Hersh

He could have scored more if he took the ball to the rim more and didn't just settle for his jump shot all the time.

I think a lot of people are in agreement about the wasted contract but I would have to separate the two deals. Getting Harden would be awesome and I would include him in the take away of having four straight seasons of top 6 picks. I'm not really sure what the aversion is to a 22 year old who was 6th man of the year in the NBA and has gotten better every year. I would understand if he was 28 or something, but he's still really young. As far as OKC not wanting him, I don't put any stock into that. If anything, I love how they are operating. They have their two main stars locked into max deals and they don't want to have 3 max deals that limit their payroll/roster flexibility moving forward. They will keep reloading around KD and Westbrook for years to come. The Wizards are in a totally different situation and I can't imagine John Wall wouldn't love Harden playing next to him.

I would be there in a heartbeat but I'm down in Raleigh, NC. Any of you guys in the DC area need to be all over this offer.

Unfortunately that's not how the NBA works. If it did, the Wizards wouldn't be in the lottery still. In the NBA, it's rare that more than a couple of players in any draft become all-star level players. I'm going to start to temper my excitement about getting Beal, let alone Harden. I'm gonna start thinking worst case scenario and we trade our #3 pick for Metta World Peace thus anything better than that with the Wizards tonight and I'm happy.

I'd take Harden over everyone else we might get also, but Beal averaged 15 ppg on 10.6 shots per game as a true freshman. I'm not sure how you can say you don't want potential and at the same time advocate trading down for the 6 and 11 pick.

You must be bored to ask a question like that. Harden is only 22 years old, has gotten better every year in the league and just averaged 17 points on just 10 shots per game. If Harden is available for the #3 pick, it's the biggest no-brainer of the night. ---------- Post added June-28th-2012 at 02:26 PM ---------- You beat me to it. I failed to mention that he is the kind of player that can create his own shot which this team desperately needs.

Because by just about all accounts he can light up the nets, plus he is a good defender. The Wizards need a SG and taking the consensus best one in the draft is a great move. Ernie also put the Wiz in a box with his pre-draft trade for Ariza and Okafor which is why some on this board have smartly wondered why that trade needed to happen before we knew who we were getting in the draft. Frankly, if we miss out on Beal, it's a total failure again for Ernie cause no matter how they spin it, that's who the trade set us up to get. Claiming Harrison barnes is somehow a SG is nothing but spin and even Barnes doesn't want to be a SG.

Having watched too much of Harrison Barnes and being sounded by many UNC fans (unfortunately), I'm not sure where you got some of these. He might have the potential to be an outstanding scorer, but he certainly didn't show that mentality with any type of consistency. He would disappear for long stretches during games and would rely heavily on jump shooting rather than exploding to the basket. Occasionally he would drive and everyone, including us unc haters, would think: why doesn't he drive more often? Maybe he can grow out of that, but he didn't handle expectations that well and he didn't show that killer instinct on offense including in crunch time. I definitely worry about how good he wants to be as a pro.

It seems like you are trying to convince yourself that there actually is some long term plan by the Wizards/Ted.

I only watched Rivers in games even though I hate Duke. I prefer to go on game video as a whole than any private workout. Rivers, while flawed like everyone else, hit clutch shots and has the pedigree to be a smart, talented NBA player. ---------- Post added June-22nd-2012 at 01:33 PM ---------- I'd be happy with Sullinger too. I just figured Meyers since he wouldn't be getting much playing time right away anyways.

Rivers at 6 and Meyers Leonard at 11. Rivers adds scoring punch and Leonard can develop behind the new front court.

I don't get this line of thinking. When was the last time the Wiz tried to get a top tier FA here? I can't recall any all out tries recently.

I'm not arguing against adding veterans, I'm arguing against this specific trade. Ariza shot 41% last year and is a career 43% shooter (31% from 3-point range) which doesn't help this team score and Okafor, while perhaps a good defensive addition, doesn't exactly light up to score board offensively. Maybe we are better defensively, but this team needs more scoring. Also, I wanted to see Seraphin keep getting big minutes and develop. (maybe he still will) On the plus side, I'm someone that argued at the beginning of last year that this team had no shooters so I hope this means we will be drafting Beal. I've been on that bandwagon since we got the 3rd pick. ---------- Post added June-20th-2012 at 11:00 PM ---------- That's really cool so we expect good pictures. ---------- Post added June-20th-2012 at 11:02 PM ---------- When was the last time this team had cap space to aggressively pursue players? Plus, if we have excess cap rooms, deals like these could be made with teams looking to shed salary.

I don't understand this trade it all. We just helped New Orleans create lots of cap room by taking on two players that didn't stay healthy last year and their $44 million in contracts ($30 million in additional salary over the next two years when factoring in the buyout of Lewis if we didn't trade him) and we didn't come out with their second 1st round pick??? Ernie just got absolutely fleeced. How does this trade get the Wiz closer to becoming a championship team? It just seems to impede the growth of the young players.

That was met with a resounding no.

Like I said earlier, I'm not arguing against T-Rob and I think the Wiz would have a real strong PF/C rotation if they drafted him. What if T-Rob is off the board? I'm not super high on MKG at this point.

I think Beal can be that guy. (plus they speak highly of his defense and rebounding) Austin Rivers is another guy people feel that can get his own shot and has a good shooting stroke. You are the one that said shooters are easy to find in the NBA especially compared to guys that can rebound so do the Wizards have any of these kinda shooters that are a dime a dozen?

1. I haven't seen any reports that he is a sub-par ball handler. Where do you get that from? 2. It's never a kids fault that people make impossible to live up to comparisons. By all accounts he struggled for much of his senior year but played great down the stretch in big games. 3. What if T-Rob is gone?

I don't get this sentiment at all. Shooters need to be able to create their own shot because you can't succeed with a team full of spot of shooters.

I can't really argue against T-Rob, but who is going to score for this team? This team had no outside shooting last year and T-Rob doesn't address that plus we seem to be stocked full of your power forwards. Are there good reasons not to draft Beal? A guy that handles the ball well, gets to the rim and by all accounts has a good outside shot.

Agreed on having no faith in that currently. I would have faith if we brought in Jerry Sloan and ran pick n roll sets all game long.

I don't think it's about attendance at games anymore as much as it's about the TV contracts. Anyways, this team needs as many shooters as possible. If Beal can shoot and create his own shot, he should be the pick. 2nd round and Free agent-wise is the same deal. Bring in guys that have good hands and can score.

The problem with keeping Wittman, if he's not the long term coach, is that it's a constantly changing scheme with young players. We need a long term system to be put in place by a coach with a proven system.

It's almost like he is shooting when he starts coming down from the peak of his jump.

How about Jerry Sloan to coach the Wiz? Our young players could use a strong system from a coach that has a proven track record. Doesn't matter to me how old he is.