The Kevin Sheehan Show - Wizards Trade + Uniform Interest

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

Kevin opened with thoughts on the Wizards big trade with New Orleans. Thom joined the show and the boys talked about continued fan interest/demand in a brand/uniform change even with the current Commanders name. They talked Nats, Magic Johnson's lack of involvement in the RFK Stadium deal, NBA Draft, and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. He is Kevin. Tommy's going to be on the show with me today. I promise. But we recorded this show earlier this morning.

Tommy had something to do today. After we recorded the show, I did the radio show. Then I had somewhere to go right after the radio show. I came back to finish sort of putting the show together, editing the show, and getting it up onto the platforms in which you listen to it. And there was breaking Wizards news, a big Wizards trade this afternoon. So I'm going to start today's show by reacting to that trade, and then I will start the next segment with the show that Tommy and I recorded earlier this morning.

Of course, you may be asking yourself, why are you going to tag Wizards content onto the beginning of your show? today. That's a good question. I don't know. Maybe it's because it'll just make Tommy really mad that I preempted him. And if that's the case, it'll be worth it. In fact, once I finish with this, I'm going to text him and say, make sure you listen to the beginning of the show today. The show's presenting sponsor is always, Windonation, 86690 Nation or WindowNation.com if you need new windows. Yeah, it's kind of, I understand that the majority of you, like the massive majority of you, couldn't give a crap that the Wizards made a trade today.

They are irrelevant in this town. They are. But I'm a big fan of the team, and this was an interesting trade. So I'm going to react for me and for the few of you that do care about the Wizards. So they made a pretty big deal today. You know, the day before the NBA draft, I do think that the show that Tommy and I recorded this morning, we did talk a little bit about the NBA draft, and maybe some of that is dated, but I don't think it is. But you may notice that when you get to that part of the show.

But here was the deal. Here was the trade. The wizard sent Jordan Poole, Sadiq Bay, and their early second round pick in the upcoming draft, number 40 overall, to New Orleans for C.J. McCollum, who is now 33 years old, he'll be 34 next year, Kelly O'Linnick and the Pelican's second round pick in 2027. This was a surprise trade for most people around the league, in part because Jordan Poole was signed to that big deal, and he still had two years left on his contract,

and he actually played pretty well last year. Wizards are doing it for a few reasons, and I think a few really good reasons, in my opinion. Number one is this. Jordan Poole is not the kind of player, in my opinion, that you need or want on a team where you're focused on young player development. You know, I'm not speaking to anything other than the basketball. Jordan Poole had issues in Golden State, and he's had issues, but I'm not going to speak to any of the other stuff. I'm going to focus on basketball. He plays the most.

In terms of minutes, he shoots the most. He handles the ball the most. He turns the ball over the most. His usage rate is the highest. And I think now in year three for Kulabali, years two for Carrington, A.J. Johnson, George, and Sarr. By the way, it'll be year one for another two choices

that they make tomorrow night. I think Poole's presence as a dominant, you know, needing the ball guy on the court is not the best way for young players to develop. It may have made sense in their first year. You know, Kulabali is going to be entering his third year. And the guys they picked last year, the second year. And I think we saw, you know, enough from Carrington and from George and Sarr and even AJ Johnson a bit and certainly Kulabali.

It's time for them to be the focus of the team's development. that's reason number one. And I think it's a good reason for moving on from Poole. And I'm glad they found a trade partner for Poole and his rather massive deal with two years left on it. He had two expensive years left on the deal. And that's part two of why I think this is a good deal for the Wizards. By trading him this year, the Wizards have now put themselves into a position whereby

after next season, the 2025-2020s season, Chris Middleton, who picked up, his player option for 33 plus million the other day. He'll be off the books. C.J. McCollum is in the last year of his deal at $30.7 million. He'll be off the books. Kelly Olinick, who is due to make $13.4 million this year is also in the final year of his deal. He'll be off the books. You add that to the $34 million that they would have paid pool in 2026, 2027. And you're talking about clearing $1,000,000,000. $10 million in cap space to perhaps go out and shop a little bit in free agency a year from now in the summer of 2026. Now, does it mean that that's the plan that they're clearing all of that cap space because they've decided that this will be the last year of truly tanking and they'll have

three drafts in the books and they'll go out and they will have a lot of money to spend and they'll try to add a big free agent or two and then contend in 2026, 2027, maybe. But remember this about free agency. First of all, for whatever reason, our team, for those of you who like the Wizards, like I do, has not been a big destination for really good free agents. And secondly, more recently, big time free agents stay where they are. The bigger acquisitions in recent years, they've come via trade. not free agency necessarily.

So if they don't end up being super active, either by choice or because they're unable to land anybody, they still will have all of this cap space and the ability to do two things with it. Number one is essentially trade that cap space, you know, taking back bad, you know, one year deals for picks, for more picks. so they can continue that process of hauling, you know, stockpiling draft picks. They also, by the way, let's not forget, we're, you know, going to be closing in on a decision to pay Kulabali. And then, you know, a year or two after that, the guys from last year. And I think what we've seen from these players that they've picked over the last two years, you're going to end up paying some of these guys.

