- 15 hours ago
JP and Nick discuss the best case scenario for the Washington Wizards in the 2026 NBA Draft.
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00:00I did want to get back to the Wizards, dude.
00:07Oh, man.
00:07I listen to Scott Van Pelt's podcast every week,
00:09and he and Stanford Steve talked at length about Devansa,
00:13about what you do at number one.
00:15And I am most in the take to pick.
00:22Like, you sucked for so long to get the number one pick.
00:29Now, granted, last year it would have been different with Flag.
00:31There's no question, right?
00:32Right.
00:34I lean Devansa.
00:36Probably a strong lean.
00:39I did text with somebody.
00:43I'm trying to think when this was,
00:45because if I was in Oregon texting about the number one pick,
00:47it seems kind of not normal for me.
00:51It's a big deal, man.
00:52I'm curious to see where this is going to go,
00:54because I'm wondering if you're going to have a similar thought process as me here.
00:57I'm going to wait and see what you say first, though.
00:58So I am going into this team Devansa.
01:02And don't put my phone on the television for who I'm texting with.
01:06But I texted with somebody that really knows things about the National Basketball Association.
01:14You think the Wiz will actually trade out a one?
01:16And I texted this dude out of the blue.
01:18The reply was, I bleeping hope not with a follow-up.
01:23And this is interesting.
01:25Draft Darren Peterson and don't bleep it up.
01:29I said, ahead of AJ?
01:31He said, bleep yes, LOL.
01:33And then sent me the clip of Peterson going 19 of 25 with the spot-up threes from the NBA
01:39draft combine.
01:39Okay.
01:40We texted the same person.
01:42I'm going to leave it at that.
01:43I'm pretty sure we have the same.
01:44One of the conversations I've had was with probably the same NBA person.
01:48And I will just say this.
01:50That impacted my mindset.
01:52So here's the thing.
01:54Darren Peterson has more upside.
01:56Now, I'm not going to look at the Kobe Bryant comparisons.
01:58That's a dangerous comparison.
02:00We do that.
02:00We've got to be careful.
02:01Because Harrison Barnes was compared to Kobe when he got to North Carolina.
02:05Andrew Wiggins got a similar thing.
02:07And look, they both had great careers.
02:09But none of them were Kobe.
02:10That being said, Darren Peterson this past year, if you saw Darren Peterson in high school play that way for
02:18his one year at Kansas without the cramping, without the issues, without getting in and out of games and all
02:23the questions that were there,
02:24there would be much more conversation and more teams and I think more insiders and more just scouts and people
02:30in general would be more comfortable with saying Darren Peterson No. 1 overall.
02:34The thing is, is the Bonsa and Peterson are both No. 1 overall picks in any draft, right?
02:39Like, they're both worthy of it.
02:41Cameron Boozer is somebody that would be worthy in most drafts of being a No. 1 overall pick.
02:44It's just a loaded draft.
02:45This is what you expect.
02:47Darren Peterson, though, has higher upside.
02:49Better shooter.
02:50A lot more effort defensively.
02:52Yeah, he's not.
02:52The NBA body isn't there as much as DeBonsa has.
02:55The athleticism is certainly more with DeBonsa.
02:57But Peterson certainly has that, too.
02:59But when you watch, go back and watch when BYU and Kansas played.
03:03Peterson went at him.
03:04And he wasn't 100%.
03:05He's dealing with the cramping.
03:07He's dealing with all the things that he had to deal with.
03:09You are in a spot where the floor is going to be high for either one of these guys.
03:12It's the ceiling and the potential for Darren Peterson.
03:15That is higher just from a score, as a shooter, as a defender.
03:20The complete player ceiling is much higher for Darren Peterson and even DeBonsa.
03:25But again, both of these floors are really high for these guys.
03:27They are franchise-altering talents that you're going to be looking at.
03:33But it's just interesting because at 6'6", basically, I think Peterson was probably the higher-regarded kid coming into
03:43college, right?
03:44Yes.
03:44It's the only question with Peterson, the weirdness from Kansas.
