- 8 hours ago
Will Dawkins joins The Sports Junkies to break down the latest Washington Wizards news.
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00:00Our pal Will Dawkins.
00:01Good morning, Will.
00:02How are you, buddy?
00:03Congratulations.
00:04There he is.
00:05You did it.
00:06Good morning.
00:07You did it.
00:07Good morning.
00:08How are we doing?
00:09How late was your night?
00:12It was pretty late, but when you get the number one pick,
00:15you don't mind staying up late for those nights.
00:16Yeah.
00:17I know you mentioned that you kind of couldn't sleep the night before,
00:20and you went through your notes one last time, et cetera.
00:24Even though you only got a few hours,
00:26did you sleep a little better when it was all said and done?
00:29He slept pretty well last night.
00:30I can't complain.
00:31I can't complain at all.
00:32You know, Will, we were lucky enough to be joined by your guy,
00:36Michael Winger, last night.
00:38He sat down with us at around, I want to say it was like 7-10,
00:41maybe 7-15, like less than an hour before the pick was made.
00:43He looked remarkably calm, composed.
00:46He just had a smile.
00:47At peace.
00:48He was feeling good last night heading into that draft.
00:52I'm guessing you were kind of sharing his own mindset.
00:53Yeah, he told me he ran into you guys and was able to hop in.
00:56And, but yeah, we've never had one before here
01:00or when I've been in my other situation.
01:03And it is kind of calming when you don't have anyone in front of you
01:06and you don't have to kind of strategize or game plan
01:09and be reflective of who you might get.
01:11We kind of just settled on the decision,
01:13made peace with it, and feel really good about it.
01:15Yeah, so many questions about that.
01:19I had said I wouldn't want this pick just because, you know,
01:22did you ever feel any pressure?
01:24Like, okay, it's a talent-rich draft.
01:26You had 10 teams tanking for all these kids.
01:28So many great kids.
01:29Like, it's understood.
01:31Great players and great kids.
01:33So in some sense, you can't go wrong when you're at one,
01:37but you kind of can because ultimately when it's all said and done,
01:41Will, there's going to be somebody from this draft
01:43that's probably going to be considered the best.
01:45And there'll probably be a guy that's right next to him,
01:47but there's probably going to be one guy that's the best.
01:49Did that ever weigh you down that we got to nail this
01:53and get the best one?
01:56Yeah, you're definitely right about that.
01:58I would say there's definitely a pressure,
02:01but it was a good pressure.
02:03It's more of a something that you want when you take a job like this.
02:06You want to be in these situations to have the opportunity to choose
02:10the player who you think is best for your organization.
02:13And a draft like this that you talked about,
02:16where they're full of high-character young men
02:18who are elite-level talents.
02:20There's a lot of players that would go on in a lot of drafts.
02:24But with us, we valued that, and we wanted that good pressure.
02:29And I think we were able to work it through to find agents.
02:32And there's no doubt that he matches up with those other guys
02:34that have gone at the top of the draft.
02:36He has that number one level talent,
02:38and we were just fortunate that there's multiple options
02:41in this year's draft, but I think we found the best one for us.
02:44Well, I'm sure you're not going to tell us when you landed on DeBonsa
02:48as the pick, but when you do, whenever that is,
02:51how do you keep a lid on it with you and your staff
02:53as far as you guys are remarkably proficient at keeping that under wraps.
02:59Nobody knew who the pick was.
03:00I was stunned.
03:01You weren't tipping your hand, which I think is great.
03:02I think it's awesome to have it under wraps until the last minute.
03:05I didn't love it.
03:05You want to keep everybody guessing.
03:07I'd rather be in suspense.
03:09It's like watching a suspenseful movie.
03:12How do you keep it under wraps like that for so long,
03:15however long until you landed on DeBonsa as the pick?
03:18Yeah, I think the way we try to go about our business
03:22is just in a professional manner
03:24and make sure that the people who are in the know
03:27can understand how valuable information is,
03:31and we trust our staff, and it was obviously a big decision.
03:34But with that, you still have work to do
03:36and different things that can come your way,
03:38so tilting your hand one way or the other
03:41probably isn't the most strategic thing for us,
03:43and we just want to make sure we have as many advantages
03:45going for the night as possible.
03:47So you've got to trust the people you're around
03:49and make sure that everybody's in the boat,
03:51and I think that's what you saw from our organization yesterday.
