RonArtest15

What do you think of the 6 and 18 for 3 with the Jazz? I've been hearing that on the radio. That pretty much guarantees us either Kanter or Williams and puts a lot of pressure on Kahn and the Twolves

I say go for it....if we need a late 1st, the Wizards can look to buy a pick or trade their #34.

Yeah but Javale wasn't a second overall pick so he's not working with the same sort of expectations. He also had two years of college so, amazingly, he came into the league a more mature player. I don't think Javale's career arc will take as long to come to fruition as Chandler's. But I do think he can be as good as Chandler is now at some point.

Exactly...and at 23, McGee is LIGHT YEARS ahead of Chandler (when he was that age) in terms of development. I think he reaches that point of being competent on the defensive end much sooner than Chandler did.

And SM brought up a good question....we move McGee, so who fills the void at the 5?

a euro at the 6 or derrick williams at the 2. McGee is gonna be nothing special and can be quickly replaced if need be. You can replace dumb Basketball IQ.

You know who else had a "dumb" b-ball IQ...Tyson Chandler. Operative word: "had." I don't know how you can say McGee is going to be nothing special. He's had his ups/downs, but he hasn't even reached the ceiling of his potential. He had a good March/April and hopefully he's putting in good work this summer to carry that into the 2011-12 season. McGee is 23 years old. He's on the verge of making some major cash, so I think we'll see him motivated and potentially turn a corner. Bullets/Wizards have a history of giving up on young talent much too soon. Last thing we want to happen is for McGee to go somewhere else and blossom...and for what? To move up and take Derrick Williams? Not worth it. Let's be real...this team is probably going to be in position to get a top-10 pick in the 2012 NBA draft. It will be SF-rich. No need to mortgage the future especially when you can get good value at the 3 next year. I can live with a potential lineup of:

McGee

Kanter

Lewis

Young

Wall

for a year...next year, BIG changes. And yes...I do have Kanter surpassing Blatche. I've got hope that he'll be moved before the season tip LOL.

Thanks for the correction. For those that want Kanter, what position does he play for you? If he is a center are you moving McGee to PF? It seems like on one hand people are saying we have our center in McGee but on the other hand want to draft another center in Kanter.

Kanter can play the 4. Do you really want to see McGee playing PF? LOL.

Hey fellas...I came across this:

2011 Draft by Similarity

Player Comparisons

by Kevin Pelton

Player comparisons are probably as old as the NBA Draft. As we seek to understand how players will translate to the NBA, using the experience of players with similar skills is helpful. Yet the danger is that subjective comparisons will be colored by irrelevant factors. Our similarity scores take a different approach, using NCAA statistical performance adjusted both for the transition from college to the pros and strength of schedule. Players are compared in 13 categories, including height and weight, to their predecessors within six months of the same age at the time they were drafted. (See here for more details on the process.)

Going by a single player comparison can be dangerous. Most players have a group of comparables that are diverse in terms of their NBA success. Using age at the time the player is drafted limits the pool of possible comparisons, as does the fact that our database goes back only to 2000 and is not complete until 2006 or so. (Before that, it was difficult to track down team statistics to adjust for pace.) If the next Michael Jordan really was in this draft, we wouldn't be able to make the comparison. So don't read more into these comparisons than is really there, especially in cases where the similarity score is low. (They're scored out of 100, with 95 indicating a decent match and 90 generally the cutoff for any real similarity.) Still, these comparison are fun and can be enlightening at times.

Players are ranked by their current spot in DraftExpress' mock draft. A handful of players from overseas, most notably Davis Bertans, are not listed because of insufficient stats.

1 Kyrie Irving Duke PG Derrick Rose 95.7

2 Derrick Williams Arizona PF J.J. Hickson 95.4

3 Brandon Knight Kentucky PG Jerryd Bayless 95.3

4 Enes Kanter Kentucky PF -

Kanter too does not have a comparison because there are no stats by which to go by for him. From this perspective, he's the most mysterious draft prospect since the early entry rule was enacted.