03:49I think that's a big thing that hovers over him, the checking in and out of games.
03:52And now the question is, and listen, medicals can clear this.
03:55I'm not a doctor, but they can look at guys and you can see at least if there's a, you
03:59know,
03:59I think the only concern would be is maybe is it something that could linger moving forward.
04:04So you've got to see in workouts how he is and things like that.
04:06Look, 5 grams of creatine, people.
04:08You don't need more than that.
04:09Stay away from all the rest of it.
04:11But it does concern teams.
04:12That's a creatine story?
04:13I do because you can overload on that stuff.
04:15He tried to, he basically tried to do, go through a loading phase.
04:17He's a skinny kid.
04:18Look, he's 6'6", 195, give or take.
04:21He wanted to get bigger.
04:22He knew that it was needed because he also was playing out of position at Kansas.
04:25Darren Peterson's more of a one.
04:26He's a point guard.
04:27And they moved him more off the ball.
04:29He was more of a two at times.
04:30He should be a point guard in the NBA.
04:32Big point guard.
04:33And again, it's a little more positionless now in the NBA.
04:35There's a lot more guys playing off two point guards or two combo guards out there at the same time.
04:39But he was trying to bulk up and get bigger.
04:42I mean, he's a skinny kid.
04:43But you can do that the right way with real NBA level trainers and nutrition and all of that.
04:48I'm not concerned about a guy coming into the NBA skinny.
04:51Michael Jordan did that.
04:52I mean, Kevin Durant's played an entire career way too skinny.
04:54Like, so it's not a game anymore in the NBA where that matters as much.
04:59If he was a 7-footer that he needed to go crash the boards and protect the rim,
05:02he'd be like, all right, maybe we need a little bit more size there.
05:04I'm not that concerned about that.
05:06But the real concern is just, is that something that lingers moving forward?
05:10And really a lot of that was just dehydration.
05:12And it took time to really get past that.
05:15So my question with Peterson then, with the creatine, I know in the NFL,
05:20I know from the agent side, I know what scouts at front office people think.
05:24Like, this happens especially with quarterbacks.
05:29When a quarterback struggles in college, by the time, about a week before the combine,
05:34you're going to hear about some injury that you didn't know about before.
05:37Yes.
05:37And it's spin, right?
05:38They're trying to rebuild their guy up going into the combine.
05:41We saw it this year with Will Nussmeyer, right?
05:45Like, my, if it was an injury, if it was the creatine, like, if that's real, I get it.
05:52But if it, if that is spin and there's a question about the kid, just, and I recognize how much
05:59NIL
05:59has probably changed everything.
06:01Yeah.
06:01But, like, if there's a question how much you love the sport and are willing to lay it all on
06:07the line
06:07for the sport in college, what's that going to be like once you're handed, what is the number one
06:13overall pick guaranteed, 40, 50 mil?
06:15And that's, that's one of the reasons why it wasn't surprising to me that the whole story and, like,
06:21let me be more upfront about what happened type of, it's the creatine and here's my whole story
06:25and what really went on.
06:27I have a problem, honestly, I have a problem with somebody not talking about it in the middle of the
06:30season.
06:31You need to explain it because it was a huge story and it could affect, it could have, I don't
06:35think
06:35it's going to now, but it could have affected his draft stock there.
06:38But when people are questioning your drive and your desire to play, that goes to, like, a Ben Simmons
06:42and we know how that's turned out.
06:44Totally.
06:44And I, I don't think that's there with Darren Peterson.
06:47It was a legit, as far as we know, as far as we're told, that was the legit reason.
06:51Now, could there be an exaggeration?
06:53I'm not going to sit here and just say, oh, yep, that's 100% true.
06:56I don't know.
06:56But what I will say is you've given us a reasonable explanation.
06:59Now he's got to show in workouts and everything moving forward, even interviews with teams
07:04in these conversations.
07:05He's got to show that, well, if he's going to get compared to Kobe, like, the Mamba mentality
07:09is there with him.
07:10And I think that's going to be really important for teams to be able to figure out because,
07:13like you said, stuff comes out right before the draft all the time, man.
