The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Gamebreaker]

Bring Melo.  We have no one to take the ball and finish teams off.  No alpha scorer.

 

Closest we have is Beal, who's upside is Ray Allen.  Ray Allen didn't do **** when he had to carry teams.  Between John Wall passing up open shots, Beal air balling multiple three's, and Nene being always injured and inconsistent, it's painfully obvious what Melo can add.

 

If Melo is a ballstopper, unload Nene and let Melo have his offensive touches.  Melo at PF actually improved the Knicks when Amare went down.  If PF is not ideal, then find someone who will fill that role.

 

Wall

Beal

Melo

????

Gortat

 

You can't just automatically say Beal is exactly like Ray Allen in his prime(not a bad thing), and claim he won't be a factor in clutch time. He clearly had plenty of clutch shots in this year's playoffs already. 

 

Furthermore, Melo will NEVER win anything. Because he wants the offense to flow through him, and he simply isn't good enough for that to happen and his team wins. Haven't this team, lead by Wall and Beal, already gone further in the playoffs than Melo has? 

 

This offense works when Wall is dominating the rock and distributing, not Melo going iso 75% of the time and the rest of the team standing around watching. 

[ZardTard]

Webster contract looks terrible now.

You can't just automatically say Beal is exactly like Ray Allen in his prime(not a bad thing), and claim he won't be a factor in clutch time. He clearly had plenty of clutch shots in this year's playoffs already. 

 

Furthermore, Melo will NEVER win anything. Because he wants the offense to flow through him, and he simply isn't good enough for that to happen and his team wins. Haven't this team, lead by Wall and Beal, already gone further in the playoffs than Melo has? 

 

This offense works when Wall is dominating the rock and distributing, not Melo going iso 75% of the time and the rest of the team standing around watching. 

Wall and Melo P/R would work IMO

Edited May 17, 2014 by ZardTard

[Hersh]

Webster contract looks terrible now.

 

 

The moment that EG drafted Porter, that contract looked terrible. It's one of the many examples of EG not thinking long term. In fact, now that the season is over, the lack of assets and poor drafting is really going to show up by limiting the ways the Wiz can get better.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball-washington-wizards/talk/ariza-free-agents-would-be-crazy-not-come-here

 

 

Ariza: 'Free agents would be crazy not to come here'

 

 

"My family is definitely the most important thing to me before basketball, everything. That plays a big factor into a log of things," Ariza said Friday after he packed up his locker and prepared to leave Verizon Center following the Wizards' playoff elimination to the Indiana Pacers the previous night. "But when you build something with people that's hard to let go, too. What we built in this locker room this season, this is a beautiful thing to me. I really enjoyed playing with those guys. I love those dudes like they're my brothers."

 

 

 

 

"Trust. Having trust in where you are, with your organization, with your teammates and how comfortable you are," Ariza said when asked to prioritize how he'll go about his decision. "How comfortable my family is. This year my family has been extremely comfortable. We loved the neighborhood that we lived in. The organization has been great. Teammates, we hung out all the time. This is a really good destination. Free agents would be crazy not to come here. 

 

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball-washington-wizards/talk/wizards-expect-satoransky-summer-league

 

 

Wizards expect Satoransky for summer league

 

 

Two years after being taken in the second round of the NBA draft, Tomas Satoransky will return to play for the Wizards' summer league team.

 

Satoransky, a 6-7 shooting guard, has played for the Czech Republic national team and most recently in Spain professionally. 

 

Summer league play tips off July 11 at the Thomas and Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas and a tournament-style format will be utilized for the second year in a row.

 

The Wizards won't make his addition to the summer league roster official anytime soon, but CSN Washington has confirmed that the team has asked him to attend.  

 

Satoransky, 22, was taken 32nd overall in 2012 and played that summer in Las Vegas. He could be the perimeter addition that the Wizards need pending who they lose in free agency. 

 

Edited May 17, 2014 by BRAVEONAWARPATH

[Warhead36]

Why do people want Melo? He's a dog. I wouldn't want him anywhere near this team. Some guys are always gonna put up #s but never win anything. No thanks.

[Fergasun]

I'll admit to peripherally following the team vicariously through RealGM and ES Wizard forums and then happily watching as much as possible on the national stage for the past month (or so it felt it was a month long ride) and watching the Wizards against the Lakers/Clippers when they were here. 

 

So here's my thoughts:

 

1) This season was the best season the Wizards have had in a long time, since 2005.  I made a post somewhere about how I loved watching this *team* and they had a great rapport with each other.

 

2) I will get killed here but bring Whittman back!  He brought to team to the next level!  They were the 5th seed and won a playoff game with him at the coach!  Why not give him a chance to take the Wizards further?  He had nothing to do with how the players responded, fought, and came together? 

