00:00Who do you think the Wizards will take?
00:03Who do you want the Wizards to take tonight at number one overall?
00:06And then give me a player that, maybe two, you can give me up to two,
00:11players that you really have a strong feeling about
00:15that are kind of outside the top four.
00:18Right now the top four are A.J. DeBonsa, Darren Peterson, Cam Boozer, and Caleb Wilson.
00:24Those four players seem to be givens to go one through four in some order tonight.
00:33Probably DeBonsa, Peterson, Boozer, and then Caleb Wilson.
00:38But give me somebody starting at number five and going back even into the second round.
00:42Just players that you've, in your conversations with your boys, have said,
00:48man, I think that dude's going to be a really good NBA player for whatever reason.
00:52Because I've got three or four of those guys.
00:55So let me start with this.
00:57I do think the Wizards are going to take DeBonsa.
00:59And I think that's a high ceiling, high floor pick,
01:04and clearly very few intangible boxes to check or to decide on
01:13because they've already been checked versus the Darren Peterson story,
01:17which now I think everybody knows you've got to get really comfortable.
01:21As I've said before, DeBonsa is a really good player.
01:24I think he's going to be a big-time NBA scorer.
01:26I love his strokes, so I don't think that he's going to be somebody that struggles from behind the arc.
01:34I kind of like the alpha mentality.
01:37I think there are a lot of guys that look like DeBonsa at the NBA level,
01:40but I certainly see a guy that is eventually going to average 23, 24, 25,
01:45maybe even more than that, a game as a true scorer.
01:48And I really like the player, and I think he's going to be really good.
01:53I don't think he's a future MVP, and that's what you're looking for at number one,
01:57but I certainly think that A.J. DeBonsa has NBA all-star potential.
02:04I personally, just from a basketball standpoint, been talking about it the last two days,
02:09I really like Darren Peterson.
02:11I just think this is one of the most effortless scorers I've ever seen at the college level,
02:17but you've got to make sure that everything else is fine.
02:20You've got to make sure that this guy isn't suffering from panic attack syndrome
02:25or anxiety issues or, you know, true medical or, you know, physical medical issues.
02:32There's a lot going on.
02:34You've got to make sure, as John Fanta told us, you know, three or four weeks ago,
02:39that the people around him that have a lot of say are understanding that as an NBA player,
02:46they don't have a say anymore.
02:47This is the team that's employing him that has the final say.
02:51So there's a lot there.
02:53I get it, and if they back off that, I understand it.
02:56I just, from a basketball standpoint, believe that Peterson does have that sort of future MVP potential talent.
03:07By the way, I really like Caleb Wilson, too, and I would take Wilson over DeBonsa.
03:12That's just me.
03:14Again, love DeBonsa, too, but I think Peterson and Wilson and even Acuff Jr.
03:20are the players that I think are destined to be stars in the NBA.
03:25Peterson, of course, with all of the, you know, personal stuff, if you just excluded that, you can't,
03:30but just from a basketball standpoint.
03:32Because in terms of the other players not in the top four, I love Darius Acuff Jr.
03:38I think he's Dane Lillard.
03:41I think there's a little bit of Jalen Brunson in him.
03:43I think there's a little bit of Jamal Murray in him.
03:45But I think this dude is just a flat-out scorer and playmaker, and I don't care about his size.
03:52We've already seen it with Brunson.
03:53I don't care.
03:54I do care that he seems to be a conscientious objector to playing defense.
03:58I do care about that.
04:01But, you know, he is going to be a big-time scorer at the NBA level as a scoring point
04:09guard.
04:10I love Acuff Jr.
04:11There are other players, and I'll kind of, you know, sprinkle them in through the rest of the show.
04:17But let me just tell you, I love Mara from Michigan.
04:19I think it's 7'2", 7'3".
04:21He's got great feet, great hands, really good feel for the game.
04:26He's an excellent passer.
04:28And I think, actually, his stroke is a decent one.
04:33And he could develop into a guy that could knock down, you know, jump shots.
04:38So I like Mara, and I like Isaiah Evans from Duke.
