The Official Washington Wizards Thread

[Fergasun]

I just threw it out there. Pau is going to be traded for pennies on the dollar.... maybe I'm biased being around the Lakers, but I think Pau has a couple more good years in him... he's been alienated in Los Angeles. Blaming him for the playoff losses, and then sticking him on the bench.

[Destino]

I just threw it out there. Pau is going to be traded for pennies on the dollar.... maybe I'm biased being around the Lakers, but I think Pau has a couple more good years in him... he's been alienated in Los Angeles. Blaming him for the playoff losses, and then sticking him on the bench.

They've got Kobe, Gasol, Howard, and Nash... But can't win games. That is an amazing GM/coaching fail. Gasol is not bad and the entire league knows it, suddenly the Lakers organization sucks.

[Fergasun]

It's more amusing that the media is covering Lakers non-stop and ignoring how the Clippers are on a tear. I can't remember if it was last year, the one where they (my speculation is Kobe) were whispering how it was Pau's fault. Dwight Howard is killing his reputation being on the Lakers (although there is speculation his back isn't right). I wonder how things would have gone if they brought in Phil Jackson. Although Mike Brown did get fired cause of the "Princeton Offense" (not sure if E. Jordan is still on the staff, I think he is).

[stevemcqueen1]

Shabazz went off last night. 23 points on 8-16 shooting. UCLA got a huge upset win. He doesn't look that much like a freshman. He's just got a very mature looking game. He also seems like the type to be blow up in the NBA after being kept on the chain at UCLA.

---------- Post added January-25th-2013 at 08:02 AM ----------

I just threw it out there. Pau is going to be traded for pennies on the dollar.... maybe I'm biased being around the Lakers, but I think Pau has a couple more good years in him... he's been alienated in Los Angeles. Blaming him for the playoff losses, and then sticking him on the bench.

I think Pau is still good too. I just don't think you can get to a deal that makes sense for both teams involved. It would have in the offseason before we dealt for Okafor and Ariza. Now it doesn't. Reason being we'd have to deal Okafor or Nene + change to get the contracts balanced. We're better off in the short term with Okafor and Nene. Oak can play true center and is a better fit for us right now than Pau would be and I think Nene is probably a better player than Pau is at this point. He's been a lot better than Pau this year at any rate. Pau's contract expires the same time as Okafor's so we don't get cap relief and neither do the Lakers presumably.

- Oak for Pau doesn't make a ton of sense for either team since they need a PF and we need a C and the contracts are the same length.

- Nene for Pau doesn't make a ton of sense for LA IMO. They're trying to shed a bunch of contracts to get under the luxury tax as quickly as possible and Nene has an extra year or two on his deal compared to Pau.

Also Nene as our big man has kind of been the glue that's held the team together through one of the worst stretches in franchise history. It's flat out amazing this team is still together and is still playing so hard halfway through a worst record in the NBA season. I think Nene has been the heart of the team and I'd be a little leery about trading him for anything less than a big time young talent.

BUT, I would strongly consider a Nene + Ariza for Pau swap. Main reason being the cap relief and we replace Nene with a capable big in the short term.

1.) We're not winning anything this year anyway except (hopefully) a high draft pick. And switching Nene for Pau would reset the chemistry and the team would continue struggling and pretty much cement our pick in the top 3.

2.) Pau's got a 19 million dollar expiring deal next season. Pair that with Okafor's ~15 million expiring contract and we'd have two of the biggest expiring deals in the league. Super valuable trade chips or, if we wanted, we could let them expire off our cap and give ourselves room to sign almost two max players.

So we could probably get Shabazz, Nerlens, or Zeller in the draft and have room to make a huge bid for Cousins + keep Wall. We could secure our long term future and stay under the tax for years while our absurd amount of young talent matures into a contender:

1 - Wall
2 - Beal
3 - Shabazz or X
4 - Cousins
5 - Zeller/Noel or X

Pretty good.

[stevemcqueen1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qggE9Xaw6n8

Mute the music. That's a medley of his dunks and blocks from HS with a couple of hooks and jumpers and steals mixed in. My favorite part is the guy who drives the lane trying to posterize him about 2:10 .

Looks how marvelously quick he is. He has some of the quickest hands you're ever going to see. His second bounce is absolutely amazing and he can get way above the rim.

