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What is up, fellow there moment
we are a ffers. I am Damp

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Valley coming at you with another two
thousand, twenty two twenty twenty three NBA

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look Ahead podcast. We are onto
the Washington Wizards, and I am super

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excited for the first time to get
to speak with Matt Maderno. He is

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a writer for Bullets Forever and he
is also a host of the Believe In

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Wizards podcast. Follow that podcast at
Believe in Wizards spelled b L E A

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v I N Wizards, and then
follow him on Twitter at Matt Maderno.

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His name at m A double T
m O, double d e r n

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Oh. The double D came across
unlike I wanted it to come across there

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as it came out of my mouth. But follow him on Twitter please.

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I have many questions about this team, as I told him before we hopped

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on. They are what the f
WTF teams? I don't know what to

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expect. The most important question I
have though, Matt, how the heck

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are you doing. I'm great a
pleasure to be here. I told you

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beforehand. I'm a fan of the
show, so I'm excited to talk with

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you. Not so much to talk
about the Wizards, to be honest,

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because, as we'll get into I
have no idea what to expect this year,

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so it should be fun. I
appreciate that you listen to the show,

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but it also immediately makes me question
your taste in like basketball opinions.

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So I like the Wizards, so
I clearly have terrible taste. And yeah,

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so look, there's so much to
ask about this team, but I

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do I'd be remiss And I don't
want to turn this into the Bradley Beal

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contract podcast because I feel like a
lot of Wizards previews have harped a lot

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on that. But where did you
ultimately land on the terms of the deal?

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And then versus were you leading Like
before this it was all you had

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to keep them. Once you got
to this point, you had to keep

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them. But were you on the
side of, well, this team needs

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like more of a purged rebuild,
or you want you saw the vision for

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them to continue retooling around feel I
think you nailed it. They had to

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do this. Once you've committed to
a certain path and you get to a

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certain point, you're kind of locked
in. You know. There were some

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rumblings about maybe a Golden State deal
on the table a couple of years ago,

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like, once you've turned down those
things, you've got to re up

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him. I think what really hurt
was this sort of additional throw ins to

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sweeten the pot here for his contract, Like they basically bid against themselves.

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And from everything I've heard, this
wasn't even something that Beale's camp really pushed

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for. This was something that the
Wizards went to him and like open open

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arms and said, please not only
take the max amount of money we can

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give you, but please take all
of these other things. If they had

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said, hey, we'll give you
a no trade clause, but we want

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only a partial guarantee on the last
year, or used that to sort of

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negotiate a little bit, I would
have been really okay with it. But

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to me, they could have negotiated
from a position of at least somewhat strength,

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and they chose to just be like, no, please take everything,

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and ted Leonsis is offering up like
his firstborn grandchild and stuff in the process.

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Yeah, it's like you know,
the pacers like Herbside just giving teams

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first round picks and signing trades rather
than just signing players out right. It's

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why I see that I'm with everything
you said, and I don't even inherently

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have a problem with the player option. I think that's just Bill is good

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enough to have had that leverage if
they really maybe they didn't want to go

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through the and the trade kicker,
I don't care about. They can get

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waved and a lot of it depends
on how much the cap rise is anyway

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relative to his max salary. The
no trade cause through me, I was

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just like, I know he was
one of the very few players who would

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be eligible to sign like have one. But that was just like, you've

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now dictated if this doesn't work out, he's now the one that dictates the

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terms of how it happens. And
I know stars do that a lot of

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the time anyway, But now you've
decided, like, oh, it's not

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going to be a mutual understanding,
like he can just have veto power.

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And look, if I were him
and it got to that point where they

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were even looking to move him,
which you know clearly they don't want to,

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because why I sign him to this
deal, I would absolutely look at

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the stage time in my career like
I'm yeah, I'm absolutely gonna use that

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leverage. You're not. I'm not
gonna let you send me to like a

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team I don't want. I'm not
gonn gonna insult them. I'm not gonna

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let you send me to Sacramento.
So it was just curious and so overall

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though, were you fine with their
decision though, to say, well,

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we're just going to retool around build
in general or did you? Were you

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of the mind like, oh,
this should have been more of a wholesale

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reset. This is one of those
things where like, as a fan base,

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I think the majority would have like
opted for that sort of rebuild kind

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of approach. But I never really
like let myself get to that point because

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I know enough about how they think
that that was like never really on the

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table for them. So I just
kind of never opened myself up fully to

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the possibility that they would even consider
that. Like you've got ted leonsis like

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banging his fist on the table,
you know, like Corbachow or something,

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being like, hey, like we're
never going to tank, Okay, well

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maybe you could do a soft rebuild. You know, there are like other

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other degrees here somewhere in the middle, but it's just this seems like what

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they really really want to do for
whatever reason, and they want to compete

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for the play in and you know, more power to them. So I

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think I've kind of resigned myself to
that fate at least I will say,

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while the ultimate endgame is to win
a championship, and but you can wrap

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it up here is that I do
think organizations and players get judged too harshly

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when they don't move on just because
they're not at that Like Bill wanted to

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stay. That's fine. And you
look at the Dame extension too, Like

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these deals by themselves, they're just
going to be movable and teams will give

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up a bunch of stuff for them, like you're never trapped in the Wizards,

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which we'll get into later, like
they're super flexible, like just moving

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forward. It was just it was
really honestly, the no train costs for

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me, They just like pushed me
over the edge. I was just like,

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what are we what are we doing
here? But there's actual basketball to

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talk about with this team and Bill
last season his efficiency just plunged everywhere,

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basically away from the basket. He
did get shut down with the injury to

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end the season. Do you are
you concerned about like this being something that

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lingers or was it more the byproduct
of this is a one off the team

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that was around him, and you're
just you would expect him to be right

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back in that, oh, like
one of the fifteen to twenty five best

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players in the NBA territory. I
think the efficiency may never like fully recovered

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to the levels when like Wall was
kind of setting up up and stuff like

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that. But could he get back
to you know, two or three years

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ago when when he was like really
scorching hot, you know as a score.

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But the three point shooting has gone
down almost each of the last five

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years. I don't think we'll ever
get back to like forty percent from three

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Beal. But I think, you
know, thirty percent is an aberration and

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we should probably be in the mid
thirty somewhere. The thing that did worry

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me we had like a sports medicine
doctor that handled like very similar injuries to

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what Bill had on our show,
and he said, like, this is

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a very serious deal and it's very
rare that that patients get back to a

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one hundred percent functionality in a risk
like that. So, you know,

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eighty ninety percent, is that enough
for Beal to do everything he needs to

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do? Probably? So I would
think, you know, I'm not an

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actual doctor, but that's sort of
the question. If he's one hundred percent

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healthy, I think with better talent
around him, I would be surprised if

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he can't get back to, you
know, the level of player he was

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before. At least do you think
that might have then factored into them making

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the will Barton Monte Morris Mover was
felt like they punted on some point of

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attack defense. Maybe not because you
signed them on right in favor of two

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guys who give you some secondary creation
and shot making. It probably factored in

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there somewhat. I think there were
so many nights where like one Celtics game

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in particular, where Bill had to
go for like almost sixty just to keep

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them in the game. And now
you've got a lot more help around him

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too, So I think they think
if they can kind of lighten the scoring

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load around him, that potentially he
can kind of do more facilitating. Maybe

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he'll actually want to guard beyond like
the fifth or sixth game of the season,

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you might get a more well rounded
bal than just like please go out

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and get thirty points where we'll get
blown now. So I'm thinking that's probably

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the direction they were trying to go
there a couple of months removed from it,

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Like, how do you feel about
that that actual move, the KCP

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trade and the fit of Wilbarton and
Monte Morris on this roster. Like,

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to me, on paper, you
can't really afford to give up like your

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loan three and d wing on the
team in KCP. But to be honest

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with you, like watching him last
year, it was one of those things

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where I think it was like a
little bit of fool scold because he kind

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of skated on reputation and there were
some nights where he just did not look

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engaged defensively at all. So maybe
it was slightly overrated defensively. And you

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know, like that would be great
to have all of these guys and KCP,

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but if you've got to pick and
choose, I think I'd rather have

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two solid players than one solid player. And that's just sort of how I

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looked at it. They needed some
kind of upgrade at the point guard position.

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I think Morris, while probably a
bottom five starter in the NBA,

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is still better than whoever else they
were going to parade parade out there,

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and Barton is a decent enough defender
I think maybe he's tailed off a little

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bit the last couple of years,
but overall, I don't. I don't

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think there's going to be a ton
of defensive drop off that comes from this,

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and you just have more flexibility offensively. And there's like there's always been

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this high variance in kcp's performances at
both ends of the floor, Like even

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dating back to when he might have
been the third best play around that twenty

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twenty Lakers team, Like there's and
this piston things like he was. There's

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just always these high variants is caked
into his performances. I am a big

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I've always been iffy on what the
stuff he can do offensively back I'm a

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big, delon right guy on offense
defense, and like that if there is

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any drop off, like he can
immediately come and plug like some of those

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minutes and pitch in on a bunch
of the same assignments. I also cringed

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every time Caseyp tried to do like
his Bradley Beal impression last year, especially

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with Bell out, like him putting
the ball on the floor and dribbling between

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his legs is like always a wild, you know, adventure that I don't

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think Wizards fans are gonna miss like
all that much. So I think you've

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just you got slightly more competent consistently
with the guys that you brought in.

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And I'm a big Right fan too, so I really think I might have

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some spicier takes later about the role
Right could play on this team. But

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I think that was really big pick
up for them. Were you seduced by

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Christaps Porzingis after the trade deadline?
He had like his postops were actually pretty

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good, and historically those have been
very bad, But just any real and

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the real question is, like any
overarching impressions of his game, his fit

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with bal which we obviously haven't seen, we weren't able to seek to close

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last season. And then he's dealing
with what is it I never keep track

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of with injuries with the ankle injury
right now, So is that anything serious?

