But the saltier Adam Austin, who was doing double duty and filling in for
Kevin today is in the studio with the NBA schedule released from the Magnanimum Magnanimous,
I should say, Oral hirsh eyes are to the saltier little dichotomy here,
Fred, Well, we're gonna mix things up. We're gonna mix it
up a little bit. Yeah, and we said yesterday, unlike other places,
we're not going through eighty two games. We're not going to do that.
I mean, I know a show on this station from about fifteen years
ago that went through every game. In fact, you might be able to
talk about that with Vic later on every game, HiT's a win, y'all,
eighty two and oh Lakers going y'all. But as you and by the
way, what do you think of the end season tournament that we'll get to
the schedule. I think it has to play out because remember the backlash when
we talked about the play in tournament and how people thought that would go and
it would make a mockery more of a mockery of the regular season. And
then all of a sudden we saw the Lakers take on the Golden State Warriors,
for a win and you're in the playoff scheme, and it was like,
oh, this kind of works. This is a success for the NBA.
The bar is so low because all the end season tournament has to do
is make things a little bit more exciting than the regular season normally is in
the middle of November in early December, So it's not like it's a high
bar to clear. I think it's ultimately going to pay off and be a
good idea. Will the winner be mocked, Yes, they will be.
You'll say if the Clippers want to be like, oh, hang the banner,
you guys finally won a championship, that's what it's a good idea to
hang the banner. Yeah, but Rodney said the banner has to be small.
It's it's a ferment, right, you get a flyer banner, and
if you win the title, you get the big banner, so the size
of a basketball card. So I do think ultimately it just has to generate
a little bit more buzz than the regular season typically does when it's competing with
the NFL, when it's competing with hockey early on in the season, so
it's not asking a lot. I think over time it's going to be more
and more popular. Now, the question is, does it become later on
more than just a financial incentive, or the winner makes five hundred thousand dollars,
do they dangle a bigger carrot? Do they say, Okay, we're
gonna say the winner gets five more wins added onto their wins total at the
end of the season, and therefore you have a better chance of getting in
the playoffs or an automatic bid to get into at least the play in tournament.
Now there's a downside to that too, because there's still, you know,
fifty five more games left to player around that number, and would that
therefore diminished the rest of the regular season for that team? I don't know.
But they're just has to be stakes involved that are high enough to make
teams care to want to win this Cup and therefore ups the viewership because those
stakes are higher. And inn't that the thing? It has to be The
stakes have to be high enough for this to even matter to the players.
I mean, I think the players right now probably rolling their eyes about it.
Oh well, to the stars, not much, but to the role
players guys on a minimum deal making just over a million dollars, that's that's
big That's why I said, Adam, and these tournament games that count your
your players, that are those seven to twelve players down the end of the
rotation. They have to get the most minutes. Oh that is their championship.
They have to get the most minute and they get the lion's shares of
the money. So so friends, as your your starters or your top seven,
say they can only play so many minutes of the game, and then
the rest gotta play by the bottom half. I'm gonna say some teams are
going to do that naturally anyways, when there's load management going on in the
league. But so in that way, it kind of plays to the direction
the league is going already with resting your stars, because the guys on minimum
deals on the back end of your bench are gonna play the hardest anyways,
because they're gonna have the most financial incentive to do so in this play tournament.
All right, now you've looked at the schedules, what is your assessment
for both the Lakers and the Clippers Clippers getting screwed? Is that what you
wanted to hear? Like I'm just repeating when a lot of Clipper Nation has
been saying they get third billing in the arena. There's a reason that this
happens, and there's a reason that the Intuit Dome can't come soon enough for
this team. They're traveling thirty six hundred more miles than any other team in
the league is this season the Clippers are And you would say, well,
how can that be. The Lakers play in the same building, right,
and the Clippers are still traveling eight thousand more miles total than the Los Angeles
Lakers. But it happens every season. They have more matinee home games,
ten of those. This year, they have four instances of five games in
seven nights. They have twenty five instances where they're playing three games in four
nights. So what I think does is for a team that during the off
season has been stressing, we have to get back to respecting the regular season.
And if that means the Stars play more, or there's just as Brian
Seman would say, more competitive integrity out there each and every night, or
you just give it girl, no matter who was out there. Because at
times last season for the Clippers, some of that was lost. That was
the first time I would say they didn't look like they were playing hard enough
at times when that was never in question before. And I do wonder if
over the years, because of the stars have been sitting so much through injuries
that it's worn down guys that they say, here we go again to the
role players. I have to play more and give more myself each and every
night. When the two players that we were hoping we're going to be leading
us all the time, Kawai and Paul George aren't able to go, I
think they hit somewhat of a breaking point. Now. They go into this
season starting things off with a guy like Russell Westbrook. Russ is a no
nonsense playing every back to back, playing every night. Say what you want
about him, but he is consistently available. And I think that leadership is
going to be key for them, and just that continuity coming off of last
season and starting the year off with Russ as your point guard and the most
of good James Harden in there, I think that's gonna be critical for them.
