BigA wrote:...I agree with nate33 that they should just get out of the tax this year and tank as much as possible to improve their pick.
I wouldn't trade either Beal or Porter right now unless it was a really good offer. I'd prefer to keep Beal...
My expectation for Otto is that he'll be a solid starter but will never make an All-Star game, assuming he can stay healthy...
Absolutely get out of the tax & tank (inevitable in any case...).
I like Beal. He was the guy I wanted us to pick. I defended him when he got rough treatment here. I recognize that he turned the corner & has become a good player. But, he is not as good -- not nearly as good -- as people seem to think he is. Moreover, his career year depended on a level of scoring efficiency that would be hard for any guard to maintain.
Yet, he seems to be highly valued -- too highly valued, given his numbers -- by GMs around the league. That alone is a good enough reason to trade him -- it would be a good reason even if the Wizards were a successful team. If you can get more for a player than he's really worth, do it... every single time.
Building a team is not like painting a picture, where you need some red, some blue, a pleasing combination. It's not aesthetic or "complex" in that sense. Building a team is like building a bank account. Period. The better your players overall the better your team. The more player-value you control the better off you are. End of story.
As to Porter, both in 2016-17 & last year he was our best player. He was better than both Wall & Beal in their career years. & way way better than both of them last year. Even this year, in the minutes he's been able to play he's been more productive than either John or Brad.
Whether he ever makes an all star game is completely irrelevant. The all star game is a popularity contest followed by a sometimes entertaining exhibition game. Guys who score a lot of points (only number visible to the casual fan) have an insurmountable edge in the process of choosing players. Who is in the game is not an indication of who the best players in the league are -- even though the game often features many of those guys.
OTOH, whether Otto can stay healthy is another question. Who knows? Still, Otto is kind of the opposite of Beal in that his trade value is way below his actual value in helping a team win games (when healthy -- duh!). Never trade a guy like that unless you absolutely have to for financial reasons.
Note, what I've written above is not "opinion." We're not in an art gallery where you like one painting & I like another. What I've written above is just a set of facts based on a set of numbers.
Numbers are not what makes basketball a beautiful, compelling, incredibly entertaining sport. But, numbers are what determine wins & losses. Numbers & nothing but numbers. If "better team" means "team that wins more games, hence has a better shot at a title," then follow the numbers.
