LeBron To the Mavericks? (Hour 4)

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It's Onsides, Offsides with Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio. All right, Hankster, what do you got? Well, Zach, guess what? Kyrie Irving is back at it again.

Don't speculate about anybody's future, especially mine. Especially his, but he is free though to speculate on other people's futures because according to Shams Sharaniar, Irving has reached out to LeBron James and asked him about joining the Mavericks this offseason. Now, logistically, acquiring James is very difficult considering the Mavericks did give up a first round pick and two second round picks along with two role players in their trade to get Kyrie back in February. Now, right now, Irving is scheduled to, or not scheduled, is a free agent and in order to make it work in terms of him, Luka, and LeBron on the same team, both LeBron and Kyrie would need to take pay cuts in order for it to work. So, all that said, Onsides or Offsides, LeBron James will be a Dallas Maverick on opening night.

This may be the easiest question you've ever asked me. I don't know if LeBron James even wants to leave the Los Angeles Lakers, but like you said, logistically, it is a nightmare to get this deal done. And you would probably need to do a sign and trade to get Kyrie to Los Angeles, but why would the Lakers ever contemplate that? Why would Rob Palinko, who's not a stupid man, ever give or want to take on a long term deal for Kyrie Irving? And I could not see Kyrie going along with the plan when he wanted to be in Dallas with LeBron to then say, Oh yeah, LeBron will get to Dallas and I'll go to Los Angeles in a sign and trade. I think LeBron is back in the NBA next year. I think LeBron is back with the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James won't be a Maverick on opening night. You asked me if LeBron James will be a Dallas Maverick on opening night. Offside.

Offside. Let's for a second throw the logistics out the window. Let's live in a fantasy world and pretend the possibility of Luka, Kyrie, and LeBron James could logistically happen and be on the same team. How dangerous would that team be together? Now, coming off the Mavs, I should say, our cutoff of the season, which they went 8-12 with the dynamic duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving playing together.

They missed the playoffs, as you remember, all together after tanking. That's not a dynamic duo. That's a disastrous duo.

That's probably a better use of the word. Whenever Kyrie is a part of the duo, outside of him leaving Cleveland, like once he's left Cleveland, it's been a disastrous duo everywhere he's gone. And he took a team in the firm grip of the playoffs and helped them drop right out and they missed the playoffs all together.

With a playing tournament in the Spineless Silvers NBA, he has a playing tournament. I know they were tanking at the end, but it's because they lost all those games originally. They were going for the title and ended up, like you said, being the 11th team in the West.

Boy, oh boy. Kyrie. So Kyrie did not produce a lot of winning.

Lebron James, though, on the other hand, has come off a very solid season for his 20th year in which he scored 28.9 points per game on 50% shooting from the field. Onsides or offsides, a Mavericks team of Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Lebron James would be the favorites next season in the West. Wait, can I even speculate about this? I know Kyrie doesn't want me to do any speculation on his future, so this means he would be staying in Dallas. And if he's going to throw out the Shamshirania that Lebron James could potentially be joining him or he's trying to get Lebron there, wouldn't that make us speculate that Kyrie wants to stay with the Dallas Mavericks? So there's a lot of speculation there. I don't think Kyrie wants me to speculate at all, hot take hickey.

Are you sure? I'm sure, because if Kyrie can speculate about Lebron's future, then I think in this case, one-off, we can then speculate on Kyrie's future. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, especially with Kyrie Irving.

Zach Guilbe show, where no one's feelings could hurt. Ever. Besides yours. Ever. Everyone included.

Myself. A Mavericks team of Luka, Kyrie, and Lebron would be favorites in the West. Just because you're the favorite doesn't mean you're actually going to win it. And I could definitely see Vegas in the West being disrespectful to Denver again. Who knows when Jon Morant's actually going to play with Memphis. The Kings, I'm sure people will think they'll regress. The Suns, they got Durant, they got Booker.

What else do they have? It looks like CP3 will be back, but they're trying to get rid of DeAndre Aiden. The Clippers are never healthy. Who knows who's going to be in Golden State next year.

You know what? They would be the favorite to get out of the West. I would not place a wager on them, because Lebron in the last few years has not been able to stay healthy. Kyrie, maybe he'll go to his 13th birthday party or something like that of a family member, and you can never trust that dude. And also, I don't know if Lebron and Luka are a fit.

I get the idea of it. Lebron needs someone else that could go out there and go get his, and clearly Luka Doncic can do that. And Luka Doncic right now in the year 2023 is a better player than Lebron James.