 

Maybe I'm biased because this team grew up before our eyes, especially BEAL.  But I would try to keep the core together.  Wall+Beal for obvious reasons, Nene because of how he destroyed Noah (oh, we are so quick to forget!), Gortat because of his energy and I like his attitude, and Ariza because well, he would be the one I wouldn't mind if he moves so space was made for Porter.

 

I think this whole team was something special with the way guys fought for each other and genuinely meshed as a team.  Especially Wall+Beal+Gortat, but I can't leave out Nene and Ariza. 

 

Did I mention how much this year was surprisingly awesome and enjoyable to be a Wizard fan? 

 

So what I hope for the offseason is something like "Grunfeld pulls a strech-4 out of a hat" or "Booker makes some miraculous strides at jump shooting".  But hey, that's much better than "Maybe Javale won't be a knucklehead" and we get to to through an offseason where we don't have to care whether or not Vesely is on the verge of Nowitzkiness... but ahhh... Satoransky! 

[Pedro]

After the dust has settled what a fantastic season.

 

A weak east allowed a young team to get play off experience and even when eliminated, the players will know they could (and likely should) have progressed another round.  The team chemistry, personality wise, is as good as it gets and even the bumbling coach did some good at times.

 

In that last game Beal working the pick and roll stepping one way then back behind it for an uncontested shot was beautiful.  An off season of working with Gortat to get better at it, plus even better scoring efficiency due the practise.... try stopping that

 

Are we on the verge of players inking contracts that fit the salary structure to come/stay here?

[earl]

My thoughts are as excited as we are about this season, the truly promising thing is that wall and beal are in their early 20's. Realistically our window is in 3-5 years. Our superstars will be polished and in thier prime and hopefully Bron will be on the decline. Any drastic moves before then would be impulsive and stupid. That's not to say if opportunity knocks we can't consider, but I say let's not reach.

1. Have to lock in Gortat.

2. I would love to keep Ariza but not at the price of losing flexibility and not able to max out beal when that time comes. I'd love to give him a big short term contract that frees up when beal is due for an extension but I don't think he takes it. Unless we can trade Webster I think Ariza has to go. Hopefully Porter/ Webster can step up and maybe add a Shane battier caliber type player. Cheap, exp, defender that can knock down a 3.

3. Nene. Yes his contract sux but it expires the year we need to pay beal. I don't want to trade him for another bad contract that jeopardizes beal. Furthermore although nene isn't a superstar he makes this team a factor and without him wall/beals development is stunted cuz we don't play competitive playoff ball. His problem is he is fragile. I think instead of trading him we surround him with younger solid depth that can split minutes and keep nene fresh for the playoffs. I' d like to bring in a stretch 4 that isn't old as dirt. Pat Paterson? Keep seraphin and booker.

With the money saved from Ariza I'd like to add depth at the bigs that are younger then gooden and Harrington. Pay Miller another year to backup Pg. Then sit tight and see what wall/beal develop into for another year. I wouldn't be surprised if those 2 grow into the creators and scorers this team obviously need. This also gives us some flexibility for the Durant pipe dream. But I think the primary focus is to keep flexibility w/ cap while maximizing development of wall/beal by being playoff fixtures and balancing the roster with some vets (nene,Gortat, miller). The long term vision is the year after nene is off the books , we have wall and beal both locked in long term and both are polished superstars and now we have the money to really chase a chip. Anything done now short of signing a Durant caliber player is short sited and premature as wall/beal have to grow much more.

[StillUnknown]

there were 3 other games in this series where he was finger rolling from the restricted zone.

Gortat is a finesse big, and that annoys me greatly.

 

Its odd because based on his personality you would think he would be physical more often than not. Definitely want him back, hopefully at a reasonable price, but he has to be consistently physical. He should also work on his hands as well, can't count how many times he's bobbled the ball off the entry pass or when rolling to the basket.

[No Excuses]

If anything Gooden demonstrated was that this team badly needs spacing in the front court. We need to bring in a big man who can shoot consistently from the outside and to provide insurance for when Nene is inevitably injured. 

 

The absolute best case for this team next year is that Nene can play over 72+ games and give them 28 MPG. He will be easier to trade the following season when his contract is expiring. But if we're paying him 13 million next year, we have to hope that he can finally stay healthy throughout. I would hire a team of trainers specifically for him (not joking).

[No Excuses]

Instead of Ariza, we should focus on improving our front court depth so players like Booker and Seraphin never see meaningful playing time. Two players I would look into are Jason Smith and Patrick Patterson. Smith gives us size and can knock it down from mid range. Patterson has 3 PT range and can be an effective bench scoring big man.

