Best of the week on The Herd

Live from Chicago on a Monday, I’m fired up. We’ve been saying for a while the Dodgers aren’t wrecking baseball, and now players and an owner are echoing it. Big markets generate big revenue, so stop pretending LA should live on the Reds’ budget; reward great operations instead of forcing parity for parity’s sake.

Quick hits, right and wrong. Right: the Lakers’ roster is clunky in a league that demands shooting and defense, and even LeBron admits they’re not a title group. Wrong: I love Mendoza’s upside, but I’m hearing real concerns about athletic stiffness and negative plays. Right: moving on from Kevin Stefanski was a mistake—execs have him near the top of this cycle. Wrong: the Warriors’ two-timeline gamble aged them into slow and small. Right: Seattle didn’t settle for the comfy in-house OC after losing a star coordinator. Wrong: I’d feature Travis Hunter more on offense, but I get the Jags chasing rare elite corners. Right: completion percentage nitpicks on Caleb miss the point; he protects the ball and creates. And running backs aren’t extinct—when defenses sit back, physical backs still get paid.

If Miami really moves Tyreek, what happens with Tua? I’d eat the number for a year, keep it professional, maybe even soft-reset around him.

This is a full reset. They’ve drafted poorly and have very few long-term cornerstones, so they hired Green Bay tree builders to develop a pipeline. Tua’s cap hit is massive; if all things were equal they’d probably move on, and the contract math likely pushes them that way, even if it’s painful.

Kyler’s talented but the fit’s toxic—what’s his market if Arizona tries to pivot?

Think reclamation, like the Darnold or Geno path, not a savior move. His guarantees make a trade hard and a cut more likely, then he lands somewhere looking for upside on a prove-it arc.

Back to Mendoza: scouts are split, I like him, but where does he really stack up?

In that 2024 tiering he’d trail Caleb, Jayden, and Drake, and slot in a fight with Penix, Nix, and McCarthy. The cleanest comp is Jared Goff: accurate, calm under fire, RPO background with a learning curve. If it’s the Raiders, either tailor year one to him or have the patience to sit him.

On Rodgers timers: Pittsburgh won’t wait around till summer. Minnesota can afford to be flexible with a young QB in-house, but the Steelers need clarity.

Exactly. They want an answer by mid-March and they don’t want to bottom out. Hiring Mike McCarthy signals win-now urgency, not a teardown.

All-Star weekend had juice, and I’m pro-change like the ABA once forced. With the new CBA’s hard constraints, tanking becomes the only clean road from bad to good. Spurs and Pistons got payoff. The Jazz might, too. If the league blocks other paths, don’t blame teams for using the one that’s left.

My gut says LeBron’s not retiring and not a Laker next year. What bugs me is the Lakers had LeBron as the template for how to build around Luka—big ball-handler, needs athletic two-way wings—and still whiffed. You can’t shrug off years of Luka’s prime and call second-round ceilings acceptable.

If tanking is the villain, how do you fix it when it’s the only lever teams can pull?

I don’t blame teams; I blame incentives. Drop the hammer on sitting healthy stars, equalize odds for all non–play-in teams, and punish anyone tanking out of the play-in. The commissioner needs real teeth to protect competitive integrity.

Golden State—did love for Steph blind them, or not enough love fast enough?

They didn’t love him enough. The two-timeline fantasy cost them. With an all-time great still near peak, you go all-in on his clock, not stash prospects. Now Steph’s excellence is marooned.

On Tyreek back to the Chiefs, I’d prioritize line and run game over a reunion. Agree?

He’s no longer a centerpiece move for me. Off-field concerns, a messy exit in Miami, and a serious knee injury make it a low-cost luxury, not a plan. The receiver room already has enough volatility.

Luka’s a historic creator, but I worry about the aging curve. Carmelo and Harden tailed off fast, and conditioning matters. You can lose a step before you notice it.

He’s more Harden than Melo stylistically, but he rises in the playoffs, which Harden didn’t. This is his peak, so act now. Cap space won’t save you; build the right cast while he’s at his best.

Cade just dropped a monster game at the Garden and told GQ he’s Olympic-ready and the top American. I ran my top ten Americans to build around, with bold slots for Maxey, Booker, Brunson, Mitchell, Jalen Brown, Cade climbing fast, Kawhi high on short-term value, Steph still elite, Ant near the top, and a fearless number one bet on a nineteen-year-old phenom. SPEAKER_04 calls Cade a true superstar who drives winning on both ends.

We’ll leave it here: I see about three more elite years for Luka unless the habits change. Biology tends to win that race. From Chicago, that’s the show.