00:00House, congratulations. We did it. The Wizards get the number one overall pick. Well done, sir.
00:06Boys, we did it. It's amazing. I have to ask, what do they say? If it lasts longer than four
00:13hours, you're supposed to call a doctor?
00:15Right.
00:15Is that what we're supposed to do?
00:16Yeah, that's correct.
00:18It might be time.
00:19It might be time.
00:20You might want to place that call as soon as you're done with us, House.
00:22It might be time.
00:24You know it.
00:25What was your instinct? Because immediately, most fans, and certainly those of us here locally, everyone was like, A.J.
00:33DeBonsa, here we go.
00:35And then you hear Michael Winger, maybe he's just doing his due diligence, but he's like, yeah, we're open for
00:40business.
00:40And then we have Will Dawkins on the show, and he goes, honestly, guys, this isn't a Wemby draft.
00:44Any one of those guys there at the top we'd be thrilled with.
00:48I don't know, man. I honestly don't know what they're going to do there.
00:53Yeah, I share that sentiment.
00:55It's crazy.
00:57Immediately after the pick, you know, the pandemonium of it and the euphoria, my text threads start filling up with
01:05how committed is Utah to getting DeBonsa?
01:10And what can we get from Utah for A.J.?
01:13I'm like, wait a minute.
01:14Can we first just kind of enjoy this moment?
01:17But there is that connection that Utah has established with A.J.
01:24They brought him from Massachusetts as a high school kid, and the owner of the Jazz helped, you know, fund
01:31his pathway into BYU.
01:34And he had that tremendous year at BYU.
01:36I think the Wizards front office is doing exactly the appropriate and correct thing, which is striking a nice balanced
01:44tone and accepting all incoming phone calls.
01:48Hey, House, how great was it to see the montage of the reaction of Wizards fans when they flipped over
01:55the Utah Jazz with the No. 2 pick and you knew that the Wizards had the No. 1 pick?
02:00You should have been included from your bit with Bill Simmons where you got up, you did the Dougie like
02:04John Wall during his debut with the Wizards.
02:07But it was awesome to see, you know, a bunch of long-suffering Wizards fans like me, like you, and
02:13like a lot of listeners, like, they just were in disbelief.
02:16They were shocked that the Wizards finally landed the No. 1 pick after last doing it back in 2010 with
02:22John Wall.
02:23Yeah, the whole DMV, everybody that invested in this Wizards team deserved that moment and that, you know, unexpected, unbridled
02:36joy.
02:36That doesn't happen to the Wizards.
02:39The Wizards haven't won 50 basketball games since 1979.
02:43The Wizards haven't been to the conference finals since the 70s.
02:46We don't get that kind of good luck.
02:48And for it to be John Wall as the through line, our last really top-notch, you know, No. 1
02:56pick, for him to go from that 2010 moment all the way up until now, it was awesome.
03:01It was awesome to see that montage of a lot of young folks.
03:05I was psyched, you know, for us, us grizzled veterans boys, you know, we enjoy it.
03:12But I'd love to see that younger generation losing their minds over getting a shot at the, you know, the
03:20spotlight for a minute.
03:22You know, I'm kind of with the fan base.
03:24We did polls here and other shows have done polls.
03:27It's right around 85% of the local fans here want A.J. DeMansa.
03:32But again, I'm just kind of hammering this, getting back to, like, the NBA guys, the guys that really, the
03:37draft experts, others, they, you know, it's a lot more split.
03:42There's a lot of Peterson.
03:43Here's what I can tell you.
03:46That of all these front offices, the Caps, certainly, you've got to give them a nod for what they've done.
03:51They've threaded the needle with the veterans and the young guys, and they keep them competitive year after year, and
03:56they won a cup, right?
03:57So I just, I tip my cap to them for sure.
03:59But this front office, I have total faith in them, maybe more than any of the others.
04:04Like, I trust whatever this brain trust, until proven otherwise, I trust wherever they go.
04:12That's really part of the gratifying moment.
04:14It feels like the first time since Leonsis became the majority owner of the Wizards that there was a concrete
04:23plan, at least over the last, you know, decade or so.
04:27A plan that makes sense, a plan that was laid out for the fan base.
04:32And I think everybody can tolerate, you know, a bit of losing, a little bit of creative rostering.
04:40If you can see a plan and understand the plan and understand the path, and both Winger and Dawkins arrive
04:48with a proven track record of knowing how to build assets, and then those assets become opportunistic.
04:58You get a Trey Young for barely nothing.
05:01You get an Anthony Davis for barely nothing.
05:04And both of those guys, yes, they may very well help this young group that's been assembled along the way.
05:11But also, those guys could get flipped into picks.
05:15I mean, there's a way to have a really nice young core, massage that young core into something that can
05:22be competitive this upcoming season, and continue to build.
05:26The model is in place right there in Oklahoma City.
05:29I mean, they have a number 12 pick overall, and they keep doing great in drafts.
05:34A.J. Mitchell, who saw him coming from where he came from?
05:38If this group, if Dawkins and Winger, continue to do well draft-wise, then there's no reason that Washington can't
05:48build up a young core here.
