How Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, Cam Boozer, Tounde Yessoufou, & Mikel Brown fit with the Wizards

How Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, Cam Boozer, Tounde Yessoufou, & Mikel Brown fit with the Wizards

What is up, Wizards fans? Welcome back to another Believe in Wizards podcast. Been on a little mini hiatus here. Just been traveling a lot. Uh, obviously Jiad hasn’t been on for for a bit here. Uh, it’s busy summer for him. His kids are are both juniors going into their senior year of high school. Actually just won the Peach Jam with Bradley B Elite. So, been a busy summer for him. We’ll get back on here closer to the season. Honestly, there hasn’t really been a lot to talk about. So, you know, we figured we just uh pop in every once in a while here as some relevant stuff comes up. I think this is just the point in the season where or the point in the summer where it’s kind of dead, but I think there are a few things we can start to talk about here a little bit. As always, if you have suggestions on things you’d like to hear about, just let me know. We’ll we’ll cover those. Uh the Wizard schedule just released that they have a gauntlet to start the year. Like, it is a really rough, you know, first dozen games or so. It wouldn’t shock me to see them start the season, I don’t know, 2 and 12, something like that. So, you’re just really getting behind the eightball as a young team. I think this is one of those situations where they’re pretty much locked in to to keeping that 2026 pick. As all Wizards fans probably know, if they finish outside the top eight, they owe that pick to the New York Knicks. Can’t see that happening. I can’t see this front office letting that happen. I can’t see the schedule letting that happen. And just given how young the roster is, this is going to be another growth year. And then I think whatever piece they add in this year’s draft could really be the gem that you know is the the piece of this rebuild that really allows them to kind of catapult or or jumpstart uh you know the the winning here we hope to see the following season. So one more lean year uh hopefully here gets us a top couple pick and uh this draft I feel much better about the talent at the top end. We talked a lot going into last year’s draft that that after Cooper flag after Dylan Harper it got there should be more question marks. I think there’s a like a pretty clear top five in this draft right now with some pieces that could actually get into that mix a little bit more. You know, maybe top six, seven, something like that. And I think that would be great for this team to just, you know, if you finish somewhere in that top eight, to be able to snag a guy, even if you did fall to five or six that could be as good as the guy you got in last year’s draft, you know, I think that would be huge. And I, you know, if you listen to the show, you know I love Trey Johnson, so that’s not a slight on him, but uh there are some dudes in this class and and I feel really good about this, too. So, we’re going to go through just some of the big names to know that I think the Wizards should ideally hope, you know, fall to them, whatever pick they they land in. I I don’t think this is like a thing where like Cooper Flag was pretty clearly the number one guy throughout the whole process. there’s there’s going to be different perspectives and and I think the way this season actually plays out college basketball-wise will have a lot to do uh with with who ends up being the top couple picks and and I think this could honestly be a you know beauty is in the eye of the beholder draft like you may not get a consensus uh each team may take someone different at one two or three depending on you know what they need what they prioritize that sort of thing so I think that’s pretty cool to know that that somebody that the Wizards really like uh could be available to them. I’m predicting this to be like an 18ish win team, you know, plus or minus a couple here. It probably depends on how healthy the veterans stay, how long they keep them on the roster. Can they trade them for anything? That sort of thing, I think, is what what will impact some of the early season winning especially because some of these rookies just aren’t aren’t going to be ready to go. Will Riley need some time? You know, Jir Watkins still needs to be able to to knock down shots a little bit more consistently. How well is Trey Johnson going to guard? And I do think they’ll miss uh just sort of the guaranteed, you know, 20-ish points a game from from Jordan Pool and who replicates that for them. Is it CJ McCollum? Can he be healthy enough to do that? So, there’s just a lot of question marks here. And, you know, I saw some of the predictions uh Sleepers Wizards uh on on Twitter posted, you know, who what’s the schedule, what’s their record, how many wins do they get? And I saw a lot of people in the 30s and 40s, which is shocking to me. I feel like we do this every year. I tell the same anecdote going into every season about working at ESPN radio and the offseason topic was always how many games will the commanders win this summer or this season and it was always 11 and five was the most popular answer from people and they could have just been coming off like you know a 4 and 12 season and not added anybody in free agency and you still have people projecting 11 and five. I feel like projecting 30 to 40 wins is the Wizards equivalent to that, unfortunately. And, you know, we’ll see uh what that ultimately looks like, you know, during the course of the season here. But again, I’m expecting that they’re going to be in position to land a really good lottery pick here. And uh, you know, we’ll just run through some of those guys. I think a good amount of you are familiar with a lot of these names, but this is