OverDrive - OverDrive - January 29, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 3 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins to discuss Auston Matthews playing at the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Oilers' roster views on the team and Miro Heiskanen's injury impact to the Stars. ESPN NBA Front Office Insider Bobby Marks joins to discuss the Raptors' direction towards winning, Scottie Barnes' role on the team and Jimmy Butler and DeAaron Fox's trade buzz, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am picks and Bryan hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

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Brian Hasey, O-Duck, Jeff O'Neal, Jamie Noodles, McClennan, Bobby Marks on why the Raptors are winning all of a sudden. A little bit later in the hour you see brawny James back with the Lakers He actually played some pretty big minutes last night and it didn't go very well for brawny Absolutely torched him like I see he was pleading with LeBron saying stop doing this. Yeah, it's ugly man what's weird is JJ Reddick has to talk on it all the time and and it what's weird is jj reddick has to talk on it all the time like if the tenth guy off the bench of a team it's mediocre the coaches never

asked about that guy he doesn't care about the guys feelings now and it's awkward cuz reddick's got a think of lebron like up behind a mona shoulder like don't say that's what happens when you let a guy haze it like it's one thing and hockey is a different world there's still an old-school element but like some great players never became the coach and the gm at the same time like they were still the player like their magic happened on the ice or

on the base when you allow something to happen, that's what you allow. So you drafted the kid and now he's got to play for you. And it's, it's signs pointing that this is going to be LeBron's last year. Don't you think like, why else would he be doing this? That's a legitimate question. And the Lakers are a playoff team right now. They've been pretty good. Yeah. I don't think if he was going to play next year, it would be like next year I'm going to get Brawny in there and it's going to be my. So I think this all points to LeBron saying this is this is it for me.

It could be. It could be. Yeah. But still, that doesn't explain why Brawny would play in a game like last night. You know, like at Philly was on national TV. He flew in, I believe the day before he's been down in the G League and by all accounts doing pretty well down there like putting up Okay numbers and playing and you know, no one's paying attention for the most part LeBron had his night opening night. They both came in at the same time. They played their two minutes together

You know, it was one of the really more manufactured moments in sports history That opening night it was crazy when you think about it They both came in brawny threw up a couple bricks and left the game But why he's playing real minutes, you know middle of the season that is beyond me because he can't shoot You know, I picked up a few rebounds. I think last night right place right time He doesn't worry that's zero you know that this year was last night yeah it was all for five or whatever

from the field and i think i i you said he played significant minutes yes he probably simply fifteen minutes last night i get and got zero points that's what i'm telling you pop up yes right ronnie james was not a force last night. So Bobby Marks will join us on that.

The Jimmy Butler story where that's going. There's a lot going on. We're getting close to the NBA trade deadline as well. So Bobby will join us to set that up as well. Did I see a stat where Embiid has played as many games that he's missed? Like something crazy like that yet he's i think he's played like war harder to tell you seven or something and he's missed four hundred

yes it's almost fifty fifty on whether or not he plays yeah it's crazy but that is it is what we think about that's a substantial amount of games like he could have played over eight hundred games in the nb a by now the guys played f just over 400. That's a good career, but that's a guy that's in the league for seven years off the bench. I've told both of you guys, I come from a loving family, but if I never played like that, my dad, my two brothers, they wouldn't pick up the phone when I called home.

It's pretty wild. They would be just like, well, we're not talking to this guy. This is it's such a big money business. I understand it. I you know, I understand that it's a different, you know, scenario. You never challenge anybody on their injuries, but it's just it's egregious. Like that is extra.

Yeah, I'll give you, you know, one or two or I didn't play through that. This is all the time. And there was video video the guy doing handstands in practice the other day when they had already announced that he wasn't going to be playing in the forthcoming games so it's almost like he's just throwing it into the face of the sixers and they're not even in the play it right now forget the playoffs there they're fighting for their lives and MV's not available to them. So Bobby Marks coming up in 25 minutes. Brandon Sod, bought out by the St. Louis Blues today, two-time cup winner at 26 goals a year ago. What kind of market could be there for him to chat about it?

