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David Aldridge joins The Sports Junkies to break down the NBA playoffs.
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00:00All right, let's talk to our next guest, David Aldridge,
00:01covers the NBA for the Athletic.
00:03Hey, DA.
00:05Hey, fellas.
00:06Hey, thanks for coming on, man.
00:08Appreciate it.
00:08How are you, sir?
00:09No, let's start.
00:10Well, before we get into the Wizards,
00:12and we want to talk Wizards with you and NBA Draft,
00:14let's start with the playoffs.
00:16We just mentioned it.
00:17The Knicks are a team full of guys they got in free agency or trades.
00:22They've gotten hot.
00:23I think a lot of people thought the Celtics were going to be there.
00:25It's going to be the Knicks-Cavs.
00:28Knicks, I guess, are a favorite in this series.
00:31How do you see that one playing out?
00:34Yeah, I'd agree with that.
00:35I think the Knicks, you know, you do wonder about they've been off
00:38for more than a week, and you do wonder about Russ versus Russ.
00:42It's a kind of classic puzzle in the playoffs sometimes.
00:47But, you know, I do think the healthier team tends to,
00:51over seven games, take control of the series.
00:54And while Cleveland's sharper because they just played last night
00:58and they've played two seven-game series,
01:00I do think the Knicks probably are going to win that series.
01:03You know, they have home court.
01:07I think the way that Towns has been playing the last couple of series
01:12has really kind of unlocked some things for the Knicks
01:15that make them less dependent on Jalen Brunson.
01:20Like, they don't need him to score 40 to win a playoff game now.
01:23You know, if Towns is facilitating and creating offense for other people
01:27and having Ananobi back, right, he missed the end of the last series
01:33with the hamstring, but he's had 10 days off, 12 days off.
01:37And you don't know with hamstrings.
01:39Like, they're wonky, and they could come back at any moment.
01:43But if he is healthy, I think that he's a difference maker for them
01:47in that series.
01:49Isn't that kind of crazy, though, that, like JP just said,
01:52that the starting five are all guys that they acquired in trades
01:56and they didn't draft any of them?
01:57That's kind of crazy.
01:59Well, it's New York.
02:02I don't know, but props to whoever their GM is.
02:05They're operating on a slightly different plane than the Wizards are.
02:07That is true, but, David, this is the nation's capital.
02:12I always feel like it's a little disrespectful when people say
02:15we just can't attract free agents, and I know our track record
02:17wasn't great of it, but I don't know.
02:20It might be more management than it is being D.C.
02:24Look, I'm a native Washingtonian.
02:26I grew up in the city.
02:27I live in the city.
02:28Nobody loves D.C. more than I do, but this is not about the city
02:32of Washington versus the city of New York.
02:34It's about the professional sports franchise in the city
02:38and the professional sports franchise in New York.
02:41And, you know, there's a reason why the Wizards have struggled to get free agents
02:46because they haven't been relevant for 50 years with few exceptions.
02:51And the Knicks are a marquee franchise.
02:54They got Jalen Brunson.
02:55However they got him, they got him.
02:57You can say they didn't do it.
02:59They did it kind of squirrely, and they hired his dad,
03:01and his former agent was running the team.
03:04All of that's true.
03:05They got him, okay?
03:06Right.
03:07And that changed everything because he became a superstar in New York.
03:11But I would argue this.
03:12When you have a superstar, you can build around a superstar through other trades.
03:17And they did some really smart things with draft picks
03:20and were able to afford their draft picks until –
03:22and you may say they gave up way too much for Miles Bridges.
03:25They gave up five firsts for him.
03:27That's a lot.
03:28Hell yeah.
03:30You know what I mean?
03:31I hear you.
03:32Can I counter it?
03:33At the end of the day, sure.
03:35My counter would be –
03:36and everything you said is obviously valid.
03:38My counter would be that this group, though,
03:40appears so far the most competent group we've had in 30-plus years.
03:45You mean will.
03:46Yes.
03:46And if we had this group, they could go that route and be successful?
03:52Eventually, yes.
03:53Eventually, yes.
