1 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:21,199 What is krack Alakin fellow thermonuclear a efforts. I am at Dan Valley joined 2 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:26,280 by Matt Maderno of the Believe in Wizards podcast. Please follow him on Twitter. 3 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:29,800 He's a great great follow at Matt Maderno. That's at M O, 4 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,320 D D E R and O for his last name. Matt spelled with two 5 00:00:33,359 --> 00:00:36,600 teas exactly as it sounds. Does a great job covering the Wizards. Like 6 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:41,840 I said, as the Believe in Wizards podcast host, the Wizards are making 7 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,240 news in the playoffs, which is uncomfortable for everyone because they're not really in 8 00:00:45,359 --> 00:00:50,280 the postseason as as right on schedule if you were watching them the past few 9 00:00:50,359 --> 00:00:53,920 years. So I brought Matt on here's not kind enough to come on short 10 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:58,119 notice to discuss just the Wizard's outlook the future, what happens in the aftermath 11 00:00:58,159 --> 00:01:02,439 of Tommy Shepard being quote un dismissed. Wasn't a parting of the ways like 12 00:01:02,479 --> 00:01:06,799 we normally here he was. He was dismissed. Our biggest question, though, 13 00:01:06,879 --> 00:01:10,840 Matt, how are you doing? I'm great, Like I'm happier than 14 00:01:10,879 --> 00:01:12,879 I should be. That someone lost their job and now has to find another 15 00:01:12,879 --> 00:01:17,719 way to feed there doesn't like children. But yeah, sorry, I feel 16 00:01:17,719 --> 00:01:19,599 bad, but like we just needed something fresh here and start fresh, and 17 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,799 I've been waiting a long time for this. I always grapple with that in 18 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:29,000 what we do, because you're constantly calling for not constantly, but part of 19 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,040 the job. The stick is talking about when people need to be fired. 20 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,560 I'm not sure if this is the way to rationalize it, but when they're 21 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:38,519 making as much money as they do, when you know they're as well connected 22 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,359 as they are, and that these jobs technically lead to other ones, it's 23 00:01:42,439 --> 00:01:46,480 just a little bit different. I would never root for someone to lose their 24 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,879 job, but it's just it's the nature of the beast, and it's different 25 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:55,120 than if average Joe or Jattage ends up getting fucked in the real world. 26 00:01:55,239 --> 00:01:59,120 Is just hard, Like this is a game and you're getting paid handsomely to 27 00:01:59,719 --> 00:02:04,359 deal with the instability that is inherent of not just running a team, but 28 00:02:04,439 --> 00:02:07,200 playing for a team if you're a player, and so on and so forth. 29 00:02:07,519 --> 00:02:10,000 This guy kept the job. He was largely mediocret for over twenty years, 30 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,759 so like, again, I don't have a ton of sympathy at this 31 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,400 point, and I'm sure he'll get another job. He's like a genuinely nice 32 00:02:16,439 --> 00:02:21,680 guy and a well liked guy, so someone will find a room home for 33 00:02:21,759 --> 00:02:23,400 him somewhere. And to be honest with you, I thought it was honestly 34 00:02:23,479 --> 00:02:28,360 more likely he would get promoted than fired. So it doesn't mean that he 35 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,319 won't come back with the Wizards in some capacity down the road here. So 36 00:02:32,759 --> 00:02:36,240 well, the other thing, I didn't realize he you would mentioned this on 37 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,639 your podcast that he recorded meeting in the aftermath of and I'm just gonna keep 38 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:43,039 saying dismissed because it just felt like such a perfect ring. Yeah. I 39 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,639 didn't realize he had like thirteen kids or whatever it was. I knew he 40 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:47,599 was from like a farmer, like a big farmer or something like that, 41 00:02:49,039 --> 00:02:51,960 but I did not know he had that many children. Every time I say 42 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:53,759 it, there's going to be more kids. So eventually he'll have just like 43 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,919 his own basketball team running around at home. I don't remember what the exact 44 00:02:58,039 --> 00:03:00,039 number is, but the man's don't work. I don't know what else to 45 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:06,199 say. Well, let's start with this before we get into the implications of 46 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:07,800 it. And if we're not, I'm not going to pest you too much 47 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,319 about his track record. Though, please feel free to mention about why he 48 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,400 is where he is. You did a great job of covering that with your 49 00:03:14,439 --> 00:03:19,240 guest was Ozma and Bay I can't remember his name. I apologize, so 50 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,280 go check out that podcast again believe in Wizards. But were you surprised at 51 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,479 all that this happened or did based off some of the things that Shepard said 52 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,919 at the end of the season, even the letter he whatever it was released 53 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,400 to fans, did you see this writing on the wall a little bit? 54 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,759 Honestly, I was totally floored by by the decision. The Wizard don't usually 55 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:40,680 do things that surprised me, and in this case, pleasantly surprised me. 56 00:03:40,879 --> 00:03:46,199 I talked to somebody that had been in the organization longer than Tommy had immediately 57 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,319 after the move, and they were equally surprised, just because he was so 58 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,240 well liked and so well entrenched in the kind of fabric of the organization. 59 00:03:53,319 --> 00:03:57,000 This has been sort of a mom and pop, you know, like local 60 00:03:57,159 --> 00:04:00,439 community run organization for so long, and they took don't move on from people 61 00:04:01,199 --> 00:04:04,599 quickly, and not that twenty plus years is quick, but they also don't 62 00:04:04,639 --> 00:04:09,039 move on from people with years left on their contracts very often, and that's 63 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:11,800 by all accounts, you know what Tommy had left. It's always a little 64 00:04:11,879 --> 00:04:14,439 vague, you know, how much time he had and that sort of thing. 65 00:04:14,479 --> 00:04:17,639 But everyone was under the assumption that he would be here for another like 66 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:23,120 two years at a minimum. So yeah, definitely surprised. I think within 67 00:04:23,199 --> 00:04:25,920 the halls of the building they were surprised. And the wording was what was 68 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,560 kind of most surprising to me. This guy that is well liked and that 69 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,720 you didn't seem to have a problem with a week ago is dismissed. I 70 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,600 know you liked that word. I was very shocked by that wording too, 71 00:04:36,079 --> 00:04:42,199 and they kind of pointed to the lack of playoff success and fans unhappiness with 72 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,920 it over the last two seasons. So if you've got an owner that says, 73 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:47,480 you know, we will never ever tank and you were basically in a 74 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,040 position where you had to tank down the stretch, I don't know if that 75 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:54,279 was too big of an ego hit for him to overlook or what, but 76 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:59,639 it was a little surprising just just because of that. Yeah, I can't 77 00:04:59,639 --> 00:05:02,199 get over the wording. I found it borderline hysterical. It was just like, 78 00:05:02,519 --> 00:05:05,319 did he watch like Ruby hatch Moore in Game one against the Girlies, 79 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,560 like fuck this like rich time for change or something? Wait, didn't we 80 00:05:09,639 --> 00:05:13,040 have him? Right? And what do we get from Kendrick Nunn and second 81 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:15,680 round picks is that it's gotta be something to do with it, right, 82 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,399 just just how bad you look to the rest of the league and the fan 83 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:25,759 base if if that guy goes off and if he points to how fans were 84 00:05:25,759 --> 00:05:29,759 disappointed that the Wizards missed the playoffs, and my read on most Wizards fans 85 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,279 anyway, there are some and kudos to them, would they've come up with 86 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:36,040 ways to defend the Wizards, which is just it's honestly impressive at this point, 87 00:05:36,079 --> 00:05:41,639 but uh it, My read on the fan base is they're more mad 88 00:05:42,079 --> 00:05:46,800 that they Washington has strived to remain on the treadmill of sub mediocrity than how 89 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:51,639 these seasons have ended. That they might be more angry that the expectation was 90 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:57,079 that this team could make the playoffs. Playoffs are worse that the expectation or 91 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:01,879 the goal is to actively just be that like forty one to forty four win 92 00:06:02,399 --> 00:06:06,879 territory first round exit type of team. They're at the ultimate like fork in 93 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:11,160 the road basketball wise, like be bad or go all in to be good, 94 00:06:11,199 --> 00:06:15,000 and they're trying to go with this unbeaten path down the middle with this 95 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:17,800 like middle build is the term we keep hearing, and that is a directive 96 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:21,839 from Ted Leonsis. So I looked at this a little bit, as they 97 00:06:21,879 --> 00:06:26,439 told Tommy, this is your direction. You have to build a successful air 98 00:06:26,519 --> 00:06:30,720 quote successful who knows what success criteria is for them, but a playoff team 99 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,480 with this