Ranking the Washington Wizards BOOMING Group of Youth | Who is ready to BREAKOUT?

Ranking the Washington Wizards BOOMING Group of Youth | Who is ready to BREAKOUT?

On today’s episode, we rank the young core of Washington Wizards players. Who’s number one? Maybe it’s someone that you didn’t necessarily expect. Find out here on Locked on Wizards. [Music] You are Locked On Wizards, your daily Washington Wizards podcast, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. DC family, this is Lockdown Wizards, where you’re part of our family. We thank you for making Lockdown Wizards your first listen every single day here part of the Lockdown podcast network. It’s your team every day alongside DC Sports content creating and credentialed media member for the Washington Wizards. That’s Abdullahubi. I’m Ben Strober. I cover all things DC sports for 1067 the fan and the team 980 right here in our District of Columbia. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code lockdown NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Now, when it comes down to ranking these young Wizards players, it gets tough because now you add a couple of guys into the mix that really are not as proven so far because you haven’t been able to see what they can obviously do throughout a full season. You have a guy like Bal who’s now entering year number three. Uh, so he’d obviously be very high up in the totem pole, but is he number one on the list? Additionally, Cam Whitmore uh comes over in the trade from a couple weeks ago from Houston, and he instantly rises high up in the ranks for me because of what he’s been able to do so far through the first two years of his career. We’re going to get into that here, talk a little bit about Keshan George and how he performed in the summer league and how we could see him breaking out here in year number two. And then finally in the last segment, we’ll touch on Damen Lillard returning to the Portland Trailblazers. Don’t even think about it. Dawkins, and I know a lot of you know exactly what I’m alluding to, but you’ll find out more about that in segment number three. Abdullah, to start things off here, who would you go as number nine? So, we’re ranking this on a nine player basis right here. The the nine players, I’ll read off the list for you right here. Um, got Keshan George, Bal Koulabali, Cam Whitmore, Alex Sar, uh, Bob Carrington, Trey Johnson, AJ Johnson, Tristan Buchvich, and then Will Riley. Who are you putting at the number nine spot right now? So, unfortunately, honorable mention of Jir Watkins couldn’t make the list, but I think he’ll definitely make an impact come his rookie year. Yeah, for sure. Also, I think that with this list, I asked you if we’re doing it off potential, but we’re doing it as of right now where they rank. So it would be two different scenarios, but right now we’re talking about where they are as they stand right now. And at number nine, I have Will Riley. I think a guy who a wing can create his own shot. 67 68 a babyface assassin. I think he can definitely find his rotate where he can fit in his rotation this upcoming year. I like what he did in the second summer league game. The first one he struggled a little bit, but that second one he really stepped up. And I think if he can be a key contributor off this bench come his rookie year, it’s going to be a really essential year for him because he was a guy that that was the second first round pick and they they traded from pick 18 to 21 and originally was Walter Clayton. A lot of people were upset about that pick saying why don’t we keep Walter Clayton? He baldled out March Madness, but Will Dawkins see something Will Riley a lot of people don’t. So I have Will Riley at nine. I also have Will Riley at number nine and that’s just because we just haven’t seen a lot of him and he’s a guy that didn’t even necessarily get a ton of experience in his one year at Illinois. He was a guy that was coming off the bench and saw his role increase as the season went on because Brandon Underwood said that he’s a guy that doesn’t really care about who he starts, but uh he’ll give his minutes to the most deserving players and he’s a guy that was shooting uh thousands of shots after every single game through the first two summer league games that he got to play and unfortunately we didn’t see him play the other ones. Uh showed some real potential. I think the first game was a little bit more passive. second game. He looked very comfortable to me and just smooth out of a as a score. And he could easily fly up this list for me, but as of right now, it’s, you know, we’re we’re doing this list based on what we know about this player right now, Will Riley. So, he goes number nine. Not to say anything against him. It’s kind of interesting, Ben, because he was a guy that didn’t play in that third or fourth game. So, Will Dawkins in his coach summer league coaching staff says, “Hey, we’ve seen enough. We want him to get ready for the regular season.” Which is interesting. Cool. All right, number eight. I’ll just jump into it. I’m going to put AJ Johnson right here. And we talked about his flash, his potential uh in the last episode we did throughout the summer league and I know he’s a guy that didn’t necessarily get a fair