It's Past Time for Ernie Grunfeld To Go

The Washington Wizards have a huge problem with their team. It is not a new problem, this is a problem that has existed for generations, this team is horrible. There is clearly more than one problem actually, but one that can clearly be fixed. This problem has been around since 2003 and it must finally be dealt with. The Wizards must fire Ernie Grunfeld who is unfortunately the 5th longest tenured General Managers in the league. Grunfeld has led to or contributed to a multitude of other problems.

Let's start with the most obvious reason for dismissing Grunfeld...His record as GM is 444-606! The team has only won 42% of games during Grunfeld's tenure despite the Eastern Conference being incredibly watered down throughout virtually the entire tenure. A failure to win half of your games in a bad league could be plenty of reason to be let go. Never making the Eastern Conference Finals when you have been around since 2003 is also not acceptable. Those reasons alone are sufficient, but it gets worse.....

Ernie Grunfeld has had an incredible 22 draft picks in his time in Washington, many of which were top 5 selections. With those selections he has managed to pick one all-star. That all-star he should not even get credit for. John Wall was the no-brainer #1 pick that everyone would have made. The fact that he received the #1 pick should show you about his underwhelming teams at the same time. He did get one easy selection correct though. Look at all the misses below though and you will see how awful he was...

Complete draft history for Grunfeld in Washington

2003 Draft
Jarvis Hayes (10) and Steve Blake (38)
While Hayes was not what he was supposed to be, I did not mind this pick at the time so hard to fault it now. Hayes seemed to be the shooter Washington needed, but just didn't pan out. Steve Blake is still a productive player in the league, so that is probably Grunfeld's best pick there at 38. David West went 18, Josh Howard 29, Mo Williams 47, and Kyle Korver 51.

2004 Draft
#5 Pick traded for Antawn Jamison, #32 Peter John Ramos
It is hard to fault the Wizards for trading for Jamison, as he was incredibly productive and an all-star. However, picking Iguodala who went #9 would have been the ideal move. Iguodala would go on to be Finals MVP in the 2015 NBA Finals. He will again start for Golden State's dream team next season. Ramos was one of the biggest busts Grunfeld had and that is saying a lot. He played only during one season and only 6 games. He contributed nothing! Trevor Ariza meanwhile was drafted by the Knicks 12 picks later.

2005 Draft
#20 Pick Traded for Brandon Haywood, #49 Andray Blatche
As deep in the draft as he was picked, Andray Blatche was a pretty solid pick by Grunfeld. However, Marcin Gortat was still available at that point. Additionally, any good will with the selection was erased by the fact that Grunfeld extended him two years before he would have had to for way too much money. That contract and Blatche's attitude following the extension set the Wizards back for years. Overall it was a weak draft and while I wanted the team to pick Nate Robinson (a personal favorite) at 20, Brandon Haywood was a good trade.

2006 Draft
Olekisy Pecherov (18) and Vladimir Veremeenko (48)
Pecherov was the WORST SELECTION that I can remember in Wizards history besides Kwame Brown. He was terrible. It gets worse everytime you see Kyle Lowry be so successful in Toronto. Lowry was selected 24 overall by Memphis. Veremeenko never even played in the NBA. Meanwhile Ryan Hollins a 10 year vet was selected #50 that year.

2007 Draft
Nick Young (16) and Dominic McGuire (47)
Nick Young is probably my least favorite Wizards player of all-time. Dude was a black hole on offense who never passed. He won a few for the Wizards, but lost infinitely more games than he won. The top player selected after young was Marc Gasol, who was selected all the way back at 48. They could have had him in the 2nd round, but selected the underwhelming Dominic McGuire instead. Washington could have come out of this draft with Carl Landry (31) and Marc Gasol and really shored up that interior that struggled for years.

2008 Draft
Javele McGee (18) and Pick #47 Traded
McGee had some promise and the Wizards faithful were always hopeful that he panned out. Unfortunately, he never became the player we were told we were getting. DeAndre Jordan however was one of the best players in the draft all the way down at 35. What makes this pick really bad though is that every player picked 19-37 in that draft with the exception of 3 players (Donte Greene, JR Giddens, and Walter Sharpe) ended up as better players than McGee. 16 of 19 selections immediately following McGee were decidely better picks.

