 All right, welcome to another episode of In the Zone. I am your host, Chris Broussard. We will have Knock Down Jay with Jason McIntyre on later. But first, it is my pleasure to bring on a longtime friend and colleague, Rick Buker. You all know him, I'm sure, from ESPN and Serious Radio. And man, we go back over 20 years. Yeah, we do. We go back to covering the league together for ESPN. Hooping together. Yeah, I was going to say, some of the most legendary media games ever. For sure, for sure. It's certainly most competitive back in the day. That's how we bet, actually, playing media basketball. 3 on 3, beating the hell out of each other. And being able to play, you know, the beauty of it, I don't know if they still get to do it, because security is ramped up and all of that. But we used to be able to play pick up on the actual courts. Yeah, we played in the Alamo Dome. We played in gold at Golden State, Miami. Yeah, you're right. Do you still play? I still, yeah, I'm playing. My kids are young teenagers now. OK. And they both play. So it's a challenge. You know, I worked my way down. It was before I would only take jump shots. OK. And then it was I would only finish with my offhand, my right hand. Now it's like, I got to do whatever I can to it. Hell of a bow. And by the way, like my daughter, like no one can beat her in horse. Really? She is a shooter. And she's like, and she doesn't do try to fancy stuff, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She'll just kill you with the mid-range and the three all day long. It's just, it's aggravating as hell. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Well, look, man, it's great to have you. Great to talk with you again. I just want to get your thoughts. We know you've got a wealth of NBA knowledge going way back, but also current day. So let's just get right to it. LeBron James goes to the Lakers and Free Agency. Do you think he made the right call? Yes, because it was really the only realistic call that he could make. And let's face it, take aside everything that he said about why he's doing it or being in championship mode or any of that stuff. He's set up to want to live in LA, to work in LA after his career. He's going to have, he gets to join a franchise that is one of the legendary franchises. So for all of that, I can't fault him at all for making the decision that he made. Now, do I think he's going to win another championship? I don't think so. You don't think so. I don't think so. And I don't think that's the be-all and the end-all for him now. If he does, it's then he puts himself in very rare air. He's won three championships with three different teams. But for me, it's really about setting everything else up for him. And above and beyond everything else, my understanding is he just didn't want to be associated with Dan Gilbert anymore. And people, if it was about championships, it was about winning, then we know the control and the influence that he has. He could have probably set it up to go to Houston or to Philadelphia or someplace else that it would have been about all that. It's not here. He gets to be on the ground floor and help them build whatever it's going to be. I just don't know on the timeline for him physically that it's going to be on a timeline. It's going to be quick enough for him to win another one. Because he's defied father time all this time. And I know how much time he puts into making sure he's in supreme condition. But as we both know, and not to put us in the category of his athleticism, but it's just we've seen it already. He's not the same guy. Just like Kobe wasn't the same guy. Michael Jordan wasn't the same guy. Kevin, you can go down the line. There's a certain number of NBA minutes that you have on your body before it starts to take its toll. And we're seeing that with him now. Let me ask you this quickly, because everybody talks about the GOAT conversation. People feel like he's got to win more rings. I have a hunch, and I haven't talked to you about this. I'd say he's the second best player ever behind Jordan. My hunch is that you do not have him that high. Where do you have him in the GOAT talk? See, I hate this debate. I hate this because if you're going to use the template for what we judge Jordan by, I can't use that same template with LeBron. You go to six championship. You go to six finals. You win six. Saying you went to nine. The thing that makes LeBron unique is his longevity. Is that he's maintained his athleticism for as long as he has. He's been as great as he's been for as long as he has. But that's a different category than the excellence within a certain period of time. And so off the top of my head, I wouldn't put him second. I'm certainly not going to put him first. Do you have Jordan first? I have Jordan first. And then it just becomes, it's just a mixed bag. Well, let me ask you this. Do you have LeBron ahead of Kobe? I do not have LeBron ahead of Kobe. Again, if we're going, here's the thing. I could put him at the top if we're talking about longevity. If you want to say excellence for this period of time, Michael was never great for that long, nine championships. Michael took a year off in between the three peats. Like there's a lot of things I could say, hey, for whatever you want to say about LeBron, he never took any time off. He's kept this train rolling. So in that respect, if we were going to go by that template, I could say he's done. And then there's like all the other things. The social conscience, the cultural difference. He's been such a positive influence on Akron in any number of ways. Like there's so much that LeBron has done that I can't say Kobe's done some good things. Michael did some good things. They didn't do all these things. So if you put it in a particular prism, I could put them right at the top. But if we're going to go by kind of the standard that we've used all along the way, then I can't. We used to debate on ESPN.com. I don't know if we did it for a year or two. About everything. Yeah, exactly. And we talked about LeBron and you said something that this was, gosh, he probably was still in Cleveland. Yeah, the first time. And you said something that now I really do think rings very, may ring true. You said the comparison, everybody's talking about Jordan LeBron. He really may be this generation's wilt chamber. I agree. So talk about that. Yeah, just because it's his freak of nature physicality and the position that he played and the skills that he has, that just made him different, completely different. And at the same time, Wilt had his issues with free throws. Wilt had his, he could be great, but was he great at the right moments? He could be up and down and inconsistent. He was a great personality. He was a great influence socially and culturally. That's a nice way of saying it. But you're right. In a variety of ways. I mean, you're talking one and that's certainly part of it. But I just, that to me, that connection and that idea that Wilt like to win, Wilt always needed that other guy. And he was by far the best player in the world. But didn't win nearly as much as you would have thought. Exactly. And sometimes I wonder if it's cause they did, he did so much so well that he kinda did it all. And LeBron similar. Like LeBron becomes the system. And I think that's why he can make any, he could take me and you and we'd be a great team. But I think he has trouble beating a talented group that plays as a team, San Antonio, Golden State. Well, and it also, it's why veterans have always worked better with him. Because you need to be able