00:00We thank you for tuning in this Tuesday morning, October 27th, 2026.
00:05I'm John Paul Flame, joined by Eric Bickle.
00:07Good morning.
00:08Good morning, and Jason Bishop.
00:10What's up?
00:11Already clearing that throat of yours.
00:13Back to the early mornings.
00:15Same old stuff.
00:15You refreshed?
00:17I wouldn't call me refreshed, but I don't know.
00:21My throat's always going to be stuffed up in the next 58 minutes.
00:25You're back in studio.
00:26Cakes steps aside here for the next few days, so he gets to sleep in.
00:31You kind of miss the anticipatory excitement of a Wizards game after they got off to a nice 2-1
00:38start.
00:38They were in Charlotte last night, and they got Brandon Millard.
00:43Brandon Millard's a good player.
00:45Pretty good.
00:46Was drafted really high a couple seasons ago, and they couldn't stop him.
00:50Couldn't stop him.
00:51Couldn't stop him.
00:52When I was watching him, he had bucket after bucket after bucket.
00:55They started to double him at the end of the game, and we'll talk to Brian Keefe, the head coach,
01:00at 825.
01:01It was a little late.
01:04What was their biggest lead?
01:05What was Charlotte's biggest lead?
01:06I know they had a big second quarter.
01:0812-14, maybe.
01:09Was it?
01:10Yeah.
01:10Something like that.
01:10Kind of always hovered around 12-14, then Washington would get it down to 6.
01:14They kept making runs.
01:15Maybe even got it down to 3 at one point.
01:17They were employing kind of a 3-guard lineup at the end where you had Bub on the court with
01:23Trey Young and, who am I missing?
01:27Trey Johnson?
01:28Yeah.
01:28And so they were knocking down some 3s, but it was too little too late for the Washington Wizards who
01:34dropped the 2-2.
01:35Yeah, they didn't shoot the 3 well early in the game because they finished 9 for 28, and I know
01:39they hit a bunch late.
01:40So they just didn't shoot the 3 well early in the first half, maybe the first three quarters.
01:47But Brandon Miller kind of took over the game.
01:50Guy was drafted, I think, second overall a couple seasons ago.
01:54Remember, he had the controversy where...
01:57He was driving the car with a guy.
01:59Yes, he was driving the car where somebody was killed.
02:00Yes.
02:02But he got drafted number two because he's a talented talent.
02:05He's a baller.
02:06He's ridiculous.
02:07But the story with Washington is AJ.
02:09I mean, he's been hurt for the entire regular season so far, and when's he going to get back?
02:14When's he going to make his debut?
02:16They think...
02:16Some people think it's when Charlotte comes here, I think, Friday.
02:20Okay.
02:21It's been disappointing.
02:22That's a guess.
02:24Yeah.
02:25We'll see.
02:26I don't think it's that big a deal.
02:27Just get...
02:28Hover around 500.
02:29I mean, injuries happen.
02:30I get it.
02:31But you want to see the number one pick.
02:32They still have enough.
02:33They should be able to win without AJ.
02:34It'll be a nice boost when they get him.
02:36I see him trying.
02:37I see him running around trying.
02:38But we'll see.
02:40See what happens.
02:42Yeah, it'll be exciting when he gets on the court.
02:43You know, you'll slide Bilal Koulibaly to the bench.
02:46Bilal didn't have a great game yesterday.
02:48He only finished with three points.
02:50Yep.
02:50So, Cakes is a big Bilal guy.
02:53That's what you're going to get sometimes from Bilal.
02:55He's a defensive specialist.
02:56At this point, he'll be coming off the bench.
02:58They need him.
02:59I'll say this.
03:01Trae Young, super exciting.
03:03Hits those floaters.
03:05AD is going to give you your 29.
03:08Drab brought this up the other day on Alex Saar.
03:11He's got to play a little bit better.
03:12Now, he's not going to get that many shots.
03:15Finished with 12 points yesterday, but only six boards.
03:18And that's what I'm bringing up, is that that guy, Diabate, just ate him up on the boards.
03:24Moussa Diabate had 17 rebounds, including 11 offensive.
