- 48 minutes ago
Chris Miller feels the optimism around Washington after the team drafted AJ Dybantsa last night.
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00:15If it ain't rude, it ain't right.
00:17Joining us now is the never-rude, Mr. Chris Miller.
00:21The nice guy.
00:21Play-by-play voice of the Wizards, C-Mill.
00:25TikToker of the world.
00:27I saw the social media video of you guys at the draft party last night
00:34watching that pick come down.
00:36And though you could only do it with one arm,
00:38I saw your arms shoot up into the air with excitement.
00:42What was the draft party like?
00:44What do you think of the pick?
00:46I've never been to anything like that here in D.C. in my 19 years
00:50because I'm always at the draft where you were last night, JP.
00:54So I've never really experienced it.
00:56It felt like I was at a concert.
00:58I walked in there and was like, am I at the right place?
01:03Is New Edition performing tonight?
01:05Like I literally was kind of looking around going, wow, there's some energy in here.
01:09And no, it was Wizards fans waiting to receive the best news,
01:13that they got the number one pick and they got their guy.
01:17And maybe the funniest thing that happened last night,
01:21and I kind of crack up about it now, is everyone's quiet.
01:25Commissioner Adam Silver goes to the podium.
01:27With the first pick, the Washington Wizards select Anisei DeBonsa.
01:32And like, it wasn't until he said DeBonsa, until the crowd started going crazy.
01:36I don't think anybody knew what his real government first name was.
01:40So it was kind of like, oh.
01:43You expect me to hear A.J.?
01:45Yeah, yeah.
01:46And it felt like New Year's Eve.
01:51It felt like the ball dropped.
01:53And you guys will have to excuse me, because I've been through this a lot of years.
02:01Yeah.
02:02But damn it, it felt really, really good last night.
02:07That everybody in the country is talking about us.
02:10And the last month and a half, there's been nothing but good freaking vibes about this team.
02:18And yeah, we got our guy last night.
02:21So that fist pump, although it was my left arm, because my right arm is still rehabbing from this torn
02:26rotator cuff,
02:27I was so happy, J.P.
02:28I love that, Chris.
02:29And you've, listen, man, like, we've all been around for the Bullets and the Wiz,
02:36but you've been there every night, night in, night out.
02:38And, I mean, even as much belief as there is in the Dawkins Winger organization,
02:43like, there's been a lot of losing.
02:45And going into losing locker rooms sucks.
02:47And having to talk to players on extended losing streaks is not fun.
02:50And I don't think fans always understand that.
02:53Just in terms, I want to get to the actual kind of strategy of how these players all fit together.
02:59But just in terms of the positivity surrounding the organization right now,
03:03how much, if at all, do you think Dawkins, Winger, the young guys that are a part of this,
03:09how much do you think they feel?
03:11And how much can they feed off that?
03:15The number one pick, and I'm only speaking in the NBA, the NFL, I've never experienced it
03:21when I covered the league for 10 years, so I've never experienced what it was like to have the first
03:24pick.
03:26But the first pick, I've experienced that before, and I kind of know what it looks like.
03:32I had Michael Winger on our set last night, and Michael and I were both in Cleveland in 2003
03:38when that kid from Akron said he was going to light up Cleveland like Vegas.
03:42So Michael and I have been there and saw what that looked like.
03:48I'm not going to say AJ is going to be LeBron James.
03:50I'm not saying that.
03:51But what I'm saying is being the number one pick and to have the type of personality.
03:58JP, you interviewed him last night, so you know what I'm talking about.
04:01You know, this kid is a rock star.
04:03This guy is not just the – I said during the draft process,
04:10the difference between AJ and Darren Peterson is Darren Peterson is one hell of a basketball player,
04:16but AJ DeBonse is too, and he's a rock star.
04:19And he's going to fill the arena with people watching him do something special every night.
04:25And that's the difference of the first overall pick.
04:28And you were asking about Winger and Dawkins.
04:31I'll say this about these guys.
04:33They're serious-minded people that know what the hell they're doing.
04:38They've done it.
04:39They did it in Oklahoma City, and you see where they are right now.
04:43And they get players in here that are all like-minded.
04:48It's work.