for those who don’t. and just an opportunity to refresh for for those of you who do know the names and talk a little bit about just sort of their fit with this particular core. This is my kind of way too early, we’ll just say top 10. Uh it gets a little uh hazy toward the end of the top 10 here, but Darren Peterson is the first guy on my list. 6’4 6’5ish guard. I I think you know this is a dude that would instantly uh just kind of jump start the Wizards from a talent perspective. They have some guards here that they like. I’m not as sold as as Bob Carrington being your everyday day one lockdown starter on a playoff team. I think he’d be amazing as a third guard because he’s he’s a guy that can be a little more interchangeable on off ball do some things for you if Trey Johnson is locked in as your as your scorer. He’s not the biggest dude. So having another playmaker with size next to him would be great. And if that’s your three guard rotation, however they shake out, whoever the starter is, I don’t know, maybe Bob looks like a lockown starter here in year two, and maybe Trey is just your scorer off the bench. Like, whatever the case may be, there’s still plenty of room for Darren Peterson. The first time I mentioned this, a few people responded to me like, “Well, they already have Bub and Trey.” It’s like, uh, Darren Peterson is so good that it just doesn’t matter, right? Like, you have to, uh, take a guy like that. Again, big guard. He can play both guard positions. maybe not like the most, you know, he’s not John Stockton or Isaiah Thomas old school point guard um playmaker, you know, type, but he creates for people because he just draws so much attention. He’s going to get downhill. He’s got good size and length. He’s about 6’5ish with a 6’10 wingspan. Pretty good shape physically put together like he’s not going to look totally out of place at Kansas this year physically as a freshman. and I think he’ll be able to hang with the Big 12 and I think that’ll be a really good test for him going up against the Houston and the Balers and the teams like that that are going to have good wing or guard defenders to put on him. So, I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do. This Kansas team is really built around him. They’ve got a lot of good interchangeable pieces that that can lock up defensively. Uh but it’s on Peterson to really drive the offense. He and probably Flora Badunga in the post who’s another guy that I think could be an interesting guy somewhere closer to that, you know, end of the lottery uh range. Peterson, the the question mark is going to be the shooting for any of these lead guards like is he is he John Morant where he’s a low30s kind of shooter or can he get himself you know much closer to 40% in EBL he was a 90% free throw shooter so the touch is definitely there but he was low 30s like 31% from three and I think a lot of that is just shot selection the sheer volume of them he has to take in a high school offense people are clogging the paint against you it’s just not like clean offensively so I I think on a slightly better spaced out college floor, we’re going to see much more about what a real shooter he is. He’s got some work to do as an offball catch and shoot guy. Uh, but that’s not going to be the breadand butter for him. So, we’ll see what that looks like. Just catching up on the chat here a little bit. Patch says boozer or a different big. I think that’s a common theme with Wizards fans is to see another big. I still think you’re in the take whatever talent is is at the top of your board uh piece of your rebuild and and shouldn’t just take a big because you think you need that. I’m also just not as big on taking bigs unless they’re transcendent. Although Boozer will definitely get some some love here as well. I think he’s the one guy that makes sense to me in the the range the Wizards are going to be in. I don’t really consider Nate Ament a big necessarily. So, we’ll circle back to him and and KA who I love as well. So, those are the guys that are like hybrid forwards. I I think that I could make more of a case for than like we need a center so take a center. I kind of think that’s an old school way of thinking. uh specifically PD Denny uh great topic 40 win 40 is impossible 30 hard to imagine 20 not crazy he’s had 23 wins makes sense uh Byron man 12 said we’d be lucky to get 20 wins so uh we should be a bit more ting yeah I I agree this will be a more fun team to watch they’re going to really re lean into the young guys here last year they were just uncompetitive a lot of games I don’t think that’ll be the case quite as much this year but I don’t think it’ll necessarily translate to wins right out of the gate here so Darren Peterson, first guy on my list. I just think the the value you get from a playmaking guard like that is just um is so necessary for a team like this. And I think someone that can just get into the teeth of the defense, collapse um collapse the defense and draw a lot of attention like Peterson can is something that unlocks a lot of the other guys on this roster. So, I’m not saying draft or fit or or anything like that, but I do think he would have like a multiplier bonus of not only would he be really good, but he would also unlock a few of these other guys that I don’t feel quite as comfortable with them having to create a whole lot of offense for themselves uh just yet. Number two on the list is AJ Devatza going to BYU, 6’9, sort of a jumbo wing. I think in general I always would lean you know wing player uh if if you know if the options are all equal that position like every best team in the league seems to have that 67 to 69 guy that just draws a lot of offense can play you know both sides of the ball if they need to if he’s a Jason Tatum level you know creator long term here that’s huge for you I think Peterson