Hour 2: What's the Lakers Recipe to Take Down the Rockets?

Thrive-In believes money is more than numbers. It's a way to care for the people, causes, and community you love. That's why Thrive-In brings together a unique combination of financial services and generosity programs offering advice, investments, and insurance to help you plan your finances while creating opportunities to give back along the way. Through generosity programs that offer resources to fund service projects or direct charitable funds, Thrive-In makes it easier to turn your values into action and support what matters most to you. With more than 120 years of experience as a Fortune 500 company, Thrive-In continues to serve individuals, families, and communities across the country. To learn more, visit thrive-in.com. Thrive-In, where money means more. Tomorrow is the final night of the NHL regular season and our ESPN double-header starts at 730 Eastern, 530 Mountain Time with Blues and the Mammoth, then the Aves will host the Crack-In, like everything else, both available on the ESPN app. Two future Hall of Famers will face off in the first round of the NBA Playoff Saturday night on ABC as Kevin Durant and The Rockets will take on LeBron James and The Lakers. Since April 5th, LeBron James has averaged over 25 points and 11 dimes. Since leaving the Warriors, Kevin Durant is looking to get back on top as he's averaging 30 points. 49% from the field, however, he has a 13 and 18 record in the playoffs since 2021. Meanwhile, J.J. Redick told ESPN's David Medeman that Luca Donicic and Austin Reeves are out indefinitely and that he will not have an update on their playoff status this week at the very least. Redick also spoke on what the Lakers will need to do to win their first round series against Houston. Here it is, listen. Take care of the basketball and boxing out. That's the series. Scheme, personnel, obviously important, but if we don't take care of the ball, we don't box out. We're not going to win the series. They're going to try to come in and talk to us and if you won't allow that, you will be punking. You know, I don't think we have any guys that's willing to be punking this team. So you might not be the most athletic, the strongest, but we got to have the most heart. As a reminder, Houston is heavy favorites in this series, but what is the recipe for the Lakers to take down Houston? Is it as simple as taking care of the basketball and boxing out? Wendy, what do you think? Well, that would help. There's no doubt about that. When you play the Rockets, there's a couple of things at your top of the line. And I'm sure JJ Redick is eyeball deep in all of the options at his disposal to try to figure out a game plan that's going to work. He obviously mentioned right there, the rebounding. Houston's one of the great offensive rebounding teams of the decade. They thrive on getting second and third and fourth shots. And if you allow that, they will beat you. The game plan almost certainly offensively is going to be to give the ball to LeBron James, spread the court and let LeBron create mismatches and find the best shot, either for himself or his teammates. When you play Houston, the two players that you want to target are Reed Shepard and Alperin Shengun. These are excellent offensive players. Houston is suspect offensively. They need those guys in the game to get their offense going. Although down the stretch of the season, Eme Udoka has found some lineups where he can generate some better offense that take pressure off of KD to be the offensive creator. But you've got to figure out ways to take advantage of those mismatches. You've got to punish those guys. That's where a guy like Luke Kinard is going to come in. His role expanded down. But if you look at the 10,000 foot view, what you really need is to extend, extend, extend, extend. That's the message that the Lakers have to think every minute of the game. Extend until the fourth quarter. Your best chance at beating Houston is getting them into a close game. I understand that you're not going to have the same advantages as you did when you had Luke and Donchich out there. But Houston has struggled at the end of loose games or at the end of close games. And then extend the series. Scrap and claw and figure out how to get it back to Houston 1-1. That way you know you're coming home for a game five. Extending the series brings the possibility of Reeves and Donchich back in. I do not know how they're going to feel in a week. I don't think anybody does. But the longer the series goes, the reinforcements come into view. But you know what the sports books say. They say that for a reason because the Rockets are appropriately heavily favored. Those last two parts that Wendy brought up is definitely appropriate. You want the game to be as close as possible in the fourth quarter because clutch time, particularly with their propensity to turn the ball over is something that has plagued the Houston Rockets all season long. We know this and we still don't understand why they didn't go out and get themselves a point guard to make sure. I know that Reeves Shepherd can play and I like him a lot. But the bottom line is he's not that quintessential prototypical point guard that you need. He doesn't have the experience yet. You needed somebody with that to calm the waters per se and to make sure they protect the basketball. That's not what they did. So if you can get them into deep waters, make sure the game is tight down the stretch, you can exploit Houston. There's no question that that should be a recipe for the Los Angeles Lakers. That's one of the things that Wendy brought up. But in the same breath, you know what? Let's not forget the importance of defending because you got to defend overall, period. You know, that's not the Lakers strength. It looked like a strength of theirs at stretches this season. But by and large, that's