The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Destino]

11 hours ago, purbeast said:

Oubre's shot fell WAY off like right before the playoffs.  While Wall was out he was very reliable but I dunno, he just went ice cold when Wall returned and never got it back.  He was consistent when he got to the rim and would get to the line often, but he was hitting like 1 out of every 10 three pointer he took.

I know it feels like his shot disappeared late, but the numbers show that it happened about halfway through the season.  He turned into a pumpkin in February.  Look at these fg%'s 

 

October  .453 FG% .444 3P%

November .421 .371

December .426 .367

January  .482 .426

February .346 .270

March .382 .258

April .271 .300

Playoff series .375 .211 

 

He needs to borrow Otto's shooting coach, and Otto needs to get on whatever dribbling work Kelly's been doing.

 

Despite the bad shooting I still think there's a lot to feel good about in terms of Oubre's development.  His handles and shot creation are miles ahead of they were when he was drafted.  When he was drafted everyone knew he was a project and that typically means the usual third year leap is delayed.  I think we'll see it next season.  

 

The bad news is that if I'm right, the wizards won't be able to afford to keep him.  If anyone offers a 1st round pick for him this offseason, or before next s season's trade deadline, I think the Wizards have to consider it.  

 

 

[purbeast]

Damn ok so I didn't realize it fell off that early.  When I see his playoff stats on FG% a lot of that has to because he was taking it to the rack.  I love watching him when he explodes to the rim.  He is a lot faster and more powerful than he looks being tall and skinny.  And he has some hops on him too.

 

I hope they keep him around because he's really fun to watch, is probably the best defender on the team, and brings a lot of energy to the team when he's in the game and defending well.

[SKiNz Jus 2 sick]

The future of this team to me isn't looking too good

Grunfield need a to be fired like 3 years ago 

[thebluefood]

[14,571 Days] since our last "Bullets Day." 

[Going Commando]

All we need is LeBron to sign with us for the MLE and we'll be fine.

[Renegade7]

11 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

All we need is LeBron to sign with us for the MLE and we'll be fine.

Man, feel like we've been through this before.

 

My concern is he LeBron does come here and Wall takes it the same way Kyrie does, we're going to lose him, too.  Then we're going to be stuck with Ernie kissing the ground LeBron walks and constructing a roster that looks like Cleveland (that LeBron is about to leave high and dry this offseason). 

 

I don't want to be Cleveland, I want to be Boston/San Antonio.  

[TradeTheBeal!]

I’d rather have Bron sign up as our new GM.

[Renegade7]

6 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

I’d rather have Bron sign up as our new GM.

Guess that begs the question:  Does LeBron actually know how to build a team?  History shows that when he has the most influence he prefers one that orbits around him.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

55 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

Man, feel like we've been through this before.

 

My concern is he LeBron does come here and Wall takes it the same way Kyrie does, we're going to lose him, too.  Then we're going to be stuck with Ernie kissing the ground LeBron walks and constructing a roster that looks like Cleveland (that LeBron is about to leave high and dry this offseason). 

 

I don't want to be Cleveland, I want to be Boston/San Antonio.  

 

 

I don't think you have anything to worry about.

[Renegade7]

13 minutes ago, Lombardi's_kid_brother said:

 

 

I don't think you have anything to worry about.

You're most likely right and my heart is just overreacting on this one. 

 

I don't trust this guy with a ten-foot pole, but that's just my opinion on the matter based on how I've seen him operate over the years.  If Ted truly believes in Ernie and Brooks and wants them to stay, this may be the only way for us to be contenders.  I'm doing my best to just let my brain do the calculations on this one, I just know if that if this goes south, the only person with any spine to stand up to him will be Wall, not Brooks, not Ernie, not Ted, not even the media that covers us.

[Going Commando]

LeBron could drag this team to the Finals without breaking a sweat.

[Renegade7]

Just now, stevemcqueen1 said:

LeBron could drag this team to the Finals without breaking a sweat.

I know... I know, man, I agree with you.  We may have to just get out the way and see what happens, I'm prepared for that and at this point okay with conceding and being fine with that, but my radar is going to be up the whole time.

 

I just have to ask, is there no part of you that shares my concern at all?  Or are you just treating this as "worth the risk"?

[pjfootballer]

It’s been 40 years. I’d take a one and done title at this point. The Kansas City Royals have one of those. 

[bearrock]

23 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

I know... I know, man, I agree with you.  We may have to just get out the way and see what happens, I'm prepared for that and at this point okay with conceding and being fine with that, but my radar is going to be up the whole time.

 

I just have to ask, is there no part of you that shares my concern at all?  Or are you just treating this as "worth the risk"?

I think Steve just has more pertinent things to worry about.  Like whether to wear outfit A or outfit B when ScarJo calls him for a midnight booty call.  He looks fly in outfit A, but it's got some tricky buttons and might kill the mood a bit.  It's a real dilemma.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

25 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

I know... I know, man, I agree with you.  We may have to just get out the way and see what happens, I'm prepared for that and at this point okay with conceding and being fine with that, but my radar is going to be up the whole time.

 

I just have to ask, is there no part of you that shares my concern at all?  Or are you just treating this as "worth the risk"?

 

I have a few beliefs on Lebron:

 

1. He's either the greatest or second greatest player of all time right now in this moment. Jordan True Believers were never going to be swayed on this at all. The rest of us can go either way.

2. His legacy is that he reinvented how free agency is done, how basketball is played, and finally that he brought the first title in half of century to his hometown.

3. He might play at something approaching this level until he is 42 or 43 or 53. I'm not sure he's human.

 

So, I think he should go on a "change the franchise" tour. Every year, he signs a one-year max deal with a club and sees if he can win a title with them.

