Austin Reaves’ Rise, Wemby’s MVP Push, Pelicans’ Spiral + 2026 Draft Radar

What's good everybody? Welcome to Front Runner Podcast Collective where we talk like friends, argue like cousins, and somehow leave smarter. I am your humble host Vince and part-time therapist, your favorite bad influence. And here at FRPC, we unpack the wins, the mess in the middle, uh, with jokes, receipts, and maybe a hot take that ages badly every once in a while. We also are here with Saraya, our producer, who will be monitoring the chat, and she will also be handing or putting inputting information in to the notes, so then I look smarter, we have more knowledge, and it gives us reminders and an occasional gym to keep everybody honest. So, what is on the docket for today? Well, it is a Saturday, so college football is probably on your docket, but we got a lot to get to in the basketball world, especially in the NBA. So, we will be talking about Austin Reeves today, we will also be talking about Wimby and their ascension to greatness. We will discuss the alarming situation that is happening in New Orleans and what it all means and the implications that go along with that. And also, I told you that we will do this for you. We got our first taste of the 2026 prospects that are going to be dominating your television screens or your YouTube or whatever little snippet that you get off Instagram or whatever the case may be. So we'll be talking about some of those players that should be impacting the college game and the international game, and we will go from there. But we must start in well, it was it was Memphis last night, but Austin Reeves is taking over the world everywhere he goes, so I'm excited about this. Austin Reeves, obviously, you know, you've heard his story, he was an undrafted uh kid coming out of Oklahoma. He started at Wichita State. Now he's not just a feel-good undrafted story anymore. He's the hinge between the Lakers and now and what's next. He went from overlooked to unavoidable, and the money didn't break the spell. It clarified his role. When guards leap from 1.5 million to 15 million and keep producing, you don't say cute story, you say organisational philosophy, you talk about their developmental program, and that's one thing that we don't talk about as much when we talk about the Lakers. We talk about big stars, we talk about major trades that happen, i.e. Luca, but we don't talk about the developmental arm of the Lakers who have been quite clutch for the longest period of time. Reeves is tilting LA's identity, less LeBron dependency, more developmental return on investment. It comes from our girl Saraya, so let's give her props on that. The thing that also is if you want to look at it as trouble on the horizon, you want to look at it as uh a great quandary to have to deal with later on, is this this is the test that can a processing first guard carry usage without bleeding efficiency. He's done it for a couple games and he didn't have to do it last night, and we'll get to the whole Luka of it all last night in one second, but I want to stick with Austin at this point because we can need to get into his contract and whatever the case may be. He first goes from 1.56 million to over 12.02 million with his first contract, which in a sense was still absolute steal. Because remember at the time of free agency, everybody was talking about well, maybe San Antonio, maybe another team will go out and put an offer sheet out and put some pressure on the Lakers. Mind you, San Antonio could have signed this guy for like 20 million dollars at that point in time and really put the clamps on the Lakers and say, Hey, do you want to match this or not? And then the Lakers would have had a really sobering reality when they dealt with the Austin Reeves first initial big contract. Now, this looks like the most valued contract in the league. This dude put up in a week span, he put up 51 points, also had grabbed basically a triple double, and think he had 11 rebounds, nine assists in that game, and comes back with a 41 point game, also fills up the box score with assists and rebounds in that game, and then Minnesota tried to put the clamps on this kid, and what did he do? 28 and 16, 16 assists, which is his career high and assists, so he tied it that night. Right now, his cap hit is 10.8 percentage-wise, so that's pretty good. So, I mean, you're looking at really value for what he is giving you. What that actually means is when we get to the point of at the end of this year, and we start looking at Austin Reeves' contract, we're gonna be looking like where are we paying him and what are we paying him to be? And this is where the narratives and and all the smoke screens come into play. I've told you on this podcast that I believe that Austin Reeves will garner a salary in upwards of 33 plus million dollars. I've heard over the last week that that number can go as high as 35 to even possibly 40 million dollars. Now, the question is the words that we've heard from Austin Reeves throughout his tenure with the Lakers is this I'm very comfortable here with the Lakers, I'm very comfortable with my position within the team, within the organization, and I love the lifestyle that I live here in Los Angeles. We might have to put that to the test. Now, obviously, with the salary cap going up within the next couple years, might not be as bad, but we should not look at the number, we shouldn't look at the actual dollar amount annually. What we should be looking at is the percentage of the cap, and how does that reconcile with grabbing another guy when we are starting to move on from LeBron James or and or he retires or and or he leaves in the offseason? All those things are on the table. Now I know you hear from other Lakers pundits podcasters that you know we want to keep LeBron as long as we possibly can. We want him to retire as a Lakers. That's the rhetoric. Y'all saw the game last night, right? You saw it? Okay, good. Glad this is very important because what you saw last night was the return and the re-emergence of Luka Doncic. With that being said, he scored 44 points, he grabbed 12 rebounds and had six assists, and he pretty much dominated and controlled that game. Now, Austin Reeves came in, gave 21 points, uh, also offered a bunch of assists and some gritty defense that he is not known for. What does this all mean? It means is that if you're trying to build a team around Luka Notchic and Austin Reeves, you need some very good wing defenders. You're gonna need some guys who are active on the perimeter, some guys who can switch on to smaller guys and also control some of the guys that are uh large, as far as that's concerned. You need very flexible defenders when it comes to the Austin Reeves Luka Doncic situation. Now, I've heard things and theories that maybe once LeBron is gone, you move Luca to the front court, he's still handling the ball, he's still the primary initiator, but what you do is then you go out and get a point of attack guard. Okay, I can see that, and then that means that you will get a wing, you know, you will get somebody who is uh weak side rim protector, things of that nature. Okay, so those things make a lot of sense, those things are the type of things that well, if you're building a championship team, these are exactly what you want, these are the pieces that you want around Luka Doncic and also Austin Reeves. Those things are super hard to get, especially if you're talking about hey, I'm not willing to pay 35 million dollars for it. That's just the reality of this game. Okay, you got New York out here, they got OG and Anobi, they got Mikel Bridges, they also got discount with Josh Hart. They're set, they got wings, but what they paid for those wings is the going rate. If you want a good wing, unless you draft them, this is what you're paying them. Put it this way the guy that everybody is kind of like, oh, I don't know if we want in Los Angeles, the guy that everybody's kind of like, well, he's not worth a first-round draft pick and what have you. And the name that you hear is speculation, is that he could be coming to Los Angeles sometime after December 15th is Andrew Wiggins. Well, Andrew Wiggins makes$31 million, and we don't even like him, we don't even want him. We turned our nose up to him. So if that's the case, and you're looking for this guy or these this perfect scenario around your beloved Lakers, you gotta do the you gotta do the cap math, or you gotta get lucky with your draft pick. Now, this draft that is coming up has a bunch of guards and also wings that maybe you could develop into that type of situation. The Lakers will have to be very good about their development of wings as we go along. Ado Thiero is coming. Now we don't know if he can shoot, but we definitely know he can defend. I am looking very much forward to Adu Thiero, the rookie out of Arkansas. But those are the type of guys that you're gonna need, those are the blueprint of people that the Lakers are going to need to build this team that is going to support Luca and Austin Reeves if this is what you decide to go with. Now, here's the other question that we all have to talk about. Is Austin Reeves the number two? Now, there are questions about that. I don't know where everybody lies in that situation. I will tell you that when you see things like where he scores 51, he scores 41, and then he has the game where he comes out and scores 