04:50Getting into the gym.
04:51You see the video of Keyshawn George showing up at 545 in the morning,
04:55scanning that key card, ready to put the work in in the summer.
04:59So all of these guys that they have drafted over the last four years,
05:02they all have that one thing in common is they're highly competitive and they're workers.
05:08And AJ fits the mold.
05:11He does.
05:12And you're right.
05:13He had this rare, and I don't want to act like I've spent a lot of time with him,
05:18but I did get to directly talk with him for a few minutes
05:22and then just kind of be around, talk to his father.
05:25You kind of get a feel for a person over the course of whatever, 45 minutes to an hour.
05:30And he has this rare kind of megawattage gravitas, but at the same time,
05:36he just seems incredibly down to earth, which is a unique combination.
05:42But ultimately, you can be the best dude in the world, but you've got to be a baller.
05:46Can you hoop?
05:46Right.
05:48Let's talk about his game.
05:50How does his game fit this Wiz team, and how much gets thrown on him right away,
05:55you think, Chris?
05:56Yeah, plug and play right away.
05:57You guys all know he led the nation in scoring, which you might not know.
06:01He also led the nation in free throw attempts.
06:04He also led the nation in and-one opportunities.
06:07I love that.
06:07So what that tells me is as soon as he gets on an NBA court,
06:11he's going to get his behind to the free throw line a lot
06:14because of his size and his athleticism.
06:18Now, I like defense.
06:20I'm sorry.
06:21I'm old school.
06:22I understand that's how you win championships.
06:24Where I want to see him improve in his first year,
06:27is can you guard the other team's best player?
06:30Can you guard Darren Peterson?
06:31When Darren comes to town and when you go to Salt Lake City, can you guard him?
06:36And I think he has all the physical traits to be an elite defender.
06:42And I think that's where the challenge from the coaching staff is going to be with him right away.
06:47Can you guard?
06:48Now, the beauty of having Trey Young, Anthony Davis, and these other players that they have drafted over the last
06:57three years before last night
06:59is he will not be asked to come in here and save this franchise.
07:04Not like John in 2010.
07:06It's completely different.
07:08There are veterans here and there are players that have already been here that can really help him find his
07:14way in this league.
07:15And I think that's really smart of the organization.
07:19It's not throwing too much on this kid.
07:21But I think his skill set, J.P. and B. Mitch, will force them to allow him to express himself
07:29on the court.
07:31So when you look at this team now and you look at the possibility,
07:35A.D. out there with the gung-ho attitude that I see Trey with,
07:39having A.J., Saur there, who's the fifth guy you put next to him,
07:45what would the expectations in your mind be for this team looking like having those three guys leading the way?
07:53So I found out last night because I was around a lot of Wizards fans that had a couple sodas.
07:59A lot of them want to talk about Eastern Conference Finals like right away.
08:02And I was like, hold on now.
08:03Come on now.
08:04Listen.
08:05Come on, y'all.
08:06Hey, answer the question without fandom.
08:09There we go.
08:09Exactly, right?
08:10So, you know, listen, if they – I don't want to put a cap on the wins,
08:15but I think a successful – if you double your win total, that's pretty impressive.
08:20If you win like 34, 35, that's actually impressive.
08:23And then obviously you'll get more Trey and more A.D., hopefully.
08:28But I think this team is doing it the right way.
08:32I don't think there's going to be a parade next year.
08:34Although, I will tell you guys this.
08:37I watched the Knicks championship parade from start to finish.
08:41And you know what I thought about the whole time?
08:43I was jealous.
08:45I was like, man, what would Constitution Avenue look like like that?
08:50I can tell you.
08:51So there was a little bit of envy and jealousy.
08:53And I was like, you know what?
08:54Our time is coming.
08:56And this pick last night might be the start of one day we all sit down with a pop
09:03and we go, where did it start?
09:05Did it start with the drafting of A.J.?
09:08Was it before that?
09:09Was it the threes?
09:10But I do think one day, guys, we're going to have a parade in this city.
09:13I really believe that.
09:16I want to experience it, Chris.
09:17I'll tell you that.