07:16And sometimes it's the truth and sometimes it's a lie because teams want to see somebody drop.
07:19I don't know.
07:22I think because of his passing and how he passed and the tragedy around it, I'm very hesitant
07:27to make any Kobe comps with anything.
07:31Like the thing, there were a lot of things I didn't like about the Bam Adebayo 80 point
07:37game or whatever it was, 83.
07:39But like, I don't like the way the heat played at the end there.
07:43Frankly, I don't like the way the whiz played at the end there or perhaps throughout the game.
07:47I mean, they were like quadruple teaming him.
07:49It was all five guys at times on him.
07:51And you're just like, well, this is it was embarrassing for the sport.
07:53I thought the way that ended.
07:55But what I didn't like the most was that he beat Kobe.
07:58Yeah, just and I think a lot of that is legacy and pass with his death.
08:02So I hesitate to make any Kobe comps, but I get like the size and the frame.
08:06Right.
08:07And just like, oh, and that's why I said you got to be careful with it.
08:10Yes, I totally get it.
08:11Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:12I just I I don't know, man.
08:14I don't think this is as one-sided as, you know, when the pick happened, when the lottery happened,
08:20it was like, oh, my gosh, DeBansa.
08:21Like, I think there is some conversation.
08:22I am with you, too.
08:23The great David Aldridge had an article in The Athletic about the number one pick.
08:28They polled 13 NBA execs.
08:31What should Washington do at one?
08:34Take A.J. DeBansa got seven votes.
08:36So that's a majority.
08:37Yeah.
08:37Right.
08:38Darren Peterson got two votes and one person voted for Cam Boozer.
08:44One of the seven respondents said, take A.J.
08:47and sleep like a baby.
08:48Said DeBansa's upside and floor are so high that he's the safest pick in the draft.
08:53The worst case for A.J.
08:55DeBansa would be Andrew Wiggins, who was a number one pick that only made one all-star team
09:00in 12 years.
09:01Another exec said they should trade back and take Boozer if they can get a future first
09:08in the process.
09:10And I think a lot of folks said they should consider trading down to two or even three
09:15if they're convinced they can get Peterson or Boozer.
09:18I like Caleb Wilson a lot.
09:19I don't know.
09:23The conversation will continue.
09:26How much does Utah want DeBansa?
09:28Right.
09:29And I just, the owner has come, like he was on McAfee last week.
09:35I think sometimes in sports when something seems so obvious, it's probably BS.
09:40This one seems real that Utah is trading up.
09:44You're saying, I don't know about the trade, but that they at least want DeBansa.
09:48That's fair.
09:49That seems real.
09:50Now, maybe it's just, I say this all the time.
09:52I want a Range Rover.
09:53I drive a four runner.
09:54Like there's things you want in life.
09:56Right.
09:56But maybe don't get.
09:59How real do you think their desire to come up is?
10:02I think their desire to want DeBansa is real.
10:05I think the desire to trade up is going to be manufactured a lot more by the internet.
10:09Because here's the thing.
10:10And there's this, again, this is more of, there's a lot of stuff floating around on social
10:13media right now.
10:14Now, if it were true, and this rumored framework of a deal of the Jazz trading up from two
10:21to one, and then also offering, so the number two pick, Ace Bailey, who they drafted last
10:27year, who is a tremendous talent in his own right, in another draft that was, had a lot
10:32of talent in it last year.
10:33And then a future first round pick on top of that.
10:35If I'm the Wizards, I'm taking that trade in a second.
10:38I am not hesitating.
10:40Because you could get Darren Peterson at two, then you would add Ace Bailey, and then you
10:44would add another first round pick.
10:45Now, is there really any truth to that?
10:47Is that just the internet and people making stuff up?
10:49There's a very good chance that that's the case.
10:51Do I think that the Jazz would maybe consider it?
10:55Yes.
10:55But here's why I'm hesitant for that.
