00:00Stallion, is what you said in here that prompted this conversation on the record?
00:05What you said the young man said?
00:07No, so it's not on the record.
00:08This was just...
00:09Theorizing.
00:10Theorizing, yeah.
00:11Okay.
00:11I wouldn't say who it was, but I was talking with someone and they were saying that Will
00:16Riley may be out of this rotation just because of how loaded everything is.
00:21So let's have a real...
00:23Let's try to break this down because I think that is wildly incorrect.
00:27So we're not talking Summer League where you don't have any of the veteran star players,
00:35right?
00:35We're talking about the actual team that we expect to be on the court when we get to this
00:44fall.
00:44So you're talking about...
00:46I mean, we can try to just do the starting lineup that we assume, right?
00:50Trae Young.
00:51AD.
00:52Everybody's been clear they think AJ DeBonce is a guard.
00:55Will Dawkins has said that repeatedly on the record.
00:57So you're going Trae Young, DeBonce, Anthony Davis at the four, Saar at the five.
01:05So at the three, I think you're talking Keyshawn George, Will Riley, Bilal Koulibaly.
01:12Yeah.
01:13Right?
01:13Like I...
01:14They did just sign Chris Middleton.
01:16I think that's more as like kind of a seasoned veteran type dude.
01:19Mm-hmm.
01:21I don't...
01:22Will Riley in the NBA last year.
01:25Now granted, that team, they kind of sat everybody down, right?
01:29But he averaged 16 a game in the second half of last year.
01:33He dropped 32 the other night.
01:35I think you're looking at a real like rotation.
01:40Guys getting major minutes every night.
01:42And let's be real.
01:44Trae Young and Anthony Davis probably ain't playing 82.
01:47How many people they end up taking on an actual roster?
01:51They got 18.
01:52They got 18 guys on it right now.
01:54Some of those guys will end up in the G League.
01:55Yeah.
01:56Yeah, but I don't think it's going to be...
01:5812 guys.
01:5812 guys.
01:58So 12.
01:59So six guys won't be on this team.
02:01I think Will Riley is definitely going to be one of the guys in the rotation.
02:04Let's like real rotational pieces and not worry so much about the starting five.
02:09They just made the move to get DeAndre Ayton.
02:12I think he's part of this.
02:13And also Tristan Vucevic before.
02:15Yeah.
02:15I mean, he's given them decent minutes.
02:17So Ayton, AD, Dabodsa, Keyshawn, Trey Johnson, Trey Young.
02:26That's six I'm at.
02:28Then you've got Will Riley, Alex Saar.
02:31Keyshawn.
02:32I think I said Keyshawn.
02:34I haven't said Bilal yet.
02:35I mean, you get to Bilal, you're nine guys down.
02:40Now, that's before you say Bubb, before you say Vucevic, like you mentioned.
02:44Like, Jameer Watkins has been a really good defensive player for them.
02:49It is interesting.
02:50I just...
02:51I don't see Riley getting squeezed.
02:54He's not maybe a starter.
02:56But that dude, one, the way he can shoot and hit threes...
03:00Yes.
03:00...is going to put him on the court.
03:02A lot of this will...
03:04Bilal's best ability right now is his defense.
03:07He's probably their best on-ball wing defender.
03:10I agree.
03:11But if you have Anthony Davis and you have Alex Saar in the middle,
03:16all of a sudden the Wizards' defensive frontcourt is significantly better.
03:23Mm-hmm.
03:23AD is...
03:25AD is one of the better defensive players of his generation.
03:29I think he's won a defensive player of the year.
03:31I mean, hell, you remember him at Kentucky, the unibrow,
03:33blocking everything in sight?
03:34He was like Dikembe.
03:36So...
03:36And then we've seen Saar look like a plus defender.
03:40Then you have size with Aiton, who's another kind of defensive boards guy.
03:44Three seven-footers on the squad right here.
03:47Do you think, B...
03:49The fact that...
03:53I mean, just go through, like, the two deep would be Trey Young,
03:56maybe that's Bubb Carrington.
03:58The Bonsa, Trey Johnson.
04:00The three is some variation of Keyshawn and Will Reilly.
04:04Mm-hmm.
04:05The four is probably Davis.
04:09Middleton works his way in there somewhere.
04:11I see that.
