Speaker 1: Come Home.
Speaker 2: On this episode of the Heat Check.
Speaker 1: It is a special deep dive into I would say
Speaker 1: the most surprising team in the East, in the NBA, in.
Speaker 2: The in a good way.
Speaker 1: There's been plenty of surprising clunkers, but holy shit, the Washington.
Speaker 2: Wizards are relevant.
Speaker 1: We are going to do a breakdown in week two
Speaker 1: of the NBA seasons about the Washington Wizards. We're gonna
Speaker 1: break down why they're playing so well, why Bradley Beal,
Speaker 1: and more importantly, really why Bradley Beal will never ever
Speaker 1: leave Washington DC. So do me a favor, Bra and
Speaker 1: drop that motherfucking beam. Come Remember last year when it
Speaker 1: was clear that the Wizards didn't deserve success. I mean,
Speaker 1: they certainly weren't gonna get success, but they didn't deserve
Speaker 1: success either because they were getting rid of their stars.
Speaker 1: They were making strange moves. They offloaded one overpaid star
Speaker 1: for another overpaid star, and then you had Brad Beil
Speaker 1: throwing chairs, which is a very mild mannered guy. Like
Speaker 1: for Brad Beale to be throwing chairs and losing his
Speaker 1: shit on the sidelines in front of nationally televised camera's
Speaker 1: right there, people, right there, and he's like I don't
Speaker 1: care bubble no bubble whatever, COVID no COVID whatever, like
Speaker 1: this is terrible. And then they ask him at that point,
Speaker 1: like what's up, Brad, and he's like, listen, we can't
Speaker 1: even guard a park car right now. They were the
Speaker 1: most COVID affected team in the NBA, probably because of
Speaker 1: a close contact between Brad bill Ad Jason Tatum. As
Speaker 1: we found out later, like NBA fans were starting hashtag so,
Speaker 1: I mean, really me, hashtag free Bradley Beale. There was
Speaker 1: a move It was a movement started by me. Brad
Speaker 1: had no help and Brad is fucking good. He was
Speaker 1: dropping forty. There was like a Laughingstock meme where it
Speaker 1: was like every time Bradley Beal dropped forty, they lost.
Speaker 1: It was a bum legged Washington Wizards, Westbrook and Scott
Speaker 1: Brooks who everyone wanted fired and basically no one else,
Speaker 1: I mean even Davis Bertans went from being a sharpshooter
Speaker 1: to just.
Speaker 2: Like a guy that everybody wanted to trade. So at that.
Speaker 1: Point everyone and I mean everyone he liked for stake
Speaker 1: and speeded and blah blah, everybody wanted to see Brad
Speaker 1: Beeal traded Brad Beal was adamant that he wanted to
Speaker 1: win in DC.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, sure, Brad, like okay, wink wink. Like.
Speaker 1: It kind of felt at that moment that Brad was
Speaker 1: just being the nice guy that was publicly saying one
Speaker 1: thing and like, Dame, I want to be a staple
Speaker 1: in the community and blah blah blah, but wouldn't admit
Speaker 1: the truth publicly, which is what we all know is
Speaker 1: you can't really win in DC like at all.
Speaker 2: If Brad wants.
Speaker 1: To win and wanted to win, the only way that
Speaker 1: he could win was to join a plethora of other
Speaker 1: stars in Boston or LA or Philly, or even join
Speaker 1: up with Stephen Clay in Golden State, etc. That was
Speaker 1: the only way that Brad Beale could ever win because
Speaker 1: it was never happening here. I mean it's early right now.
Speaker 1: But it turns out that that really wasn't true. What
Speaker 1: Brad actually needs are competent role players like and some
Speaker 1: depth like the most complicated complex train that sent out
Speaker 1: Ross after sending out John Wall turns out to have
Speaker 1: been the only way.
Speaker 2: Having an overpriced star.