We're joined now by our TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger. Dreggs, how many teams do you think would be offering a spot to brandon sawed and do you think one of those teams could be the maple leaves i do think one of those teams could be the maple leafs and it's pretty obvious why right you get the history where uh... craig berubit uh... and the belief from hockey people that watched a much closer this year that i have that he did

he can skate and provide a level level of secondary scoring and he can, he can flat out play. You know, the followup then is, well why isn't it working in St. Louis? You know, he's, he's just past the midway point here of, uh, of the season on a season that's paying them 4.5 million this year and next year. He has the no trade clause, but my understanding is there wasn't a whole lot of trade interest, but free. You just gotta find a way to navigate

and negotiate a contract. I think that there will be a number of teams that'll be interested in him because of everything that I've said from a hockey perspective. And sometimes guys, you know this, change for the sake of change can be good, but talk about a ballsy, gutty move by Brandon Sod.

Talk about betting on yourself here. To mutually agree to have your contract terminated, Bob Goodenow would lose his mind over this one back in the day. What are you doing here? Because frankly, there's no guarantee that he's gonna recoup that money. But if he lands up on the right team you know chances are it's going to be the short term right it'll be a contract to the

end of the year but if you land on the right team and that team goes deep into the playoffs you're a part of it maybe you're really fortunate you win a static up well then he's going to rewrite that ticket if he contributes as an unrestricted free agent in the summer. I guess guys just just to follow up on a thought from a Maple Leaf standpoint, as much as I think that Barube definitely has interest in Brandon Sade, doesn't get more complicated for Brad Turelini because sure he could help. They have roster spots because of injury but they really need a center and they'd like

to maybe do something to that blue line if they can. So financially and otherwise, it does get more complicated if the Maple Leafs do decide to take a run at him. So you mentioned a lot of other teams. It's funny, you take a chance on yourself and then all of a sudden there's these teams that potentially, if you can do a deep run Would be interested. I mean are there any other Canadian teams that would be sniffing around? Would Ebbetson be one of them?

I think so. I mean, I don't know what you guys think of him defensively or on the panel league kill But I know that that's what the Oilers are really looking for It's gonna be interesting again to see what Stan Bowman and the Oilers do. They don't really have a preference. A center would help them in Edmonton and give them more versatility, but they really need a forward who's a bit heavier and can defend and can help them on the penalty kill.

And then on top of that, you're looking at the near debut here of John Klingberg and there's a lot of hope going on in Edmonton, but for sure, I think the orders would have to consider it. And then you look at some of the other clubs in the west. What about Dallas? You know, they've got cap space for the Tyler Sagan situation, you've got the Vegas Golden Knights,

you know, they've got some room and they've got opportunity because of injury. I think teams are going to be careful because of what he said earlier. It's not like Doug Armstrong just decided, okay, well, this guy isn't, he's not a fit here anymore. I'm just gonna try and convince him to mutually terminate. No, he would have had conversations trade related

with clubs around the National Hockey League. And again, to repeat myself, it didn't seem like there was much interest there but free is free if you're not having to get off the map that simply a roster spot into money and i would crack a lot of teams i would think absolutely with their trigger tsn hockey insider so i guess with bill garren in town he's the gm the u s for the four nations he and austin matthews brad tree living had a little in town, he's the GM of the US for the four nations. He and Austin Matthews, Brad Treeliving

had a little kumbaya this morning and saw Pierre Lebrun tweeting out. Sounds like full go ahead here with Austin at the four nations. Is he risking anything with this decision? What do you make of it? No, I think if there was any element of risk, I mean every player that plays in this thing is risking something right and that's why most of the owners hate it. The general managers don't like it and a lot of the coaches don't like it right, especially if you're a contending team sending your superstar star player and you know that player ends up getting hurt, that can happen in anything, anyway in the walk of life. There's risks that's

applied to this. But if Matthews wasn't feeling as close to 100% as he needs to, to be a real strong contributor or a leader in the late second half of the season through the playoffs, then I think that he'd take ownership and responsibility and just say, no, I'm not doing it. It's just too risky. And he's not doing that. And Billy Guerin has done a real nice job of staying in constant communication with the Matthews camp and likewise with Brad Trovin.

