CHRIS MILLER: Good morning, and welcome to Union Station and the official press conference to welcome the newest members of the Washington Wizards, the draft class of 2024.
(Applause.)
We appreciate all of you being here and everyone that's joining us live on Monumental Sports Network. I'm Chris Miller. Joining us on the stage today is the Wizards' first-round picks.
We'll start with Alex Sarr from France; a little closer to the DMV, 14th pick, from West Baltimore, Carlton "Bub" Carrington; and the 24th pick, Kyshawn George from the University of Miami, along with Wizards general manager Will Dawkins who will officially tip off today's event.
Will?
WILL DAWKINS: Thank you, Chris. Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining us. Thank you to Union Station for hosting us for this event.
I really just want to start first, before we officially welcome them, just thank a few people, thank a few groups that really helped with this process. I would say first our logistics team. That group probably gets overlooked, unrecognized, but the work that they do, making sure that people have flights, hotels, itineraries, you can imagine what that load is really like. I really want to thank them for their work.
I would say our equipment staff. The fellows were hustling throughout this entire process, making sure that everybody had gear, making sure that everything was stocked. We had workouts at different facilities, as you guys know, and they did a really good job, as well.
Our coaching staff. We were a little undermanned this year going through the draft process, but I don't think the players could tell at all. They made sure they put workouts together that helped us make decisions and treated the guys well and I think really carried the load for us on that.
And I spoke a little bit on Wednesday night about the evaluation group and our strategy group and everybody in that draft room coming together under the leadership of Michael Winger and making sure that we had a productive night.
I just wanted to make sure I thanked everyone there.
I also want to make sure I thank the fans. One, for kind of understanding where we're at on this journey, but two, really embracing these guys. They've been here for a couple days already. I think they're feeling the love. They know the DMV is a basketball city. This is a basketball community. So continue to show them love and welcome them. I think they've really felt that so far.
I wanted to make sure I thanked everybody on that.
We walked into Wednesday night and had a plan in place. We wanted to be aggressive, and we walked out excited. Obviously every transaction period there's difficult decisions that you have to make, but we were aligned from top to bottom. We were strategic, and like we said, we were aggressive in making sure that we accomplished our goals.
With these three young men to my left, we feel like we're adding a few more bricks to that base-level foundation that we talked about at the end of the season. We feel like they're our type of people, first.
They are our type of players, as well. When you kind of look across the board and see them, they all are challenge seekers. They all are hard workers. They all care and have a passion for basketball. So the stuff off the court is checking the boxes there.
But when you watch them play, the athleticism, the versatility, the two-way potential that they have on both ends of the floor, that stuff is really impressive and really exciting for us, so we're happy to add them all.
I do got to show the scouts a little bit of love. We had a retreat in the off-season and talked about getting the players early, identifying players early, and I promise you, to a man, these were three of the guys that we were on from the very beginning. The texts, the phone calls: You've got to get here, you've got to see them. And that just gives you more time to work with the information and feel more comfortable in your selections.
I've got to give the scouts a lot of love on that.
But lastly, before we officially welcome them, I want to make sure we welcome their families. I want to make sure I welcome their friends, their representatives, the support staff, because you all really helped them to get to this point, and they couldn't have done it without you, so I want to thank you guys.
You guys are going to continue to be the group that supports them and allows them to maximize themselves, but these young gentleman did the work, and you get the credit, as well, and you did most of it. I do want to officially welcome Alex, Bub and Kyshawn to the Washington Wizards.
Q. Alex, you've been in D.C. for a couple of days now. How would you describe, as Will said, the emotions you're getting, reactions from the fans, and what do you think of our beautiful city?
ALEX SARR: Yeah, it feels great to be here. We went to dinner last night, and I was thinking it feels like home. I've never been here before, but it feels like a place where I can really grow and take the next steps in my game.
Q. Bub, for you, you're from Baltimore, a lot of pride you have in being in that city and the lineage of basketball players that have come from there. We talked about that the other day. Can you describe playing your professional basketball in D.C. close to home and being around friends and family?
BUB CARRINGTON: It's an amazing feeling to know that you're never, ever going to be too far from home. I have a big support system, and the ability to play my professional career in front of them basically in their backyard, that's an amazing feeling.
Q. How many times have you ribbed Will about Ravens/Bills?
BUB CARRINGTON: All the time. He knows who the better football team is.
WILL DAWKINS: We'll see week 3. I'll just leave that one alone.