04:12Bilal works his way in there somewhere.
04:14Then you've got Saar and Aiton.
04:18Maybe Vucevic works his way in there somewhere.
04:22Like, roster's pretty deep and talented.
04:26Oh, yeah.
04:28I just think it'd be crazy to me to suggest there's not minutes for Reilly.
04:34Yeah, I don't see that.
04:35The guys I can see get squeezed, honestly.
04:39Especially, do they think, like, could Trey Johnson ever be a backup to Trey Young?
04:48Like, I do wonder a little about Trey Johnson's minutes.
04:50Now, if he can shoot, you figure it out.
04:53Yeah.
04:53But, like, can he be a primary ball handler?
04:56Like, if you view...
04:58Has he ever been there?
04:59Has he always been that shooter?
05:00I think he's always been a shooter.
05:01Yeah.
05:02But I don't know that.
05:04But they're even talking about, like, they keep saying, what do you call him?
05:07He's a guard in A.J.
05:09Right.
05:10Will he be a guy when Trey goes off the court?
05:13Will he be a ball handler?
05:16It's an interesting...
05:16I'll take a 6'9 ball handler.
05:18There's a lot of interesting...
05:19Remember that 6'8", 6'9 guy that played for the Lakers a long time?
05:22I'm not saying he's that, but he could pass.
05:24I saw that the other night.
05:25I also wonder, dude, where do Bub's minutes come and go?
05:31Right?
05:32Like, so, the projected depth chart on ESPN.com, right?
05:38And this is hardly written in stone.
05:40But they go Trey and Bub at point.
05:43Keyshawn and Trey Johnson at two guard.
05:47They list the Bansa as the three with Bilal behind him and then Will Riley behind Bilal.
05:53At the four, they list A.D., then Middleton, then Champagny.
05:58I'm pronouncing that wrong.
05:59Champagny.
06:00At center, it's Saar and then Aiton and then Vucevic.
06:05I don't know.
06:09Like, the minute squeeze is coming for somebody.
06:13Mm-hmm.
06:14Could the minute squeeze...
06:17Could they trade some of these young pieces?
06:19That's a possibility.
06:23Because when you look at this roster now, you start seeing it.
06:28This looks very much like Oklahoma City.
06:30Seven feet, 6'4", 6'6".
06:34Sharif Cooper is six feet even.
06:36Then you go Kulabai, 6'7", 6'10", 6'9", 6'6", 6'5", 6'7", 6'10", 6'9",
06:436'9", 6'9", 7 feet, 7 feet, 6...
06:46Bruh, they look just like Oklahoma City.
06:49They're trying to.
06:51I'm telling you, man.
06:53If you're just looking at the depth chart on ESPN.com, I guess I can see the conversation on Riley's
06:59minutes getting crunched.
07:01Because he's the...
07:02Of all the dudes we're talking about, like, if you want to call it a top 10, if you will,
07:08Trey, George, DeBonsa, Davis, Saar, then Bub, Trey Johnson, Bilal, Middleton, Aiton,
07:15Riley's the only dude in this conversation that is outside of that top 10.
07:23Personally, I think the Bilal-Riley, who's kind of first off the bench at the three, is pretty darn interesting.
07:30Because I'm not entirely convinced it's Bilal.
07:33I know he's a plus defender, but Riley can fill it up.
07:36He can shoot.
07:37Yeah, I was just thinking that.
07:38And if you have better defense out there with Davis and Saar, and even when they're not out there,
07:43and it's Middleton and Aiton, like, maybe you don't have to rely on Bilal, the wing defender,
07:50and you can lean on Riley's offensive skills.
07:56It feels to me, now, injuries are always going to be a factor.
08:00Guys sitting on back-to-backs is always going to be a factor.
08:03There's all that stuff, right?
08:06It starts to feel to me they might have a few too many pieces,
08:09which is asinine to say about a team that won 17 games last year.
08:13Well, the thing about it, it's great to have too many pieces,
08:15because you made the comment about maybe they could trade some of these young guys away.
08:20If they trade some of the young guys away, they could set themselves up for future years to come.
08:24Dubby, Trey Johnson has never been a primary ball handler, right?
08:29I mean, not in the traditional sense, but he did.
08:32I think he led Texas in assists that year.