2009 Draft
The Wizards trade both selections in this draft. This will be described further below as it is the biggest miss that the Wizards had under Grunfeld. All of that to obtain Mike Miller!?!?!?!?

2010 Draft
John Wall (1), Kevin Seraphin (17), Trevor Booker (23), Hamady N'Diaye (56)
It was no surprise that the Wizards would get the top pick after trading a top 5 pick for Mike Miller. John Wall is the lone all-star that Grunfeld has selected, but you could argue that he is just the 5th most productive player in this class. Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins, Greg Monroe, and Gordon Hayward have all been slightly more productive to date in their NBA careers. Still, we can give Grunfeld credit for doing the smart thing in taking Wall, who still has a lot of upside.
Now after Walll...Kevin Seraphin always had the talent, but just did not produce to an adaquate level. The Wizards could have had Grevis Vasquez (28), Avery Bradley (19), or the most productive player at that point who was selected a pick later, Eric Bledsoe (18). Each of those would have been effective in pairing with Wall and building a nice young backcourt. Trevor Booker is no longer a Wizard, but he has had a solid career and was a very decent pick at that spot.

2011 Draft
Jan Veseley (6), Chris Singleton (18), Shelvin Mack (34)
Veseley and Singleton were each out of the league after 3 years, while Mack is still in the league and was a solid selection. The 1st two were busts. Singleton was the pick I liked at the time as a Nole. He had a great first year and then just stunk it up. To think this team could have come out of this draft with Kawhi Leonard (15) and Jimmy Butler (30) is enough to make you sick. This team could have competed for titles if they selected Leonard and Butler. Those two paired with Wall, almost certainly would have won a championship. They could have had the top 2 players in the draft. However, so could have a lot of other teams, Butler did fall all the way to 30. Still, Leonard should have been a player on the radar at 6. The Spurs certainly knew what they were doing....
It is hard to fault the Mack pick, but Isaiah Thomas and Chandler Parsons were still on the board. This draft should have set up the Wizards for a championship run with Kawhi, Butler, and Isaiah! Ahhhhhhhh!

2012 Draft
Bradley Beal (3), Tomas Satoransky  (32)
The Wizards were given a unique chance to rectify their God awful 2011 draft with a few high picks in 2012. Unfortunately, they blew it again. Bradley Beal has been an injured mess, but they could have selected big man Andre Drummond (9). Drummond is flourishing and would have been ideal to pair with Wall. However, if they wanted to get a backcourt mate, they could have gotten Damian Lillard (6). Are you sick to your stomach yet? No, Well Draymond Green went (35) while Satoransky never played professional basketball! We could have had Andre Drummond and Draymond Green! Again, this should have been the building blocks of a championship!

2013 Draft
Otto Porter (3), Glen Rice Jr. (35)
It is hard to fault this one. Porter is developing into a nice player and needs time, but that being said, Giannis Antetokuonmpo is clearly the top player to this point and will likely remain top.

2014 Draft
Trade their picks again! Bunch of Morons!
They had the 18th pick and could have drafted Rodney Hood who ended up being a solid player

2015 Draft
Kelly Oubre (16) and Aaron White (49)
This actually looks solid

2016 Draft
Again traded the picks
I guess Grunfeld at least knows he sucks at picking by this point because he keeps trading picks.

Let's go over one of these in detail. Heading into the 2009 NBA Draft, the Wizards have the 5th pick in a loaded class. This draft had Blake Griffin, James Harden, Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio, DeMar DeRozan, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, Danny Green, Darren Collison, and some guy named Stephen Curry. Curry would go 7th during that draft. He was from Virginia and went to school in North Carolina. Picking Curry would have been perfect. But no.......Ernie Grunfeld trades the pick and 3 players for Mike Miller and Randy Foye. The Wizards thought they were close to competing for a championship and traded for the duo instead of picking in a loaded draft class. Any of the above players would have helped more than the short and unproductive stints of Miller and Foye, but this move especially stings knowing that the 2 time MVP and local boy could have been picked. This bonehead move and missing on Curry alone could be enough to fire Grunfeld, but we will continue....

I could talk about more bonehead free agent moves and terrible contracts, but this article just makes me angry. I am writing it and I am still mad. Ernie Grunfeld is a complete joke of a general manager.

