Our Projected Depth Chart

[Ed Wood]

You stop that right now or I will make the longest, dullest post about how mediocre Jeff Green is.

[Upper Decker]

Well look at it this way, Jeff Green is an upgrade over Chris Singleton...too bad Singleton's the only SF in the league of which he's an upgrade.

[fugop]

I think that we are going to sign Jeff Green this summer. I don't necessarily want him, but I think he's exactly the type of player we are going to go after, and there were rumors of our "heavy" interest a few months ago. I'm resigned to the fact that we are going to pursue him.

1. He's smart. There's no real denying it.
2. He's local. It would be a big PR victory, and I doubt we're beyond this as an organization.
3. We have more experience with heart issues than anyone in the league, with both Etan and Turiaf having been on the roster.
4. He fills a positional need, however mediocre.
5. He'll be cheapish.

Jeff Green at 5 million a year isn't a disaster, he is what he is. Who knows, maybe he'll improve his efficiency.

The Davis projection was a lot more wishful thinking, obviously.

[closg00]

I think that we are going to sign Jeff Green this summer. I don't necessarily want him, but I think he's exactly the type of player we are going to go after, and there were rumors of our "heavy" interest a few months ago. I'm resigned to the fact that we are going to pursue him.

1. He's smart. There's no real denying it.
2. He's local. It would be a big PR victory, and I doubt we're beyond this as an organization.
3. We have more experience with heart issues than anyone in the league, with both Etan and Turiaf having been on the roster.
4. He fills a positional need, however mediocre.
5. He'll be cheapish.

Jeff Green at 5 million a year isn't a disaster, he is what he is. Who knows, maybe he'll improve his efficiency.

The Davis projection was a lot more wishful thinking, obviously.

If you're Green, the Wizards with their medical staff history, is the last team you want to sign iwth....and please don't try to soften-up the board in-advance of a Jeff Green signing.

[montestewart]

You stop that right now or I will make the longest, dullest post about how mediocre Jeff Green is.

This will do just fine. At this point, I don't know that Jeff Green is an improvement over Cartier Martin, who certainly provides better outside shooting.

[hands11]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wa ... story.html

Seems the team think the culture change has already happened.

Washington Wizards want to go from 20 wins to a playoff push next season

“It’s real,” said Roger Mason Jr., who was waived after having season-ending surgery on his left index finger to make a roster spot in the final week but has expressed a desire to return as a free agent. “I genuinely believe if we had the same team the last month of the season, we’d be fighting for a playoff spot.”

“I felt like he held everyone accountable,” rookie Chris Singelton of Nene. “Our team hasn’t always been the most mature team. Since we got him and we got James and a couple of veterans they brought in, it’s definitely helped us.”

In the 41 games before the trade, the Wizards were 9-32 and getting outscored by an average of 8.5 per game (102.3-93.8). In the final 25 games, the Wizards went 11-14 and outscored their opponents by an average of 1.4 points per game (93.4-92.0). In the 11 games that Nene actually played, the Wizards were 7-4 and outscored their opponents by an average of 10.3 points per game (95.8-85.5).

“When I came here, a lot of things changed. I’m very excited about next season. Good things will come,” Nene said. “We can surprise a lot of things in this league next season. I know that’s the reason I’m here.”

John Wall is disappointed that he hasn’t been able to help the Wizards reach the playoffs in his first two years, but he is encouraged by the late-season rally, believing that the team is a few more veterans away — either at small forward, shooting guard or point guard — from contending for the postseason.

Seems Wall sees what many of us see.

[nate33]

John Wall is disappointed that he hasn’t been able to help the Wizards reach the playoffs in his first two years, but he is encouraged by the late-season rally, believing that the team is a few more veterans away — either at small forward, shooting guard or point guard — from contending for the postseason.

Interesting that he named the positions where veteran help is needed. It seems like a criticism of Mack if you ask me. He might also be criticizing Martin or Mason.

[montestewart]

John Wall is disappointed that he hasn’t been able to help the Wizards reach the playoffs in his first two years, but he is encouraged by the late-season rally, believing that the team is a few more veterans away — either at small forward, shooting guard or point guard — from contending for the postseason.

Interesting that he named the positions where veteran help is needed. It seems like a criticism of Mack if you ask me. He might also be criticizing Martin or Mason.

Could be, and much as I like the outside shooting that Mason and Martin bring, I could see other, better options. I wonder what his actual words were, since words sometimes just spill out of his mouth, and there might be other interpretations of what he said.

