Going Commando

First, it's no certainty we would have taken Curry had we the chance. I seem to remember Rubio and Derozan being the ones everyone wanted. Even still, a lot of people wanted Thabeet or some more bigs. PF/C seemed like our biggest needs at the time because we had Caron Butler and Jamison playing the wings. Then, If we had picked Curry and he'd had that sensational rookie season with us, there is no way we'd have been bad enough to get Wall. As it stands, I'd rather have Wall than Curry and Al Farouq Aminu or something. The trade sucked and I hated it at the time, but we came out alright on it by ending up with Wall and a bunch of cap flexibility. But I have thought about what it might be like to have Curry and Wall. Or what if Tyreke Evans had slipped just one more spot, what a freaking dynamic backcourt he and Wall would make.

Give it a while. You can't totally remake the team in a single offseason. This time last year we were still trying to eke out some wins with Butler, Arenas, Miller, and Jamison. It hasn't been long since we made the determination to rebuild. So as it is, there are going to be some parts that don't fit right until we can find better solutions through the draft or through FA. Thornton, Armstrong, and Hinrich are place holders until better solutions arise. I don't know WTF Yi is, but he's expendable enough that he doesn't really vex me. Tune out those guys and look at the core: McGee, Young, Wall, Booker, Seraphin, Blatche. That's not a bad construction at all. You've got your superstar point guard. You've got a center who will be in the top 5 at his position in the East for the next decade. You've got a sweet shooting, offensively gifted swingman who seems to thrive in the sixth man role. You've got an extremely talented but extremely raw big who can knock heads with anyone in the league and set the physical tone for our entire team. And then you've got a rugged combo forward who brings energy off the bench and elite defensive potential, and if he ever develops some outside shooting, he'll be such a good utility player. Blatche could be a valuable trade chip if Seraphin blossoms. If not, he'll remain a good scoring PF which is good enough to find a place on our team. Yi is a long term project with a great deal of athleticism and ability to play above the rim. He's not a bad 10th man when you get down to it. As for Arenas and Howard, I don't really know what to make of them. Arenas is kind of a millstone and doesn't have much of a place on this team any more. Best case scenario is that he could play lights out and them some desperate team will take him off our hands for 30 cents on the dollar. Does anyone know what kind of contract Howard has? Assume he comes back mid season and has a solid year. Is he tradeable? Every championship team seems to feature a strong 8 man core. Between Wall, McGee, Young, Seraphin, and Booker, I think we have five of those players right now. I think we could stand to add another great offensive player on the wing and I like Harrison Barnes specifically. I think we'll have a strong chance at him too. Then we're really cooking. I also want to see us add a true 2 who can play strong defense and shoot. I love Michael Gilchtist and wish the kid were draft eligible this year because he'd be my top choice to pair with Wall for the next decade. As it is, we probably won't be picking high enough to take him in 2012. What about making a play for someone like Corey Brewer? He'll be an RFA in 2011. I also think it's fairly clear that Flip won't be our coach in the long term. And another thing, think of Flip and John Wall's persistent injuries as blessings in disguise. Nothing is serious yet. But both are doing enough to keep us in the hunt for one final top draft pick, allowing us to add that perimeter star we need.

Harrison Barnes had a nice game the other night. 19 points, 10 rebounds, 7/16 from the floor, 3/8 on 3s, 2/5 from the line. His shot is starting to fall. He could stand to improve in a couple of areas, but I think this is a sign of things to come. I'm crossing my fingers hoping we get him. He'd be perfect for us.

For the Braves? I don't know I think you all can manage it. Injured or no, that arm terrifies you. It gives you visions of ass whippings to come.

Well Jared Sullinger had 40 points and 13 rebounds (7 offensive) tonight. He's incredible. If Cleveland keeps sucking and ends up with the first overall pick, J.J. Hickson or no, I smell a Sullinger selection. Also, Kyrie Irving is definitely not going first overall now. He might not even come out. Apparently he's really damaged the ligaments in his foot and his season is most likely over. He flashed enough to still be a top 5 pick if he comes out and checks out medically, but I think Barnes, Jones, Jones, and Sullinger will pass him as they start to heat up over the course of the season. This looks like a year where you want a top 5 choice and would be disappointed in getting the sixth. For us, we'll probably need to finish top four so we can get one of those four forwards I mentioned.