rap from us, I think, in the last game because he is out there with a lot of guys uh that would not be making the roster, but certain things we do need to see him improve on. His ability, his vision, uh playmaking, but the offensive upside certainly is there for AJ Johnson. You know, he’s second to last on this list, but that’s not a bad thing whatsoever about AJ Johnson. I still think he’s a player with tremendous upside offensively. Yep. Great minds think alike. Strike again. I have AJ Johnson at eight. Very, very, very, very with the capital V. Athletic. I mean, that quick first set we’re always talking about. Efficiency is something that I want to see him work on. You can’t be having 20 points with 20 shot attempts. I want to see him get better. I want to see his handle get even more tight because if his ability to go to the cup with his speed and tight up his handles, he can be really, really effective. Jump shot needs to be able to shoot it from three better. But last season we saw towards the end of the the end of the season. He showed up in clutch moments and that’s what I wanted to see those reps. Now he got summer league reps and I can’t wait to see how he carves up his role here in Washington. I think the fact you got him for Kyle Kosma to me is still a steal. Such a young guy who genuinely I want to see him in the dunk contest because man he has some bunnies and I don’t know about six-man role but he can definitely be an effective scorer. Can score in bunches off the bench and I’m excited to see how he does this upcoming year. Absolutely. I think his offensive ability, what we’ve seen, how he is a tenacious scorer, attacking the basket toward the rim, is he better served as a shooting guard? Maybe, but I guess it remains to be a work in progress to see how he develops as a point guard. And the same thing could be said about Bob Carrington, who we’ll we’ll touch on in this list at well. Uh, number seven, I’m going Tristan Buchvich. And I think it’s because we haven’t seen enough of him and he could be higher on this list because offensively he’s pretty polished when he has gotten his minutes which have been pretty few and far between so far throughout his first two years in the association. Uh but the Wizards do bring him back on the two-way contract. He is very very solid uh when it comes to scoring the basketball and I’m going to put him at number seven right now just because we haven’t seen enough. He’s going to have a much larger role this year and it’d be nice to see him and Alexar play alongside one another. Uh, I think one of the things that he can do well also is rebound the basketball. Uh, defensively is an area where he, you know, has been cited from the coaching staff as an area where they’d like to see him improve. And I think having more minutes on the floor is going to be beneficial for him to that. He’s going to get used to the rotations. Uh, finding himself in a good spot to be another solid rim protector for this team. Yep. Three for three. I have Trist Vuch. I think when given the opportunities last year, he shined. And I always mention the fact that a second round pick being productive here in Washington. This last guy was Thomas Sataransky. And if you’re a real Wizards fan, you know who that is. So I want to see a back a front court of him and Alex Sar. Seven foot sevenfooter who can shoot the mid-range shot shooter from three. Defensively needs to get better. Needs to use his frame more. But I think with another offseason under his belt, I really you bring him back as well. I really want to see how he does under this regime with Trey Johnson. You just drafted Trey Johnson. Will Riley, Bob Carrington year two, Alex Sar too. I think they can complement each other really well. So Tristan Budovich very very underrated and I think with the minutes given he can go out there and produce and that’s why I have him at seven. Number six for me it’s the pick number six of the draft in Trey Johnson. So Johnson through two summer league games played like we said unfortunately didn’t get to see him play in the other two games. He was out with a hamstring little tweak that he got I guess in game number two. 18 points in the first game, 21 in the second game. Uh, nothing really negative we can say about Trey Johnson and what we saw in his first two appearances on an NBA style floor. It is the summer league, so much different scenario. You’re not going up against the upper echelon of defenders in the NBA quite yet, but he looked so polished, so fluid, and so confident with the basketball in his hands. He consistently found himself getting to his spot uh to get a good shot shot opportunity. And also, I thought he looked effective as a playmaker as well. He’s a guy that when he had the basketball in his hands, when he would get to a spot, he would find himself making the right pass. A couple times I saw him pass up on the easier pass, whether it was swinging the ball to Bub and making a crosscourt pass to a guy like Will Riley, and I know one of the and ones that Riley got was because of a play that Johnson made where he got into the painted area and was able to swing it over that way and make a pretty tough pass. There were a lot of great things we saw about Trey Johnson through the