00:00Is he going to be moved?
00:01Does he want to be moved?
00:03Sean Devaney, NBA insider, content editor over at Heavy.com,
00:06joins us on the Rude Guest Hotline right now on Grant and Danny.
00:10Sean, thanks for a few minutes.
00:11How are you?
00:12I'm doing well.
00:12How are you guys?
00:13Good, buddy.
00:14So what's your take on some of the not-so-subtle hints
00:18that Davis has dropped about wanting out?
00:21Yeah, less than subtle, I'd say.
00:24Yeah, no, I mean, he's talked about the Wizards as them, of course,
00:28and, you know, he doesn't seem much interested at age 33
00:32to get himself neck deep into, you know, a rebuilding project,
00:37although a rebuilding project that I think is nearing the corner
00:41where they start to try to win.
00:45But he's expressed, you know, very little interest in being part of that.
00:48And because of that, you know, the presumption
00:51and certainly the talk around the league is that he'd like to be moved
00:56and that he'd like to be sent elsewhere.
00:57And that's fine, but the problem is that there aren't a whole lot of takers
01:02and the Wizards, you know, know enough about supply and demand
01:07to know that now is not the time to go and shop Anthony Davis.
01:13I mean, this guy who just hasn't played, you know, he's played, what,
01:1662 games in the last two years?
01:19So, you know, this isn't the real, really the high time to go out
01:23and test the market for him.
01:25So what they'd like to do is get him back on the floor, get him playing a little bit,
01:28and then by February's deadline, see if there's a deal for him.
01:33So, Sean, a lot of Wizards fans have kind of talked themselves into the idea of,
01:37what if you could just trade him for, like, the fifth overall pick in this draft or something?
01:41Like, these crazy pipe dreams after the Wizards gave up a ham sandwich,
01:44a box of unpopped popcorn, and a high five to acquire him with, you know,
01:48using someone else's picks.
01:49What would he be worth right now, and how much could he be rehabbed
01:53with some good play, to your point?
01:55Well, yeah, I mean, and that's exactly right, is that you have to look at,
01:58okay, well, what did the Wizards get in return for him?
02:02You know, certainly time and, you know, coming into an offseason
02:06and, you know, talking to other teams and saying, well, you know,
02:10if he was with us, he'd be a little different, he'd be willing to play more,
02:15we could get 60 to 70 games out of him.
02:18You could certainly get that, and you might bump up his value a little bit,
02:21but are you getting a first-round pick back for him?
02:24Probably not.
02:25Are you getting somebody who's going to be able to contribute, you know,
02:28who's in that 24 to 28 age range, who's going to be ready to contribute?
02:34Probably not, not at this point.
02:36So, yeah, there's not a whole lot of incentive for the Wizards.
02:39Look, they do want to turn a corner.
02:41I think there's no question about that, but they don't think that corner
02:45is going to be 26, 27.
02:47I think that, you know, if they can get themselves into the 38 to 40 win range,
02:52then that will be seen as a, you know, a real sign of progress.
02:57But they know that they're not going to, you know, immediately jump into being a 50-win team.
03:04And so if that's the case, what's the hurry?
03:06They don't have to hurry and move Anthony Davis along.
03:09They really have nothing to lose by waiting and maybe trying to trade him in the winter.
03:14Sean, is there a real downside to this?
03:16Like, even for people like me who say, all right, let's move him.
03:19He doesn't want to be here.
03:20Why go through this exercise?
03:22I mean, it would seem to me like there's not that low of a floor.
03:26I mean, it's not like he's going to be a malcontent and tear this whole thing apart, right?
03:31No, right.
03:31I mean, look, he did that in New Orleans.
03:34And, you know, they survived it.
03:36You know, I mean, you kind of, the days of that happening really are past,
03:43mostly because players don't go into free agency anymore.
03:46They require trades to move teams.
03:49If you look at it, there's not a whole lot that happens in free agency.