Q. Kyshawn, what is something we don't know about you that kind of stands out about you?
KYSHAWN GEORGE: I'm from Switzerland and I can cook. I like to cook food. I love food, and that's like a hidden talent.
Q. What's your go-to dish?
KYSHAWN GEORGE: It's a bagel. You empty the middle, you put some onions, cheese and eggs in the middle, you close the bagel, wrap it around in bacon, throw it in the oven and it makes you a good little -- you know.
(Applause.)
Q. Would you please describe what your emotions have been like from the point of right at the start of the draft up to now?
ALEX SARR: For me, at first it felt unreal. On draft night, it was an amazing feeling. Then you know, next morning wake up, get on the plane, and you kind of flip the switch and you realize now you're on a new team, and it's time to start a new process being an NBA player.
BUB CARRINGTON: I would say I felt a lot of excitement. I was kind of anxious, ready to finally be able to get picked on an NBA team, and I was just kind of excited to finally be able to play for a team, go out there and kind of have a whole city kind of know who you are and things of that nature. I was ready.
KYSHAWN GEORGE: Yeah, I was just grateful overall to be able to experience this setting. Not everybody is able to experience that, and just to piggy-back, it's just exciting, starting a new journey, to compete against the best of the best and be able to get my game to the next level.
Q. You guys all understand that this is a rebuilding situation and this is pretty much the start of the rebuild. Just wonder how that impacts your approach to how you're going to develop as players and as leaders for this team going forward.
BUB CARRINGTON: Like Will said earlier, I feel like we all three of us, just knowing these guys just for the last couple days, I feel like I still get that vibe that everyone here is challenger. We're looking at this as a challenge. It's something that we want to attack, something that we know we can be successful in, and we've just got to put the work in every day to accomplish that.
ALEX SARR: Yeah, same. I haven't met all my teammates, but just watching the games from last year, you can see that it's all guys that really persevere, and they never really give up no matter how the game goes, and I think that fits all three of us, too. I think we're ready for that.
KYSHAWN GEORGE: Yeah, I think we're all ready to compete. We had a little workout and it was really just competitive with some light shooting. It's really exciting to be able to have a good young group of guys that are ready to compete against the best of the best and hopefully win a lot of games.
WILL DAWKINS: I'll just add, when we go through this process, Michael and I, it's important for transparency. You can ask these young men; we tell them this is what we're about, this is what we're going through, and we want people who see this more as an opportunity than a negative or a challenge.
They're like, no, we want to help define what the next version of the Wizards looks like, and to a man, they embraced that. We're going to push them. Brian has met with them and told them what it's all about. They've spoken to some of their teammates. But they're embracing that challenge.
Q. The other night on draft night, Will talked about all you guys' skill sets, but he said this is going to be a defensive team. What is each of your reactions to that statement?
KYSHAWN GEORGE: I think defense wins games, and to be able to guard multiple positions, use our size and be able to impact the game on both ends of the floor is very important, and it's going to allow us to win a lot of games.
BUB CARRINGTON: Yeah, I agree. I mean, watching this guy's highlights, playing against this guy, I know these guys can defend. I know I can defend.
Like he said, we're in a whole rebuilding process. In the league, everyone can shoot, everyone can pass, but if you can limit that, you can start winning a lot more games, and that's what we're kind of trying to bring to the table.
ALEX SARR: Yeah, same for me. Like they said, I think being all-stars on defense, no matter if we score on offense, if we get stops, you get a better chance at winning the game at the end of the day, so I think it's really important.
Q. Will, in your opening remarks you thanked the fans. I wanted to get your reaction. You were in the war room and busy, but I was emceeing the draft party the other night, and I've never seen a reaction so positive. We had 6,000 people, I think, at the arena. It was very much a party. Were you aware of that, just the reaction from the fans, and your thoughts on that? All the players, how important the fans are on this journey now.
WILL DAWKINS: Yeah, in real time, no, we weren't aware of it. We were kind of locked in and moving on and trying to figure out a way to go get this young guy at 14, so we kind of just dapped everybody up really quick and then moved on, business as usual.
But afterwards meeting with Ketsia and our media staff, they explained kind of what was going on. This is a basketball city. Michael and I talked about it about a year ago when we first got here, and the goal was to make sure we're active in the community, make sure we're around and available for our fans, and they were greeted the very first day they got here, when they were walking in for a tour of the arena.
It's a passionate fan base. It's a supportive fan base. It's also a high basketball IQ fan base, and I think they understand what we're doing and how we're trying to go about it, and I can't thank them enough for the support that I get when I'm walking through the airports and on the streets and in the arena, and I think these guys know how important that is, but I've felt it already, too.
