Washington Wizards Loss to The The Spurs Is A PAINFUL Reminder That They NEED Lottery Luck

Washington Wizards Loss to The The Spurs Is A PAINFUL Reminder That They NEED Lottery Luck

Brian Keefe said, “There are plenty of lessons to learn for the Washington Wizards last night in their loss to the San Antonio Spurs. One of the things I think I learned and I’m starting to realize is just how important it’s going to be that this team finally has some luck in the lottery. You are [music] Locked On Wizards, your daily Washington Wizards podcast, part of the Locked [music] On podcast network. your team every day. >> DC family, you are locked on to the Washington Wizards, where you’re part of our family. We thank you for making Locked On Wizards your first listen every single day. We’re part of the Lock On podcast network where it’s your team every day. If you’re an Everydayer, let us know in the comments down below. We got a bunch from you last time. Uh, we want to see even more of you guys who tune in the channel every single day alongside the DC sports content creating Savan Abdully. UB, I’m Ben Stro and I cover the Washington Wizards for Roundtable I.IO AB, how’s it going? Happy Friday, dude. >> Happy Friday to you. I know you came back from the holiday show. My sister actually just came back from school for the break and she brought her two cats, so hopefully you don’t see anything in the background, but yeah, holiday season, Spurs, not too much of a fun game to talk about. late postgame because you know you had to cover the holiday show. A lot to talk about and like you mentioned how you started off the show, Ben, you got a hit in the 2026 draft or the lottery. >> Yeah. So, we’re bringing you this postgame coverage a little bit later than typically which we apologize for. But at this point, I’ll talk we’re going to talk about the game. I want to talk a little bit about Bal Kouli and his struggles offensively in his first game played in a couple of weeks in the second segment. Um break down a little bit more that we saw from the game. I thought Alexar had a decent performance and we’ll break that all down in the second segment and third segment uh I wanted to highlight some comments also that we read as uh that I got on my Twitter as well. But one thing I want to start with here and it’s not something that’s been a foreign concept to me because I’ve understood this throughout the entirety of this Washington Wizards rebuild and I wrote an article about it today for Roundtable IO. I’ll link that in the description if you guys want to check that out as well. it’s that to take the next step in the rebuild. A lot of this is predicated on actually getting lucky in the lottery. And just playing San Antonio last night was a big reminder of why this process is so painful and why the lottery luck is so necessary because the Spurs didn’t necessarily find themselves in the same spot as Washington. They were similar though for a couple years. is if you just look year-over-year at the Spurs record, they were kind of muddled in mediocrity for a little bit at the uh turn at the end of the Greg Papovic era. And if you just look over time, like it wasn’t the standard of Spurs basketball uh that they had played at for so many years. They had three straight seasons where they had 32 wins, then 33 wins, then 34. Then they bot him out for two years and in return they get Victor Webbyama who the Wizards were one ball away from which makes it all that much more painful. He is a superstar player. Uh one of the best prospects we’ve seen since LeBron James. Then they get the feat of the former rookie of the year and Stefan Castle in the next draft where they also rose a few lottery spots to get that pick. And then in this last year, they rise up six spots in the lottery and are able to land Dylan Harper, who had a career-high of 24 points last night, five rebounds and three assists to go with it. The Spurs haven’t had necessarily the same process, the same tumultuous process the Wizards have had to go through. But now they are legitimate contender in the Western Conference. Fourth in the West right now with 19 wins, was on the precipice of winning the NBA Cup. And it’s because they got lucky in the lottery. And I know I’ve already seen the comments. I’ve gotten plenty of people who have said, “Well, the Spurs are much more well coached. They develop their players better.” Two things can be true. Sure, the Spurs might have the coaching staff necessary. They might be developing players better than Washington. I could say there’s been a couple of pieces that Washington have developed over the last year or so like Alexar and Keshan George. You can look to that. But they landed a generational prospect in the draft two years ago in Webmanyama and then they found their point guard in Dylan Harper. Washington needs its generational franchise changing player and it gets to a point where it’s a little bit scary AB because if it’s top three pick or bust