5 Kemba Walker Connecticut PG D.J. Augustin 96.5

6 Jan Vesely Partizan F Andrew Bogut 95.4

It's a VERY interesting read....I only included picks 1-6, but click the link to see the rest.

http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1777

If we take a PG I'd be ok with Charles Jenkins at 34 watched him all year at Hofstra when he played against the CAA schools and he was flat out dominant

I don't think Jenkins will be there @ #34. He's a flat out BEAST.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know the average age on the rosters of the past 5-7 NBA championship teams?

Reason I ask...and trust me, I know we are a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way from competing for a championship (need to make the playoffs first LOL), but it seems like these teams are really veteran laden. I know we're on board w. the youth movement here in DC...but in looking at the big picture, we need some vets on the team who can contribute. I guess we rebuild by getting rid of bad contracts and having youth on the roster, THEN slowly sprinkle in the vets to make the team a little more complete.

For the Wizards, what do they need to do (free agent wise) to get to 30 wins? Baby steps....

rDqJGJwAU0M

Let me ask yall (after seeing some of your lineups)....how do you think Blatche would take to coming off of the bench? IMO (if he's around to start next season), we have to play him. I can see a situation of him sulking and playing HORRIBLE basketball if he's moved to the bench. I don't see him accepting or thriving in the 6th man role. If that happens, we'll end up having him on the roster for a lot longer than most of us want.

I agree with you on the coaching part....flip was definitely brought in to coach a veteran team....and I also agree that he is a sorry coach in general....but that still doesn't excuse Javale's excessive goal-tends and the foul line dunk (attempt)

---------- Post added June-8th-2011 at 02:51 PM ----------

first of all....not sure how you can't see the difference between a guy smoking weed and owning up to his mistake and a guy making bad decision after bad decision and running away from his mistakes?

second...Williams isn't a tweener...he is a legit PF.

third....Blatche has very little trade value...McGee is being spoken of as trade bait because he holds more value than Blatche. I think we'd jump at the chance to trade Blatche to get an asset back, but i don't think the team is going to just dump him.

First...your viewpoint of the two is hypocritical. You're picking on Selby for missing a team dinner when he had already bolted from school. On top of it all, he didn't want to be at Kansas in the first place. Dude made his intentions clear about being one-and-done from the moment he signed his LOI. Yeah, his recruitment was shady...but so what? Dismissing Thompson's arrest because he "manned up" (what else was he supposed to do?), is weak IMO. How many top athletes who have had a drug bust over the years show some sort of contrition in the wake of their arrests? Most of them. I don't get why he should be getting props over Selby when they both have red flags. Whatever....we'll have to agree to disagree.

Second...

“I’m not a power forward. I’m a small forward who can play the 4,” Williams said. “Whoever picks me will find that out. I’m not a 4, I’m a 3.”

Williams' quote from 5/19

http://cavs.ohio.com/2011/05/derrick-williams-wont-work-out-sees-himself-as-small-forward/

"Legit" PF...I think not.

Third...I want Blatche gone. I've made my feelings known about him on here plenty of times. No matter what the return, it would be addition by subtraction. I don't need to get into it again, but he's a cancer.

---------- Post added June-8th-2011 at 03:37 PM ----------

Just heard on 980 that the Wiz are supposedly offering Javale McGee, #6 and #18 for Minnesota's pick.

---------- Post added June-8th-2011 at 07:26 PM ----------

http://www.bulletsforever.com/

WOW....that's a lot for the #2....we'd have to be getting back another asset.

In thinking about it....if they do move McGee for the #2, how aggressive do you think the Wizards would be to package Blatch/#6 to move up to potentially get Kanter? It's a pipe dream...but wow....if that's the case, I might be on board with that. McGee is due for a raise, and I dunno how much the Wizards are willing to offer...also w. the hard cap coming up.

that was one isolated incident that he manned up about....he didn't make any excuses and I like how he handled the situation. Josh shelby, on the other hand, has a long list of things that point to character issues....missing team dinners/practices, academic ineligibility in high school, 9 game suspension in college for accepting benefits etc.....it just seems like decision after decision is poor.

