- 10 hours ago
The Wizards have won the Draft Lottery, and now it's up to Will Dawkins to make the pick! The GM joined The Junkies this morning to celebrate the win and play a little word association with some names we could hear taken No. 1 overall!
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00:00Joining us right now on the Rude Guest Hotline, Rude's most reliable heating and air conditioning
00:05products in the DMV. It's a guy calling the shots for the Washington Wizards, their general manager,
00:09Will Dawkins. Good morning, Will. Good morning, fellas. How are we doing today? Congrats. We're
00:14excited. We're doing pretty good, Will. We're excited. What was your physical reaction when
00:19you found out that you got the topic? And where exactly were you? Yeah, so I had been in the
00:26back
00:27room the last two times. Michael and I talked and we realized we had to bring in the closer,
00:32so we had to go call in Michael from the bullpen. So he represented us in the back. So instead
00:37of
00:37going to the actual lottery, myself and a few of our scouts, there was a break in between the action
00:43from the games yesterday from the G League Combine. He interviews in the games. So we actually rented a
00:48gym and went and played pickup basketball instead and just had our mind off of it. But you watched
00:53it, didn't you? No, we didn't watch it. We were playing pickup. Okay, so how do you find out then?
01:00So our director on comms, Ketsia, was in there watching it, in the gym watching it. And then
01:07as soon as it came up about 2.30, we told her to come in and interrupt the game and
01:11let us know
01:12what happened. And she came in, let us know. People got excited. And then we got back to hooping.
01:16How did she say it? It was funny. She was like, hey, do you guys want to know? We're like,
01:23no,
01:23we want to finish the game. She was like, are you sure? That's how we knew it was pretty good.
01:27So she let us know. So it was a pretty good reaction, as you can imagine. Our scouts are
01:31all over the country, so we don't get a chance to really be together all the time. So when we're
01:35in the same city, we try to find a bonding activity. And yesterday just ended up being ball.
01:39So it was pretty funny. Who's got the best game amongst your pickup players?
01:44It's not really fair because Ish Smith could probably still be in the NBA if he really
01:49wanted to. So that was a tough guard for me yesterday, but it was fun.
01:53So let me ask you, as this was coming down, and I know you said publicly many, many times
01:58on this show and anybody that ever asked you that you felt like you guys were in a good
02:02spot. You were going to get a good player, you know, at five at worst, like you guys were
02:06comfortable. And I, I believe it just by you guys playing ball during it. Like that tells me,
02:10right? I believe it. Um, but did you, did you ever really let yourself think we could
02:17potentially get one or did you kind of, I'm trying to get inside your brain here, or did
02:21you kind of just say, you know what, we're probably going to pick probably five, maybe
02:25we'll get lucky and get like three. Did you ever imagine a scenario truly where you would
02:29have the top pick?
02:30Yeah, I think it was a very fortunate day for us. Um, like it was a very lucky day. The
02:36balls bounced our way, literally. Um, in preparation, there was comfort in five, just
02:41because we know how good this draft is. So I think it eased everyone's mind going into
02:45it. We spent a lot of time putting the roster together. If we will be, we would do, if we
02:49get one, if we went big, if we went small, um, in those situations, but you never really
02:55want to go all the way there.
02:56Yeah. You actually know. Um, and once we found out last night, you celebrate for a
03:01little bit. We're just happy for the city, for the fans, everyone that endured the rebuild
03:05and how hard that can be on them, that we got the number one pick. But at the end of
03:09the day, we got right back to business, sat down and mapped out what it's going to look
03:13like and what we need to do to be able to make the best decision for our team.
03:16And we were kind of joking about this amongst ourselves, but you can answer this. When's the
03:21first time you watched guys like Darren Peterson and AJ DeBonsa, how old were they?
