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Today is the day that Anthony Davis is eligible to get an extension from the Washington Wizards - but should they think about it now, or wait to see how the season plays out?
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00:00But we wanted to get into a very important date on the calendar,
00:03which is hello today, Thursday, August 6th.
00:07Today is the day that Anthony Davis is eligible
00:10to sign a contract extension with the Washington Wizards.
00:17Not going to do it, Cakes.
00:18Not going to do it.
00:20So if you're the Wizards,
00:21I have no interest in giving him an extension.
00:22There's no reason to.
00:24He's under contract for $58 million.
00:27Played a few games for me.
00:29Before I even think about it,
00:31he has a player option the following year.
00:33He's 33 years old.
00:35To me, there is no reason to give him the extension.
00:39If you give him the extension, it could burn you.
00:42I guess it could burn you if you want to play the long game.
00:45Let's say Anthony Davis is fantastic.
00:46And he plays 82 games like he says he wants to.
00:49Leads him to an NBA championship.
00:52And then his player option comes up.
00:54And he chooses not to sign.
00:56Well, then it would burn you.
00:58Right?
00:58But I'm willing to roll the dice.
01:01There's no reason I would give him an extension.
01:04Well, if they won an NBA championship, which they're not going to,
01:07it would have been worth it just to give him the $58.5 million for one year.
01:11Of course it would.
01:12Right.
01:12But what's interesting is,
01:15and who knows what Will Dawkins is really thinking behind the scenes,
01:18but he was asked about it.
01:19He said,
01:21asked about talking about Davis and the extension.
01:24And he said, we'll talk about it in early August when we're allowed to talk about it.
01:28Which is now.
01:29Which is now.
01:30That is now.
01:30Which is today.
01:31Right.
01:32But he's not going to give him a four-year, $250 million deal.
01:36Well, he's eligible to sign a four-year up to $275 million deal.
01:41But signing him to that, that would be insanity.
01:44Of course.
01:44To do that.
01:44Like, you're not going to give a 33-year-old guy, who, by the way,
01:48has played 29 regular season games since getting traded by the Lakers 18 months ago,
01:53you're not going to hand him four years, $275 million.
01:57I get the feeling, though, that you want to extend him.
01:59I'm okay with extending him if it's...
02:02If you're the GM or you're extending him.
02:04If it's a reasonable term and dollar average per year.
02:09Like, I mean, this CBSSports.com article that we're referencing, you know,
02:13we talked about Stephen Noe and his salary tool.
02:16We talked about that a couple weeks ago as far as, like,
02:18what he thinks Anthony Davis and other players are worth as we get closer to
02:22free agency and being able to sign veterans.
02:25His salary tool values Anthony Davis at $29.6 million next season.
02:31Roughly half of what he's scheduled to make.
02:35So what's that put him for an extension?
02:39$62 million or something?
02:41$65 million?
02:42Yeah, it's basically saying his model's projecting he'll be worth only $61.9 million
02:47in total.
02:48And, of course, like, he has a player option next year for more than that.
02:52Of course, he's not going to sign a deal that looks anything like that.
02:55But he references Rudy Gobert and what they did with his contract
03:00when he had a one-year option left on his deal,
03:03and they basically extended him out, and they gave him more money.
03:07But they didn't give him max money.
03:09So the reference point here is, for Davis, give him a three-year extension,
03:15not four, at salaries of $51.4 million, $54 million, and $56 million.
03:22That's crazy.
03:23I'm not going to do it.
03:24I'm not saying that I would do that, but that's kind of his way of finding a middle ground,
03:31keeping a guy that you acquired and think can actually help your team
03:34instead of just being a trade piece.
03:37So maybe there is common ground between the two.
03:40Are you saying you wouldn't give him an extension?
03:42They're obviously not going to give him an extension for $280 million,
03:44but half of that.
03:46I wouldn't give him an extension at all.
03:48Right.
03:48But are you saying that because you don't believe he's going to play an injury-free season?
03:53Correct.
03:53In seven of the last eight seasons, he hasn't played three-quarters of the games.
03:58Right.
03:58All right?
03:59He did play 76 games.
04:01In 2023, 2024, he played 76 games for the Lakers.
04:06But in seven of the last eight, to me, that's a pretty good track record.
04:11That's a pretty large sample size.
04:14He hasn't played in three-quarters of the games.
04:16So he misses at least 25% of the games for you.
04:21And we saw what happened last year.
04:23Now, they shut him down.
04:24They probably could have played him if they really wanted to.
04:27But he's just a guy I don't have trust in.
04:30So why am I going to give him this big, fat contract?
04:33You know, the Wizards regretted the move where they had Bradley Beal making all that money
04:41with a no-trade clause.
04:43Why mess with something that you may regret?