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No, it doesn't seem to be. The team thinks that like he's

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actually like questionable to play in the
final preseason game of the year, So

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I think there's a reasonable chance,
like he'll just be fine and ready to

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go on opening nights, So I
wouldn't expect anything kind of lingering from that

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that was just one of those fluky, you know things that happens. This

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isn't you know, the start of
some long term KCP is dealing with this

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injury for the course of the year. I really liked the way he looked

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the last I don't know, a
dozen games or so, and to me,

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I think the fit with Beal makes
a lot of sense. Everything with

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the Wizards comes down to like roll
and fit, and that's really I think

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been one of their biggest issues.
You know, under the Scott Brooks regime,

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there was this big thing like a
third of the way into the year

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during that Russell westbrook season, where
the players finally got together to talk about

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what they thought their role should be
because the coaching staff had never defined that

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for them. That's like a huge
red flag to me that no one's had

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the conversation with players about like what
what's expected of them. And then honestly,

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the same thing happened last year under
west Unsel junior. So so maybe

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I'm just sort of overestimating how much
like discussion and communication happens between coaching staffs

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and players. But for Christapps,
it's like what do they want him to

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be? So far in the preseason, he shot like a lot of long

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jumpers. I don't know if that's
sort of you know it is so you

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know, but last year was,
like you said, a more steady diet

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of post ups. They were kind
of midpost stuff. Like we saw more

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versatility, I think, in such
a limited sample size than we had seen

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the last couple of years. So
for me, I'd like to see him

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do a steady diet of everything.
And even if the post ups are kind

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of like less efficient than they were
in that small sample size last year,

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I'm okay with it just because it
at least makes a defense kind of have

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to think, okay, he could
do this, you know, like maybe

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we have to kind of factor it
into a game plan. I'm all for

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given guys different looks. Yeah,
if it's like a mismatch, I guess

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I just don't trust him to make
like a decision other than trying to shoot

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in those situations. And he'll never
be close enough to the basket for me

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when he does. And just having
watched him as a deadly disenchanted Knicks fan

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just from those days like that can
be mantly frustrating. I was, and

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even some moments in like the when
he was playing in Japan this preseason.

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He does look Spryer on defense,
which is big because like there was like

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it wasn't just rim protection or verticality, was like there was pop to the

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way that he was kind of playing, and that becomes really important for them

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and has also been one of the
huge things with him is that, oh

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there's been like waxing and waning with
the way he moves on defense. And

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so if he's able to make those
sorts of plays and handle the type of

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movement he was like sort of swiveling
around the basket, that really gives them

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like a monster defensive weapon. I
think makes him so much more valuable to

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this team. And I am with
you in the sense that I think they

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could figure out something for him offensively. Even if he wants to be like

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kind of that star, his game
is always skewed, like his best fit

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is plug and play, And if
you have to give him some ceremony post

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ups or face up touches, or
you know, maybe you let the second

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units or you're trying to let him
capitalize on mismatches, that's fine. But

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I really watched like a good harbage
dry. I feel like for him to

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wrap up this like ramble on what
I'm throwing at you is in a way

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he's moving on defense and performing on
defense is like a very good harbinge over

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how valuable that he winds up being
to his team. Yeah, this team

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is like terrible defending the paint last
year, and honestly, they were really

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bad in the Charlotte game the other
night. They gave up like twenty points

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in the paint and just the second
quarter of the game, which is like

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almost impossible to do. But he's
looked more spry offensively too, Like the

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play heat rolled the ankle on he
was doing like a eurostep through traffic,

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and you just don't see guys that
big that are sort of coordinated and spry

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enough to do that. So I
think he's looked fresh. I think that

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there's a lot of hope with this
team that comes from his ability to play

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fifty five ish plus games. I
mean, if it's that's sort of like

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the number for me. If it's
more than that, I think this team

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is probably a lot better than maybe
people you know, expect. And if

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he's playing forty games, then that
you know that over under number is probably

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right on the mark. You're clearly
going into this with eyes wide open,

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because you mentioned fifty five and I
think a lot of people are like,

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well, if Christops gives you like
sixty five or seventy games, like,

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no, that's not happening. But
I was shocked. It was not something

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I tracked, like after the deadline. He played four back to backs with

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the like both ends of back to
backs to the Wizards. That has to

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be like a personal record for him. They were also like really really conservative

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with injuries during this like you know, exhibition tour in Japan, because players

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like had a slight twinge of something
like they just weren't going to take the

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risk and shut them down. So
the fact that porzingis played both of those

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games, I think already is like
a pretty good sign that they're expecting him

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to be healthy and trying to get
as much mileage out of him as they

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can. Kyle Kuzma had a fairly
monster closed offensively, it was like,

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I think it was twenty nine games. Bradley Beale's not there. His offensive

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usage sort of changed in those situations. Do you buy into his fit like

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as this complimentary weapon on offense where
it's, yeah, he's kind of like

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gives you some three, but it's
always lower than you think it is,

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and he was super efficient for the
Wizards off cuts last year. Just how

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do you view his fit like in
this healthier version of the Wizards this year?

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And then also specifically like he's going
to be a free agent because he

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has that player option, So just
do you consider him like a potential long

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term part of this core? I
might be like the at least the vice

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president of the Kyle Kuzma Wizards fan
club at this point. I really enjoyed

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what Kuzma did. A lot of
that has to do with his sort of

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off court presence with the team as
well, which we can maybe touch on

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here for a minute two. But
on the court, he did tail off

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a little bit once Porzingis kind of
factored into that mix. So that last

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thirty games overall was much more impressive
than the first two thirds of the season,

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but it was kind of a questionable
fit like who would do what when

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and kind of my turn his turn
sort of thing. But overall, I

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just really like Kuzma's feel for the
game. I think he might actually like

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have like a really long, really
strong possibility of like leading this team in

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like Hockey assists. He's actually a
much better creator than I think he gets

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credit for, and I think that's
huge on a team that maybe doesn't have

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like this sort of like pure pure
point guard like Morris is fine. I

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don't think he's like the best creator
for others. He's kind of more of

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like a complimentary guy, and same
with Beal, So I think a lot

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of that falls on Kuzma. I
think with Porzingis and bill Back, maybe

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you can rely on him to be
a little bit more efficient and slightly lower

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usage. So if the production goes
down but the efficiency goes up, like

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I'm all for that. I think
he kind of like fell off defensively a

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lot last year as the season went
on. The effort was really there,

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it didn't show up particularly well from
a defensive metrics standpoint, But he's long,

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00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,200
he's pretty switchable. I think you
could maybe even see some like small

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00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:48,279
ball five Kuzma action this year potentially, which I know we can talk about

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like weird lineups here maybe too,
but I think that's one I'd like to

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see a little bit more of.
But again, I think the biggest piece

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for Kuzma and the pitch I would
make for players and for fans at least

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00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:03,000
to kind of him as a long
term play. Just this was the guy

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that pulled Denny aside and said every
day after practice, like we will go

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00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:08,359
one on one and we will work
on stuff one by one. They asked

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00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,920
each of the young players, like
who was the guy that was most impactful

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00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,559
for them during the season, and
I don't remember a single player saying Beal,

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and every single one of them mentioned
Kuzma. And I think for a

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long time the Wizards have sort of
been like resigned to having just like a

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like a locker room full of like
knuckleheads, and and Kuzma has done like

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everything in his power to not do
that. So I think for me that

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that like kind of really swayed,
you know, me into the kuz camp.

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00:17:34,759 --> 00:17:38,240
To your point about expiring contract,
that that's sort of the question,

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right like at four years, eighty
million dollars and some change, I think

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he would be a beloved Wizard for
the length of that contract. At four

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years, one hundred and ten million
dollars, this town would turn on him

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00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:56,519
pretty quickly if he didn't kind of
live up to that money. I had

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no idea about the stuff was like
the young kids or his locker room present.

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So you might have swayed me on
the Kuzmo experience a little bit more.

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His future is tough, and I
think he can still be well.

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00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,119
One I want to ask you about
that defense you mention the center. Is

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that way you're more comfortable with.
His role is not defending centers, but

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00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:14,279
like you prefer him against like those
those bigger, barlier like I won't even

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00:18:14,319 --> 00:18:18,160
call them wings, like combo forwards
versus actual wings or smaller players. Yeah,

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00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:19,640
I think so. I mean there
was a lot of discussion about,

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00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,279
like, well, if we start
Ruey and Kuzma together, like who's the

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00:18:22,279 --> 00:18:26,319
three and who's the four. I
don't know if it matters. I think

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the extra length that Kuzma gives you
probably puts him more naturally into that role

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00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:36,839
like that we saw matchups against like
Milwaukee last year, like Denny and Ruey

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00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:41,720
guarded Jannis more than Kuzma did.
But I think that put like the onus

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00:18:41,759 --> 00:18:44,839
on him to play more health defense
and try to like weak side shop block

312
00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:47,720
and things that you know, maybe
you don't really want him to have to

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00:18:47,759 --> 00:18:51,079
do, but he at least is
more capable of doing than somebody like Ruey

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00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:53,880
is, so that that makes a
little bit more sense to me personally.

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00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:59,440
But I don't think this team has
like a lot of like really good defensive

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00:18:59,519 --> 00:19:03,839
wing options other than potentially Denny and
even him. I see as more of

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00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,480
like a four three than a three
four. So they have a lot of

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00:19:07,559 --> 00:19:11,279
non wing wings, is what it
is exactly. Yeah, that's the whole

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00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,200
roster. It seems to be like
you know, Tommy Shepherd's type, I

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00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:18,559
guess, and his just this doesn't
factor too much. I mean, I

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00:19:18,599 --> 00:19:21,599
guess it could Technicedia in the trade
deadline. His situation is so tough because

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00:19:21,599 --> 00:19:23,519
he's not going to sign an extension
because giving him one hundred and twenty percent

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00:19:23,599 --> 00:19:26,519
rays off this number. It's just
not going to happen. It's like you

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00:19:26,559 --> 00:19:30,200
need to know either what whether he
wants to stay one, but like what

325
00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,559
it's actually gonna cost to keep him
so that you don't get burned and wind

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00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,599
up losing him for nothing or the
offseason. Yeah, sign and trades could

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00:19:37,599 --> 00:19:38,359
happen, YadA, YadA, YadA, but like you just don't want to

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00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,920
put yourself in that type of risk
for someone who, regardless of where you

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00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:45,920
fall on his defense, where you
fall in like his compmentary offense, like

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00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:49,240
he's still he's still very valuable to
the makeup of this team. I think

331
00:19:49,319 --> 00:19:53,200
where they are at the trade deadline
like totally determines what that decision will be.

332
00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,640
If they're you know, in a
play in spot or in the playoff

333
00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,319
hunt. I think this team is
more likely to be a buyer at the

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00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:03,640
deadline. And we saw this with
Davis Burton's a couple of years ago.

