Wizards SHOULD draft Kon Knueppel at No. 6 | KOC Show

Wizards SHOULD draft Kon Knueppel at No. 6 | KOC Show

You’re a Wizards fan. They have the sixth pick and the 18th pick in the 2020 25 NBA draft. First, I want to ask you, how crushed were you lottery night? Um, I was really crushed and I actually thought back to a conversation that I had with you on this podcast near the end of the season. Um, the Wizards, it was game 82 and the Wizards won. And I joked with you like at the end of the day, it’s good basketball karma. If they slide to six, uh, such is life. I’ll gouge my I’ll gouge my eyes out. Something to that effect. And there I was on lottery. The reason I was joking with you is because it just never crossed my mind that the Wizards could be as crappy as they were all season long. and then get screwed the way they did on lottery day. I knew statistically that was a possibility, but in my gut I thought it was going to work out. And boy was that a mistake. Um, so we’re sitting at six. I did not really spend much time thinking about the sort of prospects who were going to be available at six because I spent the entire season thinking that the Wizards were going to be somewhere in the top three and that Ace Bailey versus VJ Edgecomb was my worst case scenario as a Wizards fan and that debate. Um alas, I’m going to have to look a tier or two below uh the top three guys. H it’s disappointing, man. Cooper. Cooper is a sure thing to be a good player. Um, you know, and he’s got a chance to be an amazing player for number one. Dylan Harper, uh, you know, depending on who you ask, some people say he’s a can’t miss prospect. Others say, well, we’ll see. We’ll see about Dylan Harper. Ace Bailey, very split on him. But I think, you know, from three to to 10, it’s it’s pretty flat. Like, I don’t obviously you’d rather be at three than at number six because you’d get to choose from more players. But I do think there’s a number of guys that are, you know, beauties in the eye of the beholder in this year’s draft class where at number six, a team might have the guy at number six ranked three on their board. So, is there anybody as you’ve assessed options at that sixth pick that you’re like, “Okay, I really like him for Washington in this spot. I think he could be a steal here.” Well, I need your help. You’re the draft expert and so I have not really put in the time crunched tape on someone like Trey Johnson. How should I feel about Trey Johnson as a as a candidate at number six? Well, I interviewed Trey Johnson last week here on this podcast if you want to learn about him as a person. Very funny, you know, very quick. Uh we had some good back and forths. I I like Trey. Uh I I was impressed when I kind of pushed him on some of his flaws, the at room finishing. Uh talked about the playmaking and and things of that nature. And you know, I think he has an understanding of who he is, what his strengths are, and what he needs to get better at. With Trey Johnson, I think he’d be a excellent pick at number six if he makes it there. I worry about the fit next to Jordan P. Uh Bub Carrington. I think like you might have too much of kind of a similar thing. Yeah. Back court. I’d look to move Jordan Pool immediately if I draft Trey Johnson. I would not want them together. I would want not want Trey Johnson learning bad habits from Jordan Pool. Even though P had some good moments last year. He got he had his best three-point shooting season in his career. I think it’s too much of the same thing with Trey Johnson. I think the dude’s arguably the best shooter in the class. Uh, you know, Coniple, you could make a case for him as well among some guys like Kobe Brea from Kentucky, second round picks, Payton Sanford from Iowa, guys like that who can shoot the hell out of it. But as lottery picks, it’s it’s Trey Johnson or Coniple. The dude, the dude is an amazing bucket getter coming off of screens and off of handoffs. Yeah. Pull up jumpers. The dude can hit shots from anywhere on the floor with confidence. He’s clutch. There’s like an it factor about him. If you’re banking on a guy to surpass Dylan Harper as like the second best player in the class, to me, Trey Johnson is the guy that I bet on. Um, so I think the upside is significant. He he um I was kind of surprised. I asked him like, “What’s your best player comparison, current or historical?” He said, “I’ve always liked the Prime Ray Allen comparison.” Primary Allen from the Milwaukee days, the Sonics days. And and part of it was, you know, a because the shooting, but also because Ray