the question is going to be the jump shooting right this is a guy that again is is 6 68 69 something like that with a seven plus wingspan. Starting to fill out a little bit more. He was kind of lanky, but you know, you’re starting to see him put on some bulk here. Watching some preseason videos from BYU, Debasa looks cut up already. So, the the strength program there is is clear clearly working for him. I am a little curious to see how he looks in that BYU offense of just, hey, like let’s play with incredible pace and and get up a lot of threes. They were one of the best, you know, three or four offensive teams in the country the last two months of the season. They had an incredible run, you know, in the tournament. I want to say they got to the sweet 16, but they just were were great offensively. Kind of a juggernaut team. They played a great game against Alabama. He’s a little bit more of a ball stopper. He’s a guy that wants to slash, get to the mid-range. I think that mid-range pull-up game is his bread and butter, which I know Wizards fans love. So, that’s probably going to be the popular name uh throughout the pre-draft process slash the entire season this year. When you see those highlights of him just hitting a rising up over somebody and hitting like a 15 foot tough jumper, he looks incredible. But when he’s at his best, I think he’s he’s playing two-way basketball, like causing havoc on on defense with these elite physical tools. He’s not always consistent as a defender, but when he’s locked in and he gets these free points and these runouts, he’s a great finisher in transition and he doesn’t have to rely on so many of those tough, you know, jump shots. And that was always the thing with Ace Baldwin. It was like, could you use the physical, excuse me, Ace Bailey last year, not Ace Baldwin from Penn State, Ace Bailey from Ruckers was, could he do enough with his physical tools to get easy baskets? And I never really saw enough of that. Dansa does that. Like, he’s just a different level guy. I I think the defensive impact will be there from day one. It’s just can he fit into the flow of that offense enough? And and they’ll find times at the end of shot clocks to let him break guys down and and do his thing. but he’s playing next to Richie Saunders who was the best player on BYU last year was really good player. Rob Wright coming over from Baylor could be an all-American point guard. So just how do they all kind of fit together? I think Kevin Young will have to figure that out early in the season. So it might be kind of a slow start or he could come out of the gates with 25 points in the first game and and never look back. So So we’ll see. I was a little underwhelmed at the progression he’d shown in this year’s U19 FIA games. He did win MVP at that tournament, which I don’t think he should have, having watched all the USA games. We’ll talk about the guy who, you know, I think by all accounts, uh, most people think should have won it, but Donso was still really good. Again, played two-way basketball, didn’t force the issue a ton, wasn’t crazy efficient shooting the ball, had a couple rough games. The three-point shot just looks kind of flat. I think he’s got to obviously continue to refine that. And somewhere like BYU, they’re going to try to maximize his ability uh to draw attention, and I think part of that is shooting threes. So, it’s a good spot for him to be in. He’ll learn in a pro style offense. So, I think he’s a guy that could come in and no matter where he ends up be like a favorite for rookie of the year. Uh, and if that’s in Washington, you know, more power to him. So, I’d love to see that. So, again, AJ Debonsa from uh BYU this season has been the cream of the crop for a long time. He and the Boozers went up against each other a bunch and Debonsa would always put up these huge games. And that’s the same thing for Darren Peterson as well. I think he dropped like a 59 point game against Ibansza, a 37 point game or whatever against the Boozers. Like crazy productive against each other. Uh but the Boozers did a lot of winning too. So we’ll get to them here in a minute. The number three guy on my list is a little probably controversial. He just has the look of a guy that will be an elite NBA player to me and that’s Tundday Yasu. He’s gone to Baylor about a 65 66 wing. the the comps have been like uh Anthony Edwards because he just looks like him. He’s built like a brick house already as a freshman coming in. Like he’s going to have elite physical tools. I think he’s going to be impossible for teams to keep out of the lane. It’ll be interesting to see can he shoot well enough for people to not sort of sag off of him and camp out and try to wall him off. Uh because he’s just he’s just long, strong, explosive. He’s going to get downhill. uh made a lot of of his baskets in the mid post area, bully balls defenders, uses his strength and just if you if you’re big enough to to stay with him physically, he’s just going to blow by you and if you’re quick enough to stay with him, he’s just going to bump you off of him and get to the rim. So, I think this is a guy that like going to be everything that people wanted VJ Edgecomb to be last year. I believe he finished as California’s all-time leading scorer. And this is a dude I expect to come in and be an elite perimeter defender in college basketball. So, if you just picture like a two-way player, you know, of the Anthony Edwards ilk being added onto the Wizards, I think he makes a lot of sense with what they’re trying to do. You can slide Bel and Keshan a little further down, you know, the three four spot kind of thing and and really spread guys out and play him at the two or even maybe even the three some of the time if you wanted. It’s not a point guard in my opinion or anything like that. This is really a two