335
00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:06,160
They had an opportunity to trade him
for two first round picks, and they

336
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,599
were like, Noah, we'll take
our chances in the off season and throw

337
00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,599
a boatload of money at him.
And that didn't work out particularly well for

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00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:15,839
them, i'd say overall, although
it did help get Porzingis. But that's

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00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,160
my expectation is that they'll try to
keep him and ride it out unless this

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00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,880
team like totally creators or something like
that, so I would I would expect

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00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,920
them to at least be negotiating with
him next offseason. You mentioned Denny Avia

342
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,839
before. He is a favorite of
mine. I liked and I went back

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00:20:30,839 --> 00:20:33,920
and watched some of it for this
podcast, but also because it was fun

344
00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,200
to watch in the first place,
him getting just a little bit more offensive

345
00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:41,279
agency when Beal was out towards the
end of last year, seize the floor

346
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:45,200
just so well, can make like
really good passes. There's some like I

347
00:20:45,319 --> 00:20:47,880
wrote about this once, there's some
fuck you to him on drives too,

348
00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,720
or like guys will bounce off his
shoulders. What type of role do you

349
00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,480
expect to see him playing on this
team specifically? And I think the broader

350
00:20:55,559 --> 00:21:00,240
question is do you buy into him
like ever nudging up that three point clip

351
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,519
enough as not even like he's hit
some like kind of just dribbled into them.

352
00:21:03,559 --> 00:21:06,880
But I think if he really wants
to be like the optimized version of

353
00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,519
himself, is they need him to
shoot threes at a higher equip and I

354
00:21:10,559 --> 00:21:12,440
think he hit like thirty six plus
percent I'm wide open last year or whatever

355
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,480
it was. Like the volume certainly, if that's going to be the number

356
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,880
of the volume certainly needs to come
up on that. I know this doesn't

357
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:22,079
make for a good audio, but
can I just respond to you with like

358
00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:25,839
my palms up while I shrug because
I just I don't know what to expect

359
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,720
from Denny at this point, Like
I want to like him so bad.

360
00:21:30,279 --> 00:21:32,960
But there was also a stretch about
a quarter of the way into the season

361
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,160
last year where it was almost more
likely that he would airball a layup attempt

362
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,319
than he would like finish strong through
traffic. And again, I think this

363
00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:45,640
goes back to one like putting guys
in positions to be successful and like a

364
00:21:45,799 --> 00:21:48,480
role that fits them and suits them. Like right out of the gate,

365
00:21:48,519 --> 00:21:53,039
this team didn't know what they drafted, and which is bizarre to me considering

366
00:21:53,079 --> 00:21:56,400
how much international scouting Tommy Shepard and
that front office likes to do. But

367
00:21:56,799 --> 00:21:59,599
they were like, oh, yeah, this is our three and d Wing.

368
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,359
It's like, well, you know, he's better off like trying to

369
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,079
be lamar Odom than he is trying
to be Michail Bridges. Like it just

370
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,119
that's sort of being ignorant to his
skill set. I think if that's what

371
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:14,759
you want from one from him at
the gate. So he got better as

372
00:22:14,799 --> 00:22:18,240
the year went on. I'm hoping
that this offseason, you know, really

373
00:22:18,519 --> 00:22:22,279
like helped kind of get him some
confidence back, because to your point,

374
00:22:22,319 --> 00:22:25,559
like when it was good last year, it was really good. But Denny's

375
00:22:25,559 --> 00:22:27,880
one of those guys where when it's
bad, it's real ugly. So I

376
00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:32,160
think as Wizards fans, some of
us are more conditioned to remember like those

377
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:36,920
few really ugly moments, Like I
remember one particular game where he literally airballed

378
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:41,359
two consecutive floaters, and it's like, how does an NBA player do that?

379
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:45,599
And that probably wasn't even like the
lowest moment of that particular game,

380
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,519
but those things stick with you.
And similarly with the defense is it's the

381
00:22:48,519 --> 00:22:52,279
same thing, Like he was really
good overall, but I like to like

382
00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,759
call it auto porter syndrome, where
like he would just like totally zone out

383
00:22:56,799 --> 00:22:59,720
and get beat backdoor on a big
play, and you're like, he's the

384
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,000
best defender on our team, but
you can't kind of consistently trust him in

385
00:23:03,039 --> 00:23:07,839
big situations either. So he's a
mixed bag for sure. I think his

386
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,720
defensive activities why actually fell in love
with him, because and I guess I

387
00:23:11,759 --> 00:23:14,160
could see what you're saying where it
feels like he's probably better sort of like

388
00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,799
actually being involved in the action,
where like if he has to navigate screens

389
00:23:17,799 --> 00:23:19,799
and stuff, but if you,
I guess you're stashing way off the ball,

390
00:23:19,839 --> 00:23:22,839
like you watch the team way more
than I do. I'm not noticing

391
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,680
him get beat nearly as often,
So where do you sort of land on

392
00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:27,960
his defenses? He become I viewed
him as underrated because no one mentioned him.

393
00:23:29,039 --> 00:23:30,400
When I'm looking at it from like
a million feet away, I feel

394
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,079
like people don't really talk about him. But then like you're there, has

395
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:37,480
it become like idiots like me or
like, oh, Denny obvious underrated on

396
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,160
defense? And it's well, he's
actually become kind of become a little bit

397
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:44,039
overrated at this point. I'm pretty
sure I wrote an article for Bullish Forever

398
00:23:44,079 --> 00:23:48,119
at some point last year addressing whether
or not Denny Avdia had any realistic shot

399
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,319
of making an All Defense team,
because that's how high as a fan base

400
00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:53,240
we were on his defense like a
quarter of the way into the season.

401
00:23:53,319 --> 00:23:57,599
And it doesn't happen for Wizards particularly
often. You know, Larry Hugheses the

402
00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:03,160
last one to make an All Defense
or sorry, he's lasting to make a

403
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,400
first team, Wall made a second
team. But for Denny, it's like

404
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:11,160
he's definitely probably the best defender that
they have on whole as a team.

405
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,599
It just it kind of came and
went with the offensive confidence too, and

406
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:19,440
they kind of weirdly like put him
in the Doghouse a couple of times last

407
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,599
year, and nobody could really figure
out why. Same with Gafford. Look

408
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:27,480
arguably arguably your two best defenders,
and they would just like disappear from the

409
00:24:27,559 --> 00:24:33,920
rotation for long stretches of time,
and no one ever really fully articulated why

410
00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,039
and what drove those decisions. So
I think for Denny, the defense isn't

411
00:24:37,039 --> 00:24:40,400
the question, it's you're probably original
question to me that I don't think I

412
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,920
answered about the shooting. Yes,
I think he'll get better that. The

413
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,920
problem with Denny, I think is
this is like a work harder versus work

414
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,880
smartyr situation, Like, yes he
gets the preps up, yes he works

415
00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:55,480
hard, so I think there'll at
least be marginal improvement. But if you

416
00:24:55,559 --> 00:24:57,759
just have kind of like awkward form
and you're really stiff, like no matter

417
00:24:57,839 --> 00:25:02,440
how many reps you take, you're
probably only gonna get so good. And

418
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:07,119
Denny's a guy that the form has
sort of noticeably changed, like from right

419
00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,559
before he got drafted, halfway through
his Wizard to tenure so far, it's

420
00:25:10,599 --> 00:25:14,119
just they've got to settle on something
for him. And a lot of these

421
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,160
videos you see from him are him
working out alone in the gym without team

422
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:22,160
officials and things like that, whereas
like Ruey, they worked really hard to

423
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,559
like rep out his jumper with him
and like work on the form and being

424
00:25:25,599 --> 00:25:29,759
consistent, and it looks like markedly
better to me. And I think the

425
00:25:29,799 --> 00:25:33,920
results other than this preseason have kind
of you know, bear that out well,

426
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,480
I have you. I have zero
feel for Ruey, Hatchma, what

427
00:25:37,599 --> 00:25:41,519
is what is he? That's that's
just my question, even I thought you

428
00:25:41,519 --> 00:25:45,319
a whole spiel. What is what
is RUI? What is Ruey? Why

429
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,759
is Ruey? Who is rue I
mean, it's like a very big existential

430
00:25:48,799 --> 00:25:52,720
thing. I honestly still don't know. And that's the problem. Like there's

431
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:57,039
this guy that came in as sort
of like a mismatch four and he was

432
00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:02,319
like gonna like beat guys to the
rim and shoot all these like mid range

433
00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:06,319
shots, and then all of a
sudden he was like this big wing defender

434
00:26:06,319 --> 00:26:10,319
and you had all like the terrible
draft comps to Kauai because they had both

435
00:26:10,319 --> 00:26:14,000
have big hands. But there was
like one game where he defended Kauai really

436
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:15,599
well and it was like, oh
my god, like do we have something

437
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,119
here? And then the defense dropped
off because he got bigger and slower,

438
00:26:19,759 --> 00:26:22,759
like he maybe bulked up too much, but then the shooting really came around.

439
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,240
So again, he's another one like
Denny. To me, they're sort

440
00:26:26,279 --> 00:26:30,759
of different, but there's this roller
coaster of like they do different things,

441
00:26:30,759 --> 00:26:34,480
but they don't really do them at
the same time, so you've seen flashes

442
00:26:34,519 --> 00:26:37,359
of like all this different stuff,
and I think the big question for both

443
00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:42,240
of them is like what will they
put together and what can they do consistently?

444
00:26:42,799 --> 00:26:48,440
For really, I actually have like
more hope for him than I do

445
00:26:48,519 --> 00:26:52,279
for Denny personally, Like I think
there's a there's a realistic world where like

446
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,799
I've seen really play really good defense, again limited sample sizes, but to

447
00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,440
me it's more likely he does that
consistent. He looks slimmer and leaner this

448
00:27:00,519 --> 00:27:03,359
year. Maybe that helps him on
the perimeter a little bit more, But

449
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:08,160
I haven't ever really seen like Denny
be really effective offensively, So to me,

450
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,359
that's like there's like a further way
to go for that. I might

451
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:15,119
be kind of on an island with
that amongst the fan base here, but

452
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,440
I would lean slightly Ruey over Denny. The question too, is just again

453
00:27:19,559 --> 00:27:23,599
contract year situation, like, do
they do they have him in their long

454
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,079
term plans? Does it come down
to what the contract is? I think

455
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:30,200
the most Wizards thing here would be
for him to like really turn it on

456
00:27:30,279 --> 00:27:33,359
late and put them in a lot
of like an awkward position here of like

457
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,079
how big of a deal do we
try to give him or do we let

458
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:41,240
him go somewhere else right as it
looks like he's going to get good and

459
00:27:41,279 --> 00:27:44,519
then we'll feel like we were burned
if he's you know, the starting power

460
00:27:44,519 --> 00:27:48,000
forward for the Knicks next year or
something. You're not on an island with

461
00:27:48,079 --> 00:27:51,440
Ruey. There are when we did. We were talking about the Wizards and

462
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:52,759
Donovan Mitchell on this podcast a couple
of times, and there were there were

463
00:27:52,759 --> 00:27:56,119
Wizards fans that responded on Twitter and
YouTube that were like, well, like,

464
00:27:56,119 --> 00:28:00,359
we wouldn't give up Ruey in that
trade. And I was just shocked

465
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:04,720
to hear that. In general,
I mean, is there something too when

466
00:28:04,839 --> 00:28:07,279
when I've seen both of these guys
on offense, Avia and Ruy, they're

467
00:28:07,319 --> 00:28:12,279
both very different. I do struggle
to see how they can be like connective

468
00:28:12,319 --> 00:28:15,640
where it feels like they're both RUI
feels like he's much better off operating kind

469
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:22,200
of outside the context of everybody else, and then Denny just feels like he

470
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:23,559
needs to not that he needs to
be on ball, but like that's the

471
00:28:23,599 --> 00:28:27,240
best way to keep him engage or
to use him. And that's super tough

472
00:28:27,279 --> 00:28:30,319
to have two guys like that on
a team that has Brat, I mean

473
00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:33,119
Bradley Beal. And then there are
guys that can play off the ball in

474
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:37,799
Monte Morris, Will Barton and Chris
Osporziniz, but like those are three players

475
00:28:37,839 --> 00:28:41,839
who are much better offensively than the
two players that we're talking about right now.