03:52It's part of the reasons why the Wizards are doing what they're doing rather than just saving up a bunch
03:56of cap space.
03:58They're trading for Trey Young.
03:59They're trading for Anthony Davis so that if they, you know, have potential trades that they can make,
04:06they're in position to do that.
04:08But, you know, to be in that position, you need a good relationship with the team.
04:13And I think that's part of, you know, what the Wizards are accounting on here,
04:18that if Anthony Davis wants to wind up wherever he wants to wind up,
04:23he's going to have to work with the Wizards on that.
04:25And that's going to involve, you know, not just holding out, not just not showing up or, you know,
04:31pretending your ankle's sore, you know, all the things that players have done in the past.
04:35That's really not in his best interest because he's going to have to work with the team
04:40if he wants to wind up someplace where he really wants to go.
04:43Sean Devaney with us here on GND, talking to Anthony Davis and the Wizards.
04:47So, Sean, a common refrain has been, yeah, not next year, this coming basketball season,
04:51but maybe the year after that the Wizards could turn a corner.
04:53And here's my question.
04:55I don't think they're a top couple of seed.
04:57I'm not suggesting they'll challenge the Knicks or whoever, Cleveland or Detroit at the top of the conference.
05:02But am I crazy that they could actually be pretty good?
05:05Now, that's with some level of buy-in from Davis, but a lineup with some of their young guys,
05:10Sarr continuing to develop and, you know, Trey Johnson to go with, Trey Young,
05:14and a couple, you know, nice versatile wings in George and Balakulabala to defend with Davis.
05:20I think that's a pretty decent group right there that could bother some people.
05:23Again, not going to a conference final or anything, but they could take a major step next year.
05:27And everybody seems to be looking to the year after that for maybe the time they actually get good.
05:32What am I missing?
05:33Yeah, no, I think you're right.
05:35It would require a couple of things.
05:37It would require, you know, sort of everything that you just said going right and, you know, no injuries.
05:42Right, right.
05:42And, you know, everything sort of, you know, moving in the right direction,
05:46the young players that you've got taking that next step.
05:49So there's a lot of ifs there, but, you know, they're not crazy ifs.
05:53They're not, you know, completely out of left field.
05:56So certainly that's possible.
05:57I think the thing about the East is that it should get better next year.
06:01I think the Hawks will be better.
06:03You know, we'll see if Orlando with a new coach and perhaps everybody staying healthy,
06:10especially Franz Wagner, if he could stay healthy.
06:12They should be better.
06:13The Hornets, we saw the moves that they made and how good they looked in the second half of the
06:18year.
06:18The Heat are certainly probably the leading contender to get Giannis.
06:22That would change their outlook, no question.
06:25And, you know, you go right down the list.
06:27Obviously, Indiana should be better with Halliburton back.
06:30You know, there's going to be teams that will be much better.
06:34So I do think it will be more challenging.
06:37If they were trying to turn the corner this year, it would have been easier because it was such a
06:41down year in the East.
06:42I think it's going to be a little tougher next year.
06:44Where do you stand on the No. 1 overall pick as it pertains to sprinting DeBonsta's name card up to
06:50the podium
06:51or actually thinking there could be somebody else worth drafting there while listening to some trade discussions?
06:57I think if you trade down and don't leave the top three, if it's either Memphis or Utah that you're
07:05trading with, then that's worth listening to.
07:08I don't think there's anything else really worth listening to.
07:10And that's why I don't think ultimately anything gets done.
07:15You know, I do think DeBonsta is the guy.
07:19You know, you talk to scouts and there's a lot of asterisks about that because Boozer is sort of, you
07:25know,
07:25the guy who has the history of winning and has the game to where, you know,
07:30even when he doesn't do, when he's not putting up 28 and 12, he does all the things that help
07:37you win.
07:37And you have to like that about a guy and the culture and all that stuff.
