00:00I did want to play something that I promised I'd play for everybody, and that is Michael Winger, the team
00:05president, monumental basketball team president, was on the Ryan Russillo podcast, Ryan Scott's old radio partner, and I think we'll
00:15try to get Ryan on the show to talk about some of this stuff next week.
00:19But he was asked about kind of when the direction for next year changed, and whether or not that was
00:29the specific question, you'll hear maybe the question or not.
00:32But he talks about the Trey Young trade really changing the entire thought process about the timeline.
00:40Here's what he said.
00:42Our group sort of, you know, we meet all the time.
00:46We were watching these guys are like, Alex got a lot better, and Keyshawn got a lot better, and Bub
00:51got a lot better.
00:53Like, maybe it's time to roll the ball out and be in considerably more competitive games.
01:01Okay, so we make that decision.
01:03Then it is, well, we've got basically two avenues to add proven talent, draft and free agency.
01:12You look at the prospect of, you look at the free agent prospects for the 26th offseason, and we had
01:20a ton of cap space at the time.
01:21We were scheduled to have like 85 million in room.
01:25It was our opinion that Trey Young was the best free agent on the board, and we decided internally, okay,
01:32like, if this is the best free agent, like, he fits with us, he would really help our young players
01:37get better.
01:37He'd help us be in competitive games.
01:41Let's, you know, like, let's put in a call, see if this is even worth the conversation, I mean, to
01:47Atlanta, see if they have plans to retain him, whatever the case may be.
01:52And we immediately got into really friendly, professional conversations with the Hawks that escalated quickly, and we ended up trading
02:02for Trey Young.
02:03And then so once we got Trey, it became our, I don't want to say our philosophy, because our philosophy
02:11has been the same from day one.
02:13But our competitive approach changed, and we knew that we would be some degree of good with Trey Young, and
02:20even if it was just all of our young guys.
02:22But you're still three weeks away from the trade deadline, so you're talking to every team.
02:27And a friend of mine was managing Dallas, and so, you know, we sort of danced around AD a little
02:33bit, like, what are you thinking, what are you doing?
02:34And then it became sort of apparent that they would entertain the conversation.
02:39And so internally, we decided, oh, hell, we've already, we've already gotten Trey Young.
02:44Like, what if we paired him with, you know, one of the best picks in the league, one of the
02:48best picks of all time?
02:49And we just sort of, we went with it.
02:51It was, you know, the price point was right for us.
02:55Neither player displaced sort of like a proven player in that position.
03:02And we knew that whatever happens at the draft, like, whoever we draft is going to be able to fit
03:07between T.Y. and A.D.
03:13And, and Alex, and like everything else is, like, these guys got to compete for the minute.
03:20That was interesting.
03:22So I read some of those comments, Max, and I asked you to get the sound.
03:26So that was the first time of actually listening to him describe it.
03:30You know, tone sometimes is everything.
03:33It really sounds like the process began with not necessarily the end result, meaning we're going to go try to
03:43compete in 2026, 2027.
03:47We want to compete.
03:48We want to be better.
03:49And Trey Young's the best free agent possibility.
03:52Why not acquire him now?
03:54Remember, too, the dilemma that they had in the moment.
04:00C.J. McCollum was playing really good basketball, and they had won something like six out of eight games.
04:06And he was starting to personally threaten the protection of their draft choice in 2026.
04:14Because if they had finished, you know, outside of the bottom four, there would have been a chance in the
04:19lottery that they could have ended up at nine or worse, which meant their pick would have been lost to
04:25the Knicks.
04:26But, so that was part of it, I think, in the moment.
04:29He didn't speak to that.
04:30But it's like, okay, we got Trey Young.
04:33Why don't we see if, wow, Anthony Davis is available?
04:38How about pairing the two of them?
04:41I would have thought that it would have been a bit more calculated, a bit more planned, rather than sort
04:51of spontaneous.
04:54And I thought it was interesting.
04:56I actually, I think that's one of the, I think I had Winger on the show when he was first
05:01hired.
05:02I don't think we've had him back.
05:03I'd love to get him back, because he actually sounds like a really good interview and willing to sort of
05:08open up about some of that stuff.
05:10But, yeah.
05:12So that's the way it all kind of came together.
05:14I think when he did say, I just wrote down this one thing that he said that I just don't
05:19agree with.
05:19He said, we knew we were going to be, to some degree, of good once we got Trey Young.
05:27Yeah, I wouldn't have said that.
05:30Like, I wouldn't have said just adding Trey Young and you're going to be some degree of good.
05:36Because I think the only reason 2026, well, the number one pick now makes it super intriguing.
05:44But the most interesting part of the Wizards' season next year, by far and away, is Anthony Davis.
05:53Because he is and has been, when he plays, big if, when he's healthy, he's been an absolute superstar and
06:03a two-way superstar in the game.
06:05And so if you get that player, and then you team him up with a veteran point guard who can
06:12score and create, make people better, he's also a liability defensively.
06:17But with Saar and AD defensively, you know, you kind of have some protection behind Trey Young on the perimeter.
06:27But now you can see, if those two play with the young, you know, group that in some cases is
06:36ascending, or it certainly appears to be.
06:39Well, now you're talking about a team that, I said it when they made the AD trade.
06:43This is a team that if he plays, call it 55, 60 plus games, they could win 45 plus games
06:50and be in the main draw.
06:52And avoid the play-in.
06:54Like, they could be a top six seed in the East.
06:57I mean, I think it could be even better.
06:59Anthony Davis is a major wild card.
07:02First of all, let's hope he's on the team.
07:04You know, I see all these, you know, trade ideas.
07:07Somebody just sent me one where it's like, you know, AD to Milwaukee with a pick for Giannis back with
07:12a pick.
07:13I mean, there's, you know, been some LeBron talk.
07:16LeBron's not coming to Washington, people.
07:17Even to team up with the guy that he last won a title with, Anthony Davis.
07:23But Anthony Davis is, and then A.J. DeBonsa, perhaps, or Darren Peterson.
07:30That's the real super kind of must-watch element to the team next year.
07:37Because, again, the difference between, you know, 17 wins and 45 is somebody like Anthony Davis.
07:47It's not Trey Young.
07:49It's not even the combination of Trey Young, a good young core, and the number one pick.
07:56Like, if they're going to compete and they're going to be in the postseason next year, even as a play
08:01-in team, it's going to be because Anthony Davis played a lot next year.
08:07I'd love to see that.
08:08You know, I would.
08:09I hope that he doesn't get dealt.
08:10I hope he's excited by the A.J. DeBonsa, you know, ad here.
08:15I'd love to see that because I actually can see a Trey Young-Anthony Davis combo working.
08:23And then defensively with the likes of Koulibaly and Saar and Anthony Davis, a formidable defensive team.
08:30And then, yeah, there are some young players that are really, really intriguing.
08:34And it could be, I'm not predicting a Cooper flag kind of rookie season for DeBonsa or Peterson or Boozer
08:42or Caleb Wilson or Darius Acuff Jr.
08:44Although, it would not surprise me if Acuff Jr. with the right team comes out of the gate next year
08:49averaging 20-plus as a rookie.
08:52That's not going to surprise me.
08:56But, yeah, interesting the way it kind of all came together, you know.
09:01If that's the way it legitimately all came together, I don't have any reason not to believe it.
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