this year potentially. I know there’s a couple other options in a really deep draft class. I don’t know. you don’t really afford or you can’t really afford another year of bottoming out and having 60 plus losses again that it gets a little bit scary to think about like what if the Wizards fall again in the lottery nightmare scenario again and again and again I you can’t you couldn’t have said it anywhere better Ben this upcoming year huge I mean crucial this draft lottery considering the fact of the amount of talent with Debonsza Peterson native met Boozer I really I really think if they’ve I’m I’m knocking on wood here because I’m hoping it doesn’t happen. I’m but I’m really thinking if they fall out of the top four, top five and fall to six like this past year, it sets you back and you cannot go through another year of 60 plus losses. Ben, you just can’t. Ted Leon says financially it’s just culture-wise nothing. No one benefits off that. Maybe you have the idea of getting a top pick in 2027, but how many years are we going to keep playing that card, man? How many more excuses and justific how many times we’re going to justify the idea the Wizards can be bad because it’s going to be worth it just to get the sixth overall pick and I don’t I and talking about the sixth overall pick I we got Trey Johnson I love it he fell to us but the idea of Cooper flag being there we were talking about it for so long what he did in March Madness dropped 40 points not too long ago youngest kid ever to drop 40 points breaking LeBron’s record we missed out on that and it is frustrating and the it’s not just the Spurs Man, look at the the Pistons. I know they were losing for a while, but K Cunningham first overall pick. The Magic, Paul Ben Carol, if you get that superstar type of guy, it helps you out. Also, look at I mean, obviously discount this year, but Jayden Daniels rookie year, you get a a superstar quarterback. Once you get that coveted piece of your franchise, everything else will fall into place. And for the Wizards, maybe one of these guys could be an all-star. hopefully Allstar, Keshan George, maybe even Trey Johnson if he gets more reps and the more the more minutes and time comes along. But if you don’t have your superstar, it’s hard to be competitive, especially in the Eastern Conference when the Knicks are starting to play better. Jason Tatum’s going to come back from injury. Young stars all around this this conference. I don’t expect this Wizard squad to event to make that that next step if they don’t have their star. And it’s just it’s very vital that they land a top three pick. And I I can’t stress it enough because I can’t go another year, like I said earlier, I can’t go another year of saying we’ll be bad this year. There’s no top eight pick protection cloud next year. There there isn’t. You have to be you have to show some form of progress next season, whether it comes to wins, whether it comes to being competitive or whether it comes to having a p a player that people want to go to Capital One Arena and watch. And it gets to a point where Wizards fans aren’t going to games anymore. Attendance is just pretty poor. I know Jordan P pointed out even though he can’t say the same for his arena in New Orleans. It just gets to a point, Ben, and it gets frustrating because guys like you and I are just going to always come up here after every postgame show when the Wizards lose and say, “Hey, just be patient. It’ll be worth it because then a couple years down the line, we’re going to probably be saying that. I’m hoping that’s not the case. I’m hoping we land a top three pick.” But we’ll see. Time will tell. >> Well, there’s going to be more of an expectation, I think, on this team to put out a better product next year. And this is a stardriven league. And the proof is in the pudding with the rise of the Detroit Pistons, the rise of the Orlando Magic, the rise of the San Antonio Spurs. You need to hit and get your star player. And yeah, you can hit and get a superstar player in other parts of the draft. Like plenty of teams have done it. Steph Curry drafted later. Uh Giannis Doopo drafted later. Nicole Joic drafted in a Taco Bell commercial in the second round. Like yeah, there are plenty of great success stories that have happened like that. But it’s not traditional. Nothing is guaranteed. you’re not even guaranteed to get a superstar with the first pick overall. But I think it’s important in this upcoming class that the Wizards do pick in the top three to get that franchise changing player just because when you think about it like this, the Wizards could be a lot better this year if they really wanted to. If they wanted to be a better team and compete for the play or or be just a step below that, win more games, that could have been done. This team was built in a way intentionally to be bad enough to have an opportunity to pick high in the lottery. They could have gone out there and signed a veteran point guard that