03:28Um, some 15, some 16. Okay. Uh, and seeing these guys for a pretty long time, as you
03:34can imagine. Yeah. And we were not sure how much you can talk about each of the guys, but
03:38I think you can talk about what you see on film, like the strengths and weaknesses. So
03:42can we go through the players that potentially wouldn't want to do that today? Um, let me make
03:49sure we get to meet them and spend some time with them. Um, and officially welcome, Marcel,
03:53welcome them to Wizards interviews later this week at the combine. But, um, I would say we
03:58have some pretty good options. Have you met them all? Have you met them all? No, we're
04:02going to meet them this week. So the week is just starting. Um, we get our interview list
04:06and we'll be able to meet all the guys starting on Tuesday. So we get them Tuesday, Wednesday,
04:10Thursday. So, Will, we barely get time to celebrate the number one pick. And then we see
04:14that Wizards president, Michael Winger told NBA insider, Jake Fisher, the team will quote,
04:20at least consider trading down unquote from the number one pick because they do not see
04:25it as a savior moment for the franchise. Well, where do you stand on that? I mean, I'm sure
04:30it has to be part of the consideration of teams, you know, call you without outrageous offers
04:34for that pick. You would consider them. Uh, how do you, how do you factor that into this
04:39whole equation? Yeah. I just think everyone's going to have conversations like we do in every
04:43draft. If you've seen us the last couple of years, we've moved around in different
04:47spots. So we're always open to conversation. Um, again, I don't, as Michael might've said,
04:52we don't see the savior in the draft, but we're going to get a really, really good player.
04:55And the thing we're excited about is the power of choice. And we haven't had that every single
05:00year. We have that this year. We're very happy with where we're at. We know we're going
05:03to get a high level player. This isn't just a one person draft, but we got to go find the
05:08right one person for us, but we're excited to pick. So I, again, just forgive us for
05:13trying to probe. And I know you're going to only say what you want to say. Yeah. Just,
05:17I just, I just kind of want to narrow it down. So for you, it's not like a Wemby draft
05:22where
05:22there's a clear cut number one, you could envision yourself taking, I don't know, you don't, you
05:27may not want to say, but more than one guy would be possible at one overall for you.
05:32Yeah. Yeah. That, that is actually accurate. Is that based on the interviews that you're
05:37going to have this week or is that based on just be a part of helping us inform the,
05:40our decision for sure. Um, we got to make sure that we're getting the player that's right for us
05:45and wants to be here and be in the right situation and do what we're trying to do.
05:48Cause that's really important. Um, I think we'll have a lot of talented options with a lot of
05:53really good people just in doing our Intel ahead of time. So it's going to be a decision that,
05:57um, we have to spend some more time on and getting to know them this week will go a long
06:02way,
06:02but also spending time with them in DC, really learning what their motivation is,
06:06what they're about, how they see themselves fitting into the community, everything like
06:09that, that goes into someone that's going to be a number one. So one thing that I know
06:13you've made a point of saying on this show repeatedly, time after time, after time is
06:16the guys, you know, like what you're getting at the guys that you drafted or guys that love
06:20ball, they're in the gym every day. That's a big thing. So you could have, let's just say
06:26for the sake of argument, you have two or three guys kind of equal, but one guy loves being
06:30in the gym way more. That's going to elevate him over the other two. No doubt.
06:35I think getting into the NBA is the start for them. Once you get there, you got to be willing
06:39to work and develop your game. Um, I don't think we'll have a problem finding people who are
06:44passionate and love the game at the top of this draft, but at the end of the day, our decision
06:48isn't just what we see with our eyes. We also got to make sure the numbers back that up. And
06:53what
06:53we're hearing backs it up in terms of what they're telling us and what the people that they're
06:56around tell us. So we want to look at the eyes, the ears and the numbers, and then make the
07:00best
07:01decision for our team. So, well, what if, if you had a guy that was clear cut number one on
07:05your
07:05board, but then after the interviews, that guy was like, you know, he's saying there isn't a
07:11clear cut one. He didn't. I'm just saying if there was a one and then you had these interviews and
07:15the
07:15one guy was sad, I mean, I kind of like DC, but I'd rather play here. But the other guy
07:20who you
07:20didn't have number one really loves it. Would that affect your decision at one? Um, I think the next
07:26step there would be getting that person into DC and experiencing it from themselves. And I don't
07:32think we'd let the player dictate to that level. Um, but we'd have conversations with agents and
07:36players, but I don't think we'll be in that situation this year. We're joined by Will Dawkins,
07:41Wizards general manager. They won the draft lottery, hold the number one overall pick in June. So take us
07:47into the interview room. How many people are interviewing the player? Is it a standard, you know,
07:52group of questions that each guy gets asked, or do you pivot as the, as the interview goes
07:57along? Take us inside that process. Yeah, it's probably my favorite part of the combine
08:02week for sure. Um, you get 20 young men who get to sit in front of you. It's kind of
08:07like
08:07speed dating for them. You get 25 minutes with each person. Um, they go door to door,
08:12team to team. But for us, we try to keep it as a calm environment. Um, we decorate the room
08:17and all DC things. So they come in and they feel like they're part of DC. We show them a
08:22video
08:22and then just kind of open it up and give them an opportunity to speak and get to know them
08:26a
08:26little bit. There's probably topics we make sure we hit on, but there's not a too many standard
08:32static questions. We want to keep it, um, open-minded and just let it be a flow. We don't want
08:37it to
08:37really feel like an interview. We want it to feel like a conversation. So we take the desk out. Um,
08:42we have chairs and couches and it's more like a, a lounge coffee shop type vibe. And we just have
08:48a
08:48good time and let them get to know us because for some of them, it's their only exposure that
08:51they're going to have to us. So we want to make sure it's a positive one. Since you've been here,
08:55it could be in a previous stop. Has any player just bombed the interview, but did so well every
09:01place else that you didn't put as much stock into that? Has that ever happened? Completely bombed.