Speaker 1: And trading him turns out to be the only way
Speaker 1: to stalk your kitchen like that, like you turned an
Speaker 1: empty cupboard with like a couple of good items into
Speaker 1: a fucking pantry a plethora of pieces. Now the depleted
Speaker 1: cupboards are full. The Wizards are five and one right now,
Speaker 1: and not like a fraudulent five in one like the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bulls, like a real five and one, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. They have gritty wins over Boston twice, like.
Speaker 2: They should have lost last year.
Speaker 1: They would have lost to Boston, like they won in
Speaker 1: overtime without Bradley Bealt against Indianapolis.
Speaker 2: They have a signature blowout win over.
Speaker 1: Atlanta and at that point, and Atlanta went to the
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference last year is Eastern Conference Finals last year,
Speaker 1: and they did that.
Speaker 2: Without forty percent of their lineup. I mean, excuse me.
Speaker 1: Not only did they beat Atlanta, they beat the shit
Speaker 1: out of Atlanta without your starting point guard, without your
Speaker 1: starting center.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's pretty stunning. It's not like this is
Speaker 2: the Washington.
Speaker 1: Wizards beating putting Tray Young in prison, like a team
Speaker 1: that Bradveil said couldn't guard a park car stopped Tray
Speaker 1: Young and like the guy that did it, I don't well,
Speaker 1: even we'll get there in a second.
Speaker 2: But it was a discardible piece, Aaron Holiday.
Speaker 1: And that was when I thought, hmm, maybe need to
Speaker 1: adjust my Eastern Conference rankings a little bit.
Speaker 2: So let's talk about that roster.
Speaker 1: Like I said, Aaron Holiday, Pacers already had a holiday,
Speaker 1: so you can't have to I guess.
Speaker 2: So they got rid of Aaron. Aaron is putting guys
Speaker 2: in prison.
Speaker 1: People on the Wizards are saying, Aaron Holiday is the
Speaker 1: best defender on this team.
Speaker 2: He was a discardible piece. He was discarded.
Speaker 1: Spencer Dinwitty was just added in to the trade fold
Speaker 1: it in if you will, like h like in a gumbo,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you're like, oh, there's and Dewey
Speaker 1: in here as well, Like didn't know I had rice,
Speaker 1: I had beans, I had this, I had this meat
Speaker 1: that meet Oh my god, I also get in Dewey sausage.
Speaker 2: That was Spencer.
Speaker 1: Spencer Dinwitty's low key probably the best signing, underrated signing
Speaker 1: in the NBA in this offseason, and he was just
Speaker 1: thrown into the deal. They figured out a way to
Speaker 1: get the Lakers to make that deal, and a million
Speaker 1: other teams too to make that deal work. Right, He
Speaker 1: is a bucket. He is a playmaker. He hit the
Speaker 1: final shot against the Pacers for the dagger, like he
Speaker 1: can put a team on his back if he needs to.
Speaker 2: He takes the.
Speaker 1: Pressure off of Bradley Beal, where Bradley Beal now can
Speaker 1: work on his defense, which no one says he can
Speaker 1: defend either, like he was a part of that, Like
Speaker 1: I can't guard apart, like I can't park guard to
Speaker 1: park car And Montres Harrell, who was getting dnps in Lakerland,
Speaker 1: is now averaging almost twenty points a game off the bench,
Speaker 1: probably gonna run away with six Man of the Year
Speaker 1: Kyle Kuzma the Chucker, he is top ten and rebounds
Speaker 1: right now KCP.
Speaker 2: KCP is maybe.
Speaker 1: An automatic lock in prop bets for over one and
Speaker 1: a half threes.
Speaker 2: I think he hits it every single time.
Speaker 1: He's hitting corner threes like no other and lockdown defender
Speaker 1: on the perimeter. Never mind the fact that Ruy Hachimura
Speaker 1: they're starting for has been completely mia for this year.
Speaker 2: He's nowhere to be found. No one has seen him
Speaker 2: in the facility.