476
00:28:42,599 --> 00:28:45,160
Yeah, I mean that's really the
challenge, right Like, You've got

477
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:49,200
some of these guys where they're they're
sort of limited in certain things they can

478
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,839
do, and they're not really like
versatile guys. I think you'd want your

479
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:56,960
like six through eight guys to be
slightly more plug and play. And both

480
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,519
of these guys need like very specific
content to be like their best selves.

481
00:29:02,039 --> 00:29:04,960
And to your point about Ruey like
operating outside the offense, Like I think

482
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,160
there are definitely times where like other
players standing around and watch him, and

483
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,319
that's really not what you want from
like the seventh best guy on your team,

484
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:17,240
especially when your best couple guys are
standing there. So Denny, I

485
00:29:17,279 --> 00:29:21,599
think is best suited to be sort
of that like secondary tertiary creator for somebody.

486
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:23,119
You know, if he can hit
some spot up shots like that's great,

487
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,000
but yeah, you're not going to
give him enough of those reps to

488
00:29:26,079 --> 00:29:30,279
like really like figure out what you
have there. And they still haven't figured

489
00:29:30,279 --> 00:29:33,599
that out. So I think that's
they're just about like a lot of open

490
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,480
questions with both of them, and
that's not where you'd want to be with

491
00:29:37,519 --> 00:29:42,240
lottery picks this many years into their
career. I when I was thinking about

492
00:29:42,279 --> 00:29:45,599
this podcast, like doing the Wizards
a week ago, I'd realized that like

493
00:29:45,599 --> 00:29:49,599
a very flimsy grasp of what Corey
Kissbert was as a rookie. So I

494
00:29:49,599 --> 00:29:53,880
went back and watched a lot of
Corey Kissberg defensive possessions. There was like

495
00:29:55,519 --> 00:29:57,839
he just understood what was happening away
from the ball and he was built.

496
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,519
Is this What ikne about him coming
out college was well, Kenny defend at

497
00:30:00,519 --> 00:30:03,000
the NBA level, He's just gonna
sling it his three point percent. It

498
00:30:03,079 --> 00:30:06,480
did recover well, not didn't like
it went up towards the end of the

499
00:30:06,559 --> 00:30:08,359
year. What are you looking for
with him in year two? Is it

500
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,880
just like, can we get this
guy to like really juice up his three

501
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,759
point volume and hit it at the
clip that he was to close the season?

502
00:30:14,759 --> 00:30:18,480
And do you buy into what made
him so effective on defense or you're

503
00:30:18,519 --> 00:30:21,920
not effective if you want to say
surprising on defense for this team. Yeah,

504
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:23,519
Like you always expect rogies to not
be very good, but he was

505
00:30:23,599 --> 00:30:27,279
like pretty good for a rookie that
everybody had low expectations for, Like,

506
00:30:27,279 --> 00:30:30,359
he really competed on that end.
I think, you know, pre draft

507
00:30:30,359 --> 00:30:33,680
he did really well and sort of
like the mobility related drills like shuttle drill

508
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,519
and stuff like that. He's kind
of underrated as a lateral athlete, but

509
00:30:38,039 --> 00:30:41,240
he's smart enough to kind of put
himself in those positions. I think multiple

510
00:30:41,319 --> 00:30:45,400
years in a college system playing for
a good coach, like those things seemed

511
00:30:45,519 --> 00:30:48,759
to take hold with him. And
I always think there's something to like,

512
00:30:48,799 --> 00:30:52,680
if you understand offense at a high
level, that can translate to understanding how

513
00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:56,880
to defend offense at a high level. So I think there's some amount of

514
00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,480
that with Corey too. But for
me, the big thing I want to

515
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,160
see from him this year is just
like arc on his jump shot, Like

516
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:07,200
if you go back and watch him
shoot a lot at Gonzaga, like from

517
00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:08,720
the college line, like it didn't
seem to matter to him that he had

518
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,000
this kind of flat shot. And
last year they worked a lot with him

519
00:31:12,119 --> 00:31:17,759
on like just getting a little bit
more shape on the jumper, and this

520
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:21,440
so far this preseason, I got
can really limited sample size, Like it

521
00:31:21,519 --> 00:31:25,440
looked really flat again. So I
think they just need like one assistant coach

522
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:27,359
just like kind of like slap him
on the palm every so often and be

523
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:32,640
like hey, or like in practices
he's like shooting over a broomstick or something

524
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:34,880
to just like get a little a
little additional arc there, because, like

525
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,880
you said, once that kind of
change took hold, the percentage went up

526
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:45,240
like considerably over the course of the
year. Daniel Gafford, will he be

527
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,039
setting Gore Todz screens this season?
Based off what I'm reading? Isn't that

528
00:31:49,119 --> 00:31:55,079
weird? Like as somebody who only
like watches the Wizards, you know intently,

529
00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,680
Like I don't even know what's really
weird by their standards anymore, because

530
00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,839
just like everything is, but you
don't see other teams bring in First of

531
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,559
all, Court had it's like maybe
the third best player of sort of the

532
00:32:05,599 --> 00:32:08,079
wall slash biol Era, which is
wild to think him out anyway, But

533
00:32:08,599 --> 00:32:14,119
teams don't typically like trot in former
players to just come in for two week

534
00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,279
stints as assistant coaches and teach people
how to set screens like that. That's

535
00:32:17,279 --> 00:32:22,920
bizarre from like an NBA level perspective, right, Yeah, I mean you

536
00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:25,920
see it with like Hakima LaJuan used
to work up post games with guys a

537
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:29,640
lot, but it was like independent
of the team. So yeah, that's

538
00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:31,160
a I mean, I'm like,
I'm not privy to the practices and we're

539
00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:36,000
not getting the footage just coming out
of Golden States practices unfortunately. So but

540
00:32:36,119 --> 00:32:37,079
yeah, that is like I was
just reading that. I was like,

541
00:32:37,119 --> 00:32:39,599
oh, okay, and I've by
the way, I've struggled to grap with

542
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:43,480
like I know why you make the
trade anyway, but it's you have Daniel

543
00:32:43,519 --> 00:32:45,960
Gafford and then you traded for Christops
Porzingi. It's like, well, that's

544
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,920
not really like the biggest vote of
confidence and what you want him to be.

545
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,799
And maybe they're just like, look, he might average like eight for

546
00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:53,160
thirty six minutes and any games in
season, so we have to plan around

547
00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:57,400
this a little bit. I think
for like any Wizards fans listening to this,

548
00:32:57,440 --> 00:33:00,480
it might be like an opportunity to
mute or skip or fast forward or

549
00:33:00,519 --> 00:33:04,559
something because i'manna mentioned that Clippers game
last year that was like the darkest day

550
00:33:04,599 --> 00:33:07,279
for Wizards fans in a very long
time. But they took Gafford out of

551
00:33:07,279 --> 00:33:12,680
that game where they gave up that
huge lead, and they kind of blamed

552
00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:15,759
the defense on him after, but
the game really went south after he came

553
00:33:15,759 --> 00:33:20,440
out, So that's what I meant
earlier, Like Gafford weirdly found himself in

554
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:22,880
the dog house a couple of times
last year, like he'll like hunt blocks

555
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:27,799
and sort of overreach on stuff and
do some stuff that you just kind of

556
00:33:27,799 --> 00:33:31,759
expect from young players. I think
maybe we kind of raised our expectations too

557
00:33:31,839 --> 00:33:36,440
high for what Gafford is based on
that short sample size when he first got

558
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:38,960
traded here. But he's somebody that, like I think, has a lot

559
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:42,359
of potential. It's still really young, you know, when you think about

560
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:44,559
him in the context of the rest
of the team, like he's not that

561
00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,480
much older than the Denny's and the
Ruis and stuff like that. So it

562
00:33:47,519 --> 00:33:51,440
was strange to me, but I
thought that was a bad omen for him.

563
00:33:51,519 --> 00:33:54,440
And just the way they've been talking
about Toash Gipps in this offseason,

564
00:33:55,319 --> 00:33:59,039
you know, you'd think that they
just like went out and made this like

565
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:04,119
huge offsea an acquisition, Like I
think it's for spacing five from the corners

566
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,480
Toash Gibson exactly exactly right. Yeah, I mean we've talked about Toash Gibson

567
00:34:07,559 --> 00:34:12,079
the way the Cavaliers talked about adding
Donovan Mitchell, and that says a lot

568
00:34:12,119 --> 00:34:16,360
about what where the Wizards season has
been. But you know, he's he's

569
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:21,360
the one helping them set screens and
and he's in a blowing up cutters in

570
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:24,679
practice and stuff like that. So
it would not shock me to see it's

571
00:34:24,679 --> 00:34:30,320
like in the middle of December and
somehow Taj Gibson has like stolen Daniel Gafford's

572
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:34,599
spot in the rotation because for whatever
reason, he just doesn't seem to be

573
00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:38,719
like a huge west Unseld favorite.
That is wow, that would be that

574
00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:44,599
would be very like Tom Thibodeau,
and of I'm wrong, but I just

575
00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:46,559
I have like a strange hunch just
based on the way that both he and

576
00:34:46,599 --> 00:34:52,760
Tommy Shepard have talked about Gibson.
Do you have any early impressions of Johnny

577
00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:55,320
Davis's game and fit with this team
and whether, like, well they is

578
00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:59,320
he just gonna be breaking case of
emergency or kind of looking at their wing

579
00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:01,719
depth of well, we have wing
depth, but they're not actually wings.

