The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Destino]

Wizards can't afford to take another "project" in Drummond (at the #2), when you have LEGIT NBA-ready players in MKG or Robinson sitting right there for the taking. Taking Drummond with Nene on the roster and with Seraphin's improvement, would be a colossal mistake.

I agree. If we have a top 2 pick it has to be Robinson or Davis IMO. After that though it comes down to how good the scouts think Beal, MKG, and Barnes will be. If they don't think any of those guys has a chance of being an all star NBA player that's where Drummond creeps into the picture. You can't teach that size and speed. Remember he's not "fast for a center" he's rumored to be one of the fastest players at UConn when running the floor, including the guards.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

He's made good and bad decisions we can argue over which pile is bigger but to me the real issue is the culture. Since Arenas there has been a non-stop parade of unprofessional behavior in Washington. Blatche doesn't show up in shape and he gets forced on coaches. Guys like Martins and J Singleton are put on 10 day agreements at the end of the season when we all knew going in we lacked effort and veteran leadership. Rashard Lewis has pretty much flat out refused to play here. The list goes on and on.

This team needs a few no nonsense basketball professionals. One at GM and the other at head coach.

I've been saying the same for a couple of years now. I just think people act like Ernie is on Wes' level and I don't think it's even close. We could do a lot worse than Ernie.

[RonArtest15]

Drummond hasn't fully developed but I wouldn't call him a project.

Agree to disagree, but my main point is...he's not going to step in and make any sort of difference on this roster for a couple of seasons. Guys like MKG, Robinson, or Beal (who will all be there at #2), you can argue that they'd come in an contribute right away.

I forgot where I read it, but one scout said that Drummond is going to either make or break whichever GM that chooses him. Classic high-risk/high-reward player. If he's sitting there in that 5-10 range, sure...I can see why someone would draft him there. However, I think it's not in the WIZARDS best interest to take him at #2.

[StillUnknown]

He also traded the #5 overall for Mike Miller and Randy Foye. In addition to re-upping Blatche.

He also managed to assemble a team with no shooting ability and a ridiculously low collective basketball IQ.

Ernie is somewhat decent at identifying talent, but he has absolutely no vision or a clue when it comes to assembling a roster. Expecting a bunch of long athletic players who can't shoot and seemingly can't grasp basic basketball fundamentals to be competitive is a huge stain on Grunfeld IMO.

Not to mention he's responsible for fostering the complete lack of discipline and accountability that we've seen for the past few years.

[No Excuses]

Just to recap why Ernie Grunfeld should not be considered the worst GM in history. He traded 2nd round no-show Vladmir Veermenko for Kevin Seraphin, Jordan Crawford and Chris Singleton & 3 million dollars

No.

He allowed (in that trade) the Bulls to move Kirk Hinrich so they can have additional cap room to become the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Meanwhile, we are the 2nd worst team in the NBA. Continously getting worse without much progress.

Ernie is the dumpster for every NBA team to send their bad contracts.

Mentioning Jordan Crawford and Chris Singleton isn't saying much btw. Both of them would be the 13/14th bench players for any quality NBA team.

Edited April 11, 2012 by No Excuses

[Thinking Skins]

Yeah I think we could do a lot worse than Grunfeld. But that's just me. Maybe I still have some PTSD affects from the Wes years clouding my thinking.

Thats why I'm not so in favor of firing Ernie. I know we're bad, but I remember this team being horrible. With Ernie at least we have done SOME things right, even if one was the obvious thing in picking Wall, or undoing mistakes he shouldn't have made in the first place. The fact is that this team is cursed. Imagine how hard of an environment that is to work in. If he gets fired, I hope we get a legit successor and not just somebody to be somebody new.

---------- Post added April-11th-2012 at 12:08 PM ----------

Then can't you say the same for the problems during the Grunfeld years?

Well with one exception, Abe did the GREAT thing of making sure the Jordan couldn't come back after returning.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Thinking Skins

[No Excuses]

Ernie had something that no other GM under Abe had. He had much more control of the team.

I'm sick of the Abe excuse. Did some of you see the guy in his last couple of years? He gave Ernie a blank check to assemble a veteran team and Ernie got him Darius Songalia, DeShawn Stevenson, Mike Miller and Randy Foye.

[RonArtest15]

Ernie had something that no other GM under Abe had. He had much more control of the team.

I'm sick of the Abe excuse. Did some of you see the guy in his last couple of years? He gave Ernie a blank check to assemble a veteran team and Ernie got him Darius Songalia, DeShawn Stevenson, Mike Miller and Randy Foye.

