Official 2023 Wizards OFFSEASON Thread

[J-Ves]

Tyus 28 Wright/Shamet 20
Poole 28 Davis 20
Kispert 28 Coulibaly 20
Avdija 28 Gallinari 12 Vukcevic 8
Gafford 24 Muscala 12 Vukcevic 12

Would assume Rollins and Baldwin Jr. start the year in the G-league. Hopefully we can move Shamet in a trade before the start of the season. Would be nice to get a young big(go get Okongwu).

Should be a pretty bad team, but it will be exciting to see the growth of Davis, Vukcevic, Kispert, Coulibaly, and Avdija.

Another aspect of this rebuild is we're really going to find out what we have with Coach Wes. No more just rolling out the predetermined roles and lineups. He's really going to be coaching this year, developing players, making adjustments, building this team from scratch.

He’s done. He was hired as a win now coach and the job has completely changed. The new FO is eager to change as much as possible. The only reason WUJ is still here is Ted said he wouldn’t be fired when Tommy got the ax but a lot has changed since then. WUJ will be gone within a year

[The Consiglieri]

Ditto, I find the preoccupation w/having enough guys in the front court, or back court, whose starting to be irrelevant. We're trying to take. We could have 15 PG's and I wouldn't give a ----, whichever strategy brings the best assets back in terms of prospect/draft capital is what I want, whats on the floor is irrelevant other than in its ability to ramp up the value of assets for trade.

[payitforward]

If you are going to watch a team lose, it's better if they're losing in order to reach a goal. In fact I'd rather lose 57 games taking a chance on change than to lose 45 games while doing nothing & going nowhere.

[penbeast0]

Ditto, I find the preoccupation w/having enough guys in the front court, or back court, whose starting to be irrelevant. We're trying to take. We could have 15 PG's and I wouldn't give a ----, whichever strategy brings the best assets back in terms of prospect/draft capital is what I want, whats on the floor is irrelevant other than in its ability to ramp up the value of assets for trade.

IF we are acquiring assets to trade, as we did with Paul and maybe did with Tyus Jones, you are correct. If we are developing young players, you don't want 3 small guards out on the floor at the same time for long periods of time, you want them developing their guard skills, including defense. So, you try to work it so the guys you want to develop and/or showcase get their minutes.

[joshuacf]

Ditto, I find the preoccupation w/having enough guys in the front court, or back court, whose starting to be irrelevant. We're trying to take. We could have 15 PG's and I wouldn't give a ----, whichever strategy brings the best assets back in terms of prospect/draft capital is what I want, whats on the floor is irrelevant other than in its ability to ramp up the value of assets for trade.

IF we are acquiring assets to trade, as we did with Paul and maybe did with Tyus Jones, you are correct. If we are developing young players, you don't want 3 small guards out on the floor at the same time for long periods of time, you want them developing their guard skills, including defense. So, you try to work it so the guys you want to develop and/or showcase get their minutes.

Agreed. These guys have to learn how to play NBA basketball. Even if you aren't trying to win, you have to put NBA-realistic lineups on the court so that players can develop appropriately.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

PG Tyus Jones, Marcus Morris, Delon Wright
SG Jordan Poole, Landry Shamet, Johnny Davis, Ryan Rollins
SF Corey Kispert, Danilo Galinari, Bilal Coulibaly, Patrick Baldwin Jr.
PF Deni Avdija, Xavier Cooks
C Daniel Gafford, Tristan Vukcevic, Jay Huff, Mike Muscala

Who am I missing?

PG Tyus Jones, Delon Wright, Ryan Rollins
SG Jordan Poole, Johnny Davis, Landry Shamet
SF Cory Kispert, Bilal Coulibaly, Danilo Galinari
PF Deni Avdija, Xavier Cooks, PBJ
C Daniel Gafford, Mike Muscala, Tristan Vukcevic

[payitforward]

Another aspect of this rebuild is we're really going to find out what we have with Coach Wes. No more just rolling out the predetermined roles and lineups. He's really going to be coaching this year, developing players, making adjustments, building this team from scratch.

He’s done. He was hired as a win now coach and the job has completely changed. The new FO is eager to change as much as possible. The only reason WUJ is still here is Ted said he wouldn’t be fired when Tommy got the ax but a lot has changed since then. WUJ will be gone within a year

BS.
He wasn't "hired as a win-now coach;" there is no such thing as a win-now coach. The better your players the more games you win. Duh. As to the line-ups he has been "rolling out," feel free to suggest what his alternatives were.

