00:00Chris Russell's theme song, walking around somewhere, strutting, chest out,
00:06arms a-flopping like Vince McMahon.
00:09We're still workshopping a theory about the roost,
00:12but we're keeping that internal.
00:13I'm intrigued now.
00:16Interesting listening to Drew Gooden, a guy that played,
00:19a big man that played basketball at the highest level for 14 seasons.
00:23Yep.
00:24Talk about Wemby needing to figure out kind of some body control and speed
00:30because when you're a young man, it's easy to be everywhere all the time.
00:34But if you're in it for the long haul, and honestly, I mean, let's be real about
00:39the incredibly big guys, Yao Ming, like when you think about those gifted players
00:44that are like 7'5", 7' whatever, their bodies tend to give up on them.
00:49So I do find it interesting.
00:51Wemby's only 22 right now, but he does have to figure out
00:53how to be a little bit more in control.
00:56Yeah, guys that big, all the body parts work slightly different,
01:01and I do agree, every time he goes to the floor, whether or not he hits his head,
01:05thank God he didn't again.
01:07That was crazy.
01:07By the way, did you see the one Portland fan with the sign with his teeth?
01:11Somebody had two giant teeth, and they had one of the teeth that was chipped.
01:15It came apart, and they were doing this during free throws with the chipped tooth.
01:21It was like very creative, actually, but that notwithstanding.
01:25Yeah.
01:25So big men always have additional sort of challenges because their ligaments,
01:30their joints, their body parts, they all tend to get more wear and tear
01:35because it's a larger frame, and they're clomping up and down the court,
01:39and they're falling down.
01:40And my buddy Brian Butch, who's a seven-footer from Wisconsin,
01:44I used to do the radio show with, he's like, big tree, fall hard.
01:47Big tree, fall hard.
01:49So, yeah, the Wemmys got to watch that.
01:51But speaking of big men, he really is like Durant, and who did he say?
01:57Durant and Wilt.
01:58Durant and Wilt having a baby.
01:59It's crazy.
02:00That was crazy.
02:00The Wizards made their own big trade for a big man in Anthony Davis last year.
02:06And Anthony, I think, has been measured in his excitement about playing in Washington.
02:13Yes, he has.
02:15Now, AD hasn't played a complete season in quite some time.
02:19He's dealt with his own injury problems.
02:21But when he's right, he's one of the best players in the world.
02:24Agreed.
02:25Now, he's now, he's going to be 33 this season.
02:29I guess he's 33 already.
02:30He turned 33 in March.
02:31So, no young guy in the world of the NBA where you get 19- and 20-year-olds all
02:36the time.
02:37I thought this was pretty interesting.
02:38This is with Craig Melvin from the Today Show.
02:42Obviously, Craig Melvin, friend of the program, some DC roots there.
02:46He had Anthony Davis, I guess, on his podcast.
02:50Interesting.
02:50And this was via the Today Show.
02:53So, let me be clear.
02:53This is via the Today Show.
02:54So, Craig Melvin and Anthony Davis talking about the future for AD.
03:02How hard is it for a really good player to play for a really bad team?
03:08That's the thing, right?
03:10So, I had this, and everybody knows this.
03:12I told the owner this.
03:14I told GM everybody, media.
03:17Like, when you're looking at the Washington Wizards, right, from the outside looking in,
03:23you're like, everybody's right, you know?
03:26But when you get into the organization and see how great of an organization it is, like,
03:33the owner is amazing.
03:34Obviously, the city is, DC is amazing.
03:37We are a very bad basketball team.
03:40Yeah.
03:40For sure.
03:41On the flip side, I think it's very tough to go from bad team to a championship contender.
03:48It takes time.
03:49Yes.
03:49And that's with anybody.
03:50I mean, it could be a team, you know, who's just won and just, like, not good.
03:55But, um, so it takes time.
03:57It takes a couple years, you know?
