Official 2023 Wizards OFFSEASON Thread

[mhd]

Why shouldn't Unseld sit Shamet? Shamet shouldn't even be on the team; he serves no purpose.

The only way JD is going to get better is by getting consistent minutes and improving as the season goes on, not by riding the bench for the first half of the season and then suddenly getting thrown into the rotation at the All-Star break.

His contract is actually pretty valuable. 2 more team option years after this year. I don’t disagree with you on wanting to see if Davis can be a viable NBA player or not. However, from WUJ’s POV, he’s going to play vets. That has been his MO. How long did it take before he yanked Barton from the rotation last year? Davis can force his hand by improving and showing why he was the 10th pick. However, Kispert and Bills are above him in the young wing pecking order

WUJ is going to have a different philosophy on a rebuilding team than he did on a "competing" team featuring Beal and Porzinigis.

Yeah, WUJ is going to follow the edict of the new FO. However, I really don't see a future of Johnny Davis on this roster. I know I'm the resident Davis hater on this board, but they traded for Poole for a reason. He's going to get 32-36 MPG. We saw how valuable Wright as last year. If Wright is on the team, there is no way WUJ cannot play him. That's another 20 MPG. Jones will get 24-28 MPG probably. He's been a winning player and there is no way WUJ cannot play him either. Kispert probably gets some PT at SG (although the majority will be at SF). Ditto Bilal. WUJ isn't going to just bench a 26 year old Shamet (if he's here) for Davis unless it is warranted. He'd lose the team over that. Playing Bilal is understandable considering the new FO picked him. Unless Davis shows it, playing him isn't.

Point is, that on the pecking order, Johnny Davis has a steep climb to have a future on this team, unless the new FO really likes him.

[nate33]

His contract is actually pretty valuable. 2 more team option years after this year. I don’t disagree with you on wanting to see if Davis can be a viable NBA player or not. However, from WUJ’s POV, he’s going to play vets. That has been his MO. How long did it take before he yanked Barton from the rotation last year? Davis can force his hand by improving and showing why he was the 10th pick. However, Kispert and Bills are above him in the young wing pecking order

WUJ is going to have a different philosophy on a rebuilding team than he did on a "competing" team featuring Beal and Porzinigis.

Yeah, WUJ is going to follow the edict of the new FO. However, I really don't see a future of Johnny Davis on this roster. I know I'm the resident Davis hater on this board, but they traded for Poole for a reason. He's going to get 32-36 MPG. We saw how valuable Wright as last year. If Wright is on the team, there is no way WUJ cannot play him. That's another 20 MPG. Jones will get 24-28 MPG probably. He's been a winning player and there is no way WUJ cannot play him either. Kispert probably gets some PT at SG (although the majority will be at SF). Ditto Bilal. WUJ isn't going to just bench a 26 year old Shamet (if he's here) for Davis unless it is warranted. He'd lose the team over that. Playing Bilal is understandable considering the new FO picked him. Unless Davis shows it, playing him isn't.

Point is, that on the pecking order, Johnny Davis has a steep climb to have a future on this team, unless the new FO really likes him.

You may be right. But I think he deserves another full season before we write him off. Something about his demeanor gives me Otto Porter vibes. And Porter was horrific in his first season but become suddenly competent late in his 2nd season. By his 3rd season, he was legit good.

[NatP4]

I hope they keep Wright as well, but Shamet should NOT be in the rotation if that’s the case maybe another buyout??

We cannot bury Davis behind Poole&Shamet.

Davis is still going to have to earn his way into the rotation if he is worth anything. Shamet played on an injured foot last year, but shoots close to 40% from 3 on his career on high volume. He's 26, not a broke down late career veteran. Johnny Davis shot 24% from outside with the Wiz. 30% in the G league. I like the kid but that sort of shooting from an outside player makes the game harder for the rest of the team.

Players force fed minutes despite poor play do not develop winning habits. I fully expect Davis to WORK his way into the rotation, on defense especially, but at this point Landry even steals and passes better than Johnny D at the NBA level. Davis scores better on the interior. But until he can play off the ball, yes he will lose minutes to Poole, Kispert, Shamet, and anyone else who can hit the three.

In fact barring significant improvement from Davis in the offseason, his best chance to get PT is for Shamet to play and play well enough to get offers from a team that needs a 3pt specialist. If he is traded then Davis has a role as a back-up to Poole/Tyus in the ball-handling attack guard spot.