07:41So, you know, certainly Boozer's there and Peterson, you know, I mean, man, he's a guy who for as bad
07:49as the year was at Kansas,
07:51you know, he used to basically, he would best DeBonsta every time they went head to head in recent years.
07:58So I think if you're able to drop down and get one of those two guys and get some other
08:04assets, I think that's worth it.
08:06But if not, then I think, you know, DeBonsta is kind of the safe pick.
08:11But I think if you're the Wizards and you look at where you are with the young talent that you
08:14have
08:15and these other assets that it might be traded, I think you'd take the safe pick.
08:18And I think that's probably how this plays out.
08:21If they could move down, you know, without falling out of the top three, I think that's certainly worth considering.
08:28Sean Devaney on the NBA with us here on GrantAndDannyHeavy.com.
08:33Sean, if they do draft DeBonsta, what kind of first year could he have?
08:38And what would that mean for basketball in D.C. next season right away?
08:42Yeah, I mean, there's no reason to think that he can't come in and be a real scoring threat for
08:49them right from the get-go.
08:51You know, that he can't be the number one scorer for that team.
08:54You know, even with Trey on board, I think Trey kind of understands what his role would be in something
09:01like that.
09:02So I think they'd filter everything through DeBonsta, and then, you know, he would wind up as certainly a 20
09:09-point scorer in that first year.
09:11And, you know, we'll see if he can develop.
09:14I think defense is going to be a real area to watch.
09:18You know, when you look at the teams that are still playing right now, for instance, a lot of them
09:22have players who could be two-way players.
09:25And that's something where A.J. is really going to have to focus.
09:28And he's got the length.
09:29He's got the athleticism.
09:30He can do it.
09:31It's just that he's not been a great defensive player.
09:34So, you know, I think that's going to be a real area for him to watch.
09:38You know, a lot of times when these young guys go onto a bad team, the defense kind of goes
09:43by the wayside, and they never pick it up.
09:45And I think that if you're the Wizards, you really want to get in front of that right from the
09:49beginning and make sure that this is a good defensive player
09:53so you're not in the position where, okay, we've built up, we're in the playoffs.
09:57Now we've got a guy who is our number one option offensively but is getting killed defensively in the playoffs.
10:02You don't want to get into that.
10:04I think that's something to work on with him sort of right away.
10:06Sean, you mentioned the postseason, you know, winding down now.
10:09We know the Knicks on the finals will have a Game 7 in the West.
10:12What are some of the themes here among the great teams where everybody's going, you know what, we need to
10:17find that
10:18and kind of how maybe teams might position themselves to either get that or trade that for some future assets?
10:24You know, I mean, if you can find a 7'5 Frenchman who can shoot threes and...
10:29Let me write that down.
10:30You should probably write that down, right?
10:31No, but I do think that it does tie back to what I was just saying where, you know,
10:36compare the Knicks to the Cavaliers, for instance.
10:38The Cavaliers, you know, were the most expensive team in the league.
10:42They've got Donovan Mitchell.
10:44They've got James Harden.
10:46They've got Evan Mobley and Jared Allen.
10:49You know, they've got some really good players on that team,
10:51but they have some seriously big gaping holes on the defensive end,
10:57and the Knicks were able to just run right through them.
10:59You look at the Knicks, and, you know, the names aren't as big.
11:03The star power isn't big with a guy like OG Aninovi or Bridges.
11:08You know, it's not quite at the same level as the guys that the Cavaliers had,
11:14but everybody is a two-way player, and I think that's the big thing,
11:17is that certainly when you look at Oklahoma City, it's that way.
11:20San Antonio is that way.
11:22You've got to have two-way players, and I think that's a real key.
11:26If you want to, you know, really have long-term success that can last in the playoffs,
11:30these guys have to be able to be two-way players.
11:33You can afford to have one that you cover up for,
11:36but you can't really afford to have two.
11:38Sean Devaney covers the NBA.
11:40Good insight.
11:41We appreciate you.
11:43Okay, guys, thanks.
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