to be able to read and react to him. You're not running a specific system. You're going down the floor and you need to be able to affect the game without the ball in your hands. That's why him going to the Lakers with this group, like everybody's like, oh, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. I'm like, well, but they're not gonna have the ball the way they did before. So the numbers aren't gonna be the same. Can they, like Kyle Corver's a great piece to have next to him. Because Kyle Corver's just gonna read and react. I'm gonna be here if you need me. You know, JR Smith too, kind of the same thing. And then I'm gonna defend at one end or I'm gonna stay, I'm always gonna be in the right place at the right time. He's gonna have none of that here. So yeah, it just, the system is LeBron. It's also why when he leaves and teams Crater, it's because you can't, you took the centerpiece out of this thing, right? It's the tent and you took the main tent pole out. It doesn't necessarily, like you have to build the team to him. And you see guys that were like great players in their own right or wanted the ball in their hands and had the confidence, they don't last with him. Like Deon Waiters, whatever you think of him. Like, no dude, like. Kyrie wanted, I mean he didn't know from possession to possession, am I bringing it up? Am I on the wing? Am I in the corner? Yeah, and then when you're like getting all of the heat, and I don't think this is all just from LeBron, it's just from the outside. When it's constantly, oh, you know, Kyrie doesn't have any assist. Oh, dude, like we go, okay. Like wait a minute, you're beating me up. I'm not handling the ball. That's not my job here, right? So I think that's where it becomes a challenge. And now, you know, it's a little bit like the New England Patriots and Tom Brady, it's like Kauai and San Antonio. And LeBron is hitting this spot now where there was a time where even being in Cleveland, you'd wanna play with LeBron cause you're like, I'm gonna be in the finals and I could win a championship. I could get a ring. That, you know, playing in San Antonio under pop. Guys would make sacrifice. New England, make a sacrifice. Now, oh wait a minute, I gotta put up with all this and I'm not maybe not getting a ring out of it? Like do I really wanna put up with this? Do you think there is a feeling among, maybe a growing feeling among a lot of players that they don't wanna play with LeBron? I don't think it's like so much, they don't wanna play with LeBron as much as this is what playing with LeBron means. It means that if things go wrong, I'm probably gonna get the blame. And I am decidedly second banana. Now, how do you get a great player? Even Russell, Westbrook, you know, he coexisted with KD, in fact KD was the bigger star. So Paul George looks at that and goes, he's not worried, whatever we think on the outside about playing with Russell, he doesn't look at it and go, well Russell's gonna suck all the air out of the room, right? He's gonna have all the endorsements, he's gonna have all the attention. No, I've seen it work otherwise. With LeBron, like everybody takes a backseat to LeBron. And it's not, I don't even blame him for it, it's just the reality of the situation. It's the media, it's the outside world all that. So let's talk about the players they added. You talked about the young guys they have, they added Lance Stevenson, Javelle McGee, Rajan Rondo, Kentavius Caldwell Pope who was there last year. What do you think about what we see? I mean, they didn't add any shooting. It's a bit baffling to me, what do you think? Well, I think that they looked at it and on one year deals, you weren't going to be able to get the ideal players to fiddle around LeBron. So what you got were guys that he respects. Like Lance Stevenson and all that goofy stuff, like it might have annoyed LeBron, but the fact is Lance wasn't afraid of him. No question. Lance was more than happy to defend him, to go at him. Rajan Rondo, same thing. Even Javelle McGee, get ISOed on him. Javelle McGee's like, let's go. I'm gonna try to get something done. LeBron respects that. So maybe I can't get a player who's perfect for me, but I wanna ride with guys that I know are not, if they're not afraid of me and I'm the best player in the league, then I gotta believe they're not afraid of anybody. And I'd rather roll with guys who think they can play as opposed to like, you know, the guys who might be a shooter, but when I swing it to you, you're gonna give it back to me, right? I don't need that. Well, so how good will they be this year or next year or whatever? You know, look, I always think the people in Vegas are really smart, because they got a lot more money invested in it to be smart than I did. But I think there's a huge overreaction to this. And maybe it is, maybe what they're anticipating is that ultimately Kawhi is going to be here, because I do think that that changes the template somewhat. I don't know that it immediately puts them, you know, at the top or a title contender, but it would make a big difference. But right now, there's two things. Number one, look at when LeBron went to Miami and that was with Chris Bosch and Dwayne Wade. They started slowly, right? They weren't even 500, 40 games into the season. Look at when he went back to Cleveland. They started slowly, right? It always takes some time to get up to speed. I would expect it's gonna be the same thing here. They're not gonna come. Look at when they changed. He's not having as much talent as he had in those places. Exactly. And that's on top of it. Like you don't have a Kyrie and a Kevin Love. You don't have Chris Bosch and Dwayne Wade. So chances are you're gonna start slowly and then where are you gonna pick up? Like are you suddenly gonna like jet off into the jet stream? I don't know. So like I have them at 46 wins, which puts them in the playoffs, I believe, but you know, in the mix of teams that are catching that six, seventh, eighth seed. And then if it's that and you're going with this young crew against, you know, Houston or Golden State or Oklahoma City, you know, are you getting out of the first round? So look, I just think that's, I think that's a realistic expectation. And I'm putting them in the playoffs only basically because of LeBron. I mean, everything else, it's like, why should I believe? How volatile, I mean, Rondo, who by his own admission has never had a coach he got along with, Lance, you know, LeBron. There's always some drama around LeBron. You got Javel, you got Lanzo and LeVar. Do you think there's gonna be a ton of drama and just blow ups and you know, all this stuff coming out? I think there's gonna be drama. I think, I mean, there has to be, right? There has to be, there has to be. When LeBron's teams have not started well, he has not reacted well to that. No, no he's not. This is gonna be new. But I mean, even, I mean, we had drama last year, Lanzo and LeVar, and this was a 35 win team. I would think LeVar will tone down. I think he's smart enough to know, okay, we're not the show anymore. I better tone it down. If he doesn't, they'll be out of there if they can trade him. Why do you believe that LeVar's gonna do that? So what about LeVar says to you, hey, you know what? You're right, I should pipe down. That dude went overseas to keep his act going. Well, like, why? This platform's gonna be bigger than ever. That's gonna be huge. Do you think he's gonna be able to resist that? I just think, well, we haven't heard anything yet, thankfully, we haven't heard anything yet. We