The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Going Commando]

Doesn't Troy Weaver make a lot more sense than Ferry?

 

Or why not just give the job to Sheppard?  He's already started shaping the team according to his style and personality.

[StillUnknown]

1 minute ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

Doesn't Troy Weaver make a lot more sense than Ferry?

 

Or why not just give the job to Sheppard?  He's already started shaping the team according to his style and personality.

 

in one of Katz's stories before the draft he mentioned how OKC had essentially frozen Weaver out of their draft process this year as they waited on him to hear back from us

[Mooka]

On 6/14/2019 at 2:48 PM, Lombardi's_kid_brother said:

1. Uijiri turns down the Wizards' offer.

2. Wizards panic and hire Danny Ferry.

3. A viral video of an argument between Ferry and a black waiter in Georgetown goes viral and Ferry resigns before the season starts.

4. Ernie is back!!!

 

 

[Destino]

1 hour ago, StillUnknown said:

 

Green prospects don't scare me at the moment. We're not close to competing for anything but a fringe 8th seed spot at best. I'm perfectly willing to swing and miss on prospects the next couple of years as long as they have high upside.

 

3yrs of experience and good coaching still didnt make Rui any good on defense, despite having physical gifts to be excellent in that area.

No but it did turn him into the leading scorer on one of the best college teams in the country.  He was scoring in the half court with a variety of moves, both hands, and hitting pull up mid range shots at a high clip.  Face up and back to the basket.  That’s a huge leap for a raw player that hasn’t played basketball very long.  

 

There’s no reason to think that with good coaching he can’t be a good enough cog in a team defense eventually.  He has the physical tools that can’t be taught and he has the work ethic to learn quickly.  He won’t be a Draymond Green, but he doesn’t have to be.  I’m not writing him off yet.  

[RonArtest15]

There's A LOT to like about Rui...

 

 

These clips are only 4-5 years into his basketball CAREER.  I'm liking this pick more and more and really think he could turn out to be something special for the Wizards. 

[bearrock]

4 hours ago, Destino said:

There’s no reason to think that with good coaching he can’t be a good enough cog in a team defense eventually.  He has the physical tools that can’t be taught and he has the work ethic to learn quickly.  He won’t be a Draymond Green, but he doesn’t have to be.  I’m not writing him off yet.  

 

Captain!  I found a problem!

[StillUnknown]

4 hours ago, Destino said:

No but it did turn him into the leading scorer on one of the best college teams in the country.  He was scoring in the half court with a variety of moves, both hands, and hitting pull up mid range shots at a high clip.  Face up and back to the basket.  That’s a huge leap for a raw player that hasn’t played basketball very long.  

 

There’s no reason to think that with good coaching he can’t be a good enough cog in a team defense eventually.  He has the physical tools that can’t be taught and he has the work ethic to learn quickly.  He won’t be a Draymond Green, but he doesn’t have to be.  I’m not writing him off yet.  

 

I do appreciate the fact that if he doesn't work out, it won't be because he wasted his opportunity

[No Excuses]

I am a fan of the pick as well.

 

My only concern is that without proper coaching, he may end up as a Nick Young type player. Someone who can score from anywhere on the floor but is so utterly bad at everything else, that he is not at all an asset on the court.

[Going Commando]

1 hour ago, RonArtest15 said:

These clips are only 4-5 years into his basketball CAREER.  I'm liking this pick more and more and really think he could turn out to be something special for the Wizards. 

 

That was a fun watch.  He has explosive power and likes to bully his way into the paint.  His footwork is also good and he is very aggressive, which makes for an efficient scorer.  I think it's a good sign that his footwork is so well developed and he's confident enough to use advanced handles in games at such an early point in his development.  He's one of those guys who is just very athletically gifted and picks up sports fast.  Languages too apparently.  He's an intelligent and impressive young man.  Kind of reminds me of Serge Ibaka in that way.

[Going Commando]

1 hour ago, No Excuses said:

I am a fan of the pick as well.

 

My only concern is that without proper coaching, he may end up as a Nick Young type player. Someone who can score from anywhere on the floor but is so utterly bad at everything else, that he is not at all an asset on the court. 

 

Defense is my concern too.  I think his future upside hinges on how much he can improve on that end of the court, because I think it's a safe bet he's going to become a very versatile and skilled volume scorer.  He has the physical tools to become a strong defensive player.  Very strong and very long arms with big hands.  Jalen Rose said Rui's physicality reminds him of Kawhi, and I don't think that claim is out of bounds.  His defensive upside will come down to whether he can improve his instincts and awareness.

 

I think he'll be better than Nick Young, no matter what.  Someone like Jeff Green is probably his worst case scenario.  He's a much more efficient offensive player than the typical bench gunner guard/forward.  Nick Young was a low efficiency jump shooter who had no inside game, whereas Rui is an interior scorer who gets to the FT line at a solid rate.

[Thinking Skins]

I can't wait for summer league to start. I know the conversation is all about Rui and it should be but I'm much more interested in the bottom of our roster, and filling it out. I know i like the Thomas Bryant story and I'm curious to see what becomes of him. 

 

There's funny talk about us being a playoff team vs rebuilding vs 50 wins. I mean, having rooted for this team for so long and remembering when we couldn't even dream to finish .500, I'm not mad at this approach because i can take more rebuilding just for the sake of it. 

 

But watching this team for wind and losses is fools gold. I just want to see player development and hustle. That's why I liked Kawhi back in the day and hopefully it's something i can like about this team this year. 

[Destino]

2 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

Defense is my concern too.  I think his future upside hinges on how much he can improve on that end of the court, because I think it's a safe bet he's going to become a very versatile and skilled volume scorer.  He has the physical tools to become a strong defensive player.  Very strong and very long arms with big hands.  Jalen Rose said Rui's physicality reminds him of Kawhi, and I don't think that claim is out of bounds.  His defensive upside will come down to whether he can improve his instincts and awareness.