04:42He's just a flat-out shooter.
04:44He's a catch-and-shoot guy.
04:46He's a shoot-off-the-dribble guy.
04:47He's in traffic.
04:48He can shoot it and score.
04:50He's a scorer, too.
04:51I like Isaiah Evans from Duke as well.
04:54There are a couple of other players that I really like.
04:56I'll sprinkle them in during the course of the rest of the show.
05:00But I think it's going to be DeBonsa.
05:02My preference, if you checked all of the medical and psychological boxes, would be Peterson.
05:10I absolutely love Darius Acuff Jr.
05:13301-230-0980.
05:16301-230-0980.
05:19We've got a couple of lines open if you want to jump on and weigh in on the Wizards having
05:24the number one pick
05:26for the first time since 2010 when they selected John Wall overall.
05:34Let me get you on record, Max.
05:36On record, who do you think they'll take?
05:39Who do you want them to take?
05:40And give me a player that you're just enamored with outside the top four.
05:43All right.
05:44So I think that they will take A.J. DeBonsa tonight.
05:47The more we talk about Darren Peterson and his ceiling and his scoring ability,
05:51the more I'm convinced that he's probably going to be the best player in this draft
05:57because we see it all the time with guys with a bunch of question marks
06:00and then they hit NBA and all of those go away
06:03because they're being so well taken care of by these teams.
06:06So I think Darren's going to be A-OK.
06:08He'll be just fine.
06:09But a guy I am kind of enamored with, especially after the news about Dusty May yesterday,
06:16Yaxel Lindenborg.
06:17Yeah, he's ready to go, too, at 24.
06:19Yeah, he's ready to go.
06:20He's NBA ready.
06:22Mavs are sitting there at nine.
06:24But this whole draft season, people have been talking about him going to the Thunder.
06:29But now with this little wrinkle, Thunder might be a little antsy.
06:34I'm very interested to see what happens there late in the lottery tonight.
06:38All right.
06:39301-230-0980.
06:41If you want to jump on, we've got a couple of lines open.
06:44Who do you think the Wizards will take?
06:46Who do you want them to take at number one?
06:48And then give me a player kind of outside those top four, DeBonsa, Peterson, Boozer, and Wilson,
06:55who you are absolutely sure is going to be a big-time NBA player.
07:01Let's start with our guy, Mark Inlargo.
07:04Mark, go ahead.
07:06A.J. DeBonsa is, as a lot of comps have got him at, as the next Tracy McGrady.
07:13I'll take that over anything for Darren Peterson.
07:16Let me say this about Darren Peterson.
07:18You know, this is the difference between the NFL and the NBA.
07:21If Darren Peterson was an NFL player, he would be sliding right down to the 20s because of his attitude.
07:28The Washington Wizards, Kevin, and you know this better than anybody because you're a lot older than me,
07:33and they haven't won a title since 1978.
07:36They can't afford to take someone like that.
07:38You're the absolute best.
07:41I look forward to these calls more than any other.
07:44All right, go ahead.
07:46Because I'm so much older than you, what is it that I should know more than you?
07:50Okay, yeah, okay.
07:51Let me get to the point.
07:53Darren Peterson is, in my opinion, could be another John.
07:57Yeah, he could be a great player, but then he could be another John Morant.
08:01He could be another Zion Williamson.
08:03See, all of y'all sitting up here talking about, look at his talent.
08:06He's just nuts.
08:07He's no different than Trey Johnson.
08:08If you look at his game and you look at Trey Johnson's game, I would take Trey Johnson.
08:12And I guarantee you on a one-on-one game, Trey Johnson would bust his behind on the court
08:18because he's not bigger than Trey.
08:20Well, I mean, we can get to the one-on-one games after the season because that really doesn't matter.
08:26By the way, I love Trey Johnson.
08:28I loved him last year, as you know, and I still love him after watching him this year.
08:31I think he is a really good player.
08:33They're different players, though.
08:36They're different players.
08:37Well, here's the problem with the league, and this is why I say the league has an image problem.
