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http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ngeles-lakers-dangelo-russell-luke-walton-nbaWashington had traction with Deng on a three-year deal worth $20 million less overall than L.A. ended up paying, and was stunned to learn of L.A.'s offer, according to several league sources.
defOtto....been real impressive
I was & when beal went down last night
And if he'd signed Deng, that would've be IT for Otto Porter. It's revealing, and worries me a bit about a possible Porter trade.The worst part about the potential Deng signing, is that he surely would have taken minutes away from either Otto or Oubre. Deng is no where near being as good as Otto is right now, and you can make an argument that Oubre is better as well. Lakers saved the Wizards from themselves.
I agree that Brooks, while perhaps not the best possible coach for this team, has proven himself the type of upgrade we'd hoped he would be over Randy Wittman. (i.e. competent.)Since the 2-8 start, the Wizards are 19-11.
Today was one of those days where EVERYTHING worked in their favor. Despite the limitations of the bench, Scotty Brooks has been doing a fantastic job with his rotations and with his overall coaching.
Oubre looks to be fully recovered from his concussion and has been playing well.
Jason Smith has a pulse and is doing some dirty work out there on the floor.
Sato, with a double-double today.
Just need these three to keep up the good play. A stronger bench would probably mean 3+ more wins for this team.
Let's keep i going vs. the Grizzlies.
And if he'd signed Deng, that would've be IT for Otto Porter. It's revealing, and worries me a bit about a possible Porter trade.
I agree that Brooks, while perhaps not the best possible coach for this team, has proven himself the type of upgrade we'd hoped he would be over Randy Wittman. (i.e. competent.)
He and his staff LEARN. They try different things. You can see improvement from both the coaching staff and the players.
That said, the bench couldn't possibly play any worse than they did at the beginning of the season. Their relative success is partly a credit to the staff recognizing what each player is capable of and trying to put them in position to succeed - but it's worth noting that Wall started the season on a minutes restriction after double knee surgery. His minutes have gone up. Guys like Jason Smith are getting more time with Wall on the floor. The starters are logging pretty heavy minutes - and if you look at the teams we've beaten of late, the "signature win" was against the Clippers. Griffin played in that game, but was clearly not 100% and would not play the following games.
I have to temper my optimism, not just because this doesn't seem sustainable (the schedule will get harder and, aside from Mahinmi, this team has been very fortunate with injuries), but because the true worst case scenario for this team was an 8th place finish and more Ernie Grunfeld. We're headed in that direction.
It's been reported that Brooks will have "a say" in the Wizards personnel decisions, but that's not terribly encouraging considering a) Randy Wittman reportedly had the same "privilege" b) there's no reason to believe that he can work magic on this roster and render Mahinmi or other bad contracts tradable c) Ernie still has the first and final say.
February will be a nerve-wracking month for Wizards fans. The Ernie's deadline deals are almost always a disaster and, this year, we may have to contend with the narrative change that would result from Wall missing the All Star Team. With the Hornets' slide, you'd like to think that Wall will edge out the like of Kemba Walker, but, if recent All Star history has taught us nothing else, fans' voting is a product of ignorance and coaches' voting a product of politics.
The worst part about the potential Deng signing, is that he surely would have taken minutes away from either Otto or Oubre. Deng is no where near being as good as Otto is right now, and you can make an argument that Oubre is better as well. Lakers saved the Wizards from themselves.
And if he'd signed Deng, that would've be IT for Otto Porter. It's revealing, and worries me a bit about a possible Porter trade.
Since the 2-8 start, the Wizards are 19-11.
Today was one of those days where EVERYTHING worked in their favor. Despite the limitations of the bench, Scotty Brooks has been doing a fantastic job with his rotations and with his overall coaching.
Oubre looks to be fully recovered from his concussion and has been playing well.
Jason Smith has a pulse and is doing some dirty work out there on the floor.
Sato, with a double-double today.
Just need these three to keep up the good play. A stronger bench would probably mean 3+ more wins for this team.
Let's keep i going vs. the Grizzlies.
I agree that Brooks, while perhaps not the best possible coach for this team, has proven himself the type of upgrade we'd hoped he would be over Randy Wittman. (i.e. competent.)
He and his staff LEARN. They try different things. You can see improvement from both the coaching staff and the players.