approach, and no one else is really good enough to do this, 100 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:36,839 So we're going to hold you to this impossible standard. And he wasn't 101 00:06:36,879 --> 00:06:40,720 succeeding in the path that they wanted to go down, and it seems like 102 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,680 he he kind of paid the press for that. But yeah, Wizards fans 103 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,519 would have either loved, Hey, we're going to do something crazy and try 104 00:06:46,519 --> 00:06:50,319 to make the succeed here and at least make the playoffs and be a real 105 00:06:50,399 --> 00:06:56,279 playoff team, or blow this thing up completely and get everybody out of here 106 00:06:56,399 --> 00:06:59,839 and start fresh with the clean deck. And they'll just never do that, 107 00:07:00,079 --> 00:07:02,519 Like I mean, maybe maybe a new big time GM will come in and 108 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,800 convinced ted that this approach does not work. But I would be very shocked 109 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:12,600 if that's the case. Personally. One thing that was encouraging is that the 110 00:07:12,639 --> 00:07:15,959 executive search they he made it a point the once has made a point to 111 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,600 say it's going to be someone from outside the organization, which would be the 112 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,360 first time since two thousand and three they had someone running their front office from 113 00:07:21,399 --> 00:07:27,720 out brought them into outside the organization. Is that actually encouraging or do we 114 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,560 kind of point to his wording in the statement about Tommy Shephard where he's so 115 00:07:30,639 --> 00:07:34,360 disappointed that they didn't make the playoffs as oh and also this and I'm not 116 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:38,959 saying he necessarily should be fired, but saying that the coach is attached to 117 00:07:38,959 --> 00:07:41,879 this team is always a great way to start off a new relationship with the 118 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:45,439 head in front office. Is this going to be more of the same? 119 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:47,839 I saw immediate Bradley Beale trade talk when he asked her out. Would they 120 00:07:47,879 --> 00:07:50,199 look to move him? To me, it feels like it's going to be 121 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:54,199 more of the same. But I'm like eight million miles away from this, 122 00:07:54,319 --> 00:07:58,759 So what is your impression of the way that this search is going to unfold. 123 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,519 Is it gonna be to look for someone who kind of just like oh, 124 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:05,800 can you continue the middle build? Essentially, I think almost anybody that 125 00:08:05,839 --> 00:08:09,240 takes this job is going to go into it with the understanding that Ted wants 126 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,240 to be a playoff team next year, and he will see, you know, 127 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:18,399 losing these guys in free agency, trading away Beals as a failure or 128 00:08:18,439 --> 00:08:22,399 inability to do that, or like a way to compromise their playoff chances for 129 00:08:22,439 --> 00:08:26,040 next year. So I think they're going to go on business as usual. 130 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,240 Their first order of business for the new GM will be bring both of those 131 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:35,080 guys back, make Bradley Beal happy. The only way that Beal is not 132 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:37,440 here in the future is if Bradley Beal says I don't want to be here 133 00:08:37,519 --> 00:08:43,279 in the future. That's the only thing that changes this. And if I'm 134 00:08:43,279 --> 00:08:46,000 Brad at this point, I haven't shown anything that says I'm going to want 135 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,720 out of here. And Brad had some interesting comments at the end of the 136 00:08:48,759 --> 00:08:54,519 season about voicing his frustration to the appropriate people and clarifying to media who apparently 137 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,279 had it twisted that Brad is not actually the GM of the team and they 138 00:08:58,279 --> 00:09:01,279 should talk to Tommy and Ted with spec to why the team isn't winning more 139 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:05,120 so I do kind of wonder if maybe Brad went to Ted and said, 140 00:09:05,159 --> 00:09:09,399 hey, this is not working. I offered to show you some patience, 141 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,159 and I'm so gracious and I haven't been rewarded for that with a playoff team 142 00:09:13,159 --> 00:09:18,279 around me. I don't know, but I think Ted is committed to Brad, 143 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:22,120 and I think the new GM is gonna have to be okay with that. 144 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,960 The only way that changes if maybe you can convince, you know, 145 00:09:26,039 --> 00:09:28,279 one of these big time gms to come in here and they have just enough 146 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,200 cachet and track record to convince Ted that, like this does not work, 147 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:37,039 you cannot do it this way. Otherwise, I just don't see them pivoting 148 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,720 from something they've been trying to do for a very long time, Like this 149 00:09:39,759 --> 00:09:43,399 was the path under Ernie too, Like they were just better at it because 150 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:48,120 they had, you know, a player in John Wall that made other guys 151 00:09:48,159 --> 00:09:52,080 around them slightly better. But it was mostly just a how do we trade 152 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,960 a first round pick for another fringe starter to help us make the eight seed 153 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,240 again? Like this is this isn't new, and I don't expect, you 154 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,320 know, I don't see a reason to expect it to change. Personally, 155 00:10:01,759 --> 00:10:07,600 would have been your impressions of west On Sell Junior through his first couple of 156 00:10:07,639 --> 00:10:11,679 seasons. Is it tough to evaluate him given some of the roster turn that 157 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:13,279 he had and then just a level of talent and then what do you sort 158 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:18,600 of make It felt like if you read through some of the comments that Shephard 159 00:10:18,639 --> 00:10:22,000 made this year, kind of felt like he put the onus of the underachieving 160 00:10:22,159 --> 00:10:24,759 on coaching and injuries. Of course, because they're the only team to leave 161 00:10:24,799 --> 00:10:28,200 that dealt with injuries. Quite frankly, he put the onus on those things 162 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:33,120 rather than necessarily anything transactional that he had spearheaded. Yeah, somehow we're like 163 00:10:33,159 --> 00:10:35,759 still blaming COVID for the fact that we're not a good team. And to 164 00:10:35,759 --> 00:10:39,320 be fair, Brad Beal has had COVID like eleven times more than the average 165 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,720 person, so so maybe there is some truth to that. But he did 166 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:45,480 graduly beal quiet. No one really talks about it like he was good this 167 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:48,879 season two when he played, So when he played is the huge ends to 168 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:54,399 that sentence. And if you've gotten sixty five games of Brad, then maybe 169 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,159 this looks a little different. So that's that's sort of the big piece of 170 00:10:58,159 --> 00:11:01,159 this too, is just that Brad was the he's healthy of the two between 171 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:05,360 him and Porzingis. Is kind of not what I would have expected going into 172 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:09,200 the season. But yeah, it's just the whole situation. But this is 173 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:15,919 just sort of weird. And I think Tommy was fine in the vacuum. 174 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:20,440 West is probably fine in a vacuum. I think the real problem is just 175 00:11:20,519 --> 00:11:24,360 like accountability from the top down. It's always somebody else's fault, and the 176 00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:26,559 players see that and they even sort of go to that approach as well. 177 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:31,600 You saw Monte Morris, who was by all accounts, you know, wes 178 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,360 Unzel's chosen son from Denver, saying that like, yeah, we told them 179 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:37,919 from day one that this team needed to play a lot faster, and you 180 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,120 saw we were better when we played faster. We don't know why the coaches 181 00:11:41,159 --> 00:11:45,279 didn't let us play faster. So you've got Corey Kisper talking about the lack 182 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,840 of accountability in the locker room and things like that. To me, that 183 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,600 all sounds like coaching stuff. And then you have West and his people kind 184 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:54,919 of advocating that no, no, no, this is a personnel thing, 185 00:11:54,519 --> 00:11:58,279 like I can't do what I want to do because these guys aren't getting it. 186 00:11:58,399 --> 00:12:01,399 And that's where the comments you mentioned about Shepard saying it's really easy for 187 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:03,840 the coach to say that these guys aren't listening. You have to make them 188 00:12:03,879 --> 00:12:07,519 listen, basically. So I think the fault is kind of all around. 