The Washington Wizards are HUNGRY | Who Has The Most To LOSE or GAIN in 2025?

The Washington Wizards are HUNGRY | Who Has The Most To LOSE or GAIN in 2025?

Although the expectations will not be to win a ton of games for the Washington Wizards, there’s a ton of young guys that have a lot to lose and a lot to gain. Stick with us here on Lockdown Wizards. We’ll tell you who [Music] you are. Locked on Wizards, your daily Washington Wizards podcast, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. [Music] DC family, you’re locked on of the Washington Wizards, where you’re part of our family. We thank you for making Lockdown Wizards your first listen every single day. Part of the Lockdown podcast network where it’s your team every day alongside my co-host dancing in the screen right there. That’s Abdullah Ubie. Check him out on Instagram, host of the DMV Sports Zone page. I’m Ben Strober. You can check me out on my socials at Stroberports. I cover all things DC Sports for 1067 The Fan and the Team 980. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app today and create an account and use code lockdown NBA for $20 off your first purchase. A lot to get to in today’s edition of Lockdown Wizards. It’s been a minute. We got all three of the videos out of the way. Early on in the week, we are capped off of Jason Smith last Wednesday. If you missed that, former Washington Wizard Jason Smith, current analyst with the Monumental Sports Network. He joined us. Be sure to go back and watch that. Great insight from him on his time as a Wizard and what he sees for the outlook of this future going forward. And that’s exactly what we get into in today’s episode. Who has the most to gain from this 2025 season, but who has the most to lose? We’ll hit that in the second segment. And then we got an update on Tristan Vuch today, who had a pretty solid performance for Serbia in the FIA Euro basket. that we’re going to talk about him and what kind of role we might expect from him in the 2025 season. AB, what’s going on, man? H Tristan Vuvish, that’s what’s going on. I can’t wait to talk about him. But yeah, that was a great episode, great interview with Jason Smith, one of my most favorite Wizards growing up and it was if you haven’t watched that, go check it out right now. It was a great interview and I can’t wait to talk about this because this is an important topic. A lot of people talk about the top eight pick, but there’s players that are going to be a lot more pre have a lot more pressure on compared to other guys who have to see how they stand out in this young Wizard squad. And there’s one thing that’s for certain about the Wizards right now is they have a litany of players that are super young that need to prove themselves at this level of competition, this level of NBA basketball. You have 12 guys under the age of 24 on this roster. And it continues to get younger and younger. You’re likely adding another uh upper tier player in the draft next year with the top eight protected pick in a loaded loaded draft class that could potentially change the trajectory of this franchise along with some other guys. But who has the most to gain? Who has the most to lose? We’re going to tell you exactly who that is. There’s a couple of guys that I have in mind. AB, someone that I feel like has the most to gain from this year. We did an episode on it last week already, is Bal Koulibali. He’s a guy you can maybe make the argument that he has a lot to lose, but I think he has more to gain because of what he’s already proven at the NBA level. And I know health has been the big concern for Mr. for Bal Koulibali only able to play in 58 of the games last year before a season ending injury for the second year in a row. Uh but when healthy he has proven himself as one of the better defenders in the entire NBA. He’s a guy that can score at all three levels. Just need to get that three-point shot uh in check for the most part. But a good start to the summer for him and what we’ve seen playing with France. But Bal Kulabali is entering year number three extension eligible player and there are so many players at this wing position for the Washington franchise. You know they are consistently evaluating everything that is going on. If Kulabali is able to stay healthy ball out for an entire year and show some even more potential offensively that he has because offensive potential wise we’ve seen a lot from him. His ability uh to get to the rim his ability to punish the rim is something that really stands out with Bal Koulibali. But if he can become a consistent catch and shoot shooter, you already have a bonafide 3 and D player on this roster, which we know how important that is on a championship caliber team, a playoff team, which this Wizards team hopes to be a couple years down the road. So Bal Koulali, I feel like he’s got one of the most he’s got some of the most to gain from this season. AB, what say you? I think so. I for me, I’m more the argument to lose because again, Ben, I think extension allegible. I love Balu Bali was the first uh draft pick of the W Dawkins era. But the biggest thing I’m talking about with him is availability. Ben two years in a row where you have season uh season ending injuries and in year three if you want that extension always talk about it in sports your best