Q. For the players, any thoughts on that? Alex, I interviewed you in a hologram or something the other night. You could probably see the fan reaction.
ALEX SARR: Yeah, same. I think for all three of us, there's kind of an excitement around this draft. We can feel it when we go to dinner. Fans want to talk to us and get to know us, and it's always a nice feeling seeing how involved they are with the team.
BUB CARRINGTON: Yeah, I agree. Like Will said earlier, the second we touched down in D.C., we already had fans lining up for us to greet us and take pictures and things like that. Like he mentioned, at dinners the other night we were getting stopped to take pictures. You can definitely feel the energy, can feel the excitement, the love that D.C. has for the team and for us, and we want to reciprocate that. We want to bring some wins to this organization to thank them.
KYSHAWN GEORGE: Yeah, for sure, just to piggy-back and add to them, I agree with everything they said. I would just say without the fans, this sport wouldn't be as big. The fans drive this sport and make it grow, so I want to thank them overall.
Q. The other night Will touched a lot about the pre-draft process, what he was looking forward to in each of you guys as players, but he also touched on the fact that he was looking for character guys, just good people at the end of the day. What is something you want the D.C. community to know about you guys not as the player but as the person each of you are?
KYSHAWN GEORGE: I'm a very positive guy, first of all. Very happy to be here, bring that young, positive energy to wherever I go and whatever happens.
BUB CARRINGTON: Yeah, I feel like we're all just kind of -- like he said, positive guys. I never once got any type of bad feelings from these guys, any type of bad feelings from any of the coaching staff, anyone in this organization. You can tell that they try to lead by example, and you can tell they know what they're looking for. I know these guys are good guys, and I've known them for three days. So yeah.
ALEX SARR: I think something I want them to know is that I'm really caring for people, and if they ever see me outside and want to talk to me or take a picture, they don't feel any type of way, and I'll be happy to do it.
WILL DAWKINS: I would only add to that, there's a string of humility between all three of these young men. They've all accomplished a lot at a young age, and they've all taken chances and opportunities to kind of go out on their own a little bit and try different things.
The creativity, the humility with the passion and work ethic is something that ties all three of them together for sure.
Q. Each of you has come from different basketball journey, from Australia, France, West Baltimore, Switzerland. What's it been like for you guys the last few days getting to know each other and building the relationship?
BUB CARRINGTON: It's been a sense of calmness, to know that everything that you've kind of been through, whether it's the pre-draft process, where we grew up playing basketball, whatever the case may be, when you finally get here there's still great guys, people you can just laugh with, joke with. There's a sense of calmness being with these guys in the organization the last few days.
KYSHAWN GEORGE: Yeah, it's just been great to be able to have these two other guys that were about in the same situation coming from different places, different experiences, and to be able to relate with the work we have put in, to be able to be together in this situation is super important, and I think I'm happy to be with these two other guys.
ALEX SARR: Yeah, same, just like they said. It's nice knowing that we're in the same boat. As a prospect, sometimes you can feel like you're going to a team and you're the only one, but there's three of us, and that's really great. I think we can push each other up, whether it's on the court, off the court. It's really nice.
Q. Bub, you're the fourth highest draft pick in Pitt's history. What does it mean for you to represent Pitt on the biggest stage?
BUB CARRINGTON: It's an amazing feeling. I love Pittsburgh. I love the Zoo. I love the overall community that Pittsburgh brings, especially towards college basketball. I say that I'm kind of proud because I want people to realize that Pitt is a good school. They've got a great coaching staff, great athletic program. Sometimes it can be overlooked. But I feel like with me kind of going as high as I did and being from the school that I'm from, it'll kind of put Pitt on the map in a way.
Q. Bub and Kyshawn, you guys play against each other on January 27th on an ACC regular season game. Did you have any thoughts about each other's games then, and how do you feel about now sharing the court with each other?
KYSHAWN GEORGE: First of all, I feel great sharing a court with Bub, two tall guards that can be very versatile, guard both ends. Playing against him, I knew he was a very skilled player, had different aspects to his game, the pull-up game, the jumper, pick-and-roll, so yeah, I think it's going to be exciting.
BUB CARRINGTON: Yeah, I felt the same. Going over the Miami scout in practice, he was actually kind of like that player that stood out to me because the scout was make him uncomfortable, and that was the first time we ever did that, and that's a testament to his game because he was able to do every aspect of the game.
I'm super excited to share a court with somebody that doesn't really have no blundering weakness. That's a good quality that he has.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports