OverDrive - OverDrive - June 19, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joins to discuss John Tavares' contract viewpoints, the Panthers' construction of a winning team and teams looking to improve their roster in the NHL. ESPN NBA Front Office Insider Bobby Marks joins to discuss the Thunder's championship run, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's incredible skill set and Kevin Durant's next team sweepstakes.

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Some restrictions and exclusions may apply. See participating stores for details. Hour two Overdrive continues powered by FanDuel bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Brian Haseo, Doug Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McClennan, Greg Button coming up here in a few moments. Bobby Marks later in the hour on game six NBA finals in the Lakers' sale. The Jays are getting pumped this afternoon, but they won big last night.

Big one last night. Big one last night. Both set the tone. Yes, he did first first pitch was it first person definitely his first at the bottom of first and what do you make of his play of late like is he back is a lot better man is it like he's the real deal again or we love him again or what I think so man I mean I'm not gonna get carried away and start talking stupid hey that's

what sports is we kind of Like it's what you do of like it's what you do for me lately If you if you're awesome, we love you and if if you stink the joy now, we want you on another team You're right. Listen, they always say fans are fickle and all that and listen There is also the sensible side story of a good player just playing poorly Which is accurate to or good player dealing with injuries or good player just playing poorly which is accurate to or Good player dealing with injuries or good player overpaid or bad player underpaid You know, there's there's different elements to the reaction, but this is a classic case of you play the games You know, like we all know what you're capable of doing if you play poorly

What do you want people to say that? You pretend it's not happening, you know And then when you play great you got to acknowledge playing great Bo's been great. Vlad has been great recently Kirk's been great barters been great Everything's going well Everything's going well. The Yankees keep losing. It's a good thing right now the American League used Vlad Yeah, Vlad. He's only got nine dingers. I'd like to see him hit for a little bit more power. Yeah Absolutely, but as we were talking about yesterday noodles see him hit for a little bit more power. Yeah, a little bit more. Absolutely.

But as we were talking about yesterday, Noodle, it was around this time last year where he just jumped on a rocket ship and took off. So give us a great second half. The Yankees had lost six or seven in a row. I think they won today. They did. They beat the Angels, so they stopped the bleeding. But the Rays have been good.

The Jays have been good. Socks have been good. So yeah, more on that a little bit later this afternoon I'm just seeing this article come out that should do a Sanders. We've seen this has been cited twice this month for speeding And I believe it's in Cleveland or in Ohio and at one point he was going like 40 over and miles miles. Yes. What are you doing? Like you've already got a spotlight on you. You're already people are wondering what's going on with your standards.

Again it's this isn't the end of the world but it's not what you need when you just got through camps and by all accounts played very well. Like you get cited multiple times for speeding. Yeah. Like just get to camp and don't allow anything to get in your way. Don't do something self-inflicting that will cause you more of a stir. From all that you've seen, does it surprise you? The answer is no. Well, again, I don't know what his history is behind the wheel, but again, it's just

yeah, it's silly. Tuesday morning he was driving 41 miles per hour over the speed limit, like just flying, you know. And what are you doing, Chidur? Smarten up, get to camp, figure it out. All right. We've got Bobby Marks later in the hour. And the Stanley Cup has been handed out, which means it's draft season. Here's our director of scouting at TSN joining us here on the Maple Tire, the hotline.

Here's Craig Button. How are you doing, Craig? I'm good. I have to answer Jeff's question. No, I'm not surprised. He's got enough history of showing that he's stupid and he's immature. So what do you expect? And you know, you've got a talent there. Why did he win the

fifth round of the NFL draft? What did Tom Brady say when Deion phoned him and asked him what kind of car he should get? Tom Brady said, I suggest he gets into the film room and does some studying. Like Sanders' priorities, they're all wrong. And until he gets them in order, this is just going to be another like, what's next, what's next, what's next? The NFL sent a message to Sanders. We're not really interested in you. And why would you be? We're putting the pressure on you to prove everyone wrong.

Again, he's not going to jail or anything, but still, you get cited twice. In Ohio, that's where you're gonna be living and playing and trying to perform. Everything counts. And, you know, it's an interesting question again, as I said, Craig, like we're into draft season now, the NHL draft, NBA draft right around the corner. You've been you've been on both sides of it for for decades now. You know, the talent, the game tape is one thing. How much of the evaluation process is away from the rink? Take us through that process if you're a GM, director of scouting, whatever it happens

to be, and you're looking at committing to upwards of 7, 8, 9, 10 different kids next week. Yeah, and I think that you're always trying to find, I mean everybody uses the word character or whatnot. In my history, rarely have I come across players that weren't good people. Now I don't think it's about being a good person or not. I think it comes down to where are you going to take a chance on skill where there might be some value there.

