The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Going Commando]

Get Beal and MKG and sign Ersan and another shooter like Gerald or Willie Green and I'll be a very happy Wizards fan. Put every one on the table except for Wall and Seraphin and try and do it without losing Nene or Vesely and we'll be in business. Especially if we can do it without taking on too many bad contracts.

[Destino]

Any word on how Drummonds work out with he wizards went? All I've seen is a few general reports from the local media that don't really say anything.

[SuperBash]

Bobcats just hired Mike Dunlap as HC. An assistent coach in the Big East. St Johns I think. hahahahahahaah Jordan...

[StillUnknown]

Bobcats just hired Mike Dunlap as HC. An assistent coach in the Big East. St Johns I think. hahahahahahaah Jordan...

Gotta appreciate the Bobcats, as long as they exist, we will never be the bottom of the barrel.

[Samuels]

I would call Portland we could probably get Wesley Matthews+# 6 for # 3. At # 6 your still getting a hellva player and Matthews would start day 1.

I'd even consider trading the pick to someone like Atlanta Josh Smith/or Horford+ Marvin Williams,#23 for Rashard+#3. The 3rd pick is'nt likely to be a all star caliber player anyway and your getting 2 legit 25 year old starters and a lower first rounder. Josh Smith is a perfect uptempo PF for Wall to run with, he rebounds and blocks shots at a good rate covering up for Nene. With a legit 2 guard that team could do some damage and the frontline would have alot of depth.

[SuperBash]

I guess they figure they are going to suck anyways so why pay a lot of money to a proven head coach.

[skinfan2k]

its a great hire for the bobcats. hiring an assistant college head coach for a college JV roster

[No Excuses]

The Bobcats did what we did. They hired a coach who they don't have to pay much and won't have a tough time firing. They expect to suck. But our owner is already BS'ing the fan base that he's all about winning now.

[Destino]

Do we know who the team has liked in work outs? The local media frankly couldn't be more disapointing. The redskins can't change the brand of hand soap they use in the administrative office bathrooms without someone in the press obsessing over it. The wizards hold workouts and we don't even have clue #1 as to what the team thought of them.

Only thing I've heard concerns MKG and I suspect that it has a lot to do with national mocks having us choosing him.

Edited June 19, 2012 by Destino

[Going Commando]

I would call Portland we could probably get Wesley Matthews+# 6 for # 3. At # 6 your still getting a hellva player and Matthews would start day 1.

I'd even consider trading the pick to someone like Atlanta Josh Smith/or Horford+ Marvin Williams,#23 for Rashard+#3. The 3rd pick is'nt likely to be a all star caliber player anyway and your getting 2 legit 25 year old starters and a lower first rounder. Josh Smith is a perfect uptempo PF for Wall to run with, he rebounds and blocks shots at a good rate covering up for Nene. With a legit 2 guard that team could do some damage and the frontline would have alot of depth.

Mathews was horrible last year. I don't really want him even if he was free. We would majorly lose on that deal.

I don't care for that Atlanta deal either.

[Destino]

Bobcats just hired Mike Dunlap as HC. An assistent coach in the Big East. St Johns I think. hahahahahahaah Jordan...

Served 2 years as an assistant coach under George Karl with the nuggets.

2 time NCAA div II national champion and coach of the year.

I'm not sure if it's such a terrible hire. He's not had an opportunity yet but his resume suggests he's ready for one.

[Going Commando]

Seems like Sully's medical issue is getting a mixed reaction. Apparently doctors were advising teams not to take him in the first round. But he's not actually unhealthy. He's the same player he was at Ohio State, and his Dad said he's doing physical therapy to help the problem and Thad Matta said he's in as good of shape as he's ever been.

I have a hard time seeing Sully fall out of the first round. He's too good and the expectations for a late first rounder are so low anyway. If he did though, boy would it be nice to get him.

[Samuels]

Mathews was horrible last year. I don't really want him even if he was free. We would majorly lose on that deal.

I don't care for that Atlanta deal either.

Matthews is a good player not sure how much you actually watched him. He is right around a 40% 3 point shooter all 3 years in the league and will get you 12-15ppg.

[Going Commando]

Matthews is a good player not sure how much you actually watched him. He is right around a 40% 3 point shooter all 3 years in the league and will get you 12-15ppg.

Matthews is a good perimeter defender and he shoots a lot of three pointers, I'll give you that. But he was not good by any stretch last year.