haven't heard him welcoming LeBron in some crazy way. That's true, but you know what? That's true. I just think, like last year, the Lakers needed Lanzo to make him relevant. Yeah. I mean, obviously they're the Lakers, they're relevant, but he brought, you know, he was the show. He was the story. Now, he's clearly not the story. I mean, he may not even start, you know? So, and I think the Lakers, you've heard things, I'm sure. I've heard things. I mean, if they could get a good deal for him, they'd be open to moving him. So, and I just think LeVar may be smart enough to see that stuff and tone it down. He'll make some comments here. I may be wrong, but this is just my gut. Yeah, and ultimately, to me, it's not, like I don't know that LeVar's really gonna upset the apple cart. I mean, that even if he is out there, that that's going to have a huge influence on the locker room. And this is the weird part is that, like Lanz Stevenson talking to guys, he's a great locker room guy. Like he's not as advertised on the floor. And Rajan Rondo, I have the utmost respect for him. And particularly the way he handled things in Chicago. I think New Orleans is going to miss him. I thought he was important to Anthony Davis. So, I'm not worried about like these guys going at each other in the locker room and that being an issue, I just think it's gonna be a struggle on the floor. Like to make it all fit. Because Rajan plays with a very high IQ and he has ideas, you can't play him off the ball. And I don't think he will, and this is, I'm not saying this in a negative, I don't know that he'll defer to LeBron. No, I don't think he will either. I mean, yeah, unless there's, yeah. I mean, he'll look for, obviously he'll look at him as a scorer, but. Right, but he's not gonna like, he's not gonna do what Derek Rose did. Yeah. Which was handed off and run to the corner. That's right. That's right. That's really what he did. That's right. And as a result, Derek Rose couldn't do anything. Well, they, I've said it on the radio since these moves have been made in a different way. It kind of reminds me that this year is what we see in the Lakers right now to what Cleveland was last year at the beginning of the season. Remember they added Rose, D Wade, you got LeBron, Isaiah Thomas. And on paper, remember LeBron, everybody thought we got tons of talent. We're gonna be really good. And it didn't fit. I kind of see this, how's this gonna fit? Well, it goes back, it goes back to the whole idea that, you know, Derek Rose was used to playing and having the ball in his hands. Like LeBron is going to have the ball in his hands. So Lance, you know, even Lance, He's a bit of a playmaker himself. He needs the ball in his hands. Like he's a one-on-one guy. Rajah needs the ball in his hands. Lonzo will give it up early, but really, like... What's he gonna do without, yeah. He, unless that shot somehow miraculously improves. So, you know, even Kyle Kuzma isn't so much a catch-and-shoot guy. He's a nice breakdown guy. So that's where I think is gonna be the struggle is how do you get the best out of every guy with only one ball? And I know it worked with Harden and Chris Paul. And you can trade off two guys, right? Especially guys that can shoot the ball the way they can. And they shooters around them, too. And you open up space. But this, like, who do you have to stay home on? How crowded is that paint gonna be? I was saying they almost look like they were building a team for the 90s, you know? Where it's all around the paint. Yeah, I mean, it just, it is... And that's why, again, kind of going back to your original question, when it comes to LeBron and the decision that he made, this has so little to do with basketball. He knows the game. I mean, he knows... This was, I want to get away from Dan. I want to get out of Cleveland. I want to set myself up in LA. So he's accomplished all that. And you're starting from a blank slate. So you're gonna have the opportunity to build something. It's just a matter of, can you build it in time before, you know, while he's still a dominant player? Now, you know Kobe Bryant well. He's been very complimentary of the move to get LeBron. How you, is that true or is there a little, man, it's pretty quick. Y'all moved on pretty fast without me or what? No, honestly, I believe that, look, when he was, one of the reasons, one of the things that really burned him when there was the whole Kobe shack thing was part of it was shack, but part of it was the outside. Everybody going, oh, you know, T-Mac, Penny, Vince, if they were in Kobe's shoes and they were on this team, they'd have all the championships he had. He was like, do you not know who I am? Do you not know what I do? You don't know the difference between me and them. Let me show you. And that's why when shack left, it was like, yeah, okay, watch. This is the reverse of that. This is, oh, you think playing for the Lakers is easy? You think living in LA and having all these stars and like entertaining them and being successful in their eyes and like measuring against magic and Karim and all these, you think that's easy? You think LeBron's better than I am? Let's see, let's see, bring him in here, right? That's a great take, yeah. Let's see if he can meet all of the expectations that this franchise meets. And I think he also knows as we've talked, like if LeBron wins another championship, I mean, honestly, at this stage where this franchise is right now, if he wins another championship with the Lakers before he retired, it will match the achievement of winning a championship in Cleveland, as he did. Like to me, those two would be equal. So I think Kobe also looks at it and goes, I got five, he has three, ain't no way he's catching me, ain't no way. If he was in Philly, if he was in Houston, wherever he was, who knows what happens to the Western Conference if he's in the East. He gets to the finals, somebody gets hurt. He wins another one like he won the last one in Cleveland, right? Steph gets hurt, Bogut gets hurt. On the way, like that whole thing, it lines up. Dramon gets suspended, it could happen. Now he's looking at it going, ain't no way there's no way he's catching my five, I'm good. So LeBron, come on back. Well, and that's what I said when it was all to talk about LeBron going to LA, I said, look, in LA, everybody of his stature that's played for the Lakers except Elgin Baylor won a championship, at least one. So if you go there and you don't, it's not gonna look good. It's not, and it's really not fair. I mean, it's really not fair. I personally am not gonna judge him on that because I'm looking at it going in, saying, this team's not ready. It's gonna be tough, yep. And like, so after a year of whatever this is, is it gonna be more attractive? Like, it depends, like it doesn't, so and then, have you upgraded all these other pieces? Yeah. Like are they gonna look better or worse for playing next to LeBron? Are their numbers are gonna be better or worse? So are you increasing the trade value of these pieces when you try to rejigger it? That's where, like I don't know how, everybody just assumes, okay, this is an off year, but by next year they'll be there. I mean, maybe, but there's just as good a possibility that it's another year of trying to put some pieces together. I think guys might not look as good this year. There's no question. So let me ask you this, then the elephant in the room, do you think they get Kauai? I don't. Okay. Well, at least not this year. I mean, down the line. You do not think the Spurs will trade him. I think the