But most importantly, my question is really simply this, who can help you win? And I hope you guys aren't shocked when I say this, 300 players that are currently playing in the NHL don't help you win. That doesn't mean they're not good players at different levels. That doesn't mean they weren't good enough

to be in the NHL. That doesn't mean that they're bad people. But that's the first question I ask, who can help you win? Yeah. Greg, with the Florida Panthers going back to back and being to three straight finals, how difficult is it as a manager to not look at them as some kind of reference point when drafting,

possibly signing players July 1st and wondering like we got to play against them, they're who we want to beat, like is it difficult to not do that? No, I think it's prudent to look at the teams that have been successful and I think the template is the same. I don't think the template changes with the Florida Panthers. It was the same for the Vegas Golden Knights. It was the same for the Tampa Bay Lightning when they won. It was the same for the Penguins. It was the same for the Red Wings.

The template isn't changing. And we get focused in on the draft. And we get focused in on July 1st. You know, there's so much more that goes into it outside of those days. And I think what you always have to be ready to do is evaluate what fits for your organization. I'll give you an example. Nate Schmidt and Dmitry Kulikov, who were the bottom pair for the Florida Panthers,

they both played for Paul Maurice at different points. And so now Bill Zito is looking to build out his bottom group of his defense, and Paul becomes part of that. But I don't think it's just about, oh, do you know them? It's about Paul saying, I know how these guys can maximize their abilities with our group. I know how to use them. And so that's one example. When you go to make a trade, I mean, when they made the trade in 2022 for Matthew Kachak, I mean, they traded two really good players in Hubert Owen Weger. But it was the statement that Bill Zito made that said, we're changing the competitive

tenor of our team. I mean, Sam Bennett was always competitive and he's emerged really nicely. But you look at the Florida Panthers, tell me what player is not competitive on that team. Start, okay, yeah, that's right, you don't have anybody, because there is nobody. Because they're committed to finding those players that are committed to being competitive in multiple situations. It's not just Barkov or Reinhardt, it's all those players. It's Lundell, it's Lister Reiden, and they get Lister Reiden in a trade, they get Flores

Lean on waivers, they pick up Sethell, it's Lister Riden, and they get Lister Riden in a trade, they get Flores Leone on waivers, they pick up Seth Jones, look what he comes in there. And I think that you're always trying to remind yourself what fits for us, to your point, Jeff, to what is going to give you ultimate success. I'm gonna come right back to what I say in the draft, who helps you win. So you just laid out competitive nature.

Where in your depth chart would be IQ, like hockey IQ, thinking the game at a high rate? Would you sacrifice that for maybe a little speed, a little for something else on your maybe bucket list or on your on your check mark list? I don't want dumb players, period. I'm not I'm not I'm not sacrificing it. Buddy Ryan, the NFL coach, he was a great assistant coach and a head coach, he had a line. He goes, you need smart players and you need players that play hard.

He goes, the dumb player will hurt you and the non-competitive player will never help you. That's it. Like that's where I'm at, Jamie, and I've never wavered, and I'm never going to waver. People look at lists and say, ìOh yeah, I recognize skill and I think what I do now is a little bit different than when I worked with a team because you have to recognize skill.î But trust me, the teams are looking down their lists and they're going, ìYeah, he might play in the NHL but he ain't playing for us.î

Right. With Greg Button, the Matt Dushane contract today, he re-signs in Dallas 4 years, 4.5 million. If you're Brad Tree Living and you're waiting for a call from the representative of John Tavarez, how are you using the Dushane deal and applying it to your conversations with John? Well, this is a big thing with Matt Dushane. Matt Dushane signed a $56 million seven-year deal with the Nashville Predators. He ended up getting bought

out and now when you look at the four years that he got in terms of total salary, he got $36 million from Nashville plus his buyout of $13.33 million plus now what he signed without. Over the course of the seven years, when it ends next year, that'll be the seven year cycle, he will have made more in AAV at 8.55 approximately than what he was making at 8 million when he signed that contract. So, you know, the Dallas Stars took advantage

of a situation, and certainly Matt, it fit for Matt and whatnot, but when you look at the overall value of the seven years, it's more. Unless John Tavares comes to Brad Trier-Limmin and says, �Hey, you know what? I'm happy to play here, put a number on paper if it's five million.� I can't speak for John Tavares, maybe that's what's important at the end of the day i think it's on to our skips to the market he's gonna be very very

surprise and happy at the same time what teams are willing to pay up well that that is the what what is that number guys what what does that mean craig here thirty eight goals i think that number seven and a half million maybe eight million steven stankel signed for thirty 32 million over four years last summer. You can't tell me that what John Tavares did this year isn't a similar framework. Yeah, well, I think that's a reasonable comparison. I think it's an accurate comparison.

