- 14 hours ago
Chris Miller joins the show to share his thoughts on Trae Young's first game as a Wizard.
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00:00Perfect night. Young debuts, some buzz in the building, and a big fat loss to put in the hopper.
00:06You know, what was interesting about last night, and I've been doing this a long time,
00:11going to that building for 18 years, is it felt just really good being in the building,
00:15feeling energy for our guys.
00:18It wasn't like the opposition had a star player coming in and the fans showing up to take pictures.
00:24No, it was our fans, almost 18,000 in the building, a lot of them showing up early.
00:30Got on Wizards uniforms, Wizards jerseys.
00:32They got their Trae Young No. 3 jerseys on, and they're taking pictures of him warming up.
00:37I just looked over at Drew, and I was like, man, this is different.
00:41This feels good. This reminds me of the good old days.
00:45And for him to come out and perform the way he did after missing two months really speaks to, I
00:52think, what Washington has in him.
00:54He's a showman. He understands that the bright lights, the moment, it's not just basketball.
01:00It's the entertainment part of it, signing autographs, doing those little things.
01:04I thought he always ingratiated himself these past two months wearing the OV sweater, wearing different Wizards jerseys.
01:11And it's kind of like culminated last night watching him finally get on the floor.
01:16When you saw him on the floor, did you allow yourself at all to, you know, I know how you
01:22are, Chris.
01:23You're a professional. You focus on only what's happening now.
01:25But did anything creep in your mind about, did you see him lobbing the ball up to Anthony Davis?
01:32Well, I envision that as soon as AD trade came through, the first thing I thought of was, my God,
01:41AD, Alex Saar, Bilal,
01:43the list goes on and on of players that if you just roll to the rim, you're going to be
01:48rewarded.
01:49Or if you're like a Trey Johnson, if you get to the corner, expect that basketball to be there waiting
01:54for you.
01:55And what we saw last night was, you better keep your hands up, because the ball's coming to you.
02:00And you might want to keep your hands up if you're a fan, too, because one of those behind-the
02:04-back passes
02:05ended up in like the fifth row.
02:07But that's all about Trey just putting on a show and just trying to get out there
02:11and get more comfortable and acclimated to his new surroundings.
02:14What do you think is the worst rap that Trey suffers from, from the casual NBA fan?
02:23That's a great question.
02:24I think his size, you know, the NBA now, your guards are like 6'5", 6'6", 6'7", 6
02:32'8".
02:33And I think he can't control that, right, Dave?
02:37There's nothing you can do about that.
02:38But what he can do is be one of the best scorers and facilitators we've seen in this league all
02:46time.
02:47His numbers, you just have to look them up.
02:49What he's able to do on the floor, on the offensive end, is a needle mover.
02:55Now, defensively, I don't think he's going to get better.
02:58I mean, I think that the guys around him can make it a better team defense.
03:03And when you've got two shot blockers like Saar and AD, you might be able to allow your guy to
03:09get past you
03:10because you know there's going to be help at the rim.
03:12Not just one guy, but two.
03:13Malal is an exceptional on-ball defender.
03:16So there are guys that are going to be around him from a defensive standpoint that can cover that up.
03:22But you can't cover up what he does offensively.
03:24He is a needle mover.
03:27And you saw that last night in 19 minutes.
03:29And real quick, I want to give Brian Keefe a lot of credit for keeping him in that restricted time
03:35allotment of 17 to 20 minutes.
03:37And I thought BK used him perfectly last night.
03:40Who do you think benefits the most with Trey Young on the court?
03:45I think all the young players.
03:46There's not one specific one, B, because of all the things he's able to do on the floor.
03:51We talked about the lob threat.
03:52We talked about him passing the three-point shooter.
03:54So I think all these young players, he's going to supplement their games.
04:00And the beauty of how this team has been built,
04:03and a lot of credit to the front office of doing this the last two and a half years,
04:07of putting these young players around this organization is they all can bring something to the table.
04:15They're all multifaceted.
04:17It's not, well, this guy only does one thing, or this guy does that.
04:20They all, I think, can play with Trey Young, can play with an Anthony Davis,
04:24can play with a potential top pick in June.
04:28So the versatility of the roster, I think, is what's going to make this kind of seamless with AD and
04:34Trey.
04:35And listen, again, these young kids essentially told Michael Winger and Will Dawkins what to do.
