This is WILD... - Shams drops MAJOR Wizards Report

A wild new report just got dropped by Shams Sharania as the Washington Wizards have reportedly had conversations with DeMar DeRozan and while this report is shocking in and of itself, the deeper implications as to what this means for the Wizards going forward, well, it's something that we need to discuss. We're going to dive into all of that, how it could affect the rotation, but we also have some other news coming up about Buck Harrington and also a little tidbit also dropped by Shams on the whole Anthony Davis saga, a whole lot to dive into all coming up on this episode of Wizards Digest. First of all, thank you for tuning in literally every single day here at Wizards Digest. You guys know we don't take breaks, we're every day breaking the latest news and we got so many of you hitting that subscribe button, we're so close to a thousand, we're just about 350 away and still 89% of you, hey that number's going down, are not subscribed and if you want to be tuned in for all the latest news, rumors, reports just like this on DeMar, this is the spot to be, but I want to start with this though. This was a great stat I saw from Stat Defender earlier today, best fourth quarter pull up effective field goal percentage in the 2025-26 NBA regular season, minimum 50 field goal attempts. Look at who's leading the way, I mean, like to be fair, I guess it makes sense now that I'm looking at it, but to be honest, if you were to give me a bunch of guesses as to who would have been number one on this list and you didn't tell me it was a wizard, I don't think I would have thought of Bob Carrington, but you know, it makes some sense, you know, Bob Carrington more efficient than I think a lot of people who don't watch wizards basketball give him credit for. Of course, he's going to be fighting for minutes this year, but 63.6% on pull up effective field goal percentage. Now again, effective field goal percentage is not field goal percentage, but pull ups anyway, anyway, we're getting into some advanced stats here, but let me just bring up his shooting chart for the season and we'll take a look at what made him so good, but yeah, Carrington is one of these guys that, you know, we haven't talked a ton, ton, ton about on the channel, but there is a lot of potential there. Obviously the rim percentage is a, I mean, I'll flat out say it, it's a bit of a concern when you see it that low, I mean, what, sixth percentile, I think is what that says in the NBA, really not very good at 49.1%, but one of the corners, small sample, very small sample, only 16 attempts from that corner, he was 68%, but the above the break three at 41% is really encouraging. And while the mid range was only at 45.7%, again, his overall pull up game was really solid. And if we take a look at his full stat profile last year, yes, despite the finishing at the rim being very, very poor relative to the rest of the NBA, the overall efficiency was not too, too bad, especially that three point percentages came in at 41%, get the fouls down a bit, get the turnovers down a bit. I mean, a two to one assist to turnover ratio is not that bad. And like, honestly, he's going to get some run next year that I just, I, we keep saying it, man. Like there are going to be guys that are going to be after his minutes, right? Will he actually get minutes at the backup one behind Trey young? I mean, the wizard seems to want to go after a backup point guard, although this new report maybe seems to indicate that that's not what's going on. There has been this inclination to give Will Riley some of those duties. So look, it's going to be a battle, but I think Bob is up for the up for the challenge and look that three point percentage. If that can stay. I mean, we know what he can be. So anyway, leave your thoughts on this down below. I thought it was an interesting stat. And before I get into this DeMar stuff, I want to get into something that Shams dropped on Anthony Davis. Now, this is per Evan Sedary, who tweeted this out. But if the Warriors were able to pull off trading for Anthony Davis, LeBron planned to sign there. The Wizards were never willing to seriously entertain moving Davis while Golden State didn't want to surrender plenty of future draft capital. Now, I've seen I didn't hear the exact quote on this. I've seen people say it was like three or four first round picks or something like that that probably would have ended up having to go from Golden State to Washington if this were to have happened. And like, first off, if that's true, fair ask from Will Dawkins, I mean, you know, three or four first round picks and it's not too bad. But I think it would have been a bit of a weird step. Not to say it would have been good asset management, but it would have been a bit of a weird step considering how they've built this team out. But it opens up some cap room. It opens up a lot of stuff, but regardless, it didn't happen because he didn't actually want to trade AD, which I kind of like and I kind of respect. And every day that goes by, we're getting closer and closer to that August 6th magical day where the Wizards will discuss an extension with Anthony Davis. We're just over a week away. It's coming