Worried About The Warriors? (Hour 3)

Yo, yo, it is the Zach Gelb show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio.

We're going to chat right now about Ja Morant. We've been talking most of the show about a great performance by Jason Tatum last night, a horrific performance by Joel Embiid, some loser behavior by James Harden and also Ben Simmons as well. Simmons posting that photo yesterday as the Celtics are blowing out the Sixers and then James Harden.

It's amazing to me. We'll talk about Morant in just a second, but it's amazing to me, Hickey, how Ramona Shelburne has this report out that it's hard to imagine James Harden being back and he won't return if Doc Rivers is the coach. Is Daryl Morey this much of an idiot?

I'm just going to ask that question. I know he is a James Harden sycophant, the overrated general manager, president, whatever his title is, but this guy loves, loves, loves, loves, loves, loves him some James Harden. Like there's many reasons why you get rid of Doc Rivers, but if James Harden is really calling the shots here and Daryl Morey goes, oh, I got to get rid of, of Doc Rivers to keep James Harden, then Daryl Morey, you should resign in your current role with the Sixers because after the way that James Harden, I know he played great in games one and four, but the way that he no-showed yesterday, and I know Embiid was a no-show as well, like James Harden should be the last one that's calling the shots in Philadelphia. That is, it's almost amazing to me that that report is even out there, but knowing how much of just a Harden fan Morey is, it wouldn't surprise me if Doc Rivers gets fired. What does him in is James Harden wanting him no longer to be the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. And the ironic part is like, Doc Rivers reserves a lot of blame, and I don't think he's a very good coach, especially in the playoffs, but he's like the last person I think you blame for yesterday and even in game six, and it's kind of like ironic that in an, in another series where his team blows a 3-2 playoff lead and falls short again of the Easter coverage finals, it's like you could point the finger at a lot of different places really before you even get to to Doc Rivers, and now it's ironic that the two guys, or at least the one guy who was terrible in game six and even worse in game seven, is like oh no, it's not me or you know, it's not us, it's him or me, you gotta choose. If you're the Sixers and you're objectively putting blame between those three, Embiid, Harden, and Doc. One to three. Deserving of the most blame, deserving of the least blame.

How would you order those one, two, and three? Embiid, Harden, Doc. Embiid's definitely one. I do think there's a debate on is it Harden or Doc, because Harden did win them one and four in this series, but the Harden no-show and just the lack of effort yesterday kind of erases games one and four, and I'm not telling you that Doc Rivers is deserving of no blame, but I put this on the players first. They had two chances, two, to close out the Boston Celtics, and you knew it was over after game six. You looked at the betting spread yesterday. Vegas was begging you. They were down on one knee imploring you to go bet the Sixers plus the seven and a half, six and a half points, and right when I saw that spread, I even said it to you. Missanelli said it when he was on with us.

It was a Philly guy, Philly talk show legend. That spread's ugly, and that spread is screaming to bet the Sixers. That means Vegas believes that the Celtics are going to win, and they're going to win big, and Vegas was right. They were absolutely right with making the spread that big because I'm sure a ton of people yesterday plus the points, but Harden doing nothing, literally nothing.

In the fourth quarters, when you have a chance to close out a team and Embiid no-showing completely yesterday, yeah, I got to put it on the players before Doc. It doesn't mean that Doc should be back next year, but who are they bringing in? You tell me you go bring in Nick Nurse, who did a good job even after when Kawhi Leonard left for the most part?

Okay. If you're telling me you're bringing in Mike Budenholzer, all right, that's fine, but other than that, you're going to bring in Monty Williams, and I know Monty Williams knows the organization well and all that, and Monty Williams I do think is a good coach, but it's a tough sell for me, Hickey, even though Monty Williams did get that team to the finals, and they did blow a 2-0 lead in the NBA finals. For a guy that the last two years, his team no-showed an elimination game up against the Mavericks and then no-showed this year an elimination game, how you end up bringing him in when this team has a problem in showing up in the big moments? I think Monty Williams is a good coach, but you hit the nail on the head.