03:54So everybody knows, and you guys had the great story
03:57and the great video of you guys playing ball
03:58while the draft is going on.
04:00You've been through this before.
04:01It never seemed to work.
04:02We'll just play ball and try not to think about it, right?
04:04Did we get that?
04:05Saw it.
04:05Great moment.
04:06That was a pretty good summary right there, yeah.
04:08Yep, yep.
04:09Great moment.
04:10But then when you finally get the word,
04:13and you go, oh, it's one.
04:13You guys are high-fiving,
04:14and you're chest-bumping the whole nine.
04:16We all saw it.
04:17Can you at least say this?
04:18Because we know that you've been scouting these guys,
04:20and you've seen them since, say, 13, 14, 15, 16 years old.
04:23We get it.
04:23But in the back of your mind, did you know, like, did you at least think,
04:28man, we might get AJ?
04:29Like, was he the leader in your brain before you had done the deep dive?
04:33In your brain, were you thinking, I think we just got AJ DeBonsa?
04:37Were you thinking that?
04:39In my brain, yeah, I was thinking we just got AJ.
04:42I was thinking we have opportunity to take these other guys,
04:45and I hope that they are who we think they are.
04:47Right.
04:47And I can't wait to get to know them and meet them and, like, really dive deep.
04:51But he's someone that's been at the top of his class for a really long time,
04:55and we've been watching for over three, four years now.
04:58So we know how talented he really is.
05:00We had a bunch of information and data points on him,
05:03and you're just hoping that what you've heard about him
05:05and who he is is actually true,
05:07and we got that opportunity to go to BYU, spend some time with the staff,
05:12talk to some of his teammates, coaches, everyone all the way down.
05:15And it matched up.
05:16And it matched up.
05:18So that was a good thing.
05:19And then you get to spend some time with him and his representation
05:21and family here in D.C.,
05:23and you feel even better about that situation.
05:25I think a few days after that is when you ask about timing,
05:29you feel really good about it.
05:30So you threw me when you described Darren Peterson as Pierce.
05:33And I know Darren Peterson is great,
05:34and I think he's going to be a great player too.
05:36But when we asked you the one-word thing,
05:38and we were trying to trick you up a little bit,
05:40and you said, oh, consistent, score, high-rise,
05:42and I'm like, yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
05:43That was for AJ.
05:44And then when you said Peterson Fierce,
05:47and my brain went to a pretzel,
05:49and I was like, well, they're going Peterson.
05:50Were you trying to throw us?
05:51What's a better adjective than Pierce?
05:55Than Fierce.
05:55Fierce.
05:56Forgive me.
05:56Forgive me.
05:56What's that?
05:57Yep.
05:58I remember that very well that day,
06:00the day after the draft lottery.
06:03I got to know him,
06:04and I got to know all these kids throughout the process.
06:06I think that adjective sticks.
06:08I think you're going to have a really, really long career.
06:11He's an impressive, mature young man,
06:13and I wish him nothing but the best.
06:15We're joined by Will Dawkins,
06:16Washington Wizards general manager on the Rude Guest Hotline.
06:19Will, did you ever come close to dealing the pick?
06:22Were you tempted by any offers?
06:24Did you get offers up until draft night?
06:26I was going to ask you that.
06:27On draft night, did you come close to dealing the pick,
06:30or were you just like, you know what, this is too valuable.
06:32We love AJ DeBonso.
06:33We can't give up on AJ.
06:34We have to draft him here.
06:36Yeah, I think your phone's busy,
06:38like Michael and I talked about right after.
06:40We understand that it's a business,
06:42and people are going to call and make decisions,
06:44and teams definitely did.
06:46We know how valuable the number one pick is,
06:48so we want to make sure we do our due diligence,
06:50but we also know how special
06:52and how different AJ DeBonso was,
06:54and it really didn't get close.
06:56We knew we wanted to keep that pick for our fans,
06:58for our city, for the organization,
07:00for what he can do when you add him to the group that we have.
07:03So it was going to take something extremely rare
07:06and extremely special to make us punt on
07:08an extremely rare and special talent in AJ.
07:11Did Ted have any sort of weight
07:14in terms of selecting a player?
07:17Like, how is Ted involved in this, if at all?
07:19Ted and Zach, they're awesome.
07:23They support us throughout everything.
07:25They want to know,
07:26and we want to give them some information,
07:28but they definitely met up,
07:30and were able to be at the workout
07:31and spend some time watching,
07:33but they just wanted to be around,
07:35to get to know them,
07:35and see them,
07:36and be able to answer any questions.
