The Kevin Sheehan Show - Wizards Win Lottery, Finally!

Episode Date: May 12, 2026

Kevin opened with the Wizards getting the #1 pick in June's NBA Draft after finally getting lucky in the NBA Draft Lottery. Kevin talked some NFL Schedule news as well before welcoming Randolph Childress on the show to preview the NBA Draft from a Wizards' perspective. Kevin finished with what John Wall told him on Friday's show about who he would take #1 if the Wizards won the lottery. Some Commanders' rookie mini-camp as well.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match   Chime is not just smarter banking, it is the most rewarding way to bank. Head to www.Chime.com/SHEEHAN. It only takes a few minutes to sign up.   Get 20% off your first order at www.FastGrowingTrees.com with code [Sheehan].   Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to www.quince.com/SHEEHAN for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. 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 Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Picking second will be the Utah Jazz, and that means that the number one pick in the 2006 NBA draft goes to the Washington Wizards. Well, finally, the ping pong balls bounced our way.

Number one overall for the Wizards in the upcoming 2026 NBA draft. six weeks from tomorrow night. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, Window Nation, 86690 Nation or WindowNation.com, if you need new windows. So if you missed John Wall on the show on Friday, I'm going to play back what he said about who he would take number one in this upcoming draft if the Wizards got the number one overall pick

with him representing the team. the draft lottery. He likes two players, but one specifically. I'll play that back for you towards the end of the show. I've got one guest on the show. Randolph Childress will join me. We've had Randolph on the show before. A great college player at Wake Forest. Randolph has been calling college games on ESPN for the last few years. We'll get his thoughts on who he thinks the Wizards should take at number one. I want to start this. show, though, with this from my guy Yale. Yale emailed me and wrote, Kevin, you were right. Tom and people like me were wrong. The ends justified the means. I wasn't on board with any of the

tanking over the last few years. I thought it was just more of Mayor Ted presiding over Loserville. But congrats on number one, the team is finally worth some attention. So I read Yale's email first before getting into my overall thoughts on what the Wizards should do with number one. I will get to that coming up here shortly. But I read Yale's email to start the show because it's summed up exactly the opposite of my reaction to the Wizards getting the number one pick in the draft. This is not the end. Getting the number one pick overall in this upcoming draft is not the end that justifies the means. That's an incredibly incomplete way of looking at this. The ending that will justify the means hasn't even come close to arriving yet. And by the way,

may never arrive. You know, I thought about like defining the ending that will justify the process, the means, three years of tanking, three years of being legitimately terrible, losing 196 games over that three-year period ending this past season, over 65 losses a year, many of the losses by embarrassing margins. the definition of an ending that justifies what they just went through over the last three seasons, I'm going to do that right now. I haven't done that. I've talked about, you know, contending and a championship.

But here's, in my opinion, with the true definition of an ending that would justify the last three years. and that ending isn't anywhere near to current present times. I mean, we are several years away from an ending. The ending for me isn't necessarily a championship. Those are very hard to come by in the NBA. For me, the ending that will justify the last three years is the Wizards becoming a consistent upper echelon team in the NBA. defining that further, you know, beginning hopefully no later than say the 2027, 2028 season,

which isn't this upcoming season, but would be the year after. Not next year, although I do think they could start to win enough games to qualify for the postseason in this upcoming season. A lot of that will be contingent on, you know, the Anthony Davis situation. A, is he on the team? B, is he healthy enough to play enough games? But, you know, the definition for me would be the Wizards becoming a team that consistently finishes in, say, the top four to five of the Eastern Conference over a period of several years, like five plus years, that would have to be. And they make a deep run, you know, occasionally during that stretch of several years. Of course, I would love that run to include a finals appearance or even a championship, but I've talked a lot about this league, you know, probably too much for some of you on this show over the years.

And I've mentioned that if you don't have a top five true elite superstar player, you're not going to win a title. That's what it takes. You have to have one of those true superstar players. and they're hard to come by. Even going through this process, there's no guarantee. And we knew that from the beginning. I knew it from the beginning that there was no guarantee they would land on that player.

I don't think they've landed on that player yet after three years. Maybe yesterday will produce that player in June. The odds are it won't. I want a championship as the way to justify the three years of tanking, but I'm realistic. If the Wizards become an upper echelon NBA franchise with consistent 45 to 50 plus win seasons, they haven't won 50 or more since 1979, they're in the playoffs every year. And I'm not talking about the play-in. I'm talking about qualifying as a top 16.

And they're legitimately putting teams out there that are good enough to win playoff series, you know, and occasionally go on a deep run, maybe two. That would justify the last three years. Getting the number one pick in 2026 is not an end to anything. I think the definition of these last three years in terms of what the end result would be to really justify the three years, you know, with results, would be for them to develop into a team that over a five-plus year period, You know, they're winning 45, 50 plus games a year. They're finishing, you know, regularly in the top four, no worse than the top five in the conference.

They're playing in the postseason. They're relevant this time of year. You know, they're in one of these two Eastern Conference finals, Eastern Conference semifinal series, you know, multiple times. And if they land on that superstar player or enough good players, they make a run. to the Eastern Conference Finals or to the NBA Finals. It's so hard to win an NBA championship. So hard. I mean, what Detroit did, what Oklahoma City did,

Detroit hasn't done what Oklahoma City's done, obviously. But what Detroit's doing right now with Cade Cunningham, who is arguably, you know, pushing that top five area. But I want to see something like that from the Wizards, you know, where there are one seed, you know, a one year. Maybe they're top three seed. Maybe it's a four year period before they're a one seed, but they start six, and then they're a four, and then there are two, and then they're a one. And maybe it's after 57, 58 wins, something crazy like that during the regular season,

isn't always necessarily reflective of what you'll be in the postseason. But we're not there yet. Yesterday was a good thing, but it wasn't an end. The team has done the first, part of this thing well. Okay, the first part of this process, they've done well. You cannot argue with the fact that over the last three years, what they set out to do, they've done pretty damn well. They've used their terrible win-loss records of a three-year period to accumulate young talent and lots of draft picks. On the roster currently, they have seven players who were picked in the first round of the last three drafts. Seven first round players from three straight drafts.