All of this is irrelevant though in the grand scheme as Grunfeld still has a job. Even if Ted was able to let all of the other bonehead moves slide though, the question still remains?
Why wasn't Grunfeld fired for this failed plan this offseason?
The Wizards cleared cap space for this offseason and inadverntenly signaled to fans that they were going all in on #KD2DC. That plan failed. KD signed with the Warriors. We paid a rediculous contract for a guy that has averaged 5 points a game for his career instead.
How can we not see that Ernie has failed at this point?

Oh well, I guess I will never see a Wizards Eastern Conference Finals appearance or an MVP in my lifetime. Every other team has done one of those in the East except my Wizards (even the Raptors who haven't been around long), but hey at least we have those memories of Mike Miller and we get to see Ian Mahinmi this year right?

Why win anyways?

This is a DC Sports team after all!

- Noland

2015-2016 NBA Season Review

This NBA season was filled with a lot of ups and downs for me. There were some spectacular moments, some cool moments, and some not so cool moments. It is all up for review here.

Let's start with the main team that this blog has focused on, the San Antonio Spurs...
The Spurs had a monumentally successful regular season. San Antonio won 67 games this year, which is a franchise record. However, the team was shocking ousted in the 2nd round by a younger and seemingly hungrier Thunder team. It was great to see the regular season and Duncan still being a contributor at his age, while hoping for him to get another ring and go out on top. It was cool to see the transformation to it being Kawhi's team and to see Leonard emerge as a true MVP candidate. Seeing Popovich's unselfish system continue to thrive is never a bad thing either...

So what happened in the playoffs?
The Spurs like I said, were outworked by a younger and hungrier team. It seems that everything was clicking all the way through Game 1 of the second round. This team dismantled the Thunder in Game 1. Then Father Time caught up with San Antonio in a big way for the rest of the series. Tim Duncan looked terrible all series until the deciding Game 6 when he tried to give it one last hurrah. It was painful to see at times. The knees and back were affecting his play and he just seemed to be losing it. For someone that has seen Duncan dominate for so long it was sad. It was sadder in knowing that this is probably it for Duncan and that he likely will not get to 6 championships now. A class individual and class player like Duncan should get to go out on top for the classiest organization in sports. Not meant to be though. The Thunder wanted it more and deserved the Western Conference Final appearance more. While it is sad that Duncan is likely done, the future is bright for Kawhi Leonard and possibly for the San Antonio Spurs still because of Leonard.

Now to the team that ousted the Spurs....
I have not focused too much on the Thunder here at ran. I don't think most of the people that read my stuff care too much. However, the Wizards fans care about Durant and the team has intrigue because they knocked out the Spurs. Kevin Durant is perhaps the most likable guy in the league and him leading the Thunder to knock out the Spurs is good for him and probably for the NBA. Getting more eyeballs on him and Westbrook is great for the NBA. Speaking of Russell Westbrook, I'm happy to see the haters starting to go away. The guy is an elite NBA player. Easily top 10 in the game and probably top 5. He needs to be treated as such. Glad to see Westbrook finally get that respect. The 1,2 punch of Durant and Westbrook will likely stay. Sorry for all of the #KD2DC fans out there. This combo is too great to break up.

The combo also has one of the best coaches in the NBA. As a die-hard Nole, I cannot tell you how excited it makes me that Billy Donovan is coaching the Oklahoma City Thunder instead of coaching in Gainesville. This guy just knows basketball. He is one of the elite basketball minds on the planet. Assuming that Durant stays with the Thunder (I assume he will), this team has future NBA Champs written all over it.

Heck they almost won this year. The Thunder were up 3-1 on the team with the best record in the NBA during the Western Conference Finals. Did it all come crashing down?
Yes. It came crashing down when the Warriors made the proper adjustments and their two best players finally started playing like they had all season. Klay Thompson took over the series and the Warriors ended up winning. The team had the best regular season record in NBA history for a reason. Still, the Thunder had them down 3-1. That says a lot about the potential of Oklahoma City.

The Thunder certainly upgraded over Scott Brooks with Billy Donovan. However, Brooks was a good coach that helped the Thunder get to the next point. He helped develop two young superstars. Brooks is a great hire for the team that I do regularly talk about, the Washington Wizards. Hired just a few weeks ago, Brooks looks to improve on his career 62% winning percentage in a weak Eastern Conference. There is absolutely no excuse for the Wizards being as horrendous as they are, and Brooks has the potential to mold this team at least into a consistent playoff contender. With Brooks, they should at least make the playoffs every year. With some solid roster movement, this team can contend in the Eastern Conference.