The problems with the Suns and the Sixers, there are different problems, don't get me wrong, but there's an underlying issue. Like you said, getting it done in the big moment, that's not the direction I would go down, because it kind of is a little too similar with Doc and with Monty. Oh, let's be real, the other guy for, and this is something I've said before, you got to take a run at Jay Wright. You got to be on the phone with Jay Wright and just see if he would be interested. I don't think Jay Wright is ready to come back and coach, but we know Josh Harris has a boatload of cash. He's the owner of the Devils, he's the owner of the Commanders of Soon To Be, and he owns the Sixers.

So that's just sports teams. So it's like, if I'm Josh Harris, go make Jay Wright an offer he can't refuse. I know there's always a risk with bringing in a college coach, but Jay Wright has accomplished everything he can in college.

He's still young, he loves the city. So if you could go get Jay Wright, sure. If you could go Nick Nurse, sure. And even Mike Budenholzer, sure. Because he's won a recent championship. Like outside of those three names, who's the coach hickey that the Sixers turned to if they're getting rid of Doc Rivers?

That's why it's almost like, if you bring in Monty, that doesn't really move the needle for me. And that I think underscores the issue where we're both not Doc fans, but it's just like, the issue is not coaching right now. What else is Doc Rivers or any coach supposed to do when Embiid looks disinterested from the start? And James Harden is a guy that, yes, was great in game one and great in game four, and won them two games in that series. But we were crediting James Harden in game five in the game that we thought changed the series when the Sixers went up 3-2, because he wasn't awful. That's the thing, when he wasn't great, he was god-awful. He was contributing to losing right away. Game two, he was terrible. Game three, he was terrible. And so he, outside of game five, was either terrific or one of the worst basketball players you've ever seen. And so we're sitting there giving him, in some cases, bouquets, because like, wow, this guy was actually just okay.

Or solid. And it's just like, when that's the expectation for your second best player, then you see how he played in games six and seven, game one is wiped away and game four is wiped away because you need your second best player in the biggest game to play well, not be terrible bare minimum. And that's exactly what he was. I don't know if this is going to make any sense, but I'm going to say they need Tyrese Maxey to be 25.

That's what they need. He's 22 right now. Like some maturity?

Seasoning? I think Tyrese Maxey is going to be a heck of a player. He's just not ready to be that guy consistently right now. But by the time that guy's 25, then Bean's going to be what, 32?

Because then Bean's really only has, in Philly, two more years of winning, two to three more years of winning a championship at max. But he's that big. He's not in the best shape. He has all these injuries. How much more is he going to be at a dominant level in the regular season? Because in the postseason, he's not been at that dominant level. And he's going to be able to continue just with all these injuries. And Eric Snow said last year that he's only got two to three or four more years left of a championship window. And it already feels like it's wasted because they weren't able to get the right guy in. The Sixers, this is why I go back to saying what I said earlier.

And if you probably would have said it to me yesterday, Hickey, I would have said, no, you're crazy. That's stupid. But the more and more you look in this, the more and more it makes sense to trade Joel Embiid. Because Embiid, even though he was dreadful in game six and in game seven, he just won the MVP. Miami would give up a boatload to go get him. I don't know how you make it work financially, but the Suns, I'm sure with that new owner would do whatever it takes to go get Joel Embiid.

You would get a King's ransom back for Joel Embiid. But if this guy only has like two to three more years left of being at this level and being able to compete for a championship, you haven't got over the hump yet. You kind of have reached a dead end if you're the Sixers where what are you going to be able to do in the next two to three years to go get you a championship? And I just don't see a championship happening in Philadelphia for Joel Embiid. So even though it sounds a little funky, you may as well just blow this thing up and start over. Dock out, Daryl Morey out. You get rid of Embiid and you're bringing a new coach, a new general manager. Here are all the picks and go have at it and see what you can build. That's what I would do if I'm the Sixers.

Blow the entire thing up. You know, I think you're right just because at this point we keep talking about retooling. This team is the way it is. You have a terrible contract with Tobias Harris.

