Wizards FALL to 1-3 in the Summer League | What is AJ Johnson’s CEILING in DC?

Wizards FALL to 1-3 in the Summer League | What is AJ Johnson’s CEILING in DC?

On today’s episode, the Wizards follow one and three in the summer league. What should we expect from AJ Johnson in year two? All that and more next on 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 and welcome back to another episode of Lock on Wizards. I’m Abdullah Yub, credential med media member of the Washington Wizards and host of the DV Sports Zone page. And I am here with the great Benjamin Schrober, producer with the DC Sports Talk stations 1067 the fan and the team 980. Thanks for making Lockdown Wizards your first listen every day. Part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. And remember, Lockdown Wiz is free and available on all platforms including YouTube at Lockdown Wizards where the best way to help us grow is to comment anything down below. And today’s question is, what are your thoughts on AJ Johnson’s future role here in Washington? Today’s episode is also brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. Ben, we just finished. Watch the Wizards. Almost came back at the end, but they fall short. 7686 the final score against the Utah Jazz. Again, none of the big name guys, year two guys, Trey Johnson played, but AJ Johnson big tonight. 25 points, five rebounds, three assists. What was your overall thoughts on today’s performance for just the Wiz? Yeah, just I saw the lineup come out today and I can’t say I was surprised that we didn’t see anybody playing, but once again, uh, a little bit disappointing. You don’t get to see Trey Johnson and Will Riley go at it. You only get really two summer league games out of those guys. I know a potential fifth game upcoming here for this Wizards team. Not sure who they’re going to play yet or or what the status is with that. I don’t think the Wizards will qualify for the playoffs. Uh, but I wouldn’t expect any of those guys to play again. So, uh, we pretty much got the excitement that we needed uh, through the first two games and really only the second game, I’d say, was an exciting one because first one did not go so well for the Wizards against Phoenix. But AJ Johnson, you do love to see that he was a lot more efficient today on the floor, went 10 of 16 from the field, including two of five from beyond the arc. Uh so one thing that we wanted to see improve for Johnson this upcoming season was the way he’s able to expand his game to the outside because he’s kind of been a one-trick pony at times uh in a Wizards uniform where he has got the ball on the wing and he’s explosive. He has a lot of tenacity when he takes the ball to the basket. But when you only play at one speed that only makes you so effective at a certain level because you know AJ Johnson right there he slots in as the point guard tonight. He hasn’t really shown any ability to be a playmaker for this team. I know that he did finish with a couple of assists later on, but went the entire first half without an assist, and I think he really struggled uh throughout this summer league to reveal his impact as a playmaker. I know he’s got a lot of potential because of athleticism uh and his ability to get to the rim and run there. Uh but we need to see a lot from him uh especially in his development. And I could see him being a candidate as a guy that maybe gets some time with the Capital City Go next year to work on some of these things because the flashes are there. Like he is exciting. If he gets ahead of steam toward the rim, it’s probably best you get out of his way because he will he’ll dunk it on your head. Uh but overall in terms of his entire impact to the game, I was not insanely impressed with AJ Johnson uh throughout this summer league. But the flash and potential is enough for me to, you know, stash him on the go- go at least for part of the season or maybe have him come off the bench um a little bit less early on in the year. I don’t think we’re going to see him in a six-man role or anything like that to start next season because he’s got a lot that he has to work on. Yeah, I think one thing for sure, he has a lot to work on. We can definitely agree on that. I think the potential is there because a young guy coming from that trade with Kyle Kosma, which till this day we got to give kudos to Bull Dawkins for being able to steal another first round pick. And last year when given the opportunities and showed up in crunch time, I think it was against the Brooklyn Nets where he had like a a baseline reverse dunk which is insane. They had clutch shot after clutch shot. He’s shown flashes and this summer league definitely was way more efficient tonight. Like I mentioned, 25 points, five rebounds, three assists. I just want to see more of it. And I think it does start with the Capital City Go. And he’s also in a predicament where there’s just so much talent on this young squad. And with where do you put him at the guard position with Trey Johnson, CJ McCullum, you you have Bob Carrington. So maybe it’ll be a trouble to find himself a role in this lineup. But I definitely think if he could reach that potential and becomes more efficient, that playmaker, he already has athleticism. I mean, he is so freaking athletic. that burst of speed, that first step is just insane. We always emphasize it. So, it’s just something that we definitely want to see him improve on. And I think it all starts from the capital city go and I think