OverDrive - Shepherd on the Raptors' positive team outlook, Gilgeous-Alexander's incredible season and Doncic thriving with the Lakers

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

TSN NBA Analyst Jevohn Shepherd joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the league, the direction of the Raptors, playing through a rebuild level, Scottie Barnes' leadership role, RJ Barrett's next steps, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's incredible season, the Mavericks' rough skid and more.

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You know, they're they're gonna try to win they're gonna put forth a decent effort but no one on the outside really do they want to really win is the question complicated the players want to compete and you know what I I can't be hard on them or be overly critical because when you step on the court as a competitor you want to go right the coaches want to win at the end of the day coaches are evaluated on wins and losses, right? and and despite what we think and how we want the Raptors to Land a a top five draft pick a lot of the coaches on the coaching staff They always have to be thinking about that next opportunity. So the wins and losses matter for them But as far as you know front office goes I think to make that trade

All work and everything come together where you bring in BI and you have the RJs, I see some rumors with him swirling around again and you know to have an IQ and Scotty and for it all to mesh well and you've got a you still have to land a pick right for this thing to make sense. So for me there's different aspects that in elements for this thing to make sense so for me there's different aspects that in elements for this organization the front office is definitely gonna be looking to make sure that they secure one but coaches and players as soon as they step out there right they got to play they got to compete I just think at some point as we go down these last 20 20 some games that you're gonna see a

couple tweaks in these lineups and you know rest here or there or maybe a little a sore thigh or a sore hamstring. Yeah right because if you put the players out there if they're on the floor they're gonna play to win right and that's what you want because you also want to establish a winning culture you want to establish good habits and if you're if guys are going out there with the mentality of losing and you land let's just say you know in the perfect world you land a Cooper flag and Cooper flag's coming into an atmosphere where, a losing atmosphere where, which has losing habits, you still haven't accelerated that development process. So you've got to figure out a way to balance both things.

What do you think the timeline on this thing is? I mean, you talked about the opportunity at Cooper flag. That's, it doesn't look like the greatest thoughts to land in, but it'd be great if it did. But after that, this year's wiped out. Like, when do you think these guys will be back in business? Is it two years down the road? Because the other guy to factor into this is Scotty Barnes.

Because he's got to be looking around sooner or later saying, I know you gave me the keys to the car, but when are you going to start putting some pieces around me here because I want to get into business too. I'm kind of tired of this nonsense. You know what the funny thing is I think that process is much closer than we think because think about how we're talking about them right now. They're a couple wins away from being in a play-in situation, right? And that's coming off a season where a number of guys have been hurt, a number of guys have been injured in and out of the lineup and you're

still in play-in striking distance. The bottom of and out of the lineup, and you're still in playing striking distance. The bottom of the East is pretty bad. Let's put it that way. And I'm being graceful with that. So when you're adding talent like you have with an Ingram, and RJ's had a, you could call it a career year for himself in terms of scoring and passing the basketball. Scottie's taking strides in terms of, you know, his emotional intelligence, him being a leader and defensively, you pick off all those boxes and let's just say you land yourself a really good pick that can compete right now. I don't think you can waste

Scottie Barnes years, right? Because at the end of the day, if he keeps piling up losses, yeah, he's your marquee guy, your feature guy, but this is the NBA in 2025 guys aren't sitting and waiting around anymore right they're looking at the what they want to get into winning situations so the front office I think they did a great job by bringing in Brandon Ingram and just seeing okay this team right before the trade deadline this team won a couple games right so they've shown that they can win right now they shown that it compete right now well you guys start putting pieces around your marquee guy or that's gonna have a shelf life. Right, he's not gonna be here forever. I mean that's just a reality of

pro sports like you said with Jevon Shepherd and yet you know you mentioned RJ and I think there's I think it's reasonable to wonder about RJ Barrett's future here especially when you consider the draft because there are some wing players like let's say you end up in a slot in the draft where it just makes sense to take some you know six nine some guy who's going to play on the wing you've committed to Ingram and you got Scotty like at some point it just doesn't make sense you're like where would RJ Barrett fit in if that ends up being the case. So I come from the train of thought of this is you know Toronto not necessarily a big

market and the important thing is to have talent right in this league You said make sure that you have talent they can go out there and compete and when we hear these rumors with RJ Swirling around I think it's a good thing right when you see that Luca gets moved when you see that Kevin Durant is back On the trade box anybody is movable in the NBA right now So that doesn't necessarily mean that the team doesn't want a guy like RJ That means that other teams are just poking around right and that's a good thing But as far as this core group goes, I still think there's a way that they can play together, right? I still think you know RJ being a slasher Brandon Ingram coming in at the point he is in his career

We've only seen him in New Orleans where they gave him the basketball. Maybe that's not the role for him, right? Maybe in Darko's system, it is playing off of Scotty as your floor general and him being the conductor and everybody else fitting in. Maybe it's IQ or RJ or somebody coming off the bench and being a heater as a sixth man. Front office is going to have to get creative in terms of salary cap, but I don't necessarily think that's the move.