Which leads me to my next topic, the underachieving Bradley Beal. This guy is supposed to be offered a max contract this offseason. Why?
Beal played in just 55 games this season and his injury prone status is a large reason why this team underachieved so much. Do they really want to make the playoffs only when an injury prone guy is healthy?
Beal has played in just 247/328 regular season games in his career. The career just started and its been filled with injuries. This is the guy you want to offer the max to. The guy you want to make Wall's 2nd best option. Sure he has a pretty 3 point shot, but why risk it. Can't we go with a safer and more reliable alternative here to giving Beal 22 million?
He says he is past the injury thing, but is he really?
The dude derailed the Wizards season and they missed the playoffs in a weak Eastern Conference. That he averaged 17.4 is of no consequence, he played in just 55 games. There are a lot better ways to spend 22 million. He has a nice shot, but he isn't a great defender and rarely can create his own shot. Not to mention that he has the 39th worst turnover rate among NBA guards. The guy doesn't play and when he does, he turns it over. I just don't see why this guy deserves a max deal. If you want to bring him back, fine, but structure the deal in a way that the team still has financial flexibility. A team with two injury prone max guards will stay a fringe playoff contender. That playoff status will continue to remain on the backs and legs of two injury prone guys. Not how I want to spend my time as an NBA fan. If you give Beal the max, you deserve the broken player you get. Here is a solid article on what the Wizards should offer Beal.

Speaking of the weak Eastern Conference.....

LeBron certainly continues to dominate the pathetic conference. However, as a hater of the LeBron narrative, I thought it was worth pointing out that the Miami Heat pushed the Raptors (that gave LeBron fits in the Finals) to 7 games the series before. They did it with largely the same team LeBron had, just minus LeBron. They also did it injured. Guess they are solid help and I guess Wade did have plenty in the tank, just like I said. The biggest difference between this Heat and LeBron's Heat in my opinion is that this Heat did not include Chris Bosh either. They must have some pretty solid contributing parts. Led by a pretty fantastic guard in Dwayne Wade.....

Stay tuned next week, for more from the world of sports...

-Noland

Team USA Training Camp Roster

Yesterday, I was excited to see the names of the 19 players included on the Team USA Basketball Roster. This team will be once again coached brilliantly by Duke Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The roster is as follows
Bradley Beal
DeMarcus Cousins
Stephen Curry
Anthony Davis
DeMar DeRozan
Andre Drummond
Kevin Durant
Kenneth Faired
Paul George
Blake Griffin
James Harden
Gordon Hayward
Kyrie Irving
Kyle Korver
Damian Lillard
Kevin Love
Chandler Parsons
Derrick Rose
Klay Thompson

Those that are selected from this training camp roster will do something that Americans have never been able to do at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The United States has never won back-to-back titles at this event. It is really hard to believe that fact with the amount of basketball talent that this country has to offer.  My prediction is that this is the team to do it, but I want to point out a few quick observations about this training camp roster.

Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose could be the 2nd best player on this roster, but if I am in Chicago's front office, I am furious that Rose is going to play. The guy has not been playing effectively for the Bulls for multiple seasons now due to multiple injuries. For him to not be ready for the Bulls in the playoffs, but magically able to play in the World Cup would have me very irritated. No doubt that this guy can play though and count me among those that want him to be 100%.

Kevin Durant

With Team USA going for their first back-to-back win, starting with the league MVP was a very good idea. Durant is as big a lock to make this roster as Team USA has ever had. This guy will be the leader of the team that we send to Spain in late August. I will be very surprised if he isn't the leading scorer of the tournament.

Bradley Beal

Bradley Beal is becoming quite the basketball player and I certainly expect him to make this team. His game continues to improve and he should be a fixture for Team USA and the Washington Wizards in the future. As a Wizards fan, it is great to see the way this guy is playing basketball lately. This should help improve his game.

Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving is the best pure point guard on the roster and should be another lock on this roster. He recently signed a big extension to play in Cleveland for a while and he will be on Team USA for a while as well. This guy will make things happen for Team USA.

Kevin Love and Stephen Curry are also locks to make this roster. Curry's outside shot and Love's inside presence are surely going to be added to the roster for the Americans.