580
00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:05,639
They're like combo forwards, like how
you're mentioning the fours who are three?

581
00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:10,280
Sometimes just anything on him, Yeah, I mean it's not been pretty so

582
00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:15,320
far. Like Summer League was really
bad and I was like there in person

583
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:17,760
for it, and this guy looks
a little smaller than I expected, and

584
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:22,760
you know, sometimes it's just,
hey, this guy's drilling everything in warm

585
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,320
ups and then shots aren't falling because
they've got sort of a weird like we

586
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:29,639
basically punt on Summer League and add
a bunch of like twenty six year old

587
00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:32,440
veterans that will never make an NBA
roster. So he's not even like being

588
00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:37,119
seen in like a very good context. So I'm willing to excuse all of

589
00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:39,280
that kind of stuff. But it's
not looked great in the preseason. It

590
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:45,360
looked slightly better around like other competent
NBA players. I think this again just

591
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:50,440
goes back to what I mentioned earlier
about this fundamental Wizard's problem about role and

592
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:53,440
what they see guys as On draft
night, We're sitting in the media room

593
00:35:53,519 --> 00:35:57,840
and Tommy Shepard gets up and it's
like, man, look at you know,

594
00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:00,760
future point guard Johnny Davis. And
even the way WOA tweeted it out

595
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:05,880
was like the Wizard's draft their point
guard of the future Johnny Davis did that

596
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:07,760
was how that was actually how it
was phrase I did not even notice that.

597
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:10,599
I mean, I said point guard
over the future, but it clearly

598
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:15,079
like referenced like this is a future
point guard for them, and it's clear

599
00:36:15,119 --> 00:36:20,159
that that came directly from Shepherd.
And then they asked west Unseld like literally

600
00:36:20,159 --> 00:36:22,840
five minutes later, Hey, what
do you think about Johnny Davis's ability to

601
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:24,679
play point guard? And he's like, well, I don't think he's ever

602
00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:28,840
done that before, so you know, we'll have to see if he's able

603
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:30,679
to do that or not. So
they already like weren't on the same page

604
00:36:30,719 --> 00:36:36,159
about exactly what that role would be. And then in the first preseason game

605
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:39,519
he looked like slightly more comfortable,
he was kind of off ball. He

606
00:36:39,639 --> 00:36:44,880
just had to cut and defend.
And then later in the second half he

607
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:46,599
came in with some of the reserves
and they were like, hey, you're

608
00:36:46,639 --> 00:36:51,800
now facilitating offense. We want you
to initiate for us, and it looked

609
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,760
bad again. So I think asking
a guy to come in as a rookie

610
00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:59,320
learn the league, learn how to
defend people, but also learn a brand

611
00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:01,320
new position. When Johnny Davis was
a guy that, like in high school,

612
00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:05,559
played more in the post than he
did on the perimeter, so now

613
00:37:05,679 --> 00:37:09,599
you've moved him from basically under the
basket to like your lead backup point.

614
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:15,559
I don't know, it's just a
very I read about him was swingman wing.

615
00:37:15,639 --> 00:37:19,119
I didn't even like, like,
this is not something I didn't even

616
00:37:19,119 --> 00:37:22,880
know that like he was even being
portrayed. Is this like floor general type

617
00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:27,599
in Washington? I had no idea, right, And I think your expectation

618
00:37:27,679 --> 00:37:29,960
is of like what was all of
our expectations of, like, Okay,

619
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:31,719
he'll come in and he'll defend,
and he'll score a little bit off the

620
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:36,519
bench, and we've needed a backup
too for a long time. But maybe

621
00:37:36,559 --> 00:37:40,559
they think Will Barton addresses that enough
for them. So the Davis thing in

622
00:37:40,599 --> 00:37:44,840
this second half of this one of
the Warriors games, when they asked him

623
00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:47,440
to facilitate, it looked bad and
they said like, hey, west Unseld,

624
00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:50,239
why did you do that? And
he talked about like, well,

625
00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:52,920
we really wanted to take him out
of his comfort zone. Which is strange

626
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,840
to me that one your GM thinks
he can be a point guard, but

627
00:37:57,039 --> 00:38:00,320
your idea of taking him out of
his comfort zone is to ask ask him

628
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:05,480
to facilitate. But also you should
probably establish what someone's comfort zone is before

629
00:38:05,519 --> 00:38:07,800
you try to then take them out
of it. So it's just about like

630
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,760
setting guys up to be successful,
and I don't think they're doing that with

631
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:14,559
Davis thus far. So as bad
as it's looked, I think it's as

632
00:38:14,639 --> 00:38:17,159
much of their fault as it is
any byproduct of his level of play or

633
00:38:17,199 --> 00:38:22,320
ability. I mean, some more
of the stories like he just shouldn't be

634
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,920
fact like he then is not factored
into the plans this year because if they

635
00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:29,719
want him to be like a lead
ball handler type, there's not room for

636
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,159
that, Like they don't need that
on this team right now. I wouldn't

637
00:38:32,159 --> 00:38:35,559
think so it wouldn't shock me if
like a third of the way into the

638
00:38:35,559 --> 00:38:38,039
season he started getting some amount of
minutes here and there just to like see

639
00:38:38,039 --> 00:38:42,320
how he looks. Or I don't
know. This team's like always snake bitten

640
00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:45,079
with injuries, so it wouldn't surprise
me if they like suddenly needed him some

641
00:38:45,159 --> 00:38:49,840
amount. If if Bill can't play
as much as they expect with the risk

642
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:53,360
stuff, or Porzingis is out and
they shift everybody down. You know,

643
00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:58,480
if he averaged ten twelve minutes a
game over the course of the season and

644
00:38:58,519 --> 00:39:01,159
four or five points like that would
really surprised me. But if anybody's like

645
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:05,519
looking at the Fandel odds and wants
to bet on Johnny Davis for Rookie of

646
00:39:05,559 --> 00:39:08,719
the Year, like I would caution
them strongly not to do that. Keeping

647
00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:13,400
in theme with this podcast, I
have zero feel for what this defensive ceiling

648
00:39:13,519 --> 00:39:16,719
is supposed to be for this team. I'm not as were like they were

649
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,800
they were first of all, they
were like defensive darlings to start the year.

650
00:39:21,559 --> 00:39:23,519
I'm not as concerned if you tell
me that both gafferd and Perzoncuis will

651
00:39:23,519 --> 00:39:27,239
be healthy, I'm not as concerned
about the volume that they let up at

652
00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:30,639
the rim because at least they'll have
those two guys near there, near there

653
00:39:30,679 --> 00:39:34,920
to make plays. The addition of
Delon Wright helps. I like Monte Morris

654
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:37,360
defensively, I think a lot more
than other people do. Maybe Beal plays

655
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:40,840
more defense than he has over the
past three years, and I think I

656
00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:45,239
like Avia there Ruey positionally gives you
a lot of valuability did for Kuzma.

657
00:39:45,599 --> 00:39:47,320
But at the same time, just
like I look at this group, I'm

658
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,719
like, well, what are they
supposed to be defensively? How like how

659
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:52,519
should they defend? What are their
strengths Do you have any sort of feel

660
00:39:52,639 --> 00:39:58,039
for that with this roster? I
think top to bottom, the defensive personnel

661
00:39:58,079 --> 00:40:00,079
with this group is better than it's
been the last couple of years, like

662
00:40:00,159 --> 00:40:02,719
you know, as a whole.
But I don't know what they're going to

663
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:06,320
try to do. They've gone back
and forth on like what they will and

664
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,599
won't switch. They were sort of
inconsistent about when they'd play zone last year,

665
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:15,239
and it just became like I think
accountability has like always been a thing

666
00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:21,440
with this particular group, and every
year you've got Bill saying some like variant

667
00:40:21,519 --> 00:40:24,119
of like this is the year I
try to make an all defensive team,

668
00:40:24,159 --> 00:40:29,039
and then by ten games in it's
like, well that didn't really last.

669
00:40:29,119 --> 00:40:30,480
And then a third of the way
into the year, he's talking about while

670
00:40:30,519 --> 00:40:35,440
we can't guard a parked car or
worst case scenario. There's a lot of

671
00:40:35,519 --> 00:40:38,800
him saying all their guys need to
start playing defense, and it's just like,

672
00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:44,679
okay, I mean, are we
really okay with Netto switching on to

673
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:47,559
Jason Tatum or whatever. This year's
equivalent of Netto is like down the stretch

674
00:40:47,559 --> 00:40:51,360
of a game, there were so
many times where it was Bill, it

675
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:54,239
was Ish Schmidt, it was Netto, Like you've got to decide what you're

676
00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:58,599
gonna do if you play those types
of players. So for me, I

677
00:40:58,639 --> 00:41:00,599
think just happening like right back up, you know, gives you a little

678
00:41:00,599 --> 00:41:05,559
bit more size and switchability and things
like that. So the best version of

679
00:41:05,559 --> 00:41:08,920
this team is more switchable. You
had Will Barton called Kuzma out the other

680
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,960
night because he missed a rotation like
in real time, which I thought was

681
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:16,119
good from that accountability standpoint, and
then at halftime you had Kuzma talking about

682
00:41:16,159 --> 00:41:21,639
like it's all about communication with this
team, like will be as good as

683
00:41:21,639 --> 00:41:23,400
we can be based on how much
you know, Like our level communication will

684
00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:27,519
dictate how good we are. And
if you sit really close to the court

685
00:41:27,519 --> 00:41:30,599
in a Wizard's game, it's like
being at a library. Like guys are

686
00:41:30,599 --> 00:41:34,679
worried they're going to get scolded if
they're too loud, and just you need

687
00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:37,679
somebody like being the quarterback of the
defense. I don't know that I see,

688
00:41:38,519 --> 00:41:42,719
you know porzingis doing that. So
who's the guy who steps up and

689
00:41:43,039 --> 00:41:45,039
tries to do that for them?
Honestly, I'd love to see it be

690
00:41:45,079 --> 00:41:47,079
Denny because I don't think he kind
of shrinks from a challenge, and I

691
00:41:47,119 --> 00:41:51,199
don't think he's afraid to. You
know, he was willing to call Burton's

692
00:41:51,199 --> 00:41:53,880
out last year twice and getting the
little scuffles with him, So maybe he'll

693
00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:57,599
do that to other guys too.
But somebody has to like be the defensive

694
00:41:57,679 --> 00:42:00,000
leader. I think, do you
think this team is built now to be

695
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:02,960
maybe more aggressive in the way that
they'll defend And will they do that?