ability is availability and bel I’m I’m excited for it. I always mention how when the Kyle Kosman was taking out the lineup he was going out there and playing way better. I need to see a more confident below volley, but most the game I say it’s the guy next to him, Cam Whitmore. They just traded for him. I think he offensively is really talented. What he did in Houston at the end of the stretch of the last season was something that you could definitely say, hey, that’s something he can build on here in Washington. Born in the DMV area, grew up a Wizards fan. I think with his scoring ability defensively an effort, that’s one thing that we’ll have to see. But he can make his way up, especially if Bal doesn’t take that year three jump offensively, which we both think he can. But again it’s next man up mentality and below Koulali there’s I don’t want to say pressure but there is some expectations on him because again you just turned 21 years old you are the supposed to be this alpha Jordan pool’s gone I mean you got Chris Middleton CJ McCullum but when who is the alpha of these young guys Alex Kean Dors Bob Carrington going to year two they look to Bali and I think most the game could be Kam Whitmore because of situation here in Houston you had Kevin Durant Thompson and there’s so many guys out there that just were scoring the ball and there only so much he could do offensively. But now in DC where a team that’s not going to be making the playoffs this year I assume or not but you have the ability to go out there and prove hey I should have been traded more than a second round pick had way more value than that. So I think Cam Whitmore is the answer but I love Bal, but for me I think he’s most to lose. So Cam Whitmore was the other guy that I had as the most to gain for this year because if you think about it he really has nothing to lose at this point. He’s somebody that has already gotten traded from the organization that drafted him just two years ago. And I know a lot of Wizards fan, I know the Wizards organization was keyed in on him. Will Dawkins and a lot of the scouts that have spoke about Cam Whitmore said he was someone that was on their radar in that draft. Obviously, they go with Bal Kulabali, the number seven overall pick. Whitmore falls all the way to 20 and has two really solid years in the NBA as an offensive player, but what is he going to bring to the table defensively? I think this front office has an idea of what they’re going to get out of Cam Whitmore in terms of scoring the basketball. They’re just trying to see what else they can get out of him. Can he play within a team oriented system because they don’t want to see empty possessions. They don’t want to see tunnel vision from Cam Whitmore. And I know this is a super super fresh start for him. Maryland native uh comes back to play in DC, a guy that grew up going to Wizards games. And I feel like this is a situation where he has the most to gain because if you’re a guy that’s already been shipped out of one organization that is currently contending like the Houston Rockets are, they traded him because effectively they are in a win now scenario. I know they picked up two second round picks and I you can make the argument they’re not really trading him uh because they needed assets for him or anything like that, but they really just did not have a spot for him. They had to trade him to make room for what they have going on in Houston right now, which is really really good basketball. This is a situation where Whitmore can come here and establish himself as a premier type of player offensively for the Washington Wizards. if he can get it done on both ends of the floor, if he can survive and get through the trials and tribulations of of playing around this wing that has so many different options for Washington this year. And if he can emerge himself as one of the premier players and score the basketball efficiently, get it done defensively as well. He might be a guy that has a very efficient long-term role here uh for a team maybe a couple years from now that wants to be a playoff team. Whitmore could be the guy that you look at to be your alpha dog as a scorer. If you don’t get that out of Trey Johnson or or Alex Sar or somebody else, maybe you turn to Whitmore because I think what we’ve seen the blueprint is for for NBA players and it’s always been like this. If you have your most effective score coming off the wing, you’re probably going to be a successful team and maybe that’s something you envision for Cam Whitmore. I don’t think he has a whole lot to lose in this situation. Definitely thousand% agree with you, Ben. And if you’re will Dawkins right now, I mentioned it a lot. You have to find your superstar. Whether it’s Trey Johnson, whether it’s Alexar, Bob Carrington, right now he’s just building up a lot of these young guys and just throwing what sticks to the wall, throwing darts. And one of them has to hit. And then once you find that guy that can score, whether it’s off the wing, guard, you build those rotational players around him, get those role players, players off the bench, make sure that you have those vets. That’s the the formula that he’s cooking up. We saw the way he did OKC and he’s emulating that here in Washington. Absolutely. I think another one that has more to gain