REShow: Brian Windhorst - Hour 1

I just learned Discover credit cards do something pretty awesome. At the end of your first year, they automatically double all the cashback you've earned. That's right, everything you've earned doubled all the cashback from eating at your favorite soup dumpling restaurant. Doubled all the cashback from that trip where you sort of learned to snowboard. Also doubled. And the best part, you don't have to do anything ridiculous to get it.

Nope, Discover does it automatically. Seriously, though, see terms and check it out for yourself at discover.com slash match. Let's go. Let's go go. This is the rich eyes and show Dalvin cook could come to the Jets Dalvin cook retweets it with two 100 emojis. What does that mean? Live from the rich eyes and show studio in Los Angeles. Here's what it means.

He's having the idea. If I am the New York Jets, go get them. The rich eyes and show Joe Douglas go get today's guest. ESPN senior NBC. A writer Brian Wintourist comedian Tom Grossi Panthers running back Miles Sanders, actor Patrick Renna. And now it's rich eyes.

Yes, indeed. Welcome to this edition of the rich eyes and show live on the Roku channel here in Los Angeles, California on the final Wednesday of June of 2023. Live on the Roku channel live on this terrestrial radio station Sirius XM Odyssey and more. We say hello to everybody out there listening on our podcast. If you are listening whenever you want, we still respect you here on our live feed. And we're also saying hello to anybody who subscribes to our YouTube page in any part of Roku, which is free on all Roku devices. It is free on select Samsung smart TVs. It is free on Amazon Fire TV, the Roku app.

And of course, if you want to check us out on the Internet, the Roku channel.com free Oh, charge. How are you over there, Chris Brockman? What's going on?

It's respectively. You're killing me Smalls. Ah, yes. Patrick Renna is here on the show today, and you've got your Sandlot T shirt on 30th anniversary last April of the Sandlot and Patrick Renna. The Ham Bino himself is here on the show in studio. How are you over there, DJ Mikey? I am doing well. Good morning.

Good to see you. TJ Jefferson is the candle. Are you gonna like the candle? Candles lit.

And you know, I want to give a shout out to all of our respective Wendy peppercorns out there. We all. It's awesome.

My kids love the Sandlot. It does. Still, it still does stand the test of time. 30 years later, he's on the show. Brian Winhurst is first up in about 18 minutes time, the latest in what's going on in the NBA with the new league year and free agency right around the corner.

The draft in our rearview mirror. Victor when Boniyama going from a two shot in Paris on a May night with Brian Winhorse to now number one in your program. Number one in your heart in San Antonio, TX. He will be joining us on this program. The comedian Tom Grossi is in studio. He's at the end of his own 30 for 30. 30 NFL stadiums in 30 days in the month of June, raising money for Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital.

So he had me at hello when he started doing this. He was on patch show a couple weeks ago when he went through Indianapolis. He's in studio here in our number two, because he's here in Los Angeles visiting the spot. That the Rams and the Chargers playing. So it'll be interesting when Tom steps foot in that stadium today, he will have been in SoFi Stadium more than Mike Del Tufo and Chris Brockman combined over the last calendar year. And you guys are season ticket holders, which is really amazing. That's when Tom joins us here in studio.

So if you want to ask him what it looks like inside, I'll tell you this. Rich, when I went to both nights of WrestleMania, did I? You've been in so far more than them.

And they all season tickets for the Rams. We have actually been this ridiculous. I'm buying Taylor Swift tickets today. What's going on? Did you really? I'm getting well, there's a presale.

He added another show. You're not getting them. You're not getting them. Yeah, we sell them. You're gonna have to sell your car to get those, right? Well, face value at the resale.

I'll be able to buy a car. Okay. Oh, I see what he sees. Of course, if it's in SoFi City, he's not going, he's reselling it. That's how he does.

Yeah, we do. I'm a business man, Rich. That's the case.

I was about to say, your boy doesn't want to go to Taylor Swift. I'm a business man. Well, if that's the case, buy one for me and then I'll.

You want to go? No. Oh, you got a presale too. No, you're getting yours to resell it to Aaron Rodgers. That's what you're doing.

That's how you're gonna really hit it. He can afford it. That's what I'm saying. All right. Let's start this show. Oh, by the way, Miles Sanders is on the show as well. The Carolina Panthers.

So, it's a lot of fun. 844-204 Rich numbers. Let's start with the sandlot that Shohei Ohtani plays in because we have to start our show with this. I understand the NBA is in the news with Damian Lillard. What are the Lakers gonna do? What's gonna go on with your guy and James Harden, the beard, which is what all of these questions may actually get answered.

One week from today. I understand that. And you know, I understand that football is king and clearly that puts a roof over my head every single morning and night.

And also, I would say in many ways, our head right here in the Rich House. We have to point this out, though. Because what Shohei Ohtani is doing right now for the Los Angeles Angels is not normal. He's not normal.

Okay? And I know I say this with hesitation for him and for the Angels because recently, as you know, we have gone all in on Elie De La Cruz, the 21-year-old switch hitting phenom in Cincinnati. And since we most recently did that, he has struck out almost every single time he's come to the plate. He's shaking.

Ever since I'm like, you know what? Put him in the All-Star game. You gotta consider putting him in the All-Star game.

