Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
This hour is brought to you by Jewel Osco. Rahimi Harrison-Grody. 10-2 on 104.3 The Score. No NBA owner is going to say, yeah, we want a tank. But Marshall, you and I both know there's a way that you can say it without saying it. Like, we really value draft capital.
We obviously value draft compensation and young players and then flexibility, I think, in that order.
Our goal is to win as many games as possible long term. He didn't say sustainable. He didn't say that.
They have to understand, we want to win, but we don't want to win if it's not sustainable. Well, when I think it's sustainable, I think year after year after year.
But our church, Karnasovas, let you know, both with his words and his actions, he valued players over draft capital.
Where is your source?
Him not understanding that other teams value draft capital. So you might want to get some extra draft capital.
Give me money. Money me. Money now. Me a money needing a lot now.
And if you are good, be flexible enough, malleable enough that you can always have some draft picks in your pocket so that when the disgruntled superstar, that happens all the time, right, becomes disgruntled, you can have the pieces to make a trade for a... Giannis Antetokounmpo. And maybe his brother too. Come on, he's my brother. No, no. Don't you bring that up right now.
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Chapter 2: How do the Cubs' recent performances impact their season outlook?
It does. It does indeed. That's what Cubs fans are finding out with the news about Kate Horton, the news about Matthew Boyd. But also, they should feel a little bit better in terms of the short term, about having guys like Assad and Ray. And more importantly, you mentioned Nico Horner leading off. I think we have come to the place where we believe he should be the everyday leadoff guy, right?
Was there a time where you were more passionate about the idea of Michael Bush leading off? I don't think I was passionate about it. I just understood it against right-handed hitters based on what he did last year in that spot. But you know how I feel about Nico. When they had him batting, what was it, sixth in the one line? Maybe the opening day?
I was like, I don't want Nico Horner batting that low. He needs more bats than everybody else. And guess what? He's got a 1.2 war through. however many games are there, what, 12?
Yeah, 12.
There's six and six. He's... He's playing very good baseball, like a high-level baseball with three more hits yesterday. I'm sorry that I'm very basic Betty when it comes to my baseball philosophy. But I still believe in starting pitching is money in the bank. It'll make everybody breathe easier. And so will a good leadoff hitter. I'm not to the extent of Joe Maddon, you go, we go.
But give the guy who you think hits and gets on base the best the most at-bats. And that's what we saw. Are we to the point yet in this season where we have figured out a formula, whether it is the lineup or trying to figure out who pitches behind whom? I don't think I'm there yet. I don't know about you. I think there's still too many questions in the bullpen. For example, Phil Maton.
That's something that we actually have to keep monitoring and watching. And I think that's just the way of the world where you know you're probably going to pay for somebody because the asking price and the suitors are so high in free agency for a bullpen arm like Maton. Then you've got to figure out what his real worth is. And I think that's where the Cubs are at right now.
I feel like this may be a yearly tradition with them where you give up either some capital in a pick through trade or... Not a pick, obviously, but a player through trade. Or you're in the situation where... You pay for somebody like Maton and you might have to have some sunk cost if it goes south quickly. But this is the time to try to figure that out.
One thing I know for sure, bat Nico Horner a lead off. Yeah, I think that's a constant. You mentioned Phil Maton. I think him being on a two-year deal is what hurts because you can't just cut bait on that when you've got a guy signed for two years. And not to say that they would want to cut bait necessarily this early in the season. Anyway, it just has not been good. It has not been efficient.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of the Cubs' pitching strategy?
And they have been winning more than, well, not more than they've been losing, but they've been winning more than all the other bottom 10 teams in the tank team. No, because look. That's it, though. What you just said, Doug Christie is coaching for his job, which one could argue that when you take the Kings job, you're already doing that. Oh, man.
And then additionally, you're trying to, when the measurement becomes you've won more than the other teams trying to lose, but you've still lost a lot. It's like we're examining them as a separate second league. Yeah, you're not wrong. And to your point, so they've actually won seven of their last 15 games. That's not tanky. That's too many. That's what it was going into that Warriors game.
So now it's seven of their last 16 games that they won. Almost a 500 record. And that is not tanky, and that's why they've gone from, remember, the bottom three teams in the league every year, they have an over 50% chance at a top four pick, and they all have an equal chance at the number one pick, the highest odds, bottom three.
