OverDrive - Marks on the Raptors heating up, Barnes' role in the spotlight and Butler and Fox's trade buzz

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

ESPN NBA Front Office Insider Bobby Marks joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NBA, the Raptors' direction on the team, Scottie Barnes' role on the team, Jimmy Butler's stance in Miami and the options, De'Aaron Fox's possible move from Sacramento, Bronny James' experience and more.

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Let's go. New year, new you. New you. New you. Explore it all. Feel brand new. At iHeartRadio.ca and on the free iHeartRadio app. Here's Bobby Marks of ESPN. Bobby, you've been in this position before working in front offices with teams that we're

tanking or at least we're not necessarily going to win a lot of ball games. It's sensitive, right? Like how do you can't tell the players and the coach, like, don't win. Yet, I think if you're Messiah and Bobby Webster, you're probably thinking, let's slow down here a little bit, guys. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, the one thing you don't want to do is fool around with the lottery gods, I guess, right, as far as kind of deliberately not playing guys or You know I think Brooklyn probably did it the right way where they basically just traded guys back in December With Benny Smith and intruder and that really weakened we can their roster here

I you know, I went through a season in Brooklyn. We were 12 and 17. That's third pick in the draft So there's really no perfect formula. I mean look at Detroit who's been the worst team the last three or four years, and I picked fifth consistently here. I do think, and similar to what Portland is going through, Portland's playing really good basketball too, is like, eventually, you have to have some foundation as far as what to build off of, and whether it be with Scott Scotty or quickly or Grady

Dick or some of your younger players like it's kind of a building block for for next year no they're not gonna they're not gonna be in a plan you know Raptors fans want Cooper flag at number one probably you know I think a lot of people would but I think sometimes you just have to just have to have an organically and just kind of see where things go here Where is your projection on that kid Bobby? Do you think that he's? tanking for like that's an organizational game changer I saw him last

Last year down here in Florida when he was a 16 year old at Mount Verde And I would have probably taken him a fight a top five pick then I thought he was really that Mount Verde and I would have probably taken him to fight a top five pick then. I thought he was really, that Mount Verde team was loaded. I mean there's going to be like five of those guys going to the first round this year. I think he's a, you know his offense is kind of what everyone's kind of, you know, kind of talking about defensively. He's, he is high level, really kind of plays with a little bit of a chip on his shoulders, long, he's athletic. I think he's got a chance to be really good. I think Dylan Harper, who's at Rutgers, got a chance to be really good.

I mean, the shame with Rutgers is that we're not going to see them once we get to past February because they might not even make their conference tournament. They're not going to make the NCAA tournament at all. So if you want to watch Dylan Harper and Big Ten Games, you've got basically kind of a month window to do it. But yeah, I think what you get in the draft, I think that's, as I said, kind of another piece to kind of what you're trying to do. Well, you look at where Scotty Barnes is, and he had a very inconsistent kind of injury

riddled first half of the season, and he had a very inconsistent injury-riddled first half of the season, and he's been phenomenal recently. He was the Eastern Conference Player of the Week last week, and again, they've won six of seven, and he's doing it on both sides of the floor. He's defending a lot better recently. I'm curious how you think the Raptors should approach what is best for Scotty. He's in year four. It's not like he's some grizzled vet who's been here for 10 years and is sick of losing.

Yet they've committed to him, they've given him the money, I'm sure he wants to expedite this process as quickly as possible. If you're given the option, like if you're thinking of Scotty Barnes, is it better to do whatever you can to find like a true number two with him? Because I don't think Barrett's that, I don't think Quickly's that.

Like a true number two could be close to his level that's a veteran in the league that you'd have to go out and acquire somehow, or get the next wave of kids like a Cooper flag. Like, what would be better for the development of Scotty Barnes, and what do you think is best for his future as a Raptor? Yeah, I mean, in the perfect world, it's's getting a kid into draft and then you have them for what probably at least eight or nine years based on both contracts and you've got control over that player.

The impatient way would be to go out and basically call Sacramento and say, I know you've got them just hypothetically, I know you got quickly, say like here we'll basically give you what you want. I mean I went through that in New Jersey when we traded for Darren Williams and he had a year and a half left on his contract but it put so much pressure on the organization because then you're trying to win,

you're kind of trying to add pieces or you're going to lose them in free agency. There's a lot of different kind of things that come with it. I would say the good thing, certainly if you're a Raptors fan, I think look what Houston's been able to do. I mean that thing has turned around awfully quick.

Post-Hard and I know it took a couple years. Look at Detroit. I mean what Detroit's been able to do, they added some shooting, or Cade's healthy, they added some shooting around them, they drafted pretty well, and now they're a team that's in the thick of it. and competing for a playing spot is not the end of the world here. I think it's the end of the world if you basically have maxed out on your roster, there's no

upside left there. But when you are a young team, I think there are ways for you to grow similar to how Oklahoma City has gone through the process the last couple of years. With Bobby Marks. So Jimmy Butler has been suspended indefinitely down in Miami. It's a crazy scene. It's a wild, wild story. Especially when you consider who he is.

It's exhausting. It's exhausting. And again, it feels like deja vu. Jimmy's run out as welcome in different areas of the league or different teams within the league. He's a great player. He's not young though. Pat Riley's involved.