But I think they're similar. So I look around, I do think they would make them the favorite, but I would not be placing that bet. So to answer your question, yeah, that Mavericks team would be the favorite to get out of the West from an odd standpoint, but you wouldn't see Zach Gell put in any money on that, so onsides. All right, let's leave Fantasy Worlds.

Let me ask you this. Do you think they'd be the favorite? No, I would not make them my favorite.

I would still say the numbers. Do you think Vegas would make them the favorite? Because you know Vegas would go very sexy and would get people to put them over Denver. The tough part is part of Vegas is trying to make you bet on it, so I could see them making them the favorite in order to get people to put money on it. Exactly, knowing that that team's not going to go to the NBA Finals.

So that's a tricky part of just Vegas sometimes, in their mind, won't believe something, but will believe what people will put money on, and that's obviously what their goal is. And also, let's remember, there's no super team right now in the NBA. If that trio forms, whatever we say about Kyrie, whether you like Kyrie or not, or still believe he's a star is what I should say, he's a great player on the court.

The problem is he's just never on the court enough. That would be deemed as that next super team in the NBA. Super team on toothpicks, basically. Keeping them up, that's for sure. What do you mean super team on toothpicks?

Well, I'm trying to think of an unstable base, that's exactly what it would be. On toothpicks? Think about how top heavy that would be, where Kyrie Irving barely plays.

On toothpicks? Lebron's having trouble staying healthy. We saw Kyrie and Luca go from in the playoffs to totally out of the playoffs. Is Lebron James saving that team?

Gotcha. Maybe, but nowhere near to a championship level, that's for sure. Alright, let's go talk real hoops. I didn't think we'd be talking about toothpicks tonight.

Well, that's what you get in Dallas right now if you put that trio together. I do like when I go to a restaurant, you're walking out of the restaurant, they have toothpicks right at the door. I like that. I feel like that's a dad move. You get the toothpick? My grandfather used to do it all the time. I think it's an older gentleman sort of thing where it's like you get the toothpick, you unravel it, and then you're just picking your teeth for the next half hour. No, I like to be classy. I want to make sure that all the food's out of the teeth. Especially when you have a big steak dinner or something like that. You don't go to the bathroom and look?

That's my move. Oh, if the stuff's still in your teeth, you gotta use a toothpick to get it out. Well, you gotta finagle it out, but I've never found myself in a situation in a restaurant where I needed a toothpick.

Oh. When you eat the same pasta mill each and every night, that's the case. When you eat peanut butter and jelly, that's the best case scenario.

I don't know what you want me to say here. No PB&J stuck in my teeth. When you have the diet of a middle school child like you do, I don't think you're going to be needing a toothpick. I eat steak.

Just let the record show. Yeah, and then you get food poisoning. Wow, that's true. I've been hearing about many steak dinners ever since your food poisoning. I have not had steak in my restaurant since.

Yeah. Don't you have cat meat that night or something like that? That was tough. I felt for a second I was not making it. You sure that was the cow that was on your plate?

I'm glad I made it to Phoenix a few days late, but better late than never. Yeah, I still question if you actually had food poisoning. Whoa, why would I miss two days of the Super Bowl? We didn't see any photos of the vomit or anything like that. Who gets sick and says, hold on, let me show you what I'm working with here? I think you looked at it okay. Super Bowl week Monday, Tuesday isn't as active.

The hickey will just show up for the big Wednesday show. I've never been to the Super Bowl. A little vacation and all that.

What do I know? Get away from Zach. I just think it was too convenient. You showed up in Arizona and you were perfectly fine. And you were texting me less than 24 hours before that that you were basically on your deathbed.

I just thought it was fugazi. And this is my 20th Super Bowl? Maybe I consider it. My first one ever. Your ego has been insufferable lately. For someone who thought they were going to die that night, that is insulting. That is insulting. Maybe if you used a toothpick when you were leaving the place, you wouldn't have that little extra piece of meat.

You know what? Maybe that was the difference. Shame on me. That ended up having the food poisoning on it.

Shame on me for disrespecting the toothpaste. That could have been the difference between a night from hell and going to Phoenix for the Super Bowl on time. That's like a curb skit. Kind of is. That is for sure. Holy cow. Holy cow, yeah. You didn't have a good cow that night, I'll tell you that.

