ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill Talks Wembanyama, Draft Lottery & More with Rich

Vincent Goodwill pushed his Acela back to give the show his Monday read on the NBA, and he came armed with takes on every major thread of the moment. He also broke real news mid-interview on the Victor Wembanyama elbow situation.

Start with that, because it was the headline coming in.

Wembanyama threw an elbow at Naz Reid in Game 4 and got ejected. Some commentators, Kendrick Perkins among them, had called for a suspension. Goodwill did not buy it.

"I think honestly the best thing for Victor Wembanyama was that he was thrown out last night," Goodwill told Rich. "When you miss the last 30-something minutes of a playoff game, that's almost like a full game suspension already. The league doesn't want to come in and assess another one."

Mid-interview, Goodwill's phone buzzed. He had his answer.

"I just got a couple of texts from league officials who said no further action on Victor Wembanyama, no suspension, no fine," Goodwill said. "That is official. So he'll be available for game five."

He used the moment to extend Mitch Johnson, the Spurs' young head coach, some grace for how he handled the postgame defense of Wembanyama. The book on Wemby across the playoffs has been physicality, and the Spurs do not have a designated enforcer.

"There's no Charles Oakley, there's no Anthony Mason, there's no Xavier McDaniel, Rick Mahorn, Bill Laimbeer, lying around anywhere," Goodwill said. "He's going to have to be the guy at this point to protect himself."

Then the Knicks. Goodwill was in Philadelphia for the sweep, his first year covering the East full-time, and he said TV did not capture what the building was like.

"When you're in there and Joel Embiid is at the line and he's getting booed, and Tyrese Maxey is at the line and he's getting booed, and every time a Nick does something right, the crowd just erupts," Goodwill said. "Or what's worse, 76er fans leaving the building at some point in the third quarter. Nick fans waving them out as if they're saying, thank you for leaving this place that you've squatted for a while."

His structural read on the Knicks landed even harder.

"This is a generational run that the New York Knicks are playing right now," Goodwill said. Eight playoff wins. A point differential of 24.5 per game. Two losses by a combined two points. Two wins by a combined 196.

What unlocked it, in his read, is Karl-Anthony Towns operating as a point center. He compared the move to what Mike Brown learned in his years next to Steve Kerr in Golden State, who flipped lineups twice in their first title run before landing on the Death Lineup that beat LeBron. Brown, Goodwill argued, has the muscle memory for exactly this kind of mid-playoffs invention.

The draft lottery happened on Sunday and the Washington Wizards won it. Goodwill flagged something everyone watching had noticed. AJ Dybantsa, the projected number-one pick, did not crack a smile.

"These guys are trained, media trained. They know all the cameras are going to be on them. They are trained to be frozen," Goodwill said. Rich and Goodwill compared it to Dave DeBusschere's reaction the year the Knicks landed Patrick Ewing in 1985, which has aged very well into a sports meme.

Goodwill made the case that Washington is a better landing spot than its reputation. The Wizards have not won 50 games, he noted, since John Wall, and before that "since Michael Jackson put out Off the Wall." The market is starved for a star.

"There's no better place if you're AJ Dybantsa," Goodwill said. "What the hell do they know about winning?"

He pointed to Jayden Daniels and the Commanders as the model. Washington as a city rallies hard when given something to rally around.

The 76ers conversation went next, after Embiid's postgame remarks left open whether he would be back.

"He's going nowhere," Goodwill said.

The contract math is unambiguous. Embiid has a three-year extension kicking in next year at roughly $58 million per. The real question, Goodwill said, is the front office around him. Daryl Morey gave Paul George a contract Goodwill is not sure he warranted. Morey extended Embiid coming off an MVP but with a long injury history. Both contracts are essentially immovable. With Bob Myers now advising the Harris group, Goodwill wonders if Philadelphia entertains significant change in the offseason.

"There's not a lot of hope in Philadelphia," he said.

That brought the conversation to the Thunder. Rich noted the Lakers had 15 more free throw attempts than Oklahoma City in Game 3 and still got run off the floor.

Goodwill delivered the line of the segment.

"Hold on, my phone is ringing," he said. "I think the 2002 Sacramento Kings are calling asking about the Lakers complaining about free throw calls."

On whether anyone beats this version of OKC, Goodwill landed on a list of two.

"The only way this team doesn't wind up holding up the trophy is if San Antonio, who has had their number this year, takes them out, or B, health catches them," he said. Jalen Williams is currently out with a hamstring injury, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has not yet had a true MVP-level game in the series. Even running through the Lakers like that, the Thunder are showing teeth without their full hand revealed.

Goodwill closed with what he called the gift of the moment for the league. Hatred. Detroit hates Cleveland. Detroit hates New York. Minnesota wants a piece of San Antonio. The Wembanyama-Thunder bad blood is real.

"Hatred is good for the NBA," he said. "Hatred sells. And so does physicality. Let the boys play."