You're going to end up wanting to keep some of these guys. I like this deal. I never understood the longer-term commitment to pool in the first place. Never understood that. He played okay last year, so what? I want to see more Carrington, more George, more, you know, whomever they take tomorrow night. You know, add to that, C.J. McCollum isn't as ball dominant.

Now, he's going to play because if he has, look, C.J. McCollum's been one of the best scorers in the game for a long period of time. He averaged over 21 last year in New Orleans. And if he, you know, ends up proving at 33 years old that he can still go for, you know, 20 plus a night, he could become an interesting trade chip at next year's deadline. Kelly Olinic, look, he's not going to be a part of their long-term future either at 34 years old. Of course, Kelly Olinick for Wizards fans is the man who went off in game seven of the conference semifinals in Boston back in 2016. 17. The closest the Wizards were to the Eastern Conference finals since 1979. They played a game

seven in the Boston Garden and Kelly Olinick went for 26 points in 28 minutes off the bench, easily the best playoff game of his now very long career. So there you go on the trade. I don't think anything about this trade, by the way, says anything about what they're going to do tomorrow night. to take the player that they think has the best chance of becoming a future star and the best chance of being, you know, a player that ends up being an all NBA, first team, second team, third team kind of player in five to six years, no matter what position that player plays. They can't think they have figured it out at any position yet because they don't have it figured out at any position yet.

I like Derek Queen a lot. I really do. Obviously, he's not the pick at six. According to mocks would be too early, but I would love to see them at 18 trade up for Derek Queen. I've mentioned this before and you'll probably hear me mention it with Tommy when we get to that part of the show coming up in just a minute. I'm not a big Ace Bailey fan. He seems to be getting mocked to the Wizards over and over again. I'm not a big fan. But this trade, you know, I think it's a good trade for the Wizards. I mean, the biggest mistake the Wizards have made in the last several years was not trading Bradley Beal earlier when they could have gotten a major haul for Beal. That's the single biggest mistake. I don't know why they paid Jordan Poole. I don't know why they signed him to the deal, but they're able to move on from it. But the Beal weight, the no trade clause that they gave him, remember, just one of the dumbest things. because he was never going to be that, you know, number one on a contending team. They wished it, they hoped it, they thought they saw it, it was never the case. And there was a moment there where he had a lot of value. And that was the kind of haul. I mean, multiple firsts, many firsts, that they could have gotten back from him.

That's the biggest mistake the franchise has made recently. There are others, of course, going back further. But there you go on the trade. So let's get to the show that Tommy and I recorded earlier this morning. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. So guys, if you're starting to notice your hair thinning when you look in the mirror, join the club, you're not alone. Life gets busier and busier and you don't have much time to think about it or do something about it. That's why I'm going to help.

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See website for full details and important safety information. Tommy's here. I'm here. The show's presenting sponsor. As always, Window Nation, 86690 Nation or Window Nation. Orwindonation.com if you need new windows. Tommy, a few emails and tweets to open up the show. This from Zane.

Kevin, will they keep the black alternates? He's referring to the commander's black alternate uniforms. From Will. Kevin, why wouldn't they use the logo? The logo was never considered to be a problem. Will, you're right. The logo was never anything that was a problem for anybody. Nobody ever accused the Blackie Wetzel logo created back in 1972 of being insensitive or racist or anything else.

This from how, Gaithersburg. I've not heard from Howell in Gatorsburg in a long time. Hal writes, been a while, Kevin. I'm not all back in, but a uniform change would help. And then this from Jennifer, Kevin, more please on what they'll look like referring to the uniforms. Appreciate the conversation. And then I also got this from Mindy. Kevin, I can't do uniform talk. I'm done with it. The uniforms don't matter. Jaden Daniels looks good in number five, no matter how How cranberry the red is. The team's good now.

Move on. So Tommy, the reason I read these tweets and emails to start the show, overwhelming number of emails and tweets after my radio show yesterday in which I talked about the uniforms. And the reason I was talking about the team's uniforms is that there was, I guess, some sort of leaked photo with the arrow. spear helmet and people started thinking maybe this is what they're going to do. They're going to change uniforms. And I just mentioned, as I did to all of you back in October of last year, that I was told back in October, and I mentioned it to everybody back then, that the name was, you know, something they were still kind of wrestling with.

but even if something wasn't done with the name, they were going to do something about the uniforms, that they were going to go back to a uniform that looked like the old uniform. And they would start, you know, in, and they said at the time, told me the person that I talked to, who was a very good source, said, you know, we'll start in 20 next year, you know, with some alternates, and then we'll try to get it to the point where it becomes more permanent. And I talked about that last October,

and that's what I talked about on the radio show. yesterday, no breaking news or anything, just reiterating what I had said, you know, eight months ago, eight and a half months ago. But Tommy, I'm starting the show with this because I swear on my kids that of everything that we talk about when it comes to the football team, after the games themselves, you know, on Mondays following a game, on Fridays going into a game, you know, maybe the draft. after that, this is what generates by far and away the most conversation. This is still, of course, a legitimate big deal.

Now, it may just be in my world, but I doubt that. But Tommy, this still generates, I mean, dozens and dozens and dozens of responses. Part of it is that the radio station made it out to be some breaking news or something, which it was not. just reiterating, saying again what I said last fall. But it's amazing to me that any sort of conversation about name or brand generates still. It's not amazing. I understand it.