Yup, it is not like Shamet is some scrub. Shooters get paid. Look at what Struss just got. Shamet is on a good contract. He's been a good 3 point shooter his whole career. WUJ would lose the team if he played Davis over Shamet (who is only 26 as doc pointed out) if Davis didn't deserve it. Kispert proved last year that he's a viable NBA player who can stretch defenses out. Bilal is easily higher on the pecking order of force feeding PT vs Davis. This FO didn't draft Johnny Davis. Teams move on quickly from draft picks. Look at what Houston just did to TyTy & Garuba (both former recent 1st rounders).

WUJ would not lose the team for playing a 21 year old former top 10 pick in his 2nd season, over a journeyman 26 year old on an expiring contract. That’s a silly take.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Davis is still going to have to earn his way into the rotation if he is worth anything. Shamet played on an injured foot last year, but shoots close to 40% from 3 on his career on high volume. He's 26, not a broke down late career veteran. Johnny Davis shot 24% from outside with the Wiz. 30% in the G league. I like the kid but that sort of shooting from an outside player makes the game harder for the rest of the team.

Players force fed minutes despite poor play do not develop winning habits. I fully expect Davis to WORK his way into the rotation, on defense especially, but at this point Landry even steals and passes better than Johnny D at the NBA level. Davis scores better on the interior. But until he can play off the ball, yes he will lose minutes to Poole, Kispert, Shamet, and anyone else who can hit the three.

In fact barring significant improvement from Davis in the offseason, his best chance to get PT is for Shamet to play and play well enough to get offers from a team that needs a 3pt specialist. If he is traded then Davis has a role as a back-up to Poole/Tyus in the ball-handling attack guard spot.

Yup, it is not like Shamet is some scrub. Shooters get paid. Look at what Struss just got. Shamet is on a good contract. He's been a good 3 point shooter his whole career. WUJ would lose the team if he played Davis over Shamet (who is only 26 as doc pointed out) if Davis didn't deserve it. Kispert proved last year that he's a viable NBA player who can stretch defenses out. Bilal is easily higher on the pecking order of force feeding PT vs Davis. This FO didn't draft Johnny Davis. Teams move on quickly from draft picks. Look at what Houston just did to TyTy & Garuba (both former recent 1st rounders).

WUJ would not lose the team for playing a 21 year old former top 10 pick in his 2nd season, over a journeyman 26 year old on an expiring contract. That’s a silly take.

This team has got some shooters...

Kispert, PBJ, Vukcevic, Shamet, Poole, Kuzma, Jones, Hollins, Muscala, Gallinari if we keep him, Huff and Delon are both decent if they stay. Overall the shooting should be improved from last year, even with the loss of Porzingis.

[payitforward]

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/washington-wizards/cap/ no longer references Vukcevic.

Does anyone know what's going on? Is he not coming over this season?

If he is or is not, he hasn't signed a contract so won't be listed....

Won't be listed among the players under contract -- as Bilal is also not listed -- but the "cap hold" section where Bilal''s name is found also used to list Vukcevic -- wch is why I asked the question & mentioned that the page *no longer* references him.

...I'd bet they'd like him to season overseas if they can....

Yes, that would certainly cause his name to vanish from the page -- essentially that's the question I asked. I.e. "Does anyone know what's going on?"

I can't find anything about it online.

[doclinkin]

This team has got some shooters...

Kispert, PBJ, Vukcevic, Shamet, Poole, Kuzma, Jones, Hollins, Muscala, Gallinari if we keep him, Huff and Delon are both decent if they stay. Overall the shooting should be improved from last year, even with the loss of Porzingis.

Jones, Poole, Kuzma, Kispert, are all likely to get PT.
Delon, Shamet, Muscala are solid vets with defined roles. We will probably shop them, but until then they will see minutes.
Likely Huff will earn minutes since our 5 rotation is shallow if Gafford still only gives 20 minutes a game.
PBR will have to earn his way up from G League status. But a tall shooter is a useful tool.
Rollins hasn't shown himself to be a shooter, even in the G league.
Gallo is in buyout talks.
I doubt Vuk joins the team.

But even so, in theory we have upgraded shooting. The thing is there's something about our arena that messes with shooters so their numbers fall off. It has even been noted in FT%. The lighting? The colors? The placement of ads? the rims? The floor? I have no idea, but with a few exceptions during the John Wall years it seems like players who join our squad see a slight dip in 3fg%.

https://www.inpredictable.com/2016/02/are-there-shooter-friendly-nba-arenas.html

Maybe we overcome it by volume, putting shooters at every spot on the floor. Someone is bound to crack through.

