It's happening isn't it...

It's happening, isn't it? Look, we're still waiting on hearing what the Wizards are going to do with their final open roster spot and honestly that two-way contract as we discussed yesterday but there are two names former Wizards and some fan favorites that continue to make headlines for Washington in Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook. We have to dive into the odds of this going on and what kind of impact it would have on the Wizards rotation because look we got some thoughts on that but also a really nice update is we got a brand new stat about Keyshawn George and exactly why he is poised for an even better season this year. We are going to dive into all of that coming up on this episode of Wizards Digest but hey as you can see below we are getting closer and closer to a thousand subscribers and still about 90% of you watching are not subscribed so if you're enjoying the daily Wizards updates make sure you hit that button because like I said we're here every single day giving you stats just like this. Now this comes from the All-NBA page. This is a very interesting chart you can pause take a look if you want but it's about the biggest jumps in self-creation from 2024-25 to 2025-26 so it is more in-depth. The largest increase in percentage of field goal attempts that were self-created from 2024-25 to 2025-26 well who is number one but Keyshawn George himself a 25% increase from 38% of his field goal attempts being self-created up to 63% now Nick I know that part of that is just the nature of the Wizards having to rely on some of the young guys like him maybe a little bit more and I'm sure that that will probably go down a little bit more this year but his numbers were very solid and honestly just to get that experience early I think means a lot it means that when he gets the ball in his hands this year he's really going to be able to capitalize on it. Yeah looking at the other names on the list I mean last year obviously a quote-unquote breakout year 14 points he's someone that is going to have a huge impact this season now you look at some of the other guys a lot of this that is role-based to a degree like Dylan Brooks obviously had much more on-ball creation with the the Suns than he did with the Rockets or any other team but also you know decent company there and when you look at Keyshawn George being at the top that actually might go down next season because of the addition of Trey Young and others and AJ DeBonza what it does show is that if he's going to man whether he's starting or on the bench he can man the bench unit he can become an on-ball scorer it was a very very cool stat to see but also you look at the stats last year he is going to be a very good young player for years to come and I think out of the young guys we're talking about fighting for minutes I think obviously Keyshawn George is up there as arguably the best out of that young group you can make arguments as well you know will rally is going to be interesting but Keyshawn George could push here to make a very strong impact he did it last year but yeah very oh I guess intriguing stat as a word when you don't see that often and it's a good good leap the question is what can you do next year I think he can actually get better with even less defensive pressure focused on him yeah I think that's very true as well because yeah while you know yeah he gets the ball in his hands where you're right that's a good point that defenses had the opportunity to be a bit more focused on him when he was going off but also like the percentages were not that bad obviously you'd want the field percentage to be a bit higher but not that bad and I think if he could just capitalize on especially a spot up shooting like this year he could be in a great position but while he is versatile he can play some minutes three the two or wherever you really need to put him he's a very versatile player which is very nice to have um you know there still is that question right and it's something that we keep coming back to because the Wizards are not making their signing now they still might not but like come on you know I want something to go down very soon and there's been a lot of talk about a couple names and Wiz District's tweet about this recently is just I mean it's kind of putting the words in a lot of our mouths but it's kind of what we're thinking right and then we've talked about both these guys a little bit before but they say hot take I'd take a Bradley Beale Wizards reunion before picking up Demar DeRozan or a Russ Wizards reunion of course now this was right after hearing that the Wizards had checked in on Demar DeRozan which I still don't think would be a great idea I still think Demar is good um when we talked about Beale and Russ fans you guys let us know down below which one you prefer you guys seem to definitely prefer Russell Westbrook to Bradley Beale um but there were some positives and some negatives for both I mean Nick if it comes down to these two guys if it is just a choice between Beale and Westbrook do you have a preference between the two I mean for me I think I'd probably lean Westbrook but I'd love to hear what the fans have to say as well yeah now I'd lean Westbrook definitely but at the same time a Beale reunion could be interesting these stats here obviously six games injuries they're gonna he's gonna be better than that right he's gonna be much better than that but same time maybe they might not be he's obviously had a very big downward trend I think he will be better than that you can see