three wing kind of player, but but Tundai like I think could realistically be the best two-way guy of this group. It’s just again the question is going to be will the shooting be good enough. He shot really well in EBL like I it does seem like it came along. It was really flat and that was kind of going to be the the question mark for him a lot of his high school career but just also really productive in like all-star game settings. uh you know in the Nike Hoop Summit kind of willed the world team uh to competitiveness where they almost beat a much more talented overall USA team incredible in that game again in EBL shot 50% from the field 80% from the free uh free throw line so this is a dude that just is going to be really great and he’s a really good shooter off the dribble here it’s in the 85th percentile in EBL so you know to be an elite guy at that volume I I think you can’t go wrong uh with somebody like Tundai and that puts Cameron Boozer at four on the list here. You can make a case for any of these four guys. We’ll see how they ultimately shake out. Uh Boozer will probably have the most help of the group I I would say in terms of teammates. So you maybe he doesn’t put up the numbers a Cooper Flag did last year or whatever, but I think there’s just going to be more mouths to feed and a more balanced approach to scoring for Duke this year. But I don’t know. I think he’s locked in for 14 and seven at a minimum at at crazy efficiency. My gut is he’ll score even more than that. like 16 and seven. Uh seems pretty pretty solid for Boozer. I think he’s like the modern prototypical power forward. He’s big enough to bang with some fives if he needs to. So he could even play some small ball five, but also mobile and quick enough to get on the perimeter. He’s going to run with guys. To me, he’s like the ideal fit next to Alex Sar because he will do that rebounding dirty work stuff, but I also buy him long term, you know, as a floor spacer enough that he’s somebody that I I think just he’ll complement perfectly what Alex Sar is going to do. I still maintain that Sar has to close games in big situations at the five, similar to how the Lakers were at their best when Anthony Davis closed games at the five. That’s what you want from SAR where you can’t really play him with another non-shooting big uh to close these playoff games. You saw it with Cleveland as good as they are in the regular season when things bog down in the playoffs having you know these these two twin towers. It doesn’t really work the same way. So can definitely do it a lot in the regular season if they want another big to go in there and and eat up some of the minutes at the five and and alleviate some of that pressure for Sard and the pounding for Sard. That’s great. I think Boozer can do a lot of those things. So to me, if you want to optimize like a playoff rotation, someone like Boozer makes a ton of sense uh to put next to Alex. So to me, like from a fit perspective, he he could you could make the case that that he would be the top guy. So if you have a similar grade on all these couple guys and you do want to go fit or how to maximize the rest of your roster, I think Boozer would do it. And the other thing here is just like people talk about intangibles and winning and things like that. Like the Boozers win everything. They win all their high school things. They win EBL every year. At some point that’s not a fluke. Like they’re doing something right. They’re making winning plays. He’s a really good ball handler for his size. I think he’s going to get to playmak and create out of the high post a little bit for this team. So he just if you’re trying to like unlock some of this other rotation like Sar’s a pretty good like short roll passer and things like that too. I think Boozer can do some of those things. So you could play him a little interchangeably. I don’t think he’ll be like a crazy rim protector or anything like that, but you know, we’ll see a little bit more about how he looks next to a five like DMV native Patrick at Duke this year and and how that could kind look for next to somebody like Saru. So, can’t go wrong with the Boozers here or with Cameron Boozer specifically. We’ll see what Kaden Boozer does and if he can play his way into a first round pick as well. The next guy on the list who’s I think moving up people’s draft boards based on that under 19 uh feebra performance is Mikuel Brown. Uh he’s just really really good man. Uh this is a guy I’ve had pretty high uh for a while now. Watching the under 17 group with a lot of these guys was just crazy impressive uh to see him then. He just was smooth and fluid. Was still growing a little bit. So, it was a little less consistent because he just he seemed a little more matchup dependent, but now just much more consistent. He’s grown to like 6’4, 6’5ish. Still kind of skinny in live and has to fill out a little bit, but just a smooth fluid mover. Uh 67ish wingspan give or take. Just posted crazy shooting splits in EIBL last year. Was 45% from the field, which isn’t crazy good, but 40% from three, 91% from the free throw line. Shot really well. uh in that FIA tournament I mentioned. I I think that’s the guy who should have been the MVP. He would come in and the team would immediately go on like a 100 run and he would come out and they would immediately like give up a handful of points. The team just run like ran the best and was the smoothest uh with Brown kind of running the show for them. And just in another like I think a guy will be an elite shooter in college basketball this year. He’s going to Louisville against Muel Brown. If you want a point guard, it makes sense to me. I I think the fit’s not as clean with the Wizards. I I’m not saying you should be worried about fit. I’m just telling you guys how I I think he networks next to these other