28 and has 16 assists. You always want your third guy, the way it's been put to me by people in the league or who have just left the league, is that you always want your second guy to be able to take the role of the first guy if something goes awry, right? And then you want your third guy to be able to fill the role of the second guy, meaning as far as productivity, offensive productivity. Can you get these shots up? Are you capable of getting good shots at a higher volume and be able to knock some of these down at the rate that you are currently doing at? Now, Austin Reeves has shown that he is ready for the number two roll, that he could fill in the number two role just fine. That number one role is a different story, and that's where people will sit here and go, Well, Vince, you just saw him put up 51, you just saw him put up 41. Yeah, but did you see the game against Minnesota? And this is no knock on Austin Reeves. When you become the first name on the whiteboard, okay, it's not how we're going to stop you. It is this is what it's gonna take to stop him. We're gonna need to show him length, we're gonna need to show him pressure, he's gonna feel our physicality, and these are the principles we're gonna use in this game tonight against the number one guy on the team. Now, Luca, different story, he's built for it, he's bigger, he's stronger. No shade to Austin, but he's just made for this moment. Austin Reeves is a little more slight. He's not gonna be, he doesn't, he's not super athletically inclined, so he's not going to be able to just take the grunt of physicality, link, and what have you. Now, will he be heady? Will he be offensively savvy? Will he get off the ball, relocate, and then find his shot? We saw that in Minnesota. We also saw him shoot a very low percentage in that game. So, I understand that people have their purple and gold glasses on, they want to see everything in the purple and gold lenses, and that's cool. But if we're really talking about we're about championships, right? We're about winning rings. We got 17, we're chasing Boston down for 18. We gotta have a guy who can really, if for some reason our number one dude goes down, can he fill that number one role and can he fill it over a period of time? That's the question, and that's the question that can Austin Reeves answer. Has he already answered it? If so, what's your thoughts on it? If not, what are we gonna need to see from him come playoff time in the upcoming seasons? In his first five games, he was 34 points, 10 assists, and he had a true shooting percentage of 0.687. Okay, that's damn near 70%. He had two game winners, one against Sack and one against Minnesota. All great. He leaves the NBA in clutch points per 36. He also it's him and Shea Gilgis Alexander for the high total in threes. Encore offensive rating is a plus 12.4. The offense stabilizes around his tempo changes. He does a great job of being able to get into his pick and roll that he likes to get into. Um, there's variation on it, his stop and his stop and start um, or his acceleration and de-acceleration are elite, but it works better off a superstar. The proof of scalability as a league guard, not spacer accessory, that's the thing that we have found out. The dude can be a league guard if he needs to be. If for some reason Luca went down, and let's say your number two or number three, depending on how you look at Austin Reeves, is more of a wing guy or big or whatever the case may be. Austin can run the point. He does need help in the sense of hey, let's get a screen, let's get a you know, let's get a pick so he can go ahead and get up to court. There were times in the Minnesota game they put Jaden McDaniels on him. McJaden McDaniels is 6'10, and he harassed him up and down the court. He felt McDaniels' physicality, and you saw there were moments in that game where he asked Marcus Smart to bring up the ball, he asked Jake LaRavio to bring up the ball when he needed a blow. They brought in Nick Smith, who's on a two-way contract, and yeah, it's one of those things that he, Austin, has not had to deal with because when you got Luca and you got LeBron most of the time, yeah, you're gonna bring up the ball every once in a while. You're definitely not gonna bring it up to the scrutiny that you would have if you're all alone, that's for damn sure. Found extreme enjoyment over Austin Reeves week, yes, but what we did see in Memphis last night is Luca Doncic taking over his natural role of the number one option, the number one player, the guy who is going to get the most opportunities, and Austin fell back into that two role. He didn't shoot it well last night either. Because if you notice, Memphis used some of the same strategies on Austin Reeves that Minnesota did, and I'm not saying that and he you can say, well, he was tired and he was this, and you know he didn't have his legs underneath him, those are all valid points because he's been carrying that team, but that's the question. Your number two needs to be able, if for some reason you have uh a strain calf of from from your number one, you get a back back or or badly sprained ankle, high ankle sprain, or whatever the case may be. Your number two needs to be a number one, and can you honestly, as a Lakers fan or as a basketball fan, and you like Austin Reeves, can you honestly tell yourself that Austin Reeves will absolutely be a number one? This is my question. Love the kid, love the Moxie, love what he brings to the to the team. I think he's a winning player. I think he will find his his way through this league, but I think ultimately what he is is a number three that can scale up to a number two. Now, people will sit there and be like, oh, you're blasting Austin Reeves, you're talking bad about Austin Reeves. No, what I'm telling you is that his optimal role in the NBA is a definitely overqualified three. He's definitely an overqualified three. He would you if the Lakers are talking about throw whatever superstar you want in there. I'm not gonna start naming names, but let's say you have Luca, he's your number one, you got star A as your number two, and you have Austin Reeves as your number three, well, you're set up, you're really set up very well for what you're looking to do because if you have a legitimate number two that has shown the ability to carry a team for 15 to 20 games or whatever the case may be, and then Austin can scale up to the number two and find his production to you know kind of jump up there. Because remember, the difference between a number one and a number two is that a number one is gonna get 25 shots a game. That's on average. Some of your number ones are gonna get more, but they can handle that raw. What you're hoping for is your number two. Oh, okay, I'm gonna get 18 shots again, but man, I can't wait for the opportunity to get 25. Your number three guy is in that 13 to 15 range, and he can scale up to 18 to 22, and I think if we're being honest with ourselves, that's kind of where we want Austin Reeves at his assist to turnover ratio right now is positive 2.4, which is great. That means that he can handle the rock. Um, I love that he's dictating speed limits and basically writing tickets because as soon as you brush up against him on his back, he decelerates, allows you to kind of go through him, he'll throw up the shot and get fouled. Because in some of these games, he had like 22 free throw attempts, which is excellent. JJ Reddick said this, he's established, he's he's established himself as a bad dude. Reeves also showed leadership. He said, Keep your head up, big dog. Um, you know, when you need that type of guy, you need a glue guy who can lift up the other ships, you know what I'm saying? Like he needs to lift up some of these other players if they're having a bad night, or if they're having a night that they're struggling, or they're not their shot is not falling. It's good to have like a guy like Austin Reeves who has that humility but also that fire in their belly saying, Hey, I'm gonna need you tonight. I'm gonna need you to show up and show out. So he lifts up his peers, it's not podium talk, teammates mobbed him post-game. We seen Palinka put his arm around Austin Reeves as they were leaving the arena going, Thank God, thank God for you. And even JJ Reddick has asked Austin this year to take on a more of a leadership role and told him, Hey, you're a part of this triumvirant, you're part of this leadership core that we have with Luca, LeBron, and yourself. And he said, I want you to act accordingly. So, what did that mean to Austin Reeves? It meant, hey, I gotta get in really good shape, I gotta be out here where I can take a little more physicality. Um, I gotta be out here where I can make uh somewhat of a difference on the defensive end, I got to be better, but also what I have to do is that I can't be a wallflower anymore. The days of LeBron barking at Austin Reeves and Austin Reeves looking bewildered by what's going on, those days are over. What you're seeing is Austin Reeves talking to other teammates talking about hey, we need your energy, hey, we need you to get up on those boards. Hey, this guy's going off. I need you to clamp him down. That's what we're seeing out of Austin Reeves now. Now, does it change when Luca gets back and LeBron gets back? Maybe, maybe falls into more of a tertiary role when it comes to leadership, but I've been around a long time, I've