05:50I totally agree, E.B.
05:52This is a brain trust thus far that has really, you know, they turned Bradley Beal and Jordan Poole into
06:00genuine assets and genuine team building, and that's the moment we're in right now.
06:05Hey, Halse, I'm guessing that you were scoffing.
06:07I think this was yesterday when Stephen A. Smith just went super hard on the Wizards with an old take
06:12that they were an abomination, and they have a horrible culture as far as, like, their front office, and the
06:18Bonson shouldn't go there.
06:19Like, he's just bringing up old, like, he still thinks, like, Ernie's still calling the shots here in D.C.
06:26I mean, you had to be offended by that, right?
06:28I don't know what sport he watches.
06:31I thought he watched basketball, but it would be nice for Stephen A. Smith to pay attention for about 10
06:37minutes.
06:37I mean, nobody is a better spokesperson for the culture that is different, new, and, you know, on the rise
06:47than C.J. McCollum, who was, you know, the darling of the first round of the playoffs when he showed
06:55out with some competitive games against the Knicks.
06:58And C.J., for his entire time in Washington, keep praise on the decision-making, the direction, the maturity, the
07:10institutional assurance that there was good ideas and a good plan in place.
07:17So, if Stephen A. wants to start watching basketball, that would be nice.
07:22I don't watch that show.
07:23He tried to talk about golf last week.
07:26I mean, it's like, buddy, it's fine.
07:29You're allowed to have an opinion, but at least pay attention for 5 or 10 minutes to what's going on.
07:36Talking to Hal's from D.C., Wizards fan, part of the Ringer Podcast Network.
07:40All right, so are you a DeBonsa guy, a Peterson guy, a Caleb Wilson guy?
07:44Who do you like?
07:45I love DeBonsa, and if we land him, it'll be tremendous.
07:50But if somebody makes a godfather offer, so I was prepared for any one of the top four guys.
07:57My truly euphoric moment was when they flipped over Clippers at five, and I knew we were getting a top
08:02four pick.
08:03Because any of the guys in that top four, I'll be absolutely thrilled with.
08:09So, I'm totally open to the idea of one of these other teams trying to jump into the top four
08:15and offering up another young guy already on their team.
08:20You know, the Utah, the trade that keeps hitting the threads and my Twitter feed is like Ace Bailey and
08:30the two pick
08:31and maybe one of the future firsts that Utah has.
08:34If Utah offers that, I think you've got to take it.
08:37I mean, you know, Peterson didn't cover himself in glory.
08:42Whatever that situation or relationship was in Kansas didn't really instill a ton of confidence.
08:50But the tape doesn't lie.
08:52I mean, the dude is an absolute explosive beast.
08:56He can be a one, he can be a two, all false to him and Trey Young.
09:01So, if it leads to more team building, if there's a deal out there that leads to more team building,
09:07I support that.
09:08House, do you think Trey Young and Anthony Davis will play the entire season together next year in Washington?
09:14No. No chance whatsoever.
09:16So, AD goes at the deadline.
09:18He gone.
09:20They don't give him more money.
09:23They don't throw more money at him to make him happy.
09:25Who, AD?
09:26Yeah.
09:28Hell no, that man hasn't played basketball in 18 months.
09:31Yeah.
09:31Why would we pay him?
09:33We don't need him.
09:33Do you even want to see him next year?
09:36Yes, because it would be awesome for him to come play 20 or 25 games at a high level and
09:43remind everybody what he's capable of and let him do some nurturing of SAR and, you know, basically rehabilitate his
09:53playing status a little bit.
09:55And then let one of these desperate teams that are, you know, underperforming at the beginning of the season come
10:01in and make a great offer for him.
10:02That may yet happen this summer.
10:04I mean, there are some teams that are going to be already looking at themselves in the mirror.
10:08The Magic are a good candidate for this.
10:10Orlando, who wildly disappointed, underperformed.
10:15They were supposed to win 50 games this year, the Orlando Magic, and then got bumped out in the first
10:21round because, you know, their best player and their head coach couldn't get on the same page.
10:26There will be teams, you know, if Cleveland gets knocked out in this round, that will be looking at themselves
10:32and saying, you know, we need to get bigger.
10:36We need to get more and more sort of defensive presence.
10:39So there'll be some candidates of some teams that are in the playoffs right now that might have an interest
10:43in AD and might make an interesting, attractive offer to us before the season starts.
10:48House, great to hear from you, man.
10:50Congrats.
10:50You did it.
10:51You helped them land the number one overall pick.
10:53We're proud of you, man.
10:54Job well done.
10:55Appreciate it.
10:55We all did it together, boys.
10:5730 years together.
10:58We did it.
10:59We did it.
10:59Thanks, House.
11:00Appreciate it, man.
11:01All right, fellas.
11:02That's House from D.C., part of the Ringer podcast.
11:05Network, when we come back, we'll give you a chance to win a pair of tickets to see Joe Satriani
11:10and Steve Vai when they come to Wolf Trap at the end of May.
11:13So keep listening for your chance to win.
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