Nick Richards would be PERFECT in Washington | Can the Wizards go UNDEFEATED in Summer League?

Nick Richards would be PERFECT in Washington | Can the Wizards go UNDEFEATED in Summer League?

On today’s episode, Nick Richards is on the trade block. We’ll talk about why he would be a perfect fit in DC and more on today’s Locked On Wizards. You are Locked On Wizards, your daily Washington Wizards podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Hello all, welcome back to another episode of Lockdown Wizards where myself, Abdullah Ubi, credential media member of the Washington Wizards and host of the DMV Sports Zone page, talk about the Wizards potentially trading for Senator Nick Richards. And I am here with the great Ben Strober, producer with DC Sports Talks 1067, the fan and the team 980. Thanks for making Lockdown Wizards your first listen every day. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. And remember, Locked on Wizards is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube at Lockdown Wizards, where the best way to help us grow is to comment anything below. And today’s question is, do you think Nick Richards to DC is a possibility? Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time at the Game Time app today, creating accounting. He was locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Benjamin Nick Richards on the Phoenix Suns right now. The idea of him coming to DC was brought up on a Sports Illustrated article written by Tyrone Montgomery. The w the Wizards have a lot of second round picks and they could use that to get a guy in Richards who was very productive last year started 34 out of 36 games was on Charlotte the first half of the season last season then gets traded to Phoenix and Phoenix has an abundance of centers in bowl traded they drafted common malaw watch they traded for Mark Williams so do you think the possibility of Nick Richards could come to life
yeah the one thing that we’re going to have to monitor in this situation here Abdullah is what happens in the finalization of the Kevin Durant trade because per reports that have came out today that deal might not officially be done yet. I think they are looking to somehow make that into a seven team record-breaking trade which I have no I have no idea how any of that is supposed to work, who’s going to be included in what, if Nick Richards is part of the equation for that. But as for him as a Washington Wizard,
you could see something interesting in him because one, he’s only 27 year old 27 years old. He’s been in the league for 6 years now and has proven to be pretty effective when he’s gotten his opportunities. I look back at the 2023 season when he was with the Charlotte Hornets and he shot around 70% from the field. Not only around six field goal attempts per game, but you add another sevenfooter to the mix to play alongside Alex Sar here, pair him in the equation. Rashawn Holmes depending on what happens with his situation because right now he has $250,000 guaranteed. I’m not really sure what happens the rest of the way. I think the Wizards have plenty of time uh to make a decision before the season on what happens with Rashawn Holmes if they are able to trade him on this expiring deal that he’s currently on. But Nick Richards in a Wizards uniform uh could be a nice piece to have alongside Sar, a guy that has been around for now six years as I mentioned um and can kind of just maybe take some of the weight off Alex Sar’s shoulder a little bit because the Wizards are going to really struggle rebounding the basketball next year. And a guy like Richard who’s also a sevenfooter and has proven himself as a decent rebounder in the league. Not a phenomenal rebounder by any means, but I think he could help out that Wizards front court quite a bit if the Wizards do pursue something like that. Might also allow them to maybe move some pieces that Washington doesn’t have a lot of interest in anymore. Cory Kispert, someone that I know you and I have expected to be on the move at some point before the season starts. Just so many wings. The Wizards are six, seven deep at the wing position at this point. So, it doesn’t make a lot of sense uh to fit Cory Kisser in that equation. He’s a Tommy Shepard guy as well. So, I’d wonder if the Wizards were able to package him up in some sort of deal to send him to the desert and get Nick Richards here. I think a lot of it’s going to depend on what happens with the KD trade, though.