Spurs will, I think the Spurs will trade him. I think they're gonna trade him to the East. Philly, I think Philly. I think Philly makes the most sense. If you can get a Dario Sarge and you can get a pick. I know that doesn't sound like a ton for Kauai Leonard, but the fact is Dario Sarge is gonna want to stay there. And this is the beauty, especially. He can play. I like it. He'd be great with pop. Yeah. And I like him playing off of Lamarcus Aldrich. I think there's some grit there and he's gonna be happy in San Antonio. He's not gonna be looking to go someplace else. And then you have that pick that. The Miami pick in 2021. Yeah, which is always, like that's always the great, especially in today's Philadelphia lived off of this. Yeah, we suck. We're really bad and, but we got that pick and your fan base is like, oh, we got the pick. Like they can imagine it's gonna be some great player. San Antonio can get through this. And besides, there's such a great system group that they're always going to be a good regular season team. No question. Right? They're always going to be in the hunt. There, even without Kawhi, you still expect, they're gonna win 46, 47, 48 games. They'll be in the playoffs. And you get the, you know, and who knows, maybe they get an additional pick. But the key is gonna be that they get to negotiate with Brett Brown, a San Antonio guy. And that's important because nobody knows Kawhi Leonard's guys. Mitch Frankel has no reputation. So being able to do a deal through them is gonna be really challenging. And especially for somebody who needs Mitch or needs them to say, yeah, we'll stay. Or we're not gonna stay. Like Brett Brown can at least have a conversation with Kawhi and honestly know where things stand. And I think that's gonna be really important in the Spurs being able to get something of value. So the big, one of the big stories this week or early this week was Boogie Cousins going to Golden State. What, I mean, you saw the Twitter reaction is just the NBA is a joke now. You know, it's a, what are your thoughts on that, Sonny? Honestly, I don't, first of all, having a team, having a great team is the blueprint for the NBA success. The ratings all say that when you have a super team, especially with superstars on it, that's what draws the most attention from the mainstream. And come on, let's face it, I'm only disappointed that Boogie's not gonna play until February. Aren't you dying to see what that looks like? Oh my gosh. Like everybody is. And so it's not a matter of, well, you know, I'm gonna learn to magic and I'm not gonna have a chance against that team. No, it's when that circus comes to town, it's sold out, that's right, that's right. It'll be like the Jordan Bulls. Yeah, so I mean, that's what draws the attention. The NBA is not like the NFL. Like when you got eight, nine teams and nobody knows, first of all, it's a transaction league, I believe now. The reason it owns the social space and the media is because there's always deals going on. There's the movement or there's the possibility of superstars changing places. There's no other sport that has that. And Adam Silver said this to me years and years ago when he was not the commissioner, when he was, I forget what his title was, assistant or whatever it was, he said, you know what, the dirty little secret about our league is, nobody watches the games and it doesn't matter. Now this was 15 years ago, maybe even a little longer. And that's the reality is that now, like how many people go to games or how many people watch games from beginning to end as opposed to how many people are watching for highlights? That's right. How many people are playing fantasy? How many people wanna know what LeBron put on his Instagram? How many, like they have all these streams of interest, but they're not the actual game. So this only continues that interest, right? And here's the thing with DeMarcus in Golden State, like this is a tryout by him for the rest of the league. This is where I don't think it's, everybody's saying it's a genius move by the Warriors. I think it's a genius move by DeMarcus' cousins. He gets to play with a championship team. He gets to play with a team that doesn't need him right away and he knows he's gonna be in there in the post season. He gets to, so he's gonna have all of that. He gets to play on a team that can feature him in ways because they have the spacing and the scoring and everything. And so then, and he gets to prove, hey look, I get along with all these guys. I get along with other great players and I wanna ring. And now I'm a free agent and the only way they can get him back is to sign him to another luxury tax mid-level. Well, that's not what he's playing for. Now this is the danger. From what I've been told, they want him to come off the bench. They want him to be the anchor of their second unit so they can keep that small ball team together and tacked which makes sense and say, we're gonna put Sean Livingston and we're gonna put Quinn Cook and we're gonna put Patrick McCaw. We're gonna put all these guys around and you're gonna be the featured guy. Now he's never come off the bench in his career. Can he adapt to that role? And will he accept that role knowing that he's auditioning for everybody else? That's the great risk in this. Aside from the fact that we've never seen a guy tear his Achilles and come back and be the same guy. So this idea that they just added a four-time All-Star. Maybe not. I don't know. Elton Brand was a two-time All-Star, tore it. He was a double-double machine. He was a 2010 guy. He was a 15 and eight guy after that. Never sniffed being an All-Star again. Well, let's close with this game called Good Bad and Ugly. All right, the good, the bad, the ugly. I like games. Give me a quick explanation but I'm gonna roll through some of the signings and you get put into one of those categories. Was this signing good, bad, or ugly? And give me a quick explanation. Chris Paul, four years 160 million with the Rockets. I'm gonna say good because you didn't have any choices but man, I don't wanna see what it looks like in that fourth year. They better hope the salary cap is really jacking up through the roof so they're gonna have space to do some other things. I was thinking of saying three years, I would have loved him in three years but you had to get him there. All right, Paul George, four years 137 million in OKC. Oh, so good. So good. And for Russell Westbrook, changes the whole dynamic. And I'm of the mind that I was around them when they played Utah. I think they can make it work. I think they have a chance of being a really special team. I think they can contend. What do you think happens with Mellow? I think they, I think he either has a transformation and accepts the role or they buy him out or they like, I could see them moving on. If he doesn't come correct, I could see them moving on. They save a ton of money to wave him and stretch him. Yeah, yeah, like 100 million off of the tax. That's, that's tempting. All right, DeAndre Jordan, one year, 24 million, Dallas. Bad. Yeah, I didn't get this one. Yeah. It's almost like the girl that you tried to date and she wouldn't have anything to do with you. And then she comes back around and you go, all right, I really didn't know where she was flying. Yeah, she's not that hot anymore but I still got to, you know, I want to check that box. But look, DeAndre Jordan type, it's at least a one year. Yeah. Like the one that scares me. I don't know if we've got Clint Capello on there. Tell me about that. Got to load up on