The Washington Wizards May Have A HIDDEN GEM On Their Hands…

The Washington Wizards May Have A HIDDEN GEM On Their Hands…

So the Wizards took Will Rally at pick 21, right? And we did so by trading back three spots. While a fan favorite was on the board in Asanu, you know, a front court mate to possible Alexar, you know, da da, we know the drill, which left most of us dazed and confused, kind of myself included. Actually, there’s receipts of me being dazed and confused about this pig live on the stream. So, you know, but after doing more research on this kid, I’m just like, nah, bro. We may have a hidden gem in our hands with him. I like to watch a lot of Shay, uh, just his footwork and his ability to create his own shot, I feel like, and get to his spots is very important. Um, I also like to watch a a lot of Tyrese Hallebertton. His playmaking ability is like no other. I feel I feel like my playmaking ability is really underrated. I didn’t really get too many on the ball reps this year. So, I feel like there’s a lot more to show in that aspect, but I am a very good playmaker. This guy is 6’8, classified as a wing. Everything about this man speaks screams guard. He has a guard mentality. You know, this man was a 5’9. He was a 5’9 point guard in CO. After CO ended, huge growth spurt. Man is 66 now. Like, who’s to say he’s still growing? Like, he could be possibly still growing. By the end of this video, he could be like 74. Like, you know, you know, he’s he’s only 19 years old. Okay. He was born February 10th, 2006. Yeah, I went there. The past two days, dude, it’s been all Will Raleigh in my His favorite outcast album is southern playlist of Cadillac music. I mean, he’s right, you know? So, yeah, man. Uh, in this video, I did a lot of research about Will Riley. Uh, it’s gonna be one of my most serious videos. No around here. No, no, no, no. I don’t want to d I don’t want to dig around, you know? It’s just it. Will Riley, man, I’m telling y’all, give this man a shot. We may have something special. May. But yeah, man. If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe. I would truly appreciate it. Last year, he was the Big 10 sixman of the year. He set the Illinois’s freshman record for points in a debut with 31 points against Eastern Illinois and later broke the program’s freshman NCAA tournament scoring mark with 22 in a round one win over Xavier. In the beginning of that sentence, he was six-man. Uh he made nine starts last year out of 35 games. And this is his overall stats. All right? And his overall stats, a little some some combine results. I’m going to read it all out to you guys. He averaged 12.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and I’m going to get to those assist part later on this video. Um, albe it, you know, 43% from the field, but 32% from the three, but I’m gonna get to that a little bit later on as well because actually, I’m gonna get to that right now. Um, the head coach at Illinois said this in a recent interview that Will Riley actually shot 70,000 threes last year during their whole like offseason program slash, you know, practices and stuff like that. I’m just like, they’re pretty confident in his three-point projection. considering how much work he’s putting into his shot. 70,000 threes throughout the entire like year, not not during the season. That’s that’s insane, but you know what I mean. But anyways, he brought that up and I was just like, “Holy, you know, I’m I’m actually really bullish on his three-point shot going forward in the NBA.” But anyways, um you know, 68, 186 pounds, 19 years old, a vertical of 32 inch. Uh his wingspan though, he’s 6’8. He has a wingspan of 6’8 as well. He he got those T-Rex arms. Let’s just be straight forward. Um maybe, you know, if he continues to grow, I don’t I think his wingspan’s pretty much cooked. Uh but like the overall consensus on Will Riley is that, you know, he’s a guy who scores in a variety of ways, operates as a big wing who shoots off the dribble, uses touch shots, and leverages his frame around the basket. But this sentence I want to emphasize to you guys. He flashes some playmaking ability. In every report you read about World Rally, they’re talking about his playmaking ability. Flashes. And I’m here to tell y’all, bruh, that’s one of the parts of his games I’m actually pretty confident in. He’s as talented offensively as as any player that I’ve coached other than Michael Beasley. I was an assistant at Kansas State when Mike was there. And and and Will’s Will’s uh very gifted on that end of the court. great playmaker, great facilitator, tremendous, tremendous upside. So, Wizards got a good one. Coach of Illinois is like super bullish on this kid, especially offensively in the NBA. Super super bullish. Like saying he’s going to translate. He even said he could possibly have all-star potential in the NBA. Now, I I don’t know if that I mean that if that, you know, happens and holy hell. But, you know, just saying that, I mean, I don’t know. Michael Michael Beasley, say what you want about him, this man like he was an offensive menace during his heyday. Um sucks it didn’t really translate towards the NBA. But anyways, going