Yeah, you brought up an interesting point. That seven team trade is going to be insane. It’s funny how the Wizards aren’t part of it. It would have been nice. Maybe we could deal Cory Kissper because that’s a guy that we thought would be out of the window at least come draft time, but he’s still a Washington Wizard. But going back to Nick Richards, like I me you mentioned, seven uh feet, great size and strength, 250 pounds, really efficient, 10 points, 10 rebounds last year. Rebounding was a key thing that we just haven’t emphasized here in Washington so long and losing the paint battle and now it’s become really really frustrating. But you we brought up the fact that maybe Tristan Vuvich and Alexar in the previous episode could be that front court duo. But bringing in a guy like Nick Richards and put Alexar at the four, the idea of Alexar being better at the four, we just don’t know. We’ll have to see as his years go on as a Washington Wizard and if you’re will Dawkins you just don’t have to give up that much. I I don’t think so be pair up court guess but you have so many second round picks Ben that you have the ability to trade for a guy Nick Richards who like I mentioned the Phoenix Suns their center situation drafted Malaw watch have they still have bull who’s really solid and Mark Williams so I don’t think they would want as much just probably want to get rid of the guy just have that Nick Richards has some value so it’s a really really intriguing idea of him being paired up with Alex who’s only making $5 million a here. I think the Wizards, especially since we talked about it, the need at center. I know it’s not the biggest need right now. Maybe Will Dawkins wants to see what he has in next year’s draft class and tanking keeping that top eight pick, but we need a center. I think Nick Richards at a cheap value could help that out. Yeah, that’s something interesting to bring up with, you know, the cheap value there at $5 million per year because as it stands right now, the Wizards haven’t made any moves throughout this free agency period. We kind of touched on the first and second apron thing. The Wizards are hardcapped essentially at spending $18 million uh total uh throughout the rest of the offseason here. I think if you’re able to move Cory Kispford at this point who’s on a really teamfriendly contract uh to put it quite frank if you move him out to the desert and then you get Nick Richards here and have that salary around $5 million per year. Uh I think that would work out pretty well for Washington wouldn’t cause any financial issues. I think this whole off seasonason, Abdullah, has been really interesting to see how teams have had to navigate the financial situations of the NBA right now because the Brooklyn Nets were really the only team that entered the NBA free agency with cap space and so many teams have had to make all kinds of crazy moves just to navigate the first second apron to avoid dipping into the luxury tax. Uh saw Milwaukee big time with waving Damen Lillard to get Miles Turner and you know speculation on how that move makes sense for the Bucks if if Jonis is really going to stay in Milwaukee at this point after that move. Uh the Atlanta Hawks have been really savvy in the way they’ve navigated around free agency to add a bunch of guys to their team um despite a financial situation. So that’s kind of been the theme of NBA free agency so far is how teams have navigated through free agency here. uh you know despite maybe not being in the best financial position. I mean now we’re in the era of supermax contracts in the NBA and we obviously see SGA get a record-breaking one in terms of annual money in NBA history yesterday but supermax contracts are not teamfriendly deals. They are bad for NBA teams and you have to almost find a way to navigate around them. I know we can speak from experience here the two players that last got supermax contracts here in DC. ball and be uh created pretty bad financial situations going forward and now the Wizards are still paying the repercussions right now. Obviously, this is a time where the Wizards want to eat bad contracts and I expect more of that to happen this year. You trade some of these pieces that you get in the Jordan Pool trade, CJ McCullum, uh Kelly Olen and then of course Chris Middleton, Marcus, Marcus Smart will be uh players that teams are probably interested in around the deadline. Wizards could probably take on more bad contracts to acquire more assets whether it’s first round picks or even more seconds. Uh, it’s going to be interesting to see, but a guy like Nick Richards is somebody that might actually fit the equation for what Washington is looking to do next year, which is be a little more competitive, uh, but obviously not win enough games to lose that top eight protected pick.
