The Official Washington Wizards Thread

[TGI Jef]

i dont want to overreact to a single game, but John Wall + Derrick Williams on the high pick and roll would be about as devestating as any set in the nba.

Williams can hit the 20 footer and dunk on anyone in the world not named Dwight Howard or Blake Griffin, and Wall can turn the corner and get to the basket against anyone.

IF the Wizards somehow snagged Williams and IF John Wall can make the Rose/Westbrook leap in the nex 1-2 years, they could be on track in a serious, serious way.

[Warhead36]

Williams might have secured the #1 overall pick status though after last night, I doubt we'll be lucky enough to win the lottery two years in a row.

[DCchillin89]

Williams might have secured the #1 overall pick status though after last night, I doubt we'll be lucky enough to win the lottery two years in a row.

Irving too. It really depends on where we end up in the draft, but I want Williams for sure. I just hope he loses in the NCAA's so his stock doesn't get any higher

[stevemcqueen1]

Check a couple of pages back, there has been a little discussion on Williams but not a whole lot. Last night's game was definitely impressive and Williams is a gifted scorer and definite lottery pick. But I'm not crazy about him as a fit here unless it's too play small forward.

I think he projects as a pretty soft NBA power forward. The Wizards are already too finesse as is. He reminds me of Michael Beasley and I've seen comparisons of him to David West and that comparison makes sense to me too. West was a soft little punk in college, I wouldn't go so far as to say that about Williams, but the finesse label is there.

If you put him at SF though, that could work. The only problem is, will he still be the same scorer? The dude has an enormous array of offensive weapons, but couldn't a lot of his scoring advantages be attributed to the fact that he's so much quicker than college PFs? It seems like he gets a lot of his production in the paint from just beating defenders to spots and having a teammate create something nice for him and letting him finish.

My biggest problem with him is that he's not super big or strong for an NBA 4. I'm guessing he's in the 6'8" range so he's going to get his shot blocked a lot in the NBA and he's going to struggle to defend stretchy/powerful 4s.

That's why I think he needs to move to SF and position changes are always a little tough to predict. Does he have the handle, passing skills, and shot to produce at a similar pace at SF? The shot might be there, but who knows until you've seen him do it regularly? These are the same kind of concerns I have with Perry Jones.

These are my basic concerns, as articulated by draftexpress.com: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/...#ixzz1HcvUuqkN

Not incredibly tall or long compared with some of the elite power forwards in the NBA, and surely lacking the quickness or experience to guard the perimeter effectively, NBA teams may struggle to project him as being anything more than an average defender at best at the next level.

Williams' rebounding production has improved by nearly 20% this year on a per-minute basis, but that's more due to his work on the offensive glass -- where his terrific hands, excellent second bounce and outstanding instincts all play a major role -- than on the defensive end. He ranks toward the middle of the pack amongst NCAA power forward prospects as a defensive rebounder, something that's unlikely to improve at the NBA level based on what we can see.

Javale/Andray's mediocre defensive rebounding skills make that a liability. We need at least one big who can pile up rebounds on defense.

6'8 235 is big for a SF though and he's be able to muscle 3s around just fine. But can he run with them?

Although I do admit, it would be fun as hell to watch him catch alley-oops from John Wall every night. A scoring forward like Williams plus a DeMarcus Cousins free agent signing down the road gives us an enormous amount of offensive weapons...

---------- Post added March-25th-2011 at 12:00 PM ----------

Williams might have secured the #1 overall pick status though after last night, I doubt we'll be lucky enough to win the lottery two years in a row.

I always thought this year's #1 would come down to who ended up having the best tournament among the top 7-8 prospects going in. Perry Jones didn't get a chance to shine so I figured he was out of the running unless everyone else absolutely bombed. I thought Sullinger was a stretch to go #1 all along because of his athletic profile, but it wouldn't have shocked me if he did following a string of 20-10 performances. Fredette and Walker didn't have a chance to go #1 (although I think they'll be lottery picks and productive players eventually).

Truth be told though, I thought it would be Barnes, not Williams who busted out and had a monstrous tournament. It could still happen, but last night's film is really going to help Williams get some looks to go first overall. He's having a Carmelo like year.