guys. He is maybe the best playmaker we’ve talked about this group in terms of playmaking for others, but not really like a break you down with physical tools, get into the lane kind of guy. And I really do think that that would be a huge thing for the Wizards like Darren Peterson, AJ Debansa, Tundu, all these guys we talked about are going to be like a walking paint touch, especially with NBA spacing and you can’t really touch anybody or hand check or or you know kind of clog the paint. So they’ll create a ton of other they’ll have a gravity for for other guys whereas I don’t know if Brown does that but the shooting and the ball handling may just be so elite that that he ultimately still uh gets to all those spots he wants to get to on the floor here. So Kell Brown, I think at Louisville will be interesting. They’ve got some other gu, you know, guards that he’s going to have to figure some things out with, too. So, we’ll see how good of a team they are and if he gets the enough, you know, attention and traction there to play himself into that top four range. Probably the next name on this list uh that would come up for most evaluators is Nate Aean, a DMV guy here. Played in Virginia this year. Crazy positional size. Rick Barnes, who’s his coach at Tennessee, said that this was the number one guy on their board. And I think you kind of have to say that after you recruit a top 10 guy or whatever, but Barnes knows what he’s talking about, right? He’s brought in some elite dudes. Obviously, Kevin Durant to him. Nate is the guy that most reminds him of Durant of anyone he’s seen since then. You know, we’ll we’ll see if that’s the case or not. I think Nate, as he continues to fill out, will be like again kind of that modern prototypical four that you want on a team. He’s still really skinny at 6’9, but doesn’t rebound like a scrawny dude. Like he’s, you know, he had a game in DMV Li last year. He was like 40 points and 20 rebounds was just incredible and relentless and good timing on rebounds and things like that. So, if you are a skinny, more perimeter oriented guy, but you’re not afraid to mix it up on the boards and crash the glass, like that’s still really cool to see because that’s only going to get better as he fills out. He’s he’s not like this crazy athlete. He’s a good athlete for 69. He’s really coordinated and smooth. I just mean he’s not like the most bouncy vertical explosive athlete, which is that’s okay, right? Like as he fills out and he’s a little heavier and maybe less explosive, he’s still going to be able to get to his spots, rise up and shoot every over everybody. And there’s opportunity there at Tennessee. Obviously, they had Dolan Connect two seasons ago, Chaz Laneir this past year. They need a big-time scorer. They also lose to Kai Zaggler off those teams. They bring in Jacobe Gillespie from Maryland. that there’s going to be room for Nate to go out and and put up shots and and they’ll need him to be productive offensively. And if you play for Rick Barnes, you have to guard people, too. I think that’s really been maybe the underrated part about Kevin Durant’s game is he’s an underrated defender of multiple positions. So, if Nate can turn into that, you know, that that’s huge. Only like a 611 wingspan for a 69 guy, which I mean ultimately doesn’t matter, but let’s say worst case scenario, he’s like a Brandon Ingram level player. if you can get that at five or six in this draft, like I don’t think that’s the worst thing in the world here, too. So, we’ll see. He’s probably got the most room to grow, uh, which, you know, gives you some more question marks there. Having a ton of potential and ceiling is awesome, but it’s also more room you have to go or, you know, more work you have to do to reach that ceiling and potential, too. So, so we’ll see. but a 69 guy that can put the ball on the floor. Uh in in EBL the season before he shot 47% from the field or sorry not I keep saying EBL for all of these guys guys. Uh both Mikuel Brown and Nate Ament were Adidas guys. So that’s the three SSB. Uh but Nate shot 47 42 and 90, right? Like that’s incredible for a 6’9 guy again who’s going to rebound, can handle the ball a little bit, uh can can drive, can pass. So that’s a multi-tool guy and I think that’s impressive uh for for anybody here. That’s really probably the guys I think that could all play themselves into that top three pick kind of conversation. The next guy here’s just a dude I love and that’s Coat. He’s going to Arizona. Talked about it with the Boozers. Just a dude that wins I think he won four state championships in high school in Arizona. I know for sure he went won three so I’ll have to fact check that fourth one. What a 6’8 guy. Not a crazy athlete, but just physically developed already. Maybe like a slightly budget version of what Cam Boozer does, but just 6’8, gonna stretch the floor a decent amount. I think he’s more of like a long mid-range shooter than a clean three-point shooter. Uh, right now he’s around like 30 31%ish from from three uh in in um in high school basketball. So, we’ll see how that continues to develop, but he’s got good touch overall. was really productive those first two games on this FIA under 19 team that I mentioned. Just kind of set the tone and was relentless attacking the glass. Just a dude that makes plays. So, he’s got a rebound. Uh he gets a lot of stops, you know, steals and blocks and things like that. There’s all kinds of different defensive playmaking metrics that that other teams have put in place and and said that like this is a dude that like just grades really well from that. He’s not crazy long, not crazy athletic, but just uses his body like a big physical dude. And I think a lot of Wizards fans have wanted to see them be a little bit more physical. So I think KA is someone that could help with that. To