And as much as Gilbert Arenas did for this franchise, he should have NEVER been given that 111 mil deal coming off of 2 surgeries and a 3rd on the horizon. Completely idiotic. Big 3 should have been blown up right then and there.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

And as much as Gilbert Arenas did for this franchise, he should have NEVER been given that 111 mil deal coming off of 2 surgeries and a 3rd on the horizon. Completely idiotic. Big 3 should have been blown up right then and there.

I seem to remember pretty much EVERYONE wanting to resign Gilbert.

[TradeTheBeal!]

I seem to remember pretty much EVERYONE wanting to resign Gilbert.

Not everyone.

[No Excuses]

I don't fault him for Gilbert. It was a risky decision every GM makes. The upside was that you had a top 10 player in the NBA.

The problem was always building around Gilbert. The depth on those teams was always terrible. No bench production from guards or bigs.

Those teams won because Gilbert was THAT good.

Edited April 11, 2012 by No Excuses

[RonArtest15]

I seem to remember pretty much EVERYONE wanting to resign Gilbert.

I must have been in the minority, because i thought it was idiotic to give that type of contract to a man coming off of two major knee surgeries (with a third on the way).

It's water under the bridge though....but if this team had started re-building back in 2008, I wonder what they'd look like today?

[the burgundy and gold]

Why can't Wall shoot jump shots? The little kids at the half-time show were shooting from the outside better than him. He'd be soooo good if he could shoot.

Yeah it seems like his jumper has regressed throughout the season. A few months back it seemed like he had turned the corner with it but I haven't seen him hit one in what feels like 3-4 weeks.

[Going Commando]

Lamb declared already. Drummond expected to make an announcement today or tomorrow. I can't see him going back but who knows.

http://boston.sbnation.com/2012/4/10/2938892/uconn-will-learn-andre-drummonds-fate-wednesday-or-thursday

I think the 14th is the deadline.

I don't think the Kentucky guys have officially declared yet either.

---------- Post added April-11th-2012 at 02:20 PM ----------

I've been saying the same for a couple of years now. I just think people act like Ernie is on Wes' level and I don't think it's even close. We could do a lot worse than Ernie.

Certainly. But we could do a lot better. I've been reading all of the articles about the Spurs organization, about OKC, and Pat Riley that I can find. It's amazing stuff.

I don't get the sense that our FO is anywhere close to their league.

The NBA is pretty uncompetitive compared to the rest of the major sports leagues. There is a strong line between the haves and have nots--franchises with total winning percentages almost three hundred points higher than others. There is the small handful of franchises that run the show and then about an equal number of jobbers.

We are most definitely a jobber. We're a filler team that the good teams use to pad their records and tune up for the truly competitive games.

We can't pull ourselves up by the bootstraps with a mediocre to subpar front office. We, more than anyone else, need to be on the cutting edge of management and leadership if we want to elevate ourselves into the upper echelon of the league. I can never see that happening with Ernie. I do think he's filled the cupboard pretty well with some young talent. But I don't trust him to make the next step and develop that talent into a winning organization.

---------- Post added April-11th-2012 at 02:32 PM ----------

Wizards can't afford to take another "project" in Drummond (at the #2), when you have LEGIT NBA-ready players in MKG or Robinson sitting right there for the taking. Taking Drummond with Nene on the roster and with Seraphin's improvement, would be a colossal mistake.

Both MKG and Robinson are a work in progress on the offensive end too.

Edited April 11, 2012 by stevemcqueen1

[RonArtest15]

I think the 14th is the deadline.

I don't think the Kentucky guys have officially declared yet either.

---------- Post added April-11th-2012 at 02:20 PM ----------

Certainly. But we could do a lot better. I've been reading all of the articles about the Spurs organization, about OKC, and Pat Riley that I can find. It's amazing stuff.

I don't get the sense that our FO is anywhere close to their league.

The NBA is pretty uncompetitive compared to the rest of the major sports leagues. There is a strong line between the haves and have nots--franchises with total winning percentages almost three hundred points higher than others. There is the small handful of franchises that run the show and then about an equal number of jobbers.

We are most definitely a jobber. We're a filler team that the good teams use to pad their records and tune up for the truly competitive games.

We can't pull ourselves up by the bootstraps with a mediocre to subpar front office. We, more than anyone else, need to be on the cutting edge of management and leadership if we want to elevate ourselves into the upper echelon of the league. I can never see that happening with Ernie. I do think he's filled the cupboard pretty well with some young talent. But I don't trust him to make the next step and develop that talent into a winning organization.

