The Official Washington Wizards Thread

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

There is no way in hell we can go from 14th in the conference to 5th next year. There is no way in hell we are a playoff team next year. There is still a ton of work to do.

Wanna make a wager on that?

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

I dont believe a word Chris Broussard is saying. He is the new Peter Vescey

[RonArtest15]

Well.. i never said we would be 5th next year. I said we would have a ceiling of 5th. I think we can be a playoff team next year. But i dont think we are anywhere close to contending.

If the ceiling with the CURRENT roster we have is 5th in the conference, you wouldn't take that?

No, we're nowhere close to contending for a title. Not even in the same stratosphere. However, I do think (realistically) we'll be fighting for the 8th seed this year.

Again, keep an eye on 2014. By then we'll have a good idea as to the trajectory of this squad. The team will look COMPLETELY different as guys like Ariza/Okafor/and possibly Nene will be gone from the roster. They'll hopefully be replaced by younger and BETTER talent and this team will be seen as a team on the rise that has the potential to come out of the East.

[Destino]

What good is demolishing, and rebuilding a team if the best case scenario is that you are 5th best in your own conference. That sucks, and is depressing. We need to hope that Wall makes the leap this year.

The demolishing hasn't happened yet under Ted Leonsis. We swapped starting centers and gave away Nick Young, who was coming off the bench at the time. They went extremely young in Ted's first year but really, they were already young when he took over. After one season they are significantly older.

It seems however the Ted isn't terribly confident in this working out. If you look at how this all plays out the team has a built in reset two season away.

This is essentially the Wizards organization:

GM - Grunfeld
HC - Wittman
PG - Wall / Mack
SG - Beal / Crawford
SF - Ariza / Singleton / Vesely
PF - Nene / Booker / Blatche
C - Okafor / Seraphin

Only the names in green are under contract for 2014-15. Grunfeld and Wittman have two season to deliver results or the team automatically self destructs. A new GM would essentially come in and be able to start from scratch, picking any choosing restricted free agents to resign and which to simply kiss goodbye.

Because of this and the fact that Leonsis said that he didn't want to be in the lottery anymore I think this team is in win now mode.

[pjfootballer]

Wanna make a wager on that?

I'm not a betting man, but if they finish 5th or better in the conference, it would be like a legitimate Bigfoot sighting.

[nuposse87]

I'm not a betting man, but if they finish 5th or better in the conference, it would be like a legitimate Bigfoot sighting.

Miami
Pacers
Knicks
Nets (if they acquire Howard)

All teams expected to be considerably better. Knicks are up there on potential alone, I assume they will kind of figure it out. Toronto also becomes a playoff team with Nash but I'm not sure where they fit into the rankings with him yet. Boston can be a playoff team again, but you are kidding yourself if you think an older KG and Pierce are going to get any better. They more than likely will lose Allen so they won't have their 3 point shooting to bail them out. While they did retool a little in the draft, I though they needed to address a wing player before the bigs. I like Melo for them, although he won't be a factor early on. Sullinger is a wild card, he could either incredibly suck, or have great value for his slot.

ATL can make the playoffs with teague, smith and horford...but I think they'd be best served tanking, and going for the Muhammad sweepstakes.

I would venture to say we are on par with all the remaining playoff contenders in the east, Cavs, Bucks, Sixers, and maybe detroit this year. I honestly see it breaking down like this:

1- Miami
2-Pacers(if they keep hibbert)
3- Celtics (i'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they make a big push)
4-Knicks
5-Nets
6-Wizards
7-Sixers
8-Chicago

If Nash goes to Toronto, they probably get the 6 seed and the seeding all falls one.

[RonArtest15]

Knicks??? As long as Melo/STAT are together, they'll never finish above a 5th seed in the East.

Honeymoon stage w/ Woody was great. But I FULLY expect the wheels to fall off at some point this season. Watching the playoffs this past year should have made it glaringly obvious that neither Carmelo or Stoudemire have the mental make-up to do what it takes to CARRY a team through a playoff series. NEITHER guy will ever do enough on the defensive end to make this happen.

I think Carmelo Anthony is the single-most overrated player in the NBA. He (along w/ Dolan) screwed the Knicks out of ANY roster flexibility.

[JMS]

There is no way in hell we can go from 14th in the conference to 5th next year. There is no way in hell we are a playoff team next year. There is still a ton of work to do.

Wanna make a wager on that?

I agree you have 5 starters in B-Ball. We've so far replaced 3 starters on last years roster. It's an entirely new team. Three starters are top 3 lottery picks. That's a pretty decent nucleous.. Problem is two are still very young. I could see them going to the playoffs, I could also see them struggling to find themselves for a few years before they develop into the players they will be.

