Roster & Rotation Evaluation

[payitforward]

...I'm not so sure that Jones makes the team. I think they'd prefer McRae. You can only develop so many young guys at a time. The best case is that they get a roster spot exception because of Wall's injury so they can carry both guys.

Right. McRae is 28; he's a veteran. I imagine they'll retain McRae over Jones. Nothing against Jordan McRae, but... a guy who hasn't yet established himself in the league by that age would seem unlikely to have much forward-going value. It's hard for me to see where the benefit comes from if you keep him.

OTOH, Jemerrio Jones is an odd-ball player who only does a few things well but does them so very well that he has the ability to be disruptive to the opponent when he's on the floor. E.g. this (which I think was posted before):

Read on Twitter

Ideally we move Wagner for a R2 pick this Summer; I'd hate to lose Jones.

[nate33]

...I'm not so sure that Jones makes the team. I think they'd prefer McRae. You can only develop so many young guys at a time. The best case is that they get a roster spot exception because of Wall's injury so they can carry both guys.

Right. McRae is 28; he's a veteran. I imagine they'll retain McRae over Jones. Nothing against Jordan McRae, but... a guy who hasn't yet established himself in the league by that age would seem unlikely to have much forward-going value. It's hard for me to see where the benefit comes from if you keep him.

OTOH, Jemerrio Jones is an odd-ball player who only does a few things well but does them so very well that he has the ability to be disruptive to the opponent when he's on the floor. E.g. this (which I think was posted before):

Read on Twitter

Ideally we move Wagner for a R2 pick this Summer; I'd hate to lose Jones.

I agree. I'd rather have Jones. But I just think the organization will feel more comfortable with a veteran who can handle the ball and create his own shot.

The one caveat I suppose is that if Isaiah Thomas really impresses in training camp. If Isaiah can assume the role as backcourt shot creator when Beal is out, then there will be much less need for McRae. As it turns out, given that our frontcourt is full of effective perimeter shooters, we could get away with playing a non-shooter like Jones at SF with fewer consequences.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

So with this being said what does our lineup look like?

PG is probably Thomas if he's 100%, with Ish backup.

SG Beal, backed by Miles.

SF Hachimura, backed by TBJ.

PF Bertans, backed by Wagner.

C Bryant , Mahinmi.

That backup frontcourt rotation is horrific. I can't see that being Plan A.

I think they'll plan on Hachimura and Bertans getting all the minutes at power forward. I don't know if that means one of them comes off the bench, or if it means Hachimura starts at SF but then slides over to power forward after an early substitution, but I really don't expect Wagner to be the backup PF. They might even play Miles at PF. Also, I think Ish starts so that Isaiah can be an instant offense guy for the 2nd unit while Beal is out. Finally, I'm not so sure that Jones makes the team. I think they'd prefer McRae. You can only develop so many young guys at a time. The best case is that they get a roster spot exception because of Wall's injury so they can carry both guys.

I think it'll look more like this on Opening Day:

PG Ish/Thomas
SG Beal/McRae
SF Brown/Miles
PF Bertans/Hachimura
C Bryant/Mahinmi
Riding the pine: Robinson, Bong, Schofield, Wagner, Wall

Over time, we will hopefully see Schofield and Hachimura taking more and more minutes from Miles and McRae.

I do think Thomas will start. He's really been vocal about him being fully recovered and ready to go. And that he came here because he saw this as a place with Wall out that gave him an opportunity to prove himself. If he wanted to come off the bench he could have gone to any contender. I think he came here because he was told the starting job was available to him.

I think management is excited at the thought of a Thomas / Beal backcourt.

Ish is a ideal backup PG to come off the bench and push the tempo.

I can see a Thomas & Beal backcourt, leading the team, being veterans, taking the shots and providing the scoring load. Allowing a youthful, athletic, energetic frontcourt of TBJ, Hachimura, Bryant to focus on defense, energy, loose balls, garbage points, putbacks, oops, back doors, rebounds. Also I do think they have a desire to show their last 2 1st round picks are worthy of a starting position. And I think the internal marketing pressure to start Hachimura is similar to the Redskins and Haskins.

Come off the bench with Ish pushing and distributing to Miles, Bertans, Beal.

