit of contribution left in him for a franchise that thinks they can win a world championship how do you see Chris Paul this situation for him how does it how does he handle it well his family still in LA and has been ever since his clipper days and I think probably Chris Paul is going to try to do everything possible to get as close to LA as possible or back to LA maybe the Clippers get in on this this trade with the Wizards and Suns and he lands there anyway maybe end up somewhere else and you know he does have it's half of his 30 it's like 31 million on his contract and like 15 million is guaranteed so if they waive him like the dates coming up in a week or so if you waive him then the team is only on the hook for for the half of the salary and then he's free to go somewhere else I think if I had to guess one way or another he's going to find his way back to LA probably the Clippers although I think it'd be interesting if the Lakers that wanted to chase him he and LeBron James of course are very close and you know there's there will be options for Chris Paul it's just at this stage of his career and he's clearly shown signs of where and slowing down you know it's got to be a team that feels like they're you know not a piece away like a superstar piece away but a Chris Paul leadership slash playmaker away from from something you know he's not going to a rebuilding situation he's not going to mid-tier teams those don't make sense got to be a team that thinks it has a path to you know a top four seed and I think more likely than not as close to LA as possible well we do know it is a busy next couple of weeks when it comes to the NBA draft free agency summer league and somebody will have it all covered for you the host of the locked on NBA podcast veteran NBA reporter Howard Beck man appreciate the time Howard you got it have a good one thanks yeah you can follow him on Twitter as well at Howard Beck who it's a lot NBA's got a lot so I'll keep my eyes posted but the big names is what draw your attention what happens today and whether Chris Paul is there another trade out there the trades always say that the NBA offseason is always about the mystery of what can be right it's oh can this team trade for this or the can this team trade for that guy and what it's always drama is gossip but that's what drives the NBA offseason because one player can they change can they make a team now viable what happens with the Celtics do they make a move it's all kind of stuff that just goes on but at the end of the day who's going to dethrone the Denver Nuggets who look like a team that just can't be stopped so we'll see in the next coming weeks more on the Rich Eisen show as we bring it home here Kurt Morrison filling in for rich for decades Rolling Stone has set the bar for entertainment publications today Rolling Stone music now takes over in podcast form songwriter and producer Jamie Hartman reacts to the Ed Sheeran verdict you need to create something new and of course you're going to use traditional parts to get there are you going to sue the Rolling Stones for making a samba out of sympathy for the devil you can sue Elvis Presley for writing bar so no but it's like saying you're not allowed to use a pencil to create a piece of art Rolling Stone music now wherever you listen how did you wind up at Weber State Damien how did that happen I didn't get recruited I remember I had a good summer on the circuit at Weber State you know I wanted the games you know there was one coach at the game and it was coach Randy Gray from Weber State they started recruiting me hard and I developed a relationship with him it wasn't like no big-time schools came along but nothing like that so I just kind of went with the people that I developed trust with no people I was comfortable with and you were the number zero representing the letter O from Oakland and obviously now you play in Oregon do you feel now that you play basketball in Portland the Pacific Northwest beautiful state of Oregon that you're overlooked that this is a theme for you Damien Lillard your whole life that you're overlooked yeah I think that's been my story you know just I guess being looked past you know I don't want to say overlooked because I think people see what I do they just look past it in high school like I was saying I know on the circuit I played against all the best players and I was having big games you know so I remember seeing you know all these high major schools at the game seeing players on the opposite team so you know they had to see what I was doing they just looked back you know because they was looking at something else same thing in college you know I would have big games when I played against big schools and it was there to see somebody else so you know and I think now being in Portland you know we don't people got to stay up late on the east coast to watch us play we don't play on tv you know two and three times a week so I think it's just it's easy to look past it so I mean I think that's just been my story back here on the Rich Eisen Show we bring it home here coming off the father's day weekend Juneteenth happy Juneteenth today as well look over the weekend I always tend to look at you know my phone go through social media you know see what's trending things like that I came across something and always I like to you know write it down and just have conversations right the group chats that I'm in with my buddies we always find these different conversations and one thing we I did see and sparked a nice little conversation would be if you could bring one team back if you could bring one team back whether it's a team name a team city someone's just just a couple of examples remember the Houston Oilers I think we want to bring back that uniform remember that powder blue we need those jerseys I know the Nashville Tennessee Titans we don't get that powder blue with that one I mean I just think about the you know the late 90s early 2000s that Warren Moon throwback jersey extra word to the club I don't get those anymore think about the Seattle Supersonics yeah that seems to be that's a concept right right because there's also rumors that the NBA is going to expand and Seattle is going to get a team along with the Las Vegas I did see that Stan Kroenke bought or he's now into the the investment team down in San Diego that is going to redo the San Diego Sports Arena complex area so it's like that's three West Coast teams now you know to mean that possible suitors for a new NBA franchise so we're saying Seattle they deserve one for sure yeah and then does it go to Vegas does San Diego say they have something about it it's gonna be multiple teams but I always say this that would be a good yeah I think hockey has shown us that it works bringing in a franchise you can get quick results I mean the Kraken were