Allen at that time was a good downhill attacker. I was gonna say he could put the ball on the floor at that point. Yeah, exactly. So, I think Trey Johnson, he said to me, he’s like, “Teams want me to dunk more.” And he he says, “I hope at the combine or at the combine, I did show I’m a better athlete than people think I am.” So, you know, he didn’t get to the rim a lot at Texas and he wasn’t that good at finishing at the rim, only 46% on halfcourt layup attempts. But I like him. I like him a lot. I I think he’s got like a a stars mentality. Like you you put that against Coniple. Love to hear a stars mentality. Let’s do it. Yeah. Like con Khan I asked him what’s your best comparison. He’s like I’d love to play like Klay Thompson. Like he he’s embracing the backseat role that the co-star role right for the Wizards. I don’t want a draft continent. I want the star. I want to swing. So John Khan, will Kenipple be available at six? Good question. I I if I’m Philly, I think about him at three. Yeah, like at Philly, do you want the Ace Bailey, you know, mystery box or do you want Caniplesa the sure thing high-end role player? What do you want if you’re Philly at three and then at Charlotte I think really likes VJ Edcom at four? I’d be okay. I’d be a little bit surprised if Charlotte doesn’t take Edgecom at number four based off of what I’m hearing. Utah at five. Um but then again like Edgecom maybe he goes three. Who knows? It’s always possible. But Utah at five similar. You know obviously they got screwed like you guys did on lottery night. If I met him I’m swinging. I’m not taking Caniple. So who knows? Maybe Canipple ends up there for you at six. Do you like him for the Wizards? I love Canipple. Um I I got to be honest, you’re selling me on Trey Johnson. I like the upside. I like that he’s aware of his shortcomings and I love that he’s enough of a hoops head to comp himself to Bucks Ray Allen. That’s great work from the next generation there. So, all of that has me intrigued by Trey Johnson. Um, I think sitting at six as a Wizards fan, I am resigned to the idea that they’re not going to find a number one guy and a franchise player. And I would say that where you make mistakes is by trying to will that into existence at number six. And so rather than try to make Trey Johnson, Jeremiah Fears, Ace Bailey into the cornerstone that you’ve been tanking for for the past couple years, you just b your time and take Khan Canipple knowing that he’s going to be really good and projects as somebody who can definitely be part of a playoff nucleus once it’s time to eventually make the playoffs sometime in my lifetime. Um, and I I would I would opt for that sort of safe, patient approach and another very aggressive tank next season when there are like three or four other guys who are potential franchise cornerstones. Um, but if they end up with Trey Johnson, I would be fine with that. How do you feel about Jeremiah Fears? Another question on the way out here. I I like Fears a lot. Um, I think fear is obviously he’s on the smaller side. Um, a little over six foot, but ultimately with him, man, bucket getter get a ton of clutch shots this year at Oklahoma. Um, the shot creation, he can get anywhere he wants to on the floor with him. He did not shoot threes at a great level as as a freshman, but ultimately I’m banking on his shot. He’s got an elite floater. 50% on floaters, 85% from the free throw line, great mid-range shooter, 44% on mid-range jumpers. And so with him, it’s like just extending the re the range to three. There’s no guarantee of it as a smaller guy. He only shot 18.6% on dribble jumper threes, but the mid-range touch, the floater touch, the free throw line touch. He was pretty good on catch and shoot threes as well at 36%. I think that number will easily go up over time. I think Fears is one of those potential engines of a team over the long term and I like his playmaking as well. So Fears would be a good fit um as well. The issue with Washington is like Bob Carrington, how Keshan George, how much of buyin is there with there? Like are you worried about position? Are you worried about fit? Uh do you believe in those guys as the long-term guards of the future or are you saying screw it, they’re not. Let’s take somebody else who actually could be. Yeah. I mean, that’s one of the reasons Canipple is appealing to me is he sli slides in as a wing who can fit with just about anybody. True. Whereas if you’re taking someone like Fierce, you want the ball in his hands and they have Bob Carrington who was pretty good um throughout