[hands11]

John Wall is disappointed that he hasn’t been able to help the Wizards reach the playoffs in his first two years, but he is encouraged by the late-season rally, believing that the team is a few more veterans away — either at small forward, shooting guard or point guard — from contending for the postseason.

Interesting that he named the positions where veteran help is needed. It seems like a criticism of Mack if you ask me. He might also be criticizing Martin or Mason.

Not sure how he could be critical of Mason. He did everything that was asked of him.

Maybe he is comparing the upgrade they got from a Nene level addition and he is talking about that level of help. Not sure.

3 more weeks until we learn our draft position. Then we will know more about who they bring back

[SUPERBALLMAN]

I really like Ilyasova as a FA target. I think he's obtainable, and his hustle, rebounding and shooting will be welcome additions to our front court. The only objection is our supposed lack of need at PF. Can you really have too much talent and depth? We just finished with the 2nd worst record in the NBA!

My ideal offseason (outside of landing the #1 pick and getting Davis) would be to draft Beal in the top 5, sign unrestricted free agents F Ilyasova and G Belinelli. Then trade for SF Ariza... something like Blatche & Crawford with our later 2nd rounder for Ariza. With our 32nd pick I'd go for another SF like Crowder or D.Miller (more likely).

C - Nene, Seraphin, Vesely
PF- Ilyasova, Booker, Vesely, J.Singleton
SF- Ariza, C.Singleton, D.Miller, Martin/Evans
SG- Beal, Belinelli, Mason
PG- Wall, Mack

[Ruzious]

It's hard to believe Ariza is just 26. It seems like he's been in the NBA for at least a decade. Unfortunately, he's been a terribly inefficient scorer since leaving Kobeville - still a heckuvan athlete and dynamic defender but... ya gotta find a reason to expect him to be more efficient after 3 bad seasons.

[Dat2U]

John Wall is disappointed that he hasn’t been able to help the Wizards reach the playoffs in his first two years, but he is encouraged by the late-season rally, believing that the team is a few more veterans away — either at small forward, shooting guard or point guard — from contending for the postseason.

Interesting that he named the positions where veteran help is needed. It seems like a criticism of Mack if you ask me. He might also be criticizing Martin or Mason.

I don't think Wall is criticizing anyone but the front office. Nothing personal about wanting to be surrounded with better talent.

[fishercob]

So as of today, the Wizards have 6 guys who play primarily at the 4 or 5:

Nene, Okafor, Seraphin, Booker, Vesely, Blatche

Okafor has averaged 32 mpg for his career; over his last 3 seasons he's averaged about 30 mpg. I can't see him playing less than 28 mpg.

Nene has averaged a little under 30 mpg for his career and a shade under that for his last two seasons. I can't see him playing less than 28 mpg.

Seraphin averaged 20 mpg last year, but I assume significantly higher post-trade.

Booker has averaged 20 mpg over his two seasons; 25 mpg last year.

Vesely got 19 mpg last year.

Blatche was put on the shelf last year; I think he's the sixth big right now. This trade seems to have painted the Wiz into a corner with Blatche b/c with such a minutes crunch, the option of getting him in shape and shining him up to trade for something (anything -- an expiring, a better fitting overpaid guy) seem to be gone. So maybe that was never really an option and they have decided to amnesty him now (silver lining!)

Back to minutes, then. COuld it look like this:

C: Oke (28) Seraphin 20
PF: Nene (28) Vesely/Booker fight for the other 20?

Still strikes me as really tight, but I can't see Nene or Oak getting much less than 28 mpg. So you have your young guys that you're developing in a 3-way fight for the other 40 minutes. It may work itself out to the extent that there are bound to be injuries, but we could very well see one of the top 5 moved before the season.

[Ruzious]

Playing devil's advocate, Nene and Okafor are bound to have nagging injuries for large chunks of games, Blatche will likely never play here again, and it wouldn't be a shocker if either Booker or Vesely are traded. It's probably still a good idea to re-sign the better Singleton - who certainly showed he belongs in the NBA - for more PF depth.

[LyricalRico]

Back to minutes, then. COuld it look like this:

C: Oke (28) Seraphin 20
PF: Nene (28) Vesely/Booker fight for the other 20?

Still strikes me as really tight, but I can't see Nene or Oak getting much less than 28 mpg. So you have your young guys that you're developing in a 3-way fight for the other 40 minutes. It may work itself out to the extent that there are bound to be injuries, but we could very well see one of the top 5 moved before the season.

Seems reasonable, although I think the center minutes could be split more evenly. I also think that, if the team is in the hunt for a playoff spot, we would see Nene's minutes more in the 32-36 range.