Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part III

[sfam]

Nonsense. If development were 80-85% (you arrive at this % how?) on the player, then why-bother having a Player Development position? (Tapscott).

The A-list NBA organizations have a rigorous player development program which includes the increased usage of a single-affiliation or shared NBDL team. The Wizards don't bother with either.

This is the most obvious change I'd like to see from the franchise. They need only to look at the Nationals for an example of spending money on player development.

This has been a perplexing and maddening aspect of Leonsis' ownership. When he took over he announced intentions of using the Dleague.

I have posted many times, and it actually confounds me that the Wizards have yet to see the wisdom in the following proposal...

Establish their own single-affiliation Dleague team. The Baltimore Bullets.

They already have the name rights. They can sell new Bullets merchandise. They can promote and sell the team to B'more, a huge basketball city. Have their own coach in place, their own system, easily monitored and scouted by the parent club at close proximity. Someone like Cassell who might be a coach in waiting can go up and be the head guy for a year. If they need healthy players to practice (a common yearly issue) and/or scrimmage they are a short drive away. Players like Vesely or Singleton can get pt there and come back at a moments notice. Rehabbing players not quite back up to NBA quality can go up there and play a couple games and get their legs and game speed back. Etc etc.

+41

TOTALLY Agree. Why oh why won't Ted do that? That's both marketing and player development genius!

[sfam]

BTW, considering this is a draft thread, let me do a shoutout to the Redskins FO, in what looks like a totally professional and quality set of draft picks. Their philosophy was a high risk, high reward one where they went after ball hawks and playmakers, even if there were injury concerns. Hopefully it pays off. But they got 3 potential quality players in the secondary, a playmaker at TE in case Fred Davis leaves after this year or dopes out, an OLB who fell further than he should have, and two RBs, including a speedy, change of pace guy (who was rated poorly due to injury, but I'll trust Shanihan on that - one stat dropped today was Shanahan has drafted 5 of the best 10 performing RBs not drafted in the first round).

I really wish we had gotten a DT, OG, and ILB, but hopefully we get some folks in FA to help out. Our biggest area of need, the secondary looks good.

EDIT: The Redskins also win in getting the coolest named player, a headhunting FS named "Bacarri Rambo".

[hands11]

and that is why our team never get's better, if singleton and ves had been sent to the D league, they might have gotten the minutes they need to get good enough to earn minutes in the nba

For Randys first year as coach as he was installing the defense and offense, he had them with the team. Kevin S and Ves are going to get their playing time this summer playing international ball.

Beal developed nicely and he is supposed to play Summer League as well. I think Thomas will also. They used a DL like approach on him. They left him overseas.

I think Randy wanted his staff and himself to work with all the young players personally and get to know what they were about. And the team was short handed all year so they needed players.

Kevin was in the rotation most the year.

We will see how he uses the DL moving forward but just because they didn't use it last year doesn't mean they won't moving forward. As for buying his own DL team. I'm not counting out that he might do that eventually. He has only owned the team 3 years so far and he is paying Dray 7M for nothing. I think he has gotten a lot accomplished. Things are getting better no worse. If they start getting work or even if they stop getting better, then I will be concerned.

And I wish I would find it but I swear Ves had a no DL clause in his contract as a condition on him coming to the states.

[sfam]

had a no DL clause in his contract as a condition on him coming to the states.

If so, Vesely should perhaps ask to change it to a "No NBA" clause, 'cause that's where he's heading unless he totally turns things around.

[hands11]

and that is why our team never get's better, if singleton and ves had been sent to the D league, they might have gotten the minutes they need to get good enough to earn minutes in the nba

I don't think this is true, particularly in the case of Singleton.

Let's not act like the only time players can develop their basketball skills is if they're on the court during a game. Development takes place in practice, either with the team or solo. Game experience helps in honing the basketball IQ, but it's not going to make that much difference in developing basketball skills. For Singleton, his problem is his skill. He doesn't have much. More minutes wouldn't help much. The guy was force fed way more minutes that he deserved in his rookie year and it didn't make him a better player. I don't think the D League would have helped him all that much either. He needs to become a better shooter, a better ball-handler, and a better rebounder.