from there maybe potentially there’s nights where I wouldn’t mind him being in the starting lineup, but we’ll just have to see. Definitely has to get better from beyond the arc too. It’s going to be hard to play the guard role and you can’t shoot it from three. We know that because John Wall, as athletic as he was, he was kind of held back with not having a three-point shot. So, AJ Johnson, like I mentioned, 25 points. You can’t really say anything bad about that. It was he got better from this summer league game compared to the the game before when he was I think he had 20 points off 20 shots. That’s just inexcusable. But getting better is one thing that we want to see, especially as a young squad that’s trying to not contend right now, but hopefully in the future. It’s just for me, you know, not to discredit AJ Johnson and the other guys that were out there tonight, but it’s it’s hard to watch these kind of games because I know it got a little bit interesting, I guess, because a 160 run at one point late in the fourth quarter to help the Wizards come back a little bit and maybe save face from being from this being a complete blowout, just a 10-point loss tonight. But, I mean, this was a Utah team that was also playing the majority of its backups. No Ace Bailey uh playing in this game. So, you know, you look at it this way for the Wizards. Your backups are out there kind of getting trashed out there by other backups, which I know was to be expected. Like, you’re not expecting a super good Wizards team. You’re not expecting the backups and all these guys that probably won’t even make the roster uh to do much out there. But this summer league, I feel like this is a real opportunity for a lot of the guys on our squad uh to get some legit run out there to to try to build that chemistry and and work on some things out there, whether that’s Bob Carrington learning his new role as the point guard. Um Sar, you know, of the past for Alex Sar, of course, he’s going to be playing in France, you know, in about two weeks, so I understand him playing the two games. I have no problem with that. I wouldn’t have been mad at all if he didn’t play at all. Um, but other guys, Trey Johnson and Will Riley, and I know they have the little supposed injuries or not, I’m not even gonna say supposed because they probably did have some little things tweaked up that they’re being precautionary about, but you would have loved to see those guys get some more run even with some of the other guys on the floor. To me, it feels a little bit like a missed opportunity and in retrospect, it’s not going to mean anything six months from now. Uh, but it’s just a little disappointing. like, you know, watching this game tonight, I’m just kind of there’s not a whole lot for me to get excited about there. Yeah, AJ Johnson is out there. Jir Watkins has looked good throughout the summer league. I think he’s a piece that looks Black had a really good game, Ben. 10 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals, four blocks. Still don’t know what his future uh holds. I think really the only guys I was super super concerned about watching, of course, was Johnson and Watkins. I think Watkins has proven to me that he’s a guy that’s going to fit in actually in the rotation here at some point DC just because of how good he is defensively and there’s going to be flashes where uh he shows himself revealing his potential offensively to become that Lou Dort type player. Um but still a ways to go for that, but I think he showed a lot of good things here uh early on in the summer league. I wish we would have seen more from everybody. Yeah, it is a little disappointing because I had I think both of us had really high hopes going into summer league, but we didn’t factor in the fact that the Wizards might not play a lot of the year two guys or Trey Johnson. And I think we we kind of hit the nail on the head. I mean, I know you wanted to see Trey Johnson more, but I talked about how in the previous the two two episodes ago where I wanted I thought I saw enough from Trey Johnson. I didn’t think we’re going to see him at all. And that’s what happened. The Wizards pulled him. I think he’s proven enough that he is a bucket. He just looks like an NBA player. So, it’s not worth putting him out there more potentially. Him being injured was an option and something that could definitely happen if he was playing down the stretch, especially since this game was it was a blowout essentially. But at the end, this is one kind of a 190 run we were talking about which is insane. But overall, the summer league one and three right now. I think you mentioned it Ben or I think we talked about the off the air. We don’t know when the next game will be. I don’t think we’re making the playoffs. It’s just so funny because I thought this team was really really stacked roster-wise on paper, but we we had we had championship aspirations. Summer league. The summer league. That’s the state of being a Washington Wizards fan right now. But we got we got hyp we got hyped up for the summer league and then they said, “No, you’re not even you’re not even going to see wins in that because no one’s playing.” Yeah. It’s just funny. It doesn’t really matter, but it it is funny to think about. Yeah, it is. But right now as a Wizards fan, you take all the wins as you can. That one win definitely meant something. I mean, Alexar was during it. Alex Sar’s defensive performance that night, Ben, I mean, setting a summer