FAH1223 wrote:http://www.truthaboutit.net/2013/03/how-to-alienate-players-and-lose-a-lot-of-games-the-washington-wizards-way.html#more-27917
A harsh and (to me) very accurate summary of what is wrong with the Wizards, encompassing (as far as I can see) most or all of the criticisms frequently voiced on this board. Compare EG to the following:
Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey is a good example of a team builder who knows when to deal, and while any individual trade made by Morey may not be impressive, the incremental improvement of both the assets of the team, and the team itself, shows how seemingly low-value players or picks can eventually be flipped into meaningful contributors.
This article quotes an SI article that follows Houston's progressive trades of Rafer Alston, Aaron Brooks, and Kyle Lowry, which not only made them better on court, but gave them a 1st round pick that was key to acquiring Harden. Contrast that to the following:
It is easy to label Crawford, McGee, Young, Blatche, and even Arenas as players who “didn’t fit” or more perniciously, “didn’t want to be here.” One has to wonder, though, whether these labels are appropriate, or whether they are a product of an organization scrambling to explain a series of failed projects, projects that were once propped up as pieces of a legitimate basketball product. Players have a vested interest in success. It translates, in the NBA, almost directly to salary increases. Players don’t start out as “bad fits” or as malcontents within an organization. If they did, they wouldn’t be acquired.
The Wizards either pick wrong, or are repeatedly incapable of developing or motivating players much beyond what they arrived with, or both, and the way they handle such players (erratic playing time, public throw-them-under-the-bus criticism, waiting too long to decide to deal them) does nothing to enhance their trade value. Something is seriously wrong when the influx of talent--McGee, Young, Blatche, and now probably a whole new generation of picks--keeps leaving DC, having accomplished nothing, and with nothing to show for it.