00:00Let's talk about AJ here for a second.
00:02We were just kind of talking about the last segment
00:04since Peterson's put up a couple good games here in the summer league,
00:0828 and 25.
00:08I feel like AJ is seeing that, and in his first summer league game,
00:13he's going to say, hey, look at me.
00:15He's going to want to make a statement?
00:16I think he's going to put up some numbers.
00:18What are your thoughts on his first game?
00:20Well, listen, throughout the years, watching from the outside
00:26and then being part of the draft as a player myself,
00:31going number two does something to you
00:33because the guys that go two, three,
00:36they feel like they should have went one, okay?
00:39So it gives you a little chip on your shoulder.
00:43And I think right now with DP, what we're seeing is
00:47we're seeing that chip with Darren Peterson.
00:49He wanted to go number one.
00:51I mean, those guys have been competing against each other
00:53since grade school at a lot of different stages.
01:00So I think DP is playing with a little chip on his shoulder,
01:02and you're seeing it, and he's playing great.
01:04And I also would say, as I said to Jason in the last break,
01:07that I wouldn't get too carried away if, for whatever reason,
01:10AJ doesn't go off.
01:11I remember Alex in his first game,
01:13or I remember he went like one for 11 or something.
01:15It was something kind of putrid.
01:17And, you know, it's summer league.
01:19It doesn't really matter.
01:21Yeah, but people are watching.
01:22They're watching, and we'll make impressions, right or wrong.
01:26But I wouldn't read too much into it.
01:30Are they going to be – I remember with Alex,
01:32would they play him maybe one game, that one for 11 game or whatever,
01:35then he came back, had a good game,
01:36and then it kind of like shut him down.
01:38Do you expect a similar kind of thing with AJ,
01:41or are they going to pretty much throw him to the Wolves
01:42and let him get after it?
01:44I think you've got to throw him to the Wolves
01:47and let him get after it.
01:48I mean, he's the number one pick for a reason.
01:49He's a competitive guy.
01:51And I was saying, if I was number one,
01:55and, you know, I saw a guy that I was going at it with
01:59to get this spot, is actually having success in summer league.
02:02I'm treating those summer league games like NBA games,
02:05like regular season games.
02:06Right.
02:07It just becomes a competitive thing, you know.
02:09And I think with AJ, he has that competitive spirit.
02:13He has that knack.
02:15So I don't expect nothing less from him.
02:19Yeah, and, you know, these guys all know each other,
02:22especially the young guys.
02:23It's not like Alex was coming over from France.
02:25You know what I mean?
02:26Like, they all know each other.
02:27He's been balling with these guys for years.
02:30I thought it was also important to note that there was a camera
02:34that showed at one point AJ walking by DP,
02:37and there was like a quick fist bump,
02:39but it looked like almost like he wasn't paying attention to him.
02:42I don't think that that's true.
02:43They were kind of acting like there was some –
02:44I'm sure there's rivalry, but there's definite respect.
02:49AJ was asked in one of his interviews before the draft,
02:52who's going to still be relevant 10 years from now?
02:55First guy I mentioned was Darren Peterson.
02:57First guy I mentioned, right, which I thought was important,
03:00and it was respectful.
03:01Yeah.
03:02So let me ask you this, Drew.
03:05I mean, were you – before the draft, were you an AJ guy,
03:10or were you – since you're a Jayhawk, were you a DP guy?
03:14You know, I'm going to be a little biased.
03:16Okay.
03:17All right.
03:17You know, I'm a Jayhawk.
03:19I love Darren Peterson.
03:21I love AJ.
03:24I love Kayla Wilson.
03:26I love Acuff.
03:27You know, I'm just a fan of the game.
03:31It's amazing how the draft is so predictable nowadays.
03:36You know, one through seven is kind of like it was the mock draft.
03:41And I think it kind of – this year it is what it is.
03:46And we kind of predicted and saw that draft order.
03:49And when you kind of look at the makeup of the team, I mean,
03:53you couldn't go wrong with DP or AJ.
03:57I think with both of those guys, they're going to come in
04:04and they're going to kind of command a certain type of attention
04:10than other rookies.
04:12Right.
04:12I think with – yeah, I think with DP, I mean,
04:16he's running playing guard right now with Utah.
04:19He's playing phenomenal.
04:21But, I mean, I don't know how that works here in D.C. with Trey.
04:25Right.
04:25I have to get an extension.
04:27You know, with AJ, I feel like he's a plug-and-play guy.
04:31You could put him anywhere on the floor right now between the position,
04:34shooting guard, small forward, power forward, maybe small ball center.
04:38He's going to fit in.
04:40So, I mean, he's a plug-and-play guy.
04:43Right away, I think you couldn't go wrong with either or.
04:47Both these guys are phenoms.
04:49They're savants.
04:51But I like what you said earlier.
04:53The popcorn is not really popping right now.
04:56That's summer league popcorn.
04:57That's more like – you know what I mean?
05:00That's not the real popcorn, as I would say.
05:04Like, you got preseason, you got summer league.
05:07Then when opening night comes, that popcorn smells a little different.
05:12And I kind of take these summer league games.
05:15I don't try to look too much into them because that's not that – I always say it's not the
05:20real popcorn popping.
05:21But it gives you a small sample size.
05:24It kind of allows you to scout these guys at a different level versus from a college and high school
05:32level.
05:33It gives you a sample size.
05:36But I would take it with a grain of salt.
05:38You can't feed too much in the summer league.
05:40But it is.
05:41It is a little measuring stick.
05:43It is a little barometer there.
05:45The first taste.
05:46The first taste of the popcorn.
05:48Yeah, your little first taste.
05:49Exactly, exactly.