They'll obviously add to that in this upcoming draft. Over the next seven drafts, they have eight first round picks and 12 second round picks. A lot of flexibility. They've used other picks during this three-year period to acquire along with players to acquire assets that turned into other assets like Anthony Davis and Trey Young. This is the first draft where the lottery has gone their way. This is really the beginning of part two next season will be. The end of part one, the accumulation of young

players, many of them, and lots of picks. That'll conclude with this 2026 draft. And then it's like part, the next part starts. You know, they got the draft lottery yesterday finally to go their way. It would have been better had it gone their way last year, much better. It would have been much better for them to pick fourth, which was the worst they could do, or fifth would have been the worst they could do in this draft. It would have been much worse for them to pick the worst, at the worst possible slot this year, but to have ascended to number one last year with Cooper flag.

at the top of that draft. I think that's true. It may prove out over the course of time that A.J. DeBonsa or Darren Peterson or somebody else ends up being the true star of the last few draft classes. But right now as we sit, I'd rather have Cooper flag and send Tray Johnson back, although I think Tray Johnson's a very good player.

Don't get me wrong. And be picking fourth or fifth in the upcoming draft. You know, they got a decent spot in the 2024 draft. They weren't totally unlucky in that draft, but it wasn't a great draft the way it's looking right now. Although I think SAR was definitely at this point a better selection than Rishachet, the number one picked by Atlanta. But this was the first part of it. They have now 13 players on the roster that are 24 or younger, 24 years of age or younger. Now the next part comes with assessing whether or not,

they've used all these picks and they've used this roster flexibility to get the right players on their team. Did they select the right players? That's a TBD at this point. Now, I think there are some intriguing pieces among all of the young players and in particular, you know, the seven first rounders that are on the team over the last three drafts. I think SARS got a pretty interesting upside, a potential All-Star upside. I think Kishon George and Trey Johnson and Will Riley in particular for me are potentially really good players. Do I think the superstar top five elite player exists on their roster right now? I don't. Not among the young players, but I think there are some future all-stars among the young group that they've assembled. I think the best chance

of a true elite impact player on the roster is 33-year-old Anthony Davis. But there's one more piece to throw into that mix, and that's the piece they add at number one in the upcoming draft. Of course, they could trade the pick because this draft does not have a consensus number one, like flag last year, like Wembe in 23, or like Zion Williamson and 19. Those are kind of the last three drafts where there was an obvious consensus number one. But this draft is considered very deep

and so a tradeback would be an interesting possibility. I don't think they'll trade the pick. I think they'll stay put and take somebody. And AJ DeBonsa from BYU and Darren Peterson from Kansas seem like you know the top two choices

at this point. A lot of time between now and the draft. And it's not going to shock me if there's a surprise. You know, like if Caleb Wilson emerged as really the player that teams really wanted, or even a Darius A Cuff Jr. I'm a big fan of Darius A Cuff Jr. I think I said after his first round tournament game, or maybe late in the season, I think it may have been that game that they played with Alabama that was like two overtimes. I think he went for 49 in that game. I think I came in the next day and said, I think that's the guy that should go number one. Now, he is fully formed

physically. He is a man already. Now he's not big. Six-three, six two and a half, something like that, and does not defend. I'll give you my thoughts on the players in this draft coming up. But let me just emphasize again off of Will's email. I'm sorry, Yale's email to me. Yesterday wasn't the end of anything. The means have not been justified yet. I believe, even what they've been doing. I totally believe in what they've been doing. But it is possible that in five, six years, that I'll look back and say, yes, there was justification for doing what they did, but it wasn't because of the way it ended. There's never been a guarantee with this process that there would be great success at the end of it, or even the success that I defined

as justification or an end that would clearly justify the means. I personally think the process itself and the idea of doing what they're doing is justifiable. But it didn't mean that they would do it the right way and they would pick the right players and then they would develop the right players. They could ultimately prove out to have been great at this first part. You know, the accumulation of young talent and lots of picks. But they could also fail on the picking of the players and or the development of the players. Time will tell on that one.

But that time is not now. Anybody raising their arms in a V and congratulating themselves on being a supporter of the tanking of the last three years because the team got the number one pick in this draft is a dummy. Because it's not over. That's just dumb. I'm a supporter of what they've been doing, Yale, but what they're doing isn't anywhere near a point in which I can say the ends have justified the means. We're nowhere near the ends yet. That'll come when we see if it produces success and results that are, you know, justifiable.

And that's a subjective thing. you what my overall definition of success would be. Yesterday wasn't the end of anything. The means have not been justified yet. The process is justifiable. It is. But, you know, there's a chance. We look back on this thing a few years down the road and say, yeah, I like that they went through that process. It was smart to go that route, especially with this franchise, even though it didn't end well. As of today, for me, as of today, and this is subject to change as I do more, you know, kind of film watching. I mean, I didn't watch as much college basketball this past season as I typically watch. I watch towards the end of the season and I watched the entire tournament.

I thought the tournament was excellent. I did watch during the course of the season, some of the big matchups between players and teams like BYU at Kansas when DeBonsa went head to head with Darren Peterson. Darren Peterson played in that game, but then took himself out early in the second half. They had a big lead. Kansas did at the time. BYU made a run. He never came off the bench and came back into the game. Kansas held on for an eight-point win.

But as of today, based on what I watch this year, there are. four players, four, that I would consider as worthy of number one overall in this draft. Now, I think there are more than four players that I like. There's a player from Arizona, Co-of-Pete, that I've liked every single time I've watched him, including in the tournament. And I think that his, you know, projection of somewhere between 15 and 20 seems incredibly low. Like, I would have thought he would have been an easy lottery pick, easy top 10. 10 pick, but he's not worthy of number one overall. There are players that I like that I'm not going to mention.

Here are the four, and this is just based on the way they played in college. This has nothing to do with any of the personality stuff. I am a little bit concerned about Darren Peterson's missed games, you know, during his one year in college. I came in here the day after he sat for that game against Arizona, number one, at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, one of the heavyweight matchups of the year, and he pulled himself from that game 20 minutes before tip.

That was a red flag for me. Now, there's been a lot of explanations about why the cramps happen. There was this creatine story that he overtook creatine at one point. He was in the hospital at one point, felt like he was dying. There could be a lot of reasons why. But in the moment, I know how I felt, and a lot of people felt. and Kansas was frustrated. I don't think Kansas handled the situation well at all.

We've talked about that. I think they would have been much better off coming out and saying, look, this guy had an incident with serious cramping that put him in the hospital, and he's concerned and we're concerned. And until we get to the bottom of why these cramps are happening, you know, this could be the process with him. It has nothing to do with load managing. It has nothing to do with the people.

around him convincing him not to play and not to risk anything in college. They didn't do that, though. They kept the mystery rolling along all season long. Now we've seen articles, now we've seen columns, now we've seen stories, now we've seen reports. But I'm a little concerned about Darren Peterson and the Miss Games, but that's not what I'm giving you right now with the four players that I think are deserving of number one. It's simply based on watching the players when they played.