03:30Yeah.
03:31You've got to keep him off the glass.
03:33So, they gave up a bunch of second chance points because Saar and Anthony Davis couldn't keep Diabate off the
03:41offensive glass.
03:43Saar's just, so far, he's a role player because he's not going to get a lot of shots.
03:47He's shooting the ball well, but he's only getting six to eight shots a game.
03:52Yeah, I'm less concerned about the offense.
03:54He's not going to be...
03:55Okay, but he was the number two pick in the draft.
03:57Right, but he's not going to be in the top three guys in terms of taking shots.
04:01But he's got to give you more than 7.7 points per game.
04:05That's fair.
04:06I know this is like...
04:07But don't you have to get rebounds?
04:08Yes, he's got to get rebounds, too.
04:10He's getting some blocks, but I'm sorry.
04:11The number two pick in the draft is averaging not even eight points a game.
04:14He's got to give you more than that.
04:16Yeah, Drabi.
04:17I know it's early, but this goes back to why people were concerned about them trading
04:22for Anthony Davis and Trey Young and blowing up the youth movement because now your number
04:27two pick overall is being dismissed as an afterthought.
04:31That can't happen.
04:32Anthony Davis and Trey Young are not the future of the Wizards unless they're a championship
04:36quality team.
04:37I don't think they are right now.
04:39And now Saar is being put as a guy who's just clogging up space out there.
04:43When he should be the focus of the team.
04:45Unless they realize he's just not that offensive guy that they thought he was going to be when
04:50they drafted him.
04:51Well, I know, but they've got to let him develop.
04:53I agree.
04:54I agree.
04:54I mean, it's one thing to give up a lot of shots to Anthony Davis.
04:58That guy's going to Hall of Fame and Trey Young.
05:00But I'm sorry.
05:01You've got to get more than six shots a game.
05:04He's going to get even less when AJ comes in there.
05:06Correct.
05:06Because AJ is going to be the number three guy.
05:08So this is something that we talked about heading into the season that you knew that Trey Young
05:12and Anthony Davis were going to be one A and one B in terms of shots.
05:17And look, they put up 42 shots between the two of them yesterday.
05:21When AJ DeBonsa comes in there, he's going to probably take 10 to 15 shots.
05:26So AJ, to me, offensively and drab, you may be right, but I just think he's going to be
05:34a guy who's not going to get any plays run for him.
05:36He's going to have to try and get offensive boards and garbage, and that's going to be
05:43his offensive work.
05:44But what he needs to do is be a defensive impact player.
05:48And yesterday, he wasn't enough.
05:49He had a couple of blocks, but six rebounds.
05:52I know he only played 26 minutes.
05:54You've got to do more than that.
05:56Hey.
05:57And especially when you're just eating up on the boards.
06:00But the game's about offense.
06:01And when you're number two pick in the draft, it's only getting six shots a game.
06:05That's very disappointing.
06:06I understand why, but he's got to do more.
06:09He's got to be more aggressive.
06:10The difference in that game, yes, Brandon Miller scores a bunch of points, but the Hornets
06:16had 20 offensive rebounds compared to Washington's 10.
06:20It's a tightrope because they made these moves and they have casuals like me watching every
06:27game because of the star power, because the team's good on paper.
06:30But there's so many mouths to feed on the court, it's kind of hard to do.
06:36It's like Drab said, stunting the development, stunting the growth.
06:39But if you don't have the ADs and trays out there, am I really watching all of the games
06:47so far?
06:48Probably not.
06:48You probably aren't.
06:50But remember, when Sar was drafted, he was always a little bit behind offensively and
06:55nobody envisioned him being some superstar scorer.
06:59Like any offense you got from him was good.
07:01I heard you say a thousand times, he can rep it out.
07:04You were high on his offense.
07:05Yeah, he can shoot.
07:06You were high on his offense.
07:07We all were.
07:08I'm not down on him, but I'm just saying, don't put in words in my mouth.
07:12I'm not.
07:13I'm saying exactly what you said.
07:14No, I'm telling you what, well, no.
07:16He can score, but that's not his primary focus.