09:08And it's hard to really bomb an interview. Like these are, I've done it.
09:12Yeah. We've all done it. Literally done it. Yeah. They're not like they're auditioning for the
09:18job in there. They're just basically sharing who they are and you to see what level of, um,
09:23person they are and how much they want to open up and share stories. So I haven't, it's hard to
09:28say
09:29someone has bombed an interview. Some have been probably a little closer or closed-minded than
09:33others in terms of being able to share and being open. But at the end of the day, we respect
09:37their time
09:38and we appreciate them coming in to talk to us. Talking to Will Dawkins,
09:41Wizards GM, of course, Wizards landed the number one pick in the NBA draft lottery,
09:45which is coming up in mid June. Um, so let me ask you about upside versus what they are right
09:53now
09:53and how you weigh that. And I want to ask about a particular player who you're familiar with SGA,
09:58arguably the best player in the NBA right now, right? He was drafted 11th. Um, so development
10:05obviously is a big part of the equation because he's become one of the top, easily top three
10:11players in the NBA, maybe the top player in the NBA. How much do you weigh what you see right
10:16now?
10:17You know, you have a guy like the Bonson who led the NCAA isn't scoring, but then you have some
10:22other guys who might be more raw, who you think might become better down the road. How much do you
10:26weigh
10:26that? Yeah. Um, one, I think the individual matters on that as well. When you guys peel back
10:36the curtain on Shea, who's the MVP right now last year, um, he also had a work ethic and a
10:42mindset
10:43and a belief in himself that he was going to be really, really good and the right type of temperament
10:47to lead. Um, so again, you figure that out through the interview process, through the Intel. So
10:52that's still to come for us, but I always work with the scouts, um, let them know. We're not too
10:58worried about the, the a block of the news more. So the B block of the news, we don't want
11:03the current
11:03events of what happened. We want to wait to the B block of it, where it tells us the weather
11:07and
11:07the five day forecast, the future forecast. So we're always focused on the future. Um, and that's
11:13kind of how we go about it. So we want the news, not the weather when we're predicting players and
11:17when we're drafting players, we're going for the long run. Are you going to ask, you're going to have
11:21these guys in for workouts too, right? Yeah. We'll have them in for DC for visits. Correct.
11:26So when you do that, how do you, how do you juggle how this guy really shoots it way better
11:30than he did in the games? And is this like a moron? Like, how do you juggle that?
11:36Yeah, I think that's part of evaluating, um, and learning what's real and what's not a lot of these
11:41guys we've seen, like since they've been 15 years old, the top 100 camps are 16 years old at
11:46AAU events, um, high school tournaments. So we've been tracking their progress.
11:51And the best part about this is you probably don't see a guy from February till March.
11:57And then you see them in your gym in June and they've already started to change their body.
12:00They started to change their habits, the little things they haven't had time to stop and work
12:04on because they've been in classes. They've changed it here or there. You basically learn
12:08how quick they can retain information, put them in situations where our players would play out
12:13of, um, in drills that we put our players in. And you just see the signs of where it's at
12:17and those that can correct on the fly and understand information. You feel pretty good about guys like
12:22that. What about like, uh, I know that, uh, AJ said that he, uh, maybe competed against Trey or
12:29played with Trey, you know, a year or so ago. Like, do you, do you go up to a guy
12:32like Trey and say,
12:33Hey man, what do you think? What's your vibe on this dude? I don't think you have to go up
12:38to our
12:38guys to get their opinions on other players. They're going to give it to you. They don't mind giving it
12:42to you.
