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SportsTranscript
00:00I was on an airplane flying to Zurich when the Giannis news broke.
00:06So that was a Monday night, I guess, right?
00:10Because I left Monday afternoon.
00:12So everyone on the plane is essentially sleeping
00:16because they're trying to prepare for the six-hour time difference.
00:19I can't sleep on a plane.
00:21And so the Giannis news breaks.
00:23So then you guys come on and do the show Tuesday.
00:26I'm guessing it's Zach Gelb who was filling in?
00:28Yep. Gelb was in, Crowder was here that day, Jimmy and myself.
00:33So what was the reaction when you come on the air Tuesday
00:37and you know now that Giannis is coming to the heat?
00:40What is the reaction?
00:42Do people think that Giannis, Bam, Bobby Portis,
00:48we didn't know Tim Hardaway Jr. at that point.
00:51We still don't know what's going to happen.
00:52LeBron was still going to return to LA at that point or whatever.
00:56But like where in the East was everyone's opinion of where the heat will be?
01:04Well, Hawk, as you can imagine, I took a very measured approach to the entire situation.
01:09I think the initial reaction was, wow, Pat Riley did it again.
01:15There was a faction of heat fans who felt like the Miami heat gave up too much,
01:21but you knew that was going to happen, right?
01:23That was going back to the trade deadline.
01:24A lot of people didn't want to go through with that type of a deal.
01:27I think nationally, the reaction was this obviously makes the Miami heat interesting again.
01:33It makes them serious in the East again, but there's still a lot of questions about what they're going to
01:40surround Giannis and Bam with.
01:42So everybody was kind of pumping the brakes on, oh, they're the favorites in the East,
01:47or oh, they're going to contend in the East.
01:49We got to see what they're going to put around them, a.k.a.
01:51Everybody was basically saying they don't have shooters.
01:53They need shooters on that team.
01:56Well, let's say that they can't add any big piece.
01:59Let's say we know that DeMar DeRozan now is a free agent.
02:02He can go wherever he wants.
02:03Let's say they don't get a DeMar DeRozan.
02:05Let's say they're kind of constituted and they don't get LeBron.
02:09Let's say they're kind of constituted as what they are right now, right?
02:14So you got Andrew Wiggins still, correct?
02:17Andrew Wiggins, as it stands right now, that contract could still be traded with the way that the extension was
02:23worked out.
02:23But yes, currently, Andrew Wiggins is on the team.
02:27So what's your starting five?
02:29Davion, probably.
02:32Tim Hardaway Jr. or Pella Larson at the two.
02:36Andrew Wiggins.
02:38Giannis Antetokounmpo.
02:40Bam Adebayo.
02:41So where are they, in your opinion, in the East?
02:43As constituted like that, where are they?
02:46If you're asking me, are they going to be a top four seed in the East?
02:49I would say I could 100% see that happening.
02:52If Giannis is healthy, I think they could be a one seed in the East.
02:55I think they could be the fourth seed.
02:57They should have home court advantage, Hawk.
02:59That, to me, should be the absolute bar.
03:02But the reality is, this is a team that we probably won't judge based on how they do in the
03:09regular season.
03:10The same way we didn't judge the New York Knicks, how they performed in the regular season this year.
03:15We're going to judge them based on how they compete in the playoffs.
03:19And I think when you have a healthy Giannis and Bam in the playoffs, good luck.
03:25Like, good luck figuring out how to score on those two teams.
03:28We saw a healthy Giannis in the playoffs.
03:31We were the victims of a healthy Giannis in the playoffs.
03:35Like, and I don't think, like, I know a lot of people, the, you know, inclination was because of what
03:41happened last season in Milwaukee.
03:43Giannis is old.
03:44He's injured.
03:45I don't see that.
03:46I think last year was, uh, an aberration.
03:49And by the way, he wanted to play at the end of the season.
03:52They weren't letting them play.
03:53I was asking Solana, like, where do you see the heat in the Pantheon of the East?
03:59Now we, like the East is completely different.
04:01Now we know that New York is New York, but Kawhi is now in Toronto again.
04:09We don't know what Washington is going to be with Trey and, uh, Anthony Davis, the number one pick.
04:17Like there's a lot of question marks in the East, but man, I look at the heat roster, even if
04:22they don't add, uh, a DeMar DeRozan, I look at the heat roster and I go, you give me a
04:28healthy Bam and a healthy Giannis.
04:30And one thing about Bam and Giannis, they like to play.
04:33They're not load management guys.
04:36Yes.
04:36So I I'm excited about this roster.
04:39I'm not scared of the wizards.
04:41I'm not going to lie.
04:43New York is New York.
04:44You got to respect the champs, Hawk.
04:45Like it is, it is what it is.
04:47Kawhi is going to play 40 games max.