Vesely is a different case, I suppose. Clearly one of his biggest issues is confidence. One would assume that playing in the D-League against inferior talent would help him establish that confidence. At the very least, with confidence, he could have played at least as good as he did last season. That said, he also needs a ton of work on his skills and his body. A weakling that can't shoot isn't going to get better simply by playing more minutes in D League. He needs to practice shooting and he needs to spend more time in the weight room.

Masterfully stated.

[hands11]

Well on the espn simulator I keep getting Len or Zeller.


Once in a while I do get Porter, but only if we move up to 2.

Very discouraging.



I foresee an offseason...

Wizards draft Zeller 1st round

Sell both 2nd rounders for cash

Re-sign Webster MLE
Re-sign Price Bi-annual
Re-sign Temple vet min
Re-sign Cartier vet min


Ernie gives a speech dwelling repeatedly on the value of continuity, and how good the team played after Wall's return. Young players like Singleton and Vesely will continue to improve. Zeller was the player we wanted all along and he luckily fell to us. Continuity.

I doubt Martin is back. I least I want to hope beyond all hope that is true.

I think Temple and Webster will be back but I think Web gets signed starting at 3.5M for 3 years.

Price is only back if they don't find something better.

And I'm not going to even worry that Zeller is the pick this early in the game. Lets wait to see who is in and who is out and how they do when they get tested and measured.

We will having more accurate information before the draft happens.

[hands11]

had a no DL clause in his contract as a condition on him coming to the states.

If so, Vesely should perhaps ask to change it to a "No NBA" clause, 'cause that's where he's heading unless he totally turns things around.

Agreed. This is a huge summer for Ves. Actually for Kevin S and Singleton as well.

Its **** or get off the pot time.

But as I mentioned. Ves and Kevin S are playing International Ball this summer starting in I think July.

Watch Randy's exit interview in the Randy thread. He talks about all of this.

[closg00]

had a no DL clause in his contract as a condition on him coming to the states.

If so, Vesely should perhaps ask to change it to a "No NBA" clause, 'cause that's where he's heading unless he totally turns things around.

Vesely does not have a "no D-League" clause, this is an Internet myth.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

and that is why our team never get's better, if singleton and ves had been sent to the D league, they might have gotten the minutes they need to get good enough to earn minutes in the nba

I don't think this is true, particularly in the case of Singleton.

Let's not act like the only time players can develop their basketball skills is if they're on the court during a game. Development takes place in practice, either with the team or solo. Game experience helps in honing the basketball IQ, but it's not going to make that much difference in developing basketball skills. For Singleton, his problem is his skill. He doesn't have much. More minutes wouldn't help much. The guy was force fed way more minutes that he deserved in his rookie year and it didn't make him a better player. I don't think the D League would have helped him all that much either. He needs to become a better shooter, a better ball-handler, and a better rebounder.

Vesely is a different case, I suppose. Clearly one of his biggest issues is confidence. One would assume that playing in the D-League against inferior talent would help him establish that confidence. At the very least, with confidence, he could have played at least as good as he did last season. That said, he also needs a ton of work on his skills and his body. A weakling that can't shoot isn't going to get better simply by playing more minutes in D League. He needs to practice shooting and he needs to spend more time in the weight room.

The only time the Wizards won a playoff series in the last 35 years, Jared Jeffries started at SF.

http://www.82games.com/04WAS9C.HTM

Jeffries spent most of his minutes at SF during the regular season, though he played some PF and some C. (Above link is Jeffries numbers by position from 2004-2005).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Wizards

With a 93–82 win over the Chicago Bulls on April 13, 2005, the Wizards clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 1996–97.[6] Long-suffering fans celebrated by buying over 16,000 playoff tickets in two and a half hours the day tickets went on sale.[7] In game 3 of the first round against the Bulls, the Wizards won their first playoff game since 1988.[8] Adding to the "long-overdue" feeling was the fact that game 3 was the first NBA playoff game to be held within Washington, D.C. city limits.[9] In the Wizards' game 5 victory in Chicago, Arenas hit a buzzer-beater to win the game[10] and the Wizards took their first lead in a playoff series since 1986. In Game 6 at the MCI Center, Jared Jeffries picked up a loose ball and went in for an uncontested tie-breaking dunk with 32 seconds left, thus giving the Wizards a 94–91 win and the team's first playoff series win in 23 years. They were only the 12th team in NBA history to win a playoff series after being down 0–2.[11]

Why did I post that? JAN VESELY WAS DRAFTED TO PLAY SF AND THAT IS WHERE HE SHOULD BE USED!

