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nate33 wrote:Yes. And they didn't have to do nothing. There was enough cap room to sign a $5M free agent this summer (say, Danny Green) and STILL have max cap room next year for Harden or Ibaka.

This is what is so frustrating to me. It looked to me like EG had laid everything out perfectly. He traded for one stud veteran big man in Nene to turn the franchise around and raise us to respectability, while maintaining enough youth and cap room to make a move down the road. We even had enough cap room to add one respectable veteran wing like Rush or Green to further solidify our young core. Take the team of the last 25 games last year, add Beal and Green and improvement from Wall, Vesely and Seraphin, and I think it's a 34-40 win team with a ton of flexibility. Instead, we're a 36-42 win team with no flexibility.

Next summer, with the cap room and youth at our disposal, we could have gone after Harden, and if that failed, we could have engineered a sign and trade for someone like Howard or Bynum by offering our cap room plus some combination of our surplus young bigs (Vesely, Booker, Seraphin). And even if none of that panned out, I still think we'd better by having Seraphin, Booker and Vesely get more minutes and experience rather than sitting behind Okafor.

DCZards wrote: Some on this board loved the "golatas" Houston GM Morey showed when he let talent like Lowry and Dragic walk, and cleared cap room in order to go after D. Howard--who said all along that he wouldn't resign with the Rockets if they traded for him. How'd that turn out? Well, it turned out with Houston overpaying for free agents Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik.

In other words, Morey was left holding his "golatas."

Nivek wrote:

nate33 wrote:Yes. And they didn't have to do nothing. There was enough cap room to sign a $5M free agent this summer (say, Danny Green) and STILL have max cap room next year for Harden or Ibaka.

This is what is so frustrating to me. It looked to me like EG had laid everything out perfectly. He traded for one stud veteran big man in Nene to turn the franchise around and raise us to respectability, while maintaining enough youth and cap room to make a move down the road. We even had enough cap room to add one respectable veteran wing like Rush or Green to further solidify our young core. Take the team of the last 25 games last year, add Beal and Green and improvement from Wall, Vesely and Seraphin, and I think it's a 34-40 win team with a ton of flexibility. Instead, we're a 36-42 win team with no flexibility.

Next summer, with the cap room and youth at our disposal, we could have gone after Harden, and if that failed, we could have engineered a sign and trade for someone like Howard or Bynum by offering our cap room plus some combination of our surplus young bigs (Vesely, Booker, Seraphin). And even if none of that panned out, I still think we'd better by having Seraphin, Booker and Vesely get more minutes and experience rather than sitting behind Okafor.

From the previous thread, this one is worth keeping around. Exactly right on every point. The offseason I liked would have added a couple players, but still would have left the Wizards with a ton of cap room in 2013.

Had the Wiz done what you suggested, they could have picked up that respectable wing and then also gone shopping in amnesty for a one-year guy like Brand to give them some veteran security in the frontcourt. And maybe squeak into the playoffs.

Nivek wrote:

nate33 wrote:Yes. And they didn't have to do nothing. There was enough cap room to sign a $5M free agent this summer (say, Danny Green) and STILL have max cap room next year for Harden or Ibaka.

This is what is so frustrating to me. It looked to me like EG had laid everything out perfectly. He traded for one stud veteran big man in Nene to turn the franchise around and raise us to respectability, while maintaining enough youth and cap room to make a move down the road. We even had enough cap room to add one respectable veteran wing like Rush or Green to further solidify our young core. Take the team of the last 25 games last year, add Beal and Green and improvement from Wall, Vesely and Seraphin, and I think it's a 34-40 win team with a ton of flexibility. Instead, we're a 36-42 win team with no flexibility.

Next summer, with the cap room and youth at our disposal, we could have gone after Harden, and if that failed, we could have engineered a sign and trade for someone like Howard or Bynum by offering our cap room plus some combination of our surplus young bigs (Vesely, Booker, Seraphin). And even if none of that panned out, I still think we'd better by having Seraphin, Booker and Vesely get more minutes and experience rather than sitting behind Okafor.

From the previous thread, this one is worth keeping around. Exactly right on every point. The offseason I liked would have added a couple players, but still would have left the Wizards with a ton of cap room in 2013.

Had the Wiz done what you suggested, they could have picked up that respectable wing and then also gone shopping in amnesty for a one-year guy like Brand to give them some veteran security in the frontcourt. And maybe squeak into the playoffs.