But again, it just, it kind of hammers home the point that this is still a massive deal. I believe you. I've seen it. Right. I've seen, you know, it's not something I understand, but I certainly recognize it. And I have to agree with you that people are extremely passionate about the jerseys, what color pants you're going to wear, what's the symbol on the helmet. I mean, more passionate than anything except winning and losing, maybe.

I think many are just hoping for something that allows them to look at their old girlfriend differently again. and, you know, and fall back in love, or at least fall back in like with their old girlfriend or their first wife or maybe their second wife, who knows. You know, this is part, this is part of the passion for moving back to D.C. This is part of it. Yeah. People have that passion, that nostalgia passion of, you know, this is where they used to go. parking with their girlfriend late at night at the RFK site, you know? This is where they used to go park.

Did you say parking? Parking. As in like, you know, when you took a girl out in the parking in the backseat. Yeah. Okay. That's what I wanted to make sure that that was the reference. I don't know. Yeah.

I don't know. I don't know that that's the move as much anymore. It might be. I mean, my high school girlfriend and I had a parking spot. you know, it was in her neighborhood. Yeah. But it used to be, and people, there's a segment of the population, an older segment, that want to go back to that.

Right. You know, it doesn't matter that the new stadium is not going to be RFK. Right. In any way, shape, or form. It's only going to be on the same piece of property. That's the only thing that's pretty much going to be the same about it, you know. But I think that's part of it. I think that's part of, you know, the stadium, the uniform,

the name, it all speaks to when you fell in love, like you said. I think this stadium is behind name and brand, you know, uniforms. I think that is, I'm not going to say it's a distant third behind name, which is one associated branding with the name, too, but it's third. Like I think a lot of people would say, give me the name back, give me the uniforms back, and play in Landover until your heart's content. Probably. If that was a trade.

But it is. Option. But it is the same line of passion. Yeah. Did you see, and I didn't see this or hear about it until last night, but the junkies yesterday did a segment. I think we've done this before. I think you and I've talked about it, and I think I'm pretty sure that I've done it as a call

segment on this show. I'm looking for it now. But essentially it was, would you go back to Dan Snyder for the name? People just rip them for it. It's actually a brilliant way to generate a lot of response. I'm looking for the specific question, but that was essentially it. We've done that before. We've talked about, you know, would people, how many people would say,

give me Snyder back if I get the name back? look, I think that as long as Dan Snyder was the owner, the interest level was going to continue to drop for all of you that love the name anyway. So many of us felt so differently about the team before the name was lost because of Snyder. So I'd like to have both. I'd like Snyder gone and the name back. But if you forced me to choose, I can't have, honestly, the worst person that's ever been a part of our town, you know, since John Wilkes Booth.

I can't have him back in the saddle again because I know where it was headed for me. It was headed towards complete disinterest in the team because of him. At least with new owners and it being done right and, oh, by the way, with a really good quarterback, I'm enjoying the, you know, the fact that it's a functional organization in the NFL where we were, you know, we were just... It's not a rational thought process, Kevin. What is it? To go back, I mean, to actually think that people would consider going back to, you know, their... The person who had them locked in the basement and fed them bread three days, three days a week, you know, just

so that that person would call them by the name they liked. It's really insane when you think about it. I know, but I think there were many people that said, yeah, give me Snyder in the name. I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't answer that. I mean, I don't like the question because I don't like the either or. I want both. I want Dan gone and I want the name back and I want the uniforms back and I want the history.

I want the traditions. I want the look, the feel, the branding. I want it all back. I want to be emotionally attached again to this franchise. And it's really hard for me to be emotionally attached like I used to. But if Snyder had remained the owner, there was no way it was ever going to be resurrected. It was just going to continue to sink to depths that, you know, literally,

I mean, we lost two-thirds of the fan base. That's essentially been. quantified by every single person I've talked to that would know about what it was like, especially over those last five years, five to seven years. I mean, you know, so now, have they gotten those two-thirds back? No, they haven't gotten all two-thirds back. That's, we know that by the ticket sales. The fact they haven't sold out games.

They haven't sold out the season. Attendance last year was not, you know, any different than the attendance was the year before when they were terrible. but they've gotten a lot more people back, and they would have continued to lose people with Snyder. So what did you think? Did you have any thoughts about the Fred Smith passing? I talked about it yesterday on the podcast,

and his, you know, sort of the way our fan base will remember him? You know, I thought there was too much praise for a guy who at the end. woke up and decided to move against Dan Snyder. You know? I mean, he lived with this piece of garbage for decades, okay, and did nothing. I'm not giving him a lot of credit for all of a sudden waking up near the end and rebelling against his scumbag business partner. But he was a brilliant guy, created one of the most impactful businesses in America.

and in Memphis, he's considered a god. Yep. So, but just for the football team, you know, why did he speak up before? Maybe he could have stopped some of the madness. Yeah, I mean, the, in terms, you're talking about something slightly different in that you're focused.

focused on why didn't he, you know, stop Snyder from burying the franchise, you know, into a big hole and driving it into the ground? I'm talking about what he did in the summer of 2020 in July of 2020. The vindictiveness and the revenge, you know, filled, you know, I'm going for his jugular. I'm going for the name. And what I said yesterday was, I think that was much more vindictive than virtuous. I don't think, you know, he just, for many, many years, he didn't have a problem and didn't care what shareholders or customers said about the name. He understood what it really was and what it really meant and how many people truly in that

community, the Native American community, were offended. But he was, along with Schar in particular, they were in scorched earth mode. You can understand that. Yes. Yeah, and I said, look. I mean, you can sympathize with that. I mean, you know, to have lived with this guy to imagine, you know, all the knives he's stuck in your back over the years,

and then you finally decided to go for him, yeah. I mean, you know, there's no stone I would have unturned to basically pick up and throw at Snyder at that point. There's no doubt. That was my point is, like, you can be as a Skins fan, you can be mad at Fred Smith and Fed. and blame them for the loss of the name. But Snyder's the reason it happened.