So here are the four players that I like the most in this draft. In no order, in no particular order. I'll order them as put them in order as we get closer to the draft. A.J. DeBonsa is one of the four. Darren Peterson is one of the four. Caleb Wilson is one of the four and Darius A. Cuff Jr. is one of the four. I like DeBonsa because I see a guy that is six, nine, 19 years old. And by the way, never sat.

Competed his ass off, played 40 minutes a game like five times, had 35 in that tournament lost to Texas in the first round, played all 40 minutes in that game. This guy is a guy that clearly loves basketball. He has, I think, you know, incredible sort of wingspan height. I think he's going to develop into a very good score. He was a great score in college. He looks like a great scorer at the NBA level. I think it's always hard with 19, 20-year-olds that are not physically mature yet to really,

and by the way, weren't asked necessarily to defend at the college level to see what they'll be as a defender. But A.J. DeBonsa looks like, you know, a long-wing span wing player that's going to be a big-time scorer. and maybe he'll end up being a big-time defender as well. Who knows? He sees the floor, he feels the game. You know, when he puts it on the floor, it's a good handle. He can finish around the rim. Those long arms and his, you know, first step are pretty explosive.

The comparisons to Kevin Durant, I don't know if they're the right comparisons. Kevin Durant's nearly seven feet. DeBonce is like 6'9, but the style of play isn't that dissimilar. I like DeBanza a lot. Darren Peterson, I mean, separating all the personal stuff, he's just one of the most effortless looking scores, high-level scores. I think I've ever watched at the college level. Now, I'm not blown away by Darren Peterson, the player.

I'm blown away by his methodical, smooth, effortless style. It's very unique. You know, it is, you know, I've made this comparison many times. It's Damar DeRosen. It's, you know, it's Kauai Leonard. It's SGA. It's just a guy that is like, look, I'm 6'6. I can get to my spot with my handle.

I'm able to create space. I'm at 6.6 against smaller guys, I can shoot over him. I can drive by. I can finish at the rim. I actually really like him as a defender. He's very good off the ball, has great anticipation sort of skill talent, because he had four steals and that lost to four block shots against Kansas, against, I'm sorry, St. John's in the game they lost in the second round. But there were several games where he just had real easy off ball passing lane, jumping and passing lane steals. there's something about him when you watch.

You're like, ooh, that would be fun to see develop. It's not super explosive. He can certainly finish and he can dunk on people at the rim. But it's not like, you know, again, it's methodical. John Wall said the same thing to me the other day. He described it the same way I've described him. It's a unique style when you see styles like this. basketball. I do like, and I'm very intrigued with Darren Peterson as a player. I don't know

that I see a top five transcendent star, but there's something that's really interesting, and he's fun to watch play. Caleb Wilson is really, really interesting because he's 6'10. He looks like he's still growing. He's long. Look, he got injured at the end of the year, missed the final month of North Carolina season, including their tournament loss to VCU. But this is a guy with athleticism, with length, can do it on both ends, rebounder score. There's a lot that looks like, you know, a 610, 3 or 4 that could end up being physically dominant in the NBA. There are a lot of people that like Caleb Wilson more than anybody else.

I like him just as much as these players that I'm. I'm mentioning. And then for me, A-Cuff Jr. is at 6-2-5, you know, and I don't know if he's going to grow anymore, but he's already physically a man. And he looks like Damian Lillard to me. He looks like a guy that in four, five, six years is going to be among the league's leading scorers at 26, 27, 28 points a game. I don't know how that doesn't happen with him. That just seems like it should happen with him, that he'll end up being a great score. All right. Randolph Childress coming up, but, but there was NFL schedule news today. Lots of it. You know, the schedule comes out Thursday night. We'll have the full-fledged

entire NFL schedule Thursday night, but games were going to leak out this week, and we've already had several of them, not leakout, but actually been announced. Early this morning, it was announced that the Cowboys by NBC, the Cowboys are going to open up their NFL season on Sunday night football, September 13th, the first NBC Sunday night game, Dallas in the Meadowlands, against the Giants. That makes six out of the last seven years that the Cowboys have opened up in prime time. They opened up against the Eagles last year in the kickoff game against the defending champions. In 23, they opened up in the Meadowlands against the Giants on Sunday night football. They opened up on Sunday night football in 22 at Tampa Bay. They opened up in 21 in the first game

of the year, Thursday night, the kickoff game with Tampa Bay is the defending champions. And they opened up with the Rams in 2020 on Sunday night football at SoFi. six out of the last seven years, the Cowboys in prime time. It's actually seven out of the last 10 years. And this will be the third time in the last 10 years that they have faced the Giants on Sunday night football to open up the season. And they have done it, I think, another two or three times prior to the last 10 years. So that was one game that was announced today. the Cowboys at the Giants Sunday night football.

That means for week one, we know that the Seahawks are going to open up on Wednesday night, but that the 49ers and Rams will play in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday night, September 9th, and that the Cowboys and the Giants will play Sunday night football. Now, here's another official announcement from the NFL. It's a Thanksgiving Day game. Ready for this? Philly at Dallas on Thanksgiving Day. So Washington's one obvious spot for Thanksgiving Day, not in play.

They could still play on Christmas Day. They could still play on Thanksgiving Eve. They could still play on Christmas Eve. But right now, unless they end up being in the night game on Thanksgiving night again, against, you know, neither Detroit or Dallas, then they probably won't be on Thanksgiving Day. So Philly at Dallas on Thanksgiving Day in the afternoon game. So those are the two games that got released. There were rumors over the weekend.

It looks like, I don't know if I'm going to be right about this, but there were some reports that Washington's London game is going to be on October 4th. That's actually the date that I put on my mock. I had them hosting Indianapolis in London on October 4th, followed by a bye week. Some of you have reached out, including I know I read this email the other day on the show, and I forget who it was from, but anyway, the suggestion that they could go back to back in London, hosting somebody, and then playing Jacksonville the following week, sure, that's in play. It's not what I mocked, but that certainly would make some sense.

Minnesota played two games in Europe last season, stayed over there for two and a half weeks or whatever it was playing Pittsburgh in Dublin, and then they played Cleveland in London. But yeah, so nothing specific to Washington's schedule announced by the league. There are a couple of other rumors out there, but a lot of these don't come to fruition. The official announcements in the league's dropping a few games a day. A couple today so far, the Giants Cowboys, Sunday night opener, and the Eagles at the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. We'll get some more tomorrow, maybe even another one tonight, I don't know.

And then on Wednesday, the plan is for the league to announce all of its international games. So we'll know on Wednesday one of Washington's games, maybe two, if they're in two international games. You know, there's this Twitter account that I follow. The guy's name is NFL nerd. He's a big schedule guy. He just put out, again, I don't know if this is true.