So I don't want to put the Ziggy on this guy, but I think he's Ziggy proof, quite frankly. It's not normal what Shohei Ohtani is doing right now. Last night, he became the first pitcher in the American League to hit two home runs in a game and strike out 10 batters since Pedro Ramos in 1963. So it has been, we'll do the math for you, 60 years since we saw somebody in the American League do what Shohei Ohtani did last night.

And I know you can push back and say, well, okay, Rich. Well, they had the designated hitter for a long time. Okay. Two home runs, 10 strikeouts in a game. I don't care if there was a designated hitter for much of the last 60 years in the American League.

This is stupid. I don't know how we can possibly compute what we are seeing from Ohtani. First career game with 10 plus strikeouts and a homer. First time he's hit two home runs in a game in which he's pitched. Let's not forget when he started doing this, coming over to America to do this, everyone's like, enjoy it the first year, folks, because at some point they're going to have to stop him from doing this or have him do one or the other, or he'll be so great at one that he'll have to stop doing the other because he's too valuable at one.

And he's only getting stronger and better. The fact that he stands at the plate and homers and then goes out and the next half inning and strikes out multiple people and then strolls back into the dugout, has his Gatorade. He goes back out and he strikes out multiple people and he goes back in the dugout, has his Gatorade, steps at the plate and homers again.

It's stupid. How many more times can I tell you what is happening is not normal. And also what's fascinating is the Angels are winning baseball games. Now, barely, if I had told you two home runs, 10 strikeouts in a game against the White Sox from the American League Central, which we all know is a vast wasteland of mediocrity right now. If I had told you that, you'd be like, oh, they won by five runs, six runs, seven runs.

No, barely four to two. But the Angels are 44 and 37. Right now, they are in a wildcard spot, one game behind the rotting, fetid corpse known as the New York Yankees, who are hoping Josh Donaldson snaps out of his slump. And he actually did homer last night. They can't put him in the lineup in New York, so they take him and put him in front of the 5,000 people in Oakland. And he provides the only run for the Yankees on the night as they lose to the Oakland Athletics, who, and I'll say to the radio audiences, we have the playoff picture up on our Roku Channel feed right now. The A's aren't anywhere on the screen.

As a matter of fact, they probably are on a third screen. Even if we had a second screen with the rest of the American League standings, they wouldn't even make that. The Orioles are looking terrific, but the Blue Jays, Astros, Red Sox obviously are on the Angels' tail, and that means Otani's going nowhere.

That means the Angels will probably be buyers in a few weeks, which means, heaven forbid, the Angels make the playoffs. And what I'm saying right now to lead a national sports talk and information and entertainment show, I'd like to say, I don't want to peg us, I don't want to box us in, nobody puts this baby in a corner. Why would they? So, well, you know, because we're Formula E. We are leading this show with this in 2023 because this is not normal, and if this happens in a playoff game, well then many people will go, oh, who's that?

Okay, now I get it. Could you imagine he does this in a playoff game? Could you imagine he does this in a World Series game? It would be awesome. It would transform everybody's opinion of what an athlete is playing baseball.

I was watching last night, I made sure Cage was watching last night, it was incredible. He's hitting.99 on the black, then steps to the plate, hits it.450 like it's nothing. Not normal. And, by the way, we haven't mentioned his speed, how he can beat out plays at first base if he chops one so high in the air or he chops one where the first baseman has to retreat to maybe the edge of the infield dirt. He'll beat the first baseman to first. Okay.

It's not normal. He's the MVP of the American League. Don't even talk about anyone else. I don't want to hear about anyone else. Obviously last year's MVP is out with a torn ligament in his toe, which is why the Yankees are struggling offensively.

They're without their big toe. So he's out. There's no one else. With all due respect to the Rays.

This is my department. The odds, okay? Shohei, you'd have to bet $15 to win $1 for him to be MVP. The next closest guy is Corey Seeger. He's 35-1. $1 to win $35. It's a wrap.

Wrap in June. And his number, you know, I saw what was at Spa Track, the website and organization that focuses on the dollars in the sense that if he came up with his contract just to pitcher, it would be $200 something million and a hitter, he'd be $320 million. And I think that was, I didn't know where they came up with that pitching number. He's both. His number is going to start with a six. Can I tell you what I just now realized? That he's not going to be a Met? Well, money talks and we got the most, so.

That's true. Man has 28 home runs. I didn't realize he had. What? You didn't? Yeah.

I didn't realize he had 28. Yeah. On pace, which by the way, the godfather of Sports Center, John Walsh, we got voicemail messages and we got not not texts back in the 90s. We got messages from John Walsh. If anybody on Sports Center said somebody's on pace, he hated on pace. Kenny Main would do it. No, no, no.

Kenny Kenny would just say, you know, it doesn't matter. The games are played inside television sets, you know, so be a record, you know, but but while he hated the on pace stuff because injuries can happen and all of that business. That said, I'm sorry, John.

Here I am in 2023. John pays for 56 home runs. Holy cow. Last year on June 28th, Aaron Judge, same number, had 28 home runs. He might. Could you imagine he he wins Cy Young and he wins the MVP. And hit 60? And hit 60 home runs. Please God. Folks, we're on. This is possible.