Too many myopic folks IMO think "tall" means can't play SF. Vesely was a SF and James Gist was the PF on the team he was playing for in Europe when the Wizards drafted him at #6. Jan couldn't consistently make a FT to save his life then or now, but he did play SF because of his ability to get to the rim on one or two bounces. He could block a shot and he rebounded well for the position. He has sufficient end-to-end running speed to play SF. The Wizards have Wall and Beal, with bangers Okafor and Nene. There are MANY TIMES that Jan would have been a good fit at SF for a limited number of sets because Beal and Wall and Nene are enough offense, and Okafor can score, too. I think Kevin and Vesely can still play with Wall and Beal, but the Wizards have seriously jacked things up with their rotations. I do think there are obviously better players in this draft than Vesely but there are not many bigs any more physical or coordinated than Seraphin.

I think Vesely could have been used more like Jeffries was back in the 2004-2005 instead of being forced to only play power/banger positions like PF and C.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Looking at DX the players they have at 8 and below are as follows... 8. C.J. McCollum 9. Cody Zeller 10. Shabazz Muhammad 11. Rudy Gobert 12. Michael Carter-Williams 13. Mason Plumlee 14. Kelly Olynyk 15. Isaiah Austin 16. Gorgui Dieng.


If that is what we have to choose from, out of that group I like McCollum and Dieng. McCollum seems like an ideal 3rd guard. Dieng seems like an ideal Okafor backup and future replacement. I'd be happy with either.

[gambitx777]

YUP!
There is no such thing as a no D-league clause any more.

And I know that some problems need more than playing time to fix, but there is a difference in shooting jumpers in the gym and doing it with a defender in your face with the game on the line. plus eruo play is nothing compared to NBA play. its even under college play IMO.

I wish all teams had a D league team, that way we could create a farm system. Eruos, second round picks, and undrafted youngsters could be developed properly. Teams would not have to pull players off the street when injuries happen they will have able young back ups ready to bring up when needed.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

BTW, considering this is a draft thread, let me do a shoutout to the Redskins FO, in what looks like a totally professional and quality set of draft picks. Their philosophy was a high risk, high reward one where they went after ball hawks and playmakers, even if there were injury concerns. Hopefully it pays off. But they got 3 potential quality players in the secondary, a playmaker at TE in case Fred Davis leaves after this year or dopes out, an OLB who fell further than he should have, and two RBs, including a speedy, change of pace guy (who was rated poorly due to injury, but I'll trust Shanihan on that - one stat dropped today was Shanahan has drafted 5 of the best 10 performing RBs not drafted in the first round).

I really wish we had gotten a DT, OG, and ILB, but hopefully we get some folks in FA to help out. Our biggest area of need, the secondary looks good.

EDIT: The Redskins also win in getting the coolest named player, a headhunting FS named "Bacarri Rambo".

+1

Very nice post, sfam!

The Redskins draft was awesome. Let's see something like that from the Wizards! Ted and EG and their scouts would be wise to address needs with high-reward players, as the Skins FO seems to have done. Offensive players who are proficient FG percentage shooters, who can break down players and create offense are needed. The team desperately needs a stretch four. They can use a young C who is everything Kevin Seraphin is not, all about defense, rebounding, and energy that gets others going.

A lot of players can add to the Wizards' talent base. Porter, Bennett, Len, Olynyk, Dieng, McCollum are disparately-skilled but all fit needs. Porter is a no-brainer IMO. Should Oladipo drop he fits big time. Trey Burke would be a Kirk Cousins pick which begs a future deal. Cody Zeller would be a polarizing pick.

sfam, the Skins set a high draft standard I can only dream the Wizards can approach.

