The Wizards Have Been Speeding Up Their Rebuild

All right, well, we, we gotta start then talking right out of the gate about your Wizards, uh, who pulled off maybe the most interesting trade of the deadline, um, acquiring Anthony Davis in a multi-team, multiplayer deal, but the only player that matters in this exchange is Anthony Davis, who goes from Dallas to Washington.

And the only assets that matter in what they gave out are the two first round picks that they surrendered, one of which, well, I mean, it, it's the most significant asset that the Mavericks get out of it.

They get a 2026 Oklahoma City pick, not nothing, and, and then 2029 or 209,030, I forget which, 2030, uh, top 20 protected Golden State pick that is top 20 protected.

So you are basically getting.

Anthony Davis for two picks that at best are going to be somewhere between 20 and 30.

Um, If you're Washington And, and those aren't Washington's picks, so they're not giving up their own picks to do this, but if you're Washington.

I think you're ecstatic today.

I understand as someone who grew up in Washington DC, I, Chris, am ecstatic today.

I understand what is going on.

I understand that Anthony Davis has plenty of issues.

It's what cooled the market for Davis over the last couple of weeks.

But if you're basically getting Anthony Davis for free, you gotta jump at that opportunity.

And I'd reported during the week, uh, in the aftermath of the deal that, look, Washington wasn't even out there looking for Anthony Davis.

This kind of fell into their laps where Dallas was like, all right, is there a conversation worth having about Anthony Davis?

Washington was among the teams that was talking to Sacramento about DeMontas Sabonis.

There were several teams talking to Sacramento about Sabonis, and I think Dallas caught wind of that.

And when Dallas knew Washington was interested in Sabonis, I think Dallas was like, hey, are you also interested in Anthony Davis?

And Washington, Washington said like, yeah, but you're not getting player X, Y, and Z, and you're not getting draft pick, uh, A, B, C.

Like you're, you're, there are certain assets that are not on the table, but if you're willing to continue this conversation.

We're interested in Anthony Davis.

Dallas was willing to continue this conversation.

And look, the Mavericks were able to clear their books.

They gave a bunch of, you know, quote, bad contracts back to Washington.

They get 2 rounds, first-round picks that are dressed up with 3 second-round picks.

So there's an argument they can make at a press conference, but this to me was a free player.

The Washington Wizard, they got an all NBA forward for the cost.

What, what's a, what's a, a, a famous cuisine in DC?

Give me, give me something that people eat in DC.

Maryland Maryland crabs for the cost of some good Maryland crabs.

That's what they, what they got for them.

What do you think?

Look, I, I, you said ecstatic.

I absolutely, this is fantastic.

Look.

We talk all the time about different players and how much they're worth, right?

And to me, a lot of it is about fit.

It is about when you say Anthony Davis, 10-time All-Star, but Anthony Davis hurt more than he played for the Dallas Mavericks, right?

It's, it's all about the lens and the fit and what you're talking about.

When you get a player, as you say, for basically free, as free as you get in the NBA for this kind of player, absolutely.

OK, if he's hurt half the year next year, great.

You get half a year of Anthony Davis, so not something you expected.

If you paid High price for this guy.

If you promise this guy an extension, which there is no reporting that they have done, then I can tell you they have not promised him an extension.

OK, there you go.

So considering that, great, let's say you get for a team that is depending on Anthony Davis, 50 games is a disaster.

For a team that is like, oh, and Anthony Davis, sure, I, I guess throw in one of those.

50 games of Anthony Davis is fantastic.

Let's do it.

Let's go next year.

He's gonna be a great guy for Alex Sartre.

To learn from and talk to the two of them playing together.

I know people are sort of concerned about that fit.

If you need to platoon them, you can, but I actually think them playing together could be interesting, um, and you know, again, Trae Young kind of similar situation where it's sort of like, great, should you overpay for Trae Young at this point?

No, I would not.

Did they overpay for Trae Young?

Not even remotely.

In fact, there's a lot of people upset in Atlanta that they didn't get very much for Trae Young.

These are two really savvy moves that help them bridge the gap from a.

Team that has been frankly over the last few years, Michael Winger came in there.

Will Dawkins came in there, and the mission was to totally reset the franchise.

So for the first few years it was, let's get some high draft picks and have some learning for our younger players.

I like to say it's not tanking, it's winning is not the primary goal.

That's how I like to phrase it.

And now that they have done that, they hopefully will keep their pick in this draft.

It is top 8 protected.

So I'm, I'm looking at you, Brian Keefe, just, just keep that in mind.

Um, I keep just taking bullets for this team to bring out bullets.

Just say he deserves hazard pay for the last couple of years.

He's a great guy, by the way.

I really like him.

Pride of Massachusetts.

Let's go.

There you go.

Uh, you know, as long as they keep that pick and it, you know, at, at worst, this is a draft that has 10 good players at the top.

I know the top 3 or 4, depending on where you think the shelf is, the drop off, whatever, but it's not a deep drop off.

There are a lot of.

Guys in this draft that will help this team next year as long as they keep that and they go into next year now with the idea of like, hey, let's be scrappy, let's be feisty, let's get into a play.

That's not a position this team has been.

Someone in NBA Reddit, and I've not fact checked this, but it, it feels right.

Um, as someone who grew up in that area feels right, uh, said that this team has not finished with more than 50 wins in the last 47 years.

That is my suffering, Chris Mannix, and I want you to know that if we do that next year, if they can, I mean, they're not going next year more than 50 wins, but if they are on the road to that, there are a lot of people in DC who are gonna be happy.