first two summer league games. I’m not sure if he’ll crack the starting lineup for this team right away because of CJ Mcome, but he is going to get his opportunities and I think he will shine very early on. He’s a kid that at just 18 years old was putting the Texas Longhorns on his back in the toughest conference of college basketball. And he looked really good as a defender as well. The one rap coming out of Texas was saying that his defensive uh tendencies were a little bit unknown, that he wasn’t tasked with being a great defender. He took plays off like Will Dawkins showed him during his film. We didn’t see any of that throughout the summer league and I know that’s his opportunity to showcase himself to the coaching staff, to the front office, and to the fan base what he can do. Uh, but his mentality just seems like it’s in the right in the right place for me. We’ve heard everything that he has said to the media and he consistently just says all of the right things. He says that they don’t draft me to score the basketball. They draft me because I can play great defense. And we saw that and obviously the Wizards did draft him because of how talented he is as a scorer. That’s a very diplomatic response there from Trey Johnson. Four for four, Ben. Man, we really are on fire right now. I have also Trey Johnson at six, the pick number six. I mean, Ben, I really can’t uh say any better than what Ben just had what said went off as a freshman in Texas. Was given so many responsibilities. Defenses were toning in on him. Ball taking to the rim, shoot it from three, makes the right play at such a young age. Such high basketball IQ. And he just is all about hoops. you saw the pre-draft interviews, he really doesn’t have any hobbies outside of playing basketball. And that’s just how he is. He’s ball is life. He really puts that into fruition. And I think a guy like him, I can’t wait to see how he does this his season because look at the guys he’s going up against when it comes to VJ going the touches that he’ll get because he’ll have Tyrese Maxi, Jared McCain, Cooper Flag, Kyrie Irvin come back from injury, Anthony Davis, he’s a scorer. So Trey Johnson has a legit shot at rookie of the year. We will have to see how it pans out. But that first game, the summer league league league league league league league league league league game against the Phoenix Suns throwing the ball off Kamal watch’s leg and h that lay is just so cold and he’s he just looks like a basketball play and the name Trey Johnson just breeds basketball. So you put all that together, he’s at number six for me. Yeah, I agree with everything you said right there. Coldbooded from the start. So to break it down for you before we take our first time out here on locked on Wizards the bottom four right now we have for this young core and it’s not bottom because they’re bad basketball players. It’s just bottom because that’s where it stands right now. We put Will Riley at number nine, AJ Johnson number eight, Tristan Vuch at number seven and then Trey Johnson the sixth overall pick at number six. Who is in our top five? Where do they fall on our list? We have that next here on Lockdown Wizards. We’ve all been there. Logging on early and waiting forever for concert tickets to go on sale or you 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 50 60% off with their killer last minute deals. I was tired of scrolling endlessly to find concert tickets. see NBA Young Boy will be at Capital One Aren October 1st. And that’s why Game Time Zone Deal pick the best seats in your section for you. With Game Time, the price you see is the price you pay. No hidden fees there. Take the guesswork out of buying concert tickets and show tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app and create an account and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code LK DNBA for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Final five NBA Young Boy Ben, huh? Sorry. October 1st at Capital One Arena. So that’s that’s going to be my rare night in Capital One Arena this upcoming season where I’m not covering a Wizards game. I’ll be in there uh bumping that young boy on that. I can’t wait for it. It’s going to be a great time. That got me giddy thinking about it. Top five ranking the Wizards young core. Abdullah number five. Start with you. Okay. I I I think this is where we branch out and the streak is over. Hopefully we can do something different. Like Yeah, I know. This wasn’t planned, guys. Like we just did this like on our own. We didn’t even confirm with each other. Number five, I have Cam Whitmore gone. I think Cam Whitmore traded from Houston. Two second round picks in the same draft class as Bal Koulali. I was a big fan of him coming out of the draft. And I had a legit thinking at pick uh eighth where the Wizards had Bal. I was like maybe you get take Cam Whitmore there. And with the minutes given last season with Houston, I mean there’s so much talent on that team. He still had games where he baldled out. I remember against the Lakers he had 30 plus points. It was towards the end of the season, you can make say how is how it is. But going out there and balling out at such a young age, just turned 21 years old and he grew up in the DC sports area