Mahinmi can come in and solidify the interior defense when needed. But I think they are hopeful Wagner can basically be Thomas Bryant part 2. A backup Center who can run and give great energy and effort. I didn't see much to be encouraged about with his SL play, but I think this is the role they envision for him and I think he will be given the opportunity. Brooks hasn't seemed to be real interested in playing Mahinmi alot.

I do think you are probably right about McRae, although they do seem to really be pushing the youth movement. Maybe Admiral can beat him out for playing time as we move forward.

Maybe they keep McRae, cut paczenkas, and keep Jones on a 2-way ?



Starting 5 - Thomas, Beal, Brown Jr, Hachimura, Bryant

1st off the bench - Smith, Miles, Bertans

Full 2nd unit - Smith, McRae, Miles, Bertans, Wagner

Riding pine - Wall, Robinson, Bonga, Schofield, Mahinmi

Offensive unit / small ball - Thomas, Beal, Miles, Hachimura, Bertans

Defense - TBJ, Jones (2way), Schofield, Hachimura, Mahinmi

[dangermouse]

I like this year's potential starting lineup more than last year's (provided IT is healthy and ready). As much as I loved Porter he was so frustrating at times, and the Porter Powerforward experiment wasnt exactly moving the needle either. Beal should be even more dangerous if defences have to check IT closely as well.

[nate33]

I do think Thomas will start. He's really been vocal about him being fully recovered and ready to go. And that he came here because he saw this as a place with Wall out that gave him an opportunity to prove himself. If he wanted to come off the bench he could have gone to any contender. I think he came here because he was told the starting job was available to him.

I think management is excited at the thought of a Thomas / Beal backcourt.

Ish is a ideal backup PG to come off the bench and push the tempo.

You are expecting an awful lot from a 5-9 30-year-old who has scored a grand total total of 583 points in the last 2 seasons on a TS% of 49%. Even if Thomas had a miraculous recovery, my bet is that he would still only be at the level he was for most of his career, not the fluky All-NBA season year in Boston. And for most of his career, Thomas was a backup because he's such a huge liability on defense.

I can see a Thomas & Beal backcourt, leading the team, being veterans, taking the shots and providing the scoring load. Allowing a youthful, athletic, energetic frontcourt of TBJ, Hachimura, Bryant to focus on defense, energy, loose balls, garbage points, putbacks, oops, back doors, rebounds. Also I do think they have a desire to show their last 2 1st round picks are worthy of a starting position. And I think the internal marketing pressure to start Hachimura is similar to the Redskins and Haskins.

What pressure? This team hasn't started a rookie since Bradley Beal in 2012. They didn't start #3 overall pick and local Georgetown product Otto Porter.

Hachimura may indeed start if he proves to be more effective than Bertans or Brown, but I don't think they throw him out there because of marketing pressure.

But I think they are hopeful Wagner can basically be Thomas Bryant part 2. A backup Center who can run and give great energy and effort. I didn't see much to be encouraged about with his SL play, but I think this is the role they envision for him and I think he will be given the opportunity. Brooks hasn't seemed to be real interested in playing Mahinmi alot.

I could see them playing Wagner at backup center over Mahinmi, but I don't see them starting Wagner at PF. You are right that Brooks hates to play Mahinmi.

Maybe they keep McRae, cut paczenkas, and keep Jones on a 2-way ?

They'll definitely cut Paczenkas. But they need to also cut McRae to keep Jones unless they get a roster exception because of Wall's injury.

[Ruzious]

...I'm not so sure that Jones makes the team. I think they'd prefer McRae. You can only develop so many young guys at a time. The best case is that they get a roster spot exception because of Wall's injury so they can carry both guys.

Right. McRae is 28; he's a veteran. I imagine they'll retain McRae over Jones. Nothing against Jordan McRae, but... a guy who hasn't yet established himself in the league by that age would seem unlikely to have much forward-going value. It's hard for me to see where the benefit comes from if you keep him.

OTOH, Jemerrio Jones is an odd-ball player who only does a few things well but does them so very well that he has the ability to be disruptive to the opponent when he's on the floor. E.g. this (which I think was posted before):

Read on Twitter

Ideally we move Wagner for a R2 pick this Summer; I'd hate to lose Jones.

But why make it a Jones vs McRae thing. Jones isn't ready for anything more than the deep bench. He probably would benefit a lot from playing in the G League for at least most of the season. McRae is ready to be the primary backup 2 - and - as he showed last season - he can play with Beal. There's no reason for there to be a Jones vs McRae situation.

[closg00]

Someone here commented that we could be a playoff team this year which would be hard to imagine.
Riffing-off 538's rankings here, dunno how we beat-out anyone for the 8th spot.

1. Milwaukee
2. Philly
3. Boston
4. Toronto
5. Brooklyn
6. Orlando
7. Indiana
8. Miami
9. Detroit
10. Chicago
11. Atlanta
12. Washington
13. Charlotte
14. New York
15. Cavs

[nate33]

But why make it a Jones vs McRae thing. Jones isn't ready for anything more than the deep bench. He probably would benefit a lot from playing in the G League for at least most of the season. McRae is ready to be the primary backup 2 - and - as he showed last season - he can play with Beal. There's no reason for there to be a Jones vs McRae situation.

I think the way PIF (and myself) are framing it is in the context of roster spots. We have 14 guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts on the roster: Wall, Beal, Mahinmi, Miles, Bryant, Bertans, Smith, Hachimura, Brown, Wagner, Isaiah, Bonga, Schofield and Robinson. That leaves room for just 1 guy, assuming we aren't granted an injury exception for Wall. Who is that 15th guy, assuming we won't cut a guaranteed contract? It boils down to McRae or Jones.

Maybe we can cut Jones and then resign him as a 2-way player, but he wouldn't have any particular incentive to do that here rather than with any other team.

[truwizfan4evr]

Someone here commented that we could be a playoff team this year which would be hard to imagine.
Riffing-off 538's rankings here, dunno how we beat-out anyone for the 8th spot.

1. Milwaukee
2. Philly
3. Boston
4. Toronto
5. Brooklyn
6. Orlando
7. Indiana
8. Miami
9. Detroit
10. Chicago
11. Atlanta
12. Washington
13. Charlotte
14. New York
15. Cavs

The knicks will be better then us. Julius handle going to have an all star year. Knicks could even sneak into playoffs

[nate33]

Someone here commented that we could be a playoff team this year which would be hard to imagine.
Riffing-off 538's rankings here, dunno how we beat-out anyone for the 8th spot.

1. Milwaukee
2. Philly
3. Boston
4. Toronto
5. Brooklyn
6. Orlando
7. Indiana
8. Miami
9. Detroit
10. Chicago
11. Atlanta
12. Washington
13. Charlotte
14. New York
15. Cavs

The knicks will be better then us. Julius handle going to have an all star year. Knicks could even sneak into playoffs

The Knicks might be better than us, but they're absolutely NOT going to make the playoffs.

Randle can score and rebound, but he is a horrific defender. ESPN's RPM ranks him as the 68th best defensive center out of 70 guys. 64 of those 70 guys had a positive DRPM (centers are usually positive because they are in position to make defensive plays more often). Yet somehow, Randle had a massively negative -1.38 rating. Randle makes Thomas Bryant look like Bill Russell on defense.

Frankly, they'll probably be better off with Mitchell Robinson starting at center. I suppose Randle could play PF, but the spacing is going to be terrible with a non-shooting Payton at PG and a poor shooter like Barrett at SF.

[payitforward]

...I'm not so sure that Jones makes the team. I think they'd prefer McRae. You can only develop so many young guys at a time. The best case is that they get a roster spot exception because of Wall's injury so they can carry both guys.

Right. McRae is 28; he's a veteran. I imagine they'll retain McRae over Jones. Nothing against Jordan McRae, but... a guy who hasn't yet established himself in the league by that age would seem unlikely to have much forward-going value. It's hard for me to see where the benefit comes from if you keep him.

OTOH, Jemerrio Jones is an odd-ball player who only does a few things well but does them so very well that he has the ability to be disruptive to the opponent when he's on the floor. E.g. this (which I think was posted before):

Read on Twitter

Ideally we move Wagner for a R2 pick this Summer; I'd hate to lose Jones.

But why make it a Jones vs McRae thing. Jones isn't ready for anything more than the deep bench. He probably would benefit a lot from playing in the G League for at least most of the season. McRae is ready to be the primary backup 2 - and - as he showed last season - he can play with Beal. There's no reason for there to be a Jones vs McRae situation.