[Going Commando]

Why do people want Melo? He's a dog. I wouldn't want him anywhere near this team. Some guys are always gonna put up #s but never win anything. No thanks.

I don't want Melo either, but he wins. His teams only missed the playoffs once, he won a national championship at Syracuse, and he won gold medals with Team USA.

[Going Commando]

Instead of Ariza, we should focus on improving our front court depth so players like Booker and Seraphin never see meaningful playing time. Two players I would look into are Jason Smith and Patrick Patterson. Smith gives us size and can knock it down from mid range. Patterson has 3 PT range and can be an effective bench scoring big man.

Patterson seems like a fit to me. There is definitely a place for him on the team and he can shoot from all over the floor. He played with Wall in college, there is a relationship there. He's young. Probably won't be too expensive. If we can sign him away from Toronto, then I don't really see any problems.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Michael Lee ‏@MrMichaelLee  16h

A day after season ended with loss to IND, John Wall, Bradley Beal, Garrett Temple, Chris Singleton & Glen Rice Jr came to watch the Mystics

 

 

Michael Lee ‏@MrMichaelLee  

 

Al Harrington on #wizards nearly making ECF: "I told these guys, if we would’ve got there, I was going get all the rights for the 30 for 30"

 

Michael Lee ‏@MrMichaelLee 

Trevor Booker on John Wall: "When I first got here, I remember, he couldn’t shoot a lick, but he worked his butt off." #wizards

 

Michael Lee ‏@MrMichaelLee  

Al Harrington on #wizards keeping team together: "Ted got the pockets. If he want to go in the luxury [tax] he can keep every last 1 of us."

 

 

Michael Lee ‏@MrMichaelLee 

Trevor Booker: "It was a fun ride. The first couple of years, we were the laughingstock of the league. Now, we have everybody’s respect."

 

 

Michael Lee ‏@MrMichaelLee 

Trevor Ariza on suggestion that he only played well because it was a contract year: "Whatever. As long as they watched, respect." #wizards

Jason Whitlock ‏@WhitlockJason  21h

John "Brick" Wall must be out of the playoffs, not a peep out of @MrMichaelLee

 

[Destino]

John "Brick" Wall. lol that's cold.

[Sticksboi05]

I don't want Melo either, but he wins. His teams only missed the playoffs once, he won a national championship at Syracuse, and he won gold medals with Team USA.

 

Making the playoffs in the NBA is not an accomplishment.

[No Excuses]

Making the playoffs in the NBA is not an accomplishment.

Who is the best second player Melo has ever had? They were all fairly mediocre. Melo has carried subpar talent his whole career. He's never had the luxury of second talent that Kobe, Wade, Bron and Durant have had.

[Destino]

I think people get a little carried away with this "Melo can't win" stuff. Melo would make life a lot easier for Beal and Wall, and Wall would get Melo more easy buckets than he's had anywhere outside of team USA.

That said, no chance he comes to DC.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Destino

[Going Commando]

Making the playoffs in the NBA is not an accomplishment.

Tell that to Kevin Love.

[Destino]

Tell that to Kevin Love.

[Sticksboi05]

Who is the best second player Melo has ever had? They were all fairly mediocre. Melo has carried subpar talent his whole career. He's never had the luxury of second talent that Kobe, Wade, Bron and Durant have had.

 

Yeah, Allen Iverson sucks.

[Hersh]

Who is the best second player Melo has ever had? They were all fairly mediocre. Melo has carried subpar talent his whole career. He's never had the luxury of second talent that Kobe, Wade, Bron and Durant have had.

 

He was on a couple of really good Denver teams and one that made it to the conference finals back in 2009. I think part of the "he doesn't win" rep comes from his stats falling off in the playoffs and his teams only getting out of the first round twice.

[The Sisko]

John "Brick" Wall. lol that's cold.

But mostly true. Hopefully that kind of thing pushes him to further improve his mid/outside shooting.

[Destino]

But mostly true. Hopefully that kind of thing pushes him to further improve his mid/outside shooting.

Worst part is that it's the kind of nickname that will stick if he doesn't improve. How long did people say Westbrick? Long after Russ was hitting shots at a high rate. Wall need to come out shooting like Beal next season or Brick Wall it shall be.

Edited May 18, 2014 by Destino

[CRobi21]

Seems like people are going off on Johns shooting ability from only watching the playoffs. He was much more consistent throughout the year. Hed have his bad stretches at times, but is much better shooter than what he showed in the post season.

He made a huge jump with his shooting this past year, no doubt in my mind it will continue trending upward.

Edited May 18, 2014 by STBonecrusher21