[sfam]

BTW, considering this is a draft thread, let me do a shoutout to the Redskins FO, in what looks like a totally professional and quality set of draft picks. Their philosophy was a high risk, high reward one where they went after ball hawks and playmakers, even if there were injury concerns. Hopefully it pays off. But they got 3 potential quality players in the secondary, a playmaker at TE in case Fred Davis leaves after this year or dopes out, an OLB who fell further than he should have, and two RBs, including a speedy, change of pace guy (who was rated poorly due to injury, but I'll trust Shanihan on that - one stat dropped today was Shanahan has drafted 5 of the best 10 performing RBs not drafted in the first round).

I really wish we had gotten a DT, OG, and ILB, but hopefully we get some folks in FA to help out. Our biggest area of need, the secondary looks good.

EDIT: The Redskins also win in getting the coolest named player, a headhunting FS named "Bacarri Rambo".

+1

Very nice post, sfam!

The Redskins draft was awesome. Let's see something like that from the Wizards! Ted and EG and their scouts would be wise to address needs with high-reward players, as the Skins FO seems to have done. Offensive players who are proficient FG percentage shooters, who can break down players and create offense are needed. The team desperately needs a stretch four. They can use a young C who is everything Kevin Seraphin is not, all about defense, rebounding, and energy that gets others going.

A lot of players can add to the Wizards' talent base. Porter, Bennett, Len, Olynyk, Dieng, McCollum are disparately-skilled but all fit needs. Porter is a no-brainer IMO. Should Oladipo drop he fits big time. Trey Burke would be a Kirk Cousins pick which begs a future deal. Cody Zeller would be a polarizing pick.

sfam, the Skins set a high draft standard I can only dream the Wizards can approach.

The two most obvious similarities we would all like to see is 1) evidence of a clear plan in draft philosophy, and 2) making maximal use of lower draft picks. We all almost assume now EG simply throws away the second round choices, whereas the Redskins use late picks to try unearth the next Alfred Morris.

We all expect the FO to do their best with the #8, but wouldn't it be great if we expected them to do the same with the second round?

[hands11]

and that is why our team never get's better, if singleton and ves had been sent to the D league, they might have gotten the minutes they need to get good enough to earn minutes in the nba

I don't think this is true, particularly in the case of Singleton.

Let's not act like the only time players can develop their basketball skills is if they're on the court during a game. Development takes place in practice, either with the team or solo. Game experience helps in honing the basketball IQ, but it's not going to make that much difference in developing basketball skills. For Singleton, his problem is his skill. He doesn't have much. More minutes wouldn't help much. The guy was force fed way more minutes that he deserved in his rookie year and it didn't make him a better player. I don't think the D League would have helped him all that much either. He needs to become a better shooter, a better ball-handler, and a better rebounder.

Vesely is a different case, I suppose. Clearly one of his biggest issues is confidence. One would assume that playing in the D-League against inferior talent would help him establish that confidence. At the very least, with confidence, he could have played at least as good as he did last season. That said, he also needs a ton of work on his skills and his body. A weakling that can't shoot isn't going to get better simply by playing more minutes in D League. He needs to practice shooting and he needs to spend more time in the weight room.

The only time the Wizards won a playoff series in the last 35 years, Jared Jeffries started at SF.

http://www.82games.com/04WAS9C.HTM

Jeffries spent most of his minutes at SF during the regular season, though he played some PF and some C. (Above link is Jeffries numbers by position from 2004-2005).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Wizards

With a 93–82 win over the Chicago Bulls on April 13, 2005, the Wizards clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 1996–97.[6] Long-suffering fans celebrated by buying over 16,000 playoff tickets in two and a half hours the day tickets went on sale.[7] In game 3 of the first round against the Bulls, the Wizards won their first playoff game since 1988.[8] Adding to the "long-overdue" feeling was the fact that game 3 was the first NBA playoff game to be held within Washington, D.C. city limits.[9] In the Wizards' game 5 victory in Chicago, Arenas hit a buzzer-beater to win the game[10] and the Wizards took their first lead in a playoff series since 1986. In Game 6 at the MCI Center, Jared Jeffries picked up a loose ball and went in for an uncontested tie-breaking dunk with 32 seconds left, thus giving the Wizards a 94–91 win and the team's first playoff series win in 23 years. They were only the 12th team in NBA history to win a playoff series after being down 0–2.[11]

Why did I post that? JAN VESELY WAS DRAFTED TO PLAY SF AND THAT IS WHERE HE SHOULD BE USED!