that. Like if you can't shoot a jump shot in this league, I don't care what position you play. That's where we're going. Now Houston has to bring it back though, don't you think? They have to. Yeah. They have to. The question is how much? Well, yeah, and if somebody, I mean, if I'm another team, I'm putting an offer sheet out there because they have to match, but I want to hamstring them from the foreseeable future. That's a good one. This one, a little lower, lower name, Doug McDermott, three years, 22 million paces. For the value of scoring in this league, I know eight million a year sounds like, or seven some a year sounds like a lot for Doug McDermott. It's the value of shooting. I'm, I'm, I'm okay with that. Okay. Last one, Julius Randall, two years, 18 million pelicans. Good. Yeah. I think he's gonna, I think he gives you grit. You know what's amazing? Like a year ago, I was not, I thought he was a one handed. I thought he was Tyreek Evans at the beginning. Only went one direction, limited. There are so many guys I've talked to in the league who really are impressed with the grit and the competitive fire of Julius Randall. And I think he's a perfect fit next to Anthony Davis. Cause I think you need that kind of guy next to him to keep him going. Yeah, I agree. I agree. I think that's a good one. There was no uglies. There was no, no, no, no, any ugly signs? Not on this list, but just in general. Trying to think who's out there that the darkest cousins one could be ugly. That could wind up being ugly. See, I think that if it goes south for whatever reason cause he's not happy with his role cause he's not getting along in the locker room. To me, they can just cut him. Well, they can, but their bench was thin. They won't have a big, yeah. But their bench was thin. They're not gonna have a big. And you could have used that, that luxury tax mid-level exception. Could you have gotten, I don't know, an Avery Bradley, could you have gotten a Tyreek Evans? Could you've gotten somebody who's gonna be there all year long and may do even better at your small ball? Yeah, we'll see, that'll be it. It's gonna be fun. Rick Buker, thanks man for coming in his own. Great reuniting with you. Absolutely. All right, you know what time it is. It's time for knock down J. Where I knock him down every single week. Not today. My man, J. Mack, what's happening, bro? Good to see you again, CB. It's been a while. Yeah, I'm ready to do a victory lap over LeBron to LA. Oh yeah, you had sources on that, huh? No, yeah, all year, baby. You just went with everybody else. 12 months, oh yeah. You were just one of the millions that he's saying he's going to the Lakers. Since last July, ladies and gentlemen. Hey, it's good. It's good for the NBA. Good for this show? Maybe we get him in the zone? It'd be nice. Come on, LeBron. I can't promise that, but you never know. You never know, we'll see. But obviously been a great free agency. Tremendous. So I know you got some big times. I've got some big times. So here's your best shot. So Chris, obviously LeBron to the Lakers, the biggest news in the NBA by far. Unfortunately, he didn't come with another superstar the way he did to Miami and then back to Cleveland. However, he added Javel McGee. Did you just say? He also added Lance Stevenson. Did you just say that with a straight face? He kept KCP. Added Rajan Rondo. I forgot about it. Is it Rajan or Rajan? I don't know. Okay, yeah. Maybe we'll get him in the zone. I used to know, but now, I don't know. Either way, he's added a lot of spare parts. Him and Magic, let me give Magic some credit. I do like what the Lakers have done. Let me add this. They won 35 games last year. Brandon Ingram, missed 23 games. Lonzo missed 30. They had a bunch of just parts mixed in and so won 35 games in the West. That's what they got right now. So I thought that was a good accomplishment last year. I think LeBron automatically adds a good 15-16 wins. I think the Lakers probably third in the West. I believe their title contenders, Chris, are the Lakers' title contenders. Title contenders, meaning they could win the championship next year. That's the title contender, right? Yes. No. No. As great as LeBron James is, the Lakers has currently constituted. Now, we're not adding in Kawhi. As currently constituted, the Los Angeles Lakers will not have a chance to win the NBA title. Let's mark that down, because he's saying no chance whatsoever. They are not an NBA title contender. When was the last time LeBron was counted out? Hold on. LeBron is in the Western Conference now. Yes. That Cleveland Cavaliers team that he just took to the NBA Finals may have gotten knocked out in the first round in the playoffs in the West. They almost got knocked out in the East in the first round. Yeah, but they very easily could have been beaten in the first round. And that's not a knock on LeBron. It's just a knock on, it's the Western Conference. There's a lot of tougher on it. First of all, you got these young kids around him. Let's see how they play with LeBron. Because Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nass Jr. they were a part of this, oh the Lakers got all these great young players. They were in that mix. Certainly. And then we saw them on the big stage under the pressure of playing with the greatest player in the world where every game matters, where it's championship or bust, and they crumbled. They did, yeah. They crumbled. So let's see how Kyle Kuzma, Lionzo Ball, Brandon Ingram play off LeBron with the stakes much higher. Then I'm fine. I love the one year deals. Cause you're saving your cap room for next year. But the Lakers looked to me like they're building a team for 1997. Oh, stop it. Where is the shooting? Where is the shooting? They were 29th in the league in three point shooting last year. LeBron Jays for the last eight years of his career, it has been about space the floor with three point shooters and let LeBron create and do his thing. The Lakers certainly aren't gonna be able to play that way. And with Luke Walton, who comes out of the Golden State coaching tree, he wants that type of motion, free-flowing, quick ball movement. Offense, Rondo, Rondo's not a shooter. Doesn't stretch the floor. Timeout Rondo made eight three pointers in two playoff series. Ben Simmons made zero last year. Continue. Okay, fine. Everybody knows Ben Simmons is not a three point shooter. Rondo's far from a three point shooter. Can't spread the floor. Lance Stevenson can't shoot the three. Now they got some playmakers, but none of them are shooters. They were a horrible three point shooting team last year and they're adding players that can't shoot. Chris, you've been covering basketball for a long time. You've seen LeBron generate enough offense that the team's gotta double them. The defense have to attract to LeBron to slow him down. Those open shots last year that his Kyle Corver was getting and Kevin Love, they're gonna be open shots for Brandon Ingram who had a good year of serving threes. You're comparing Brandon Ingram to, he shot 1.8 threes again. So the 39% it'll lessen as he takes more threes if he takes more threes. Maybe unless he's taking open threes. Kyle Kuzma, good enough. They took open threes last year. Possible. I'm not gonna put Lonzo in there because we know he struggled from deep. I'm just saying, I believe those shots will be a lot easier when a LeBron is creating that space on the floor to get them the ball in good spots. The guys you mentioned, how much are they gonna be on the floor? The Ingram and Kuzma, and I love both of them. But