Jan Vesely Receiving Interest From Nets, 76ers, Mavericks

[keynote]

Hmm. After reading a few articles, I'm also reminded of how Vesely initially resisted the move from SF/PF to C (I'm not sure why anyone thought he could play SF at 7' with no handles and no J). If memory serves, his personal trainer made a few negative comments about how Jan was being miscast as a big. Of course, as others have said, he eventually put on enough weight and has since embraced the role in Europe.

Personally, I think he had potential as an SF. His J was bad, but not nonexistent as it is today. And he showed glimpses of lockdown perimeter D. At Partizan, he was a 7 footer who would guard opponent's most dangerous perimeter players and do well. All he had to do was learn to shoot corner 3 and you could have had Shane Battier type player IMO. I thought Wizards screwed him over bad honestly. Now he has abandoned all perimeter skills he had before the draft, dude is just a dunker now.

Years ago I said I thought Jan should be a small forward, the same position he was playing when they scouted him in Europe.

Yeah, I don't see Jan ever succeeding at the SF -- especially given how the game has evolved.

Twenty years ago, some teams got away with roleplayer SFs who couldn't shoot or drive (e.g., Anthony Mason played SF and PF; he was 2-12 from 3PT for his career). And sure, I think most Wizards fans hoped Vesely would develop into a Kirilenko type who could play both forward positions. But even Kirilenko, with his inconsistent 3PT shot, would probably play exclusively at the 4 in today's NBA.

Vesely, for his part, attempted *2* 3-pointers in 2400+ minutes played in the NBA(!). He missed 'em both. Battier, the 3-and-D template player, was a 37% 3PT shooter his rookie year. You're certainly right that if Vesely suddenly learned to be as efficient as Battier from 3, he'd be a much better player -- but the same could be said for a lot of guys. And, while multiple guys with wet 18-footers have been able to add a 3PT shot to their arsenal with hard work and time (e.g., Marc Gasol), I'm struggling to think of *any* NBA player that size who has transformed himself from a complete non-shooter into a 3PT threat. Manute? More of a gimmick than a weapon. Anyone else?

[verbal8]

Yeah, I don't see Jan ever succeeding at the SF -- especially given how the game has evolved.

Twenty years ago, some teams got away with roleplayer SFs who couldn't shoot or drive (e.g., Anthony Mason played SF and PF; he was 2-12 from 3PT for his career). And sure, I think most Wizards fans hoped Vesely would develop into a Kirilenko type who could play both forward positions. But even Kirilenko, with his inconsistent 3PT shot, would probably play exclusively at the 4 in today's NBA.

Vesely, for his part, attempted *2* 3-pointers in 2400+ minutes played in the NBA(!). He missed 'em both. Battier, the 3-and-D template player, was a 37% 3PT shooter his rookie year. You're certainly right that if Vesely suddenly learned to be as efficient as Battier from 3, he'd be a much better player -- but the same could be said for a lot of guys. And, while multiple guys with wet 18-footers have been able to add a 3PT shot to their arsenal with hard work and time (e.g., Marc Gasol), I'm struggling to think of *any* NBA player that size who has transformed himself from a complete non-shooter into a 3PT threat. Manute? More of a gimmick than a weapon. Anyone else?

37% is more like Vesely's FT%

[papidulo]

ON the one hand, Vesely was horrible. Grunfeld seems to love drafting European players (Pecherov, Vesely, Satoransky), and they all seem to underwhelm.

On the other hand, Randy Wittman was terrible at developing talent. Beal, Otto Porter, and Oubre are the only Wizards draft picks still on the team drafted in Wittman's tenure; the first 2 were top 3 picks; Otto rode the bench for 2 years, and Oubre rode the bench his whole rookie year.

[keynote]

ON the one hand, Vesely was horrible. Grunfeld seems to love drafting European players (Pecherov, Vesely, Satoransky), and they all seem to underwhelm.

On the other hand, Randy Wittman was terrible at developing talent. Beal, Otto Porter, and Oubre are the only Wizards draft picks still on the team drafted in Wittman's tenure; the first 2 were top 3 picks; Otto rode the bench for 2 years, and Oubre rode the bench his whole rookie year.

I'm no fan of Wittman, but you may want to restate that. Wittman was the coach from January 2012 - April 2016; every other Wizards draft pick during that era was either a Euro stash (Sato, Aaron "White Flight" White) or was traded away -- with the exception of Glenn Rice Jr. Given Rice's subsequent antics, I'm comfortable placing at least some of the blame for Rice's flamed out career on his own shoulders.

Now, it's entirely fair to criticize Wittman for failing to develop players drafted *before* his tenure as HC, but at that point, you're only talking about the ill-fated 2011 class. John Wall turned into an All-Star; Trevor Booker became a decent rotation player. McGee was in his fourth season by the time Wittman became HC -- and was traded at the 2012 deadline, anyway.

[nate33]

ON the one hand, Vesely was horrible. Grunfeld seems to love drafting European players (Pecherov, Vesely, Satoransky), and they all seem to underwhelm.

On the other hand, Randy Wittman was terrible at developing talent. Beal, Otto Porter, and Oubre are the only Wizards draft picks still on the team drafted in Wittman's tenure; the first 2 were top 3 picks; Otto rode the bench for 2 years, and Oubre rode the bench his whole rookie year.

Vesely was indeed horrible. He wouldn't have been any good even if Popovich was the head coach here.

[daSwami]

As I saw it, Vesely lacked confidence and muscle while he was here. He looked like a gawky teenager his rookie year. I'm guessing he's probably added body mass in the last few years (he's now listed as 7'0" 240 lb.), and probably confidence, too. I can see why he'd garner interest from teams now.

[Sluggerface]

Kind of late to the party. Just wanted to say that I love how more than a handful of Wizards fans continue to incessantly **** on Jan anytime one of these reports come up. The fact of the matter is that there were a lot of problems with the team other than some guy who "could only dunk" (which is completely full of **** btw). I mean hey, it's not like the arguably the best team of all time couldn't spare any playing time for a guy "who can only dunk", right?



If Jan wants to play here, he'll play here. This has already been confirmed by multiple sources actually in the league getting paid actual money for their basketball expertise. Your opinion doesn't matter and is completely irrelevant.

Get the f' over it.