There’s a few guys that’ll be available that I think can really help this team. I think to help with the cap they need to go after local guys who still probably play for less cause they’re close to home. Nate Duncan mentioned guys like Treveon Graham and Thomas Robinson as players they could potentially be looking at a while back.
Cursed with Ernie: Official 2018 Washington Wizards Offseason Thread
- Thread starter FAH1223
- Start date
There’s a few guys that’ll be available that I think can really help this team. I think to help with the cap they need to go after local guys who still probably play for less cause they’re close to home. Nate Duncan mentioned guys like Treveon Graham and Thomas Robinson as players they could potentially be looking at a while back.
PPA for the roster
NBA Player Production Average
PPA is pace neutral, accounts for defense, and includes a “degree of difficulty” factor based on the level of competition a player faces while on the floor.
Inputs include:
What do PPA scores mean:
NBA Player Production Average
PPA is pace neutral, accounts for defense, and includes a “degree of difficulty” factor based on the level of competition a player faces while on the floor.
Inputs include:
- points
- rebounds (offensive and defensive weighed differently)
- assists
- steals
- blocks
- shot attempts
- turnovers
- personal fouls
- starts
- minutes
- on-court team defensive rating
What do PPA scores mean:
- 225+ — league Most Valuable Player candidate
- 200+ — typically All-NBA level (top 15-20 in the league)
- 150+ — All-Star level
- 100 — average
- 75 — valued reserve
- 45 and below — replacement level
Code:
Player POS Age Tm G MPG PPA
Otto Porter SF 24 WAS 77 31.6 175
Bradley Beal SG 24 WAS 82 36.3 135
Marcin Gortat C 33 WAS 82 25.3 129
John Wall PG 27 WAS 41 34.4 128
Tomas Satoransky SG 26 WAS 73 22.5 122
Markieff Morris PF 28 WAS 73 27.0 92
Ramon Sessions PG 31 WAS 15 15.0 77
Devin Robinson F 22 WAS 1 13.0 70
Tim Frazier PG 27 WAS 59 14.2 67
Mike Scott PF 29 WAS 76 18.5 66
Jodie Meeks SG 30 WAS 77 14.5 64
Chris McCullough PF 22 WAS 19 4.7 62
Kelly Oubre SF 22 WAS 81 27.5 62
Ian Mahinmi C 31 WAS 77 14.9 49
Jason Smith C 31 WAS 33 8.6 9
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Nothing Will Change Until Ted Wants It To Change
By Adam Rubin
In 2017 after Toronto was swept by Cleveland in the playoffs, Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri famously said the team needs a culture change. They went on to change their style, improve their bench and grab the No. 1 seed in the East.
After the Raptors handed the Wizards a disappointing first round loss on Friday, David Aldridge tweeted the Wizards need to do the same thing.
However, that same type of culture change won’t happen in Washington. And there is one very specific reason why.
Ujiri’s demand for change came after a four-year stretch where the Raptors averaged 51 wins and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. Imagine, for a second, what would happen if the Wizards had a four-year stretch like that. Ownership and management would not be calling for wholesale changes. They would be celebrating the franchise’s most successful run in 40 years.
Therein lies the problem. You can debate the roster and cap space and coaching decisions all day, but the team will never make it to the next level until mediocrity is no longer tolerated.
Washington just completed a five-year run averaging 44.6 wins and they made the second round of the playoffs three times. They regressed this season following their 49-win 2016-17 campaign. Yet the takeaway from Ted Leonsis in his season-ending note to fans was that it was an acceptable – if not disappointing — season that was marred by injuries:
“They overcame their star player being out for 41 games and still found a way to win. Bradley Beal was recognized as an All-Star in his own right. Kelly Oubre and Tomas Satoransky were incredibly effective off the bench and showed that they can contribute at a high level. Otto Porter fought through injury and continued to compete in this Toronto series and we wish him a speedy recovery.”
Head coach Scott Brooks echoed Ted’s sentiments in his end-of-season remarks, repeatedly mentioning injuries when explaining the disappointing outcome of the season.
Read the first line of David Aldridge’s tweet again: “The Raptors faced their problems as a team last season…” The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it exists. The Wizards have problems at every level — management, coaching and player — but ownership and the front office continue to look the other way.
When player after player says the team plays down to lesser opponents and they don’t know why, the reaction should be to demand changes, not preach continuity.
When the coach spends 82 games saying he needs to find five guys who want to compete but never makes any substantive changes, preserving the status quo is not acceptable.
When the roster has glaring holes at multiple positions year-after-year and has huge amounts of cap space tied up in outdated players, a new approach is needed.
But the owner chooses to keep his head in the sand, while insisting to fans that a championship is the highest priority.
“Our singular goal in everything we do is to win a championship. You deserve it. Our city deserves it. It remains our first and only priority and I think our team showed this year that we have the pieces to make it happen.”