been around this Lakers team a long, long, long time. You know, there were times where we had Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, and the glue guy on that team was either Lamar Odom or Derek Fisher. Not a guy who necessarily scored a bunch of points or whatever the case may be, but when you had two dominant dudes like Shaq and Kobe, it can be demoralizing as a teammate if you make like the wrong read, the wrong adjustment, and there's a blow by, and then you got Kobe just staring daggers into you, and you got Shaq looking at you like what the hell's going on? It's probably a deeper voice, like, what the hell is going on? When you have a glue guy like Derek Fisher or Lamar Odom who can put their arm around you and say, Hey man, shake that off. We gonna need you, we're gonna need you to you know be in these games, get your head right, what have you. Austin Reeves can play that role. Austin Reeves has come up again. He was undrafted, he was on a two-way, he played himself into a rotation role. He played himself into a vital rotation role player, he played himself into a starter, he got demoted, D'Angelo Russell, oh the D'Angelo Russell era. How I love that era, but then through hard work and just keeping his mouth shut, never going to the media talking about I don't understand my role or whatever the case may be, he has now become a starter. We've questioned the whole time. Can he be a starter? Can he handle playoff pressure? Can he do all these things? And I think this is the year where we find out, and I think we're gonna be able to find out that's gonna be a very positive yes, he can. Analytics. I hate this, I hate this uh this this metric, but it's one metric that I definitely want to bring up. His PER right now is 30.3. That puts you in lofty, lofty air of people. Like Jordan did, his PR PER was 30. Shea Gilges Alexander's PER has been 30 last couple years, 30 year above. His usage rate over that period of time was 32%. We always we already talked about his true shooting percentage, so we don't need to worry about that. This is elite guard efficiency. Oh, by the way, he had a he has he has had a assist percentage of 43.1 through this tumultuous five games, and we'll talk about the six in a second. His percentage is 43.1, it mirrors Harden's 2017 facilitation tier. Think about that, think about what we're talking about right now, James Harden 2017. People talked about that as one of the great guard seasons of all time. This is when Daryl Mori looked like an absolute genius, and he thought that Houston could actually challenge the Golden State Warriors for an NBA title. Chris Paul gets hurt, we have no idea, albeit it's a small sample size. Austin Reeves box plus minus right now is 8.5 8.6 That's superstar level. His shot diet. This is what I love. 39% threes, 47% mid-range, 14% rim. You say, Well, Vince, you need to take some of that mid that that mid-range and turn it into rim pressure. Uh no, no, you don't. Because he's nasty in the mid-range. That's how he gets all the his free throws. Okay, that's exactly where he needs to be. He understands his limitations. He knows when he goes to the rim, he's not athletic enough to sit there and dunk over some of the better shot blockers in the league. But if I can get you on mock back, and then I can speed up, I can accelerate, and then de-accelerate, and then have you kind of push me in the back. I'm putting the ball up. I'm gonna get either an and one or I'm getting two free throws. No difference to me. I'm gonna be at the line. That's all I care about. That's all I care about. And we saw it time and time again against the Sacramento Kings, albeit not the greatest defense in a dysfunctional franchise right now. But that Portland team put 94 feet of pressure on Austin Reeves. Okay, that was not your typical type of defense, but Portland has been running that all year. They've given teams fit. They did it against uh Denver last night, and they had an incredible win 109 to 107. They probably probably stole that win, but I'm not I'm gonna get into that a little bit later. But Austin Reeves is doing an incredible job, and I just wanted to go ahead and point that out. Now let's get into the front office of it all. We just talked about Luca Dontich coming back. Check this out. Luca is the truth, man. I don't know if anybody knows this or because of the fact that we we need to get to win by Yama a little bit later. But my guy Luca has put up 40 points in the three games that he played in. You say, well, that's a small sample size. He also took off a week because of calf strain and a finger contusion. 100%, you are absolutely correct with that. But usually when you come back off a week, you're rusty, takes you a second to get into the flow, find your offense. Luca was 14 to 27 from the field. He also shot 40% from three, he was six to fifteen. He got to everywhere he wanted to go on the floor and score 44 points in his comeback game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Not bad, not bad at all. And then what Austin did in the fourth quarter with about four minutes to go was the most important thing that I saw. And this is where you want to talk about leadership, you want to talk about understanding the moment, whatever it is that you want to call this. Austin Reeves became the primary initiator for pretty much all the offensive action for three minutes of that game. And you say, Well, three minutes, not a big deal. It was a it was the most critical three minutes of the game because the the game still was in the balance. Memphis could have still won this game, even though Ja, and we'll get to his post-game comments in a second. Even though Ja was struggling, you had enough offense out there where Jaron Jackson Jr., the rookie who was off who's been playing his lights out, uh Cedric Howard. Also, Jalen Wells was putting in buckets. Jalen Wells sing almost single-handedly brought them back. He had a couple threes, clutch threes down the line of that game that really kept this game in doubt. Good for him. But Austin Reeves and his his ability to slow down the offense, his ability to get into good looks, his ability to put pressure on the paint, and then kick it to Luca or kick it to a shooter, swing it to Luca, and then allow Luca to hit a three. Brilliant. From Austin Reeves, as LeBron still recovers from the sciatica, and then also when LeBron gets back. LeBron is, you know, we say it all the time, he's going to be 41 years of age. It's gonna be helpful to have Luca be able to get him some shots. It's gonna be helpful for Austin to be able to get him some shots, so he's not doing all the work himself. Here's what critics would say they say, Oh, he was on a five-game heater. I heard some Linsanity comments. I heard he's not an all-star. I understand where that comes from. You know, you can call that Laker Hate, you can call that whatever you want. I know one thing, LeBron and Luca seem to not agree with you, and if they don't agree with you, and then JJ Reddick doesn't agree with you, and you'll say, Well, of course they don't, they play on the same team. LeBron is a real hard guy to get you get trust with him, and what you've seen over the years is that Austin has been able to gain that trust and then increase that trust throughout the seasons, to the point where, like, okay, I'm gonna take off this game, it's gonna be you and AD. Go ahead, young fella, get your get your shots up, do your thing. Remember, we just got Luca in February of last year, or this year, but last season, you know I'm talking about. So, with all that being said, how's it all work out? Reeves keeps ending up next to legends because he's doing legendary work quietly, in the most mango way possible. The leap isn't a salary bump, it's a worldview. The process is is the process in the of this situation is that he's put in a bunch of hard work, he has bided his time, he has continued to add things to his game, and it's being processed over panic. He reads his reads, his offensive reads have just become more intentional over the years, and if the if he holds this usage through 20, like if he stays in the mid-20s, the all-star case stops being a fan fantasy and becomes a mark a market in math. You know, we got a lot of great guards out here, got a lot of people who deserve all-star eligibility, but if this guy continues to do this, and he does this alongside two stars like LeBron James and Luka Doncic, and he's still able to average like 22 a game, everybody talks about having a big three, or actually, we've kind of gotten away from that. Can you get a big two and then a bunch of role players? The Lakers might legitimately have a big three. If you got three guys that can initiate offensive offense efficiently and are very intelligent and know where the defense is trying to put them in, and how they're gonna counteract that, that's gonna be hard to stop in the playoffs. Hard to stop now. Before we leave the Lakers and Austin Reeves and the incredible downing by Luka Doncic, I do want to make mention that after the game, John Morant went full John Morant, and people will say, Well, Vince, what are you talking about? Did he dunk on somebody? No, no, no, no. What have I been preaching about with John Morant over like the last couple years? We needed to see an influx of maturity, we needed to see somebody be more mature, also more aware of his surroundings, more like more