Now the difference would be, now we've seen what happened with Stamkos in Nashville, and I'm curious if teams look at that and say maybe we should take that into consideration. Secondarily Stamp Coast is a Stanley Cup winner and a John's not. You know, like I'm trying to figure out how you put the two together. I mean, there's 31 other teams. So if it's a team that's not thinking we're cup competitive right now, 7 or 8 million, if you're in a cup window, I don't know if you can justify that for John. And I think the Leafs are different personally.

I mean, I look at the Leafs like they got to start winning some of these contracts, they got to, I think, hold his feet to the fire. And if he doesn't want to agree to that, no problem. But if I'm the Leafs, I'm looking at this and i can't pay seven seven and a half there's just no way which is fair brian and and and like i'm not so if john wants to come back to the trauma at least in play

for less than what he can get the open market dot by fully get that john is love playing for the trauma which he's been up he he he's been a terrific uh... person represented the trauma bleaching a very, very good player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. But you're right. So if other teams and you want to justify it. But I think John, you just, I think you just hit something that I think is that I would suspect is important to John Tavares.

Where could I go to have a chance at winning the Stanley Cup? And I think that he would be willing to take less money to go to a contender than he would to take less money to play in Toronto. That is a very important conversation that I don't know if Leaf fans want to hear right now. People are running, getting crazy with the McDavid stuff. If he wants to win, the Leafs haven't won in 60 years. The Leafs aren't the pinnacle of winning yeah that's not the threat I don't think

yeah it's not like the threat is not the Leafs will help you win I mean that and let's be clear like John came up here he wanted to win of course he wanted to win but he also wanted to come home he wanted to play at home and you know that that is an interesting question like what are the priorities right now is it is it comfort is it home? Is it winning is it money and we don't have the answers, but we're gonna find out the next week and a half So what it surprised you guys if he waited to see what the Toronto Maple Leafs do like Who they could acquire in free agency what you know how the fallout of free agency?

Ie Mitch Marner what whatever Brad does, where John just sits back and goes, ìHey, wait, you know what? Iím just going to take my time here. Would that surprise you? Would that surprise me?î It wouldnít surprise you, Craig? No, if he waited. Yeah, see thatís the game of chicken that fascinates me, because I think what John could

be risking is the leafs say actually we found something and it's a replacement and thank you for your services. Anyone plays a waiting game it's always a risk for someone to be sitting without a chair. And that's the question that like who's in a position of power right now? Is it John or is it the Leafs? It wasn't a risk for Nazem Kadri. He waited. Yeah and in terms of what, when he went? To Calgary.

When he went to Calgary afterwards. Yeah, well he got paid, that's for sure. But do you think he wanted to stay in Colorado? Well, I think that he was trying to find a way to stay in Colorado. But, I mean, the money became such that, I don't think good players are ever going to pay a price. And again, if the agent, and John is represented by CAA, their top quality agents and representatives,

Stamkos is represented by Newport, we know how the top agents operate. So much like Nazem Calgary, hey, here's what we're looking at. Nazem Calgary was offered more money outside of Calgary, but the fit in Calgary and the communication that they were continuously having to try to make it happen. And Brad Tree living with the manager there when he signed him. And so Brad had to do some maneuvering, you know, and had to move some money out and move some players out. And he did do that. And that's why I say, you know, I don't think John Tavares will get hurt by waiting. I think John Tavares if he really wants to stay in Toronto he just got to be honest and say here's what I'm waiting to see what you guys can do because I think that John is focused on

trying to find a way to compete for a Stanley Cup. So Craig do you think there's going to be a lot of like with the unrestricted free agent list would you argue or do you think that there's going to be more action as far as proactive managers trying to trade for players? Just being, I wouldn't say a watered down list, just a different, a unique type of list. You've got a few top end guys and then some real serviceable players but not superstars. I think that'll be the case. I definitely agree with you, Jamie, in that regard. Because I think that there's teams

that are looking at their own situation, trying to maneuver, whether they're trying to sign a free agent, they need to free up some money to trade a player. Some of the younger players, because some of the younger players that are coming into a new salary cap scenario, and let's face it, the landscape now is changing enormously and players want to get paid.

You heard Jamie, what Master Kachuk said the other day, I'm a players guy. I'm telling them to go get as much money as they can. And so teams now have to recognize that too. And the players with the flat cap haven't been able to really maximize or to maximize to any real extent their opportunities. Now that opportunity is opening up. I think that opens up for the RFA's. I think that opens up for the potential UFAs next summer.