So, in your eyes, Ben, because I really can’t draw, what do you think his trade value would be right now, Nick Richards? Uh, I think if you gave up Cory Kissert and maybe tossed in a second round pick or something like that, I I could be completely off base with that. But I don’t see the Wizards being interested in giving up assets to acquire Nick Richards. Obviously, like they don’t really need him for the long term, unless Will Dawkins is a vision where they would like him to be here for a period of time. I kind of would see him being a placeholder guy for maybe the next year or two while the Wizards are still kind of in this rebuild phase. So, I don’t think Dawkins or anyone would be really interested in giving up a lot of assets to get him. I think Kisper’s someone they would probably just want to move to do it. I’m not sure if Richards would be the guy uh to do so or picks would come with that, but it’s something to think about how they probably wouldn’t want to give up assets for it. I think that Cory Kisser’s 10 years over here in Washington essentially is the emergence of Keshan George last year. I mean, a guy who’s taller than Cory Kisper, more athletic, provatile defensively, is better. He just checks off all those boxes that Cory Kissman unfortunately just couldn’t do. There’s only so much he could do at his size and not being the greatest defender and being that athletic.
Yeah, Keshan George is such a dude. We’re going to have to do an episode where we dive in on how good we think he can be. Will Dawkins has spoke so highly of him this off seasonason. He literally said to the reporters, “Just wait until you see what Keshan George has been up to this offseason.” We’re going to get a taste of that in summer league as well starting next week. So, I’m really looking forward to seeing him. He might be the guy that leads the team in scoring. I know I said Bub Carrington. Uh I think you said Trey Johnson if I’m not mistaken. Uh Keshan George would probably have something to say about that.
Yeah. So comment down below what do you think Nick Richard’s trade value is. Is the possibility of him coming to DC actually possible? Let us know. You brought up the summerly. That’s a great transition to our next segment. This is Locked on Wizards. We’ve all been there, logging on early and waiting forever for concert tickets to go on sale, only to lose your spot for a show you’ve been dying to see. Live music should be about making memories, not dealing with the stress of ticket shopping. That’s where Game Time comes in. Game Time makes getting concert tickets faster and easier than ever. Prices actually drop as it gets closer to Showtime, and you can save up to 60% off with their killer lastminute deals. Tired of endless scrolling trying to find the best deal? Game time zone deals pick the best seats in your section for you. With Game Time, the price you see is the price you pay. No hidden fees. You’ll know this year I want to see JD5 and the Commanders go out there and play. I wouldn’t be worried about what happens if plans change. The Game Time Guarantees has your back with cancellation protection and more. Take the guesswork out of buying concert and show tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account and use locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. again. Create an account and redeem. L O C K E D O N B A for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Summerly summertime here in the nation’s capital. This is a great time. The Wizards have a really, really good roster this summer. When it comes to this young squad, we brought up, we touched on it not too long ago about how Wizards should do, the expectations for this summer league team. What is right now we have I’m looking at the schedule. You have the Phoenix Suns, the Brooklyn Nets, the 76ers, and Utah Jazz. A lot of intriguing matchups in those games. What is one game that you’re most excited for, Ben?
I think definitely the matchup with the Jazz. And given all we’ve heard about Ace Bailey situation and how crazy it was from the moment he was drafted and the you know the whole thing with him nearly becoming a wizard cuz you and I were super high on him. It looked like he might fall right into our lap and once it got to the point where we knew we were either getting him or Trey Johnson. You and I got very very comfortable about it. Ace Bailey ends up going to Utah. We get Trey Johnson. There’s been a lot of people that have put Johnson higher on their boards than Ace Bailey. I know maybe the personality, I think character concerns played into a factor of why people maybe made that decision. I think Ace Bailey, as it stands right now, just based on the intangibles, his size and his skill, uh, probably would have the higher upside overall if he did reach his full peak as an NBA player than Trey Johnson. But Trey Johnson might have a, you know, a lower floor, if you will, because I think the one thing that’s so good about Johnson is the way he shoots the basketball. shot at 40% from three in his freshman year. That’s not a skill that you just lose. If you can shoot the basketball, you’re going to be a shooter. It’s very rare where somebody comes into the league as a phenomenal three-point shooter because he’s not just a good three-point shooter. He’s an unbelievable three-point shooter. That’s something he’s not going to lose. He’s going to be able to shoot threes well when he’s 70 years old, when he’s not playing basketball anymore. He’s out of the league for over 30 years at that point. That’s a skill he’ll still have. So, you have to look at it that way. But Ace Bailey is going to be really interesting to see the way he plays in Utah system uh to begin the summer league. And just watching the matchup of, you know, two guys who are drafted right next to or, you know, right behind one another in the NBA draft is going to be really intriguing to see, especially considering that Bailey had Washington as one of his preferred destinations to go. So yeah, give me that game right there. I’m most looking forward to it, but I’m looking forward to all of it if I’m being honest here.