So I think the meeting this morning, not to belittle it because it happened and it's newsworthy for sure, had more to do with, you know, just Minnesota being around and an opportunity to have the face-to-face discussion and see where everybody is at. Darren, would you say by Saturday there might be a chance of full health in Edmonton? I know you tweeted about it this morning, I believe. Yeah.

Is that kind of the gist of where the leafs are heading? Yeah, it's starting to look that way for sure. And in fact, I had to circle back a little bit, because early this morning, it looked like Clingberg's debut would be against the Maple Leafs. And then I said, now, now, information's trickling in. He could be good to go as early as tomorrow. But yeah, we know Pat's already is back in the mix,

expected to play tonight. And they're sure hopeful. They believe that Matthew Nyes is going to be good to go on the weekend in Edmonton as well so that that'll be a big boost because you know there are a lot of stories around lack of offense with the Maple Leafs and and I get it I mean it's real I can appreciate whatever level of concern there is but the game is different with the Rubé on the bench when you take two big bodies upfront out of the mix in Matthew Nyes and then of course, Patrick Reddy.

So we'll see if Patrick Reddy can have some impact tonight. Now they feel somewhat limited upfront. Again, if they're not driven by Marner and Nylander and Matthews, then they feel a little bit limited and much smaller when guys like that are out of the lineup. Dreggs, where do the Leafs and Brad Shear Living and Craig Barube stand on the play of Morgan Rielly this year and what they need from him or think they'll get from him the

rest of the way? Yeah, well, I think that they would be concerned for sure, you know, Brule Initially kind of took responsibility for some of this acting play, you know, just acknowledging that you know, he asked Morgan to play somewhat of a different style, right? And we've talked about this on the panel before you'll be Guy that's hard to play against defend harder take some of the risk out of his game. He doesn't always have to have the green light, but it's almost like he's tried to flip too far the other way and seems to be lost somewhere in the middle. So there's constant communication, I know that, between Borube and the coaching staff

of the Leafs and Morgan Rielly and he's trying to work through it. But would there be concern? Should there be concern? Sure, because he is a big part of the Maple Leafs success and how far they can go moving forward because we talked about the idea of them bolstering the blue line. I mean we're not talking about somebody that's going to fit in that stratosphere in the, well if that top four piece is available then it's probably going to come up with the cost of doing something significant in other areas because they don't have unlimited resources in terms of trade bait or obviously in money. Talking about trades Dreggs the the ranting in

trade has certainly sent shock shock waves throughout the league have you sensed increased chatter after that? Is this the first domino of potentially major moves throughout the league? Well, it certainly rattled everybody, didn't it? I mean, we knew that Vancouver and Carolina were, if not closing in on something, they were in the heavy discussions of something

that could be real impactful. And obviously that would have been Patterson going to Carolina or Hurricanes but I don't think that Vancouver knew or any of the teams that are in the mix including maybe the New York Rangers in talking with Vancouver Buffalo talking to Vancouver that Miko Ratnam was officially in play so that that's pretty shrewd work by Tom Dunn and Eric Tulski. They deserve a ton of credit for that. You know, look, we're all focused still on Vancouver, right? You know, I mean, Jimmy Rutherford came out, talked to me,

talked to the Globe and Mail. So the messaging is pretty evident now from the top offices of the Vancouver Canucks that change is needed, whether it's Miller, Patterson, or both. So that's probably more in the area that we're still looking, but we also are drawn to the idea of,

okay, well, we keep hearing rumors around the Buffalo Sabres. Is Kevin Adams going to step up to the plate, and what does that look like? So, still relatively early, I'm not counting on anything big happening, but I said that maybe a week or so ago and got burned pretty hard on that Reddick deal. With Darren Dreger. So it was a pretty wild game. Vegas last night, Vegas and Dallas, Dallas

ends up winning in overtime. Yeah. But the Miro Heisken and Mark Stone play was a weird one. And I don't know if everyone would have seen it or not. Hopefully Joe from the Bridge if we have it we can roll it on TSN2. Or it fell into his leg? Well, Rupe Hinch trips him. Yeah. It puts a stick there. It looked like a trip in lunge though to me.