05:50I remember my first game in a summer league, I played against a guy named Mark Madsen.
05:56Played at the Los Angeles Lakers.
05:59And he locked my you-know-what up in that first game.
06:03And I was like, you know what, the NBA is going to be tough.
06:07But guess what, my next game I had like 26 points.
06:10The next game, 25 points.
06:12I played against a real NBA dog in that first NBA debut.
06:17And he was going at me.
06:18So, it was a different, I'd say it was a different time back then than it is now.
06:24I mean, like the other day, Acuff, he shot, what, 29 shots and everybody in the world knew it.
06:29Like, that wasn't going on during my summer league, man.
06:32You know, we had like, Tony Gonzalez was trying to, he was playing with the Miami Heat at the time.
06:37And Dennis Rodman was like 45 years old trying to get back in the league.
06:40Like, summer league was a lot different.
06:42When I was playing, then it is now.
06:45You know what I mean?
06:45So, I think there is a little hype around summer league.
06:51People read a lot into it.
06:53But take it sometimes with a grain of salt because the popcorn ain't really popping yet.
06:57All right.
06:58So, which of these young guys besides AJ, which of these second and third year guys are you kind of
07:03most excited to see?
07:04We all know about their jump season.
07:07I think that's what they call it, right?
07:08Their offseason.
07:09Their jump season.
07:09We get a jump start on everything and the guys are working hard.
07:13They have so many young players to be excited about.
07:16Who are you sort of excited to see take that next leap?
07:20And maybe we get a peek of it in summer league.
07:24Well, I think the guys that I think are going to take that next jump, I don't think they're going
07:30to be playing summer league.
07:32Is Trey going to be playing?
07:34Is Will Riley going to be playing?
07:37Will Riley is for sure one of those guys on my list.
07:41Trey is definitely probably going to play a couple games, a handful of games.
07:44I don't think he'll be playing every game, but I think the guys that play that wing position, Bilal, Will,
07:55Keyshawn, it's going to be a competitive training camp, fellas.
08:00This is, yeah, it's going to be some bump coming to training camp because there's a lot of those guys
08:06that play similar positions.
08:08And being the number one pick, like AJ, and kind of want to make your mark in the sand early
08:16on.
08:17And then you got veteran guys like Bilal who's like, hold on, wait up, young fella.
08:20You know, I've been here, I've been here for some time.
08:23Let me show you how this goes.
08:26Keyshawn George, Will Riley.
08:28I mean, Will Riley, how he finished the season last year.
08:32You expect for him to have that same kind of jump season as Keyshawn.
08:36So it's going to be, I'm going to be interesting.
08:39You know, it's going to be really interesting.
08:41It's going to be competitive.
08:43It's a lot of talent on this roster this season, and I'm looking forward to it.
08:46Drew, do you think that Will is going to trade AD?
08:54What's your gut say?
08:56Well, our gut says we have DeAndre Ayton, right?
09:02Is that the backup to the backup?
09:04I mean, I think when you make a play like that, first of all, we always say the more the
09:10merrier.
09:11I mean, how deep are we right now?
09:13It's amazing how deep we are at the center position.
09:16I mean, this is unbelievable.
09:17I don't even know the last time we've been probably this deep at the power four center positions
09:25since I've been in the last 13 seasons.
09:28I mean, you've got AD.
09:30You've got Alex Sar, who I think is going to continue to get better.
09:35You've got Aiden now.
09:37You have Tristan, who I think is a rarely super underrated basketball player in this league.
09:44Just need more and more time, reps, opportunities before people know who he is.
09:50And then even Felix Akpara.
09:53I mean, I like him as another grabby big.
09:55I mean, you have a plethora of bigs right now.
09:57Juju Rees did a great job last season.
10:00I mean, I hope I'm not even leaving anybody out, but we have a lot of bigs that's going to
10:06be competitive.
10:07It's going to be – I'm looking forward for training camp.
10:10I'm telling you, it is going to be life.
10:13It's going to be fun.
10:16And I think these guys are going to come out like gangbusters.
10:18I'll tell you what, preseason, I think these guys are going to come out with a competitive spirit.
10:22And it's going to be tough.
10:23It's not going to be easy training camp.
10:25Yeah, well, we can't wait.
10:27Super excited for it.
10:28All right, well, enjoy the –
10:29High expectations.
10:30Enjoy the game out there on Thursday, man.
10:33Appreciate you calling.
10:34Absolutely.
10:35Are we going to – you guys coming out or what?
10:37Are we going to get something remotely from you guys?
10:39Are you guys going to be staying in D.C. holding it down?
10:41We'll hold it down in D.C.
10:42Yeah, but we don't like to go to airports.
10:44Once training camp comes around, I think you're going to see us.
10:47Yeah, you'll see us then.
10:48I think you'll see us.
10:49Okay, all right.
10:50All right, thank you, Drew.
10:51I'll get the wives of tuning in.
10:53Yeah, that's right.
10:53Have fun, man.
10:54Thank you, buddy.
10:55Okay, appreciate y'all.
10:57All right, appreciate you.
10:58Thank you, pal.
10:58Good dude.
11:01All right, well, he's high on everybody.
11:03I'll tell you right now.
11:04I don't know if we've said it publicly yet, but especially J.P.
11:07was kind of currently constructed.
11:08I think they're minimum 25 games better.
11:13I mean, it's just a totally –
11:1425 wins better than this past year.
11:16I don't even know how to put –
11:17So that's 42 wins.
11:18I don't even know how to put a number on it when they didn't even try to win
11:20games last year.
11:20True.
11:22All right, when we come back, it's the –
11:23Finally!
11:24It's the EP.
11:25We'll close out the show with the EP with Mr. Bickle.
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