would have helped them out and made the offense much better. And maybe that would have to be in the plans if something happens where they don’t get lucky in the lottery. If they do fall again and they don’t get the player they feel like can change their franchise, then maybe they would have to supplement in free agency or via the trade market or whatever to get to the next level. But then if you don’t really have that superstar player, then aren’t you just going to get back to right where you were before this new regime took over, muddled in mediocrity, 35 wins, Bradley Beal era of basketball, you’re not winning a lot. Maybe you have a couple of guys that get you good stats night in night out. But if you realistically can’t be a team that finishes top four or top five in the conference year in year out, I don’t give you much of a chance to make a ton of noise in the postseason. I guess the Miami Heat are like the one example of a team that went all the way to the finals as a playin team because of playoff Jimmy or whatever it was a couple years back. But we know what this front office is trying to do. They’ve said it themselves. They don’t want to be a one-year playin team, you miss it the next. They want to be a perennial contender in the Eastern Conference. And I feel like the only way that’s going to happen is if they get that luck that they need in the lottery. And last night was kind of just a painful reminder that the Wizards have been very unlucky and the Spurs have been very lucky. I know there’s all the comments you’ll say it’s rigged. First of all, I don’t think it’s rigged. Like there’s a whole lot that goes into that. It’s literally fraud to say it’s I know we’re going to get the comments that are hating on me for [laughter] saying that anyway, but it’s it’s fine. I I’ll break it down. It’s flawed. The system is flawed. The fact that the Wizards were able to fall to six was because the lottery system is just not constructed the right way right now. In my opinion, if you’re the worst team in basketball, the second worst team in basketball, you should be picking in the top three. And Adam Silver, they say that they do all this stuff with the lottery to incentivize teams not to tank. That’s not the We’re still tanking because of that. So, like, what do you mean? What do you mean? >> How would you fix it, Ben? the NFL or no? >> I like I don’t even know if it needs to be directly like the NFL where the worst team picks first. Like obviously in the Wizard situation, they’d be picking first right now. So, I’d be perfectly fine with that. U but overall, I just think if you finish in the bottom three, the lottery should just come down to the bottom three teams who picks one through three and then they could probably it’d be like a tier system. 1 through three, four through six, 6 through 10, or 7 through 10, whatever it is for you don’t need 14 teams in the lottery. I feel like that’s ridiculous. And then you don’t need a team that had a 1.8% chance that traded away. It’s franchise player to get the first pick. It’s just unnecessary. It’s stupid. And the NBA needs to fix it. And I really hope I don’t have to make this rant in midMay. That’s all I can say right now. >> And with all that being said, Ben, this Thunder will somehow still end up with the first overall pick this upcoming year. [laughter] >> Like probably probably. So, and I feel like we’re going to get a lot of comments saying that we’re like crying about the lottery and stuff, but this is real. This is real stuff right here. If you want this team to take the next step, get to the next level, you need to get a superstar player. Last night was just another reminder of that. We’ll keep this conversation going though on the other side of the break. Stick with us here on the Lockdown Wizards podcast. The season’s heating up and Door Dash has a way to keep fans in their bag the whole way through. Whether you’re watching the highlights, the tunnel fits, or just your favorite player, Door Dash makes the entire season more fun because every player has their bag. With Door Dash, fans have one, too. 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It just makes it seem that much bleeer. And I’m not going to say like it’d be the end all be all for this organization. Like I think Dawkins in the front office could still do something or you know build a team in a way that helps them get to another level. It just makes it that much harder. And this has been the whole vision with this team is draft, develop, acquire assets, hopefully land a top pick in the draft, get your star player, and go from there. If you skip that one very important step or you just can’t get that step done because the luck in the lottery makes the final product a lot harder to get to AB. The word lottery, Ben, it’s a trigger word, especially when it comes to being a Wizards fan because the the luck that we’ve had and the one year where you get the number two overall pick, love Alex, love the