Now you're maybe desperately hoping for James Harden to return. That just tells you all you need to know about the direction of this team. It does feel like the definition of insanity where you have changed the role pieces around Embiid. You've got different guys and nothing has worked.

And it's like at what point you're just going to say, you know what? We can't make this happen. We got to do something different. And like I said, really blow it up and really kind of start over from scratch. Hope to get a young player, maybe two that you can get back in a trade.

One day along with Maxie kind of builds a younger core. Get draft picks that you can actually hit on and not swing and miss on like the Sixers did a ton during the process and give it another go. Because it does feel like this team's ceiling right now is only the second round. We're talking about a team with the MVP on it.

That's a problem. All right, let's get into the John Morant discussion. So we know John Morant got suspended for eight games this past year, was at a strip club and waving around the gun and all that stuff and got caught on video. John Morant went on the apology tour, right? He had the whole fluff interview with Jaylen Rose and all that. And he quickly, I think he went to rehab, right? If I remember this correctly and very quickly got back onto a basketball court. And at the time it was how much did John Morant really learn and how much did John Morant actually change? But if that doesn't serve as a wake up call to you, when you were the face of the Memphis Grizzlies, from a talent perspective, you're one of the better younger players in the league. And very shortly after that, we're not even officially in the off season.

I know his team's eliminated and I know he got hurt in the playoffs, but he had a good showing individually. For him to be driving around with his friends, waving around the gun, it's like, how dumb are you? That's what I say to John Morant. How dumb are you? You already got caught.

You already caught yourself in some hot water earlier in the year. How do you let this happen so quickly once again? It shows you whatever happened when he was gone for eight games, he didn't take seriously. He didn't change anything.

He didn't give a rat's ass. And now it's like, okay, what are you doing? And I can't trust John Morant. And we've been big John Morant fans. But we had Matt McMahon on as coach of Murray State when no one even knew who John Morant was. You know, I've talked about John Morant on this network for years, like a year before anyone else started talking about him. But like, you've lost me here. And I see a lot of people yesterday are crushing his friends.

How do you put that on Instagram Live? I'm assuming the one guy that was filming it, the moment he saw the gun, he put the phone down and dropped the phone. So like, even that friend knew that John was in the wrong. But like, what are you trying to prove?

Like, what's the tough guy act that you're trying to show here, John Morant? It's like, you're going to ruin your career with this stuff. And I don't know what the league's going to do.

Like, I see people today are saying, oh, my God, today are saying, oh, maybe they'll suspend him for an entire year, half a year. He did talk to Adam Silver. He had a meeting with Adam Silver.

So who knows what spineless Silver is going to do. But it's like, you're at a point here with John Morant where you can't trust him. And this guy's young. He should have a bright future ahead of him. But how many times before we've seen someone, you know, bleep away their future just with pure stupidity. And that's what Morant is doing.

He's bleeping away his future by just stupid acts. Like, you want to have a gun? I'm not telling you don't own a gun. I'm not saying you can't do that. But what good do you think is going to happen twirling around the gun on Instagram Live? And even if you're not live, like, what good do you think is going to happen when you do that? Like, what are you trying to prove?

What are you trying to show? That's all I could say about John Morant. It's just pure stupidity. And it's going to eventually cost him.

It is. It is going to cost him in a big way. Whether it's a team just not wanting to do anything with him anymore or like, I don't know if the gun was loaded or not. You're twirling around a gun like that, what happens if it misfires? What happens if you accidentally shoot it? You wind up like Plaxico Burress.

It's like just a dumb, and I mean a really dumb thing, Hickey, that John Morant's doing. If I'm even at this point, if I'm the Grizzlies, I'm not even letting the NBA get involved in terms of suspension. I would just spend it for the whole year. Because honestly, at this point, this is a guy who's clearly not a learner's lesson, clearly needs to have something of importance taken away from him in order to truly learn. I also think you need time. You mentioned before he went to rehab. He missed eight games total.