He shot .385 on jumpers last year, .383 on threes, and he attempted 337 of them. He missed a ton of threes man. He also shot .412 overall, which is almost as bad as Crawford. He doesn't get assists, he doesn't rebound, and he had a PER of 14.1. Worst of all he's got almost 7 million per year and three years left on his contract.

You simply can't pay a guy with a 14 PER 7 million a year, much less trade down a top three pick to get him.

If we want a high volume inefficient shooter, just keep Jordan Crawford and let him fire away. Or extend Cartier Martin and get most of what Matthews brings at a fraction of his salary.

[Samuels]

Matthews is a good perimeter defender and he shoots a lot of three pointers, I'll give you that. But he was not good by any stretch last year.

He shot .385 on jumpers last year, .383 on threes, and he attempted 337 of them. He missed a ton of threes man. He also shot .412 overall, which is almost as bad as Crawford. He doesn't get assists, he doesn't rebound, and he had a PER of 14.1. Worst of all he's got almost 7 million per year and three years left on his contract.

You simply can't pay a guy with a 14 PER 7 million a year, much less trade down a top three pick to get him.

If we want a high volume inefficient shooter, just keep Jordan Crawford and let him fire away. Or extend Cartier Martin and get most of what Matthews brings at a fraction of his salary.

38% on 3' s is damn good on this team. His fg% was higher his first 2 years.

But i thought he was on his rookie deal forgot he was a Udfa. For that coin i'd pass as well.

---------- Post added June-19th-2012 at 12:47 PM ----------

Alot of reports saying we love Mkg ughh. Love him as a player but this offense is gonna be a complete joke. You can't build a team around 2 awful shooting perimiter players.

[Thinking Skins]

This is a nice comparison of Singleton to MKG.

http://www.examiner.com/article/wizards-pre-draft-june-15-will-kidd-gilchrist-join-his-mentor

On paper, Singleton comes out taller, stronger, and faster, while Kidd-Gilchrist demonstrates the best flat-footed jumper and least body fat. Of course, paper isn't enough. In actuality, MKG does something Singleton hardly ever did last season as a Wizard: he gets to the rim.

Singleton hasn't found his niche as a Wizards small forward. Over the first half of the season he demonstrated an ability to knock down the corner three, perhaps his biggest benefit at this point over MKG. Over the second half Singleton tried to drive the ball more, and not often successfully.

While Singleton has all of the athleticism needed to defeat Kidd-Gilchrist in a position battle, MKG has the upside based on his ball handle and offensive touch. The benefit of having both players on one roster? The names Kevin Durant and LeBron James come to mind. Defense is still the key ingredient, and if the Wizards can pick-up a second round center and a diamond in the rough shooting guard they'll be heading in the right direction.

[Going Commando]

Well the biggest difference between MKG and Singleton is that Singleton is a horrible offensive player who looked clueless and lackadaisical on D at times last season and MKG is a good offensive player with a nonstop motor. They aren't even comparable talents. MKG is much, much better, a legit top three talent in most classes while Singleton went 18th in a horrible class.

---------- Post added June-19th-2012 at 10:25 AM ----------

38% on 3' s is damn good on this team. His fg% was higher his first 2 years.

But i thought he was on his rookie deal forgot he was a Udfa. For that coin i'd pass as well.

Yeah he got a deal from Portland the summer after his rookie season in Utah.

Alot of reports saying we love Mkg ughh. Love him as a player but this offense is gonna be a complete joke. You can't build a team around 2 awful shooting perimiter players.

MKG is the best basketball player available though. We don't need to be overthinking this decision. Shooting is only one part of the equation we're looking at, and it's just about the only thing MKG doesn't do very well. It's amazing how good he is everywhere else and he's just a baby. To be that big and strong and fast and have that kind of passion and motor is so special for an 18 year old. He's an amazing leader and defender for his age. It doesn't surprise me that he's won at every level.

MKG is exciting. I don't get the disappointment. We can find shooters anywhere. We can sign Gerald Green or Willie Green or go out and find a Patrick Mills or Steve Novak or Matt Bonner for cheap cheap cheap. But we can't find all around players as special as MKG just anywhere.

The offense will be fine. Replace Crawford in the starting lineup with a shooter, Wall and MKG can cover that guy up defensively and as passers and ball handlers and rebounders. Wall and MKG themselves can run pick and roll together because MKG is a good finisher. And we can find a stretch four to pick and pop and it doesn't matter as much if he can rebound or defend because MKG is an elite rebounder for his position and he can guard power forwards without trouble.