Speaker 1: He will be back at some point, so they don't
Speaker 1: even have their full squad yet. And Daniel gafferd is
Speaker 1: just now getting back healthy. So this is what Bradley
Speaker 1: Beal said after their second win over the Celtics. The
Speaker 1: first win was like, Okay, it's an aberration. They blew
Speaker 1: him out. Celtics are a roller coaster ride. Second win
Speaker 1: in overt double overtime. Okay, this is what he said.
Speaker 1: Just imagine when everything starts clicking, when everybody's jelling, when
Speaker 1: everybody's healthy, it's gonna be scary. Excuse me, are you
Speaker 1: not jelling right now? Is this not a jeled team?
Speaker 1: They put up one hundred and thirty points against the
Speaker 1: Placers and they're not even clicking yet.
Speaker 2: People are who's not healthy? People aren't healthy. Brad's not healthy,
Speaker 2: Gaffer's not healthy.
Speaker 1: They are five and one in the seventh toughest schedule
Speaker 1: in the NBA. So yeah, I agree. I agree, Wizards
Speaker 1: could be scary good. The Wizards to me, are the
Speaker 1: most surprising, delightfully surprising team in the East six games
Speaker 1: in the season.
Speaker 2: I know the sample size is small.
Speaker 1: But everything I need to know I now know about
Speaker 1: Bradley Beal's future. Forget that we are now seeing Jason Tatum.
Speaker 1: It meant openly, yes, I am recruiting Bradley Beal to
Speaker 1: be a Celtic.
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 1: I know you guys have been saying it and I've
Speaker 1: been denying it, but it's true.
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 1: I am recruiting him. We've talked about it. But let
Speaker 1: me just make this very very clear. Like Bradley Beal.
Speaker 2: Now, I know Bradley Beial is never coming to Boston.
Speaker 1: In fact, these first six games show me Brad is
Speaker 1: never leaving DC to go and play with another star.
Speaker 2: Brad is and wants to be the star. He is
Speaker 2: the guy.
Speaker 1: Brad is not the second fiddle to some new John
Speaker 1: Wall the latest installment of John Wall two point zero, Like,
Speaker 1: he's not the player that you pair next to, the
Speaker 1: player that you build your franchise around.
Speaker 2: He is the player that you build your franchise around.
Speaker 1: He is that model, that prototypical guy on and off
Speaker 1: the court. Brad is Batman. Now, we a lot of
Speaker 1: times think that Batman's have to win the day or
Speaker 1: save the world without any help. Like that's how we
Speaker 1: as a society think about Batman. But the truth is
Speaker 1: Batman had some help. He Batman had a Robin. Batman
Speaker 1: had an Alfred, he had some tech tech and cars
Speaker 1: and shit.
Speaker 2: So what Brad needs is a Robin and an Alfred
Speaker 2: or two.
Speaker 1: Not because he needs it all the time, but when
Speaker 1: the going gets tough and Batman's and some shit, you
Speaker 1: can call on Alfred for backup. That's now that we
Speaker 1: see the Kuzma and KCP and Tres and Aaron Holliday
Speaker 1: and Spence. That's with this squad, a little baby diet
Speaker 1: cola version of the Avengers.
Speaker 2: Like, that's what they are.
Speaker 1: No stars other than well maybe Spence would be considered
Speaker 1: a quote unquote star, but.
Speaker 2: No real stars.
Speaker 1: Is just Brad and the rest of the Wish version
Speaker 1: of the Avengers, and that's what he needs.
Speaker 2: How far can the Wizards go?
Speaker 1: I think, truthfully, in a quiet moment, they could be
Speaker 1: this year's version of the Atlanta Hawks, the team that
Speaker 1: nobody saw coming and goes to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Speaker 2: Will they? I don't know, but could they? For sure?
Speaker 2: The team that nobody but me? Right here?
Speaker 3: It's Monday, November first, The Washington Wizards could go to
Speaker 3: the Eastern Conference Finals right now, market That's all.
Speaker 1: The time that we have for the heat Check podcast.
Speaker 1: Will be back Wednesday morning early. Squirrely, do not miss it.
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Speaker 3: I love the feeling you Printon mencern me.
Speaker 2: It's exactly