03:54But, you know, it took –
03:55look, Golden State was a joke for 30 years.
03:59They were one of the worst franchises in the league.
04:01And then they got Steph Curry,
04:03and now they're not one of the worst franchises in the league.
04:06I mean, it's basketball, guys.
04:09You guys know this.
04:10When you have a superstar in basketball, everything is possible.
04:14Things become possible that were impossible 10 minutes ago.
04:18And if you don't have a superstar, you don't have a chance.
04:21It doesn't matter how competent your front office is.
04:24You've got to have players that are great
04:27and great enough to attract other players who are great to want to play there.
04:32And the Knicks managed to do that with a good front office.
04:36And this front office of Washington,
04:38I think they're doing a very solid job so far.
04:41They're doing exactly what most fans of the Wizards have said
04:45for 20, 30 years they wanted.
04:47Tear this thing down.
04:48Start over.
04:49Stop chasing mediocrity.
04:51Well, they're doing that.
04:52And we'll see.
04:53You know, the draft obviously is going to be a big part of that in a month.
04:57But we'll see how far they can get building this thing up to a place
05:03where people want to come.
05:06Now, David, I know that The Athletic has kind of looked into
05:09what the Wizards are likely to do with that number one pick.
05:13Do you have a favorite?
05:14Do you like Darren Peterson, DeBonsa?
05:17And what do you think the Wizards are going to end up doing?
05:21Well, look, I think when you're drafting one,
05:25you have to go for the biggest upside, I think.
05:28This is my opinion.
05:29I think you have to go for the guy that has the best chance to become a superstar
05:34because you don't get a chance to draft guys like that very often.
05:37It's just it's rare for any NBA team, for every team.
05:41Nobody gets five number one picks overall in a row, right?
05:46You get this every once in a while, every 15 or 20 years.
05:51And to me, I think DeBonsa is the guy that has the biggest upside.
05:56You know, I think he's got the I don't know if he's going to reach his full potential,
06:02but if he does, you have a real star, a real one.
06:07You know, Jason Tatum level star.
06:10If he hits, he may not hit.
06:12I don't know.
06:13But if he does hit, you got a guy that you can build a championship contending team around.
06:19I think the same is true with Peterson.
06:21But there's just to me, David, there's more questions about Peterson than there are about DeBonsa.
06:28And that doesn't mean there aren't questions about DeBonsa.
06:31There are.
06:32You know, he does not shoot it great.
06:35Peterson shoots it better.
06:37I do think the one thing that NBA players get better at with practice and reps is shooting
06:43because they spent a lot of time at practice shooting.
06:47And so they tend to get better at that.
06:50So I think he I think he shot 33, 34 percent on threes, which is not good, but it's not
06:55awful.
06:55It's not horrible.
06:56It's not 29 percent.
06:58Yeah.
06:58You know, so I think he'll get better at that.
07:01He's not a good defensive player right now.
07:05Name me a number one pick other than Wimbledon.
07:07Trey Young is not either.
07:08Off the rip.
07:09Right.
07:10Well, this is what you wrote.
07:11Nobody is.
07:11This is what you wrote.
07:12And I don't know if this is just your opinion or if you were talking to people, but you said
07:15the Wizards will surely look hard at Darren Peterson, Caleb Wilson and Cameron Boozer.
07:21But if they don't take BYU's A.J.
07:23DeBonsa first, I'll eat my hat.
07:26Yeah.
07:26And then you said, wait, I don't own a hat.
07:28I do own a lot of baseball caps, so I'll eat my cap.
07:32That's what you said.
07:33Yeah, that's right.
07:35So you believe it's going to be at DeBonsa.
07:36Yeah.
07:38I do.
07:38I just think that at the end of the day, somebody told me this a long time ago, and it's
07:45corny
07:45but it's true.
07:47When all things are equal, take the tall guy.
07:51Well, Caleb Wilson's tall.
07:53If the tall is relatively equal, take the guy that's 6'9", instead of the guy that's
07:566'4".
07:56I think that's probably true.
08:00So it's still true.
08:01So I just think he's got a chance to be a star.