It's the way Dan treated his minority shareholders that created the environment for that. Not to mention the summer of 2020 was, you know, insane and it was ripe for a lot of this stuff to be swept up. And maybe it gets swept up without Federal Express being the one to, um, to, uh, to initiate the move against the name. But yeah, no, Snyder brought all of this on himself, all of it. He, you can't, no one who was around this guy ended up friendly with this guy. Nobody, they all ended up wanting to turn on him.

Think about, you know, even Bruce, his best running buddy for 10 years. I mean, the two of them hated he. other at the end. God, man. Thank God we're done with that. See, that's the thing. It's like, I am glad we're done with all of that. I just wish that the team looked different and had a different name. But, you know, they're not going to have a different name, people. That's not happening. They made that very clear at the end of the season. But if what I was told back in October that I shared with all of you in October. I don't have any update since October. If that's still true, and I've heard others mention it as well, you know, more recently.

They're going to try to at least give us something that looks like our old team. I think that the history, the tradition, the look, the feel, I think that's important to ownership, important to Josh Harris and Mark Eyn and Mitch Rails. Bees, I'm sure when they look out there, it doesn't look like the team that they grew up rooting for either. All right. Speaking of Fred Smith, yes.

With his passing, it made me think of a guy like Arthur Smith, his son. Right. Right? Yep. Who's a coach, the offensive coordinator with the Steelers, right? Correct. I think he is. Yes.

You know, I mean, this is a guy. who probably wouldn't have to work a day in his life if he lived 300 years. Yeah. With, you know, what he's going to inherit of his father's estate probably. I mean, imagine being in that kind of situation

where you're in the job that you love, okay? You really don't need it, you know? I mean, like, what are they going to do to Arthur Smith? What's, you know, what are they going to do? and they got to fire him if he's doing a bad job, you know? No what?

I'll go home and collect my... Well, he got fired. He was the head coach in Atlanta. He got fired. I know that. And then he got hired in Pittsburgh. My point is... He doesn't think that way, though.

He wants to rise to the highest levels of this. Well, I don't know, but I would imagine, you know, just because you come from outrageous means doesn't mean that you don't want to set your own path, that you don't... Yes, that's true. But... And in the moments of clarity and honesty, you say to yourself, what can they do to me? I don't know.

It's a different way of advancing your life than most people. Well, look, the reason he got the opportunity was his father. His father was a minority owner in a football team. And I believe it was Gibbs who actually put him on the staff. as like a quality control assistant or whatever, you know, that entry level. Maybe he was an internship. But the fact, he didn't rise to the level that he's risen to because of his father. He got an opportunity.

The door got cracked for him. But he didn't become a head coach in the NFL because his father's Fred Smith. Yes, but when he is thinking about career choices as opposed to the average person. Sure. He's got more flexibility. net. There's a safety net. That's right. That is, you know, just remarkable. And that's just an amazing place to be, I think. Well, yeah, I mean, he had flexibility, certainly, to take jobs where he was paid very little to pursue something that was a passion of his, clearly. Yeah, not everybody can do that

because what quality control coaches or, like interns, they don't make anything. You know, are several internships with NFL franchises that are, you know, sort of opening the door for that opportunity. They're not paid, I don't think. I mean, if they are, it's not a lot of money. Yeah, I don't know. Everybody's wired differently. This guy,

you know, for all we know, I mean, look, Warren Buffett didn't, isn't it Warren Buffett's kids that he basically left nothing to? Well, nothing is relative. I don't know what nothing is. It is relative, but I don't, you know,

I don't know if it's nothing, nothing, or if it's, you know, a couple million bucks. 10 million dollars, nothing. Right. All right. We got a lot more show coming up right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, basketball season's over, but the action never stops on prize picks because baseball is just heating up. Step up to the plate with prize picks and add your favorite baseball players to your lineup, whether it's strikeouts, RBIs, or first inning runs, make.

