00:00Antonio, I remember you on those Wiz teams, and I just asked you.
00:03It had to be a little nuts in the locker room,
00:05but you said during your time with the Wizards, during the Gill years,
00:09things were cool.
00:09Oh, it was awesome.
00:10It was, like, I know the documentaries that have come out and all this,
00:15but I also understand I was in the Portland Trailblazers locker room, too.
00:21You've seen some ish.
00:22So I'm going to go ahead and leave it at that.
00:25That's awesome, man.
00:26Antonio Daniels, you can listen to him on the New Orleans Pelicans broadcast,
00:31Sirius XM NBA host.
00:33And, dude, I mean, the multibillion-dollar question here in D.C.,
00:37what does A.J. DeBonsa bring to this Wizards team?
00:41Man, listen, I feel like in today's NBA, young doesn't win.
00:47If you're a young team, you notice Oklahoma City didn't win until they went out
00:51and got Alice Caruso and Isaiah Hartstone.
00:53Yeah.
00:53Right?
00:53Young doesn't win.
00:55Old doesn't win either.
00:56Combination.
00:57Exactly.
00:58I've been telling him that for a long time.
00:59There has to be a mix of the two.
01:01Yeah.
01:02So when you – that's why you go and sign Trey Young to that deal.
01:05That's why you go out and get Anthony Davis and put him alongside guys like
01:09Trey Johnson, like Bub Carrington, like A.J. DeBonsa, Alex Saar,
01:14some of these other guys.
01:15I feel like what the Washington Wizards are doing, in a sense,
01:19is the way that you are supposed to build a team.
01:21You can't skip steps.
01:23You cannot skip steps in this league.
01:25And I think San Antonio just proved that.
01:27You have to go through some of the bad years to get to the good years.
01:31And when you look at who the Washington Wizards have been these past few years,
01:35I feel like now they can put that behind them.
01:38Because to me – and I watched a lot of college basketball this year.
01:41I watched Darren Peterson.
01:43I watched Darius Acuff.
01:44I watched Cam Boozer, Caleb Wilson, all of these guys.
01:48A.J. DeBonsa, to me, was the most polished and NBA-ready talent that was available.
01:54Wow.
01:55More than Boozer.
01:56That's kind of what people said about Boozer.
01:58Okay.
01:58But now think about this.
02:00Today's NBA – now think about today's NBA, not the 1990s, not the early 2000s.
02:06Today's NBA is all about wings that are long, lengthy, athletic, versatile.
02:12It's switchable.
02:13Right?
02:13Yeah.
02:14Now, A.J. DeBonsa is every one of those.
02:17Like he said, he talked with the Wizards, and they say he needs to improve defensively.
02:21Who doesn't?
02:22Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
02:23Who doesn't?
02:23Like when you look at the league, I looked at New York,
02:26and the way that they played offensively, but defensively, they made you work.
02:31And I just believe that whenever a team has a mindset that everyone's going to do a little bit more
02:35defensively,
02:36it's easier to win that way.
02:37For sure.
02:38Because most – everybody can want to score, but nobody wants to stop.
02:41Like Dennis Rodman.
02:42He can go to shoot around and watch free throw, watch how the ball bounces, to get an advantage.
02:46But if he improves his defense, how good can he possibly be?
02:51Well, I think that's the hardest transition to make.
02:55And I'm speaking from experience as well.
02:58From college to the NBA level is defense.
03:01Because offense, you've been putting the ball in the hole since you were seven years old.
03:05Yeah.
03:05That's easy.
03:06The difficult part is, you know what you don't do in college?
03:11You don't scheme.
03:12Yeah.
03:13You don't scheme in college.
03:14You don't talk about, okay, on this particular pick and roll possession, we're going to blue.
03:18We're going to ice.
03:19We're going to blitz.
03:20You know, we don't – we're going to go one remove.
03:22You don't talk about that.
03:23You don't talk about doubling in college where the ball comes out and you go opposite the double team.
03:28These are all things that you don't discuss until you get to this level.
03:32So what you see, regardless of the talent level, that most rookies struggle with is the defensive side of the
03:38basketball.
03:39Here's the thing.
03:40When you're that long and that athletic, the defensive side will come easy.
03:46It'll come easy.
03:47As long as you put the work in, right?
03:48Oh, no question about it.
03:50But then when it becomes about winning, because this is how players work, and you know this.
03:54This is how players work.
03:56If we're losing, it's a lot more difficult as a coach to get your point across.
04:00There you go.
04:01But when you're winning and you see –
04:02Everything you said, you go with.
04:03There you go.
04:04There you go.
04:05Everything that we are talking about translates to winning.
04:08I'm on board.
04:09Yeah.
04:09So, A.D., let me ask you about another A.D.
04:12Yes.
04:13You probably know him from your time in New Orleans.
04:16Obviously, Anthony Davis is part of this Wizards operation now.
04:20Where do you think he is in his journey to, all right, I'm going to play here.
04:25We've got this young kid.
04:26We've got Trey Young.
04:27Like, is he excited?
04:28Is he – there is some apprehension here in Washington that he wants to be here.
04:34Well, I think – I'll say this.
04:40No veteran wants to be a part of a rebuilding process.
04:45Sure.
04:45No veteran.
04:46No guy that has accomplished what Anthony Davis has accomplished.
04:50No guy that has accomplished what Trey Young has accomplished.
04:53I say all that to say this.