I'm sorry, if you have a problem or if you are trying to improve an area of your life, two and a half weeks is not changing something in your life that is right now a detriment. And so you got to give him time to be able to hopefully understand what he's doing and who he's hanging with is not exactly right. Because the person he was hanging with is a guy that right now is not allowed to go to Grizzlies games. Because the last time he was at a Grizzlies game, he was involved in an altercation with the Pacers and their traveling party. And he was involved and allegedly was the person who was pointing a laser pointer.

And we think it was a laser pointer, hoping out a gun into the Pacers team bus leaving the arena. So he's not hanging with the right people. He is making the same mistakes he did before. He's not learning his lesson.

Everything that happened from him talking at him silver and that suspension, that eight game suspension did not teach him. And honestly, not to get morbid here, but you mentioned you hang the wrong people. You have guns when you shouldn't have. You could get killed or end up in jail. And we're talking about something way worse than just what's going to happen when John ran into the basketball court.

And that's obviously the worst case scenario. Also, he got paid $200 million. He got paid the big contract. And if I'm the Grizzlies, at first I hear you say suspend him for a year. And my first thought is, will the Players Association ever allow that to happen? But if you're the Grizzlies, you need, and I know this sounds real serious, but you need something to change because eventually then he's going to screw you over and you have all this money tied up into him. So I wonder, I just wonder how many trade calls are going to be made for John Moran this off season.

I'm just going to throw that out there. Now he's still young. He's still a star.

I'm not saying you can't trust him. I don't know what the return would be, but the dude's a great basketball player. He's a tremendous basketball player. And I wonder, do the Grizzlies get an offer this summer where they maybe say, yeah, we'll listen. We'll maybe contemplate trading John Moran.

It may sounds a little like premature, but I wonder if the Grizzlies are even at that point where they know whatever we see, maybe it's actually worse than what we see. He's 23. So if I was Memphis, I would opt for the one year suspension, hope he figures his life out. Cause even if it's like one year, okay, you're still young enough for a year.

I mean, look, he's obviously not learning his lesson. I know, but I'm saying the, the, the NBA player association, they're going to, they would fight that. You would, you would think a year suspension. I mean, I can't tell you. I know the CBA.

There may be clauses in there that allows them. I don't know. No idea, but the guy point in the guy needs help. Clearly he needs help and he needs help off the feet or off the court before anything on the court can be discussed.

And the only way you're going to get true help is by taking time to invest in yourself. And I think you need more than eight games, like was handed down last or a few months ago in order to truly make an impact. And Moran has been suspended from all Grizzlies activities. It's like, what does that do right now? I know I probably shouldn't be laughing about this, but suspended him right now from all Grizzlies activities eventually has to be reinstated. So who knows how long this is going to be. I feel like this is just doing something to do something, but like what activities is he missing right now?

None. It's just like he's going to summer league. No, you're right. It's something for the Grizzlies to make it seem like they're taking it seriously. Yes.

It's all about optics. Yes. Perfect way to say it. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS sports radio, Georgia lands another star. We talk about him next. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. It is Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS sports radio.

So the rich get richer. The number one recruit, the number one quarterback for the class of 2024, Dylan Riola has committed to Georgia. His father played forever at Nebraska and then had a long NFL career with the Detroit lions.

The only team ever played for from 2001 to 2014. There was a thought for a little bit that maybe Dylan was going to wind up as a Nebraska Cornhusker. His uncle is the offensive line coach.

And I believe he was the only player for the only coaching member from the old regime was Scott Frost at Nebraska that Matt rule did keep. So they had to think that they had a shot to land Dylan Riola and he was considering Nebraska. Also USC.

I saw just for starters and ultimately goes to Georgia and you can't really fault the kid for doing so because Georgia is the creme de la creme team right now in college football. And they are so dominant. Look at all the pieces that they lost a year ago and they still won the national championship this year and didn't lose a game this past season. So they're back to back national champs. And now come 2024, they're going to get the number one player recruit in the country and the number one quarterback to go to their university.

