Our Projected Depth Chart

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Ccj, guards are almost always going to be less efficient shooters than big men, if only because they're often shooting from the perimeter as opposed to close to the basket like big men. I have no problem with McGee taking more shots, as long as they're good shots and not the out of control, too far from the basket, rushed shots he too often takes.

DCZ, I knew this about guards and that's not the point.

Blatche is a big man. He took 15.0 shots per game. His effective field goal percentage was .447.
Javale McGee took 7.6 shots per game. His effective field goal percentage was .550.

To further illustrate the point I tried to make to nate33 about Blatche's minutes and Flip:

GUARDS eFG%: Nick Young's .497, Mo Evans .500, Kirk Hinrich .501; all higher than that of Andray Blatche

My point: Blatche shot too much and played too many minutes, and because of this (and other reasons) I criticize Flip Saunders.

Further: The Wizards lost a ton of games due to poor jump shooting by among others Wall, Crawford, BLATCHE, and Yi Jianlian. Those were the guys who got the shots in Flip's offense.

(I don't fault the shooting of Young, Martin, Hinrich, Evans, or Lewis).

[hands11]

The next 2-3 weeks are going to be really important.

This is one of those moments were you set a plan of action that will then develop over the next 2 years. Should be interesting to see what they do because there are a ton of options for them.

Be it this year or next, we are about to find out what they do with Dray and McGee. I can see scenarios where both stay, both go or one of either stays.

Biggest change I can see them making is at center. KS may not be ready to be a solid back up at PF and center for another year. HD is still a project for another year. McGee is still a question mark as a starting center. Only seeing if he has made the proper process will answer that question. Can he control the paint ? Does he have a established post more now ?

So do they go for a starting center that they can keep or trade later?
Or do they get a solid defensive experienced back up ?
Or do they just roll with what they have one more year and let them develop while setting things up for next year.

Any of these could happen.

[DCZards]

Blatche is a big man.

Blatche has more shooting range than McGee (for better or for worse) so he does and should take more shots from the perimeter than McGee. Not saying that Blatche shooting jumpers is a good thing, but he's better at it than McGee so, as a result, he's taking more shots that are not typical "big man" shots.

BTW, like you ccj, I think McGee is a key to the Zards future and, like you, I've always been opposed to trading Javale or giving up on him, given his obvious talent, his athleticism for his size and his huge upside.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It's for worse, DCZ.

Blatche has shown flashes of being really good at times, but overall, his performance is NOT good enough to win games. My only question is has Andray been injured much of the time? When Blatche is on he is really good. Overall, because of his versatility, I would characterize him as above average. However, as a volume shooter he IMO kills the team with bad, low percentage shots. Andray plays too much below the rim to be a solid finisher. He's also not a power player. I get frustrated with his game when he's not hiting the boards or defending well. Blatche is not a go-to scorer IMO. He would be a very good sixth man or a solid starter on a team with great talent around him. On the Wizards, he's IMO a shot jacker that gets you beat. Maybe that's harsh, but that's how I see him. I fault FLIP, not Andray. Like I said, Blatche is talented.

We agree on McGee, but I will be a lot more critical of him this season if he doesn't show more consistency on offense. This season upside should be a bit more steady and poised in the paint. I would like to see his FT shooting improve.

I like McGee a lot, but as a fan, I'm open for any trades that improve the team. I really think another coach would do McGee better. I cannot believe he doesn't get more alley oops and shots in close. Seems to me Blatche can force a shot anytime but McGee had better not force shots under Flip. I don't see why McGee doesn't take a lot more hook shots and why he can't get a face up 10 footer every now and again.

McGee can be better, and we agree on that DCZ.

[DCZards]

I think Flip''s coaching has helped rather than limited McGee's development by sitting Javale when his play lacks discipline like it sometimes does. It's part of McGee's learning curve.

BTW, I don't think it's useful to compare McGee and Blatche. They are two different players with different skillsets.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Double post

[hands11]

It's for worse, DCZ.

Blatche has shown flashes of being really good at times, but overall, his performance is NOT good enough to win games. My only question is has Andray been injured much of the time? When Blatche is on he is really good. Overall, because of his versatility, I would characterize him as above average. However, as a volume shooter he IMO kills the team with bad, low percentage shots. Andray plays too much below the rim to be a solid finisher. He's also not a power player. I get frustrated with his game when he's not hitting the boards or defending well. Blatche is not a consistent-enough go-to scorer, but Flip uses him as one. He would be a very good sixth man or a solid starter on a team with great talent around him. On the Wizards, he's IMO a shot jacker that gets you beat. Maybe that's harsh, but that's how I see him. I fault FLIP, not Andray. Like I said, Blatche is talented.

We agree on McGee, but I will be a lot more critical of him this season if he doesn't show more consistency on offense. This season upside should be a bit more steady and poised in the paint. I would like to see his FT shooting improve.

I like McGee a lot, but as a fan, I'm open for any trades that improve the team. I really think another coach would do McGee better. I cannot believe he doesn't get more alley oops and shots in close. Seems to me Blatche can force a shot anytime but McGee had better not force shots under Flip. I don't see why McGee doesn't take a lot more hook shots and why he can't get a face up 10 footer every now and again.