10:57If you remember when Danny Ainge was in Boston years ago, when he was running the Celtics front
11:02office, and they had all those draft picks, and they kind of built that team up, I'm
11:06talking like pre-Jason Tatum, they had a ton of draft picks, they built the way the
11:10Thunder have built now, and the way the Wizards have built.
11:12A lot of draft picks, a lot of young kids go from there.
11:14That draft where the Celtics drafted Jason Tatum, that was not their draft pick, they
11:19actually won the lottery, but traded back from one to three with the Sixers, because
11:24they wanted Jason Tatum and more assets, and they knew he'd be the better talent, the
11:29Sixers drafted Markel Fultz with that number one overall pick.
11:31So Danny Ainge is not stupid.
11:33Danny Ainge knows what the value of trading down is versus what trading up is in terms
11:38of getting that type of value.
11:39Now, is that apples to apples?
11:40They're different situations, but let's just keep in mind who Danny Ainge is and what's
11:45getting thought about in that Jazz front office with this.
11:47That's a great point, because I think a lot of these trade scenarios...
11:53They're fun.
11:54They're kind of fan fiction.
11:55Yes.
11:55Like, are they going to give up Bailey, number two, and a future first?
12:02I don't think so.
12:03But if you could just get Bailey...
12:05I'd love for them to do it.
12:07What if you could just get Bailey and it's a pick swap?
12:11Oh, I would do that too.
12:12I would...
12:12I would...
12:12If I'm the Wizards, I would do that trade without a future first round pick.
12:16If it's Ace Bailey and the number two pick and you get Darren Peterson, I would do that.
12:19Because here's another thing to keep in mind too.
12:21If you're the Wizards and you're looking at a year or two down the road, you've got to
12:25think about extension specifically for Trae Young.
12:28That's coming up in a year.
12:29I mean, he's going to be in a contract year to pick up his option.
12:32Darren Peterson can play the one.
12:33You could have Peterson and Trae Young playing for a season, and instead of having to think
12:38about what's a big deal going to look like for Trae Young, do we want to do that,
12:41do we not, you might end up deciding you can move him at the deadline and get some
12:44other assets in return, and Darren Peterson ends up being your one, maybe not full-time
12:48at first, but you start moving him as a combo guard into the one spot down the road.
12:51So there's a lot of flexibility that the Wizards at least have in this spot, where
12:56they've got control of the number one overall pick, but they'd have other options if they
12:59traded down too.
12:59I think you get a ton of assets, and you're just in this draft where if you can add more
13:03pieces to the puzzle, and it's in the future, you're still getting a franchise-changing
13:08player within the top three to four of this draft.
13:10I think a real part of this conversation, though, how much seriously, if we could
13:18get some truth serum into Dawkins and Winger, how much of the long-term plan here are Trae
13:26Young and Anthony Davis?
13:27And maybe those are separate.
13:28Maybe Trae really is, and AD isn't.
13:31I don't even know how much AD's into all this.
13:33He doesn't want to be here.
13:34He doesn't.
13:35And how much consideration do those dudes have to be part of, right?
13:40Because what really set the thunder up for where they are now was trade away Paul George.
13:46Yes.
13:46You know what I mean?
13:47Yes.
13:47So like this, as much as we feel as fans that watch The Wiz every night, like, all right,
13:53they finally got the number one pick.
13:54Next year is when we're competing for the play-in, maybe competing for more than that.
13:59I just wonder, I go back to Dawkins was on with the junks, and I think it was Bickle,
14:03and it was a great question.
14:04He's like, listen, I'm a big Wiz fan.
14:06I'm ready for competitive basketball.
14:07Are we at that portion where this is a playoff competitive team, and Dawkins said, we don't
14:14want to put anything to a timeline, but we're still building.
14:18And it just, one, I know this from NFL executives, when you get to that executive level, you always
14:25have self-preservation in mind.
14:27So the last thing he wants to do is say, next year we're a top four seed in the East,
14:30because
14:31then if he falls short of that, he's failed, right?
14:33But two, I wonder if they still have a longer horizon, and then I wonder what Ted's horizon
14:39is.
14:39Like, where do those two things match up?
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