This is not an announcement from the league that the Lions and Bills are a week two Thursday night game, Lions at Bills. But we'll see. As far as, you know, what's officially out there. We know about the Melbourne game and we know about Seattle opening up, you know, on Wednesday night.

We don't know against two. And now we know Dallas. We know two of Dallas's games against the Giants, week one Sunday night football and at home against Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Day. So, all right.

I want to get to Randolph Childress. He'll join me next. I did want to mention real quickly the NBA playoffs from over the weekend. The Knicks are awesome. right now. That was the right matchup for them clearly. I mean, what they did to the Sixers in Philadelphia obscene the way they shot the basketball yesterday, 25 of 44 from behind the arc. Are you kidding me? I think they're going to have a much tougher time against Detroit. I hope it's Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals. But the series that everybody should be watching, you know, if you're

just a sports fan, is Minnesota San Antonio. Victor Wenbinoa last. night threw an elbow that connected with Nas Reid. It was intentional. It was a flagrant two. He got tossed. He will not be suspended from the next game. But the Timberwolves evened up that series. This is the most physical brand of basketball in a series that I've seen in a long time. This isn't just playoff basketball. This is at times tackle football. And they're being allowed to play that way. I actually really enjoy it. I love the physical nature of the postseason anyway, but this Minnesota team is so nasty, and San Antonio's given it right back to him. I mean, there is so much contact. It's amazing some of the contact that they've allowed

without blowing a whistle. It's not your run-of-the-mill, you know, hey, this is playoff basketball, and the physicality, the allowed contact, you know, is heightened. No, this is like straight Pistons, you know, bulls from the late 80s into the 90s. You know, Pistons Celtics. It is rough and it is fun to watch. All right, Randolph Childress next. And I will play what John Wall would do

with the number one pick in the final segment of the show. We'll get to all of that and more after these words from a few of our sponsors. I'll be honest. At first, I was skeptical about ordering plants online, like, is this thing actually going to show up alive? But that's what surprised me most about fast-growing trees. They don't just ship plants. They've built a whole system to protect them until they arrive at your door. Every plant is hand-picked and carefully inspected, and the packaging is designed specifically to keep its

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credit score. Results may vary. See chime.com for details and applicable terms. Quick favor to ask. I know I ask it all the time, but for those of you who have not rated or reviewed this podcast. If you could spare a few seconds to do it, it would be much appreciated. That's all it takes to click on the star count on Apple and Spotify. Five stars is the best. It's what would help us out the most. You can write a quick review on Apple as well. But ratings and reviews really are, along with the number of people that listen to this podcast, they are the lifeblood of these podcasts. So if you don't mind doing it, if you haven't done it, it would be much appreciated.

If you did, also following the podcast, that's really easy to do as well. Just hit the plus button or the follow button on Apple and Spotify or wherever you're listening to this podcast. And just a reminder as well, if there's ever an issue in getting the podcast, you can always go to the Kevin Sheehan Show.com. That's where it goes up first every day. I listen to it primarily when I check out to make sure everything's okay. I listen to it on Apple and Spotify, but I know that it's always there at the Kevin Sheehan Show.com. We've left that website up as a way for you guys to communicate to us through emailing the show, but also as a way to distribute the podcast.

And I know over the last couple of weeks, there have been a couple of nights where the podcast was slow getting out on Apple in particular. Just remember, it's always there on the website at the Kevin Sheehan Show.com. All right. Joining me right now is Randolph Childress. Randolph was an unbelievable college basketball player at Wake Forest in the 90s, played in the NBA for four or five years, was the 19th pick in the first round of the 1995 draft.

That was the draft where Maryland's Joe Smith went number one. overall. Randolph's been calling games and doing a lot of college basketball work for ESPN over the last couple of years, and I love having him on the show. His insight has been great when we've had him on previously. On X at R22 Childress, give him a follow. So let's start with this. Are you a believer like many are that there's not really a consensus number one? Or is there a player that you actually like as a consensus number one? I think it's going to be one or two players. I think it's going to be AJ DeBonzo.

It's going to be Darienpison, and I probably would think for the way the team is constructed right now, it's probably to be A.J. DeBonsonza being the number one pick, and, you know, already having Tray Young and Anthony Davis there and both, I think they will probably be leaning in there. But, again, I think they're going to do more homework and do a bit of a deeper dive in some of the issues of concerns. that we've heard about with Darren Pee's. Did you call any of the games involving either one of those two players this year?

No, no. I've mostly ACC games, right? Yeah, I've been at events where they've been in the tournament. I was there, so I've watched them in person. I think they, I don't think they can go wrong with either pick. I'm happy for the organization. I think you get some luck from time to time. You know, they have the number one pick when they take an Alexar,

who's more of a defensive player. I think he's rounding in the shape. keeps getting better and better. And now you get the number one pick in this year's draft with the veterans that you've accumulated and trained this off season. I think you should be excited if you're a Washington-Witness fan because I think there's the playoff from more of a realistic opportunity now. So you, like a lot of people, think that number one will come from the small group of

either DeBonza or Peterson. But is there another player, Randolph, that you really, really like? Like if I told you that actually, you know, six weeks from tomorrow night, it was another player, not one of those two players that got picked number one overall. Who do you think that player or from a group of players it would be? I like the next two. I like Canbooz and I like Caleb Wilson. I think Camboos people have been very negative about the athleticism and finding ways to denigrate his game where all he does is win. And it has to be some value you win that.

And ultimately, that's why you play the sport. He's won everywhere he's been. And I can tell you one thing, he was the most dominant player in college basketball a year ago. And I don't think that was debatable. There were a lot of good talent. Everyone talks about the depth of how much quality he's in this draft. Hambuza was the most dominant player in college basketball a year ago.

And so he's won everywhere. You're talking four state high school championships, three EYVL championships. and you're talking about a final four. I know it's disappointing that the way they lost late. I'm sorry, I delete eight. They lost the Yukon in the final four. I'm sorry, but to lose a game like that they very easily could have won.

Yeah, should have been in the final four with an opportunity to win. It just shows you that all they do is win. And it has to be flashy. They just win. And there's a lot of players that have had a lot of, you know, that had a lot of success and won a lot of basketball games, not being very flashy. I'm big on Camboozer, and again, for those reasons,

for an organization that has struggled lately with just doing that, and that's winning games. So I am a big fan of his, and I'm also a big fan like Cato Wilson. I've seen him called his games. I think he can be a really elite defensive player in that league. I don't know, again, because of that, I spoke of the other two guys, meaning during Peterson and AJ DeBonza,

because I think you have sides of the Wizards, you know, and their frontline guys. I don't know if you're going to peer him up with an Anthony Davis, with Caleb Wilson kind of falls into that 610, 611 athletic guy that you already have. But I think his upside is there. It's not a great jump shooter, but his mechanics are fine. I think that part of his game is coming. Does everything else well, handles it, passes it. And again, he's probably the most versatile defender of those top prospects.