Even if we don't get a stretch four, Nene can shoot from mid range.

I think MKG makes everything easier on us.

[StillUnknown]

I don't trust Ernie to find pieces in free agency that would make the drafting of MKG work.

A good part of me is expecting Jeff Green to be our only free agent acquisition of any consequence.

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

Impressive...

Harrison Barnes quiets concerns about athleticism

By Michael Lee

10:17 AM ET, 06/19/2012

In his two seasons at North Carolina, Harrison Barnes was able to impress NBA scouts and talent evaluators with a ready-made pro game built around a consistent mid-range jumper and steady scoring. Barnes didn’t dominate the college game in the way he was expected to coming out of high school and his slow first step and inability to get to the basket through dribble penetration were often attributed to a perceived lack of elite athleticism.

But while in Chicago for the NBA combine, Barnes disputed the notion that he was limited athletically.

“I feel like I’m very athletic, compared to everybody else,” Barnes said, before proving his claims during the athletic testing results released by DraftExpress.com.

Measurements for the 6-foot-8 Barnes were off the charts, as he registered the highest no-step vertical jump (38 inches), the fourth-highest maximum vertical (39.5), the fastest three-quarter court sprint (3.16) and bench pressed 185 pounds 15 times. For some perspective, his no-step vertical ranks fourth all-time, his sprint is only two seconds slower than John Wall’s time from two years ago and he matched Kansas power forward Thomas Robinson in upper body strength. Is that elite enough for you?

The athletic tests are only part of the evaluation process and good marks don’t necessarily correlate to being a good NBA player. But his limitations in college in college may have had more to do with being slightly overweight and poor ball-handling – two areas that he has worked hard to improve in advance of the draft.

A Western Conference front office executive recently said Barnes would probably be a better pro player than college player because he played in a system at North Carolina that didn’t complement his talents. The executive noted that Paul Pierce was the only quality small forward to play for Roy Williams “and that wasn’t because of Roy. His system is more for point guards and bigs.”

Barnes admitted that he had to adjust his game to fit a talented team that featured three other potential lottery picks in Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Kendall Marshall. “Not a lot of teams in the country have two skilled 6-10 guys and a great point guard. I had to work more on my midrange game and two dribble pull-up,” Barnes said.

North Carolina relied on Barnes for scoring, and he averaged 17.7 points. But he rarely took over games and never scored more than 27 points in a game as a sophomore. He also went out meekly in the NCAA tournament, as he averaged just 14 points on 32.8 percent shooting.

Despite demands for him to do more, Barnes always maintained a calm demeanor, a quality he attributed to his mother, Shirley, who works as a secretary in the Iowa State University music department. “She’s always been there for me and she had to work hard to provide for my sister [Jourdan-Ashle] and [me] and that hard work, the ability to persevere, I definitely got that from her,” he said. “Keeping and even keel and calm. She tried to instill those habits in me, and that’s how I carry myself on the court and that’s how I carry myself.”

The Wizards are looking to possibly add more perimeter help and will work out Barnes on Tuesday. They have already seen Bradley Beal and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and are high on both players. Barnes, though, just turned 20 and is perhaps more prepared to contribute after playing under intense pressure in two years of college. He expects to play small forward at the next level, and the Wizards certainly needed help at that position last season, when Chris Singleton was forced to start 51 games before he was ready.

“Great city, good organization,” Barnes said about the Wizards. “Obviously, they’ve been down the last couple of years and they have young players like John Wall that you can build around and really can do things.”

Barnes could go anywhere from second to seventh in the NBA draft and he isn’t too picky about where he lands. “I just want to go to whatever situation that has guys around me that want to win. Obviously all these teams in the lottery want to get better and want to improve. Whatever environment where people want to get better is right for me,” Barnes said. “Ultimately, it’s not like recruiting. Whatever team drafts you, regardless of what you think the best fit is, or how high you want to go, it’s solely on them. I’ll just try to be a chameleon. No matter where you go, just try to make the best of the situation.”

Wouldn't be surprised if Charlotte takes him #2. Or if we take him.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2012-06-18/nba-draft-2012-bradley-beal-charlotte-bobcats-washington-wizards-cavaliers?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

NBA Draft 2012: Bradley Beal still has plenty to prove

There is a very basic question when it comes to Florida guard Bradley Beal, who has consistently been ranked among the top players in this year’s NBA Draft, and has now worked out for the Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers, teams with picks No. 2, 3 and 4, respectively.