08:04And I think, and to your point earlier, I think that matters in Washington, right?
08:11Because the franchise, since John Wall got hurt, has not really had a star.
08:16Bradley Beal was a really good player, but he wasn't a star in the sense of, I'm going
08:22to spend money to go watch Bradley Beal play basketball tonight.
08:25That's what stars do in the NBA.
08:29And he wasn't that guy.
08:31And this franchise, in particular, I think needs a star.
08:36Somebody that gets people excited about this franchise, because there's been no reason
08:41to be excited about this franchise for decades.
08:44You know, Gilbert Arenas was a star.
08:46He was crazy, but he was a star.
08:49And, you know, people, you have to have somebody that people want to go see.
08:54And that doesn't mean Darren Peters doesn't have a chance to be a great NBA player.
08:58He does.
08:59But I think there's something about the Bonson.
09:01I was around him a little bit in Chicago last week.
09:03That just kind of has a little juice to him.
09:07You know, a little electricity to him.
09:09And I think that matters.
09:11And it matters to the Wizards.
09:12That's not like a cussle.
09:16He's a great player who also has a little charisma.
09:19And I think that that's important.
09:20That's definitely a point, because, you know, I kind of was being mean, but Peterson doesn't
09:26have that charisma.
09:27At least he didn't show it in college.
09:29No, he's a very kind of quiet guy.
09:31And he's a great player.
09:32Great player.
09:32Nothing wrong with that.
09:33Yeah.
09:34But I think the Bonson's got a little more, you know, kind of...
09:38Got more riz.
09:40Yeah.
09:41But you know what?
09:42But there's a lot of guys like that.
09:43I mean, Acuff's not a real fiery guy.
09:47I mean, on the court, he shows it.
09:49But personality-wise...
09:50He's a killer.
09:50Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:51He's a killer on the court.
09:52When you listen to him talk in interviews, he's not over the top.
09:56So it kind of depends on...
09:57Right, right, right.
09:57I'd rather just have the guy on the court show his personality than off the court.
10:01No doubt.
10:02No doubt.
10:02No doubt.
10:02And look, if they wind up taking Peterson, I'm not saying that that's a bad pick.
10:06He's got a chance to be a star.
10:08A superstar.
10:09Yeah.
10:09He does.
10:10It's not unanimous.
10:12But if you're asking me which one would I take, I'd take DeBonson.
10:16Yeah, I just think it's closer than people realize because...
10:19It might be.
10:19The general perception is DeBonson, DeBonson, DeBonson, especially with fans.
10:23Yeah.
10:23It's like 90-10 here.
10:25Yeah.
10:25It's like 90-10 here.
10:26But they're like, yeah, we're up for business.
10:28You know, anything's possible.
10:29And I don't think they're saying...
10:30Like, they weren't really saying that with Cooper Flagg.
10:33They weren't really saying that with Wemby.
10:34It's a different kind of year.
10:35That's right.
10:36Yeah.
10:36Yeah, no, it's not.
10:37It's not cut and dried like Wemby and Flagg were, where they were clearly the number one guy.
10:42There is not a...
10:43There is, I would say, a plurality that think DeBonson, but it's not 90-10 in the NBA world.
10:51It's...
10:51100%.
10:52I don't know.
10:53Yeah.
10:5360-40 maybe?
10:54You know, or something like that.
10:56Like, there's lots of people who think Peterson is the best player.
11:00Yeah.
11:00Some even like Boozer.
11:02You mentioned that in The Athletic.
11:04Yes.
11:04It's hard for me to see someone taking Boozer one, but I get someone made the comparison
11:11to us, to Al Horford, and I think it's a very apt comparison.
11:15And I don't mean 39-year-old Al Horford that we're watching now.
11:18I'm talking about young Al Horford when he was in Atlanta on a really good team that won
11:2260 games.
11:23They just ran into LeBron, you know, like a lot of people did and couldn't beat LeBron
11:26in the East.
11:28But that was a really good team in Atlanta for a couple of years, and he was a real important
11:32part of that.
11:33And Boozer kind of projects to that.
