00:00I want to move quick here because my man's time is valuable.
00:04Our friend Josh Robbins covers the Wizards for The Athletic.
00:08Josh, a friend of the program.
00:10Josh, you know how much we have been growing in excitement for this Wizards season.
00:15They made a big trade last night.
00:17It's very complicated.
00:19Please explain it to us.
00:22Okay, friend of the show here, friend of the show here.
00:25Thanks for calling me that.
00:26We mean it.
00:27Thanks for making time for us.
00:29Oh, it's my pleasure.
00:30My pleasure.
00:31Okay, so first, the Wizards traded away Cam Whitmore and Juju Reese.
00:37Juju Reese to the Denver Nuggets, and I believe that he is going to be waived by the Nuggets.
00:42Cam Whitmore to the Cavs.
00:45Not sure what the Cavs' intentions are with Cam.
00:49Whether they'll retain him on the roster or they intend to buy him out.
00:54Unclear.
00:55But in terms of who the Wizards are bringing in,
00:58and they're bringing in a combo guard who's 25 years old, Trey Mann.
01:02He's played for several teams, most notably OKC, where he was drafted by Will Dawkins,
01:09and where he spent two full years when Will Dawkins was one of the team's two vice presidents of basketball
01:16ops.
01:16So Will Dawkins knows Trey Mann extremely well.
01:21And the Wizards are also getting an incredibly convoluted to explain 2027 second round pick that's coming via the Clippers.
01:35I could try to explain it, but it's just where it's going to fall in the second round, unclear, probably
01:44somewhere in the middle of the second round.
01:47So that's what happened.
01:49Now tell me why it happened.
01:53So let's take the more positive approach first.
01:57We'll get to both.
01:59They felt like they needed another guard.
02:01This is an imbalanced roster, a whole bunch of wings.
02:06Admittedly, a pretty versatile set of wings, but more wings than guards, particularly point guards.
02:13And they've been trying to bring in a point guard, and Trey Mann is a combo guard who can play
02:21the point and play the point extensively.
02:23So he will be one of the backups to Trey Young, and he'll be alongside Bub Carrington on the depth
02:32chart,
02:33although I suspect to begin the year, Bub will probably be ahead of Trey Mann on the depth chart.
02:40In terms of Cam Whitmore, it didn't go well for him in Washington.
02:46I know that team officials would have a lot of things to say there, but he played 21 games on
02:56a team where there were a lot of mistakes,
02:59especially early in the season from young players.
03:02He seemed to make more than others, and he has a lot of gifts.
03:06He can score, he's a power player, he's skilled, but he doesn't pass the ball much.
03:14And I mean, I think he can pass the ball well, but he doesn't pass it enough for me to
03:20really say that, that he passes it well.
03:24And he plays with a tunnel vision that contradicts kind of the ethos of what the Wizards' offense was meant
03:32to be last year,
03:33which is more of a small-D, democratic, pass-the-ball-to-get-a-good-shot type of offense.
03:40And then defensively, he didn't show a lot of interest in defending, which was one of the knocks on him
03:46out of Houston.
03:48And having said all that, he was benched in early December.
03:53The Wizards had every intention of giving him a chance to return to the rotation.
03:58And then he had a significant health problem.
04:01He had a blood clot in his shoulder that could have been life-threatening had it not been caught.
04:06And because he missed the rest of the season, he didn't get the chance to develop.
04:12And heading into the year ahead, there was just no chance he was going to play.
04:16He was going to be buried on the roster.
04:18So it made sense to move him.
04:21Okay.
04:22So this is about depth.
04:24Maybe a guy that was a little unhappy.
04:26They were unhappy with him, whatever.
04:29This isn't a tremendous, impactful trade on whatever we think expectations are for this season, right?
04:37Correct.
04:37Okay.
04:38Correct.
04:38No, no.
04:39Okay.
04:41I mean, they're probably gearing up relatively soon.
04:44We just saw the openers October 21st, I believe, at home.
04:49Josh, what do you think of my claim?
04:50I got the Wizards starting 2-0 for maybe the first time ever in my lifetime, I feel like.
04:56I think they start 2-0.
04:57What do you think?
04:59Well, I think they have a chance to start well.