Too many myopic folks IMO think "tall" means can't play SF. Vesely was a SF and James Gist was the PF on the team he was playing for in Europe when the Wizards drafted him at #6. Jan couldn't consistently make a FT to save his life then or now, but he did play SF because of his ability to get to the rim on one or two bounces. He could block a shot and he rebounded well for the position. He has sufficient end-to-end running speed to play SF. The Wizards have Wall and Beal, with bangers Okafor and Nene. There are MANY TIMES that Jan would have been a good fit at SF for a limited number of sets because Beal and Wall and Nene are enough offense, and Okafor can score, too. I think Kevin and Vesely can still play with Wall and Beal, but the Wizards have seriously jacked things up with their rotations. I do think there are obviously better players in this draft than Vesely but there are not many bigs any more physical or coordinated than Seraphin.

I think Vesely could have been used more like Jeffries was back in the 2004-2005 instead of being forced to only play power/banger positions like PF and C.

Where would you take Ves in this draft ?

Damn ESPN SIM... It had us taking Shabazz 8th one pick before CJM 9th for MN.

I would be so pissed. That would be a epic fail.

But DraftX has CJM over Zeller and Shabazz now. They usually catch up to may early projections eventually

Len was gone at 5 to CLE

If not his age, Dieng would be going higher. Someone is going to get a great value pick if he goes 16th

Same with Pope at at 26th

[doclinkin]

BTW, considering this is a draft thread, let me do a shoutout to the Redskins FO, in what looks like a totally professional and quality set of draft picks. Their philosophy was a high risk, high reward one where they went after ball hawks and playmakers, even if there were injury concerns. Hopefully it pays off. But they got 3 potential quality players in the secondary, a playmaker at TE in case Fred Davis leaves after this year or dopes out, an OLB who fell further than he should have, and two RBs, including a speedy, change of pace guy (who was rated poorly due to injury, but I'll trust Shanihan on that - one stat dropped today was Shanahan has drafted 5 of the best 10 performing RBs not drafted in the first round).

I really wish we had gotten a DT, OG, and ILB, but hopefully we get some folks in FA to help out. Our biggest area of need, the secondary looks good.

EDIT: The Redskins also win in getting the coolest named player, a headhunting FS named "Bacarri Rambo".

Grr I also hate that we have no Redskins Thread on here anymore, but to keep things from getting too cluttered in here maybe we can talk Redskins Draft on the other forum. LINKY

[hands11]

and that is why our team never get's better, if singleton and ves had been sent to the D league, they might have gotten the minutes they need to get good enough to earn minutes in the nba

I don't think this is true, particularly in the case of Singleton.

Let's not act like the only time players can develop their basketball skills is if they're on the court during a game. Development takes place in practice, either with the team or solo. Game experience helps in honing the basketball IQ, but it's not going to make that much difference in developing basketball skills. For Singleton, his problem is his skill. He doesn't have much. More minutes wouldn't help much. The guy was force fed way more minutes that he deserved in his rookie year and it didn't make him a better player. I don't think the D League would have helped him all that much either. He needs to become a better shooter, a better ball-handler, and a better rebounder.

Vesely is a different case, I suppose. Clearly one of his biggest issues is confidence. One would assume that playing in the D-League against inferior talent would help him establish that confidence. At the very least, with confidence, he could have played at least as good as he did last season. That said, he also needs a ton of work on his skills and his body. A weakling that can't shoot isn't going to get better simply by playing more minutes in D League. He needs to practice shooting and he needs to spend more time in the weight room.

