[MUSIC] Very rude of the show to interrupt our hot horse racing talk. We were just having a in the break. I'm headed out to the Alberta, so Stampede was on the brain. That's right. Dudes are talking and horse racing comes up. The fellas get excited. I love me some good horse racing. Yeah, who does it? It's a great experience, by the way. Honestly, fan experience, just going to spending a day at a horse racing track, there's a lot of fun. Yeah. I got admit underestimated it until I actually tried it, and then you experience it. It's a really enjoyable experience. I maintain that there is, at least in terms of, and it's literal minutes, spent watching to enjoyment back for me is the Kentucky Derby every year. They don't tell me it starts at 6, and it starts at 6, 17. They tell me it starts at 6, 17, and it's over within two minutes. It's, again, like bang for buck of just, like, sick here, watch this for two minutes. Yeah. The only thing that can beat it, but we don't have the exact start time, so it's not the same as the 100 meter in the Olympics. Yeah. I mean, again, like you'll watch for 10 seconds. It's the greatest thing you've ever seen, but they don't tell me the Usain Bolt is going to bust out of the blocks at exactly 9, 17. They're like, hey, track and fields on tonight. You figure it out. It's always an approximation, too. It really is. It's, like, approximately 9, 17. Well, some guy with the shot foot is going to do his thing, and we'll get to it when we get to it. It's like, can we not? Can we prioritize? Okay. Anyways, I am excited for Olympics. Summer, I like, you know, you know me. It's not just going to surprise you that, well, like, I love me some winter Olympics, but I am excited for summer games. You strike me gunner as a guy that anything draped in a flag is going to attract your interests. And I think that's soccer. Oh, there you go. Oh, we're not going to lead with it, but yeah, it has got me watching soccer. We'll talk about Tae Jung Buchanan and what that's going to do to the fellas later on. What would it do to the fellas in not red and white, but blue and white, if they had a change of captaincy? Now, this isn't a wholly new idea. This isn't something that hasn't been bandied about before. We have done countless topics on who the least real captain is, even while they've had a guy wearing it. Now, it's one thing when I think about it, it's another when you think about it and you out there, especially on the text line, I know you all have thought about it. That's us talking and thinking. It's another thing when we hear it from someone like Nick Kiprios. Just a conversation on John Tavares entering his last year of his deal at $11 million. So much noise around Marner, nothing around Tavares. Are we under the assumption? He's going to stay as well, play out his last year. There is also, from what I'm hearing, the Leafs contemplating on taking the captaincy away from him and giving it to Austin. I'm saying that they will contemplate it, they will talk about it. I'm not saying it's going to happen. But it's real. We've made him the highest pay player in the league, not once, but twice. So it's his team. The time is now, he's at peak Austin Matthews. It's his team. Like if you're Tavares, anything other than it's the right thing to do is selfish. Like it's taking the spotlight off Tavares, it'll make his time easier here, it'll make a transition to a cheaper contract if he wants to stay with the team at some point, which I'm just saying, it just makes sense for all involved. I don't even think Tavares would have the right to be offended by the suggestion. But what'd he be? Some are telling me he might be. Yeah. And I think he still sees himself as a top player. Yeah, this is, I would like to remind you all, the last time John Tavares, well I shouldn't say wearing hockey equipment because someone tells me he's already been out there grinding. Just what we know about the man, I think there's a safe assumption to be made there. But the last time he was wearing like a real jersey for a team he played for, it wasn't the Leafs, it was Team Canada and he was the captain for that. Now, it's World Championships, this isn't the four nations face off, only he's going to be on the team, let alone be the captain when we're talking about that group. So I'm not trying to make it out like that's the place he holds. But that's not nothing. Being asked to be the captain of that group, and I know you're all going to say, "Oh yeah, what?" They could lose in the court of fun. Yes, that did happen. I understand how it worked out so seamlessly for all you wanted to make that joke. Let's just start there, forget the "would you should you" all that. How do you think he would react to this suggestion? Well, on a professional level I think he would handle it in the best way possible. He would present himself as a figure that is accepting of this and willing to acquiesce and feeling as though he's in a role, still occupying a leadership role, just not wearing a letter, but on a personal level, I think it's hard not to envision any individual, let alone him, but any individual, not feeling a certain type of way. How could you not? Like, how exactly? How could you not feel slighted in some way for having that letter, that role, that distinguishable honor, stripped away from you? And I do think he would say all the right things, he would comport himself the right way because that's the type of athlete he is, the type of professional he is, but of course there are natural emotions involved here, and he is, if that were to transpire, he would obviously, I think, feel a little bit slighted by the decision made on behalf of this organization. Yeah, how could you not? It's not slighted by them wanting to give the captains he'd Austin Matthews. I think, again, like he wouldn't, he removes himself from that equation. I think we all understand where this is going, whether it happens this offseason or next year or whatever the timeframe is that the Austin Matthews is going to wear a jersey with a C on it at some point in time in this city. I think the most interesting part of it with Tavares is, is that the end of his leaf tenure, and it wouldn't be immediately, but would that effectively shut the door on him coming back on some team-friendly deal? Because I think so much of