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Here's a summary of Charlotte's season, following their elimination game loss to ATL.

Young, Hunter lead Hawks to 132-103 play-in rout of Hornets

https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2338233

Something to ponder. I think Washington is closer than our general consensus think.

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Hornets better future -

The wizards are damned if they do and damned if they don’t in so many ways-

First way- Beal - if they sign Beal he is going to be a super max player that can’t drive wins or recruit other players - If they don’t sign Beal, this team is the same team with the only upgrade being Porzingas….

So Beal and Porzingas vs Lemelo and Miles as core pieces - I think most people like Charlotte there.

Wes as a coach? Not sure about him yet…

Tommy is a great GM so that’s our only real upside

CobraCommander wrote:Hornets better future -

The wizards are damned if they do and damned if they don’t in so many ways-

First way- Beal - if they sign Beal he is going to be a super max player that can’t drive wins or recruit other players - If they don’t sign Beal, this team is the same team with the only upgrade being Porzingas….

So Beal and Porzingas vs Lemelo and Miles as core pieces - I think most people like Charlotte there.

Wes as a coach? Not sure about him yet…

Tommy is a great GM so that’s our only real upside

The Wizards could have had a better future if they had traded Beal while his value was highest. Getting a couple of good 1st round picks back would close the gap that currently exists between Charlotte's young core (Lamelo, Bridges, Washington, Oubre, Martin, Bouknight) and ours (Porzingis, Avdija, Kispert, Gafford, Hachimura).

But since we kept Beal, our future is worse.

First off, Charlotte is obviously a better team than the Wizards right now. Not just a little tiny bit better but a fair amount better. They went 43-39 this year. As opposed to 35-47. Not a small difference.

They're also younger than we are. Plus their oldest player, Hayward, is on a far shorter contract than the one we are about to hand Brad.

The real question is how long it will take the Pacers & the Pistons to jump past us. Indy not long at all. Detroit's path is less clear.

Wiz probably better off comparing themselves to the Kings. Maybe the Knicks. We have a three-legged unicorn and a maxed out midget panda. Then, 3 meh forwards and another late lottery pick. Not much else.

payitforward wrote:First off, Charlotte is obviously a better team than the Wizards right now. Not just a little tiny bit better but a fair amount better. They went 43-39 this year. As opposed to 35-47. Not a small difference.

They're also younger than we are. Plus their oldest player, Hayward, is on a far shorter contract than the one we are about to hand Brad.

The real question is how long it will take the Pacers & the Pistons to jump past us. Indy not long at all. Detroit's path is less clear.

I didn't know where to put this, but I went and looked at our record based on when certain players were in and out and came up with some rather odd results.

Overall, the team was 35-47 (.427)
When Beal played, they were 17-23 (.425)
When Porzingis played, they were 7-10 (.411)
When Dinwiddie played without Beal, they were 6-7 (.461)
When neither Beal, Porzingis, or Dinwiddie played, they were 5-7 (.416)

There doesn't seem to be much difference whether or not their "stars" play.

To be fair, the no Beal/KP/Dinwiddie team had a cupcake schedule. Their wins came against Detroit twice, Brooklyn without KD twice, and Indy without Sabonis and Turner once. They played just two above-.500 teams in that stretch, the 35-33 Clippers, and Cleveland.

The Porzingis team started out 1-5 as they figured out how to integrate him. But went 6-5 after that before sitting KP. So, I guess that's a small reason for optimism.

9 and 20 wrote:Wiz probably better off comparing themselves to the Kings. Maybe the Knicks. We have a three-legged unicorn and a maxed out midget panda. Then, 3 meh forwards and another late lottery pick. Not much else.

payitforward wrote:First off, Charlotte is obviously a better team than the Wizards right now. Not just a little tiny bit better but a fair amount better. They went 43-39 this year. As opposed to 35-47. Not a small difference.

They're also younger than we are. Plus their oldest player, Hayward, is on a far shorter contract than the one we are about to hand Brad.

The real question is how long it will take the Pacers & the Pistons to jump past us. Indy not long at all. Detroit's path is less clear.

Sobering...drab pictures of what's happening with the franchise.

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This doesn't seem like a particularly close call, no. Less clear is whether the Magic are likely to overtake the Wizards as well at least absent big changes based on future moves (and if so, when).

Charlotte is clearly better!


If Avdija or Hachimura were at the level of LaMelo Ball, I’d say the Bullets are better off since there’s two other All Star caliber players on the roster.

But unfortunately as tried and true, Washington DC can never have an All Star drafted unless it’s in the top 3. Or top 7 if you want to count the All Stars drafted and traded.

9 and 20 wrote:Wiz probably better off comparing themselves to the Kings. Maybe the Knicks. We have a three-legged unicorn and a maxed out midget panda. Then, 3 meh forwards and another late lottery pick. Not much else.

My exact thought

Thing is... if we were to assume that Beal would return to his best level or something near his best level, & if we were to add the assumption that Porzingis will play at the nicely above average level he's established with us, & if we were to add the assumption that KP wasn't plagued by injury & could play 2400+ minutes the next 2-3 regular seasons, if all that...

...we still don't have near as bright a future as Charlotte.

Unless, that is, Deni turns into the extremely high-level starter that seems possible for him. & unless Kispert significantly improves upon his good rookie season -- both next year & the following one. & unless either Rui or our '22 R1 pick becomes at least a semi-stud.

If all that happens, why... we might become an above-average team -- not a contender, don't get me wrong, but at least respectable.

OTOH, if Brad doesn't come back at his best level & KP returns to the level of play he posted in Dallas this year & last... we'll win as many games next year as we did this year.