Best of the week of the Herd

Hour two, conference tournaments heating up and Selection Sunday looming; a few last‑minute NFL moves too. I’m rolling out my five free agency steals that can tilt next season.

The Raiders paired their young QB with a high‑end center and added real speed to fit with their rookies; the Rams grabbed elite corners and jumped into true contenders; Malik Willis signed a smart value deal that matches where he could rank; DJ Moore gives Buffalo a durable number one who’ll be fed; and the Eagles stacked a rare third traits‑heavy corner.

The NBA’s real issue isn’t tanking or dynasties; it’s the flood of threes flattening the game’s feel. I’d kill the corner three and push the arc back to force more action inside, more bodies, more juice.

I don’t have the perfect fix, but the three is over‑rewarded, and moving the line back or removing the corner would help rebalance things.

Teams hit threes at roughly 35 percent, which turns nights with eighty attempts into a blizzard of misses, and that’s rough to watch. Basketball’s best when variety, mid‑range craft, and some playoff‑style physicality live beside the three, not under it.

Art evolves; a giant calmly drilling threes can be beautiful, and dunks haven’t vanished. Let’s compare long seasons to long seasons, and wait for the playoffs before burying the product.

Other sports tuned aesthetics and soared; basketball should polish the product instead of trimming games, and I’ll always prefer contact creators to corner chucking.

On NIL and the portal, does this help kids or is it chaos that needs rails?

Schools bring in money people and some kids are handling early cash, but it still feels like the wild west, and it shouldn’t be pay‑for‑play. Set guardrails, curb tampering, and remember the portal can strand you if there’s no landing spot, especially with inexperienced advisers in the mix.

Texas sits in a city with endless distractions and massive resources; why hasn’t it matched the blue‑blood trophy cases?

It started with recruiting whiffs that sent the program downhill, but I love how NIL lets programs like Vanderbilt or Indiana rise fast with the right coach and backing. The balance of power is shifting too, with the Big Ten grabbing real sway.

You sound grounded in a new way; what did the work look like?

I owned my mistakes, did therapy, leaned into faith and better friends, and try to see choices through others’ eyes as well as my own. I’ve got purpose now, and I want every interaction to show growth.

Quick one before you go: what do you see in Fernando Mendoza as a quarterback?

Live arm, quick processing, and he impressed me up close; he just needs patience while the roster fills in around him, and I think he’ll be good. He’s a quality guy too.

Great to hear and great to see your turn; in college you were electric, one of those rare forces that bent Saturdays.

Post–free agency, my early top ten has the Rams first after fixing corner, the Bears surging with balance, and Seattle still loaded up high, with Philly, Houston, the Chargers, Denver, and Buffalo in that next wave.

And on Bam’s eighty‑three, I’m fine with Miami leaning into the moment; exploiting legal edges is part of the sport. With scorers out and a hot hand rolling, you feed him and chase history.