me, as much as I enjoy him as a player, I can’t see him ending up in that top five range. You know, realistically, maybe get five or something like that, but I don’t see him playing himself above, you know, the I would say majority of the guys we’ve already mentioned here. Maybe one or two of them if they if they’re a little slower to adapt. But I really like KA. He’s going to have an opportunity to compete. So, if the Wizards end up 6, seven, eight, he’d definitely be a guy I would be paying attention to because he just contributes to winning. And again, we’ll see what Arizona does this year. But, yeah, COD is a name that that I would pay attention to for that next tier down uh realistically. So, those are kind of the main guys I would go with here. Byron Man 12 asks, “What’s my preference at the moment, Dansa or Peterson?” He says, “I kind of like Peterson. He looks like complete guard like Westbrook, but can actually shoot.” I slightly prefer Peterson as well. Uh I just think that that’s there’s a special level of talent there. We’ll see how it plays itself out this year. You know, these guys could look totally different against full-time college basketball talent. They’re going to be playing in the same league. So, we’ll get to see those two play head-to-head. I again, I really like Tundai. It wouldn’t shock me that if this was a dude that plays himself into that mix as an elite two-way wing or two-way guard, I guess if you want to say he’s more of a 2-3. So, we’ll see what that looks like, but doesn’t have the same positional versatility as as Dansa, who could maybe play two through four, even some small ball five as he continues to fill out. Kamboozer is just a solid lock down. He’s probably landlocked as a as a power forward, which doesn’t really fit. Um, you know, what what this Wizards for an office has tried to do. They look for guys that can play, you know, two, three, four positions at a minimum. Boozer’s kind of more of a of a four locked in. So is so is Coat Nate Amen. You can maybe see him play two through four a little bit. So he might actually be more of a Wizards front office kind of guy, but you just can’t rule out someone like Cam. Byron 12 also says, “I wish AJ went to a bigger conference.” No offense to BYU. They’re in the Big 12. So that probably is one of the two best conferences in college basketball this year uh with the SEC. He could maybe make a case for Big 10 if he wanted to, but uh we’re gonna see BYU and and AJ Debonsa go up against like really really good dudes. Uh so I think that’s actually the best competition he could probably hope to play against unless he went again to an SEC school. Uh maybe you’re thinking of back when when BYU was a uh WCC team or wherever they were before that. So um yeah, being in the Big 12 I think will be huge for them. host regen says, “Give me all the Brillin Mullen stock.” Yeah, Brilen is going to be one of the better shooters in college basketball this year. I I don’t know enough about what else he does yet to talk about him in the lottery or what opportunities he’s necessarily going to get at Yukon this year, but that’s team that loves shooting and is at their best when they can set up three-point shooters. So, so we’ll see what Brayan Mullins ultimately does. But yeah, just a sniper would be great. I I want more two-way caliber guys for the Wizards and and it remains to be seen for me at least uh if he can guard at that level. So So we’ll see. Hostway says says he has Peterson, Boozer, and AJ in that order. Yeah, we’ll see. Right. I mean, Boozer may just be so productive that he just kind of can’t get him out of this conversation here a little bit. Or he’ll be pretty darn solid on a good team. And I think Duke could be one of the three or four best teams in the country this year. uh but maybe they’re a little more well-rounded and and that hurts Booster’s numbers a bit and maybe doesn’t have the upside as as Peterson uh or Debbonta. So, we’ll see what that looks like personally. Um again, huge on Tuesday, so I wouldn’t rule him out of that that top three conversation. Either the next couple names are just sort of we’ll see how they come together. Uh obviously got to mention Elijah Arenas, son of Gilbert Arenas, had a really tough summer overall. uh was in uh a car accident, had smoke inhalation, so he was put in a medically induced coma, didn’t really uh you know get to um have the summer he wanted in terms of continuing to develop and then as he got to USC tore an ACL or an MCL, I can’t remember which one. Maybe it’s a miniscus, something that’s going to keep him out for probably the majority of the college basketball season. So, it’ll be interesting from Elijah if he even worries about coming back to play college basketball at all. He may just rehab this whole year, try to get ready for the draft. And, uh, you know, Maniscus, something like that is probably a thing he could be ready to go in the spring. So, we’ll see. Um, you know, if he does try to get in some games, that could hurt his stock potentially. So, you know, that that’s maybe not worth it for him or he could just use the whole year to rehab and come back next year. So, totally question mark. my gut is knowing the Arenas family. They’re going to try to get him in the draft as a one and done guy no matter what. So, we’ll see if it makes sense for for his stock to play some of those games. Another name worth mentioning is Tyron Stokes. He’s the number one player right now in the class of 2026, the high school class of 2026, which would have put him in the 2027 draft. He is eligible to reclassify. So, Kansas, Louisville, he’s been an Adidas guy for for a good amount of his his high school time. So, we’ll see if he’s a dude that makes that jump now that that or that um that the the basketball season is over. Actually, he played UIBL as well. So, maybe