what Tavares want, I mean, what he ultimately wants out of this is what every single person involved in listening wants out of this, is him, well, maybe it's not him, but eventually him getting to a hoist, Stanley Cup over his head while wearing a leaf jersey. It's what he wants, okay? Yep. Now, the thing he wants most beyond that, and these things are super connected to each other, is to be remembered fondly as a member of the lease. You didn't come home to be public enemy number one, okay? Now, that doesn't mean he just throws his pride to the side and says, "Oh, yeah, I'll follow my sword. No problem. I'd love to give up the captaincy." I don't think that happens, but I think that if you talk about tough conversations, and we certainly have talked about having them with Mitch Marner a lot, this is one of them, man. Sure. And this is honestly, like, this isn't a, it's not say true living's not involved. Of course, he is, and of course, Baroobbe is involved. I actually think that part of it makes it a little easier that you have a new head coach coming in here. It's a brand-new Shanahan conversation, man. Go back to what you pitched him on when you were having that meeting with him. And he wasn't promised the captaincy then, because go back to when they named the captain. It was super up in the air. That's right. That's the who it was. This wasn't something that was promised. His blood, right? It wasn't part of the negotiation where they said you get 11 a year and you get to where the sea. That wasn't, that wasn't how it worked. That wasn't part of it. So I think that that's where you go with this. And if Tavares ultimately wants to, because there will always be people that remember him fondly as Leaf captain right now, if it ended right now, there'll be always people who remember it fondly. Hand up. I'm one of them. Was it the best tenure ever? Far from it. He also scored the biggest goal. Does anybody ever saw out of this tenure to date? So I think that you would want, he would want to go down as a beloved Leaf captain. I think there's two things that are very important parts of that. And one is an option. The other is a must to have it. The end has to be amicable, okay? You can't go out kicking and screaming and the team can't be seen to just pushing him aside either. I don't think. Don't pull a stamp, coach. Exactly. Please. I think that's what has to happen. And I think that the big, the two biggest factors of how he's going to be remembered are here are the sea-changing hands, because again, whether it happens when his deal runs out and he just goes and plays somewhere else, Matthews is the next captain of this team. Nobody thinks otherwise, okay? So how does the sea transferring happen? Whether again, it is an actual transferring or he just leaves. And what does the next deal look like? If John Tavares signs some, you know, I don't think it's like a, I don't think it's a super team friendly deal, but you look at all the ones Joe Pavelsky has signed. It's been two, three year deals at a number that both sides can kind of work for. Or if we're going to just add fake years on the thing, why don't you just offer them what they offered, stand goes to like the eight years times three million and get the numbers up that way. He wouldn't sign that deal. You don't think so? Oh, God, there's no chance. The thing is, because I think he wants to end, I agree. I think he would love nothing more than a walk into the sunset as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hardly agree, but then there's still a business component to all of this. And the reality is if he goes out and continues to perform at even the level that he's been performing at, although we deem it to be disappointing given what the cap number is associated with him and his production, he's still probably going to be able to hit free agency and make money. The thing is, we all have this natural assumption, this natural inclination like deal expires next year. Leafs can go to the table and say, all right, John, we like you, we appreciate you. We want you to stay here, but, you know, we all know you kind of got overpaid. So John, we're going to need you to take a significant haircut here and you're, you're going to have to sort of bend the knee a little bit. Oh, and we're also going to take the cap and see away from you, John. How do you feel about that? Sounds good. You might not play on the second line anymore either, John, sound OK? You got to give him something you're saying. You got to be able to bend somewhere. And there needs to be a little bit of give and take. So I don't know that this is all one-sided in the sense that in the way that it's been portrayed and painted, that the Leafs can dictate a lot of the terms here, they're still a player and an agent on the other side, and he can still realistically hit free agency and cash in in a more favorable situation, potentially elsewhere. So I don't think it's a foregone conclusion. That's the most curious part to me because if you make this decision and say, I agree, a natural pivot point in terms of the captaincy would be after this season when the deal is up. That seems clear as day. It feels inevitable that Austin Matthews will wear the seat, whether he's fit to wear the seat or not, different conversation. But does it feel like it's trending in that direction? 100%. Still, if you have an appetite to keep John Tavares around because you think he can still contribute in a lesser capacity, is he just going to be willing to sit there and say, I'm fine, I'll eat the cat, the fact you're going to pay me less, and I'm going to eat the fact that you're going to strip me of a captain seat. So if God forbid, heaven forbid, this team happens to win a title, I'm not the one that gets to go shake the commissioner's hand and hoist the trophy first, that's a bitter pill to swallow. It is. It is. And life is about choices, man. And he has the choices, I think, that are going to be presented. So something that was, I was just kind of connected in these guys. Now, I don't think it's a complete apples to apples, but I want to hear this. Okay. So Adam Henry. Oh, okay. He signs a, he signs the two year, $3 million deal with the Oilers. Now, okay, what did the Oilers matter to Adam Henry? Really less than John Tavares and the Leafs matter to each other. I