It's just amazing. Hickey, how the conversation could change so quickly about Kirby smart where it's like, okay, he's a really, really, really, really, really good coach comes up small all the time up against Alabama. Can't slam the door shut that SEC title game, the national championship or two comes in at halftime after Jalen hurts gets benched and now back to back champions. You start to wonder like, what is this run ever going to end for Georgia? And if they're able to get, which I just did the number one quarterback and the number one recruit, like look how many times they tried to take it away from Stetson Bennett who won two natties there.

Like look how many times that did go down. They won two national championships with Stetson Bennett, nothing against Stetson Bennett, but that was a walk on and the talent is going to keep on coming into Georgia. And for all these years, like we were looking for a legitimate threat to Alabama and Clemson had a great run. Don't get me wrong, but you're talking now about an SEC team that has overtaken the SEC and has overtaken all of college football. And you know, I know we're talking about 2024 with Dylan coming in, but like this upcoming year, I don't know what to expect in college football. Sure, Caleb Williams back at USC, can they get out of the Pac-12? Like, let's start there because they had two leads up against Utah and Kyle Whittingham squad and Cam Rising was back with the Utes and they couldn't get the job done. And Lincoln Riley has been notoriously known, unfortunately, for getting his team to the college football playoff but then doing nothing when he's in the college football playoff with Heisman Trophy winners and Heisman Trophy finalists. And then Caleb Williams is a Heisman Trophy winner now. Michigan, they return a ton of people.

You get both running backs back with Blake Quorum and Edwards and you got McCarthy back for another year. We'll see what ends up happening with Ohio State, but Ryan Day loses back-to-back years to Michigan. It's like you go around the landscape of college football hickey. Maybe Cade Klubnick brings Clemson back to get into a college football playoff, but you go around. Alabama, we don't even know what their quarterback situation is going to be this year. It's wide open and if it's wide open, you kind of be a fool at this point to bet against Georgia, even with all the talent that they've lost the last two years. I am very nervous about the future of college football and, George, Alabama's dynasty was very dominant. I thought we would never see anything like it ever again and now, I'll be honest, I'm starting to get nervous that we could see an even greater dynasty in Georgia forming right now because you look at Kirby Smart. You mentioned they just won two national titles, which sets him Bennett. The only weakness for Kirby Smart in terms of recruiting, it's not really recruiting, it's more development, has been quarterback. He had Justin Fields, shipped him off.

Obviously, that was a big mistake. He's had a few five-star guys, but never really developed them. And Saban really didn't have the quarterbacks until the end.

Right, absolutely right and then he started really getting them and then really Jalen Hurts was the first and then it really took off from there. If Kirby Smart is able to take Dylan Viola and develop him and win a national title and have him be a number one, a top five pick and all of a sudden other top quarterbacks look at Georgia as now a place to go to not only win but also get drafted high, I'm very nervous that we're going to see a lot of basically elite athletes at every single position continue to play for Georgia and just have this dynasty just pick up some massive steam. But also, if I'm a quarterback right now, I don't need to see another quarterback go there and do that. I just look at Stetson Betty. There's no disrespect to Stetson Betty. The guy was a walk-on.

They tried to bench him everywhere you go. Even when he was in route to winning a national championship, this guy didn't really get his respect until the second national championship in college football. So if I'm a recruit right now and I see how many players Georgia the last two years has pumped out into the pros, I know they had Stafford there who ended up going to Lions very early and played with actually Raoul's father, but it's like I don't need to see anything more. I would go to Georgia in a heartbeat right now.

I'm going to play with a loaded team. I have a great coach in Kirby Smart and I'm going to go right into the SEC. It's a no-brainer right now for me and I understand Lincoln Riley with all the quarterbacks that have gone on to get drafted very high and win Heisman trophies with him, but if I'm a recruit right now, it's easy. If I could have the pick of any team in college football right now, if I'm a recruit, I'm going to Georgia. I would agree with every position except quarterback because that's the one where if you're focused on your NFL future, Georgia's not the school you go to to boost your NFL stock. Like, sure, they won with Sets and Bennett, but JT Daniels was a five-star recruit, didn't play.

But that doesn't matter. They're a machine right now. Justin Fields is a five-star recruit, didn't play. But the entire team is a machine.

