00:00I feel like right now, for somebody that's never played for the Wizards,
00:03there's a lot surrounding Anthony Davis and his future with this team.
00:06When that trade happened, to me, I looked at it as like,
00:11this is probably a rental, and maybe he's around next year for this team.
00:14Maybe he plays a couple games this year.
00:16Maybe they sit him out the rest of the season.
00:18It's starting to feel more and more like he is not a part of this team.
00:24What makes you get that idea?
00:26The fact he has done six interviews in which he has sort of let loose oblique quasi-references to,
00:35well, we'll see, gee.
00:36I mean, I've only heard the most perfunctory buy-in from him.
00:41I wouldn't even call it a buy-in.
00:42I would call it just appreciating the young, can you spell perfunctory, by the way?
00:47P-E-R-F-U-N-C-T-O-R-Y, perfunctory.
00:53Impressive.
00:53Otherwise known as...
00:56Give me a definition.
00:57I don't know if I can do it.
00:58Okay, we got him.
00:59We stumped him.
01:00Perfunctory would be meaning just obligatory and minimal requirements.
01:05Yeah.
01:06Well, I mean, listen, he's complimented the young guys in this roster,
01:10and he's somebody that...
01:14Perfunctory.
01:14An action done quickly, superficially, or carelessly,
01:17often out of habit or routine, rather than interest.
01:20Interest rather than interest.
01:22Ding, ding, ding.
01:23So there you go.
01:24Like, one of his first little audio bites I heard when he got traded here
01:29was him lauding the organization and the cool things they're doing
01:35with some of the analytics and the facility.
01:39And while you might go, oh, isn't that nice?
01:43Because my spidey senses said, yeah, none of that has anything to do with him
01:48or the team.
01:50That's all just nice other things.
01:52It's like saying about a girl you're not really interested in.
01:56She's very sweet.
01:58She has a great sense of humor.
02:00She seems to really like whatever interest she has.
02:05These are not like, I'm hot for her.
02:07I can't wait to see her again.
02:09Again, I've yet to hear from Anthony Davis a real, oh, my God,
02:13I can't wait to start getting lobs from Trey Young.
02:16Oh, my God, I can't wait to teach some of these young bucks
02:19how to play at the highest level because I've done it.
02:22Haven't heard that yet.
02:23But you can also argue that it's like two people that are dating briefly
02:27that have two different desires in their life.
02:31Two different timetables.
02:33I would argue they're not dating.
02:34I'd argue this is an arranged marriage.
02:36They have, well, let's say they went on a blind date.
02:38They went on a blind date.
02:39No, no, no, because this was an arranged marriage.
02:41He got shipped here.
02:42Okay, that's fair.
02:43In a, I would say, pseudo-shocking trade.
02:47That trade was a surprise.
02:49But I wouldn't even, let's not even use it as a marriage analogy.
02:51Let's look at it as two people that went out and met,
02:53and one is looking to settle down and get married for commitment,
02:57and the commitment is a championship,
02:59and the other is still young and wants to date
03:01but is still growing and learning.
03:02That's the rest of this team.
03:03They have to get their body count up.
03:04They're young, right?
03:05Hey, look, here's the thing.
03:07There are so many people.
03:08That analogy works, but I do think the arranged marriage analogy also works
03:15because they're going to try to make the best of it for as long as they can.
03:18The fact that the Wizards are in that early stage of a rebuild
03:24where the next step is likely coming next year, right?
03:27The expectation is at least play in, if not playoffs, to begin with,
03:30depending on how things shape out.
03:32Anthony Davis is injury-prone in his 30s.
03:36When his contract's done, he'll be 36,
03:37and he's not going to give up all that, you know,
03:39the $58 million in the last year of his deal.
03:41He's opting in after this season.
03:43We know he's going to, but I also understand why he might look at this
03:47and go, this team, sure, if Anthony Davis was 27,
03:49he might look at this and go, this team's got a bright future down the road,
03:52but they're still building.
03:53For him, it's now, now, now, now, now.
03:55He's already been forced to get traded to Dallas.
03:57That came out of absolutely nowhere
03:59and the worst trade in NBA history for Luka Doncic.
04:02So now he gets traded to the Wizards completely out of the blue,
04:04and this guy's like, I just want to win a championship.
04:06That's all I'm looking to do.
04:07The Wizards are building a team that they want to win a championship one day,
04:10but they're young.
04:11It's the early stage of the Thunder.
04:14It's the early stage of the Spurs.
04:15This is why, like, everybody that gets mad,
04:17they're like, well, if he doesn't want to be here, screw him.