Now how does that translate into movement and so I think those are the reasons why there will be, we will see some more of the trades and younger players being moved, players with one year left on their contract being moved because of that reason. Yeah, it appears as if there is like a world in the middle there where if you're a GM that is willing to be patient and push your timeline down the road a little bit, you could possibly take advantage of what feels like a lot of desperation in the league right now. Can I throw in one thing two guys and and it's a question more is there any team? That right now we believe are in a rebuild

like a Well, I mean Chicago and San Jose those they're continually, you know, they're continuing their process I think there's a ton of teams above them that are phonies that think they're doing something and going somewhere and they're going absolutely nowhere that are phonies that think they're doing something and going somewhere and they're going absolutely nowhere. The reason I say this, Craig, I don't want you to weigh in, but you keep hearing a lot of teams are buyers, are going to be in on this. And listen, Chicago and San Jose, absolutely. They've got cap space, they've got to make their team better to surround their young

players with good players. But I'm like, is Pittsburgh potentially in a rebuild? Is you know, I what is Vancouver going to do? I'm not suggesting they should. I'm just saying, like, I look at teams, because when we talk about the trade market, I want to hear who's available. You know, I want to talk about Pittsburgh, having players available, who wants to get those aging players there? Or a guy that you just don't know what you're going to get in Carlson? Well, Sid's the guy, but that's a different story, clearly. But you're right.

Altogether. What is Malkin, like we'll ask you, Craig, let's say Malkin calls up Dubas and goes, fine, I'm out. You're not going to extend me or whatever. Put me on the trade block. What does that deal even look like for Evgeny Malkin? Yeah, probably.

It probably means, I mean, it's contract, I think it's $6.25 million. I think a team can absorb that. But you know, Ricard Raquel and Brian Rust are pretty decent players. Yeah. And so let's forget about those guys. But Jamie, just to your comment, and I'm going to tag it with Jeff's as well, is that patience. So why don't we ask, how about if I ask the question differently or answer it with a question. How many teams are really close to competing for a Stanley Cup?

So wouldn't it be prudent for them to be a little bit more patient instead of chasing their tails to Jeff's point? Teams think they're doing something and then they go, oh geez, what a mistake. And I think that's where teams can take advantage. You know, recognizing where you're at. We know where San Jose's at. We know where Chicago is at. I think everybody knows where Pittsburgh is at. But now you're looking at other teams and you're going like, like, the Islanders aren't Stanley Cup contenders. The New York Rangers aren't Stanley Cup contenders. Like New York Rangers aren't Stanley Cup contenders. I think Dallas has got to ask themselves some real serious questions.

Who's going to be available out of Dallas when you look at their cap space? So if you're patient, there's players that are going to become available that nobody even knows right now who's going to be available. But if you don't have the flexibility, now you can act. And I think that that becomes something that's pretty significant as well. Yeah, that is the beauty of it. There's going to be a couple of moves that happen this summer, and it probably happens every summer, where the headline will be the one team getting a player or getting a couple

players. And then you'll look at it six, seven years down the road and say, man, look who the other team got and no one was buzzing about that because they got the kid or they got the picks and that pick turned into this guy. It happens all the time, but that's not sexy. It's not going to sell tickets, but it may be the shrewd move, Craig, to take on that viewpoint. Exactly, Brian. not gonna sell tickets but it may be the shrewd move to take on the viewpoint exactly brian listen i'm a big believer that unless you're in toronto unless you're in a

huge markets football baseball is very few of them winnings health tickets run and i'm not individual players and and that's the thing now kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk kirk you know so a little bit yeah it we don't have bob gainey said this one of when we work together in dallas said sometimes was only one thing worse not getting a player free agency it's getting a player free agency so you better be careful that is true

that is very very true uh... right craig watts it's gonna be a busy couple of weeks for you, as it always is. But we're looking forward to seeing everything leading up to the draft and free agency. And we'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. We will. Yeah, thanks, guys. It'll be fun. You got it. There is a great button. Ryan, you make a great point. So I'm just looking back and thinking about this too. Eric Carlson, who was you know, there's times on this show, what do we him second best player on the planet you know behind Sid when he was 2017 type of thing so he gets traded to San Jose if you look at that trade tree like it

ended up not on paper and early on the players coming back but that it that ended up in Tim Stootsla and Josh Norris so really it's Tim Stootsla and Dylan Cousins that's their one and two centermen that Ottawa ended up with because of Eric Carlson. For the next ten years if they choose to do so. Yeah, but that's what I'm saying. So you're saying seven years down the road is not as sexy. That's what happened with Eric Carlson. But that's what you've got to do, Jamie. me if you're gonna move out a player of carlson's

ilk but you got it you gotta hit on who you're bringing back or else your franchise is stuck in the mud and you never do anything well that's in your life while we're still junk and these guys didn't pan out it's like you've got to make him hit you gotta hear but you know you look at it and this will maybe be a list for me

fact i might put this together for tomorrow There's a lot there's there's a lot of desperate teams in the league Toronto is one of them Edmonton is one of them Dallas is one like you mentioned like pregnant I've got that level of desperation and then you've got desperation to make the play. Right? There's different levels of it different but like yeah The pressure that I'm talking about like there those teams are like, we got to win a cup next year. You know, like we're there, we got to find a way to do this, and we got to put pieces together.