In a sustained, long-term effort, Ted Leonsis's front office people turned this franchise into a joke. It's taken Winger & Dawkins slightly more than two weeks to put that entire pathetic multi-decade era behind us.

& it is. It's gone. Over.
To create something new & worthwhile, on the other hand, is going to take years.

[DCZards]

Ditto, I find the preoccupation w/having enough guys in the front court, or back court, whose starting to be irrelevant. We're trying to take. We could have 15 PG's and I wouldn't give a ----, whichever strategy brings the best assets back in terms of prospect/draft capital is what I want, whats on the floor is irrelevant other than in its ability to ramp up the value of assets for trade.

I totally disagree with the approach you seem to be advocating.

You want young players to learn how to play as a team… to play the right way. Not as a bunch of disparate parts that don’t care whether they win or lose.

It’s not ONLY about assets. It’s also about player development.

[pcbothwel]

Another aspect of this rebuild is we're really going to find out what we have with Coach Wes. No more just rolling out the predetermined roles and lineups. He's really going to be coaching this year, developing players, making adjustments, building this team from scratch.

He’s done. He was hired as a win now coach and the job has completely changed. The new FO is eager to change as much as possible. The only reason WUJ is still here is Ted said he wouldn’t be fired when Tommy got the ax but a lot has changed since then. WUJ will be gone within a year

BS.
He wasn't "hired as a win-now coach;" there is no such thing as a win-now coach. The better your players the more games you win. Duh. As to the line-ups he has been "rolling out," feel free to suggest what his alternatives were.

In a sustained, long-term effort, Ted Leonsis's front office people turned this franchise into a joke. It's taken Winger & Dawkins slightly more than two weeks to put that entire pathetic multi-decade era behind us.

& it is. It's gone. Over.
To create something new & worthwhile, on the other hand, is going to take years.

Also. I wouldn’t categorize a young, first time head coach as a “win now” hire.
Wes may be gone in a year, but it won’t have anything to do with the organizational shift to tanking. It’ll be because winger doesn’t think he’s good enough.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Per ESPN:

After opting into his player option last week, Gallinari is headed to Washington as part of the blockbuster trade. He is joined by Tyus Jones and Mike Muscala as newcomers to the Wizards roster. After missing the entire 2022-23 season due to a torn ACL in his left knee it's likely that Gallinari will make a full recovery and be good to go for the 2023-24 campaign. However, it's unclear where the soon-to-be-35-year-old will fit in on a Wizards team that appears to be embracing a rebuild. Gallinari's contract is set to expire after this season, so it's very possible that Washington facilitates a trade to send the Italian wing to a more appealing situation.

What can we get back for Gallinari and Monte Morris?

Also, seems to me our roster could use a guy like Naz Reid. He’s only 23 and is a UFA.

[joshuacf]

Per ESPN:

After opting into his player option last week, Gallinari is headed to Washington as part of the blockbuster trade. He is joined by Tyus Jones and Mike Muscala as newcomers to the Wizards roster. After missing the entire 2022-23 season due to a torn ACL in his left knee it's likely that Gallinari will make a full recovery and be good to go for the 2023-24 campaign. However, it's unclear where the soon-to-be-35-year-old will fit in on a Wizards team that appears to be embracing a rebuild. Gallinari's contract is set to expire after this season, so it's very possible that Washington facilitates a trade to send the Italian wing to a more appealing situation.

What can we get back for Gallinari and Monte Morris?

Also, seems to me our roster could use a guy like Naz Reid. He’s only 23 and is a UFA.

I'd assume Reid is going to get a deal in the $10M AAV range. Since we already have Gafford and Vukčević, I'm not sure if Reid really fits. He's a good player though.

In terms of what we could get for Gallinari and Monte, Gallinari is a negative asset at this point. Maybe we could trade him for an even more negative asset though. We could try something like Gallo for Robert Covington and a second-round pick swap.

Mavs make a lot of sense for a Monte package, they need a backup PG and they aren't going to have cap space if they bring back Kyrie and sign another FA. We could do Maxi Kleber plus draft capital for Monte. Now Kleber's contract is terrible, so I'd hope to get back at least a protected FRP.

