Forget Dereck Lively? Inside Joel Embiid Mavs Trade Rumor

NBA MVP to Mavericks, Deploying Cowboys' Dak Prescott, another Rangers' batting champion, beating the heat and juicy radio rumors, all in this week's DFW sports notebook.

MAVS & MORE WHITT'S END 7.21.23:

Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …

*Dallas Mavericks have produced a solid offseason. Re-signing Kyrie Irving. Drafting the next Tyson Chandler in Dereck Lively II. Trading for Grant Williams. But solid would quickly graduate to spectacular if the rumors are true about Clint Capella or … Joel Embiid?! (Spoiler alert: They’re not true.)

*Did Oswald act alone? Who shot J.R.? And in the rich history of Dallas-Fort Worth cliffhangers … “Ten” or “Tipped”?

In a mystery not quite as criminal as JFK’s assassination or as comedic as the 1980s hit TV show Dallas, Dak Prescott this week had his plethora of critics twisted as to which way to point what fingers.

In an interview attempting to explain why – unlike in his forgettable 2022 – he wouldn’t throw 17 interceptions in 13 again starts this season, the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback promised he wouldn’t have “tipped” interceptions. Alas, it was initially transcribed, and publicized, as “10” interceptions.

Either way, off we went. Prescott was framed as either irrationally predicting he’d keep his turnovers in the single digits, or passive aggressively blaming his receivers for last year’s alarming miscues.

The actual full quote, clarified by the Cowboys:

“Do I blame those receivers? No. Mike (McCarthy) does an amazing job (with them). They know where the hell to be, why to be and when they’re getting looked at. That’s going to be a big jump, I think. We won’t have those tipped interceptions this year.”

Off the top of my head, Prescott did have two key interceptions glance off receivers’ hands last year: One Noah Brown shoveled into a game-ending Pick Six in overtime at Jacksonville. Another that CeeDee Lamb volleyballed into the arms of a 49er at San Francisco’s 12-yard line late in the first half of 6-6 playoff game last January.

Here’s betting he’ll have more than 10 interceptions this season and, yes, a couple of them tipped.

*While Prescott has his detractors that will claim he misspeaks no matter what he says, his grand image is so squeaky clean that he also has national advertisers clamoring for him to be their pitch man. Last year it was DirecTV and the Real Housewives. This year it’s an advertiser much more desperate for positive publicity: Bud Light. As the popular beer and long-time NFL sponsor tries to recover from the backlash over its use of a transgender spokesmodel, it’s deploying Dak. He’s coming soon to your TV, effortlessly mowing his meticulous lawn to prove how “Easy to Summer” it is. Says Dak, “It’s always a blast working with such an iconic brand, especially for a campaign that’s all about making summer easy to enjoy. You can’t go wrong when it comes to summer, friends, and a freshly mowed lawn.” Says a “neighbor” in the ad, “Don’t disturb the legend.”

*Despite missing a month (31 games) with a hamstring injury, Corey Seager is trending toward a feat accomplished only three times in Texas Rangers’ history. The shortstop will soon have enough at-bats to qualify for the American League batting title, and when he enters the race he’s going to have a healthy lead. The Rays’ Yandy Diaz currently leads at .320; Seager sits at .346 despite slipping from .355 at the All-Star break. The three Rangers to win the title: Julio Franco (.341 in 1991), Michael Young (.335 2001) and Josh Hamilton (.359 in 2010).

*It’s July. It’s Texas. It’s hot. Groaning about it won’t help. In fact, I’ll contend it makes it worse. In the early 1990s the Cowboys held training camp at St. Edward’s just south of Austin. After a couple of libations on Sixth Street the night before, some of Jimmy Johnson’s two-a-days were grueling for us media as well. One particular day we were like crows lining a fence, one after another squawking about how hot and miserable it was. Enough. We enacted our own “heat advisory,” forcing anyone who complained about the weather, temperature, humidity, sun, etc. to put a $1 in the kitty. After contemplating those stringent guidelines, former Channel 8 sports anchor pulled a $100 bill out of wallet, shoved it into the jar and declared “Got damn it’s hot out here!” Most of bit our tongues and at the end of camp took our “winnings” for – surprise! – more libations on Sixth Street. Moral to the story: Unless you have Hansen money, shush your whining.

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*As some of us predicted last October, Danny Balis joined ol’ pal Mike Rhyner on The Freak and Dan McDowell/Jake Kemp have indeed left The Ticket in the wake of their contracts expiring. As for McDowell/Kemp, the dots seemingly connect to The Freak as well. Over the last three months, their Hang Zone show dwarfed The Freak’s current midday offering – Ben & Skin – by a whopping 11.2 to 1.3. (In football terms, that’s like 49-3.) The Freak has relatively new management and needs an influx of fresh talent or, at the very least, a shuffling of the deck. Maybe it’s as simple as McDowell/Kemp in; Ben/Skin out. Or perhaps it’s morning host Jeff Cavanaugh sliding in beside Rhyner in afternoons while Bails and/or Mike Sirois switch to mornings. Wouldn’t be shocked if something along those lines went down sooner than later. As for The Ticket, the good news is it is still dominating the DFW airwaves. The bad news is that it can’t maintain the dynasty while consistently losing cornerstone pieces. Can it? First, Rhyner. Then Norm Hitzges. Now a successful midday duo led by McDowell, who was at the station for 24 years. Next, Corby Davidson? I didn’t hear it (makes sense in that I haven’t listened to local talk radio since I was fired from The Fan), but several listeners were alarmed by what they called his “cryptic sign-off” earlier this week. Stay tuned.