But they have to get back to playing harder in the regular season,
and this schedule, as brutal as it is for them, it demands them
to have the attention of these regular season games, because after about the first
thirteen games, of the season. The Clippers just enter an absolute gauntlet and
they have to look, you don't play hard every night with this schedule,
you're talking about being in the play in tournament. That's how difficult it's going
to be for them. For a team with championship aspirations. You don't get
out there and take care of business and beat the teams you should beat,
and then go five hundred against the top elite teams, you could miss the
playoffs a top six seed altogether. That is a real possibility when you just
expect Paul George and Kawhi Leonard at this point to play sixty games at most.
Right, it's not like we're talking about Kauai coming off a healthy offseason.
He had a meniscus injury. That's what took him out of the playoffs,
So he hasn't exactly been able just to work on his game and fine
tune things. He's had to rehabilitate once again. So they have to get
off to a much quicker start than they did last year, and they just
have to prioritize playing much better in the regular season. Guys, the last
team that won a championship that wasn't a top three seed in the NBA was
back in nineteen ninety five with the Houston Rockets, So we're talking over twenty
five years now of historical precedent where you have to be a great regular season
team to end up winning it all. Wow, Hey, Adam, you
mentioned James Harden. What kind of mess is that? And was that ever
gonna work? Because it feels like the seventy six ers was just going to
first of all, ask for the world from the Clippers. Where does that
stand? You threw it out there kind of tongue in cheek, But is
that a done deal or is that ever gonna happen? Or are we just
blown smoking? This is just James Harden being James Harden. Now, when
we know James Harden is the goat at getting his way eventually and getting out
of what he considers a bad situation. He did it in Houston. He
got to Brooklyn, he got what he wanted, he made a stink,
he made things uncomfortable, and then eventually he wanted to leave Brooklyn after he
realized those guys were unreliable with KD being injured and Kyrie Irving obviously having his
own issues, and then he wants to go to Philly, and then a
couple of years later now he wants out there. But I gotta say,
if Daryl Morey promised that he was going to get a big contract this offseason
after sacrificing eleven million and taking less last year so they could bring in PJ.
Tucker, that's bad business. He's been working with James Harden far too
long for them to have this strain, this schism in their relationship because there
was a handshake deal or a promise made and it wasn't kept between those two
guys. And he opped it in right, He opted in, and that
gives them the ability to get something back for him because he opted him.
But he makes thirty six million dollars. So the Clippers, you would think
a package would have to be centered around somebody like Norman Powell or Terrence Man
in there and then Marcus Morris roco. But toomb a first round pick or
two to make this work. Does it happen? Eventually? I leaned towards
there's a better chance than not, just because James is hell bent and adamant
on getting out of there, and I don't see you can drag your feet
as much as you want and say, hey, if we trade him and
don't have a championship contender next to Joe LMB, then he's asking out.
But if Harden's there and he's not given full effort, and we saw that
at the end of his tenure with the Houston Rockets and then criticizing the team
post game every night, you can't have a malcontent in a toxic situation in
your locker room like that either. I think it's gonna force Jerald Mori's hand
at some point. The question is can he still get a better deal than
what the Clippers are offering when they know the Philadelphia seventy six ers don't have
a lot of leverage here? All right, Adam, give me two minute
time. Lakers schedule. What do you think when you see it? Well,
it's brutal early on, I'll say that about it. They don't have
as many back to backs as the Clippers do, with fifteen of them tied
for the league, league and back to backs. But they start things off
obviously in Denver, then Phoenix, then Sacramento. They have the Clippers within
their first five games, a team they haven't beaten in their last eleven tries.
I think the Clippers have beaten them thirty six out of the last forty
three meetings. And then you're talking about a road trip Orlando. Okay,
but then Miami Houston, who I think is going to be better than last
season at Phoenix. They got Memphis on the schedule, Sacramento. Again,
it's not gonna be easy, but they do get a little bit more breathing
room as the schedule goes along for them. And the Lakers did great work
this offseason. Rob Polinka, everybody's given him his flowers now talking about what
a great job he has done going back to last season's trade deadline, deservedly
so when some of those young guys are just getting better. Austin Reeves now
on Team USA Iron Sharpen's Iron. A lot of those guys who have come
out of Team USA over the years have career years afterwards, just because the
level of competition, the tough practices, picking things up, tricks of the
trade from other veterans who they're playing next to. I expect Austin Reeves have
a big season. Ruey Haschima as well. The Lakers are looking like a
top three seed to me in the West this year, and as much as
yes, they were swept by the eventual champions in the Denver Nuggets. I
mean, all of those games were very winnable down to the very end.
They're not that far away, I think, and there's a chip on their
shoulder because they feel like we were embarrassed a little bit in the Western Conference
finals. Salty, thanks for jumping in. I love you guys. Well,
what else am I doing? I'm right here, I'm right off in
here. As Bick would say, that's right, you're right here. I
appreciate that very much.