think it's fair to say there's the history that has been there of going out and getting player. Now, Henry has the history of, I just played in a cup final, so I'm not going to say I'm not going to poo poo that. But in terms of production, now, the high end of Tavares throughout his career has obviously been better, but they are similar players. Now, I think Tavares is a little better than that, but I also think that that's where you say, okay, like, can we do something at three and a half for a handful of years? And then that's still a, you know, you're not. The idea, like, the March year, Dan, oh, the Jason Spet, so that won't get everybody's brains. That's not happening. Now, I think the other thing that's going to factor into this is what does John Tavares do this season? He had a massive shooting percentage drop off. It's entirely possible. We're back to 75ish point. I'm not calling that. I think it's more likely to see a year like we had last year, but if the shooting percentage pops back up and he gets any power play production, all and the power play is supposed to be better, at least in theory, next year for this before as well. All right, marks of our guys, Abby cooking it up. But if that happens, then you're having a completely different conversation about the player's value. What part of this does Buru Bay mean to you in all this? Cause I think that's the part of this that can't be overstated as well is that can you not make Craig Buru Bay a bit of the bad guy in here against his team. And I understand like you're not going to, you're not surprising John Tavares with this. Like he's not walking in and looking at his jersey and he sees me on there one day. Well, and also that's the other thing that complicates this is that if you want to strip him, he doesn't just get an A, he has to do what you either have to strip marner of his A or he goes to going shares, he's like Austin and my chap for this time. So that's the other part of this. The guy that complicates it really seems like schoolyard stuff should not matter. But it does the idea of, hey, they're going to be games and you don't have a letter on your sweater for a guy who's always warm one in the NHL. I'm sure it is a little jarring, but the Buru Bay part of it. What does that change the math for on you? Because I think, I think this is part of all the conversations we've had about change. And is it enough? And if the only change is the coach, how much does that play into it for you? >> If you're the head coach and you're stepping into this job and day one or week one, you walk into the facility down at the Ford Performance Center and you want to go and plant your sword on this hill of stripping or being a part of the conversation of stripping John Tavares or the captain scene, I don't know that that's the best start. I really don't know that that's the message you want to send. Maybe it is. Maybe it's I am a hard ass and I don't mind being in that position and I'm going to be tough and we're going to have a different tenor to what we do here, fair, fair. Maybe you want to change the culture in that respect. But I just find it very difficult to believe that as a coach of this franchise with the history and tradition and knowing how valuable this job is, he's going to step in there in the first order of businesses. So how about that captain scene, John? We're going to take that C off your chest and we might give you an A or not. This actually, and here's, okay, this is, it's not an apples to apples comparison, but I do think it is interesting in terms of how the process unfolded in both situations. San Jose, I point to San Jose as a classic example of this unfolding, okay? Patrick Marlow was captain for five years, four relief, five years. He then relinquishes the C while still being on the team to Joe Thorne, who wears it for five years, who then relinquishes it to Joe Pavelski, who was still on the team, Thorne and Marlow remain on the team and the captain C is shifting hands pretty steadily. Rob Blake was a captain for a couple of years in there as well. So all of that happens, mind you though, here's the difference, Gunnar, the market is vastly different. I don't think in San Jose they're having these conversations on the daily or they wore ten years ago about boy, oh boy, did you see what happened? They're going to stiff, Patrick Marlow and the captain scene didn't happen, no. And you have to figure all of this into the equation when it comes to thinking about the public perception of when the decision is made and how it's made and how you're treating the player. Also, to go back to the contract thing, yeah, Steven Samkos as we know got four years eight per $32 million of Nashville again, still at a different producing at a different clip compared to John Tavares. No question. But why can't John be $3 million less than that? What is preventing John Tavares from going and getting a deal somewhere? Maybe heck, maybe it is Nashville who's signing all these guys in their mid thirties for three years at five per or six per. That's preventing him from doing that. I just don't think it's a slam dunk that all of a sudden as much as I think he genuinely wants to stay here, they're going to be able to naturally come to this agreement where he's signing for $3.5 million over the course or even if they decide, hey, we're going to drag it out. We'll do six years. I just, I don't know that it's that simple. Yeah, I don't, simple is far from the word I would use for it. I think the family stuff is something that can't be overstated as well. I mean, we, we, we shouldn't overplay it as well. We don't know that, but I think what we know about Tavares is like the, like again, tried envision how this was going to play out in his head when he was sitting there in the offices in Newport, California, getting pitched by everybody. There was no world now granted. There was also no world where in, in this he was going to lose the captaincy. Okay. That wasn't involved in his dream scenario either. There was no world where he played for another team ever again in his NHL life after signing that deal. Yep. And I just think that that is such a hard kind of hurdle to, to overcome with it, with it all. And I think that the, again, I think like legacy, it ultimately is going to be tied to do they win here? Do they