08:36Or he was at least, in terms of guys that played a good amount of minutes, had the most assists.
08:45I don't know, man.
08:48And, Bub, what I love about Bub is the toughness.
08:54Oh, yeah.
08:54Like, two years ago, the Wizards were awful.
08:57He banks that shot in game 82 to win, right?
09:00Like, that's the dude that cares about winning.
09:03Yep.
09:04That's why they put him on the bench a few games when he was playing.
09:07Right.
09:07Hey, we got to lose, Bub.
09:09You're not the right guy here.
09:10And your mindset is not right for that.
09:12I also don't know when they have to start paying guys.
09:14Bub's going into his third year.
09:17They've had the conversation about getting a SAR deal done.
09:21Like, I'm not sure when that opens up, right?
09:23But that's going to impact this, too.
09:25Because you're now paying Trey Young a ton.
09:28Anthony Davis is on the books for a ton, and that's before a possible extension.
09:33As we have this conversation, too, if DeBonsa's truly the guy, they continue to say DeBonsa is a guard.
09:47Does it kind of matter if he's playing the two or the three?
09:50Like, do they have to technically move Keyshawn to the three to make him?
09:54Not really.
09:55Like, they're kind of interchangeable, especially in the pace and space era we live in.
10:01Trey Johnson's role is really interesting.
10:03Is he just, I mean, this dude, was he number five or six last year?
10:08He was either the fifth or sixth pick.
10:09I can't remember what number it was.
10:10But, like, all of a sudden, you're talking about the sixth overall pick from a year ago is on the
10:16bench, at least to start games.
10:19Right.
10:19Now, there's going to be a zillion moving parts because it's the NBA and it's a long squad of the
10:23season.
10:23They can have those three guys on the court at the same time.
10:26A.J., Trey, and Trey.
10:28A pair of Trey's?
10:29You can have three of them on the court at the same time.
10:32Because, like you said, Balau, when he's on the court, you don't know if he's playing the two or the
10:40three.
10:43They're also really big.
10:46The presumptive starting five here, Trey Young, Keyshawn's got to be 6'8", right?
10:52No, they're 6'7", I think.
10:55Okay.
10:55They list him at 6'8".
10:57But Trey Young's a point guard.
11:00Then you'd go 6'8", Keyshawn.
11:02A.J.'s, what, 6'10"?
11:04Legit 6'9"?
11:05Somewhere right there.
11:06Davis is about 7'0".
11:08Sar is 7'0".
11:09That is a huge starting lineup.
11:12Mm-hmm.
11:15And the way Keyshawn could shoot, what prompted this conversation was people are saying,
11:21Will Riley's minutes are going to get crunched.
11:22I disagree with the notion, but looking at all of this, the Riley-Balau situation is pretty darn interesting.
11:30Mm-hmm.
11:31How do you think that would shake out?
11:36As much as I preach defense in the NBA, offense is what matters to most people.
11:43Nobody really plays defense.
11:45Especially not on the regular.
11:46But if you can play high-level offense, if Will Riley could be plus 21 in games, and the way
11:54he can play offense, he can give a person pure hell, that person that has to check him on defense,
12:00may lose something on the offensive end on the other side.
12:03So who's going to have to go to the go-go here?
12:06Like, they just brought Middleton in.
12:09Juju.
12:09Clearly.
12:10Dude, I love Juju.
12:13Juju, what I love on good basketball teams are players that just know their role.
12:19Rebound.
12:20He's a rebounder.
12:21Yeah.
12:21Juju, that's your job.
12:22Get every rebound.
12:23And he has, like, those pesky hands to get to a ton of basketballs coming off the rim.
12:29I like Jameer Watkins.
12:31And that's a dude that knows his role.
12:33Come in and be a dog on defense.
12:35And just bug the other guard.
12:38Yeah.
12:39But if they can only keep 12, you're talking about...
12:43You have 12 guys that dress out.
12:46There are other guys around.
12:47Yeah, and they're on two-way contracts and all that stuff.
12:49And unfortunately, inevitably, injuries will be part of this.
12:55But it's exciting to have these kind of conversations about the Wizards.
12:59It's exciting to be excited about the Wizards.
13:04And this group came in.
13:05They say what they were going to do.
13:07And now you're starting to see it, how they're putting things together.
13:11They just got to play now.
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