[doclinkin]

Does anyone know what's going on? Is he not coming over this season?

All pre-draft evaluations said his game is still a year or two from being ready. Here from NBA.com:

Projection

Vukcevic is projected to be a second-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, but it remains to be seen if he will move stateside right away. His potential as a versatile scorer is noticeable, although, his game is quite raw and might need one or two more seasons in Europe before being NBA ready, especially on the defensive end. He projects to be a solid role player and where he lands will also determine his potential upside at the highest level.

Here from Sports Illustrated:

Bottom Line:

Tristan Vukcevic struggled to get on the court in Euroleague. Still, he got regular minutes (he started several games, too) in Adriatic League and played quite well when given the opportunity.

Vukcevic is not ready to compete at the NBA level yet, but he has some legit potential thanks to his size and skill set. Above all, he needs to work on his body, as he has a long but weak body with limited core strength and lacks muscle tone. However, he possesses a decent wingspan. He is mobile enough for his size, can get up and down the court well, and can score 1-on-1, but he needs to add some power to his game and perhaps a bit more pop in his legs.

And a political answer from Dawkins on the topic on draft night:

The question for Vukcevic could be whether he will join the Wizards soon or continue to play and develop in Europe. Dawkins said "TBD on that one" when asked on draft night.

There is also the Summer League coming up and it's not uncommon for players to participate even if they do not join the NBA team in the fall. Former Wizards player Tomas Satoransky would be an example of that, as he played for the team in Summer League years before he made the jump to the NBA.

"I have a really good relationship with his agency, so we'll get that figured out. I do know he will be in Washington, D.C. for a little bit and we'll get to see him and get a feel for the gym and the area. We'll let those conversations take care of themselves. I will say he's excited to be here," Dawkins said.

Pretty much every reputable European scout said the same thing. He's not yet ready, but could be with some seasoning and PT. He will likely get more fundamentals and practice time with Adriatic League champions Partizan than over here.

The team has a lot of young talent to integrate. While the front office is assembling a player development team, I'd guess they have their hands full with the squad they have. I expect they will watch him play in Summerleague then make an evaluation based on that. Standard practice with developing European players. Let someone else pay to school him. Bring him when you have space.

[payitforward]

Davis is still going to have to earn his way into the rotation if he is worth anything. Shamet played on an injured foot last year, but shoots close to 40% from 3 on his career on high volume. He's 26, not a broke down late career veteran. Johnny Davis shot 24% from outside with the Wiz. 30% in the G league. I like the kid but that sort of shooting from an outside player makes the game harder for the rest of the team.

Players force fed minutes despite poor play do not develop winning habits. I fully expect Davis to WORK his way into the rotation, on defense especially, but at this point Landry even steals and passes better than Johnny D at the NBA level. Davis scores better on the interior. But until he can play off the ball, yes he will lose minutes to Poole, Kispert, Shamet, and anyone else who can hit the three.

In fact barring significant improvement from Davis in the offseason, his best chance to get PT is for Shamet to play and play well enough to get offers from a team that needs a 3pt specialist. If he is traded then Davis has a role as a back-up to Poole/Tyus in the ball-handling attack guard spot.

Yup, it is not like Shamet is some scrub. Shooters get paid. Look at what Struss just got. Shamet is on a good contract. He's been a good 3 point shooter his whole career. WUJ would lose the team if he played Davis over Shamet (who is only 26 as doc pointed out) if Davis didn't deserve it. Kispert proved last year that he's a viable NBA player who can stretch defenses out. Bilal is easily higher on the pecking order of force feeding PT vs Davis. This FO didn't draft Johnny Davis. Teams move on quickly from draft picks. Look at what Houston just did to TyTy & Garuba (both former recent 1st rounders).

WUJ would not lose the team for playing a 21 year old former top 10 pick in his 2nd season, over a journeyman 26 year old on an expiring contract. That’s a silly take.

What's "a silly take" is assuming that there's some particular issue or question between these two particular players -- that it's one or the other (not to mention calling other people's posts "silly." To me at least, that's kind of silly too).

Who plays will be a function of camp, practice, & in-game performance.

Nobody's got tenure on this team. Period. What it cost the previous regime to acquire Johnny Davis (the 10th pick) is completely irrelevant. H#ll, it wasn't even relevant last year, when undrafted FA Jordan Goodwin played, while #10 pick Johnny Davis didn't.

