Washington Wizards Season Thread - Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here

[frshstunna]

Whitmore or Thompson would be a slam dunk …All those other dudes not talented enough to have a chance to break thru on the Wizards

 

[uncalled4boy]

President Of Monumental Basketball

Fam Running Three Teams, If That Aint #SoWizards.

NBA Rumors: Wizards Hire Clippers GM Michael Winger to Replace Tommy Sheppard

 

[Public Enemy]

Methodical Management your thoughts are needed

You like this?

I wonder if they really are gonna blow it up finally.

 

[jking0821]

I was literally about to post where is Meth to make sense of this...am i excited or disappointed by this hire

 

[Methodical Management]

Methodical Management your thoughts are needed

You like this?

I wonder if they really are gonna blow it up finally.

Am I supposed to be excited about landing the mastermind who traded five first round picks, two first round pick swaps, and SGA for a declining Paul George?

Who signed John Wall to a multi-year deal to be their starting point guard last summer, then had to trade the team's best long range shooter just to unload him at the deadline?

Who traded Quentin Grimes and a future second round pick to the Knicks for Keon Johnson?

Is he an upgrade? I mean, he wasn't Ernie Grunfeld's assistant, so... yes.
Is he a savior? No.

It's telling that Ted holds up the Clippers as an example of what he's trying to accomplish - take an utter laughingstock and turn it into a regular playoff participant. He didn't hire the architect of a championship team. He didn't sign a legendary basketball-lifer to institute and exemplify a broader culture change. He certainly didn't care about DEI. He brought in a lawyer by training who made one good draft day trade and managed to sign a free agent to a max contract in a warm weather state. Yay.

He's getting a lot of mileage out of his time with OKC, but, aside from acquiring SGA on draft night in 2018, the Clippers' scouting and player development have been nothing to write home about. Their trade results have been a mixed bag, to be kind, and their team-building around Kawhi and Paul George has left much to be desired - consisting largely of churning through veteran has-beens.

This team needs its version of Pat Riley - someone who will give them an identity, who’s familiar with every part of the business and can rebuild it from scratch.
That also requires a commitment from ownership, so it's unlikely that the type of person we need would even want the job.

Anyone expecting Ted to start spending like Steve Ballmer doesn’t know Ted Leonsis.
(And, if so, get acquainted: https://sports.yahoo.com/news/wizards-owner-high-arena-rent-makes-it-hard-to-compete-180526473.html )

There’s a reason they put Winger in charge of the Wizards, Mystics, Go Go, and, presumably, the arena’s concession stands. (He’d likely have been placed in charge of the “e-sports” team, too, were that not already assigned to a nepo baby.)


Winger will still need to hire a GM - preferably in advance of the June 22nd draft.
That person will have their work cut out for them, because we absolutely cannot afford another bust after alienating and then exiling the best prospect this team has drafted since Bradley Beal.


Winger has a lot to prove, and I'm certainly not sold on this hire yet, but if you want cause for optimism, keep in mind that 1) he's just starting a long-term deal, with no immediate pressure to meet Ted's annual two playoff home game mandate 2) and has no attachment to the team's current, demonstrably unviable core.

It may not be hope, but at least it's change.

 

[Public Enemy]

Great writeup. I was good for the most part, having seen some good moves and bad moves but like you, knowing that he was coming from completely outside the organization kind of at least gave me a glimmer of hope that he'd come in and possibly do what needed to be done. I'm waiting to see if the Dawkins guy becomes the GM, and to see what definitive moves they make to overhaul everything. Inch-by-inch aint cuttin it.

 

[Public Enemy]

 

[Public Enemy]

Methodical Management what shoe has to drop before you can no longer abandon hope and get swept away in lotteryesque thinking like "what if we actually win??"

Seems like the Wizards may be on the cusp of doing the recently unthinkable.

 

[Methodical Management]

Methodical Management what shoe has to drop before you can no longer abandon hope and get swept away in lotteryesque thinking like "what if we actually win??"

Seems like the Wizards may be on the cusp of doing the recently unthinkable.

Ted selling the team.

 

[Public Enemy]

Ted selling the team.

Hahaha! He's a trash owner, but hey, he brought in Winger, then the guy from Atlanta to do player scouting and development or whatever, and now brought in an OKC guy in what looks like a clear setup for blowing it up and starting over. That's something at least!

 

[broncos19dm]

Lord please

 

[Public Enemy]

Lord please

 

[sneaksoy]

I'm moving to DC and want to become a Wizards fan as I've never had a home/local team before.

But it sure seems like there's not much to look forward to for a while.

Hopefully tickets are available for $5-10 for weeknight games at least.

 

[frshstunna]

I'm moving to DC and want to become a Wizards fan as I've never had a home/local team before.

But it sure seems like there's not much to look forward to for a while.

Hopefully tickets are available for $5-10 for weeknight games at least.

Don’t get too invested in the team, natives dont even take em seriously…Like you said their good for cheap tix and pulling up to the arena to watch legit squads n stars

 

[Mister Meaner]

Might as well get a Knicks jersey so you don’t stand out from the crowd too.

 

[Methodical Management]

I'm moving to DC and want to become a Wizards fan as I've never had a home/local team before.

But it sure seems like there's not much to look forward to for a while.

