Washington Wizards 2013 - 2014 Season Thread - Thanks for a great season!

Where will the Washington Wizards finish this season?

  • Out of the playoffs.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • In 8th place.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • In 7th place.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • In 6th place.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • In 5th place.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I'm delusional and believe the Wizards will finish in 4th place or higher.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
  • Poll closed .
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Otto screams safe but i still would of preferred Noel

Even tho both have yet to play in an NBA game, I always wanted Noel cause i knew our bigs are cotton soft when it comes to protecting the basket

Im hoping Porter is as serviceable as everyone thinks he is, cause for sure the 3 is weak within our team
 
Every draft pick has the luxury of riding the "potential" wave until they lace em up. 

It's easy to say Noel would have been a better pick...because we haven't seen him play yet so he's still being evaluated on what his ceiling is.

Case in point...look at Anthony Bennett. NOBODY on his this board seen it coming...including Wizards fans. I ain't gonna say no names but it's alot of regular posters in this thread that had a legit discussion on whether Bennett was a better fit for this team than Porter when it was still expected that he'd be available at 3.

Would any of ya'll say that now?

And all it took was 2 summer league games for people to sour on Porter.
 
VICTOR PAGE said:
Him and Noel are one in the same right now. We don't know what's going to happen to either. In any event...if the draft was done over TODAY knowing what we know now....I don't know how anyone can say Otto wasn't the safest pick.
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Otto was undoubtedly the safest pick and the most NBA-ready player in that group.  

Don't forget: we could easily have come out even worse had the Cavs not taken a. Bennett for us.  Grunfeld was supposedly very high on him (or just very high) and rumor had it that there was considerable internal debate between Bennett and Porter.  

This organization has arguably the worst track record in the league with respect to player development.  We don't work well with raw talent.  Porter has a proven skill base and he'll be capable of contributing to this team.  While we'd all hoped he could come in and deliver quality minutes right away, I think we're still going to see more out of him this year than we will from most rookies.  We're not exactly kicking ourselves from passing on McLemore or Cody Zeller.  The only reason we're feeling wishful about "what could've been" with Noel is because he hasn't revealed himself to be a disappointment, as so many other lottery players have this season.  

Ariza isn't going to play at this level forever.  I think we'd all be stunned if he sustains this run through All Star weekend - or through December.  He's in a contract year right now.  He's doing what he's supposed to do.  When you enter this summer with the possibility of $16 million in cap room, you're going to have to take a good hard look at frontcourt options.  You'll have legitimate All Star players like Pau Gasol available.  I'm not saying he's a great fit, but he's certainly not a risky project.  So you get a proven commodity in free agency to help up front and then you've got a guy in Otto Porter who will NOT be a major step down from Ariza and who will play for a rookie scale contract.  Plus you still have Martell to lean on and potentially start if Otto doesn't play to his potential. 

When you have a GM batting under .200, you don't ask him to swing for the fences.  HIT SINGLES.  Get reliable talent in the draft.  Sign reliable talent in free agency.  Build a winning culture.  This is a team that needs to be poised to contend for a championship once the Heat are in decline.  Your target is to reach that level within 2 years, when Beal and Wall are (hopefully) perennial All Stars.  Trevor's not going to be a starter on that future team.  Porter very well could be, but, if nothing else, he'll contribute - either on the court or as an asset.  You don't know what's going to happen with Noel, but there will be opportunities to shore up that front line via free agency either now or down the road.  I don't fault the Wizards for playing it safe in this instance.  

Considering our inept training staff has badly mishandled Porter's hip flexor injury (and Beal's stress fracture, and Gil's knee, and Nene's entire body), I shudder to think of how Noel's career would play out in Washington.  

We've already got a power forward who's reluctant to play through a bruised toenail.  We don't need a center who will spend more time in a suit than a tax accountant. 
 
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I appreciate all the optimism about Otto and I am optimistic about him as well. But I don't necessarily think he was that 'safe' of a pick. I wanted a big man from the get go. Even if Noel or Len never fully blossom into stars, at least you have a F/C who can actually play basketball (unlike Vesely, Booker, Seraphin) at a low price. The Wizards could really use that right now.