I think a Tyson Chandler type comparison lowballs Nerlens. Once he fills out and gets his strength I think he'll be a franchise player.

[Fight4RGIII]

Why in the world would you ever want that music to be muted? If I'm in any video doing anything, I want that music playing in the background. Perferably in slow mo as well

[SiCkSoULjA]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qggE9Xaw6n8

Mute the music. That's a medley of his dunks and blocks from HS with a couple of hooks and jumpers and steals mixed in. My favorite part is the guy who drives the lane trying to posterize him about 2:10 .

Looks how marvelously quick he is. He has some of the quickest hands you're ever going to see. His second bounce is absolutely amazing and he can get way above the rim.

I think a Tyson Chandler type comparison lowballs Nerlens. Once he fills out and gets his strength I think he'll be a franchise player.

Hmmmmm I see a comparison with me doing a complete 360 on Beal and you doing a 360 on Noel. A week ago he's Vesley next week he's a potiental franchise player. Lol my man it's great that both of us can admit we have been wrong.

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

Hmmmmm I see a comparison with me doing a complete 360 on Beal and you doing a 360 on Noel. A week ago he's Vesley next week he's a potiental franchise player. Lol my man it's great that both of us can admit we have been wrong.

I think you're a bit off on your numbers.

[SiCkSoULjA]

[Fight4RGIII]

I think you're a bit off on your numbers.

I laughed at this comment but then I did a 360 on it. So I'm still laughing.

[Shabby]

i laughed at this comment but then i did a 360 on it. So i'm still laughing.

^^^lolllll

[SiCkSoULjA]

Lol i am now laughing hahaha let just say we both made a complete change on our opinions and not coming around too the same damn thing lol.

[stevemcqueen1]

Hmmmmm I see a comparison with me doing a complete 360 on Beal and you doing a 360 on Noel. A week ago he's Vesley next week he's a potiental franchise player. Lol my man it's great that both of us can admit we have been wrong.

Main thing is Noel started showing out. Back to back games with 7 blocks and a bunch of rebounds and a ridiculous 27 blocks in his last four games. I wrote off his ability to dribble the ball and his touch on the finesse finishes too soon. I went back and looked at some of his H.S. stuff where he dribbles the ball a lot more and saw that he's got pretty decent handles. He also has a couple jump hooks he went to that make me think he can be a fairly effective low post scorer once he develops.

If you look at the IQ and the freak athleticism + the impact defensive potential he'll have right off then project him adding strength, post moves, some ball handling and face up offense--that's a franchise center.

I doubt he'll be the scorer Pat Ewing became, but I can definitely see some young Pat Ewing in Nerlens.

360 = full circle.

[SiCkSoULjA]

Main thing is Noel started showing out. Back to back games with 7 blocks and a bunch of rebounds and a ridiculous 27 blocks in his last four games. I wrote off his ability to dribble the ball and his touch on the finesse finishes too soon. I went back and looked at some of his H.S. stuff where he dribbles the ball a lot more and saw that he's got pretty decent handles. He also has a couple jump hooks he went to that make me think he can be a fairly effective low post scorer once he develops.

If you look at the IQ and the freak athleticism + the impact defensive potential he'll have right off then project him adding strength, post moves, some ball handling and face up offense--that's a franchise center.

I doubt he'll be the scorer Pat Ewing became, but I can definitely see some young Pat Ewing in Nerlens.

360 = full circle.

I think I figured that our before you sent that. I really appreciate you trying too correct me these guys was going too just laugh at me all day long lol and well deserved self fail.

[MLSKINS]

I think I figured that our before you sent that. I really appreciate you trying too correct me these guys was going too just laugh at me all day long lol and well deserved self fail.

I thought I posted a correction for you but I never hit the post button. I have been doing that a lot lately... Stupid job.

Anyways, I like Noel. The one thing I see about him from that highlight tape and the couple of games I saw this year, he has some good basketball IQ. Usually you see a tall person dominate and think to yourself that he wouldn't be able to play if he wasn't so tall. I don't think that with Nerlens Noel...

One thing is for sure, if we get a top three pick this year, I think we will be lucky to have Noel, Shabazz, or Zeller.