On Boozer, like if you were the GM and you're picking number one, are you picking the guy with the biggest ceiling? Or does that matter to you? Because, you know, Boozer has been described, and I don't know that this is such a harsh critique, but he's been described as having a super high floor, but not as high of a ceiling as some of those other players. you believe that, and is that important to you if you're picking number one overall,

trying to find the next true superstar in the game? I understand it. I don't agree with it, but I understand it. I think something has to be said with winning, and I think there's a lot of players in the history of the sport who get undervalue because they're not sexy in the sense of their athleticism. And one of my closest friends, I think, is, I say in the all of the time, time great list. I think he drops only because he's not flashy. And I'm talking about my former

teammate in Tim Duncan. I think he's a guy. He's not flashing. And again, I'm not saying Cam Boozer is him, but I'm speaking of just the lack of athletic. The same things that you would say then about Kim and that aspect of some of the things he would say about him in a sense of he's not an athletic guy. You know, if you were taking making comparisons, and I would go back to that time frame with Tim, you would say Caleb Wilson is more like a Kevin Garnett and Boozer's more like a Duncan. Interesting.

How are you from the athleticism of their games? Not their games, but in athleticism and measurable and all those types of things and how they play the game. That would be the comp. And so that's what I mean when I say

winning matters and that's all Tim Boozer is ever done is one. So if you're looking for style points and the wow factor and things of that nature, then you're probably going to, you look at Caleb Wilson and say that. But I, there's no refuting who was the best and most dominant player in college basketball a year ago, and that was San Booze. I totally agree with that. I think one of the things that I think about when I watched Boozer this year, and I ended up in my own mind using Tyler Hansbrough as a, as a cop. And you may think that that's harsh, even though Hansbro was the best player in the college game.

I mean, he was hands down the best player in college basketball, but there was something about Hansbrough at the college level that I think is similar to what I saw with Boozer, and that is they couldn't finish consistently in the paint. And if you can't do that at the college level, how do you do it at the NBA level? You'd have to remind me, I mean, I watched all of Duncan's games or a lot of them, but you played with him. I don't remember Duncan having that issue in college. Well, I think he was a little bit more polished with his back to the basket. Fair.

I think some of the problems that Cam Bozer had is, I don't think this is one of the more talented teams that Duke has had. Okay. I thought he was that dominant. And he gets fun. When you take into consideration of what he did, he followed up Cooper's flag, because that Duke team a year ago was legit. I mean, it was special in a sense.

It was an elite. That team was elite defensively on all three levels. It had a shooting. It had, you know, it had all the size. It had the rim protection of Malawash. When you flipped that to this year, I mean, that team, Convinnipple was the second guy offensively. And we saw what type of season he had as a rookie.

He and Cooper Flagg were basically rookies of the year. Duke this year struggled to find a second guy. There was no consistent second score. And when you look at their three losses on the year, they were all losses where I don't blame Cambusa for that. I think I blame guard play. More importantly, I blame point guard play in a sense of that. They were up 15 points on all of their losses,

going back to even Houston a year ago. Right. So they've been up big in these games. They just couldn't close games at it. the bias in me as guards. I'll look for guards to help do that in closed games. But again, I think the responsibility that he had was so much. And I think he wore down at times.

But I think he can finish. He shoots it better than people give him credit for. I think he had so much on his plate at Duke, unlike teams that they had in the past. And I thought he had a heck of a year, and I thought he had a great year. And, you know, there are times he had struggled. finishing at the rim. But I think if you were to analyze all of these draft picks, you're going to find something about him that all of these guys where they struggled.

You're going to say, A.H.A. Devazer doesn't shoot it great. His shot selection isn't great. We all know the things about Darren Peace. And when it comes to the guards of Darius Aeth, as dynamic as he is, his size. And you've heard some of the defensive complaints about him. And Caleb Wilson, you know, will he be able, what's his range? Like, will he be able to consistently find that? And that's why I say for an organization like the Wizards right now, you have to win.

You know, you're fortunate enough, you had the Alexar pick at number one. You've got your guys back. You've had the offseason. The reward for taking, you've been rewarded for it. You get the number one pick and you get to add a piece to that group that you have, hoping that those guys can be healthy, you know, with Tray Young and Anthony Davis. and you got a chance to get one of those two players, I think, who has the highest ceiling because you don't have to put the entire franchise on their back.

There's enough talent and great players there to make the game easier for them, provided they stay healthy. If not, then you're going to find a rookie in the same situation where Cooper Flagg was in this year with the man. You know, you just brought up a player that I love Darius A Cup, Jr. me, I've been saying for the last two months, I know he's not interested in guarding anybody. I understand that. I can see that. But he looks like Damian Lillard as a score. But you know what? Actually, there's some comparisons to you as a college score. I mean, I'm guessing you're both around the same size. Now, he's physically mature, don't you think, as a college player? I think he is. Yeah. But in terms of being

a score at that point guard position and just being really lethal as a score. There's some comparisons to you in college. He's far more physically ready. Yeah, right. I mean, he is a grown man, his body, he's ready. I think this when it comes to Derek Jacob, my only concern is just the measureable. I don't have the worries that everyone else has. my only concern is legitimate size with guys.

And it's not just him. I've said that when we get past the fourth pick, that's what I'm wondering. I think the size and the measurables of these guys are going to matter when you start talking about Darius Aikoff and Kingston Fleming and Mike Hill Brown Jr. And Keegan Wagler, I think you're going to, you want to look at and go, all right, is Wagner legitimately six-six? because if he's a legit 6-6 and you feel comfortable that he can be a point guard, that's different.

And then what happens if there is A-cup checkout? I mean, he's 6-1-5. Is it, you know, and those things matter, and that's the only thing that I worry about. I question what these guys is when you get them in the combine and you get their legit measurable, we've seen them play, there are no questions, no doubt about these guys' ability. And I agree with you. I think physically he's ready. The physicality, I think that's what separates Darry's A-Cuff over the other guards.