group a Wizards fan. So athletic 67. I think he can be a really guy, a guy that can just come in in the starting lineup and produce right away. So, I I can’t wait to see how he does and it’s just so amazing because it comes full circle because I wanted him back in 2023 and I kept telling myself like, “Hey, John the Kaminga, we might have to give up too much.” But out of nowhere, Will Dawkins says, “Hey, we’re going to bring Ken Whitmore back home.” So, I have Ken Whitmore at number five. All right, we finally have a difference here in the rankings. At number five, I’m going Bub Carrington. And we saw so many flashes from Bub in year number one as a rookie. Played in all 82 games, was on the AllNBA rookie second team. He has shown me tremendous ability as an offball guard at the two position scoring the basketball. With that being said, this year his role is very, very different. And through the first two summer league games, I think we saw the flashes of what we saw a lot of him last year. His ability uh to get his shot off the basketball and also shot create for himself a little bit with that little step back shot that he does. But in terms of being a true point guard is which this franchise needs him to be, he still is going to be a work in progress at that position for me. Uh getting himself to the free throw line, attacking to the basket, beating his man off the bounce, and getting to the rim and finishing there. That’s a work in progress for Bub Carrington, but so far he is a tremendous offensive player. A ton of upside there and he can defend the hell out of the basketball on the perimeter as well. He slots in at number five for me. And I agree with you. I think one thing that I just would had Kim at five. A big reason why is because I just don’t think we saw enough of him. kind of similar to Tristan Vuchic in a way where re really really good potential there but just if it really wasn’t shown that much and seeing the reason why B is so high on this list for me is he played all 82 games as a rookie broke a lot of records that mid-range shot needs to be more aggressive needs to get to the free throw line more but he’s only going to get better and I’ll keep emphasizing it your last game of your rookie you’re hitting a gamewinner flo off the glass for the win I understand you’re not a winning team but you’re still going out there only 110% bub Carrington is a dog and moving on to my number four. I have Keshan George, the guy out of Miami, the one that wasn’t talked much about out of the big three out of the 2024 draft class, but man, he got better from game one to game 82. Summer League just 25 points the first game. The second game had five steals. Are you freaking kidding me? This dude is a defensive menace and offensively can shoot the shot from three mid-range, take it to the rim, can pass the ball as well. I mean, he is so versatile. I think Will Dawkins, Keshan George embodies what W Dawkins wants to build here in DC. capital V versatility and big reason why he’s number four for me. Flashes of last year of his three-point shot and I’ll keep talking about it. He’s a big reason why Corey Kiss’s tenure in Washington is basically over because you have a guy that can not only shoot it from three but can defend, is athletic, take it to the rim. One thing I want to see him do better though is not hesitate or not be so willing to just shoot threes for the whole game. Once you take it to the cold uh take to the hole, use pump fakes. That’s something that I think he’ll definitely look to adapt and I think he’s going to be just fine in year two and who knows you brought up the fact that he could be the best player out of the three of Sar Bub and Keshan which is just an amazing problem to have because having so much talent but Keshan George for me is at number four Ben. All right, this is where we’re getting really interesting here because this will be two straight where you and I differ here finally in this list. At number four, I have the former number two overall pick and Alex Sar. and Alexar a lot of positives to his game early on throughout his career, but offensively still very much a work in progress and I know he came on very strong toward the end of the season. I feel like he still lacks the certain mentality, the certain aggression that we’d like to see from him around the painted area that could make him a legit force here in the NBA. Right now, he has that uh rim protection game on lock that is absolutely like you could slot him right now as the best rim protector on the team. one of the best in the league right now. If you could slot him in there as an elite rim protector night in night out, even if his offensive game doesn’t develop, you’d honestly be fine with that. But because he’s a former number two overall pick, uh you’d like to see his offensive game develop even more. I think at times he lacks a little bit of coordination uh and just the ability to get downhill and get you a bucket cuz at 7 foot, like he can handle the basketball very well. So, we’d like to see the ability from him uh to create his own shot by ripping through, get through the middle, and just put it on someone’s head. I feel like at times he’s a little bit passive uh and turns down a dunk opportunity and tries to