Paul George

Paul George is getting used to being the favorite. He is obviously the favorite whenever he plays on Team USA which he will certainly make for these World Championships. George is also the favorite this upcoming season when his Indiana Pacers will be favored to win the Eastern Conference. That is unless there is some more crazy player movement.

My Picks To Make The Roster

Starters

Kyrie Irving

Stephen Curry

Kevin Durant

Paul George

Kevin Love

Reserves

Derrick Rose

Anthony Davis

Bradley Beal

James Harden

Blake Griffin

Damian Lillard

Gordon Hayward

Important Dates

Vegas Training Camp Begins July 28th

Vegas Training Camp Ends August 1st

USA Blue vs USA White August 1st

Chicago Training Camp August 14-15th

Exhibition vs. Brazil (Chicago) August 16th

Exhibition vs. Dominican Republic (New York) August 20th

Exhibition vs. Puerto Rico (New York) August 22nd

Pre-World Cup Tour (Spain) August 24-26th

2014 FIBA World Cup August 30th-September 14th in Spain

Enjoy the opportunity to see these great basketball players represent our country over this summer. Good luck to this group of 19 that will soon be a group of 12. Go USA!

-Noland

Top 100 NBA Players

With all this talk about top 100 in my past few posts, I decided to start doing my own top 100 list for the 3 major sports. These lists will be based on value provided next year. For instance, Jason Kidd is not eligible because he will not play in 2014. It is a list for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Past accomplishments factor in, but it isn't an all-time list, so a guy like Kobe Bryant will not be in the top 10, eventhough he is arguably the best player of today over his career. Defense will factor in a great deal with these rankings. Finally, no players linked to steroids will be included, although they don't really catch people in basketball.