next week. Mark your calendars, August 9th, where Anthony Davis can officially sign his extension. But I kind of like this. The Wizards seem to be completely steadfast in sticking to Anthony Davis. Again, we've kind of talked about this a lot now, but to hear this again today, it's like we did not want to do this. Did not want to do it. Did not want to entertain it. The Warriors, it doesn't matter what they were offering, no, Anthony Davis stays here for now. What's up in the future? Well, we'll have to wait and see. But one thing that we got to talk about for the immediate future is what the Wizards are going to do with this final roster spot. And, uh, um, look, there was also this random, uh, do you guys remember that whole weird thing with, uh, DeMar and the Wizards, like where he was like shoving some of the players and they were like technical fouls after the whistle? That was weird. I don't know. I saw that floating around on X2. Um, one team, one new team over the last several days that has had conversation with DeMar DeRozan, the Washington Wizards. My, to be completely honest with you, my gut reaction to this is, oh, DeMar's probably trying to drive up his value a little bit or something, right? Like, cause like, how does this make sense? You know, and, and Shems does go on to say, look, Hey, you think about a team that's clearly trying to compete around Anthony Davis, Trae Young, and AJ Devonza, we'll see where that goes. Yeah. I mean, that's true, right? And DeMar can play anything from the two to the four, though in more recent years, he's been a three or a four, he's played a bit more power forward, depending on where he's been. Like San Antonio, I think he played more power forward and he's been a lot of places since then. Um, but he can probably play anywhere in there and like, you know, could he be the backup four over Chris Middleton? Yeah, maybe. But should he start? Like, that's a question. It's a weird one, right? Cause like, objectively, would he start, like, would you run like him starting at the, at the two or like AJ at the two or like, I guess it doesn't matter. Positionless basketball is weird, but like, I don't know. I mean, you could like, look, this guy is still a great player. This is the weird thing with DeMar. I feel like people think he's so washed and like, I know there's that stigma that, oh, he's not a winning player because he takes a lot of mid range shots, whatever. This dude still shoots 50% from the field every year. He averages near 20 points a game every year. And I understand he's like 36, 37 years old and he's, he's not a guy that you want as a high volume scorer on a winning team, but like, I, I also say like, you know, he can bring some good elements of scoring some, some, some good things to certain teams. But I really sincerely question whether bringing him into this Wizards lineup actually helps more than it hurts. And all I mean by that is we've talked at length about how the minutes for the young guys to get into develop are already tight. There's a lot of fighting that's going to be happening to figure out who steps in, who doesn't. And then you bring in, yeah, objectively, it probably makes your floor, your team floor higher by having just another scoring option that is reliable, that can go out and get you 15, 20, 25 points on any given night if you need him to, which is very valuable. But it feels like a, maybe a short sighted move if you like, like you're then indirectly or I guess directly taking minutes away from a Keyshawn George, maybe from a Bilal Kulibaly, from maybe a Trey Johnson or a Will Riley. And at this stage, do the Wizards really want to go all in and trying to win, in which case DeRozan will probably improve the regular season win total if you bring him in, I would think. But you're kind of hurting your longer term ceiling with your young guys, at least that's my thought. So I'm a bit surprised by this, if I'm being honest. Um, I think you guys probably are too, like my gut reaction is like, I don't actually think I want this. And like DeRozan has always been efficient, really solid inside the three point line. Again, like his actual corner three point shooting, middle of the pack in the league, above the break three, not so good. But look at that mid range, 47.6 percent. And you look at his post up touches. I think over the last number of years, he's actually been really good. Fifty two percent of the painted area, 73 percent at the rim, which is really good for the position he plays. It's just look at the attempts. Five hundred and sixteen attempts, number one in the NBA in mid range shot attempts, by the way, DeMar DeRozan. Um, it's fun to think about, but I'm just not sold. I'm surprised. I do you guys want this because I don't think I do. I like DeMar DeRozan. I mean, I just I don't think it actually works for what the Wizards are going for. Maybe Will Dawkins will have different thoughts and management will have different thoughts. But I'd love to hear your guys thoughts. Let me know. Sound off down below, because that will do it for this episode. Thank you, though, for tuning in literally every single day here to Wizards Digest. I've been your host, Josh Goss, and I will get you all in the next one.