GT #81: HEAT @ Wizards 7 PM (NBC SW/1500 AM)

[Jay81]

WUJ's job is to try to win the game. Any game.
To do anything different, he'd have to hear his boss give him the order.

Do you think Tommy gave him an order to lose the game?
Not a chance.

Do you think Ted gave Tommy an order of that kind?
No way.

Nothing about the Wizards troubles -- literally nothing -- points at Wes Unseld Jr.
Everything about the Wizards troubles -- literally everything -- points at Tommy Sheppard & Ted Leonsis.

We are where we are because

Spoiler:

we:

1. Wasted the opportunities we had in the 2019 draft (e.g. come away with Brandon Clarke, Grant Williams or Keldon Johnson, Cody Martin, & Bol Bol).
2. Turned down the opportunity to trade Bertans for the 2020 pick that got Desmond Bane.
3. Didn't trade up in 2020's R2 to get Xavier Tillman (instead, Memphis did it)
4. Didn't use the #37 in 2020 to get any of the very good players still on the board but traded it away instead.
5. Traded #22 in 2021 for, in the end, nothing: "cash considerations" & Isaiah Todd.
6. Made a sub-optimal pick at #10 in R1 this year*

* That's NOT an attack on Johnny Davis; it's simple recognition of the facts about Jalen Williams, Jalen Duren, Mark Williams, AJ Griffin, Tari Eason & Christian Braun. (Not to mention trading down for Eason or Braun plus another pick).

Wes didn’t have to play his vets gafford delon and corey. Unforgivable

[dobrojim]

Horrible and costly win. Too much Gafford and Kispert. They needed more rest.

[prime1time]

This victory was a dagger. What is going on with this organization?

[prime1time]

The only saving grace is after the top 3 players in the draft no one is going to really impact us. But to have a chance to draft Wembanyama and pull this is just a disgrace.

[The Consiglieri]

But also very fitting. The dumbest team in the NBA the last 40 years should've done this sorta thing, to cement that legacy, and that's exactly what they did, just like having Jordan help us play our way out of contention for the #1 in the loaded Lebron draft 20 years ago. Arvis Hayes should be elected to the Hall any year now, they must have just neglected to look at his case more closely.

[AFM]

I stand by what I said earlier. Ted is essentially a billionaire version of one of those YouTube pranksters. He’s just trolling us for his own amusement.

Some billionaires go to Little St. James for fun, Ted goes to his Twitter burner account and laughs at Wiz fans reactions.

[AFM]

He’s like the Joker. Someone photoshop the jokers makeup from the Nolan movies onto Ted

“Want to see how I got these scars? I’m living a double bottom line life, Batman…”

[nate33]

FWIW, the difference between being in a 3-way tie for 6th worst, and being in sole possession of 8th worst, isn't all that much. Our odds of landing a top 4 pick dropped from 31.8% to 25.2%. I know every bit helps, but we shouldn't forget that the draft lottery odds have been flattened a great deal. The distinction between one or two places isn't that large.

[Frichuela]

Looks like we are set with the 8th pre lottery seed at worst as Utah luckily won today…

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=GWeuz7j_sc5cBYZzdD92Tw

[Jay81]

FWIW, the difference between being in a 3-way tie for 6th worst, and being in sole possession of 8th worst, isn't all that much. Our odds of landing a top 4 pick dropped from 31.8% to 25.2%. I know every bit helps, but we shouldn't forget that the draft lottery odds have been flattened a great deal. The distinction between one or two places isn't that large.

They don’t do coin toss for 3 way ties?

[ozthegap]

Congratulations on once again securing the 11th seed everyone. Mission accomplished

[Jay81]

Just in case…we still need to lose tomorrow. You never know

[SunsRback4Good]

Congratulations on once again securing the 11th seed everyone. Mission accomplished

It could always be worse like bottom 5 team in the league. But maybe next year wizards will finally be ready to be top 7 in the East.

[Tyrone Messby]

This victory was a dagger. What is going on with this organization?

The same thing has been going on the 30+ years I’ve watched this clueless organization. The dumbest franchise in all of sports. Moreso than the team to the east in Landover.

[nate33]

FWIW, the difference between being in a 3-way tie for 6th worst, and being in sole possession of 8th worst, isn't all that much. Our odds of landing a top 4 pick dropped from 31.8% to 25.2%. I know every bit helps, but we shouldn't forget that the draft lottery odds have been flattened a great deal. The distinction between one or two places isn't that large.

They don’t do coin toss for 3 way ties?

No, they average out the odds.

[ozthegap]

Congratulations on once again securing the 11th seed everyone. Mission accomplished

It could always be worse like bottom 5 team in the league. But maybe next year wizards will finally be ready to be top 7 in the East.

It's hard when the only thing ownership and management really care about is turning a profit. I've been saying maybe next year for the last 20 years. I know there are plenty of people on this board who have been saying it longer.