Because of his style and shooting ability, Beal most often is compared to guard Ray Allen, the NBA’s all-time leading 3-point shooter. But you can’t help but wonder: If Beal is such a great perimeter shooter, why did he shoot only 44.5 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from the 3-point line in his one season in college?

Much of the problem, we are told, has to do with Florida’s guards in general. Beal was part of a three-guard offense, with junior Kenny Boynton and senior Erving Walker, and the team never really established a scoring pecking order. Ideally, Beal would have been paired with a playmaking point guard, so that he could cut, run off screens and be a featured shooter. Instead, he ranked third on the team in 3-point attempts. He did pick it up down the stretch of the season, but overall, his numbers were a surprise.

"I think in a lot of ways, he is going off his reputation coming out of high school, because so many people saw him as a potentially great college player,” one NBA personnel executive told SN. “And he might still be. But you have to acknowledge there is some risk there. He has a lot of tools, a lot of skills. But the Ray Allen thing, I mean, Ray never shot below 40 percent on 3s in college. That’s the thing—if a guy is a great shooter, you want to see the ball go in the basket. I think you roll the dice on him, for sure, but you have to acknowledge the risk.”

Still, there is a lot that went well for Beal this year. He showed his athleticism throughout the season, leading the team with 6.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals, and ranking second with 31 blocked shots. He is an adept ballhandler and is very effective in transition, both as a finisher and as a playmaker. Beal’s versatility was impressive, even if his shooting was not.

“He is a prototype 2-guard, he has all the things you’re looking for,” one general manager said. “So many guys coming out of college, they’re one-dribble guys, or they can’t put the ball on the floor at all. Someone like Beal, he can put it on the floor, he can help you create shots. He defends, too. He surprised a lot of people with his D.

"The shooting thing, it is hard to explain, because his mechanics are so good and so consistent. I think he gets it together once he is in an NBA system.”

[Samuels]

Impressive...

Wouldn't be surprised if Charlotte takes him #2. Or if we take him.

If were hell bent on a Sf it should be him without a doubt.

Eg shoulda been fired you can' t win games especially playoff games if you can' t make jumpers in the halfcourt.

Eg drafted 2 pitiful shooting Sf's last year who play defense in the first round and might do it again this year with Mkg. And if somebody wants to say Vesely is a 4 i' ll play along because I dont wanna start another debate.

Edited June 19, 2012 by Samuels

[Going Commando]

Vesely is a natural 4.

Barnes's athletic test scores also don't change the fact that he's a plodder. He's fast enough running up and down the floor but he is nowhere near as explosive as Beal or MKG.

Barnes will always look better on paper than a guy like MKG, but he's just not as good, and that's reflected in their team success.

[Destino]

It's impossible for me to accept Ray Allen as a comparison to Beal because of the production. All the shot mechanics in the world don't cover up the fact that we are comparing an underwhelming college player to one of the best shooters in NBA history. People are talking themselves into Beal and ignoring the fact that he simply wasn't a dead eye shooter. He might be in the NBA but the risk is obvious, if he isn't a great shooter he is an absolute bust because his ball handling is terrible and he's not a lock down defender. High risk draft pick, IMO.

MKG is getting a little of the overly optimistic chatter as well.

[Chachie]

MKG is getting a little of the overly optimistic chatter as well.

Agreed, but my heart is set on him.

(With Beal as my runner-up.)

[Samuels]

Vesely is a natural 4.

Barnes's athletic test scores also don't change the fact that he's a plodder. He's fast enough running up and down the floor but he is nowhere near as explosive as Beal or MKG.

Barnes will always look better on paper than a guy like MKG, but he's just not as good, and that's reflected in their team success.

Other then being tall what makes Vesely a Pf?

Because he sure defended Sf's and the perimeter very well showed enough quickness to stay with guys etc. Was very good defending ball screens and his long arms allowed him to disrupt passing lanes. I think he can be a elite defender at Sf. He kinda plays very smart, very hard like someone else.

At Pf he was overpowered and ragdolled way to much. He base is extremely fragile along with his overall frame. He is' nt a rebounder. He is a classic ectomorph and will struggle to gain weight and get stronger.

Edited June 19, 2012 by Samuels