04:47So this article is by Sam Quinn on CBSSports.com that I'm referencing.
04:51And this is a good point that it brings up.
04:54He says these are simply two parties who should be operating on different timelines.
04:57Davis is expensive now because at his age, most of the value he's likely to produce in
05:03the rest of his career should be expected to come now.
05:06The Wizards are, or at least should be, prioritizing winning later.
05:10And having an expensive Davis on their books when he is far less likely to live up to his
05:15contract doesn't exactly help them win later.
05:19That's another good point.
05:20That eventually they're going to have to pay Sarr.
05:23Or they're going to have to pay some of these young guys whose contracts will be coming
05:27up.
05:28I guess the only reason you want to sign him to something, extend him a couple years,
05:34is just to keep him happy.
05:35Just so it's not hanging over the Wizards' head all season.
05:39Yeah.
05:40This contract extension.
05:41When is he going to get it?
05:41Screw that.
05:42He should be happy.
05:43He didn't play.
05:43I know.
05:44He's making $60 million last year.
05:46I know.
05:46But you know that's not what it's all about.
05:48Well, if he's unhappy, then trade him.
05:52I've always felt like he's ultimately traded anyway.
05:55If he's healthy, he's too big of a piece.
05:56I don't think you can.
05:57That's just something you just don't want to deal with.
05:59I'm not saying you extend him right now anyway.
06:01I just think that if they do, that's probably why.
06:04Because they just want to keep him happy.
06:06They want to make sure he's all in for this team for the next few years and doesn't want
06:10to go play with one of his boys over on the West Coast.
06:15And then it's all said and done.
06:16But you're right.
06:17I mean, they've got young players that are going to have to extend in a couple years.
06:20And this might impact that.
06:221-800-636-1067.
06:24I want to hear from Wizards fans.
06:26Would you extend Anthony Davis?
06:28I wouldn't.
06:29Cake's team's on the fence.
06:32If I could get him and his camp to agree to a two-year extension, then we can talk.
06:38If he wants three or four years, I'm going to have a hard time swallowing that because
06:42of his, you know, he's getting older and his lengthy injury history.
06:46Are you giving him max money?
06:48No, I'm not giving him max money.
06:49No, no, no.
06:49If he's willing to go.
06:50He's going to want a max contract.
06:51That's fine.
06:52You know what?
06:53I want to make $3 million per year.
06:56I'm not making it.
06:57I still come to work.
06:59Right?
07:00So he can want max money.
07:01But you have to go to work.
07:03He actually doesn't have to.
07:04He's made enough money.
07:05Okay, that's true.
07:06He doesn't have to.
07:07He's still going to go to work.
07:08So I'm going to say, look, Anthony, you're 33.
07:12Your best days are behind you.
07:14We want you to be part of this team to help develop the younger players and be like a piece
07:18that we can rely on.
07:19But we're going to offer you a two-year extension for, I don't know, what's a good number?
07:26$120?
07:27$115, $120 million.
07:30That's my offer.
07:31I'm not doing it.
07:32That would be my offer.
07:33I actually don't think his play has dropped off that much.
07:36All right.
07:36Throw away last year.
07:37And I know that's hard.
07:38Yeah.
07:39But the year before that, now he only played in 42 games.
07:41He was giving you 26 and 12.
07:44Right.
07:44Yeah.
07:44And by the way.
07:45He's not that old.
07:46Like in the NBA, we see LeBron at 42.
07:48Like he can still produce.
07:51If he's on the court and he's playing, he is an all-NBA player.
07:56He's just not on the court much.
07:56No doubt he's a top 15 player.
07:58Not on the court much.
07:59But I don't know that he's part of their long-term plans.
08:02Like I think they want him there to be part of the team to help them win now.
08:09But eventually saw it.
08:10But there's also still a possibility that he's traded before the February 11th deadline.
08:16That's still a possibility.
08:18So they don't even talk extension.
08:20They just let it play out, see what impact he has.
08:22Because if they're playing really well and they're in the playoff hunt, then maybe they
08:28talk extension after that.
08:29But if they're not and they're playing poorly and he's always banged up, then maybe they
08:33trade him before the deadline.
08:34And if they win 33-34 games, what's the number right now if you were to go to the book?
08:38I think it's 32 and a half.
08:39Right.
08:40So let's say they win 33-34 games.
08:42Don't make the playoffs.
08:45Big dud.
08:46Anthony Davis isn't going to be happy.
08:49He said straight up he wants to be part of a contender.
08:52Now they're trying to sell him on the young talent.
08:56We had the number one pick, Draft A.J.
08:57DeBansa.
08:59Trey Young has now been added.
09:00With you, we can compete.
09:02And there are some optimists that think Washington can be a factor in the Eastern Conference.
09:09But most NBA experts don't even have him in the playoffs.