---------- Post added June-8th-2011 at 01:46 PM ----------

ding ding ding.....McGee plays with the IQ of a sack of bricks....he makes the dumbest damn decisions on the court and hasn't seemed to improve in that aspect over the past few years. I'm not buying the reports that we could swap McGee for #2.....but if in fact the Twolves continue to make stupid moves and did that.....as someone else pointed out.....we could have Dwill at #2 and grab Bismack (for defense) at #6....that would be perfect.

IMO, doesn't matter if he manned up or not, he has a red flag just as Selby does. I think your viewpoint when talking about Selby/Thompson is a bit hypocritical.

Moving on...I do agree with you in that if the Wizards move McGee for the #2, they must not see his ceiling being too much higher. Personally, I have a hard time believing that they'd leave a huge void at the 5 just to take Williams who is a 3/4 tweener. But this is just me on the outside looking in. Unless there are absolutely no takers for Blatche, I would think he would be the first guy moved off this roster. The fact that he was left out of the whole "rebranding" promo is curious....he already messed up once this offseason w. his "Lapdance Tuesdays" promotion. I hope we can find a taker for him...and use HIM as bait to move up to #2. It's wishful thinking, but I really hope it happens.

sounds like he has character issues...I wouldn't touch him

But you want Klay Thompson. He has a weed arrest on his record....as of a few months ago.

I don't care about ancient footage. The guy is a SOLID big with post and midrange game. If he falls to us you take him, period.

Since there is so little actual film on Kanter (in a game situation), any footage is good footage. Trust me, I'm all for the guy....but I'm very curious to see what DX comes up with.

I'm eagerly anticipating the footage that DX is going to put together of Kanter from some of his HS games. I'm really high on the kid, but from what I'm hearing, the footage is VERY underwhelming.

Also, I think there's a bit of gamesmanship between Kanter's camp and the Wizards. Both are playing it like either side isn't too interested, but I don't think it's the case. Kanter WANTS to be here....but we also covet Derrick Williams.

Interesting. Just Javale for #2?

Would you all do it? Let's assume Derrick Williams is the pick at 2.

I'd do it. Trade coins for paper when you can and I think DWill would constitute paper for us. It still leaves us with a problem though. What the hell do we do at center?

Hope Enes Kanter falls to 6? Hope he can play center on a regular basis? That's not a terrible plan but we still need to be looking to do something with Blatche. What other centers are out there that could be nice options for us?

DeMarcus Cousins...

Also I'll take Javale over Brook Lopez too. Lopez isn't special and he fell back down to earth this season. At least Javale already does something special and he's got ass loads more upside than Lopez. Javale is a better player today and probably a significantly player down the road.

---------- Post added June-6th-2011 at 12:22 AM ----------

And if I'm the TWolves, I'd take Gasol for #2 but do the Lakers offer it? I'd also prefer Monta Ellis to Javale but I'd much rather have Javale than Derrick Favors (this isn't happening, they need veterans and Utah has absolutely no reason to move up) and I'd rather just keep #2 than take Varejao and #4.

---------- Post added June-6th-2011 at 12:27 AM ----------

Also there is no way GS offers Monta Ellis for Derrick Williams. Their forward positions are the most expensive and second most productive unit on their team. Dorrell Wright and David Lee mean they can't take DW unless they trade them instead. Minnesota won't want either of those two players since they need a 2 and a 5 and are stacked at the 3 and 4. If GS is going to move Monta Ellis, it'd be to get a PG which isn't happening at 2 since Cleveland is going Irving at 1.

I doubt the Lakers commit to a rebuild through the draft this offseason because that necessitates doing something with Kobe which the Lakers are clearly not ready to do. Gasol for #2 isn't going to happen.

Of the deals mentioned in that post, Javale for #2 is the only one that's likely to actually get offered and a package built around Javale could very well be the most attractive offer Minnesota gets for the pick...

