The Wizards win the Lottery!!!

[P'Oed]

Listening to awful sports radio....and I can't believe how many people are completely clueless/down on this whoel thing. Just shows how many buzzkills we have in this area. John Wall is an UNBELIEVABLE talent and there is NO doubt about that. He has every physical tool to be an absolute superstar. Shut the hell up and enjoy it.

[tkunit]

I Still don't know what to do with myself

[Ji]

I dont think the curse is broken till we actually draft Wall. Ive seen some amazingly stupid things from this franchise so the curse is still on till draft day imo

[mhd]

Ji:

from Dandridge' recap of the owner's meeting:

"If Wiz get #1 pick, will take John Wall hands down"

[nate33]

Where the heck is Nate?

You'd think he'd be all over the board right about now.

I'm in Mexico. I have only my cell phone and data coverage is spotty.

my opinions:
Draft Wall - a no brainer

Try and move Arenas either now or before Trade Deadline. He and wall can coexist offensively, but not defensively. It would be better to move Arenas now so we would still have a chance at keeping Livingston.

Maintain enough 2011 cap room to go after Melo.

[Hoopalotta]

Where the heck is Nate?

You'd think he'd be all over the board right about now.

I'm in Mexico. I have only my cell phone and data coverage is spotty.

Alright, good news. I wasn't able to think of anything that would keep you from a "We're getting Wall!" post or two other than either vacation or something bad.

Glad to hear it's Mexico. Well, I assume that would be a vacation as they have that extradition treaty, so I'm figuring 'something bad' is less likely.

[cwb3]

What a great shot in the arm for our favorite team!
I esp like that the team continued to compete late last season and did not blatently tank.
Perhaps karma smiled at that.

This will could make free agency a bit more interesting for the Wizards.

I wonder if we could find a servicable center to develop with our latter two picks.

The Wiz fans needed this. . .

[AceDegenerate]

The trade Gilbert sentiment is really disheartening. Gil's value is still at an all-time low. There is simply no reason Wall/Gil cannot co-exist. Gilbert was not going to be the kind of PG he was ever again coming off the knee surgeries, and I always saw him transitioning to the 2 spot as his career goes on. I just don't see why anyone who watched the Wiz play this year could not see Gilbert transitioning right in to the 2 Spot that Caron Butler was occupying. The same plays that made Butler uncomfortable (both in Washington & Dallas) are the type that Gil accels at. Taking the focus off distributing the ball should really help Gilbert get back into dominating as a scorer like he was pre-injury. It makes the game more natural for him, and less thinking = better production from Arenas.

Why simply throw away 25PPG @ the SG spot? Where can that be made up? I can only hope that Wizards management is less fickle than our fans. Time will tell.

[Ruzious]

:sigh:

The trade Gilbert sentiment is really disheartening. Gil's value is still at an all-time low. There is simply no reason Wall/Gil cannot co-exist. Gilbert was not going to be the kind of PG he was ever again coming off the knee surgeries, and I always saw him transitioning to the 2 spot as his career goes on. I just don't see why anyone who watched the Wiz play this year could not see Gilbert transitioning right in to the 2 Spot that Caron Butler was occupying. The same plays that made Butler uncomfortable (both in Washington & Dallas) are the type that Gil accels at. Taking the focus off distributing the ball should really help Gilbert get back into dominating as a scorer like he was pre-injury. It makes the game more natural for him, and less thinking = better production from Arenas.

Why simply throw away 25PPG @ the SG spot? Where can that be made up? I can only hope that Wizards management is less fickle than our fans. Time will tell.

Right, I feel very comfortable saying the starting backcourt on opening day will be Gil/Wall. There's very little doubt that that's going to happen. Defensively, it makes very little difference if Gil is the PG or the SG. He's not going to do any worse at the 2. Yes, he'll have a height disadvantage, but his biggest problem defensively has been allowing dribble penetration - which should be less of a problem guarding 2's. I think they should work wonderfully together offensively. If they don't work out together, then you re-evaluate before the trade deadline.

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

Count me in on the keep Gil... for now. At LEAST get his value up, I don't see how waiting until the trade deadline this year will hurt his value. If anything it would boost it considerably as he gets back to scoring 20+ and 7 or so assists. I don't want to blow a wad this year in free agency anyways.

If our worst case scenario is keeping Gil and still making a run at Melo next year so be it.

Our worst case scenarios are looking better and better all of a sudden

[Hoopalotta]

I'm feelin' cozy with those guys too.

I think I'd peg my dream scenario as....

Pull a nice BOYD trade this year and score a late lottery pick (if we could do a second one for some future picks I'm in too)
Sign Noah next offseason.
That's about it.

