- 7 hours ago
It's once again #DraftSZN now that we know the Wizards have the No. 1 pick - so it's time for some more debate from The Junks on who to take!
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00:00All right, we wanted to get back into some Wizards talk.
00:03They hold the number one pick in the upcoming NBA draft.
00:07We have some audio of Jonathan Gibney on the Zach Lowe NBA show.
00:12He's talking about who he would pick if he were heading the Wizards draft room.
00:19I have Darren Peterson going one, and I was a little bit surprised how the consensus has shifted.
00:26I mean, I know that Darren Peterson didn't have the season that he wanted,
00:29but I've seen those guys on the same floor in person probably eight to ten times playing against each other,
00:38you know, in a lot of different settings over the years, dating back to the under-16, you know,
00:44USA Basketball training camp, and not once did I come away thinking Agent DeBanza is a better prospect than Darren
00:52Peterson,
00:53including when they played each other this year, which is, you know,
00:58Darren Peterson had an absolutely insane first half.
01:01I mean, it was one of his best performances, and DeBanza had, you know, kind of a DeBanza game where
01:06a lot of dribbles,
01:07a lot of tough shots, made some tough shots, you know, incredible intensity and, you know, will and aggressiveness
01:14and the scoring instincts, and Agent DeBanza is a great prospect, and I have a pretty good feeling he's going
01:20to be an all-star.
01:21Darren Peterson is on another level, talent-wise, and I don't know if, you know, people watched,
01:29no, I think once they go back and go through the film, and they played each other three times last
01:35year,
01:36and Darren Peterson was head and shoulders better than AJ DeBanza every single time.
01:40Now, you know, the creatine stuff, and the cramping, and, you know, Darren Peterson did not have the same gear
01:50that we saw in high school.
01:51He didn't have the same twitch.
01:52He wasn't quite as explosive, blowing by people, getting to the rim, finishing.
01:57They moved him off the ball, strangely.
02:00He was playing next to Melvin Council, who is, you know, we've kind of seen him now.
02:06It's an interesting take, given he, now, I saw some people criticize him a couple years ago.
02:11He was a big re-sachet guy, going number one.
02:15That'll hurt you.
02:16But it's interesting.
02:19I'll tell you, I have a bit of a guard bias, and I guess you could say DeBanza can play
02:22the guard and play the two,
02:24but, man, when you watch the DeBanza highlights, they're amazing, right?
02:29He's dunking all the time.
02:31He can knock down threes.
02:33He's, but you watch Peterson, it just, you know, you brought up earlier in the show Donovan Mitchell's performance.
02:40And Donovan Mitchell, you wouldn't classify him as a point guard, but he has the ball in his hands a
02:45lot.
02:45Yeah.
02:46Creates his own shot, goes to the basket.
02:48Man, he's just fantastic.
02:48And then I think of the playoffs right now, and Shea is dominating, Anthony Edwards, best player on Minnesota.
02:55Like, Darren Peterson fits that mold more, in my mind, than A.J. DeBanza.
03:01Listen, it's not to say that DeBanza, if he turns into Tracy McGrady, that's like the comp.
03:07Yeah.
03:08One of the comps I saw for Darren Peterson was Kobe Bryant.
03:11Yeah.
03:12Like, to me, that's hard to pass up.
03:13Listen, I like to have my opinion.
03:15We all like to have our own opinions.
03:17But I defer to a guy like Giveny, who's literally his whole life is the draft and prospects.
03:24So when they say things like that, that means something to me.
03:27And it just, to me, it just, it syncs with having Will Dawkins on the show.
03:32And Will flat out saying, yes, you're right, there isn't one dominant player here.
03:36We could be very happy picking any one or two or three of those guys at one.
03:41It's perfectly in sync with that.
03:44There's not one dominant guy, even though the public thinks it's DeBanza.
03:49Now, he may be saying that they might absolutely have DeBanza.
03:55Like, all their scouts have DeBanza one.
03:58Dawkins has a one.
03:59And he might be saying that because he wants other teams to think that they're interested in other players
04:04so that they might be willing to trade up and they get some sort of draft home.
04:08I doubt they have a unanimous opinion, especially on DeBanza.
04:11I just doubt it, the way they've positioned all this.
04:14They probably don't, but they certainly don't want to tip their hand as to who they love
04:18and who they don't love at this point.
04:20Maybe, but it, and I'll take that as a given.
04:23But that, I mean, the fact that a guy like Giveny, who, that's his whole life,
04:28is probably more in sync than just random NBA guys that cover the NBA
04:33and then they dabble a little bit in draft prep.
04:36No, he's been watching them like Will Dawkins.
04:38He's been watching them since they're 15 years old, 14 years old.
04:41So a guy like that, his opinion is probably going to be more in sync with the NBA scouts
04:45than NBA reporters who cover the Wizards
04:49and they dabble a little in draft prep a month before the draft.
04:52There's definitely a difference.
04:53I would lean on those guys more.
04:55There's definitely a difference of opinion of who should be number one.