04:54But I think with the Washington Wizards signing Trey Young to that extension,
05:00they showed him that we're serious about winning.
05:03Mm-hmm.
05:03We're serious about winning.
05:04So, it's easier to get on board then.
05:07Right.
05:07When you take care of Trey Young, you take care of your veteran point guard that is a 2010 guy
05:12who, to me, is one of the most underrated, is not the most disrespected star in this league.
05:19And you show, okay, we're ready to win.
05:23I feel like the Washington Wizards this year can be the Charlotte Hornets of last year.
05:28Think about what Charlotte accomplished a year ago.
05:30Think about who they were two, three years ago and who they are now.
05:34Right?
05:35If I'm a Washington Wizards fan, and I don't say this all the time,
05:39and I'm not saying this because I'm here.
05:41This is something I'll say on my SiriusXM show.
05:43I am crazy excited.
05:45I am crazy excited because this is a league that is about talent.
05:49This Washington Wizards team had a ton of young talent last year.
05:54Add Trey Young, add Anthony Davis, add A.J. DeBonza.
05:59They're going to be a problem in the Eastern Conference.
06:01But you were here, you played for the Wiz during a turning point for the franchise, I would say,
06:09when you guys started winning some games and started developing that, you know, the Gill era.
06:15And you know what this city can be like when it's good.
06:18Yeah.
06:19How exciting do you think the arena could be?
06:22Like, how exciting do you think this fan base can be?
06:24I mean, they're out here on a pretty hot day just to watch a Jumbotron right now.
06:28You know what I mean?
06:28Yeah.
06:28Yeah.
06:29And the thing is, when you get the number one overall pick, that's going to bring excitement.
06:38When you get the number one overall pick and it's this draft, it's time 10.
06:45And again, with all due respect, because the thing I never want to do now as a former player is
06:51disrespect this current generation.
06:54But here's the thing.
06:55A couple of years back, when Richa Shea was the number one overall pick, the Atlanta Hawks fan base did
07:02not have the same excitement that the Washington Wizards fan base has today.
07:07Because that draft, and Alex Sar is really good, but that draft didn't have the talent that this draft has.
07:13Because when you're winning in this city, it's something kind of special.
07:17Yeah, it is.
07:18It is something kind of special.
07:19I mean, to your point, I've been a Bullets Wiz fan my whole life, and I remember getting number one
07:24in the Kwame Brown draft, and it was like, oh, is it Eddie Curry?
07:27Is it Tyson?
07:28Was that Tyson Chandler?
07:30Yeah.
07:30And it was like, cool, but not like this was.
07:33You know what I mean?
07:33So, the player, the possibilities, makes a ton of difference.
07:38So, what do you think for DeBonsa as rookie of the year?
07:44Do you think he has that kind of season in?
07:46Oh, no question.
07:46Yeah.
07:47The thing is, if you go back and look historically, go back and look historically, I feel like they give
07:56the number one overall pick a little bit of a head start.
08:00There you go.
08:01A little bit of a head start.
08:03Last year, I actually had Con Canipo as my rookie of the year because of what he did in Charlotte.
08:08Cooper Flagg was the number one overall pick.
08:10He was a generational talent, and he got it.
08:12Now, I'm not saying that to say that DeBonsa will not have competition.
08:17Sure.
08:18You look at Darius Acuff and what he's going to be asked to do in Sacramento.
08:21Cam Boozer, what he's going to be asked to do in Memphis.
08:23Right?
08:24Darren Peterson, what he's going to be asked in his role in Utah.
08:29Acuff's going to have full green light whenever he wants it.
08:32Oh, no, man.
08:32I love that kid.
08:33Me too.
08:34Dude, I was in Brooklyn.
08:36Me too.
08:36You could tell he was not thrilled that two point guards went ahead of him.
08:40Well, here's the thing.
08:41I could see it on his face.
08:43And you know what's interesting about the Acuff pick?
08:46If you go back and look at the past, Sacramento has made a – again, I don't want to disrespect
08:55the organization.
08:56They have not done the best in drafting guards.
08:59They passed on Steph Curry.
09:00They passed on Damian Lillard.
09:02You can go down the list of different guards that they have passed on and gone in a completely different
09:07direction.
09:07So, basically, they have reversed their draft history by saying now, you know what?
09:12Let's go get this guy.
09:13Look at that dude, yeah.
09:13Yes.
09:14Let's go get this guy.
09:14Fill it up.
09:15Exactly.
09:16I am a huge Darius Acuff fan.
09:18And he knows how to get his team involved.
09:20That too.
09:20You know?
09:21So, it's going to be special, I believe.
09:23What a class this is.
09:25Antonio, thank you for your time, man.
09:26Appreciate it.
09:26I appreciate you joining us, man.
09:27I appreciate it.
09:28That was awesome, man.
09:29Antonio Daniels was a great wizard, fired up about the future of the Wizards.
09:33Eating the crawfish down in New Orleans?
09:34A little bit.
09:36A little bit.
09:37Char-grilled oysters.
09:38Yeah, yeah.
09:38No, I can't do that.
09:39Why?
09:40My wife can't.
09:41I cannot do that.
09:42I can't do oysters.
09:43Even grilled?
09:44None.
09:45None.
09:46The texture?
09:47I only eat them char-grilled.
09:48The texture?
09:49Mm-mm.
09:50I'm out.
09:50All right.
09:51No oysters for Antonio Daniels.
09:52That's right.
09:53We're coming right back.
09:54It's me, Mitch.
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