float it up. The high percentage shots are the ones right there where your head is at the rim, Alexar. And I need to see that from you going forward. I’m going to put him at number four. A lot of work to be done for Alex offensively, but still a talented player nonetheless. Y I agree with you. I think Alex is very talented. But with my number three, I’m going with Bub Carrington Bean. I think like I mentioned earlier just a dog with a capital D. He was a guy that got was part of the DAB trade. Well, Dawkins said, “Hey, Denny Abdia wasn’t part of this regime. You’re out. I’m drafting this guy.” And Bub Carrington who is a stud was going to be a stud and from Pittsburgh. Come right away. I mean, not only a 6’5 guard who can shoot it, the mid-range shot, he can also pass the ball. And there was some games last year he had multiple seven plus rebounds a game. I mean, versatility, man. I’ll keep talking about V. That’s what the winners are trying to build here. Not only just the youth movement, but making sure that these young guys can do it all. And that’s why I have him at three. At number three, I have Cam Whitmore. And I know that’s a little bit maybe polarizing in a way because we haven’t seen him play in a Wizards uniform nonetheless, but this is a dude that really just did not benefit from the crowded situation in Houston. Regarded as the steel of the draft two years ago, he is so unbelievably talented as a scorer. What is he going to look like defensively? because I think I have a pretty good idea what he’s going to do offensively here. I think he’s going to be a guy that easily averages 17 to 20 points per game. I think he’s that kind of scoreer. He is that talented and we’re going to see that early on from the get-go here in his Wizards career. Can they get him to buy in defensively? And I know that the the word effort is what comes up all the time when playing defense because we didn’t see a lot of that uh from him in his time in Houston. Is that something that changes here in Washington with that potential alone and how good he is as a scorer? That’s why I have him number three right now. And I get that, Ben. But for me, a question is how many touches can he get because there’s just so many mouths to feed on this Wizards team. You have Bal Kubali who wants that extension. He wants to prove to the Wizards organiz organization, the whole NBA, hey, I deserve to get that contract extension. On top of that, Bub Carrington, year two guy. Alexar wants to prove everyone uh wrong and saying, “Hey, I’m not a bus.” So, I I agree with you. Kim Whitmore is so talented, but it comes to the point where there’s so many mouths to feed. So, how does he find that? How does he maximize his role here in DC? Um, totally get that. I feel like it’ll it’ll be tough uh to see how they kind of manage the rotation with that, but overall, I think Whitmore is a guy that will get his touches because of how talented he is offensively. And I think that’s why you bring him in here, albeit for pretty cheap, the two second round picks that go to Houston, but I think the Wizards organization has a plan for him. Yeah. And I think it’s going to be just fine. I think he has found a legit home here in Washington. This is what he wanted. So, should we finish out the top two before we go to break? You know what? Let’s let’s save it for the other side of the break. We’ll we’ll touch on the final two we have between Bal and Keshan George. And then we’ll also talk about Damen Lillard returning home to Rip City in Portland. And what does that mean? Uh hopefully that doesn’t mean the Wizards do something a couple years from now, but I’m pretty sure everyone knows what I’m talking about. We’ll hit that next here. Lockdown Wizards. If you’re running a business, you know that every mis call is money left on the table. Think about the last time you had an urgent need, maybe for a plumber or service provider. 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We want to get everyone’s input on how you feel we did and where do you differ from our list. Abdul and I were we’re pretty chalk through the first four here, but things got a bit interesting here in the top five. Number two for me is Keshan George. Now, and I say that lightly because I think he very well could find himself in the running for number one after this season. I am so high on Keshan George as a two-way player. He has shown many shown so many ridiculous things to me uh as of a player he can be. And what what’s the rap on Bal Koulali? It’s how good he is defensively. Do we see the upside from him offensively? Does he take a jump in year number three? Keshan George already one of the more polished offensive players on this Wizards team. He became the first player in franchise history uh to reach 100 threes. I think it took him 59 games uh to get to that mark and he had a a stretch where he had 31 games in a row with a three-pointer. And the dude all around was just a monster as well defensively and that continued on throughout the summer league. He led the rookies and steals last year and in the summer league this year had the ridiculous statline five steals in a game on a night where he had not his best shooting night but uncareristic one at that for Keshan George. He can score