he’s also a Nike guy, but is considering a lot of Adidas schools. Uh TBD, I guess, for Tyron. What? 6’8, powerfully built. uh kind of a small ball, you know, um big at times, but also a playmaking one. Does a little bit of like Lamar Ody stuff just cuz he’ll like grab the ball uh off the glass and and kind of push it in transition, but physically built for the guys he’s playing against. Maybe the skill level hasn’t come around as much as some of those other names we just mentioned. So, I I think him staying put where he is probably makes the most sense and and uh you know, wanting to be a top pick as opposed to six, seven, eight in this draft, but getting a head start on another year of of one college basketball money and getting two three million dollars to go somewhere and then jumpst starting your NBA career a year earlier. Also, probably not the worst thing in the world in the world, too. So, you can’t really rule it out. I think conventional wisdom in past years would have been he’ll go back to high school for for one more year, but you know, we’ll we’ll see what that um ultimately looks like for him. I don’t expect him to be in this draft, but until like college basketball season starts and he’s not enrolled on a college, you know, we can’t totally rule it out. The first guy here of just sort of the returners that I think makes sense to mention is Jaden Acquaintance. He was one of the younger players in college basketball at Arizona State last year. 68 69ish uh really athletic forward. Probably plays some small ball five can probably guard all the way up to twos and threes potentially. It wouldn’t shock me if when he gets healthy if Jane Quinton is one of the best college basketball defenders in the country this year at Duke. Just crazy versatile. I do think that’s something that this Wizards front office will prioritize. like if you want to build the best defensive core that you can, putting him next to to Keshan and Bel and uh Jir Watkins and and guys like that and then Sar in the post like Acquaintance would be another really interesting guy next to Sar because they’d just be crazy versatile, crazy switchable. He just can’t like I don’t know if he can bang with bigger guys yet. He’s still really thin, but also we were seeing him as a 17-year-old last year. He is coming off a knee injury as well. It’s totally TBD when he’ll be back and and ready to go here, it’s probably somewhere like November, December time frame, but if he were SEC defensive player of the year here as a sophomore, you know, but basically should be a true freshman. Like it it wouldn’t really shock me. He’s mostly just sort of like a transition run the floor scorer, a little bit of slashing here and there. I don’t think he can shoot it. And to me, that would, you know, put him in that next tier of guys down. You know, we’ll see if he’s been able to to build out his feel and his touch a little bit here despite not being able to work out all all summer all summer here with the the injury. The next name is is Christine going to uh Houston 610. Just crazy crazy bouncy uh shot blocker lob threat. Can maybe shoot it a little bit. Has shown some touch here toward the tail end of his high school career. Getting that next tier down for me. Late lottery kind of guy. But Houston loves physical, switchable defenders. They haven’t played a ton of freshman in big minutes, but they’re relying on a couple freshman, him, Kingston Flemings, and uh Harwell, I think it’s Isaiah Harwell coming in as freshman uh to to play big minutes. So, they lose uh some some dudes on their um on their front line here. Uh so we’ll see if he can kind of come in as a freshman and and bring that toughness and physicality and athleticism uh that that Kelvin Samson likes to prioritize. Next name Duke’s Isaiah Evans is a guy that could have come out last year despite barely playing, but he was just, you know, a 40%ish three-point shooter. So does he do enough else? We’ll see this year. I I think he is an elite uh perimeter shooter. He’s got a little more wiggle to him than I think we got to see last year, but it’ll be interesting just kind of seeing what that role is for this Duke team. I do think they’re pretty deep uh with wing options here. I love Darren Harris. There was a guy played that Paul the six locally. I think he’ll have a much bigger year this year, too. So, did he and Evans cannibalize some of the minutes from each other on the wing? Like, that’s really a question. but of the returners, he’s a name worth mentioning because if he really figures it out and he just becomes this, you know, 18 a game kind of guy, he’ll get talked about in the lottery. Uh Versatile number another versatile guy here coming up, Caleb Wilson going to UNCC, another athletic four that’s going to just uh try to be a havoc causer defensively and transition weapon for North Carolina. North Carolina team I think is going to try to run a lot more this year. See what that looks like. Carter Knox from Arkansas. Uh remember Kevin Knox uh playing a few years ago. You know, we’ll see what what that looks like here. Uh if he’s much better than Kevin in the pros, I think he’s already a better guy. Uh Carter uh didn’t perform very well for for most of the year at Arkansas last year, but came on late and you’re like, “Oh, okay.” Like, we’re starting to see the guy that that got that hype come out of overtime elite. So, I think Carter’s a guy that could have a huge year offensively uh as well. And then you’ve just got another guy back going back to the SEC here or staying in the SEC here with Cam Williams at at Kentucky. Comes in as a really good shooter already. I’ve heard he’s already like changed himself defensively, too. So, uh, Cam Williams, Kentucky, keeping an eye on that. We’ll just throw out another couple names here that that are getting kind of talked