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Inside the foul pull, James Wood launches again on this road trip. James Wood did it again last night. home run number 22. He was three for five with four RBIs, along with that home run that gave the Nats a nine to three lead in San Diego. Last night they went on to beat the Padres. 10 to six. This segment of the show is brought to you by Window Nation. 86690 Nation or WindowNation.com if you need new windows. You should think about it if your windows are older because your air conditioning bills will be much higher than they would be. if you had new, better insulated windows, especially during heat waves like the one we're experiencing this week. Right now, if you were to move forward with Window Nation, you would get four free windows with every four purchased. You wouldn't have to pay for the windows until 2027 with no interest charged, no money down, no payments, no interest for two full years. Plus, if you purchase a house full of windows, you'll get a free entry door to your home. Call 86690 Nation. Go to

Window Nation.com. Mention my name. They'll come out and give you a free in-home estimate. Doesn't cost you anything. You can do with that quote, what you want. You can shop it if you want. But give them a chance to at least come out and give you an estimate. I promise you if you work with them, it'll be worth it. Fantastic company, great customer service, great product and great deal. 86690 Nation, windownation.com. So James Wood, after hitting home run number 22 last night, Tommy is on pace for 45 home runs this year. The franchise record since Montreal moved to D.C. is Soriano's 46. Frank Howard has the Washington record 48 homers in 1969. which was, correct me if I'm wrong,

that Ted Williams managed Senator's season where they were actually pretty good that year. Yes, I think they went 86 and 76. 76. Yeah. Yeah. James Wood, superstar in the making, clearly. Yeah, again. I mean, and he did it in San Diego,

who traded him, you know, what I'm sure is driving Padres fans, nuts, considering the guy they traded him for Juan Soto is since gone. And by the way, Soto, as you see, is heated up big time. Yes, he has. He had a homeowner last night. Which I knew he would. Yeah.

I mean, he, he, he, it's what he does. Yeah. So, but yeah, James Wood is, is, is, is going to be an all-star. The all-star voting, he's down like ninth among outfielders. You know, I don't have a problem with fan voting on the all-star. All-Star game because, I mean, it gives the fans at least some voice in the game, and I think the more things you can get fans involved with, the better. But James Wood will get named.

He just won't be a starter. Right. But he'll get named to the All-Star team. And that could have two, maybe three. I mean, C.J. Abrams is playing well. Well, McKenzie Gore is an All-Star. Yes. So if you got him and C.J. Abrams.

I mean, three all-stars for a team this bad. Yeah. I don't know what that says. Right. Did you get any blowback for your column the other day, ripping the learners again? No, in fact, I'd say it was the most, it was the most feedback I've ever gotten,

you know, because you write about the gnats, it's like writing about the tree falling in the woods. Yeah. You know, I mean, you just don't get a lot. That's the reality of it. Yeah. I got a lot for this one, and it was almost all positive. There's a lot of frustration out there with ownership at this point.

Again, given, you know, the small circle of influence we're talking about here. So, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of frustration with ownership's commitment to fielding a competitive team. But like I said, the story, you can't fire the owner. You cannot fire the owner. Nope, we have learned that. You can hope that the owner is such a bad person or a bad group of people that the league really wants them to leave. But that's not really what they are. No, that's not.

Yeah. That's not who they are. No. All right. So I did want to talk about it. I did want to talk about it. Yeah, go ahead. The one thing about James Wood is, when are they going to start?

stop pitching to him. I know that yesterday, Luis Garcia, who's a hot hitter right now, he's got a 12-game hitting street, follows him in the lineup. You know, James Wood bat's second and Garcia bat's third. But at some point,

I mean, you've got to stop throwing a ball to this guy. If you're the opposing team. I think they did walk him the other night. I think they did walk him the other night in L.A. with runners on first and second. Yes, they did. Yes, they did. Yes, they did.

I mean, that's got to be the discussion pregame. You know, who's not going to beat us tonight? James Wood. Right. How about this guy in Seattle, Cal Raleigh? 32 home runs. That's stunning. That's a stunning amount for, A, a catcher.

Okay. I mean, because everyone pretty much acknowledges that catching takes a physical toll out of an everyday player. Right. You know, that's why you don't have catchers with the same kind of offensive production numbers generally as you do from a lot of position players. But this guy, it was a switch hitter, by the way, 32 home runs in 76 games. I mean, this is, I think, you know, everyone loves the Otani story, and it's a great story. But, you know, if he, look, he plays in Seattle with.

which is, you know, the place where careers, you know, are hidden. I mean, Itcherow, as big as he was, was never nearly the start. He could have been if he played someplace other than Seattle. But this guy, I think, it's a story in baseball right now. Is there, I'm just curious. He had, he hit 30. Yeah, go ahead. He's having a year for a switch hitter that, you know, nobody's ever had.

There's no suspicion or anything that you have because this guy was, you know, he had 34 homers and had 100 RBIs last year. He hit 30 homers the year before. I mean, he's on pace for 67 right now. But it's not like this came out of nowhere and you've got your eyes rolling in your head. No, no. If anything, I'd be embracing it. Yeah. I think he's an exciting player.

You know, it's a shame he plays in Seattle. Yeah, well, Griffey Jr. played in Seattle. I know. Yeah, he did. Yeah. And this guy, I mean, Griffey Jr. is one of the top, if not one or two or three best players ever to play the game. So that is the exception.

But, you know, I'd love to see more. of this guy play. Cal Raleigh, for those of you not paying attention. 32 homers in 77 games in Seattle. And I think he's homered in what, four in a row, something like that? Something like that. Yeah, I think he's got, I think he's got like five homers in his last four games. So anyway, I did want to talk about your column because I read it.

