Tony Massenburg Is Impressed With the Wizards Draft and Jonas Valančiūnas Signing | BMitch & Finlay

Tony Massenburg Is Impressed With the Wizards Draft and Jonas Valančiūnas Signing | BMitch & Finlay

NBA champion Tony massbury with the San Antonio Spurs Tony when I was sitting up here looking at all these different things going on I felt that I had to get somebody in I always can count on you and uh you do a great job of uh letting me know what’s been happening but before we get started with stuff outside of this area uh how did you think the whz did in the draft I thought they positioned themselves well and the process of setting a foundation for the future when you look at the draft picks they really kind of covered the uh the entire draft as far as filling positions on the team that are needed they got a stretch four they got a a wing player they got a guard and basically you know this is a team that’s setting themselves up for the future they’re starting from scratch and when you do that you need to not only draft good meaning good young players that you can develop but you also want to put yourself in position where you have draft piics for the future and all of this has to be done uh with new rule changes in the NBA under the CBA that um that are now a little bit more restrictive in the way of of keeping teams keeping everybody sort of at the same level when it comes to salary cap well I think when you look at they continued on with the draft they signed valent chunis uh not to last night or the day what whichever one it was uh yes big man how how does that uh position huh yeah very big man very big man who over the last few years have sort of really punished the Wizards a little bit on the interior he’s a guy that’s gotten numerous offensive rebounds over the course of games he’s played against the Wizards because the Wizards just didn’t physically have anybody who could match up with his size he’s also not just a big guy who can really get you some points and and production inside but he can also stretch the floor out to the three-point line as he had also shown the Wizards over the years so he’s one of those guys that uh has played well and played consistently uh for the pretty much the last four to five years but he’s played really well against the Washington Wizards in whatever encounters they’ve had well when you you played for 12 different teams and you also when you end up with the Spurs so the Spurs is a franchise that has ran well and you’ve been working and doing stuff with the Wizards for a long time watching things now how theyve been done in utilized and handled how does it look compared to what was there before because right now these people seem to be they have a plan and they implementing it as they go on for me I would look at what they did in OKC when you think about the fact that OKC stockpile draft picks uh four or five years down the road that’s kind of what’s Happening Here when you look at the Wizards and what they’re doing right now and the players that they’re drafting these are guys who hope hopefully in the next three years will will be guys that we look at much like Bal kabali um on draft night some of us were left scratching our heads when he was drafted and by Midway through the season we were saying wow you know we didn’t know that he could shoot the ball like this we didn’t know that he would be show this type of promise this early wow what a mature player for his age like when you look at Will Dawkins these guys and Michael they have a track record of drafting well they they select the right guys in the draft and I and I gotta tell you B Mitch we’re in a time right now in the NBA we’re always talking about players and players contracts and their production well to me with the rule changes right now this is the time where we have to start looking at general managers and and and Executives and saying okay these guys also get paid well it’s time for them to start showing us what they got as far as making the right decisions and when I look at the two guys and Will Dawkins and and Michael Winger who are running the Wizards organization I feel like we have two of the best Executives in the league and they have proven that they have a great track record with the things they have done along the way in the past so I think the Wizards organization is in great hands I think they’re making the Right Moves I think they’re drafting the right guys and I think they’re really setting a foundation that’s going to pay off down the road you’ve been here a long time just like I have been you know and I like I was saying earlier I’m getting excited because it seem to have the right people in place at this point listen a lot of times all these franchises they had people that were favorites of the owners and they kept them around right now they have guys that know how to build a team and they really could care L if they like you or not they just want you to make sure you’re playing very well for this team and trying to go out there and be successful well that’s the difference between hiring people that you like hiring people that are connected to people that you know and actually going out and hiring the best basketball people that you can find and that’s what when I when I look at this team now that’s what’s happened they have hired really good basketball people and that’s going to pay all for you down the road all right the NBA seems to be in the transition at this point okay I understand LeBron is still playing but I don’t know if LeBron is still the guy that he was okay and fall of time is undefeated uh yeah all the time is damn show undefeated Klay Thompson seems like he will be leaving uh Golden State Paul Joy just opted out and he’s gone to to uh