not their strength. And when you are prolific offensively, but two of your primary offensive weapons are both out, you know, there's a level of urgency and desperation the Lakers should be playing. And here's what I mean. You're taking it game to game. You're not thinking about the entire series. What you're trying to do is this. Can we get this series to two, for example, through the first four games, buying some time for Luke and AR to get back? Can we do that? You literally have to play with a level of aggression and desperation that propels you to go all out just to push for that. And then you get your boys back. That's how they should be thinking. As you know, as this series gets set to begin, whether or not they do that remains to be seen because they got a tall task because Houston is going to rebound the basketball effectively. And there has never been, and I don't believe there ever will be in his career and answer for Kevin Durant in terms of stopping him offensively. He is going to get his no question. And unlike, even though we want to say that the record doesn't indicate that they've gotten much better than a year before because they're still a top 16 defensively, just like they were last year, et cetera, et cetera. Last year, you didn't have a bona fide number one offensive option. It was the sporadic Mr. Green, Jalen Green, that was your guy for you with the Houston Rockets. Now you have arguably the greatest scorer in NBA history, clearly one of the greatest scorers in NBA history in Kevin Durant. It's a different animal come playoff time. This is what he does. And that's the difference. Okay. LeBron and Kevin Durant only players with 10 or more playoff head to heads in the NBA right now. And they both average over 30 points a game when they play each other. So we know they're going to get theirs regardless the score, at least we get to see two of the greats go up against one another. Let's get to a quick take here because this was something. Nick center Mitchell Robinson apparently is working on his, let's call it snake handling skills. He posted a video yesterday of him catching a snake in his backyard and he named him Jeff. Listen to this. Y'all would never just believe what the hell I caught in my backyard. Got me a snake. Caught that little boy. No chat. I'm gonna let that boy go. I'm gonna step on his head though. That's how I called him. That's size 14. What a f*** him up. Everything I love. Come on. Yo, yo, yo, yo. All right, man. Well, it was nice meeting you brother. I think I'm gonna name you Jeff. My name is Jeff. Okay. Number one, in Mitchell Robinson's hand, that thing looks like a worm. It doesn't even look like a snake and he's right. His size 14 crocs would have definitely smashed him. But nonetheless, Stephen A, your reaction to Mr. Robinson. You can't even speak. How can I be? How can I be nice? How can I be nice to say this? You know, a little video and all of that stuff. That's fine. Mitchell Robinson has missed entirely too much action in his career. To be messing around with snakes, what I luck when it comes to Mitchell Robinson as a Knicks fan, the damn thing would have bit him and he'd have been out for the playoffs. That's the Mitchell Robinson that we know. So when y'all see this video, you can laugh, you can smile and all of that other stuff. I get it, but you ain't a Knicks fan. See Knicks fans are like this. What the hell are you doing? Get that thing out your hand. Throw it back in the grass. Leave it be. What are you doing? Because we don't need you out. Mitchell Robinson, there are a potpourri of ways that this dude can end up missing the game. And you know what? I'm shocked that it didn't bite him and we weren't sitting here this morning breaking news. Mitchell Robinson is going to miss the playoffs. Okay. That's what I was thinking about. What the hell is he doing? What the hell is he doing, Wendy? That's all I was thinking about right there. Thank goodness, all's well that ends well. That's all I'm going to say right now. Shay, first off, Mitchell Robinson's social media is a joy, especially if you like pickup truck coverage. I'm just going to tell you that a couple of weeks ago, he put on your social media his big toenail that came off and then autographed it and offered it up for fans. So to me, if you're going to analyze something, analyze that, not the snake video. Okay. It's close to lunchtime here on the East Coast. Thank you for that, Wendy. We appreciate it. Mitchell Robinson, just leave the snakes be. Okay. At least still after the playoffs, but it did make for some good content. Jeff was an unlikely name for that little critter, I will say, an unlikely name for the snake he found in his yard. I like human names for pets. I do too. Big fan of them, although it does kind of ruin the human name going forward. Anyways, on the way here on First Fake, Mel Kuiper Jr. joins the show to break down his final mock before next week's NFL draft. Will Jerry be wheeling and dealing in the first round? Probably yes. Also, is Kauai Leonard or Steph Curry more likely to go off tonight when the Warriors and Clippers square off in an elimination game, in a playing game? We'll discuss next. Thrivent believes money is more than numbers. It's a way to care for the people, causes, and community you love. That's why Thrivent brings together a unique combination of financial services and generosity programs, offering advice, investments, and insurance to help you plan your finances while creating opportunities to give back along the way. Through generosity programs that offer resources to fund service projects or direct charitable funds, Thrivent makes it easier to turn your values into action and support what matters most to you. With more than 120 years of experience as a Fortune 500 company, Thrivent continues to serve individuals, families, and communities across the country. To learn more, visit Thrivent.com. Thrivent, where money means more. Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up We have a special ESPN telecast for you. The Mets and Dodgers finish up their three game series. We'll have Joe Buck, Ron Darling, Oral Hershizer on the call. Coverage begins at 90's, third, sixth Pacific with Carl Ravich and the baseball tonight crew from Dodger Stadium. Shohei Otani is scheduled to get the start and likely dismantle the Mets yet again. Couldn't help myself from the start. Time for DraftKings first call parlay. And we've got three picks for you. Stephen A, you're up first. You've got Tyrese Maxi dropping 30 or more points tonight. Why? Because he's a star in this league and he can score on anybody. And he shows up in games that matter. He doesn't let you down. It's Embiid that's hurt. It's Paul George that's hurt. It's something else that happens. It's never Tyrese Maxi's fall. When needed, he's going to be there and he's going to respond and make sure he does his job. And I don't think tonight's going to be any different. Okay, you also like Steph Curry to have at least 25 points tonight. Go ahead on that one. Because he's the greatest shooter God has ever created. That's why. And he's going up against the Clippers and he's going to get his. All right, he's just getting back into the floor of things. A playing game is at stake. You know, they'll do what they can to guard them. But in the end, Steph Curry getting 25 points. I mean, as far as Uncle Sir, this is as close to a give me as it gets. I'm going to go the other way. I'll go with the Clippers. I'm taking Kauai Leonard to have 40 or more points, rebounds and assists tonight. That is combined. Since March 1st, Kauai Leonard is averaging almost 28 points per game against the Warriors this season. He's averaging over 20 points per game. Points not an issue. Rebounds and assists, he'll do it all. I hope we see vintage Kauai in the postseason tonight against the Warriors. He's been having an unbelievable season that's kind of flown under the radar. So give me Kauai Leonard to have over 40 in all three categories. Let's bring Winnie back in now. How bad would a loss be for Kauai and the Clippers tonight considering how well he's played so far this season, Wendy? This is the biggest indictment I can say of the Clippers season and the Kauai Leonard era. It wouldn't be a big deal at all because they're not going anywhere this year and everybody knows it. They know it too, which is why they started taking their team apart in midseason. And, you know, yeah, I'm looking forward to tonight. Seeing Steph versus Kauai. They don't even have their draft pick. So it doesn't even matter whether they win or lose this game and get knocked out where it would affect their draft pick because their draft pick goes to Oklahoma City. So yeah, he's going to make my second team all NBA ballot. He's only made all NBA once in the last five years. So like that is not, that is significant. But for the fact that he's just had his best season as a Clipper 65 game, Stephen A. 28 points, 51% shoot. I could go on and on. And for him to playing in a postseason that really has no meaning. I mean, relative to where this team was expected to be and where this team was expected to be at the beginning of this season, when they thought they could maybe get to the conference finals or pull off some sort of miracle and midway through the year, they had to pull the plug. It's an extremely, extremely disappointing end to this Kauai Leonard experiment. And if it indeed is the end, I don't even know. But the fact that the Clippers, even if they win this game tonight and even if they win another game, they get Oklahoma City there, they got no chance. So I guess I'll enjoy the game, but I can't get excited about what it means for Kauai or the Clippers. I know that there's some things that happened in the off season and you know, the whole aspire thing involving Kauai Leonard, Steve Balmer and all of that stuff. You know, that's one thing that's being probed and investigated and we all know that Wendy. Let me tell you where the other's investigation should be. Well, maybe it's not another, maybe it's all in the same negotiation. I mean, it's in the same situation or investigation. We do need to investigate why the hell is Kauai Leonard still a part of this team. Why is it that Steve Balmer religiously and continuously places his faith in the dude that was religiously unavailable for all of these years? We know what he can do when he's on the basketball court. We know that he's a sensational player when healthy, but we all know that his health is not something that you can trust or rely upon. So it is a big deal that you got a playing game that's taking place tonight. And Kauai Leonard is actually gonna be on a basketball court going up against the likes of Steph Curry. But in the same breath, I'm gonna tell you why a loss for Kauai, how bad it would be if they were to lose this game. You know something, Wendy? The sooner you lose, the sooner you go home. And the sooner you go home, the more we get to reflect on the fact that your picks are going to Oklahoma City because of trades Kauai Leonard compelled you to make. I will remind everybody out there. And I used the word, you could call it hyperbolic, you could call it whatever you want. He blackmailed the Los Angeles Lakers. I mean, blackmailed the Clippers, I'm sorry. Because Magic Johnson then was still there and he gave an indication that he was willing to go to the Los Angeles Lakers if he didn't get what he wanted, which was him to arrive in LA for the Clippers with Paul George. And they had to give up a bunch of assets, including Shay Gilgis Alexander, the services, of Paul George. And I'm looking at it from that standpoint and every time I see Shay doing what he's doing and every time I see an asset going out the door, I think about the man who made them