Sets and Bennett just won in the fourth round. Think about that. Right, but there's no history, there's no real belief as to that you're going to go to Georgia and Kirby Smart's going to put you in the best position to get drafted high. There's no history of that where Lincoln Riley, all he has done in his time at Oklahoma and USC, has gotten quarterbacks drafted number one, has won them Heisman trophies. And you don't think Kirby Smart could do that? And if you're dealing with or believe already in Kirby Smart over Lincoln Riley. Yeah, that's an easy thing.

That's a scary thought. Well, I feel like it's easy to go to USC. If you're a quarterback, why wouldn't you go play under Lincoln Riley if you want to? Every single quarterback he's coached has gone to the NFL, has gone to have a lot of success, and has gone to either win a Heisman or be the number one overall pick.

Why would you not follow that pipeline that seems almost foolproof at this point? It's the same thing that happened in Alabama with Nick Saban. Nick Saban didn't have the guy for years and years and years at quarterback.

And that was the one knocking Nick Saban. Oh, he never gets that top quarterback. And then he starts getting all these quarterbacks out of the wazoo.

It's like- Because of the domino effect. Okay, Jalen Hurts was okay. Now he's all of a sudden started to see more and more guys- So why can't that happen with Kirby Smart? Well, we're starting to see it happen.

I'm just saying, blind faith. If you're the number one overall quarterback recruit, and you can look at Dore, there's USC, Lincoln Riley, all the success. And you can point to literally five quarterbacks he has coached and said, look where all these guys are. You could be the next in line. I'd go to the better program. Or you could point to Kirby Smart in Georgia.

I'd go to the better program. That says we have no track record of developing quarterbacks whatsoever. We have a dominant team.

We have winners everywhere. But can I promise you that you're going to be in the best position possible to play in the NFL? I cannot do that at quarterback. That's one position you cannot say- You don't think Kirby Smart's going to adapt? Like, you just saw him get the number one recruit in 2024.

That's my point. I'm saying now that kids are starting to believe in him, that's why I'm worried about future. Because now, if this works out, there's no excuse if you're a top quarterback- You should have been worried before this. ... to not go to Georgia. There's plenty of reasons beforehand to go to other schools if you're a quarterback, especially to put yourself in the best position to get to the NFL.

Now, if he's able to take Dylan Riola in the next three, four years, transform him and half him be Caleb Williams 2.0, half him be Kyler Murray 2.0 at the college level, then yeah, there's no excuse why Georgia then at that point should lose out to any recruit to anyone. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Yo, yo, Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio. So I was reading this article, and it's in the ringer by Logan Murdoch, who has this quote, and I guess this happened, it says, after game five of the Western Conference Semifinals, where he's the key, Steph Curry told Murdoch after game five of the Western Conference Semifinals, pointing to Poole's locker, Murdoch wrote that the Warriors guard said it loud enough for all to hear.

You know, think about that. That's very telling. And I don't think Steph Curry's wrong. Jordan Poole got paid. Jordan Poole at times last year was referred to as the third splash brother. Klay Thompson has gone through a lot of injuries. He could still be good, but he's not the same Klay Thompson that is going to be paid to be and he only has one year left on the contract. Jordan Poole's got to really take off.

And here's what I'll say about Jordan Poole. I don't think he was as bad as he displayed in the postseason. And at times he looked lost. There was one game that only played him 10 minutes because they knew he was lost. I don't know if he and I don't think he was as great as what he showed last year, but there's no way he was as bad as what he displayed in the postseason. And you committed that money to him.

So now you have to find the way to make it work. And Hickey, it's like inevitable that this conversation comes back up. But I look at Jordan Poole and I just wonder, and I do really think this too, that a lot of his decline this year has to be mental from the Draymond Green incident. When you have a player, a teammate, punch you in the face and really nothing was done to that player.