Agree 100%. But, the decision still has to be about which of the guys with an unguaranteed contract is retained. So in that sense it's about McRae vs. Phillip vs. Jones -- everyone else is guaranteed.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Right. McRae is 28; he's a veteran. I imagine they'll retain McRae over Jones. Nothing against Jordan McRae, but... a guy who hasn't yet established himself in the league by that age would seem unlikely to have much forward-going value. It's hard for me to see where the benefit comes from if you keep him.

OTOH, Jemerrio Jones is an odd-ball player who only does a few things well but does them so very well that he has the ability to be disruptive to the opponent when he's on the floor. E.g. this (which I think was posted before):

Read on Twitter

Ideally we move Wagner for a R2 pick this Summer; I'd hate to lose Jones.

But why make it a Jones vs McRae thing. Jones isn't ready for anything more than the deep bench. He probably would benefit a lot from playing in the G League for at least most of the season. McRae is ready to be the primary backup 2 - and - as he showed last season - he can play with Beal. There's no reason for there to be a Jones vs McRae situation.

Agree 100%. But, the decision still has to be about which of the guys with an unguaranteed contract is retained. So in that sense it's about McRae vs. Phillip vs. Jones -- everyone else is guaranteed.

IMO it should be Jones. If we were trying to "make some noise" this season, I would say McRae is the guy. But we are rebuilding, and Jones would be more of an upside player to develop, especially if he can get some run with the GoGo.

Jones would be seen as a player with more potential, and therefore considered to have higher value as an asset. Plus this team has a serious if not outright desperate need for defense and he can possibly fill a need. Plus the LA player acquisition is a Sheppard move and keeping Jones would be further evidence that Sheppard has been shrewd in his low cost under the radar maneuvers in acquiring talent and kickstarting our rebuild this offseason.

I see Nates logic for it being McRae, but my personal preference would be Jones.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

I do think Thomas will start. He's really been vocal about him being fully recovered and ready to go. And that he came here because he saw this as a place with Wall out that gave him an opportunity to prove himself. If he wanted to come off the bench he could have gone to any contender. I think he came here because he was told the starting job was available to him.

I think management is excited at the thought of a Thomas / Beal backcourt.

Ish is a ideal backup PG to come off the bench and push the tempo.

You are expecting an awful lot from a 5-9 30-year-old who has scored a grand total total of 583 points in the last 2 seasons on a TS% of 49%. Even if Thomas had a miraculous recovery, my bet is that he would still only be at the level he was for most of his career, not the fluky All-NBA season year in Boston. And for most of his career, Thomas was a backup because he's such a huge liability on defense.

I can see a Thomas & Beal backcourt, leading the team, being veterans, taking the shots and providing the scoring load. Allowing a youthful, athletic, energetic frontcourt of TBJ, Hachimura, Bryant to focus on defense, energy, loose balls, garbage points, putbacks, oops, back doors, rebounds. Also I do think they have a desire to show their last 2 1st round picks are worthy of a starting position. And I think the internal marketing pressure to start Hachimura is similar to the Redskins and Haskins.

What pressure? This team hasn't started a rookie since Bradley Beal in 2012. They didn't start #3 overall pick and local Georgetown product Otto Porter.

Hachimura may indeed start if he proves to be more effective than Bertans or Brown, but I don't think they throw him out there because of marketing pressure.

But I think they are hopeful Wagner can basically be Thomas Bryant part 2. A backup Center who can run and give great energy and effort. I didn't see much to be encouraged about with his SL play, but I think this is the role they envision for him and I think he will be given the opportunity. Brooks hasn't seemed to be real interested in playing Mahinmi alot.

I could see them playing Wagner at backup center over Mahinmi, but I don't see them starting Wagner at PF. You are right that Brooks hates to play Mahinmi.

Maybe they keep McRae, cut paczenkas, and keep Jones on a 2-way ?

They'll definitely cut Paczenkas. But they need to also cut McRae to keep Jones unless they get a roster exception because of Wall's injury.

Looking at this roster in terms of the foundation. The team plan seems to be to build on Bradley Beal and go from there. Listening to Sheppard , Beal seems to embody everything they want in a franchise player, and is the blueprint of want they want to fill the roster, high character, hard working players who come from good coaching. They will offer him an extension, he just turned 26.

Looking at the rest in terms of fit and age. Isaiah Thomas (30), CJ Miles (32), Mahinmi (32), all have expiring contracts and will probably be gone after this season.