TGW wrote:Even if Houston tried to go big, and struck out, they'll still probably be better than the Wizards next season. They are a better ran organization by far.

truwizfan4evr wrote:

TGW wrote:Even if Houston tried to go big, and struck out, they'll still probably be better than the Wizards next season. They are a better ran organization by far.

I actually think wizards will be better.

nate33 wrote:The Rockets dumped Lowry, Dragic, Lee, Buddinger, Scola and Dalembert and added only Lin, Asik and a bunch of rookies. They are way too young and inexperienced to be all that effective this year.

closg00 wrote:PG: Lin/Livington > Wall/Price until proven otherwise
SG: Martin/Lamb > Crawford/ Beal
SF: Parsons/Budinger > Ariza/Singleton
PF: Patterson/White <Nene/Booker
C: Asik/Donatas < Okafor/Seraphin

Nivek wrote:I'm not all that interested in the comparison between Washington and Houston for this upcoming season. Houston has a ton of cap room, a bunch of young players on cheap contracts, and multiple first round picks. It's possible the Wizards will have the better record next year, but Morey has done a nice job positioning them for a rebuild.

Nivek wrote:

nate33 wrote:Yes. And they didn't have to do nothing. There was enough cap room to sign a $5M free agent this summer (say, Danny Green) and STILL have max cap room next year for Harden or Ibaka.

This is what is so frustrating to me. It looked to me like EG had laid everything out perfectly. He traded for one stud veteran big man in Nene to turn the franchise around and raise us to respectability, while maintaining enough youth and cap room to make a move down the road. We even had enough cap room to add one respectable veteran wing like Rush or Green to further solidify our young core. Take the team of the last 25 games last year, add Beal and Green and improvement from Wall, Vesely and Seraphin, and I think it's a 34-40 win team with a ton of flexibility. Instead, we're a 36-42 win team with no flexibility.

Next summer, with the cap room and youth at our disposal, we could have gone after Harden, and if that failed, we could have engineered a sign and trade for someone like Howard or Bynum by offering our cap room plus some combination of our surplus young bigs (Vesely, Booker, Seraphin). And even if none of that panned out, I still think we'd better by having Seraphin, Booker and Vesely get more minutes and experience rather than sitting behind Okafor.

From the previous thread, this one is worth keeping around. Exactly right on every point. The offseason I liked would have added a couple players, but still would have left the Wizards with a ton of cap room in 2013.

Had the Wiz done what you suggested, they could have picked up that respectable wing and then also gone shopping in amnesty for a one-year guy like Brand to give them some veteran security in the frontcourt. And maybe squeak into the playoffs.

DCZards wrote: Some on this board loved the "golatas" Houston GM Morey showed when he let talent like Lowry and Dragic walk, and cleared cap room in order to go after D. Howard--who said all along that he wouldn't resign with the Rockets if they traded for him. How'd that turn out? Well, it turned out with Houston overpaying for free agents Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik.

In other words, Morey was left holding his "golatas."

nate33 wrote:

Nivek wrote:I'm not all that interested in the comparison between Washington and Houston for this upcoming season. Houston has a ton of cap room, a bunch of young players on cheap contracts, and multiple first round picks. It's possible the Wizards will have the better record next year, but Morey has done a nice job positioning them for a rebuild.

Agreed. Though the key task in their rebuild is to execute at least one big consolidation trade (and/or free agency acquisition) where they get back a star caliber player. If they can't pull that off, they risk getting stuck in 45-win Purgatory and will have to systematically let players go as their rookie deals expire.

They may have made a tactical error by going after Lin in free agency. He's just good enough as a PG to get that team to play to its max potential and maybe win 35+ games, putting them out of contention for a top 3 pick. A BOYD trade for a crappy PG and a future pick might have been a better move. That team could easily tank and win less than 25 games if they had crappy PG play.

Ruzious wrote:I think Morey's got a ton of work to do if he's going to turn that terrible roster around. I'm inclined to go with DCZards analysis on this one. The backcourt could be good, but I think Martin's overrated by most, and the entire frontcourt is awful. None of their young players is someone to build around, imo. If they can find a team that really likes Martin, maybe Morey can turn it around with a good trade, but I think it's mainly a mess of low first round scraps. But they made the offseason interesting, and it'll continue to be interesting to see what they do.