than lose, I think, is also Keshan George because he’s another guy he’s playing on the wing right now. So, we’ve already said it countless times, where does his role fit in? Is he a guy that starts opening night for this team or is he going to have to earn that? We know it’s going to be a competitionoriented uh type of camp type of offseason for this Washington Wizards team. But Keshan George is a guy that they have ranted and raved about. Will Dawkins said himself, “Wait till you guys see what Keshan has been up to this offseason.” and he showed out in the summer league. First game was really, really efficient offensively. Not as much in the second game, but got it done on the defensive side of the ball, which is something this organization loves to see. I think Keshan George is a guy that’s going to continue to get better and better as the season goes on here in year number two for him because remember, he started off pretty slow in his rookie campaign. And once he got going, people are like, “Damn, like we might have really found something in this guy.” Because you and I specifically, and I know a lot of people, Wizards fans, you know, weren’t too aware of what Keshan George was bringing to the table. The guy coming out of Miami was the third uh draft selection in a supposed really weak draft class where the Wizards get Alexar at number two and then in turn mid-first round, they get Bub Carrington after they shock everyone and trade Denny Abdia. So, I feel like that was a night where maybe a lot of people overlooked Keshan George because there was just a lot going on. You had the number two pick in that draft. So, the expectations of course are going to be put put on a guy like Alex Sar early. But now what we maybe know a little bit more about what kind of player Keshan George can be. I think he can elevate his game to a much more substantial role here in unit number two. That’s why I think he has a ton to gain. It is insane the amount of wings that we have man. You got Bal traded for Cam, Keshan, Justin Champagne, a guy that you brought up from the two-way contract. There’s a lot of talent in the wing position. But Keshan George, the key word with him is versatility. That V-word and the guy that can shoot it from three, got taller. I think now is like 68, 69, can dribble. I love what he did in the summer league where he just took it coast to coast. Uncommon Malawatch’s head and finish the layup. He’s a guy who I think gets steals, rebounds, can bring the ball up to court. I mean, it’s insane to think about that. He was the the first round pick out of the the big three of last year’s draft class where he just wasn’t being talked about enough. And in my eyes, I think maybe he has potential to be the best one. I love Alex. I love be more bub. But maybe Keshan George might be the best out of three, which is insane to say. And this goes back to giving Will do Dawkins his flowers for how he handled that weak draft class. I know they themselves, those guys don’t think he was weak, but I I I can see your argument right there. Tesan George, look out in 2025. He can break out. Absolutely. So, we’ve talked about a lot of players that have a ton to gain for this Washington Wizards team in 2025. Who is the most to lose? We’ll tell you that next. Have you ever decided at the last minute to head to a ball game with friends or family? Maybe it’s game day and you suddenly realize that you want to be in the stands. That’s exactly where Game Time comes in. It’s the easiest way to grab last minute tickets without the stress. 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Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code Loca for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest priced guarantee. Ben, that was quite the pitch of me trying to trying to you trying to get me to go to a nationals game at at the It’s not easy, man. Like, it really can’t be easy to get people to go to to nationals games. And I I love my Nationals to death. I’m DC ride or die everything. And it just it breaks my heart what what’s happened to the Nationals. I mean, that’s kind of how I felt about the Wizards a couple years back. But, you know, here we are now. We have a lot more optimism about the Wizards. So, maybe a couple years from now, we’ll feel the same way about the Nats. Even though that’s kind of what I thought we traded Sodto three years ago, I was like, “All right, a couple years from now we’re going to be great.” Uh, and now maybe we’re going into another rebuild. Hopefully, we don’t see that uh with our Washington Wizards. But who is the most to lose for this Wizards team in 2025? And I know you kind of said Bal was your guy AB, but if you had to give it to anybody else right here, I’ll let you go first with this. Who else has the most to lose for the Wizards this year? I think Alex Sarben, the guy, the kid from Australia, he needs to be aggressive come year two. I understand you’re coming from the Australian league and he got better every game. Game one, game 82 of the regular season, but you’re seven foot. There’s so much expect expectations on you being this guy. Last year you had Tristan, sorry, not Tristan, Jonas Valentunis who was taking a lot of your shots and your opportunities that you had in the paint, but right now you are that big man. There is expectations of you getting better offensively. Defensively, we saw the rim protection in the summer league, eight blocks, breaking a summer league record. But offensively, I need to see him put his back to the basket. I can’t see this man sticking above the three-point line a whole game. He needs to be inside more. The pick and rolls, the pick and pops of Trey Johnson, Bob Carrington, it needs to be happening more often than usual. And I think if he becomes that aggressive guy that can get eight to nine to 10 rebounds a game, averaging a double double, that’s really good come year two. But again, the aggressiveness, there was times where we saw last year where he was just hesitating or if he wasn’t hesitating, he would just settle for threes and it’s just like, yo, what you doing out there? If you’re the biggest leader on the court, Ben, I always say you have to be averaging 10 to nine rebounds a game. There’s just no excuse. You’re taller than everyone. And I think he’s a young guy. He’s a young kid. He’s going to learn, but the Wizards second overall pick. There’s a lot of stock in you. Remember, he wanted to come to DC. You could have gone to Atlanta. So, Alex, you’re too. I expect big things from him. It’s funny because when we saw his performance uh last week in the Euro Basket friendly for France where he put up 19 points to lead all scorers, went seven to 10 from the field, we were like, “Oh my god, yes. Yes, Alexar, he is dominating out there.” And then I looked I looked further down the box score and I looked at his rebounding numbers and I just wanted to slam my head down on the table. I’m like, “Come on, man.” Like everything was perfect. He just couldn’t get a couple more boards. But he only played in 14 minutes in that game. So, I’ll give him a ton of credit there. I’m not gonna I’m not gonna knock him from that performance. I’m just being a little bit uh facitious when I say I was upset about the rebounders. But yeah, he needs to be better as a rebounder for sure. And I know uh there was the the people that were proponent of getting Kaman Malawatch in the last draft and then people would say why would you want two sevenfooters that can’t rebound? And that kind of made me laugh a little bit. But when we talked to Chris Miller, he said that Drew Gooden has said so many times where really it’s just an effort thing. Alex Sar just has to do a better job of using his effort to get himself in a better position to grab rebounds. And hopefully that’s something we see from him in year number two. And another guy I see as someone with a lot to lose this year, as much as it pains me to say it, is also from that very, very draft class, the 2024 draft class. I think Bub Carrington’s got a lot to lose this year. And as Lenel Willingham, when he came on here way, way back, he said it’s kind of sink or swim for Bub Carrington. And that’s a good way to put it. And I know you and I are are big believers that Bob is going to swim in his new role as this team’s point guard. But if he doesn’t show the ability uh to be a true point guard for this team, if he’s a guy that can’t really get it done, uh getting to the rim off the bounce uh creating looks for other players with his playmaking ability. If we don’t see that side of Bub Carrington, uh that might diminish what kind of player he can be if he can really be in the starting lineup as a starting point guard of the future for Washington. Uh because that’s a it’s a big-time position where you need to get a lot of production in a lot of different ways. And Bob Carrington’s a super talented player. I mean, him and Trey Johnson, you could easily say, are the maybe the two best shooters on this team and Carrington played so well with the basketball not in his hands last year and I know primarily it’s because Jordan P was there and he was a guy that was a extremely ball dominant player and that’s completely different situation that he’s in right now. So he’s going to learn. He’s going to have to grow into this new role that he has in the summer league. kind of a mixed bag uh for one B Carrington, but I know that he he’s been working a lot on his handle and hopefully you see him work on some or you see him get better at some things that he struggled with in his rookie campaign. I know availability is not a problem with him. He played in all 82 games, so you got to give him credit there. But I’m not even saying he has the most to lose because I don’t think he’ll be here long term. I think he maybe has the most to lose because he’s in a really prime position right here to earn his strides and really get the keys to be the point guard of the future for Washington. If he’s unable to do it in this upcoming season or the year after that, he might find his way to becoming a sixman of the future for this team or having a completely different role. It’s just really that kind of situation for Bub Carrington. Uh but he’s a guy, you know, he comes from that Baltimore background, a hard-nosed kid. He went through a ton last year with his father passing away. He was able to play through that. So, I know he’s up for the challenge. I’m not worried uh about the pressure that’s maybe on him affecting the way he plays because I know he’s a super super tough competitor. And that’s why I think Bob Carrington will ultimately swim the way we put it. I