do it. Remember, he was a free agent. They could have got him there and that would have been fine. No, he wanted to get somebody else there and compelled them to give up assets just so he would be comfortable. And he hasn't been there to capitalize on the comfortable situation that he created. That's the situation with Kawhi Leonard. Wendy, I don't know about you, but that is what I find myself thinking about when it comes to him. Go ahead, Wendy. Okay. Nothing to add. He's exactly right. Yeah, it's hard to remember, I guess. Kawhi did lead two different teams to the finals and the Tijuana Raptors. In half of it, I remember. And the San Antonio Spurs. It just feels like it's been a really long time and something like that has happened. Let's recap our picks for tonight. We have Tyrese, Maxi, 30 or more points, Steph, 25 or more points, and then Kawhi Leonard, 40 or more points, rebounds, and assists combined. If you agree with those picks, head on over to Draft King Sportsbook for the first take, first call, parlay price at plus 341 for the odds. All right, we'll see what happens tonight. Let's get to a quick take here. Hornets rookie Con Connimple was benched for the final minute and 42 seconds of regulation and did not appear in overtime during last night's play-in game against the Miami Heat. He finished with six points, two of 12 shooting. He was 0 of six from three. He failed to hit a three despite leading the NBA with 273 made triples in the regular season. Wendy, will Connimple's benching affect his rookie of the year candidacy? It's not supposed to because the play-in games are not supposed to affect the regular season award vote. Most years, we would have our vote as we as voters would have our vote in and it wouldn't matter. Like maybe if he had scored 50 and then you would vote for Cooper Flag, you may feel a certain way about it, but our vote would be in. But this year and the way the set up, the league has to wait to do the ballots because of appeals on the 65 game world, including Luca Donczic. So I don't even have my ballot yet. So now look, I have had Cooper Flag on the top line there while I acknowledge Conn's incredible season. But Conn struggled a little bit down the stretch. I'm actually happy to see him struggling in a way because I want to see how he responds. I don't have to wait until next year. I can see how he responds on Friday. But there's no doubt in my mind that there could be some voters who ignore the fact that this isn't supposed to count and it affect what I expect to be a very tight race for rookie of the year. It's not supposed to, Wendy's absolutely right. It's not supposed to affect it, but we all know it will. We all know it will because we saw Cooper Flag come back from an injury and still look as great as he looked before he got injured. Near the tail end of the season, he clearly was playing for rookie of the year. He wants the award. He doesn't want to give it away to his former teammate at Duke. He wants it for himself. And obviously he was the lead leading scorer as a rookie and we've seen some sensational effort from Cooper Flag to make us second guests. Our support for Conn Canipple. Conn Canipple has been a pleasant surprise. Spectacular as far as Oaks are. I didn't see him being this good coming out of Duke. I honestly did not. And he can play, no doubt about it. He's in the lead shooter, 272 threes for crying out loud. I mean, you can't say enough about the job that he's done. But nevertheless, when you see him struggle the way he struggled last night, shooting 17% from the field, it does give you cause to pause. It does make you say, hmm, hold on, wait a minute. That's not supposed to happen, but we know voters will. Ultimately it will get in their brain. And it's a reminder, listen, as good as he is, he still ain't Cooper Flag. And look at what Cooper Flag did, even though he was decimated in terms of Anthony Davis being gone, Kyrie Irvin being out, et cetera. You know, you're looking at that and you're saying, hey, Cooper Flag's that dude. And Conn Canipple, last night, he looked human for a change. I don't think it should be held against him. But for people that were hinting, you know, inching towards picking Cooper Flag anyway, it certainly didn't, Conn Canipple certainly didn't hurt that cause last night. I mean, Cooper Flag did change positions as well as a rookie, going essentially from a wing to a point guard. So we had to learn two positions. Point guard. But he's not playing in the post season. And so now it might, it's unfair to hold that against Conn, but recency bias always plays a role here. Coming up here on First Take, Mel Kliper Jr. joins the show after the break to go through the biggest names you need to know in his final mock draft before next week's NFL draft. We'll see Mel on the other side of this. On Draft King Sportsbook, all customers can get a profit boost every day of the NBA playoffs. Download the app and use promo code First Take when you sign up. This message is brought to you by Apple Pay. Checking out online, Apple Pay makes it simple. Apple Pay is accepted on millions of websites and apps and counting. Just look for the Apple Pay button almost anywhere you do your online shopping. When you tap the Apple Pay button to check out, you don't have to worry about filling out any forms with your shipping address or your payment method. Instead, use your pre-saved information and check out in seconds. Need to make a change? You can easily review and change your card information and shipping details right on the payment sheet. Once you're ready, just double click the side button, authenticate your purchase with Face ID, and you're done. Whether you're shopping online for everyday needs or treating yourself, skip the hassle. Shop with Apple Pay, terms do apply. As you know, managing maintenance repair and operations, it's never easy, but