Offseason Plan

[nate33]

I do wonder then, does Johnny Davis compete for the starting PG with Delon Wright/Monte Morris? Wikipedia says Johnny Davis is SG/SF, no way that's really the case for a guy that's 6'4.

Davis is 6'-5.75" in shoes with a 6'-8.5" wingspan and a 8'-7.5" standing reach.

For comparison:
KCP is 6'-5.5" in shoes, with a 6'-8" wingspan and an 8'-4.5" standing reach, and he played SG/SF.
Will Barton is 6'-6" in shoes, with a 6'-9.75" wingspan, and a an 8'-6.5" standing reach, and he played SG/SF.

Davis is ideally a SG, but I don't see why he can't play SF for stretches, particularly after he bulks up a bit. Notably, he's an incredible rebounder for his size, so it's not like he lacks toughness.

[FAH1223]

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[payitforward]

...The depth we have is underrated

PG- Beal/Morris/Davis/Wright
SG - Beal/Barton/Kispert
SF - Kuzma/Deni/Kispert/Barton
PF - Rui/Porzingis/Gill/Kuzma
C - Porzingis/Gafford/???
...

Especially if we can start Brad at two positions!

Well Beal will be starting at either of those positions no matter what on a night in night out basis, but if you need it spelled out i won't be doing it for you

Of course he will!

That was a little joke, man. There... I spelled it out for you.

[9 and 20]

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I watched some Zingus highlights today and I'm kinda hyped again about the season but Jansjay brought me right back down. Compleetely agree - unless they do something, it looks like somebody is going to step up and take Trez's role from last year - 'get outta my way because I'm trying to get paid.' My vote goes to Barton but it could be Kuz. Rui doesn't have the dog in him like Trez did.

I'm also interested to see how point guard plays out. Did they promise Delon Wright the starting role to get him to sign here? How will that play with WUJ, who knows Morris well?

WUJ needs to embrace his inner dog more too and reign these guys in. If Beal doesn't play defense, put his quarter billion dollar azz on the bench - that would be a good start.

I need to see more before the Wiz pull me right back into believing again.

[payitforward]

Oh, no doubt about it -- we are going to be bad. Almost certainly as bad as last year. Possibly worse.

[prime1time]

Oh, no doubt about it -- we are going to be bad. Almost certainly as bad as last year. Possibly worse.

It's fine to make this argument. Just admit that it's not based on basketball reasoning.

[gambitx777]

I think if we stay healthy this is a much better team than last year. Morris was worlds better than what dinwiddie was for us and our new back up PG was probably arguably better than him too. You don't think Beal has another off year. A healthy KP is a legit borlderline all star. A healthy Rui and another year of development on kispert and Deni. I like this team. I think we should consolidate some and maybe trade Kuz and Rui for a guy like John Collins. I don't like the idea of bringing back gill. Sure he's a good bench team cheer leader guy but we need players and that spot could go to a young guy on the summer league team. But overall I don't think this is a worse team than last year.

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[The Consiglieri]

Oh, no doubt about it -- we are going to be bad. Almost certainly as bad as last year. Possibly worse.

It's fine to make this argument. Just admit that it's not based on basketball reasoning.

Well the Vegas analytics people that put gazillions of dollars behind their #'s say we are 12th in the East out of 15, and 23rd out of 30.

So while random statements might not hold up as an argument the the size and scale of bookmaking operations like William Hill should carry some weight. They aren't always right of course, and the #'s are a balancing act between their evaluations and the betting decisions of sharps and squares, but if they say 12 out of 15, and 23 out of 30, that carries more weight to me than any posters thoughts, or mediots. So there's that.

Of course, time will tell and they've been wrong quite a few times before.

[FAH1223]

Oh, no doubt about it -- we are going to be bad. Almost certainly as bad as last year. Possibly worse.

It's fine to make this argument. Just admit that it's not based on basketball reasoning.

Well the Vegas analytics people that put gazillions of dollars behind their #'s say we are 12th in the East out of 15, and 23rd out of 30.

So while random statements might not hold up as an argument the the size and scale of bookmaking operations like William Hill should carry some weight. They aren't always right of course, and the #'s are a balancing act between their evaluations and the betting decisions of sharps and squares, but if they say 12 out of 15, and 23 out of 30, that carries more weight to me than any posters thoughts, or mediots. So there's that.

Of course, time will tell and they've been wrong quite a few times before.

They were wrong about the... T-Wolves!