That said, the bench couldn't possibly play any worse than they did at the beginning of the season. Their relative success is partly a credit to the staff recognizing what each player is capable of and trying to put them in position to succeed - but it's worth noting that Wall started the season on a minutes restriction after double knee surgery. His minutes have gone up. Guys like Jason Smith are getting more time with Wall on the floor. The starters are logging pretty heavy minutes - and if you look at the teams we've beaten of late, the "signature win" was against the Clippers. Griffin played in that game, but was clearly not 100% and would not play the following games.
I have to temper my optimism, not just because this doesn't seem sustainable (the schedule will get harder and, aside from Mahinmi, this team has been very fortunate with injuries), but because the true worst case scenario for this team was an 8th place finish and more Ernie Grunfeld. We're headed in that direction.
It's been reported that Brooks will have "a say" in the Wizards personnel decisions, but that's not terribly encouraging considering a) Randy Wittman reportedly had the same "privilege" b) there's no reason to believe that he can work magic on this roster and render Mahinmi or other bad contracts tradable c) Ernie still has the first and final say.
February will be a nerve-wracking month for Wizards fans. The Ernie's deadline deals are almost always a disaster and, this year, we may have to contend with the narrative change that would result from Wall missing the All Star Team. With the Hornets' slide, you'd like to think that Wall will edge out the like of Kemba Walker, but, if recent All Star history has taught us nothing else, fans' voting is a product of ignorance and coaches' voting a product of politics.
We talked about it earlier in the year, there's no GM - probably in all of pro sports - who's received more latitude and tolerance of failure than Ernie.Possibly the best thing about us missing the Playoffs again is that Ernie might actually be fired this time.. It seems more pressure than ever is being put on Ted to fix this problem.
I saw Brooks as an upgrade, but I was down on the hire for a few reasons. First, and most obviously, hiring Brooks to lure KD was exceptionally stupid. It's the sort of move that reinforces the Wizards' status as a laughingstock. Second, they didn't interview ANY other candidates. Setting aside, for a moment, the dubious ethics of that, even if we care nothing about fairness and society and only for the state of the franchise, we must agree that such a hiring "process" will not produce superior candidates. You wouldn't renovate a bathroom that way, much less build a billion dollar sports franchise. Lastly, Brooks seemed very much like a "time slot hit." Yes, they made it to the NBA Finals once, but this guy had, potentially, three future MVPs on that roster and still fell short. It was difficult to really parse out the extent to which player development really drove the team's success - particularly since all three of those guys are now playing better basketball separately, with different franchises. Can it really be said, then, that he got the most out of his players?I think the year away from basketball was the best thing for Scott Brooks. I was EXTREMELY skeptical about the hire, but he's really done a wonderful job from the jump. Ernie Grunfeld didn't give him a lot to work with outside of the starters, but it says a lot that 4/5 guys are having career years offensively, Oubre is starting to develop into a true 3&D threat, and a guy like McClellan is actually getting rotational minutes as a UDFA. None of these things would be possible with Randy Wittman still in charge.
Like you, I'm a little nervous about February. That trade deadline is quickly approaching, and the last thing I want Grunfeld to do is try to make a trade to salvage HIS career. I'd be furious if a young asset like Oubre or Porter was moved for a downtrending vet like Rudy Gay. That just can't happen. HOPEFULLY, Mahinmi is healthy by then, and they look at his activation as more of a roster move than what a trade would bring in. Obviously, he's been non-existent this season, but this team needs all that it can get to bolster the bench.
As far as the Wall All-Star push, him being 7th or 8th (whatever he is) in the fan voting is more of a reflection of him being underrated/underappreciated by folks who "follow" the league. IMO, he is hands down the best PG in the East and his spot shouldn't be up for debate. But here we are...SMH.
I find that to be a lot of wishful thinking, in none of those proposals honestly involves players that any other team would want. I think it's fair to say that Utah would be unequivocally disinterested in trading Derrick Favors for Marcin Gortat, for example, and I have a hard time believing that there's a market out there for packages consisting of undrafted players and second round picks.On the heels of our Feb trade deadline chat, check this out:
Potential trade targets who could use a fresh start on the Wizards
The problem is that, if we're not giving up any key pieces, we're left with bad bench players. Another team would have to value those bad bench players more than their own.If they make any trades the Wiz gotta target bench players or young guys on good contracts who need some playing time to possibly help boost the bench ...these kinda trades can be made without involving key pieces unless they get swindled