04:58If you want to chime in, 1-800-636-1067.
05:01I looked at our poll, 82% said DeBonsa.
05:04It seems like the Wizards fans are all about DeBonsa.
05:09And a lot of that has to do with Darren Peterson having the issues,
05:14the cramping issues and coming out of games.
05:16See, what we don't know, none of us know, is what's inside the guys, right?
05:20And that's, you know, the job of Dawkins when they interview these players
05:28and when they work them out to try and figure out what they're going to be.
05:31Are they grinders?
05:33Are they going to be happy to make the money?
05:35Are they going to be gym rats?
05:37We don't really know.
05:38And so there's a perception that Darren Peterson,
05:41because he stepped out of games, might not be the dog that you want.
05:45Right.
05:45But maybe he is.
05:46Or he was having legitimate physical issues, which he probably will.
05:50He also turned an ankle.
05:51It wasn't just the cramping.
05:52But he had significant issues.
05:55Bill Self would say, he said later in the season, look, it wasn't BS.
05:59We weren't making it up.
06:01We weren't just pulling him out of the games because he said he wanted to come out.
06:04He wasn't feeling well.
06:05Now, maybe that gets better.
06:08If he didn't have those issues, I think he'd be the clear-cut number one,
06:11in my opinion.
06:12The reason I have DeBonce ahead of him is because he's a little bit taller
06:16and longer, but Peterson has those issues.
06:20And you're going from a 37-game schedule, where you were playing 20 minutes
06:24in some games, to now playing an 82-game schedule?
06:27Yeah, if it's an issue in college, how's it not going to get worse?
06:29And in the playoffs?
06:30In the pros.
06:31Longer games?
06:33Travel?
06:33I mean, it's...
06:34Yeah, but he might have just had...
06:35His body chemistry might have just been off.
06:37You could be totally right.
06:38And now you get to the next level.
06:39And I guarantee you, Will Dawkins is going to call Bill Self.
06:41They're going to get the best lab work done on him, and they'll figure out whatever he's
06:45missing, and they'll fix that.
06:47It's a little concerning, though, when given he says he wasn't as explosive this year
06:52as he was in high school.
06:54Well, if he's cramping up, and his body chemistry is not right...
06:57He had those issues.
06:57Yeah, that makes sense to me.
06:59See, I didn't think he was explosive.
07:00I didn't watch him in high school.
07:01I just watched the highlight packages that everybody has.
07:05We've all watched the same stuff.
07:06And the highlight package is DeBonta.
07:08DeBonta looks more explosive to me.
07:10So I like him more.
07:12But if these guys did study him and watched him since they're 15, say he's really the
07:17guy, it's never DeBonta.
07:19It's always him.
07:19I believe them.
07:20I defer to them.
07:22They know more than me.
07:23And looked at some of the high school rankings, so before they went to college, and it was
07:27kind of split then.
07:29Some had DeBonta as the number one prospect.
07:32Some had Peterson as the number one prospect.
07:35So, it's a close call.
07:37It's close, but I think it also comes down to the Wizards have to absolutely nail this
07:42pick.
07:42They've got to nail it.
07:43There can't be any sort of fallout from it.
07:46It's got to work.
07:47And I think the guy that's going to work, at least initially, maybe he doesn't have as
07:52long of a high-term ceiling as Peterson.
07:54Maybe it's not quite as high.
07:56But I think the safer of those picks is DeBonta.
08:00He's the safer of the two.
08:01But it might not have as high of a ceiling.
08:03That's true, but I think Will Dawkins is going to bake that in and say, Peterson's ceiling
08:09may be higher, but am I willing to take the risks of, is he going to be a guy who
08:14wants
08:14to just load manage from day one in the NBA?
08:17Yeah.
08:17Can't handle the grind?
08:18That's what we just don't know.
08:19That's something that I have to consider if I'm Will Dawkins.
08:21These are two excellent players.
08:23Let me just throw out two excellent players.
08:26Let's say DeBonta is going to be Chris Bosh.
08:31Hall of Famer.
08:32Really good player.
08:33But let's say Caleb Wilson could be Kevin Garnett.
08:36It's a better player.
08:37Well, sure.
08:39But you can't guarantee me that.
08:41You can't get, well, you can't guarantee, you can't guarantee either.
08:44Right.
08:44But, and then, I don't know, man.
08:47When, when, when I see comparisons on Peterson and Kobe Bryant's name gets thrown in there.
08:54Let me just say this.
08:55I know that they're not, that the general manager's not going to tell the junkies or they're not
09:00going to tell any NBA reporter 99% of the time what they're going to do.
09:05I believe that.
09:06Right.
09:06Of course.
09:07I'm not stupid.
09:07I've been doing this for 30 years just like you guys.
09:10If people act like we're, you know, this is our first time.
09:12And I don't put a lot of stock into what they did in high school against each other.
09:15Maybe.
09:15When they were 15.
09:16But let me finish my point.
09:17The guys get better.