09:18It was remarkable being in New York for the last couple days
09:21and just seeing the amount of Knicks, everything, everywhere.
09:26I mean, like, you know, kind of street art, jerseys everywhere, hats everywhere.
09:32I mean, everywhere you went, you saw the blue and orange.
09:33And it is remarkable because I think the Knicks built a team that was the most team-driven
09:40and not, like, star-driven probably since that 0-4 Pistons team.
09:43But it also, to me, just showed that, like, the NBA's had, what, eight straight champions?
09:51Eight straight years of a new champion.
09:53Right, like, that league is starting to accomplish some level of parity that didn't exist for a long time
09:59because the stars would all go to one place or stay in one place.
10:02And there's a feeling, I played in this golf tournament over the weekend, right?
10:08And my buddy Danny Hanley kept saying, why not us?
10:11And sure enough, why not us?
10:13The answer was, I can't putt.
10:14But, like, the mindset of why not us, I feel like, is really starting to creep in for Wiz fans.
10:21And it's not about 2027, I would say.
10:25But it's about 2030, 2031.
10:28Like, whatever the timeline is, is what the timeline would be.
10:30You got to build towards something.
10:31But you feel like you've got this army of young slashers, basically.
10:37And some of them are shooters.
10:38Some of them might be more defensive players.
10:40And now you've got Trey, and presumably you've got Anthony Davis.
10:44And then you put this dynamic rookie in the middle of it all,
10:47and you've got something that could be special.
10:49We don't know yet, but could be.
10:52Well, I would just say this, and this is, again, coming from somebody that's,
10:56I have sweat equity in this organization, okay?
10:59So when I say this, it comes from a place where I've seen this.
11:03You actually got people that want to be here now.
11:06Yeah.
11:07I'll just let that marinate over the radio airwaves for a little bit.
11:10These people want to be here.
11:12And the reason why they want to be here is there is an infrastructure that is in place now
11:17that holds these players to account,
11:20but gives them every resource that is possible to be the best version of yourself.
11:25Just think about that.
11:26But, like, there's nothing that they ask that they get a no from.
11:32And that starts with ownership.
11:33But Winger and Dawkins are serious-minded basketball people, again,
11:38that have done this before.
11:40And just look at their track record the first four years that they have drafted
11:45these players.
11:46And now you've got the number one and, you know,
11:49arguably the best of this draft class.
11:52Now, there's some jokers out here telling me that this draft class might be as good
11:55as 96.
11:57And I kind of laugh at them.
11:59I'm like, hold on.
11:59They had five Hall of Famers in that draft.
12:02And one of those five, by the way, went undrafted and became a Hall of Famer,
12:07and his name was Ben Wallace, who ironically started where?
12:11Right here.
12:12He scored the first-ever basket at Capital One Arena.
12:15Good little nugget.
12:16There you go.
12:18What the hell was it called then?
12:19MCI Center?
12:21Probably.
12:22Yeah.
12:23C-Mill, tell me what it looks like on the floor opening night.
12:27Trey, Will Dawkins said he views AJ as more of a guard than maybe a three.
12:34Like, give me the vision of, let's say, everything goes correct,
12:38and everybody wants to be here, and everybody's healthy.
12:42What is that starting five and kind of rotation?
12:45Well, first of all, I'm going to leave that to Brian Keefe.
12:48I'm not going to do that because you're not holding my feet to the fire.
12:51But I'll say this.
12:52No feet to the fire.
12:53I would expect this team to get out and run and play a really exciting brand of basketball.
12:59You've got some horses now.
13:01AJ is the elite of the elite when it comes to athletes.
13:06The 42-inch vertical, the 6'9 frame, the wingspan, the height, he's gaining weight.
13:11Like, he is a prototypical wing-slash-guard in the NBA now with that size.
13:21He says one through five.
13:22I got to see that.
13:27Trey, listen, Trey is a 2010 guy.
13:29Oh, yeah.
13:30So I see him.
13:31All day, every day.
13:32I see him getting that ball and pushing.
13:34You got wings.
13:36Look, don't get it twisted now.
13:38I still love me some Trey Johnson.
13:39Trey Johnson is in the lab right now, guys.
13:42His body's looking a little bit different.