Keeping Flip for the rest of the season means we'll probably end up with 90% of the balls in the lottery. Who's out there to replace him? ---------- Post added December-9th-2010 at 04:22 AM ---------- I think Kyrie Irving has the strongest case to go first. As good as Terrence Jones has been, Irving has been better. He's almost playing even better than Wall did last year. He can shoot the lights out of the building. I've seen young Chris Paul comparisons and I believe that's his ceiling with his quickness, shot, and phenomenal ball handling. Working against Irving is the fact that so many bad teams have drafted PGs recently and will probably want to see if they develop before giving up on them for Irving. But he's a future superstar PG so you have to believe that every lottery team except us, and maaaaybe the Grizzlies and Warriors will be tempted by him (although if I'm the Warriors, I trade Monta Ellis, move Curry to SG and draft Irving in a heartbeat). Irving would sure as crap be an upgrade over Baron Davis and Eric Bledsoe for the Clippers. Or Johnny Flynn for the Twolves. Or Beno Udrih for the Kings, especially since it lets Tyreke Evans move to his natural SG position (that'd be a nasty backcourt). In short, I think Irving can go first overall as long as we're not picking there. But I wouldn't rule out someone like Perry Jones turning it on over the second half of the season and cementing himself at the top. I hope he does go first overall so he'll push a good forward down to us.

Ugh, this is just freaking painful. Eye on the prize, eye on the prize. First overall pick... first overall pick.

Sullinger has a damn good post game considering how young he is. You don't often see freshmen bigs coming out with his level of offensive polish. It would be beautiful to have a low post offensive force to compliment our backcourt, but I've been reading that Sullinger carries some concern about his upside. He's been a good rebounder at Ohio State, but scouts seem to have questions about his ability to dominate the boards in the NBA. He's not a great athlete and he's very heavy and will probably weigh in pretty soft. He's also only 6'9 in shoes. We don't need another defensively soft big a la Andray Blatche with a post game. We'd be hoping for Jefferson/Love as the best case scenario and that's not the most comfortable feeling. Plus goddamn Booker and Seraphin looked awesome last night. To me, Harrison Barnes/Terrence Jones + those two is better than Thornton/Howard + Sullinger. Need tips the balance over BPA in favor of a wing versus Sullinger. ---------- Post added December-8th-2010 at 09:47 PM ---------- Making the playoffs as an 8 seed with a .500 or below record would be a disaster for us in the long term. In all likelihood, this is our last year to get a lottery pick and add that third blue-chip stud to our roster. If we don't, we'll have to pray for unusual luck on draft day or, even less likely, absurd luck in FA. I think we badly need a top 3 pick and we need to hit on it. Our situation is a bit like the Thunder's from the past few offseasons. They acquired several lottery picks in a short span and were able to turn the first three into Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Jeff Green. They had the third overall pick in 2009 and had one last shot at turning it into the final blue chipper in their rotation. It could have been Stephen Curry (imagine) or Tyreke Evans. Instead they picked James Harden... Thank God they ****ed up or they would be unbeatable now, but we can't afford to make a similar mistake. And we definitely can't afford to start winning now. I'm rooting for close, thrilling losses each game.

I don't think there are any superstars in this entire class outside Kyrie Irving. That kid is phenomenal, but we obviously can't take him. He won't be as good as John Wall is. Kemba Walker would also be a superstar if he were 3 or 4 inches taller. Outside of those two guards, I think you've got a lot of guys who can be the second or third best players on really good teams. They're guys who help you win championships, but certainly not stars. Specifically, I'm talking about Jared Sullinger, Enes Kanter, Perry Jones, Terrence Jones, and Harrison Barnes. Jared Sullinger could probably be our starting PF right now because he's got an NBA body and skillset and he's more skilled than Booker or Seraphin are. But I feel like he'd just be superfluous. We'd need to get rid of Blatche first, because Sullinger can only play PF. He's not long enough to play center and he's too big and slow to play on the wing. I like the Booker/Seraphin duo's potential, and I don't really want to see us draft another 4. Sullinger gets compared to Al Jefferson because he's so big. Jefferson is perfect on the Jazz team as it's second banana behind Deron Williams and they are a really good team in part, because of Jefferson's post presence. And Sullinger would definitely give us a hell of a rebounder and post scorer which we may or may not already have. But damn, I want to take the gamble that we already have it in Booker/Seraphin, we just don't know it yet. I see Enes Kanter having a similar skillset to someone like Luis Scola or Kevin Love as a big limited a bit by his lack of height. He's not long enough to play center in the NBA and that's his natural position. I could see his transition being difficult though, so it might be a while before he becomes good. Turkey is very different from the USA. Again, I think Kanter could be a good pick for us, but it's the same argument against Sullinger I used--I want us to gamble on the PFs we got last year. Like I said, I see Terrence Jones being an Odom type in his skillset and I could see him having a similar career trajectory if things break well for him. He's got the biggest range of skill of all the forwards because he used to play PG and has that mentality to his handle. He's also got a set of post moves and plays in the paint quite a bit for Kentucky. If you look down the line and see Wall as our Kobe, and McGee as our Gasol, the you could definitely find a place for Terrence Jones as our Odom. He'd be a good pick and I think he's probably our safest value since he's proven he can produce big time at the college level as Kentucky's second best player.. I see Perry Jones as having the athletic profile of a superstar, but not the mentality. LaceDarius Dunn is Baylor's alpha player, not Jones. He'll be one of the top ten athlete's in the league once he gets here a la Josh Smith. But he's definitely not Josh Smith. He's an enormous wing player with great ball handling skills and a long range on his jumper. I think he'll have the ability to dominate on both sides of the court like no one else in this class and he'll get to the point where he can drop 30 on a team at the drop of a hat. But I believe those performances will be sporadic from him because he's an up and down guy--has been since high school. It's all a matter of which Jones you get that night: --the dominating physical force looking like a super tall Tracy McGrady, --or the passive guy who's head is out of it or he's simply content to let his teammates take over the load that night. That's why I think he can only be a number 2 or 3 option on a great team. Finally, Harrison Barnes is the quintissential team first jack of all trades kind of player who does everything well. He's like what Grant Hill is to the Suns right now (only with better health and athleticism). Grant Hill was a superstar for the Pistons, I don't see that kind of trajectory for Barnes. What you see with Barnes is what you get. He busts his butt every game, plays good defense, is very smart with a high basketball IQ, has a long body and the strength to guard any perimeter threat, rebounds well, can go up and swat shots above the rim, and handles it pretty well. His j has sucked this year but it's usually a strength. He's capable of making the spectacular plays in transition. All in all, I think that, while Barnes won't have Perry Jones's upside and isn't as safe as Terrence Jones, Barnes represents the best mix of upside with security in the class. He'll be such a nice compliment to the Wall-McGee duumvirate. He's not a superstar, but he can be that crucial third star on a championship caliber team that puts you over the top.

I've been reading comparisons of Terrence Jones to Lamar Odom and I can see them. He's not as powerful as Odom is, but he'll probably grow. It's novel that he's a lefty but he doesn't look like he's got many skills with his right hand. I do like that he's got a bit of a post game and that's why I brought him up a couple of pages ago. But since we've got so many young guys at the PF position, we'd need Jones to help us at the wing. One thing about him, he's been performing very well this year where Perry J. and Barnes have both been ordinary to bad. But from what I've seen of the latter two from their senior years of H.S., they are much better and more explosive athletes than Terrence J. is. Barnes isn't even that special of an athlete, but he runs better and can explode off the floor better, plus he's got those long arms and blocked so many shots at the previous level. I like Barnes because he doesn't have weaknesses to his game. I've followed him pretty closely so far and his problem right now is that he's just shooting like ****. Everything else has been there--the defense, rebounding, passing, ball handling, playmaking in transition, etc. He just has sucked shooting from the floor for some reason. I think he's just in a funk and hasn't been able knock it down. Plus, I believe he's deferring to UNC's older players in several games so far, and doesn't necessarily have that alpha player mentality to where he'll demand the ball like Brandon Knight or Kyrie Irving does. What I like about Barnes is that he's probably the smartest, hardest working player in the class and he's a better athlete than most (this tends to get nitpicked on him because he's the top player in the class and has a huge target on him). I do think the Grant Hill comparisons are there with him. I think once he fixes his shot, he'll start lighting up the scoreboard. I just hope its not before he enters the draft. I want him to drop to us because he'd be such a nice fit in our lineup. He wouldn't have to be an alpha go to scorer because when John Wall and Nick Young are on the court, we've got plenty of that already. But if we're looking for a 2 guard, the 2012 lottery will be much more fruitful. I LOVE Michael Gilchrist's game and Austin Rivers looks like a longer Stephon Curry in his level of skill. Damn I wish they were available this year, or that we'll trade and get a high lottery pick for 2012. Gilchrist would be my ideal choice for us this year if he were available, even ahead of the Jones' and Barnes.