09:18But when the, when the, when the team wins the lottery and immediately the president of basketball
09:26operations, the guy in charge of the whole thing, even above Will Dawkins says,
09:30yeah, we're open for business.
09:31That tells me a little something.
09:33It just tells me a little something.
09:35And then, you know, I think it was undersold.
09:38No one talked about it.
09:41Will Dawkins admitted that play basketball or anything.
09:45They didn't watch it.
09:46Now I get it.
09:47Maybe there's some superstition there and Hey, we really don't want to know.
09:51We're trying not to get too excited.
09:53Maybe we could get a, you know, find a miracle or something.
09:56What if they had a TV right there courtside?
09:58No, no, I believe that they did not watch.
10:00I believe them.
10:01And maybe they're lying, Jason.
10:02Everyone lies.
10:03But I believe that.
10:04I saw them tell that same exact story on NBA TV.
10:07I don't believe it's a lie.
10:08I believe it's true.
10:11They, that tells me they're very comfortable.
10:15Like they were honest when they said we're very comfortable picking one, two, three, four.
10:19Like we like a lot of those guys, but there isn't one guy we have to have.
10:23It also is out of their control.
10:24It's also out of their control.
10:26So whatever was going to happen, then they were going to eventually have meetings and
10:30they were going to do their due diligence and do everything.
10:32Yeah, but if there was one guy that was far and above better than everybody else and
10:35they had to have him, I think they would probably be a little bit more locked in than just
10:39playing, hey, don't even bother us.
10:40We want to finish the game here.
10:42Here's the thing.
10:42Given he could be wrong.
10:43Didn't Will Dawkins also tell us he expected Trey Young and Anthony Davis to play together
10:47at some point?
10:48Well, Trey did play.
10:49They just never could get Anthony ready.
10:51Trey did play.
10:53They didn't play together.
10:54Because he couldn't get Anthony cleared.
10:56I saw him say on TV if the season was two weeks longer.
10:58He thought he was.
10:59I believe him.
11:00He said if the season was two weeks longer, they would have played together.
11:03I don't know if he lied.
11:03I just don't necessarily believe everything that comes out of a GM's mouth.
11:06I understand.
11:07I don't believe Will lied to us about that.
11:09I believe they intended Anthony Davis to play like they did with Trey.
11:13And then Trey got hurt and they shut him down.
11:15They wanted to lose the maximum amount of games.
11:18Yeah, but they were playing them 15 minutes, 20 minutes.
11:20They wanted the number one pick.
11:21Right, but they'd play him for a half and then you shut him down or whatever.
11:24That's what they did with Trey Johnson.
11:25He wasn't even playing in the second inning.
11:27Yeah, but that could affect outcomes.
11:28It could.
11:29Anthony Davis might have said, I'm just not playing.
11:31That's also true, too.
11:32I mean, he may have just said, I'm not playing.
11:35He could have sabotaged you.
11:35Figure things out in the offseason and we'll go from there.
11:38But I'm just not playing.
11:39They could be really happy with one of two guys.
11:42They really could.
11:44That's what I think.
11:44Maybe it comes down to these interviews.
11:47They could be happy with three guys.
11:48And talking to their college coaches and finding out what's going on in their heads.
11:51They might have been watching Cam Boozer since he was 14.
11:54Oh, I'm sure they were.
11:54They like him.
11:55Way more than we.
11:56They've been watching all these guys.
11:58I definitely trust them.
11:58I definitely trust them.
11:59Here's the quote, though.
12:01Gibney is essentially the Mel Kuyper of NBA.
12:04Right.
12:05Although he's not as prominent, but he's basically a Mel Kuyper of the NBA.
12:10I've been following him for years.
12:12He said, I've seen those guys on the same floor in person probably eight to ten times.
12:18Not once did I come away thinking A.J. DeBonsa is a better prospect than Darren Peterson.
12:24My guess is that the NBA execs.
12:26All right, but did Gibney say he's got any concerns over the cramping issues?
12:29Does he have concerns over that?
12:30He listened to it.
12:31He said he wasn't as explosive.
12:33Yeah.
12:33Well, yeah, but I'm saying does he have concerns going forward?
12:36My guess is.
12:37Not what he did in the past.
12:38If Gibney has had those thoughts, those NBA guys there that were watching those
12:42same games, probably had similar thoughts, too.
12:44Maybe not after every game, but maybe after most of them.
12:47I mean, he said Darren Peterson, this is the quote, was head and shoulders better than
12:51A.J. DeBonsa every single time.
12:54He's probably not the only guy that thought that.
12:56That's pretty telling.
12:56Now, again, my dumbass likes DeBonsa, but who cares?
13:01I defer to the guys that do this for a living all the time.
13:04Not the NBA writers that swoop in once in a blue moon.
13:07All right, we're going to talk to one of those guys coming up at 825.
13:10Randolph Childress, analyst for the ACC Network.
13:13He'll join us.
13:14He'll tell us who he likes for the Wizards to pick at number one overall.
13:17That's coming up at 825.
13:18525.
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