100. Bradley Beal                  Washington Wizards          SG
99. JR Smith                          New York Knicks               F
98. Raymond Felton                New York Knicks              PG
97. Samuel Dalembert             Dallas Mavericks                C
96. Eric Bledsoe                     Phoenix Suns                     PG
95. Jimmy Butler                      Chicago Bulls                   SF
94. Kosta Koufos                    Memphis Grizzles              C
93. Jarrett Jack                       Cleveland Cavs                  PG
92. Marcin Gortat                   Phoenix Suns                     C
91. Spencer Hawes                 Philadelphia 76ers               C
90. Kevin Martin                    Minnesota Timberwolves    SG
89. Gerald Henderson             Charlotte Bobcats               SF
88. Danilo Gallinari                 Denver Nuggets                 SF
87. JJ Reddick                        Los Angeles Clippers        SG
86. Jeff Teague                      Atlanta Hawks                   PG
85. Carl Landry                     Sacramento Kings               F
84. Derrick Favors                 Utah Jazz                           F
83. Omer Asik                       Houston Rockets                PF/C
82. Shawn Marion                  Dallas Mavericks               SF
81. Tyreke Evans                   New Orleans Pelicans        G
80. Ryan Anderson                 New Orleans Pelicans        PF
79. Monta Ellis                       Dallas Mavericks               G
78. JJ Hickson                        Denver Nuggets                 F
77. Paul Millsap                     Atlanta Hawks                    F
76. Nikola Pekovic                 Minnesota Timberwolves    C
75. Andre Drummond             Detroit Pistons                   C
74. Amare Stoudemire            New York Knicks              PF
73. Al Jefferson                      Charlotte Bobcats              C
72. Gordon Hayward              Utah Jazz                          SG
71. Nene Hilario                    Washington Wizards           PF
70. Jameer Nelson                  Orlando Magic                   PG
69. Nikola Vucevic                 Orlando Magic                   C
68. Tiago Splitter                    San Antonio Spurs             C
67. Chandler Parsons             Houston Rockets                F
66. Danny Green                    San Antonio Spurs             G/F
65. Jose Calderon                  Dallas Mavericks                 G
64. Kemba Walker                Charlotte Bobcats                PG
63. Luol Deng                        Chicago Bulls                     SF
62. Robin Lopez                     Portland Trail Blazers         C
61. Kenneth Faried                 Denver Nuggets                  F
60. Brandon Jennings              Detroit Pistons                   PG
59. Lance Stephenson             Indiana Pacers                   SG
58. Serge Ibaka                     Oklahoma City Thunder       F
57. Grevis Vasquez                 Sacramento Kings              PG
56. Kevin Garnett                    Brooklyn Nets                  F
55. Jeff Green                          Boston Celtics                 G/F
54. Anthony Davis                   New Orleans Pelicans       PF
53. DeAndre Jordan                Los Angeles Clippers         C
52. Ty Lawson                        Denver Nuggets                PG
51. Andre Iguodala                 Golden State Warriors        G/F
50. Dwayne Wade                  Miami Heat                       G
49. Tristan Thompson             Cleveland Cavs                 F
48. Larry Sanders                   Milwaukee Bucks              PF/C
47. Tyson Chandler                 New York Knicks              C
46. Pau Gasol                         Los Angeles Lakers            C
45. Joakim Noah                    Chicago Bulls                     PF/C
44. Jrue Holiday                     New Orleans Pelicans         G
43. Dirk Nowitzki                  Dallas Mavericks                 PF
42. Mike Conley                    Memphis Grizzles               PG
41. Thaddeus Young              Philadelphia 76ers               F
40. Ray Allen                        Miami Heat                         SG
39. Marc Gasol                      Memphis Grizzles               C
38. Carlos Boozer                  Chicago Bulls                     PF
37. Josh Smith                       Detroit Pistons                    F
36. Rudy Gay                        Toronto Raptors                 G/F
35. Blake Griffin                     Los Angeles Clippers          PF
34. David Lee                        Golden State Warriors         PF
33. David West                      Indiana Pacers                    PF
32. Ricky Rubio                     Minnesota Timberwolves     PG
31. Rajon Rondo                    Boston Celtics                     PG
30. George Hill                       Indiana Pacers                    PG
29. DeMarcus Cousins           Sacramento Kings                PF
28. Al Horford                       Atlanta Hawks                     PF
27. Klay Thompson               Golden State Warriors          G/F
26. LaMarcus Aldridge          Portland Trail Blazers           PF/C
25. Joe Johnson                     Brooklyn Nets                     SG
24. Chris Bosh                       Miami Heat                         PF/C
23. Greg Monroe                   Detroit Pistons                      C
22. Brook Lopez                    Brooklyn Nets                      C
21. Roy Hibbert                      Indiana Pacers                     C
20. Damian Lillard                   Portland Trail Blazers          PG
19. John Wall                          Washington Wizards            PG
18. Paul Pierce                        Brooklyn Nets                     F
17. Zach Randolph                  Memphis Grizzles                PF
16. Deron Williams                  Brooklyn Nets                     PG
15. James Harden                     Houston Rockets                G/F
14. Kawhi Leonard                  San Antonio Spurs               G/F
13. Kyrie Irving                       Cleveland Cavs                    PG
12. Kevin Love                        Minnesota Timberwolves     F/C
11. Tim Duncan                        San Antonio Spurs              F/C
10. Tony Parker                       San Antonio Spurs               PG
09. Dwight Howard                  Houston Rockets                 C
08. Carmelo Anthony               New York Knicks                SF
07. Paul George                        Indiana Pacers                    SF
06. Derrick Rose                      Chicago Bulls                       PG
05. Russell Westbrook             Oklahoma City Thunder        PG
04. Stephen Curry                    Golden State Warriors          PG
03. Chris Paul                           Los Angeles Clippers           PG
02. Kevin Durant                      Oklahoma City Thunder       G/F
01. Lebron James                     Miami Heat                          F

Wizards Summer League Update

Why should anyone care about the Wizards Summer League? They should care because the future players of the team are there. They should care because it may signify where the Wizards will be going soon. They should care because Bradley Beal is playing his first games with his Wizards teammates.

Anyways Washington is now 1-1 in Summer League Play and they play again @ 10 p.m. tonight. Last night was a success for the Wizards as they neat the Rockets 76-70. However, the Wizards only had 4 players with any chance of playing significant minutes playing in the game. Gotta love summer league basketball.

Let's start with Bradley Beal. He went 4-10 from the floor and 5-10 from the line, finishing with a team high 14 points. I sure would like Beal to pick up those percentages though. 50% from the free throw line is not good, especially from a guy that is supposed to score for us. It is just summer league, so I am not going to go crazy over it, but it needs to come up. One surprising sign is that the Wizards were +18 with Beal in the game. That margin is a very good sign. Beal also had 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

The other guard, Shelvin Mack, had 11 points on 4-9 shooting. Mack is the least likely to get significant minutes out of the 4 sent, but I'd like to see him shoot better as well. The Wizards were +15 with Mack in the game.