not win? That's the ultimate thing. But I think that how he's going to be remembered as leaf captain is a big, big part of what's going to ultimately be his legacy because it's again, they went a cup here or he goes somewhere else and hey, like you have a Joe Povelsky prime, another one, like that's going to burnish your legacy, go play good hockey elsewhere. But I don't know that it would mean more to his legacy in terms of how we think about him in the game than being the good soldier in Toronto and what that would do. Is that right? No, it shouldn't carry more weight, quite frankly, but it just, it just will. And that's the other thing. Okay. We've, we've talked a lot about how it would look, the machinations of it. Would you do it? No, I would not do it. I would not do it for the player that they want to do it for. Okay. That's just where I feel. That's my personal sentiment and feeling and I've always felt this way. I just don't think 34, 34 ain't 97. He's not Conor McDavid. Nope. He's not wired the same way. He's not Sydney Crosby. Nope. Even Alex Ovechkin, there was obviously a clear learning curve when they put the sea on him in Washington, but that was too obvious of a decision to avoid and pass up. So that is more of what I think of the overall picture as it relates to it. I think it will happen at some point because, you know, Austin Matthews is the face of the team. And generally speaking, in hockey, the face of the team is the one that wears to see. Yep. That's just a reality. Do I think he's fit for it? No, I think Morgan Riley probably, quite frankly, is the one that deserves out of, is most deserving out of anybody in that room to wear the letter. Yes. But in terms of right now over the course of the next year, no, I don't foresee that. Change in captaincy occurring. I do think it is possible that we sit here in a year or two from now where there is a scenario, a scenario where it does follow a similar arc that we saw in San Jose, where there is this passing of the torch moment that happens. Yeah. I can visualize that. I can picture that. But I do think the imaginations of it all are far more complex than what any other franchise probably has to experience. Yeah, the other thing that does play into the least favor as opposed to San Jose is that these guys are a clear generation removed, like Pavelski and Marlow were like a half generation apart, but they were still pretty well connected. Well, I was Joe Thornton. Right. Right. Exactly right. Whereas with these guys, there is a massive, you know, schism in terms of where they're at. I would do it. And I think part of it now, maybe I'll say this is the wrong reason. I think part of it is that it goes back to what we heard with Alfonso Davies being named Captain of Canada soccer, like this is a branding exercise as much as anything else. I don't think they like Max Domi might be the second most vocal leader in that room. He's not. No one's given him a letter any time soon. And that's fine. I don't know. Well, I mean, yeah, don't ask for roommate. I just go name this guy. You might be surprised. But I don't see that as a knock on him, right? And I just think that with the lack of change that there's going to be elsewhere, quite frankly, that they're going to want that. And I think the last part of it that is a reason why it can happen is, again, like we're all adults in the room. And I think they, they, and I do think this is a Shanahan conversation again, like Trilliving is a part of it. Yeah. But it's a higher level conversation, but it's Shanahan because he's the one who pitched him initially and he gets and this is the only one left. Well, and this is the thing they get to say to him that is like the elephant to the room with all this captain stuff is, and I don't know that this is true. But if it is, they should tell him it. You weren't going to be the captain, Austin Matthews, you know what happened, and there is own moon in the office or whatever, we don't need to get into it. There is a very good chance that if that never happened, or even just never came to light, forget happened, that he's been the leaf captain the whole time. And Tabara's would have been wearing his a proudly, sharing it with Mitch Marner, just heaven forbid he doesn't have one. Okay. So that's the thing I think is they are kind of, you know, ultimately it matters how John feels. I don't know that it's a true Trump, Trump card, but I do kind of look at it that way that if that is ultimately where they were going to go, what six years ago when they made this decision, that it wasn't going to be Tavares skating out to see that it was going to be Matthews, they could just say, hey, gave you a good run that you were quite frankly never supposed to have. And I think that's part of the selling feature of it all. Something tells me we'll be back at this conversation. Oh, for sure. These are to Grange in a minute here, but I do want to sneak this in. Yeah. I'm just going to say his name and then you tell me what I'm supposed to do. Yeah, sure. Tae Jean Buchanan. Oh, gunner. So unfortunately, obviously he suffered a major injury yesterday, broke his tibia practice in training, which is obviously rare. You see these. Yeah. You do my quick hockey guy. Take good hard practice. I like it. Boys are working hard. Sorry. Go ahead. He broke his tibia. Hey, boys. That's a heck of a problem. I love this. Jesse Marsh. We're going to have surgery today in Dallas. He's out for four to six months. That's a big blow for him because this is a guy, never mind just the international level, but on the domestic scene for him moving over in the last year, he's moved three different teams, but has obviously made significant jumps and strides in terms of the quality of competition going from MLS all the way to now where he's in CDI playing for Inter Milan. And this was a big year for me. He's 25 years old. He was acquired in a transfer back in January. So he was hoping to approach the season within Inter Milan in CDI, which starts in probably six weeks from now, he was hoping to go in and finally earn some more playing time. And now he's kind of stuck and he's in a bad position. It's going to hurt his development a little bit. And also for Canada, a, I think, I hate to say this. I kind of feel more emboldened that they're going to be Venezuela