young guys that we drafted that year. However, it was in a weak draft class. It would have been so nice to have that this year. You get a guy like Dylan Harper who fulfills that point guard position role here. And I know we’re playing the what if game, but like the main theme point that we want you guys to get Wizards fans out there that are listening, they need to have success in this lottery. I’m saying top three pick bare minimum. You I don’t even want to see us fall out of the top three. Even though there’s a lot of talent in this draft, you need to somehow finish with a top three drop top three pick, especially if you finish off with the worst record in the NBA. >> It’s important to close the door on this conversation. Just think back to the success stories that you can maybe point to for Washington. Alex Rar at the number two overall pick. He looks like a player that might become an all-star player in this league. He’s a buildable piece. I think Keshan George is a buildable piece that you have right now. You hope to see Trey Johnson become a buildable piece. Bal Koulibali a little bit more unsure about right now. I’m going to talk about him in a minute, but you start to see that you do have some pieces that you can build around. Like you can see the vision of them being there on a playoff team. But if you don’t have that one player to kind of round everything out and make everything just flourish, gel together, then I don’t know where you go from there because you can put up a lot of empty stats on a bad team. You know, Wizards players can do that. You got to see it get to a point where it translates to winning basketball. And I want to transition the conversation to Bal Koulabali because just talking a little bit broader about yesterday’s game. Uh it wasn’t great for Bal who played his first game in a couple weeks. He ended up finishing as a minus 18 in the game, second worst, excuse me, third worst on the team. Just three points, one of seven from the field, 0 for four from behind the arc. And he got good looks from the outside. But that three-point shot, it has continued to regress. AB >> and the leash is getting shorter. Ben, I love Val. I always mention the fact that he was the first draft pick in the W Dawkins era. It’s year three. We haven’t seen anything. And I alluded to the fact that if you’re worried about Bob Carrington, who was in his year two, why not why why isn’t there any more concerns towards Bal Koulali? Defensively, we love the kid. Don’t get me wrong. 21 years old, very very young. But offensively, Ben, where’s that jump? It is year three contract extension coming up and I understand injuries and I’ve been giving him the benefit of the doubt but at some point when are we going to start being concerned especially and I know he he’s not playing but a guy in Cam Whitmore who when he’s out there and is on it can put the ball can put the ball in the hoop essentially. I just I I don’t get it. I I don’t get it. Maybe it’s is it the shot mechanics? Is it the confidence cuz Bal only took seven field seven shots? That’s more that’s one more than his typical average of six. So maybe that’s a plus right there. But man, Ben, this is a kid who you had high expectations for. Maybe at at best could be a really good two-way player. But offensively, if he doesn’t give you that 10 to 15 points a game, then at some point maybe you consider going to someone else in the future. I just I’m I’m running out of patience, man. And rightfully so. Wizards fans are because this is a kid who there there are a lot of wings on this team and there there’s some I know Cory Kiss was out with injury and they can’t win more situation but some of those guys will probably go out there and offensively produce more than Bal defensively without a doubt Bal is one of the best defenders on this team but in today’s NBA Ben if you can’t go out there and give your team 10 to 15 points a game it’s hard for you to be out there >> at least for extended minutes which I’d agree with. He played 23 minutes yesterday. I know he was coming back from injury, so that probably played a reason. Sar played 24 minutes. So, those guys were probably going to cap out at around 25 minutes. George played 36 minutes. Bub played 33. I’ll talk about Bub in a little bit about his fourth straight pretty good performance offensively. I have a couple critiques for him as well. Uh, but onto the conversation here about Bal. I think all the injuries he’s had has hindered the way he would develop offensively because he’s missing a lot of time on task in terms of ability he can actually go out and develop and get those reps shooting his jumper, improving the mechanics. Like this year he was hurt in training camp because of the injury that shut him down at the end of the Euro basket. Uh missed significant time already this year. I think he’s missed about half the games. I think he’s missed 12 or 13 of the 25 games. I’d have to double check on that number. missed the