11:35He's big and strong.
11:37He rebounds.
11:38He shoots threes.
11:39He blocks shots.
11:40He's really smart, really intelligent player.
11:45He's going to be a really good pro.
11:49And would I kill the Wizards if they took Boozer somehow, you know, move down the spot?
11:55No, I wouldn't kill him because I think he's got a chance to be a really, really good player
12:00in the league.
12:01I just, you know, maybe I'm wrong.
12:03I just think they've never had a guy like A.J.
12:06DeBronfield.
12:07Never.
12:07Not a wing.
12:09No.
12:09DA, we only have about a minute left.
12:11So the other series in the NBA playoffs pits the Spurs against OKC.
12:17Shea wins his second MVP.
12:19But if you've been watching the playoffs in early season, you're slowly starting to see
12:23Wemby become arguably one of the best, if not the best player in the NBA.
12:28Is he going to take over the league?
12:32It seems inevitable, doesn't it?
12:34I mean, it does.
12:35Like, he's progressing at a geometric rate.
12:38You know what I mean?
12:39Like, he's learning like the Terminator learned.
12:44Like, they just left supercomputer.
12:45Like, he's just processing everything so fast.
12:49And he's just destroying people.
12:51Minnesota's a good team, guys.
12:53They were a good team.
12:54He took them out.
12:57Like, he just brushed them aside.
13:00How about Anthony Edwards shaking everybody's hands with eight minutes left in the game?
13:05That was a weird goal.
13:05Yeah, I wouldn't have done that.
13:07Yeah, I wouldn't have done that.
13:08With eight minutes to go, I wouldn't have done that.
13:10You can wait eight minutes and then do it.
13:11I wouldn't have done it.
13:12But, you know, people do things now that I wouldn't do.
13:16So that's just a different generation.
13:19But, yeah, no, I mean, OKC's a great defending champ.
13:22They've got the best player in the league.
13:23But this is going to be a great series, I think.
13:25Great.
13:26All right, David.
13:27Appreciate the time, buddy.
13:28All right, guys.
13:29All right, thank you, man.
13:30Always a pleasure.
13:31Good time, dude.
13:31Thanks, bud.
13:33Good stuff.
13:34Yeah.
13:35I actually can't wait.
13:37I can't wait to see what they do.
13:39Got to wait about a month.
13:40Then you're going to have to wait to watch them.
13:43Yeah.
13:44You'll get, like, a little taste in summer league.
13:45It'll be here before you know it.
13:46One thing I will say, and I didn't want to just go over and over with DA.
13:50I mean, we've had stars.
13:51We had Chris Weber.
13:52He's a pretty great player.
13:54Yeah.
13:54We had John Wall.
13:55You may not think Beal was a star, even though he had his moments.
14:00No, but there was nothing like the hibachi time.
14:02It'd be a Gil.
14:03Yeah.
14:04Gil at a time.
14:04Kicks and I wouldn't even trade Kobe for him.
14:07By the way, they had Gil with Antoine Jameson and Krom Butler.
14:10I know.
14:11That was a nice team.
14:11I mean, we've had stars.
14:14I would argue the problem was the management.
14:17Yeah.
14:17Mismanagement.
14:18I don't think it's D.C.
14:19D.C.
14:20No, D.C.'s have great destination, believe it or not.
14:24I don't disagree.
14:25Yeah.
14:25There's no reason why we can't attract free agents.
14:26I mean, Bradley Beal was averaging 31 in one season.
14:31Oh, yeah, yeah.
14:32I know.
14:33But to his point, people weren't necessarily like, I'm going to go watch Beal.
14:37No, I understand.
14:37That's fair.
14:38He was just a guy who could score.
14:39But I do think people were going to watch Gil 100%.
14:41I do think people were going to watch John Wall 100%.
14:45Yeah.
14:45And Chris Webber, even though Juwan never was a star, star, star, star, star, they wanted
14:50to watch those guys.
14:50Yep.
14:51Yep.
14:511-800-636-1067 is the number.
14:55We're the junkies.
14:56Be right back.
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