here it's uh I think I still think he's a fine shooter I'm probably higher on Beale the most but I mean better than eight points a game hopefully uh but at the same time the reason that we're talking about it again today and why it's probably gonna happen not necessarily directly Bradley Beale could be Russell Westbrook the longer that this drags out in my eyes the more likely it is someone of higher echelon if you want to call that or more you know less of a Anthony Gill type more of a Bradley Beale or Russell Westbrook or you know Holiday or any of those guys because of the fact that obviously I still think if they were going to go with Gill they probably would have already went with them you obviously see here Aaron Holiday Gabe Vincent who I don't know if he belongs to this but I would rather Russell Westbrook for sure though I can't help but shake the feeling that they're trying to hold out to get one more veteran and I think Bradley Beale's impact on the actual basketball team might not be very great I do think him or Russ what especially Beale I think could provide some you know veteran leadership for some of the younger guys they have so many young players I do think they need to add a veteran whether that's a backup you know guard whether it's a big man obviously Russell Westbrook has the most upside as an actual on the court player but there is also you know it is Russell Westbrook we're talking about here not that he's a locker room right or it's the locker room anything but he's a bit more polarizing I would say and would demand I mean you'll get the minutes per game he still played almost 30 minutes a game last year whereas Beale maybe you can play a lower role but either way it'll be very interesting though I do think there is something to be said about them actually going for a veteran that can play some minutes and be a mentor to some of the young guys though they do have Trey Young and Anthony Davis now so maybe that's not a factor yeah like it feels it would feel weird to have like Trey Young and Russell Westbrook kind of be that those point guards but also it doesn't wrong wrong graphic it doesn't it feel like kind of I don't know to me it feels a little wizardsy it's it's such a strange thing maybe maybe I'm wrong about that but it's weird right because it reminds me a little bit of kind of what you say at the draft where you're like hey do you pick best player available do you draft for fit and I think there are some reasonable questions that arise from that right a team that you know like does have some solid shooters right guys that shot well from three last year but you know this year are they going to be able to follow that up right you have young guys who are going to be able to step into new roles a guy like Westbrook I think Beal I think just doesn't really make much sense because he's even his shooting has not been good over the last few years I'll bring up his stats over the last few years now in a second but Westbrook is at least something a little bit more tangible right like Beal look that three point percentage 37 percent okay in six games 38.6 43 actually so it actually was pretty good but even his last few years with the Wizards again a higher volume but not that great if he could just be a good spot-up shooter fine on like minimum deal but I think you're right Nick I think that Russell Westbrook to me brings something a little bit more tangible there's a reason that a lot of teams have liked him fan bases have liked him I think he seems like more of a leader but is there also a reason that like general managers are just kind of shying away from him because there has to be a reason he hasn't signed a contract yet right yeah I mean are either of them gonna help a team win a championship I don't really think so and that's why but for the could have pushed them to I mean again depending on who you ask Kendrick Perkins the Wizards are gonna compete for a top seed so I like Russ I don't hate Bradley Beal just because it's not like you're giving up anything the only thing you're giving up is the opportunity cost of potentially some minutes for some young guys but even then I think if Beal did return it would be under the assumption that I mean he has to fight for a spot but I can't imagine he would get many minutes where it was for Westbrook he would and rightfully so probably deserves at least like 20 25 minutes a game and I don't know if the Wizards want to do either of those but there's a reason they haven't went out and filled that spot yet because I think they're going for somebody I think holiday still makes my brother most sense though yeah I still like that idea too and like also there's there's something to be said for young guys almost having to prove their worth like if you bring in a guy like Westbrook you are immediately saying to anyone else that wants ball handling duties you got to prove you're better than Russ right like if you want to now but like trial by fire is kind of a real thing like yeah you're young guys we're gonna put someone in your way right that can hurt development but also if the player proves that they're better as long as the coaching staff is willing to give them the minutes and that could be it could be something huge right so anyway leave your thoughts down below would you prefer Russ or Beal I think most people would probably lean Russ or would you rather someone else entirely we'd love to hear from you that will do it for this episode thank you for tuning in every single day I'm Josh Goss I'm your host Nick Goss we'll catch you in the next one