FSU alum Chris Singleton is also in summer league action. He had a horrible night and committed 6 fouls. He also went 3-7 shooting. The only positives for Singleton are that he had 10 points and the Wizards were +13 with him in the game. Singleton must play much better.

Jan Vesely was 4-6 with 8 points and the Wizards were +11 with him. Good to see Vesely producing some. Here's hoping he keeps it up.

I will keep you posted on Wizards Summer League action.

-Noland

Giving Bradley Beal A Fair Shake

If you know anything about me and my sports interests, you would know that I love the Seminoles and loathe the Gators. I just cannot stand the University of Florida, like most Seminole fans. Because of this, I sometimes get a little biased against Florida athletes, especially when it comes to the draft. However, I can usually tell when a player kills us and look past it. For instance, I knew Al Horford was going to be an animal inside and I think Mike Zunino is going to be a solid major leaguer. I was not so sure about Bradley Beal though. I did not want the Wizards to take him.

Then I took a closer look...

While I still would have traded down, Beal was the right choice for the Wizards. He was the best player in the draft, and it was at a position of need. The Wizards need a guy that can knock down shots and Beal is that guy. Additionally, Beal wants to be a Wizard. After reading about his pre-draft workout on Wizards Extreme, I warmed up to the idea of Bradley Beal in a Wizards uniform. I still wasn't sold after the workout like most Wizards fans, but I was a lot more receptive. Then the day of the draft came and I was upset about the non trade, but welcomed Beal to the team. Then came the interview following the pick.

Following that interview, I realized that despite being a Gator, Bradley Beal has a good head on his shoulders. Beal had class and seemed mature, despite one year in college. I am still skeptical of the pick, but Beal may work out very well for the Wizards. It is good to have him join the team.

-Noland

Wizards Draft Plan

This post will outline various scenarios for the Wizards draft. Everyone knows that Anthony Davis is going to the Hornets at 1, the question is what do we do at 3? Another question is what do the Bobcats do at 2? Going by Jordan's track record there is a good chance he will blow the #2 pick so many scenarios are on the table.

Scenario #1: Bobcats select Kidd Gilchrist
Kidd Gilchrist is one of the few guys in this draft I can be ok with the Wizards selecting. I prefer Singleton starting and so do the Wizards I believe, but I think we can survive with both guys starting. Kidd Gilchrist, Singleton, Seraphin, Nene, and Wall is a solid starting five. That five also gets at it on the defensive end and Crawford can come off the bench if we need a scoring punch. With Gilchrist off the board it makes it less likely the Wiz get a capable starter. Without Gilchrist I prefer the Wizards trade the pick.

Scenario #2: Bobcats select Harrison Barnes
Barnes is a UNC guy just like Jordan. Don't dismiss the connection. Barnes is actually the player I prefer if the Wizards stay at 3, but I don't know if they will reach for him. With the Bobcats selecting Barnes, the Wizards should either select Kidd Gilchrist or trade the pick.

Scenario #3: Bobcats select Bradley Beal
I do not want to touch Bradley Beal with a 10 foot pole in this draft. This is the scenario I am wanting and the one I think has a realistic chance of happening. I still believe trading the pick has more value and the value of the pick goes up as Beal is picked. However, if the Wizards select Barnes or MKG I am ok with that.

Scenario #4: Bobcats select Andre Drummond
The scouting report on Drummond is big, strong, and talented. The knock is that he needs to be motivated all the time. Big, strong, talented, trouble being motivated, does that sound familiar? We don't need Blatche or Brown version 2 in Washington. This is the other player I don't want in Washington. We finally have a young team that works hard. The Wizards do not want to ruin that by bringing in more lazy players. If the Bobcats pick Drummond we should be thanking our lucky stars.

Scenario #5: Bobcats select Thomas Robinson
The Bobcats may opt for the veteran leader in Thomas Robinson. That pick might work out for the Bobcats. They may decide that Robinson needs to be there so they have a player who is ready to contribute and get better. I wouldn't mind having Robinson on the team in Washington either. You don't want a bench guy with the #3 pick though. Again if Robinson fell the Wizards probably wouldn't take him. If the Bobcats do pick Robinson it won't really hurt the Wizards.

So since the best option appears to be trade, what are our options there?
On the trade front there isn't to much that meets the eye. A few teams have multiple 1sts, but not many.