They've fallen out of the bottom three by winning so much over the last three weeks. Yes, 8-1-5. Doug McDermott is still in the league. Yes. The text says, hold on, hold on. Doug McDermott is still a player in the NBA? That alone proves tanking. I did raise an eyebrow when I saw that it was Doug McDermott. See, and this is why we can't have nice things.
I mean, they're purposefully trying to not have nice things. To later have nice things. There is a goal here. But this was egregious.
I don't put as much on that specific thing, but I will say at first glance, given the way things have gone for so many teams this season, I can understand why everybody would have the raised eyebrow or a commissioner might want to launch an investigation because investigation doesn't imply guilt. It just implies we need to take a closer look at what happened.
Ray Diaz is the one who does the most work in our rundowns. We have a list of the topics in the show and in what order and at what time. And Ray's nugget here is a real tank-off game happens tonight between the Nets and the Pacers. What a promo. With a win, Indiana would clinch a 14% chance at getting the number one overall pick with a loss, which would be the highest odds possible.
Brooklyn winning lowers their odds to the number one overall pick from 14 to 10.5. Tank off. Are we watching that at circuit tonight? I kind of think we should. Just cheer for the loser. That's sad, first of all. But it speaks to your point about more competition at the bottom than there is at the top. Because we already know Oklahoma City's got the number one seed overall.
We already know Detroit has the number one seed in the East. And so at the bottom, though, there's still five different teams vying to get the highest odds possible, 14% for the number one pick, and to have a better than 50% chance at a top four pick. When you're calling a play... or at least when enough people think you're calling a play late in a game to lose, that involves strategy.
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Chapter 4: How does the Cubs roster impact their upcoming games?
If it was players, we'd snatch that money in a heartbeat. Why isn't it the same? Everybody love money. So, you know, the punishment for players is always let's take the money. Well, now it becomes time to punish teams and all of a sudden nobody will know what to do. Why not? We know exactly what to do when somebody gets a technical foul or suspended for a game. We know exactly what to do.
All of a sudden we got team issues and we don't know what to do. What happened to the whole take the money stuff? You know? Everybody else trying to reach a quota, too. But when it comes to player discipline, we want to snatch the money as fast as we can. Come to team discipline, and we see 12 teams tanking. We've seen two fines. If my math serves me correctly, that's 10 that ain't been fined.
Just some quick math. It could be wrong, so don't judge me if it's wrong. But, you know, we don't keep that same energy when it comes to teams, when it comes to officials, when it comes to everybody but players. We don't keep that same energy. But it's a player's league. Did Draymond Green tell any fibs? Did he tell any falsehoods, any lies in his statement? The hero we deserve.
He told, I mean, he's right. The NBA will find players pretty linearly when it comes to what's committed, how, and what the result is. Everybody love money. He's not wrong about that either. But when it comes to a team trying to do something, and I feel like this was a strategic play that was called to do so.
What's stronger than everyone's love for money is how much people hate money being taken away from them. That's where the real hate is. It's like the best players, they hate losing more than they love winning. People hate when you take money out of their pocket. A threat of a new tax of any kind? What? Well, that's it.
Sometimes I know that, for example, in the end-season tournament, the NBA Cup, the money is an incentive. Right. And it should be. That's the idea there. It's a tournament within a regular season. And people love tournaments. NBA players are hardwired from AAU to love a good tournament. But similarly... there should be a monetary fine or a penalty for this type of thing.
Something like, for example, what we saw in Major League Baseball, where revenue sharing came into play when it came to how you could get the first overall pick or a top 10 pick. That was part of what the new CBA put together. And I don't know that a lot of people are complaining about it. Think about who the Cubs are going to face in a day.
pittsburgh who just signed one of the young faces of their franchise to an extension they are spending money finally so maybe there is a way to turn the tide here and david adam silver told you what was happening and then furthermore michael reinsdorf when he says we don't know what the nba is going to do about taking in the draft this is what he's talking about
And bringing it right back to the Bulls, here's why this is relative to the Bulls. We talked about the teams fighting for that top position of having the best odds at a top four pick or the number one overall pick. Again, the bottom three teams get that. The Bulls right now have the ninth worst record in the NBA.
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Chapter 5: Why should Nico be the Cubs' leadoff guy?