because of this. I feel like this could galvanize that group. They are a tight knit group. They've been with each other for a long time. The core really likes each other. It's not like these guys just come and gather for a week or two weeks and then they disperse and nobody cares. No, they're invested. So I feel like that actually emboldens me more to feel like they can beat Venezuela. And the last point on this in terms of tactically and personnel-wise, it hurts not having him for Canada. Because this is a dynamic offensive playmaker and creator on the wing. And that's going to put more pressure on Jacob Schappelberg, who started in the final group stage game, who I really like. And Liam Miller. Liam Miller's had an interesting tournament. But now they need those two guys to desperately step up and deliver because Tejan ain't available to come in off the bench or be a starting in consideration to start for games. And as a result of that, unique creativity from those two players on the wings. Yeah, it is jarring how differently I can't believe I even have this, the stark of opinions on Canada soccer. But you mentioned Schappelberg and Liam Miller and it's remarkable how differently I feel about those different players getting extended opportunities for them needing more from them, because I am a believer in maritime messy. I'm also a believer in Michael Grange. He's going to join us next. Talk about nepotism in the NBA. I'm sure he's not sick of terror and lack of conversation at all and just, what happened in free agency? How much did the landscape change? The Sixers are good again? I don't know. It all just bends out Joelle and Bead's knees. Let's be honest. Grange could have joined us next. Fan Morty show continued sports net five nine to the fan. Unrivaled insight, analysis and opinions on all things blue jays, Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Sports net five nine to fan fan, morning show, gunning and in yellow here with you halfway through the program. I'm a week away from a golf vacation. So just me being focused at all honestly is just one of one of the great miracles of life. And somebody who I feel like is like at least 1% jealous that I'm going on a golf vacation next week is Michael Grange. We know he loves the game and he does great work covering the game of basketball. Grange, how you doing this morning? I'm good. Where are you going? Going out to Alberta. There's a club out there. They have like a men's open tournament. I went out there for it last year. So doing that and then going to play a little golf in around Edmonton before that should be fun. Everyone's favorite golf destination. Yeah, exactly. You know, yeah, some people like Cabot, not me. I like moral Edmonton. Okay? Are you going to get up to Jasper up there, really? No, it's definitely this is becoming now, this is becoming now an annual trip. So that's one that will eventually get get get crossed off. But now I had a ton of fun doing it last year and a little golf, a lot of socializing should be good for for my soul. And let's be honest, everyone gets a week long break from me and that sounds great for everyone involved. So, do I, do I sound like the right time to go ahead and? Yeah, it really does. It really does. Certainly not the other. Jay month. I want, no, but well, not June, but January, I want no parts of it then. Okay. Grange, we have, we have talked a lot about, about Bronnie James. I just kind of want to quickly touch on this one. Then we can move to the other things interesting in the world of basketball. He gets this guaranteed deal for a second round pick. I mean, we know what's at play here. Does any of this surprise you? Does the reaction to it surprise you? What are your thoughts on the way everything is kind of played out since Bronnie got selected with the 50/50 pick? Well, I mean, they certainly telegraphed it all right. Going back from, you know, even when LeBron ever first mentioned the possibility of playing with Bronnie, which goes back a couple of years ago, so, you know, I think if you're going to go to the effort of drafting Bronnie James, you know, what are you going to cut off, you know what I mean? You might as well, you might as well just give a contract, guarantee it, give him two years, give a fair shot, a fair crack at becoming a player, and is it something you would extend to another player in that situation, maybe, maybe not. You know, the Raptors might do a similar thing with, you know, some say, Old Rich, who they drafted 57, who knows exactly what they'll do there. So it's not like shocking. Like, I mean, it was like two years, 40 million or something, but it's, I just think it's inevitable, right? Like, if you're going to go to the effort of drafting him, which seems inevitable, you know, you might as well give him, like I said, a real runway to become a player that in fairness to all involved prior to his and, you know, nearly dying on a basketball court this time of year ago, you know, this seemed to be where he was headed anyway. So, you know, it's a talking point. I don't think it's that big a deal. Grange, I didn't want to get your thoughts on free agency as a whole here. And it's more so in line with what you discussed in your column from earlier this week, the overall landscape and how it's evolved in terms of the free agent process. As part of this, of course, the new CBA coming into effect in 2023, there's been a clear impact in terms of how teams have sort of dispersed their free agency dollars here. This year was certainly a little bit more tempered in terms of the activity. Like there were a couple of marking names, those being, of course, Paul George and Clay Thompson switching teams and going elsewhere from their current destinations and joining new franchises. But beyond that, you know, it was different than previous years in which we become accustomed to seeing ample player movement routinely, especially once free agency immediately open. This year, we didn't see that. Do you think that some of the new financial rules that the NBA has in place has negatively impacted free agency in the sense that we may not see the sheer volume of player movement that we previously had seen under the previous CBA? Yeah, there's no question. I think there's a couple of things at play. You know, one of the things too is this