Golden State has picks 7 and 30
Portland has picks 6 and 11
New Orleans has the best setup as they pick again at 10 after picking 1
Houston picks 14 and 16
Boston picks 21 and 22
Cleveland picks 4 and 24

Obviously the two of those that jump out as appealing are Portland with picks 6 and 11 and Cleveland at 4 and 24. Cleveland is appealing because if you can get an extra 1st rounder by trading one spot down in this draft it is huge. Portland would be even better. If we could get Barnes and Lamb, we'd be hitting the jackpot in my opinion. Not likely we get both, but we can compete with those two added to our rotation. Either one of those and Austin Rivers would be another way to go. I like the potential scoring from Rivers, Barnes, and Jeremy Lamb. Those three have more potential than the majority of draft picks as well.

Perhaps the most likely trade down scenario is Golden State. Golden State is appealing. You pick up a back end first rounder and still get a shot at Barnes or Jeremy Lamb. You can probably trade the 7th pick down to 10 or so and get Austin Rivers also. Rivers may be the pick here to fit with Washington. I say that for a couple of reasons. Rivers is a scorer whom the Wiz desperately need. However, Rivers also passes the ball and is a good ball handler. Sometimes, Wall is most effective as a scorer and Rivers can reset the offense when things break down. He also is a hard worker and coach's son, so we don't have to worry about work ethic, attitude, and basketball IQ. Not only that, but he tries to make everyone around him better. With Rivers and Wall we would have an incredibly small backcourt, but they could work well off one another. The appeal of Rivers is one of the reasons I want to trade down. Rivers is a bit of a risky pick and picking up the other 1st rounder could be huge.

Another likely trade down partner is Houston. There is a slim chance Rivers will be there at 14. Is it worth risking if Rivers is our guy? Perhaps not, but there are decent players available at those spots. Rivers is currently projected 13. You never know if the Celtics will trade up to get Rivers to pair with Rondo. Perhaps, they are done with the big 3. The draft presents so many interesting scenarios. Currently the 14th pick is projected to be John Henson. Henson is the ACC defensive player of the year and will obviously contribute on that end. He could provide insurance for an injured Nene and again isn't one of the players you need to worry about with the smarts and effort. At 16 the North Carolina point guard is projected. By adding Marshall, the Wizards have their back up point guard. Marshall is a very good back up point at that. I'd be ok with landing those two. I would prefer Henson and Rivers if we went this route, but you never know what will happen.

I think Boston is too far down to make it appealing unless they package a player. Should sure be interesting to watch. Soon, I will have other trade scenarios not involving picks. That one will be really interesting.

-Noland

Draft Lottery Results

For the past 30 minutes I have seen the Toronto Blue Jays destroy the Orioles on my computer (MLB TV's Free Game) while watching the NBA Draft Lottery. The lottery went a little better than the O's game during that time, but not by much.

The Wizards could have done no worse than 5th in the lottery after finishing with the 2nd worst record. However, the Wizards won't pick 2nd, they will pick 3rd. Not too bad, but it could have gone much better. New Orleans ended up with the top pick. In other words, the Hornets will get Anthony Davis. Who will the Wizards select though?

The #2 player on most boards is Michael Kidd Gilchrist. He was the SF on Kentucky's National Championship Team, playing alongside Anthony Davis. The Wizards have Chris Singleton, but could they pass up on Gilchrist if he fell to 3. The #3 player on most boards is now Bradley Beal. Beal plays a position of need for the Wizards, SG. However, Beal is a gator and not even a good one at that. I would not pick Beal. After Beal is Thomas Robinson. Robinson is a very solid player, but with Nene in the fold with Seraphin, I would rather have a more dynamic scorer from the 2 guard than Robinson. These imperfect solutions make me desire a trade.

Perhaps the Trail Blazers would want to move up? The Blazers have two lottery selections. If another team would be willing to part with 2 first rounders I would jump on that offer as well. There isn't much difference between 2 and 10 and frankly you might rather have Harrison Barnes or Jared Sullinger than Beal or Robinson. You sure would have rather had one of the former two last year at least. It should be an interesting story to follow going forward. I'd be ok with Harrison Barnes at 3 actually. Most would say it is a reach though. This class just doesn't have a clear cut person to pick outside of #1 though.

-Noland