don’t see him sinking. And you mentioned it. Played all 82 games. I love that. Broke so many records. Every game there was something broken because he was a rookie. And hitting a game winner in the last game, the regular season, not making the playoffs out there playing 110%. One thing, Ben, I agree with you all, but what he needs to work on, he needs to get to the free throw line. Ben, there were times last year I just couldn’t remember Bub out of all players on this team being at the free throw line. Needs to take it to the paint more. And that mid-range shot, three-point shots only going to get better. And you mentioned the idea of training Jordan pool opens it up opportunities for him. I agree. I think Bub needs to prove that he can beat that point guard here for the future. And the potential of him and Trey Johnson. I mean, we really haven’t had a back court like this since John Wall and Bradley. I’m not saying they’re going to end up being like them, but we need something like that back. That type of star power. Trey Johnson, we saw what he did at Texas. Shout out to Longhorn wearing the shirt right now. I think right now, if you’re really looking at Bub, you have to step up come year two. And there’s so much expectations on and that’s the thing, but I was going to ask you like there’s so many young guys on this squad that and and the whole we’re not contending right now. So, there’s really not that much to stress about when it comes to oh, we have to win because we have to contend right now. And that’s what makes this timeline so effective for these young guys because it’s like hey go out there and ball out and show what you’re going to be a key part here for the future because we all know this upcoming year news flash for those of you listening the Wizards are not going to win the NBA championship but they are building a championship team so you have to understand that and I’m hoping that Will Dawkins coach Keef a guy that I’m honestly I don’t know if we can say that he has the most to lose because there’s a lot of expectations on him too Ben you can’t go and another year where you’re bottom five in a lot of defensive categories I know there’s so much on the players and coaching and how do you split like effort and whatnot, but if the the substitution minutes, that’s a guy that I love. I think what he did in with Oklahoma State Thunder, Kevin Durant gave a lot of his credit of his early success in his career to him. He has to prove why he can be the head coach of the future. And I think he can be. We’ll just have to see. We need we need to see results. There’s only so much that me and you can say, Ben, about being patient with a guy like Coach Keefe. We need to go out there and see him say, “Hey, I’m the guy that’s going to get this team better, and I’m going start off right now come year three of this rebuild.” I feel like everyone’s super polarized on how they feel about head coach Brian Keefe because in my honest opinion, I think it’s a little bit crazy to say that that Brian Keefe is unfit for the job or he’s not any good because how could you really say that when the team is in the position that it’s in, the organization’s in the position uh that they’re in. And I remember when they mid-season they fire Wesell Jr. and then Brian Keefe becomes the interim. I was thinking to myself, I don’t know what they where they go from here head coach-wise because I feel like you don’t hire a bonafide winning head coach right here when you know that you’re about to enter a rebuilding stage and you’re going to be losing a crap ton of games over the next couple years. Well, why would that coach But why would that that’s my try to cut you off then, but why would that coach want to come here? I saw so many Wizards fans saying get Tail Jenkins, get Mike Malone. Why the heck would they come to a team that’s not going to be winning right now? It just doesn’t make any sense. Yeah. And that’s why you have to wonder what the future looks like for Brian Keefe because let’s say two to three years from now where they’re in a better position to contend. Uh hopefully you have Brian Keef at least do his job and help develop these guys. If they don’t feel like he’s right when it comes to leading the team that is ready to win. I don’t know. That’s a completely different conversation. Uh but right now Brian Kee’s job is to keep this locker room together, keep everyone on the same page in terms of development. And I think he’s a guy that can get that job done. So I’m not worried about Brian Keefe. I don’t think Brian Keefe is going to stunt anyone’s development right now. This is not a Washington Nationals uh staff situation that we have right now. Don’t get me started on the coaching staff for the Washington Nationals. We could record a whole another episode for that for locked on nationals, huh? Yeah, I’m going to tell Ryan Ryan Clary. Locked on Nationals. We’ll do a little collab episode. Uh who’s who’s got the better coaching staff right now? I said the Wizards got the better coaching staff. That’s my easy answer right there for it. It’s funny that like we can have a conversation like this and you say, “News flash to everyone. were not winning the NBA championship, Abdullah, if the Wizards somehow won the NBA championship. They won’t. They’re not going to win the NBA