189 00:12:07,799 --> 00:12:13,159 I'm sure that Wes like if he were in a nicely structured organization with some 190 00:12:13,279 --> 00:12:16,200 like strong culture in place, he could be a perfectly fine XS and o's 191 00:12:16,279 --> 00:12:20,919 guy. And you know, maybe you have a strong enough veteran that gets 192 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,279 people to buy in around him, But that doesn't seem like it's happening here. 193 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:26,559 I personally, that's where I would have moved on from someone. I 194 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:33,080 actually just haven't seen anything super inspiring from him. But we talked about this 195 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,279 a little bit in our pod, just sort of the notion of can this 196 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,120 team really afford to clean house on both the front office and the coaching staff 197 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:43,320 in the same summer with such a huge draft pick coming up and things like 198 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:48,080 that, maybe it's better to give him one opportunity here, and maybe you 199 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,320 can supplement his coaching staff with sort of like, you know, basically put 200 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,840 his replacement next to him and just give him a chance to coach for his 201 00:12:54,919 --> 00:12:58,279 job and see how it works. We've seen teams put pressure on their head 202 00:12:58,279 --> 00:13:01,519 coach by by putting a strong assistant next to them, and you know, 203 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,039 I don't know if that's an option or not. I feel like those situations 204 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:09,639 never end well for the incumbent head well for us as Wizards fans. I 205 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:13,279 don't know. To me, it would just be a matter of delay the 206 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,840 inevitable. And if that's how you feel as an organization about West Unsel Junior, 207 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,600 then you should move on from West. Why why delay they? Especially 208 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,279 because whether your goal is to middle build or actually get better from here, 209 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,519 like Bradley Beal's not super young anymore, like you're on his timeline, you 210 00:13:26,519 --> 00:13:31,960 don't just have years to punt away and experiment with. Is there? We 211 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:37,080 both agreed that they're just not gonna I would be floored, although I guess 212 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:39,639 if they would, they be more likely to consider a more gradual course. 213 00:13:39,759 --> 00:13:43,159 If they jump up in the lottery, they go from they lost a coin 214 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,159 toss, so they're eighth or whatever is and they jump into the top four, 215 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:50,039 would that make them more likely to rebuild or would they be more likely 216 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,720 to shop the fuck out of that pick. This is an organization that traded 217 00:13:54,759 --> 00:13:58,480 the fifth pick in the Steph Curry draft for Mike Miller and Randy Foy, 218 00:13:58,639 --> 00:14:03,679 so you can never fully ruled out. Now that was the previous owners directive 219 00:14:03,759 --> 00:14:07,159 to see a winning team before he died as morbid as that sounds, so 220 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:11,679 you know there's something to that, and maybe they wouldn't do that under normal 221 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:15,200 circumstances, but it's got to be a question they ask, right like we've 222 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,000 seen that with Portland saying that they're going to trade the pick unless it's like 223 00:14:18,039 --> 00:14:22,279 the first pick that might have been something on Tommy Sheppard's radar. I hope 224 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:26,399 no competent GM that comes in to replace him thinks that that's a sound strategy. 225 00:14:26,559 --> 00:14:30,360 And as much as you get ownership directive, you can also go back 226 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:31,080 to them and say, like, look, there's not a deal here. 227 00:14:31,159 --> 00:14:35,679 So I hope that they would communicate that the ownership that there's no solid deal 228 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:41,960 here where you trade Amen Thompson for I don't know, somebody. It's just 229 00:14:41,279 --> 00:14:45,519 van Fleet sign and trade or something. Yeah, exactly like the salaries going 230 00:14:45,519 --> 00:14:48,000 out and have to make sense too, and there's just not a lot of 231 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:50,559 flexibility for them. You know, because we can talk a little bit about 232 00:14:50,559 --> 00:14:54,360 what they resign these guys for here in a minute. But there's also just 233 00:14:54,399 --> 00:14:56,399 like not a lot of trade assets on this team. You're limited to one 234 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:03,320 pick you can trade essentially, And does anyone really want Daniel Gafford that bad 235 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,320 that he's like a huge trade chip? Is Corey Kisspert like somebody? The 236 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:09,360 teams are like falling over each other to try to line up and get It's 237 00:15:09,399 --> 00:15:13,039 just how much like bigger of a get are you going to go out? 238 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:16,440 Are you adding a fourth star to your big three to have a huge four? 239 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:20,720 I don't know, It's just it's it's rough. I think you have 240 00:15:20,759 --> 00:15:24,879 to hope that this pick is somebody that can come in and fit with the 241 00:15:24,919 --> 00:15:28,840 pieces around you and move the needle at least, if not exactly this year, 242 00:15:28,279 --> 00:15:33,480 maybe for next year. I think it'll be. It should be fairly 243 00:15:33,519 --> 00:15:37,080 easy in theory to determine what direction the Wizards are headed based off who they 244 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:43,960 hire to replace Shepherd. But is there another sort of flashbulb decision that will 245 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:46,440 clue you in on even if it's not you know, we know, we 246 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:48,480 know it's not going to be rebuilt. I don't know why I'm trying to 247 00:15:48,519 --> 00:15:54,320 dance around it, But is it Kyle Kuzma's contract? This seriousness of kp 248 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,440 extension talks another player that they might chop on the roster, players they're linked 249 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,200 to to the draft, that will clue you in. Are you just looking 250 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:04,759 at one decision that will clue you in on what this franchise is actually hoping 251 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:08,679 or trying to accomplish before the start of next season. I think just the 252 00:16:08,799 --> 00:16:12,440 nature of both of those contract extensions will tell us a lot about these things. 253 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,720 Like we had heard as a fan base that you know, it's sort 254 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:21,720 of been subtly reported that the front office offered Bradley Beald the no trade clause 255 00:16:21,759 --> 00:16:23,919 and things like that, that they were not negotiating tactics, that they came 256 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,600 to the table and said, here are all the things we can give you, 257 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:33,960 here you go. So it just the shrewdness of their negotiating with people 258 00:16:33,039 --> 00:16:37,919 like porzingis like, if the deal is four years, one hundred and twenty 259 00:16:37,919 --> 00:16:42,600 million, but there's a team option and it's incentive based on how many games 260 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,759 he's able to play and does he make an All Star team and things like 261 00:16:45,799 --> 00:16:49,000 that, and they're not willing to just totally give him the farm. Then 262 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,240 you know, maybe that says that like, yeah, we want you back, 263 00:16:55,279 --> 00:16:57,000 but we're not willing to be stupid to do it. Hey, Kyle 264 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:02,360 Kuzma, we'd love to have you, but thirty three million dollars a year, 265 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:03,359 it's just not going to work for us, and we don't think you're 266 00:17:03,359 --> 00:17:07,000 going to get that in the open market. So if you want to explore 267 00:17:07,039 --> 00:17:11,160 that first and come back to us, fine, Like I think that says 268 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,240 a lot about you know, Hey, we like these guys. We want 269 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:15,920 to keep building this approach, but we're not going to help you're desperate to 270 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,440 do it, and that's sort of they've reaked a little of desperation for the 271 00:17:19,519 --> 00:17:22,119 last I don't know, twenty five years, So so this would be a 272 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,480 change in approach, I think. And let's get into some of that. 273 00:17:26,559 --> 00:17:30,559 And look, I want to ask you about Corey Kissbert Runners and Xavier Cooks 274 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,319 his future with the organization. But that's what if you're kind enough to come 275 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:37,279 back on for our regular season look ahead, those are questions pertaining to that. 276 00:17:37,319 --> 00:17:41,839 We have to get to the transactional nature of this offseason. And so 277 00:17:41,079 --> 00:17:45,640 let's start with prozingis who had. It's not a season, and this I 278 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:47,720 don't mean this as an insult. It's not a season that flew under the 279 00:17:47,799 --> 00:17:49,839 radar. I think everyone kind of understood how good he was all year, 280 00:17:51,279 --> 00:17:53,960 and his availability was up there. I've personally, from what I saw of 281 00:17:55,039 --> 00:17:57,599 him, I haven't seen him move that well defensively since he was in New 282 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:03,240 York. But there's also the when you're talking about his next contracts, I'm 283 00:18:03,279 --> 00:18:06,480 curious as to what your number would be as Max is forty point two million, 284 00:18:06,519 --> 00:18:10,880 which is basically close to what his player option is for the player. 