It's just an incredible story. Surely it feels like they're going to move off. I saw Winhorse reporting earlier this week that they've lowered their price. They're pretty committed to moving on them. Where do you see Butler going and how much value can he still have through a playoff team? Yeah. Listen, I think, do you see Butler going and how much value can he still have through a playoff team? Yeah, listen, I think, do I see him going to Phoenix? I mean, have they lowered it that low? Were they willing to take Bradley Beal back? I don't believe so, even if there were

some draft picks. I think certainly the team that kind of circles is Golden State. I think they're kind of a team to watch just because they're a game out of the plan. They've got Curry, they've got Dremond. I think there's a little bit of a sense of urgency to try to keep this Curry window open. And if it doesn't cost you Jonathan Kamenka or Brandon Podzemski, too, they're younger players, I think it's worth exploring. Now the big question is like, all right, is he content there? Will he resign there,

how much do you have to pay him? This is his last, this would be his last big contract, so you're probably gonna get him on his best behavior. With that, does it get them closer to where some of these top teams in the Western Conference are? Probably not. But I think that's kind of one of the few options that Miami is staring down.

I mean, in a perfect world, I would love to tell Jimmy Butler to go home and we'll revisit this in July and we'll look at trade options here, but we don't live in a perfect world. If we lived in a perfect world, Butler would have been playing, trying to maximize his value on the core and playing for that next contract and we just haven't had that. So we mentioned to De'Aaron Fox and you know the idea that he could be moving on from Sacramento and the idea that you know his priority or his top spot that he'd like to get to is San Antonio who are 20 and 23 they're not in the plan they're not particularly close like obviously this is a Wemba Nyama scenario but are you at all surprised

that it's happening this quickly in your two of his career were given the spurs are taking a big step this year but not like a massive step they're not overly competitive uh... are you surprised that foxes i'm san antonio and and do you think it's a smart play because he wants to get there before someone else yet not to that's a that's a that's a really good point as far as, you know, like it's not him. It's probably going to be somebody else. I thought it was probably more, I thought we'd get through the season in San Antonio,

figure out who they are, what the pieces around Victor, and then kind of address what they need. And I think certainly that could still happen there. I think, I haven't seen one of these situations, certainly it dealt with Carmelo Anthony back in the day as far as guy in a trade block wanting to go to a certain team, could be a free agent a year from now, basically say, he hasn't said this,

but there's a high risk of trading for him because you're not sure if he's going to resign with you. And then if you're San Antonio, you're like, well wait a minute, why are we giving up the farm where maybe we can just get him in free agency, but you got to wait until 2026. It's going to be interesting to watch. I would say that probably more unlikely he gets traded because I think for the Kings,

the offseason gives you so many options, whether it be who's picking in the lottery. There's going to be two teams that lose in the playoffs who think they're better than they are and are thinking they're a De'Aaron Fox away from competing for maybe a championship here and it could probably bring more value back than over the next week here. Bobby, where are you at with Bronny James? Got to ask. There's the question. Where are you at? I saw him play in the G League showcase back in Orlando, like I said, at the end of December.

I thought that was probably the right setting for him, playing at that level. Listen, it's an uphill battle, basically half a year in college. He's an undersized two guard, he's trying to play point, it's kind of like a mass experiment. Listen, if he's gonna play minutes, or rotational minutes like last night, he's gonna get exposed, and he's gonna get exposed bad. I mean, that's the reality of it here.

So, I just said I think- What happens to him when his old man goes away? That's what I want to know. Yeah, I mean that's the million dollar question. Whenever that is, if it's a year from now or two years from now, I think what will happen is that there will be another 60 players drafted in June and then there will be another 60 the other year and eventually you don't have a job anymore, right? I mean that's the reality of it here in this league here. You just basically get, it goes in cycles. You just get, you know, it goes in cycles.

You just get a lot of people that are going to be like, oh, I'm going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a

player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that's going to be a player that a job anymore right like me that's the reality of it here in this in this in this league here you just basically get you just get you know that goes in cycles here so yeah I mean listen second round pick I get it but I don't what I see is not a you know I don't think he's an NBA player will that change I don't know but I do think he's better served playing in the G-Le G League than being with the Lakers right now.

Yeah, it's tough, man, because, you know, JJ Reddick's being asked about him and he's trying to support him and it's just awkward because how many coaches in the league would ever talk about a player of this stature, you know, that comes up from the G League and plays minutes and doesn't play well. A, probably wouldn't be asked about it. B, if they were, he'd just, I'd probably say it wasn't good enough moving on. But instead you've got to coddle them a little bit because of LeBron. It's just such a sensitive topic around there.

Well, yeah. I mean, I think, listen, there's a lot of guys in the G League playing who probably deserve a roster spot. There's probably a lot of guys on two-way contracts who should see some type of rotational minutes. And I think that's the hard part with the Lakers. There's a lot of players on that roster when you have an Anthony Davis type injury, like, you know, you've got some roster spots for guys that probably are more, you know, G League

level guys. Bobby, it's always great catching up with you. Thank you for doing this. Appreciate it, guys. Bobby it's always great catching up with you thank you for doing this. Appreciate it guys thanks. Bobby Marks ESPN NBA front office insider.