12:42Um, it was actually pretty funny last year. Uh, Amber Nichols and I were watching USA film with
12:50all the guys they were playing in it and they were playing against team France. So I texted Alex
12:55was like, Hey, you were playing against these guys a couple of years ago. What'd you think?
12:59And things of that nature. So it's not just the Americans who play against each other. Like
13:02they play against each other. International competitions do. So the connections, as you can
13:06imagine are interwoven pretty well. Hey, Will, let's do a quick exercise. Okay. Just close your
13:11eyes for two seconds here. Okay. Close your eyes and envision the player that you want
13:15wearing a wizard's Jersey. What does that guy look like? He looks like a wizard and we're
13:21happy to have him. Okay. What'd you think he's going to say there? I'll tell you what he doesn't
13:26look like. Is he 6'9 or is he 6'6? He doesn't look like a 5'8 white guy
13:32who's bald with a beard.
13:33I know that. I certainly wasn't expecting that. Listen, I believe Will. He says there isn't
13:39a clear cut one. Okay. So take the FanDuel odds, throw them out. Take all the mocks, throw
13:45them out. As far as Will's concerned, multiple guys for the Wizards could go one overall.
13:52That's big. That's nasty guys. I proposed this earlier. Okay. We're pretty tight at this
13:59point, right? Yeah. Yeah. I think so. You trust us. You're my guy. We're your guys.
14:03Are we your guys to the extent that the day before the draft, you would let us walk into
14:10your war room with no phones. Okay. We leave our phones back to work. You'd have to trust
14:14us. Sign an NDA. Sign an NDA and you say, here's our board. I trust you guys not to go
14:19on Twitter
14:19and blab about it and let the cat out of the bag. Would you let us walk into your war
14:25room
14:25day before the draft and look at your board and trust us to walk out without blabbing
14:31and having it hit the hit Twitter the next day or the next hour? As much as I trust you
14:38guys, we'd probably have to work on negotiating the terms on that one a little bit more than
14:42just right now on the radio. He's leaving the door open. I appreciate that, Will.
14:48Well, let me see if you'll play ball. So before the NFL draft two seasons ago, when the commanders
14:54ended up taking Jaden Daniels, we played word association with Dan Quinn and we just first
15:01thing that popped into mind, it was about the prospects that were coming out. Drake May,
15:05Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, and a couple others. So would you play ball if I went through
15:10some of the top process? Just first thing, one or two words about the players. Okay. Is
15:15that all right? Okay. Okay. All right. Let's start with, uh, let's start with Darius
15:19Acuff. Um, competitive. Okay. Keep track of this. Cam Boozer. Um, Cam Boozer. Consistent.
15:35Oh, I don't like consistent very much. I like consistent. You want someone consistent?
15:40Ah, Caleb. Consistent is boring. It's boring. Hold on. What do you say about
15:43better than inconsistent? Competitive. Competitive. Okay. Caleb, Caleb Wilson.
15:49Caleb Wilson. Freak. Um, don't lead the witness.
15:55Reiser. Ooh. All right. That's better than consistent.
16:00Darren Peterson.
16:03Um, hurt. Fierce. Fierce. All right. All right. Just told him not to lead the witness
16:11and you did. AJ. Um, consistent. So he's consistent as well. I used that one already? Use that one
16:28for Cam. I was just going to say, I was about to say speechless.
16:32Redraw. Redraw for that. Redraw for AJ. You probably have another word. Let's try another
16:36word for AJ. Because you already said consistent. Consistent is off the board. Yeah, but that's
16:40the first thing you can do. Consistent is off the board. You said Cam was consistent.
16:44Yeah, it has to be a different word. Oh. Consistent. Score. Score then. Score. Okay.
16:50Okay. Score. All right. I already played ball. All right. Yeah. That's good. Appreciate it.
16:54Couldn't ask for more. All right. Good job. Couldn't ask for more, Will. Thank you. Yeah.
16:58All right. Congratulations. Uh, landing the number one pick. You did it. Now you just
17:03can't F it up, Will. Working on it. That is the goal. Appreciate you guys. Thank you so
17:09much. We appreciate it. Thank you, buddy.
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