285 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,400 But like some of the stuff, the efficiency from beyond the arc off the 286 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,400 catch, I think that can easily translate. He takes some tough shots and 287 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:22,640 they were going in this year forty seven percent on fadeaways. I think I've 288 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:26,359 mentioned this on our podcast before. He shot sixty percent on post ups, 289 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:30,720 which among everyone who had one hundred post ups this year, only Yokich had 290 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,480 better for seeing the post I just don't know if you can scale that ahead 291 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,359 to future seasons and count on that. So that coupled with his availability, 292 00:18:37,599 --> 00:18:41,559 but also coupled with how fucking awesome he was this season, like what is 293 00:18:41,559 --> 00:18:47,079 your as an organization, like what's your preferred or even walk away or like 294 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:49,400 this is as high of a number in as many years as I'm going for 295 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,960 for KP. I think the subtle rumblings here that he and his people know 296 00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:59,759 that he's either taking big up for rent money or longer term sort of financial 297 00:18:59,759 --> 00:19:03,759 security, and hopefully they're on the same page about what that really means if 298 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,319 honestly, I think like four four one twenty is like kind of where I'm 299 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,519 at with this, Like if you start somewhere around that general number and oh 300 00:19:11,559 --> 00:19:15,039 it ends up being a million and a half more per year than that, 301 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,920 like like, so be it. But I don't have any kind of reasonable 302 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,400 comps prepared to say, like this is the exact number it has to be. 303 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:22,359 And honestly, I think he's a hard person to come up with a 304 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,839 comp four because guys that play as well as he played this year aren't free 305 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:32,240 agents like that often, I feel like, and they also don't typically come 306 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,119 with the injury track record that he did. I agree with you about the 307 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,559 movement he talked a lot about, like losing the weight he bulked up with 308 00:19:37,599 --> 00:19:41,640 in Dallas and doing a lot of pilates at yoga and working on flexibility and 309 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:47,599 mobility, and I thought that really like made sense and seemed to help Myles 310 00:19:47,599 --> 00:19:48,440 Turner a lot. Sorry to interrupt you too, but like, no, 311 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,799 he talked a lot about his hit movement after he had started doing stuff along 312 00:19:52,799 --> 00:19:55,279 those lines. And so maybe, and to your point, by the way, 313 00:19:55,559 --> 00:19:56,960 there's if you really think about it, I think they're in a class 314 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,839 of their own in terms of proven track record. There's Miles Turner, Brook 315 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:06,599 Lopez, and Christops. Porzingis is sort of those actual floor spacing rim protecting 316 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,920 bigs that anyone's chasing. And after that it's unless I'm missing someone. I 317 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:15,519 mean, maybe you throw nas Read or Nagy into that a little bit, 318 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,319 but they're not like in the same tier. And so like that's what to 319 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:25,200 me makes Porzingis even tougher to define. He talked about sort of is this 320 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:27,279 like something we can expect for him next year in terms of some of these 321 00:20:27,319 --> 00:20:30,279 efficiency things, and beys with you, I don't even actually think he was 322 00:20:30,319 --> 00:20:36,160 that well utilized this year personally, Like for anybody that's watching Wizards games, 323 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,200 they would know he would go supernova in the first quarter and then not touch 324 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:42,359 the ball again for the next two quarters, and they never ran like Bradley 325 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:47,119 beule Perstaps porzingis pick and roll to end games. He just kind of stood 326 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:52,440 there and hoped he got a look, which is an insane misuse of your 327 00:20:52,599 --> 00:20:56,160 tools at your disposal in my opinion. But I think there's a lot of 328 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,119 stuff they could do to get him like better looks. Even so maybe he 329 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:03,200 can't make all the same tough stuff or he's not gonna like hit post ups 330 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:04,839 at the insane rad he did this year, because that's not what the track 331 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:08,160 record, you know, seems to indicate. But but if you were like 332 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,279 smarter about this, and then again, that's maybe the sole reason why I 333 00:21:11,279 --> 00:21:15,119 would have gone a different direction coaching wise, or I'd asked, you know, 334 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,359 an offensive coordinator to come in here and find some creative ways to use 335 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:22,440 him. But but there's some stuff you could do there to kind of mitigate 336 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,680 any drop off in terms of just like maybe if some of those things were 337 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:27,279 like a little lucky this year. At least that's where I'm at with him. 338 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,400 I will say what I was pleased with by them, and this is 339 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,759 nothing related to his value. Is that post ups were like less than eighteen 340 00:21:33,799 --> 00:21:36,599 percent of his offensive possessions, which was his lowest in years. And I 341 00:21:36,599 --> 00:21:38,519 think that's it's nice to have that tool in the chest, but those are 342 00:21:38,559 --> 00:21:41,319 not I don't want my bread and butter on offense. And I think we 343 00:21:41,319 --> 00:21:47,000 saw even the Mavericks maybe in part because Porzingis wanted that that might show growth 344 00:21:47,039 --> 00:21:48,400 to him as a player, that he is willing to be used in different 345 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:55,559 ways or navigated this season where you said he was deployed inconsistently. There there's 346 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:57,240 like a sweet spot of that, right, Like, I'm okay with that 347 00:21:57,279 --> 00:22:00,000 total number, and I wanted to be on the lower end. But there 348 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,319 were also certain times where, like I'm thinking of these two heat matchups, 349 00:22:03,319 --> 00:22:07,640 specifically where Jamal Kane, which I don't even honestly know who that is and 350 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:11,759 I watch a lot of basketball, was guarding Kristaps Porzingis and there was like 351 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:18,160 a nine inch height difference, and we had Porzingis like seventeen feet from the 352 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,559 hoop shooting fadeaways over him, and it was just like, Okay, I 353 00:22:21,559 --> 00:22:25,359 will bang my face into the table now if he fades over this guy again. 354 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,079 So again, they're just like certain situations where like like, that's the 355 00:22:29,079 --> 00:22:32,640 best what we could do with Kristaps. And I'm not saying like you want 356 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,839 forty percent of his shots to be post ups, but situationally, you gotta 357 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:41,319 make teams pay for putting fred van Fleet on porzingis you know, in the 358 00:22:41,319 --> 00:22:45,759 final five minutes of a basketball game. Your evaluation of him, I think 359 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,319 is kind of spot on, and I don't think it will give any one 360 00:22:48,319 --> 00:22:52,119 sticker shock. But even if it does, I think we're in I'll include 361 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:56,839 myself in this. We're not all yet caught up to looking at contracts against 362 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,200 the new salary trap, and your number is like twenty one two percent of 363 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,920 the projected salary cap, but it might go It's gonna go up from there, 364 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:06,960 and it might even go up from the one thirty four million projection. 365 00:23:07,279 --> 00:23:11,640 I think that's a fine commitment for me personally if I'm going higher in dollars, 366 00:23:11,759 --> 00:23:15,480 but if more importantly, if I'm going out more than two years, 367 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,680 there needs to be like some sort of back end protection against team options if 368 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:22,079 you get hurt or something. Yeah, for just because of his track record, 369 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:26,759 and I think they should have the leverage to include some of that language. 370 00:23:26,799 --> 00:23:32,599 I would think just because who is the team that is coming in and 371 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:34,799 leveraging you into this huge offer. Do you look at the cap space teams? 372 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:37,680 Or Lando doesn't need them, and that's assuming they decide to use cap 373 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,880 space. The Pacers don't need them. The Spurs like, he doesn't really 374 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,160 fit with their timeline, although in theory I guess they could use him. 375 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,680 And so like you start to go through the cap space teams and it's just 376 00:23:47,759 --> 00:23:51,039 like even if Detroit uses cap space, they have eighty centers still, so 377 00:23:51,039 --> 00:23:52,880 it's not gonna be It's not going to be them. And so there's always 378 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,079 signing trade scenarios of course that can come on. But the absence of this 379 00:23:56,279 --> 00:24:03,319 clear Kristops porzingis suitor at the moment, I think should help the Wizards. 