07:37But this decision was all Michael,
07:39myself, and our staff.
07:40They're not weighing input on that too much,
07:43if at all.
07:43I kind of want to go big picture with you here, Will.
07:46So you've been here for three years, right?
07:48And when you got here,
07:49the team had Bradley Beal,
07:51it had Chris Tapps Porzingis,
07:53it had Kyle Kuzma.
07:55You're able to draft Bilal Kulibaly
07:57in that first draft.
07:58The team starts changing a little bit.
08:00You trade Denny Avdia,
08:02who's become an all-star along the way.
08:04You draft Saar that year,
08:06Bub, Keyshawn.
08:08Then this last year,
08:10you make some moves.
08:11You trade for Trey Young.
08:13You trade for Anthony Davis.
08:16And now you draft A.J. DeBonsa.
08:18I'm wondering,
08:19along the way in three years,
08:21what was the toughest decision you made?
08:23Was it tough to trade Bradley Beal?
08:25What was the toughest thing you've done
08:26in the three years to get to this point?
08:31Yeah, the three years has kind of flown by.
08:33It's wild when you say that,
08:34but we have been able to alter the organization,
08:38I think, in a good way.
08:40For me, it's probably not a specific decision,
08:43but if I had to say that,
08:46it's sitting down and informing the people
08:48that need to know that we're going to go
08:49through this deconstruction phase
08:51and everything that goes about it
08:53and how aligned you have to be
08:56and going through it
08:57and how strategic you have to be
08:59and look more big picture,
09:02knowing that it's going to be a rocky way
09:04and probably not the best level of basketball
09:07for your fans to get behind.
09:08So I think making that decision
09:10was something that was hard and difficult
09:12and sticking with it is always challenging.
09:15But at the end of the day,
09:16like we said,
09:17we thought it was the right decision
09:18for where we wanted to go
09:19because the ultimate goal
09:21was to get a bunch of young players
09:22that the fans and the city can get behind
09:24that can play the right way
09:25and have some continuity
09:26and build towards something that's sustainable
09:28and sustain success, the goal for us.
09:30So I think a lot of tough decisions,
09:33but making sure that we stayed on course
09:36and we're going to continue to stay the course
09:38would probably be the one
09:39that pops up more often than not.
09:41And Will, we've been talking about it this morning,
09:44taking calls from fans,
09:45and we've actually been talking about it
09:46the last few weeks,
09:48assuming you were going to get A.J. or Peterson,
09:50but there are now expectations for this team.
09:53Who knows what's going to happen with Davis?
09:55I know you're not going to tell us,
09:57but you inked Trey.
09:58Hey, he's inked for a lot of money
10:00for the next few years.
10:02You've got some really good young players.
10:03There are expectations of this team
10:06and we've got to get these 17 win seasons
10:08out of our mind
10:09and fans and media are now expecting
10:13some really good things going forward.
10:14I'm not going to go into how many games
10:16you guys are going to win
10:17or what you think,
10:18but you realize there are now expectations
10:20for this roster big time.
10:23How do you in the front office
10:24kind of feel about that?
10:26Yeah, I think we're excited.
10:27You want to have expectations on your team.
10:30We have expectations internally
10:31that we put on ourselves
10:33to get better and improve
10:34and it was kind of a conversation
10:36that we all had before we even left
10:39for the off-season break
10:41is that we want to be more competitive this year
10:43and we wanted there to be expectations
10:45in our gym that our players will be fighting
10:47and be more competitive
10:48for their own personal minutes
10:49and make sure you're in the gym
10:51and getting better
10:51so that when we try to take that step next year
10:54to be more competitive,
10:55it's going to be a dogfight
10:57and it's going to be earned.
10:58So for us,
10:59we're all competitive.
11:01It's a very challenging
11:02and difficult sport
11:03and it's hard to win basketball games,
11:05but at the end of the day,
11:06like we talked about,
11:07the pressure of making that number one pick,
11:08we want the pressure
11:09of being competitive every single night
11:11and we think we'll be better at that this year
11:13and for us,
11:14that's kind of the goal.
11:14So we talked to John Wall last night
11:17and he talked about
11:18what he anticipates the style of play
11:20and maybe what needs to change
11:22for some of the guys,
11:23specifically Trey Young.
