Bradley Beal

[DCZards]

You draft a guy like that because 2-3 years from now he could be an All-Star. It's about the long term.

He'll be fine. Let him play, gain experience, and develop. This is one of the reasons we suck. No commitment to player development.

Yup, no commitment to player development and even less patience on the part of some fans. I'm shocked to hear some on this board already suggesting that Beal may be a bust. He's played two games, people.

I've always considered people on this board smarter and more knowledgeable than the average fan so it surprises me to hear so much rush to judgement on the future of a 19 year old.

[Mel Proctor]

He'll be fine. Let him play, gain experience, and develop. This is one of the reasons we suck. No commitment to player development.

I disagree. The reason we suck is that we have no eye for talent. Picking Vesely was just plain wrong. Trading out of the #5 spot for Foye and the rest of the pu pu platter was just plain wrong. Which players have we not shown the commitment to developing? Put another way, over the past 5 years which players have blossomed elsewhere that we failed to develop? I think we handled McGee the right way. Just turns out he is a knucklehead. So far, I think we've handled Seraphin the right way. That's the one thing that gives me hope on Vesely and Beal - to paraphrase the quote from Animal House, when we all first saw Seraphin on the court, we thought he was brain damaged. But now he looks pretty good...

[Dat2U]

If Waiters turns out better than Beal than it won't be just EG who got it wrong. I don't remember seeing anyone rating Waiters higher than Beal before the draft.

I probably had Waiters higher on my board than anyone, at #4 right where the Cavs drafted him and right ahead of Damian Lillard. I honestly didn't see much difference b/w all 3. Lillard's numbers were off the charts but I wondered about the level of competition. All I know is I liked MKG better than all of 'em and I was never quite 100% sold on Beal. I didn't mind Beal at 3 tho, but admittedly I never saw stardom in Beal either.

It's too early to form any real opinion on anyone tho. Most rookies aren't really making an impact. Outside of Davis, Lillard and Waiters to a lesser extent, no other rookie has done anything noteworthy.

Beal will be fine. I seriously doubt he's the next Ray Allen but I don't think he'll be a bust either.

[Dat2U]

You draft a guy like that because 2-3 years from now he could be an All-Star. It's about the long term.

He'll be fine. Let him play, gain experience, and develop. This is one of the reasons we suck. No commitment to player development.

Yup, no commitment to player development and even less patience on the part of some fans. I'm shocked to hear some on this board already suggesting that Beal may be a bust. He's played two games, people.

I've always considered people on this board smarter and more knowledgeable than the average fan so it surprises me to hear so much rush to judgement on the future of a 19 year old.

"Wizards" and "player development"? Isn't that like an oxymoron?

[FAH1223]

I remember two years ago when Wall started out, he had brilliant games to start his career and tailed off after December.

Beal will be the opposite. Just give him time.

[montestewart]

You draft a guy like that because 2-3 years from now he could be an All-Star. It's about the long term.

He'll be fine. Let him play, gain experience, and develop. This is one of the reasons we suck. No commitment to player development.

Yup, no commitment to player development and even less patience on the part of some fans. I'm shocked to hear some on this board already suggesting that Beal may be a bust. He's played two games, people.

I've always considered people on this board smarter and more knowledgeable than the average fan so it surprises me to hear so much rush to judgement on the future of a 19 year old.

You can be a knowledgable and well informed Wizards fans, and still let many years of disappointment lead you to an, "Oh no, not this nightmare again," type of conclusion. I'm not worried about Beal at this point (it's probably the least of my Wizards concerns) but I sympathize with the sky-is-falling response.

[dobrojim]

Wall got hurt when Rose landed on his foot and wasn't really healthy
for 2-3 months following that.

Totally agree on Beal. Give him time. He's a kid, a very mature
kid, but a kid.

[Mel Proctor]

I know we're supposed to be patient. And normally I am. I probably held out more hope for Kwame than a lot of people, and you see where that got me...

Anyway, my main fear is that Beal does not pass the eye test. And it's not like he was some superstud in college either. Where was the production? More paraphrasing, this time from another BB - Billy Beane: "if this guy is such a good [hitter/shooter], how come he can't [hit/shoot]?" If Beal is such a good shooter, how come he can't shoot?

Jarvis Hayes had a really beautiful stroke too...

[Nivek]

Patience.

Two games. 43 minutes. 13 field goal attempts.