at all three levels and he can guard one through four on the floor. He is so versatile in what he can do. You could really put him at the two through the four uh and you’ll be just fine out there with Keshan George. I think he’s a guy that’s going to continue to get better at both offense and defense as the season gets on. We’ve seen a new bag from him as well as the season went on. He’s a guy that uh developed his ability to score on the inside. Uh take the ball off the bounce and create his own shot. That little step back three is something we’ve seen be butter for him. I’ve got so many great things to say about Keshan George. I think he’s going to break out here even more in year number two. Yeah, I’m I’m also high on Khan George. I can’t wait to see what he does in year two. But for me, number two is the former number two overall pick, Alex Sar. I get it. A lot of people are still, you know, scrutinizing him for how he performed in last year’s summer league lumber league summer league game and how he started off this summer league. But man, that game against I think it was was the A block game against Brooklyn. I mean, bro, like that was just that flashes. I get it. It’s summer league, but I won’t keep reiterating it. If he played bad, a lot all of his haters would have been like, “Oh, he sucks.” But when the guy plays good, you know, you discredit him. It just doesn’t make any sense. But last year, game 81 or game one of Summerly to game 82, he just got better against Denver, Jordan Pool, game winner, but he had 34 that game against Nicole Yokic, one of the greatest centers of all time. I get it. Offensively, he needs to develop that bag. He needs to be more aggressive. Again, depend put your body on someone’s seven foot frame. Needs to get at least eight to nine rebounds a game. I mean, you’re the tallest dude on the court. But the rim protector, the it’s just you, he’s crossing off a lot of boxes and he has those traits to be a top 10 center in this league. Eight freaking blocks, breaking a summer league record to me is just insane. And I think a duo of him and Trey Johnson, pick and roll, pick and pop, him and Bub Bal and him, Keshan and him. There’s just so much ways to unlock Alex Sar and that’s why I’m so high on him and I think he’s just going to be just fine. I think the shooting wise his splits have to get better and I think they will get better. But if he can develop that three-point shot and and is able to get a better handle, take it to the rim, I mean he’s going to be really unguardable and it’s going to be exciting to see how he does. A lot of people forget this guy came from the Australian League. He didn’t play college basketball here. It’s quite the transition from going overseas to here. So give it some time. Alex R. Be patient. I’m excited for him year two and I think he’s gonna break out. All right. Well, it’s pretty obvious we both have Bal Koulabali at number one who enters a pivotal pivotal year number three. Does he make the jump to become an allaround fantastic two-way player? Not to say he’s not talented offensively already, uh, because he is. We’ve seen the flashes of that. defensively already one of the better uh perimeter defenders in the entire NBA. And that’s exactly what the Wizards knew they were getting when they drafted him number seven overall. He’s a guy they traded up one spot to get back in the 2023 draft. The first draft pick of the Will Dawkins era here in Washington. So, you know, they are extremely high on a player like Bal Koulawi. They want to make sure that he is certainly the guy they want to give money to stay here because he will become extension eligible after the summer. And what does his deal look like is the question. I think that’s all going to be dependent on what we see from him in year number three right here. And a little bit of a regression as an outside shooter last year unfortunately for Bal Koul. He went from just around 35% his rookie season to 2% under 30 in year number two. But the other thing is we need to see him play a full season. Uh he hasn’t been able to finish out the entire season uh throughout his first two years. So we need to see him on the floor a little bit more. Be a guy that can be out there for 70 to 75 nights throughout the regular season. Bob Carrington played in 82 games in the regular season. I’m not saying he’s a guy that you necessarily would have to have him play 82 games uh throughout the season, but health uh generally I think would be a concern for me with Bal Kulabali. He only finished at 59 games last year and I know part of it was the ethical tank. They kind of shut him down for the remainder of the year. But you’d like to see him get up to around 70 to 75 games played if not even more here in year number three before this front office has to make its first big decision on who they pay here. And a big reason why I’m so high on him last year. I’ll keep I always talk about it. 24 less than 24 hours after trading Kyle Koozma the law gets his first career triple double against the Brooklyn Nets. The Flashes are there. Defensively, he’s already there. I remember when he was a rookie, a young guy guarding Jiannis Kmpo and he stood his ground. Defensively, that high IQ, we just want to see the offensive