As to Landry Shamet, I already did a pretty thorough write-up on him. Let me go find it....
Except I can't

[payitforward]

Landry Shamet was a late R1 pick by the Sixers in 2018. He came in & played extremely well for them as a 2-3. He shot the 3 at 40% & posted a .606 TS% in over 1100 minutes before Philly traded him to the Clippers at the deadline. He played another @700 rookie-season minutes for LA -- & shot the 3 at 45%!!

He's never returned to that level: in the 4 subsequent years, he's been at about 37.5% overall. On pretty high volume (@9 per 40 minutes on his career). He's a terrific FT shooter as well -- in fact, overall, his TS% is .573, which is well above average for a 2.

Unfortunately, at least on the numbers, that's about all he does at an above average level. Still, over his 5 years in the league, for now 4 different teams, he's averaged between 20-25 minutes a game.

We are his 5th stop.
Nor is Shamet "on an expiring contract," as Nat wrote. In fact, he's under contract through '25-26 -- with a team option each year.

Obviously, Landry Shamet is a journeyman. Is he better than Johnny Davis? Of course he is! That's obvious.

Will Johnny Davis come back a much better player than he was last year? He'd better! & I'm sure he'll get ample opportunities to show that he has! Will he develop & surpass Landry Shamet? Sure hope so!

Nothing more than that to say at present.

[payitforward]

Note that Shamet never played any minutes at PG until last year, when he spent about half his minutes at the 1. I can't see much reason why he'd play PG for us, however.

[mhd]

So a question (and I wonder if connected to the question should be the idea: should we have a thread about the rebuild assets being collected for this reboot/rebuild?):

What 2nd round picks do we own between now and 2030?

So many second rounders have changed hands, I'm curious how many of our own, and how many have been acquired and kept the rest of this decade through 2030?

Realgm hasn't updated all the picks traded yet. I'll do some research and post a thread about/put it in the draft thread.

[payitforward]

Does anyone know what's going on? Is he not coming over this season?

All pre-draft evaluations said his game is still a year or two from being ready. Here from NBA.com:

Projection

Vukcevic is projected to be a second-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, but it remains to be seen if he will move stateside right away. His potential as a versatile scorer is noticeable, although, his game is quite raw and might need one or two more seasons in Europe before being NBA ready, especially on the defensive end. He projects to be a solid role player and where he lands will also determine his potential upside at the highest level.

Here from Sports Illustrated:

Bottom Line:

Tristan Vukcevic struggled to get on the court in Euroleague. Still, he got regular minutes (he started several games, too) in Adriatic League and played quite well when given the opportunity.

Vukcevic is not ready to compete at the NBA level yet, but he has some legit potential thanks to his size and skill set. Above all, he needs to work on his body, as he has a long but weak body with limited core strength and lacks muscle tone. However, he possesses a decent wingspan. He is mobile enough for his size, can get up and down the court well, and can score 1-on-1, but he needs to add some power to his game and perhaps a bit more pop in his legs.

And a political answer from Dawkins on the topic on draft night:

The question for Vukcevic could be whether he will join the Wizards soon or continue to play and develop in Europe. Dawkins said "TBD on that one" when asked on draft night.

There is also the Summer League coming up and it's not uncommon for players to participate even if they do not join the NBA team in the fall. Former Wizards player Tomas Satoransky would be an example of that, as he played for the team in Summer League years before he made the jump to the NBA.

"I have a really good relationship with his agency, so we'll get that figured out. I do know he will be in Washington, D.C. for a little bit and we'll get to see him and get a feel for the gym and the area. We'll let those conversations take care of themselves. I will say he's excited to be here," Dawkins said.

Pretty much every reputable European scout said the same thing. He's not yet ready, but could be with some seasoning and PT. He will likely get more fundamentals and practice time with Adriatic League champions Partizan than over here.

The team has a lot of young talent to integrate. While the front office is assembling a player development team, I'd guess they have their hands full with the squad they have. I expect they will watch him play in Summerleague then make an evaluation based on that. Standard practice with developing European players. Let someone else pay to school him. Bring him when you have space.

Yes, I've followed almost all of what you cite. In fact, I was surprised to see him listed as a likely guy to come over here this year. OTOH, he very definitely expressed his desire to do just that.

I'll say this: for a team that's rebuilding from ground zero to add only 1 rookie is pretty disappointing to me -- that's "to me" not a judgment of the off season. & of course PBJ (only 20) & Rollins aren't much different from rookies. Plus, the guy I liked best for us at 35 -- Colby Jones -- went at 34!