Bertans also expires, but at 26 could be worth considering as a longer term fixture to provide shooting off the bench depending on how well be plays and fits in here, and price.

Ish Smith (31) signed a 2 yr deal so looks to provide stability as a veteran PG on the roster through next season. But basically a bridge player until either Wall comes back, one of the young guys develop and emerge (Robinson, Bonga), or a new PG is added/drafted.

McRae (28) still has an opportunity to carve out a spot as a score off the bench reserve, but probably not a building block.

From there we have a lot of youth, and possibly some pieces we can keep with Beal to build on...

PGs Robinson (21) and Bonga (19). Robinson looks to me like a solid backup PG type, not spectacular but dependable and knows how to run a team and make smart plays. Bonga may have a lot more upside. High IQ, skilled, has size at 6-8 to play 1-3, could eventually be another Satoransky or even better.

SGs Jones (24) and Matthews (22), both guys are on the fringe of getting their feet in the door and getting an opportunity in the league. Jones has lockdown potential on the defensive end and can guard 1-3, but needs to develop offensively. Has the motor and athleticism to get you garbage buckets , and his kind of energy can be infectious. Matthews can shoot, and looked good in SL and will get a chance to show with the Go Go. Both are long shots as far as foundational pieces, but we are only looking here for backups to Beal, and this pair could possibly give us defensive and offensive subs as a tag team tandem.

SF Troy Brown Jr (20) looks to step up this year, last year's 1st round pick is hopefully a foundational piece as a versatile player who can defend 1-3, can score, handle and pass. IMO he needs to start and play as much as possible in this rebuild year to develop his game, define his role, and show us what he's got! Admiral Schofield (22) could be a long term plan B, plays physical, can defend and shoot with range. Hopefully gets on the court as a rookie and is able to contribute and find out what he can do on this level.

PF Hachimura (21), this year's 1st round pick, has all around potential, the hope is he can rival Beal's development and progression on a yearly basis and be a big part of this teams foundation and future. On this team should get plenty of opportunities to play, learn and develop. Summer league looked like Wizards could have found a gem.

Center Thomas Bryant (22) inked a new contract this off-season after emerging as the starter last year. The hope is he continues to progress as one of the top young centers in the league and a foundational piece of this team. Sheppard said Beal was a huge advocate for signing Bryant building this team with him. New addition Wagner (22) brings a high motor in his attempt to earn a role as Bryant's main backup.


Foundational pieces... Beal (26), Hachimura (21), Bryant (22), TBJ (20).

Potential building blocks... Bonga (19), Schofield (22), Bertans (26).


The elephant in the room of course is Wall. With several years left on his max contract and probably missing this season, he will be trying to return 2020/21 at age 30, and can hopefully come back to a starting level player at PG.


That being said, my early prediction on next year's draft (and another foundational piece) is Cole Anthony. Checks all the Tommy Sheppard boxes: high IQ and motor, well coached, big time program, etc.

http://www.nbadraftroom.com/p/cole-anthony.html


Wizards 2020/21 (???)

Wall / Anthony / Smith
Beal / Bonga
Brown Jr / Admiral
Hachimura / Bertans
Bryant / Wagner

[SUPERBALLMAN]

One of the benefits of a season like this is the opportunity to see some young players and possibly find a hidden gem like we did with Thomas Bryant last season, and give a chance for prospects to get playing time and develop their game.

So to that end, I like what I've seen this season from Wagner and AP as backup Centers. PF Hachimura and Bertans have looked liked legit rotation players. TBJ and Bonga at SF have shown some potential. Matthews and McRae have shown they can be possible backup SGs to Beal. Ish has looked like he can be a respectable veteran backup PG once Wall comes back.

We should have a good draft pick. BTW what's the deal with Golden State are they tanking or what?

So I was starting this post with the idea of being optimistic given these points. A good draft pick, finding some rotation guys worth keeping and building on... Maybe we can get something going next season?

Then I started looking at the mock drafts. Kind of underwhelming. Granted its early, and players usually start standing out come tournament time.

Then I looked again at John Wall's contract....

[SUPERBALLMAN]

It will be interesting to see what Tommy Sheppard does with this roster in the next year. He's had a knack for pulling guys out of his hat. Bertans, Wagner, AP, Matthews, Bonga are all guys that seemingly came out of nowhere. Even Hachimura in the draft was a surprise.