Ted’s words ring hollow given the fact that the team left its 15th roster spot open all season, and the Wizards were the only team in the NBA to not use both of its allotted two-way contracts. They were also one of the last franchises to get its own G League team. Those are not the actions of a team whose singular goal in everything it does is to win a championship.
To be clear, Ted is not obligated to spend indiscriminately to chase a championship. It’s his money. He already spends a hell of a lot on payroll – the fifth highest in the league. He doesn’t have to make the additional investments necessary to nudge the Wizards over the hump. But he can’t have it both ways. He cannot claim a championship-or-bust mantra while at the same time annually celebrating the grand accomplishment of playing in late-April.
If Washington’s singular priority truly is to win a championship, then the 2017-18 season would be a catalyst for major change, not a minor disappointment. Of all the members of the Wizards organization who publicly commented during exit interview day, only one person acknowledged the fundamental problems with the team: John Wall.
“I think it’s pretty obvious. I don’t need to point it out. I think the way the league is going, you need athletic bigs, you need scoring off the bench, you need all of those types of things. We don’t really have an athletic big. I mean, Ian is older. March is older. They’re not athletic guys, but they do the little things that permit their game to help as much as possible. Scoring off the bench, we had that the majority of the time. A shooter that can put the ball on the floor. Tomas is a great point guard to set everybody up. KO is a lockdown defender who can knock down shots for us. Mike was basically our go-to scorer and things like that. We need somebody else that can create off the dribble. I think at times it hurt us. We kind of got that when Ty came, but it was later in the season.”
Wall is right. It is obvious and he has been saying it for a few years now. Despite his pleas, the front office has gone in the opposite direction, sinking most of its disposable income into stationary, non-shooting centers, leaving the wing depth woefully thin and rotating through backup guards who cannot create their own shot.
The predictable result has been top-heavy rosters that rely entirely too much on Wall and Beal to carry the scoring load. Even with the built-in excuse of Wall’s injury, this season – which was marred by inconsistency even before Wall was hurt– should be a wake-up call for this franchise. It should be a moment of enlightenment. It should be a flashing red light screaming for a new approach.
Instead, we get this from the owner: “I think our team showed this year that we have the pieces to make it [a championship] happen.”
Those are not the words of someone demanding a culture change. Those are not the words of someone contemplating any personnel changes. John Wall recognizes the problems with the Wizards. It remains to be seen if anyone else does.
LOVERRO: Not even Wall thinks the Wizards have the right pieces
Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan, left, talks with Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) after Game 6 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Friday, April 27, 2018, in Washington. The Raptors won 102-92, and won the series. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
- Thom Loverro - - Sunday, April 29, 2018
- ANALYSIS/OPINION:
“Our singular goal in everything we do is to win a championship. You deserve it. Our city deserves it. It remains our first and only priority and I think our team showed this year that we have the pieces to make it happen.”
I prefer, though, to remember Leonsis’ tweet following his team’s opening season 120-115 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at the Capital One Arena:
“Process started here, 4 first round picks contributed to last nights win. Trust. Verify.”
What arrogance.
How can a man who is hailed as a visionary be so clueless?
Who, after the years of failure that have defined this franchise before and since Leonsis arrived, plants the flag of validation after one win?
A desperate man who is clinging to the hope that, despite all evidence otherwise, he will be proven right? Or a delusional man who truly believes that, despite all evidence otherwise, he is right?
The Wizards continue to wallow in the pool of mediocrity that has pretty much defined the franchise now for nearly 50 years, a franchise that hasn’t won 50 regular season games for four decades, an organization that hasn’t made it past the second round of the NBA playoffs in almost a half century.
This was the team that Leonsis took over when he assumed full ownership of the Wizards after the death of Abe Pollin in 2009 — the latest version at the time being the dysfunctional, embarrassing team built by general manager Ernie Grunfeld, who just completed his 15th season in the job and, based on some rumors, received a contract extension during this season, with a regular season record of 526-665 to show for it.
If ever a franchise cried out for change from Day 1 of new ownership, it was when Leonsis took over. Instead, he has embraced the status quo — keeping Grunfeld on board, year after year, ignoring the damage that it is doing to his fan base here, damage that will take years to repair.
A few playoff appearances and 45-win seasons aren’t going to cut it. Or didn’t you hear the boos at the arena at the end of Game 6 Friday night?
Contrary to Leonsis’ statement, no one believes they have the “pieces” here to win an NBA championship — not even his $207 million point guard John Wall, who, in his season-ending meeting with reporters, put the onus on the “front office” to get the missing pieces.
“It’s just figuring out what pieces we can add to our team,” Wall told reporters. “What guys can stay and what guys can go … that really want to win and really want to take that next step.
“I don’t put the pressure on everybody else. I put the pressure on myself because I am that franchise guy. I am the guy that has to be the leader of the team, that has to get everybody better, make everybody better on my team. At the same time, if I’m doing my part, the other 14 guys on my team have to do their part at getting better every year. Just being true to the team. Our problem at a lot of times is guys don’t understand guys their role and respect their role.”