competitive they had a nice playoff run obviously Vegas now six years it took them to win a Stanley Cup it you know it does happen yeah we're talking about that in the NFL we did a fun expansion draft I mean if you saw that with Tom Pelissero Kirk yeah I think TJ had the best team Mike took Jimmy Garoppolo as quarterback that was weird but you know you can't have success right away as an expansion team in today's kind of sports landscape because there's a lot of guys vying for some jobs yeah players out there I mean the Houston Texans are actually really there with the last expansion team that we've had you know because I remember when they first you know one of my college teammates was the second player drafted in Houston Texans history Chester Pitts the left tackle yeah right before right after David Carr not Derek but David but that franchise has grown and I feel like the NFL can't grow anymore you can't put more franchises because the numbers just work the numbers just it they work 32 but then they just throw it off with these 17 games over 18 weeks so does that mean that we have to expand I know there's other markets out there that want to get an NFL franchise but you'd have to push it to 40 you have to make the 40 I make the numbers work yes it's too late now five teams in every division and that kind of you know is a nice round number but 40 teams is so many we can't find 32 players to be competent starting quarterbacks how are we gonna get 40 that's a good point they won't what do you mean he just told you you can't get 32 good quarterbacks I keep talking about this team is gonna be in London at some point um it's a hike that's a hike no way yeah I can't ever see a London team working I just I don't know I just there's teams that I've seen grow up when I was like younger like one of the teams was the Montreal Expos remember that the Expos had and I feel like baseball forms yeah baseball you can expand but well they're already at 30 so they would have to add two more but we're constantly having teams with poor attendance they know you've seen what's going on in Oakland right now yeah that's that that's a that's a that's a little different there you know I know it's too bad I mean just the investment of the city and the ownership and then everybody wants to get to Vegas because Vegas is popping right now it's popping yeah because no matter what people gonna be there like it's not even about the actual city and like oh the passionate fan base it's just no this is a spot where people are always going to be it it's already it's a destination place like I'm already thinking about the Patriots are playing in October I thought you were about to say Patriots are playing in February I was like that's a bowl statement Super Bowl 58 we do know it's in Las Vegas maybe January but no they have a game there at some point they have a game there in October I'm already thinking about it right when the baseball team's there and your and your team happens to play on a weekend yeah of course you're going if you're a big baseball fan Dodgers Red Sox three games over the weekend you go Friday Saturday Sunday and Vegas is gonna be ridiculous it's gonna be awesome yeah it do I just basketball's coming they're gonna have all four sports very very soon I would have never thought that when it came to Vegas I mean just been going to Vegas I actually took a recruiting trip to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas John Robinson was the head coach not go there well I'll leave that story for the show just just put it like this it was a was a great trip it was a great trip that was the release of the member of the chronic 2001 album Dr. Dre that was the theme of the weekend I'll just say that it was a weekend I will never forget but I was like man it was a it was a I would just never thought that would have been the sport time remember they had a stadium Sam Boyd Stadium which was where the UNLV Rebels football team played and it's like a good 25 minutes off the strip driving and I'm just think Vegas was just it's just you think of just a strip in this town and now it's turned into a real sports to did you I know you probably didn't catch much of the the parade this weekend of the Vegas night they actually had a parade during the weekend people showed up they show out and they actually have fans hockey fans that have come out they made that place that's what it is you a lot of places that you go you have to capture the people who are there and I think Los Angeles is still doing that when it comes to their football teams they got a they got a championship so quickly that people are like this is what you expect now having a Super Bowl with the Rams winning the Chargers I don't know what's gonna happen with them there's still a lot of bitter people down in San Diego who say hey we deserve a football team again because they took our team away I don't see them in the NFL expanding down in the air dangling a character places like that so it's gonna be tough I just was thinking about some of the teams that I grew up watching and some of those historic uniforms and we may not see again I don't know what you looked at me TJ like he was like you know what I thought about that because I think I saw on Twitter somebody posted something like that so I was like why is this like because I had that on my mind earlier but then you said the Super Sonics and that took my answer right there because I feel like they definitely deserve to have another team well we also had some fashion questions too like my buddies keep always asking me I wish the Raiders at least one game wore black on black like the black top with the black pants or why don't the Dallas Cowboys wear the blue top with blue bottoms like just all blue that navy blue that you've never seen before that'd be nice but can we ever see the color rush they started to roll some of that out but the Cowboys have only worn they were all blue once I think that they did usually go all whites I think oh thanks right yeah I want to see when we're all blue it'd have been interesting to see well the creamsicles are coming back this year the Bucks uh yeah well trust me I'm going out to go run and get my Baker Mayfield creamsicle jersey my cow trash creamsicle buccaneer jerseys flying oh get out of here man always a pleasure man great filling in here rich eyes and show Kirk Wallace a fridge conspiracy theories paranormal UFOs science teacher Andrew Greenwood stated that a child ran into his classroom and was hysterically screaming and talking about the flying saucer outside hundreds of children ran out of their classrooms to go outside and see this unidentified flying object that was just above the school just imagine a bunch of kids running out of school most probably just ran home theories of the third kind on YouTube or wherever you listen.