I did ask him about Anthony Davis and you'll hear that during the interview, but I welcomed him to the show and kind of started with just him trying to take us through the process during the lead up to the draft that landed on A.J. DeBonsa at number one overall.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Happy to be on, as always.

Like you said, a really exciting week for us and being able to come up with new wizard players and have conversations, like you said, some we'll talk about.

But the draft was really exciting for us, especially A.J., adding someone as dynamic as he is to our basketball team.

We feel really lucky to have that opportunity.

And once we found out, I guess it was beginning of May, you have the number one pick, You just make sure that you go back and you do your research and you spend a lot of time reviewing everything you've gotten on the person.

the result could be in the upcoming 2026-2027 season to keep that buzz going?

I did ask him about Anthony Davis and you'll hear that during the interview, but I welcomed him to the show and kind of started with just him trying to take us through the process during the lead up to the draft that landed on A.J. DeBonsa at number one overall.

Yeah.

Thanks for having me.

Happy to be on as always.

Like you said, a really exciting week for us and being able to come up with new wizard players and have conversations, like you said, some we'll talk about, but the draft was really exciting for us, especially AJ adding someone as dynamic as he is to our basketball team.

We feel really lucky to have that opportunity.

And once we found out, I guess it was beginning of May, you have the number one pick and, You just make sure that you go back and you do your research and you spend a lot of time reviewing everything you've gotten on the person.

the result could be in the upcoming 2026-2027 season to keep that buzz going?

I did ask him about Anthony Davis, and you'll hear that during the interview, but I welcomed him to the show and kind of started with just him trying to take us through the process during the lead-up to the draft that landed on A.J. DeBonsa at No. 1 overall.

Yeah.

Thanks for having me.

Happy to be on as always.

Like you said, a really exciting week for us and being able to come up with new wizard players and have conversations, like you said, some we'll talk about, but the draft was really exciting for us, especially AJ adding someone as dynamic as he is to our basketball team.

We feel really lucky to have that opportunity.

And once we found out, I guess it was beginning of May, you have the number one pick and, you just make sure that you go back and you do your research and you spend a lot of time reviewing everything you've gotten on the person.

So I'll finish with, in your most realistic dreams, not wildest dreams, but most realistic dreams, what do you think the result could be in the upcoming 2026-2027 season to keep that buzz going?

I did ask him about Anthony Davis, and you'll hear that during the interview, but I welcomed him to the show and kind of started with just him trying to take us through the process during the lead-up to the draft that landed on A.J. DeBonsa at No. 1 overall.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Happy to be on, as always.

Like you said, a really exciting week for us and being able to come up with new wizard players and have conversations, like you said, some we'll talk about.

But the draft was really exciting for us, especially A.J., adding someone as dynamic as he is to our basketball team.

We feel really lucky to have that opportunity.

And once we found out, I guess it was beginning of May, you have the number one pick, You just make sure that you go back and you do your research and you spend a lot of time reviewing everything you've gotten on the person.

So I'll finish with, in your most realistic dreams, not wildest dreams, but most realistic dreams, what do you think the result could be in the upcoming 2026-2027 season to keep that buzz going?

I'm wondering, along the way in three years, what was the toughest decision you made? Was it tough to trade Bradley Beal? What was the toughest thing you've done in the three years to get to this point?

Um...

Yeah, the three years have kind of flown by.

It's wild when you say that, but we have been able to alter the organization, I think, in a good way.

For me, it's probably not one specific decision, but if I had to say that, it's sitting down and informing the people that need to know that we're going to go through this deconstruction phase and everything that goes about it and how aligned you have to be in going through it and how strategic you have to be and look more big picture, knowing that it's going to be a rocky way and probably not the best level of basketball for your fans to get behind.

So I think making that decision with something that was hard and difficult and sticking with it is always challenging.

But at the end of the day, like we said, we thought it was the right decision for where we wanted to go because The ultimate goal was to get a bunch of young players that the fans and the city can get behind, that can play the right way and have some continuity and build towards something that's sustainable and sustains success, the goal for us.

When you draft A.J., Did it matter that it was kind of like a perfect fit for the personnel you had? Or is AJ such a unique guy, it didn't matter who was on your roster, you couldn't pass up on this ability and character, etc.? ?

I'm wondering, along the way in three years, what was the toughest decision you made? Was it tough to trade Bradley Beal? What was the toughest thing you've done in the three years to get to this point?

Um...

Yeah, the three years have kind of flown by.

It's wild when you say that, but we have been able to alter the organization, I think, in a good way.

For me, it's probably not a specific decision, but if I had to say that, it's sitting down and informing the people that need to know that we're going to go through this deconstruction phase and everything that goes about it and how aligned you have to be in going through it and how strategic you have to be and look more big picture, knowing that it's going to be a rocky way and probably not the best level of basketball for your fans to get behind.