Lonzo, I mean, he's gonna have to battle with Rajan Rondo. Rondo has been told, it's open season, it's open competition because now with LeBron, the Lakers are thinking win now. Of course. They're not even committed to the youngsters. Now, whether they use these youngsters to go out and trade for Kawhi, maybe that's what they're thinking but right now they are in win now mode even though they're not a title contender I believe but they are saying let's go out and have the best team we have. So you say not title contender. I believe there's only like three or four in the league and I think the Lakers are one of them. We got Golden State, obviously, head and shoulders. I think Boston second. I think Houston. Well because they're in the East. These are the titles. You gotta put Philly in there now. Philly and Boston in the East. Philly and Boston and then. Even though I don't think they could win a title. No, don't say Golden State. Sorry, don't say Toronto. You have to put Toronto in there with the East. They had one problem in the Eastern Conference and guess what? He's now in the Western Conference. So the Raptors are now title contenders. In the East, they wouldn't win it but they could get to the finals. That's the definition of a title contender. If you can get to the finals, you can contend for the title. I will bet you any dinner anywhere you want in the United States of America. We'll do a dinner. Raptors don't make the finals. There's no property. Zero chance done. I'm predicting it but they have a chance. You got Boston's the favorite in the East. Philly second and then Toronto is in that grouping. And I'm gonna say coming up is Milwaukee. Mike Munoz gonna make them better. So I'm not predicting Toronto. I'm just saying I would put them as a team that can contend for the Eastern Conference. In the West. So those three. In the West you got two. Golden State, Houston and then why can't the Lakers be third? Why can't they be second? They can. But that doesn't mean they can beat Houston or Golden State. I'm just gonna say Houston lost their best 3 and D player in Trevor Arisa. We'll see what happens with Capella. I don't know that they're gonna win 65 again. If they lose Capella, that's huge. It's not about winning 65. Nobody cares about that. It's about the playoffs. And I would put, look, I think Golden State and Houston in the West are the clear top two teams. Now I will give you this. I put the Lakers in that grouping with Oklahoma City with Utah, with New Orleans. Utah's gotta be above Oklahoma City, by the way. No, they're in the same grouping. And Portland, if you throw them in there, I mean, we'll see what San Antonio does. But the Lakers are in that group where they can finish third or sixth or seventh. 52 wins, I'll say for the Lakers. Remember, 35 last year. That's fine. That's gonna be probably third in the West. They could win, not necessarily. 49 was third in the West last year. But they're playing, the Spurs are gonna be worse. That's an aberration. Like the 49 was an aberration. And one is the teams are playing each other. There have been recent years where a team won 50 games in the West and missed the playoffs, or 49 and missed the playoffs. I don't wanna get in the final word, but I have to add, no team in the modern era has gone to the finals five years in a row. Golden State's trying to do that, okay? Mentally, physically. They've played an entire another season in the last four years. Any player in the modern era made eight straight finals? No, had not been done. Had two teams in the modern era made four straight finals against each other? I don't believe so. No, no, so, we're seeing players average, triple, doubles. With the three point line, history has changed. So you're penciling Golden State in the finals? Yes. Okay. They're the best team by far. Chris, let's move on to number two. Kawhi Leonard, still on the market, maybe the Spurs could try to entice him with the Super Max, do they try to keep him? I personally think he wants Lakers. It depends who you read, what sources you listen to, whether he wants definitely Lakers or just Los Angeles. I think in a year that guy's gonna want to be here in LA. I wouldn't trade for him if I'm a team in the East. Did Randy Paul George wanna go? Well, that's an entire another story. Can you answer my question? Well, Paul George ended up with OKC because the Lakers didn't go after him at the end. They wanted Kawhi Leonard. The Lakers would not have taken, it wasn't either or. Did Magic Johnson even try to recruit Paul George? The final days, he didn't, so you're telling me Magic Johnson said, hey, Paul George, we want you to come to LA when you get down and talk to me. That's your story? What do you mean story? We're talking about Kawhi Leonard. The Lakers did not want Paul George. They wanted him for 11 months in the last two weeks. It was all Kawhi Leonard, Lakers, Kawhi Leonard, Lakers. It wasn't an either or proposition. Well, they could not afford them. Yes, they could. I had a salary cap expert, Larry Kuhn on my radio show. He said you cannot afford Kawhi, Paul George, and LeBron. Why not? Physically, they could not do it under the cap. They, it wasn't about the cap. You, all you had to do, you could sign LeBron and Paul George in free agency. To Max Deals. Yes. And or even a little less, but yeah, to Max Deals. Well, that's the thing, a little less. Paul George had taken less. He took, he didn't take the most money to get to Oklahoma City. It's $137 million. And then they could have, they could have stretched Luau Dang to get even more room. They could have got, the salary cap guys say it was impossible for all three. Larry Kuhn is great. They could have got Paul George and LeBron. And then traded for Kawhi. So my point was, there was no shot of that. He chose Oklahoma City. As such, I would not trade. If I'm a team in the East, Boston or Philly, I would not trade for Kawhi. I'm with you on Boston, even though I love Kawhi there, unless they could get him for a steal. Now I would give up Gordon Hayward. If I was good, if I was Boston, I would give up Gordon Hayward. You're really down on Gordon Hayward, aren't you? No, he's good, but he's not a superstar. Kawhi Leonard is a superstar. That's a fact. I would give up Gordon Hayward, Terry Rogier, and the Memphis pick, which is protected through eight next year and then some protections the following year and then unprotected. So I would do that if I'm Boston. Is that better than your Philly package? Gordon? It might be. But so I'm just saying, I wouldn't break the bank if I'm Boston to get Kawhi. Because I like what they have coming back. Gordon Hayward's not breaking the bank? No, no. Brad Stevens' guy? Gordon Hayward is gonna be Kawhi. Kyrie next year is the first option, clearly. I think Jason Tatum in short order, if not right away, will be the second guy. And you got Horford now. Jalen Brown, I think is gonna be better than Gordon Hayward in two years, if not sooner. I mean, Jalen Brown is a legitimate two-way player. I think you need to put some respect on Gordon Hayward. Really? Really? Are you serious? I'm dead serious. Everybody in the league wanted last summer at this time. Everybody wanted Gordon Hayward. And now all of a sudden he's not as good as Jalen Brown? Jalen Brown is legit. I agree. They're good, but right now. Jalen Brown is gonna be one of the best two-way players in the league. But let's not settle on that. Let me get to your answer. Philadelphia, that's the team that should go for Kawhi Leonard. Philadelphia, you got the Brett Brown connection, was