league record like it’s got to mean something. I I wanted to bark at my TV seeing that. Like, I did. So, you could look at you can take that with a grain of salt, but I was getting hyped up for Alexar in game number two. Trey Johnson, man, he looked so good uh throughout the the only two games he played. He looked like a smooth operator. I you know you get the comparisons to him to Jaden Daniels because of his demeanor and like he always just says the right things from what we’ve seen so far uh and his attitude toward basketball the way Jaden has his attitude toward football. He’s like the same though the way he plays on the court. He’s just very nonchalantly insanely good. Does everything so smooth. Looks effortless doing it. Another game. Yeah. Two. We’re gonna So, we’re gonna have the trio of James Wood, uh, Trey Johnson, and Jaden Daniels, like the three nonchalant kings of of the DC area. It’s going to be great in the future. DC sports, man. Just you wait. We will be back when all four teams will be dominated. Definitely got to see on the Capitals because Alexkin is going to retire soon. But we’re talking about summer league. Wizards are one and three. What we when we come back, we’ll talk about Jir Watkins. I know we talked about his I know you and Tyler talked about his HD steel performance, but he played really well today. All more next on Locked on Blizzards. 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 a service provider. If the first person didn’t answer, did you wait? Probably not. You moved on. That’s why you need Open Phone. Open Phone is the number one business phone system built to streamline and scale your customer communications, all from an app on your phone or computer. Opone text me lets me manage business calls and text from a single app. The shared inbox feature is a gamecher. Your team can jump into any conversation instantly without missing a beat. And their AI agent handles afterhour calls, answers common questions, and captures leads so you never miss a call. Open Phone is offering my listeners 20% off your first six months at openphone.com/locktonba. That’s op ho ne.com/lockonba. And if you have existing numbers with another service, open phone will port them over at no extra charge. Open phone. No missed calls, no missed customers. Jir Watkins, the name that we’ve been Jir Watkins. Sorry, but I know early on the episode you mentioned it, but uh just just for people that are watching and they’re not are listening, Ben is having some He’s in the woods right now. He’s uh having some little technical difficulties, but it’s all good. We’re all here for the Wizards 12:30 a.m. Eastern Central time. I I’m in I’m in the wilderness. I have I have no idea. Did the uh did the thing even play? Yeah, it did. It did. You’re good. You’re good. Trust me, you’re good. It’s okay, man. You know, this is what we do as Wizards fans. You know, I don’t even know if you can hear. No, I can hear you. I can hear you. This this I can hear. Definitely. This team, as young as it is, and I know we’re not going to win that much this upcoming year, we’re still out here making content at 12:30 a.m. after another summer league loss. But let’s go back to the topic at hand. Jir Watkins, Ben, 13.7 rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block today. What do you think his potential role here is in DC, at least in his rookie year? Because last game, eight steals. That’s really, really impressive. And I mentioned the fact that his 6’5 uh or well, he’s 6’5, but the 6’11 frame, nearly 7 foot wingspan is insane to me. And there’s a big reason why he got drafted 43rd overall. Offensively is limited with his jump shot, but if he gets better at that, I mean, he could be a really, really good player. event. I think defensively he’s shown so many good things for this Washington franchise already throughout the first couple summer league games he’s played. And Tyler put it really well yesterday. very astutely said that he got to watch him a ton at Florida State because his sister went to Florida State. His family would watch all the Florida State games and uh he was hyped up to see this team draft Jir Watkins because of the pure raw potential that they saw from him, how good he was defensively, how high his basketball IQ was, and what he was able to do at such a high usage rate uh playing for that seminal program. I think he’s somebody who instantly fits into this rotation just because what he gives you night in nightight out basis defensively. If he’s out there playing 15 minutes a game and he averages six to eight points but chips in for a steal or two in a block and uh is just disruptive the way he is defensively. I think that is a big win for you because what we’ve seen out of Jir Watkins is he disrupts the entire offensive system of the opposing team. No matter what he does, he is unbelievable at reading passing lanes, finding himself in a good position. He can go out there and rebound. He can um, you know, chip in from the help side, get on the cliff there and and make things difficult on people that drive to the basket. Jirro Watkins is a guy that just knows what to do defensively. And that’s not something that you always see from NBA players. We preach the capital E word effort for defenders. And that’s never been a problem for a guy like Jir Watkins. But he has the intangibles. He has the brains to be a great defender in the NBA and that’s not something that everybody has. He is just so intelligent with every