So, if the Wizards deal Javale for the #2, who is going to play center next year? As frustrating as McGee can be, he hasn't even scratched the surface of his potential. We've seen flashes, and sooner or later he's going to figure it all out. I just don't want it to be on another team....I want it to be here, in DC. As much as I like Williams, I don't think it's a good idea to trade McGee to move up 4 slots.

Minnesota has come out and said that they'll keep the pick. I don't believe it though. From all reports they want a veteran big man. Phoenix is supposedly offering a package that will include Robin Lopez.

And it is also rumored that David Kahn (Timberwolves GM) wants Nash in the deal. He thinks that Nash would be a good mentor for Rubio.

For Nash's sake, I hope he's dealt to a contender (same with Grant Hill). I would absolutely HATE to see him on the T-Wolves. Honestly, I don't think the Suns would do that to him. Kahn's a little loony LOL.

How do you feel about Beasley though? I talked about wanting him at the beginning of the year and most people around here made some good arguments about how he'd have been a mistake. He'd scare me and I agree with the point about him being far too close to his old stomping grounds if he played for us. Plus he seems kind of soft. I'm not sure having Crawford, Beasley, and Williams all fits together because that's probably a lot of high shot guys on the floor at once. Also it's not a great defensive unit as of right now.

The biggest negative about Beasley potentially playing for the Wizards is him being in DC. From a maturity standpoint, he makes Gilbert Arenas look like Colin Powell. However, I do like his scoring ability and he can stretch the floor.

Out of curiosity, how good of a defensive team were the Chicago Bulls before Tom Thibodeaux came to town? I am a FULL advocate for a change in philosophy here in DC. I don't think Flip is the right guy for the team and there needs to be a coaching change at some point.

- Beasley is a defensive liability at the 3 and an offensive black hole. He'd be better at the 4 as a back up than at the 3 as a starter on a team that wanted to win a series in the post season.

- Crawford is too small to stay with NBA shooting guards on the defensive end.

- Williams is a tweener that has been pushed around on rebounds and while on defense in college... the NBA bigs aren't going to be nicer to him.

I think the lineup can score while the starters are on the floor but I wouldn't expect them to defend well. Plus who is scoring off the bench after Lewis gets injured?

If we retain Young, then Crawford can come off the bench. Also, I hope that some of the bench (scoring) woes can be cured by who we select with our other 1st round pick or by who we get in the 2nd round. As Wizards fans, we need to remain realistic. I'm not even thinking about the playoffs. I just want this team to win 30 games and keep improving from there. It's good that guys like John Wall have lofty expectations, but there needs to be some MAJOR moves made and a revamped roster to do so. I don't think this is going to be a 1-year, and the flip is switched type of deal. I see big things from this team 2-3 years down the road, but like I said...major moves need to be made to get Wall some help and also to shed some of the negative energy that's in the locker room.

Let's face it...this team has A LOT of holes. Also, as immature as Beasley is, do you all think he'd be less of a headache than Blatche? It's weird, I'm all for that proposed trade (because I want Blatche out by any means necessary), but it would return Beasley.

As far as Derrick Williams getting pushed around by opposing 4s, I'm not worried about it. It's a SOFT league. He'll be fine. There are plenty of 4/5 3/4 tweeners who do well while being viewed as "small" for their position.

---------- Post added June-4th-2011 at 03:13 PM ----------

I think you're selling Crawford's defensive potential short Destino. He's basically the same size and has the same reach as John Wall who is big enough to defend 2s. Both Crawford and Wall are long and both have decent strength already. Both can defend the 1 or 2 interchangeably. Each are basically as tall and long as Dwyane Wade and they'll add strength as they age.

I agree Beasley plays soft for a 3 but he's actually a really strong player and absolutely has the strength to stick with any 3 in the league if he wanted to. My problem with that lineup is that Beasley and DWill are far too similar to play beside each other. They are almost identical physically except that DWill is a tiny bit longer and heavier with a higher % of body fat and slightly slower footspeed.