is a first year that teams could negotiate, you know, officially with their own free agents and stay extension eligible players the day after the finals. So if you recall, you know, we had, you know, a fairly steady drip of Wojibam, so to speak, and players getting announced to extensions, et cetera, you know, those first few days after the finals, those would have normally been part of that, you know, 601 PM news drop that, you know, kind of has always sort of been part of the free agency experience. So that kind of is one factor, but the other factor and what you're referring to is very accurate is the NBA for many years now, you know, it has been trying to level the playing field between its richest markets or most profligate owners. And let's say the other 15 to 20 teams that, you know, they want to make some money with their basketball team and versus losing it all the time. So, you know, but what's interesting is two things have happened. Tush are in this kind of more restrictive era, so to speak. It's basically a hard cap system, one was, you know, the year that Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors, that was the first year of the new TV deal, and the reason the Warriors were able to add, you know, Kevin Durant as a free agent was a one-time spike in the salary cap that created an artificial environment where, you know, there was some really, really bad contract signed if you remember, but Kevin Durant was able to join a team that had just won 73 games. So, that kind of was a, you know, a log on the road to parity, that kind of threw things out of wax for a couple of years. And the other thing that happened in the midst of all that, not long after was Steve Bomber buying the Clippers. And really, all these rules that came into effect in these additional rules, because the cap was getting more restrictive, and had, like I said, it hadn't been a one-time spike in TV money that one year, I think the league, you know, would have been a little bit more parity-driven than it was for those few years. But Steve Bomber buying the Clippers kind of threw everything out of wax. And, you know, just to illustrate, I mentioned this in my column, and this, I think, changed again just the other day. But there's Bloomberg has a billionaire's index, you can track the richest people in the world and their holdings day by day. And so, like, on Sunday when I was writing this, Steve Bomber lost $1.3 billion, but it was okay because your date, he had made $23 billion. And I think just the other day, there was a good day in the stock market, and he made, like, $9 billion or something. So my point being, is you have one owner, and they're all billionaires, but one in particular who is almost as rich as all the other owners combined. And so for him to pay any amount in luxury tax was irrelevant, like, it really was irrelevant. It didn't matter. It was like you and me buying coffee. And so, you know, that was, so all these rules, almost, are designed that after a certain point, when you get to the first apron and then the second apron, what's really curbed things is, not so much the volume of money you have to spend in tax, although, you know, for, like, I think, for some teams like the Boston Celtics, which we could discuss, that is going to be an issue. But the real thing, and why the Clippers, for example, didn't sign Paul George, is your way, your path to building a team gets incredibly restricted. Your graphics, your future graphics, you get frozen. Your ability to make trades gets severely restricted. And you know, you just get put into a box of your stock. You just can't properly operate as a franchise, and so that's why even the Clippers and other teams in that environment have had to kind of adjust how they do business. And you know, it's made for a little bit more boring environment, and I think the other thing that happened to is this year that the cap came in a little bit lower than expected, so that was maybe another small factor. But, you know, the league signing a new TV deal, I believe next year, and there's going to be a huge influx of money. It's, they've projected 10% raises year over year. So we'll see if, you know, if this pattern we've seen this year continues. Danieli wants to continue the basketball conversation, I'll let him in a second. But God, great. Some of these guys are taking baths this year. Like Bernard, I know he's down like eight billion dollars. Geez, the tough year for that guy. I, how am I supposed to go back to focusing on sports? All right, you and Danieli are talking about basketball, I'll pay attention, but I'm looking at this list. So thank you for alerting me to this Grange. Very well. All of the days work for Steve Ballmer, nine billion dollars. Carlo slimmed down 14 billion this year. Seems bad. That's pretty nice though, and you have just a limitless well of money coming in consistently. So even if you lose as Gunnar alluded to probably 14 billion, it's not a big deal to a lot of these guys. Grange actually, and I think there was even, even as a penalty, if correct me if I'm wrong here, I think if you hit the second apron, you lose the opportunity to assign guys to mid-level exceptions. Like I think you lose your mid-level exception. Is that accurate too? Yeah. I mean, there's all kinds of, you lose what would be your taxpayer exception. I mean, I'm not going to, I can't list them all. I'd have to look them up, but, you know, say to say, you know, the Clippers are so invested in being competitive and for them to not resign Paul George because they didn't want to pay the max scores in years for a guy who's still, you know, is the best player available. You know, it's a pretty heavy towel on how difficult it is to construct a team when all these penalties get in place. The reason I mentioned the mid-level is also because this might, in a weird way, have an impact on a guy who's now searching for a job, former Raptor and Gary Trent, Jr., because it feels like, depending on what the market might bear, he's in a kind of a precarious position, is he not, in terms of what the market might command or what he could command in the open market at this particular point. It feels like there aren't a ton of suitors lining up to potentially pursue him in free agency right now. Yeah. I mean, it's pretty amazing, like, there was