Hopefully tickets are available for $5-10 for weeknight games at least.

Welcome to DC.

As we’re about to prove for the nth time, the Washington Generals are just schedule fodder for the regular season and a warehouse of spare parts that can be used to service legitimate NBA teams.

Look forward to cheap seats and even cheaper ownership.

 

[uncalled4boy]

 

[BennyIll22]

I know it isn't popular, but I don't think the return matters that much. They desperately needed out from what previous leadership had done to this franchise. It'll take plenty of time, but the Wizards will be far better in the long run for making this move.

 

[Methodical Management]

We can wait and see what - if anything - the Wizards can get in exchange for Chris Paul’s carcass, but assuming they just waive him for cap relief then it’s hard to argue that this was a move worth rushing into.

If we’ve proven nothing else over the past few years, it’s that we’re perfectly capable of losing games with Bradley Beal. If the Wizards want to tank now, they can do that with Beal on the roster and wait for 1) a wannabe contender off to a bad start to get desperate at the deadline (LeBron needs more help!) 2) Beal/Bartelstein to stop playing hardball with the no-trade clause to his own detriment.

Just because Beal preferred, for some reason, becoming the future scapegoat in Phoenix to suiting up for Miami or Milwaukee doesn’t meant that he’d actually follow through on the reported threat to veto a trade to those destinations when the alternative is to let your career rot on the vine.

No one expected the Wizards to get a Rudy Gobert level haul, but in a world where a defense-only center who can’t defend the high pick and roll is worth 5 firsts, and a predictably disastrous six month rental of a team-destroying Flat Earther is worth one, getting absolutely nothing for Bradley Beal is not going to inspire faith in the new regime. It’s the same old Wizards.

We gained cap space for this summer. Okay. And how will that be (mis)spent? Jerami Grant? Gabe Vincent? Maxing out Kyle Kuzma and Porzingis? Taking on some other team’s toxic waste to facilitate a sign and trade in exchange for yet more future second round picks the owner will sell?


Since 2010-11, when Ted Leonsis gained majority control over the team, the Wizards have compiled a regular season record of 455-574, 44.2%. They managed only four winning seasons, finishing no higher than fourth in the East, and celebrated a total of three first round playoff series wins.

To whatever extent this even qualifies as “change”, then this is a suitably futile end to a pitifully futile era.

 

[aepps20]

I'm happy with the Beal move to finally start over with cap space and draft picks

 

[pmatic]

If the goal is to tear everything down to the studs, the Beal trade is a good start.

 

[broncos19dm]

That NTC was really nasty work off rip man

 

[frshstunna]

The Wizards will be in this same position with a new player in 2032…It’s a cycle of madness

 

[DaKidFromHaiti]

The Wizards will be in this same position with a new player in 2032…It’s a cycle of madness

I’d share that sentiment if it was the same front office, but it’s not so I’m a bit more optimistic, cautiously optimistic if you will. We had Ernie since 2003 and then Tommy right after (who worked under Ernie), so that’s basically 20 years of Ernie Grunfeld influence. For the first time in 20 years we have guys in the front office who came from the outside. We’re going to be garbage for a while but hopefully we’ll end up with a higher pick than the 8th or 9th pick like it’s been for quite a bit now.

 

[staffsgtdignam]

We can wait and see what - if anything - the Wizards can get in exchange for Chris Paul’s carcass, but assuming they just waive him for cap relief then it’s hard to argue that this was a move worth rushing into.

If we’ve proven nothing else over the past few years, it’s that we’re perfectly capable of losing games with Bradley Beal. If the Wizards want to tank now, they can do that with Beal on the roster and wait for 1) a wannabe contender off to a bad start to get desperate at the deadline (LeBron needs more help!) 2) Beal/Bartelstein to stop playing hardball with the no-trade clause to his own detriment.

Just because Beal preferred, for some reason, becoming the future scapegoat in Phoenix to suiting up for Miami or Milwaukee doesn’t meant that he’d actually follow through on the reported threat to veto a trade to those destinations when the alternative is to let your career rot on the vine.

No one expected the Wizards to get a Rudy Gobert level haul, but in a world where a defense-only center who can’t defend the high pick and roll is worth 5 firsts, and a predictably disastrous six month rental of a team-destroying Flat Earther is worth one, getting absolutely nothing for Bradley Beal is not going to inspire faith in the new regime. It’s the same old Wizards.

We gained cap space for this summer. Okay. And how will that be (mis)spent? Jerami Grant? Gabe Vincent? Maxing out Kyle Kuzma and Porzingis? Taking on some other team’s toxic waste to facilitate a sign and trade in exchange for yet more future second round picks the owner will sell?


Since 2010-11, when Ted Leonsis gained majority control over the team, the Wizards have compiled a regular season record of 455-574, 44.2%. They managed only four winning seasons, finishing no higher than fourth in the East, and celebrated a total of three first round playoff series wins.

To whatever extent this even qualifies as “change”, then this is a suitably futile end to a pitifully futile era.

The Wizards will be in this same position with a new player in 2032…It’s a cycle of madness

I know it will never happen because we’re too big of a market but this makes me wish Ted just moved the team out of DC. The DMV and Bmore as a whole deserves infinitely better.