13:43And he can put that ball in the hoop.
13:45So now you've got options.
13:47I just think the floor will be so spaced.
13:50AJ is going to see more space than he's ever seen in his life, which is scary to me.
13:55That's a scary proposition.
13:56And Keyshawn George, he cut his hair, but he's still got his superpowers.
14:01So it's now trying to teach these kids how to win games.
14:07Five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
14:08It's a clutch situation.
14:10How do you close games?
14:11It's exciting to put all these pieces around, guys.
14:14But now it's, okay, how do they learn how to win games?
14:18And one of the things that goes unnoticed that nobody talks about, and this is the reason why I want
14:23to give Dawkins and Winger even more credit,
14:26is they want these kids to play for their country in the summer.
14:31Why?
14:32Because those are competitive games, high leverage, very physical.
14:37And you see the transference of that once they get back for training camp and getting ready for the preseason,
14:44regular season.
14:45And Keyshawn George is a classic case of that.
14:47That kid, it played for Canada, and he came back.
14:50Guys, it took me about four or five plays in training camp to say, oh, he looks different.
14:56So I think playing for your country in the summer is really important.
15:00Keeping them healthy is important, too.
15:02Making sure they get to camp healthy.
15:04But it does teach them that those competitive games really matter, and hopefully it transfers right to the regular season.
15:13When do we get Summer League schedules?
15:15That stuff's not out yet, right?
15:17Oh, that's coming out, but I ain't snitching.
15:19Okay.
15:19I'm going to let that be official, but I'm excited to see AJ soon.
15:25I mean, dude, I bet the ratings will be the highest they've ever been for Summer League.
15:28Yeah.
15:29People are going to be tuning in.
15:31Let's take us a trip.
15:33Chris, the last thing I wanted to ask you, talking with our friend Chris Miller here,
15:37Wizards play-by-play voice for Monumental Sports Network, give him a follow at cmillspxp.
15:42Obviously, David Aldridge, somebody we all love and respect, had a column where he kind of suggested
15:48that DeBonsa would be the best athletic forward in this city since the very brief time we saw Chris Weber.
15:57I thought DeBonsa had an incredible answer, asked to kind of describe his game,
16:03and he actually said, you know, I never got to see him play, but from everything I've seen,
16:06I think Len Bias is kind of who I envision my game after.
16:10Wow.
16:11Who do you think, if things go well, what is a comp for this dude?
16:17Because it's a unique skill set.
16:19So I have PTSD anytime I hear Lenny's name, because being a diehard Tar Heel fan,
16:24he was the only guy that scared me.
16:29He scared me.
16:30He was so good.
16:31So good.
16:33What a tragedy, man.
16:34I wanted to see him play with the Celtics, and I literally just told a friend of mine this,
16:40I think Lenny was so good, he would have extended Larry Bird's career.
16:44I think their Celtics run could have been a little longer if Lenny would have been there.
16:49So when I heard him say that last night, he told me two things.
16:53One, this kid is a student of history, and his father, Ace, definitely schooled him on who were some of
16:59the greats.
17:02Ace is obviously a Celtics fan, so he knew about Lenny.
17:06Lenny, that is an amazing comp.
17:10I don't know if I would go that far, but the size, the size is comparable.
17:17But Lenny struck fear in the hearts of minds of every ACC team.
17:23I joke, I'm like, man, listen, I remember watching him come to the Dean Dome and just close the show.
17:31He was amazing.
17:33And I've said that ever since I moved to Maryland, I would tell people, like, yeah, he was that dude.
17:40Remember the old joke, there's only two dudes in the ACC that can hold Michael Jordan under 20 points,
17:45Dean Smith and Len Bias.
17:46That's it.
17:47That's it, brother.
17:48Because Dino would pull over and tell him to stop shooting, and Lenny could actually DM up.
17:53Exactly, that is it.
17:55Yo, Chris, I'm excited.
17:57I'm happy for you, brother.
17:58Thank you for making time for us, man.
17:59All right, Chris.
18:00Anytime, you guys.
18:01Have a great week.
18:02And Wizards fans, the wait is over.
18:05Let's go.
18:06Let's go.
18:07Thank you, man.
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