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Off-Topic: The Washington Wizards Thread


turtle28

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6 hours ago, MKnight82 said:

This is the problem.  They were a 4 seed with a healthy John Wall, and that was before John Wall blew his Achilles, and before the NBA shifted so heavily towards 3 point shooting.  John Wall is a terrible 3 point shooter. With Wall and Beal locked in on supermax contracts they will be so capped out the only way they can add talent will be through the draft.  They can't really tank with Beal and Wall, so they'll never have a high lottery pick.  They're perpetually stuck in mediocrity.  

As much as I believe in the top of the NBA roster driving success — and I do — I think saying “they were only a 4 seed with the Beal/Wall combo” sort of ignores how bad the rest of that roster was. 

Porter was very likely a significantly better #3 option than anyone they’ll field in 2020. But behind him, they had Gortat, an effective offensive center with some defensive limitations. That description may as well be on Thomas Bryant’s business card. And then they had Markieff Morris as the 5th starter, a below-average starting PF on both sides of the court. You have to hope Hachimura can become at least that by year two or three of his career. 

And the starting 5 was far and away the strength of that team. The bench was one of the worst in human memory. The 6th man was an absolutely awful 2nd-year Kelly Oubre. He played 20 minutes a game with a 9.1 PER! The 7th man? Jason Smith. Then you had terrible rookie-season Sato (8.5 PER) and Trey Burke clocking in at 8th and 9th in minutes. It seems almost impossible for them to put together a worse bench than that, especially with guys like Brown Jr., Schofield, Bertans, Wagner, etc. as options there. 

The big wild card is the lottery pick they’ll have in the upcoming draft. If they could snag a true star prospect at the top of the draft, they might have a chance to be something. If they get stuck further down the board, taking another guy who projects as a solid starter/role player — then I agree with you, they’re probably topped out as a middle playoff seed. 

It’s probably a longshot, landing a top 2-3 draft pick and getting Wall back at something close to original (say, 2016) form. But it could happen, and they’re keeping the door open for that possibility. And if it doesn’t happen, they’re also keeping the door open to a Beal trade with this short extension. So I think they’ve played it pretty well. 

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5 hours ago, MKnight82 said:

@e16bball I will add if you're correct about the trade escalator not being a big deal, having Beal under contract for another 2 seasons may make his trade valuable even higher if they decided to go that route.  

The NBA’s cap rules are so damn complicated, even my law degree and years of legal experience are no match for the dark, twisted labyrinth that is their CBA. I have absolutely no idea if that’s really true — but I hope it is, and I do tend to trust Zach Lowe to understand things pretty well for the most part. 

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13 hours ago, e16bball said:

The NBA’s cap rules are so damn complicated, even my law degree and years of legal experience are no match for the dark, twisted labyrinth that is their CBA. I have absolutely no idea if that’s really true — but I hope it is, and I do tend to trust Zach Lowe to understand things pretty well for the most part. 

I think that goes for some of them as well tbh. 

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Really good article detailing the ramifications of the new Beal deal:

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/bradley-beal-trade-rumors-are-alive-and-well-despite-the-all-star-guards-new-extension-with-the-wizards/

.......While NBA contracts are guaranteed, and teams and players have an interest in -- at least the optics -- of committing to winning in one city, there are really two kinds of contract extensions in the NBA. The first is the kind that Damian Lillard agreed to this summer, a true four-year pact on top of two existing seasons. That deal ties Lillard to the Portland Trail Blazers for six total years. Unless he wants to, he isn't going anywhere. 

The second is the kind that Russell Westbrook signed in 2016, the ones that exist for the sake of press releases and not much else. That summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder had just lost Kevin Durant to free agency, and Westbrook's contract was due to expire only a year later. Losing him and Durant in back-to-back summers would have been utterly disastrous for the franchise, so fans were overjoyed when the team announced that he had signed a three-year, $85.7 million deal. 

That deal, however, was essentially a one-year extension. The first year of that supposed three-year contract was the upcoming season, for which he was already under contract. The last year included a player option, which virtually every superstar declines barring a serious injury.

The contract that Beal agreed to on Thursday is far closer to Westbrook's than Lillard's. The terms look great in a press release. Beal adds two years and $72 million to two existing seasons for a grand total of four years at around $130 million. The Wizards can now claim that any trade rumors are erroneous and that Beal is committed for the long haul.......

The article explains that the extension makes him untradeable at the trade deadline this season, but he's still totally fair game to trade next offseason.  They also point out that a lot of the contenders don't have a lot of tradeable assets left after making big moves this offseason, and the Wizards are probably better off taking offer for Beal next offseason than during this season.  Then they run down some potential trade partners and potential returns they could receive for Beal.  

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Really need Beal to do better than 1-11 from three if the Wizards expect to win.any games this year!

Hachimura continues to impress me as a young player, as well as Wagner and Bryant. Bryant had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Hachimura had 14 points and 10 rebounds too. Wagner had 13 points in 16 minutes, 4/5 on field goals and 3/4 from 3.

I can't wait until Brown returns, I am excited to see what he does in his second season and his first season as a starter.

It sucks that McRae broke his finger.

 

Edited by turtle28
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Wizards played well tonight and beat the Thunder - who obviously are far worse than they’ve been the rest of this entire decade.

Wizards - 97

Thunder - 85

Bryant and Hachimura both again played solid ball tonight. They are looking like they’ll develop into a good 4/5 combo for us.

Bryant: 21 pts (3-7 from three) and 11 rebs

Hachimura: 19 pts, 5 rebs but 0-4 from three, ugh! 😫 

Beal was disappointing again though with just 17 points in 34 minutes. He again took 11 three’s and tonight he only hit 3. I hate that he’s shooting so many three’s. So far this season he’s 4 of 22 on three’s for a putrid 18% from 3 to start the season! It goes w/o saying that that needs to improve!

Bertans had 13 pts off the bench.

Wagner continues to impress off the bench with 10 points and 7 rebs in 16 minutes. He did have 5 turnovers though, which is not good.

Scofield had 7 points in 10 minutes, including a 3. He was 3/3 from the field and had 5 rebounds.
 

I’m hoping Schofield gets to start soon instead of Bonga or at least some more minutes. Bonga is giving us nothing on the offensive end but he did have 6 rebs tonight.

Still, I’d rather see Schofield get 25 minutes right now before Brown comes back than to see Bonga out there. I think Schofield gives us more shooting and he’s a good defender and rebounder. He also outweighs Bonga by 60 pounds. I don’t understand why Bonga is averaging 23 min a night and Scofield has only 26 minutes in the first two games.

Edited by turtle28
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Rui Hachimura has had an awesome to start to his rookie year.

He had 19 points and 5 rebounds last night and is averaging 16.5 pts and 7.5 rebounds in his first two games!

That looks like a great pick so far by Tommy Sheppard. I hope that Brooks gives the Admiral more minutes in the next game. He looks like he has more to offer on the offensive end then Bonga does, and he is certainly bigger and stronger than Bonga for rebounding and defense. Schofield outweighs Bonga by 60 pounds.

also like what I’ve seen out of Mortiz Wagner to start the season. He needs more minutes, and they need to play him with Hachimura some. Wagner is averaging 11.5 pts, 3.5 rebs and 66% on 3 in his first two games in just 16 mpg.

Edited by turtle28
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