00:00Eight days out from the NBA draft, right?
00:03And the Wizards hold the number one pick.
00:05And for some time, there's been this operating presumption
00:10that A.J. DeBonce is going to go number one.
00:13Yeah, yeah.
00:13And we had last week Chris Miles on the program who said
00:18Chris Miles covers the NBA, knows the league at a high level,
00:22and said without a shadow of a doubt that Darren Peterson
00:26was very much in play for the Wiz at number one.
00:30I believe Nick Aschew on our air has said the same thing
00:32per sources he's talked to around the league.
00:35Well, this morning, I believe, or maybe last night,
00:38but Shams Charania, since Woj has retired,
00:43Shams is now the Schefter of the NBA, right?
00:45Like, there's no doubt about it.
00:46It was kind of a Woj-Shams-Schefter-Rappaport deal,
00:51and Woj stepped away, and now it's just Shams is the guy.
00:55Shams Charania tweeted out,
00:58developments ahead of the June 23rd NBA draft.
01:02BYU's A.J. DeBonce has conducted formal visits
01:05with both the Washington Wizards and Utah Jazz,
01:08while Kansas' Darren Peterson only visited the Wizards
01:12and does not plan to grant anyone else a meeting.
01:16Both have belief in going number one,
01:19and now teams in the lottery are taking note
01:22of Peterson's decision to only interview with Washington.
01:28What do you make of this, Brian Mitchell?
01:32I don't know what to make of it.
01:33I think I'm interviewing with everybody, you know,
01:37but just to only interview with one,
01:39is he being told he's going to be drafted?
01:42Has he been told that by someone that makes him not want to do it?
01:46But if I'm him, as I was talking earlier,
01:49I am talking good about everybody until I'm drafted.
01:53Yeah.
01:53You know what I mean?
01:54Agreed.
01:54So, if he's – but if he's doing that,
01:58I would suspect something's being said.
02:00That's all I can say.
02:02Do you think, with the questions about him missing time at Kansas
02:08and having to come out of games,
02:10and we have since heard that there was a creatine issue
02:13that was causing him to cramp up,
02:15do you think with whatever those concerns were at Kansas,
02:19now coupled with him not wanting to take meetings
02:23with anybody besides number one,
02:25do you think more eyebrows are getting raised?
02:28Or is this the flip side where it's like the sheer confidence
02:32of turning other teams down is like this dude's got some S to him
02:38in a good way?
02:40Well, listen, man.
02:41I know what people are saying about the bonzer and this, that, and the other.
02:45I think, as I told you before,
02:47if the stuff about the creatine had never popped up,
02:50would we have been looking at the bonzer like the number one guy?
02:53I don't think so.
02:54I don't think it would have been the show fire thing.
02:56So, when you see this kid, these scouts and front officers,
03:02they are dissecting everything.
03:05That dude's a ball player.
03:07I'm not saying there's no guarantee.
03:09I don't want anybody to take that.
03:10I'm saying that.
03:12But he can play.
03:14And he brings a level of this, you know,
03:17little electricity to it where he could be the dude, you know.
03:21But people are going to question him.
03:24They'll question him if they draft him.
03:26But they have to be able to rely upon what they think,
03:30not what we think, not what nobody has said, you know.
03:33But I told you when the creatine thing popped up, that is a possibility.
03:37I want to open the phones on this, 800-636-1067, 800-636-1067.
03:44There's a growing conversation about Peterson at number one.
03:50Chris Miles was on with us and said so.
03:53Nick Aschew said so on the fan.
03:55I have always thought the DeBonsa as a sure thing at one was not the case.
04:01I was, however, over the weekend.
04:03It's funny.
04:03These NBA finals, like, drew me into all this NBA content
04:08that I don't always listen to.
04:09I was listening to Bill Simmons' podcast over the weekend.
04:12And I believe he said, maybe we could track this audio down for tomorrow,
04:16Stallion.
04:16I believe he said he would bet his life on DeBonsa going number one.
04:21Okay.
04:22I remain in the camp that if Utah has to have DeBonsa,
04:29get some stuff, let Utah get him, and take Peterson at two.