Leads baseball and RBIs. This is entirely possible. That would be amazing. Really? This is insane. I know and I know we're going on and on and on about it, but what else can you do? I don't think we go on enough about it. Well, we are. We say hello to our mightier 1090 audience right here in Southern California.

What a jewel. And again, I'm sorry to do this to the great city of Anaheim and everyone in Orange County. If he was doing this for the Dodgers, you'd be hearing about it a hell of a lot more.

Period. And I know that's the Los Angeles Angels. He'd be doing it for the Red Sox and the Yankees or whatever. And that's why he's got to figure out if this matters to him, if it matters to him or not. But right now, I think what matters to him is they're seven up on the 500 mark right now. And Trout has not been good this year. Didn't play last night. He's doing it by himself. He's literally carrying the team.

In the modern day, Mickey Mantle, right next door to Mickey Mouse, has got a Goliath, a total Goliath. Just once again to repeat headline, show it to me. This is not normal. That's our analysis. Yep. That's my analysis. I like it. Thank you. Brian Windhorst is going to join us.

He did the finger pointing thing on the Cavs, right? Something's up. I can't say you said that on local radio. I don't want to speculate. OK, great. I want to get you guys ramped up.

Well, we'll ask again. And then what's going on with Damian Lillard? The fact that he has a meeting with his agent, the general manager of the Blazers, and a three sentence statement comes out of Joe Cronin's office. What's that about?

844-204-rich, numbered to dial. Not one, but two in studio guests. The comedian Tom Grossi raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Can't wait to help him raise money. We'll do that in hour number two.

Same thing in hour number three, another in studio guest. Patrick Renna will be here. Hambino himself from the great movie The Sandlot, 30 years old now. Not him, the movie.

And and Miles Sanders of the Carolina Panthers and you 844-204-rich numbered to dial. Oh, and they're selling live tour Phil Mickelson capes. By the way, that was not a metaphor for any way, shape or form sarcastic. That's literal.

Brian Windhorst is next. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Where you sort of learn to snowboard, also doubled. And the best part, you don't have to do anything ridiculous to get it.

No, Discover does it automatically. Seriously, though, see terms and check it out for yourself at Discover dot com slash match. Get an inside look at Hollywood with Michael Rosenbaum, actress Kristin Ritter. Your parents let you travel by yourself was a different time. They just put you on a train as a 15 year old girl. You went to New York. I went on a bus and I did get picked up at Port Authority. They thought I was a runaway. What would they do?

They detain you and get people on the phone and then they finally let you go to your modeling job. How many times did it happen? Once or twice.

It just seems like it wouldn't happen. It happens. Yeah. Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum, wherever you listen. Back here on the program. What's going on over there? You checking something out over there? I was looking up somebody's handicap.

Go ahead. Because it was Butch Gross, who I just saw on ESPN. I just saw him up there and I told you, I got to play some golf with him when we when I was a sports center anchor back in the day. And he was just new to ESPN. And I told you, best stick maybe in the history of ESPN. Ravitch and him would give each other a run.

Interesting. All due respect to Dan Patrick, who's got some game. But Ravitch has got some game. Butch Gross, I said, gives strokes back to the course. And you looked up his handicap? Looked it up. He's a plus two point five.

I'm not kidding you. And on top of it, from my recollection, one of the nicest people to spend a day on the golf course with, especially since I wasn't within a million miles of his game. He would just stripe it. He would stripe it. And then it would take me five minutes to find my golf ball because I just shanked it.

And then drop and then hit and then hit again to get to his. And he, you know, I was holding him up. Couldn't have been nicer. Could not have been nicer.

And he's hosting the draft on ESPN tonight, the NHL draft. Should we FaceTime him real quick? I don't know if I have his number still, but I'd love to.

He's one of the nice, I mean. Just catch up? Shoot the breeze? Just to ask for some candy? Yeah, hey, hey.

25 year old candy? Next time you're out there. It's been 20 years since I've asked you for a stroke.

Give me some strokes. Fantastic. Yeah. Okay. How many Michigan guys going to be drafted tonight?

That's what I'd ask him. Here you go. Let's take a look. NHL mock. I think we might have the top pick in the draft. Hold on, let me do an NHL mock draft. Stand by. He's not Michigan according to Mike Hoskins, our Buffalo Saber fan. Saber. My brother in playoff futility.

Yeah, Connor Bedard's going number one, I think. 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 is the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. He's our favorite and I'd say it even if he wasn't on hold hearing me. From the worldwide leader in sports, his Hoop Collective podcast is outstanding and every single word that he says makes us smarter. Brian Windhorst back here on the Rich Eisen Show. How you doing, Brian? Two things, Rich.

Number one, we have a putting green on the campus in Bristol now. You may want to reconsider your decision. Oh, really? That's right. Are you serious? And, yep. And after hours, you know, when no one's around, you know, when Jimmy Pataro goes home, you can even kind of, I'm not saying I've done this or just done this.