Like, that's pressure, that's desperation. It's those middle teams that might get caught in that trap over, it's like, man, I got to make the playoffs, and my owner's going to fight. Like, and I get it, there's pressures that come with it. But if you can have the courage and the vision and the patience to maybe be like, you know what? I'm going to take advantage of a market that's desperate, trade a couple of players that are popular, that are good, that aren't going to be a part of our program

for two or three years, and bring in a bunch of assets that are going to pop. Like that's how you can turn, you can turn a big, big corner without a lot of people paying attention to it, possibly this off season. Whether that's Buffalo or Detroit or Nashville after the season they had, something like, you look at it and you're like,

you know what, I'm gonna put a couple players out there that are good players, 28, 28 29 that people play a premium for And I'm gonna bring back stuff assets and flexibility and in three years This trade these trades are gonna pay off big time. Yep, but it's easier said than done And yeah, you gotta have you gotta have the stones to do it And you got to sell it to ownership and you got it You're gonna take heat from the fans who are like, what are we doing? Where why aren't we trying to get better? Why didn't we sign this guy or that guy?

And you know, I think there's an avenue there for like shrewd GM's to pull that off. You're right, but you have to have the confidence to do it You have to have the relationship with the owner to do it. The owner owner has to have You know some patience with his management team to go, yeah, all right, I see what you're doing here. I always think that Montreal is an interesting, what is it, Dregg's brought that up yesterday or two days ago. But I think Montreal is a fascinating case study now for me because they've got some

young players that are turning the corner. They're on the rise. So I think they're going to have a big off season. What does that look like though? That's my question. What does that look like as far as either acquiring players or signing players or internal growth that can be used there for sure. I think it will apply there for sure.

I do think it will apply there. Alright, sure. I think it'll apply there for sure. Yeah, I do think it will apply there. Yeah. All right. Well, we'll see, man. We're gonna find out a lot about this league in the next couple of weeks. Big time. Pierre Lebrun on that more still to come. Bobby Marks on the Lakers. Man, the owner of the Dodgers now owns the Lakers. You talk about clout in the L.A. sports scene. Those are the two biggest brands, two biggest teams. And what is this going to do for the Lakers, for Luka, LeBron, etc. Moving forward, we'll catch up with Bobby on that. In game six of the NBA Finals tonight, does it come to an end?

Tyrese Elbert will play. Does feel kind of like a formality though. Oklahoma City could win and win big tonight. And if so, is this the beginning of a dynasty? That and more with Bobby Marks. He'll join us next. This is Fred. Hey, how's it going?

This is fraud. Hey, how's it going? Can you tell the difference? Bell can. We'll identify unwanted calls and help block them. For more information, visit bell.ca slash call detection. Bell, peace of mind, just got better. This is Pam.

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Peace of mind just got better. All right. So we were a spitball numbers on how much this Lakers purchase was going to be. We actually nailed it. We threw out $10 billion and that's what it was going to be in. We actually nailed it. We threw out $10 billion and that's what it turns out to be. How much of LeBron being on that roster? Like is LeBron equate to anything? Does he represent anything in the sale or no? I don't think it hurts. I think Luca being there probably doesn't hurt. You know, if you feel like you

got a superstar. What if they're the worst team in the league for five years? Like just brutal. Like Detroit back in the day, is it still 10 billion? Yes. It's the Lakers, man. It's the Lakers. It's the brand, buddy. It's like selling the Dallas Cowboys.

Like they are, where would the Lakers be just in North America for as far as biggest brands out there? Right, like the Mepa Leafs would be in there for sure But I I think it would be the Cowboys what the Yankees the Red Sox the Lakers the top five. Yeah Yeah, I sure I think it's probably Probably Yankees Cowboys Lakers would be the big three I think you know for North American sports and predominantly American american you know right and elisa big but they're not as big as those three brands internationally the dodgers are making some noise which show a now

yeah dodgers would be up there there's probably a a number of nfl teams you know that that that that is something that i'm sure jerry jones is paying attention to not that he's gonna sell but the lakers sold for ten cowboys like what would they sell for fifteen billion dollars yes i think it's gotta be at least one point five of

that maybe more like it just that now again i don't know the economics of it or whatever but is he owned the building everything like i've only very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very I believe he owns everything. I believe he does. Which is wild when you think about it that they play eight or nine home games a year. That's it. That's all they play and it's worth that much money. You know, it's a city though that they the NFL is a city. They're a country. Actually, the NFL could be a country like they've got they've got a day of the week. They do, remember during COVID, everyone else is shutting down. They're like, we're gonna play,

we're gonna just continue to power along. Free agency, draft, everything. They just do whatever they want. Like they just steamroll along. They are, yeah, they're like their own country. That's what they do. That is, I think, a very good way of putting it. They have access to stuff that just

the average league does not have access to. But it is incredible, the amount of money. And immediately, there's this belief that the Lakers are going to transform into this unstoppable machine of money spending and new hiring. And I guess we'll see, I'll believe that when I see it, like the Bus family, it was family owned and that was, I believe, their primary source of income, yet they won a lot. Like the Lakers have always won.