about in this general, you know, range of the draft. I I don’t totally see it with a lot of these guys personally yet. I I need to see more. or I mentioned Kingston Flemings uh at Houston. Not really a great shooter, but a a playmaking 6’3 guard, kind of skinny. I think he’s just a dude to maybe use two years of college basketball. Uh let’s see. Kareem Lopez, an international prospect, kind of a power forwardy type, gets some love. Uh Ian Jackson, transfer from uh from UNCC uh to St. John’s. We’ll see what that looks like. They plan to play him as a point guard. I don’t really know that he is a point guard, so who knows if that helps him. got Boogie Fland going to Florida. Uh leaving John Calpar to go to Florida. We’ll see what that looks like for him as well. Kind of skinny and undersized to me to be like this kind of elite playmaking guard in the range we’re talking about. Can Learon Fin who decided to go back to Alabama this year as another kind of slight built uh point guard, you know, continue to to make some some strides in the right direction. Ahan Steinbach going to Washington as a freshman. He played well in that FIBA tournament. uh can he can you know can he play as well in that kind of range in a draft that doesn’t have a ton of big man depth. I thought there were a lot of like solid centers in last year’s draft. I I don’t think I’ve mentioned a true center yet. Like Sak is probably the closest and he’s more of like a four five Alexar hybrid type. So that’s a question mark. So, so can that help uh Acquaintance who could is probably again more of a power forward type or Steinbach who’s more of a four five type um you know play their way higher in that mix. Is that room leave room for a Yakel Londenborg uh to move his way up in the draft decides to go back to college or transfer from UAB to Michigan? That’s another interesting one. Uh hostway in the chat mentioned his favorite returners are Bennett Sturts who’s going to be at Iowa this year transfers from Drake. Thomas Hog going or staying at Florida is running it back as a national champion. The Florida one is going to be an interesting question. H is gonna play the three primarily next to Alex Condan. Uh so that’s we’ll see, right? I really liked him. I thought he was actually the best prospect uh last year on that Florida team. It just remains to be seen for me if he can be a perimeter player or not. if he’s a 345 combo like that and and can actually do it, that becomes really intriguing. Uh so definitely a name uh worth keeping an eye on here. Said he also likes Blake Harper. Yeah, love Blake. Shout out uh another DMV guy, former guest of the podcast here. Went to Howard last year, was incredible. Conference player of the year as a freshman. Transfers to Kraton. They need him to be good. I think it may just take him a little bit of time to adjust there. He’s not like a crazy crazy athlete, but he’s crazy productive as a freshman, so you can’t rule him out. And then Jose asked if Eric um uh Rybe Rya uh going to Yukon is is a two or three year college player. Yeah, I don’t think he’s a one and done for sure. Uh personally, because he’s not going to get the opportunity this year. Yukon will start Terrace Reed. They’ve got another big they just brought in as well. So, I think um you know, Eric is probably a guy coming out of Bullis that could use another year or two. I think he’s a dude that could really pop in year two. Obviously, Klingan was much better defensively as a freshman. Um but but but Eric is pretty darn good here uh as well offensively. So, we’ll we’ll just see. He’s apparently looked a little soft in in some of the international competition this summer. So, I think he’ll just take a little time to figure that out. Uh null says, “Agree that they try to rise after this next year.” Uh yeah, that absolutely. I think the Wizards are just in ad talent mode. They’ll keep doing these moves they’ve they’ve done over the offseason here to just bring in some intriguing guys. And then next year is where you start to figure out if some of these pieces really make sense for you and they’re guys you can build around. But I really do think and I I am on record of saying this like for the last two years since I got to see a lot of these dudes play that under 17 FIA team. It was the best probably international team I’ve seen like team USA have at any level in over a decade. I just thought they were incredible. You can go back and find those on the FIA YouTube. Just just go watch these dudes. Like they’re they’re super awesome. So, I feel great about this class. I think you’ve got three, four guys and a couple more that could even get into that mix. So, again, really intrigued about this particular draft. This is the first kind of starting point for some names. We’ll we’ll feature more of these guys here as the season goes on. If there’s particular dudes you want to talk about or do some breakdowns on, happy to do it, especially while we got some time to kill here over the off seasonason. Uh but it was just good to get back in the mix here and get a pod going again. Appreciate you all for for tuning in and uh we’ll be back here with more Believe in Wizards over the course of the summer. So, appreciate you guys and uh we’ll talk soon.

The Washington Wizards seem very likely to end up near the top of the lottery in the 2026 NBA Draft. Here are the names fans should know and how they fit with the rest of the roster. Players discussed: Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, Tounde Yessoufou, Cameron Boozer, Mikel Brown, Nate Ament, Koa Peat, Tyran Stokes, Alijah Arenas, Jayden Quaintance, Isaiah Evans, Chris Cenac, Caleb Wilson, Karter Knox, Kam Williams, Thomas Haugh, Braylon Mullins, and more!

#nbadraft #nba #collegebasketball #duke #kansas #byu

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