I think the, you know, the Wogglars, Mike Hill-Brown, and Kingston Fleming will have more time adjusting to the physicality than he will. Yeah, like in watching A-Cuff score at the college level, he looks like a guy that five years from now is going to be a 26-27-point-a-night guy, to me. Does he look that to you? I know he can be like a maxi kid just coming in right there and giving the right opportunity and you're going to look up and he's going to be there's no doubt of my mind he can average 20 points of game and play provided given the opportunity uh you know when you're putting the ball in his hands and allowing him to play and so much of that depends on the situation where these guys are getting drafted to it obviously who's there but i'm a big fan of here i think he's

he's going to be a stud i mean the depth of this draft and and like i said all those guys I'm a big Kingston Fleming fan, a huge Mikel-Brown fan. You know, I'm excited to see just like these teams. I think if you're a team and you're kicking the tires on all these guys, you want to lay eyes on them, you want to see their actual measurables because I think that'll start when people start finalizing their boards of where they are. I think that's going to be a big part of what they're looking for. It's a really good point.

I think a lot of the interview stuff, a lot of the dudes, diligent stuff between now and the draft will be super critical, and I don't think any more so than with a player like Darren Peterson. So let's end our draft talk with your thoughts on Peterson and what would concern you, if anything? I think once my doctor signed off on everything, I think I'd be okay with it. I thought that situation was poorly managed by everybody involved. Yeah. Kansas, his family, and how everybody put the information out. And I think it's, you, the storyline was that you allowed the media and people in the media to come up with their own perception and just storyline.

And it took way too long to come out. I think that's, imagine what would have happened if they had come out of just that, hey, he was hospitalized. And we're trying to figure out why. Exactly. Cramping. Exactly. If you just say that. Right.

The narrative completely changes, and we don't have this sour face in our mouth about or these concerns about who he is and questioning of character and everything about his family. I think that's on everybody involved, you know, no matter what was going on, I just thought that was just poorly handled. And I think that's what's hurting that young man right now. And family-wise, you can imagine. I posed this to someone early when I said this about him. If that was our son, if that was your son or my son and he was going through something, it's this. close to being what he has become, how would we have handled it? Yeah, I think that there was an honesty opportunity, you know, for the school and for everybody

around him. And they turned it into a bigger mystery than maybe it needed to be. But there's still a lot, there's still a lot going on. But we don't know for sure. I mean, the creatine story came out the other day. We know that he was hospitalized in September with terrible cramping from dehydration. He felt like he was in a hospital room, thought he might die. I mean, there's a, you know, he may have been truly, I mean, that may have been a traumatic event that he had to deal with the entire year. Who knows? Let me ask you about his game, though. He's got a very unique game. Like, it's very methodical. It's very patient. What is he at the next level? If everything checks out, Dr. Wise and everything else,

is he a superstar? Are you, does he have the same opportunity to become a future top five, you know, perennial All-Star, top five-ish kind of a player in the NBA is DeBonce or any of the other players do? Absolutely he is. Absolutely he is. Because you're talking about a six-six guy with the flexibility in game-wise where he can be your queen. He can be your, and at that size, he can be awful. But if you put that guy and you put the ball in his hands at that position,

I think it changes things. And he still has some growth he has to do as a point guard. But he can flat out score at an efficient level. And he still shot over 30% from behind a three-point line this past year. With him just being in and out of the lineup, I don't think we see, you know, even him averaging 20 points of game last year, we didn't see his best basketball. We didn't see the best version of that.

him. If you saw him prior to that, he was challenging Camboza for the best player. That was the conversation that he was in and we all know how dominant Camboosa is. And so that was the only thing I think that hurt him

is that I felt bad as a fan not being able to see the player that as good as he was. Again, he was still really, really good when he was out. But we never saw him reach his full potential. And I think if he gets to the right situation, the right organization, he'll be able to do that.

But he can be a really efficient score at his size. I mean, he just does it. He makes it look really, really easy because he can score it at every level. He can get his shot off against anybody. There's just not a lot of guys at that size and can do, play the game the way he plays, and you can't speed him up. He just controls the pace of the game, how he wants to play. He's a really gifted score and a really gifted player.

I think it's, again, I'm excited for him. I always hope for everyone they go to the right situation, but for him, he has the game where it doesn't matter. He's going to be an efficient score provided, obviously. I think the NBA teams will be fine. They'll get all the medical things checked out and get him everything, but he is a dynamic, terrific, exciting player. What is it about guys like him, Randolph,

that, you know, the DeMar DeRosons, the SGAs, the Kauai Lenards, the guys that are just so incredibly methodical, patient, like they never get sped up. It's impossible to speed them up. There's a 24-second shot clock. They play like there's like no shot clock, and they're able to get to their spots. They're able to score. I don't know what it is about those style of players that I love watching, because most players aren't that way.

But why are they effective playing that way? Because you can't teach it. Right? You can't teach that. And then when you're playing against that, it's like playing against a really, really smart chess player. And that's how these guys, those guys you just mentioned, it's how they play the game.

The high IQ, and they know that you just can't speed them up. And it's a great analogy on your part saying those names because that's true. And that's how these guys approach it. and he will be no different. He's just going to be an efficient effective score when he gets out there. He's going to know, hey, you want to do this? Okay, you can take this away. I can do that.

That's what makes him so special. It's like a lot of guys, you can say, hey, he wants to do this. We've got to take this away. And if we do, he'll struggle. He has the talent that, what are he going to take away? You can't take it all the way. He can create his own shot. At 6'6, he's going to elevate over smaller guards to get his shot off.

He's crafty enough with the ball. he plays in ball screens he plays off screens he's just comfortable with the without the ball he's a plug and play guy whatever opportunity they present himself hey you got a dominant ball handler if the wizard's one to put him alongside of trey young okay put the balls in his hands and allow tray young to play off the ball they can do that as well and get them in their office so uh he he is he's a really really time of player that i'm pretty sure the wizards will do their homework on and find everything I think if he checks all the box, he would very well be in play for the number one pick.