So how much can we reasonably expect it to change? Here is ESPN insider Bobby Marks joining us. Bobby, I guess we'll ask you that. Ownership changed with the Lakers. How different could it possibly look in terms of the way the Lakers actually win and lose in the future based on this ownership change? Yeah, I mean, I think it's going to be, it's different than what they were able to do with the Dodgers where, you know, you don't have a salary cap in Major League Baseball. You

can basically go out and pay and they paid a lot of money to put that roster together here. It's different when you're working within the confines of a salary cap. And if you want to further prove it, just look at Steve Ballmer. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world. And what it teaches you, you can't outspend your competition based on how stringent these rules are. I do think it will help whether it be from a staffing standpoint, from an infrastructure

because that organization, as much mystique they have, and everyone says it's the Yankees and the Lakers, there's a huge comparison. It's run like a mom and pop organization. It's not heavily staffed. Their basketball operations department is really small. So I do think from the non-on-the-court resources, I think when you have a wealthy owner like that who can come in and they don't own their arena

and I don't think there's any plans to build a new arena. So you're looking more of the things the more of the services that you can provide your players whether it be you know as I said kind of beefing up that basketball basketball operations department. Do you have any reason to believe that Luca will not sign his extension with the Lakers this summer? I would be surprised if he didn't I mean just based on you know he he has said all the right things

uh... and i just think it's going to be a is it going to be three years or it's going to be four years i think it's probably if you're asking me i would say i would mean more towards three years and player option the third year to get them back out in the market uh... a few years from now here so yeah i would i would think so i i think you know when you know he said he said i think that all right thing after the trade and selling out of late here uh... if he didn't it would be uh... i would

probably get caught off guard here bobby do you know if there's been any conversations between lebron and luca where he said go take your tear two weeks in Europe and then you're not leaving my side until the season starts or anything like that because that's what I would do. Well I'll tell you what, the videos and the pictures actually those two weeks in Europe look pretty good on him man he's lost a lot of weight unless someone's been doctoring those photos and everything

here. This is an important year for Luca. We all know the brilliance of Luca when he's in fit condition. It's funny, I saw him in, I was in LA in March, I want to say, and he didn't look heavy to me, man. I don't know. Maybe the weight just fluctuates up and down here. But yeah, it's going to be an important offseason for him. Whether he's in Europe or he comes back and he trains with LeBron here, I'm expecting I think he's been awakened as far as how this season has ended and certainly the scrutiny that came with it.

Well, he's 26, Luca, and another 26-year-old is on the verge of winning his first title tonight and that would be She Shay Gilder's Alexander You know, I feel like Oklahoma City likely wins tonight even with Halliburton plan And if that happens, you know, we're gonna look back on this season and this is truly one of the great seasons ever You know They ran off so many wins and they kind of lapped the field and they Cruised to the NBA Finals and if they win the final in six and Shea wins MVP. I think he likely wins finals MVP, maybe Williams

But if you're any other team in the West or for that matter, I guess the East How do you how do you catch up to Oklahoma City? Like do you picture anyone this time next year actually being on par with the Thunder? I Don't I mean they've got all 15 players on their contract for next year. They've got two picks in the draft, two in the first round at least, 15 and 24. They've got potential of having four first next year in June. This team, as the playoffs have kind of gone on, they've gotten better. Certainly Shea will likely sign an extension this offseason. The same with

Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren here. I think it's going to be, you know, I don't want to say it's Golden State level. You know, we saw them in 2015 to 2018 range, but it could be awfully close here as far as how good this Oklahoma City team could be. Because I do think they're kind of just scratching the surface as far as where they're going to be. I think it's interesting if you have a minute and you go back and you look at the article that Sam Presti, the president of the basketball operations wrote in 2019, it's in the Oklahoma. And he laid out with the vision of this roster what he thought this roster could be and how

much patience it was going to be and what if it did come to fruition, you know, that it could be a championship team and it's, you know, we're one game away from that reality hitting in Oklahoma City. Well, Presti, man, what a run and what an operation, clearly, in Oklahoma City. And it in many ways started, I guess, with that Paul George deal that brought in Shea and all these picks and you mentioned they got two in the first round possibly four in the next round or first round next year like how does he how would you think he's gonna weaponize that because you can't bring in six new players in the next two years like that's just it

doesn't make any sense how do you expect him to weaponize that? I think for this year's draft i would be i think one of them probably go to you know trapped in stash and keep player or overseeing a yet i remember to they picked in the lottery last year in the picnic colt hope it's true a young point guard from overseas has been here at any felling jury and he's really good he's a point guard in these he's common so you have him and point guard and he's, he's coming. So you have him.