bag. We want to see that jump shot be better. Want to see him become aggressive offensively. There are games where he takes, last year we saw where two, three shots, and another game he’ll take 10 to 15. So, be steady. You have to be consistent. And he’s so explosive. I know we talk about AJ Johnson being athletic, but Bal is so so freaking athletic as well. And I think he has a legit shot at being the best player out of this young quarterback. But we got to see that jump year three offensively. I have so much hope in you. I think this whole regime. Bulldogs his first pick. They have so much stock in you, Belal. And I think he’s going to be better this year. I think availability is the best ability. He’s going to prove that as well. So I can’t wait. I know he’s been working hard this off season. See the clips working on his ball handling. uh which is something you wanted to see how he can uh create his own shot off the dribble, get to the rim a little bit better by uh just dribbling the basketball a little bit better and then also working on that jump shot as well. So break it down right here one through nine. Bal for me uh because Abdull and I’s lists are a little bit different. Number one, Bal Koulali two Keshan George three Cam Whitmore four Alex Sar five Carrington six Trey Johnson seven Tristan Bhvitz eight AJ Johnson and number nine Will Riley. And for me, number one, Bal Kulabali. Number two, Alexar. Number three, Bob Carrington. Four, Keshan. Five, Cam Whitmore. Six, Trey Johnson. Seven, Tristovich. Eight, AJ Johnson. Nine, W Riley. Comment down below who had the better list. I know it’s going to be me, but I want to see how many people think that. All right. Well, we’re we’re almost out of time, so we did tease this, so we we’ll pay it off here, Abdullah, because we are a good host. Damen Lord back to Portland. Three years, $42 million. I I mean, wow. Cue the music. I’m coming home, man. I was shocked. This is what I I love to see. I don’t know how much playing time he’s going to get, but man, a duo of Danny Abd and Demi Li when he comes back, that’s going to be interesting. And it brings up the question, in a couple years when the Woods are contending, do they consider bringing back number three, Bradley Beal? I just I I hope not, honestly. I know he’s 100 points for breaking the record, Ben. I know, but like if if we’re in the position where we have our established core and there wouldn’t even really be like room for him unless he was a guy that would really pay play limited minutes. I just don’t see it happening. Um I just I I don’t like I I don’t want it happening really anytime within the next three to four years. And I know that’s you know I don’t know how long Beal’s shelf life is going to be now that he’s playing for the Clippers. I’m not sure how much longer he’ll be part of the association. If he’s going to be a guy that says he wants to come back and play for DC after his contract’s up there two years from now, I don’t know if it would make sense to bring him back two years from now. I wouldn’t really entertain it at that point. I I’d be thinking way further down the road because I I don’t want them to have any influx to what they have building right here. Yeah. You know, as much as I It’s funny to talk about it’s not a good idea. Stick with the young core. Bradley Bill’s time here in Washington is over and now it’s crazy how he went from worse contract to like really good value in the Clippers like two years 11 mil. I still don’t think they’re going to go far in the Western Conference. But hey, we wish luck to Bradley Bill and I still think we won that trade with the Phoenix Suns. Yeah, we’ll see how those pick swaps maybe come in handy if the Wizards are in a position where they can indeed use him depending on what happens in Phoenix. But out of time for today already we got to rank this entire Wizards. That was a lot of fun. So hopefully uh you guys have some good thoughts on our rankings. You guys can drop down in the comments below what you guys think and let us know. Did we get it right or were we off base? I mean, I I feel like there’s going to be a lot of mixed opinions uh from what we’ve seen right now. But, you know, maybe we’ll we’ll calculate the percentage and and see what the consensus was from amongst the fans that do comment their picks and then we could release to the public what the percentage was uh based on the polling we get here for the Wizards Core. So that’ll be fun to do. We thank you for making Lockdown Wizards your first listen today for your second Find the Lockdown NBA podcast where there is no offseason. Doug, Matt, and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors, and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find Lockdown NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. It’s your team every day. Stick with us. Stick with us next week. We’ll be back here on Lockdown Wizard for my co-host Abdullah Yubie. I’m Ben Strober. We sign off here. Go Wizards.

Washington Wizards fans, how do you rank the BOOMING amount of youth here in our nation’s capital? Today on Locked On Wizards, Ben and Abdullah tackle the challenge of ranking the core 1-9. Did we get it right? Let us know?

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