Philadelphia the NBA’s got a lot of things going on but my question would be did you expect I’m going start off with with the Lakers did you expect Bry to be drafted and with the Lakers I expected Bron to be drafted with the Lakers um you know a month ago I expected JJ Rd to be hired by the Lakers over three months ago when basically I felt that JJ reick would be hired as a Lakers coach as soon as I saw the podcast between him and LeBron and and to me the funny thing is it’s so obvious uh you know this is a different League and and and this is a different time in 2024 things are not as don’t work the way that they work in 2004 or 1994 you know back when you and I were you know still in the in in the in our primes and and playing you playing in the NFL and me playing in the NBA it’s a different time things work different Now relationships matter Twitter followers social media followers matters those things wait in and and again things outside of the game to me at this point in sports across the board have more influence in sports than they ever have so um when I saw that podcast between LeBron and JJ Reddit I put two and two together as as a lot of people did when I saw that Brony was actually coming out after averaging single digits in college and really not being being a a star on USC’s team and he was still entering the draft and it was all this har big harah around him coming out I knew that he would end up being drafted by the Lakers so um these things to me some of them are are kind of easy to see but again it’s just a a different time it’s a different time but like when I look at this thing and I just like say if everything works out great oh good if things don’t work out great cuz this be the because you know LeBron so LeBron is behind all of it if things fail is this going be LeBron getting ready to be out this league real quick if it fails no I I don’t think it’ll be LeBron being out The League um he’s signed for three years or he’s you know I mean he G get his money but I’m saying you start seeing things go the other way because if it doesn’t work like this I don’t know if any other team is going to play this little this game I actually don’t think it matters I think when I when you talk about LeBron a guy who is in the goat conversation um I will always have Michael Jordan in front of LeBron regardless of what he does from this point forward I give LeBron a ton of credit for being able to maintain a high level of play for longer than anybody has ever done it um but when it comes to uh his decision making as far as his imprint on all of this I I just don’t think that it will hurt his legacy uh that much because the people who are loyal to LeBron are going to be loyal to him regardless of what he does what it what leaves me scratching my head is that and for me in the business of basketball it should be about winning and in the process of of winning sometimes you don’t always get to do what’s convenient or or U you know what you might like to do when I look at what the Lakers are doing it it just does not feel like it’s about winning as much as it’s about basically appeasing a narrative or or putting on the show and I I’ve said this for a while long before um this situation came up with bronny that for me the the Lakers to me don’t feel like it’s about winning as much as it’s about feeling feeling the seats in in the Stables or the crypto.com arena it it just if it’s not about winning be Miss then what’s it really about yeah so I I think the Lakers is really that at this point it’s the lake show oh they got a show going on but it was just a little strange to me because when you look at the NBA the Lakers is one of those teams that were you didn’t think they needed to worry about playing those games because they are the Lakers right but they went into it as well well Paul George uh goes to Philadelphia what can we expect in this team now because we’ve seen Paul jump around a lot now and we’ve seen uh Philly get their players will that help them or not it will absolutely help them uh they needed that third guy they needed that that Wing player in particular to be a threat um to be able to to do some of the things that you see Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum doing in Boston this most certainly this move takes the 76ers into you know the the conversation of being Challengers at to the Boston Celtics now does it put them over the top that remains to be seen but it certainly puts them closer let’s not forget that even without Paul George last season if it were not for the injury to Joel andb the Sixers were right there Tyrese Maxi was playing great basketball and and they got a great Twan game and you look at the Sixers roster they don’t really have a lot of depth and they didn’t really have a lot to throw at these other teams after Jo lmb and Tyrese macki but they found you know to be able to contribute here and there but they certainly you could see a glaring uh void on the wing spot where they didn’t have that Dynamic three that they need now they’ve got a guy that can sort of give them some minutes you know at the three and maybe the four if they want to play small and being that they lost to Bas Harris to Detroit you know now they’re going to have to fill that board as well but Paul George uh to me is a is a good upgrade on the wing the thing about Paul George that that troubles me a little bit just like you just stated about Jo embiid they are absolutely great basketball players but they both are hurt a lot yeah so you’re expecting two people that’s the third piece and twoth third of them can be gone at any time yeah and that’s been an issue for both of them yeah you’re right about that that that right there is something that’s a little troubling