[Destino]

Knicks??? As long as Melo/STAT are together, they'll never finish above a 5th seed in the East.

Honeymoon stage w/ Woody was great. But I FULLY expect the wheels to fall off at some point this season. Watching the playoffs this past year should have made it glaringly obvious that neither Carmelo or Stoudemire have the mental make-up to do what it takes to CARRY a team through a playoff series. NEITHER guy will ever do enough on the defensive end to make this happen.

I think Carmelo Anthony is the single-most overrated player in the NBA. He (along w/ Dolan) screwed the Knicks out of ANY roster flexibility.

I don't see the Knick's making a lot of noise in the post season but they'll finish about the wizards. I'm still not seeing how the Wizards are a lock to be in the post season let alone the 5th seed.

[RonArtest15]

I don't see the Knick's making a lot of noise in the post season but they'll finish about the wizards. I'm still not seeing how the Wizards are a lock to be in the post season let alone the 5th seed.

Knicks' ceiling is being between a 5-8 seed with their current roster. The way the team is constructed, they will never win a post season series let alone be in contention for the ECF. As far as the Wizards....realistically, I'd like to see them be in the mix for the 8th seed this year with a record floating around .500. That can either be a few games over, or a few games under. The way the 8th seed has gone over the past couple of years, you can be either over .500 or under, and still be in the playoffs. I'm not saying we're going to make it, but I would like to see smart and competitive basketball being played. I think that's reasonable.

[pjfootballer]

Lets say Howard goes to the Nets, Allen returns to Boston and the Hawks complete all their trades.

Teams that will still blow the Wizards away:

Miami
Boston

(That's 2 so far)

Teams good enough to beat us regularly:

Chicago (even without Rose- with Rose, I'd put them with Mia and Bos)
Philadelphia
New Jersey
Indiana

(That's 6 so far if you're keeping count)

Teams that play even with us, but may still have a better record:

New York
Toronto (with or without Nash)
Cleveland (improving)
Milwaukee (depends on who they re-sign)
Atlanta (even with their trades, they are even with us)

(So that's 11 teams that can finish above us)

Teams we can pass or have passed:

Detroit (still wouldn't sleep on them)
Orlando (losing Howard)
Charlotte


So, 6 teams I believe will finish with a better record than us. Then, we'll be fighting 5 more teams for the remaining 2 playoff spots. I say we don't make the playoffs. Sorry. It's one more year in the lottery.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--de...klyn-nets.html

Deron Williams agrees to $100 million contract with Brooklyn Nets


All-Star point guard Deron Williams has agreed to a five-year, $100 million contract to remain with the Brooklyn Nets.
Williams announced his decision on his Twitter account Tuesday night, opting to stay with the Nets rather than sign with the Dallas Mavericks. He also directly informed the Nets that he was accepting the team's five-year, $100 million offer, league sources said.

Williams' decision is a coup for the Nets, who have worked hard to line up a franchise star for their move to Brooklyn this upcoming season. They unsuccessfully tried to trade for All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony last season and so far have been unable to persuade the Orlando Magic to trade All-Star center Dwight Howard. Nets general manager Billy King gambled by acquiring Williams at the 2011 trade deadline, and was able to secure Williams' commitment by selling him on the franchise's future.

Williams' commitment comes one day after the Nets acquired All-Star guard Joe Johnson in a blockbuster trade that sent guards Anthony Morrow, Jordan Farmar and DeShawn Stevenson and forwards Jordan Williams and Johan Petro to the Hawks, along with a lottery-protected 2013 first-round pick the Nets acquired from the Houston Rockets. The Nets also have agreed to a four-year, $40 million contract with forward Gerald Wallace, a three-year, $15.6 million deal with Bosnian forward Mirza Teletovic and a three-year, $5 million deal with forward Reggie Evans, who was acquired in a sign-and-trade agreement with the Los Angeles Clippers.

[RonArtest15]

Even with Williams re-signing, I don't figure them to be any better than a 4/5 seed at best. Might win a playoff series here or there, but ultimately won't be legit title contenders.

[stevemcqueen1]

There is no way in hell we can go from 14th in the conference to 5th next year. There is no way in hell we are a playoff team next year. There is still a ton of work to do.

We're making it. Climb on board now to beat the crowd. Wall will be a superstar and Beal will be an All Star. The future is going to be terrific.

[Destino]

Even with Williams re-signing, I don't figure them to be any better than a 4/5 seed at best. Might win a playoff series here or there, but ultimately won't be legit title contenders.

Johnson, DWill, Wallace, and Lopez. Not a bad team but while I think they could be a higher seed than you do, I don't see them winning a title.