In other words, it’s not me – it’s everyone else.
He is right, in the sense that this team’s failure to move forward is in large part because of Grunfeld’s inability to build a roster around his high-priced stars — Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter, with one bad contract, like Ian Mahinmi’s $64 million deal, after another.
But another part of the problem is Grunfeld’s inability to attract quality star free agents to Washington — like Al Horford two years ago — leaving the general manager little choice but to spend the money on keeping his own players. And these three — Wall, Beal, and Porter — may simply not be able to take this next step.
Paul Pierce, who played in Washington three seasons ago and was a driving force behind their second playoff push in the Wall-Beal era, told ESPN last week that three years later, this team is still missing that leadership quality Pierce brought to the roster after a Game 2 confrontation on the bench between Wall and Marcin Gortat, with Beal covering his face with a towel.
“They’re lacking that veteran presence, such as myself, to get in the huddle and say look guys, this is what we have to do’” Pierce said. “Now, I tried to breed them into that role. Now it’s up to John and Bradley to step up. Everything they’re doing is between their head. They’re frustrated with one another, they’re not playing well, and if they don’t get it together, they can’t be like this.”
“For them not to break up, they would have to get to the conference finals,” Pierce said. “If they don’t get to the conference finals, I do believe that a major change has to happen. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out and you have to move on and maybe start all over or see what you can get for your talent.”
His partner on the show, Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady, agreed that changes need to be made. “I think changes have to happen,” McGrady said. “You look at how these guys responded when John was out of the lineup. You look at the things that were said in the media when John was out. I just think you have to move either John or Bradley Beal to get some assets back.”
Well, that’s not happening. And even if it did, does anyone really trust Grunfeld to get the most for an asset like Bradley Beal or John Wall?
No, these are your Washington Wizards now and for the future — 41, 45, maybe 49 wins a season, sometimes fun to watch, often frustrating and uninspiring, and finished by May.
Washington and these Wizards fans don’t deserve that.
I kept that tweet from Ted Leonsis after the Wizards opening night win because I could trust that that man who wrote it would look foolish by the end of the season. Friday night his team verified it.
mastermind
Rest In Power Kobe
Im out brehs, don't tag me until Ernie is gone.
sounds like John wants Deandre or Hassan (and away with Gortat). (Noel could work if he isnt pricing himself out)
Jeff Green could be serviceable going back home.
combo guard shot creator? Barton.
backup SF? Gay or Wilson Chandler.
sn: I am still surprised no playoff team wanted to give up something for Tyreke for the rest of the season. he couldve been the difference in the Toronto series. maybe at the time the Wiz werent sure they were gonna make the playoffs
Boston surely could use him, especially right now!
Jeff Green could be serviceable going back home.
combo guard shot creator? Barton.
backup SF? Gay or Wilson Chandler.
sn: I am still surprised no playoff team wanted to give up something for Tyreke for the rest of the season. he couldve been the difference in the Toronto series. maybe at the time the Wiz werent sure they were gonna make the playoffs
Boston surely could use him, especially right now!
While I do think John Wall can work on encouraging his teammates more If he wasn’t ball dominant they’d lose even more. The guys on the Wizards aren’t consistent and aren’t as good as some may think. Look at the minutes he had to play for them to even be in the game.
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sounds like John wants Deandre or Hassan (and away with Gortat). (Noel could work if he isnt pricing himself out)
Jeff Green could be serviceable going back home.
combo guard shot creator? Barton.
backup SF? Gay or Wilson Chandler.
sn: I am still surprised no playoff team wanted to give up something for Tyreke for the rest of the season. he couldve been the difference in the Toronto series. maybe at the time the Wiz werent sure they were gonna make the playoffs
Boston surely could use him, especially right now!
Don’t think DC can afford Barton. But Oubre probably gets traded this summer. Really don’t think he wants to be in DC.
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@FAH1223
You ever heard of the Louisville kid Ray Spalding? Feel like he’s a sleeper in this draft. Wasn’t even invited to the combine but he seems like he can be good. 6’10 7’4 wingspan. Can block shots. Can save over for next year if Jason Smith opts in. At SG I still like Treveon Graham from Charlotte if Jodie Meeks opts in.
You ever heard of the Louisville kid Ray Spalding? Feel like he’s a sleeper in this draft. Wasn’t even invited to the combine but he seems like he can be good. 6’10 7’4 wingspan. Can block shots. Can save over for next year if Jason Smith opts in. At SG I still like Treveon Graham from Charlotte if Jodie Meeks opts in.
Yeah I watched some of his games. He's a good screener too.
I'm so glad we will have a G-League team this Fall. We finally can have a place for these late picks and undrafted guys. I sort of hope they bring Sheldon Mac into the mix too.