00:00So LeBron James is making everybody wait on his decision.
00:06Look, this isn't 2010, the decision, although that took some time
00:11because, remember, Dwayne Wade was there,
00:15but they needed to add a third wheel, which was Chris Bosh.
00:202014, when he made the decision to go back to Cleveland to join Kyrie Irving,
00:26he was waiting on something.
00:28He was waiting on a commitment that they would trade the first overall pick
00:33for Kevin Love, which they did.
00:36And then in 2018, when he signed with the Lakers,
00:40he knew that coming the next offseason was a chance at Anthony Davis,
00:45which worked out.
00:49LeBron and his previous decisions have always been based on picking a team
00:57that's got a plan around what he wants.
01:00So Kevin O'Connor, NBA senior analyst with Yahoo Sports,
01:06wrote that LeBron James is waiting for kind of a plan to come together
01:14that he would like.
01:16And the two plans that are at the top of his preference list are a team willing to trade
01:24for Anthony Davis to play side-by-side with him,
01:27or a team willing to trade for Kyrie Irving to put side-by-side with him.
01:33The Kyrie Irving situation might be in Cleveland because, remember,
01:41the teams that LeBron's been linked to,
01:44Philly's already got a point guard in Tyrese Maxey.
01:48Golden State has, obviously, a guy who handles the ball a lot
01:51and scores a lot in Steph Curry.
01:53Even places like Minnesota, you know, they acquired LaMelo Ball.
01:59If anybody's been thinking about the Knicks, they've got Jalen Brunson.
02:03Miami's different, for sure.
02:05Cleveland needs a point guard.
02:09I don't consider James Harden to be the – I guess he is technically a point guard.
02:15By the way, just as an aside,
02:18why would anybody of LeBron's caliber at this point in his career
02:22want to play on a team with James Harden?
02:26You're never going to win with James Harden as anywhere near your top two players.
02:33Now, you could say that with LeBron on the team,
02:35maybe Harden becomes the third best player.
02:37I don't know.
02:39Donovan Mitchell, one.
02:40LeBron, two.
02:41Harden, three.
02:42Harden is just – he's the most joyless player in sports to watch.
02:47For my money.
02:50But Kevin O'Connor gets to the situation with Anthony Davis.
02:57He writes,
02:58I first reported three Sundays ago that the Warriors pursued trading Jimmy Butler
03:03for Anthony Davis to lure LeBron James to the Bay Area.
03:08Thus far, the Warriors have been unable to reach a deal with the Wizards
03:12who are signaling that they are more than happy to keep Davis.
03:15So, the dream of running back the bubble title, the 2020 bubble title,
03:21has problems with it.
03:26Will Dawkins has mentioned to several people, including on this show,
03:30that he wants Anthony Davis in D.C.
03:34and we're going to keep him here.
03:36And he's been a part of the workouts in the offseason.
03:39He was out watching the Summer League and the A.J. DeBonsa debut.
03:43And Anthony Davis is fine sticking around.
03:47And keep in mind, Washington bought low on Anthony Davis.
03:52And they bought low on Anthony Davis because he was hurt.
03:56So, they don't feel, if there was an interest in dealing Anthony Davis,
04:02the problem is, is now's not the time to trade him.
04:06He hasn't played in forever.
04:09He's got to go out and show through the first half of the season
04:13before the trade deadline, this upcoming season,
04:15that he's still Anthony Davis so that the Wizards could get back a haul for him.
04:21Jimmy Butler, as part of a deal with Butler coming off a serious injury at his age,
04:27along with a lot of picks, is not a deal the Wizards should take.
04:33The rookie from Michigan, along with a lot of picks in Jimmy Butler,
04:37and Butler then moved anywhere else, maybe.
04:42So, LeBron's waiting for Anthony Davis or Kyrie Irving.
04:47That is the report before he makes the decision.
04:51I don't think the Wizards are trading Anthony Davis.
04:54Now, you could say to LeBron,
04:57whoa, you really want to play with Anthony Davis that bad?
05:00Well, what about coming to Washington and playing with Anthony Davis?
05:09Have we done this already?
05:11I feel like we've talked about doing this, but we haven't done it, Max.
05:14And that is LeBron James, yes or no?
05:19I think we did a couple weeks ago.
05:22You do?
05:23I think.