03:59I don't like some of the things he's saying there.
04:02I get it.
04:03He's being honest.
04:04Really bad basketball team.
04:06It's like, okay, we know that.
04:09Do you have to say it that bluntly?
04:11Also, the Pistons are on a two-year turnaround.
04:15Two years.
04:16That's not a long time.
04:17They're in the number one seed in the East.
04:20It doesn't sound super committed.
04:22I'll just put it on the table.
04:23Until I hear something different, until I see something different, I don't feel like he's all in.
04:30I don't think he has, to his credit, to be fair, he's been honest and kind of upfront about his
04:40lukewarmness to this trade.
04:43I understand why.
04:44And I think Trey Young was very different.
04:46Trey Young also has some people in the organization that he knows and trusts from the Atlanta days.
04:52My only caveat here, and you would need, like, I would need Haney or somebody to answer this.
04:59But the way NBA contracts are so important, even if, let's say it doesn't go, like, the best case scenario
05:13with Anthony Davis is the Wiz get the number one pick.
05:17They draft a Bonson, right?
05:19That's who I would draft at one.
05:21Trey Young's healthy.
05:22AD's healthy.
05:23All the young guys continue to develop.
05:25And all of a sudden, it's playing, or maybe it's even six seed we're talking about next year.
05:31Does that excite him?
05:33That's the absolute best case scenario for me as a Wizards fan.
05:36Oh, okay.
05:37I think you can go higher than six seed.
05:39Sure.
05:40Four.
05:41I don't know.
05:41If the chemistry explodes and everything is right, and they get that 1-1, I think four is in play.
05:49Sure.
05:50We're talking best case?
05:51Best case.
05:51Four and up.
05:52Dream the biggest dream.
05:53Yeah.
05:54But I think we all have to live with this reality, and perhaps Anthony Davis understands this reality.
06:01Expiring contracts in the NBA have massive value, too.
06:07And I believe he has a player option for 27-28 at $63 million, which I think he'd be insane
06:15to not exercise.
06:17But at some point, if AD is happy to play here and contributing and a defensive menace and a force
06:26in the low post, that's awesome.
06:29But Dawkins and Winger, I don't think we're naive in that maybe this only turns into an expiring contract for
06:36us, and that's okay, too.
06:38I think that would be their backup plan.
06:40And you're right.
06:41Which is a good—that's an okay option.
06:43It's okay.
06:44Because you got them for not much.
06:46I mean, look, they got late firsts coming in the future from teams that we assume are going to be
06:51good, like Golden State.
06:52Do we assume they're good?
06:53Well, we can't assume that they could be bad, now that the Steph Curry era and Steve Kerr is sunsetting,
07:00it looks like.
07:01So we'll see about that, although they're the richest team in the league, the Golden State Warriors, with all that
07:06tech money.
07:06So I don't think they're going to just stay bad for any sustained period of time.
07:11I just—I'm reminded of when it comes to NBA players with huge salaries who are superstars, and Davis is a
07:18superstar, of the reality show,
07:20I'm a celebrity, get me out of here.
07:23Remember that?
07:24I'm a celebrity, get me out of there.
07:26It would be like Survivor, but when the celebrities would say, I can't stand it here, they'd get rescued off
07:31the show.
07:32If you're talking about NBA players, Durant, Westbrook, Harden, at some point they just say, I'm a superstar, get me
07:39out of here.
07:40They can basically just pry their way out of a team.
07:43And I have a hard time not getting the feeling that Davis is already looking at the door.
07:50We shall see.
07:51When we come back, Zave explains the NBA's new tanking rules.
07:54Good luck.
07:55The last hour of the program is going to be all football.
07:57Nikki Javala is going to join us at 1 o'clock to talk through her piece she wrote this morning
08:01on the Brandon Iyuk situation.
08:03Then we're going to take a look at free agents around the league that could still make sense for the
08:07commanders.
08:07Nobody go anywhere.
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