I think it's those three guys that they're really spending the most of their time looking at is AJ and Darren Peterson and Campbell's. All right, since you're here and I know you're watching the NBA playoffs, so I want to ask you some questions about that as well. We'll do that with Randolph Childress right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This time of the year always makes me rethink what's in my closet. I'm trying to keep fewer things, but better ones, pieces that are well made and easy to wear all the time. That's why I keep coming back to quince. The fabrics feel elevated, the fits are thoughtful,

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we were thinking they were a couple of years away. I think they're here now. I think their time is coming now. I think they're here sooner than we think they are. because we're witnessing when Cooper Flagg came out a year ago we heard people saying that he's a

generational talent. I think he's a really good player. I think he'll be a great player. Wimby is a generational talent and we're seeing what he's doing. We're seeing the impact that he has I know what happened last night. We know with the elbow when the news came

out he won't be suspended but we saw the impact of what he has on the game when he's not in it. And it allowed Minnesota to kind of put their head down and put pressure on the rim. But when he's there and he will be game five, six, and seven, and I do think it'll go seven games. It's hard for me to imagine that San Antonio won't advance and play OKC in the Western

Conference finals. And they've had some success against OKC. So it's not a foregone conclusion. He's a great equalizer to what OKC does. And so I think that's what the Western Conference Finals looks like, and I think whoever comes out of that wins it. In the East, I think it's Detroit, I think Detroit beats Cleveland. I just think the inconsistencies of Cleveland,

the sense of James Harden and the way that he's played the game, and I think at times I think he catches up with them in that aspect. And I think it's unfair and far for guys, you know, we hold on to some of our aging superstars, you know, even like a LeBron with the Lakers and expecting them to turn back the clock at their age and they're greatness. And they're all-time greats, their Hall of Famers, but they're on the back end of their careers. And I think some of these young stars that we're talking about, you know, like SGA and OKC and

Wendy and these guys, I think their time is now. The Knicks, I have my concerns about the Knicks. I think that they just caught the perfect team. I think Philly was a bad matchup with their style of play, having Joel NB. playing and drop coverage with the guard play of the New York Knicks and the pick and probability that the Knicks had was just a bad matchup. So I wasn't surprised at that sweep and that the Philly went home.

So do you think Detroit could take out New York in the Eastern Conference finals? Because at this point, even though Detroit's the one-state, seed. I have a feeling Knicks would go into that series as the favorite, even though they wouldn't have the home court advantage with the way they're playing. Their way they're playing. No, I agree with you. I think the Knicks are playing their best basketball and they're confident right now.

They've got to get O'D other than Obly back. He needs to be healthy to play. Well, they're going to have plenty of time. Yeah, they got rest. They're going to need it. But they're talking hamstrings, so you hope it's not serious and that he can come back because if he doesn't come back, I think that it's a

it's a flood fest and then their length could be a problem but Detroit at times struggle to score and that hasn't always been the next issue and so it's dynamic in that aspect but I think the physicality in the way to Detroit

plays can give the Knicks some trouble and that's been part of it works you know that's there recently we're going on a lot about Katz I think Kat has an opportunity to kind of answer some bill let me answer the bill with some question marks about his toughness, because he has an opportunity to, I think, to elevate and change the

perception of how people think he is. You know how he's changed my perception this postseason is I always knew he could play, you know, you could play through him at the high post. He is a much better passer than I ever realized. And they're using him in a way in this particular postseason that I, I don't think they necessarily used him last year, even in the Indiana series. He's an exceptional passer. Do you agree?

I think he's a great pass, but I think that's the best way to use him. But what I think he's done better than he's done in years past is he's rebounded in a basketball at a really high level, and I think he's punishing Mitch-Maxes better than he ever had. My issue with him in the past was he could always come in. He's being active more of it, and I think it's smart because it's pulling. centers away from the rim and it's allowing to nick the guards to get downhill because he really shoots it well.

When you play against the big that shoots as well as he does, it dictates your coverage because you can't pick and pop with him. You can't, and we just found out through Philly with Joe L&B, you can't play in drop coverage. So you're going to have to have a scheme where you're in full rotation playing against

him. And when you switch, like that's the difference. It's when you switch. I saw, you know, when the ball the series. I mean, in the past, you know, when Boston teams were switching, they would put smaller guys on Joe L&B, he went inside. I think Katz starred to do things like that to say, hey, you want to switch and put the little guy on me, I'm going to get to my spot, elevate over this little guy, and change the way this series is going. So I think he's playing at a really

how level he's doing it. He's changing the narrative about his career. And I agree with you. I think it's the next. Finish up back where I started with this, because you answered the question, Timberwolves Spurs is the best series, which is the best series by far right now. I said this morning on radio, and I'm curious if you have had the same thought,

it's been years since I've seen a series this physical where the whistle isn't blowing, where they're letting them, they're literally letting them play with so much contact, so much contact on the perimeter. Like it's really difficult to advance the ball offensively because there's so much contact. And to me, it's a lot of fouling,

which, by the way, I don't mind. I'm actually enjoying that. I love the throwback to like the 80s and 90s pistons. But I can't remember a series. All four of these games, they are, physical beatdowns. I mean, it's football at times. Have you seen anything like this in a long time? I think this is what playoff basketball is like when you get to this point in the season. Like when you get to this round and you get to a point where you're starting to get to the conference

I remember I sat with Duncan last week and watching it and he was predicting the fight. He goes, people don't realize he goes, you get to a round of fourth game. That's what a fight to start. Yeah. You get to round three and four, now the fight starts, because now you've made the adjustments, you've been challenged. And you can just see it.

And so it was funny just talking with obviously, someone with his resume and history, kind of talking you through playoff series and what's happening, and then you see it happening in real time. That's what you see. This is what everybody's being shot. Like, look at the nerds if you're the Knicks.

I mean, you go back nationally. I think Stephen A. was ripping and Nick saying that they didn't beat, you know, boss in the first round. If they got swept, they were down, whatever it was. They should be fired. I mean, the narrative and so much media personalities behind all of these basketball games, change everything. Look at Cleveland. The narrative with them. It's like, you know, can James Hard never get your old hump?

Can Donovan Mitchell win? Like, when can they, you know, how deep can they get you? The citizens, you know, how bad they've been in recent time. And they've built this team on physicality and defense. And Minnesota's been right there in the Western Conference finals knocking at the door. And then, like I said, we're being told the Spurs have to wait their turn. They're like, uh-uh, I'll turn us now. We're not waiting next.

We got now. So there's a lot of storylines to play here. It's a lot of at stake. And you're seeing some physical playoff basketball. It's fun. I prefer this and all the flopping and some of the, you know, the acting and flopping that's been going on. and some of the series, in particular with OKC. The good thing is that in playing some of these other teams, when they do,

they still play with the level of physicality, even with their flopping. But again, the rest of the league is really playing some physical playoff basketball. It's fun of watching. I love this time of year because it is so different, but this particular series, and even the way Minnesota defended Denver in the first round, they are, they're up there in the last 10 years of the most physical defensive teams I've watched,

and it's not being officiated in a way that hurts them. They're benefiting from, you know, the refs pretty much letting these teams play. I lied, my last one is this. Like, who's going to win it? Do you think it's okay, C? Because I don't think anybody can beat them four out of seven. I don't think anybody can beat OKC. I do think the Spurs provide the biggest opportunity

because they have a unicorn. God, he's great. That gives everyone problems, and he changes the game. It's been a long time since we've seen a child like this, and you're talking about a person that affects the game. Oh, I don't think we've ever seen anything like him. No, no.