And it was very good. Tommy wrote about what we talked about the other day. the comments from the mayor that the team is outraged that the city council is looking for more time and may not meet the July 15th deadline. And you would ask a question the other day about, you know, where the hell is Magic Johnson and all this? So go ahead. Tell everybody what you wrote about. And, you know, you reached out to a lot of people to find out, you know, why Magic Johnson hasn't been involved or at least outwardly. involved in the pursuit of a, you know, seven yes votes on the city council for the RFK stadium site.

Yeah. Now, first of all, I mean, when Magic first came on, okay, I really remember us talking about how he would be an asset if the team was going to pursue a stadium in the district. No doubt. Everybody talked about it. Okay. Yes. Yeah.

Okay, so we did talk about that. Yes, everybody did. I mean, can you imagine how helpful Magic Johnson's going to be to get us back to RFK? Tommy, people thought Magic would be helpful in getting the name back. If he was, remember, one of the first comments he made on, like, one of those morning programs on network TV, I don't know what it was, the Today Show or whatever, sort of indicated that he didn't like the current name and that things might change that got everybody excited. But yes, go ahead. Okay.

So, I mean, it just to me was startling at the press conference to announce the stadium that, you know, the stadium deal that they reached with the mayor that he wasn't there. And then after the press conference, Roger Goodell and Josh Harris went to the Wilson building to visit all the council members' offices, like, you know, like a lobbying tour. Right. I'm thinking, why, I mean, I'm sure people love to get their picture taken with Roger Goodell, but I think it would have meant a lot more if it was Magic Johnson there. That would have been an unforgettable moment for everybody in the building.

Right. And it would have carried some weight, you know, but he wasn't there. So now, I mean, I kept that in the back of my mind, and then, you know, now the stadium, you know, debate is heating up. The mayor has created a sense of. urgency about the upcoming vote, you know, suggesting that the deal that they have with the team would be in danger if the vote doesn't take place by the, I guess, the July 15th deadline that they have for this thing.

So I thought to myself, well, you know, then call Magic Johnson, tell them to get on a plane or at least get on the phone and start calling these council members and saying, hey, you know, This is important. This is important. You know, Oh, Magic Johnson on line, too, councilmen,

you know? So, oh, and I checked with the council members. I pulled a number of them, including council members, and council chairman, Phil Mendelso's office.

None of them had heard in any way, shape, perform from Magic Johnson. So I reached out to the team in both instances, uh, that,

uh, why he wasn't at the initial press conference. and then why if the deal needs, it has a sense of urgency that it could be in danger why magic isn't lobbying. And they gave this, you know, I mean, I can read the answer that they gave me the

first time. Mr. Johnson has been an incredible partner, has been supportive behind their scenes in a re-violation of the franchise blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Just because someone isn't at a press event doesn't mean they are contributing. This is funny. Again, Josh is the lead for our ownership group. We expect that Mr. Johnson will be involved in this project going forward.

That was in reference to the press conference. Right. You know, so I wasn't trying to diminish. No. No, no, no, no, no. No. You know, stature in this thing. I recognize.

He is a powerful figure to respect. But Magic Johnson is an iconic figure in Americana. So do you think that there's anything that is going on here with respect to his involvement as, you know, a minority owner in the franchise that we don't know about? Do you have a hunch that maybe he's taken a step away from, you know, his early sort of involvement in everything that they were doing? You know, he seemed to be at every event, you know, early on and now he's not. Do you think there's a reason for it, or it's just coincidental that he had other things going on? Like the Lakers were in the playoffs on April 28th.

They were playing in a series, first round series against Minnesota. He may have been tied up with something. related to that. What do you think? That may be. Look, I think there are reasons. It could be simply innocent reasons, but

there are reasons, but it seems like the ownership is failing to make use of a very important weapon, for lack of a better word here, to win their fight for this stadium. Do you really... Like I said, If it was me, I would have put a pop-up office for Magic Johnson on the lawn of the Wilson building

and say, here, can you work here one day a week? But as you also said during the column, which I laughed at. But what do I know? I've never tried to build a $3.8 billion stadium. I actually think that should have been your very final line of the column. It would have wrapped it up nicely. but I, you know, are we really sort of kind of treating the city council members like they are total kind of, you know, jock loving, star loving, you know, let me take a picture with you, let me post it on social media.

Magic talk to me today. I'm going to vote yes. I mean, I think. think that you know what I think about bureaucracy and the pace of it. It's it's revolting at times to watch it. But, um, and I'm sure that there is legitimate frustration for ownership. But do you think it really would help? Would it really sell it? Absolutely. You do? Absolutely. Kevin? What? I see I, it happens in Congress all the time. We see it all the time. Simple things. People want to set, you know, to push a bill or push their agenda, they'll enlist the aid of a celebrity to go to Capitol Hill and to go into congressional offices and meet with members of Congress. It happens all the time.

I mean, take the extreme, here's the extreme story that I only know because I know this. When Russell Buffolino, the mob boss, when he was trying to get, you stole the seating chart list. Yeah. Yes. When he was trying to avoid a federal prison sentence, okay, they said Muhammad Ali to Capitol Hill to meet with senators to try to get some kind of pardon for him or something for that. You know? Yeah, they asked Muhammad Ali to go on behalf, you know. So I think it is effective. It may seem trivial, but I think it is effective. And like, it's like a jury. All you got to do is maybe affect one person who was going to go the other way, you know, and think I can't vote like that now. Look how nice Magic Johnson was to me.