single move he makes on the basketball floor. There is everything is being done with a direct purpose from him and his basketball IQ is what leads to him being one of the better defenders I’ve seen drafted by this organization in quite some time. I I agree with you. I think his potential, his effort, the capital E, is a big reason why he was picked 43 overall and he’s not being talked about because of how much potential out there is for Will Riley and Trey Johnson. But look out for Jir Watkins. Mentioned Florida State when he played my Hokes, he killed us in the ACC tournament. So, I think minutes-wise, I don’t know how much of we can project he’ll get come his rookie year, but like definitely I could see him him being able to pick up 94 feet. Just the emphasis on putting the D back in DC. That’s what I really want. Hand in the passing lane, getting two to three steals a game. That’s what we need, especially since if we’re down a lot in these next couple game in these the regular season games that’s coming up this year. We need guys like Jimmy Watkins that can go bring us back and get a steal that can start a run. And I think he has the potential to be that guy. And offensively, like I mentioned, he needs to work on his game. But I just a guy like him who’s so physically physically gifted and talented defensively, going back to putting in effort is just something that we haven’t had here in DC for so long. And a guy like him definitely could set the tone. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets more minutes come down the stretch of the season because again this team like we always mention every episode, we’re not going to be winning that much because Will Dawkins emphasized in that interview during the previous summer league game where we want to keep that top eight pick because if the Wizards fall out of the top eight, it goes to New York Knicks. So I think a guy like Jir Walkas, I mean, eight steals, Ben, that that’s absurd in a in a game. I get it. It’s summer league, you can pull that card out, but eight as a rookie, that is crazy. I’ll say one thing about the it’s summer league card. If a guy struggles in summer league and does absolutely nothing, then everyone says that he stinks because he’s not doing anything anything in the summer league. But anytime somebody has a great performance in the summer league, uh the excuse is it’s the summer league, so they they should be doing it. We we can’t we can’t praise it. Uh, but you know, to go back to your point that you bring up here of Jamir Watkins, think about the guys in the NBA that have molded their career off being insane defenders and and guys that just get it done on that end of the floor and then contribute however they can offensively. And I know Lou D is the name that we’ve thrown around so much. But think about how he was in the NBA finals. He was absolutely instrumental in Oklahoma City winning that finals in seven games against the Pacers, including game seven, uh, where he was just an absolute animal defensively. And Dort was a guy that was kind of inconsistent offensively. And I think that’s what we’re going to see from Watkins throughout most of his career. He has not really uh developed a consistent shot from the outside. And even though Dort is able to shoot from the outside, there are nights where he goes cold, but he’s still that impactful on the floor because what he does defensively, he can literally take over a game defensively. And that’s an unbelievably rare trait in the NBA where a guy actually takes over the game because of how good he is defensively. That’s the kind of player Lou Dort is. And I think Jir Watkins might have the raw potential and the ability uh to be that kind of guy at some point in his career. And on top of that, you gota have a a really good rim protector and Alex Sar who not too long ago had eight blocks in a summer league game. The law Koulabali who definitely the best defender on this team as of right now. We’ll have to see come regular season which guys will improve defensively. Keshan George can guard one through four. I mean Ben, I need to see this team this upcoming year be better defensively in a lot of categories. You can’t be bottom five in defensive rebounds and points in the paint three-point shot. You got to be able to close out. There is no excuses to be as bad as last year. We definitely got better on roster-wise. So, we’ll just have to see how it all pans out. But, let us know down in the comments section. What is your thoughts on Jir Watkins overall, his summer league uh performance? I think the eight steals really solidifies who he’s going to be here in Washington. AJ Johnson definitely got better throughout these past couple of games. What do you think his role will be here in DC? When we come back, we’ll talk about more about the future, what’s after the summer league. Bradley Beal also got bought out. So, how does that affect the Wizards? All that more. This is locked on Wizards. Ever wish managing your money felt easier? With Monarch Money, it can. Whether you’re growing your savings or planning a big purchase, Monarch puts you in the driver’s seat. It’s like having your own personal CFO, giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch Money is more than a budgeting app. It’s a complete financial command center. You can track all your accounts, investments, and spending in one place. So, in addition to managing your money, you’re also building wealth. One thing that surprised me about Monarch Money, how easy it is to track my spending. A guy like me, I love going out and I didn’t realize how much I was spending on eating outside food. I definitely took more taking more advantage of the homecooked meals, but Monarch Money made me realize that, hey, I got to cut back. But the specific categories, the takeout subscriptions is just something that’s so underrated and not many apps out there offer that type of feature. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on [email protected] for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchmoney.com code locked on NBA for half off your first year. album. Again, we apologize. We apologize for the delay. Benjamin Strobert is in the woods probably out there around Yogi Bear. And we appreciate you, Ben, for still being here talking about the Whiz. That’s just goes to show how much of a fan this guy is. And going back to this Wizards team, now it’s it’s raining above me now. Yeah, that’s it’s just it keeps adding up, man. It keeps adding up. Uh, going back to this Wizard Squad, Ben, it’s raining right above me now. No, you’re good. You’re good. It’s I We can’t hear anything, so you’re fine. I was I was going to go back to this whole idea of not being able to see the young guys play more. To me, I thought that last game potentially is the game where like this game for example, where we didn’t see much of the young guys, but you they got pulled against the 76ers, which to me is a little frustrating because I wanted to see more about more from Alex Sar and Bub Carrington. I think Keshan George proved already what he’s going to do come year two. Do you think the Wizards or just in general JJ Allah should have played more of the young guys and held them out this game compared to just taking all them out last game? Can you hear me, Ben? Yeah, I I was overall disappointed in what we saw uh from how nobody played. I think you can I feel like everything I’m saying, you’re hearing it like seconds later, which is the problem right now, but everyone’s eventually going to hear this at some point. But the the one thing that seems to be the big problem for me about this is you can hear in the tone in my voice right now. This watching that game is just so you all you can really hope for is to see AJ Johnson go out there and playmake and and perform his best. Uh Jir Watkins go out there and give his effort. I feel like is a missed opportunity for a lot of these guys to build chemistry and and work on a lot of things that are going to be important going forward. I think Bub Carrington, the role that he’s going to have this year being the primary point guard, uh, at least to start the year, you wanted to see more of him playing out out there. You you wanted to see him working on more things that were going to be re uh, relevant to his game going forward in the future. Uh, beating his man off the balance and getting to the basket. And we know what Bub Karen can can do as an offball two guard. That’s been apparent for him for a very long time already through the 82 games. And I guess it if it’s not a long time, but it feels like a long time for this Wizards team because everyone is like 21 years old. But we kind of know what these players are going to be like. But you want to see them in in a different role. You want to see how they improve on different things they’ve done throughout the year. And I think that was the biggest thing that disappointed me about this summer league is we didn’t really get to see a lot of that because we only saw the guys play two games and one of them was just kind of a dud. Yeah. Yeah. And maybe it’s a the the Wizards coaching staff saw that we’ve seen enough and they proved enough and that’s a sign for optimism going into the regular season, but I think as young fans, you mentioned it, we want to see the development, the the team chemistry. It all starts off with small things. Those small things build up in the summer league. And everyone mentions how, oh, summer league like this, summer league that, but I think it’s a great time, especially as a young Wizard squad, cuz like I mentioned, a lot of these young guys on this team are going to be the starters come the regular season. So, that’s what you wanted to see. One guy I didn’t I forgot to mention throughout the live stream was Dylan Jones. He had a lot 19 minutes today, 12 points, one rebound, one steel. He not too long ago was traded from the Oklahoma from Oklahoma to the Wizards. I think Sam Preston could give up five second round picks to move up and draft him. So, he’s a guy who maybe could crack the rotation come regular season time, but it will be difficult because the amount of young talent that you have on this team and with all this young talent that we have, like you mentioned, Alexar, Bob Carrington, Keshan, AJ Johnson, Justin Champeni, Tristan Vuvich, you just traded for Kim Whitmore, Belula Bali, year three, that jump that we’re always talking about. There’s just so much we’re going into the season with headlines of what’s going to happen, but the one thing is for sure that this team is going to be fun to watch and that’s honestly right now at the stage of the Wizards, the current state of the Wizards, that’s what all you could ask for. Yeah, I 100% agree with you. And it it’s the roster coming into the summer league. We had high expectations because as Wizard fans, we have like nothing to be excited about but a young core of players and what they could be and could. I’m