04:40Their development has gotten to a certain level where the organization can now go,
04:45okay, we can supplement the young players by going and getting two guys that have a combined 14 all-star
04:51appearances.
04:52You just don't get these guys, right?
04:54You just don't get a Trey Young or an Anthony Davis.
04:56So they wouldn't trade it for them to put them next to these young players moving forward.
05:01Which was going to be my next question.
05:04Assuming Trey Young is going to be great for us, and we hope that's the case,
05:07and somebody goes to the Atlanta Hawks in theory and says,
05:10well, why'd you get rid of this guy?
05:13What would their answer be?
05:15Well, I think it just ran its course in Atlanta.
05:18I think that happens a lot with a lot of players.
05:20It's just eight years there, one conference final.
05:23Okay, they're ready to move on.
05:25Clearly, they have a player down there in Jalen Johnson that's ready to ascend.
05:29They went and got Jonathan Kaminga.
05:31People in Atlanta are like, thanks, Golden State, for just essentially giving us Kaminga.
05:35So teams are on different timelines, and I think that would be the timeline for what Trey was down to
05:42Atlanta.
05:42But there's a new opportunity here, and I feel, he feels, this is a really good place to be at
05:50because of the way he's ingratiated himself, not only to the franchise, but to the community already.
05:56So the short answer would be he fell out of the Hawks' timeline, but the timeline for him here might
06:02be just right.
06:04Exactly.
06:05You said it dead on the head, Dave.
06:08So when I look at Trey, you can see he's basically bought in.
06:15I feel like he's 1,000% bought in.
06:17No, I know he's bought in.
06:19I'm saying, when do we start to feel the same thing about AD?
06:22Because we don't see him or hear nothing from him.
06:25Well, interestingly enough, he was at the game last night.
06:27Okay.
06:28So he's here.
06:31I haven't talked to AD.
06:33I don't know.
06:34I read the same stuff you get.
06:36You know me, B.
06:37I'm the type of person, I'll go up to you and ask you.
06:39I don't need to read anything or hear the scuttlebutt.
06:42I'll walk up to you and be like, what's good?
06:44So I have not had that opportunity yet.
06:46But the same thing I would say for AD is, listen, you're 32 years old.
06:53You have a Hall of Fame.
06:55Listen, he should be fitted already for his Hall of Fame jacket.
06:59And I know a lot of people, obviously he's been injured.
07:03But what I would say to people that talk about Anthony Davis is,
07:07will you just go look at his resume?
07:09Just go look at what he has done during his career already.
07:13And it will show you that this guy, still at 32, has a lot left into the tank.
07:22And I think he offers something that Washington might not have had a lot of.
07:27I had this discussion with David Aldridge and a couple of friends of mine yesterday about,
07:31there are three guys that have come to Washington since Michael Jordan,
07:35since Michael Jordan, that was not drafted here, but came here and put that uniform on.
07:41There are three guys.
07:42Now, AD hasn't played yet, but he is in the company of Paul Pierce, Russell Westbrook.
07:50All three of those guys are Hall of Famers.
07:52And if you look at all three of their resumes, they're essentially the same.
07:57So what Washington is getting at Anthony Davis is a Hall of Fame player, still 32, still in the prime.
08:03You match him up now with Trae Young.
08:05And what I think are very good young prospects.
08:09Keyshawn George has taken a major step.
08:12I think Bilal Koulibaly, offensively, when he is aggressive, he's a different type of player.
08:17You know what he does on the defensive end.
08:19Trae Johnson is an absolute shooter.
08:22And then when you think of this kid, Will Riley, who, to me, he might be the one.
08:28And he is a baby.
08:29He's 6'10", that can handle the basketball.
08:31Now you're seeing what Will Dawkins and Michael Winger and the front office was thinking about
08:36when they put this roster together.
08:38Michael Scotto from Hoops Hype yesterday tweeted,
08:41Wizard star Anthony Davis will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
08:44He's out with ligament damage in his left hand.
08:47Continues to progress as expected.
08:49It has been cleared to begin individual, limited, on-court basketball activities.
08:54I saw the play, Chris, that he got hurt on.
08:57And I'll be honest, I'm like, that jacked up his hand?
09:01I'm not saying it's not legit.
09:03It just raises the fears of, is this guy fragile, you know?
09:09Well, listen, his career has been injury-prone, right?