04:18Okay, then he doesn't.
04:20His timetable and his career,
04:22that window is a lot smaller than where this Wizards team actually is.
04:26I get it, but, you know, he wants to win a championship.
04:29First of all, he has a bubble championship,
04:31which he's already said he doesn't think is real,
04:33but he does have one there.
04:35And if you want to win a championship, you had to be more healthy.
04:38And I'm not saying he wasn't trying to get healthy.
04:41His body has definitely betrayed him.
04:43It is what it is.
04:45Like, you want something that we may not be able to deliver.
04:48It's quite unlikely the Wizards can deliver a championship in two years, bro.
04:55This franchise hasn't been to the conference championship since 79.
05:01It's the longest stretch, did you know,
05:04of any professional team not making their conference championship.
05:09Yes, it has been a bad, bad stretch.
05:12Now, Chris Haynes, who, yes, is a Rich Paul mouthpiece, I get that,
05:15did have this to say about Anthony Davis.
05:17It was his last few months in New Orleans.
05:20And everything, like, we were hearing stuff,
05:22and, like, things were getting louder.
05:24And he gave me an exclusive, and in that exclusive, he basically said,
05:28I have to play near-perfect basketball for us to have a chance at winning each game.
05:36And when he said that, that was like, like, that took off, obviously.
05:42And then I want to say maybe a month later, he was traded to the Lakers.
05:47And so him saying that I want to win MVP, defensively of the year.
05:54First of all, you're not winning MVP on a rebuilt team.
05:58And, again, he's at a place right now where he can't afford to, I wouldn't say waste years,
06:06but play two years just trying to not compete, to try to build the Wizards' stature up
06:15over the course of a few seasons.
06:17So I think he's just, it reminds me of that.
06:21It reminds me of that time frame.
06:24And I think he's older now, and so he's more well-rounded with how he says certain things now,
06:31where he doesn't come off so abrasive.
06:34You don't think he's going to have a That's All Folks t-shirt on at any point this summer?
06:39No, I'll think, yeah.
06:41I think him and the Wizards are in a good place.
06:43Listen, I do think, I do think, I'll say, I'll be surprised.
06:49I do think, well, I'll just say this.
06:50I do think there's a good chance that he may end up somewhere else by the time next season starts.
06:55I mean, there you go.
06:56Yeah.
06:56By the way, Chris Haynes, NBA on Prime, long time.
07:00Guys, cover the league.
07:01We know him well.
07:01Just want to set that as, and this was a interview with who?
07:05I want to get the context and the setting for this.
07:07This was on Prime.
07:08This was on Prime.
07:09Yeah, this was on Prime.
07:10All right.
07:12You say he's a mouthpiece for Rich Paul.
07:14Yes.
07:14Clutch sports.
07:15I know.
07:15LeBron's agency, as well as Anthony Davis' agency.
07:18This narrative, and I've been texting with some NBA people this morning,
07:22this narrative was very much, it was placed.
07:26By the way, Chris Haynes' Twitter has a photo of him interviewing LeBron.
07:31Yeah.
07:32Near some slight resort.
07:33And that's, it is what it is.
07:35It's just, I add that only for informational purposes.
07:40So, the question is, how hot do the Wizards have to start for this stuff to die down?
07:46Here's what I would say.
07:47If Anthony Davis is on the roster at the beginning of the season and plays really well,
07:51you're going to get good trade offers, and if I'm them, I'm taking first-round picks,
07:55and I'm adding more towards the future.
07:57What if you're second in the East at Christmas?
07:59I don't think they're second in the East at Christmas.
08:01Okay, if you want to play the crazy scenario, then maybe he's happy to stay there.
08:05And you have a conversation with him and say, look, where are you?
08:08What do you want?
08:08Do you want to be a part of this?
08:09I think you need to have the conversation with somebody that's towards the end of their career
08:13that's injury-prone and say, here's where we are.
08:15Does this work for you, or do you want to go somewhere else?
08:18I mean, they've had these conversations with other veterans.
08:21Everybody knew that CJ McCollum and Chris Middleton were guys that might be moved.
08:25They're veterans, and that's the way that it is.
08:26So we'll see.
08:27We'll see if this actually turns into something that becomes a short-term relationship
08:31or a long-term thing.
08:32But there's value, certainly, with Anthony Davis when he's healthy.
08:34I mean, the dude is one of the best bigs in the NBA when he can actually play.
08:38Steve Zabin, Nick Aschewin for the guys here on The Fan.
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