in the San Antonio coaching staff, had a relationship with Kawhi. The doctor that Kawhi has worked with in New York works for the Sixers. You got these connections there. You got a great point guard past first. You got a great big man. Kawhi Leonard could go to Philadelphia. Now it's a risk. I'm with you. It is a risk, but Kawhi Leonard, I believe if he goes to Philadelphia and it goes well basketball wise, the city, it's a good city. I think there's a chance that he could stay there. So obviously the Spurs are gonna ask for Fultz and Sarich and a pick. Are you giving? Not obviously. That's not obvious. I'm trying to give him Robert Covington. I'll give him Miami's first unprotected 2021 pick. Popping gonna be there in 21, I mean 69 years old. I mean the talk is that he might quit after the Olympics, but we'll see. But I would give him that pick and I would give him Covington. If I have to give him Fultz, then I'll probably give him Fultz. Cause they got their two building blocks. You're giving up on a number one pick who's 20 to risk Kawhi. It's a risk. Look, Oklahoma City gave up an all-star in Victor Oledipo. Okay. Paul George is better than Oledipo. You're gonna get out of the first round of playoffs. You're going forward. All right. You're getting out of the first round? We'll see. The West is tough, man. It ain't the Eastern Conference as I told you in answer number one. All right now, all I'm saying is if I'm Philadelphia, I take the chance. Cause I still, if I lose him, I still got my two building blocks to build around. What is your guess for where Kawhi ends up? Do you think he demands a trade? Well, he's already told him he wants to be traded. No, no, no. I'm gonna sit out the season, which is rumored. That is not, no. Will he pull up Kyrie Irving and say, I'm getting surgery on my quad? Kawhi Leonard will not sit out the season. He will not threaten to sit out the season. He's not going out like that. He is a guy that has some class. He will not go out like that. So Kawhi Leonard's going to show up in camp be a model for the new. If he has to, he will. This is a guy last year who got backstabbed by Tony Parker, got kind of backstabbed by Manu, by Pop, and he's going to face them in the locker room. Is he a punk? I mean, he sat out 80, 72 games last year with a quad injury that Tony Parker said his was 100 times worse. Doctors in New York said he wasn't ready to play. But what if he comes back the season? Doctors were the doctors on his payroll were the doctors like in cahoots with him to come up with some theory. But Kawhi Leonard has to come back and say, you know, I'm still not ready to go. You don't think that's a possibility, Chris? No, you cannot. You sit out two straight years, essentially, in the NBA. First of all, everybody's going to look at you like you're mentally weak, you're physically weak, you're a punk, and it's going to mess with your money. And you know what he would say? It's going to mess with your money. But do you know what he would say? Go tell Tony Parker I'm a punk. Go tell Popovich. You want to take shots at me? Nobody takes shots at their teammates like that after they've been together for seven years, Chris. That was dirty. I don't care how dirty it was, you a man walking to the light. If you got a problem with Tony Parker, walk up to Tony Parker. You got something to say to me? No, yeah. That's a real class. You're going to fight your teammate in the locker room? That's classier than sitting out a whole season. I mean, I don't think you want to do that. Who's going to want to go after somebody who went in the locker room and punched out Tony Parker? Who's going to want? What teams are going to want to go after him? You just knocked out your teammate? I didn't. Nobody wanted Boogie Cousins. He was just on the market. We're going to talk about him in a sec. You can't punch out a teammate, Chris. That's not that. Didn't the Goats? Oh, gosh, yeah. Didn't the Goats punch out a teammate? Michael Jordan's winning five championships. He can punch out a teammate before he wins seven or six. I thought nobody wanted a player that punched out a teammate. It's Michael Jordan. But was Michael Jordan the player? Oh, gosh, Chris. You're not doing this, are you? Yes, I'm doing this. I'm not saying. No, hold on. You went to Lane's, so I didn't want to go to. I didn't say Kawhi Leonard should punch out Tony Parker. I said he should show up if they don't trade him and play his butt off. And then if he wants to leave as a free agent, leave. That's all I'm saying. And you the one made it a big, old Tony Parker said this. Then I'm saying, if he really had a problem with Tony Parker like that. Tony Parker apologized to Kawhi, and then I'll come in the locker and say hi to you. No, apology or not. Whether he apologized or not, I'm a man. You know how many times I've worked with people that have dog me behind my back or dog me in public? It's called being a professional. Did you demand an apology? Did you go step up and say, what should we do? If I have to demand an apology, I would. Sometimes I just go do my job. It's called being a professional. You are under contract. What I'm told is Kawhi Leonard will be a professional. Now that would be nice, I would like to see that. Come on, man. He ain't sitting out a whole season. That's ridiculous. Other people are reporting that. He's not sitting out a whole season. Talking about here. The final question, because we need to give you a layup, Chris, you're struggling here. Is Boogie Cousins good or bad for the NBA when he goes to the Golden State Warriors? People on social media freaking out. 25 and 13. How could he do this? I'm not watching the NBA. I mean, Chris, this is so overblown and stupid. Like, number one, nobody really wanted Boogie Cousins around the league. 29 other teams could have called him. Boogie Cousins said not one team called him. Why didn't they want him? Well, he's had a history of problems in the locker room dating back to Sacramento. He's an indifferent defender. There's plenty of video last year of him loafing on defense arguing with officials. I think he led the league in technical fouls once or twice. And he's coming off an Achilles, which is one of the worst injuries you can come off of, especially at 270 pounds at the age, I believe he's 28. Gonna be 29 soon. Like, that's tough. Go look at what happened to Elton Brand. They're about the same age, same weight. He was a shell of his former self. I mean, there's no market for Boogie Cousins. I think this is a genius move. There's no pressure for him in Golden State. But the idea that just makes the Warriors like unbeatable. No, I just don't buy that at all. Does he even fit perfectly with this team? No, he doesn't. They're the definitive favorite without Boogie. With him, the talent gap just grows that much stronger. With Golden State, there was one weakness. And I used to say it, play big, pound them. San Antonio gave him some trouble by going big with Lamarga Salgers and Powell Gasol. Now that doesn't exist anymore. They were, they weren't a soft team, but they were relatively soft. I mean, you know, you could kind of get physical with them, push them around. That's how Cleveland beat them. That's how Memphis game problems in the past. Now with Boogie, you're not going to be, they're not soft. You're not gonna be pushing them around. They're not gonna cower like, they don't cower anyway. I know Dramondree watches this. But they're gonna be a little tougher. You wanna take back some of the soft stuff? No, Dramondree clearly is not soft. I'm just saying