09:14But again, I look at 10-time All-Star, NBA champion, three-time blocks champion,
09:21one of 75 greatest, five-time All-NBA, and a career numbers of 24, 11 rebounds
09:27and almost two and a half blocks.
09:28I am happy it's a wrist, not anything with his knee or Achilles or anything like that.
09:34That's the engine, you know?
09:35This is a fixable thing.
09:37It's just, I kept looking at the play where he got hurt.
09:39I was like, I don't see it.
09:41But, you know, it's a physical game.
09:42Freak accident.
09:43Yeah, it's kind of a freak accident.
09:45So, yeah.
09:46So, we'll see if he play.
09:48Would you be willing to bet that he plays for the Wiz before the season's over?
09:52With him, I'm thinking about next year.
09:54Okay.
09:54I mean, whatever it takes.
09:55No, I know we're all thinking.
09:56You and I are thinking exactly the same.
09:58I know how we're all thinking.
09:59Would you bet that he plays this year?
10:01No.
10:02So, it's a no from B-Bitch.
10:03Will Miller go on record?
10:05I want to go probably, I can't give you a percentage on that, but my mindset, again,
10:10I'm not speaking for anybody in the organization.
10:13This is Chris Miller talking.
10:14And I'm looking forward to seeing him in training camp next year, ready to rock.
10:19All right.
10:19Last night, once again, the City Editions.
10:21I'm on LockerVision.NBA.com, which I'm sure you know, Miller.
10:26But it's the very useful site that lays out a team's upcoming games and shows what uniforms
10:32they're wearing for that game and also what uniforms the opponent is wearing.
10:36There's the Association Edition, B-Bitch, the Icon Edition, the Statement Edition, and
10:42the City Edition, which is the gold and black they wore last night.
10:45Which one do you want me to see what they're going to wear?
10:47Well, I'm just saying, give me your thoughts on the gold and black from last night.
10:52I like it.
10:53Because it's totally different.
10:54Miller, you like those alts last night?
10:57It kind of reminds me of back in the day when Gilbert, Antoine, and Karan, and B-Wood,
11:02those guys used to rock it.
11:04So, yeah, I like it.
11:05That's when I first got here, when I first got to town, when they were wearing those jerseys.
11:09So, it's kind of an 0-2, a homage to those teams.
11:14So, I like them.
11:15Yeah.
11:16Cakes was gushing to me at his poker tournament about the good old days at Gilbert.
11:19And I said, it's unfortunate.
11:21But I will say this.
11:21One of my favorite jerseys are the cherry blossom ones.
11:24Those cherry blossom ones, please bring those back.
11:27Whatever it takes.
11:28Yeah.
11:28I got routed through the title basin on the way here today, and I saw him doing a lot of
11:33work,
11:33and I was like, oh, that's right.
11:34Here comes the rush.
11:35Have we got a cherry blossom countdown yet to what is going to be peak?
11:40Because we're a couple weeks away now.
11:41I heard the date yesterday, but forgot it.
11:43Good work.
11:44Yeah.
11:45Walker, Vic, you got a bead on the madness that is cherry blossoms.
11:49For a quick, hot second, I said, I should take the family down there.
11:52And then I reconsidered, knowing what a madhouse it is.
11:55Just whoever comes to see the cherry blossom, don't stop in the road or park in the road.
12:00Get on the sidewalk.
12:01Amen.
12:01Hell.
12:02Amen.
12:03Cause a damn accident, because you're going to just decide to stop your car and get out.
12:08Nah, bro.
12:09All right, Mr. Miller, pleasure.
12:11Next up is the Pelicans Sunday night down in New Orleans, right?
12:16Absolutely.
12:16By the way, shout out to Juju Reese last night.
12:18Yes.
12:19Putting on a rebounding clinic.
12:21Nick, when your name is mentioned with Rulon, Jameson, Malone, and Elvin, and Wes, you clearly
12:29did something last night.
12:30So a tip of the hat, young fella.
12:31Way to go, Juju.
12:32A rebounding is in that family's bloodline, you know?
12:35Yeah, it is.
12:35Between him and his sister.
12:37Sure.
12:37Indeed.
12:38All right.
12:38Thank you, Mr. Miller.
12:39All right, brother.
12:40Great talking to you guys.
12:41Have a great weekend.
12:42All right.
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