championship. But if they did, um, what crazy thing would you do? Would you shave uh your entire beard, your head, your eyebrows? Would you do all that? Yeah, I mean, I’ve shaved my beard many times. I I’ve been bald before. I’ll shoot think of something crazy, but I’ll take it a step further, I guess, then. What would you do? I’m trying to think like what’s something crazy because like you could be so confident right now. You see, I got I got this ginger hair on my head. I’ll shave all of it. I’ll shave all of it if they win. Even though I don’t really care. I would just probably shave my head for the fun of it anyway because I’m a lunatic. Um, what would I do? I think I’d give up eating at Chipotle. Oh, that’s a hard one. I for I’d give up eating at Chipotle. Wait, like life? Are we talking about like for life? You’re not eating at Chipotle? Yeah, for the Wizards to win the championship. I would I would give up eating Chipotle for the rest of my life. Dude, I would just go to Cabba. I heard is Cava that much better? I’ve never been. Oh, Cava is so good. Actually, no. No. I had it the other day. My mom and sister got it. That was so good. It is good. It is good. I can’t lie. But I think it’s better than It’s better than Chipotle, dude. It like it really It’s more expensive though. But Chipotle’s got like a special place in my heart because it’s it’s been there for me my whole life. It’s just been there. It’s always comforting. But for the Wizards to win the ship, I’d give it up. What would you guys give up for the Washington Wizards to win a championship one day? That’s a good topic. We could probably kill a whole episode. What would you give up in your life uh that is near and dear to your heart for the Washington Wizards to win a championship? Let us know in the comments below. I’d give up one. I give up one of my little sisters. One of them. I don’t know which one, but a championship. I I I do it. I got to figure out which one. I I’ll debate that with that. All right, everyone. Do not say your family members. Please do not comment that. If you do, I I don’t I’m not going to be able to look at you the same way if you give up family members. But whatever, we move on. Update on Tristan Buchich. He was dominating today for Serbia. We’ll tell you about it next here on Lockdown Wizards to close the show. [Music] All right, Abdullah, who allegedly doesn’t like his sisters enough, but that’s a whole different conversation. Tristan Vuvich today led the way for Serbia in a contest against Cyprus. 122 to 55 the victory for Serbia. So, I don’t know how much I’m buying uh into the stats that were put up, but man, TV was dominating. 24 points, nine of 13 from the field, including four of six from beyond the arch. He added along seven rebounds and four steals. Uh that paved the way to a plus 33 plus minus. We’re good old Tristan Vuch. He’s back on the two-way contract that caps him out at 50 games for the regular season. First year in his rookie year, he only played in 10 games. the next year 2024 campaign he gets it up to 35 so 25 game increase I think he’s got to play in the full 50game maximum this year I I think it’s something that just has to happen for this organization at duel like you’ve got like you said who’s got the most to lose who’s got the most to gain we have nothing to lose by having TV out there and I know that you added back Marvin Bagley he’s on a relatively cheap deal and a lot of people would would say you know why don’t you just bring back Rashawn Holmes like he’s a guy that provided some stability defensively and rebounding thing for this team in the front court uh toward the end of the season especially, but it would have been $13 million to keep him on the roster. They only had a guarantee $250,000 of that contract. Bagley comes back on a much cheaper deal. And for for whatever reason, Anthony Gil, he’s a guy who just like we can’t get rid of the guy. Anthony Oh, yeah. We didn’t even talk about that, Ben. Well, Anthony Gill, he’s beloved by everyone in this organization. So, clearly for them to bring him back again, uh there’s got to be something deeper than just who he is as a player. We know he’s a locker room guy. He fits in well and everyone there loves him. Anthony Gil is a standup human being an unbelievable teammate. So, he’s back. Anthony Gil comes back on a probably a I didn’t even get the details of the contract, but he’s back on a one-year deal. But TV needs some more minutes on the floor this year. Yeah. And first of all, Ben, I we mentioned him, but I didn’t even know he was Serbian, and you said he could play for like four different teams. I mean, that I I just I didn’t know that. That’s That’s crazy. Yeah. So, he chose Serbia over Greece, which was considered the front runner for his commitment. Uh, but he decided to play for the Serbian national team uh because of his situation is he says in his blood he’s Serbian. His dad played for the Serbian national team at the Euro Basket Challenge in 2003. Uh, so that kind of pretty much led to his decision. Uh but Vuch was a guy that had the option to play uh either in Italy where he was born, Sweden is his mother’s homeland, Serbia is where his dad is from, and then Greece is where he grew up. So he had a ton of options to play, and he chose Serbia. Yeah. And for steals, that’s what I