05:02That potentially could mean 3-1.
05:05All right.
05:06Because a lot of the teams that they're going to face to begin with are dealing with some level of
05:12change, right?
05:15Yeah.
05:15I think their fourth opponent of the year, for example, is Charlotte.
05:18Now, Charlotte's a team on the rise, but it's going to take Charlotte time to adjust to losing Bridges and
05:25LaMelo Ball.
05:27They're probably, look, truth be told, the Hornets are better off not having LaMelo Ball for the long term.
05:33But in the short term, that's the kind of player who is very difficult to replace immediately because he plays
05:43in such a distinctive way that it's going to require some degree of adjustment.
05:51And then Toronto is, I think, their second game of the season.
05:54Well, are they going to have Kawhi or not?
05:58And if they don't have Kawhi, that means Brandon Ingram and, I guess, Grady Dick are going to be on
06:04the roster.
06:06And they're probably not going to be – they're going to be none too happy and for good reason.
06:11So, start early – start well, start early.
06:16That would be a very important thing for a young team that's trying to build and build confidence.
06:23I agree with that.
06:24Shout out to Grady Dick.
06:27Are we still thinking playoffs?
06:29Like, I want a team that is competing.
06:33I want Anthony Davis.
06:35I want Trey Young.
06:36I want Tabansa.
06:36I want Saar.
06:37I want fun, good, competitive.
06:40We're trying to make the playoff basketball.
06:43Do I have the right mindset still as we're now a little less – maybe we're two months out?
06:49Well, you do, with one caveat, that if they were to somehow make the playoffs and the young guys don't
06:55get better, then the season would not be what it needs to be.
07:02So, the young guys have got to get better along the way.
07:05I find it difficult to think of any sort of scenario in which they make the playoffs and the young
07:11guys don't improve.
07:13So, maybe I'm being a little bit of an alarmist when I answer that question at first.
07:19But, they could finish the regular season anywhere from 6th to 11th or 12th.
07:30But, it's not unreasonable to think that they could get to 6th.
07:34Who gets in the play-in?
07:357th or 10th?
07:37Correct.
07:38It's got to – Josh, it's got to at least be the play-in, dude.
07:41It's got to at least be the play-in.
07:42That is my plea here.
07:46Well, so, I hear you.
07:50I agree.
07:51What I can tell you for sure is the goal is to win every – they're not going into games
07:56trying to lose.
07:57It's going to be a sharp change that way.
08:00It's going to be a 180-degree turn.
08:02I can take that.
08:03Yeah, and now the best player on the team heading into the year has got to be Anthony Davis, followed
08:09by Trey Young, with the young guys playing significant roles.
08:15And, how they develop will determine what the pecking order is.
08:22And, that's – there's a lot to be excited about for the year ahead.
08:26You know, I have to tell it – I have to give the positives and the negatives.
08:31Yeah.
08:31But, even with the negatives, it's exciting.
08:35And, yeah.
08:36I know you've got to run.
08:38I know you've got to run.
08:39No, not really.
08:39Why'd they get rid of Juju?
08:41He was a double-double machine.
08:43Could he come back?
08:44Well, they like Juju.
08:47Well, they like Juju.
08:49He's – and he rebounds like nobody's business.
08:53And there's a lot to respect with that and how hard he played.
08:57He's a fringe prospect in terms of his height, his size, his overall athleticism, which doesn't mean he can't be
09:06a rotation player in the league as long as he remains as intense as he is.
09:12And I'm hopeful that he lands at a place where he can play and develop because he's earned that right.
09:23He did everything right when he was with them last year.
09:26And, but the road to playing time, especially after they drafted Felix Akpara and gave him a two-way contract,
09:35it was clogged.
09:39So, we'll see.
09:41I hope he lands someplace where he can play and earn a lot of minutes and get to his ceiling,
09:47whatever it is.
09:48Josh, we appreciate your time, brother.
09:51Great to talk to you guys.
09:52All right, man.
09:53That's our guy, Josh Robbins.
09:54Josh Robbins does a great job covering the Wizards for the athletic.
09:59I mean, with the Wizards, man, that's the guy you've got to follow for information.
10:03So, if you're not, you're missing out.
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