Patience.

The comparison with Jarvis makes no sense. Jarvis played 3 years in college and his highest rating in my draft analysis was that of a player who should get picked in the latter part of the first round. (Of course, the Wizards took him 11th.) Beal's rating was that of a top 5-6 player in nearly any draft. He rated high among freshman SGs in my database.

Patience.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It's been a while but I remember not liking Jarvis' numbers coming out of Georgia. He was not a volume three point shooter. There were other things I didn't like but I cannot remember. Hayes seems to be a tremendous, stand up person, but not a good NBA player. I wasn't surprised at all that Hayes' career turned out the way it did.

Funny, but I had the same concerns about Harrison Barnes in this draft. It is early, but so far Barnes is much better than I expected.

[Nivek]

It's been a while but I remember not liking Jarvis' numbers coming out of Georgia. He was not a volume three point shooter. There were other things I didn't like but I cannot remember. Hayes was a tremendous, stand up person, but not a great player. I wasn't surprised at all that Hayes' career turned out the way it did.

Funny, but I had the same concerns about Harrison Barnes in this draft but Barnes is way better than I expected.

Take your time on Barnes too. So far, he's shot the ball extremely well, but he's done nothing else -- 4 rebounds in 57 minutes so far.

[GswSucks4Ever]

Barnes lacks any feel for the game, and scores on pretty bad percentages. Not high on him at all, but he has potential because he has a big, athletic body and by all accounts has a solid work ethic.

[Nivek]

YODA thought Barnes was significantly overrated. I had him rated as a mid-first round pick.

[Knighthonor]

You draft a guy like that because 2-3 years from now he could be an All-Star. It's about the long term.

He'll be fine. Let him play, gain experience, and develop. This is one of the reasons we suck. No commitment to player development.

Yup, no commitment to player development and even less patience on the part of some fans. I'm shocked to hear some on this board already suggesting that Beal may be a bust. He's played two games, people.

I've always considered people on this board smarter and more knowledgeable than the average fan so it surprises me to hear so much rush to judgement on the future of a 19 year old.

"Wizards" and "player development"? Isn't that like an oxymoron?

This!!!!

Temporary send him to play for the Heat or Knicks until at least a few weeks after Wall get back.

Let this guy develop on a good team with staff that know how to develop.

Hey send him to the OKC to be developed. We all know they know how to develop talent!!!! Come on!!!

[Nivek]

This!!!!

Temporary send him to play for the Heat or Knicks until at least a few weeks after Wall get back.

Let this guy develop on a good team with staff that know how to develop.

Hey send him to the OKC to be developed. We all know they know how to develop talent!!!! Come on!!!

Wait, KNICKS?!

You know you're a Wizards fan when your player development fantasies suck.

[montestewart]

Seems like the Heat mostly know how to purchase pre-developed talent, and I'm not knocking that, as the Wizards could use a little of that too.

[Nivek]

By the way, I took another look at Beal's first two games in comparison to the other teenage rookies and STILL found no reason for panic.

To summarize: Beal's first two games were terrible. Here are a few players whose first two games were even worse (per minute):

- Corey Maggette
- Josh Smith
- Louis Williams
- Shawn Kemp
- Carmelo Anthony
- Eric Gordon
- Gilbert Arenas
- Tyson Chandler
- Kobe Bryant
- Ersan Ilyasova

[GhostsOfGil]

Kev, does Mike Prada read our board? Saw your blog was getting some love over at BF.

[Nivek]

I think Mike's around from time to time. He spends most of his time over on his site, of course. I'm a big fan of his and of the work they're doing at Bullets Forever. He's building a great site. We follow each other on Twitter, and he's driven some traffic my way, and I try to do the same for him.

[Knighthonor]

By the way, I took another look at Beal's first two games in comparison to the other teenage rookies and STILL found no reason for panic.

To summarize: Beal's first two games were terrible. Here are a few players whose first two games were even worse (per minute):

- Corey Maggette
- Josh Smith
- Louis Williams
- Shawn Kemp
- Carmelo Anthony
- Eric Gordon
- Gilbert Arenas
- Tyson Chandler
- Kobe Bryant
- Ersan Ilyasova

I like what you trying to do, but still seem Scapegoat like. this franchise need talent. and its more damaging to a team like this, compared to the rest of those other teams, because the Wizards have the worst record in the history of the NBA, compared to other teams.