But Wall's contract make him essentially impossible to move in the next 3 years, so we are seemingly stuck hoping he returns to a high level and riding him and Beal as far as they can take us.

So what will adding Wall to what we have look like? Its hard to see where this can go TBH. If anything, adding Wall could make us even worse defensively which is hard to believe.

Let's look position by position....

PG Wall and Smith. Hopefully Wall can return to form after all his surgeries and rehab at age 30. Ish looks like a solid backup. IT will be gone, none of the "prospects" have been too promising.

SG Beal, McRae, Matthews. Beal is the star of the team now. McRae and Matthews have shown they can give us shooting off the bench and when Beal is out.

SF TBJ, Bonga. Can either of these guys become a starting level player? This is probably where we need to look in the draft although I'm not seeing this as an area of strength in the current mocks. Admiral has been disappointing. Don't see Miles coming back.

PF Hachimura, Bertans. Can Hachimura become the 3rd wheel for us?? Can we keep Bertans? The thought of Wall with Bertans and Matthews off the bench is intriguing. Hachimura seems to at least have starter potential, Bertans can be a high level 6th man.

Center Bryant, Wagner, AP. Can Bryant be a high level starter? Wagner as a 5/4 energy guy off the bench, AP big man depth. Mahinmi will be gone.

Wall, Beal, TBJ, Hachimura, Bryant. Off the bench Smith, Matthews, McRae, Bonga, Bertans, Wagner, AP.


See who we get in the draft what could be a top 5 pick. What Sheppard can find 2nd round and maybe some young additions in the same vein as our pickups of guys like Bryant and Wagner in low-level deals.

Not seeing much opportunity to deviate very much from this... How do you all see this shaking out??

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

It will be interesting to see what Tommy Sheppard does with this roster in the next year. He's had a knack for pulling guys out of his hat. Bertans, Wagner, AP, Matthews, Bonga are all guys that seemingly came out of nowhere. Even Hachimura in the draft was a surprise.

But Wall's contract make him essentially impossible to move in the next 3 years, so we are seemingly stuck hoping he returns to a high level and riding him and Beal as far as they can take us.

So what will adding Wall to what we have look like? Its hard to see where this can go TBH. If anything, adding Wall could make us even worse defensively which is hard to believe.

Let's look position by position....

PG Wall and Smith. Hopefully Wall can return to form after all his surgeries and rehab at age 30. Ish looks like a solid backup. IT will be gone, none of the "prospects" have been too promising.

SG Beal, McRae, Matthews. Beal is the star of the team now. McRae and Matthews have shown they can give us shooting off the bench and when Beal is out.

SF TBJ, Bonga. Can either of these guys become a starting level player? This is probably where we need to look in the draft although I'm not seeing this as an area of strength in the current mocks. Admiral has been disappointing. Don't see Miles coming back.

PF Hachimura, Bertans. Can Hachimura become the 3rd wheel for us?? Can we keep Bertans? The thought of Wall with Bertans and Matthews off the bench is intriguing. Hachimura seems to at least have starter potential, Bertans can be a high level 6th man.

Center Bryant, Wagner, AP. Can Bryant be a high level starter? Wagner as a 5/4 energy guy off the bench, AP big man depth. Mahinmi will be gone.

Wall, Beal, TBJ, Hachimura, Bryant. Off the bench Smith, Matthews, McRae, Bonga, Bertans, Wagner, AP.


See who we get in the draft what could be a top 5 pick. What Sheppard can find 2nd round and maybe some young additions in the same vein as our pickups of guys like Bryant and Wagner in low-level deals.

Not seeing much opportunity to deviate very much from this... How do you all see this shaking out??

Nice break down SBM.

Yep, we definitely need a really good two way SF.

Prime Ariza would have been nice. Who is out there that could be had in a consolidation trade?

[nate33]

Nice break down SBM.

Yep, we definitely need a really good two way SF.

Prime Ariza would have been nice. Who is out there that could be had in a consolidation trade?

Kelly Oubre would have been nice.

[payitforward]

Excellent idea to do this breakdown, SBM. I am more inclined to nod my head at the places where you express doubt than those where you have positive estimations going forward. Just to hit a few high (or maybe I mean not so high...) points:

Rui hasn't shown he can be a starter in this league -- let alone a solid one. He's shown that he isn't a bust, no more.