I know the Warriors get praise for this great work environment and what they've built and all that, but what type of work environment is that? Like if I worked here at CBS Sports Radio and another host punched me in the face, you think I would be comfortable just sitting around here for something I didn't deserve and I didn't do anything wrong? So I can't say I'm terribly surprised that Draymond or that Jordan Poole regressed because just mentally that has to be a very unhealthy situation for the guy. Without a doubt, I mean not just getting punched and also having a play out publicly to where you are now the center of attention for something one you didn't do and that you are now getting dragged into. He obviously did not want to get punched. He got punched. Now all anyone talked about for the weeks following that and really throughout the entire season was the punch and his involvement.

So it has to absolutely be mental. And what was interesting from Logan too was... But real quickly before you say that because I want you to get to your point, but the other thing too is anyone that says, oh maybe Jordan Poole was at fault with the Draymond Green incident, that I don't understand. Draymond Green is so mercurial and he has, he's done so many things in the past where yes, he's won a championship. He's won multiple championships. He's been very important to what they do.

I don't think he should be a Hall of Famer, but he will be a Hall of Famer, especially with some of the low standards that today's Smith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame does have. But I don't look at that incident where there's people saying, oh Jordan Poole must have done something to Draymond Green and that's why Draymond Green punched him. I just think that's Draymond Green where he could flip that switch on and off so quickly.

And when it gets on, it takes it to a level that you just can't justify. And that's like the other thing, it's like so many people in that organization for what Draymond has done is like afraid of Draymond Green. It's kind of, it's such a bizarre thing. And it probably even intensifies this thought that we're talking about with Jordan Poole where you get punched in the face by a teammate and nothing really happened to that teammate because like everyone walks on eggshells whenever it comes to discussing a punitive action for Draymond Green. Right. So how can you, I totally agree. And that's why it's just, I feel like mentally more than anything else.

It's just a hurdle that because it happened so early, you never kind of are able to settle in, feel comfortable. And another detail that Logan is pointing out in that article was because last year when Jordan Poole really burst on the scene, a lot of it was because Steph was hurt, Clay was hurt. More playing time for Jordan Poole.

And because they were away rehabbing, reportedly at least Jordan Poole viewed Draymond Green as like an older brother and someone who was basically a mentor for him. And so you fast forward then after last season, when they become very close and Logan details road trips where they're talking to each other, hanging out, Jordan Poole's picking the brain of Draymond and you fast forward till you win a championship. Then in one of the first practices of the next season, you get cold cocked by him and then no suspension, plays out in front of everyone. No one says anything.

No one does anything. It's kind of like, okay, let's just play basketball and pretending nothing happened. It makes all sense in the world why Jordan Poole, again, regressed and you have to think it's mental because how can you truly be able just to get over that block or that, you know, event and move forward. And also when you look at the dynamic of that locker room, we all know the star that Steph Curry is and the star that Clay Thompson has been, but they do kind of seem like regular guys in an NBA world where like if you're Jordan Poole walking into that locker room, there's, I'm not saying there isn't an aura around Steph and Clay cause there clearly is, but Draymond is that guy in that locker room that you could tell he's the guy that gets the credit for being that locker room leader. Like he is the guy that went up to Kevin Durant and said, stop holding us hostage. And he called him out for it.

And he eventually got what, like a game suspension because of it. So that older brother dynamic is probably what it does feel when you're a younger player and you kind of see, oh, there's like the cool kid at the cool kid table in high school and you're like the freshman walking in. And even though there may be kids that are cooler, you know, the guy that's like patrolling the cafeteria and that's Draymond Green. Like he's the cool kid that, you know, you don't mess with. And he's probably the guy that you have to like work a little bit harder to get his respect. And if he felt like that respect was there from what you were saying in this article, and then you get punched in the face by this guy, it's like, you can't win because you just get embarrassed and you become the joke and the punchline for everyone, no pun intended there. And it's, you're in a spot where like everyone's afraid to punish Draymond and if you're Jordan Poole, like I actually have sympathy for him. It's like, what else are you supposed to do? I know people are going to say, oh, suck it up and go to work.

You make all this money. But I asked anyone that says that, would you want to go to work with someone from what we know you did nothing wrong to? And he just punched you in the face. I'm glad you brought the Kevin Durant thing because think about it.