I don't like the idea of putting two tweener forwards on the court together at the same time. I think we should either search for a top shooting perimeter defender and play DWill at the 4 or find a really long PF and keep DWill at the 3. We should mix it up and find starters with different builds and strengths. I also want at least one of our forwards to be a good passer and I don't know that Beasley fits that mold.

Williams/Beasley could be interchangeable at the 3/4....that gives some sort of flexibility depending on who else is on the roster. Also, I wish there was a FA out there that could provide the spark that Tony Allen did in Memphis. I just took a quick look at the 2011 FA class and I don't really know who we should target as far as getting a good perimeter defender. Also, I'm pretty sure Chris Singleton will be long gone by the time we have our 2nd 1st round pick. Let me throw this out there...if we wanted to improve our interior defense/toughness, would you all be opposed to giving Kenyon Martin a 2/3 year deal?

Here's the 2011 FA list...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-11-12

you all see anything intriguing?

Well it's beneficial to us probably, but like the guy says, what's in it for Golden State? Why do they make this move? Sure Lee's contract looks like a mistake right now but I still don't think that's reason enough to take this trade.

It's also a really bad deal for Minnesota too since Lee doesn't fit well with Kevin Love at all. Plus they don't really need the draft picks they get in return from us. They need veteran pieces who fit. I think this trade has 0 chance of happening.

I totally agree...I think it has 0% chance of going through, but if it did...

McGee

Williams

Beasley

Crawford

Wall

*Didn't include Young, b/c no one knows what his plans are....also, I made the assumption we'd use the #2 on Williams assuming Irving went #1

Kyle Weidie from Truth About It came up w. this proposal:

WASHINGTON WIZARDS GET:

2nd overall pick (from Minnesota)

Johnny Flynn (from Minnesota)

20th overall pick (from Golden State)

Michael Beasley or Nikola Pekovic (from Minnesota)

[Note: Surely many would prefer Beasley, but likely not me. Bringing him back to his home area sounds like a horrible idea, just as replacing Blatche with him does. Pekovic could be a decent big man, I don't know enough about him other than to say Google him, he's somewhat intriguing.]

MINNESOTA T-WOLVES GET:

David Lee (from Golden State)

6th overall pick (from Washington)

34th overall pick (from Washington)

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS GET:

Andray Blatche (from Washington)

18th overall pick (from Washington)

Kevin Seraphin or Trevor Booker (from Washington)

[Note: I think I'd rather trade Seraphin in this instance, perhaps could go either way.]

The player-swap portion works in the ESPN Trade Machine — I know, none of this means much (and that Golden State probably never does this, even though Lee’s contract is absurd).

Still, Wizards fans, what do you think?

http://www.truthaboutit.net/2011/06/trade-anybody-but-javale-mcgee-washington-wizards.html#more-15941

Honestly, I'd do a backflip if this actually went down....

Brave...I have NO issue w. going after Oden if we can get him cheaply. By cheaply, I mean anything under or around 5 mil (2/10 or 1/5). It's a gamble that I wouldn't mind this team taking. He's only 23, and he's VERY good defensively. I could care less about what he does on offense. Of course the injury issues are a concern, but he's young (supposedly LOL). Shoot, if guys like Grant Hill and Big Z can overcome injuries and have good health...why can't Oden? I think a lot of teams probably look at him as a low-risk, high reward type of player at this point.

As far as Greg Oden......YES!!!

Low-risk, HIGH reward.....he's had injury problems (as we all know), but there may be a day where he overcomes his "bad luck." I would love for that to be here in DC. Dude is an absolute defensive presence and would help our woes in the middle. He's young and I still think he has plenty of upside. I look at a guy like Big Z who had just as many injuries/surgeries when he was younger only to turn it around (and be healthy) later on in his career. Hopefully, EG makes a move for him.

Good write up on Kawhi Leonard, Chris Singleton, Markieff Morris, and Tristan Thompson from BF....