I think he's got to be your leadoff guy. Because here's the thing. Those are career numbers batting leadoff for Niko. And when you understand where he is in his career, he's in his prime. This is the best version of Niko that you're going to get. And it's just a question of how long is he going to be able to keep this up, right?
And if you go back to last season for Niko, remember when he was chasing a batting title in the final days of the season? Last year, he only got to play 17 games in the leadoff spot, but he was .306 batting average, .333 OBP, and a .389 slug. He's just consistent. His approach is consistent. The results are consistent. More Nico.
I don't see how this would be a bad thing for the Cubs to have him have more bats than anybody else based on his consistency up, down, around. That's what you need in the leadoff spot.
Chapter 6: Who was the most valuable pitcher in the Cubs series win over the Rays?
Nico provides that, plus, of course, the speed. Again, 1.2 war this season, tied for best, and I know it's early, in Major League Baseball.
Five on it.
Number two. No notes. I mean, when the man's made a point, he's made a point.
Question two. We've got an MVP question. Who was the most valuable pitcher of the Cubs series win over the Rays?
I want you to go first because I think I know what you're going to say. And I like it when we go back and forth. Okay, so listen. This is a two-person race. Javier Assad, Colin Wray. And while I would typically lean Colin Wray on this, he's the guy... who was already on the Major League roster. He already had assured himself a spot. He's the swingman by design.
He knew he was going to have starts. Meanwhile, Javier Assad didn't know when his first Major League start was coming this season. He not only was caught up, but he did the doggone thing. Four hitless innings on the way to five and two-thirds scoreless? Yeah, give me the guy who threw zero. The whole talk was Cade Horton gives you a chance to put up zeros in the playoffs.
Javier Asad says, oh, y'all need me to role play? I can be that good. Watch this. It's Javier Asad for me. And now I'm just waiting to see what happens when Matthew Boyd comes back because I think it's going to be Colin Ray back to the bullpen because that's where he thrives at, going back and forth in that role. And Javier Asad's going to be the actual Cade Horton replacement.
I was going to say Assad because I didn't think he should have gotten out to begin with. But then that leaves the matter of who would you have sent out?
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Chapter 7: What are the expectations for Patrick Williams in tonight's game?
So that was the problem. And that's what we were trying to figure out. I don't think it would have necessarily been Ray. So trying to piece that together, that was the thought process. But it was Javier Assad for me. I think he had the most to prove. The injury last season comes to mind. Five and two-thirds. Goes out there, gives up just the one hit. Only two walks, which was big for me.
The best way to prove that you belong is to go out there. He stayed stretched out like we talked about. And then prove why you need to be considered and trusted on this team. And with Cade Horton going down, you now have to trust more people than I think you realized.
Chapter 8: When is the Cubs for a Cure Radiothon happening?
And we don't necessarily know... Because of Matt Boyd's age and because of how many miles he had on the arm last year and just what we've seen so far, even going back to mid-spring training this season, I hope it is as casual as Craig Council mentioned. But you better have a good plan B. And I feel like we're already in that stage because we have to be.
When Justin Steele gets back, great, but I don't want him rushing it. So that's why I feel like his performance, Asad's, was so much more crucial to the process right now.
No, I agree with that completely, and I think this is going to be part of the intrigue of the Cubs' regular season as they chase not only the Brewers, but it looks like it's going to be a crowded field once again trying to get into the playoffs from the National League Central. No question.
Five on it.
Number three. It's five on it at 104.3, the score with Laila Rahimi and Marshall Harris, and with this question, we're going to get a little... Patrick Williams had his first 20-point game since April 8, 2025 in the Bulls' 129-98 win over the Wizards on Tuesday.
Congratulations.
How many points will Patrick Williams have tonight against Washington?
To everyone, all of us, who all noted that his best game of the season was the day that the front office who brought him here and drafted him fourth overall got fired. You can't tell me there's not some symmetry there, some sort of symbolism, some sort of something. And I want to say Patrick Williams has handled all of this with grace and class. It is not his fault where he was drafted.
And if that contract was put in front of any one of us, I don't care how tall you are. We all would have signed it, right? We all would have signed it. A five-year deal for $90 million with a player option in 2028 and 2029. We would have all signed that. All right, that said, for the plot, and because it's the Wizards yet again, throw them up 22 points.
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