380 00:24:03,519 --> 00:24:06,200 I would assume in negotiations to where no, you're not going to get him 381 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,920 for a cut rate, but like, let's not go and screw ourselves here 382 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:15,160 like you arguably did in the Bradley Beal as you describe it, non negotiation, 383 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,000 the Wizards under Tommy Shepherd would be as the kids say, seemingly thirsty 384 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:23,480 a lot of these times, like it's you know, like we want Kristapp's 385 00:24:23,519 --> 00:24:27,519 back so bad, and he actually he doesn't get why free agents don't want 386 00:24:27,519 --> 00:24:30,359 to come here. It's yeah, because they literally, you know, get 387 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,920 your ass as much as they can. So it'll say a lot about this 388 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,240 new gem is how he handles that, Like if he negotiates from that position 389 00:24:37,279 --> 00:24:41,400 of strength, understands that he does have leverage. I think that sets the 390 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:45,599 tone for how this organization moves over the next four or five, six years, 391 00:24:45,599 --> 00:24:48,759 whatever that looks like. And that's just sort of the number I came 392 00:24:48,839 --> 00:24:52,160 up with. Again, I don't know if that's rational or realistic. I'm 393 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:56,759 with you that you got to build some protections in there. I do have 394 00:24:56,839 --> 00:25:00,200 like a little bit of PTSD as a Wizards fan with this sort of incentives 395 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,480 based on games played, because that happened with Spencer Denmity and he, by 396 00:25:03,519 --> 00:25:07,440 all accounts played hurt to try to get to that number that got him those 397 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:12,759 incentives. So you know that there's there's some it's tough, like you know, 398 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,160 like will the guy do what's best for the team if his salaries on 399 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,880 the line. So you got to navigate that the right way and hopefully that 400 00:25:21,079 --> 00:25:25,799 they're fair and reasonable. We've heard some stuff about Porzingis and his team and 401 00:25:25,799 --> 00:25:27,759 his brother and all these people maybe being tough to deal with. So I 402 00:25:27,799 --> 00:25:33,519 don't know what that'll look like in a negotiation, but we just can't operate 403 00:25:33,559 --> 00:25:36,759 as a desperate team anymore. And if he doesn't like what we're willing to 404 00:25:36,799 --> 00:25:38,799 spend, then so be it. Will sign and trade you somewhere and we'll 405 00:25:38,799 --> 00:25:44,240 start new and Daniel Gafford's the center next year. Speaking of Daniel Gaffer, 406 00:25:44,319 --> 00:25:47,440 this is definitely more of a later in the summer, after the roster set 407 00:25:47,519 --> 00:25:49,799 question. But I am curious, what did you think of the Porzingis Daniel 408 00:25:49,799 --> 00:25:52,799 Gaffer front court that was being rolled out there for a huge chunk of this 409 00:25:52,799 --> 00:25:56,440 season. I think there were a lot of times where they had to do 410 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:00,160 it out of necessity, just because of the like flawed roster balance here. 411 00:26:00,279 --> 00:26:02,880 I don't like it personally. I think it's hard enough to win with one 412 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,119 drop coverage big in the NBA, let alone two of them playing next to 413 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:11,279 each other for twenty minutes a game. But it's just they did what it 414 00:26:11,319 --> 00:26:12,960 was supposed to do. It deterred teams from kind of taking the ball into 415 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,839 the paint against them. Teams actually shot a pretty good percentage against the two 416 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:19,680 of them out there at the rim against put those two in the courts, 417 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,000 they just didn't get there as you put it out, which is, yeah, 418 00:26:22,039 --> 00:26:26,160 exactly like you've you've deterred them. But once they got there, they 419 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:29,920 had a pretty easy time of scoring on both of you because neither of them 420 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:33,680 are like the strongest, most physical guys, and Gafford's always like kind of 421 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,240 fallen down and stuff like that, and you know it just it speaks to 422 00:26:37,279 --> 00:26:41,160 this sort of the team that Tommy Shepard built. And as much as he 423 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,200 wants to call that out, and let's knock West for doing it, but 424 00:26:44,799 --> 00:26:47,440 there is a sort of like a thing in basketball where sometimes you have to 425 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,279 put the five best guys you have on the court together and do your best 426 00:26:49,319 --> 00:26:53,359 to make it work. And I think there were definitely situations where the poorest 427 00:26:53,559 --> 00:26:57,799 perimeter defense forced them to try to have this like bigger back line. And 428 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:03,480 now you've got Porcing who just isn't a very good rebounder and not the Gafford's 429 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:07,759 like the best rebounder. So it was basically rebounding by committee, and you 430 00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:10,400 hope Porzingis can get ten a game. You hope Denny can get a to 431 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:14,000 game, you hope Delon Right can get three or four, and just you 432 00:27:14,039 --> 00:27:17,319 can kind of mitigate that as a team. And that's sort of where I 433 00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:21,440 think they were trying to go with that. But if I'm a competent general 434 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,000 manager, I'm going into next season with making it a priority to not have 435 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,240 that be my starting front court if if I can, I mean, then 436 00:27:27,279 --> 00:27:30,640 you watch more of the overall NBA than I do. Do you see any 437 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:36,200 other teams playing two drop bigs together, like maybe Cleveland you could kind of 438 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:37,920 say that, but they're both more switchable than both of our guys. I 439 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:45,039 think, Yeah, Mobley's like basically defending at the point of attack. Yeah, 440 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:47,759 I mean, it's sort of the Detroit scenario where they were talking about 441 00:27:47,799 --> 00:27:49,559 the two big model, but it was like, well, you need like 442 00:27:49,599 --> 00:27:52,039 at least one of those bigs to be super versatile on defense, and you 443 00:27:52,079 --> 00:27:56,519 don't really have that. And I'm with you. I was surprised at how 444 00:27:56,519 --> 00:28:00,319 well they fared offensively, But when I was digging deeper for the like sending 445 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:04,039 you the outline, they got some absurd shot making from the liners that they 446 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,640 shot like fifty seven percent on log mid range jumpers and then forty four percent 447 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,839 from three and that's they're not profiting up those numbers, and the defensive returns 448 00:28:11,839 --> 00:28:15,200 were just not Yeah, okay, teams didn't get to the rim, but 449 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,279 they shot well once they got there, as you mentioned. So I think 450 00:28:18,279 --> 00:28:21,599 the goal would need to be like, hey, that's breaking case for emergency. 451 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:22,640 You want to try it a little bit against certain teams, sure, 452 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:27,000 go ahead, But as sort of this crutch, I'm glad that you don't 453 00:28:27,039 --> 00:28:30,920 buy it because I just I don't see it, which means they'll double down 454 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,000 on it, just because we both said that, and it makes too much 455 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:37,440 sense. Kyle Kuzma's free agency, he has a thirty million dollars player option. 456 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:41,920 He's going to the climate. It's arguably it's more interesting, but then 457 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:45,200 also tougher because I think he's just going to be the player with more suitors. 458 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,920 And I don't have the Porzingia's question I had my own answer to. 459 00:28:49,319 --> 00:28:52,000 I don't have an answer to this same question for Kyle Kuzma, which is 460 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,200 why I wanted to ask you it. I think he's made strides as a 461 00:28:55,799 --> 00:29:00,279 driver playmaker since he's been in Washington. But the plugin play aspect of his 462 00:29:00,319 --> 00:29:02,960 game, Like he can still cut, but that's not really how they use 463 00:29:03,039 --> 00:29:07,119 him. The spot up shooting was not good this year, and so I 464 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:11,240 do wonder if on other teams could he theoretically be harder to plug in if 465 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,599 he's not going to have the same offensive agency that he had in Washington this 466 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,759 season. And so I'm all over the place with him. What is knowing 467 00:29:17,799 --> 00:29:22,119 what he brings to the roster as currently constructed? What is your sort of 468 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,720 again Max's number for Kyle Kuzma. I think he has more value to the 469 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:32,440 Wizards than he does probably anywhere else he's gonna go, just based on the 470 00:29:32,519 --> 00:29:34,960 multiple holes they try to use him to fill. Now, I do think 471 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,240 what you do with him really is dictated on do you think if you make 472 00:29:40,279 --> 00:29:44,039 other moves to the roster you can mitigate some of those deficiencies for him. 473 00:29:44,039 --> 00:29:48,359 Like we talk a lot about our podcast about it's a pro Kyle Kuzma podcast 474 00:29:48,359 --> 00:29:52,839 because I just like that mold of player. But if you have a real 475 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,839 point guard that gets him a few easy looks, Like he's the guy that 476 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:57,960 always catches the grenade for the team, and he has to take the tough 477 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:02,319 shots because a lot of times he's out there with a corps of guys that 478 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:06,839 really can't generate their own offense. And Monte Morrisey had this great assist to 479 00:30:06,839 --> 00:30:08,920 turnover ratio and things like that, but he's not creating like a lot of 480 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:14,160 easy looks for anybody, especially Kyle Kuzma. So if you know, going 481 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,079 into it, like he's going to have to handle the ball and distribute as 482 00:30:17,119 --> 00:30:21,160 your six ten power forward, you're relying on him for a lot of things 483 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:26,079 that I don't think he's he's super well suited to do as at the usage 484 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:29,640 rate they asked him to do it. Now, you gonna have a long 485 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,279 convo with him of how he sees himself. Is he think he's yannest moving 486 00:30:33,279 --> 00:30:37,119 forward and he needs to have like the ball thirty percent of the time and 487 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,480 