putting such a point of emphasis on that word because everything is unknown for us. I mean, think about the Oklahoma City Thunder were in the same position as us at one point. They had a super young core and they didn’t know how things would turn out and look what happens a couple years down the road. They’re NBA champions. But right now, it’s a it’s a strong feeling of nerves as a Wizards fan. Like, what if this doesn’t work out? What if you don’t really have the pieces there? And then going one and three in the summer league, even though you don’t have a lot of your guys playing, it it’s just tough because you don’t get the feeling, you don’t get the sense of feeling where you have everyone falling into place, everyone improving on certain things that you would wanted throughout the summer league experience. So, we had such high expectations because we look at the roster and go, “Whoa, that’s a loaded summer league roster.” And then we only really see him play in two games and one of them was just an absolute stinker in the first game. The effort wasn’t really there against Phoenix. And it was great in the second game. I was having a lot of fun watching that game. I think we saw flashes of what we might see in a regular season that’s not going to have a lot of wins for this Wizards team. But, you know, it’s tough because you have to preach patience for this Wizards organization knowing that this is hopefully the last year where you’re kind of in this ethical tank uh period of time for the organization. But, you know, it’s tough and I understand why a lot of fans would be frustrated and there’s going to be a lot of frustration from people because there are going to be nights this regular season where this team gets destroyed. They get blown out. You hope it’s not as much as last year. You hope you don’t go on two 16g game losing streaks, but this team is going to get blown out in a couple games uh next year for sure. There are going to be those nights where the effort isn’t there, the intensity isn’t there, and the young guys are going to look like young kids out there, and it’s going to be frustrating at times, but it’s what we’re going to have to live with for the next year here in DC. I still have a lot of hope going forward. I think tonight I’m just a little bit more disappointed because we didn’t get to see some of our guys play for the last couple games. No, I definitely agree with you. You brought up frustration. Wanted to quickly touch on Bradley Bill. Finally, finally, finally, the Phoenix Suns were finally too frustrated with him and they bought him out. It’s crazy, Ben, because at one point he was on the worst contract in NBA history and now the Clippers get him at a value what two years 11 mil. That is that is something. Well, I mean that the whole saga is over because for a long time it seemed like there was kind of this standoff between Bill and the Phoenix Suns. He was saying, “Hey, I’m I’m good, man.” You know, like I got my no trade clause. Pretty chill. Like you guys don’t want to play me, fine. I’ll just I’ll chill out here in the desert. I got my family out here. Uh, so from that standpoint, I I understand that Beiel has all the leverage in that situation. But I guess it came down to it. Beal did finally want to play at some point and Phoenix was willing to uh give in and get this buyout done because I I don’t know the details of the buyout. I’m not sure if that’s even come out yet, but I I’m be pretty sure it’s a very substantial amount of money for Bradley Beal because I think he was set to get like $111 million uh over the next two seasons. So that buyout has to be insanely substantial for him to agree that because how could you turn down that kind of money even expect if you’re not even expected to play that much because Phoenix really had no interest in him playing there anymore for the Clippers. I think it makes no sense. I really don’t. I I think Bradley Beal going there is a guy that’s going to come off the bench and score for them. I just I don’t think it does anything. I’ve always been critical of the Los Angeles Clippers one because I just I don’t think James Harden is a guy that’s ever going to win a ring. He’s a guy that constantly does not show up in big games in the playoffs. And everyone told me for so long that playoff Harden was a myth that he was a perfectly capable playoff player. He’s terrible in elimination games. Like he’s a dude that’s just not going to win a ring. That’s just how I feel about James Harden. And call me a hater. Fine. Like he’s a first ball of famer. I get that. He’s one of the best talented scorers we’ve ever seen in the game. He’s just a dude who’s not going to win a ring. Bradley Beal, another guy that’s probably not going to win a ring. He went to a super team out there in the or supposed super team with Booker and KD and that team stunk. Beal stunk in the playoffs, too. Like, I’m not even trying to hate on Bradley Beal or anything right now, but I just I don’t really even understand the move for the Clippers. I guess you’re getting him for cheap, but that’s it. It’s insane, Ben, how at one point this dude Bradley Beal was averaging 30 a game and was second behind Steph Curry that one year in 2021 behind the scoring title. and to where he is now. I mean, two years ago when that trade happened, everyone was talking about how we got fleece by the Phoenix Suns, but man, with those pick swaps coming in the next couple of years, Phoenix, I just I don’t know what