Wagner hasn't shown he can be a heavy-minute NBA player. He's had a few good games, that's for sure! But he's averaging 8 fouls & 4 TOs per 40 minutes. Still, he has certainly outperformed his rookie year & the expectations created by his SL performance. That's good. But that's all.

Bertans is regressing to the mean pretty quickly. Overall, his numbers are pretty much back down to where they were last year -- tho his outstanding scoring efficiency is on higher usage than last year.

OTOH, McRae has been a bright spot! Bryant was getting back to terrific numbers when he went down; I'm not worried about him. He a good one. Bonga has played quite well overall for a guy picked mid-R2 1 year ago. Brown has been really good too -- esp. for a 20-year old. Mathews has given us plenty to be happy about as well.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Excellent idea to do this breakdown, SBM. I am more inclined to nod my head at the places where you express doubt than those where you have positive estimations going forward. Just to hit a few high (or maybe I mean not so high...) points:

Rui hasn't shown he can be a starter in this league -- let alone a solid one. He's shown that he isn't a bust, no more.

Wagner hasn't shown he can be a heavy-minute NBA player. He's had a few good games, that's for sure! But he's averaging 8 fouls & 4 TOs per 40 minutes. Still, he has certainly outperformed his rookie year & the expectations created by his SL performance. That's good. But that's all.

Bertans is regressing to the mean pretty quickly. Overall, his numbers are pretty much back down to where they were last year -- tho his outstanding scoring efficiency is on higher usage than last year.

OTOH, McRae has been a bright spot! Bryant was getting back to terrific numbers when he went down; I'm not worried about him. He a good one. Bonga has played quite well overall for a guy picked mid-R2 1 year ago. Brown has been really good too -- esp. for a 20-year old. Mathews has given us plenty to be happy about as well.

I haven't watched tonight's game yet still watching Pats/Titans, have it DVR'd.... I haven't watched the Wizards games as closely as I usually do, and often watch them without audio (I can't stand this new guy so I have music on usually, or a sports talk podcast sometimes).

As far as the draft ... I was high on Anthony, but him tearing his meniscus is a deal breaker for me, plus I had thoughts of moving on from Wall but I have serious doubts at this point on that being plausible. His salary over the last 3years of his contract is insane. A guy that is interesting me is Nesmith, but he isnt projected very high. (His coach is Jerry Stackhouse btw!)

Watch on YouTube

http://www.nbadraftroom.com/p/aaron-nesmith.html

But I guess we'll see what our pick is and how that shakes out....


But as far as current roster... Ish is signed next year, and he has been better than I thought. I do like him as a backup for Wall, a dependable vet who plays hard and will keep the pace up when Wall needs a rest.

McRae has been better than I thought and I like him as a backup to Beal, and Matthews as a prospect looks to be worth holding on to and seeing what his upside might be.

Brown is also showing potential given he's only 20, as is Bonga. Between the 2 of them we could end up ok at SF. Admiral has been disappointing so I'm not counting on him at this point. I do wish Brown would step up a bit more on this team with so many injuries the opportunity is there for him.

I like what I've seen of Hachimura. He looks pretty solid , well see how he progresses over the next year. Is he scratching the surface or is this pretty much what he's going to be is the question. If he takes him game up another level then we may have something. Bertans coming back to the mean could be a good thing, I was getting worried he was playing himself out of here. I like him on this team, he fits great, seems to like it here, and I love having his shooting as a weapon off the bench (as well as McRae and Matthews)! I'm hoping we can sign him to like a 3 year deal.

Bryant at center as our starter for the foreseeable future seems fine, and Mo as a energy and hustle guy off the bench seems like a great tandem and I know theyre good friends. Pasecniks seems worthwhile to keep on for big man depth with some potential upside.

All these guys I've liked what I've seen more or less. These are the guys I'd be interested in taking into next season. That's what I've sifted out of this year so far... Isaiah Thomas, CJ Miles, Mahinmi are vets and salaries we can move on from. Admiral and Robinson, etc maybe Go Go bound and opted for this year's draft picks and new acquisitions brought in by Sheppard.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

And just to add, based on finding this many players worth holding on to moving forward, that was an optimistic goal for this season. I'd say it makes this season a success despite the record. In fact as far as the record, if we can follow the Redskins and end up with a top 2 pick, that would really be a successful season IMO!