end of his rookie year, missed the end of his sophomore year. That probably cuts into the off seasonason a little bit. So, he’s missed out on substantial time where he can develop his offensive game. And I’m not going to use that as an excuse because obviously if you’re unavailable, then that’s on you. Like, I’m not saying it’s his fault, but like it’s a reason why he’s not good. You can’t use it as an excuse because he hasn’t been available. And that’s just the bottom line with a guy. And for a guy who’s in a contract year, potentially could get extended next year, uh the way he’s played offensively, he’s not going to get a super lucrative cont uh contract as it stands right now. He might be a very cheap option to extend if he’s willing to take that. But, you know, he’d probably tell you firsthand himself that he needs to be better offensively. And they’re just aspects of his game that are so interesting to me because I love his ability to slash and kind of knife in. first bucket back was on his first shot attempt where he crossed over to his left and got all the way to the rim and finished. Love to see that, but then it kind of just disappears throughout the entirety of the night and then the three-point shot despite getting open looks just hasn’t looked very good. And it’s frustrating that it it’s kind of a jackal and hide performance from him offensively typically because he’s had a couple of flashes but he just hasn’t been able to find consistency and then being off the court also makes it worse. Yeah, that it’s funny you mentioned that basket because I loved it too. But that was the only basket of the game, Ben. And I think for a guy in Bal, we need to see that game, that breakout game of you scoring 20 to 25 points before the All-Star break. We saw last season I always used to go back to the fact that you Trey Kuzzman, he has his first career triple double against Brooklyn. We’re all high right now when it comes to being a bel stand. However, I understand the injuries, but his first two seasons, Ben, he got shut down, ended his season. this year if he keeps coming off and on the court at some point it does hinder your development as we can clearly see but offensively I I I don’t I like you mentioned I don’t think you can give him that much money if you see how he’s performing offensively defensively if the if basketball was only critiqued defensively but is probably one of the best players of all time in our eyes but offensively he doesn’t give you that production and we’re hoping to see more of it and I like I said I I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt and even though some people are fed up with him. I just need to see that performance where it’s like this is the bal the draft pick that the Wizards dra traded up for and think that he can be a key piece for this franchise. Until then, we’re just going to keep waiting to see. All right, let’s take our last break here. When we come back, I want to read through a couple of comments I got about the game last night. Kind of a different version of Let It All Out, I guess. All right, we’ll be right back. Let’s be real. No one starts a business for the joy of calculating tax withholdings or managing payroll sheets. That’s where Gusto comes in. It takes the stress out of payroll benefits and HR so you can focus on running your business and supporting your team. Gusto is an all-in-one remote friendly payroll and HR platform that makes managing your team simple, transparent, and fast. Whether you’re hiring, onboarding, or paying employees, Gusto helps you do it all from one place without the hassle or hidden fees. Unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price, which means no surprise charges at the end of the month. Gusto’s automated tools like offer letters, onboarding materials, and direct deposits save me hours every week. 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I think his number was a little bit inflated from the fourth quarter. Uh, no, check that. He actually only took one shot in the fourth quarter. He was he was one of one in that quarter. But still 29 minutes wasn’t the most compared to you know other nights where he has been the most or he has played the most minutes for this team. But it has been frustrating at times that maybe in certain situations like CJ McComem is the player that he is. He’s always been this type of player. And I don’t know how they evaluate like whether or not certain situations really translate to how guys are developing. like our guy shooting enough comparatively when he’s on the floor. Is he creating enough for others? Because I saw one play last night where Will Riley was standing in the corner wide open demanding the basketball, clapping for it, and then McCullum kind of drove and then bailed out past last minute and he thinks he got fouled. He was screaming that he had gotten fouled and it went out of play. Uh but nevertheless, they called it a turnover. And I was like, he was open