07:18He's a defensive player.
07:20And any scoring you get from him, I think, is largely going to be bonus, especially with
07:24the way this lineup is.
07:25Look, it's early.
07:26It's four games in.
07:27But his rookie season, he averaged 13 points a game.
07:29Last year, he stepped it up to 16.3 points per game.
07:32This year, he's less than nine.
07:34Now, I think it'll go up a little bit.
07:36All right.
07:36So what I said before the season is, is it's unlikely that he's going to get back to where
07:42he was last season.
07:43He's just not going to get the shots.
07:44As long as, if AD's getting 30, and Trae Young's getting 20, and DeBonce is getting
07:5116, and Keyshawn's getting 18, I don't need him to get 18.
07:55Like you said, I'm more in line with JP that he just needs to block shots, rebound, that
08:00sort of thing.
08:00He can do that.
08:01And I think he will.
08:02Yeah.
08:03I don't really care that he scores when you have these other guys.
08:06If he didn't have the other guys, then I would want him to pick up the scoring slack.
08:09It's not that he can't score.
08:11It's that he almost looks lost out there.
08:12Well, I think you've got to give him some time to figure it out.
08:15Of course.
08:15Give him some time.
08:16Of course.
08:16Yeah.
08:16I like Alex Sar.
08:18I have high hopes for him.
08:19I am not dismissing him as just, oh, he was a number two overall pick.
08:23He's a defensive stopper.
08:24He's an afterthought.
08:25No.
08:25Alex Sar has to be the future of this team.
08:28Anthony Davis, I will say again, is not the future of this team.
08:31That's why I think that he's going to be for the next year or two.
08:34I agree with you when you say you've already got your offense.
08:37But like Drab is saying, and I agree with Drab, that beyond this year,
08:42okay, or next year, whenever Davis is gone, Alex Sar is going to have to become that guy
08:46who's averaging 17 to 20.
08:48I'm not convinced like everyone that Davis is just here for a rental and then he's ultimately
08:52going to move.
08:52But he's clearly, you know, he's in his mid-30s.
08:55So he's not going to be here for 10 years.
08:56Yeah, but he's still actually playing at a super high level.
08:58He's actually playing at a ridiculous level.
08:59I'm just saying, but in six or seven years, they want Alex Sar to be playing like the top
09:04two pick that he was.
09:06I don't think he will.
09:08You might be right, but he's got to average more than eight.
09:11That's all I'm saying.
09:12I mean, I'd be upset if you wasted a number two pick on a rim protector.
09:20Yeah.
09:22Ultimately, I think Anthony Davis would be moved.
09:24If I was Will Dawkins right now, I'd be calling Sam Presti and saying, hey, Sam, used
09:29to work with you and you have two guys that are now probably out for the season, Jalen
09:35Williams and Cason Wallace, and you want to win the championship and Jalen Williams is
09:38your starting power forward.
09:39We've got a power forward in Anthony Davis.
09:41You have three first round picks next year.
09:43Three.
09:44How about you ship all of them over here for Anthony Davis?
09:48Well, I think that Will Dawkins is playing for this year and they think they can make the
09:53playoffs with this roster.
09:54So let's see how it goes.
09:58Maybe he does.
09:59I don't know.
09:59Maybe he does.
10:00Look, it's the NBA.
10:01They were on the road.
10:02Like if you want to go big picture, it's the NBA.
10:04You're on the road against Charlotte.
10:06It's a decent team.
10:07Now, Charlotte didn't have a couple of their best players.
10:09I mean, Conn didn't play.
10:10They didn't have Conn Canipple.
10:11They didn't have Kobe White.
10:12You just can't let a guy go off for 40.
10:15Nope.
10:16I mean, when nobody else really is doing anything.
10:18He made it look easy, too.
10:20Yeah, he's amazing.
10:21He looked Kevin Durant-ish last night.
10:23He's good, but you just, I mean, you got to defend the guy.
10:26Yep.
10:26Wizards, though, two and two.
10:27It's still a better start than we're used to, EB.
10:29Yeah, I'm not worried.
10:31It's fine.