A lot of people said Porter was NBA ready, but at the same time many felt like he had a fair amount of bust potential as well. He's very raw and not particularly skilled in any one area. At least Bennett had showed great scoring ability and explosiveness in college (and I think he could end up being a decent player down the line if/when he gets in shape). Porter had shown neither. He can be a good defender at the NBA level, but that will probably take some time.


Otto is likely to be our last top 5 pick for a while. If he doesn't develop into an above average starter within the next few seasons, it will really stunt the development of this team.
 
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If Alex Len can't get on the floor in Phoenix how would he play here?
 
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Len hasn't played because he's rehabbing an ankle, not for lack of ability. He's a skilled and mobile 7-footer, he will be fine.

I would rather have a project 7-footer than a project SF.
 
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Bennett's stunk so far, but he would have made sense for the Wizards.

Theoretically, they could have used Bennett's scoring and depth up front.
 
I don't think Otto is a "project" so we can agree to disagree with that one.

The consensus on him was that we was a jack of all trades, master of none. That's not a project. That's someone who is unlikely to be an all star but instead...a quality NBA starter.
 
Well even if Porter pans out as a good SF, what do we do about big man depth?

We have no project bigs on the roster. I'm looking at these other teams with young 20-22 year old guys like Drummond, Valanciunas, Steven Adams, Len, Tristan Thompson, Kanter, Ed Davis, John Henson, Vucevic, Terrence Jones, Jared Sullinger, Miles Plumlee.. all young dudes bursting with potential.

Meanwhile, Washington has Seraphin, Vesely, Booker.. none of whom will be in the league in 2-3 years.

Idk, I would feel a lot better about our future if we had a young big waiting in the wings. I see what ya'll are saying though. Porter will definitely be a great addition to the team.
 
Yea we need quality bigs and soon, but im anxious to see how many mins porter gets considering hes recovering and ariza is hot

I feel Wittman is gonna f this situation so bad
 
A lot of winnable games in the month of December. If the Wiz can get healthy and keep beating the teams they are supposed to beat.....good things await. The Eastern Conference is historically bad so far this season. I can't recall this lopsided distribution of power amongst the conferences in my 23+ years of watching basketball.



Look forward to seeing the Wiz out here in Phoenix when they come to town next month.
 
I'd like to see them sell high on Ariza. Perhaps not immediately, but the FO should at least be looking to ascertain his trade value. An experienced wing who can defend and 'shoot' should net a legitimate asset or two. *insert derisive comment about Grunfeld's competence here*
 
abovelegit1 said:
I'd like to see them sell high on Ariza. Perhaps not immediately, but the FO should at least be looking to ascertain his trade value. An experienced wing who can defend and 'shoot' should net a legitimate asset or two. *insert derisive comment about Grunfeld's competence here*
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This.

Once otto is healthy and got some PT under his belt...deal Ariza. Some contender will take him for a draft pick or some bench depth for us.

And you guys are saying give otto time and at least he isn't Anthony Bennett....but give Bennett time. I was one of the few people in here that said if Otto was gone and you had a choice at num 3...id take bennett. I know the wiz suck with young talent but you can't draft saying "man we can't develop players at all we should draft the one guy who everyone says is NBA ready". I wasn't that high on Nerlens but i would have had no problem taking him just given his defensive potential. I also really liked Mclemore in that draft class. I thought he was the most athletic player to come out last year.

But i really think we can make the playoffs if Otto comes back and gives us bench help. Assuming Ariza fizzles out he could be starting by the end of the season.
 