696
00:42:04,039 --> 00:42:09,159
Because it's honestly impressive in how not
okay it is that they were so like

697
00:42:09,199 --> 00:42:12,599
they committed a ton of fouls.
I think they were like bottom eight in

698
00:42:12,639 --> 00:42:15,920
foul rate. And then dead last
and forcing opponent turnovers, and so it's

699
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:19,039
like it's almost impressive that you could
be so bad at both. As my

700
00:42:19,119 --> 00:42:22,440
point, yeah, like if you
were just I don't know if you fouled

701
00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:24,719
a ton, but you forced a
ton of turnovers, Like I could live

702
00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:29,119
with that. But to your point
that it's just sort of both extremes there,

703
00:42:29,199 --> 00:42:30,880
and that's like a very wizards thing. I guess from sort of my

704
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:36,000
pessimistic viewpoint, like we seem to
find ways to do the impossible and never

705
00:42:36,119 --> 00:42:39,400
in a particularly good way. But
it should be one of those situations where

706
00:42:40,559 --> 00:42:45,800
like, you you have this team
that you think you've built because they give

707
00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:49,480
you a lot of positional versatility,
Like how do you best use that and

708
00:42:49,559 --> 00:42:52,440
maximize it? I don't know what
they'll do. I think this is really

709
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:55,480
going to be a big year for
West Unseld. I don't think anyone really

710
00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:59,880
loved his coaching job last year,
but rookie head coach is kind of tough

711
00:42:59,880 --> 00:43:04,760
to do. Like, I think
this year will really determine what their defensive

712
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,760
identity looks like. And I don't
really care how they choose to play people,

713
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:09,760
but just like pick something and I'm
not saying stick to it for the

714
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:14,000
whole year if it doesn't work,
but like give it ten games and say

715
00:43:14,039 --> 00:43:16,159
like this is the way we're going
to play and see if you can kind

716
00:43:16,199 --> 00:43:21,800
of make some some strides in that
direction. So I don't know it's that

717
00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:24,239
that's going to be the biggest thing. If this team is like slightly close

718
00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:28,559
to middle of the pack defensively,
I think they're going to have enough offensive

719
00:43:28,559 --> 00:43:32,199
firepower that this is like a higher
end play in team. If not,

720
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:38,440
maybe you're talking about ten eleven twelve
kind of situation. So aside from the

721
00:43:38,519 --> 00:43:43,039
health concerns with some of the players
on this roster, or specifically one of

722
00:43:43,039 --> 00:43:47,960
them, what is like the biggest
concern or weakness that that you're thinking about

723
00:43:49,079 --> 00:43:52,840
leading into the regular season. I
would have loved to to see like a

724
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:57,360
more prototypical three and D wing somewhere
on the roster, Like all the really

725
00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:00,199
good teams stockpile them, and the
Wizards seemingly have none, which is kind

726
00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:06,119
of like almost impossible by today's NBA
standards to not have anybody that's just like

727
00:44:06,239 --> 00:44:08,760
here is a three. It's always
this guy is a two and a half

728
00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:15,000
or you know, three and a
half. It's they're just loaded with three

729
00:44:15,039 --> 00:44:16,599
and a half right now, is
how it feels. Yeah, I mean

730
00:44:16,639 --> 00:44:20,599
that that honestly, that just must
have been like what they were really in

731
00:44:20,639 --> 00:44:22,960
the market for when when drafting.
So it's just that seems to be like

732
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,800
the trend. So I would have
liked to see in something like that.

733
00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:30,400
I think the real fundamental problem here
is that there's not like one glaring hole

734
00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:35,119
or position of need. It's just
they're not particularly good anywhere across the board,

735
00:44:35,159 --> 00:44:38,559
like they could use an upgrade almost
everywhere. Like Monte Morris is probably

736
00:44:38,599 --> 00:44:43,480
a bottom five starting point guard.
If you start Will Bartonet small forward,

737
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:46,880
which seems to be the most likely
scenario here, is he an upper half

738
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:50,480
starting small forward in the NBA?
I would say at this point in his

739
00:44:50,559 --> 00:44:53,679
career, probably not. He'd be
an amazing kind of sixth man, you

740
00:44:53,719 --> 00:44:58,519
know, two three kind of guy. Feel if he's not super healthy and

741
00:44:58,599 --> 00:45:02,400
not shooting in a high percentage,
not guarding anybody, you know like that,

742
00:45:02,079 --> 00:45:07,079
that becomes okay, he is what
he is. He's not maybe an

743
00:45:07,079 --> 00:45:12,320
elite number one scoring option for you. If Porzingis isn't healthy, that's a

744
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:16,119
question mark. Can Gafford be consistent
enough, Like Gafford's twenty four years old,

745
00:45:16,199 --> 00:45:19,880
I think, And he can't seem
to play more than twenty three minutes

746
00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:22,800
a game yet for some reason,
and conditioning is still a question. So

747
00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:27,960
it's just what are these guys like
Kuzma could be more efficient? He could

748
00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:31,000
defend better, like any one position
you could pick out and just say if

749
00:45:31,079 --> 00:45:35,719
if they had someone just better at
that position, it would make a big

750
00:45:35,719 --> 00:45:38,480
difference for them. I think,
do they have any underrated strengths that you

751
00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:42,960
don't think you're receiving enough attention as
we get into the regular season. I

752
00:45:43,039 --> 00:45:47,000
think like secondary or tertiary like creation
is pretty good for them, or playmaking.

753
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:52,079
They've talked a lot about, like
can we use Porzingis as like a

754
00:45:52,119 --> 00:45:54,679
poor Mansio kitchen and let him like
create for people out of like the high

755
00:45:54,679 --> 00:45:58,719
post or given them ball at the
top of the key. And I don't.

756
00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:01,360
I've never seen anything that indicate that
he could do that. But if

757
00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:05,159
you think there's something there, I
don't unlock. And I mentioned I really

758
00:46:05,159 --> 00:46:09,079
think Kuzma's underrated as a playmaker.
This team has just been so bad from

759
00:46:09,079 --> 00:46:14,360
that perspective. The last couple of
years that it's like one or two guys

760
00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:17,000
dribble around so much and then maybe
they give somebody the ball at the end

761
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:21,159
of the shot lock but the end
of the night, like Kuzma Drove kicked

762
00:46:21,159 --> 00:46:23,519
it out to delan Wright who like
you know, hot potato touch bastt to

763
00:46:23,599 --> 00:46:28,599
Ruey who the ball hit him in
the chest because his hands weren't up even

764
00:46:28,639 --> 00:46:30,039
though he was wide open in the
corner, and by the time he caught

765
00:46:30,039 --> 00:46:32,599
it, he bricked a three.
Like, these guys are just going to

766
00:46:32,639 --> 00:46:37,679
have to Like I think they have
better passing personnel than they've had previously,

767
00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:39,800
and it's just like, can everybody
kind of get used to that and expect

768
00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:43,719
the ball more and be in positions
and be ready to score. So if

769
00:46:43,719 --> 00:46:45,679
they can do that, I think
this actually could be like a really potent

770
00:46:45,719 --> 00:46:49,599
offense. And the lot right will
help with that, Like he will keep

771
00:46:49,599 --> 00:46:52,079
them. This is not someone who
like sort of you know, stumbles or

772
00:46:52,119 --> 00:46:54,679
wanders into decisions like he's really he
won't dribble if he doesn't have to dribble,

773
00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:59,679
and so hopefully just playing with him
probably will make people like Ruey a

774
00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:02,639
little bit more better, more aware, with those incoming passes. And I

775
00:47:02,639 --> 00:47:07,199
think the other thing with Right is
just the point of attack. Defense I

776
00:47:07,199 --> 00:47:08,920
think is going to be so much
better with this team. Like you can

777
00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:13,519
say what you want about Wall,
but after getting the Supermax and once he

778
00:47:13,559 --> 00:47:17,559
started to get dinged up, the
defensive effort was really inconsistent, Like Westbrook

779
00:47:17,639 --> 00:47:23,800
didn't really guard anybody, like for
long stretches of that year, Dinwitty was

780
00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:28,800
like a traffic cone for most of
his time here. Netto and his Schmith

781
00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:31,920
were really undersized. Like this is
probably the best like two man defensive group

782
00:47:32,039 --> 00:47:36,440
that they've had at point for I
don't know for as long as I can

783
00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:39,719
remember, So I think Morris is
underrated. But but Right has already been

784
00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:43,400
a guy that just finds a way
to like get into passing lanes, get

785
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:45,519
his hands on balls, get deflections. So I think that that's like a

786
00:47:45,519 --> 00:47:50,199
big boost for them. One of
my favorite things to do is to try

787
00:47:50,239 --> 00:47:52,280
and figure out, like what top
ten rotations look like heading into the regular

788
00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:57,679
season. They're obviously subjects. For
Chains, I have eight or nine locks,

789
00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:00,320
maybe even ten pencil Then for the
Wizards, why I have Horris,

790
00:48:00,400 --> 00:48:05,440
Bill Barton, Kuzma, KP Delawn
right, Avia, Gafford, and Hachamura

791
00:48:05,679 --> 00:48:08,599
were just my nine locks, and
then I have kiss Burg Penzilan after that.

792
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:12,239
Is that what you would guess or
would you see like someone else being

793
00:48:12,280 --> 00:48:16,559
able to sneak into this? Yeah, I mean I think obviously. Yeah,

794
00:48:16,599 --> 00:48:20,039
I mean honestly, if Tash Gibson, like I said, is a

795
00:48:20,079 --> 00:48:23,320
major factor into this rotation, it
wouldn't really surprise me, which is probably

796
00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:27,639
not like a great sign for the
year that Gafford's having if they're willing to

797
00:48:27,679 --> 00:48:30,159
do that. But again, they've
just been like too high on him for

798
00:48:30,199 --> 00:48:35,199
them to not Like people thought that
signing was like maybe them trying to get

799
00:48:35,239 --> 00:48:37,320
like their Judonis Hazel, like this
old er, tough veteran to come in

800
00:48:37,559 --> 00:48:40,840
and teach these guys how to be
a pro. But I don't think that's

801
00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:45,079
really what they're thinking. So if
he found his way into this group,

802
00:48:45,679 --> 00:48:52,199
you know, that's that's something like
we've had a joke in sort of the

803
00:48:52,199 --> 00:48:53,920
fan base, and we even made
t shirts for our podcast about it.