And then I think what the beauty of the draft picks is, is that, and we're going to talk a lot about, you know, you know, the finances and the apron levels and can they keep this roster together? And well, here's, here's the proof. When things become a little bit more expensive, now you have some of these low cost players on first round rookie contracts that maybe could replace, I don't know, Isaiah Hartenstein two years from now or Lou Dort two years from now and you basically just kind of turn the deal, you build around your three core guys and put Alex Crusoe in

there and that's how you weaponize all these draft picks that are coming for them. With Bobby Marks, up here in Toronto naturally there's a lot of revisionist history and people reviewing what's happened here the last few years. You look at Pascal Siakam and how well he's played. That trade, the Raptors, they didn't seemingly get as much as a lot of people wish they did at the time. Even more so now, you see some of these deals happening with four and five first rounders going out.

How do you review the Raptors with the exit of Van Vliet, the trade of Ananobe and the trade of Siakam now that the dust has settled? I think probably a window that probably that you an opportunity that you missed as far as the window that closed or shrunk as far as the max value that you could have maybe gotten for. You know OG is a little bit different because you have with RJ and Emmanuel, two players that you have, two good players that you have. I think Pascal is certainly different here as far as what's left of that trade.

Certainly Bruce is no longer there. One of those picks was traded to New Orleans in the Brandon Ingram trade. So you get, I guess you can say you got Brandon Ingram. But yeah, I do think, and that's why I think, you know, Saeed's done a great job and why Sam Presti has done a great job in Oklahoma City is he kind of realizes, you know, he knew when to move off Paul George, he knew when to move off Russell Westbrook and did some of those deals. And, you know, once you kind of get past an expiration time, the value of a player becomes extremely to move off Russell Westbrook and did some of those deals. Once you get past an expiration time, the value of a player becomes extremely lower.

I think we probably saw that firsthand with what happened with Pascal. Where do you expect Kevin Durant to land? Do you think the Spurs might be the best spot for him or maybe somewhere else? Yeah, they have the most to go out and get him i don't think they are interested in that makes it look like uh... you know they're selling one of three teams i guess that he's and he's interested in houston another team who's got a lot to offer miami and not quite as much you know i don't i'm interested to see if there's gonna be one of these wild card teams you know

maybe we see koi lennar part two up in the uh... up in toronto there as far as taking a flyer on a guy on an expiring contract and we call pre free agency to the ability to try to sell. I don't know. I mean, I think, I think Phoenix is open for business with all 29 teams, even though Durant has a list, but it comes down to the ability to how much are they going to get for him? Is he going somewhere where he might not sign an extension? Does the going somewhere where he might not sign an extension? Does the team care if he doesn't sign an extension? I think some of these Eastern Conference teams look at what Indiana's been able to do

in a wide open Eastern Conference next year, especially with Boston, and who knows what goes on with their roster, and we'll see what happens in Milwaukee with Giannis and some other teams, Miami and other teams. So I think there are teams that would be a little bit more aggressive if they don't have to give up a ton to get Kevin. I thought he would have been moved by the weekend. It's funny, I was texting with somebody on Sunday and I said, can I leave my house for

like two hours to go do something? Is this going to happen? And they're like, no, you're good. And I saw you're kind kinda waiting and now it's not as probably hot as it may be was about a week yet it's interesting which and i would bobby marks like what you just mentioned seems very clear that teams are looking at indiana

and take it that he's could be wide open i think that's where i want to just made the deal that they made if you're the raptors you know presuming you're not giving up Scotty Barnes, is there any way to acquire, let's say it's Kevin Durant, because we're speaking of him, where Durant is on the Raptors and they don't give up so much where you could actually reasonably picture them in the NBA finals next year? Is that possible?

Because if it's going be quite two point oh that's the bar that is getting a little i mean i would say if you were doing the ran like is like i just hypothetical uh... like bringing room in nine and whatever salary filler right like that you know that too much i don't know i mean i think it could be pretty good thinking you've gotgram for three more years and we just haven't seen him just because he's been injured. But you

still have Scottie and you would have Duran and you'd have quickly and you'd have Barrett and you'd have Pertle and you'd have some of the younger players still and you'd have all your draft picks moving forward. I think that's kind of like if you're trying to do a deal like that and you mitigate the risk of him leaving next year, that's probably what you would probably, you know, try to put in the package. All right. I like that idea. Let's see what happens here. Let's see what happens in the next couple of weeks. It's just hypothetical. Hypothetically, I agree. We know. Believe me, we got you.

