Line-ups, rotation, analysis thread.

[Frichuela]

The Wiz have been great over the past 10 games...as shown in this tweet.

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?s=20&t=86FjkRAv2s4UBxvoknqjmQ

[FAH1223]

The Wiz have been great over the past 10 games...as shown in this tweet.

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=86FjkRAv2s4UBxvoknqjmQ

Read on Twitter

[Dat2U]

Welp. Deni is happy and playing well with Rui out the way.

Gaff is happy getting starters minutes.

The big lineup seems to work and KP seems happy that he's no longer having to defend bigs.

Beal doesn't seem 100% but is playing smart and efficient. He seems happy.

Morris & Wright have Solid & Steady vets at the PG position.

Kuzma is equally mediocre at PF or SF but he provides much needed playmaking & scoring on the roster low on shot creators.

Kispert is meh but playable and offers spacing. Goodwin plays like a strong steady defensive backup.

If they could find a true shot creator at the 1 or 3 and upgrade from Taj Gibson at backup C, they may have something. Tall order on finding a shot creator but the backup C part is managable.

Either way our modest success is killing the tank and its been real hard for me to take but its hard not to notice how the roster has evolved to where all 16 guys have clearly defined roles. The only remaining guy that might be upset is Barton but even his role is clearly defined - be a professional and good teammate until either we trade you or release you.

[NatP4]

I think this is the best Wiz team in the last 5-10 years. They absolutely need another quality shot creating lead guard. Quickley would be a great fit in a Kuzma swap. Wonder if they could pickup Crowder to backup the 3/4 spot.

Morris Wright
Quickley Kispert
Beal
Avdija
Porzingis Gafford

[DCZards]

Dat, no mention of Nunn, who seems to have replaced Goodwin as the 4th guard?

[NatP4]

^^^^No mention of Nunn, who seems to have replaced Goodwin as the 4th guard?

Nunn and Barton are deadweight. Just waiting to be moved as filler in a trade. Neither of them are a part of the future or even positive impact players right now. The team would benefit from clearing out some room for Goodwin, who is a much better player, although Morris and Wright have been great.

I think Jackson&Bernard are both better options than Nunn/Barton.

IMO, this current roster, when healthy, is a solid 2nd round team that can grab a 4th/5th seed. They have a legit top 10 defense right now. The X factor is Deni. They moved Rui to allow Deni to have a bigger piece of the pie, time to move Kuzma, another guy that does not move the needle.

Problem is: the wiz probably think Kuzma/Beal/Porzingis is a big 3 that is one move away from competing for a conference title.

[nate33]

Welp. Deni is happy and playing well with Rui out the way.

Gaff is happy getting starters minutes.

The big lineup seems to work and KP seems happy that he's no longer having to defend bigs.

Beal doesn't seem 100% but is playing smart and efficient. He seems happy.

Morris & Wright have Solid & Steady vets at the PG position.

Kuzma is equally mediocre at PF or SF but he provides much needed playmaking & scoring on the roster low on shot creators.

Kispert is meh but playable and offers spacing. Goodwin plays like a strong steady defensive backup.

If they could find a true shot creator at the 1 or 3 and upgrade from Taj Gibson at backup C, they may have something. Tall order on finding a shot creator but the backup C part is managable.

Either way our modest success is killing the tank and its been real hard for me to take but its hard not to notice how the roster has evolved to where all 16 guys have clearly defined roles. The only remaining guy that might be upset is Barton but even his role is clearly defined - be a professional and good teammate until either we trade you or release you.

I don't think we need a backup center. I'm fine with Porzingis splitting his time between PF and C. We just need a 3rd stringer who plays when one of Gafford/Porzingis is hurt. Gibson is fine at that (except when we face the behemoth guys like Embiid, Jokic and Valanciunas).

Ultimately, the rotation is pretty good right now. The only unsolveable issue is that we lack a first rate superstar. If our team was exactly like it is now, but in place of Kuzma, we had prime Kawhi Leonard, or Kevin Durant, or Giannis, we would be a contender.