*There was a time in the early 1990s when cohort Mike Fisher and I faxed our Fantasy Football line-up into the commissioner and had to wait until Monday morning’s box scores in the newspaper to see if we won our weekly matchup. Back in those days we elbowed competing owners to draft team-making players such as Emmitt Smith, Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders. Long after Fish and I dumped Fantasy Football, NFL owners have dumped running backs. Most fans can’t name the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs’ leading rusher last year (a 7th-round rookie named Isiah Pacheco), and three of the league’s top six rushers from last year – Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley and Dalvin Cook – don’t have contracts entering training camp. And how about a 27-year-old with two rushing titles and 8,200 career yards who scored 12 touchdowns last season? Nope, the NFL apparently has no use for Ezekiel Elliott.

*Hot.

*Not.

*Zack Martin, with all due respect to Micah Parsons, is the Cowboys’ best player. He’s the first guard to get a 99 grade from the Madden video game since 2003. He has more Pro Bowl trips than holding penalties. He should be the NFL’s highest-paid interior offensive lineman. Instead, he’s the guy who last signed a contract extension when Jason Garrett was the coach … 2018. And now you know why Martin is making noise about potentially holding out of training camp until he gets his due.

*At 59, I’m officially an adult. Confirmed this week, when I finally gave in and undertook the painstaking process of washing my darks separate from my whites. All downhill here from here.

*Next week the Cowboys will embark on training camp No. 64. Last time they won the Super Bowl was after training camp No. 36. Yikes.

*If I owned a fitness gym I’d have a special “Phone Zone” away from the weights, and make it the only place members could look at the their phones. Outside my “Phone Zone” cell signals would be zapped. It’s a gym, not a coffee shop. In high school we had a “Smoking Lounge,” a taped-off rectangle next to the cafeteria where kids could smoke. I’ll make it like that. Shame my members into actually working out, instead of merely scrolling TikTok while taking up the chest fly machine.

*Luka Doncic recently proposed to long-time girlfriend, Anamaria Goltes. What is Mavs owner Mark Cuban considering getting him for a wedding gift? As if the five-year, $207 million contract two years ago wouldn’t suffice, Cuban said “a championship.”

*Remember in April when Tampa Bay started the baseball season 13-0 and we all crowned them eventual champs? Don’t look now but after this week’s impressive three-game streak by a combined 13-6, the Rangers are 19 games over .500; the Rays 20.

*Last week my Dad was complaining about an invasion of crickets in and around his house. “Could be worse,” I reminded, “you used to have scorpions.” To which he retorted, “Oh no, don’t mention them, because know I’ll probably see one in the next week.” Sure enough, guess what he found next to a gaggle of crickets this week? But I don’t get it. If simply mentioning something manifests it into a reality, let’s try this one: “Hey Dad, remember that time you found $20 in your pocket?” He should expect found money any day now, right? No? Why?! Why doesn’t it work both ways?! Scam.

*The Cowboys will bat third and fifth at the August 5 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Canton. DeMarcus Ware, followed two spots later by Scott Howley, who will speak on behalf of his 87-year-old father, Chuck.

*Fires that burn beloved local churches to the ground and a man praising “angels” for shielding him from bullets during a road rage incident. I mean, in a perfectly planned world by some higher order the church would be fire-proof and the man wouldn’t be shot at. What am I missing?

*July 16, 2024 in Arlington: Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Globe Life Field and SEC football Media Days across the street at AT&T Stadium. So much for the blah, dog days of Summer.

*If you’re looking for a new golf track, may I suggest a short drive up to Lake Texoma? Played Tanglewood Resort last week and you can’t beat it for the lake viewers, friendly hospitality and giant, gorgeous greens.

Gorgeous view of Lake Texoma. Big, beautiful greens. Thanks for the hospitality, https://t.co/ZNCIPcSgvA pic.twitter.com/od7WJ1DyWN

— Richie Whitt (@richiewhitt) July 15, 2023

*As I’m grudgingly starting to learn, old folks like to get up early and, of course, shut it down early. Restaurants have “Early Bird” dinner specials catering to seniors. So why don’t concerts? The same crowd that likes to eat its last meal of the day at 4:45 p.m. is subjected to a musical event that starts after 8 p.m. Jackson Browne (who is 74, by the way) played Grand Prairie’s Texas Trust CU Theater this week. His biggest hit (“Somebody’s Baby”) peaked in 1982. There wasn’t anyone in his audience younger than 60. Wonder how many of them stayed awake?

*This Weekend? Saturday let’s go to a party, strangely without a swimming pool. Sunday let’s play some tennis. Monday let’s jaunt to Europe for a quick vacation before we buckle down for six months of 24/7 football. As always, don’t be a stranger.