The only problem i had with picking Otto was the fact that the team re signed Webster and still had Ariza (Good thing since Otto got hurt)...Why take a sf in the top 5 when you have 2 capable vets that would play on similiar levels for the next 2 years anyway? I know the sf position was a hole to fill for the future but the Wiz are in win now mode
 
frshstunna said:
The only problem i had with picking Otto was the fact that the team re signed Webster and still had Ariza (Good thing since Otto got hurt)...Why take a sf in the top 5 when you have 2 capable vets that would play on similiar levels for the next 2 years anyway? I know the sf position was a hole to fill for the future but the Wiz are in win now mode
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Ariza is off the books after this year. So the thought process was that you're drafting your EVENTUAL starting SF.

And take another look at that draft...who else left on that board would help us out in "Win Now" mode?

It would be alot easier if alot of yall just admit that ya'll iffy on Otto because of summer league 
laugh.gif


If dude would have averaged 20 & 10 in summer league we wouldn't even be having this convo.
 
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VICTOR PAGE said:
frshstunna said:
The only problem i had with picking Otto was the fact that the team re signed Webster and still had Ariza (Good thing since Otto got hurt)...Why take a sf in the top 5 when you have 2 capable vets that would play on similiar levels for the next 2 years anyway? I know the sf position was a hole to fill for the future but the Wiz are in win now mode
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Ariza is off the books after this year. So the thought process was that you're drafting your EVENTUAL starting SF.

And take another look at that draft...who else left on that board would help us out in "Win Now" mode?

It would be alot easier if alot of yall just admit that ya'll iffy on Otto because of summer league :lol:

If dude would have averaged 20 & 10 in summer league we wouldn't even be having this convo.
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Naw summer league dont mean ****, i already know they want him to run with Wall and Beal in the future... i just dont agree with drafting Otto in the top 5 and now he's the teams 3rd best sf
 
I'm not just saying this because of Otto, I've wanted Washington to draft a big man for years now.

Wall and Beal were no brainer picks. Other than those two, the majority of our picks since 2010 should have been big men. The 2011 draft was such an abomination by Ernie, so many quality F/Cs and somehow the Wizards end up with Vesely and Singleton.

This team will never go anywhere if we don't have defensive bigs on the roster. Even on those playoff teams we had Brendan Haywood.
 
Porter update:

“I feel like it’ll be soon,” Porter said.

After Porter completed his second full practice of the season Wednesday, Coach Randy Wittman said he would like to see how Porter’s body responds to another hard, full-court practice before deciding on his availability Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks.

“I liked what I saw. At the end, he got winded. But that’s going to be expected,” Wittman said. “It’s kind of a feel. Obviously, he’s not going to come in and play 30 minutes. we’re going to ease him in and see where he is from his minutes on the floor, conditioning and stuff, and use that as guidance.”
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...0042fa-5d3f-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html

Gortat says he looks good, and that he's extremely skinny :lol:

"We definitely need a guy off the bench who can come in, knock down some shots, give us a spark offensively energy-wise. We need that person. He's definitely a talent kid. His shot looks really good. He's made a lot of shots. He's looking really good. He could be the joker in the coach's sleeve. He might be the guy that come in here and help us win games off the bat as long as he can stay healthy.

"I'm laughing at him right now because his calf is the size of my wrist. He's got to put on some weight. He might get destroyed out there. He's so small, seriously."
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http://www.csnwashington.com/basket...tat-jokes-smallish-porter-might-get-destroyed



Hopefully we get to see him Friday, if only just for a few minutes.
 
Gortat :lol:

I hope we resign him I like his game and work ethic. He has done a nice job replacing who i thought was our hardest worker on the court in Okefor. But he has a more polished offensive game then Omeka. Not the defensive stopper Omeka was though.

I am going to try to get to the Clips game on sat dec 14th.
 
Well we are a offense that is based around Wall's strength's

We need to put shooters around him as he spreads it around good

Im surprised that this team doesnt foul staple of a good D, can anybody find stats on how the defense is performing, as compared to when we started the season slumping
 
^Our d has improved gradually over the season, but it's definitely still bad relative to the rest of the league.


Otto!! Webster tweaked his ankle so Porter is gonna play a lot of minutes this game. He looked mad uncomfortable at first and airballed a three (word to Bennett lol) but starting to settle down
 
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