Like he does trip him but then why is he diving at his leg like that? Yeah, he never dives in the the neutral zone that was a weird play it was and high skin it's hurt and Dallas is bent out of shape hang on before you answer this Hayes I want you to come clean on what you because I know you think there's something more to this what do you really think I thought it was a very peculiar play I mean it looked like a football play like it's yet he got tripped in hints has to be a hero immediately go up a what are you doing

hits grits i don't know why it was going out his leg there i don't right but it is a weird play for him to kind of dive at heist in the way that he did i should i don't know i don't know i don't know how the league supposed to handle handle that and and Pete DeBoer was pissed off after the game loves Mark Stone knew him From Vegas. Yeah, he's like why wasn't that a five-minute penalty dove at his leg and took him out of the game

Yeah, well, I mean the department player safety doesn't look at it through the lens of Pete DeBoer off Actually, right? They do look at the sequence of events as you guys have illustrated here. I mean, I had to watch it a few times, you know, just to recognize, okay, well, first of all, what is Mark Stone doing there? And then when you watch it in the longer version, you're right, you see that Ruppey Hintz trips him up. And it does look like he's lunging or at least sweeping with the stick to the puck, but there's full weight contact on Mero Haskin and he's neat. Like, I mean, full weight contact there. So could it be accidentally on purpose? I mean, I don't know.

I don't know what Martin stone is seeing there, but I mean, he was launched like a projectile off at trip and if that defenseman full on so i don't think we're gonna hear anything it certainly i i didn't get the sense today for poking around that there was much coming from the department player safety but i i'm hedging my back there a little bit i feel like we've heard something like that and i said i mean that's a serious player for that team and like that's a

serious player And I would say, you know different players different Situations but Kaden Gouley last night last or even a quad he said surgery and he's out Indefinitely, right like that's gonna be tough for them Yeah Like he did it himself too, right? Like they ran into the boards. It was just an awkward play.

But you know, you hope he's all right. But that seems like that's curtains for the season. How long could he be out for? Yeah, exactly. Could it be done for the year or what? Yeah. And then automatically now we go over to the protection angle in the discussion and the argument,

right? And I don't even know without knowing specifically what the cut looks like, where exactly it is in the quad, whether or not there'd be any layer level of protection, any of the cut resistant stuff that's available, all of that. But I know that safety department, which is aligned with hockey operations, every time there's a laceration and I'm not being critical I mean they stay on these things be it in the NHL, junior hockey, the women's league, college, you name it they

investigate it and and they just build a stronger case for you know just advocating that the Players Association the National Hockey League do more to promote the fact that there is protection available. So this could jump into that territory. Yeah, well, I mean, individual players could wear whatever they want too, right? Yeah. It's not like you need the league to mandate that.

And you already see it with certain guys with the turtlenecks and... For sure, more and more. But those socks and like they you know there there are like protection of that that don't get cut like they wear them the sleeves now and the socks and You you should almost have a bodysuit like that at critical areas on your body like a one piece that is is made of that camera It's not Kevlar material. is it? Is it dregs?

Yeah, it is Kevlar, but I don't know if the new stuff like now it's almost like there's Kevlar threads that are sewn and won't droop. The fabric, you know what, get Carlo online one because I see on Instagram. He's got everything figured out. He'll know what's going on. He'll throw on some beef jerky too. He's got it all. Carlo's got everything figured out so that you know what the law and the rest of your turkey to uh... he's got all

uh... has got everything to watch stop convenience store he's a wall he is not a beef jerky no hookup i'd be a maybe he can drop you a box of the gym that you work out by a working hard that's my concern. You just got to tell me, be honest, and it's not a slight because there's different options. And I don't know if this guy was a serious tweeter, but some guy sent me a tweet and said, I saw Hayes at the massage station and he fell asleep.