[nate33]

I think this is the best Wiz team in the last 5-10 years. They absolutely need another quality shot creating lead guard. Quickley would be a great fit in a Kuzma swap. Wonder if they could pickup Crowder to backup the 3/4 spot.

Morris Wright
Quickley Kispert
Beal
Avdija
Porzingis Gafford

You can't trade away Kuzma without replacing him with a quality forward. Avdija and Kispert can't play 48 minutes.

[Dat2U]

Dat, no mention of Nunn, who seems to have replaced Goodwin as the 4th guard?

Naw, he's just another guy (jag) playing for another nba contract. You hope and pray Johnny Davis makes enough of a leap next off-season to eat some of those minutes or maybe even Quenton Jackson.

[Dat2U]

Welp. Deni is happy and playing well with Rui out the way.

Gaff is happy getting starters minutes.

The big lineup seems to work and KP seems happy that he's no longer having to defend bigs.

Beal doesn't seem 100% but is playing smart and efficient. He seems happy.

Morris & Wright have Solid & Steady vets at the PG position.

Kuzma is equally mediocre at PF or SF but he provides much needed playmaking & scoring on the roster low on shot creators.

Kispert is meh but playable and offers spacing. Goodwin plays like a strong steady defensive backup.

If they could find a true shot creator at the 1 or 3 and upgrade from Taj Gibson at backup C, they may have something. Tall order on finding a shot creator but the backup C part is managable.

Either way our modest success is killing the tank and its been real hard for me to take but its hard not to notice how the roster has evolved to where all 16 guys have clearly defined roles. The only remaining guy that might be upset is Barton but even his role is clearly defined - be a professional and good teammate until either we trade you or release you.

I don't think we need a backup center. I'm fine with Porzingis splitting his time between PF and C. We just need a 3rd stringer who plays when one of Gafford/Porzingis is hurt. Gibson is fine at that (except when we face the behemoth guys like at, Jokic and Valanciunas).

Ultimately, the rotation is pretty good right now. The only unsolveable issue is that we lack a first rate superstar. If our team was exactly like it is now, but in place of Kuzma, we had prime Kawhi Leonard, or Kevin Durant, or Giannis, we would be a contender.

I don't trust KP to play 80 games (and I don't know why anyone would) and you want to watch his minutes, especially on back to backs. Gafford isn't a 30 minute a night C. This forces Gibson into rotation role. That's survivable until KP misses extended time. Gibson would have been great 5 years ago but he was signed to be a locker room vet, not a guy you want to consistently depend on for minutes.

[Kanyewest]

Welp. Deni is happy and playing well with Rui out the way.

Gaff is happy getting starters minutes.

The big lineup seems to work and KP seems happy that he's no longer having to defend bigs.

Beal doesn't seem 100% but is playing smart and efficient. He seems happy.

Morris & Wright have Solid & Steady vets at the PG position.

Kuzma is equally mediocre at PF or SF but he provides much needed playmaking & scoring on the roster low on shot creators.

Kispert is meh but playable and offers spacing. Goodwin plays like a strong steady defensive backup.

If they could find a true shot creator at the 1 or 3 and upgrade from Taj Gibson at backup C, they may have something. Tall order on finding a shot creator but the backup C part is managable.

Either way our modest success is killing the tank and its been real hard for me to take but its hard not to notice how the roster has evolved to where all 16 guys have clearly defined roles. The only remaining guy that might be upset is Barton but even his role is clearly defined - be a professional and good teammate until either we trade you or release you.

I don't think we need a backup center. I'm fine with Porzingis splitting his time between PF and C. We just need a 3rd stringer who plays when one of Gafford/Porzingis is hurt. Gibson is fine at that (except when we face the behemoth guys like Embiid, Jokic and Valanciunas).

Ultimately, the rotation is pretty good right now. The only unsolveable issue is that we lack a first rate superstar. If our team was exactly like it is now, but in place of Kuzma, we had prime Kawhi Leonard, or Kevin Durant, or Giannis, we would be a contender.