The only time the Wizards won a playoff series in the last 35 years, Jared Jeffries started at SF.

http://www.82games.com/04WAS9C.HTM

Jeffries spent most of his minutes at SF during the regular season, though he played some PF and some C. (Above link is Jeffries numbers by position from 2004-2005).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Wizards

With a 93–82 win over the Chicago Bulls on April 13, 2005, the Wizards clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 1996–97.[6] Long-suffering fans celebrated by buying over 16,000 playoff tickets in two and a half hours the day tickets went on sale.[7] In game 3 of the first round against the Bulls, the Wizards won their first playoff game since 1988.[8] Adding to the "long-overdue" feeling was the fact that game 3 was the first NBA playoff game to be held within Washington, D.C. city limits.[9] In the Wizards' game 5 victory in Chicago, Arenas hit a buzzer-beater to win the game[10] and the Wizards took their first lead in a playoff series since 1986. In Game 6 at the MCI Center, Jared Jeffries picked up a loose ball and went in for an uncontested tie-breaking dunk with 32 seconds left, thus giving the Wizards a 94–91 win and the team's first playoff series win in 23 years. They were only the 12th team in NBA history to win a playoff series after being down 0–2.[11]

Why did I post that? JAN VESELY WAS DRAFTED TO PLAY SF AND THAT IS WHERE HE SHOULD BE USED!

Too many myopic folks IMO think "tall" means can't play SF. Vesely was a SF and James Gist was the PF on the team he was playing for in Europe when the Wizards drafted him at #6. Jan couldn't consistently make a FT to save his life then or now, but he did play SF because of his ability to get to the rim on one or two bounces. He could block a shot and he rebounded well for the position. He has sufficient end-to-end running speed to play SF. The Wizards have Wall and Beal, with bangers Okafor and Nene. There are MANY TIMES that Jan would have been a good fit at SF for a limited number of sets because Beal and Wall and Nene are enough offense, and Okafor can score, too. I think Kevin and Vesely can still play with Wall and Beal, but the Wizards have seriously jacked things up with their rotations. I do think there are obviously better players in this draft than Vesely but there are not many bigs any more physical or coordinated than Seraphin.

I think Vesely could have been used more like Jeffries was back in the 2004-2005 instead of being forced to only play power/banger positions like PF and C.

But to start the year, Beal couldnt hit from outside. Actually he was pretty terrible at it.
And until the end, Wall couldnt hit from outside.
And before Wall returned, they had no PG to speak of.

So they needed their SFs to be able to shoot with range to the 3 line to open things up.

Nene's mid range was really bad down the stretch.

If Ves is ever to get any minutes at SF, they need the Wall and Beal that ended the season and a PF with range on the floor to open up the slashing lanes and give him targets to pass to. And it would really help his cause if he could hit a FT and a mid range.

With Beal now a sharp shooter out to the 3 line and Wall having turned the corner on his shoot, they are closer to being able to use Ves at SF. But there was no chance of it last year.

Wall, Beal, Ves, Bennett, Okafor would be a decent line up if you want Ves at SF.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I don't think this is true, particularly in the case of Singleton.

Let's not act like the only time players can develop their basketball skills is if they're on the court during a game. Development takes place in practice, either with the team or solo. Game experience helps in honing the basketball IQ, but it's not going to make that much difference in developing basketball skills. For Singleton, his problem is his skill. He doesn't have much. More minutes wouldn't help much. The guy was force fed way more minutes that he deserved in his rookie year and it didn't make him a better player. I don't think the D League would have helped him all that much either. He needs to become a better shooter, a better ball-handler, and a better rebounder.

Vesely is a different case, I suppose. Clearly one of his biggest issues is confidence. One would assume that playing in the D-League against inferior talent would help him establish that confidence. At the very least, with confidence, he could have played at least as good as he did last season. That said, he also needs a ton of work on his skills and his body. A weakling that can't shoot isn't going to get better simply by playing more minutes in D League. He needs to practice shooting and he needs to spend more time in the weight room.

The only time the Wizards won a playoff series in the last 35 years, Jared Jeffries started at SF.

http://www.82games.com/04WAS9C.HTM

Jeffries spent most of his minutes at SF during the regular season, though he played some PF and some C. (Above link is Jeffries numbers by position from 2004-2005).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Wizards

With a 93–82 win over the Chicago Bulls on April 13, 2005, the Wizards clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 1996–97.[6] Long-suffering fans celebrated by buying over 16,000 playoff tickets in two and a half hours the day tickets went on sale.[7] In game 3 of the first round against the Bulls, the Wizards won their first playoff game since 1988.[8] Adding to the "long-overdue" feeling was the fact that game 3 was the first NBA playoff game to be held within Washington, D.C. city limits.[9] In the Wizards' game 5 victory in Chicago, Arenas hit a buzzer-beater to win the game[10] and the Wizards took their first lead in a playoff series since 1986. In Game 6 at the MCI Center, Jared Jeffries picked up a loose ball and went in for an uncontested tie-breaking dunk with 32 seconds left, thus giving the Wizards a 94–91 win and the team's first playoff series win in 23 years. They were only the 12th team in NBA history to win a playoff series after being down 0–2.[11]

Why did I post that? JAN VESELY WAS DRAFTED TO PLAY SF AND THAT IS WHERE HE SHOULD BE USED!