Yeah. Alright, let's talk some hoops. Miami Heat, they've been disrespected. They've been through sometimes hell, but they've also been back. As they did tie up the series last night, 1-1 after a huge fourth quarter. And we would say outscored the Nuggets 36-25. Miami earlier in the first half was able to withstand a 40-14 run by Denver.

Wow. They were led by Gabe Vincent's 23 points. Game 3 on Wednesday does shift to Miami, where the Heat are 7-3 at home in this postseason, including the two playing games. Onsides or offsides, the Heat will win the NBA Finals.

That's offside. I'm still thinking that Denver wins this. I'll go with my original prediction, Denver in 6. I know you could equally argue this, that Jimmy Butler hasn't showed up yet, so you should feel good about it from a Miami standpoint since you got one. You could say the same thing about Denver.

They haven't played their best yet. Jamal Murray really hasn't been the great Jamal Murray that we're used to, and we know how valuable Jamal Murray is to Denver winning it all. I still think the better team ends up winning here, and I just trust more of Denver's 1-2 punch than Miami's 1-2 punch.

I give a lot of credit to Bam Adebayo. He is a huge key for Miami to win this series. You said that going in. Bam has been pretty much flawless through the first two games, but I will trust Jokic and Murray more than I will Bam Adebayo and whatever's going on with Jimmy Butler right now, because he has not been great as of late, and he has not played a great game in a while. So I will say offside when you ask me if the Heat will win the NBA Finals, I'll still go in Denver in 6.

Offside. Let's talk a little football. DeAndre Hopkins, according to The Athletic, is searching for the Benjamins this offseason, not the wins. According to two league executives, Hopkins is searching for the equivalent of what Odell Beckham Jr. received from the Ravens, which was a one-year, $15 million deal.

Could be a little accelerated as well, or a little increase, I should say. I'll admit something. With some incentives.

I forgot. I thought that was a two-year deal, Odell Beckham Jr. I know it's a one-year, $15 million deal, but I remember the money being a little bit absurd, so I just assumed that it was a two-year deal. But that being a one-year, $15 million guaranteed, and to be fair, when Odell was with the Rams, he exceeded expectations, caught that touchdown in the Super Bowl, but then to miss an entire year and still get $15 million guaranteed on only a one-year deal?

That's actually very surprising. Good job by Odell and his agent. Good job, and they have set the market now for free agent wide receivers. And you'd rather have Hopkins? Yes.

Oh, yes. I would agree with that. I think most teams probably would agree with that as well. So if he's looking for the Odell deal, one year, $15 million in that range, that then makes both the Chiefs and Bills long shots since they basically have about a million dollars or so in cap space available. Onsides or offsides, Zach, DeAndre Hopkins is making a mistake by prioritizing money over winning. I know the guy has all the money in the world, but it's tough for me to crush him and say he's making a mistake since he's looking for $15 guaranteed million a year. If I was him and I pretty much accomplished all I could, yeah. I would go to Kansas City. It's the easiest decision, you know, you'd probably ever make. But if you're only going to make a million dollars, I know there's money that he'd still be owed from the Cardinals' contract, but this new team only a million dollars, that does seem pretty damn light. So you know what?

I should answer this. I'm going to just be full disclosure, Hickey and I. I tell you to separate what he should do and what he will do. This is going to benefit my football team because I'm convinced that my football team is going to get him in the New England Patriots. So you say DeAndre Hopkins make a mistake by prioritizing money over winning? You're probably right. But in this case, since it's going to benefit my football team, I'm going to be like you. I'm going to be like Homer Hickey today. I'm going to be Homer Gelb on this one. He's not making a mistake. No, absolutely not. Not making a mistake. Because he's going to the Patriots.

Let me ask you this really, really fast then. Let's just say, he should go to the Chiefs. He signs with the Patriots for $15 million. He gets what he wants this year. One year deal. Is that what opens up the door, I guess, for more long-term money? Is it going and getting the $15 million now?

Or if you saw the Chiefs, let's say for a million dollars, Goodyear, win a Super Bowl, be the number one wide receiver. He's going to be 31 tomorrow. Happy early birthday to you. Or 32 tomorrow, I should say. Happy birthday to DeAndre Hopkins. Oh, so perfect for him tomorrow to sign with the Patriots. Happy birthday to you. Get him to New England.

Let's go. I guess I'm asking this. Would you feel comfortable if he has a really solid year in Kansas City this year? He'll be 33 next year. Would you feel comfortable giving him like a three, four-year, $50 million deal?