for so long though. That ball should have been swung so long ago. But that’s not necessarily Mcome’s game. And I understand exactly where Travis is coming from with that AB. >> Yeah, Travis, trust me, my roommate, shout out to him in college, his name’s Pedro Schmidt, and he was telling me, bro, I love watching the Wiz or I’ve been having trouble recently watching the Wizards, but when I do watch, it’s the fourth quarter, but it’s just CJ McCullum basketball instead of actual Washington Wizards team basketball. And just got to wait till the deadline, guys. I don’t know what else to say. Eventually, Will Riley will get those touches. And you’re right, that’s a good point. I I I keep I can’t say it. I can’t emphasize it enough. I do not want to see that man CJ McCollum as a tal as talented as he is at 34 years old. We see what he’s done in the NBA. I don’t want to see him take more shots than a lot of these young guys on this team because it just goes back to hindering development. And then we’re in the same situation as last season where Jordan P and Kyle Koosma are taking those shots. Maybe CJ McCome is more efficient. I have to check the numbers. But I I I like how you mentioned it, Ben. He was calling pleading for a foul. Man, at the end of the day, if you if you swing it out to Riley for three, maybe you don’t have to complain about a foul being there. It’s just I I it does get to a point where it gets frustrating. And maybe when CJ goes off for 40 and 30, we’re not going to be complaining that much, but it’s it hasn’t been hitting recently. And I I just don’t I I don’t understand. And coach Brian Keef loves his vets, Ben. I mean, it just it just seems like no matter in his eyes, CJ can’t do no wrong. It just looks like it. And it just it really does get to a point where us fans are just fed up and are just waiting for that deadline. I don’t blame you, Travis. >> And we talked to Ed and I was like, do you think it’s possible that we see them reduce his uh minutes or reduce the amount of shots he takes? And Ed’s like, nah. Like they seem like they’re pretty set on loyalty to their veteran players. And that’s all the indication we’ve got. So like I don’t think that changes. Moving on to Leon Fresco’s comment. He is a big time listener of the channel as well. appreciate you as always, Leon. He loves to >> Yes, sir. Leon >> loves to reach out on Twitter as well. He’s he’s very analytical and a very smart basketball mind. I will I will put that out there. >> He said, “I want Bub to be awesome, but his plus minus is by far the worst on the team and was the worst last night against the Spurs and against the Hawks. His stats have been better recently, but they need to translate consist consistently into him affecting the game/score positively when he’s in the game.” And I get where Leon is coming from. If you look at the past four performances for Bob, it’s been much better in terms of his offensive output, his efficiency. He’s read the defenses a lot better as well. He had that one really poor read where he just like threw the ball to Darren Fox yesterday. And I know you text me, you’re like, >> I texted you when that happened. >> You’re like, “What the heck was that?” [laughter] But nevertheless, like Bub the last couple games has picked it up. He’s starting to get his confidence back, but he’s going to have to put it all together the way Leon is talking about here because at the end of the day, stats don’t always tell the whole story. They won’t tell the whole story for a lot of players on this Wizards team. And the plus minus, I think, doesn’t necessarily always tell the whole story because this is a bad Wizards team. It is hard to not have a really bad plus minus on this team. There have been certain situations where like yeah like you’ll see champenni go out there for extended minutes and he’ll end up being like a plus three in the game or whatever. Like sometimes it it works out like that. Even Bub I think was a plus seven or something in a game last week if have to double check on that. So it it can happen but understanding like Bub has a lot of work to do defensively. He still has a lot of work to do as a ball handler. It’s a work in progress with the guy. I’m happy he’s taking the steps forward to get his confidence back and kind of get back to the level he was playing at. I just don’t know how fair it is to judge a lot of different aspects of his game like the plus minus just because of how bad this Wizards team is. AB. >> Yeah, I I think when it comes to plus minus obviously it’s something to look at. I don’t put too much stock into it. However, at one point when we saw Bub Carrington was on pace or I think was the most had the worst plus minus in NBA history. Then it’s a little cause for concern. But Bob has been playing better recently. And remember, this is a kid who some of you guys or not even some of you, a good amount of you guys were writing him off saying that he should be assigned to the G-League, is