love to see. Throw up the freaking fourth for our boy TV. I think like you mentioned, a guy, he has nothing to lose. There’s only so much to gain for a guy who’s a second round pick and has only been getting better. My question is, Ben, if he plays those 50 games, the Wizards, they would if they want to see more of him, they would have to um take him up from that two-way contract, right? I’m assuming if to to play more than 50. Yeah, they would have to elevate him to I think he has to play 50 this year, Ben. There’s If I’m looking at Coach Kee, there’s no excuses because I times last year I saw Rashan Holmes get way more minutes in games that just didn’t mean much. This year, Tristan Vuchic, I need to see him get more minutes than Marvin Bagley. I think he could be a big impactful player come years down the road. Yeah. I mean, maybe Baggley’s a guy where they actually move him at the deadline again. Could you imagine? You have a guy, you sign him at this point. That’s a NBA 2K my league. You’re just messing with the man’s career. Yeah. You just you trade for him, you bring him here, then you deal him off, then all of a sudden you sign him again, trade him again. Imagine being his real estate agent, man. You’re just you’re like, “All right, we’re back. No, we’re not back. We’re back and traded again.” It’s it must be tough to be a guy that’s consistently on the move. But when you’re playing for the Washington Wizards, you probably always need to be ready at this point uh to be moved at a at a minute’s notice. I mean, think about how the the veterans are on this team like Middleton uh this year in McCullum because those guys know they’re not going to be here long term. They will not be here. Do you think Anthony Gil left or do you think he like did he sell as a like real estate? I don’t know, dude. I don’t I don’t know. Like I don’t think he was signed anywhere. So, I guess maybe he was maybe he just stayed here. Oh, man. That’s Anthony Gil. He just finds a way to stay on this roster. I mean, they got the pictures of him in the gray uniform with the DC logo. The one where the Wizards got that crazy win where Beal hit a three. Then, uh, oh my god, what was that? Russ from the corner. Was it the one? Yeah, the the Russ game with But what was the guy’s name that stole the ball? Matthews. Oh. Oh, Garrison Matthews. Yes. Oh my gosh, man. like see like wow a sniper Garrison Matthews man that’s only that was only four and a half years ago and like just almost forgot about the guy completely. He was kind of fun. No, he was cool. I was looking upset when he left I think to Houston. He was a guy that could shooter from three I think him and Bertton man. Davis Bertton he they they were our shooters for DC at the time. Oh the Latvian laser Davis Bertants. Yeah. Yeah. I was I was psyched when we signed him and then that became like the worst contract ever. Yeah. Hei contract and the Bradley Bill contract. So yeah, Tommy Shepard was known to give out some uh pretty bad contracts and that that’s what this front office has had to uh deal with the repercussions of that over the past couple years. Yeah. Uh I mean AB, you got you got anything else, man? Um again, I don’t know, guys. I love Chipotle, so it’ be hard to give up, but I and I mean, but I’m not going to lie. Cava is good. I don’t know. Have you tried Mezz, Ben? Yeah, me is good. That is pretty good, but I don’t know. Chipotle is like the standard, bro. I don’t know. I can’t give up on it. I love that queso and guac. Yeah, Chipotle’s just gotten downhill for me. Portions, man. Like, you got to do you ask for extra, though, or you just like Yes, you have to beg and plead for them to give you enough food. It’s crazy. It’s crazy the world that we live in right now where you got to literally beg for them to give you an adequate amount of rice and protein in your bowl. But, I don’t know, man. I don’t know. It’s still good. And I still get it. I I can’t turn my back on it. Unless I get a Wizards championship, I will turn my back on Chipotle. Well, and if even if it’s just the one championship in your lifetime. Yeah. Yeah, I guess. So, like if the Wizards If the Wizards can win a championship, which hasn’t happened since 1978, you got to go crazy for it. You got to do something unexpected. Uh so that that’ll be what I do. Trust Ben, I me and you will be at the parade. I We’ll be dancing. Trust. I know. Hopefully hopefully we get to that point, man. Well, all right. We thank everyone for making Locked On Wizards your first listen today for your second Find the Locked on 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 Locked on NBA on YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcast. Part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. For my co-host MD, check him out on Instagram, host of the DMV Sports Zone page. I’m Ben Strober. Check me out on socials, Stroports. We’re out, Wizards Nation.

The Washington Wizards certainly lack any lofty expectations for the 2025 season, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a squad full of hungry, young players. There are tons of storylines to follow, including who has the most to lose, and the most to gain from the 2025 season. Ben and Abdullah break it all down on this edition of Locked On Wizards.

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