Everything I've read says that Jones is a pure wing player. Don't let that 6'10 height and 10' reach fool you, he's a perimeter guy. If we want another powerforward, what I've been hearing is that your best bet is either Jared Sullinger, Derrick Williams, or one of the foreign bigs like Enes Kanter. I want us to get a wing though. I freaking love the idea of Booker and Seraphin rotating at PF over the long term. Hell, we could start McGee and Seraphin for the rest of the year as the front court IMO. That's a long term tandem. The 2 and 3 positions aren't spoken for, especially since: - Hinrich is nothing more than a solid backup pure PG - Gil gets traded - We might want to keep Nick Young in the sixth man role - Thornton is probably best off the bench too - Howard comes back poorly from his injury So by that logic, I think Barnes and Jones are our two best bets although Terrence Jones has been having a sensational season so far. He's not the athlete Barnes or Perry J. are though. Barnes is having a piss poor season but I'd still take him in a heartbeat. He's got serious skills and has the perfect mentality to seamlessly slide into our team and be a complimentary piece since we already have a superstar (Wall) to carry the team on his back. Most of all, I wish there was no dumbass age limit rule. I'd freaking love to have either Michael Gilchrist or Austin Rivers as our starting 2 guard. You'd have like 60 points a game from one of those guys + Nick Young + Wall as your primary backcourt rotation. Gil needs to be traded for whatever we can get. I'd take on a bad contract and a lottery pick at this point. I love him and he's our second best player, but I just don't think he works with Wall. Blatche should be tradeable IMO. He scores lots of points so the stat lines almost always look good, plus he's young and has a very manageable contract. On a bad team like ours from last year, he's proven he can be the top scoring threat. I wonder if we can trade Gil and Blatche on draft day to make sure we get Harrison Barnes.

Maybe he doesn't want to grind down their spirit with constant losing and failure just yet. Aside from that, I don't mind the losing. We kept it close with the best team in the league and goddamn! Mother****ing John Wall is the best mother****ing point guard in the mother****ing league! Nick Young is a beast too. The future is very bright. We'll tank this year, maybe the age limit will be lifted, and we can get a beast of a player in this class.. It's an exciting time to be a Washington sports fan. Well except being a Redskins fan. But I'm riding high on the Nats and Wizards right now and I'm about to join the Caps bandwagon in earnest.

I was trying to do a quick mock draft in my head when I came to a startling conclusion about the Timberwolves. They actually have a shockingly bright future ahead of them if they can get a few things to break the right way for them. 1.) They get Ricky Rubio to actually come and play for them or 2.) They finish with a top two/three pick this season and draft Kyrie Irving Look at this lineup if Rubio agrees to play for them: PG: Rubio SG: Wesley Johnson SF: Michael Beasley PF: Kevin Love C: Darko ****, if they spend that high lottery pick they get this season on a stud center prospect like Enes Kanter, that's an extremely promising starting 5. Even if Rubio doesn't even play for them, they're still in position to end up with a top two or three pick this year and Kyrie Irving becomes ideal. Two seasons down the line, I'd want no part of that team. How the hell did David Kahn pull this off?

He could teach the Redskins a thing or two about transparency. It's as if they think that admitting you are rebuilding is a sin...

Was anyone surprised when they found out Blake Griffin would miss the entire season last year? I bet his knees started fracturing the moment he herd David Stern read his name on draft day. They are truly cursed. I wonder if having one of the worst owners in all of sports is a function of the curse, an accessory to it, or is it's ultimate progenitor?

I wouldn't take their curse. But I like their drafting over the past four years. Gordon, Bledsoe, Griffin, and Aminu is a good core and they're already showing signs. They just can't win games yet. We're in the same boat. I think we'll probably be in it a little longer, but wait for Wall to grow up a bit and we'll start winning. The same thing happened to the Thunder just last year.

I'm rooting for close losses this year. It's a temporary embarrassment and it hurts your pride. But I want us to get the first or second overall pick again. Right now, the two highest graded prospects in the country are wing players. The way I see it, we've probably got one more shot at a blue chip potential all-star prospect in the draft. By the end of year 2 of the John Wall era, he and McGee will probably have us in the playoffs as a late seed. Once that happens, our days in the lottery will be over. This conference barely has enough quality teams to even fill out its 8 seeds as it is. Give us a foundation of an All Star playing point, wing, and center, and that's enough to contend with. Plus we already have solid role players to build around like Young, Booker, Seraphin, Jianlian, and Blatche. If I had my way, we'd actually suck this season and next to get back to back to back top 3 picks. Imagine coming away with Harrison Barnes and Michael Gilchrist over the next two years. The team would become a powerhouse like the Lakers are now. PG: Wall SG: Gilchrist SF: Barnes PF: Blatche C: McGee Shooter and spark: Young Defensive stoppers: Booker, Seraphin Energy guy and marketing boon: Jianlian The Clippers have had top 10 picks 3 times in four years and are set to get another one this year. Their team has an assload of young talent on it. The same thing was the case for the Thunder for a couple of seasons when they loaded up on Durant, Harden, Westbrook, and Green. I think we're in a similar boat.