Yeah, front-load it though. I mean, so would I. I'm more asking, you know, if you're Hopkins, you can have a long view. The guy missed eight games last year? I'm pretty sure he missed eight games because he had six of the suspension. He missed two at the end of the year. And he still put up 11 yards per catch. How many total yards did he end? He still had 717 yards and 64 receptions.

Production machine. That's what I'm saying. If he gets to play.

That was nine games. Maybe a pay cut on a contender this year is not the worst thing in terms of getting yourself set up for one last big deal. Once again, 100% he should go sign with Kansas City. But what he will do is sign with the New England Patriots. I was trying to just be like you.

Where? I'm just going to answer with how I want it to go to work to my advantage. No. I'm Mr. Objectivity. I think that's fair to say.

I think any normal person listening to this show would agree as well. Yeah. Okay. Colts are going to be a good team last year.

How'd that work out? Speaking of questionable futures. Objectivity though. I was not the only one on the Colts last year winning the division. I didn't say Super Bowl. I said win the division. You also weren't the only one on the Colts last year that was gambling. Well, that's also true.

Which is maybe why they're losing so much. Now here's the difference with you and the Colts player again. Isaiah Rogers.

Isaiah Rogers. He may have been gambling against his team. We know for sure he was gambling on his team. Well, look. Call me a sucker.

He comes with a lot of things. I have never lost money on the Colts. Because I've never bet on the Colts.

Especially last year. Never in your life? Not when you're confident?

This is the issue. I try to. I rarely bet met games. I don't bet.

That's where I can't separate heart from head. So, I don't bet my teams. Folks. There you go. Because he knows he's a bush.

He knows he's part of the hickey hats. No. Because I always go into a game thinking they're going to win this game.

You have no chance. Yes. Yes.

And they can easily talk to themselves. And oh yeah. Liar.

I bet a few bucks on it. And then when they lose and they don't cover. Mush. Then I'm doubly mad. You're a mush. Stay away.

Just embrace it. You're a mush kid. I want to be smart with my bets. Not dumb. So that's why I stay away from the teams I love. Yeah.

You're a mush. Doesn't work either way. But anyway. Davon Cook. His feature's up in the air. Albert Berrier did report recently that a trade between the Vikings and Dolphins was about to send the running back to Miami. It was nearly done before the draft. But as we know, did not come to fruition. Reasons are not given. Now, Cook is under contract for the Vikings for another three seasons.

Onsides or offsides. Davon Cook will be on the Dolphins next season, AKA 2023. If you would have asked me this last week, I would have said yes. I don't see at this point why you would just outright release him if you are the Minnesota Vikings. So I do think they should keep him in Minnesota for this year. So Davon Cook will be on the Dolphins this season. I will go offsides. Closing bell next.

Zach Helms from CBS Sports Radio. Mountain Dew Zero Sugar asked, Ever wonder what it would be like to live in an alternate universe? Well, friends, welcome to the alternate universe of Mountain Dew Zero Sugar. Because even though it says zero sugar right there on the bottle, when you crack one open and try it, the taste is nothing less than outrageously delicious. Hey, transport yourself to an alternate universe with Mountain Dew Zero Sugar. Zero sugar, all dew. Quit your thirst at Quality Mart today where you can get two 20 ounce ice cold Mountain Dew's for only $3.50.

Mountain Dew and Quality Mart, do the dew. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Another day is in the books and we're taking stock of the sports world. It's time to find out who's up and who's down.

Let's end the day right and hit the closing bell. Only on The Zach Gelb Show. All right, let's start things off with Trey Richardson, TCU baseball player. Unbelievable what he did the other day. He had three home runs in one game, 11 RBIs in one game, two grand slams, and then another home run.

Yeah, try to process that one. That is just absolute insanity. And what some are saying of the year of the Horn Frogs, really? Make the college football playoff and then you have this success that they're having right now in the college baseball postseason. But tied for the most in NCAA tournament game, 11 RBIs for Trey Richardson. Once again, three home runs, two grand slams. Give him a stock up.

All right, we'll keep things moving. Jamal Murray, he's been phenomenal for Denver. First NBA Finals game, it was good. But last night, he needed to play a lot better and he was streaky. And he only ended up the game with 18 points and he made some shots late.

But he missed that last three pointer that would have sent the game to overtime. Jamal Murray, I've been saying it all year, Nicole Jokic is their best player. Jamal Murray to win a championship is their most valuable player. We need to see Jamal Murray going back to what he's been for most of this postseason and I'm assuming it will happen in game three.