McGee can be better, and we agree on that DCZ.

CCJ

I think you are framing this incorrectly. This was not a normal situation. There was tons of turnover over the last two years including ownership. They were clearing cap. Lots of young players. Holes in the roster. Injured players. I think you do best to start with a mostly clean slate. Im not saying ignore everything you have seen. I'm simply suggesting you don't weight the last few years so heavily. For Dray or Flip. I would instead start by weighing what you see this year as more important. For the first time in a long time, they will start the season will a roster they hope to end the season with. No Gil to worry about. Wall is in place and no longer a rookie asked to be the team leader. No Kirk to move. This should be a much more manageable situation for Flip.

PF was the one position on this team where there were really no options other then Dray. And he was hurt. And he was coming off a season where he finished really strong. And the team was transitioning from Gill as the leading FGA player and Dray was next in line but now Wall was added and learning the NBA. They had no Howard. No Lewis after a while. Even no Booker in the end.

I wouldn't read to much into last years numbers.

That said, what Dray does this year will matter a ton. This is what is going to define him. He should come in healthy. He should know his role. He is no longer overly young. For those that complain to many excuses have been made for Dray, I think most everyone this is the year to evaluate him more completely.

Many had high hopes for Dray last year but because of everything I mentioned, that didn't pain out.

Dray is the wild card for this team. No other player is so well positioned to establish himself. But most would be happy with simple consistency, efficiency and the basketball smarts of knowing how to mix in with this team. ie Doing what is needed when it is needed. It seemed he was getting on board with that when the season was winding down after he returned from injury.

This is the year Dray will show what he is going to be for this team. A long term starter ? A valuable bench player backing up PF and Center. A center ? Or eventually off the team. Lots to evaluate this year regarding Dray.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Fair enough, it's a new season.

Most of what I said started off in fun, just to reiterate 98% of what I said last year.

Like I said in another post, I'll come around if the Wizards and Flip show something worth being optimistic about. It is a new season. (Not even that, officially). Practices haven't started and the roster isn't set.

Of the positives I saw last season, amidst all the turnover, Booker was a pleasant surprise. Jeffers came in and performed. Crawford showed some things, good and bad, but he did hit some big shots and show he is a streaky good scorer. He and Wall seem to be on the same page. Nick Young had a good season for Nick. Still doesn't do anything but score, but he does that pretty well. McGee showed incremental improvement. The roster kind of worked its way out. Hinrich's trade got the Wizards a pick that might help the team. Lewis was a positive guy on the team. Wall was good early in the season, prior to the injuries.

I saw the good.

Bottom line though, is I still saw the record and times when the team IMO did not perform as well as it could have.

I still don't see where the team addressed issues at PF, where they needed to add a rebounder and a finisher on the low blocks, hands. Also, the team did not add shooting at all. The NUMBER ONE need on this team is shooting. Singleton I am told was a decent ACC spot up shooter, but I see him as a brick mason. Vesely appears to be nothing but a dunker. He appears to be a bad shooter.

It is a new season, but a lot will need to improve or else the win percent will be very, very similar.

[hands11]

That is where I think they are CCJ.

And that is ok. They are building. They still have evaluating to do and moves to make.

But at least the roster should be a lot more stable this year. They have lots of pieces. Now they have to see what the have.

If several player could just hit the 10 footer, that should help fill that shooting void. Hopefully players like Booker have added that. If McGee has, even better. Plus if they keep Lewis and his knee is better, he can shoot from the outside. Hopefully Wall and Craw got better.

And with that, I expect they will crash the boards better this year. First thing I think Flip will focus on with this group is defense. And with this roster he should at a min get more effort.

So while they may not have added a S Curry, they can fill that hole with several players simply adding a good mid range. What would kill this team would be Nick getting injured. They just don't have another player who is as established as he is when it comes to scoring. But they do at least have Crawford to fill in if that happens.

I kind of like the roster given where they were two years ago. It is not finished but it is defiantly a lot better. And they are positioned well for moving forward.

We will have to see how other teams in the conference fill out their rosters. It doesn't look like all that scary of the conference.

[closg00]

With all of the back-to-backs and even some 3 games per week outtings, everyone "should" be able to get minutes.

[Ruzious]

Doc, unless the agreement was written by idiots, I can't imagine they'd allow amnesty for players traded after the new CBA goes into affect. And if the Wiz do buy out Lewis, I assume it's more than likely that what they do buy him out for will count towards their cap. So, if I missed anything - which is certainly possible - I'm still missing it.

Edit - Upon further reflection... I suppose there could be a strategical reason to keep Lewis. Next year, they might want to (let's hope) make a big splash in free agency. If they buy out Lewis now, a portion of that buyout will count against next year's cap. But if they wait till next offseason and use the amnesty thingy then, they could probably increase their cap room.

Nope:

14. Amnesty

Each team permitted to waive 1 player prior to any season of the CBA
(only for contracts in place at the inception of the CBA) and have 100% of
the player’s salary removed from team salary for Cap and Tax purposes.