Is there a massage station? Yes, Planet Fitness. They have a beautiful station. It's like at the mall those chairs there's not a masseuse like on call it's like at the mall with the chairs in the now no they have they have the massage chairs though you sit in there and they rate you know like all up and absolutely they have that yes they were asleep in Montreal or anything like that

that's probably I might have fallen asleep i probably was grinding putting in a tough workout that's all that matters and i have a head for headphones on the pressure of the meltdown for half an hour whoever that is on the say hi next time i will i will i don't need people creeping around well i plan to fitness but i'm in there doing my thing and i'm working on my body actually i've had a couple of wimpy pals

who may or may not work out there. Yeah. And I mentioned they've spotted you a few times. I'm in there. Lots of looking at the phone, lots of scrolling. There is a lot of that. There is a lot of phone action, which I know, and that's what's awkward, is I kind of sense,

I'm like, people are looking at me, they're me like this guy hasn't done anything in a while you know it's a lot of a lot of downtime here that's why I love that massage chair man they got the hydraulics massage chair at a gym yeah sitting there oh it's brilliant you I got hook you up noodles. I will Is there a tanning bed? There is actually a tanning station. Yeah, I'm gonna have a tent going for deadline For the train deadline. I'm gonna be decked out. It looked like the guy behind the Leafs bench there I can't remember that guy. Yeah, he knows that restaurant the guy behind the Leafs bench is always tan. What is it Octagon or something like that he owns? I can't remember. I don't know what he owns. Just a handsome guy all tan.

Looks like a million bucks. Oh boy. I appreciate that. All right, Drex, we'll leave it there. Thank you for doing this. That's a tough place to leave it. Have a good one, guys. We'll do our best.

Darren Dreger at TSN Hockey InCenter. Yeah, it's embarrassing falling asleep in public, but I've probably done that. Yeah, that's tough. Very comfortable. I'm telling you, man, they got everything. They've got everything. They've got everything. They've got everything.

They've got everything. They've got everything. They've got everything. They've got everything. They've got everything. They've got everything. us on HockeyInnCenter. Yeah, it's embarrassing falling asleep in public, but I've probably done that. Yeah, that's very comfortable. I'm telling you, man, they got everything there. I'll hook you up, Nittles. Where is this at? Planet Fitness? Planet Fitness, yeah. The best thing going, man. You've got to get the black card membership though to get in there. Wow. Black card? What is that? Is that like an Amex Black credit card? That's right. That gets you into that special area where guys like me fall asleep

I love it. Yeah, you play basketball there, too Do you know it's in and out man? I'm on a tough regiment That's my concern about these like Kevlar suits is if you got one tailored to you and you put on 20 pounds It's like trying to get in that thing is Because that's how I operate like we get all these now I got suits and we're doing TV and all that kind of stuff I'm like how do I go back to the tailor or whoever's you know creating the making these suits or putting in these requests and say I put on 15 pounds I need new

suits like you're going the opposite way oh you get new suits that look great like what are you doing with the old? Suits that you had I went through a phase Multitude of different phases I Went through the phase first where I'm telling you guys I picked up a suit jet I'll bring one in I think there's one left Like a monster. I have my monster suit. I found it like two weeks ago, dude Do you want to go monster for monster? When do you want to do this dude Monday? I usually go into studio I honestly tried on a monster suit and I was ignorant to how big this thing was

It looked like a giant Ronald McDonald costume suit. I was shocked myself I'm like, I can't believe I was the guy that got fitted for this. That's not off the rack dude. That thing is tailored. Dude you know when you go to a kids party and there's a guy dressed up in a giant like furry cut it would fit that guy and I put it on I'm like I can't believe this. Yeah. I was shocked like a couple years ago haze you we were joking around in the studio And you were like let me try on your jacket will trade you put on my jacket And it was like a carpet a living room size carpet on I was shocked

I looked like a six-year-old in your suit so anyway I went from can you take this in a little bit and then I brought one in and the lady said there's you can't take that much The suits gone right the integrity of the great feeling it is it is it's like there There's so much that needs to come out of this. There's no suit left. It's it's it's wrecked. You can't do it Well now you got the new suits you got to hold on to those new suits because they look good They feel can't go the opposite way, right? My instruction was if there is any time, because I see my lady at the cleaner, so many, like we're actually friends now, because she's always like asking questions.