and and hey I don’t have a problem a man getting his money at all that’s the NBA how they set it up but hey get your money but the ultimate thing if I’m building a team I’m gonna build people that I can depend on on a consistent basis well another guy who had injuries kind of seemed to have derailed the way he had been playing Klay Thompson was unbelievable playing defense and can shoot the three on anybody as good as anybody else out there he seems to be on a move from uh Golden State where you think he ends up you know that’s a tough one for me because when I look at clay uh um see here’s here’s the thing let me start by saying this I’m G keep it as short as I can I have been saying for over a year that Klay Thompson no disrespect I love Klay Thompson’s game Klay Thompson because of injuries because and not just injury major injuries yeah backto back Major injuries because of age which it happens different it’s some guys are are starting to to tail off a little bit at 33 34 some guys till off in their late 20 Klay Thompson is not the Klay Thompson that that that established the slash brothers let’s not forget yeah not Klay Thompson had the reputation when he was in his prime as a as the ultimate three and D guy he was a great defensive player on a Warriors scene that was a number one ranked defensive team when you when you go back to the Glory Days of the Warriors all right and he was clearly the second best shooter in the entire league behind the best shooter we’ve ever seen in Steph Curry y what’s happened to Clay over the last couple of years is injuries have taken a toll he is AED he’s played a lot of minutes over the course of his career so he cannot defend his position the same way that he used to he cannot get himself open and create the separation from the defense the way he used to so when you add these things up he’s not the same player and that hurt the Warriors because that’s just what happened as you just said be Miss father time is undefeated yeah is undefeated that’s what happened now with that being said anybody who signs Klay Thompson is not getting the guy that he was five years ago yeah so who can really benefit from having basically now at this point in his career a catch and shoot off guard maybe even a three because he struggles to to to keep twos in front of him as well as threes he’s not the same guy defensively yeah I think when you look at the Dallas Maverick I think he would be great there um he could help the Lakers yeah but the Lakers also need some a Defender you know a guy not not a guy just can only shoot they need someone who can also defend and I question that with Clay’s Mobility at this point because of injury so um when I think about what’s the best fit for clay I think the best fit for clay right now would be the Dallas Maverick because you got Luca there who could set him up very well you’ve got Kyrie there who can who can take up a huge uh Point huge part of the scoring load and he wouldn’t have to be the guy to come out and score 20 plus every night and I think it would be offensively it would be easier for clay because he wouldn’t have to move a whole lot and defensively because of the upgrades that that they made by way of the trade last year ultimately helped him get into the Conference Finals I think he wouldn’t have to have so much put on him defensively as well so I I just think that Dallas Mavericks will probably be the best spot for him there is a chance he could end up in La if that’s what he wants to do but I think Dallas would be the the the best landing spot for him at this time well if I were him I’ll go to Dallas because they don’t pay uh state taxes and he pay a lot of taxes in uh La in in California exactly and he’s taking a pay cut leaving the Warriors no matter where he go there you go there you go well Tony uh we’re joined by Tony massberg on the back hereo guest line one question are we we now Tony we are we are in the 21st century now we we stream the show as well so we got a lot of guys there one guy Taye Tay Wilson I think his last name is wanted to ask about Georgetown and uh Maryland signed uh um three-year deal now to play with each other your thoughts on that on that series I think it’s great I think it’s I I’m so glad I wish we could have played Georgetown when I was at Maryland um that is a great rivalry that is a that is something that I think even from the recruiting side I think would help both programs and and and really help bring the Rivalry back uh you know we never really had that rivalry because even going back to Lefty Jazelle and John Thompson they didn’t play each other and so I think with these being the two most prominent schools in the DC area I think it would be very important that they renew this rivalry and and I think it would be great for both programs and I really think that it could enhance recruiting Countrywide not just in the area but Countrywide I think if you develop this rivalry it can be very very beneficial to both programs and really highlight uh local talent you know for for both teams that have guys on on the on the teams that are local I think it really highlights the basketball history and just the overall great basketball that’s available in this area and just puts a real Spotlight on the DMV as a whole so I love the Rivalry I I I just I I think it’s the best thing that could happen to both programs all right Tony man I appreciate you giving us some time man thank you and congrats once again brother oh

Former San Antonio Spurs big man Tony Massenburg joins Brian Mitchell to talk about how the Washington Wizards did in the NBA Draft and how impactful a signing Jonas Valančiūnas will be.

#wizards #nba #nbafreeagency

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