08:41This is why the league can't find an American face.
08:44You have an American face with Devontia that you can make the face of the league.
08:50Darren Peterson, I agree with Stephen A.
08:52I'm tired of the conversation that we're having about Darren Peterson.
08:55Yeah, he can do this.
08:56He can do that.
08:57But what about his attitude off the court?
08:59Look, I'm worried about it, too.
09:01I was talking about it all season long.
09:03I'm like, this guy is costing himself.
09:06But there could be, you know, there could be reason.
09:09I'm not – I don't want to take him, Mark, if he's got issues.
09:12I don't want to take him.
09:14But when I watched him play, when he did play – Mark does this thing, by the way,
09:18when after he's talked for a while, he just continues to talk when the host is talking.
09:24Who am I talking right now?
09:25Trey Johnson – I don't think I've ever seen a player that scored in the way that he scored
09:32at the college level.
09:34It was so smooth and effortless.
09:38Trey Johnson, to me, is much more of just a pure shooter.
09:42And, by the way, a stone-cold, deep, deep shooter.
09:45I love Trey Johnson.
09:47I like his game a lot.
09:49Darren Peterson's different.
09:51He's a little bit bigger.
09:53I'm not saying taller, but a little bit bigger, stronger, and I think is more of a scorer than Trey
10:01Johnson.
10:02But I like Trey Johnson.
10:03And if they picked a Bonsa, I'm not going to be unhappy about it because if I were the guy,
10:08you know, calling his doctors and calling his – you know, doing all the due diligence,
10:13he might be off my board.
10:15I've acknowledged that.
10:17I completely agree with that.
10:20Well, let me say this, Kevin.
10:21The Wizards haven't done anything since the 70s.
10:24They can't take Darren Peterson.
10:26You can't.
10:27Because they haven't done anything in the 70s.
10:30And remember, you know, it didn't go well with Gilbert Arenas 16 years ago.
10:34I get that.
10:36But there's just too many red flags with Darren Peterson, man.
10:39Too many red flags.
10:40Well, look, I mean, you remember, you know, the 60s teams when they were in Baltimore
10:46with, you know, all of those great players.
10:48And so I appreciate the call.
10:52Thanks, Mark and Largo.
10:53We've got to move on now to our next caller.
10:55But I hope that Winger and Dawkins aren't making decisions based on the fact that they haven't been
11:02in the NBA Finals since 1979.
11:04None of that should factor in to their decision making.
11:08They should be trying to draft the player that they think has the best chance to be a superstar,
11:17an elite-level player, you know, as a 24-, 25-, and 26-year-old and beyond.
11:2425-, 26-, 27-year-old.
11:26That's what they should be trying to do.
11:28And by the way, if that player doesn't exist in their mind, they should try to trade the pick.
11:34Or if they can't trade the pick because everybody feels the same way, you just take the best player available.
11:40That's what you do in an NBA draft when you're at number one.
11:43You don't care what you have on your roster.
11:46You don't care what you might have on your roster.
11:49You're trying to draft the next, you know, true superstar that can lead you to an NBA title.
11:58That's what you're trying to do.
12:00I think that in this draft, Darren Peterson, Caleb Wilson are those kinds of players that could potentially get their
12:09way down the road.
12:10But, of course, I'm concerned about Darren Peterson's, you know, other issues.
12:16They're obviously real issues.
12:18You can't, if you're not, you know, I've heard these comps to Kobe Bryant.
12:24I'm like, Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant would have had to been, he would have wheeled himself out if he had
12:31one limb left to play against Arizona at Fog Allen.
12:35This guy said, no, thank you, 30 minutes before tip.
12:39Now, again, there could be some real reasons.
12:41And those reasons could be scary reasons in terms of, you know, steering clear of it.
12:45Even if they're issues that the young man's been dealing with that are physical or mental.
12:51And you just, you'd want him to get them taken care of.
12:55But, yeah, I just like him as a player.
13:00I don't know the rest of it.
13:02But the rest of it is concerning from afar.
13:04No doubt about it.