No, definitely. For sure. That’s one of the matchups that I love. Ace versus Trey. That’s going to be fun. But for me, I have to go with Brooklyn because we talked about how stacked this summer league roster is for the Wizards, but the Brooklyn Nets had five first round picks. One of those picks is Danny Wolf, a guy that I wanted here in Washington, a guy that you know very well because of his college days, how he played against Maryland. But I think again like every matchup is going to be really interesting because you start off with the Phoenix Suns common Malawatch verse I don’t think Alex Sar is there any word on him playing with the the France team or is there possibility of him
I I don’t see that I would I wouldn’t count on him playing Wizard Summer League this year. That’s that’s pretty much what I’ve heard for the most part. So I’m going to assume right now that SAR is not playing in the summer league but I’m not going to I’m not going to put a button on that.
So I think Malawatch versus the bigs that we have. I know Tristan Bhuvich I think may I don’t know again he’s going to year three I know Bal is not going to play so whatever big man that we have up against him that’s going to be a good matchup and Edgecom on the third some of the games the Sixers Trey Johnson Bub Carrington another intriguing matchup but all around there’s going to be some things we learn from every single game and how this Wizards young team is built because this summer league roster is essentially this Wizards roster coming up this regular season minus a few guys and mentors in Micros smart. Chris Middleton, Alex dealing with the summer with France. I think if you’re the Wizards, you’re going to learn a lot from this summer league game. And granted, if you don’t win these games, it’s not the end of the world, but I do want to see development. I want to see Bob Carrington take strides year two going into year two. And I think Trey Johnson is going to get a heavy load of taking those shots. It’s going to be really Will Riley a guy who a lot of people are are qu not questioning but were very intrigued when that pick was announced and Jir Watkins a 65 guard with a 611 wingspan I mean that is insane just a lot of intriguing matchups all around the schedule then Ben absolutely I do have an update actually on the Alex Sar not really an update but I have more information that I was able to get real quick just from looking up so Sar is on France roster for Euro basketball uh he’s on the 18-man preparation roster which means there could be cuts for that. It’s not like confirmed that he’ll make the team in play. Uh I think there’s a possibility there would be cuts for that, but they do start playing in late August. So the preparation would probably begin around late July, early August. So theoretically, schedule-wise, he could play in the summer league. I just don’t think he would do it so he can be fresh uh you know to compete and and try to make the France Euro basketball roster. I just don’t see him playing uh in mid July when I think he would have to begin training with France in later July. Yeah, very, very good point there. And one thing I want to point out, we learned this last year when Alex Sar had that terrible summer league debut and just didn’t have the best summer league. A lot of people were so quick to call him out calling him a bust, which is just crazy, but that’s just how NBA fans are in the sports world in general. Whether it’s a underwhelming performance or debut from Trey Johnson or just not a great summer league from Bub Carrington, I think we’ve learned that it’s no big deal. I mean, look at Alex Sar got better from game one to game 82 in the regular season. had a careerhigh against the Denver Nuggets, against Nicole, one of the greatest centers of all time. So, I think even if the performances weren’t great in summer league, it’s not something that we should draw upon and say, “Oh, this is bad. We’re doomed.” Yeah, it’s you look at it both ways though because if somebody balls out in the summer league, I think you and I will definitely be quick to say, “Wow, this dude’s a superstar. He’s going to be goated.” uh if Trey Johnson scores 35 points in a summer league game, you you best believe we’re going to come on locked on Wizards and uh call him the next Michael Jordan or something like that because that’s just how it is. But if somebody struggles, uh you and I might be quick to defend it, but I I’ll I’ll call it like I see it. I’m going to watch the games with my own two eyes and really try to assess how these guys play as basketball players, but you can’t take too much into the summer league. You do like to see development. Like for instance, if we see Bub Carrington get to the rim and finish around the rim better uh and get to the free throw line more, I think that’s something that you would be encouraged by because it would show that he is growing as a basketball player, something he didn’t do as well toward the end of the regular season. He is doing it in the summer league. So then it gives you a little more hope that that translates to the start of the regular season throughout the rest of his career. Uh but it’s tough. You have to look at it both ways where if a guy does struggle, you do realize that it’s summer league and the whole point of it is to develop. But if a guy does play really well, uh you make the point that it’s not a regular season game, so you can’t exactly buy so much into it, but you can buy into it because you are seeing development and growth from these players.