804
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:57,599
But like the Wizards are putting the
mid in mid Atlantic, Like if you

805
00:48:57,679 --> 00:49:01,039
listen, if you look at that
real list, like there's a lot of

806
00:49:01,039 --> 00:49:07,639
just sort of like average guys,
and you know, guys five through eleven

807
00:49:07,719 --> 00:49:09,800
are all kind of about the same, and I think that's kind of the

808
00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:15,119
problem with them. They just need
some upgrades somewhere. This is to some

809
00:49:15,239 --> 00:49:19,119
extent matchup dependent, But what would
be your go to crunch time unit for

810
00:49:19,119 --> 00:49:21,760
this team? Is it just the
starting five or the It seems like this

811
00:49:21,800 --> 00:49:24,079
team has the potential to futs and
fiddle with that. I think I would

812
00:49:24,079 --> 00:49:30,199
probably go with the starting five for
the most part. I think you need

813
00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:35,079
to see really how Barton defends this
year. I didn't watch a ton of

814
00:49:35,159 --> 00:49:37,280
his play last year, but it
did feel like the previous years to that,

815
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:40,239
like the defense was starting to slip
a little bit. So maybe down

816
00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:44,800
the stretch you see somebody a little
bigger, like a Denny with that group

817
00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:47,599
or Ruy or whichever one of them
is kind of having the better overall year.

818
00:49:47,679 --> 00:49:52,480
Can Denny play, Can Denny be
enough of a threat offensively for them

819
00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:55,679
to feel comfortable closing games with him, then it's probably him. If Rui's

820
00:49:55,760 --> 00:50:00,320
like much better defensively or much more
consistent defensively than maybe it's him. I

821
00:50:00,360 --> 00:50:05,719
personally really like like Delan Wright closing
games with this team because I actually buy

822
00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:09,199
the shooting. I think the size
defensively really helps. And again, like

823
00:50:09,239 --> 00:50:13,320
a lot of games got lost for
them really close down the stretch last year

824
00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:15,679
when they ended up with these mismatches
of like Tatum shooting over a guy that

825
00:50:15,800 --> 00:50:21,039
was eight inches shorter than him.
And that's how Tatum is winning games against

826
00:50:21,039 --> 00:50:23,239
all these teams in the NBA.
But I trust, you know, Right

827
00:50:23,519 --> 00:50:27,480
or somebody like that to give him
a little bit more of a challenge than

828
00:50:27,519 --> 00:50:31,239
somebody like Morris would just from kind
of a size perspective. Is there a

829
00:50:31,280 --> 00:50:35,800
weirdo, bonkers, quirky, off
the beaten path lineup that you'd like to

830
00:50:35,840 --> 00:50:39,800
see Weisenfeld roll out this season?
So Kuzma actually asked for this directly to

831
00:50:39,840 --> 00:50:43,559
close out the year last year,
and he said he wanted to play minutes

832
00:50:43,639 --> 00:50:46,440
next to both Denny and Ruey.
So to me, I'd love to see

833
00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:52,719
some variation of like, right,
Kuzma, Denny, Ruey Gafford and just

834
00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:58,119
like be weird and run or even
Kuzma at the five for some amount of

835
00:50:58,119 --> 00:51:00,639
that, and you put kiss Burt
out there with them and just sort of

836
00:51:00,679 --> 00:51:05,599
be this like weird hopefully switchable five
guys and just try to like put pressure

837
00:51:05,639 --> 00:51:07,480
on people and you let maybe Denny
push the pace and things like that in

838
00:51:07,519 --> 00:51:10,960
transition and just try to play fast
with that group I think would be you

839
00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:14,679
said, weird, not good,
weird. So I have no idea if

840
00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:16,079
that would be like an effective group
or not, but it's something I at

841
00:51:16,159 --> 00:51:20,400
least like to see. Yeah,
it's like though they could be morbidly curious.

842
00:51:20,400 --> 00:51:22,679
That's what a lot of mine were, and minor along the similar lines.

843
00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:24,039
Especially, I find it like,
after you said you wanted to see

844
00:51:24,079 --> 00:51:28,480
Kuzma with the five earlier in the
podcast, give me like the all three

845
00:51:28,559 --> 00:51:31,159
point five and two point five lineup, Let's just go with Kuzma, Hachimura,

846
00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:35,400
Denny, Avya, kiss Bert's out
there, and then look, fuck

847
00:51:35,400 --> 00:51:37,840
it, let's throw Anthony Gil in
there too. And I can't imagine that

848
00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:42,320
would be great offensively, but there
might be some like defensive potential there.

849
00:51:43,079 --> 00:51:45,559
You mentioned Gil too, and that's
kind of the one that I drew a

850
00:51:45,559 --> 00:51:49,320
blank on. Gill is interesting,
and the Wizards have this thing where like

851
00:51:50,199 --> 00:51:53,079
you saw Anthony Gill start this preseason
gave me of the night against Charlotte with

852
00:51:53,119 --> 00:51:55,800
Beal out, and they made it
very clear that like he was taking Beal's

853
00:51:57,079 --> 00:52:00,440
spot in the starting five because they
didn't want to men like mess up their

854
00:52:00,480 --> 00:52:05,519
bench rotation. So they even reference, like, yo, you might see

855
00:52:05,519 --> 00:52:08,199
Anthony Gill will get some starts this
year, so they're not afraid to just

856
00:52:08,199 --> 00:52:12,199
like take somebody like that who hasn't
played in like four games and just make

857
00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:15,039
him a starter randomly out of nowhere, which I will personally never understand.

858
00:52:15,119 --> 00:52:20,199
But it's been like a very typical
thing in Washington. So I don't know

859
00:52:20,239 --> 00:52:23,280
if I would say he's consistently in
the rotation, but it wouldn't surprise me

860
00:52:23,320 --> 00:52:25,719
to see him get like seven or
eight starts this year out of nowhere.

861
00:52:27,760 --> 00:52:31,400
The Wizard's win total over under as
we record this is thirty five point five

862
00:52:31,719 --> 00:52:36,480
or would you take the over or
the under on that I would take the

863
00:52:36,559 --> 00:52:39,199
over. I always take the slight
over with them every year, and I

864
00:52:39,280 --> 00:52:44,159
think it's worked out a decent amount
of the time. To me, I

865
00:52:44,199 --> 00:52:46,599
think this is probably like a round
a five hundred team, give or take.

866
00:52:46,719 --> 00:52:51,400
I think the health kind of swings
that a couple games here or there.

867
00:52:51,440 --> 00:52:54,519
But if they're a thirty eight win
team, Like I wouldn't be surprised

868
00:52:54,519 --> 00:52:58,880
at the end of this year,
just because you got relatively close to that

869
00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:04,199
last year without Porzingis for most of
the season and without Bill for a long

870
00:53:04,239 --> 00:53:07,679
stretch of the season, and without
really knowing what you had from Kuzma,

871
00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:09,519
and really was a wall for the
first third of the season. Like so,

872
00:53:10,079 --> 00:53:14,000
I think if you have all those
guys back in and just more like

873
00:53:14,199 --> 00:53:19,400
competent guys around them, with Wright
and Barton and Morris, it would I

874
00:53:19,440 --> 00:53:22,079
would be very surprised if they're not, you know, kind of high thirties

875
00:53:22,119 --> 00:53:27,719
at least. I went over when
we and I was smashing every single over

876
00:53:27,840 --> 00:53:30,880
on these podcasts where I had to
force myself, you need to sit down

877
00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:34,719
and start making cuts, and then
we actually did myself my cost Grant here's

878
00:53:34,760 --> 00:53:36,880
that we did our over underpod that
he hasn't come out yet, but I

879
00:53:36,920 --> 00:53:39,159
went over on the Wizard so they
made the over cut. It feels a

880
00:53:39,159 --> 00:53:43,440
touch too low, and I think
part of that for me, Well,

881
00:53:43,440 --> 00:53:45,559
I want to ask this question first, how many teams right now would you

882
00:53:45,599 --> 00:53:49,599
be willing to say the Wizards in
the East are definitely going to be better

883
00:53:49,639 --> 00:53:52,719
than this season. I mean I
would if we want to go through them

884
00:53:52,719 --> 00:53:55,880
all, we can definitely think it, like it's Indie for sure, Indie

885
00:53:55,920 --> 00:54:00,800
for sure, Orlando for sure.
I think Troit for sure. I mean,

886
00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:06,039
although I like Detroit, I just
think they didn't have a ton of

887
00:54:06,039 --> 00:54:08,000
incentive to try to make the playoffs
this year. If it happens, it

888
00:54:08,079 --> 00:54:12,960
happens. Charlotte I think, is
the worst team in the East. Oh

889
00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:15,360
that is I guess if you're thinking
that Lamel is not going to play a

890
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:17,960
lot, then apps a fucking movie. Yeah, so I think you could

891
00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:21,360
probably you could get to four where
you could say, Okay, they'll be

892
00:54:21,360 --> 00:54:24,239
better than them. I still feel
something. There's something about Orlando. Man,

893
00:54:24,280 --> 00:54:27,360
their guard plays not gonna be good, but I'm in love with Powell,

894
00:54:27,360 --> 00:54:30,320
Bank, Caro and just their ultra
big lineups. Then you mentioned Kade

895
00:54:30,320 --> 00:54:34,039
in Detroit, so there's like,
but I think four right now? Is

896
00:54:34,079 --> 00:54:39,639
this a team though, where let's
say they're eleventh around the trade deadline and

897
00:54:39,760 --> 00:54:43,920
that they're closer to thirteenth than they
are to tenth. Is this a team

898
00:54:43,920 --> 00:54:46,960
that's gonna make a move to try
and get into that plane or is there

899
00:54:47,039 --> 00:54:50,920
still the potential for them decide,
hey, like we need to pull back.

900
00:54:50,920 --> 00:54:52,639
We have some expiring contracts, Like
maybe we're gonna lean into I'm not

901
00:54:52,639 --> 00:54:58,119
even saying trade Bradley Beel, but
we're gonna lean into like a full on

902
00:54:58,280 --> 00:55:02,480
retooling or a on retooling again,
like or part of me going over This

903
00:55:02,599 --> 00:55:07,239
is my justification. The Wizards to
me are in sort of that same vein

904
00:55:07,280 --> 00:55:12,360
of the Knicks, is that they're
going to always unless unless someone gets injured,

905
00:55:12,400 --> 00:55:15,519
basically Bradley Beal, They're just going
to be going for it this year.