I could see the 'Melo angle (probably without Gil) and *gulp* the Lebron angle (with Gil) but I think I'd go for the above as my fling at the bulls-eye from the hip. Of course Noah will probably sign an extension in a few months, but I do feel that there's still some angles that would work with Gil for the long haul.

That's the clipped version, but we can get into it more later.

[miller31time]

:sigh:

The trade Gilbert sentiment is really disheartening. Gil's value is still at an all-time low. There is simply no reason Wall/Gil cannot co-exist.

This.

Whether you want Gilbert traded or wish for him to be a Wizard-for-life, it just makes no sense to deal him right now. His value is at an all-time low and he's almost guaranteed to have a resurgent year next season. He'll be playing healthy and motivated and hopefully, he'll have learned a little about maturity on the professional level. Throw in the fact he'll be playing with the consensus #1 pick who will find him for open looks in John Wall and potentially some nice acquisitions (in the BOYD scenario - maybe Prince, Kirilenko, etc) and there's no reason not to think he can up his trade value tremendously.

I can just envision next season when we'll laugh at the idea of trading Gilbert for pure expirings or....gulp...worse.

[BanndNDC]

Try and move Arenas either now or before Trade Deadline. He and wall can coexist offensively, but not defensively. It would be better to move Arenas now so we would still have a chance at keeping Livingston.[/quote[
disagree. i think they can coexist defensively as well, especially if we got a good 3. theyve got the footspeed to play a pestering havoc inducing trap up top, the key to which would be a smart 3 and rotations at the 4 and 5.

Maintain enough 2011 cap room to go after Melo.

agree. start playing a few games in baltimore (throwback bullets nights) and make a public push for Gay talking about how great local players are (offer a reasonable contract that will surely be matched or exceeded by someone).

[willbcocks]

Gil is 28 years old, injury prone, and the worst defensive player not named Mcgee in the history of the NBA. He should not be part of the long term plans.

As far as I'm concerned, the only decision we have regarding Gil is when to trade him (if it's even possible -- we are in no position to lose assets right now unless they're heavily protected 1sts or 2nd rounders). What is the best we can get for him and the chunk of cash/cap space that he represents?

In the short term, I'm cool not trading him this year unless someone finds a way to get us Lebron + other max player. Otherwise moving him isn't worth it.

[Hoopalotta]

What is the best we can get for him and the chunk of cash/cap space that he represents?

[Rafael122]

Call me weird but I've watched the draft lottery like 4 times on You Tube since Tuesday and it's still surreal.

[yungal07]

Call me weird but I've watched the draft lottery like 4 times on You Tube since Tuesday and it's still surreal.

I've watched it about 40 times.

And all the dorks who were b1tching about Irene Pollin being our representatives need to log off now.

[fishercob]

Can we do away with all the bullshi*t about thanking Ji, when the real thanks goes to those truly responsible for making this happen -- Donkey, Swami, Jwiz, etc?

Don;t you all realize that after 19-63 with Blake Griffin on the horizon that there was no Day of Anarchy on these boards last year? Yet this year the boys painted the town brown with their own feces and lo and behold we win the lottery!?!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

:sigh:

The trade Gilbert sentiment is really disheartening. Gil's value is still at an all-time low. There is simply no reason Wall/Gil cannot co-exist. Gilbert was not going to be the kind of PG he was ever again coming off the knee surgeries, and I always saw him transitioning to the 2 spot as his career goes on. I just don't see why anyone who watched the Wiz play this year could not see Gilbert transitioning right in to the 2 Spot that Caron Butler was occupying. The same plays that made Butler uncomfortable (both in Washington & Dallas) are the type that Gil accels at. Taking the focus off distributing the ball should really help Gilbert get back into dominating as a scorer like he was pre-injury. It makes the game more natural for him, and less thinking = better production from Arenas.

Why simply throw away 25PPG @ the SG spot? Where can that be made up? I can only hope that Wizards management is less fickle than our fans. Time will tell.

I'm trying to remember just one time when an NBA player of Gil's caliber was replaced by a better draft pick at his position, while that NBA player was still in his prime. Just one.

I've read that Wall is better than Arenas. I think that is absurd. It's just flat absurd. Wall has tools, athleticism, potential, and leadership qualities that PROJECT him to be great--in a few years.

Like nate said, Gil and Wall can coexist offensively but defensively they're likely not going to be good.

I think one or both will be unhappy with their role SOON if the Wizards lose a lot of games. For all his athleticism, how much better defensively will Wall be than Nick Young when it comes to defending SGs?

Or is Gil the one who defends SGs while Wall defends PGs?

All the hype about Wall becoming the greatest PG ever really depends on him actually running the show at PG. The notion that Agent Zero says "It's your team, rookie" is less likely than my signature borrowed from Spence.

[montestewart]

^
remember the Twin Towers?

But really, I can't think of any examples either.