Kanyewest wrote:NatP4 wrote:The only part of any rationale that made some sense was an all out tank for Cooper Flagg. They will have at most, a 14% chance at the guy, otherwise, absolutely nothing is changing with the direction of this franchise.
True the tank only gets a 14% chance and a 52% chance in the top 4 is equal among the teams in the bottom 4. However the Wizards do guarantee themselves with a top 5 pick. Assuming the Wizards held onto Deni it is possible that the Wizards would have improved significantly much like the Blazers have who already have 11 wins than last season. Yes, other players on the Blazers improved so Deni isn't solely responsible. However, players on the Wizards improved like Jordan Poole not to mention that Deni may have had a better season in Washington had he not had to made the adjustment of playing in a new system.
If Washington had 11 more wins, Washington would find themselves picking in the 8/9 range (I would think that Portland would be worse than Washington, although Washington probably wouldn't be as good as Portland now) . This would only leave the Wizards with a 6-7 % chance at a top pick and 20-26%.
But yeah, it looks like the Wizards sold on Deni low. Blazers blogs are calling Deni's contract the best in the NBA.
I have a hard time understanding why people might think the Deni trade was partly motivated by tanking. You can see right here right now:
1.01 Wizards 15-55: 12 games to go
1.02 Jazz: 16-56: 10 games to go
1.03 Hornets: 18-53: 11 games to go
1.04: Pelicans: 19-53: 10 games to go
Just four games separate us from 1.04, instead of 1.01, just 3 games separate us from 1.03, just 1 game separates us from 1.02.
We knew going in a # of teams would be tanking for this years big 3 (now big 4 or 5), and of course for Flagg in particular. that group included all of the above, and the failed tanking efforts of Brooklyn, Toronto, and Portland among others, and as we've seen, the difference between 1.01-1.05 as a scenario and a 1.01-1.08 currently is just four games, just four. While I want the first overal, what I've wanted most since January is a top 4 pick, and as you can see, any small changes, any at all, and us being in the Pelicans or Hornets position was imminently possible, hell 2 overtime losses could have been flipped alone (granted, a shocking 3, and only 3 of our losses out of 55 were actually five point or less losses).
I don't think Deni is the end all be all anything, but was he and his efficiency enough for us to be potentially hunting for our 18th or 19th win right now rather than fifteenth? I can't see why not, and as I referenced last spring, that wonderful cheap deal for Deni would be wasted on us considering we'd be tanking in 2 to 3 of those seasons, maybe all of them.
But yeah, as I always tag it, did we get enough? Not to me, on that contract and doing what he was doing, he was worth far more than an exceptionally late lottery pick, a broken down vet we couldn't flip, a pick five years away and a couple of 2nds. Yeah, I think he was worth assets in '25 or '26, and I'm still pissed we didn't get him, but I'd be more pissed if we kept him and were sitting further down the lottery landscape.