It’s Wizards basketball and and thank god Wizards basketball is back for me. Ben, one last take before the summer league. Do you think there’s a possibility where the Wizards could go undefeated come summer league and or do you see do you see a scenario where the Wizards lose one or two of these games? Uh I doubt they go undefeated to be honest. I I just feel like that’d be too hard. I think a summer league roster you’re you’re going to see a lot of guys play a ton of minutes just because it is the summer league in retrospect like they’re going to be competitive. They’re going to try to win, but uh winning isn’t absolutely the most important thing. They do want to see certain guys play. Uh you know, you’re going to see second round pick Jir Latkins get some run in there. Uh some of the free agents that Washington signed as well in the period after the NBA draft, uh the guy that they they picked up as well, you’ll probably see them get some runs. So, you know, there’s going to be a lot of guys to go around that are going to have to get minutes here in the summer league. So, it’s not going to be a thing where Washington is playing the starting five of all the first round picks from a year ago uh in the same lineup for 40 minutes or however long the games are, but you know, I don’t think they go undefeated, but I think they’ll be very good.
I think so they’ll be too with AJ Johnson just traded for Dylan Jones, Keshan George, a lot of lot of talent on this summer league roster. But again, wins not that big of a deal in summer league. more about the progression, the development of the young kids, the whiz kids that I like to call them here in Washington. We’ll be back, but when we come back, we’ll talk about the rest of the NBA and more here on Locked on Wizards. Here on the final segment of Locked on Wizards NBA, a lot of free agent free agency news these past couple of days. Not much for the Wizards. The Wizards have been really really quiet. Hopefully something will happen soon so we can make some content about it. But Ben, you brought up the fact the 17 trade. I mean that’s I don’t know what the record was before, but that is insane. And do you think it’s something that could occur within these next couple of days? I’m assuming um I think by July 6 is when the official new calendar season starts. Like I think we’re going to see the Wizards announce players like CJ McComem and Kelly Olen as part of this team unless they get rerouted in that time being. cuz I know that’s when those trades become official. So, I think that’d be the same timeline for what we see for these moves. Um, you know, I’m doing my best right here to to to get this up on the screen to see if I can really find anything about who exactly is involved or um what it is right here. So, CBS Sports Kevin Ranch trade to Rockets could be expanded into a record-breaking 17 deal. So, it’s been about two weeks since that news broke. uh but he hasn’t been officially announced as a member of the Houston Rockets yet uh because there’s no rush to finalize the details amid the free agency period. So according to Fred Katz of the Athletic, the Katy trade is a chance to make NBA history as the Rockets and Suns are working to expand the deal to include a record seven teams with the Hawks, Lakers, Timberwolves, Nets, and Warriors all part of the discussions right now. The expansion of the trade is not expected to include any major player movement that hasn’t already been reported, but it could tie all these teams together in the name of creating trade exceptions and keeping aprons from being triggered. So, here we go. Here’s the whole financial thing uh playing part again and what what’s happening here in the NBA offseason. That has been the focus for every single team and it looks like uh seven teams being added to this trade or a seven team trade essentially. A lot of it is purely because of financial reasons. Not even going to see any more major player movement there. So maybe we don’t even have to worry about Nick Richards being somehow tied up into the mess that is the Kevin Durant trade right now.