So I think making that decision with something that was hard and difficult and sticking with it is always challenging.

But at the end of the day, like we said, we thought it was the right decision for where we wanted to go because the ultimate goal was to get a bunch of young players that the fans and the city can get behind that can play the right way and have some continuity and build towards something that's sustainable and sustained success, the goal for us.

When you draft A.J., Did it matter that it was kind of like a perfect fit for the personnel you had? Or is AJ such a unique guy, it didn't matter who was on your roster, you couldn't pass up on this ability and character, etc.? ?

I'm wondering, along the way in three years, what was the toughest decision you made? Was it tough to trade Bradley Beal? What was the toughest thing you've done in the three years to get to this point?

Um...

Yeah, the three years has kind of flown by.

It's wild when you say that, but we have been able to alter the organization, I think, in a good way.

For me, it's probably not one specific decision, but if I had to say that, it's sitting down and informing the people that need to know that we're going to go through this deconstruction phase and everything that goes about it and how aligned you have to be in going through it and how strategic you have to be and look more big picture, knowing that it's going to be a rocky way and probably not the best level of basketball for your fans to get behind.

So I think making that decision with something that was hard and difficult and sticking with it is always challenging.

But at the end of the day, like we said, we thought it was the right decision for where we wanted to go because The ultimate goal was to get a bunch of young players that the fans and the city can get behind, that can play the right way and have some continuity and build towards something that's sustainable and sustains success, the goal for us.

You couldn't pass up on this ability and character, etc.

I'm wondering, along the way in three years, what was the toughest decision you made? Was it tough to trade Bradley Beal? What was the toughest thing you've done in the three years to get to this point?

Um...

Yeah, the three years has kind of flown by.

It's wild when you say that, but we have been able to alter the organization, I think, in a good way.

For me, it's probably not one specific decision, but if I had to say that, it's sitting down and informing the people that need to know that we're going to go through this deconstruction phase and everything that goes about it and how aligned you have to be in going through it and how strategic you have to be and look more big picture, knowing that it's going to be a rocky way and probably not the best level of basketball for your fans to get behind.

So I think making that decision with something that was hard and difficult and sticking with it is always challenging.

But at the end of the day, like we said, we thought it was the right decision for where we wanted to go because The ultimate goal was to get a bunch of young players that the fans and the city can get behind, that can play the right way and have some continuity and build towards something that's sustainable and sustain success, the goal for us.

You couldn't pass up on this ability and character, etc.

Take me, take my listeners kind of through the process and how you ultimately landed on AJ Dabonsa.

Yeah.

Thanks for having me.

Happy to be on, as always.

Um, like you said, a really exciting week for us in being able to come up with new Wizard players and have conversations, like you said, some we'll talk about.

But the draft was really exciting for us, especially AJ.

Adding someone as dynamic as he is to our basketball team, we feel really lucky to have that opportunity.

So I'll finish with, in your most realistic dreams, not wildest dreams, but mo- most realistic dreams, what do you think the result could be in the upcoming twenty twenty-six, twenty twenty-seven season to keep that buzz going?

I'm wondering, along the way in three years, what was the toughest decision you made? Was it tough to trade Bradley Beal? What was the toughest thing you've done in the three years to get to this point?

Um...

Yeah, the three years has kind of flown by.

It's wild when you say that, but we have been able to alter the organization, I think, in a good way.

For me, it's probably not one specific decision, but if I had to say that, it's sitting down and informing the people that need to know that we're going to go through this deconstruction phase and everything that goes about it and how aligned you have to be in going through it and how strategic you have to be and look more big picture, knowing that it's going to be a rocky way and probably not the best level of basketball for your fans to get behind.

So I think making that decision with something that was hard and difficult and sticking with it is always challenging.

But at the end of the day, like we said, we thought it was the right decision for where we wanted to go because The ultimate goal was to get a bunch of young players that the fans and the city can get behind, that can play the right way and have some continuity and build towards something that's sustainable and sustain success, the goal for us.

You couldn't pass up on this ability and character, etc.

I'm wondering, along the way in three years, what was the toughest decision you made? Was it tough to trade Bradley Beal? What was the toughest thing you've done in the three years to get to this point?

Um...

Yeah, the three years has kind of flown by.

It's wild when you say that, but we have been able to alter the organization, I think, in a good way.

For me, it's probably not one specific decision, but if I had to say that, it's sitting down and informing the people that need to know that we're going to go through this deconstruction phase and everything that goes about it and how aligned you have to be in going through it and how strategic you have to be and look more big picture, knowing that it's going to be a rocky way and probably not the best level of basketball for your fans to get behind.