he actually wants more usage or does he agree that, hey, if he 488 00:30:40,519 --> 00:30:42,839 could be a little more catch and shoot or you know, get downhill a 489 00:30:42,839 --> 00:30:47,359 little bit more because somebody's like create a few looks for him and you have 490 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,880 the spacing for him to cut and find seams and things like that. So 491 00:30:51,119 --> 00:30:53,759 it's just there's still a lot of like unanswered questions about what you're going to 492 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:59,160 do around him, and I think that dictates what his long term future really 493 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,519 should look like year at the very least to me, Like, I think 494 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:06,880 that mold of player is so important to successful teams. A guy that can 495 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,480 play three through even five for some cases. That he's an elite defensive rebounder 496 00:31:11,559 --> 00:31:15,400 by all accounts, So I think he's like ninety second percentile for power forwards 497 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,160 or forwards in the NBA for defensive rebounding, and you need those kinds of 498 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,240 things next to Porzingis, and I think that's underrated. There were a lot 499 00:31:22,279 --> 00:31:26,039 of times he deployed. They deployed him as their stopper defensively, Like we 500 00:31:26,119 --> 00:31:30,279 talk a lot about Denny's defense, and he's very good, but like when 501 00:31:30,279 --> 00:31:33,079 they're matched up with the Blazers and you're putting Kyle Kuzma as your first option 502 00:31:33,119 --> 00:31:37,759 to stop Dame Lillard, like one that says a lot about you're not having 503 00:31:37,759 --> 00:31:41,839 a very balanced roster. But dude, like you can't really replace that with 504 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,440 anyone else here, So like I buy him, But again, there's there's 505 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,920 sort of that breaking point, and I don't have like a great number for 506 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:52,000 you here. Too, but I would start with somewhere around that number I 507 00:31:52,079 --> 00:31:55,400 talked about with Porzingis, Like, is it is four for thirty the number? 508 00:31:55,559 --> 00:31:57,400 Are there a lot of incentives that you build in there for him if 509 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,000 you're worried about a fishing and see, like, hey, if you're this 510 00:32:00,079 --> 00:32:04,000 efficient, we can give you some more stuff like I don't know how much 511 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:07,440 that's realistic or not, but he's gonna have a lot of offers. And 512 00:32:07,119 --> 00:32:09,799 I would just kind of like firmly come in with, hey, we think 513 00:32:09,799 --> 00:32:13,799 this is a really fair offer. We don't want to negotiate back and forth 514 00:32:13,839 --> 00:32:15,720 with you a lot. If you like it here, do you want to 515 00:32:15,759 --> 00:32:19,279 stay here? Take this? But we're not going to get into a bidding 516 00:32:19,279 --> 00:32:23,799 war with Portland or whatever for your services. And I think thirty is probably 517 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:27,279 the number we're talking about at this point. And I don't know if that's 518 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:31,039 if you can build a winning team around giving thirty million dollars to a guy 519 00:32:31,079 --> 00:32:36,960 that was that inefficient, as much as I like him personally, having Kuzma 520 00:32:37,039 --> 00:32:39,000 Porzingis and Bradley Bell on the books for thirty plus million dollars and as she 521 00:32:39,039 --> 00:32:44,559 would beat wild just in just be like the most, that'd be the oddest, 522 00:32:44,599 --> 00:32:47,440 like thirty plus million dollars Trio in the league by far for no all 523 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:51,400 stars among the three of them, which is crazy? Is and would you 524 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:53,440 agree? I guess that Kuzma, by de flaw is almost a bigger flight 525 00:32:53,519 --> 00:32:58,680 risk then porzingis. Yeah. I just think there's more teams that can envision 526 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:01,799 him fitting in because of that versatility, like porzingis is one thing. He 527 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:07,640 is a big you know, shooting specialists essentially that that protects the room for 528 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,279 you somewhat. And Kuzma can be a three, he could be a four, 529 00:33:10,559 --> 00:33:13,319 he could be a small ball five. If you need him to. 530 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,559 He can be your de facto backup point guard like that. Malluability I think 531 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:22,960 gives him more places to land potentially. The last singular player I have a 532 00:33:22,039 --> 00:33:27,440 question about is denni Apia. Is he I did? I demanded you say 533 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,039 one to seven nice things about him in the actual outline, But and I 534 00:33:30,039 --> 00:33:34,200 will do a victory lap every time he someone bounces off him on a physical 535 00:33:34,279 --> 00:33:37,039 drive or if he takes more than three point three three point attempts in a 536 00:33:37,079 --> 00:33:39,640 game. But is he more likely at this stage, it's impossible I'm asking 537 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,799 me a possible question. Because you don't know who's gonna be running the front 538 00:33:42,839 --> 00:33:45,880 office, would you view him is more likely to be extended or traded this 539 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:50,240 off season? Knowing the typical Wizards meld would be they just keep him, 540 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:52,240 he goes into restrict to free agency, and they pay him. Well, 541 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:53,759 I guess they didn't do that with Ruis. I shouldn't say the typical Wizards 542 00:33:53,759 --> 00:33:59,680 thing. The Wizards have not extended a first round draft pick outside the top 543 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:04,400 three since before I was born. I'm pretty sure it's the statistics so that 544 00:34:04,559 --> 00:34:07,480 they just they haven't hit on enough of those picks that weren't like no brainer 545 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:12,440 picks to want to bring them back, which is crazy. It might honestly 546 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,760 be like Jeff Malone was like the last guy that they drafted outside the top 547 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:20,159 five that they brought in for a second contract. So I think this is 548 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:24,400 one of the situations where's it is more likely that he is extended then traded. 549 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:30,199 I think it is less likely he's extended under the new person than it 550 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,480 was under Tommy. I think if you're Tommy, you can't afford to say 551 00:34:34,039 --> 00:34:36,320 I had to ship Rui out of town and now I'm going to have to 552 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:38,880 do that again with Denny, just from an optics perspective, So I think 553 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,599 that was almost like a done deal that they were going to make something happen 554 00:34:42,639 --> 00:34:46,639 this offseason. I have heard anecdotally that Denny's people are are looking at a 555 00:34:46,679 --> 00:34:52,960 pretty hefty number for him in the off season here, and we'll see what 556 00:34:53,079 --> 00:34:59,320 that number really ends up looking like for him and how on in sync it 557 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:02,039 is with whatever the GM looks like. But for me, I would keep 558 00:35:02,119 --> 00:35:07,199 him because I think he does a lot of different things for you that maybe 559 00:35:07,679 --> 00:35:10,639 you can unlock with him more again sort of evenly put together roster, and 560 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:14,639 you can play to his strength a little bit better. I don't know if 561 00:35:14,639 --> 00:35:17,039 this coach is well suited to do it. We've heard some rumblings that maybe 562 00:35:17,159 --> 00:35:22,360 he and west Unsell Junior don't see perfectly eye to eye on his utilization, 563 00:35:22,519 --> 00:35:24,880 So I don't know. Maybe he's ready for somewhere else and thinks he can 564 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:29,639 do more if somebody cannat it takes the handcuffs off him a little bit. 565 00:35:29,679 --> 00:35:32,559 But six nine guys that are good defenders that like to move the ball and 566 00:35:32,559 --> 00:35:38,400 aren't hunting shots all the time, aren't super common to find. I do 567 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:42,400 think he does have to get better at certain things on the offensive end. 568 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:45,920 That's always where my sort of I don't know if criticism is the right word, 569 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:47,960 but like question marks come with him. How good can he be is 570 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,840 solely determined to me by can he make defenses pay? Like there was a 571 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:55,719 large portion of the year where teams were putting a center on him and just 572 00:35:55,800 --> 00:36:00,000 like totally leaving him open and just there, you know, they're giving him 573 00:36:00,039 --> 00:36:04,000 the Draymond Green on Russell Westbrook defense, and he wasn't able to make them 574 00:36:04,039 --> 00:36:07,159 pay at a high enough volume for them to adjust differently. And that got 575 00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:09,760 better over the course of the season. He caught the ball and hit them 576 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,920 with a head of steam going downhill and was able to dump off and pass 577 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:15,320 two people. He started to finish a little bit better as the year went 578 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:20,199 on, So I think I buy those strides. By all accounts, he's 579 00:36:20,199 --> 00:36:23,039 a hard worker. So he says he wants to desperately continue to develop his 580 00:36:23,119 --> 00:36:27,840 left hand, work on his finishing and just be able to hit like corner 581 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,280 threes. So those are the things to me he has to do or to 582 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:32,519 be able to stay on the floor more so I'm glad he sees that and 583 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:37,639 hopefully the team can help him kind of realize that in the future. He's 584 00:36:37,639 --> 00:36:40,960 still young, like I wouldn't give up this early and during the offseason. 