for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back. From professional grade products, you can count on to fast, dependable delivery. They're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Granger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click Granger.com, or just stop by. Pickleball Slam 4 is tonight in Hollywood, Florida, featuring Andre Agassi, James Blake, Jeannie Bouchard, and the PPA Tour Number One, Annaly Waters. Coverage begins at 7-8 during four Pacific on ESPN. I'm gonna ESPN out. It is time, people, you hear that noise, you know what's about to go down. Mel Kuiper Jr. has released his final mock draft for the 2026 NFL Draft that takes place on April 23rd to the April 25th. He has the Cowboys trading up in the draft, sending the Browns the 12th and 20th pick in exchange for the sixth and 39th picks. Jeremiah Love is projected to go to the Titans at four. And lastly, he has the Cardinals moving into the back end of round one to take Ty Simpson, the quarterback out of Alabama, with the 30th pick. Hello, Mel Kuiper Jr., so good to see you here on First Take. Let's go to what the Cowboys should do, of course. D-W-A. Do you think the Cowboys should be trading up to take sunny styles? Man, it feels like this is the guy everyone in the NFC East wants. What do you think? J. Big D has stand for more than Dallas. That's gonna be defense, right? And a big splash is needed to get a guy who's a rare talent, he's a super blue chipper. His name is Sunny Styles. You're not gonna get him at 12, you're gonna have to move up to six, Caden Proctor offence of tackle. Doesn't make sense for Cleveland at six, but makes sense at 12. Dallas would get back to 39th pick, which is an early second round choice in this deal. So instead of 12 and 20, that'd be at six and 39. And Sunny Styles is exactly what this defense needs. Impactful, you can move him around, moving from safety to line, back to Ohio State. Did a great job, keep improving game to game, and then had a rare workout in terms of physical and athletic talent. Dallas has to use a lot of pixel in defense. It starts here, then at 39, maybe get another edge rusher. But at Sunny Styles, you're not gonna get him at 12. You're not gonna get really any impactful player at that point, let's things fall differently than I think. So Sunny Styles to move up to six to me, makes a ton of sense. It does make a ton of sense, Mel. 446 speed, 43 and a half inch vertical jump, 11 foot two broad jump, the brothers special, ain't no doubt about it. And a leader, by the way. Here's my question, Mel. How you gonna move up to get him? I mean, damn, everybody know you want him. Everybody knows how legit he is. How did Dallas Cowboys gonna move up to? What would you have to give up to get from 12 to six in the draft, Mel? Yeah, the flip would be 12 up to six, right? And then you give up 12 and 20, but you get back 39 from Cleveland. So really, it's 12 and 20 for six and 39 is what the trade actually becomes. Cleveland would be at the spot at 20, they'd be at 24, okay? So they're dropped to 12. So they have three first round draft choices, Cleveland would. Dallas would have that six pick to get the great Sunny Styles potentially, and then get a pick back, which would give them a second round choice to address that defense. So to me to get this type of player, they get good players, okay players, decent players, but not elite. And if you're picking at 20, say, even at 12, who are you gonna get at that point? You're not gonna get a guy like this who's dynamic. He would have 13 more tackles in Arville Reese this past season at Ohio State. He cut his mixed tackles down dramatically from 2024 to 2025 to hardly any, because he was adapting from safety to linebacker at Ohio State. You mentioned the town, that's rare talent for Sunny Styles, and you can move him around. People say, well, Arville Reese has to learn how to be a pass rusher. So it's Sunny Styles, but as a guy who can be that chess beast and can chase down these fast quarterbacks in the NFL with his range and his speed and his instincts, Sunny Styles, you could make a strong argument that after Mendoza and Love, he's the third best player in this draft and the best overall defensive player in this draft. Now, I'm glad you went there, because that's where I was going with you Mel, excuse me, Shae, for climbing. I got my man Mel Kuiper here. I got a capitalized on this moment right now, because you know when we're talking about the draft, if I don't hear from Mel Kuiper, Junior, damn it, I didn't hear anything. I gotta hear from Mel Kuiper, Junior. Now, Mel Kuiper, Junior, taught me many years ago, I don't give a damn how great a running back is. You shouldn't be thinking about taking a running back high in the draft. That's what I remember Mel Kuiper, Junior, teaching me. Yet it comes to Jeremiah Love and everybody's talking about him. You just pointed out he might be the second best player in the draft, but Mel Kuiper, Junior taught me years ago, you really, really, really don't wanna take a running back that high. That doesn't seem to be what you're saying this year, Mel Kuiper, Junior, tell me why. And also taught the NFL, because I came up with that philosophy 30 years ago, Steve, today, and then people were screaming at me, saying you're crazy, you're nuts, and I had rationale. There was a reason behind that philosophy, and then you gotta adapt, right, adapt or die, right? So these running backs became multi-dimensionally, became great receivers out of the backfield. Jeremiah Love could have been 84 instead of four, it would have been a first round pick. Same thing when Reggie Bush came out. These guys could do so much in terms of catching the football and in that passing game, and be a weapon beyond just a great running back, and be a touchdown waiting to happen, like Dorset's 99 yard touchdown run, on that Monday on Against Minnesota, this kid can do