04:35Like, couldn't a byproduct of Peterson not wanting to go talk to Utah
04:40be that he knows Utah's all in on DeBonsa in one way or another,
04:44that's what's going to happen?
04:45Could be.
04:46Could totally be.
04:47I would not be mad at that.
04:48No.
04:49Like, I think this is not a Wemby-LeBron-Cooper flag draft
04:55where there's a very obvious number one and then there's some other dudes.
04:59Like, I think if you grade these guys out between DeBonsa and Peterson,
05:04it might be like a, what do you like better, ribeyes or filet mignon?
05:08Totally.
05:09Because we got them both here.
05:10You know what I mean?
05:10That's what it is.
05:11Do you want lobster tail or beef wellington?
05:14Yeah.
05:14Good options.
05:15Wherever you like.
05:17And I know the excitement with the Wiz, getting Trey Young,
05:20maybe getting Anthony Davis, and like, okay, well,
05:23let's turn this thing up a notch.
05:25Let's start contending and being an awesome basketball team.
05:28Hmm.
05:29You know what Oklahoma City has?
05:31They have SGA, Chet, 100 dudes named J. Will.
05:35Assets.
05:36And they still have an extra first.
05:39They have Oklahoma City lost in the Western Conference Finals.
05:43They still have the 12th overall pick in this draft.
05:48Like, get more picks.
05:50Acquire more players.
05:52More bites at the apple.
05:53Like, I'm not at all mad about that, man.
05:56So, I think the DeBonsa stuff,
05:59I think he absolutely could go number one to Washington,
06:03and I think it would be awesome.
06:04I also think he could end up in Utah, dude.
06:08Yeah, I think the whole Utah thing wasn't a sham.
06:13It wasn't something that was made up from the beginning.
06:15So, if that works out like that, I wouldn't be shocked whatsoever.
06:21Everybody thinks, what are, White Bryant, see if you give me odds.
06:26I imagine Vegas has installed DeBonsa going one as a heavy favorite.
06:30I am curious if those numbers have moved for Darren Peterson
06:34over the last couple days because there's clearly something out there.
06:40And maybe it's the Peterson camp.
06:41Maybe it's just teams, whether it's the Wiz or others,
06:45trying to drum up trade talks.
06:48Could be.
06:48I got to talk to Michael Winger last week,
06:51and the one thing that stuck with me, because I asked him about the phones.
06:54I asked him about people calling about the pick.
06:57And he said, I wouldn't say it's a higher volume of calls
07:01because there's always a ton of calls around the draft.
07:04Yeah.
07:05But he said the level of seriousness with which teams have to call the Wizards,
07:11if you're calling about number one, that's not a BS how you're doing phone call.
07:16No, no, no.
07:16That's a real call.
07:17You know you got to offer something, and it has to be at a high level.
07:22So, if you make the phone call, you're there to talk some serious business.
07:26Totally.
07:27Yeah, not to be calling up, talking about, well, you know,
07:29what you think about a two-sec, two twos?
07:32What's your favorite one from 980 Days?
07:36Didn't somebody call in and say trade Peter John Ramos?
07:38Yeah, Peter John Ramos for Shaq.
07:41Yeah, okay.
07:42Let's see if that's going to happen, ever, in any lifetime.
07:45800-636-1067, 800-636-1067.
07:50Darren Peterson, the Kansas Guard, has only visited the Wizards
07:54and does not plan to grant anyone else a meeting.
07:58It's a curious tactic.
08:00Could it be?
08:02He feels, I'm going one or two, and I'm going to the Wizards no matter what.
08:12Is it that the Wizards take me first?
08:14Are the Wizards trade and Utah take what's called them second?
08:17I mean, first, and then the Wizards take me second.
08:20Does he feel that?
08:22Yeah, man, it's an interesting situation, dude.
08:27So, Jeremy Wu is ESPN's draft analyst, and he wrote.
08:33AJ is minus 425.
08:35Okay.
08:36What is Peterson?
08:37Plus 250 or something?
08:39I don't know.