not that good, can’t play at a point guard role. It’s a difficult position to develop in. And we see that he’s better suited for that combo role. He finished with 15 points, five rebounds, three assists, two stocks last night against the Spurs and 33 minutes of action. Hopefully, we’ll see more of this club Carrington towards the second half of the season post trade deadline as well. And I think the idea, Ben, of minus it’s it’s something you can point out, but this is just a night where you get blown out by 25 points. Everyone’s going to be the negative, so I don’t put too much stock into it like I mentioned. >> Yeah, I think it’s a fair point. It’s hard to assess it on a night like that. I mean, they were pretty competitive for the first half of the game. Allowed 57 points or whatever it was. And that’s not even that good, but I guess it’s good for Wizard standards um as it is right now, but overall second half not very good. Spurs are a much better team, a lot further developed, a lot different place as an organization because they’ve had that luck in the lottery. They have the pieces that they need to go out and contend. And they’re a fun team to watch. Like I don’t have any problem rooting for the San Antonio Spurs. Love WBY. Love what Dylan Harper was doing. He was definitely one of my favorite prospects in the draft last year. Stefan Castle, great player as well from the draft class with Alex Sar in it. Like that’s one A, one B right now from the 2024 draft class for me. Sar and Castle, those guys have have been the two best players by far, I think, as it stands right now. So, it’s good to see Sar in that category with him as well. And Castle’s obviously doing it on a winning team right now. So, that’s that’s the bottom line. Any final thoughts from UAB? >> I don’t know if you saw the Wizards flew out all the Wizards players moms to San Antonio. I did see that. >> That was cool. Yeah. >> Yeah, I know. It was kind of like put in perspective cuz I know Will Riley’s mom follows me on Twitter. Trey Johnson’s dad follows me on Twitter, but like I never even like seen any of them. I just see them like my tweets. I don’t even think any of them even tweet anything usually except for Will’s mom will occasionally like tweet his highlights or something. Uh like any good mom does. But I was like, “Oh, okay. So this is everyone’s mom.” I even saw like CJ McCullum’s mom. I was like, would never have known. Would never have any idea what like half the players moms look like. So that’s uh nice that the team flew them out there and they got to go on the road and see them play. Would have been nice to see it translate into a little bit better of a game overall. But yeah, it was a nice gesture by the team. >> Yeah, honestly from the minutes play, I know he was in a minute restriction, Ben, but WBY with 15 17 minutes. It was I know Tristan only played I think what six Oh, only he only played five minutes. So they were relying on Marvin Bagley and Alexard to figure out a way to limit him. But we see WBY soon. I do you think Ben will be on a minute restriction that game as well? >> Uh that’d be on Sunday. Depend. I’d have to double check their schedule. The Spurs probably they might be off until then though. I don’t know because like it’ be hard to imagine them playing a backtoback on Saturday and Sunday. I don’t know. Yeah, it’ll be interesting to point out. But >> I guess we’ll we’ll find out pregame on Sunday. Wizards back in action tomorrow though against the Memphis Grizzlies. So have the coverage for you there. That’ll do it for us today here on the Lockdown Wizards podcast. We thank you for making Lockdown Wizards [music] your first listen every single day. For your second, check out the Lockdown NBA fantasy basketball podcast hosted by Josh Lloyd. For my [music] co-host Adoy Ubie, I’m Ben Shrober DC Family. Talk to you later.

In this episode of Locked On Wizards, Ben Strober and Abdullah Ayubi break down the Washington Wizards’ recent loss to the San Antonio Spurs and emphasize the critical importance of this year’s NBA draft lottery for the team’s future. The hosts discuss how lottery luck has propelled teams like the Spurs, Magic, and Pistons towards competitive relevance, while the Wizards continue to struggle with rebuilding and fan frustration. They analyze the development (and struggles) of young Wizards players like Bilal Coulibaly and Bub Carrington, react to fan comments, and reflect on the challenges of watching and covering a rebuilding franchise. Plus, the episode features a fun look at team gestures and the ongoing hope for a true franchise-changing player in DC.

[00:00:00] Wizards’ Loss & The Importance of Lottery Luck
[00:04:52] Painful Lottery History & Rebuilding Struggles
[00:10:50] Fixing the NBA Lottery System
[00:16:57] Player Development Focus: Bilal Coulibaly
[00:25:03] Fan Comments & CJ McCollum’s Role
[00:30:38] Final Thoughts & Team Morale

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