the season and particularly in the second half. So, uh, I would guess that the Wizards won’t draft another Bub Carrington type player unless he’s like a guaranteed franchise changing guy available in next year’s draft. But up maybe like that possibility if they went from six to two, Dylan Harper, something like that. But, uh, ultimately maybe a next year type of thing. Next year is way more loaded at six and 18. Would it would you be happy if Derek Queen were a pick from Maryland? Keep him home. Well, this is the thing, KOC. I I arrive at draft season. I used to be like a died in the wool draft guy. Would follow it all year and have fully formed takes by the time we got to April and May. Now I podcast about technology and US China affairs and I’ve got all sorts of other stuff that I’m dealing with and so Sharp Tech Sharp China under the stratey platform. That’s right. That’s right. Good plug from you. Unbelievable blog and podcast network where you can also find your pod with Ben Goliver. Go. You can subscribe at my Twitter, Andrew Sharp. There’s a link there. And um yeah, so I’m I’m trying to keep up with a bunch of different worlds and I don’t really have time to watch college basketball all season. So I arrive at the draft and I did I watched Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, and Cooper Flag. Those were the three guys I chose to watch this year. Um not impressed with Ace Bailey, let me tell you that much. Um Cooper terrific. I wish him nothing but the best down there in Dallas. So, I look at like Derek Queen. He’s a local guy. Uh, a good story, but for the life of me, I can’t understand why he’s projected to go lottery. He doesn’t seem very athletic. He doesn’t seem like he can shoot. He doesn’t seem like he fits with what the big man position has turned into in the modern era. And yet for months now he’s been projected as like a surefire lottery pick. For a while there were people floating him in the top 10. I don’t think he’s being projected to go like uh six to the Wizards, but I saw some Wizards fans wanted to draft him. I don’t get it. Can you help fill in some of the blanks here? It’s the Shenun Sabonis construct with Derek Queen as a as a skilled big who can attack the rim. It’s the Nas Reed style drives to the rim. The game winner he had in the Sweet 16 where he tacks from the perimeter and hits that leaning leaning jumper. It’s the skill you’re betting on with him as a passer and scorer from the big man position that makes him appealing. But ultimately, I share some of the concerns with you. What level can he reach defensively? He is a poor athlete. I think he’s a worse athlete than Shenun, who won an MVP in the Turkish League when he was just a teenager. Yeah. Um Shenun was an awesome player overseas before the NBA. Sabonis was a better college player at Gonzaga and Derek Queen was at Maryland. So Queen I think you know it’s kind of like the Jokic Charizard. Uh the Charizard versus Charmander type of meme you see with Sabonis and Shenun and Jokic Queen. Is he somewhere in the middle or is he like a lower end Shenu? That That’s the big question. Charizard. Is that Did you just drop a Pokemon reference on me? Pokemon reference. Yes. Exactly. That’s It’s like the evolved version of Charmander. This is the difference between the younger millennial generation and the older millennial generation. Um I mean, yeah, I I wish him nothing but the best. I think his story is cool. His season at Maryland was great, but if you’re throwing out Shenon comps, um I mean I worry about building around Shenon, which sounds like the best possible outcome for Derek Queen and also doesn’t sound like a particularly realistic timeline for Derrick Queen. So again, I I hope he succeeds, but I hope he doesn’t end up in Washington DC, I think, is my takeaway. Too much pressure for him in Washington. I’d prefer to see him fall onto the leavar to like an ideal spot.

Kevin O’Connor and Andrew Sharp dive into the Wizards’ draft outlook since missing out on Cooper Flagg and discuss draft scenarios with Tre Johnson, Kon Knueppel and Derik Queen. Sharp makes the case for Knueppel as the sensible choice for Washington’s future and questions the hype around Queen. Which players should Washington target? Sound off in the comments 💭

0:00 Wizards lose out on Cooper Flagg in the NBA. Draft Lottery
2:29 Drafting Tre Johnson at No. 6 should lead to a Jordan Poole trade
6:57 Why Kon Knueppel is the RIGHT pick for the Wizards at No. 6
11:40 Derik Queen to the Wizards?

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