585 00:36:42,039 --> 00:36:45,239 I feel like the Wizards have two clear on the court needs when you're looking 586 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:51,920 positionally would be the floor general type and just depth versatility, like another wing 587 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,920 forward type of player. What is more important for them to address this offseason. 588 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:00,599 I think Kuzman did like a reasonable enough job for them as sort of 589 00:37:00,639 --> 00:37:05,920 like the de facto three that like you can patch work that position together, 590 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,559 which is crazy because all I literally talk about on our podcast is like this 591 00:37:08,639 --> 00:37:13,400 is a wings league and the Wizards never have any wings, so you know, 592 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:15,480 that's the most important position to me. But I think for this particular 593 00:37:15,519 --> 00:37:20,920 group, like just a point guard that like gets into the teeth of the 594 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:24,599 defense occasionally and is not a total sieve on you know, from a point 595 00:37:24,599 --> 00:37:29,239 of attack perspective, would be huge. Like Monte's really good at moving the 596 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:32,599 ball around and dribbling it across half court and hit some shots from a reasonable 597 00:37:32,639 --> 00:37:37,280 efficiency. And Delon Wright is a ballhawk and you can't throw the ball anywhere 598 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:39,840 near the guy or he will steal it from you, like he's just sort 599 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:44,440 of that good at that. But you almost need to combine them into one 600 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:47,599 player to have like a chance of this because you can't really play them together 601 00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:52,039 a ton of the time, and they each just have like such a major 602 00:37:52,119 --> 00:37:54,519 hole on one side of the ball. I think that that kills this team, 603 00:37:54,559 --> 00:37:59,039 that you have to platoon them that way. So just somebody that maybe 604 00:37:59,119 --> 00:38:04,159 is a downgrade on my say offensively and a downgrade from Delan defensively, but 605 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:07,159 is like sort of better at both would be would be helpful for this group, 606 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:10,199 in my opinion. But you can never go wrong with having just like 607 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:14,280 a real true three and D wing on the roster, because they don't. 608 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,960 They don't really have one like Denny's a d and courted to three, but 609 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:21,320 they really don't do the other either, And I think that's sort of how 610 00:38:22,079 --> 00:38:23,480 this team has been assembled. Is there like a lot of guys that do 611 00:38:23,559 --> 00:38:27,760 one thing and one thing only and it makes them hard to play situationally a 612 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,920 lot. Is there like a functional or stylistic change you would like to see 613 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:35,320 them, whether it's address it through free agency or just change. If this 614 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:37,360 is the core of the personnel that they're going to move forward with paying into 615 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:42,079 next season, whether it's maybe an actual commitment to playing in transition, I'm 616 00:38:42,119 --> 00:38:45,280 going through their half court offense a little bit faster, maybe having more ball 617 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:47,800 pressure on defense, which are all things that I just stood out to me 618 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:51,440 when I was watching them. Is there anything, though, from you who 619 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:53,320 watched them, you know, eighty two times this year? Whatever? Was 620 00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:57,599 is there something that you would like to see them change about the way they 621 00:38:57,639 --> 00:39:00,000 play? Heading it? Well, what's the I'm sure there are many things 622 00:39:00,039 --> 00:39:01,639 where's that you'd like to change? What the one thing that you would like 623 00:39:01,679 --> 00:39:06,320 to see them change? Your address? I think when your players are willing 624 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:09,000 to come out the first first media availability after the season is over, and 625 00:39:09,119 --> 00:39:14,480 multiple ones mentioned that they want to play faster, there's something to that. 626 00:39:14,599 --> 00:39:17,599 And I think just looking at this roster, like Porzingis is not like the 627 00:39:17,599 --> 00:39:22,920 most latterly mobile guy of all time, but he's not bad north to south, 628 00:39:22,079 --> 00:39:25,039 especially for a guy that big. And he's also a guy you can 629 00:39:25,079 --> 00:39:30,079 trust to be like the trailing guy that you can kick out to and hit 630 00:39:30,079 --> 00:39:34,119 a three and things like that. Gafford runs the floor pretty well. He's 631 00:39:34,159 --> 00:39:37,639 a pretty good lob threat and transition threat. Like Denny is a grab and 632 00:39:37,679 --> 00:39:40,000 go guy, Kyle Kuzma can be a grab and go guy. You've got 633 00:39:40,039 --> 00:39:44,679 Jordan Goodwin who's really good at rebounding from a guard position as a backup guard 634 00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:46,440 and can push the pace. So to me, there are guys here that 635 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:52,440 would sort of like facilitate them playing faster, I think, and that seems 636 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,760 like the no brainer one to me. There was some stuff where west Unseld 637 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:58,960 said when he got hired that, you know, he didn't want the team 638 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,960 to play at a crazy high pace because he thought that negatively impacted your ability 639 00:40:02,039 --> 00:40:07,159 to have a set defense and play good defense. So that to me is 640 00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:09,000 kind of wild. I would agree with him if it were like nineteen ninety 641 00:40:09,039 --> 00:40:15,360 four still, but just modern teams don't seem to buy into that, and 642 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,639 I think we've got to be a little bit more modern with how we try 643 00:40:17,679 --> 00:40:22,639 to play. I don't really honestly know what to do with this defense. 644 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:27,199 I think it's more them trying to plug holes with the roster that they have 645 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:32,400 than it is like a scheme thing potentially, So it's just kinda whatever moves 646 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:36,199 they make, you got to find a way to be better at point of 647 00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:39,079 attack and also not have to play those two bigs, but also get some 648 00:40:39,119 --> 00:40:44,360 weak side rim protection from whoever's next to poison gifts. So it's it's not 649 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:46,320 an easy challenge, and you kind of asked it in the question, like, 650 00:40:46,639 --> 00:40:50,239 there are a lot of holes you could theoretically try to fill here in 651 00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:52,239 the off season, and it's really just you pick two or three of them 652 00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:54,800 and you hope that those make a big enough difference that the other ones aren't 653 00:40:54,800 --> 00:41:00,440 just glaring. Who is the player on this roster right now who's most likely 654 00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:05,239 to be traded before next season? Maybe not most likely to be traded, 655 00:41:05,239 --> 00:41:07,360 but Xavier Cook seems like the most likely to not be back here. To 656 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:10,119 me, I would think if I'm the new GM, I wouldn't have seen 657 00:41:10,159 --> 00:41:15,119 anything from that guy that warns like, you know, keeping him around longer 658 00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:21,000 term personally, Yeah, but maybe maybe I'm wrong there. I think Monte 659 00:41:21,079 --> 00:41:23,480 Morris would be the one I would personally advocate for. I would think a 660 00:41:23,519 --> 00:41:28,199 lot of teams in the playoffs right now could have a role for a guy 661 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:30,239 like that is like a really good backup point guard who could even play some 662 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:34,159 next year. Starter, and if you had the right team, like if 663 00:41:34,159 --> 00:41:37,119 you're I don't know if they would ever have the money for this, but 664 00:41:37,119 --> 00:41:39,679 like Milwaukee or something like I could easily envision a role for somebody like Monte 665 00:41:39,719 --> 00:41:44,519 on a team like that, and his numbers not crazy, so a team 666 00:41:44,519 --> 00:41:46,440 could sort of talk themselves into making that work. I think a lot of 667 00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:51,159 teams would be interested in Daniel Gafford, but I don't know how you move 668 00:41:51,199 --> 00:41:54,679 on from him if you're the Wizards, just given one Porzingis's injury history, 669 00:41:54,719 --> 00:41:58,400 you have to have some kind of insurance of a guy that could at least 670 00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:00,920 be a spot starter. And the next big on the roster this year was 671 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:07,400 Tash Gibson, so you'd be basically replacing your whole center core at that point 672 00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:10,360 if you moved on from Gafford. So to me, those would be the 673 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:15,679 two that have like the most value to other teams that wouldn't like totally kill 674 00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:21,079 you. But you could more easily survive losing Monte to me than you could 675 00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:28,440 losing Gafford. The Wizard's free agency situation is tough because you can't really figure 676 00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:30,199 out which version of the mid level exception they're going to be working with until 677 00:42:30,239 --> 00:42:34,079 you know how much KP and Kuzman are going to count against the book. 678 00:42:34,119 --> 00:42:37,840 So, whether it's the mini mid level or the bigger mid level, are 679 00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:40,000 there any free agents that you've thought about that you'd like to see the Wizards 680 00:42:40,039 --> 00:42:44,000 go after? The free agency one is just a really interesting question because I 681 00:42:44,039 --> 00:42:46,159 think there's still so many other dominoes than have to fall before you can figure 682 00:42:46,159 --> 00:42:50,559 that out, Like does your draft pick effect you know, what you do 683 00:42:50,679 --> 00:42:54,239 from a whole perspective. If you