GT #50 Sacramento Kings @ Washington Wizards 6pm 02/09/14

[tontoz]

Okay, but he wasn't the BPA.

Whether or not he was the BPA is a separate argument. It has nothing to do with Ariza/Webster.

[J-Ves]

Because they felt he was the BPA at 3, not to mention they fact that they only had one 3 on the roster and he was a year away from being a UFA.

Okay, but he wasn't the BPA.

He was Ted's BPA cause he went to Gtown!!! Should've been Noel. Thank God no one listened to me cause I was Pro-Bennett

It's funny, because this board pegged Len as EGs guy well before the draft, and many of us were dreading that pick. I guess Ted got his way in the end.

[Zonkerbl]

Given the Webster signing and how good Ariza looks now, I'd rather have Noel now. And at the time I would've been ecstatic getting Noel.

Now you're in a bad situation -- you can't keep all three of Ariza, Webster, and Porter on the roster, that's just bad asset management. But you can't trade Porter and Webster is overpaid (not by much, but still). The idea all along has been to trade Ariza to a contending team for assets and the cap space to attract a good free agent, but that logic fails if we're in the playoff race.

You know what? Screw the playoffs. Trade Ariza. For once follow through on the logical course of action. Of the three assets we have at SF he's the most valuable. Trade him!

[Nivek]

We were up comfortably for most of this game. Randy couldn't have gone with a Wall/Webster/Porter line up for a few minutes? Why draft Porter then?

Because they felt he was the BPA at 3, not to mention they fact that they only had one 3 on the roster and he was a year away from being a UFA.

Okay, but he wasn't the BPA.

I'm hardly a Grunfeld defender, but there were plenty of folks who considered Porter the BPA at #3. My stuff had him rated as a solid prospect worthy of being a top 5 pick in most drafts. Another guy who does statistical analysis of the draft (who now works for the Mavericks) had Porter rated 2nd overall before the draft with a "very high" likelihood of becoming an All-Star.

Porter is obviously having a bad rookie year, but that shouldn't be surprising considering his injury and that there are two good professionals ahead of him in the rotation -- including one (Ariza) who's having the best season of his career.

Just giving Porter minutes isn't going to "develop" him. We'll get a better sense for what they have in him during the summer, during the next training camp, and next season. I still don't think there's any reason to consider him a bust (yet) or to think that he won't develop into a good pro. Unless he doesn't put in the work to get better.

[tontoz]

I like Webster but i am not convinced that signing him was the right use of the MLE. I would have rather used at least part of the MLE to sign Nate/Collison. I think the next priority should have been a big man. We could have always signed Cartier to be our 3rd small forward.

[jivelikenice]

Maybe he should get more minutes, but Randy sees this kid every day in practice. Maybe he just truly is awful.

Or maybe the two starting calibur players in front of Porter are better options for a team trying to win now.

Yup, I don't see why this is so hard to grasp. Otto plays the 3 which is the only position on the roster where we have depth. Between Ariza/ Martell/ Beal, they average a combined 98 minutes a game. Where are there minutes to play Otto and who are you pulling to play him? Ariza has been our 2nd best player this year, Webster is our only reliable bench player, and Beal's minutes should actually be going up now that he's worked his way back from the injury. Do you really expect Randy to pull Trevor, who also is our best perimeter defensive player just for the sake of giving Otto spot duty when he's coaching for an extension and is under a mandate to get to the playoffs? Glen Rice was putting up almost 30 in the D-League and isn't even active on game nights. Randy wants known quantities out on the floor as much as possible. Do I entirely agree with how the organization is approachign this? No...But that's what they're doing and they haven't been secretive about it.

Going back to the draft if the plan was to draft Otto, re-sign Martell, and keep Ariza then the pick didn't make total sense unless he was the BPA on their board....But I think Ariza's play and the TC injury altered those plans.

[montestewart]

Porter's been a disappointment so far, but like Beal and Wall (both of whom disappointed in their own ways) he seemed an obvious pick for the slot. It may not work out, but it sure isn't in the Vesely category.

[jivelikenice]

Maybe he should get more minutes, but Randy sees this kid every day in practice. Maybe he just truly is awful.

Randy didn't seem hesitant to play him 19 meaningful minutes on the road at Phoenix when Martell missed his last game....

[Nivek]

I like Webster but i am not convinced that signing him was the right use of the MLE. I would have rather used at least part of the MLE to sign Nate/Collison. I think the next priority should have been a big man. We could have always signed Cartier to be our 3rd small forward.