Has Gil had a good game in which Wall got a significant amount of PT? I can't remember one. Maybe he can't flourish alongside Wall. Booker got a lot of time tonight and he put up good defensive numbers. Young's minutes were down from what they had been lately. I guess there isn't room for a four guard rotation.

Yeah, I feel like that trade would be a pretty big win for the Magic. I wouldn't make it if I were our GM. Arenas is playing too well right now to send him to a contender and division rival for an expiring contract when we already have so much cap space anyway. Plus I think Arenas has gracefully accepted the youth movement on our team and he's already bought into his new role in what we're tying to do. I can't wait to see our back court when both he and Wall really get going. And from an X's and O's standpoint, I don't think we should give up our best shooter and one of our top guards who has the ability to play both the 1 and 2. If people on the Magic see it as a losing situation, and we see it as a loss, lose-lose trades don't typically get made.

Happy birthday ACW. Let's hope the basketball gods grant you your wish.

It could happen. I was a little skeptical about Barnes coming out early since UNC does a better job than most of hanging onto their players. Ed Davis' situation comes to mind. But then again, Brandan Wright came out after a single season. Barnes won't slip out of the lottery though, no matter how bad his season is. He probably won't even slip out of the top 5 picks. That being the case, he might as well come out this year because, like you said, his momentum can only cool off. Next year isn't going to be easier for him to go first overall. I think Andre Drummond would go first overall this year if he were draft eligible. I also don't think Barnes as is good as Michael Gilchrist is going to be, and he's not as skilled offensively as Austin Rivers already is. So if he waits a year to come out, I believe fourth overall or later is likely. Kentcuky has two lottery picks now since Enes Kanter isn't playing for them. I think both Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight are definitely going to come out this year. For one thing, they're kicking ass right now. For another, Kentucky already has a ridiculous incoming recruiting class that figures to cut into their PT. Look at this--Kentucky has managed to sign three of ESPN's top 6 HS recruits: Gilchrist (3), Anthony Davis (2), and Marquis Teague (6). Ridiculous. Kentucky is becoming a PG factory. On a similar note, Perry Jones is probably going to come out too because Baylor signed his clone in Quincy Miller.

In the East, they're good enough. Judging by the way the season has gone, I can't think of more than 5 East teams that deserve to go to the playoffs. Atlanta is going to be a 3 seed and they aren't anything special.

BTW, speaking of Harrison Barnes, this is his box score against the College of Charleston tonight: MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS 29 | 3-12 | 0-4 | 2-3 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 |4 | 4 | 8 Another crap shooting, ineffectual night from him. He's not going to be the first overall pick at this rate. I like his game, but he's not been playing well. I think the question is, if we're picking high and Perry Jones, Terrence Jones, Jared Sullinger, etc. are all on the board as well as Barnes, do we even want him? Perry Jones hasn't been great either, but at least he has massive athletic upside. I think you have to consider those guys, plus Kyrie Irving, Brandon Knight, and Kemba Walker, as safer prospects than Barnes. He needs to put together some good games.

Has anyone watched this Terrence Jones kid from Kentucky? Forget about Harrison Barnes or Perry Jones, TJ might be the man for us! He's a 6'8 southpaw with good quicks and a great handle. He's also got a nice shot and is capable of creating for himself off the dribble or catching and shooting off screens. I don't see him as being quite the athlete PJ and Barnes both are. He doesn't explode from the floor quite like them. But he's pretty strong and he's more than capable of blocking shots and supposedly even has a post game. He's been on a tear over the beginning of the season, averaging 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game so far. Just watch how he and Brandon Knight are meshing to give us an idea of what TJ and John Wall could do along side each other. Here is some literature on him: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Terrence-Jones-5708/ Here's a quick highlight video: One more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMN0LSAutXI&feature=related

I think this was the first night Seraphin got some decent PT. I want to see more of him. Also I didn't know what to expect from Gee but he already looks like a good pickup. You have to love our group of guards. We could use a big time small forward though. Having Howard and Thornton out at the same time certainly doesn't help.