She's like, what is all this stuff? You're in here getting t-shirts fixed. And I said, I'm on a fitness journey. And she kind of came along with the journey. And I told her, one time if I ever say, can you loosen this, you tell me to get out and never come back. So she'll never make something bigger again. Ever.

That's positive. Because it is difficult to tailor bigger, right? Like bigger. Yeah, because some people don't make the extra room. Right, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, you need to let it out. And if they don have it if they've maxed it out that's it that's that's it so you're yeah bring in one of those suits haze you call I got mine man

I I've got a I've got a pinstripe blimp that I'm gonna bring you to mine is red and white checkered it's brought up a donald all right we're gonna we gotta wear them for sure we should put on do monday we're having a lot of that can't be a special i'm i'm traveling by the i'm gonna i'm gonna be a little bit of a lot of money i need to be i swear to god you eat to go to party city and get me a giant red wig because all the wrong with the dark uh...

this is not a lot of for all of us we should sell a school coming through all around the mall boys that aboard the uh... should have just stations for kids because of the stations for kids. Here's Ronald McDonald. And I'll come up with some character. We'll go on a school tour. Everyone, Ronald McDonald. Alright, happening. Yeah, we're bringing in the suits. Alright, Best Bets still to come.

Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 in on TSN 2. Alright, Best Bets coming up later in the hour. A rare evening where the Leafs and Raptors are both playing, they're both favored, right? The Leafs have been favored a lot this year. They got Minnesota at home, but Raptors in action down in Washington, they're favored and the Raptors all of a sudden have decided we're gonna start winning some ball games here.

We are going to try to figure this out and start winning some ball games. And they've won four in a row. They're not really in contention of making the plan. There's still five and a half games out of that. I don't see that as a reasonable possibility. Yet, Brooklyn's caught them going the other way. You know, Charlotte's behind them.

Washington's awful. It's like, what are we dealing with the rest of the way? Are you tanking? Are you aiming for a dignified tank? Are you trying to win ball games? It's complicated in terms of the heavy lifting they've already done this year and really where their whole program is moving forward. But there is a tweet today.

I saw a headline Deandre Fox from Sacramento. That's replace Sacramento, right? Yeah. It said preferred destination. I was like, maybe it's the wraps, but? Yeah. It said preferred destination. I was like, maybe it's the wraps, but guess where it is? San Antonio. That's exactly. Yeah. It wants to play Wembe, which is, you know, speaks to Wembe and where the Spurs are at. Um, but yeah, wraps of one six and seven. Here's Bobby marks, uh, of ESPN. Bobby, you've

you've been in this position before working in front offices, um, with, with teams that were tanking or at least were 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 their roster here.

You know I went through a season in Brooklyn we were were 12 and 70 and got the 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 have picked fifth consistently here. I do think, and similar to what Portland is going through, Portland is playing really good basketball too. Eventually, you have to have some foundation as far as what to build off of, whether it be with Scottie or Quickly or Grady Dick or some of your younger players. It's kind of a building block for next year. No, they're not going to be in the plan. Raptors fans want Cooper flag at number one, probably.

I think a lot of people would, but I think sometimes you just have to, sometimes it just has to happen organically and just kind of see where things go here. Where's your projection on that kid, Bobby? Do you think that he's worth tanking for? Like that's an organizational game changer? I saw him last year down here in Florida when he was a 16 year old at Mount Verde and I would

have probably taken him if I had 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 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 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. 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 a 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 as I said, another piece to what you're trying to do.