I would say they would be somewhere from contender to fringe contenders (like how people are considering the Nets a contender anyways) with these players instead of Kuzma - maybe I'm overestimating the Wizards a bit though.

- Giannis
- Kawhi
- Durant
- LeBron
- Tatum
- Jimmy Butler (at least when he turns it on in the postseason(
- Paul George
- Jaylen Brown

Of course, hard to get any of these players without giving up anything of value.

[FAH1223]

Watch on YouTube

[doclinkin]

Ultimately, the rotation is pretty good right now. The only unsolveable issue is that we lack a first rate superstar. If our team was exactly like it is now, but in place of Kuzma, we had prime Kawhi Leonard, or Kevin Durant, or Giannis, we would be a contender.

HA!

And if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

[nate33]

Ultimately, the rotation is pretty good right now. The only unsolveable issue is that we lack a first rate superstar. If our team was exactly like it is now, but in place of Kuzma, we had prime Kawhi Leonard, or Kevin Durant, or Giannis, we would be a contender.

HA!

And if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

Oh, I agree. My point isn't that we are close to contention. My point is that there's nothing really wrong with the talent on this team from #2 through #9. The problem is that they don't have the most important piece, and they have no plan to acquire one.

[NatP4]

I think this is the best Wiz team in the last 5-10 years. They absolutely need another quality shot creating lead guard. Quickley would be a great fit in a Kuzma swap. Wonder if they could pickup Crowder to backup the 3/4 spot.

Morris Wright
Quickley Kispert
Beal
Avdija
Porzingis Gafford

You can't trade away Kuzma without replacing him with a quality forward. Avdija and Kispert can't play 48 minutes.

The right move is to trade Kuzma and figure everything out regardless. They have two NBA ready wings in the G league in Bernard&Jackson. Both of them have shown enough to deserve a real shot in the NBA. Vernon Carey has clearly shown that he deserves a shot at the 3rd C role. They can manufacture plenty of depth at the 3/4/5 if they need to. Deni is still out here getting benched after only playing 15 minutes in games. That should NEVER happen. Let’s fix that before we worry about depth.

It’s true what PIF said, even though some people freaked out. This team is pretty decent, and actually one of the better teams in the league over the last 2 months, and that has very little to do with Kuzma. He was awful again last night. The core that is driving the success of this team is Morris/Wright/Beal/Avdija/Porzingis/Gafford.

[NatP4]

I like Kuzma for Murray+Mitchell, and follow that up with something like Morris+Todd to the Clippers for Jason Preston, who has been terrific in the G-league, and Batum.

Clippers need quality starting PG. Preston does not match their timeline at all. Batum can be a solid rotation piece at the 4 for another year or so. We get to dump Todd’s awful contract.

Wright/Mitchell/Goodwin
Beal/Preston
Avdija/Kispert
Murray/Batum
Porzingis/Gafford

[dckingsfan]

I like Kuzma for Murray+Mitchell, and follow that up with something like Morris+Todd to the Clippers for Jason Preston, who has been terrific in the G-league, and Batum.

Clippers need quality starting PG. Preston does not match their timeline at all. Batum can be a solid rotation piece at the 4 for another year or so. We get to dump Todd’s awful contract.

Wright/Mitchell/Goodwin
Beal/Preston
Avdija/Kispert
Murray/Batum
Porzingis/Gafford

As a Kings fan, Murray is already better than Kuzma now (as it relates to this this current team Sacramento team) and Mitchell has been key running the second unit.

I don't think the Kings will trade Fox, Sabonis, Huerter, Murray or Lyles or Mitchell. And I think they want to resign Barnes.

I think that Holmes, Davis, Len and Metu are their bargaining chips of which I don't think we want any.

[dckingsfan]

The right move is to trade Kuzma and figure everything out regardless.

This.

[NatP4]

Something centered around Davis+23+37+filler would be a solid get for Kuzma.

Quickley+1st is great.

Not re-signing the guy and getting a couple assets back is a home run. Just take the highest bid.

[payitforward]

I agree w/ Nat on both counts:

1. trade him now.
2. The more future-oriented the assets we get back the better.