And by the way, you talk about Brian Keith taking a lot of bullets for this team.

Washington fans, and you know I'm always concerned about the fans.

We're gonna talk about that with Giannis in a minute.

Um, it's been hard.

And the idea of getting to watch Anthony Davis and Trae Young play basketball is fun.

And I say it all the time here.

NBA teams, it's great to win.

I love it.

These guys who we all cover and like get championships, they get rings, they get shiny trophies.

But these games are played for the fans who pay the tickets, who watch on TV, and making a fun product for them is important because not every team, most teams will not win a championship.

So.

So there you go.

They've done both of these things.

I'm very excited.

Can you tell?

Yeah, um, I agree with everything you said there.

Um, they're not going to be touting this group next year as a threat to win the East.

That's, I mean, I think they believe that if you close your eyes and squint, you can see a top 5 seed amongst them.

You get everything go right.

Trae Young plays 70 games.

He plays 70 games.

steps up, Bub Carrington steps up, Alex Sar steps up.

The next kid they bring in is ready to play.

You can see a top five seed maybe in the Eastern Conference, but the point is what you said there.

It's be competitive.

Like they, these teams over the last few years that these guys have been a part of, they have had win totals that look like locker combinations.

35, 1813.

They're going to be a sub 20 win, uh, uh, team again.

This year.

at some point, they've got to step on the gas here and start playing competitive basketball, and a healthy Trae Young and a healthy-ish Anthony Davis can help them play winning basketball, can get them into the postseason and give these guys the kind of experience they need so that in 2028 and beyond, when they're starting to hit their prime years , this team's may be ready to turn the corner.

Now, How does it work with Davis?

Like, I think Trae Young knows what he's signing up for and Trae Young is a little bit younger than Anthony Davis.

But Anthony Davis has 2 guaranteed years left in his contract.

One's a player option, but that's his option.

So 2 guaranteed years at huge money.

Made no secret that he wants to get a contract extension.

I think he'd probably take a contract extension in Washington if that came about.

How does he respond to all this?

Like, is he going to be The good soldier that Washington needs, or is it going to become acrimonious at some point?

Like it shouldn't.

Like you got 2 full years left in your contract, but the entire league knew that AD, whoever was acquiring him, was going to want a contract extension.

And the Wizards, who this deal, by the way, came together in like 12 to 24 hours.

Like this was fast.

This was a bullet train, so to speak.

This was a fast moving theme of the day, fast moving train there.

Like, I wonder.

How AD approaches this.

This is not a preferred destination.

And while it's in the best interest of the Wizards to be competitive, to get these young guys experience, for AD who's gonna be 34 years old, I think in a month, um, he, is looking for more at this stage of his career.

I think that's, that to me is my question.

I think I know how Trae Young's gonna respond.

I think he's gonna be fine, but AD, how does he respond to that?

I think Trae Young, I agree with you on Trae Young.

First of all, I think he and Alex Sar could be really fun together, and the defensive problems that the Hawks had with Trey was partly not putting the guys around him that made up for his defense.

Defensive weaknesses and his height and Alex Star certainly helps do that.

So I think, I think it will not only be something that Trey knows what he's getting, he knew what the market was for him.

He's a mature kid at this point, um, and I think that he's they're gonna give him a contract extension.

It's an open secret.

We all know that.

I would say, OK, maybe I shouldn't say that.

I would say if they don't.

If they're not in a position to draft a point guard with a top 3 pick, I think, yes, I think then they do.

If they, or he opts in, right?

Well, I think he's, yeah, I think one way or the other he opts in.

That's right.

Sorry, I shouldn't have been so flippant the way I said that.

I, I meant that he will be on the team next year.

He will be on the team next year, unquestionably, um, and then I think he's excited.

I, I, I spoke to him.

I, I was with Trey in Washington DC a week and a half ago.

He is legitimately excited.

This is not an act.

AD I'm sure is not excited this morning.

I, I doubt that he woke up excited.

However, I think if he is smart and if Rich Paul is smart, this is an opportunity.

And yes, I know it was acrimonious leaving New Orleans, but that's because he had much better things on the horizon, and he knew that if he forced his way out of there, he could go somewhere where he could be successful, a team that wanted him, that would get, that would do everything to get him.

And guess what?

It worked.

They won a title.

Now, Rich Paul has to be honest with Anthony about what the market was for him.

It's not, oh man, what a disappointment I ended up here.

It's like, hey, these guys actually traded for you and nobody else was going to.

And so the move here is to be a good soldier, to actually buy in, not in a fake way, but in a real way.

And look, if he's healthy and he plays well, I'm not sure he's going to be with the Wizards two years from now.

Maybe they spin and turn him into something else and he can go to a more competitive team.

This could be an image rehab stop for him.

And when I say image, I don't mean in terms of his character.

His character is fantastic.

I mean in terms of his injury and his health and how people look at him.

So I, I just, I, I think it's about being honest with yourself.

I think Anthony is at a mature point in his life and career, and I'm going to have faith that he is able to look at the situation he's in.

And and play it for the best he can.

Yeah, I think it was an A+ week or month, I guess, for the Wizards.

Two veteran players.

What a great sentence to hear you say, Chris.

I haven't heard you say, I have not heard you say all those words together in a sentence in the entire time I've known you, and it's been a long, long time.

Old Scott Brooks years of competing for something real, but Washington, you may have some hope down there, competitive team.