Too many myopic folks IMO think "tall" means can't play SF. Vesely was a SF and James Gist was the PF on the team he was playing for in Europe when the Wizards drafted him at #6. Jan couldn't consistently make a FT to save his life then or now, but he did play SF because of his ability to get to the rim on one or two bounces. He could block a shot and he rebounded well for the position. He has sufficient end-to-end running speed to play SF. The Wizards have Wall and Beal, with bangers Okafor and Nene. There are MANY TIMES that Jan would have been a good fit at SF for a limited number of sets because Beal and Wall and Nene are enough offense, and Okafor can score, too. I think Kevin and Vesely can still play with Wall and Beal, but the Wizards have seriously jacked things up with their rotations. I do think there are obviously better players in this draft than Vesely but there are not many bigs any more physical or coordinated than Seraphin.

I think Vesely could have been used more like Jeffries was back in the 2004-2005 instead of being forced to only play power/banger positions like PF and C.

But to start the year, Beal couldnt hit from outside. Actually he was pretty terrible at it.
And until the end, Wall couldnt hit from outside.
And before Wall returned, they had no PG to speak of.

So they needed their SFs to be able to shoot with range to the 3 line to open things up.

Nene's mid range was really bad down the stretch.

If Ves is ever to get any minutes at SF, they need the Wall and Beal that ended the season and a PF with range on the floor to open up the slashing lanes and give him targets to pass to. And it would really help his cause if he could hit a FT and a mid range.

With Beal now a sharp shooter out to the 3 line and Wall having turned the corner on his shoot, they are closer to being able to use Ves at SF. But there was no chance of it last year.

Wall, Beal, Ves, Bennett, Okafor would be a decent line up if you want Ves at SF.

The best player to draft might be Kelly Olynyk. For years he was a PG. Olynyk has terrific passing skills and a handle that will enable him to play PF or C like the Gasol brothers. With Olynyk at PF or at C, Jan could play SF.

[fishercob]

This has been a perplexing and maddening aspect of Leonsis' ownership. When he took over he announced intentions of using the Dleague.

I have posted many times, and it actually confounds me that the Wizards have yet to see the wisdom in the following proposal...

Establish their own single-affiliation Dleague team. The Baltimore Bullets.

They already have the name rights. They can sell new Bullets merchandise. They can promote and sell the team to B'more, a huge basketball city. Have their own coach in place, their own system, easily monitored and scouted by the parent club at close proximity. Someone like Cassell who might be a coach in waiting can go up and be the head guy for a year. If they need healthy players to practice (a common yearly issue) and/or scrimmage they are a short drive away. Players like Vesely or Singleton can get pt there and come back at a moments notice. Rehabbing players not quite back up to NBA quality can go up there and play a couple games and get their legs and game speed back. Etc etc.

+41

TOTALLY Agree. Why oh why won't Ted do that? That's both marketing and player development genius!

Because since the d-league uprooted all teams based in the southeast, there has been no one to play. You can't justify a team in Baltimore that has to travel to the southwest and California for all its games.

Philly's move was the first domino to fall. Expect similar moves from the Knicks and Nets and the Wizards not long after.

[fishercob]

Phenomenal article on Gorgui Deng.

Hard not to root for the guy.

[gambitx777]

Ok so i want to know what you guys think, if we pick up a second first rounder here are some of the guys i think we should target with both picks,
Kelly olynyk, C.J. McCollum, Mason Plumlee, Steven Adams, Gorgui Dieng, Erick Green,
second round targets should be
James Ennis, Brandon Davies, Shane Larkin, Adreian Payne, Ryan Kelly, Pierre Jackson, Isaiah austin