So you mentioned Darko System. What type of job has he done this year given the situation that they are in? If you had to take a look at it from your perspective, how good of job has Darko done managing this team based on the injuries and the inconsistencies and where they are in the standings? Noodles your guess is as good as mine, right? I'd love to tell you just based on okay last year was in about, you know, just

anomaly in terms of everybody being moved and then this year the injuries and Also, you're going into a situation down the stretch where the injuries and also you're going into a situation down the stretch where you're vying for a pick right so he's still not gonna get a we're still not gonna get a true evaluation of you know Darko's ability but in terms of his communication with the players and the players trusting him they've really bought into him and I can understand why it's easy to because you've had the injuries everybody's playing bulk minutes Guys are higher up on the depth chart than they then they'd imagine coming into the season

So everybody's happy right now But in terms of you know Darko as a a tactical coach and the X's and O's coach I think we're probably gonna find out more about that going into next season I think he's learned a lot the last two years as well Which Yvonne Shepard ahead of the uh... rappers game tonight wraps magic down orlando right here on t s a radio uh... shagel does alexander goes offer for fifty plus last night oklahoma city there the pace car in the west

and i i think it it feels like a formalities going to win the mvp uh... but put into perspective that the season he's having but the the the possibility which seemed almost crazy to believe 10 years ago that someone would you know catch up to Steve Nash or surpass him. But it feels very likely that's going to happen like Nash won his back to back MVP I think into his early 30s. Shea's still very very young and you look at where he's been playing, you know, what is the, the sky's the limit is the saying that obviously gets associated with a lot of star players, but what is the kind of bar here for Shea considering how he's playing right now?

Well, first of all, I mean, he's probably the only guy I know that's as cool as you, Hayes. Thank you. I appreciate that greatly. I appreciate that greatly and that's an accurate Accurate accurate statement taking a run with it. But no his arm, you know, you said it but the sky's the limit for him and I Think I don't even think I think the Steve Nash bar might be too low for SGA, right? And just crazy to think which is it's unreal to us

I think when you're talking about a guy like SGA if he when he's gonna win the MVP this season and Now we're talking about you know NBA championships, right? Because what they have going on over there and okay see if you think about the plethora of picks that they have They're just gonna be refurbishing year after year after year and just getting better and better so it and They're still young right you could be talking year after year after year and just getting better and better. So it and they're still young, right? You could be talking about a guy that has a couple of MVP's in, you know, four or five championships down the line. And of course, he has to get the first one off of his back. But they're in striking distance to do that.

And that's the difference between, you know, he and Steve Nash is that he's in a position now to add the ultimate goal in the Lario B And you know have a couple MVPs under his belt and still be as young as he is and this is a guy that's You know, he's still getting better year after year We're seeing him add different elements to his game the post up he drives to the basket now He's adding you know an element of just shooting three ball at a high clip high volume And he does it with such swag such aura so I Really don't know like this. He could be not only one of the Canadian grades But one of the best players at his position, you know that we've seen in the league speaking of MVPs What do you think the Dallas fans would think of next year if Lucas stepped up and just tossed in an MVP man? Oh dog, you went there there huh? Dude I just

watched the highlights I do not have time in my day to watch the LA Lakers play but every time I see them it's like I watch him and I'm like how did they trade that guy? Okay so I'm still trying to figure that one out and the crazy part is what like what did they do? Like if I gave you the trying to figure that one out and the crazy part is what like what what did they do? Like if I gave you the pieces to that puzzle, it would never fit but let's think about this for a second right Dallas traded a generational talent in The midst of his career, right but they said he was the hookah bars and drinks too much beer

All right, he likes a little he likes a right? Like, he likes a hookah. But then you gave him up for a guy that is, what is it, 31, 32, that's had a series of injuries over his career, who then also now put another 32-year-old, more responsibility on his shoulder, make him the marquee player in Kyrie Irving logging more minutes on top of what he already is and if you look around the NBA and I'm not being you know an aegis here but 30 and up and those super teams with 30 and up it doesn't work in the game anymore right you need youth and to me it was like okay what what are you guys thinking over in Dallas and now you have Luca with the Lakers smiling, he's having fun, second in the West, and it

seems like it's just a cakewalk over there. We're talking about the Lakers coming out, potentially being in the West Finals or coming out of the West. So this is, you know, in situations like this, somebody ends up losing their job. And you would hope, I hope for the front office of you know the Dallas Mavericks that this was an ownership call because somebody ends up taking a fall for something like this and their window was only, their window was only two years. If you look at their age and now you don't know how Kyrie is gonna

come back, you're probably gonna shut down AD. I don't know what that window looks like anymore. Well and here's the reality even if it was ownership's call you're still getting fired and yeah cuz everyone looks stupid and you gotta fire some somebody's gotta go it's somewhat and it's not gonna be the owner the owner's not going anywhere so yeah it's it's a wild scene man they got pumped last night Kyrie's done for the year and you know the Lakers again have won six in a row and they're rolling so we'll see what comes of it it's a fun time in the NBA we got Raptors magic tonight Paul Jones and Javon Shepard with the call right

here on TSM radio have a great call tonight Javon we appreciate you doing this thank you you got it there is Javon Shepard joining us our TSM and being a Raptors analyst. An iHeartRadio experience. Rock legends, ACDC in Vancouver. So, who needs tickets? You can win concert tickets to the Power Up Tour, $500 spending cash, and two nights in Vancouver from tripcentral.ca. The smarter way to book travel, listen to iHeart Heavy Rock

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