 

I think he'll be better than Nick Young, no matter what.  Someone like Jeff Green is probably his worst case scenario.  He's a much more efficient offensive player than the typical bench gunner guard/forward.  Nick Young was a low efficiency jump shooter who had no inside game, whereas Rui is an interior scorer who gets to the FT line at a solid rate.

 

I agree with you, and I'll add that I also want to know if he can set a good screen too.  He's got a big body, quick enough feet, a smooth confident mid range shot, and ability to attack and finish around the rim.  Be a shame to not use that combination in pick n roll.  None of the highlights I've seen have him setting a single screen though.  Setting good screens is a big bonus and not everyone can do it. 

 

[Warhead36]

So...we gonna have a GM for Free Agency or nah?

[spjunkies]

22 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

So...we gonna have a GM for Free Agency or nah?

 

[StillUnknown]

1 hour ago, Warhead36 said:

So...we gonna have a GM for Free Agency or nah?

 

Nah 

[Going Commando]

Here's a breakdown of our cap situation heading into free agency:

 

- Salary cap = 109 million.

 

- Eight players under contract for 98 million.

 

- Sixteen cap holds totalling 79 million.
 

That puts our total cap allocations at 177 million.  Alright, so this is how we save money to figure out how much cap space we can have for free agency:

 

We can waive Jonathan Simmons and Tarik Phillip and Jordan McRae to create 5.4 million in cap room if need be since their contracts are non-guaranteed.  But we might want to keep them.

 

We can release the holds on everyone except Bryant, Hachimura, and Sato, leaving us with 19.7 million in holds.

 

That puts our allocations at 112.3 if we waive the three non-guaranteed players.  So basically, we'd be three million over the cap heading into free agency if we decide to do that and keep Sato and Bryant.  Doing so gives us this depth chart:

 

PG: Wall, Sato

SG: Beal

SF: Troy Brown Jr

PF: Rui Hachimura

C : Thomas Bryant, Dwight Howard, Ian Mahinmi

 

Bascially we're looking at the non taxpayer MLE and min contracts to fill out the rest of the roster.  There might be some exceptions for signing former second round picks, like Aaron White, but I can't remember.  I also can't remember if we used our Bi-Annuel Exception last summer, so we may or may not have that too.

 

It looks to me like we're going to need to use our best exceptions on forwards.  We have young talent there, but no reliability.  I haven't looked at what's available in FA, but I've heard this is a guard heavy class, so we should probably be looking for one and two year stop gaps.  We also need a third guard that can handle a lot of playing time.

 

Given all of that, this team maxes out at 35 wins next year if Beal stays healthy and Wall misses the season.  We're going to play terrible defense and our forward rotation will be shaky.  The goal for the season needs to be to take on no real long term money, get a good draft pick and use it well, and clear out room for next summer to make a playoff push with a healthy Wall and Beal heading into his expiring season.

[StillUnknown]

 

[Going Commando]

This level of Japanese media attention is crazy and it definitely has me nervous.  I have a bad feeling we're going to end up looking really stupid to Japan.  I also worry about the amount of pressure that Rui has on him for being the pioneer of a sport for a huge nation.  That is going to be hard to manage when you're also trying to adjust to the new level of competition plus he's still adjusting to a new country and culture and language.  But he seems to handle these things with grace so far.

 

It reminds me a little of how much scrutiny Yao Ming was under when he came to the NBA.  That was worse though.  The NBA was much less tolerant of foreign basketball players back then.  That was to the point where damn near every game of his rookie season was a referendum on Chinese basketball.

[bearrock]

Counter to that is a Yao was fantastic player when healthy and Houston eventually became a playoff team.  If NBA wants to cash in on this golden opportunity to expand into Japanese market, I say they send us some help.  Basketball seems pretty settled in Canada.  Do they really need Ujiri and Leonard in Toronto?  I say they would be much more valuable assets promoting the beautiful game in the Nation's Capital to the Japanese audience.

[StillUnknown]

2 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

This level of Japanese media attention is crazy and it definitely has me nervous.  I have a bad feeling we're going to end up looking really stupid to Japan.  I also worry about the amount of pressure that Rui has on him for being the pioneer of a sport for a huge nation.  That is going to be hard to manage when you're also trying to adjust to the new level of competition plus he's still adjusting to a new country and culture and language.  But he seems to handle these things with grace so far.

 

It reminds me a little of how much scrutiny Yao Ming was under when he came to the NBA.  That was worse though.  The NBA was much less tolerant of foreign basketball players back then.  That was to the point where damn near every game of his rookie season was a referendum on Chinese basketball.

 

japanese sports culture is a bit different, at least from what I know about the fight game over there. Wins & losses are secondary to how the player comports themselves. 

[@DCGoldPants]

The Japanese thing I don't think will be an issue. From all reports he carries himself very well and works very hard. Even if his performance isn't elite, like StillUnknown said. It's all about maturity, respect, how you handle yourself.

[CRobi21]

 

[757SeanTaylor21]

Get jordan stevens in the building

[RonArtest15]

Tony Wroten is the guy I'm gonna keep an eye on.  He might be in serious contention for a guard spot going into the season. 

[abdcskins]

That's cool we got Admiral Schofield. Surprised he didn't get drafted. I've seen Caupain have some big games in college too. Same with Corey Davis. I don't know how summer league/mini camp rosters work, but we should try to hold on to those guys. 

 

Lol I guess we drafted Schofield. Had no idea we traded with the Sixers. Shows you how closely I followed the draft, I turned it off as soon as we drafted Hachimura.

Edited June 25, 2019 by abdcskins