[payitforward]

Probably a little early (maybe a lot early!) to be thinking about what we "need" or "who goes with whom to do what."
We're still in the "tearing it down" part -- in fact, we've just started!

Not that I have any idea of what's coming next! All the same, with the exceptions of the draft picks, PBJ, Poole & Rollins, I don't think anyone currently on the roster should make any DC-based long-term plans!

Will all of Davis, Kispert, Avdija & Gafford be on the team a month from now? I don't know, but I wouldn't be betting yes.

All the more for Wright, Morris, Muscala, Gallinari, Shamet, Cooks & Gill. For that matter, if Jones can bring a nice draft asset or two, I imagine he'll move on as well.

It's just getting started. At least that's the impression I get.

[nate33]

One cool thing about operating below the cap is that you are not limited in how you structure pay raises.

Let’s say Deni is good enough to earn a 4 year, $66M contract next year. Normally, we would pay him something like $15M, $16M, $17M, $18M over the next 4 years. But if we are 40M under the cap next summer, we could pay him $40M, $8M, $8M, $8M. That massively reduces our future cap hit to give us flexibility. We could repeat the strategy with Kispert.

(At least that’s the way the CBA used to work. They may have eliminated that loophole with the new CBA.)

Edit: We would still be limited by the maximum salary rule. Deni could only be paid 25% of the cap, which is something like $37M I believe.

[gesa2]

Ditto, I find the preoccupation w/having enough guys in the front court, or back court, whose starting to be irrelevant. We're trying to take. We could have 15 PG's and I wouldn't give a ----, whichever strategy brings the best assets back in terms of prospect/draft capital is what I want, whats on the floor is irrelevant other than in its ability to ramp up the value of assets for trade.

I totally disagree with the approach you seem to be advocating.

You want young players to learn how to play as a team… to play the right way. Not as a bunch of disparate parts that don’t care whether they win or lose.

It’s not ONLY about assets. It’s also about player development.

It’s all about the assets at this point in the off-season. When we get closer to training camp I agree having enough vets to organize things in practice and games and set the tone for accountability and professionalism is important. Hopefully at this point Deni Kispert and Gafford offer some of that. It likely means 1 of the 3 good PGs should likely stay and we should auction off the others. If we get good offers for all 3 I’m sure we can find an Ish Smith or similar.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

One cool thing about operating below the cap is that you are not limited in how you structure pay raises.

Let’s say Deni is good enough to earn a 4 year, $66M contract next year. Normally, we would pay him something like $15M, $16M, $17M, $18M over the next 4 years. But if we are 40M under the cap next summer, we could pay him $40M, $8M, $8M, $8M. That massively reduces our future cap hit to give us flexibility. We could repeat the strategy with Kispert.

(At least that’s the way the CBA used to work. They may have eliminated that loophole with the new CBA.)

This is very interesting if true... That would quite brilliant.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Per ESPN:

After opting into his player option last week, Gallinari is headed to Washington as part of the blockbuster trade. He is joined by Tyus Jones and Mike Muscala as newcomers to the Wizards roster. After missing the entire 2022-23 season due to a torn ACL in his left knee it's likely that Gallinari will make a full recovery and be good to go for the 2023-24 campaign. However, it's unclear where the soon-to-be-35-year-old will fit in on a Wizards team that appears to be embracing a rebuild. Gallinari's contract is set to expire after this season, so it's very possible that Washington facilitates a trade to send the Italian wing to a more appealing situation.

What can we get back for Gallinari and Monte Morris?

Also, seems to me our roster could use a guy like Naz Reid. He’s only 23 and is a UFA.

I'd assume Reid is going to get a deal in the $10M AAV range. Since we already have Gafford and Vukčević, I'm not sure if Reid really fits. He's a good player though.

In terms of what we could get for Gallinari and Monte, Gallinari is a negative asset at this point. Maybe we could trade him for an even more negative asset though. We could try something like Gallo for Robert Covington and a second-round pick swap.

Mavs make a lot of sense for a Monte package, they need a backup PG and they aren't going to have cap space if they bring back Kyrie and sign another FA. We could do Maxi Kleber plus draft capital for Monte. Now Kleber's contract is terrible, so I'd hope to get back at least a protected FRP.