over to his background though, Will Riley, he bounced around several high schools before spending the final two years of his high school career at the Phelps School in Malver, where he established himself as one of the best Canadian prospects. In fact, most of the specialized outlets ranked him as a top 15 player in the 2025 class. And you know, one comparison I keep seeing for him on the web is Keshan George. You know, Keshan George kind of like the similar story. He had a huge growth spurt. Keshan George said multiple times last year in interviews that he’s he feels like he’s just getting accustomed to his new body. Okay, he’s 6’8. And you know, it’s the same thing with Will Riley. The only thing is Will Rally is two years younger than with Keshan George. Keshan’s 21. Will Rally is 19 years old. So, you know, Will Riley’s coming out much more raw than Keshan George, but I mean I there’s a lot of similarities there. You know, we we both see the playmaking ability that these two kids have. You know, I want to continue on to Will Rally regarding his strengths because they’re saying obviously first things first, his positional size, 68. You know, again, it’s 68 wingspan, but 68 and who’s to say he’s still growing. I wouldn’t be surprised he’s 69 by next year. Remember Balak Kabali had that growth spurt after his first year. So it’s possible. It’s possible. And also regarding his scoring versatility, a lot of people keep commending him for that. How he just, you know, he can operate as a big wing uh who can catch and shoot off the dribble, use his touch shot and activate his frame around the basket. And it keeps talking about the playmaking potential. You know, he averaged 2.2 assists per game last year in his first year. And I keep thinking to myself like I think he can very well be the secondary ball handler in a lineup. He has that. And that’s is like a point guard in high school. Well, rally was. But anyways, let me let me continue on reading on his overall strengths. Shot 61% at the rim and is great in isolation. Effective pick and roll operator who manages the offense with poise. Smart cutter and off-the-ball mover. And also high offensive basketball IQ and feel. makes timely rotations and reads on both ends. Maintains a good assist to turnover balance with a 2.5 assist to turnover ratio. Especially solid for a scoring wing, doesn’t overdriball ball systems. Shows maturity and playing structured offense. So, you see like the overall versatility that this kid has in offense. But let’s get to his weaknesses first before I continue on. Weaknesses first off his defensive upside. He only had nine steals and 10 blocks all year long last year. Okay. Now, I mean, is that indicative of what his will is on defense? We don’t know yet. But, you know, nine steals and 10 blocks all year long last year. His burst scouts question how well he’ll be able to turn the corner and separate against NBA opponents. He also struggled with shot consistency from deep off the dribble. Subpar postgame with the poor efficiency. Uh, finishing through physicality remains inconsistent. Um, but I’m going to get to regarding his frame a little bit later on this video. His jump shot diet leans heavily on long twos and tough shots. Overall shot quality is okay with good range that should be used more, but that could be coached up. Lacks of reliable floater or a mid-range counter when pushed off his spots. Defensive recovery and screen navigation still developing. Still improving his handle in traffic and particularly against elite on ball pressure. Yeah, he’s handling. Yeah, like I saying like with his handle like again like he’s still learning his new body. Like I mean I always refer back to Keshan George. He’s getting accustomed to his new body. his 68 frame and apparently I wouldn’t be I keep saying this I wouldn’t be surprised he’s like 6’9. I found this clip remember speaking about his frame how he talked about his overall weight frame uh when he first joined Illinois and when he first left. What I need to work on is probably my physicality right now just gaining a little bit more weight which I’m capable of doing cuz obviously uh I did it at Illinois. I came in at like 170 and left at 190. So he was 170 when he joined, left at 190. So, I’m not concerned honestly about him putting on weight. It’s more of just like, you know, keep hitting the gym. Yeah, he knows the drill. He knows the drill. He said he said in his interview, his favorite thing to do is eat. So, you know, I’m not worried about his frame. I feel like he’s going to fill out to his frame later on. Like I said, he’s only 19 years old. He’s only 19 years old, but he’s going to fill out his frame. I also wanted to read to you guys two scout reports regarding Will Riley that I feel like um I feel like you guys should you guys should hear about this. Um, the first thing, here’s a pro scout onward rally. I’m gonna read it to you guys in verbatim. How about that? He was supposed to be a 6’8 point guard, but that hasn’t really panned out. His numbers aren’t great, and he hasn’t been playing as a point guard much at all. That being said, he has a good frame, which helps him on