11:24So Trey Young throughout his career
11:26is a 25-10 guy,
11:28but a very ball-dominant guy.
11:31A.J. DeBonsa seems to be a guy
11:32who needs the ball in his hands.
11:34He's not a Richard Hamilton,
11:35come-off-picks type of player, right?
11:39Will you have Trey modify his play a little bit
11:42and maybe not take as many shots
11:44and ball handle as much?
11:47Yeah.
11:48We want to have as many decision-makers
11:50on the basketball court as possible.
11:53I think that's how it makes you dangerous.
11:55There's got to be a level of buy-in
11:56from everyone to allow each person
12:00to make those decisions,
12:02but when you look at our team
12:03and you look at how we drafted
12:04and the players we acquired,
12:06they all, for the most part,
12:08think the game at a high level,
12:10can move the ball,
12:11can space, have length, versatility,
12:14and know how to play on and off the ball.
12:16So I think we'll see a style of basketball
12:18that's a little different,
12:19but hopefully more dangerous.
12:20And I think the guys bought in
12:22and want to be a part of that.
12:24And I can't wait for everybody
12:25to get in the building,
12:26spend some time with Coach Keefe
12:27and the staff
12:28and kind of create the perfect system
12:29that we want to start the season with.
12:31But I think everyone to a man
12:33knows that it's going to be
12:34we over me this year
12:36and we're going to move the ball,
12:37share the ball,
12:38and do our best to just attack
12:40from different angles.
12:41And I think it'll look more functional.
12:42And at the end of the day,
12:44like I said,
12:44guys are really motivated
12:45and they're motivated to win
12:47and they're motivated to compete.
12:50And I think you'll see that buy-in
12:51from our guys this year.
12:52I just want to get back
12:54to the AJ kind of process.
12:56When you draft AJ,
12:59did it matter that it was
13:01kind of like a perfect fit
13:02for the personnel you had?
13:04Or is AJ such a unique guy?
13:07It didn't matter who was on your roster.
13:09You couldn't pass up on this ability
13:12and character, etc.
13:14Yeah, like we always say,
13:16we draft people first.
13:17And he checked the box on that.
13:19That guy has a lot of the value
13:21that we value just in terms of community
13:24and family and work ethic,
13:26just passion for the game.
13:27Like he's going to continue
13:28to get back there.
13:29So he checked that box.
13:31But yeah, he's a rare talent
13:33that we were going to take
13:35the best player available.
13:36When you have an opportunity like that,
13:37it just happens to be
13:39that the things that we look for
13:40on our 94 by 50 chart,
13:43he has a lot of them.
13:45And he fits very well
13:46with our young players
13:47that we've drafted.
13:48And that's the group
13:49that we're going to continue
13:50to bet on to be here
13:51and grow and develop
13:52at their own pace.
13:53But when you talk about size,
13:55positional size, versatility,
13:57quick decision-making,
13:59supreme athlete,
14:00he's the best athlete
14:02we've tested through the draft
14:03the last three or four times
14:05we've done it
14:05since we've been here.
14:07Ability to make decisions,
14:09to live at the rim,
14:10be 95th percentile in assists,
14:13but also 91st percentile
14:14in field goals at the rim.
14:17That's pretty special.
14:18Also being 100th percentile
14:19of living on the rim,
14:21getting to the free throw line.
14:22So he just fits a lot of boxes.
14:24I think he's a big guard.
14:25You can play him
14:26in a lot of different areas
14:27like you can with Will,
14:28like you can with Keyshawn,
14:30like you can with Bilal.
14:31It just gives you a lot of,
14:33I guess, optionality,
14:34which is important
14:35for the coach staff.
14:36And when you put him
14:37in the mix of our guards,
14:38we were looking at it yesterday,
14:40we'd be tied for the tallest,
14:41and then we'd be
14:42the longest wingspan
14:43among all guards in the league.
14:45So again,
14:46we talked about wanting
14:47to be defensive
14:47and long and versatile.
14:49And he just adds to that.
14:50How many guards
14:50are you including
14:51in that equation?
14:52How many guards are you including?
14:54Yeah.
14:54All of them.
14:55Because if you just put him
14:56in Trey,
14:57it wouldn't be the case.
14:58Including him.
14:58No, no,
14:59including our group of guards.
15:00I know,
15:00you're saying it's a whole group.
15:01It's not just the starters.
15:03Yeah, yeah, exactly.
