fishercob wrote:Nivek wrote:And my response to that, Kanyewest would be something like... I've acknowledged when Grunfeld has made good moves. Acquiring Miller was a fine move for the purpose of reaching the playoffs this season. Trading for Ariza and Okafor was okay for the purpose of getting the team back to mediocrity.
My objection to the Okafor/Ariza trade didn't have anything to do with the quality of the players. I thought both guys were at least decent. The problem was the opportunity cost -- giving up cap space and the opportunity to acquire younger players with more of a future (guys who would pair better with the guys they're hoping will be the long-term core). And, I didn't like the age of the bigs they traded for (Nenê and Okafor) because in general, 30+ year old athletes get hurt, get worse, and cost more. (A concern which came to fruition when Okafor got hurt, which led to the team spending next year's 1st round pick to replace him with yet another 30-year old big man on an expiring contract.)
I didn't like that the moves to acquire older players seemed like a cynical push to get the team back to "good enough" rather than trying to build a team that could be excellent.
And, I would thoroughly disagree that the 2011 draft had anything to do with changing the team's culture. They got two bad players who could barely get on the floor -- when they could have picked two good players whose play would have meant they didn't need to trade for older players to "change the culture."
I have never been fully comfortable with the charges of cynicism and I think that they, as well as our repeated use of the term "mediocrity" are, ironically enough, cynical.
There are two issues -- strategy and execution.
I think Leonsis set a strategy that you don't agree with and felt the Wiz had to be good as a means to get really good -- basically walking before they run. So that meant things like focusing on culture, overpaying veterans, etc. You can disagree with the strategy, but that doesn't make the strategy cynical in my view. I'm still ambivalent myself, to be honest. And I say this as someone that pays to go to the games.
The second issue is execution. Every individual move should be scrutinized. There have been spectacular failures (2011 draft, Maynor, Miller/Foye) and some successes (Kwame/Caron, the production of Ariza and Webster relative to their acquisition cost, maybe Gooden and Dre Miller). I think we all -- from closg00 to DCZards -- tend to focus on the moves that support our biases. However, when looking at the moves in the aggregate, it is hard to argue that Grunfeld hasn't executed on the first two phases of the strategy Ted laid out : #1 strip it down and get terrible, #2, rebuild to get decent.
The real question is where the Wizards go from here -- both on the court and off. As I have said, I think how the Wizards fare the rest of the way and in the postseason stands to have a fairly big impact on the future plays out. Only good things can come from the Wizards making an unexpected run of sorts in the playoffs. Everyone I have spoken with about Saturday night's game against Brooklyn has remarked about the amazing energy in the building. What will people say and think if the WIzards fans blow the roof off the building and help send the team back to Indiana tied at 2?
The Wizards aren't in the best situation this summer. But they are not in the worst, either. There may be opportunities to make a singular bold move that could propel the team to the third stage of the rebuild -- into a team that can make deep playoff runs. I've mentioned how I think Kevin Love may be an option. There may be others. But I truly believe that a whole range of possibilities exist for the WIzards going forward, including getting really, really good.
I have directed a lot of attention on disliking the job Ernie (and to a lesser extent Ted) has done. The truth is that as much as I might like to see Ernie replaced, I would get far less satisfaction out of him being canned than I would from Ernie staying on and the Wizards getting it right. I have said this a number of times, but the NBA is a little like poker. While Ernie has spent some time as the sucker, he can also be the guy who doesn't play his cards by the book and still gets lucky on the river. I just want the Wizards to be good, watchable and fun to root for. I don't really care how.
To me.... Ted & Ernie made a choice to go all in this season, hell or high water.
It's sorta like doing hard drugs. In the moment, it feels good maybe even great, but boy, that come down once the high wears off its going to be a bitch!
Right now, the season is a crowning success. The Wizards are in the mix for homecourt advantage, Gortat has played well. Ariza has played out of his mind and Wall has taken positive steps forward to be a well-rounded player. Great stuff indeed.
But the high wears off, er, the the bill comes due July 1st, especially considering 2 of our best 3 players are free agents looking for one big final payday.
At that stage, it's going to be all about what happens next.
For team that's supposed to be a building a young nucleus with 5 recent top 6 picks, we've only got John Wall from that group that's really helping this team win games. Beal is playing heavy minutes, but he's been more of a burden than a help and has even regressed a bit since last year. Otto Porter still hasn't broke the 250 minute mark in his career.
I'm enjoying the ride but it still feels hollow and I suspect were going to crash and burn in the relatively near future if were planning on keeping status quo.
But, man they've had to burn a BUNCH of assets to get even this good. And that bugs me.