defense, and he’s shown flashes of being aggressive. I think he should stay in college. His numbers aren’t what they need to be, and he’s not starting. His shooting percentages are poor and while he has the physical tools to succeed at the next level being a 6’8 guard, he hasn’t shown the point guard skills people expected. It’s been a weird season for him and the hype around him being a 6’8 point guard just hasn’t materialized yet. Now, this report was actually a couple months ago. One thing I keep thinking to myself is just like, okay, the head coach is giving glaring offensive reviews regarding this kid and the head coach is very confident regarding his playmaking ability. Will Riley himself is supremely confident regarding his playmaking ability. Every interview you hear about him is him talking about his playmaking ability. I’m more inclined to feel like Will Raleigh and the head coach know something obviously than what the outside thinks of him. They know his potential regarding his playmaking. And I also read a report saying that had Will Riley stayed in college one more year, he would have been a lottery pick. Will Dawkins has this trend of picking up guys who have, you know, late growth spurts and trying to attain them before like I guess you can say they blow up in the scouting reports or in the draft combine or before they even blow up like before they even blow up the next year in college. You know, you see you with Ke, you see even maybe with Bub and I’m just like, no, this guy kind of fits along with that mindset and that mold that Will Dawkins covetss. I feel like Will Dawkins is rolling the dice early on this kid, banking on his development with us, banking on his upside with us, and I feel like that’s a good roll of the dice because if he does end up like projecting to be a guy who could have been a lottery pick next year, hey man, kudos to Will Dawkins. But anyways, another report I found on him and I’ll read to you guys out loud. Despite the limited minutes he had as a bench player, Riley showed the ability to score near the rim and handle isolation plays. and his frame will develop him succeed at the next level in individual duels particularly if he is stays as a guard and is not moved to a forward role again everything is just screaming just this guy is a guard like I don’t know to me he’s more of like a wing wing guard but mostly wing come on 68 he might be 69 come on bro overall with him my take is Dawkins is banking on the upside and banking on the development, which I feel confident in with the coaching staff we have, the healthy environment we have, the veterans that we have in our roster. And I keep saying this in my videos, there’s a certain consistency that Will Dawkins covets in each of these players, and that’s their mindset. And Will Riley fits that mold. He has that competitive edge that all of our dudes have, that Bob Carrington has, that Keshan George has, that Balak Kabali has. Like look at this clip. Will’s got a great competitive nature. He is uh um you know I I said all along he’s got a gangster mentality when it comes to competing uh and winning and uh he gets that from his mom. His dad’s a track coach. Loves to win at everything whether it’s a shooting drill or it’s uh you know it’s playing five on five. So if you have the size 68, you have the talent, the scoring versatility that he has and he has the overall mindset that he wants to be great, the competitive nature, that’s a recipe for success. Well, Dawkins is banking on the upside and banking on development, which with a guy like him, I am more than willing to roll the dice with. If you have all the talent in the world and you have the mindset of a freaking bum and all you care about is just going to the freaking club, you ain’t gonna be You ain’t g. This guy is not. He’s sitting at home listening to Southern Playlist to Cadillac music while freaking getting ready to ball at 4 p.m. He has the mentality. So, hey man, I’m super bullish on this pick. I went from being dazy confused to now just like, no, we may have something with him. Uh, we may have we may we may have really stumbled upon something with him. I love that trade. Trading back three spots, getting a second round pick, which ended up being Jamir Watkins, getting two future second round picks, and getting your man at pick 21 when you would have gotten a pick 18. And not only that, I put this in my previous video. The Wizards, Will Raleigh said that the Wizards have actually been one of the teams that have been following him for the past two years since Will Dawkins joined us. Telling you, we’ve been following this kid for a while. We got him. Will Dawkins knows a lot more and he’s more inclined with the Illinois head coach. My dumb ass forgot his name, but and they know Will Dawkins, Illinois head coach, and Will Riley. They know something and they see something in this kid that I feel like not that many people noticed. But yeah, man. Let me know what you guys think. If you enjoyed this video, please like and subscribe. I truly appreciate it. till next video. Peace y’all.

Really liking the Will Riley pick.

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