self-aware, and where he was in his station in life. A recorder asked John Morant last night, what was it about you getting into your offense that was difficult? I don't know. You're gonna have to ask the coaches. Then they asked him, Well, the offense seemed to be you know stagnant, whatever the case may be. What's your assessment of your play or whatever? Well, if you ask the coaches, I shouldn't have even been on the floor. I'm gonna say this, and I I really hope I don't have to say this anymore. John Morant is one of the most extremely talented players in this league, and it's been a shame that over like the last couple years we have been robbed of watching this man's brilliance on the basketball court due to injury the last couple years. I'm not gonna bring out the other situation, I'm just gonna bring up the injuries. We've been literally robbed of this young man's talent on the basketball court. They have built this thing around you in Memphis, Ja. The fans are extremely loyal to you. Now you need to return that love back to them. We need more of a leader in Memphis because you're the guy, dude. You're the guy. I understand Jaron Jackson Jr. is awesome. I understand that we love Cedric Coward coming out of Washington State. Hell, I love Jalen Wells, I love what he's turned himself into, and here's the best part, man. If you do your job, those wings are going to save your ass. And what I mean by that is that you don't have to be the point of attack defender. They have built this team where you can go ahead and kind of play the center field role and you can anticipate passing lanes and get deflections and get steals, and then you can do what you do best. Get in the open court, raise up, and dunk all seven footers. But you standing around for four minutes in the last four minutes of the game in the fourth quarter last night was absolutely abysmal to watch. You need to be better, you need to show the leadership that the money that they paid you was for. So I don't know if it's the offense, I don't know if it's something that you don't like within the rotations. I have no idea what it is, but you need to keep that junk in-house. I'm not the only one saying it. There are former players that are saying it, and I'm not talking about former players that's been out of the league for like 15-20 years. I'm talking about legitimate players who've been in the NBA over the last five years is saying the same exact thing. You need to keep all of that frustration in-house, you need to go to your coach, communicate with him what you want, or what, or can we come to some sort of compromise of this situation about the offense? There has to be some give and take. Hey, if you need eight to ten pick and rolls a game to make you feel comfortable, because he's running a different style offense that you're not well adjusted in yet, because it does take time. I know these are incredible athletes, but sometimes it does take time, especially, especially if it's a read and react offense. You're a downhill absolute killer, you're the closest thing to Allen Iverson that we have in this league, but you know what you aren't? You aren't as tough as you think you are. One, and that was real soft what you did in locker room last night. Just saying. Now we can get on to something that is warm in my heart, and that is Victor Wingbayama. His dominance is uh apparent, and his pursuit for perfection is ahead of schedule. I just saw this movie on Netflix, it's called A House Full of Dynamite, and if you haven't seen it, I would suggest that you go see it. Is it's thought provoking, but it made me think of Victor Wingbayama, an event that drops before anyone is ready for it. Victor Wingbayama's ascension was supposed to take time, another off-season of strength, a season of refinement, and then domination. But what if it's already here? What if the learning curve just cracked in half? We've been told to wait for more for more muscle, for more post-college, for the comfort zones on the floor, for them to become realized for him, for Victor, but maybe just his overall raw physical gifts and processing speed have already short-circuited the timeline. The league's evolutionary food chain has just skipped the stage, and it's happening in San Antonio right now. This dude is seven foot six. He is at least eight feet plus in wingspan. He can guard three players on the on the floor at the same damn time. He figured out being closer to the basket will make me more dangerous and make our offense more effective. I don't know if that's the Shaolin Monks that he hung out with that opened his mind, and he's his third eye is open now. I don't know, I have no idea. I don't know if his chakras are aligned, I have no clue, but I do know this. I do know that Victor Wangbayama, in a really uncomfortable conversation that like we probably didn't want to have for another year, he's becoming the best player in the league right before our eyes. He's literally grabbing that title from Yelkic and Shea Gilgis Alexander, who's trying to lay claim to it. He's literally got his hands on that title, and he's wrenching it away from them with every game that passes, with every ridiculous play that is made on offense and or on defense, Victor Wimbayama is telling the league, hey, it was cool for two years, but guess what? I think I want the league. I think the league is now mine, and I'm coming for it all. I'm not just coming for defensive player of the year, I'm coming for all NBA first team, I'm coming for the MVP of the league, and I'm coming for a playoff position, not a play-in position, a playoff position, and guess what? If we get home court advantage, if we are a top four seed, y'all in trouble. Victor might be here, and we all must reconcile ourselves to this fact. Like I said, we thought we had two more years. We thought that was a nice thought. Like Saraya said, we planned for a slow burn, but he blocked he brought a blowtorch to this season. Victor believes otherwise. He's sending shockwaves throughout the league. They're 5-0. They're five and oh. He's still on his rookie scale contract. Now you know he's gonna get the the fun max. You know he's gonna get that. But my question is, is that is he gonna get the fun max or is he gonna get the real max? Cuz keep in mind, he wins MVP. I think he's eligible for the real max. That's gonna be scary. He's gonna be worth every dime though, so it doesn't matter. The surplus of value spice with early wins, you gotta give credit to executive Brian Wright, and also now full-time head coach Mitch Johnson. The 5-0 table setting that we're seeing is not just oh, this is a cute little story. Let me give you some numbers to back this up. Do you know they have a four they have a positive 14.5 net rating? That's second in the league. They also have a defensive rating of zero, I'm sorry, 104.4. That is number one. Number one, their offensive rating is 118.9, that's six in the league. They have one of the worst cases in the league, which is 97.4, but you know what? You don't care because you got a six seven foot six monster in the middle of the damn half court, and he can do whatever he wants to do. Oh, by the way, they they do they're doing this without De'Aaron Fox, who they traded for to pair with Wimby, because they were like, he needs an upgrade in talent around him. Nah, what he needed to do was say, Hey, I'm gonna go chill with some Shaolin Monks, I'm gonna get my head right. This deep vein thrombosis threw me through a loop. I'm gonna start appreciating the world around me, and I'm gonna start appreciating my skills on the basketball court, and guess what? This is what has come back. This dude, this iteration has come back when you're putting up stat lines of 27 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks. I'm gonna repeat that stat line for you again. 27 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks. This is takeover without polish. This is real rugged and raw. By the way, that stat line was against the Miami Heat, so bam out of bio, Kale wear. This is like some physicality, it wasn't like he was just going up against some dudes, just chilling. Bam out of bio is like a center block with the offense, is still clunky around post-ups, spacing zips are not consistent, but he makes up for all of that, he makes up for all of that because of the fact that nobody wants to go to the paint. Teams are averaging like less than 32 points a game in paint points, because people are are just then they're just so weary, so leery of going into the paint with Victor there. Why all this matters is winning while flawed accelerates the ceiling and stresses opponents prep, yeah. Cuz you weren't expecting this version of Victor win by Yama this fast. He said, I'm proud of being a spur, the joy that fuels that locker room, the collective learning, not chest bumping. He is what I call a son, and what I mean by that is that we got a few of them in the league. A lot of people won't want to say, Hey, we got like 12 of these. I've had people debate me on this. We have 12 or 13 of these people in the league. No, we don't. No, we don't. We legitimately have about five to seven, and I'm really being generous when I say seven, but a sun is something that controls the solar system, right? Like we're Earth, got Mars, Jupiter, you know what I'm talking about. The sun is what controls the solar system, and Victor Wenbayama is one of these