Will Dawkins said on Junks Radio that AD and Trae Young are highly likely to play this year.
February 10, 2026
From his bi-weekly interview with the Junkies.
20 comments
then we better lose the rest of the regular season so Trae and AD can drop 30 each on the 82nd game
How about April 15th
“That’s the goal”
lol uh huh. Tell the league what they want to hear and then do what’s best for the franchise.
It will be like for 3-5 games tops I would think. And hopefully it’s versus teams we are heavily favored to lose. Tank is paramount.
Like the drug dealer saying “yeah my taxes are legit I declare everything” Dawkins gotta keep the NBA off his back
Get that man on Locked On Wizards next
We joke but they likely will. We got a bunch of guys that have never played together. All we do is play em against teams jockeying for playoff position. So assuming theyre ready mid march, that would be the NBA TV game vs Boston March 14, then the NBA TV game vs Detroit March 19, MSG vs the Knicks March 22, Trae plays @PDX to dash their dreams, then boffum for LA March 30 and then sit them the rest of the year. 5 games to see what they can do with the youngins. 👌🏾
Translation: “When it’s an absolute 100% guarantee we’ve secured that top 4 pick”
I trust this man with my unborn baby
Saw the heat OKC got and had to say this lol. They aint playing.
They’ll play, wont be much. There’s a section of the schedule in the 2nd half of March/early April where they play the Celtics, Pistons twice, OKC, Knicks, 76ers. They’ll get in those games they have less of a chance to win. Even then, times where they’re both play in the same game will be minimal.
They will conveniently miss games against the Nets, Blazers, Jazz, Bulls (2x).
It is a fine line between wanting/needing to tank to secure that high pick AND also making sure your competitive efforts are in a good spot Day 1 next season. I agree having these guys play a bit down the stretch to get a better gameplan for next season. If your aiming to be decently competitive, you don’t necessarily want to waste the first 15-20 games working out kinks in the rotations. I think guys want to generally play if they are healthy too, so you gotta try to make them happy. I mean players want to eat, right?
Everyone in the org knows what is at stake so I’d be pretty shocked if they ultimately forfeited the pick. That said, its quite the tightrope to walk right now to maintain a modicum of roster integrity to make sure the pieces fit when the calendar turns.
bro got the call
They will play just enough to say they did and gain some eyeballs / sell some tickets
They will not put the pick at risk
I always thought this would happen. For like 3 games though
Total bs from the big Dawk, putting that PR training to work
This is just PR. He isn’t going to play them lol
Given AD’s comments about only wanting to be competing for championships at this point in his career, I have to imagine there’s the desire to play this season once truly recovered so he can evaluate the team’s potential with his addition + Trae’s
20 comments
then we better lose the rest of the regular season so Trae and AD can drop 30 each on the 82nd game
How about April 15th
“That’s the goal”
lol uh huh. Tell the league what they want to hear and then do what’s best for the franchise.
It will be like for 3-5 games tops I would think. And hopefully it’s versus teams we are heavily favored to lose. Tank is paramount.
Like the drug dealer saying “yeah my taxes are legit I declare everything” Dawkins gotta keep the NBA off his back
Get that man on Locked On Wizards next
We joke but they likely will. We got a bunch of guys that have never played together. All we do is play em against teams jockeying for playoff position. So assuming theyre ready mid march, that would be the NBA TV game vs Boston March 14, then the NBA TV game vs Detroit March 19, MSG vs the Knicks March 22, Trae plays @PDX to dash their dreams, then boffum for LA March 30 and then sit them the rest of the year. 5 games to see what they can do with the youngins. 👌🏾
Translation: “When it’s an absolute 100% guarantee we’ve secured that top 4 pick”
I trust this man with my unborn baby
Saw the heat OKC got and had to say this lol. They aint playing.
They’ll play, wont be much. There’s a section of the schedule in the 2nd half of March/early April where they play the Celtics, Pistons twice, OKC, Knicks, 76ers. They’ll get in those games they have less of a chance to win. Even then, times where they’re both play in the same game will be minimal.
They will conveniently miss games against the Nets, Blazers, Jazz, Bulls (2x).
It is a fine line between wanting/needing to tank to secure that high pick AND also making sure your competitive efforts are in a good spot Day 1 next season. I agree having these guys play a bit down the stretch to get a better gameplan for next season. If your aiming to be decently competitive, you don’t necessarily want to waste the first 15-20 games working out kinks in the rotations. I think guys want to generally play if they are healthy too, so you gotta try to make them happy. I mean players want to eat, right?
Everyone in the org knows what is at stake so I’d be pretty shocked if they ultimately forfeited the pick. That said, its quite the tightrope to walk right now to maintain a modicum of roster integrity to make sure the pieces fit when the calendar turns.
bro got the call
They will play just enough to say they did and gain some eyeballs / sell some tickets
They will not put the pick at risk
I always thought this would happen. For like 3 games though
Total bs from the big Dawk, putting that PR training to work
This is just PR. He isn’t going to play them lol
Given AD’s comments about only wanting to be competing for championships at this point in his career, I have to imagine there’s the desire to play this season once truly recovered so he can evaluate the team’s potential with his addition + Trae’s