09:15Yeah.
09:15Which is kind of surprising.
09:17Quinn wraps up his article with this line.
09:20He says the Wizards have already made one potentially reckless financial decision this offseason in the name of winning now.
09:27Meaning extending Trey Young.
09:28Yeah.
09:29That at least raises the possibility that they might make a second.
09:32We'll learn for certain in the days and weeks to come.
09:36I just don't see the urgency of giving him the extension right now.
09:41How about you play five games for me?
09:44There shouldn't be urgency on Will Dawkins' part.
09:47Will Dawkins can just be like, I'm in wait and see mode.
09:50That's why when you said today was a big day.
09:52If you're unhappy, okay, so what?
09:55When you said today was a big day because they can extend them to me, not a big day for
09:59me.
10:00If I'm the GM.
10:01Well, it could be a big day for Anthony Davis.
10:03His agent can call.
10:04I'll say, hey, Rich, good to hear from you.
10:07Like the podcast.
10:08Good job, LeBron.
10:10Come talk to me in May.
10:12Yeah.
10:14Well, I'm blocking your calls for a few weeks, if not a few months.
10:18All right, let's go on.
10:19And then if they extend him, you know, and he gets hurt or he doesn't play well.
10:24Right.
10:24Well, it's impossible to trade him.
10:26Yeah, it's impossible to move him.
10:27It's impossible.
10:28All right, let's go to Mark in Largo.
10:29Mark, you're on with the Jucks.
10:30Good morning.
10:31Trade him.
10:32Trade him.
10:33Well, here's the deal.
10:34You're dealing with a Rich Paul client, and it's not as simple as meat and potatoes here, man.
10:40We're talking about Rich Paul, and they're talking about their client.
10:43And they probably got on the phone at midnight tonight to try to see if they can work a deal.
10:49And if they don't get close, this is going to be a disaster.
10:54We know the track record of him and his clients.
10:58I will move him.
10:59Now, I think the question is, who do you move him for?
11:02I think the only logical move you could do is move him to Philly for Joel Embiid.
11:07Now, of course, you'll be getting somebody else who is also as injury-prone as Anthony Davis, but here's the
11:14difference.
11:14You don't have to worry about a contract extension.
11:16You only have Embiid's contract for at least two years, and then you have a player option in 28-29.
11:23Then you wouldn't have to deal with this.
11:25The problem with that is you would have to move Zarg to the four because Embiid can't play the four.
11:30He has to be the five.
11:31Now, you move him to a four, you'll be offensive.
11:35You'll be good offensively.
11:37Defensively, they would have a problem.
11:40Cakes, I think if this team gets good, I think the next area, the 800-pound gorilla in the room
11:45that no one's talking about is the coaching staff.
11:48And we're going to see with Keith this year.
11:50But if they get off to a bad start, you may have to start looking at a head coach.
11:54That's fine.
11:55Thank you, Mark, for the call.
11:57I appreciate it.
11:58I mean, I like Keith.
11:59He's fine.
12:00But if they decide to move on from him, I'm not going to lose one iota of sleep over it.
12:07Like, that's fine.
12:09To be fair to Keith, we haven't had a chance to see if he's a good coach.
12:13Yeah, he's been.
12:14There was one mission last year.
12:16Losing.
12:17That's true.
12:17It was to lose and to tank.
12:19Mission accomplished.
12:21Yes.
12:21They got the number one pick, A.J. DeBonta.
12:23His reputation, he's really good at developing young players.
12:27Some of these young players have gotten better.
12:29Now we're going to see if they can start winning games.
12:33A lot of question marks.
12:35But like you said, a lot of people, especially Vegas, they don't believe they're going to get to that 40
12:40win mark.
12:40Right.
12:41Well, the Eastern Conference got a lot better.
12:42The Eastern Conference is very good.
12:44I mean.
12:44100%.
12:45Knicks.
12:46Sixers.
12:47And you're not going to be able to beat up on tanking teams.
12:50Celtics.
12:51Raptors.
12:52Cavs.
12:52The Heat should be good.
12:53Pistons.
12:54Did you mention the Heat?
12:55The Heat.
12:55That's seven teams, I believe, that I named right there.
12:57Yeah, that's fine.
12:58I mean, if Davis stays healthy, you can outplay some of those teams.
13:01Yep.
13:01And you can get to 41 wins.
13:04But if you get 33, 32, 33 wins and you're not in the play-in, it's a huge dud.
13:11That's trouble in whiz land.
13:12For a lot of people.
13:14Yeah, absolutely.
13:15When we come back, we'll get back into the Stefan Diggs signing.
13:18Ben Valin, Boston Globe National NFL writer.
13:22He will join us next here on The Junks.
13:24He will join us next here on The Junks.
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