So I think making that decision with something that was hard and difficult and sticking with it is always challenging.

But at the end of the day, like we said, we thought it was the right decision for where we wanted to go because The ultimate goal was to get a bunch of young players that the fans and the city can get behind, that can play the right way and have some continuity and build towards something that's sustainable and sustain success, the goal for us.

When you draft A.J., Did it matter that it was kind of like a perfect fit for the personnel you had? Or is AJ such a unique guy, it didn't matter who was on your roster, you couldn't pass up on this ability and character, etc.? ?

Mm-hmm.

You get 25 minutes with each person.

Um, they go door to door, team to team.

But for us, we try to keep it as a calm environment.

Um, we decorate the room in all DC things, so they come in and they feel like they're a part of DC.

We show them a video, and then just kind of open it up and give them an opportunity to speak and get to know them a little bit.

There's probably topics we make sure we hit on, but there's not too many standard static questions.

How much do you weigh that?

Thank you.

Yeah, it's probably my favorite part of the combine week for sure.

You get 20 young men who get to sit in front of you.

It's kind of like speed dating for them.

You get 25 minutes with each person.

They go door to door, team to team.

But for us, we try to keep it as a calm environment.

How much do you weigh that?

Mm-hmm.

You get 25 minutes with each person.

Um, they go door to door, team to team.

But for us, we try to keep it as a calm environment.

Um, we decorate the room in all DC things, so they come in and they feel like they're a part of DC.

We show them a video, and then just kinda open it up and give them an opportunity to speak and get to know them a little bit.

There's probably topics we make sure we hit on, but there's not too many standard static questions.

How much do you weigh that?

How many people are interviewing the player? Is it a standard group of questions that each guy gets asked, or do you pivot as the interview goes along? Take us inside that process.

Yeah, it's probably my favorite part of the combine week, for sure.

You get 20 young men who get to sit in front of you.

It's kind of like speed dating for them.

You get 25 minutes with each person.

They go door to door, team to team.

But for us, we try to keep it as a calm environment.

How much do you weigh that?

How many people are interviewing the player? Is it a standard group of questions that each guy gets asked, or do you pivot as the interview goes along? Take us inside that process.

Yeah, it's probably my favorite part of the combine week for sure.

You get 20 young men who get to sit in front of you.

It's kind of like speed dating for them.

You get 25 minutes with each person.

They go door to door, team to team.

But for us, we try to keep it as a calm environment.

How much do you weigh that?

How many people are interviewing the player? Is it a standard group of questions that each guy gets asked, or do you pivot as the interview goes along? Take us inside that process.

Yeah, it's probably my favorite part of the combine week for sure.

You get 20 young men who get to sit in front of you.

It's kind of like speed dating for them.

You get 25 minutes with each person.

They go door to door, team to team.

But for us, we try to keep it as a calm environment.

How much do you weigh that?

Mm-hmm.

You get 25 minutes with each person.

Um, they go door to door, team to team.

But for us, we try to keep it as a calm environment.

Um, we decorate the room in all DC things, so they come in and they feel like they're a part of DC.

We show them a video, and then just kinda open it up and give them an opportunity to speak and get to know them a little bit.

There's probably topics we make sure we hit on, but there's not too many standard static questions.

How much do you weigh that?

Now that things are starting to move forward, um, how do you evaluate the on-court coaching job he's done, and what kind of things has he done that you're already looking at for the future?

Yeah.

Um, I think you heard first and foremost the guys when you guys asked them questions the other day about BK as the person.

Um, [clears throat] he's just that high level type of person and has that connectability with the guys.

And for me, it's probably clear he has a track record of development, like a really good track record of player development, both old and young players, which is rare.

Um, we put him in a situation this season which was a little difficult when you just think about the amount of youth, um, and the amount of change that we had.

Um, we led the NBA in starts for players under twenty-one.

I'm just putting it out there.

Yeah.

And at this point in the rebuild, we feel pretty confident that the team was ready to take strides.Uh, I anticipate us being more competitive.

I anticipate us being, um, in more games, and our young players taking leaps, and our coaching staff putting everybody together in positions where the team is going to be better next season.

What that looks like, I'm not sure.

There's still a long time left, uh, before we get to next October and November and start playing games.

But let's finish out this season, let's really a- attack the summer, let's add in free agency, add in, in the draft, and we'll have a better feel, uh, this time September when we talk about it.

But again, I, I do anticipate, and I think everyone should anticipate, the team being better next season.

What do you think about Michael Malone going to Carolina? He hasn't coached in college in 25 years, and he was never a head coach in college, but very good pro coach and won a ring, but, um, Carolina choosing Michael Malone as their guy now.