that. So for Tennessee, I'd say, well this is the way I laid it out today, Shay and Stephen A, I said for Tennessee, you want Fred Warner, because that's the comp, the sunny styles, back to a player, great player, all a famer, right? Or would you rather have Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson, or Jameer Gibbs? That's what Jeremiah Love could be. So that's the debate going on in that front office, with that coaching staff, GM, and all that. Those decision makers with the Tennessee Titans. I just think for Love and Cam Ward, pairing them together, Ward showed mid to late season, he can be a big time franchise quarterback. We saw evidence of that. Now you get Love, who can be a guy, can go slot and wide. He never fumbled at Notre Dame either. So factor it all in, I gave the slight edge to Love here, and that allowed Dallas to make that move up to get Sonny Stiles, who was still on the board, when Cleveland was up to pick number six. These are some high praise for these players. Look, Jeremiah Love, definitely someone who feels like he's consistently climbing up draft boards. So is someone like Ty Simpson. Now it sounds like he's gonna go in the top 20 perhaps. Would you be surprised if he does go earlier in the first round, or even late first round at this point? I'd be surprised based on Intel if he goes early to mid first round. So people are thinking, could he go at 13 to the Rams? Could he go at 16 to the Jets? Could he go at 21 to Pittsburgh? I think late first. You say, who's in the late first gonna take him? Nobody. So you gotta project that trade. You gotta think of Michael LaFleur, since the Rams seem to like him a little bit. LaFleur coming from the Rams, would he go and make that move to get ahead of the Jets who were at 33? If you like him, and you're sitting at 34, you know the Jets, it could be in play, since it's simply because the Jets passed on them at two and 16, doesn't mean they'll pass on them at 33. History tells us that, right? So to me, jump the Jets, get into the late first round. Miami needs extra picks, I think they'd be willing. There's a lot of trades between 24 and 32. Plenty of those teams will be looking to move out. So you're gonna have plenty of dance partners between 20 and 44 and 32. They'll be looking to make a deal for teams, looking to jump in to get a tie, Simpson like Arizona, I think could possibly do. Mel Khyber Jr, far be it for me to cause trouble, because I never like to do that. I'm a man of peace. I never like to do that. I don't know, I wanna be nice, okay? But Dan Olavsky, Dan Olavsky went on the air a few weeks ago and he said, there isn't much of a difference between Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson. So one minute we're hearing that, another minute we're hearing Ty Simpson could fall out of the first round. I'm thinking you're Pittsburgh at number 21. How could you pass up on a kid unless you believe in Will Howard? That's how I'm looking at it. Where does the truth lie, Mel Khyber Jr, as it pertains to Ty Simpson, particularly when you're talking about Pittsburgh at number 21? First of all, Dan O doesn't have to worry about anybody else what they think. He has to worry about what teams are gonna back him up. Just have an opinion, state it. Dan O has an opinion. He's former quarterback. He evaluates these guys tremendously well and takes your case. You don't need to get backed up by somebody in the league that maybe agrees or anybody in the media or anybody that's an analyst because Dan Olesky had that opinion. I had that same feeling about Shor Sanders last year. I still believe strongly in Shor and what he can do in Cleveland. So hold to it. Don't let anybody talk you out of it. Don't let anybody bully you. Ty Simpson, if he believes that, fine. I feel Ty Simpson back in mid-November, Stephen Anchey, would have been a top 10 pick. Nobody would have argued mid-November. He was 21 touchdowns, only one pick. Then he got banged up. Then he had the five straight games with a fumble loss. Then he fumbled the ball against Indiana when he was hit by Ponds, caused a revenge. So the bottom line is he had an offensive line. It was up and down, inconsistent, not great. No running game and receivers dropping the football. So for me, yeah, back in mid-November, that's nine, 10, 10 games in. We were talking about top 10 for Ty Simpson. So what the Interil Olesky said isn't out of the realm of possibility for any analyst saying Ty Simpson could be right there. I just didn't see it when I looked at Mendoza. I think Mendoza's a cross between Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan. That's why I have such a high grade on the Indiana quarterback. Right now, Mel Kuiper, not to speak for you, but to say for you, you have the Pittsburgh Steelers taking a guard out of Penn State, so they would go offensive line, as opposed to going quarterback with Ty Simpson, a court slot can happen. Shay, also, let me say one thing real quick. Yes? Yeah, well, real quick, where I compared Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan with Fernando Mendoza. Ty Simpson, to me, is a faster, more athletic Mac Jones. So that's in the context that I see it. As opposed to Dan, who thinks Simpson's better than Mendoza. Perfect. Mac Jones coming off a great year, obviously, with the 49ers. All right, Mel, we appreciate it. I'm sure we'll hear lots from you in the coming days, leading up to next week's NFL Draft. See you later, buddy. Yes, we will. Coming up here on First Take, we're gonna pick tonight's playing games. Are we in store for a major surprise? Love it. In the hardwood, we'll discuss. Plus, after the break, Big E and Peter Rosenberg will be in studio to get us ready for all things. WrestleMania 42 from Las Vegas. Looks like they're getting their microphones on. Clark and Pauli doing the work. We'll be back with them next. The ESPN app is home to WrestleMania 42. In every WWE Premium Live event, you wanna be there for the biggest moment. You'll need the ESPN Unlimited Plan. To sign up, go to the link below, or you have ESPN from one of these providers. ESPN Unlimited is included at no additional cost. Just head to activator.esbn.com. Follow the steps to get set up. Then sign in to the ESPN app, and you're in. WrestleMania and the biggest WWE Premium Live event. Only once place, anytime, anywhere. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on, to fast, dependable delivery. They're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Granger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click Granger.com, or just stop by. Welcome to WrestleMania! The world is watching, and we'll fight. And WrestleMania is gonna be the best day of my life, because in the main event, you will acknowledge me. Your body is built for show, while mine is built for fighting. The business that you're leading is terrible, and he is gonna save the business! And he's gonna be the best. Oh, we are counting down the moments till WrestleMania in Vegas. We're all getting ready to hop on a plane ahead on out there. Great to have former WWE champion and current WWE analyst, Big E, with us, as well as host here. You can listen to him on ESPN New York, and also WWE analyst, Peter Rosenberg, with us in studio. Such a pleasure when you guys get to join us in- Alice! Steven! Him we will see in Vegas shortly, of course. Then we will all be in the flesh. But nonetheless, this weekend, huge card. Who's gonna remind us of how great they are? Big E, why don't you go first? Ooh, you know, Sami Zayn is someone who two years ago was a WrestleMania main eventer, but I think a lot of fan sentiment has now been on Trick Williams. A lot of people are very excited to see what Trick does, and it feels like fans in many ways have turned on Sami Zayn. So I'm excited to see Sami remind people who he really is. I mean, for me, it's Rhea Ripley. I really think this is a big weekend for Rhea. Like, while everybody is talking about the other massive stars in WWE, you cannot forget the champion that Rhea Ripley is. We're talking about a first-ballot Hall of Famer. No questions asked. It has been too long since she has had singles gold. I'm looking for Rhea to have a big comeback weekend. Ooh. I must confess, I think people would be shocked to hear this from me, but I am a fan of Rhea Ripley. That's one of my fans. I just wanted to say that. I'm not shocked. How do I say it like that? I'm not shocked, Steven. I'm not shocked. How about that? I am a huge fan. I'll leave it at that. Well, look at that. He'll be able to watch her live and in person this week. So normally on this show, we go through an A-list, right? We're big fan of lifts here on First Take. So we're going to hand the reins off here. Biggie, you have something what's called a five-count. Yeah, a five-count gimmick I used to do. Shout out to King Kong Bundy, a gimmick I stole from him. But our very first question that we want to see answered at WrestleMania is J. Cargill. Is she ready for the moment? Look, you talked about Rhea Ripley. Rhea is someone who put on a classic at Evolution in the match with EO. She had an incredible match. Also a triple threat match, probably match of the year at WrestleMania last year. People are, when you see a Rhea Ripley match, you know to expect a world title match. You know to expect this match is going to steal it. So the question is, can Jade live up to that? Well, that's right. Can she be there for 20 minutes in the ring with Rhea to put on a classic because that is the bar when you're in the ring with Rhea Ripley. Absolutely. Everyone knows how great Jade looks and how impressive the charisma all that. Can you go bell to bell with one of the best of all time at WrestleMania? All right, the top five things, the questions that we want answered at WrestleMania, you just alluded to it. You talk about big matches. What match steals the show? Ooh, that, you know, for me, I think a lot of people right now, they're sleeping on Seth and Gunther. This is match is one that kind of quickly came together. Hasn't been a ton of builds, but I love what we got on Raw. I love that we just got two guys who want to see who's the best even your face. Gunther, y'all like Gunther. I mean, he's been on the show, it was wonderful having him here the whole bit. He retired John Cena. But you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, which was not good for John Cena. It was not good. You don't go out like that. But that's neither here nor there. Okay, tapping out there. You can't do that, all right. But Gunther, it doesn't move me. Wow, all right. Listen, what moves you? I mean, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. Rear Ripley does move him. Okay, let's continue here with our five count. We'll call it here or A list, okay? Next up, five questions we're gonna have answered at WrestleMania, go ahead. Can CM Punk keep up with Roman Reigns? Look, a lot of this build has been about CM Punk being old. Roman has accused him of being past it. But can CM Punk keep up with Roman Reigns who is clearly still in his prime? I think CM Punk still has a lot of gas left in the tank. I think he has been his verbally sharpest in a long time. He has, in many ways, I think you kind of alluded to the fact that you think that Punk has gotten the best of Roman on the mic in many ways. On the mic, I think Punk has gotten the best of Roman so far, but the bottom line is Roman Reigns, just a few years younger than Punk, is in the best shape of his life. And I think it will be interesting to see if physically, CM Punk is able to match what he's done on the mic. Now, the question that a lot of people want answered this weekend, is Oba Femi the next face of WWE and is the time right now big E-Tor? It absolutely is. Look, Oba Femi has the people, this dude, if