Salary of amnestied players included for purposes of calculating players’
agreed-upon share of BRI.

So far no limiter on post-trade amnesties. So long as the contract wasn't written after the new CBA. Truth is I can't see why they would limit it. The increases in lux tax are pretty significant, teams will be trying to burn cap overage anyway they can. If another team can help them out, great.

As Seth Meyers would say, really Doc, really? I find it hard to believe the Association wants to encourage bad contracts to be tradable commodities. The amnesty thing is there to provide relief, but It does not make sense to actually encourage teams to use fubar contracts as an advantage.

And is what you're quoting the actual CBA or an abridged version made available for discussion purposes?

I'm not saying you're definitely wrong, but I do find it hard to believe you're right.

[The Fax]

Gotta say, with the current roster we have on paper (minus Lewis and assuming we retain Young) I think it's going to be another very bad year.

I think we're gonna go 16-50, with a couple wins against older opponents who are completely exhausted.

[B-easy]

I think we're gonna go 16-50, with a couple wins against older opponents who are completely exhausted.

2 extra games a month will not make a big difference.

[doclinkin]

I find it hard to believe the Association wants to encourage bad contracts to be tradable commodities. The amnesty thing is there to provide relief, but It does not make sense to actually encourage teams to use fubar contracts as an advantage.

And is what you're quoting the actual CBA or an abridged version made available for discussion purposes?

I'm not saying you're definitely wrong, but I do find it hard to believe you're right.

'The Association' is only 15 of 29 teams that David Stern has to convince to ok the deal. There are only about 10 really big spending teams, but a number of squads who might like to fleece them of draft picks if they need an escape clause.

Teams claim to want a more level playing field, they also want to be able to duck out from past mistakes. Ugly contracts exist, teams under the old model need to escape the burden, if two teams agree to assist each other for mutual gain then I don't see why the Association's negotiating team would care. The League does just fine when the big fish do well.

The only thing working against that interest is that Stern's front office gets to pocket half of all lux tax money, disbursing the other half between the undercap teams. So if squads like the Lakers are currently $30+ million over the cap and remain at that level in the 4th year of the contract well they'd be kicking $5.25 times 30 million back to the league. (--Off the top of my head, too lazy to re-check the link. There's a kicker for every 5 million I think past the 3.25 mark).

But balanced against that, maybe that possible 'out' allows a few teams to risk the big spending. The NBA League offices would be happy to have a few teams playing chicken with the lux hatchet. There's only one champion every year, but there are generally 4 contenders who are willing to spend the big money to think they can win it. If you provide a possible safety hatch that allows them to maybe pull the lever at the last second and bail out before the payment is due, then maybe you sucker one or two who find no last-minute dance partners. Cash in.

Anyway, there are a finite number of egregious contracts. And that number will dwindle every year. I don't see it as a massive clusterfmnf if teams can trade and amnesty. In fact it seems to me that may be in part what it was designed to allow with the yearly re-up of the amnesty. IF the lux tax proves to be a serious threat, then teams need ways of pulling the rip cord. I don't see how it upsets competitive balance to let teams be mutually creative within the framework of a deal. Leastways I can see 15 of 29 owners (at both ends of the salary spectrum) thinking it might serve them well.

Yeah, this doc was obtained from the league by CBS news. They were the first with the details. I have no additional info whether it is a bare bones outline or if it has been vetted by the ninja attorneys of all NBA squads.

[hands11]

I think Flip''s coaching has helped rather than limited McGee's development by sitting Javale when his play lacks discipline like it sometimes does. It's part of McGee's learning curve.

BTW, I don't think it's useful to compare McGee and Blatche. They are two different players with different skillsets.

Almost completely opposite skill sets.

[REDardWIZskin]

This is a little off topic but reading this thread/depthchart and the comments about McGee, Blatche, KS, Vesely, and Sing make me think that maybe we should have picked Faried instead of Singleton...

[The Fax]

I think we're gonna go 16-50, with a couple wins against older opponents who are completely exhausted.

2 extra games a month will not make a big difference.

It'll probably make a difference for a team like Phoenix or San Antonio much more than Washington, Miami, Golden State, etc..

[WizStorm]

With our first preseason game this evening, is this how the roster is shaping up?

Starting Lineup:
C - JaVale McGee
PF - Andray Blatche
SF - Rashard Lewis
SG - Jordan Crawford
PG - John Wall

Reserves (Active):
C - Ronny Turiaf, Kevin Seraphin
PF - Trevor Booker
SF - Chris Singleton*, Maurice Evans
SG - [Nick Young], Roger Mason Jr.
PG - Shelvin Mack*

Reserves (Inactive):
C - Hamady N'Diaye
F - Jan Vesely*

*Rookies

[dobrojim]

except during pre-season, I don't think there is any inactive
part. They can play more than 12. Could be wrong about that
but I'm guessing that's right.

can't wait to see the team tonight

[fishercob]

I actually think that because of the compressed season, teams will be able to have 13 guys active -- at least for the early part of the season. I know I saw that somewhere...