906
00:55:15,519 --> 00:55:17,599
I would say that they're more likely
than the Knicks to be like,

907
00:55:17,639 --> 00:55:20,760
oh, if we're not as good
as we want to be, fuck it

908
00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:22,280
this season, Like, well,
I love another gap year. But I

909
00:55:22,400 --> 00:55:24,880
view them very much in that same
vein, maybe even as the Bulls too,

910
00:55:24,920 --> 00:55:29,239
where I don't know that those teams
would have the gall or feel like

911
00:55:29,280 --> 00:55:32,679
they have the incentive to, you
know, pull back this season and just

912
00:55:32,719 --> 00:55:37,239
punt on it. I don't know
a ton of billionaires personally, so this

913
00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:38,880
is sort of an uninformed take,
but I just don't see a lot of

914
00:55:38,920 --> 00:55:44,599
them like willing to like fully backtrack
on things they've been adamant amount publicly,

915
00:55:44,679 --> 00:55:47,320
and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis has said
like, we will not tank. So

916
00:55:47,639 --> 00:55:52,239
they've unfortunately kind of done it unintentionally
and not well enough to like really help

917
00:55:52,320 --> 00:55:57,400
themselves from a draft position. But
I don't think there's any world where they

918
00:55:57,519 --> 00:56:00,119
just like cut bait and give it
up. And I don't think that Tommy

919
00:56:00,159 --> 00:56:04,719
Shephard will want to do that either, because he's probably not the guy to

920
00:56:04,920 --> 00:56:07,280
lead a full rebuild if that happens, because it's admitting the last couple of

921
00:56:07,360 --> 00:56:10,960
years haven't worked. So I think
it's much much more likely that they would

922
00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:15,880
double down and try to make a
move and buy at the deadline, then

923
00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:17,760
like sell off a bunch of stuff
now that maybe you could say, like,

924
00:56:19,880 --> 00:56:22,199
Okay, we've got to get something
for Kuzma and try to recrup value

925
00:56:22,239 --> 00:56:25,559
that we could make a trade in
the off season to try to be good

926
00:56:25,599 --> 00:56:29,800
next year if it's like really not
working out or somebody goes down with that

927
00:56:29,880 --> 00:56:34,320
injury. But I think if the
health is good and they're they're in striking

928
00:56:34,400 --> 00:56:38,800
distance, I think that's probably a
pretty high likelihood that they're trading somebody in

929
00:56:38,840 --> 00:56:43,639
a first round pick to try to
get an upgrade somewhere. I agree,

930
00:56:43,639 --> 00:56:45,960
and I made the case and I
got absolutely annihilated for it on Twitter,

931
00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:51,559
mostly by Knicks fans that Washington is
a more I don't even know if the

932
00:56:51,599 --> 00:56:55,159
words appealing, but they have more
blockbuster equity than people are crediting when you

933
00:56:55,159 --> 00:56:58,800
look at the types of contracts,
they have a salary matching it just even

934
00:56:58,800 --> 00:57:00,880
intriguing players, Like they're teams that
would want Monte Morris. There are teams

935
00:57:00,880 --> 00:57:05,719
that would Denny Avdia is sort of
like not the blue chip prospect in the

936
00:57:05,719 --> 00:57:10,159
deal, but him or kiss Bird
or maybe in point guard Johnny Davis apparently,

937
00:57:12,079 --> 00:57:14,440
And if you get into the season, this was the more of my

938
00:57:14,480 --> 00:57:17,840
story, and it looks like the
Wizards, if they make a material upgrade,

939
00:57:17,840 --> 00:57:22,960
are going to convey this twenty twenty
three pick. Why would you not,

940
00:57:22,440 --> 00:57:24,639
historically, looking at this team,
be like, oh, if they're

941
00:57:24,639 --> 00:57:28,599
gonna give us distant first round picks, like, yes, we'll make that

942
00:57:28,679 --> 00:57:31,199
deal. And you're still technically not
guaranteed to get them their conditional contingent upon

943
00:57:31,239 --> 00:57:37,000
that Knick's obligation. But if they're
like in that mix and you're giving them

944
00:57:37,079 --> 00:57:38,800
a good player, I think they
are. I don't know, I don't

945
00:57:38,800 --> 00:57:42,360
know how i'd recommend that they do
this, But to me, they aren't

946
00:57:42,440 --> 00:57:45,400
under the radar. Oh, they
came out like where we kind of saw.

947
00:57:45,679 --> 00:57:49,880
Did we all think one of Cleveland
or Minnesota was gonna make a Blockwestern

948
00:57:49,920 --> 00:57:52,519
trade? Maybe we definitely thought Atlanta
was going to but like the Minnesota or

949
00:57:52,559 --> 00:57:57,000
Cleveland's that just decided we're gonna go
for it. They're a team that I

950
00:57:57,039 --> 00:58:00,679
could see doing something similar and are
equipped to do something similar more than most

951
00:58:00,679 --> 00:58:05,239
people have talked about. Yeah,
I mean, by all accounts, they

952
00:58:05,239 --> 00:58:08,920
were kind of in the talks for
Donovan Mitchell, they were in talks for

953
00:58:09,159 --> 00:58:13,960
John Ta get a participation trophy.
Yeah for sure. That's sort of like

954
00:58:14,559 --> 00:58:17,400
Wizard's fandom in a nutshell is just
like going for participation trophies, like we

955
00:58:17,400 --> 00:58:21,960
were considered, and that's like really
big for us. Like I think we're

956
00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:23,840
still sort of like scorned by the
Like we couldn't even get a meeting with

957
00:58:23,920 --> 00:58:28,360
Kevin Durant, so they just like
get our named mentioned on the jump or

958
00:58:28,360 --> 00:58:31,199
something like that is big for us
as a fan pace. So I think

959
00:58:31,239 --> 00:58:34,519
that's all they were trying to do. Is like tell people like, hey,

960
00:58:34,559 --> 00:58:37,119
we're open for business, and whether
or not they do have like the

961
00:58:37,199 --> 00:58:40,280
juice to pull that off, it
is sort of we'll see. It depends

962
00:58:40,320 --> 00:58:44,800
on really who the person is,
because they don't have a lot of ability

963
00:58:44,840 --> 00:58:46,639
to throw a lot of picks into
these deals right now, so that that's

964
00:58:46,679 --> 00:58:51,440
really what limits them, I think
is how much people are willing to take

965
00:58:51,480 --> 00:58:54,960
on Denny Ruey Kissper Johnny Davis,
those kind of people. I'm just like,

966
00:58:55,039 --> 00:59:00,119
if an O, G N and
Obi becomes available and you have any

967
00:59:00,480 --> 00:59:04,039
and like I just they feel like
and I can't even name the players,

968
00:59:04,039 --> 00:59:06,360
but there's always there's always a next
player, even if it's only a freind

969
00:59:06,400 --> 00:59:07,800
star not a star. We just
saw that, like this offseason, there's

970
00:59:07,800 --> 00:59:10,639
always just someone's gonnacome available. I
would just keep my eye on them,

971
00:59:10,840 --> 00:59:14,000
is all. Whether you agree with
that's what they should be doing or not.

972
00:59:14,280 --> 00:59:16,199
I think they have the acid equity
to get involved in some of those

973
00:59:16,199 --> 00:59:21,400
glitzier conversations. If Brandon Ingram decides
he can't play next to Zion and that

974
00:59:21,440 --> 00:59:23,199
just doesn't work for them, Like
is that the guy you you throw a

975
00:59:23,199 --> 00:59:27,440
bunch of guys at and maybe you
have some shooting and stuff that they'd want

976
00:59:27,480 --> 00:59:30,320
next to Zion. I don't know. I don't know that Dale Brown pists

977
00:59:30,400 --> 00:59:32,480
that the Celtics tried to trade him
for Kevin Durant a couple of weeks after

978
00:59:32,519 --> 00:59:37,880
making the finals, Like, xactly
is there anything or anyone with regards this

979
00:59:37,880 --> 00:59:40,320
he might did not ask you about? You think we need to cover?

980
00:59:42,599 --> 00:59:45,599
No, I mean, I think
we've kind of hit all of the high

981
00:59:45,679 --> 00:59:49,840
points here. It's just a question
of, like the Wizards are our fan

982
00:59:49,880 --> 00:59:52,559
bases at this point, We're like
we're having really spirited debates about like should

983
00:59:52,559 --> 00:59:57,360
we just give a contract out right
to undrafted rookie Quinton Jackson because like there's

984
00:59:57,400 --> 01:00:00,039
just not a ton of things that
people are super full about, So like

985
01:00:00,079 --> 01:00:05,079
we're really latching on to just like
hear these guys that didn't get drafted,

986
01:00:05,119 --> 01:00:08,880
can they be like marginal you know, like fringe rotation guys for us and

987
01:00:08,880 --> 01:00:10,960
stuff like that. So that's kind
of where we're at. I think we

988
01:00:12,079 --> 01:00:15,800
hit the high knocks pretty much well
from the million foot view. For me,

989
01:00:15,840 --> 01:00:19,239
there at least are fascinating because I
just don't have any idea what to

990
01:00:19,320 --> 01:00:23,400
expect necessarily from them this season,
Matt, this was great. In case

991
01:00:23,400 --> 01:00:27,960
anyone skip the intro, are you
able to tell them where they can find

992
01:00:28,000 --> 01:00:30,159
you and all the great work that
you put out. Sure if anybody goes

993
01:00:30,199 --> 01:00:34,199
to Bolts Forever dot com, I
do a good amount of writing there.

994
01:00:34,280 --> 01:00:37,639
Also hosted the Belief in Wizards podcast
b L e A v I n w

995
01:00:37,840 --> 01:00:40,760
I z A r ds. I
had hosted that with Larry Hughes for the

996
01:00:40,800 --> 01:00:45,320
last couple of seasons. Larry's taking
some time to work with family and stuff

997
01:00:45,320 --> 01:00:47,000
like that. His son just enrolled
at the University of Saint Louis where he

998
01:00:47,039 --> 01:00:51,000
went or St. Louis University.
Excuse me, so we're working on like

999
01:00:51,039 --> 01:00:54,559
a replacement or more Blair co host
So maybe you have something exciting to announce

1000
01:00:54,639 --> 01:00:59,360
their coming up. But oh yeah, if you want to talk more more

1001
01:00:59,400 --> 01:01:02,440
Wizards, we're here. Matt.
Thank you so much for being so generous

1002
01:01:02,440 --> 01:01:05,960
with your thought. This is a
blast and I will definitely be stamming your

1003
01:01:06,039 --> 01:01:07,760
dms to come back on in the
future. Appreciate it, Dan, keep

1004
01:01:07,800 --> 01:01:08,960
up with the work, looking forward
to it.