Do you think that ownership might be at some point like, oh, God, we have to, we got to bring magic in to get everything done because I don't think they do need magic to get everything done. But these are the kinds of things you're probably right that would probably be impactful in a positive way. Yeah, there is no doubt that when Magic Johnson was a part of the ownership group that bought the team from Dan Snyder, we thought about all the ways Magic could help in sort of resurrecting interest in the franchise. And that was one of those ways. Can you imagine how helpful he'll be in getting a stadium deal done in D.C. at the RFK site. Yeah.

Now, again, I think there's a lot of posture going on here. I point out in the column, July 15th deadline or not, I don't think the team's going anywhere other than the RFK site. You know, because it's too lucrative a deal. I don't think that city council is going to tinker with it very much, if anything at all. I don't either. So I think this will get done. Yeah, me too.

It may not get done on the deadline, but the team's not folding up shop and then going back to Landover and leaving all that real estate behind. You know, I said this yesterday, Tommy, I'm sure we've talked about it before. When you think about just how long that land, which is incredibly valuable land, has just been sitting there. and the amount of revenue that could have been produced for this city utilizing that land years ago. I understand there was a baseball team playing in there for a few years and a soccer team, but that, I mean, the fact that they've let that parcel of land

sit there like that for that long is mind-boggling. I know, but, you know, like we've, you're right. You're not wrong, but, you know, You know, it's not like they were ignoring the city. There were other areas of the city that the development was concentrating on at the time. Yeah. You know, and I guess, you know, you can't, I mean, you can't handle every vacant piece of value property, even though maybe you think you should.

So, I mean, you know, they've been very active in Anacosta, you know, Poplar Point development. uh with the soccer stadium yeah the war you know getting that area the whole wharf area so it's not like they weren't you know just sitting on there on their i know i know but but you're right that's valuable real estate and no i don't think anyone's walking away from that right not to mention it wasn't land that the city actually owned yeah there you go all right uh we'll finish it up with a few things NBA draft tomorrow night. I want to get your thoughts on the game seven if you watched it on Sunday

night, and we've got a few other things as well. We'll get to all of it more after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelley's. Oh, Shelly's back room at 1331 F Street, Northwest, in the district. I was talking about this

to somebody the other day. The best way to describe Shelly's, at least to me, okay? and I've used this word before, but not for a while. It's an oasis. It really is. It's an oasis from the stress of your life. It's an oasis from the heat of the summer.

It's an oasis from the cold of winter. It's an oasis from your job, you know, the pressures of your job, you know? None of that happens at Shelley's back room. At Shelly's, you're warm. Or you're cool, you're not stressed. You're smoking because you're smoking a top-brand cigar, drinking top-shelf liquor, and eating quality food off their menu of excellence. Okay, so that's basically an oasis.

You've been walking in the desert, and all of a sudden up ahead, you see this oasis. That's Shelly. Yeah. Okay, you've been in the desert of life that you've been trying to slog through day after day well, it's time to hit the oasis and head to Shelley's backroom. Find out more at shelley's backroom.com. You know, it legitimately is an oasis. It's a watering hole. I, yeah, those places are so important for sanity, honestly. And I know that you'll never

understand this. And I totally get what you're talking about when it comes to Shelly's. but for a lot of people, you know, the golf course is that. And, you know, there are other places that you get away from it all. I mean, the golf course is interesting because, you know, you're getting away from it at times for four and a half to five hours. And by the way, if you end up hanging out afterwards, it could be six or seven hours. But yeah, those places are, they're the best.

You know, it really does feel like when you're in there, too, a great neighborhood-ish kind of bar. You know, it's a cigar bar, but it feels like a neighborhood-ish kind of bar. We've talked about, you know, great neighborhood, you know, bars. I mean, growing, you know, being in Bethesda, I mean, I live in D.C., but being in Bethesda for much of my adult life, there have been a couple of places, you know, T-Bones back in the day on Wisconsin and Leland Street, you know, Carl McCarty and Gary Williams and Jimmy Patsos, you know, they all were owners in this.

place. That was a phenomenal neighborhood, you know, Bethesda, Montgomery County neighborhood bar. We've seen that, you know, in other places, Tommy Joe's, caddies, other places in Bethesda. You've, you know, mentioned places that you, you know, in East Strasbourg, Rudy's. Strasbourg, Rudy. Yep. I was just at Rudy's two weeks ago for my 50th year of drinking there. Yeah. So, yeah, I know what you mean.

Yeah, and Shelly's is a lot like that. All right, did you watch Game 7? I watched it until Halliburton went down with an injury. Well, that was in the first quarter. Well, that's what I figured the game was over. Oh, so you turned it off after that, Game 7. Yeah.

NBA Finals. Yes. I was only watching it for you. Oh, okay. Well, then you, other than the injury, you don't really have much to add. I mean, I said something yesterday that I really did mean, and I had somebody call me up and say, yeah, if he had played, the way they turned up the defense, Oklahoma City was going to still win the game. But I think the way Halliburton started game seven, if he doesn't get injured, I think Indiana has a legit shot to win game seven. And it wouldn't have surprised me going in if they had won the game, which was surprising to me based on where I was at the beginning of this series.