08:39Waiting for B-Hawk to sit it.
08:41Plus 360.
08:42Plus 360.
08:43That's kind of juicy.
08:46So, Jeremy Wu is the one that worked with Shams to get the report out.
08:51That Peterson's only taken meetings with Washington.
08:56I'm reading now from his column, and feel free to hit us up.
08:59800-636-1067.
09:01With the draft picture beginning to crystallize, the intrigue begins at the very top,
09:06where the Washington Wizards have begun to narrow down their options with the number one pick
09:09and the Utah Jazz sitting behind them at number two.
09:13AJ DeBonsa and Darren Peterson remain the projected top two picks,
09:16but there's still a question about the order they're selected.
09:19Plus, you have the lingering Giannis trade.
09:24Here is the mock draft from Shams and this dude, Jeremy Wu.
09:31The Wizards have played their cards close to the best over the past few weeks,
09:34taking their time at the process and evaluating all four candidates atop the draft.
09:38Washington has narrowed its focus to DeBonsa and Darren Peterson, sources tell me and Sharania.
09:44Peterson has informed the Jazz that he plans to take no further team visits,
09:48signaling that he is comfortable with his position and prefers to hear his name called at number one with Washington.
09:54He made himself accessible to the Wizards, previously meeting with them in Los Angeles,
09:58and has conducted multiple on-court workouts in front of Washington's decision makers.
10:03Peterson wants to play point guard at the next level, but the presence of Trey Young in Washington is not
10:09viewed as an impediment.
10:12DeBonsa visited Washington on Thursday and Friday and headed from there to Utah on Saturday, his only two planned visits.
10:18For months, he has been the favorite around the NBA to hear his name called first,
10:22having led D1 basketball in scoring with 25.5 per game, and with his size, physicality, and ability to get
10:29downhill.
10:30DeBonsa has well-documentized ties to Utah after playing his senior year of high school at Utah Prep and last
10:36season at BYU,
10:37but he also prefers to be the number one pick.
10:40Some around the league believe DeBonsa's profile best aligns with what the Wizards have valued.
10:45Last year, they coveted Ace Bailey, another taller scoring wing.
10:49Although DeBonsa plays a much different style, he would check some of the same boxes.
10:54Washington's decision will play out over the next eight days.
10:57What if Washington ends up with Bailey and Stevens?
11:03Bailey is in Utah, right?
11:04Yeah.
11:05What if that's what happened?
11:08What if they end up with Bailey and they get with Peterson at number two?
11:13DeBonsa goes to Wisconsin and another little happened to be first round of next year comes in.
11:18How would that look?
11:21If they were favoring Ace Bailey last year and you happened to get him, I don't see nothing wrong with
11:29that.
11:31Sources, this is from Utah.
11:34Sources say Darren Peterson's medicals have not raised major concerns with teams,
11:38clearing the way for him to hear his name called as a top two pick.
11:41He began the season as ESPN's number one prospect and is the most gifted offensive player in the class.
11:48That's pretty interesting.
11:49Now, I continue from this.
11:51Although Peterson does not plan to visit Utah before the draft,
11:55that is not considered by rival teams to be a major factor in whether the Jazz will select him.
12:01There is precedent for that thinking.
12:02As general manager, Austin Ainge selected Ace Bailey fifth overall last year,
12:08despite Bailey's camp electing not to work out there.
12:11The Jazz are particularly familiar with DeBonsa after he spent the past two years playing in-state.
12:17Although his presence creates some positional duplication with Bailey,
12:21it would be a major surprise around the NBA if DeBonsa slipped past Utah.
12:27Dude.
12:28So my thing is, if there's a concern of those two being the same players,
12:33maybe, just maybe, that talk has already been done,
12:36and the Wizards have already made a deal that's about to happen.
12:40If they, if, if Utah offers Ace and number two so they can get,
12:48move up to one and get DeBonsa, and then you get Ace and Peterson,
12:52you making that deal?
12:54Number one with, with Bailey?
12:57Yeah.
12:57Yeah.
12:58I think I am too.
12:59Hell yeah.
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