But for now, give Jamal Murray a stock down. Let's go to Adam Silver. This was on NBA TV. He explained Spineless Silver what the in-season tournament will look like. I think the notion there is taking a page from international soccer where they have other things to compete for, not just in our case, the Larry O'Brien trophy. So we're actually taking, for the most part, a series of games, regular season games, and we're designating those as tournament games, kind of like what they do in European soccer. And so those games will count both for the regular season and for this in-season tournament. And then the four teams that are still standing will come together and will go to a neutral site.

We haven't designated that site yet. And then they'll play for a separate, you know, in essence, a separate trophy. And it'll be a new tradition, it'll probably take a little bit while to get it going, but you know, I think what you guys know in this league, it's a long season to play for one championship at the end, and it's not going to replace the Larry O'Brien trophy, but it's our hope that, just like in college, there's a lot of, you know, there's a Thanksgiving tournament or a holiday tournament, and guys who play in those tournaments, they care about winning. It's not a replacement for the NCAA tournament, but it's to give a little bit more, something more special, a little bit more incentive around those games. Why would I risk, if I'm one of the teams who's trying to win the Larry O'Brien trophy, why would I, what's in it for me to play in that tournament? We already having a hard time getting these guys to play. It's an absolutely fair question, we've talked to players a lot about it. First of all, all of the games except for the, well, the games also count towards the regular season.

So you have the same incentive to care about your record, and there's prize money, and it's significant. Are we serious? This commissioner has lost so much control of his sport, now he needs to offer the players more money, when they already make enough money, as it is with how ridiculous some of these NBA contracts are, just so they could play more in the regular season, a few more games in this in-season tournament that's going to be going on in December, when no one's going to give a rat's ass, because you'll have football right towards the end of their regular season, and then you also have college football right in a big stretch for college football as well.

Like Kiki, this commissioner, and Adam Silver, is just a big fat joke. Give him a stock down. Let's go to Victor Hovland. He won the Memorial Tournament, made $3.6 million, and then today, he was caddying for a college teammate of his who was trying to qualify for the US Open. I love Victor Hovland, and he's been close. He's been knocking on the door to winning a major. I may have to push Patrick Cantley to the curb, Kiki, in terms of just betting on him, and now make Victor Hovland my guy.

I like Victor Hovland, and I've bet on him a few times, I've come close. But yet so far, give Victor Hovland a stock up. I got to give a stock up to Kyrie Irving. I appreciate how obnoxious he could be a week ago saying, don't speculate based on his future, but then he leaks to Shams Harani or someone in his camp did that he's talking to LeBron James who's only going to further speculate where what's going to happen with Kyrie Irving this offseason.

As much as I don't want to praise him, Kiki, I got to praise him, because he always finds a way to get himself in the news, even when he doesn't want to be in the news. Give a stock up to Kyrie Irving. And finally, the Miami Heat, just a heck of a job last night, getting that victory, making it 1-1. Now everyone's saying, OK, this is going to be an NBA Finals. I still think Denver is going to win the series in six, but you saw late in the game Duncan Robinson show up, Gabe Vincent was really good all throughout, and the Miami Heat now go back to Miami, coming up on Wednesday for game three with this series tied up at one apiece. So give the Miami Heat a stock up. And that is the closing bell on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

Final poll calculations for today, which you could always find that on the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb at CBS Sports Radio. Who wins the NBA Finals? The responses Denver in five or six, Miami in five or six, Denver in seven or Miami in seven.

Hickey, what's your vote here? I'm going Denver in six. What say you? I'm going Denver in six. So you went from posting that shower video, it's over to now Denver is going to be winning this baby in six games. How about that?

Still over. Same thing. No respect you have. No respect whatsoever. You're not taking the Miami Heat seriously.

Shame on you. Miami in five or six at 10%, Denver in seven at 11.3%, Miami in seven at 18.8%. So that's people telling you that if Miami is going to win this, they have to go win this in seven.

So people believe in them if it's a game seven or sitting there at 60% of the vote, Denver in five or six, once again at 60% of the vote. Do you hear that? That is the sound of BMW performance without a single piston or cylinder, a generation of all electric vehicles designed and built like no other. The BMW iX, i7 and i4 revolutionize every drive into a thrilling opportunity to feel the pure rush of BMW 100% electric. Isn't that what you'd expect from the ultimate electric driving machine? Take advantage of exceptional lease and finance offers today.