You could, you could maybe even chip off a balcony outside the studio to try to keep it on the green. Secondly, speaking of Michigan draft picks, I believe the Wolverines had two guys taken high in the NBA draft and somehow didn't make the tournament. Brian, you have no idea the text exchange between me and a bunch of Michigan Wolverine friends and dogs as we refer to ourselves. We were like, OK, that's that's that's good to know that we had two first round picks, if I'm not mistaken, almost top of the first round picks as well.

And, you know, including Juwan's kid, including Juwan's kid. Yeah, yeah, I can't remember where Bufkin went 15th, so I can't say two guys in the lottery because Toby Bufkin went 15th, but two guys in the top 15, very high up there in the top half. So what is the overarching story of the draft if there is one, Brian?

Well, there wasn't a lot of excitement. There was a time where it looked like seven or eight of the top 10 picks were available. And we only saw one top 10 pick change hands and seven and eight swapped.

Basically, there was it was very little drama that happened there. So and by the way, that's not stunning because a lot of times you'll hear a lot of sound and fury ahead of the draft. But, you know, the Blazers were the the Blazers had the biggest. Well, the Hornets had a very important moment in their franchise where they were choosing between Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson. And they made the decision to go with Brandon Miller, who's much more of a prototypical modern NBA player. Size, multi positions can shoot, makes total sense that they would go with him there in 2023.

But you do have Scoot Henderson, who a lot of scouts feel is the number one level talent, number one pick level talent in a year where where Victor Wabunyama happened to be in the draft. And while I'm not comparing him to Michael Jordan at all, it is interesting that Jordan was sitting there with Portland involved in the two three situation, you know, with a guy with a lot of talent who wouldn't really have fit great on their roster with the mellow ball there having to make that choice. And Mitch Kupchak, the GM, came out and said, even though Jordan fell on the team, he is running this draft and has final approval on the pick. So you can put the choice for Brandon Miller on Michael Jordan.

And now that may look great in six months, but it was not an easy decision. And so then the Blazers had the choice to draft or trade. And their general manager, Joe Cronin, came out and basically said, we thought the idea of drafting Scoot Henderson was more better for our team than any trade we could have made. His his talent import was better than anything we were offered or maybe that they even thought they could get for it for three. And that's what they're trying to sell to Dame Willard, too. And so that you know, that every draft is interesting. You know, years later, you go, oh, my God, can you believe this? And, you know, Sports Illustrated just did a story on David Kahn, the guy who passed Steph Curry twice.

You know, that still hangs over him to this day, obviously, in the Wolves franchise. So maybe these decisions are enormous. Maybe they're not.

We'll see. But this one in the moment, you know, obviously everybody was paying attention to Wemenyama at one. But where I felt attention and was fascinated was the next 10 minutes when picks two and three were made. I'm with you, Brian.

I am absolutely with you. Because, again, how all of this lands in between the temples of Damian Lillard is truly the crux of the situation. I understand we're talking about two franchises, two players that are going to be playing long after, if they're fortunate, after Damian Lillard hangs him up. But it really does mean a lot for what Lillard thinks. And then Joe Cronin sends out a three sentence press release statement after meeting with Lillard and his agent.

What was that about, Brian? I think it was an indication that everybody, Dame, didn't ask for a trade in this meeting, I think is what the point of it was. And basically, from what I understand, what the Blazers are asking for and what Dame is granting at the moment is time. I think the Blazers would like a lot of time. I think the Blazers would like Dame to not only watch what they do in free agency in the next week or so. But I think they would love for him to watch Scoot Henderson compete in summer league and come to training camp with him and see how the season goes.

And before he decides this is not going to work or that he does it, he can't be closer to high level competition with a teenager to play with him. And at least for this round one, Dame has agreed. Dame didn't ask for a trade in that meeting right after the draft, even though it was exactly the opposite of what he said he wanted in April. And he is going to apparently wait and see what they do in free agency. Maybe he'll wait longer. And so some teams that probably were waiting for Dame to make a request or for them to come out of that meeting with an understanding, maybe it wasn't a direct request, but that they would move on from him. They even have to conduct their own business, you know, and I don't know if there's going to be doors that close or open. We get into Friday and Saturday. I mean, the team that everybody has on their lips and it's not a rumor.

It's, you know, very clear. Miami has interest in Dame if he becomes available. Miami has a couple of free agents and they're going to have to make some decisions like do we spend now or do we hold back?

I think generally Miami's offer will not change very much whether Dame waits five days or 20 days or three months, but there are other teams who may be in that situation. And so what came out of that meeting was very interesting to the league on Monday evening. Well, let's talk about the time that Lillard might have granted Joe Cronin to see what he's got cooked up.

Let's just take it one at a time here. Let's just say it is free agency, that that's it. He wants to see what they do over the next week. So how aggressive can the Blazers be? Give me give me the scenario by which Lillard sits back, watches and goes, I'm glad I didn't demand a trade.

Right. They don't have salary cap space right now. The only way they could really get salary cap space is if they said goodbye to Jeremy Grant, who was a key member of their team last year and who I think Dame would like to resign. It's you know, if they and if he lets if he leaves, it's not like they have 40 million. They would have some, but not enough to seriously go out and and land what I would think would be a major free agent. Like they're not going out and signing Kyrie Irving, you know, with that money and not that you'd pair those two together anyway. And so then you're looking, OK, well, if you sign Jeremy Grant and you're looking at trade and they've just drafted a a sort of he's not small.