Think about how stupid this is. He got suspended one game and he got suspended longer for confronting Kevin Durant in a huddle and a timeout in the sideline. And he got suspended longer for that incident than he did for punching a teammate in practice.

Yeah. What they, they tell him to go away during the preseason. I think it was like, if you were, if you, yeah, he's been like three practices. Like, oh, you really, you really sent a message there. I remember he came back.

He's like, oh yeah, I had a great time with my kid. Yeah. Like if you're Jordan Poole, how can you think your team has your back? When you look at how they treated Draymond and how they quote unquote punished him for basically giving him three days off in the middle of the preseason versus suspending him for what he just got, you know, basically confronted Kevin Durant and didn't touch him physically just yelled at him. If the warriors are going to win another championship with Steph Curry, they need to have Draymond Green off the roster because Steph is right. Jordan Poole is the key. And for Jordan Poole to be at his best mentally, I think he needs Draymond Green off the roster. And if you could get rid of Draymond and I I'm going to go to an even next level and find a way to get clay off the team and you have Steph Curry, you're banking on Jordan Poole bouncing back.

That's a big destination. And who knows if Bob Meyers is going to stay or go like Bob Meyers, if he is staying, I don't feel good about him getting Draymond Green off the roster or clay Thompson. But if Bob Meyers is leaving and someone else is coming in, yes, Steve Kerr is going to have a ton of stay. And then you could have the same conversation of like, okay, would Steve Kerr get rid of Draymond or get rid of, of clay Thompson. But if you could get a new president GM in there that will actually have the authority, like if you want to make this work with Steph getting another championship, which I still think is possible. Like I don't believe that the warriors dynasty is dead. This version may be, but Steph could still win in this league. And this league is wide open.

You need Jordan Poole to work. And if you open up some roster spots and you get rid of some big salaries there, don't commit more money there, like who isn't going to want to go play with Steph Curry? So I look at that as something this year where I really wonder, are the warriors going to reward people for past efforts or are they going to try to continue to build towards winning more championships? Because if you're trying to build towards winning more championships, I don't think you give Draymond Green a big contract. And when it comes to clay, it was one year left on his deal. I know there's been talks about him taking a pay cut and all that stuff in an extension. I don't think it makes much sense to give clay an extension right now.

The tricky part is I do think Jordan Poole will bounce back, but how much and what is it? Like you mentioned it, you don't think he's as good as what he showed in the playoffs. You don't think he's as bad, you know what he showed in the playoffs two years ago, they won the championship and you don't think he's as bad as what we saw in the playoffs this past year. Well then what is he like if he's somewhere in the middle, is that good enough to be even a third player on a championship team?

I don't know. I think he could be a third player in a championship team, but more the point that I was making is you're banking on him being that third player. Steph's still your one and you go get a younger dominant too. Like I know that Dame is not a young player, but imagine they got Dame or if Joel Embiid becomes available in trade conversations, you go get a Joel Embiid.

Like whoever that person is out there, you got to find someone to sandwich in between Steph Curry and Jordan Poole is what I was getting at. Now I don't think they're getting rid of clay Thompson. Draymond, I think it depends if Bob Myers is there or not. That is what I ultimately think does matter, is if Bob Myers is there. Because if Bob Myers is there, I think the emotions and the bonds that they've created for winning championships is going to prevent them from moving this thing forward into the future and building it back to where they should be. I would agree with that. I think Bob Myers is kind of the linchpin here. If he leaves, I think we could see a flood of them players leaving.

If he stays, it feels like they're going to run back at least the core of Clay, Steph, and Draymond and try to, you know, dance around the the auxiliary parts of the roster and improve there. It is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We will take a time out when we come on back. It is a Monday. We will have five questions, five answers.

We call that segment Onsides, Offsides, and you hear it every Monday and Friday on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. One more hour to play. We always appreciate you tuning in to us across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, and that free Odyssey app. You could always give us a call. 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227, and make sure you follow along on social media, Instagram, and Twitter at Zach Gelb. That's Z-A-C-H-G-L-B.