dudes. Oh, Steph Cast Steph Castle is gonna be the point guard right now, and he's 20 years of age. No problem whatsoever. Oh, Dylan Harper, who is 19 years of age, is gonna play a significant role off the bench. No problem whatsoever. We're gonna give him shots, he's gonna average 14 a game for us coming off the bench, one year removed from Rutgers University. Cool, no worries whatsoever. Where's the other points coming from people? Harrison Barnes. We thought Harrison Barnes was washed two years ago. Oh, Devin Vassell, 100%, Kelton Johnson, definitely contributing. All these people are contributing, but they're eating because anytime Victor does anything, I don't care if he sneezes, I don't care if he like jukes towards the paint, I don't care if he gets close to position, the defense freaks the hell out. I saw a game earlier this year, it was the opening night, Cooper Flags first game as a professional basketball player, and Victor Win by Yama did not care whatsoever. He actually, this is when AD was healthy, and they have poor Derek Lively. Has anybody checked on Derek Lively? Have we done a wellness check on Derek Lively the second? Because I am sure that after that game, he was in a fetal position. He was like, I don't know what to do with this. Like, I'm tall, I'm 7 foot 2, I'm 7 foot 3, I have almost 8 foot wingspan, and I can't touch this kid. He dominated in that game against AD, against Derek Lively, so some of the best post defenders that this league has to offer, and he dominated them, dominated five games, he's averaging 30.2 points a game, his true shooting percentage is six is 64.5 percent. His PER, which is a stat that I absolutely loathe. I gave you for Austin Reeves, it was 30.2 for Austin Reeves. Victor Winbayama's PER is 37.0. That's Wilt Chamberlain. Okay, his usage rate is 32.5 percent, his defensive rebound percentage is 40.3. Also, Wilt Chamberlain esque. His block impact stays nuclear because he has more blocks than literally a third of the league as far as teams are concerned. He has more blocks than 10 teams in this league. Off the opponent's points per game, 103.8, that's number one in the league. We told you about the net rating, his their strength of schedule 8.6, which is fifth in the league. Surreal says this MVP with uh turnover three confidence headroom is terrifying. His efficiency plus usage, this high bend moves to a it is not even one of those things that I'm sitting here going like this. There's gonna be a good team, and I mean a good team, a team that had playoff aspirations that is going to be battling for their playoff lives because they're in the plan, because we did not expect Victor Winbayama to show up like this, they're going to be in the playoffs, it's not even a question to me anymore, and you say Vince, this is hyperbole, this is you overselling something that we got a small sample size on. Yeah, we also said that about the 2015 Golden State Warriors, you know what I'm saying? You know who we also said this about OKC the last couple years, I was like, yo, they're here. Like on some Bray Wyatt type stuff, I was like, yo, OKC is here, and they won the championship last year, so I these aren't receipts that I'm just trying to sell you, or whatever. What I'm trying to tell you is that when we have a transcendent talent that comes into the league, and believe you mean, this dude is as transcendent as they come. Sometimes we cut the line, sometimes you're a big enough star that you can walk past a line of people that's 200 people deep and go, I'm a big deal, and I'm getting in now, I'm not waiting outside with the norms because I'm not normal, I'm exquisite in every way, and these numbers are proving it, they're just absolutely proving it, and again, when they have Darren Fox, is that gonna be the connector and the puzzle piece that snaps into place? I don't know, I don't know. Here's the best part. He's still messy, he's still messy, and he's averaging 30 points a game with a true shooting percentage of 64 and a half percent because he's not getting deep post position or anything like that, he's still not doing that, he's getting closer to the rim, but he's not like I'm going on the block, give me the ball, yo, there's nothing they can do with me. I'm so nice. He's like, I'm gonna make really quick cuts into the lane, flash into the lane, put my hands up, get the ball, and quickly shoot it. He's not like sitting there, like, I'm gonna get on the low block, I'm gonna stand here, and I'm just gonna command the ball, I'm gonna wait two or three seconds, and then the ball is gonna come to me, and then I'm gonna do all my damage right here. Now he's only shooting three threes a game, three of them. So, with that being said, he has learned his lesson. He's learned it, it's great, I love it. The receipts are stacking up, the rankings are stacking up, the margin is stacking up, and guess what? The demeanor is mean. We trying to put people on coasters, okay. Anthony Davis got one first game out, bam, poster. You can sit here and say, This is early. We'll see when the excitement wears off, where he'll be. Y'all do know this, he wants to be. Great, he wants to be the greatest of all time. So I don't know if there's room for complacency with Victor Wimbayama. We spent two years saying just wait until Wenby grows into his body. But this 5-0 start might be the moment that flips the logic. Someday we kept scheduling, he might already be here. The muscle, here's the best part. This is the scary part. He's going to get stronger. We're not even at the zenith of his talent. The 30 points a game is an appetizer to the main course that's coming. So what we're talking about right now is that a guy who we think is going to take over this league, who is currently averaging 30 points a game, he's currently averaging five and a half blocks a game, he's currently averaging over 10 rebounds a game. There's more, he's scratching the surface. Alright, so we talked about over the summer, we talked about maybe early on in the season that there was a trade made in the 2025 NBA draft between the Atlanta Hawks and the New Orleans Pelicans. And at the time, a lot of people were like, What happened? How who okay? Alright, well, does Joe Dumas and Troy Reaver know something that we don't know? I okay. A lot of people were scratching their heads, they were bewildered by the whole situation. It was just a bad decision. That's what it was. It was a bad decision, it was a bad deal. The New Orleans Pelicans are currently Z they have no wins and five losses. And say, well, it's early events. Yeah, how many how many teams you know have dug themselves out of an 0 and 5 hole? I understand we got 82 of these bad boys, but I don't see uh a 16-4 run coming for the New Orleans Pelicans. They are 0-5, and the absolute just effervescent people who are gonna benefit from this deal are your Atlanta Hawks because they have the New Orleans Pelicans 2026 unprotected pick. Oh, Vince, is it the is this the draft with AJ DeBansta? Yep. Is this the draft with Darren Peterson? Yep. Is this the draft with uh Carlos Boozer's kid, Cam Boozer? Yep. There's a couple more, and we'll talk about them a little bit later. But Zion Williamson has been the healthiest he has been to start the season ever. He is skinny, he is spry, he's jumping out the building, but that doesn't mean anything. You know why? Because Kevin Looney's hurt, DeJounte Murray is still dealing with the Achilles injury that happened to him mid-season last year. He's not expected back until January. They got Eve Misi starting games, who was 19 last year and he was 20 this year, and he's still lighting the ass. And they keep on having injuries, they keep on getting hurt. So Joe Dumas and Troy Reaver, who are of Detroit Pistons fame, traded up for Derek Queen for a future unprotected 2026 first round pick. We thought at the time it was pricey, and we thought that Derek Queen was a stud in the tournament last year, but was he worthy of giving up a future pick where you don't know exactly where you're going to be? You know, I can understand if they felt like they had a trade working where they were about to get a superstar to pair with Zion or whatever the case may be. That was not the case, that was never the case. There was no trade that went awry and whatever. No, this was this was the absolute plan. This right here, we wanted Derek Queen from Maryland. We are gonna move up 10 slots from the 23rd slot to the 13th slot, and we're gonna give up an unprotected pick for it. This is bad calculus, okay. This is mismanagement at the highest level of I can't. This is Michael Scott level management in the office buffoonery. So, you want the dirty details? Okay, check this out. Offensive rating 103.6, 29th in the league. There's 30 teams in this league, defensive rating 122.5, 29th. Hey, did we just say there were 30 teams in this league? Yep, that's exactly what I said. Uh, they lost to the Denver Nuggets, the team who just lost to the Cortland Trailblazers, 122 to 88, and that was at home. They were at the crib when that happened. Um it was the lowest pace game of the season. The energy looked terrible. Uh, they've had four, they've had three four-quarter collapses straight. Um Zion missed one game with a foot contusion. Keep in mind, Zion Williamson has never played more than 60 games in a year. Now, yes, does he look good? Should he be on some male fitness uh magazine? Probably, but