04:50Like, I don't know if that's going to do it, but the heat should be what I'd say.
04:55Number three to 76 is a scary.
04:58And Joel can stay healthy.
04:59And Jalen Brown, they're like, I, you know, we know Solana, you roll your eyes.
05:04If they are healthy on the court together, that is an amazing roster they have put together in Philadelphia.
05:10Nobody's arguing that a hundred percent, but if Joel Embiid can stay healthy, I take such a big issue with
05:16people opining that Giannis Antetokounmpo isn't going to be able to stay healthy.
05:21And he's entering, you know, the back end of his career at 31 years old because of two seasons where
05:26he had some calf injuries, which by the way, I think like those are fair concerns.
05:29Can he play a full season and not get another calf injury?
05:32I hope so.
05:33Because, you know, what, what the Miami Heat just traded for him, you're banking on that.
05:37But now all of a sudden everybody's like, yeah, but what about the 76ers?
05:40If Joel Embiid stays healthy, that's the biggest if maybe in the history of sports.
05:46But other than that, they do, they, they have a on paper, as they say, they have some dogs.
05:52Now, if we add Bradley Beal, we got something going.
05:57I mean, this Bradley Beal, I mean, how many years are we going to have this conversation about Bradley bleeping
06:06Beal?
06:082026 is the year, Hawk.
06:102026, Hawk.
06:12I know last year he was, he was injured.
06:14The year before that, Hawk, 32 minutes a game, 17 points, 37% from three, three and four, 17, four
06:21and four.
06:22What are you oohing?
06:23What are you oohing?
06:24Those are some good box four numbers, Cotter.
06:26Read them to me, baby.
06:27How many years have we had a Bradley Beal conversation?
06:31Ten?
06:32Eight years.
06:33I know.
06:33Eight years.
06:34Eight years.
06:35Hawk, if you're trying to holler at a girl she don't want to talk to, you got to keep asking,
06:39man.
06:39Yeah, but you know what?
06:40You know what she looks like eight years later?
06:42She don't look like what you were hollering at eight years prior.
06:46Yeah, but still hit.
06:47Still counts.
06:50We are going to, I don't know if it's LeBron, I don't know if it's Beal, I don't know if
06:55it's whoever it is.
06:58We get one more dude, and I think we're at least top four, maybe top three in the East.
07:03Well, okay, I'm with you.
07:05New York, you got to respect the champs.
07:06Respect them.
07:07And they didn't lose, who'd they lose?
07:08Mitchell Robinson, that's it?
07:09Yeah, Mitchell Robinson.
07:10The big dad, Racine Hairline, man.
07:12New York, you got to respect.
07:15Indiana, Halliburton comes back.
07:16Are they better than the Heat with Giannis and Bam?
07:20I don't think so.
07:22I mean, they were in the NBA Finals when he was healthy, and they're better with Ivica Zubats,
07:27like at Pascal Siakam.
07:29I know that sounds crazy, but that dude is a stud.
07:31Like, that seems legit good, too, man.
07:33If they can stay healthy, that seems legit good.
07:35Are they better than the Heat on paper?
07:36I go with Giannis and Bam over Halliburton and Siakam.
07:43Me, too.
07:44Like, I take star power.
07:45I take star power in the league nine times out of ten.
07:49But, like, even the Knicks, you say respect them.
07:52Like, it's Brunson and Cat.
07:53But then they have Mikael Bridges.
07:56Like, we need some more names.
07:58We need, what's the name?
07:59So, Matt, the little light-skinned boy that was shooting.
08:03Like, they had dudes take over games late that were ancillary pieces.
08:07I don't know if our ancillary pieces are as good as other people's ancillary pieces.
08:11I don't know.
08:12I mean, Bobby Portis?
08:13That's an ancillary piece.
08:15I like Bobby.
08:16That's a world champion.
08:17Pella Larson?
08:18We're just going to pretend like Pella Larson isn't going to take that leap this year
08:22that he took last year in his third year in the NBA.
08:25And, I mean, we're forgetting about Andrew Wiggins.
08:28Well, we're going to forget that Andrew Wiggins is an NBA champion as well?
08:31What about Norman Powell?
08:33He's done?
08:34Chicago.
08:35Yeah.
08:36Oh, I did see that.
08:37Yeah.
08:37Boozy and Powell, look out.
08:41What?
08:41Look out for what?
08:44Look out to go to a dick cousin and eat some steaks.
08:47Are you joking?
08:49Norman Powell, Maras Boozelis, Josh Giddy.
08:54Need I remind you of Tiago Splitter?
08:58They need to go to the bean and look at that dirty river.
09:02No, Hawk's 100% right, man.
09:03I am betting the mortgage on Chicago for the first four weeks of the season.
09:09Just the first four weeks of the season.
09:12Josh Giddy will put up more triple-doubles in the first four weeks of the season than any
09:16player in the NBA.
