The Wizards have a big decision looming...

The Wizards have a big decision to make. The regular season is inching closer day by day, yet the Wizards still have an open contract spot, which has led to rampant speculation of where they're going to go with this, what type of player. And in a recent article, a lot of names were highlighted, and one unexpected name has risen to the surface, especially considering how Washington has been in the market for a backup point guard. We're going to get all into that, but also on another familiar face that we've talked about before that very well could be a fantastic fit, a whole bunch of great stuff all coming up on this episode of Wizards Digest. And, you know, I want this signing to happen. I know you can just kind of go into the regular season without having this final spot taken up. That's fine. A lot of teams do do that, but the fact of the matter is we've heard a lot about the Wizards wanting to fill in that final spot. We'll get into that in just a bit, but a reminder that we are so close to 700 subscribers. We're less than 50 subs away. So if you're enjoying the daily Wizards content and you're part of the 90% that are not subscribed, we hope we're going to make it worth your while. If you're enjoying all these videos, Nick, first guy I want to talk about, though, is Anthony Gill. He's a name that I keep seeing out there because he's the name that pops up in the comments section. Now, there's a few other names out there, too, but this guy here, we'll dive into him in just a moment. But the reason we're talking about this is simply that we have one spot. Here are some names that the Wizards have rumored to be interested in. We'll dive into some of them, but I want the fans right now to leave your thoughts down below. Which one of these names, or maybe you have your own name, do you want on the Wizards roster to start the season? I mean, Nick, I know maybe if you had a choice, it'd be someone maybe not on this list. We'll be getting into a whole lot of it. I accidentally just flashed one up there, but what do you think about a guy like Anthony Gill, a guy that's sort of a veteran leader for this team in the past? Yeah, you look at his stats last year, he is a vibes guy if you were to bring him in. Obviously, six points, decent rebounder, but again, you flashed some names that are a lot more, I guess, household names than Anthony Gill would be. That doesn't necessarily mean that Anthony Gill would be the worst option out of this bunch. I prefer Anthony Gill over guys like Gabe Vincent. I prefer Anthony Gill over some of the other players. But at the same time, I do think when you look at this team, I mean, I mention it in every video, there's only one ball to go around. The bench is super deep. You have a ton of young guys trying to play well. So I think Anthony Gill is someone who doesn't demand the ball. It's not like he's going to be upset if he doesn't get it a ton. And that's where I think the benefit, they seem to love him over in Washington and the players and the coaching staff. So that's interesting. However, if you're talking about upside to actually help them consistently win games, I think Gill is a good option, but I do think there is better. Yeah, I think there's better. And we'll probably have a few more videos coming out this week, but there was an article linked down below that dove into some other interesting names that could be good fits for the Wizards. And there's one in particular I wanted to get into because as we've heard, first off, the Wizards have been looking into getting a backup point guard. Now, I know there's been talk, I feel like I've said it a million times, but how much ball carrying will Carrington get versus will Riley versus whoever, right? Like, you're probably going to have the ball and guys like maybe George's hands a little more, probably not. Like not as a one, but you know what I mean? Like a lot of these guys are going to take the ball in their hands a lot. Still, the Wizards want maybe a veteran type of guard. And there's been, you know, one face we've talked about a few times and might talk about in the future. And a lot of you have probably already commented his name. But I want to dive into this option here. It is in the article linked down below, Killian Pays. And some of the reasoning that Bryson gives in this article is Pays has some awful perceptions. I agree. And we'll show the numbers in a bit. He is one of the better remaining free agent guards out there. And there is an upside. He is only 25. The thing is, I feel like we've been saying that for so, so long. In the grand scheme of things, I know what we're talking about, you know, a point guard to bring into this team to make the team better. I'm not so sure that a guy who is in the bottom 10% in the entire league and true shooting and field goal percentage actually helps. But as we also know, we've talked about this before, right? There are not a ton of minutes to go around. There's not a lot of basketball to be shared. So a guy like this who will demand lower minutes with maybe some upside could be a decent option, especially to, you know, the one thing he's good at is playmaking. So maybe to ease some of the pressure when Trae Young is off the floor. Yeah. He'd be a reclamation project to a degree. Obviously he was a former lottery pick. I think number seven back in 2020. So it was a part of the, I think the COVID draft. Regardless of that, he had some really, really good years. You think back to 2021 and I believe he had a really, really good season early on in his career. 