You look at where Scotty Barnes is, and he had a very inconsistent injury riddled first half of the season. He's been phenomenal recently. He was the Eastern Conference Player of the Week last week, and again, they've won six and seven. 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 like he's in year four it's not like he's some grizzled vet who's been here for ten 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 you can to find a true number two with him? Because I don't think Barrett's that, I don't think Quigley's that. 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. 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 getting a kid into draft and then you have him 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 certainly i know you've got just hypothetically i know you got quickly say like here's what we here will basically give you what you want i mean

i i went through that in new jersey when we traded for darren uh for darren williams and he had a year and a half left 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 um 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 Kate's healthy, they added some shooting, or Kate'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 it's exhausting and again it feels like deja vu jimmy's run out run out as welcome in different areas of of the leader different teams with a little bit great player he's not young though pat riley's involved is just an incredible story

surely it feels like they're gonna move off from a so when horse reporting earlier this week that the heat they've lowered their price you know 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 I see him going to Phoenix, I mean have they lowered it that low where they're 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 playing. They've got Curry, they've got Draymond. 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 Kamenga 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 would be his last big contract, so you're probably going to 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 De'Aaron Fox and the idea that he could be moving on from Sacramento and the idea that 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 play

and 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 year two of his career where again the Spurs have taken a big step this year but not like a massive step. They're not overly competitive. Are you surprised that Fox is eyeing San Antonio and do you think it's a smart play because he wants to get there before someone else does? Yeah, no, 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

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 to 2026. It's gonna be interesting to watch. I would say that probably more unlikely he gets traded because I think for the Kings it just 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.

It could probably bring more value back than over the next week here. Bobby, where are you at with Bronnie James? Got to ask. There's the question. Bobby, where are you at with Brawny James? I saw him play in the G League showcase back in Orlando at the end of December. I thought that was probably the right setting for him. Playing at that level, 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 would say- 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'll be another 60 players drafted in June, and then there'll be another 60 the other year

And eventually you don't have a job anymore, right? Like I mean that's the reality of it here in this in this in this league here You just basically get you just get you know, it 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 league than being with the Lakers right now.

Yeah, it's tough man, because 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 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 worried, 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. You know, 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. Thanks. Bobby Marks, ESPN, NBA front office insider. Yeah. Yeah, the Brawny James story, man. We'll see where that goes.

Even he like kind of like started laughing. Like, he's like ah I don't know. Listen the whole league knows about it. That's embarrassing when the guy has no business being in the league. I'm surprised Brawny himself didn't say I'm going to sell Ferraris or something. You know what I mean? You know to be fair he doesn't have to do it. His dad's a billionaire. No I get it. There's a wealth for... Yeah. There's all kinds of cool things you can do with your dad's wealth, just to say... Right. You go to parties and stuff, you're the laughing stock. You're the guy in the NBA that has

no business. It's like you're the owner's son. It's complicated because I understand why he loves to play, I'm sure, and wants to play. Yeah, I know. And he wants to prove himself. But everyone that loves to play at the park doesn't get you know i don't put everyone that plays loves to play at the at the park doesn't get to go put it lakers jersey of course any you know he's better than the guy at the park clearly but if he should be in the g league at best or in college

that's where should be and he should not be anywhere close to the nba like that's just very clear he should not be playing in the nba anything else go play do your thing grow maybe maybe you're in that spot down the road. But at some point, he may just roll into the LeBron James empire, right? Where the guy's a billionaire and you know once he retires, he's still going to be doing stuff forever and I'm sure he'd be happy to employ Bronnie to do whatever. I

don't know what he's going to do. Well, if Bronnie's going to do. If Brawny's going to own that team in Vegas or whatever, LeBron is. LeBron's going to. Brawny probably works for the team, right? Exactly. Steven Jones. There you go.

He'll be there with them and now he's played in the league and who knows what he does in the future. All right. Best Bet's powered by Fanduil coming up. Leafs Wild tonight. Come back and tee that up one more time. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 in on TSN 2.

Alright, today's best bets powered by Fanduil. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay on seconds on the Fanduil Sportsbook app. Leafs, money line. Austin Matthews any time goal scorer. Austin Matthews four plus shots tonight. That's the parlay. Matthews shows up wild in town. Leafs have gotta get this. That's the parlay Matthew shows up wild in town

Leafs have got to get this before they hit the road today's best bets powered by Fandel live same game parlays are now available for every NHL game on the Fandel Sportsbook app please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario all right I saw something in our group chat. Yeah, someone's been put some pictures together. Look at these two animals. That guy, first of all, the guy on the right is you know he's going for an Italian lunch. Yes. As I said, a two liter brio and two chicken farms on the right side of penne with meat sauce on the side. And the guy in the left is just a tyrant that eats burgers at McDonald's And it really creeps people out. He is so fat and miserable look at his face

Get those off the screen It goes in our group chat. This bobby marks is talking about how i can't look at that it was tough to talk one sit down for a correct uh... that's common though we're bringing in the suits and it's gonna live in action soon yeah alright uh... pebble beach elevated event

as to a five pack plus a canadian we haven't got to knock the rust off here with the gold picks in a while and here's another do is going to keep track ten points of the pick an outright winner. Five points for a top five. What do you want? Two points for a top ten? That make sense?