Yep. Once they drafted Porter and Rice, re-signing Webster for the full MLE became kinda iffy in terms of a team-building strategy. Especially since they'd gone and burned the BAE on a PG. At that point, a reserve big had to be a more pressing need than a reserve SF/SG -- even a guy who'd been as nice a find as Webster had been. Unless, of course, they were going to trade Ariza for that big (or use him as an S4).

[MikeTheKid]

I like Webster but i am not convinced that signing him was the right use of the MLE. I would have rather used at least part of the MLE to sign Nate/Collison. I think the next priority should have been a big man. We could have always signed Cartier to be our 3rd small forward.

Trading our #3 pick and taking Olynyk to stretch 4 or Adams as the big while keeping Wolters and maybe Reggie Bullock would've dramatically helped. Wolters 7/2/3 in 21 mins at the backup PG spot could really help

[AFM]

Because they felt he was the BPA at 3, not to mention they fact that they only had one 3 on the roster and he was a year away from being a UFA.

Okay, but he wasn't the BPA.

I'm hardly a Grunfeld defender, but there were plenty of folks who considered Porter the BPA at #3. My stuff had him rated as a solid prospect worthy of being a top 5 pick in most draft. Another guy who does statistical analysis of the draft (who now works for the Mavericks) had Porter rated 2nd overall before the draft with a "very high" likelihood of becoming an All-Star.

Porter is obviously having a bad rookie year, but that shouldn't be surprising considering his injury and that there are two good professionals ahead of him in the rotation -- including one (Ariza) who's having the best season of his career.

Just giving Porter minutes isn't going to "develop" him. We'll get a better sense for what they have in him during the summer, during the next training camp, and next season. I still don't think there's any reason to consider him a bust (yet) or to think that he won't develop into a good pro. Unless he doesn't put in the work to get better.

Where did Noel rank in your analysis?

[Nivek]

Where did Noel rank in your analysis?

Very slightly ahead of Porter.

[pancakes3]

Noel in my opinion was clearly the BPA, injury and all. Porter was a lukewarm consolation as the healthiest BPA. As hindsight gets sharper and sharper, acquiring all-star caliber youth in both the frontcourt and backcourt would have been the best option as opposed to filling up roster spots with spot-up shooters for Wall.

[Rafael122]

I like Webster but i am not convinced that signing him was the right use of the MLE. I would have rather used at least part of the MLE to sign Nate/Collison. I think the next priority should have been a big man. We could have always signed Cartier to be our 3rd small forward.

Collison preferred the west coast, we still could have signed Nate if all it took was the BAE. That pissed me off.

[tontoz]

I like Webster but i am not convinced that signing him was the right use of the MLE. I would have rather used at least part of the MLE to sign Nate/Collison. I think the next priority should have been a big man. We could have always signed Cartier to be our 3rd small forward.

Collison preferred the west coast, we still could have signed Nate if all it took was the BAE. That pissed me off.

If we paid him $4million/yr for 2 years he would be here. Even $3 million/yr probably would have been enough. A young player isn't going to take a big paycut to play where he wants to play.

He is only making $2 million/yr. I see people keep saying that he was willing to take a discount to play in LA but i don't see anyone posting a link to more lucrative offers that he turned down.

[Ruzious]

I like Webster but i am not convinced that signing him was the right use of the MLE. I would have rather used at least part of the MLE to sign Nate/Collison. I think the next priority should have been a big man. We could have always signed Cartier to be our 3rd small forward.

Collison preferred the west coast, we still could have signed Nate if all it took was the BAE. That pissed me off.

Patty Mills signed with SA for $1,133,950 for 1 season. Brandan Wright signed a 2/10 contract with Dallas. Both of these guys were coming off of 2 consecutive excellent per minute stats seasons. Both are putting up even better stats this season - Wright's are insanely good. We could have gotten both of them - assuming both care about a thing called money - Wright with the MLE and Mills with the LLE. It made sense at the time to go after both of them...

[dobrojim]

we don't know how Noel is going to turn out. There were reasonable reasons to
pass on him, an injured 205 lb C with little demonstrated offensive game being the
prime one(s).

He could turn out to be defensive gold. But we don't know that yet.

OP is still a good prospect. That could change but no one knows yet either.
Some folks here post like they have infallible crystal balls.

[Nivek]

There's no way to know whether Collison would have played in DC because the Wizards never made him an offer. They moved immediately to sign Maynor. The quickness of that signing, the amount they gave him, and the player option on the 2nd season are all indications that the front office had zeroed in on Maynor. He was their pick to be the backup PG. They struck fast because they thought they were getting a prize -- a prize they feared losing if they didn't move fast enough and they didn't make a large enough offer.

[fishercob]

Some folks here post like they have infallible crystal balls.

I'd see a doctor if I did.

[dobrojim]

or at least be very careful around hammers