But, yeah, it was, it sucked that the series didn't have but one close game, you know. Game one was the only dramatic ending. And, you know, I think for a lot of people, you need more than that. It drew the biggest audience since 2019, 16.8 million, I think, watched Game 7. Obviously, it would have been more had the game been more competitive. Also, Halliburton's injury was confirmed yesterday, and he, boy, he had a long post on social media. You could tell how broken up, how emotional he was about it. But that's always a tough call, Tommy.

I think this is, I think you were on the show when I said these calf strains can turn into, you know, very catastrophic Achilles injuries. It's the calf strain that worries, you know, all. you know, doctors and trainers about what could come if it's not rested and taken care of. And almost always when somebody has a calf strain, they sit out games, plural. And he didn't. And they had to know they were taking a risk with it. And now he's going to miss basically next season for all intents and purposes. But they were trying to win a championship.

Game seven. Yeah. You're going to have him sit? Not me. you're going to have them play right you're going to put rg3 back in the game it's the playoffs all right we won't do that uh the NBA draft is tomorrow night and you know this is not this draft so pales in comparison to the NFL draft I mean this is such a bigger crapshoot I mean nobody really has you got to get it right

But, and look, there are certain, you know, talent evaluators that are better than others and have proven it over a long period of time. But when almost everybody in that draft that you're really going for is 18, 19 years old, man, it is, look, SGA, not in the top 10, Janus, not in the top 10, Kauai, not in the top 10. Jokic in the second round. I mean, we've had MVP's of the NBA finals on championship teams, elite-level players that, you know, you don't have to get this player at number one. Will the Wizards get somebody at number six? I have no idea. No effing idea.

I watch college fast. A lot of draft predictions have Ace Bailey going through. I know. He's the one player that I have, you know, I have a strong feeling about Cooper Flag. Like, I think he is outrageously skilled, and I think there's a really good chance. Yeah, I think there's a chance he could be that guy. I'm a big Dylan Harper fan. He is pretty much the consensus number two. I really do like Trey Johnson from Texas. The guy that I have the strongest feeling about is Ace Bailey, because I saw some. something that, you know, in the moment made me think I would never pick him. Because at the time, he was projected to be either two or three after Cooper flag.

You know, both Rutgers guys, Harper and Bailey for the last year have been projected two and three in some order. And Bailey and Rutgers came to Maryland, and Derek Queen and anybody that Ace Bailey tried to score against or tried to guard, absolutely torched him. And he went to the bench and claimed that he was sick. and left the game. And it didn't look right to me. But like, who cares really? The kid's 18 years old. I mean, what he is today may be completely different than what he is in four or five years. But those kinds of things I always make a mental note of because I do want killers. You know, I want to find a killer

competitor. And that was not a sign of killer competitiveness. Now, he had some games that were incredible this year that I watched. He had a game at Northwestern that was incredible. But I thought when he played bigger dudes and really good players like Derek Queen, it didn't necessarily work out for him. I love Derek Queen. I've seen him anywhere from 10 to 15 going to Oklahoma City, the defending champs. I think he has a lot of Yokic in him. I'm not saying that he's going to become Yokic. But give me a guy that I know is a great basketball player, high IQ basketball player with incredible hands, incredible feet. And I'll-

I agree with you. I like the queen. I agree with you. And this, I totally defer to you based on your history of picking good talent here. It's harder, though, because most of these players you don't get a chance to see as much. You're right. It is harder. But, I mean, I'm with you on this.

I mean, you know, if I was a wizard's fan, I wouldn't be crazy about Ace Bailey. CBS Sports is basically saying he's trying to force his way to Washington or New Orleans. That's crazy. His representation seems to believe he will have the most immediate opportunity. I like the guy from BYU a lot, too. The guy number three, who was Russian Igor Demen. I think that there's something skill-wise. that looks tantalizing there.

You know, I've seen him actually available for the Wizards with their second pick. And I personally, after watching this guy, especially in the tournament, I don't understand why he's not projected to go higher, and that's Florida's point guard Walter Clayton Jr. I understand that he's, you know, it's interesting. You know, when you've seen a lot more of a player, it seems that teams are less interested. They want the upside that has.

been fulfilled. And because he was a four-year college player, you know, they feel like they've seen everything. I see a guy that is a high-level, high- IQ scoring point guard that I think is, you know, has some Lillard in him, has some Steph in him, not exactly, you know, nobody's Steph. I don't understand why he's been projected late, late first round. When I saw him during the tournament, I was like, this guy's got to be close to top 10, but nobody has him going there. We'll see. You know, this guy, Will Dawkins, this group's got a, they got to land on one of these people. You know, who knows? Maybe they landed on a guy last year that we haven't, you know, we need a couple more years to realize.

but they're going to have to, with these picks, this is what they're doing, this is the process they have under, you know, gone and are undertaking, but they got to get these picks right. They've got to hit on some guys. And I like the process. I like how many swings they're getting, but they're going to have to land a great player. They're going to have to land a guy that's going to be all NBA, you know, first team or second team, you know, in five. years. This draft, we'll see. Who knows? Maybe number six is where the next superstar goes. All right. Did you have anything else? I got nothing else for you today, boss. Okay. Good job, Tommy. Talk to you on Thursday. I do my best.