I'll just post Leonard (because some boards have us taking him at #6), but include the link at the bottom for the rest...

Kawhi Leonard

Two-point percentage: 47.8%. That's just dreadful. Some of it can be explained by increased usage (Leonard's rate went from 25.6% to 27.5% from his first to his second year), but no lottery pick should ever be that low without a good reason.

Wingspan/Reach: This is Leonard's biggest asset. His 7'3'' wingspan is freakish and his 8'10'' standing reach is very good too. He also has insanely big hands.

TS%: 51.2%. Again, that's dreadful for a top prospect. It was only 51.5% the year before, so this isn't simply a function of increased usage.

Defensive Rebound Rate: 26.6%, 13th in the country. That's phenomenal, but...

3PT%: 29.1%.

Conclusion: And therein lies the problem. Leonard will have to become a passable three-point shooter, because he is so dreadfully inefficient as a two-point shooter. To do that, he will have to play further away from the basket, which negates his rebounding advantage. This is why I'm down on Leonard as a prospect. He's a great workout guy and has great measurables, but he doesn't have enough scoring ability to be anything more than a self-check as a 4, and even if he develops a three-point shot and becomes a 3/D type, it takes away his biggest on-court asset (rebounding). There are a lot of interesting things to the Leonard package, but they just don't add up to me.

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2011/5/24/2188125/kawhi-leonard-chris-singleton-tristan-thompson-markieff-morris#storyjump

Kanter stood up the Jazz, Raptors, and Bucks for interviews...

dude is trying his hardest to end up a Wizard LOL

You're probably right about Selby and Brooks but there is still a good amount of time until draft day so anything can happen. I think Harper might slip into the second but then again, I can also see the Spurs showing interest in a player like him.

Some of my favorites with our second two picks:

- Davis Bertans (a hell of a shooter and super long, everyone is looking for the next Dirk right?)

- Chris Singleton (best perimeter stopper in the draft)

- Klay Thompson (another great shooter)

- Kenneth Faried (why not?)

- Lucas Noguiera (upside is ridiculous, again why not?)

- Jereme Richmond (like Selby, underperformed as freshman but huge upside)

- Tyler Honeycutt (multitool wing who could crack our starting lineup)

- Nikola Vucevic (tough looking big who played pretty well in the play in game against VCU, Nick Collison?)

- Jimmy Butler (still need a 3).

We're selling ourselves short if we don't get at least something decent in return for Blatche. Blatche's numbers are good and his contract is reasonable. Some stupid or desperate GM will give up something of quality to get him. We shouldn't wait to trade Blatche if a decent offer is on the table but we also shouldn't rush a trade for a crap offer.

I think Blatche is a cancer. He's nothing but toxic to the team. It's one of those situations where it would be addition by subtraction. In a dream scenario, we package him on draft night with the #6. I am hoping some GM will reach and be intrigued by his skill-set to take him on. Wall is the future of the team, and I think it's in the best interest both on and off the court to surround #2 with guys who have hunger/desire to win and represnt the team/city in an appropriate fashion when not playing ball. We need contributing players who can match Wall's intensity. I look at the passion from guys like Noah, Boozer (strongly dislike the guy), Gibson, etc and think "why not us?" Look at the make up of the Bulls (which is a team I think we should try to model ourselves after), there is no cancerous player on that roster. Bottom line, he's got to go.

*What do you all think of moving Booker to the 3? Does he have the range, and can he stretch opposing defenses?

I think both Selby and Brooks will be long gone before the 2nd round...same for Harper. From what I've been reading, both Selby/Brooks have been KILLING it in workouts. Darius Morris will probably be there in the 2nd when we have our pick...I like his game, and IMO, would probably be a lock for the 1st if he had stuck around Ann Arbor for another year.

*Someone school me....with what happened in the NFL draft a few weeks ago, will teams be able to make trades on draft night with the looming lockout?

Just gotta find a way to get rid of Blatche...again, I don't even care if we get fair value in return, he needs to go. It's what's best for this team.