He's six three, but he's not six eight. So you have Dame Lillard who's on the smaller side for guards. You have Anthony Simons, who they've given up a huge contract to a 20, 25 million dollar contract, I think off the top of my head. And Dame Lillard, who, you know, are around Scoot Henderson, all of which are under six five, you know, in some cases significantly under.

That's not a good deployment of resources. So maybe there is a deal out there. Simons has some value. But again, I don't know if there's a trade that they can make that all of a sudden is like, whoa, the Blazers might be a top 14 in the West right now. So the question is really to me is, you know, does Dame want to give them that time?

Look, I've said this before and I'll say it again. If you brought somebody in as an arbiter, if you brought somebody in as a counselor and presented all of the data, the counselor would probably say, Dame, you're right to be impatient and probably want to leave. You should leave. And they probably say to the Blazers, you are correct. And drafting Scoot Henderson is the correct decision for the franchise. You did a good job. I recommend you break up.

I think that's what that would be the recommendation. But we just haven't gotten to that point yet. And I have seen strange things happen in the NBA. I've seen teams pull things out of their you-know-where that I didn't think was going to happen. And so with all due respect to Joe Cronin, the Blazers, I will also sit and watch. But I am not hearing anything that I think is all of a sudden going to be a game changer. But that doesn't mean that it won't happen.

Brian Windhorst here on the Rich Eisen show. So then what's the first big splash that's going to happen, do you think, if you crystal ball it for me, Brian? Well, we really, you know, last year, James Harden really surprised a lot of people.

It was the same type of situation. It was like, OK, he's a free agent. He didn't pick up his option. Is he, you know, are they going to sign off?

Are they going to give him a huge max or what are they going to do? And James Harden doesn't use a traditional agent. He has brought in agents as consultants in the past.

But he largely and his manager represents himself. And like they do direct talks with Daryl Morey. And they came out last year on the first day of free agency and surprised everybody. It was a deal where James signed a very short deal, one year with an option, which I'm expecting that he won't pick up tomorrow.

But we'll see. And it was a huge pay cut. And that pay cut enabled them to sign P.J.

Tucker and go out and trade for D'Anthony Melton. They got two of their tops, like six guys in the days right around free agency. And so I don't want to assume that Daryl Morey and James Harden are not going to emerge on Friday afternoon or Saturday or whenever. And like there's another agreement that catches us off guard. But I would suspect at the end of the day, James Harden is going to be back with Philly. And the reason I say that is, number one, that's what the what the word is.

But it's not ironclad. The other thing is Houston is the other team that makes sense. It's only like five teams with cap space, Rich. And like, I don't think Orlando. I don't think San Antonio.

I don't think Indiana or, you know, or Detroit. It doesn't make sense for those teams to go to James Harden. The team that it makes sense for is Houston. And Houston has a ton of space. They have 60 million dollars. But for to sign James Harden, it would probably take a max level salary, which is in the high 40s. And Houston is not out there operating like they've got James Harden in their back pocket. They're out there, you know, you know, getting ready to pitch an array of free agents based on what I've heard. They may be offering a number of guys a number of different levels of contract. So if they're getting James Harden, they've done a really good job of cloaking it.

And so that's why I say indications are pointing. He'll be back for the question then becomes back for what? Four years.

That would be stunning. But I can't see him take another one year deal. Another pay cut.

That doesn't make sense. He's already sort of in their debit to them. So, you know, that'll be a big thing. And then you have Kyrie Irving. Same type of situation. Kyrie. He absolutely could take a pay cut and show interest elsewhere.

But where is that elsewhere? I just told you the teams that have space. I mean, do we think the Spurs are signing Kyrie Irving to pair with 50 women? Those are different timelines.

The pace. The the Pistons have Kate Cunningham. He's their franchise point guard going forward. I don't see that the Lakers have pretty much made it clear they're not interested in clearing cap space.

Rob Plinkett just reaffirmed that yesterday. Right. There's always sign and trade.

That's always possible. But that would require the Mavericks to cooperate. So the other thing is, you know, does Kyrie take a deal in Dallas or does he try to take meetings and try to manufacture something? So those are the two big things. The two biggest free agents are desired and respected players who don't who may not have a big market outside the teams that they're on right now.

Brian Windhorst here on The Rich Eisen Show. Walk me through what the Los Angeles teams can do, because they got the they got their their paired up superstars. Right. And and now what? Because the Lakers went further than anyone expected. The Clippers obviously got clippered with injuries, as always. But what about those two teams trying to go chase the Nuggets, knowing that the Warriors went ahead and got Chris Paul already? Give me those give me those scenarios, please. Yeah. So the Lakers, Rob Plinkett has come out and said that they're going to bring this team back.

And look, there's a reason why. Even if they cut the players that they are able to cut. And even if they didn't resign, D'Angelo Russell and Ruhi Hashimara, they'd only be able to clear about 30, 34 million in space. Then they would have got their their space and they'd still be below. Well, below 10 plus million below what the max would be for Kyrie Irving and James Hart and Plinkett.

Unlike that, very clearly, he's not going that route. On the other hand, they don't really have the players on their roster or the asset. They don't have the draft picks and stuff to go trade for Bradley Beal or to wait for it and get in.