are we still banking that this dude is gonna play 70 plus games this year? Let me put it this way if you got money on Zion playing 70 plus games, you need to call these gambling hotlines. Okay, you need to call and get help. You know what I'm saying? We need to get you some numbers. There's you know, there's gamblers anonymous and all that. You should not be betting on Zion Williamson playing 70 games this year. Don't do that. That is absolutely just that's suicide. Suicide to your to your wallet. You can't defend, you can't finish, you have no identity, you have no identity, and that travels worse than your pick going to Atlanta. Saraya words, not mine, but I agree with all of those words. Zion's on a minute restriction, Murray still rehab, timeline is still in 2026, kind of like the pick, right? Willie Green, who's been a beleaguered head coach for the New Orleans Pelicans for three or four years now, questioned the toughness, saying they fought harder than we did, talking about the Denver Nuggets. Remember, this team had CJ McCullum and Brandon Ingram, and they replaced those guys with Jordan Cool, and you'll say, Well, Vince, Jordan Poole can put up points. Jordan Poole hasn't seen a shot that he doesn't like, he's not a point guard, he's not like, let's get everybody in the flow, let's do this. By the way, this is Zion's team, correct? Okay, you got a absolute chaos agent and vibes in Jordan Poole. This is the dude that got hit punched in the face by Draymond Green. Now we can talk about Draymond being unhinged and all of that kind of stuff, but I will say this. What do you think he said to Draymond to get him that upset? I know it don't take much, but what do you think he said? He went to Washington, and he was supposed to be like the established vet on that team, and Washington got rid of him and brought in Chris Middleton, who is his knees are hanging on with bubblegum, shoestring, and a couple toothpicks. They wanted leadership, they wanted a vet that could speak knowledge in to their youngsters, and they got rid of Jordan Poole, who is a NBA champion, by the way. NBA champion, Jordan Poole. He's got a ring. Thanks to Steph. What are they missing out on? What are they missing out on? Well, let's tell you. We have our first installment of players that are coming out in the 2020 2026 NBA draft. Uh, I told you about Darren Peterson. Let me give you a little background. He's gonna be playing in Kansas this year. Darren Peterson enters college as one of the most anticipated guard prospects in recent memory. He's a multi-level scorer with elite physical tools. He's six foot five, by the way, with a like a 6'10 uh wingspan. Peterson's blend of grace, speed, and power makes him a constant threat on both ends of the floor. He's drawn comparisons to the late great Kobe Bryant, RPR guy, Kobe. Also, Derek Rose, healthy Derek Rose, and more recently, NBA guards like Anthony Edwards and Donovan Mitchell. Peterson's rise began early, but he solidified his place among the elite with standout performances at at multiple high school levels, and also part of USA basketball when he was on that team, the under-19 team that dominated the world. I'll say that again, they dominated the world. As we have been telling you, the the international game is coming. You know who said the international game still ain't it? Darren Peterson, AJ DeBanster, and the boys from the United States of America. They said, nah, not so fast. We don't care about your skill level, we don't care about how basketball IQ you got. You know what? Everybody got a plan until they're punched in the face. And Derren Peterson was that was that fist hitting the international people in the face. He's expected to have full on vol responsibilities at Kansas. That's a Bill Self system, so you know how intricate it is. And he will have the freedom to lead from day one. He's become a true primary creator, no longer just a scoring guard, but he is posted on the floor as a floor general with excellent feel and vision. While his shooting efficiency is still not where I would like it, and his defensive consistency is not where I would want it to be, he still has a lot of room to grow, and his trajectory places him firmly in the conversation for the number one overall pick this upcoming year in this draft. That's Darren Peterson. Now, we gotta talk about somebody else. I love this kid, he was also on that team. His name is Nate Ament. You will say, Well, who is Nate Ament? He will be playing for the University of Tennessee. So if you are in Knoxville, Tennessee, or the surrounding area, I suggest that you go get a ticket and see this young man who is 6'10, has a 7'4 wingspan. Oh, by the way, he's got handles. He's not a center, he's a wing. Nate Amit enters college as the highest ranked recruit that Tennessee basketball has ever had. He's a fluid, mobile, 6'10 forward with advanced perimeter skills. Amit has quickly become one of the most intriguing and polarizing prospects in the upcoming 2026 NBA draft. His combination of size, coordination, and shot making flashes drawn comparisons with players like Modest Buzelis, Kyle Kuzma, and Jaden McDaniels. I hope he leans more towards the Jaden McDaniels and less towards the Kyle Kuzma because we don't need buffoonery at Knoxville. He showcases impressive shooting mechanics, off-ball gravity, and playmaking vision. That's the one thing that I love. He was one of the guys that in the under 19 uh international games when he was like balling out against Germany and others, his passing was so crisp and on point, it was amazing to watch. While also possessing defensive versatility and instincts that teams covet in the modern forwards, however, questions about his physicality, strength, and shot creation first must be answered through further development. Well, here's the thing Nate Amen is 6'10 and he's 207 pounds. Okay, now there was also another guy who was 6'10 at one point in time, and he was actually under 200 and 200 pounds. His name was Kevin Durant. Now, I'm not saying that Nate Ament is going to be Kevin Durant. What I'm asking for is a little time, a little grace, and also look, can we get this dude a cheeseburger? Can he go to Lowry's and get a steak? Can somebody make this dude a baked potato? We need to get him to about 220 pounds at some point, okay? Somebody take care of my guy, Rick Barnes. I know you the coach down there. You got that nice southern draw. You hunts you uh homespun some words and everything like that. I got you, player, but can we introduce Nate Ament to some barbecue ribs? Okay, somebody introduce him to some of the southern delicacies and make get some weight on him, get him to somebody's grandma house and be like, God bless this child. Can we get him some hush puppets? I think he's gonna be talented. He is uh projected to be somewhere in that top five as far as the NBA draft. That leads me to our next guy, AJ DeBanster, and I know you heard a lot about AJ DeBanster. This dude is eight million dollars worth of NIL. Okay, we've heard upwards of 12 million dollars, he is from Brockton, Massachusetts. That's why you hear some of the excitement in my voice about him, because shout out to Brockton, Massachusetts. Your boy has spent time in Brockton, okay. I know about Brockton, we know about also who else comes from Brockton, Massachusetts, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, one of the greatest middleweights of all time, and if AJ Dubanster can knock out the competition the way Marvelous Marvel Hagler has, guess what? We got a box office type of dude. So AJ Dubanster, he's going to college, he is playing, he is one of the most hype American-born prospects in recent memory. He is 6'9, he has elite wingspan and athleticism and fluidity and scoring instincts, and this is another thing he is. They don't talk about this enough. I saw him in international play consistently get to the free throw line. Okay, he gets fouled, he puts the ball up, and he's going to the free throw line. I think there were three games that I watched, and all three games, I think he had double-digit free throw attempts, and he knocked him down. He knocked him down at a pretty good clip, so I love that. So he's gonna be spending his year at BYU. Because when you're from Brockton, Massachusetts, that's exactly where naturally where you're supposed to end up, right? You're supposed to end up in Mormon Country in the great state of Utah, surrounded by the Salt Lakes and what have you, right? Or in Provo. That's where he's gonna be. AJ DeBanster is gonna be in Provo, Utah. He's expected to carry a significant offensive load, no doubt. This dude is about to put up shots, and showcase his all-around game that has made him one of the projected top picks in the draft coming up. What makes DeBanster so special is his two-way potential. He's a jungle wing who can score at all three levels. I can vouch for that. Kree off the dribble and defend multiple positions with lateral agility and length. He is a problem on the defensive end. He gets a lot of deflections when motivated. He can turn those into steals if we get him just a little more, a little more seasoning. When locked in, his blend of physical tools and instincts are rare. The challenge will be maintaining the consistent effort, improving his shot selection, and becoming more efficient from the perimeter. Here's my problem with AJ DeBanster. There's a bunch