05:24Either that or we discussed it off air.
05:26I can't remember.
05:27But we've got to do it again because we have more material changed.
05:30Let me ask the question this way.
05:32If I told you one of the two happened, which one would you prefer?
05:39LeBron signs in Washington and plays with Anthony Davis here,
05:44or Washington trades Anthony Davis for something that's fair compensation-wise,
05:51and Anthony Davis plays with LeBron elsewhere?
05:55301-230-0980.
05:59301-230-0980.
06:02So you have two choices.
06:04The third choice, by the way, is the leader in the clubhouse,
06:08but I'm not offering you that choice,
06:10which is LeBron signs elsewhere and Anthony Davis stays here.
06:15But if I told you that either the Wizards dealt Anthony Davis to a team that LeBron James joined,
06:22or LeBron James joined the Wizards and teamed up with Trey Young,
06:29Anthony Davis, A.J. DeBonsa, Will Riley, etc.,
06:33which of the two would you prefer?
06:36301-230-0980.
06:39For me, it's easy.
06:42I'd much prefer LeBron come here and Anthony Davis stay,
06:46even if the Wizards got a haul back for Anthony Davis and then obviously didn't have to pay him,
06:54you know, next year or during the season at some point or next month,
06:59because I want them to win now.
07:02I want a competitive basketball team now.
07:05I don't want to wait another two, three, four years for all of the young guys to come together,
07:12for it to either work with A.J. DeBonsa becoming the next league superstar or not.
07:19I want 2026-2027 to be a season in which they're winning in the low to mid-40s
07:27and they're either qualifying for play-in or the top six in the East.
07:32And I already think that the roster they have,
07:36this is contingent on Anthony Davis playing and being healthy.
07:41Because I've said this before,
07:43if Anthony Davis isn't healthy and doesn't play 65-plus games,
07:48the Wizards are going to improve their win total,
07:50but not by enough for it to matter.
07:53They're not going to be a playoff team.
07:54You don't get led by a rookie.
07:57Cooper Flagg was the rookie of the year last year,
08:00and Dallas won 26 games.
08:02So even if A.J. DeBonsa, as a rookie, is ready to be a really good player
08:08and puts together a really incredible rookie of the year season,
08:12without a true star, and Anthony Davis is that when he plays and he's healthy,
08:18the Wizards will improve marginally win total-wise.
08:22Actually, because they had so few.
08:24You know, they'll win 28, 29, 30 games, somewhere around there.
08:27You hope they do.
08:29Like, you hope that there's more development from George and Koulibaly and Saar
08:34and Riley and Trey Johnson, et cetera.
08:38So I don't want to wait for, you know, the 28-win season next year,
08:45where the young guys get a little bit better and A.J. DeBonsa looks good
08:49and maybe wins rookie of the year,
08:50to then the 20, 27, 20, 28 season, where they go to 36, 37 wins,
08:56and they're actually pushing the play in as the players get a little bit more mature
09:00and a little bit older.
09:02And then finally, in 28, 29, 20, 28, 20, 29,
09:07they, you know, pull off another trade with some of their young players,
09:12bring in another star player,
09:13and there they are as a 47-win team,
09:17and they're a five-seed or a six-seed.
09:20I don't want to wait that long.
09:23I understand the risk in moving forward with Anthony Davis.
09:27Of course I do.
09:28I follow the NBA.
09:29I know that this guy, now this guy is fragile.
09:33There's no doubt about it.
09:35He is fragile.
09:36But if he isn't fragile, and some seasons he hasn't been fragile,
09:42it's not that he gets injured every single season, just most.
09:46But if he can play 70 games, 65 games,
09:51and be a force like he's been in his career,
09:54with what they have surrounding him,
09:57that's a 44-45 win team next year
10:01and a potential five or six-seed
10:02with a legitimate playoff series.
10:05Best of seven for the first time since 2017.
10:09Actually, they had the loss to the 76ers with Westbrook and Beal.
10:14Didn't really count.
10:15Didn't feel like it counted.
10:17They went through the play-in, if you recall.
10:21So that's the question at 301-230-0980.
10:25Your choice.
10:26LeBron joins AD in Washington,
10:29or AD gets traded for a really healthy, fair compensation package
10:35and joins LeBron somewhere else.
10:37Which of those two would you prefer and why?
10:41You're welcome.
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