You know, in honestly, a Dame Willard chase, they're just not really efficient to do that. So his option is to take the team to 18 and six last year after the trade that got to the conference finals and tried to run that back with some improvement. So they offered qualifying deals to Ruhi Hashimara and Austin Reeves yesterday, and I expect them to keep them. And once they do that, you can forget about them having cap space. The one thing that they can do is tomorrow they have a deadline on three players' contracts, Malik Beasley, Jared Vanderbilt and Mo Bamba. It's all pulled 31 million dollars that they can can cut and get off of their books for next year.

It wouldn't create 31 million in space, but it would give them some flexibility. I think they're going to keep Jared Vanderbilt. But if they release the other two players, they could open up using their 12 million dollar mid-level exception. So they could keep Austin Reeves, keep Ruhi Hashimara, go sign a player for 12 million dollars, a high-level role player, a guy who could probably be a key member of their rotation. And then make a decision on do they bring back D'Angelo Russell or do they bring back Dennis Schroeder or did they sign a point card, a different point card with that money. And then still have a draft that they can trade later and good people on their team. And the other thing that's sort of out there on the horizon, I think the Lakers fans should think about, in August, I believe it's August 4th, Anthony Davis is eligible to sign the contract extension. He can be a free agent in 2024. And Rich, in this modern NBA, if you have a star player, you do not want him to get to free agency. So typically teams try to extend their guys. And it's a big number with Anthony Davis.

Three years, and get ready for this, 167 million. That's what his number would be if you're going to give him the full extension. Now you can negotiate that down if you want to try. I'm not saying that's the only offer. But you want to get him signed, right?

And so that's a little bit of an interesting draw. But by the way, Giannis has an extension situation. He can sign in September. Now he's got two years left. AD has one year left, so it's not as much pressure there.

But nowadays, if you can't get your guys to extend, it gets interesting. So now the Clippers, similar situation. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard both have one year left on their contract, can be free agents next year. They do have options in those deals where they can opt in for an extra year. But they're only tied to the organization for one more year.

Do you extend them? And by the way, these are the same type of numbers. You're talking about 55-ish million per year at the max. Now I'm not saying they've got to negotiate that, but that's what their top number would be.

That's a prickly one too. So I would be fascinated, I will be fascinated to watch. And obviously the Clippers were in talks to try to acquire Malcolm Brogdon.

It ended up not happening. I would expect them to be in some talks to do other things to upgrade their roster this year. But to me, the interesting drama is what those teams, what those LA teams do, what those guys, I think Anthony Davis is now 30, those guys in their 30s who have injury histories, particularly the Clippers guys, what do you do there?

That's what their team is built around, so that'll be interesting for sure. Does Draymond stay put? Is there any drama there or no? What do you think? Everything indicates it.

I'm a big actions over words guy, Rich. The actions that the Warriors have taken, they trade Jordan Poole, get his money off the books, and also that's a chemistry play additionally. I think the money was the bigger reason.

That's a chemistry play when it comes to Draymond. They open up space to have Draymond sit on their books a little bit easier, and Clay, if they can extend him. Clay has one year left on his deal. He makes $43 million. I do not believe he's a $43 million player. At least he wasn't at the end of last season, but that's another thing they have to deal with. But by getting Jordan Poole's money off, they free up some stuff. It wouldn't surprise me if Draymond does take a meeting or two. He's never been an unrestricted free agent.

It is a privilege to do so. We have seen this over the years. I expect him to be back.

I can't see two things. One, the Warriors without him, and I can't see him walking away from Steph Curry. He could maybe get a little bit more money in the first year when the Warriors are offering, but what they offer in the total, him to stay there and chase another title, I'd be very surprised if he walked away from that. Last thing for you, Brian Windhorst. You just said you're an action over words guy. Help me decipher this from a highly respected person who covers the NBA. If you don't mind translating this for me or telling me what it means, quote, I have some speculation. There's a couple of outlandish stuff that I'm not going to say right now because I'd get in trouble. I wish I could tell you more, and I know I shouldn't tease you about the Cavs. Who said that, Brian? I said it, and apparently I did get in trouble with it.

I had Cavs players reaching out to me asking what they were doing. Okay. All right. So what do we have today? Well, you know, this is what happened. Somebody could take something out of this. We've been talking for 20 minutes.

Somebody could take three sentences out of this, and it would sound like, you know, it sounded like I came on to that show and right out of the gate said, get ready for this. Here's the big news. And I just said outlandish. Okay. Outlandish. I'll tell you one thing.

I'll never say it again. Well, okay. I was speaking about the, you know, the Cavs are kind of in a similar boat. Not the exact same, but they're in a similar boat as the Phoenix Suns. They traded so much for Donovan Mitchell that they don't have a lot. They don't have draft picks to trade. Their books are stuffed and they don't have a lot of role players.

They're role players either. And so they have to get kind of creative. And, you know, there were some things that they may have kicked the tires on, which is what I was referring to, that I found interesting and unlikely and unpredictable and things that I couldn't have foreseen.

And people ran wild with it. Next thing you know, you got Darius Garland being traded for for Damian Willard. And that was my fault. I should not have used the word outlandish free agency week. I was talking about them going after some moves at the edge on some players I didn't think they'd be able to acquire.