of offensive tools. I've heard people talk about Tracy McGrady, and y'all know Tracy McGrady was nasty. That was a nasty dude. This dude is definitely bigger, like more broad-shouldered than Tracy McGrady, which gives him the opportunity to score a bunch of points in the NBA and also in college. What I would also like to see is him facilitate offense for others. Listen, I'm not asking him to be not over uh aggressive, but what I'm asking for is hey, can you get off the ball a little bit? Can you make a pass? And then cut through the lane, drawing, you know, defenders. Just like Wingby. We talked about Wingby, right? As soon as he touches the paint or gets close to the paint, the defense freaks out. AJ Devanster could be one of those dudes, but he's gotta know his superpowers, and then he has to also know how to bend his superpowers, and it creates wins, it creates winning culture, it creates the type of offense that you want to see out of him. Think of Ace Bailey, but more physicality, and that's AJ Devanster, super talented, gonna get you a bunch of buckets. Don't know if he'll ever pass to a teammate right now. Next guy on list is somebody that is kind of hovering around that top five, definitely top 10. His name is Mikhail Brown Jr. He's a guard, he's going to the University of Louisville, he's a cardinal, you know what I'm saying? He's gonna be out there doing it real big. He's 6'5, he's 190 pounds, he's pretty well built. He enters this year, the conversation with serious momentum after a standout summer with the USA under 19 team. Yeah, he was one of them dudes getting it. He was getting it against the foreigners. All the dudes internationally, he was blowing right past them. He was stealing the balls. He was like, Give me them cookies. You want you don't need those, those are my cookies now. You know, he was doing it. He led the squad in scoring. Think about that. AJ DeBance is on this squad, Cameron Boozers on this squad, Nathan Mint is on this squad. Who led them in scoring? Mikhail Brown Jr. 14.9 points per game, 6.1 assists per game, and he shot 47.6% from behind the three-point line. Okay, so he's a marksman of the highest order, he's a proven scorer from high school and international play. Brown brings a composed polished guard skill set built on poise, shot making, and playmaking, and also just swag and guile. He is not gonna be impressed with somebody who is a junior in college, he's not gonna be impressed when he goes to Kentucky and plays against Kentucky in Rough Arena. He's seen the brightest of lights and he just loves the challenge. Like I said, and I don't know if I can demonstrate this point enough. He played on a USA under 19 team with names that are literally ahead of him in this NBA draft process. The names like Cameron Gooser, AJ DeBanster, and Darren Peterson. He played with those guys side by side, and he was the leading scorer. He's like, I don't sweat you, I do not sweat you. Brown is a cerebral league guard who operates with impressive control and versatility. He has a reliable three-point shot, he's a shot pick and roll initiator, and he's steady presence who dictates tempo with length and his the feel of the game. Give him a clear NBA projection. Question remains around his physical profile and his ability to finish through contact. Yeah, well, I don't know about you, but at 19 years of age, or actually not even 19 yet, he's 6'5 and 190 pounds. So I think he's gonna get bigger. I think he'll be able to finish through contact. But his outside shot making is gonna help him stay on the court. His ability to pass the ball is gonna keep him on the court when he gets to the next level. This level, no problem. He's he's gonna dominate at this level, it's when he gets to the next level, and then his defensive, like his defensive want-to, his defensive, like IQ, his ability to want to get deflections and and still balls and things of that nature, is gonna keep him on the court. So he might not be able to finish at the rim at the rate that we will want early on in his career, but I think by year three, guess what? He ain't gonna have no problem finishing at the rim, and that's the truth, Ruth. Now, a guy that I really like, and one guy that is kind of like on the periphery of things is uh Chris Scenic Jr. And I wanted to bring him up, he's from New Orleans, Louisiana. He's gonna be playing college basketball for the Houston Cougars, so you know already what his DNA is. If you play for Kelvin Sampson, you gotta play, you gotta bring your hard hat and your lunch pill to work, and you gotta have steel toe boots on, you know what I'm saying? You probably have to have some kind of utility belt, you know, uh flannel, anything you gotta be hard-working dude to play for Kelvin Sampson. That's what I'm trying to say. Chris Scenic Jr. enters this season as a tantalizing blend of size, athleticism, and a budding perimeter skills. The former five-star recruit Scenic has landed in Houston, and he'll be under the tutelage of one Kelvin Sampson, known for transforming talent into NBA ready players. He stands at 6'11 with a developing frame. Scenic projects as a modern big who can protect the rim, finish lobs, and stretch the floor if he reaches his full potential. What sets Scenic apart is his combination of physical tools, flash with skill. He runs the floor like a guard who can handle in the open court, he has touch out to the perimeter, but his production doesn't always match the physical tools. Scout will be closely watching to see if he can sustain energy, polish his fundamentals, and establish two-way consistent impact. Here's what I'm gonna say about Chris Cena Jr. He went to the white school, went to Houston. The one thing that you cannot do in Houston is loaf, you cannot be lethargic. You have to have like a frenetic, impactful type of play to play for Houston. Okay, you can't just go in there and say, Oh, I'm a five-star, I'm a McDonald's all-American. Kevin Sampson's gonna say, That's great, that's awesome. What I'm gonna need you to do right now is drop and give me 50 push-ups, and then I'm gonna need you to run these win sprints for about five minutes until you throw up. Okay, that's Kevin Sampson. So you can't come in and be diva, and I'm not saying saying that Chris Cenick is that type of guy because he's not, but he went to the right school because I think they're gonna get him in the type of shape that he needs to be in. He's not a flowery kid at all. It's just where he played at in New Orleans, he didn't have to do, he didn't have to exert a lot of physicality or whatever the case may be to get the job done. He was gonna get his points, he was gonna be able to block shots just by being there, just by being 6'11. Not saying that the talent wasn't great, it was just not like what he's gonna see on this next level, right? It is not like that. So he went to the right coach, went to the right school. I think that by the time we get to the end of the year, Chris City Jr Jr. is gonna be a monster, and I cannot wait to see it. He got all the physical tools, the shot is coming. I love the form, I love the physicality, I love the traits. I think once he puts it all together, it'll be there. Now, the thing about it is is that you might be able to tell me, hey Vince, what about the processing speed? Again, I think under a year of tutelage of Kelvin Sampson, I think he'll be a lot better at that. I think we won't see the complete version of his processing and all the tools until he gets into the NBA. But I think that this year will be like a it'll be like a boost to that. Like he'll get there quicker dealing with Kevin Sampson and the Houston Cougars coaching staff. We got one, we got two more to go. We got Coach Pete. He is going to play basketball for Arizona. What makes him special is this. He uh He's a decorated player in his class, three time Gatorade Player of the Year, McDonald's, all American, and a FIBA. Under 19 World Cup Gold Medalist. He played for the USA team. Pete brings a rare combination of physical readiness, experience, and two-way upside to the Arizona Wildcats. He will be playing alongside one Bryce Maximus James. You know what I'm saying? Now, our guy called Pete is gonna get way much play, way much more playing time than Bryce James. Because he got all the goods, he's built like a tight end. He was raised in an elite athletic family. Pete plays with force, energy, and purpose. The things that we want Chris Scenic Jr. to get, we don't have to tell that to Cole Pete. He's a bruising presence inside, but surprisingly, finesse in his passing and his feel for the game. Though his perimeter shooting off the bounce creation is still developing, peace physicality, motor, and positional but positional versatility will give him one of the high floors in the 2026 NBA draft. He got some want to to him with skill development. He could evolve into an elite blue guy, into an all-around offensive difference maker. Uh, I love this kid, I love his energy. He he has some nastiness to him in international play. Like when the teams from other countries got a little more physical with the United States of America, Kirk Pete was like, Hey dog, let me let me kind of break this down for you. I'm gonna pick your pocket like two times in a row, and then when you get a transitional break, and you think you got a breakaway dunk, I'm gonna pin that shit to the glass, and then I'm gonna stare you