09:20Top, we can't, the hell with Ancillary.
09:25You have Bam and Giannis.
09:26You can't be in the play-in.
09:28You got to be a top six seed.
09:29Oh, for sure.
09:31For sure.
09:33Note, you don't make this kind of maneuver to do what you've done the last three seasons.
09:39You really, in my opinion, I mean, Pat Riley came out with that statement today.
09:43You need to be a top four seed.
09:46If you got what Pat Riley considers to be one of the top five players in the league,
09:52you've got to be top four.
09:55I died too.
09:58We all died?
10:00No, I think it's just you, Crowder.
10:02By the way, I don't know if you guys follow Tobin on social media, but he's been tweeting
10:10out Nikola Jovic's stats playing for Serbia over in the European championships right now.
10:18I mean, don't put it past a revitalized Nikola Jovic season.
10:24I'm just throwing it out there.
10:25Just throwing it out there for you.
10:27I'm going to find my high school stats and send them to you.
10:30You're going to be mesmerized.
10:31Man, they would have loved to have offloaded his contract at every step of this offseason.
10:36He said, I hope he has a resurgence, but you know that they tried as hard as they possibly
10:42could to offload that contract.
10:44But everybody answering heard, Nikola, boom, hang up, boom.
10:50What did he say?
10:50I don't know.
10:51I couldn't let him finish.
10:52But the trading, so the Heat can still make maneuvers.
10:56I think Cleveland can still make maneuvers.
10:58They can still make trades.
10:59They can open up cap space for LeBron.
11:00I think the Heat can do so as well.
11:03So I don't think the Heat are done yet.
11:06And maybe that means Andrew Wiggins.
11:08Maybe that means Niko Jovic as well.
11:11If it means the end game is LeBron James and you have to open up some cap to facilitate
11:16it, maybe go land another player to entice LeBron James, I wouldn't say any of that's off
11:21the table just yet this week.
11:23Yeah.
11:24And somebody told us how we were off.
11:25Who told us, Alana?
11:26They were like, the thought of having the two bigs, he was like, Giannis isn't a back
11:33to the basket big man.
11:36He's a facilitating top of the key driver.
11:38He was like, bam, can go big man.
11:40So it's on Spoh to figure out a way to use those two guys and not have the shooters to
11:44kick it out.
11:45So I'm excited.
11:47But when he kicks it out, I want somebody that's a shooter to shoot the ball.
11:52Well, again, it, it, it goes back to this same conversation where it's like, Hey, you
11:56can go get Giannis, but you can't assemble an all-star team.
12:01That's not possible.
12:02You know what I mean?
12:02Like everybody's like, well, okay, you got Giannis, but it was like, well, no, you got
12:07Giannis.
12:08Like, that's the answer.
12:09You got Giannis.
12:10Now everybody around him should be better now.
12:12But Hawk, the idea that, oh, they got Giannis, but this year will be like a rebuilding year
12:17for the following year with Giannis to me is so dumb.
12:19Like I, I told this to Kunio yesterday on, on CBS four, you have a finite number of years
12:25to compete.
12:26Look at the dolphins.
12:27Like they missed their window.
12:29This, your window just opened.
12:30Like you can't just assume, oh, you're one, you figure it out.
12:34No, no, no.
12:35You're one.
12:36You start competing.
12:37You try to go get that type.
12:39By the way, I'm looking at, uh, Will Manso's Twitter feed.
12:43The Giannis Antetokounmpo 34 jerseys are on sale at the heat stores.
12:48Any of the official heat stores, including at the Kaseya center, you can go get yourself
12:52a Giannis jersey.
12:53So there you go.
12:55All right.
12:55Four o'clock hour is coming up on the Hawkman Crowder and Solana program.
12:59They're in a stoppage time in the first half here, Portugal and España.
13:07We're in the 50th minute.
13:09There's about one more minute left of a stoppage.
13:13Nil, nil is your score.
13:15USA, Belgium tonight.
13:17When's that?
13:17Eight o'clock, Solana?
13:18Eight o'clock tonight in Seattle.
13:21I did put in a future right before I left for, uh, Europe.
13:26I put in the U S to make it to the finals plus 1200, put a hundred dollars to win
13:341200.
13:35Wow.
13:36Hmm.
13:37Big money.
13:40I've lost 10 bets in a row, by the way.
13:43No joke.
13:44That's not an exaggeration.
13:46This year ago, I ran me off of every app.
13:49Oh, that is a crap-tastic team.
13:53Goodness gracious.
13:54I cussed out Solana for three days.
13:57Man.
13:58How much did you guys pay for that, uh, the second game that you went to see?
14:01I don't want to talk about it.
14:05Well, they knew what sport they were playing.
14:08Go get in front of the other man.
14:11That was bad.
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