Game six tonight. Enjoy it and we always appreciate you finding time. Thank you, Bobby. Appreciate it, guys. Thank you. Bobby Marks, ESPN, NBA front office, insider. Game six, Oklahoma City, Indiana tonight. Halliburton will play, but big spread. OKC, you know, it's in Indiana, so the crowd will be crazy and, you know, the start's going to be important, but, man, the thunder there. Like to imagine having that many draft picks still coming that's crazy like they just at least four so many teams and traded get to get so many picks

is that like you you're going back to the like trading off hardened back in the day in you know all these different deals that took place it's incredible uh... right here the brun in about 20 minutes the Jays I don't think it went so well for the Blue Jays today. I guess they're still playing but they're down 9-5 They're trying to battle here and the Travelers day one of the Travelers. There's my boy Scottie Scheffler 8-under What a day Scottie Scheffler 8-under clubhouse

62 yeah shot a 62 him and? Yeah, he shot a 62. Him and Austin Echroad shot a 62. Wow. Like this, you go from Oakmont. Dude, you put that guy on any kind of TPC course or like just a standard golf course, he's shooting 62. Yeah, it's crazy. Honestly, you have to trick the course out insanely to keep him away from the leaderboard. You have to. Because you're right, anything like this with wide fairways and greens that are gettable. I saw a video he did for Travelers just walking down 18 and his approach is very simple. It's like, obviously you want to just butter it down the middle of the fairway, but there's

the mist and you can't go in that bunker and he was just short of the bunker he hit it to like seven feet and he made the putt and it's like he makes the game look so easy so routine it's incredible surgical out there overdrive continues TSN 1050 and up on YouTube live this is Fred hey how's it going this is fraud hey how's it going can you tell the difference? Bell can. We'll identify unwanted calls and help block them. For more information, visit bell.ca slash call detection.

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Bell can. We'll identify unwanted calls and help block them. For more information, visit bell.ca slash call detection. Bell. Peace of mind. Just got better. All right. Pierre Lebrun coming up in the next hour. And we caught up with Brian McCabe earlier today. We'll revisit that chat. We'll get to our best bet still to come. There's a lot of wild stuff going on out there. This Jesse Marsh, you know, what's going on? Conker Calf.

What's he being investigated for? I don't know all the details because he's currently facing a, he's serving a suspension right now. Like they beat Honduras 6-0 the other night. He's up in the presser, you know, because he was losing it at the Nations League stuff and and he is he's been pretty outspoken about conca calf and in Canada and I don't want to speak out of turn because I don't know exactly what's going on but he has caused a pretty big stir man yeah like Marsh has been on the job for you know a year year and a half there's been the Davies stuff and Alfonso has been there supporting his teams in Edmonton supporting the Oilers obviously last week as well.

But that's good to see Alfonso around the team even though he's still recovering from his injury. But yeah Jesse Marsh man you talk about getting your name out there. I don't know if he's ecstatic with all of the headlines but you can't miss it. Jesse Marsh is right in the middle of everything Honestly, you're right in the middle of everything. Yeah, I was texting with both you guys speaking That rob ford documentary like I don't know if you watch it on netflix, man Like I just I forgot like that was when I just was moving To toronto like this, you know 14 15. Yeah, that, my wife was watching it today and I was kind of hearing it in the background

and checking it out. It's only 45 minutes long. I feel like they didn't, I feel like they just kind of like wrapped it up like, okay, that's it. Like the whole thing's only 45 minutes? Yes. How is that possible? Because what I heard was like the buildup of him.

I want four epis of 45 each. Yes. This should have been, that's my point. I want the last dance. I want four epis of 45 each. This should have been... I want the last dance. I want the last dance. Again, listen, it's politics and all that outside of that, but it was fascinating because I remember it. We all remember it. We were here. There will never be another story like the Rob Ford story. No, there will never be another politician like him that will never ever ever ever ever. I know the Rob Ford run was one that while you just you'll never ever experience ever again. Exactly. And to push it into 45 minutes. Like there's just no there's just there would have been so many things that would would have

been excluded to his interviews alone Well, that's what they had them if there was no like they could have interviews alone that they would break them down for 30 minutes Yeah, but there was just like glossing over. It's like, okay remember about this one. You can't be interviewed It's like oh, I forgot about that one. You're like, oh I didn't you can't gloss over There was one clip and i'm not going to play and not but it was so insane where he just got into what i've been other reporters said about him and he said no that's not true i'm okay at home it was the craziest thing i think i've ever heard well politicians most what one of the most wild details of that is he's in it

barbara's jersey The most one of the most wild details of that is he's in an Argos Jersey and They're about to play the Thai cats and like the Eastern final and the reason he was He was promowing the game yes Hell yeah, that's why he said, oh and by the way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is just insane. It's insane. Oh man.

Alright, final hour coming up. Can we play that or no? No. Possibly. We'd have to edit a lot of the big stuff and that was crazy. We don't even need it. We don't need it. We've got a week left.

We don't need it. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now learn the details of how they came to be. All your pockets in the house tonight. Join Ruby Carr for Encore, the stories behind the songs you love.

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