---------- Post added April-11th-2012 at 02:32 PM ----------

Both MKG and Robinson are a work in progress on the offensive end too.

Not nearly on the level of Drummond, and outside of Davis, you can make a case for those two being the most NBA-Ready out of those who have declared for the draft.

[Going Commando]

I think Drummond will be a top 3 pick if he declares. There isn't much reason for him to stay in school considering that. Especially since UConn is a program in transition and Calhoun is eyeing retirement.

Personally, I would go Davis and MKG ahead of Drummond. But when you start getting into the Robinson, Sully, Drummond, Beal, Barnes tier, things get dicier. There is no question that Drummond has significantly higher upside than any of those other guys.

Personality considerations aside, Drummond is easily the best choice for us at #2 overall. He could be a franchise changer. Obviously personality considerations are a factor but I question how much we can know about that sort of thing from our position.

I'm kind of at the point where if we get the third pick, it'll be a major disappointment anyway. Why not swing for the fences with Drummond? What's the worst that can happen, we stay as bad as we already are? We're kind of at rock bottom.

[StillUnknown]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/18472570/postups-listing-the-best-executive-free-agents-on-the-market

A list of several free agent executives and up and comers.

[No Excuses]

Record wise we may be at rock bottom, but I don't think we are. With a talent like Wall, we really need one or two solid additions to immediately go from the bottom to at least the lower 6-8 seed level.

I really really hope we pursue James Harden.

Edited April 11, 2012 by No Excuses

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Not everyone.

Yeah I actually remember you being against it. If RonArtest15 says he was too, I have no reason not to believe him. But a big majority of people wanted to resign him. You gotta remember, Gilbert had given us Wiz fans the best seasons of our lives. And the last time he had really played, he was in full-blown Hibachi mode. Hitting game winners seemingly every week. We loved him. We didn't want to lose him. And you remember the big deal people made because he gave up like $12 mil? Yeah, definitely a majority were for resigning him.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

I'm going to post something and I want to just get reactions:

Jordan Crawford = Nick Young 2.0

Honest reaction. I'll expand/explain later

[StillUnknown]

I wouldn't go that far.

Crawford has an overall skillset that is better than Young's, I think he's still struggling between finding that balance of getting his opportunities and setting up others, which isn't abnormal for a player still relatively new to the league. In flashes, he's shown himself to be a pretty good passer, he just doesn't think that far ahead on a consistent basis.

Ideally, I would rather him being an instant scorer off the bench, but I'm not ready to lock him to being NY 2.0 right now. I think there's still hope for him if we get a real coach to get inside his head.

Nick was one dimensional, and not all that good at that particular dimension.

[Going Commando]

I don't think Jordan is like Nick Young. I think he's less selfish, a better passer, cares more, has legit on court chemistry with John and is liked by his teammates.

Nick is so west coast and he was a clown like JaVale. I don't get that sense from Jordan.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Agree totally with both of you. That was what Bill Rohland was pushing on 106.7 while I was driving home. Completely dismissed Crawford as a player, said he's nothing more than Nick Young 2.0. That was among other things. Actually pissed me off to the point that I had to change the station. But not before I texted the station telling him he sounded like a ****ing idiot.

I can't stand listening to local sports radio guys talking Wizards. The only ones I respect are Danny Rouhier, Cakes and Thom Loverro. Everyone else talks out of their ass. It's painful sometimes. And especially from the radio home of the Wizards.

BTW, I know for an absolute FACT that on air people from both stations read this board. Including this Wizards thread.

Edited April 12, 2012 by G.A.C.O.L.B.

[MonkFan8]

Crawford and Young are completely different players. Yeah, they are both volume shooters, but Crawford you can deal with because he contributes elsewhere and actually takes the ball to the basket. There is almost no comparison between them as players.

Sports talk radio is generally awful.

[Fergasun]

Jordan Crawford reminds me of Jamal Crawford 2.0.

I think he passes a lot more than Nick Young as well; and it seems like his shot falls more often. Maybe thats just perception...

I can't believe Wizards fans would complain about trading Young and McGee when it meant that Seraphin and Crawford getting more minutes... I've not seen it a ton but I'll take Seraphin's baby hooks over Javale's above the rim dunks any day of the week, if he's going to do all the intangible stuff and actually learn the game.

Who is their big-man player development head when he can do that to Seraphin and McGee hasn't developed much of anything!

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