a point in, like, I guess, not this past season, but the season before, probably Gary's best season as a pro shot, you know, he shot well from three, he had all the steals and deflections and his highest point per game average. And, you know, it looked like, at that point, maybe the Raptors couldn't keep him because he was going to opt out and, you know, and he could kind of imagine him getting 20, 22, 23 million a year. Instead, he picked up his option, and I think that was, in retrospect, you know, maybe that market wasn't out there for him, that we might have thought, and certainly presumed he would have expected that there would be more of a market form this summer, and for a lot of reasons, there's not. And one of them is, you know, Gary Trent's really good at maybe two things, right? Like, he's a really good catch and shoot player, which is, you know, useful. And, you know, he can be disruptive defensively, if not completely effective defensively. And he's, he's 25, so, so you, but here's the problem is if you go down the list of players who have similar skill sets, at least offensively, you know, they're better than him, and they sign for, like, more competitive deals, like, I think Grayson Allen, who just, you know, he's a best shooter, and maybe in the world right now, I certainly have a catching shoot shooter, 46% for Phoenix, like he signed the extended four-year 70s, so, you know, that would be less than what Gary Trent was making last year. You kind of don't, you know, do the Genzo sign, you had an incredible year for New York, and it's probably overall more dynamic player, you know, he signed for four-year 50 last year. So, you know, the, the, there was a little bump there with the Tyler Heroes and the, you know, Anthony Simon, who I think are better players, you know, they, they were in that $120 million range, and you kind of wondered if Gary Trent would wiesel, not wiesel, but somehow make his way into that conversation, and that's clearly not the case. And for all the reasons we discussed, you know, the list of teams that have more than half-calf space is at this point very diminished, and then the list of teams that have the middle level exception, there's only six or seven of those last time I checked, and a lot of them don't want to use it, right? Like Toronto could use the middle level exception, which I think is 12, you know, 12.5 million starting salary, but that would put them into the tax, and so you're not going to go into the tax for Gary Trent Jr., I wouldn't think. So, the list gets a little smaller still, and, you know, so the reality is, you know, I could be wrong, and, you know, I, for Gary's sake, I mean, I hope he does great. You know, the likelihood is he's going to go from being an $18 million player to maybe, you know, a 9, 10, 11 million dollar player, I can't say for sure. Maybe he does get the middle level somewhere, I'd be very surprised to get any more than that. Yeah, it's, man, timing is everything in life, and we've certainly seen it in sports, especially in the NBA. Like you said, going all the way back to the big cap jump there certainly matters when you hit the market. We know the timing of Canada's basketball at the Olympics, we saw the women's team named yesterday. A couple of curious things coming out of camp. I mean, Zach Edie, obviously, was a bit of a question mark to begin with there, with a player getting selected as high as he ended up going, you can understand how that happened. I think people were floored by the Wiggins news. I mean, I remember, we had Jordi Fernandez on leading up to it, then we talked to Rowan Barrett, and it was, all right, finally, we can move on. No more Andrew Wiggins questions. Apparently not. Do you have any insight on what happened? Is that just the Warriors making a decision there? And I guess most importantly, how does that impact Canada's chances in Paris? All I can say about the Wiggins thing is, you know, the Warriors had no actual ability to prevent him from playing. So, you know, in this situation, a veteran player with three years left on his deal, there's always going to be concerns about health and all those kinds of things. But there's no specific injury that they could cite as the medical reason they were going to prevent him from playing. Could they ask him? Could they, you know, given that he's probably very much on the trade block as they try to reconfigure their roster? Is there a world where they could say, look, Andrew, it'd be way better if he didn't play because, you know, if you get hurt, it's really going to hamper us, as we try to trade you. I mean, I guess that that conversation could exist. So, you know, but I'm not privy to exactly what the nature of that conversation was other than, you know, according to sources I spoke with. You know, there's no actual mechanism the Warriors had to prevent him from playing. So, like, that will ever get the full story on it. But it's just an interesting development, like you say, very, very surprising. You know, by all accounts, just, you know, I think Wiggins is disappointed, wanted to play. But, you know, we'll see if we get the real facts on that at some point. Yeah, and Zach Edie, you got drafted too high. You know, I'd have been a second round pick. I'm sure Memphis might have been a little bit-- This damn bad draft. Yeah. Only the draft was better. But they might have been a little bit more willing to have him play and develop in a different environment. You know, when you pick a guy night and you're projected to be a team that's going to compete for the Western Conference title and, you know, he'd projected to be in your rotation at that starting. And he's an unusual player, you know, exactly plug and play, you know, you're going to-- You know, it's in their interest to have him under their watch at every possible moment over the summer as they try and, you know, accelerate his development. So, you know, I could sort of see that one coming. It's kind of typical that NBA rookies are kind of the pro-- You know, they're kind of owned by the team that first year, they don't really have a lot of pushback. So, so I wasn't a shock. I think either of those developments don't-- Like, like Wigandzett is best in the right situation could change the game. We know that. But that said, I mean, I think they're kind of