down, and I'm gonna get all my dude hyped, and then we're gonna go on to beat you. Cause that's what he did in international play. He was sick, he he loves playing defense, he loved he loves blocking shots at some of the biggest moments. He'll meet you at the at the zenith at the horizon, and he'll block your shot. He also has the capability of going straight up, put his hands up, just having verticality, which is great. So there's a lot of fundamentals to to love about co-op peat. The thing about it is that the jump shot is still inconsistent. Um, he will be able to pass the ball at a high level, even at this early age, so he's a connecting piece. It's the shot that we are waiting on. It's that is what will have to will have to happen. Copete is nice, no doubt, but he just needs to have a couple more things happen for him, and then he will be a very evolved monster type dude, but the physicality is already there, so he can bang, get inside, and dunk on people right away. Our last guy that we need to talk about is one Cameron Boozer. Cameron Boozer will be playing where his dad played at Duke University, he will also be playing alongside his brother Caden Boozer, who's a guard for the uh Duke Blue Devils, they are twinsies, but one is six foot nine and 250 pounds. I'm gonna say that again. This dude, July 18th, turned 18 years of age, and he is 6'9, 250 pounds already, and it's all muscle, it's like he got like 5% body fat. This dude is a monster. What makes Cameron Boozer so damn special is that he is one of the most polished, battle-tested big men. Nobody has any questions about oh, oh, can we see a skill? Do we know what he has? All this other. No, we don't have to worry about that. The blend of strength in IQ, rebounding, dominance, and efficient scoring. That's the great thing about call the that's the great thing about Cameron Boozer. There's not a lot of dance to him. It's like, what's the quickest, most efficient way I can get a bucket? That's what I'm gonna do. If you're looking for like windmill dunks, go see AJ Dubanster. If you're looking for um pirouettes in the lane, you go find Nate Ament. But if you just want buckets and rebounding, you just need buckets, you need rebounding, Cameron Boozer's your dude, and he's gonna get him because he's positionally, he boxes out. Like you think about this, he's 18 years old. Usually we gotta teach boxing out to the kitties when they come into the league. He's doing it now. Boozer is widely regarded as one of the most mature NBA ready players in the draft pool. His basketball pedigree, his physical readiness, and his mental toughness make him one of the safest bets in the draft. Yet, his upside still remains significant, especially if his shooting and his playmaking continue to evolve. Think about this. He can shoot it from the outside, he can, he can shoot it with volume from the outside. The playmaking is rudimental, and what I mean by that is that again, he will make the correct pass at the right time. His vision is good at 6'9, 250 pounds, but he's not making the Cooper Fat flag pass. He's not making the okay, he he's gonna cut, I'm gonna throw the pass before he gets there, and I'm gonna lead him to the basket. That's not him, not yet. I think he'll get that this year because I think they're gonna have him on ball a lot at Duke, kind of like what they did with Cooper Flag last year. Cooper Flag came into that year needing to have the ball in his hand, become more of an initiator. I think we are we're gonna do the same thing with Cam Boozer, but here's the thing that I do know, let's take that away. Okay, I think that's all gonna come, but let's take that away for a second. Cam Boozer is a double double waiting to happen. There's not a stage too big, there's not an opponent that he's gonna shrink away from, he will be the first person on the whiteboard, and he's still gonna get 20, and he's still gonna get 12 reruns. Okay, the physicality that he comes with every single game is just overwhelming. He is as complete of a prospect that I have seen in quite some time. It's not flashy though. It's it there are levels to his game that I would love for it to get better, but if we're just talking about can he get me a bucket, will he rebound and will he rebound on both sides of the court? Will he get offensive rebounds and will he get defensive rebounds? Will he stop a uh uh um if like if if your team is on an 8-0 run, will he stop it? Yes, he'll get the he'll grab the defensive rebound, kick it to his guard, go on to the post on the offensive end, get the ball, stick his shoulder into your chest, and then he will score the basketball. Okay, Cam Boozer will do that, he will stymie any offensive run that you got going on. So if for some reason you think you're about to grab momentum for a team that has Cam Boozer on it, you are sadly mistaken. He is not gonna let that happen because he's gonna do the most fundamental play and get the best shot possible for his team, either through himself or through another person. He is very much able to set a screen and willing to do it, he's very much ready and able to box out and make sure that you do not get the rebound, and if you come into the paint, he's gonna stand there at 69, 250 pounds, and he'll take that charge. He's 18 years of age and he will take a charge. You know how long it usually takes a young person to take a charge? Like, no, I ain't doing that. Mm-mm. No, I'm not doing that until you find out that you're just a role player and then you gotta do that. Cameron Boozer is a is a team dream, and what I mean by that is that he puts team first all the time. I told you he played in the under 19's international play for the United States of America. We also told you that Mikhail Brown Jr. was the leading scorer. You know who was getting him outlet passes? Cameron Boozer was getting him outlet passes because he did not give two shits about his scoring, he wanted to win. He's a winner. Duke is gonna love him. Uh he is he's Al Horford with a jump shot. Remember when Al Horford didn't have a jump shot? He has also a little more athleticism than Al Horfer, even when Al Horfer was like super sick. His IQ is ridiculous, and right now he would be like third in the group of Darren Peterson, AJ DeBanster, and Cameron Boozer. And I would tell you this from my money right now, and I know that you say, Well, we gotta see it play out against AJ DeBan. Watch some of these games at BYU. AJ DeBanster is going to frustrate the hell out of you sometimes. Because what's gonna happen is we're gonna get to March Madness, and that dude loves to shoot the basketball, loves to shoot it. Cameron Boozer is gonna get his team teammates involved, and he's gonna make the right play basically all the time, and I wonder if by the time the year ends, will it be the athleticism, the pure athleticism of AJ DeBanster, and just like the tantalizing um potential of AJ DeBanster, or will it just be the blue collar I get shit done demeanor of Cameron Boozer that wins out and he becomes the higher draft pick. Now, Derek Peterson might be the number one overall pick, and he might just stay there. But number two is all is going to be a question in my money. If I and I'm gonna tell you exactly how talent evaluators in the league, how coaches in the league feel, they'll sit there and they'll love the they'll love all the highlights of AJ DeBanster. But they'll see this kid Cam Boozer and go, you know what, man, that dude, that dude is he equates to winning. He equates to winning, and there's nothing more that makes a coach just giddy like a schoolgirl, then hey, this player, all his tool set, all his thought process, it equates to winning. So that's our first look at some of the players that are going to be in the NBA draft coming up. We will have more on these players and more on the rest of the prospects soon. Um, we're gonna put some of this stuff, we're gonna put uh a draft board on the website. We will have a prospect list on the website soon. So keep it locked, go to the blog, you're gonna need it anyway for this podcast. But with that being said, I want to thank my producer Sarah. I want to thank uh our contributors, Maya, as well. Uh, it takes a village to do this, and also I want to thank the fans, I want to thank the audience. You guys have been really pumping up the numbers. Thank you for downloading the podcast. It is just a dream come true for us. We're humbled by your excitement about the podcast, and we hope that the blog helps. We hope that the blog helps the podcast. Go to it frpc dot beam.ly. Go get the blog, it is amazing, it helps. It also has some funny moments, and they also have moments that we just couldn't put in the podcast, you know what I'm saying? So, you know what? We also need to do a power ranking, an international power ranking, and a home power ranking on the best outlets for the podcast. We should do that next Tuesday. So, without further ado, the best part of you is you surround yourself with people who give you light, insight, joy, and accountability. Appreciate them out loud. So make sure that if these people are exhibiting these behaviors, appreciate them out loud. That's your real wealth. And if you're still trying to find your tribe, know this. You got one here with us at FRPC Front Runner Podcast Collective. Until next time, keep your mind sharp, your heart open, and your circle tight. I'm Vince, I'm out in peace.