Presti's Tree Reaches DC: The Official Will Dawkins Thread

[payitforward]

I’ve had enough of this.

Hopefully, I won’t be back for a year or so. At that point, if there is some reason for me to eat crow, I’ll do so.

However, the odds are all the first rounders of this front office will still be awful nba players.

You and I have butted heads any number of times, leswiz, but I would be quite disappointed to see you leave the scene.

You care, you think, & you post with energy. Stick around!

When I look like an idiot in retrospect, I'll stand still & you can let me have it!

[dckingsfan]

I’ve had enough of this.

Hopefully, I won’t be back for a year or so. At that point, if there is some reason for me to eat crow, I’ll do so.

However, the odds are all the first rounders of this front office will still be awful nba players.

You and I have butted heads any number of times, leswiz, but I would be quite disappointed to see you leave the scene.

You care, you think, & you post with energy. Stick around!

When I look like an idiot in retrospect, I'll stand still & you can let me have it!

Aw come on... you don't move that fast now no need to stand still.

[payitforward]

True enough -- stand still, & I'm a risk to fall down! Gotta keep moving. We all do.

Move along w/ the rest of us, leswizards; don't leave us lonely here!

[payitforward]

Watch on YouTube

[doclinkin]

Watch on YouTube

Open competition in training camp and practice determines who earns minutes. Heavy use of the GoGo early on to ensure everyone gets developmental minutes. Experimentation with lineups year round will include small ball and two bigs line ups.

Sarr grew a half inch. He was top 5 in blocks. Top 2 in rim contests. Best in the league in switching defense. Bub has been lifting heavy all summer long. Kyshawn is both bigger and taking a leadership role. Cam’s explosive game is forcing everyone to keep up. Players have mostly been in town all summer. Young players especially except the times in FIBA ball.

Yes they may struggle on the boards. They’re still in the early stages of the rebuild. Play this year will determine how early. Though next offseason is a key part of it.

In other words we are still tanking but want players to be competitive. If they can’t compete with teams in win loss record they’ll compete with each other in gladiator school.

[doclinkin]

Just a reminder that this year is not only about the tank watch for the Wizards 1-8 lotto pick. Aside from tracking Phoenix to see if the swap is possible, we also have a late 1st rounder in the lesser of OKC, Houston, and the Clippers. Doubtless that's a pick in late 20's.

Come to the 2nd round where we have 3 picks. At least one could be high.

Pick #3 is the PHX unprotected 2nd rounder. They've reshaped their roster, drafted well, but drafted projects.

Pick #4 is the Bulls unprotected 2nd rounder. Bulls tend to battle very hard to stay in the middle of the rankings.

Pick #5 is the better of Wolves/Knicks. The Knicks just fired their coach, defensive mastermind Tom Thibbodeaux picking up multi time re-tread Mike Brown. They'll likely be as good as Brunson carries them to be, but expect defense to wobble as their key additions did not add size and muscle. Brunson too is an underheight player who is known for attacking the paint, which can be a health risk unless his outside shooters keep the paint clear. Minny is another one star roster in Antman. Pick figures to be a mid or late 2nd rounder.

Past history as a guide we will probably package a couple of those #2's with that late 1st to climb the rungs of the first round. Professor PIF can argue against the strategy but that seems to be their stock in trade.

Regardless it makes it more fun to watch the standings at least to see where our picks land. Which makes it even more fun to watch the NCAA and foreign leagues to track diamonds in the rough. Plus given we owe no picks after this first year, the team may be more willing to land seniors and other proven players. You can start to think about drafting for fit rather than long term upside.

[payitforward]

Hey, dckingsfan -- curious what you think of...

Watch on YouTube

[PaulinVA]

The Monumental Reset: How the Wizards’ Youth Movement Will Pay Off for Michael Winger, Will Dawkins, and the New Front Office
When Ernie Grunfeld finally got shown the door in 2019, it wasn’t just the end of a front office regime — it was the end of an era defined by basketball purgatory.

"...For more than a decade, the Wizards hovered around mediocrity like it was a comfort zone. They weren’t good enough to contend, weren’t bad enough to rebuild, and over time, even the city stopped caring.

So when Ted Leonsis started preaching “Monumental Basketball” — combining the Wizards, Mystics, and Capital City Go-Go under one banner — it sounded like another marketing slogan. Another attempt to patch over a team without a foundation.

But beneath the surface, something structural was happening. This wasn’t just a rebuild. This was a demolition followed by a full-scale construction project. And Michael Winger and Will Dawkins were the architects..."


https://troyhaliburton.substack.com/p/the-monumental-reset-how-the-wizards?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1204802&post_id=175615737&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=29yrdr&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

[badinage]

(Sorry to say it reads like AI …)

[payitforward]

It's just fluff.

Right now, we have 14 guys who are 24 or younger. 11 are on the regular roster, & 3 are 2-way players.

Of the 11 on the regular roster, at least one will be gone before the season begins (b/c we 1have 16 regular roster players overall -- 1 too many.

There's a ton of potential in that group of 14, you bet, which is what matters at this stage of the game. But with the exception of Champagnie not a one of them has demonstrated, as of yet, that he is going to be a productive player in the league.

IMO, most or all of them will be. Still....

[payitforward]

I continue to be surprised by negativity -- whether from badinage or anyone -- about Will's work &/or the state of the team.

It's fair to question trading Deni, but I can't find anything else worth a negative comment. Personally, I would have kept Colby Jones -- but that's pretty clearly a minor point.

The notion that we should have picked Jaime Jaquez over Bilal Coulibaly is particularly empty. To the point of seeming foolish, given the fact that the team picking 8th also passed on Jaquez. As did the team picking 9th. Ditto 10th. & 11th. Not to mention 12th. Or 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, & 17th.

Some folks criticized Will for trading CP3 for Poole. Yet, GS turned CP3 into... nothing whatever! While we turned him into Poole & draft capital, then turned Poole into CJ McCollum & more draft capital.

Still, are we all the way home yet?

Not exactly!
But the colossal, confused & seemingly endless mess that was the Washington Wizards on June 1, 2023 now seems of an era long long ago. What we have instead is a decisive, active franchise that's in the middle of remaking itself.

Will all of Tre, Cam, Alex, Bub, Jamir, Will, AJ, Kyshaun, Vukcevic, Justin, & Bilal work out? Can't guarantee that, & it would take some serious good luck for that to happen!

How about Malaki, Sharife & Dillon?
I guess anything's possible...

Would it have been nice to have been the ping pong ball recipient of one or more of Wemby, Flagg, Harper, or Ace? Yeah... But I don't think even badinage or tgw or... anyone blames Will for decisions the league makes -- or the ping pong balls, if you really think so....

Present tense snapshots show a losing team. Duh. But that's not what even a cursory analysis shows.
Go Wizards!