fairly loaded at that position, especially with the addition of Joel Murray and Andrew Nemhard, who gives them, you know, the extra shock creation that, you know, you might have hoped from Wigandz. So, look, he's a good player. You would have missed a good-- would have been nice to have him, but he's not make a break. Similarly with Edie, there's no guarantee he would have made the team anyway. If he did, it would have been very situationally. I think he only played, like, seven meaningful minutes at the World Cup last year could you have used him against, like, I say, situationally against Rudy Vogue there, or Joel on beat, or Nick O'Yolkich, conceivably, right, at six-- that's five pounds you might have been able to use and need, but, you know, I think Canada is going to be okay otherwise. But while we're on the topic, I mean, we got to shout out to Canadian Women's Team. We kind of undersell them, probably, and it was really, really nice for me to be at the SCOC offices yesterday, and they announced their roster, and four of the women were actually present, so it was great to talk to, you know, like, it's just so awesome to see people be named Olympians. You know, it's, you know, it's just such an incredible moment, you know, for the first time, you know, she went to Japan last year, sorry, in 2020, or 2021, actually, and was an alternate, you know, kind of waiting, hoping nobody got hurt or injured, no one did, and she was on a plane going, "Oh, well, the Olympics are on, you know, pretty tough." And so there she goes and makes the team, and, you know, she's put in six years with the National Team program finally getting it. She was telling me how, you know, this time last year she was recovering from knee surgery. She really didn't know if she was going to be able to continue her career. Gets back, gets healthy, makes the team, you know, for the second time, super moving. You know, he's, you know, Kayla Alexander, just an incredible person, you know, you know, she's been a pro for, like, 14 years, missed out on two Olympic opportunities, once got caught, once was injured, goes to Japan, you know, the other time, it's like the COVID Olympics, and now she has to get the full experience, so, you know, so it's just a very special thing. And that team is really interesting, you got Nellie Achanwa, who's, you know, setting a record for, it's going to be a fourth Olympic appearance as a teen athlete, which is absurd. When you think about it, right, 16 years as the best in your country, it just seems impossible. And then on the other end, you have, like, Silas Sorts, you know, her dad was going through the 2000s. She's 18 years old, like, she's literally just finished high school, and she's going to be on the National League and going to the Olympics, and, you know, all these other great stories. So the men's side gets a ton of attention. We're all excited about it. It's so cool to see all these Olympians, all these NBA players make the commitment. You know, they don't have to, but on the women's side, it's a little harder because it truly is their pinnacle. You know, there's not a hundred million dollar contract out there for these guys. They sacrifice a lot to be good enough at, you know, the primary career to be an Olympian. And, you know, they deserve a ton of coverage, ton of respect and, you know, we're the fifth ranked team in the world. So hopefully they get a medal. Honestly, Granger, the more you were talking, the parallels just go to Canada Soccer, right? Like, we almost take the women for granted because of what they accomplished. It's like, yeah, they're in the Olympics all the time. I don't need to worry about this. And then the men were, you know, up in arms at all points in time, wondering how good can it get? So, yeah, a lot of parallels there. And I'm happy you highlighted all that. And I've been lucky enough to be in a room with some Olympic hopefuls, not named a team jet. And you can see the positivity bouncing off them so I can only imagine what that room was like. Grange, always love you jumping on. Thanks so much for taking the time. Thanks, guys. Have a great trip. There he goes. Michael Grange. Not you. Me. I'm leaving. Yeah. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. You're talking about the Blue Jays or whatever. Honestly, whatever you guys are doing. You're talking about the Italian national team. Talking about Italy and playing in the world baseball classic for all I care. You and Ben could do what you want. Grange touched on something with Wiggins. We're going to do that a little later on. I'm probably going to do it after Shida Vidi. But right now, we have to do it. It's time for the wake and break presented by sports interaction. Your homegrown sports book and 19 plus bet responsibly, Blue Jays and Astros continuing their set. They scored a bunch of runs yesterday. They won a game. So naturally, Blue Jays favorite on the Moneyline, minus 105, bit of a pick on though, Astros minus 115. Then you look at the total once again, eight and a half. You do get plus a hundred on the under if you like it, minus 120 on the over if that's where you want to go. Do you have a lean on this one, Daniele? Kind of like the over there, you know, rooting for more offense. Okay. I don't have a problem with runs being thrown up on the board. And I feel like you say Kakuchi has been hit and missed lately. Boy, how's he? That Astros offense looks pretty darn good and the Jays are swinging it and Vladi has looked really good as of late. So I think the overs are pretty interesting play here. Blanco and Kakuchi, as you're starting match up, I think the Astros bounce back and I think they do it somewhat comfortably, minus one and a half for the Astros. You get that a plus 145. So I think that's where, yeah, we got, we want a little juice. We want to give it a squeeze. That was the wake and break presented by sports interaction. Your home growing sports book, 19 plus bet responsibly when we continue the Blue Jays. We're going to talk about him. Shydiviti going to join us. Let us know what's what he thinks the last night's game. What do they do with George Springer? And now that he's heating up, do they keep him where he's at or do they revisit him in the lead off spot? shy that and more. Fan Moreding Show continues on SportsNet, 5-9 of the fan.