That’s some good news for us Wizards fans. I wanted to bring up the fact of some assistant coaches were uh promoted. I saw Frank Bogle according to Sham just finalizing agreement to join the Dallas Mavericks as a lead assistant coach under Jason Kidd and I think it was Jared Dudley, former Wizard. Shout out to the dud monster that three-point shot I would never forget. He’s been um Dallas Maver assistant coach is finalizing deal to become the top assistant for the Denver Nuggets under David Edelman. So some news when it comes to coaching staff changes. Yeah. And Dallas has really lost a lot when it comes to I think Dallas has lost three assistants now this off seasonason and I know it’s been such a tumultuous period down there in Texas given of course Luca gets traded away last year and then all of a sudden you win the lottery and you get Cooper flag and then D’Angelo Russell gets added to the next with air quotations. You know we we don’t even got to dwell on the lottery too much anymore. Maybe next year if it if it happens again, we’ll we’ll make an episode crashing out about it again. But uh I think the move of adding D’Angelo Russell to the Mavericks was also one that was pretty solid and savvy. I know the West is so stacked right now, but I think Dallas has a chance to make some noise. If you are interested at all in what Dallas has to do here u upcoming in this regular season, how the offseason has been, you can check out Lockdown Mavericks, Nick Angstad and Isaac Harris, who the two co-hosts of that, one of the best to do it here on our Locked On podcast network. uh they’ve been real busy to say the least since the Luca trade, but them losing all the assistance is really interesting to me because I wonder how that changes the dynamic of what has been happening with the Dallas Mavericks. And I know the the organization has been through such an an interesting time throughout really the past uh four or five months to say the least. So I kind of wonder how that’s going to shape things up as the regular season approaches here. Yeah, Nico Harrison’s putting all of Dallas um under a lot of work and some stress these past couple months. But I wanted to bring up the fact that I saw I think it was on ESPN, I forgot who said it, but someone mentioned, maybe it was a Knicks fan, LeBron should consider making his way to New York just because of how his timeline is closing and his tenure NBA career is coming to an end. And with how thin the East is this upcoming year with Jason Tatum with the Achilles injury, Damian Lillard being waved in the Achilles injury with the Bucks. I mean, Giannis, his future in Milwaukee is still up in the air. I think he should want out. And it’s just Tyresese Halleurn game seven like like that. It’s just all those injuries stacked up. Do you see a possibility where LeBron says, “Hey, I want to come back to the East because I see how thin it is and I want to win that fifth ring.” Yeah, I I definitely do think it’s possible that LeBron would want out of Los Angeles. I know DeAndre Aon gets added to the mix yesterday signed on a two-year deal with a player option included, but I mean for me that doesn’t move the needle uh for how I feel about the Los Angeles Lakers right now. Uh the Luca Donett situation as well. Obviously, he’s still going to be in Los Angeles. I don’t know what kind of confidence LeBron has in the organization. I would say he probably doesn’t have a lot. The fact that we’re even discussing this because has his camp has made it pretty clear that they could want out potentially if he wants to compete means that there are some doubts on that side of what the Lakers could be next year. I’m not a believer in them uh at this point in time and I’m not sure if anything is going to change for me uh on that front. So, I could totally see LeBron wanting to get back to the Eastern Conference. Um he can’t go to Cleveland. So, we actually tried to to break this down a couple nights ago and Craig Hoffman and I discovered that like Cleveland doesn’t even have the financial uh ability to get LeBron James at this point. A $51.2 million player option that he opted into. I don’t know who has the financial capability to take on LeBron James at this point, what it would cost to get LeBron James at this point, but I do think if there was an opportunity for him to join a contending team in the East, uh, and have a, you know, a pretty clear, not clear, but a less uphill battle to get to the NBA finals again for the first time since 2020, I think LeBron would be very interested in that. He knows that his time is is not long for the league. He’s going to be the first player in NBA history to play in 23 years. Uh he’s got a chance already to play uh with Bronnie. Uh something that you know was his goal before he retired. So I don’t know how much longer they expect him to play. And yesterday he was hurt at the end of the year, got hurt in the playoffs, but continue to play through it. So that might play a factor into the decision he makes this next year. any maybe if you go to a team where load management is a possibility for LeBron because I think given the current state of the Lakers right now, they would need LeBron to play a lot in the regular season, given how good the West is in order for them to even get a favorable spot in the postseason, avoid playing in the playin uh and getting an opportunity to to get a favorable matchup in the first round. I don’t even know it with the current Lakers roster in place how good LeBron and Luca would have to be to make that happen because the West is so so good right now. Um and the more I’m just like talking to myself about it. I think it would make a lot of sense for LeBron to find his way out of Los Angeles. I just don’t know if it’s going to happen.