That region of my bracket is almost perfect though and I can thank Williams and Walker for it. I've got Arizona losing to Uconn next round and Uconn advancing to the championship game.

[StillUnknown]

I agree with Steve on Williams. I won't be upset if we draft him, but I think there are better fits for what we need

[Warhead36]

I could see Williams being an Antawn Jamison type. Tweener 3/4 who can give you a soft 20/10 and the occasional all-star season. But we really need a banger down low, unless we think a Williams/Booker/McGee front court will get it done(which it won't).

[stevemcqueen1]

What do you all think about Barnes? He's been good lately but I wonder if he's got the kind of quickness and playmaking ability to become a top scoring wing.

What do you all see his ceiling at? Are you all thinking Danny Granger once he adds some weight and further develops his ball handling/slashing ability? That'd be nice to have. Or are you all seeing him more as a more muscular Sean Elliot/Luol Deng?

How do you all think he'd fit on our team? His defensive presence would be huge since we're having to scrape by at the 3 with Booker switching back and forth. I like his catch and shoot ability and I think that's where he'll bring the most value early on. Wall would get another nice perimeter outlet and we can really expand a defense by having Barnes and Young on the floor at the same time. I'd like to see him improve his ability to attack the rim, but that's something that will probably come in time.

Another reason I like Barnes is because he has a lot of upside left to his game and has winning intangibles. I have no doubt that he'll work to become a better handler and passer and eventually figure the position out.

Also, I want us to get an 18 or 19 year old out of this class because of the likelihood for a lockout. They'll have time to spare before they get thrown into the fire.

I think if you get Barnes, all that's left is to find a dominant scoring/rebounding big--easier said than done I realize. If you get someone who can score regularly with his back to the basket and who's strong and aggressive enough to pull down 10-15 boards a night, then you've got a well diversified offense/defensive set. This is where getting that second lottery pick would be really nice. If it's a top 6 pick then you can probably get Sullinger/Kanter this year. If we fail at that, then maybe Kenneth Faried or something like that with that late first or early second? Tough to say what we should do in that case.

This lottery pick is super important for bringing in a true second banana to Wall. If we're successful at that, then we won't have as many problems keeping Wall once his contract is up. Not only that, we're an attractive FA destination down the line. If Barnes worked out, he and Wall would probably be enough to draw DeMarcus Cousins here once his rookie deal was up.

[Warhead36]

Barnes has all the talent in the world, but I don't know. There is just something about him that makes me feel he'll never really live up to all of it. Still if he's there when we pick, we'd have to consider it. We do need a SF.

[WALL-LE]

ive been saying derrick williams for the last two weeks...
therefore i am a genius

[stevemcqueen1]

ive been saying derrick williams for the last two weeks...
therefore i am a genius

Well done. I hereby take off my "good call" cap that I made myself after Barnes' 40 pointer and bequeath it to you.

[stevemcqueen1]

Did anyone watch this game? I didn't have any basketball interest left in me tonight to get up for this one. Looking at the box score though, at least Crawford's shooting percentages are up. That's at least one positive to take away.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Did anyone watch this game? I didn't have any basketball interest left in me tonight to get up for this one. Looking at the box score though, at least Crawford's shooting percentages are up. That's at least one positive to take away.

I gave up in the 2nd quarter.

Losing is killing me.

[Fergasun]

I gave up in the 2nd quarter.

Losing is killing me.

Congrats. You lasted about half a quarter longer than Rod Strickland did when he was those turn of the century Wizard teams...

[StillUnknown]

Did anyone watch this game? I didn't have any basketball interest left in me tonight to get up for this one. Looking at the box score though, at least Crawford's shooting percentages are up. That's at least one positive to take away.

it was the usual wizard performance

dig a hole 1st quarter, mini run in the 2nd quarter, never competitive after

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Hmmm. Just saw ion the crawl on ESPNews that Sullinger says he's going back to OSU next year.

---------- Post added March-26th-2011 at 02:32 AM ----------

Yup. Its breaking new on ESPN right now. Hopefully it's just emotion after a tough loss speaking and he changes his mind. Even if we don't want him, it still good to have him in there to bump other players down a spot.