And they're not going to be able to acquire them. I was actually trying to compliment their front office for trying to be creative. Instead, I gave them a giant headache because everybody's self thinks they're going to trade for, you know, LeBron, Steph Curry and Nick Liocca by Friday. So I will never again use the word outlandish in that way.

And I will be very, very plain. And the Cavs are not the immediate within hours. It was like, oh, Darius Garland. I was like, no, no.

The Cavs are not trading Darius Garland. So, yeah, that's what happens. You know what happened yesterday?

Rich was ridiculous. But this is where we are at. Get up. 801 a.m. The first topic out of the 701 in central where I live.

First topic out of the gate. We're talking about the Sixers on get up. Second topic at about 803 is the Blazers and game Willard. And so I start talking about the Blazers and I say the word six. I caught myself. I almost said Sixers because I was just talking about the Sixers four seconds earlier. And then but I actually said I corrected myself. I said, oh, I mean, Blazers. And people actually thought that I was making a flip. And that I was saying that the mother was actually going to the six. You take that if you take that that just that clip out and don't realize it. Eleven seconds earlier, I was talking about the Sixers and it was just, you know, stumbling over the words. And that's where we're at right now. Yep.

Is everyone's analyzing the words. The vagaries of being an influencer of note. Brian, I guess the vagaries.

It's just it's it's your lot in life. So I'm glad I gave you a chance to clear that up. And I guess the lack of options that you talked about, the Cavs roster is maybe why Daryl Morris asked for literally everything.

Plus the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for Tobias Harris. Very interesting story. Now, I actually really respect that reporter, so I'm not going to say anything.

But the Cavs, if the Sixers asked the Cavs for a first round pick, the Cavs would have gotten very, very excited because it would have been news to them they had a first round pick to trade. Brian, you're the best, man. Thanks for the time. I really do appreciate it. And I'm glad you got a chance to clear that up.

There was nothing outlandish about this segment. So thanks for the time, Brian. Truly appreciate it.

I hope not. But you know what? In another like twenty five minutes, I might have said something. I might be right back here tomorrow. Explaining my let you know, let you know. We'll let you know. Thanks for the call, Brian. Appreciate it.

All right. Hit him straight if you're putting in in Bristol right there. That's Brian Winhorse right here on the Rich Eisen Show. God, I love that guy. I literally could talk to him for an hour and a half.

Brian Winhorse and the Hoop Collective, his must listen to podcast. And of course, everything that he says on ESPN, whether he means it or it's a Freudian slip, that means nothing Freudian or it's just a slip. Damian Lillard's giving him time, guys. He's giving him time.

Say all with you. We're going to have Sam Amick on tomorrow to talk about this, too, because he's the one who reported Draymond signs there. They re-signed Jeremy Grant. He's cool with Scoot Henderson. And we'll see if that's going to happen. But. People just can't compute.

That Lillard just is not going to be one of those guys who demands a trade and he's going to be chill. You can't compute it. 844-204-RICH, number to dial here on the program. We've got a lot of in-studio guests, a lot of fun. The comedian Tom Grossi, who is touring every single NFL stadium to try and raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

In-studio Patrick Renna, the Hambino from the Sandlot in studio hour three and your calls at 844-204-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? Are you going to sue Elvis Presley for writing Bart Zunova?

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. Mel Brooks is one of my favorites of all time. What was that like working with him? Wow. Did you see it first on screen or on VHS? I saw it on screen.

On screen? I did. I went to the movie theater. It was 85 and you would have been like 15 or 14? No, I was, bless you for that actually. No, I was just about to go to college.

I was about 17 years old. That's like straight heroin. No cut. Yes, for a Mel Brooks, you know, Jewish kid from New York who grew up loving Mel Brooks, man. It was just like, OK, Mel Brooks meets Star Wars.

I am all the way. Well, you know, my I always love and I do love that Jewish side of him because it's old. You know, it's old vaudeville. It's old.

You're showing shows. That's who it was. Yeah, really. Cesar. I mean, you got to be way back in the day, man. Yes.

Yeah. Genetically, it's in it's in them all the way. But Mel used to come up to me and goes, Pullman, you glaze. You have such good hair. I mean, I got hair.

It's like it's like Brillo. And you got such good hair. He touched me, you know, it's affection in a weird, wild way. It's good to be the king. Yeah. Kind of like the king. What a genius.

I mean, this and I always think about him. It's baseball's in terms of the the power nap because he would be, you know, he just said, say, I'm just going to go down for about five minutes. And he'd come up and a thousand things had occurred.

Are you serious? Yeah. Like he would just tap out and say, I need just a power nap.

And then he would come back and then. Yeah. He said, we need to change that line. It needs to be not orange, but purple. Purple's funnier, you know, stuff like that, which sounded like wisdom to me.

It sounds like, well, I mean, he would know which color is funnier. Happy ninety seventh birthday to the great Mel Brooks. Wow. No, it is good to be the king back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Eight four four two oh four.

Rich Harden staying in Philly. How about that? You good with that? It depends on what the number is. What do you care about the number?