I understand we're rebuilding. But the way we're clearing the decks, cap room is not an issue. And I expect Monte & Gallo to be moved. IMO Delon & Muscala are good vets to keep on board this season, and are expiring.

But we can certainly still add a FA that makes sense. And I think that could be Naz Reid. He's a UFA, only 23 so fits in with the rebuild, wont cost that much, and we just dont have anyone on the roster like him right now. He definitely fills a need.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

[joshuacf]

Per ESPN:

After opting into his player option last week, Gallinari is headed to Washington as part of the blockbuster trade. He is joined by Tyus Jones and Mike Muscala as newcomers to the Wizards roster. After missing the entire 2022-23 season due to a torn ACL in his left knee it's likely that Gallinari will make a full recovery and be good to go for the 2023-24 campaign. However, it's unclear where the soon-to-be-35-year-old will fit in on a Wizards team that appears to be embracing a rebuild. Gallinari's contract is set to expire after this season, so it's very possible that Washington facilitates a trade to send the Italian wing to a more appealing situation.

What can we get back for Gallinari and Monte Morris?

Also, seems to me our roster could use a guy like Naz Reid. He’s only 23 and is a UFA.

I'd assume Reid is going to get a deal in the $10M AAV range. Since we already have Gafford and Vukčević, I'm not sure if Reid really fits. He's a good player though.

In terms of what we could get for Gallinari and Monte, Gallinari is a negative asset at this point. Maybe we could trade him for an even more negative asset though. We could try something like Gallo for Robert Covington and a second-round pick swap.

Mavs make a lot of sense for a Monte package, they need a backup PG and they aren't going to have cap space if they bring back Kyrie and sign another FA. We could do Maxi Kleber plus draft capital for Monte. Now Kleber's contract is terrible, so I'd hope to get back at least a protected FRP.

I understand we're rebuilding. But the way we're clearing the decks, cap room is not an issue. And I expect Monte & Gallo to be moved. IMO Delon & Muscala are good vets to keep on board this season, and are expiring.

But we can certainly still add a FA that makes sense. And I think that could be Naz Reid. He's a UFA, only 23 so fits in with the rebuild, wont cost that much, and we just dont have anyone on the roster like him right now. He definitely fills a need.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

What is the need that he fills? We're already paying Gafford $13.3M AAV over the next three years. Gafford is only a year older than Reid.

If you bring in Reid, he's just going to cut into Gafford and Vukčević's playing time, and all three of them are going to develop at a slower rate. I want Gafford getting 30 MPG and Vuk getting 18, not Reid getting 20, Gafford getting 20, and Vuk getting 8. There just aren't enough minutes to go around for three young centers, IMO.

I don't mind Muscala staying on as a veteran mentor, however, I'm not sure if he wants to do that. He's in a contract year and needs to be getting minutes so he can earn as much as he can on his next contract. If Muscala is fine being on the end of the bench, then I'd be happy to keep him. If he wants minutes, I'd look to buy him out and bring back Taj Gibson to be the end-of-the-bench veteran mentor.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Well we'll just disagree. This team is seriously lacking physicality and athleticism inside, and Gafford is athletic yes but he gets pushed around. Foul trouble, injuries etc there are no shortage of minutes. I mean seriously. Cut Gil and Cooks if you need to for crying out loud. Deal or buyout Muscala. Would you seriously take Gil, Cooks, or Muscala over Reid because thats what we're talking about.

And yes I like Vukcevic as a prospect, but here's this from Sports Illustrated...
"As such, it's hard to imagine a world in which he can play center full-time upon being drafted. In certain scenarios it would make a lot of sense, but he's more of a stretch four. We have seen him have success alongside a traditional big this season, which is promising. As of today, he fouls quite a bit as he struggles to defend stronger traditional centers that live in the post."

[DCZards]

With KAT injured a big chunk of the season, I watched a lot of Naz Reid this past season. He’s young and would be a significant upgrade at the C position for the Zards, imo.

I’m not letting the fact that Gaff and Vuk are on the roster stop me from pursuing Reid as a FA.

[WallToWall]

Gafford is foul prone, and has not show the capability (yet) to play 30 mins, due to conditioning(?). The newly drafted player is also foul prone, if we are to believe his play in a different league translates to the NBA. Gafford and the new draft pick will not be able to hold down the more powerful centers in the league.We need another center, of a different build.
We also need another PF.