15:04And obviously when you put
15:06Bilal, Keyshawn,
15:07him out there
15:08at the same time
15:08with Alex in it,
15:10I think that's pretty special.
15:11Pretty long room.
15:12Yeah,
15:13somebody asked him
15:14to compare himself
15:15to an NBA guy
15:16that maybe we haven't heard before,
15:17and he brought up Lenny Bias,
15:19and I'm kicking myself
15:20that I didn't think of that.
15:22I think it's actually
15:22a great comparison
15:24just in terms of ability,
15:26talent, etc.
15:27Do you like that comparison?
15:29I don't mind that one at all.
15:32I'm glad he was able
15:33to pull that out.
15:33I don't know who showed him
15:34tape on Lenny Bias.
15:35That's a story.
15:36That's good.
15:37I like that.
15:37Pretty darn impressive,
15:38and I think stylistically,
15:40and obviously tragic,
15:41nobody wants that,
15:42but from a playing perspective,
15:44it's actually
15:45a pretty great comparison,
15:47I think.
15:48Yeah,
15:48he was pretty special.
15:50We had a dinner
15:51the other night,
15:52and a bunch of people
15:54that are local DC,
15:55but also mixed in
15:55with our coaching staff,
15:56and we were just talking
15:57about just the DMV
16:00Mount Rushmore
16:01for people who didn't
16:02make the Hall of Fame
16:03or won't make the Hall of Fame
16:04in basketball.
16:04I think everybody agreed
16:06that he was on it,
16:07but that was actually
16:08a pretty fun conversation,
16:09but again,
16:10AJ is unique.
16:11I think he is himself.
16:13We haven't really seen
16:14someone that
16:15has the length
16:16and athleticism
16:18here on our roster,
16:19and there's a lot of players
16:20he's watched growing up,
16:21but I think he's going
16:22to be one of one
16:23and be AJ DeBonta,
16:25and we look forward to that.
16:26Should he become
16:27an MVP of the league?
16:29Should he become?
16:30Yes.
16:30I think he's going
16:31to strive.
16:31I think he's got
16:33a lot of work to do,
16:35but he's got size,
16:36talent,
16:36and upside
16:37to continue to get there,
16:38but that's a really high bar.
16:39I know it's on his to-do list.
16:41My to-do list
16:42is to get him in town
16:43and get him ready
16:43for Summer League.
16:44Yeah, when can that start?
16:45What are the plans
16:45for Summer League?
16:46Yeah, yeah.
16:46What's the rule on that?
16:47Does he have to sign a contract,
16:48or can you get him
16:49in the gym today?
16:51You can't keep players
16:52like that out the gym.
16:54He'll probably come in
16:54and grab some shots
16:55and do some things,
16:57but once July rolls around,
16:59we'll probably work
16:59on the contract
17:00and get that set up
17:01so that he's pretty good
17:02to go for Summer League.
17:04We obviously have
17:05night two of the draft tonight,
17:06and hopefully we draft
17:07a couple more guys
17:08with that pick
17:08and bring them in
17:09and play Summer League,
17:10but the guys
17:11who've been doing
17:11the jump season,
17:12we can't wait
17:13to see them play as well.
17:14So we'll have a good amount
17:15of our rookies
17:16from last year playing,
17:17mix in some free agents
17:18and take a look at them.
17:20We'll start practice here
17:21on the 2nd,
17:21I believe, of July,
17:23and then fly out
17:24to Vegas on the 8th,
17:24and I think our first game
17:26will be 9th or 10th.
17:27We haven't got that
17:27scheduled yet.
17:28Hey, Cake said
17:29you could take a vacation
17:30this week.
17:30No, I jumped the gun.
17:32You amended it?
17:32You can go on vacation
17:33in August, Will.
17:34You're good.
17:35You still got to stay
17:36at work for a time.
17:36There's this little thing
17:37called free agency
17:38coming up.
17:39I slept on that.
17:40After tonight,
17:40we'll transition into that.
17:42Yeah.
17:42Hey, congratulations, Will.
17:44It's just an amazing day
17:45for the franchise,
17:46for the fans,
17:48and you've been so great to us.
17:49We really appreciate it.
17:50We'll talk to you soon, man.
17:52No, man, I appreciate you guys.
17:53Thanks again for covering
17:53our last night.
17:54Of course.
17:55Good to talk to you.
17:55Thank you, buddy.
17:56Wizards GM
17:56here on the Junkies.
17:58We'll talk to you soon, man.
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