[deneem4]

Deni
Beal
Kuzma
Rui
Porzingis

Have a deep bench…

[nate33]

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I watched some Zingus highlights today and I'm kinda hyped again about the season but Jansjay brought me right back down. Compleetely agree - unless they do something, it looks like somebody is going to step up and take Trez's role from last year - 'get outta my way because I'm trying to get paid.' My vote goes to Barton but it could be Kuz. Rui doesn't have the dog in him like Trez did.

I'm also interested to see how point guard plays out. Did they promise Delon Wright the starting role to get him to sign here? How will that play with WUJ, who knows Morris well?

WUJ needs to embrace his inner dog more too and reign these guys in. If Beal doesn't play defense, put his quarter billion dollar azz on the bench - that would be a good start.

I need to see more before the Wiz pull me right back into believing again.

The current team is definitely better than that awful 2019/20 team. This team actually has a couple of guys who know how to defend. That 2019/20 team literally had bottom 25% defenders at every single position, except when Bonga played. Bertans might have been the 2nd best defender on that roster lol. That team also had no above-average player besides Beal. At least Porzingis has a long shot chance of making an All-Star game.

I think the current team, playing against 2019/20 competition, would probably win around 40 games (instead of the 28 win pace that 2019 team achieved). However, the East is tougher now than it was in 2019/20 so I expect something less than 40.

[payitforward]

Oh, no doubt about it -- we are going to be bad. Almost certainly as bad as last year. Possibly worse.

It's fine to make this argument. Just admit that it's not based on basketball reasoning.

Of course it's based on basketball reasoning!

What it's not based on is magical thinking: i.e. colossal over-estimation of how good Brad was at his peak & how likely it is that he'll return to that peak, the mythical idea that Rui Hachimura has established himself as an outstanding young NBA player, a conviction that Kristaps Porzingis is an NBA star, & the belief that Kyle Kuzma is a well above average NBA forward who's game is still growing (as he will demonstrate this year).

I'm not saying it's all bad news so far this off season! By no means -- Monte Morris is a substantial upgrade, & so is Delon Wright. Johnny Davis is a talented young kid (though an unknown at the NBA level). We have reason to hope for improvement from Deni & Kispert. & Rui too might improve, why not?

Not to mention that the off season isn't over. Maybe there's another trade coming? Maybe someone will emerge as a SL surprise (Dotson? Jackson?).

In the end, of course, I hope you are right. &, as goes without saying, you may be right -- i.e. if we turn out to be a substantially better team this year, one that wins significantly more games than we did last year.

Anything can happen. Unfortunately, however, that substantial improvement can't be predicted based on basketball reasoning. Here's hoping it happens anyway!

[dckingsfan]

Deni
Beal
Kuzma
Rui
Porzingis

Have a deep bench…

I actually like this a lot - and would love to see some minutes there. It is a swing for the fences when you know if you don't you are the 9th or 10th seed at best.

But Wes is a small ball guy (IMO)... so there is that.

[prime1time]

Oh, no doubt about it -- we are going to be bad. Almost certainly as bad as last year. Possibly worse.

It's fine to make this argument. Just admit that it's not based on basketball reasoning.

Of course it's based on basketball reasoning!

What it's not based on is magical thinking: i.e. colossal over-estimation of how good Brad was at his peak & how likely it is that he'll return to that peak, the mythical idea that Rui Hachimura has established himself as an outstanding young NBA player, a conviction that Kristaps Porzingis is an NBA star, & the belief that Kyle Kuzma is a well above average NBA forward who's game is still growing (as he will demonstrate this year).

I'm not saying it's all bad news so far this off season! By no means -- Monte Morris is a substantial upgrade, & so is Delon Wright. Johnny Davis is a talented young kid (though an unknown at the NBA level). We have reason to hope for improvement from Deni & Kispert. & Rui too might improve, why not?

Not to mention that the off season isn't over. Maybe there's another trade coming? Maybe someone will emerge as a SL surprise (Dotson? Jackson?).

In the end, of course, I hope you are right. &, as goes without saying, you may be right -- i.e. if we turn out to be a substantially better team this year, one that wins significantly more games than we did last year.

Anything can happen. Unfortunately, however, that substantial improvement can't be predicted based on basketball reasoning. Here's hoping it happens anyway!

Woah there my friend. You're attacking a strawman. Don't compare it to anything mythical just compare it to last year. You said "almost certainly as bad as last year. Possibly worse." So in your comparison, you should compare it to last year. Let me help you. Beal doesn't have to be as good as his peak. Can he be better than he was last year. That's the question. Last year the team completely collapsed under locker room trouble. Trezz was confronting his teammates in the locker room. Dinwiddie basically shut it down because he couldn't get his way and Bertans was a disaster. That's what we should compare it to. Porzingis being a star, Kuzma being a well above-average forward, Rui being an outstanding young player has nothing to do with it. None of that stuff has to happen for us to be better than last year.