Yeah. So ten for a win, five for a top five, two for a top ten. Okay? So we can keep the point system and let's see where it goes. Go ahead. I'll give you a first pick. No, you go ahead. Okay, I'll take Schaeffler easily. You're gonna take Schaeffler.

All day. Gutless, okay. Why don't we just rotate if he's in the field? If you want him first. I know, basically. Next week if we pick, you get him. Like on FanDuel, the guy's a four to one odds. He hasn't played all year, he's coming off of hand surgery. Yeah.

I'm gonna take McElroy. It's his first tournament on tour this year. I don't think he's been a pebble for a while, but I got to take him. I'll take McElroy with my first pick. Ball striking course, I'm going to take Colin Morikawa. Guy hasn't won in a while, man. Dude, I know. He doesn't win much.

I think he's motivated. I think he's... I love that you left this guy for me. Ludwig Oberg. You talk about ball striking. This guy is going to destroy this track. He was sick last week. That's what cost him Torrey Pines.

Ludwig with my second pick. I am going to take on a flyer Jordan Spieth. Jordan Spieth at Pebble? You hate Jordan Spieth, I know you do. He's won here before, but he's got weird surgery. You're all over him. He's funky, man. There's something about him that just, I don't know. Oh, it's either like dead not center of the fairway or he's in a guy's yard. Yeah, exactly. There's no in between. I'm going to go big game hunting here. You know who I'm gonna take? A guy who's won already this year that he's actually playing while he's rolling

the rock. Well, I'll take Deki. I gotta take Matsuyama. Hi, Deki Matsuyama. That's a good selection. Deki's a good pick. I'm going off the board with my next two. Uh-oh. I am gonna take Patrick Cantley. Okay. I'm gonna take Patrick Cantley. All right. I'll take Bill Zellatoros. I am gonna take Patrick Cantley. Okay, I'm gonna take Patrick Cantley

All right, I'll take Bill Zellotaurus. That's a good pick for their Bill Zellotaurus Let me throw on my next pick because I know you're not gonna take this guy Max Graserman. No, you're not taking grace Yeah, I'm gonna take a Canadian Let's do five and then a Canadian. So I'll take Graserman and then I'll take a Canadian you take two quick Justin Thomas five and then a canadian salt a grace of an adult they could be you take too quick uh... justin thomas uh... i'm gonna take six because i gotta take my guy keegan bradley and i'm going to take nick taylor okay i a m a tailor he's one there before to all take korey connors if you want

all take neck okay take on and i'll take a record connors dot you know as i got a lawyer we have the same amount of the i feel like we're sure you gotta take one guy Okay, take them and I'll take Corey Connors. Done. You got Connors, I got Taylor. We have the same amount of, I feel like we're short. You gotta take one guy. Here. Sammy Burns is sitting there. Imzi.

Mr. Burns? Bob McIntyre. Bob McIntyre. Bob McIntyre. Dude, that guy wears the same shirt every round. I love that. He loves that look. I'll take Bob McIntyre. All right. All right picks are in we're tracking and I love it

I love that. We're back into the swing of things here. I love it, too. All right good stuff Alright, thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciate it everyone for tuning in today TV radio podcast web We appreciate that. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings your evenings enjoy the games tonight we're back tomorrow at tip of the cap and bring some extra lunch rolls to the pinstripe suits 4pm world chat TSM plus is taking game day to a whole new level with NFL red zone subscribe now for every touchdown from every game every Sunday afternoon. NFL Red Zone available on TSM Plus.