overall, people view Steph and Durant kind of soft. Some of the soft men, God. But, and I'm not saying, I'm not saying they're soft, but they were a finesse team. Let's put it that way. They were a team that the feeling was, get physical with them, beat them up, things like that to give yourself a chance. Now with Boogie, you got somewhat of an enforcer. He has to be on his best behavior. Okay, he has no choice. If he, and if he acts up, if he's bad in the locker room, if he's bad on the court, doesn't adjust. Yeah, you get rid of him and you don't miss a beat. No. So I think, I agree with you. I don't wanna hear the fans and other teams complaining. Oh, this is unfair. Golden State's playing about the same rules as everybody else. Their front office has been gangster. Period, the end date. I mean, this was a great move. You're right. Nobody else made him an officer. I mean Detroit could have called up Bo, we need you, but like anybody could have done this. I mean, you wouldn't have gone to Detroit. I actually think the Lakers for one year, I would have taken a chance. I'm not a huge Boogie fan. And that's a good point. But I would have taken a chance to see if he acts, if he can act right with LeBron, if he fits with LeBron, and then maybe you go forward if it works out. They gave Rondo $9 million. He made three last year. The Warriors just gave Boogie 5.3. That to me, something's off there. Now I know Rondo is healthy, has been playoff testing. Rondo, that's a big loss for New Orleans. He's a big addition to the Lakers defensively. He's gonna toughen up Lonzo. But it's tough for me to fathom how they can pay Rondo $9 million and not even make a play for Boogie. No, they clearly didn't want, look, like you said, Boogie's had his problems in the locker room. And he was better in New Orleans, but he still has that reputation. We see him with the refs. And I agree with you. I feel like Boogie for the most part has not played winning basketball. He's never been in the playoffs. They're hollow, right? I wouldn't say hollow, but I just think first of all, he doesn't play great defense. He loathes up the court. He's arguing with officials, so he doesn't get up. One person today was telling me the Warriors should be hard-line with him and put in a three-second rule for Boogie. You have to be across half court within three, I mean, seriously, within three seconds, that'll get you hustling, and that'll keep you from arguing with the rest. The little thing, like, why is he taking six and a half threes a game? He's a 35% three-point shooter. I think that's helped his game become like next level. He's like a 25 and 13 guy, thanks to the three-pointers. Yeah, but he shoots 35%, he shoots six and a half a game, and he's 6'11", 2'70", and nobody could stop him on the block. He's a good passer. He could be killing Pete teams as they double him on the block. He is a good passer. Passing out, so I'm just saying that's not smart. If I'm that big, I like that he can step out and hit the three here and there. I'm fine with him taking three, maybe four a game, but your bread and butter, if you're Boogie, is inside, because nobody can stop you there. So that's what I mean. He's gonna have to adjust. He's a ball stopper. But for the league, why are people freaking out, Chris? Because from a talent, this dude is an elite talent. Talent, he is a tremendous talent. Top 15 player in the league? Well, talent-wise, easily. And probably, yeah, he's probably a top 15 player. And you just put him with four other all-stars. So it looks lopsided. It looks really ridiculous. Now he probably not gonna play till February. This idea of him being playing by Christmas, now that's not none of that stuff's happening. Y'all coming off of the killies at $200,000? Rudy Gaye did it? Now he's smaller, but it's a small forward. Boogie's shooting for now. Maybe he's probably overstating it. He's shooting for training. And he's been overweight like almost his entire career. He's not chiseled. He's got a lot to prove. He knows as great as he is, we say at top 15, top 20, top 20 for sure, he should have got a max counter. He's a max talent. He's a max player, but nobody was, he's playing for five million. So if he's got anything inside of him, then he's gonna have a great year, be a good soldier, and that's gonna benefit Golden State. And they're gonna be unbeatable if he keeps his hands straight. That just looks like something real quick. With how much of a slap in the face is it to Boogie for them to go after Randall, two years, 18 million? Like right after they steal Rondo to the Lakers, they go off for Julius Randall over Boogie. To me, I- I think they need it, Randall. But Randall kept playing with Miratich and Anthony, once they lost Boogie, I'm sorry, Rondo, they needed another playmaker. Cause Drew Holliday was great off the ball and Randall can make plays. You know, he's a versatile player. Can't shoot the three, can't spread the floor. I don't think he starts- But he's a versatile player. We'll see if he starts or not, but he can play inside. He can, he's a good, I think that's a good pickup for them. I mean, I would have loved, if I'm them, they didn't offer Rajon Rondo to full mid-level. Well, how much was that? Well, Boogie's playing for it at 5.3 million. They didn't offer him the full mid-level. Lakers overpaid for Rondo. Well, no, cause- They did, 9 million! My point is, New Orleans was willing to give him like two years, eight million, something like that, two million, eight, nine million. So money, but for one year, nine million. I like Rondo. I think New Orleans definitely should have kept it. One quick note on Rondo, if you watched any of that Portland series, he was awesome. That was phenomenal. I mean, and if you go like two years ago- He and Drew Holliday were playing like one of the best backports in the league. Two years ago, the bulls against the number one seeded Celtics led to nothing because of Rondo. He's a winner. I'm telling you, this is not a knock on Lanzo. If, come playoffs, and the Lakers will be in the playoffs, I'm starting Rondo a point guard to start games. He is that good in the playoffs. This guy is a money player. He's got 82 games to see how things go. The question is, who will start opening night? They might start Rondo opening night. Maybe, again, I'm a, who finishes games, not starts. I think finishing final five, seven minutes, that's more important than who starts. You want to let Lanzo start. I don't think Rondo's going to care, but he wants to be on the court in winning time. But it, but whatever, but Lanzo's going to have to fight for his position. Cause the Lakers now are like, when now mold, they're not built around these youngsters now. They're built around vets. And so Lanzo's going to have to fight for his position. How well did Lanzo do fighting against De'Aaron Fox? Okay. When the guys get up in him, Patrick Beverly, guys challenges, Lanzo's going to come out. Lanzo's kind of folded. Rondo's going to be talking trash about LeVar in practice. I can't wait. We got to get to some practices, Boussard. Well, Magic let us in. They don't show you practices. You'll get in for the last 15 minutes when they shoot free throws. That's about it. I'll do it. It's right near where I live, man. Come on. We had some games though, that's for sure. Yes. All right, there it is. Knock down, Jay. Three for me, O for Jay. Peace. We'll see you next week. Go to iTunes, go to SoundCloud, go to Apple Podcasts. Leave us five stars. Leave us a comment and keep tuning in to in the sound. Oh, I like that. Little twist.