Yeah. And you brought up the West getting stronger. I mean look at the Nuggets. They got way more depth. They trade away Michael Por Junior’s Contra out of Cam Johnson. You had a backup center Jonas Valentrunis. You put talent around your superstar Nicole Jokic because you realize that he’s only going to be in his prime for a limited time. And on top of that, Kevin Durant goes to the Houston Rockets with a man Thompson, Alan Shenon. So much talent in Houston. If you’re LeBron James and you realize your time is coming to an end as NBA player, you’re still playing at a high level, but at the end of the day, you want to win that fifth ring. And I think the best option is going to the East. And you can call it people want to call him out and say, “Oh, he’s doing this and that, but he’s 40 years old. But what do you expect the man to do? Also, like they weren’t even close last year and I know LeBron was was banged up and I guess Luca as well and you know obviously defensively they were just a mess in Los Angeles and you know nobody could defend on the Lakers last year, but they were not even competitive with Minnesota in that series and Minnesota couldn’t even get through and uh get over the hump in the Western Conference. So what does that tell you about the Lakers? I don’t think they’re very close at all to being a championship level team. And with the West getting better, as you mentioned, with with the Nuggets picking up steam here, the Thunder being as good as as they’ll continue to be for the next couple years, the Rockets are win from a team that was second in the Western Conference, now getting even better. There’s no way. There’s not a chance the Lakers would win the the West next year, no matter what. I just I don’t see it whatsoever.
Yeah, it’s uh it’s going to be really really interesting to see.
That’s all I got. All I got Yeah, we’ll see. Maybe LBJ comes to Eastern Conference. We’ll see in due time. But that’s pretty much it on today’s lockdown Wizards episode. Thanks again, guys. Let us know in the comments section down below. The possibility of Nick Richards being a Washington Wizard, that seven team trade is going to be insane. Let us know if you have any thoughts on that. The summer league is coming up. What uh team are you looking most excited for? Which matchups are is going to be very intriguing in your eyes? NBA free agency again has been really really quiet for the Wizards, but hopefully something will pick up soon. and Will Dawkins will make a move and we can talk about it. Thanks for making Lockdown Wizards your first listen today. For your second listen, find the Locked on NBA podcast where there is no offseason. Doug, Matt, and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiation, rumors, and everything you need to be the most informed NBA Fan. Find Locked On YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Signing out. I’m Abdullahub. That’s Ben Strober. Hail to the freaking Wizards.

On today’s episode, Abdullah and Ben analyze a potential Wizards-Suns deal for Nick Richards, weighing his fit alongside Alex Sarr. The hosts preview Washington’s Summer League roster, highlighting rookies Tre Johnson and Bub Carrington. NBA free agency takes center stage with discussions on a historic 7-team Kevin Durant trade, coaching staff shakeups, and LeBron James’ future. The duo also examines Corey Kispert’s uncertain role and the Western Conference’s growing strength.

0:00 Nick Richards to DC
10:58 Summer League Expectations
19:26 FA Update + Lebron on the move?

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