I mean, we just have it. and he's dominating the game defensively. He is completely changing the way. I mean, how many drives into the paint where it doesn't matter who it is, he's standing there and they'll just veer out, veer out of the lane and look to kick it back to somebody. He influences more shots than I think I've ever seen a big man influence.

You're going to see. You're going to see with him. they're going to be a quadruple double. It's going to be a quadruple double tracking more. Like we've had triple doubles. Yeah. I think you're going to see him in a series nearly average a quadruple double with block shots. Like that's how dominant I think he is and can be in a series.

And then on the other end, and this is what I mean. Now he's a seventh footer. Who are you going to guard? Who are you going to put on him? Because now the biggest thing of why Minnesota changes everything is because you have Rudy Gobert, and we know how good he is defensively, but now his ability, his strength is near the basket. He can't stay in there with Wendy.

He has to come on and guard him at the three-point line. Did you see what they did last night early on possessions? They used DeSumo against him. And I was wondering, like, you know, having a smaller guy where he's probably more afraid to put the ball on the ground maybe. what do you think that that was about? What was Finch doing using, you know, basically his point guard on Wembe? Those were not switches.

No. I think you're just trying to get up under him and use leverage and physicality. Yeah. And hoping that again, because I think if he decides to go inside, what you would do is if he rose inside, then you're going to have Gobert come over and guard him inside and then send, you know, I owe him on a week's side. And I think it's just a game plan that they have that, again, Minnesota is, I think, a really good physical defensive team.

And you're seeing some of execution at a really high level. And right now, that's the one thing you can see against women. That's the only weapon you can use is physicality, leverage of physicality. You're going to be shorter. You're going to have leverage. IEO is a really strong guard and really good defensive guard. He's been that way. I remember recruiting him when he was in college.

It was down to Wake Forest to Illinois, recruiting him. He got to chose a boy. So I know him very well. He's as tough as they come. That's just a fun matchup to watch. But again, to your point, I think OKC wins it in the end. But it's the wimby effect is real.

And what he does to that team and how you guard him, it's going to be interesting because I think they also are dictating matchups with him. And I think that affects, you know, how you play with Dary and Fox and Castle and the rest of their guards that they have in San Antonio with Johnson and Basel. They're just a, you know, just a really good team.

And I think, again, you know, he's the ex-fact of what can, you know, they match up really well with O.KC. They match up really well with them yet. And again, I think they feel as though their time is now. I think everybody feels as though O.K.C. is in the middle of a dining seat. but San Antonio Spurs is still real confident right now

but they got to get past Minnesota this is not a foregone conclusion to a team that's been to the Western Conference one of the best defensive teams in the NBA and that's the Minnesota Timberwolves they just got to hope and get healthy and feels healthy. At R-22

Childress on X Randolph's done a great job calling games in college all year long and follow them and I appreciate the time as always appreciate the insight. Any time. Appreciate the time.

Randolph Childress, everybody. Really enjoy his insight. Really, really smart and a good guy. Up next, what John Wall told me on Friday, on who he would pick number one overall in this draft, and also some rookie minicamp news, including an addition made to the roster after the minicamp weekend.

That and more to finish up. the show after these words from a few of our sponsors. So on Friday's show, John Wall joined me. That's like the third or fourth time I've had him on in the last year and a half. I really enjoy having him on. He is such a big basketball fan. He's become an excellent analyst on NBA TV and in other spots as well. So we talked to NBA playoffs.

And then we talked about him representing the wizard's yesterday at the draft lottery. And I went back to 2011, which was the last time he represented the organization at a draft lottery. That was following his rookie year. That was the year the Wizards ended up with number six overall and took Jan Vesely. And I asked him, I said, do you remember having a preference on who the team should take at number six? And he said, Clay Thompson. He He said, absolutely Clay Thompson. And I said, well, did you tell Ernie Grunfeld? And he said, no, I had just finished my rookie year.

I wasn't going to go into the general manager's office and tell him that I wanted Clay Thompson. But he went on to say that would have been one hell of a pairing him and Clay Thompson in a back court. And he's right. That was the draft that I, and Tommy loves to reference it, but it's true. I was a massive Kauai Leonard fan going into that draft. and I couldn't believe that he fell to 15. I wanted the Wizards to take him at number six. But the rest is history after Jan Vesely. The drafting during the Ernie Grunfeld years wasn't great. That's for sure. His trading outstanding during those years.

But anyway, John was on the show, and I asked him if the Wizards get number one overall, who would he pick? Here's what he said. if we get number one, who do you want? If we get number one, I love I love AJ the best and Darren Peterson. I think for the Wizards, for having Tray Young AD, I think Darren Peterson fits best next to that mode. So that's what I would take.

So John thinks between DeBonza and Peterson, he likes DeBonsa, but thinks that Peterson would be the best fit for the Wizards roster right now. My personal opinion is that the pick six weeks from tomorrow night shouldn't have anything to do with whether or not the player fits with the roster right now. When you have number one overall, you are trying to pick the player that has the best chance to become a future MVP of the league, four, five, six, seven years down the road, or at least an MVP contender. The odds are you won't get that player. I mean, we've seen that over the years that the first pick in the draft fails more than he succeeds. But that's the goal.

When you're picking that high in an NBA draft, you're not picking for next year and the fit. You're picking to try to find a future MVP. Anthony Davis and Trey Young are not going to be on the roster when the play. player they pick next month starts to really mature and evolve into if he becomes a superstar into that kind of a player. They'll be long gone more likely than not. So if they think Darius A. Cuff Jr., who is a six, two and a half point guard, is the best, you know, possibility for superstardom down the road, they should take him at number one. Or, you know, if they feel like they could trade back a spot or two and still get them, do that.

I am not into, you know, let's try to pick a player that fits into the Anthony Davis-Trey-Young mix next year and maybe the year after. Minicamp from over the weekend, the only piece of information, if you will, was Ben told me today on radio that, man, Sunny Stiles really looks the part and looks different at linebacker. The reason he looks different at linebacker is he's 6'5. He's taller than most linebackers, you know, and especially offball linebackers. But, yeah, that was that was that. The team did bring back Antonio Hamilton Senior. Antonio Hamilton Senior has played for the team last year and played in a couple of games late in the year where he played pretty well against the Giants and even against the Eagles in the season finale.

I actually mentioned not that long ago out of the players that were unsigned that were on the roster last year, that Hamilton was a possibility to return because Quinn really liked him, liked them a lot. So there you go. That was basically it from minicamp. Yeah. All right. I think we're done. Back tomorrow with Tommy.