you're not familiar, he was a shot putter at Alabama. He is a top tier athlete, six foot six, 310 pounds lean. He has the fans, he has the momentum, and that promo that he- He has the walk. The walk, the walk is- The walk is crazy. The walk is certified now. I'm at home on the couch just hitting it. Look, this man also, I think I have never seen someone line up against Brock Lesnar. And look, this ready and have the people in the palm of his hands, he's 27 years old. I think this is his time. I think at WrestleMania, Oba Femi shows the world that he is ready to be the face of WWE. Steven, have you gotten your eyes on Oba Femi yet? You will be very impressed by this man. You know what, I have not. I want to see him. I've seen highlights, but I haven't really watched him. You know, I'm more of a trick Williams do than him, but I'm hearing a lot of things about him. I saw what this guy did to Brock Lesnar. We'll see what happens this weekend. I get all of that. And by the way, back to Rhea Ripley, I am a fan, but I'm an even bigger fan of Jade Cargill. Oh, but a bigger fan of Jade. I just want to put that down. Okay, I want to point out, we've had a lot of guests leading up to WrestleMania, and every single person has brought up Oba, okay? So I feel like this is definitely the person to watch. Number five on the list. Oh, but everybody's bringing them up. Everyone's bringing them up. Go ahead, number five on the list of our five count is what? Our very last question on the five count is someone going to get their hands on Pat McAfee? Luke Pad has come out and he has said a lot of things that a lot of our hardcore fans don't really agree with, or don't care. Sounds like a lot of the boys don't necessarily agree. A lot of the locker room as well has felt the same, but he has inserted himself into this match between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. And look, there is so much history between these two. They go back over 20 years. Both their fathers came up in the business as well. I felt like we had a lot of excitement with just these two, but then we see Jelly Roll, then we see Pat McAfee. I think Pat's inclusion in this feud. Is someone going to put hands on a more not-figgy? That's your question. That is the question. That is the question. And if so, if Stephen A is ringside, because he's going to be there Saturday, does Stephen A do anything, or does he just watch his colleague get smacked in the face? No, no, no, no, no, no. I need a non-figure insurance policy before I go anywhere near to me. Ain't nothing big to touch. You watch it, you listen to the contract, you watch it. I'm not doing it, but y'all just going to let this slide and let this segment end without bringing up the fact that on the highlight, Randy Orton pulled a former Jake the Snake Roberts finishing move. Y'all just going to ignore that? I mean, that's not his original move. That's Jake the Snake. You understand just what you know that? Jake, Jake. I know this stuff. You know, the master of the DDT, Randy has developed and become the master of that second rope DDT. But it's an homage. Whenever a wrestler's face, it's an homage. Yeah, absolutely. All right, we are up against it here at the end of the show. Guys, we cannot wait to see you in Vegas. Also, when you have two hosts, they go, what am I doing here? Like, I could have left the middle of the set. Hey, you guys just take the words to... Shay, you need me. That's why we got him here on the show. That's right. I'm like, we got too many hosts in this. We cook so they can... By the way, Shay? Yes. I want to say to Jade Carquill, hi. Okay, Stephen. I'm going to introduce you this week, yeah, Steve. There you go. You guys do that. Okay, coming up after the break... Oh, you won't need to. I'll beat you to it. Who is going to face the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs? Will it be the Magic or the Sixers? We have picks on the way next. First take is brought to you by Arby's. We have the Meats. If you've ever wanted real energy that tastes like regret, bucked up is the answer. The flavor is the thing people keep coming back for. Insanely delicious, which is not a phrase usually associated with energy drinks, and they're built on real science-backed ingredients. Clean energy that actually works without the garbage you don't want. Bucked up is so confident you'll love their drinks. They're giving away an island vacation just to prove it. That's the kind of brand this is. No purchase necessary. Giveaway ends May 30th. Enter and find your closest bucked up at buckedupenergy.com, grab a bucked up, and feel like a million bucks. NBA Play In Action continues tonight. Magic and Sixers will start us off. Who wins that game? What do you think, Stephen A? I just think it's Philly. I think Orlando blew it. Orlando could have had this game on its home turf. If they had won the game Sunday against Boston, when Boston benched its top seven scorers, and they still beat Orlando, I've lost faith in Orlando. I think Philadelphia can ascend at the right time, particularly against them on their home turf in Philadelphia. I think the 76ers win this game led by Tyrese Maxey. Yeah, I agree with you. Obviously no Joel Embiid in this game as he's still out with the appendix situation. Winner will play the Celtics. Congratulations to you, the loser of this matchup. So if it is the Orlando Magic, they'll have to face the Charlotte Hornets. So we'll see how that all plays out. All right, Stephen A, enjoy Atlanta. I will talk to you tomorrow. The rest of y'all see you back here same time. Same place. Looking forward to some drama on the plane again, hopefully tonight. Bye everybody. Hey sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows and originals across every ESPN network. And service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.espn.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now.