Wizards Off Season Discussion

[AJFromTheDMV]

Who should we draft with the third pick? Who should we pick up in free agency? What do our young players like John Wall, Jordan Crawford, Trevor Booker, and Jan Vesely have to do to improve their games.

 

Players scheduled to work out with the Wizards as of June 11th, 2012:

Bradley Beal

Thomas Robinson

Michael Kidd-Ghilchrist

Austin Rivers

 

Possible Free Agents signees:

Gerald Wallace

Eric Gordon

Ersan Ilyasova

Ryan Anderson

Nicholas Batum

[Cleveland's Finest]

All of those would be good signings except Gerald Wallace. I don't see why he would go to a team rebuilding. Austin Rivers is too similar to Wall so I wouldn't draft him.

 

They should draft Beal or MGK because they need wing players that can develop with Wall. No more Rashard Lewis

[AJFromTheDMV]

There have been many rumors that the Wizards will buy out Rashard Lewis and amnesty Andray Blatche to free up cap space. I like either Thomas Robinson or Bradley Beal with the 3rd pick. With Robinson, the Wizards would have a tough front line with Nene, Seraphin, and Booker. You could remove the soft label that they've earned over the years. With Robinson the Wizards will get a hungry big who is NBA ready. However, the Wizards biggest needs are at the shooting guard and small forward positions. They need an effective shooter with 3 point range. Bradley Beal fits that description. I like MKGs hustle and effort, but he can't shoot. Point blank. The LAST thing the Wizards need is another guy who can't shoot. None of the young guys they've drafted/traded for lately are great shooters. (Wall, Crawford, Booker, and Vesely) Beal would come right in, be the starting 2, and stretch the floor for Wall/Nene to go to work.

[AboveLegit]

Pretty much sold on both Bradley Beal and Thomas Robinson. After those two (and obviously Anthony Davis who we're not getting), there's a pretty huge drop off in terms of my personal interest in those remaining prospects.

 

As for the FA's you listed, only one, Nic Batum, is reasonable and worth targeting. Gordon is good, but not feasible.

[AJFromTheDMV]

I'm not as knowledgable when it comes to free agents. Those rumors usually heat up in July though.

[Real Deal]

You know, the Wizards could find a trade partner for Shard. If I recall correctly, he's going to be on the final year of his deal, and that's a MASSIVE contract to expire (should be around $22 million or so, hard to remember). A team that has a decent player signed for 3-4 years, maybe a bit too long, but is willing to deal him and fillers to gain a huge amount of cap space...they would jump on that in an instant, especially when you consider the new tax rules will be in place.

 

I can't really say the Wizards should worry about getting THAT far under the cap, if it's to chase free agents, because there's really nobody that will drop in and ask for a max deal (Howard and D-Will aren't going to do that).

 

It may be a longshot right now, because you're going to see a lot of teams trying to deal players for picks, but I get the feeling you'll find a few teams wanting to get under that tax threshold, and $22 million off the books for 2013-14 is a big chunk of change.

 

Only bad thing about all of this is, I'm having trouble finding a player (or group of players) that would be worth it for the opposing team and/or for the Wizards.

[AboveLegit]

Only bad thing about all of this is, I'm having trouble finding a player (or group of players) that would be worth it for the opposing team and/or for the Wizards.

One popular trade among fans at least is trading Rashard and a young asset or two to New Orleans for Ariza, Okafor, and the #10 pick. I'm not a proponent of trading for picks that are packaged with high priced veterans, nor do I believe NOH would bite (because they wouldn't)... but it's a good indicator of the type of value he could yield.

 

Who knows, in the right deal, maybe we land players like Iguodala and Elton Brand (Philly could look to shed salary). Again, a long shot, but it's a somewhat realistic option worth exploring.

 

In the end, Shard will likely be bought out (which is worth $13.7mill).

Edited June 12, 2012 by AboveLegit

[Real Deal]

One popular trade among fans at least is trading Rashard and a young asset or two to New Orleans for Ariza, Okafor, and the #10 pick. I'm not a proponent of trading for picks that are packaged with high priced veterans, nor do I believe NOH would bite (because they wouldn't)... but it's a good indicator of the type of value he could yield.

Maybe Ariza and Okafor, but I would be shocked if they gave up the pick as well (in that particular trade). I really can't think of anyone on the Wizards who would be worth that pick, aside from Wall (who won't be dealt). New Orleans will definitely look for someone to trade the pick to, but I don't see why they would do that particular deal (as you said).

 

Who knows, in the right deal, maybe we land players like Iguodala and Elton Brand (Philly could look to shed salary). Again, a long shot, but it's a somewhat realistic option worth exploring.

Brand is also going to be an $18 million expiring, and even with him on the roster, they will be around $8-9 million under cap this July (before making decisions on other players and their own FA's).

 

Having time to think about it, I guess the buyout makes the most sense. A few of the teams that would shed salary wouldn't want to pay approx. $40 million to a player that doesn't do a damn thing for them, and that $22 million or so is tough to match.

[Built Ford Tough]

Here are some draft workout videos of Bradley Beal and Austin Rivers (Rivers is just doing the 7 Drill, Beal does a bit more).

 

 

 

I never noticed before, and it may just be because it was the end of the workout and he was gassed, but Rivers seems to have a hitch on his jumper and actually releases the ball while coming down instead of at the peak of his jumper. He also takes a while to get the ball from his shooting pocket to the release. Those are both things that he will need to work out or else I think he will have some troubles getting his shot off in the NBA.

[AJFromTheDMV]

I could have sworn his jumper was better in high school/college. I heard someone joke that Doc told him to play bad, so the Wizards wouldn't draft him. He struggled with the 7 drill, Beal did well in that drill. The 3 players the Wizards are seriously considering are Beal, MKG, and T. Robinson.

[Built Ford Tough]

I could have sworn his jumper was better in high school/college. I heard someone joke that Doc told him to play bad, so the Wizards wouldn't draft him. He struggled with the 7 drill, Beal did well in that drill. The 3 players the Wizards are seriously considering are Beal, MKG, and T. Robinson.

 

I don't know too much about high school, but his jumper was streaky in college. His percentages weren't that good (36.5% on 3's and 47.7% on 2's), in fact they were average at best (with the 2 point % being below average).

 

The thing with Rivers is, like I said, he is streaky. He would have games where he would make 3+ 3's such as the 6-10 @ UNC, 4-8 @ FSU and 5-6 @ Virgina Tech, but he would also have numerous games where he would go 1-5/6 or 2-7 and things like that.

 

He is more of a slahser than shooter (got to the line 5.5 times a game, which is very good for a college swing), but it just so happens that the biggest and most high profile game of his college career (29 points and game winner @ UNC) was the game where his jumper was on. That led to a lot of people who didn't watch him very often use that game as a barometer of his skillset and thus the assumption that he was a good shooter.