2022 he averaged 10 points a game facilitated really, really well. And you look at it from the perspective of what you just said. I mean, he hasn't earned any minutes. It's not somebody who's going to come in demanding a ton of minutes. The past season with Sacramento, five points a game wasn't great. Obviously a couple of years ago at his age, 21 season showed upside, 10 points a game, six assists. Still, though, inefficiency has plagued his entire career. But if you somehow strike lightning in a bottle with Killian Hayes, it's notable, though. I'm not entirely sure this is the guy that like, who would you rather him or Anthony Gill? Hayes has way more upside, but it's not like this. He's had five, six years now to actually figure it out. And his career three by percentage is 28. His career field goal percentage is, you know, 37.7. That's the question. But if they see something in him that they think they can unlock the pair with agent of bonds and all the encore there, I wouldn't be necessarily upset about it. But there is a world where they get him. He plays minutes and is taking away even just minutes from third or fourth ring guys who have higher upside. Right. But that's that's the question we ultimately keep getting ourselves into. Right. Like the Wizards want to back a point that the Wizards have talked to DeMar DeRozan. But at what point is it going to be, you know what? We just want someone who's not actually going to play. We just want to find Scott. Right. Because in that sense, it would just be smart to go after Anthony killer or another vet. But you already have kind of Chris Middleton who will probably get some minutes. Of course, he's still a solid player, but like, you know, like you just want to vibe guy at that point. That's about to not actually play. Or do you want someone who's going to play a lot and maybe make an impact on this team to win? I mean, ultimately, like what do you think the Wizards are actually going for? Because in my opinion, I think I'm torn. I find it hard to tell whether the front office is like, yes, we have to kind of try and win now while we still have Anthony Davis, still have Trey on, or are they like, listen, we just want to get the young guys to minutes. Obviously the ideal utopia is where you get the best of both worlds, right? Maybe your young guys step up enough to just force themselves into the rotation. But like there is a lot of risk inherently with even this, this little subtle thing that we're talking about a final roster spot. There is a bit of risk in that one way or the other, either you try too hard to win and you're sacrificing a bit of development or the other way around, you don't get a player that's like really that good. And then your young guys kind of struggle, can't fill that role. So I feel like to me that I would say based on no real, you know, actual report or anything, I think the Wizards might actually be leaning towards someone who can really contribute on the floor. Yeah. And they're taking their time and we're almost in, it'll be August in two days on Saturday. So if they were going to go with someone in my eyes, like Anthony Gill or someone a bit lower upside and an easier, it probably would have already been done by now. And that's not always how front offices work. I think they're probably looking at, I mean, you look here, DeMar DeRozan, Russell Westbrook. I think Aaron Holliday still makes by far the most sense. He is someone who doesn't need to play a ton of minutes can shoot the ball really well and can contribute to winning all at the same time. So I think he's the guy in my eyes that makes by far the most sense, but yeah, I'd say they're going to go after. I know a lot of people are curious about Russell Westbrook. He would be someone who plays backup point guard minutes. It can probably still contribute fairly well. I mean, I have no doubts that he's going to be fun to watch. It's just how much frustration is going to come with that phone and do the question. But yeah, I, uh, I think if they were going to go with Anthony Gill, they may have already done it, but who knows? It's a, it is at this front office that they can make it interesting, moving anytime. And again, Russ is still a service will by far the most talented player remaining. Yeah, I think so. I mean, like I know, yeah, he's gotten offers like all over Europe and like apparently no NBA team wants it. Like it's such a weird situation with so many of these guys. And like we said, we might dive into that option a little bit deeper in another video coming up. So keep an eye out, but for now that'll do it again. Let us know who is your number one target for the wizards to fill this final roster spot. We might be using some of your comments in the future videos and make sure you get them in now. And thank you. If you're watching all the way to the end, we appreciate you for being here every single day. I'm Josh.