What do you mean? What do I care? You can't pay a 38 year old James Harden 50 million dollars. What do you care? Well, because that will keep the team from getting other players or he's the best player to get.

And it doesn't matter. You can't get any other players. Well, you saw the playoffs, right? I did. I saw two games. I saw two games. OK. And then what about the other ones? I saw those two.

OK, so based upon what you saw last, how would as Rich Eisen, as an author yourself, how would you pen the end of that story? Oh, I thought it was Doc's fault. He's the one who lost his job. Well, Doc is blaming James Harden. Just saying.

What is it? Is it Harden? Is it Harden or is it Doc's fault? Because Doc's the one who ate it, right? Doc's the one who's out here hitting them straight here in Los Angeles now. You can't fire the players.

Yes, you can. You can let him go to Houston. You said into that mic that James Harden quit on the Sixers. So, well, that is what you said.

I saw I saw activity that made it seem that way. But then then it comes down to it. You're better off with him or without him.

We better off with Dame Lillard like I've been begging for for three years. He's not going to give you the opportunity to go there. No, I think he might want to go there. But again, folks cannot compute that he is just a different cat where. Yeah, he wants to win, but he does want to win in Portland like they really it's he is torn.

Oh, I get it. He's happy. He is torn. And it's just like I think he just in the same way that you're like sometimes why don't you want to hot take a little bit more, right?

Who me? Sometimes I hear you guys. I hear you whispering.

You hear your mans over there say that. No, but sometimes, you know, hate your battle. Why, you know, put yourself out there a little bit. It's not my style. It's not my style. Because you care too much about being right. Well, no, I cared too much about being nuanced. OK, I do like being right. Wrong line of work. No, you might say no. And I appreciate that because we're in the deep end of a pool.

Like there's an undertow of hot taken between the hours of twelve and three and sometimes nine a.m. the noon Eastern and sometimes six a.m. the nine a.m. Eastern. But it's not my style. And you know what's not Damian Lillard style, what it appears? Winning. Wow. There's your hot take or four facts or his style is not. I want out of here. Get me out of here.

Guess what? He's going to retire with no ring or he's willing to finally. One last assessment. I'll give you I'll give you the shot to show me the opportunity to win a ring here right now over the next 10 days. And if you show me enough, then I am more than happy to stay. Well, they give Scoot-Hender the shot. And if it doesn't happen, then we need to talk about the trade deadline. And I'm sure his agent, who's not fresh off the turnip truck here, is going to be saying you can play it out now. And then we'll see what happens at the trade deadline. Kyrie Irving got traded at the trade deadline. But the best asset Portland's ever had to acquire a win now veteran was the number three overall pick.

And they kept it. Or maybe not. Or maybe not.

Maybe not. We don't know what the offers were there. We don't. And, you know, Joe Cronin does have as part of his job description, it's not like win now at Dame. It's win.

And long term. Look at the Nuggets. They seem pretty set for a while, don't they? Like you want.

That's what you want. And so there's no one on Portland. His job is to win long term and win with Dame now. Dame might be saying, I'll give you 10 more days to show how you can win with me now. And then his agent's probably like, yeah, this would be a nice opportunity to make yourself available. And when Miami's here, that you don't think Miami's going to try and move heaven and earth in February if he's available? It's different.

They're trying right now. That's what I'm saying. That right now, though, he's not there yet to say to Portland, I want out.

And folks like you, no offense, can't compute that. It's his own fault. I mean, he's going to retire.

He's going to be one of the great ringless players with Stockton and Malone and Barkley and Drexler. He's going to be on that list. I see what you're saying. That ain't a bad list to be on, though.

No, but I see what you're saying. But that's maybe where it's trending. But you can't say that definitively. That's what I'm saying. The comedian Tom Grossi, who's touring all NFL stadiums on behalf of St. Jude's coming up.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Pardon me. Did you say Drexler?

Did he ring one with Roy Houston? Yeah. Well, Portland. Portland great. That didn't win there.

Had to go somewhere else to win. Well, and I understand what you are saying. And the writing maybe is big block letters on the wall for you. And it may be that way for him. We also don't know what's, you know, his home. Like, you know, do we really got to leave Portland, Daddy? You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. You can stay here.

I'll go to Miami for a few months. That's not a way to live life. When your window for being an elite athlete, it is. It's so small. You're so convinced that he cannot win in Portland right now. And I totally get it. I totally get it. Give this guy. He's giving the guy. I'm just telling you what his mindset is. Why are you convinced that he can? That's the question.

Because you never know. Scoot Henderson can turn out to be one of the best players to come out of the draft in a long time. Make a huge difference. They re-sign Jeremy Grant. They get a couple other guys who want to play there.

And all of a sudden, they're a two seed and a three seed with a big shot. And he's probably sitting there saying, I'd rather do that than immediately change my entire landscape right now. Certainly when his agent is probably saying, fine, play it out.

I'll get you out in February. His agent is doing him a disservice. You just sit there smiling, huh? Because he knows I'm right. That's why. I don't know that necessarily. He can't say it because he can't refute it because I'm right. Hour number two coming up here on the Rich Eisen Show.

Maybe he's happy. 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 of them probably just ran home. Theories of the third kind on YouTube or wherever you listen.