go out and get Jaris Walker or somebody 684 00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:59,039 that can play next to Porzingis, is he ready to come in next year 685 00:42:59,119 --> 00:43:02,159 enough that maybe you don't need another mobile, versatile big to play next to 686 00:43:02,239 --> 00:43:06,039 him. I think in theory, i'd be going out and trying to get 687 00:43:06,039 --> 00:43:08,559 whatever you know, three and D wing is on the market for the mid 688 00:43:08,599 --> 00:43:13,079 level that could actually play in a playoff series. And I don't know if 689 00:43:13,119 --> 00:43:15,320 that even exists because it seems like all those players make twenty million dollars a 690 00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:21,039 year, so that might be tough. But if you think Gafford is a 691 00:43:21,079 --> 00:43:22,840 trade chip or is a trade asset, maybe you can go out and get 692 00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:28,360 someone that gives you eighty percent of what he does, you know, more 693 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:31,360 cheaply, and you could move on from him. If you move on from 694 00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:36,039 Monte Morris, could you get another point guard that does a little bit more 695 00:43:36,119 --> 00:43:39,079 on both ends of the ball potentially, Those are the three positions i'd look 696 00:43:39,119 --> 00:43:43,360 at. I think you're pretty set at power forward. I think they're probably 697 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:46,800 going to bring Kuzma back. I think offensively Porzingis is essentially a four right 698 00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:52,599 and then deniond I think is at his best as a as a big forward. 699 00:43:52,719 --> 00:43:55,880 So to me, that's one area you don't need to plug. And 700 00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:00,320 Bradley be old. They're not going to do anything with him probably, so 701 00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:04,440 I think he's back, and I think they hope that Johnny Davis can give 702 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:07,199 them some minutes as a backup two guard next year. So I think the 703 00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:09,840 one, three, or five is probably what you try to address, and 704 00:44:10,519 --> 00:44:14,320 those other dominoes kind of have to fall first before you figure out which one 705 00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:17,199 is the priority. Matt, you power through a ton of tech difficulties. 706 00:44:17,199 --> 00:44:21,360 On my end, I appreciate it. Is there anything that I did not 707 00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:23,280 ask you about? The thing needs to be discussed about this team heading into 708 00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:28,599 the off season. I would just be curious for your perspective if there's anything 709 00:44:28,639 --> 00:44:30,480 you think they're going to try to do in terms of the replacement here, 710 00:44:30,559 --> 00:44:34,320 like is there a name that makes sense? Is there a Robert tim Connolly 711 00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:38,280 goes and just destroys the Minnesota Timberwolves and then immediately moves on and starts somewhere 712 00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:42,440 else. My first thought was, I wonder if he's gettable now, just 713 00:44:42,559 --> 00:44:46,119 because how happy is Minnesota with the job that he did. I kind of 714 00:44:46,159 --> 00:44:50,719 expect them, and I know the name that's been like trendy is the Trajan 715 00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:54,239 Langdon route, and I feel like they will go along similar lines where it 716 00:44:54,280 --> 00:45:00,079 will be someone who's less proven as the head of a front office, and 717 00:45:00,119 --> 00:45:01,760 that's what they wind up with. I think I'll be shocked. I'm sure 718 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:06,159 every team inquires about Massi Ugerry, I'm sure. And he's been linked to 719 00:45:06,199 --> 00:45:07,519 Washington in the past, of course. I think that's why it might matter 720 00:45:07,639 --> 00:45:13,840 here. I would be fairly surprised if it ends up being a big name 721 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:16,360 that you actually want, And if it's a big name, it's probably one 722 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:21,360 where it's like, oh, today is like is Ernie back Danny Ferry? 723 00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:23,840 Here we go, We're finally making it happen, right, So I think 724 00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:28,280 that's the route they'll go. But there really haven't been that. I've seen 725 00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:30,159 a ton of names. I saw Langdon, and I think Jerry's just always 726 00:45:30,159 --> 00:45:35,280 out there, and then Connolly has tangentially been mentioned because of like his history 727 00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:37,119 of Washington the past, but I haven't seen like a ton of names mentioned 728 00:45:37,119 --> 00:45:43,159 as potential replacements for Shephard. Langdon was interesting because they didn't interview him the 729 00:45:43,239 --> 00:45:45,079 last time around, despite his name getting brought up a good amount. But 730 00:45:45,119 --> 00:45:47,880 he's also had, you know, four more years of seasoning as a younger 731 00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:52,119 guy to try to build his resume. I'm blanking on the gentleman's name that 732 00:45:52,239 --> 00:45:59,320 sort of directly under MASSI Ugerry, but maybe Bobby Webster, Yeah, maybe 733 00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:00,719 I give him a call all just to see what's up with him, if 734 00:46:00,719 --> 00:46:04,880 he wants a little more freedom and wants to get out from under Massiah shadow 735 00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:07,079 a little bit. I like a lot of the things Toronto has done, 736 00:46:07,119 --> 00:46:12,280 so the things they have where the things Washington doesn't, as like long athletic 737 00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:15,360 wings for the most part. So maybe he's a guy who could come in 738 00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:19,119 here and find them a couple of those. So that's somewhere. I look, 739 00:46:19,159 --> 00:46:21,800 the name I dropped on our pond was Tayshaun Prince, just because I've 740 00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:25,519 heard he's been really instrumental behind the scenes with Memphis and a lot of the 741 00:46:25,519 --> 00:46:30,119 talent evaluation there that's gone well for them, So you know, maybe he's 742 00:46:30,159 --> 00:46:32,840 ready for a bigger role. I don't know if you know main GM is 743 00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:36,320 the role that they're willing to give him right out of the gate here, 744 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:39,280 But that that's kind of names I would I would kick around at least I 745 00:46:39,320 --> 00:46:43,360 will say this is not And it's sort of just like when you're firing a 746 00:46:43,360 --> 00:46:46,039 head coach, this is not a decision you should make unless you have a 747 00:46:46,039 --> 00:46:51,920 top replacement in mind and at least a semi strong grasp of is this person 748 00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:53,639 gettable. It's like, you know, you don't fire Tommy Shepard because you 749 00:46:53,679 --> 00:46:58,159 want to see if you can poach Messiah Jerry from Toronto. That's not that's 750 00:46:58,199 --> 00:47:00,320 not a decision you made. Yeah, exactly like they fired Ernie, and 751 00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:04,360 I think they pretty much knew that they at the very least they had Tommy 752 00:47:04,400 --> 00:47:07,199 in their back pocket as a as a defendable candidate at the time. And 753 00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:10,519 this one, Yeah, to your point. I don't know who that candidate 754 00:47:10,559 --> 00:47:15,800 would be, So I don't know if some search firm had reached out on 755 00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:19,440 their behalf and advance here, but maybe maybe there's something going on by the 756 00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:22,960 scenes. It should be resolved soon because they do have the draft coming up 757 00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:27,199 in a couple of months, so you would would like to have someone installed, 758 00:47:27,239 --> 00:47:29,960 not just by the draft, but so that they have the time to 759 00:47:30,039 --> 00:47:35,000 like begin their own processes and like. So I would expect the resolution somewhat 760 00:47:35,159 --> 00:47:38,239 soon, but yeah, you would hope. Matt. Are you able to 761 00:47:38,239 --> 00:47:43,119 tell our listeners where they can follow you and all the fantastic work that you 762 00:47:43,199 --> 00:47:45,440 do. Sure, if you're just a bizarre human and you're listening to this 763 00:47:45,639 --> 00:47:49,800 and you clearly like good podcasts. If you want to listen to one about 764 00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:52,239 the Wizards, which unless you're a Wizards fan, I'm not sure why you 765 00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:54,639 would, but it's Believe in Wizards, b l e A. V In 766 00:47:54,719 --> 00:48:00,199 Wizards. I do it with former wizard Johati White and we just talk through 767 00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:02,880 all the news of the day, try to get player perspective and things like 768 00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:07,480 that. So if that appeals to you, come on in. You know 769 00:48:07,519 --> 00:48:09,840 we're gonna do some draft stuff this offseason, and I'll be kind of more 770 00:48:10,559 --> 00:48:15,920 general NBA than it is sort of team specific, so that'll be interesting for 771 00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:19,960 other folks and bullets forever. If you want to go check us out there. 772 00:48:19,960 --> 00:48:22,199 It's an Espnation blog. That's where I do some of my writing and 773 00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:25,880 all the all the other good Wizards content that's out there too. I will 774 00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:30,719 echo everything that Matt said, and also to believe, the Wizards podcast very 775 00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:36,480 honest analysis which I appreciate and don't sell yourself short. Regionalized coverage is so 776 00:48:36,519 --> 00:48:39,159 good now when I'm talking about like single team podcasts, and yeah, you 777 00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:43,920 over there are among the very best. You don't say you guys are checking 778 00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:45,719 in on the Wizards. Everyone else should do the same. I'm sure you 779 00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:47,800 know by now that I will be pesturing you would gain in the future, 780 00:48:47,800 --> 00:48:52,199 maybe they will need a lot different when I do. You know, fingers 781 00:48:52,199 --> 00:48:54,559 are crossed. But yes, thank you so much for coming on. I'll 782 00:48:54,559 --> 00:48:55,880 talk to you soon, Matt. Thanks to