[gambitx777]

Lots of activities today! But we did not a thing on day two ..... I was hoping for some trades and to find out who's on our **** summer elagie team that plays in 6 days lol .

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

[nate33]

One thing to keep in mind is that, with so many of our players having been added recently, we are somewhat restricted on who we can move, and who can be packaged together. Most of the vets are we looking to offload (Muscala, Gallinari, Shamet) can't be packaged with other players until August 23rd. So if we were planning a big BOYD trade for some $20+M contract, it can't be done until the end of the summer.

[mhd]

One thing to keep in mind is that, with so many of our players having been added recently, we are somewhat restricted on who we can move, and who can be packaged together. Most of the vets are we looking to offload (Muscala, Gallinari, Shamet) can't be packaged with other players until August 23rd. So if we were planning a big BOYD trade for some $20+M contract, it can't be done until the end of the summer.

BYOD doesn't seem to be that attractive anymore with the 90% rule in effect. John Collins only fetched a future 2nd and Atlanta had tax issues.

We probably buyout Gallo. Muscala might stay as he is a vet big (something we lack).

[SUPERBALLMAN]

One thing to keep in mind is that, with so many of our players having been added recently, we are somewhat restricted on who we can move, and who can be packaged together. Most of the vets are we looking to offload (Muscala, Gallinari, Shamet) can't be packaged with other players until August 23rd. So if we were planning a big BOYD trade for some $20+M contract, it can't be done until the end of the summer.

I’m starting to wonder what we might be able to get for Tyus Jones. I like Jones, I wanted him last offseason instead of Morris. But he is an expiring, and most likely not a player we are going to keep long term so it may make sense to move him while we can get something in return. Delon Wright also. But a team like Toronto who just lost Van Fleet might be interested, or any team looking for a PG and not finding a lot of options out there.

Toronto could be interested in former Raptor Wright, and a Delon for Precious swap works in the trade checker.

[nate33]

One thing to keep in mind is that, with so many of our players having been added recently, we are somewhat restricted on who we can move, and who can be packaged together. Most of the vets are we looking to offload (Muscala, Gallinari, Shamet) can't be packaged with other players until August 23rd. So if we were planning a big BOYD trade for some $20+M contract, it can't be done until the end of the summer.

BYOD doesn't seem to be that attractive anymore with the 90% rule in effect. John Collins only fetched a future 2nd and Atlanta had tax issues.

I agree that there aren't many BOYD opportunities, at least not at the moment. There aren't really very many terrible contracts out there anymore.

The reason the Collins deal wasn't worth much in pick capital is because John Collins is a useful NBA player. Maybe he's not worth $25M, but he is worth perhaps $18M.

We are probably more likely to get paid in a contract-absorbing trade if we participate as a 3rd party to absorb salary in trade between two other parties for a star player.

[smoothSeph]

For as much credit I’ll give this front office, why is it we’ve been strapped for roster spots the entire off-season? We had to trade a valuable pick that could’ve amounted to a young player. Now we’re missing out on some young FAs that could be brought in for cheap. It doesn’t make sense. All for guys like Gill, Cooks, Muscala and Shamet to be on the roster going into camp.

[nate33]

The reality is that the salary cap floor coupled with the penalties for operating substantially above the luxury tax is going to lead to more parity. It will be harder to be really good (60+ wins) and it will be just as hard, perhaps even harder, to be really bad (sub 22 wins) unless you have a lot of injuries.

[Frichuela]

One thing to keep in mind is that, with so many of our players having been added recently, we are somewhat restricted on who we can move, and who can be packaged together. Most of the vets are we looking to offload (Muscala, Gallinari, Shamet) can't be packaged with other players until August 23rd. So if we were planning a big BOYD trade for some $20+M contract, it can't be done until the end of the summer.

I’m starting to wonder what we might be able to get for Tyus Jones. I like Jones, I wanted him last offseason instead of Morris. But he is an expiring, and most likely not a player we are going to keep long term so it may make sense to move him while we can get something in return. Delon Wright also. But a team like Toronto who just lost Van Fleet might be interested, or any team looking for a PG and not finding a lot of options out there.

Toronto could be interested in former Raptor Wright, and a Delon for Precious swap works in the trade checker.

This trade is such a no brainer. Precious is worth a shot, small C with the ability to defend the perimeter (something Gaff can’t do).