they’re going to do. Devin Booker, I know he just got paid, but I don’t see him winning in Phoenix anytime soon. That team that they had with Aan Paul, maybe they should have ran it back, but I mean, it is what it is. That’s they’re in this situation now. And the fact that they bought out Bradley Bill for that I mean paying that much for buying him out. I mean that just goes to show that they just did not want him in Phoenix at all. Yeah, that’s just kind of the situation had been and it’s a tragic falloff for Bradley Beal considering how beloved he was. Uh won in DC played here for 10 years and he was a you know great guy for the community and was very wellliked by everyone because of what he was did and you know he got the tag of being the loyal guy. I don’t buy, you know, too much into the loyal stuff because he got the supermax contract. Like that that’s all you need for the loyalty. But Bradley Beal is a good guy. Like I’m not trying to take anything away from him. Uh and what he did here as a Washington Wizard, but the the ending was certainly tumultuous. And I think his career as a whole ever since uh he got the no trade clause has been extremely tumultuous. That’s just the worst. Tommy Shepard, I I don’t know where you are right now, but what’s wrong with you, man? What What is wrong with you, man? Like you you you set off a fire by giving him a no trade clause, a full one. It’s the worst decision ever. Burned down the whole city with that one. Let me ask you this, Ben. One last thing. Does Bradley Bill deserve to get his jersey retired by the Washington Wizards? No, not even though he’s 100 points behind the number like franchise scoring title. No, I just like the Wizards don’t really have players that are deserving of of the jersey getting retired. Like you got one team that has won an NBA finals in DC and they haven’t even won 50 games since 1979. So who I don’t you I wouldn’t even you can’t even retire John Walls jersey at this point. Those guys have done insane things for the city. You you really like you need to do a lot like we’re seeing who’s getting their jerseys retired for the Washington Commanders right now. Those are dudes who deserve to get the jerseys retired. you need to be that level of player to to receive that kind of honor. Beal and Wall, fantastic, all-time great players uh for this organization. But that’s where we’ve been as an organization. We we we can’t retire players like that. That’s setting the bar too low. That’s a hot take. I I agree with you in that sense, but I think also or I don’t want to say hot take, but that’s I I see where you’re coming from, but I think Ben, we’re comparing it to the Wizard standards and like our history outside the one championship. I think they fit the mold. Maybe not Bradley Beal, but John Wall, I think so just because the city was literally on his shoulders. I I get that, too. I I I totally get that. I think there’s more of a case for John than Brad, but I mean, I would agree. I would I would do walls before beal for sure. Uh but neither of them I would I would retire at this point because I just I feel like you need to have greater playoff success to achieve that. They ne this team never even got to conference finals. So I just look at it like that. It’s tough and I know it’s it’s not like it’s their fault or anything like that, but that’s just how it is in sports. It’s a tough and cruel and unforgiving uh world. Yep. Benjamin Schober, guys, the James Harden anti I’m the truther tonight, I guess. Yeah, he is. He is the truth. It’s not Paul Pierce. It’s all about Ben Schrobert tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Ben. Thank you guys for being patient tonight. I know the technical difficulties. Ben is still out there in the woods. And um thanks again for making Locked on Wizards your first listen. For your second listen, find the Locked on NBA podcast where there’s no offseason. Doug, Matt, and Hayes keeps 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 podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks again, guys, for listening. I know it’s really late. It’s almost 1:00 a.m. on the East Coast. If you’re still listening, make sure you like, comment, subscribe. Appreciate the support. Really means a lot. Talked about the summer league 1 and three right now. We don’t know the next game. We’ll definitely break it down on social media. Make sure you follow us on social media. X, Instagram, Tik Tok, all the above. Lockdown Wizards. Ben, stay safe. Don’t get eaten by a bear. I’m gonna try. Thank you guys again. Hell of the wizards and we’re out. Peace.

In today’s livestream, Abdullah and Ben react to the Wizards falling to 1-3 in the NBA Summer League. The duo breaks down the 76-86 loss against the Utah Jazz. What is AJ Johnson’s ceiling as a Wizard?

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
OpenPhone
Streamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.com/lockedonnba

Hungryroot
With Hungryroot, it’s like having a personal shopper and a nutritionist all in one. For a limited time, get 40% off your first box and a free item in every box for life! Just go to Hungryroot.com/lockedonnba and use code LOCKEDONNBA.

Monarch Money
Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first year

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Right now, new customers can get ONE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

#washingtonwizards #nba #basketball #nbasummerleague #ajjohnson #forthedistrict