 

First stop: Philly.

Second stop: Milwaukee

Third stop: New Orleans

 

Each year, every team begs him to come to them and take them over the top. Each year becomes a question of can that team do it. And each year, a new city becomes the center of the basketball universe.

 

I think Washington could make a compelling argument for a one-year stopover.

 

His next to last year should be in Miami. His final year in Cleveland.

 

Who hates this idea? Nobody.

 

[Dan T.]

And what could he command for those 1-year contracts?  $60 million per?

[Renegade7]

2 minutes ago, Lombardi's_kid_brother said:

Who hates this idea? Nobody.

Me neither.

 

I've tried to explain that my concern isn't so much what this team would look like on paper, but what our franchise would look like if he was here.  If he's just passing through, most of my concerns would be alleviated.

 

I agree that we're about to see something we've probably haven't seen before is an MVP caliber player just bounce around wherever he wants with no loyalty to anyone except getting a ring.  My only concern is will teams ceiling their rosters to make sure they always have room for him in case he wants to come there way (which actually is what helped kill KD2DC instead of helping it).  

[bearrock]

Maybe NBA should institute the LeBron exception.  If your franchise has gone 20+ years without a ring, you can pay one player outside the cap, whatever amount you want, but only for that one year.

[Going Commando]

39 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

I know... I know, man, I agree with you.  We may have to just get out the way and see what happens, I'm prepared for that and at this point okay with conceding and being fine with that, but my radar is going to be up the whole time.

 

I just have to ask, is there no part of you that shares my concern at all?  Or are you just treating this as "worth the risk"?

 

I don't get why you are looking down your nose at LeBron.  Do you really think we're too good for him here?

 

1 - LeBron is not coming here.  Even if he wanted to play for us, we can't afford him.

 

2 - What risk?  The risk that we add the second greatest player in NBA history and he takes us from being a dead end mid level team in the East to a contender?

 

Every team in the NBA would get massively better if LeBron played for them and we are certainly no exception.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

6 minutes ago, Dan T. said:

And what could he command for those 1-year contracts?  $60 million per?

 

I honestly think the league office should pay him a flat $20 million per year to play until he's 50. Everyone else has to follow the salary cap.

 

I'm not joking that I think he can play another ten years. He's not remotely into his Paul Pierce/Vince Carter old man game years yet.

[Dan T.]

He certainly has the body to transition his game.  And the basketball smarts.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

4 minutes ago, bearrock said:

Maybe NBA should institute the LeBron exception.  If your franchise has gone 20+ years without a ring, you can pay one player outside the cap, whatever amount you want, but only for that one year.

 

I think every team should have one max exception that they can use one a decade or so for a two or three year deal. A team like Milwaukee or New Orleans could suddenly be in the market for Paul George or even Lebron as opposed to having a game-changing superstar and a ****ed-up roster.

 

There is nothing that kills a team or city like having that transcendent player and then screwing up the team around them. Cleveland did it the first time with Lebron. OKC did it. Milwaukee and New Orleans are in danger of doing it. There would have to be a strategy involved too as to when to pull the trigger.

 

Also......it would open up the possibility of Lebron going to Golden State for two years, which - come on - Skip Bayless would spontaneously combust.

I think I'm in the wrong thread. This is not about the sad Wizards. Sorry.

[Renegade7]

2 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

I don't get why you are looking down your nose at LeBron.  Do you really think we're too good for him here?

 

1 - LeBron is not coming here.  Even if he wanted to play for us, we can't afford him.

 

2 - What risk?  The risk that we add the second greatest player in NBA history and he takes us from being a dead end mid level team in the East to a contender?

 

Every team in the NBA would get massively better if LeBron played for them and we are certainly no exception.

Man, I've tried to explain this several times, this isn't about being "too good for him".  I don't like how he has a tendency to want to dominate a franchise up to the Front Office level and down to the Coaching Staff level (whether he's right or wrong on anything).  I'm concerned Wall will leave for similar reason Kyrie did and when LeBron is done with us, we'll look like what Cleveland is about to look like.  

 

I don't think ya'll are listening to me about this, so I'm tired of talking about it.  Do what ya'll want to do, because its sounds like ya'll are so desperate for a championship you're not thinking about building a quality organization that will contend once he's gone.  He's not going to allow a coach to come here that's going to be on his level and if you want to get rid of Ernie, you can forget if he gets Ted LeBron here.   

 

You're also right that we can't afford it anyway, so ya, I'm ready to just never state my opinion on this again if after all this that is you're take away from my feelings about this.  I'm wasting my breath.

[Going Commando]

Paul Pierce was in his old man game years when he was playing JV.

 

I believe Paul Pierce traded his ability to grow old man facial hair in exchange for old man game when he was 15 and his beard and mustache have been frozen in time ever since.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

12 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

Me neither.

 

I've tried to explain that my concern isn't so much what this team would look like on paper, but what our franchise would look like if he was here.  If he's just passing through, most of my concerns would be alleviated.

 

I agree that we're about to see something we've probably haven't seen before is an MVP caliber player just bounce around wherever he wants with no loyalty to anyone except getting a ring.  My only concern is will teams ceiling their rosters to make sure they always have room for him in case he wants to come there way (which actually is what helped kill KD2DC instead of helping it).  

 

1. Lebron is not coming to the Wizards.

2. Durant was never coming to the Wizards. I don't even know how that idea got circulated. He wouldn't give his "hometown" team a courtesy meeting. Do you think they were ever remotely on his radar?

3. Teams always try to open up cap space for stars. And then only the Lakers and/or Heat land a star free agent.