You are trying to move the goal post to good team. But the question wasn't whether or not the Wizards will be a good team. It was whether or not they will be better than last year. So, I look forward to a basketball-based argument that the Wizards will be worse than last year. At the same time, perhaps it's better to debate whether or not the Wizards will be a good team.

[DCZards]

Deni
Beal
Kuzma
Rui
Porzingis

Have a deep bench…

Nah. That lineup doesn’t have a true PG. Been there done that.

[80sballboy]

It's fine to make this argument. Just admit that it's not based on basketball reasoning.

Of course it's based on basketball reasoning!

What it's not based on is magical thinking: i.e. colossal over-estimation of how good Brad was at his peak & how likely it is that he'll return to that peak, the mythical idea that Rui Hachimura has established himself as an outstanding young NBA player, a conviction that Kristaps Porzingis is an NBA star, & the belief that Kyle Kuzma is a well above average NBA forward who's game is still growing (as he will demonstrate this year).

I'm not saying it's all bad news so far this off season! By no means -- Monte Morris is a substantial upgrade, & so is Delon Wright. Johnny Davis is a talented young kid (though an unknown at the NBA level). We have reason to hope for improvement from Deni & Kispert. & Rui too might improve, why not?

Not to mention that the off season isn't over. Maybe there's another trade coming? Maybe someone will emerge as a SL surprise (Dotson? Jackson?).

In the end, of course, I hope you are right. &, as goes without saying, you may be right -- i.e. if we turn out to be a substantially better team this year, one that wins significantly more games than we did last year.

Anything can happen. Unfortunately, however, that substantial improvement can't be predicted based on basketball reasoning. Here's hoping it happens anyway!

Woah there my friend. You're attacking a strawman. Don't compare it to anything mythical just compare it to last year. You said "almost certainly as bad as last year. Possibly worse." So in your comparison, you should compare it to last year. Let me help you. Beal doesn't have to be as good as his peak. Can he be better than he was last year. That's the question. Last year the team completely collapsed under locker room trouble. Trezz was confronting his teammates in the locker room. Dinwiddie basically shut it down because he couldn't get his way and Bertans was a disaster. That's what we should compare it to. Porzingis being a star, Kuzma being a well above-average forward, Rui being an outstanding young player has nothing to do with it. None of that stuff has to happen for us to be better than last year.

You are trying to move the goal post to good team. But the question wasn't whether or not the Wizards will be a good team. It was whether or not they will be better than last year. So, I look forward to a basketball-based argument that the Wizards will be worse than last year. At the same time, perhaps it's better to debate whether or not the Wizards will be a good team.

If Beal plays 40 games again, Porzingis plays 17, Neto returns to play 20mpg at the point, Ish Smith starts a bunch of games, then sure, we'll be just as bad, if not worse. I think we win a minimum of 40 games because we will make the playoffs and won't get to draft next season. That's just who we are. Play for mediocrity. Mediocre for 42 years.

[CobraCommander]

Deni
Beal
Kuzma
Rui
Porzingis

Have a deep bench…

Nah. That lineup doesn’t have a true PG. Been there done that.

When did we run out a team with no point guard ===? The wiz notorious for the 3 point guard set while letting the PF initiate the offense lol


Either way I’m optimistic because wtf else do i to look forward to.

It’s Beal and KP plus

Rui and Deni break out years with a side of Davis and Gogo gafford

[NatP4]

My most optimistic hot take is Johnny Davis exploding in summer league and being a legit starting caliber guard in year 1 with star upside.

[nate33]

My most optimistic hot take is Johnny Davis exploding in summer league and being a legit starting caliber guard in year 1 with star upside.

Yes, that's the most optimistic take, but I don't think it's very likely, mostly because Johnny Davis' natural position happens to be shared with the most expensive player in the league. It would be one thing if Davis hit the ground running at his natural position, but he is going to have to become a legit starting caliber player outside of his natural position. That's a lot to ask of a rookie drafted 10th.

[nate33]

My most optimistic take is that Deni makes a big leap this offseason after being healthy in the summer, and comes back and plays like Gordon Hayward with better defense. If he learns to shoot, he will essentially become above-average for his position in nearly every facet of the game: shooting, ball-handling, passing, defense, rebounding - you name it.