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[Lottery_Mafia]

Hey guys, just looking for some feedback on the article I wrote covering the Wizards off season. I am big fan of running my articles past the fans on this forum as they are some of the most knowledgeable there are. Don't worry about being harsh, I would kind of rather that than a bunch of "yeah that's okay". Also I am not just posting for hits on the site, I have just started the site and I always try to gather as much feedback on it as possible.

If the mods don't want it then fair enough just delete it and no hard feelings

http://thelotterymafia.com/2013/09/30/o ... n-wizards/

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I think you had a lot of substance to your article. One word--"would"--is probably meant to be "one" in reference to Webster being EG's priority.

I have differing grades but opinions differ. We shall see how the season plays out.

I don't like the trade of Wolters for Rice. Character and ability side with Wolters IMO. Rice had great D-league numbers and is talented as a scorer who might rebound well for his position. Wolters had tremendous NCAA career numbers. I think he will figure out the NBA game and be like Steve Blake, Jose Calderon, and Jeremy Lin. He's going to have ups and downs but will start and be generally effective over a long NBA career. Rice IMO will be a physical talent but another non-team guy. EG has a gift for drafting players with red flags. Attitude, intelligence, maturity, don't seem factored in. Willingness to defend and adhere to team concepts for Rice are what I think won't make him worth Wolters. I could be wrong. Time will tell.

Harrington was not mentioned in your article as a free agent. He could be an impact FA or a disgruntled veteran if things go wrong. He's spurited and sounds very positive now. Wall wanted a stretch four and Al is a stretch four.

I would grade free agency a D. Blair is a really good rebounder who could have stepped in as a starter with Okafor out. No money was available thanks to EG. If Wolters were the draft pick no Maynor signing would have been necessary. Maynor was not any FA target when EG put up the BAE money to get him. Guys like Blair and Bernard James were not considered when IMO they should have been.

Otto seemed safe as the pick but I wanted Olynyk in the draft. He's a stretch four and finesse five who is a tremendous shooter and a scorer. NCAA stats were highly favorable to indicate future success had KO been the pick. He looks far better than Otto right now. What Porter does the next two years will tell. I thought the Wizards could have gone a differnt way with their draft. After summer league I am feeling more than a bit worried. C at best for their draft IMO. Noel, Zeller, Len, and Olynyk might make Otto a regrettable decision. I expect Wolters is going to be a regret. We will see.

[Lottery_Mafia]

I understand why you might disagree on the Rice Jr pick, was also a pig Wolters fan and think he would have been an upgrade over Price or Maynor. Like you said time will tell, but from what I saw of Rice Jr in summer league swayed my opinion. Great point on Harrington, for some reason I had written the paragraph but had cut it out!

So would you have wanted Olynyk at 3 in the draft? Or did you want to trade back and grab him? At the time I can't help but think 90% of Washington fans would have slaughtered Grunfeld if he made that call. It is interesting what you said about drafting players with attitude red flags, I assume you are referring to Vesley, McGee, Nick Young?

I am Curious, what are your thoughts about Grunfeld in general, are you happy with him as GM?

Final note, is the article too long? I was thinking that there was a bit too much content, it might get boring for the last third

[Nivek]

I am Curious, what are your thoughts about Grunfeld in general, are you happy with him as GM?

I'd suggest you do some reading on these message boards. This question has been answered by most of us.

As for the article, it was a solid summary of the off-season. Minor factorial thing -- they rushed out to sign Maynor on the first day of free agency. They also re-signed Temple relatively early, but it was a one-year, league minimum deal, which has no effect on anything except for Temple's bank account. They gave Maynor the BAE with a player option on a 2nd season, which a) prevented them from using the BAE to address other needs; and b) could cut into their available cap room next summer.

Also, Maynor has struggled his entire career -- before AND after his knee injury.

[barelyawake]

Most notable omissions:

Harrington - whom when last healthy (two years ago) came a few votes away from sixth man of the year. Wall and Nene, and their agent (same for all three), wanted him here.

Josh - whom I believe we will sign.

Not blowing our cap - the reason for not making a major trade for a long term piece is so that we have options to sign a star next offseason with the cap savings from Ves, Okafor, Ariza, etc... That also affected our ability to sign roleplayers to longer contracts who would then eat into our cap. The goal was to both make the post season (which would help us attract talent), and then still have the cap to buy a good player. Also having Okafor and Ariza expiring would help during the season if a player demands a trade (especially if we have demonstrated we are a playoff team with perhaps the best backcourt in the country). If we are in that position, we would become a destination city on star players' (demanding a trade) short list.

Now that Cousins has signed long term, I assume the long term thinking flips to trying to gear a team that might attract Durant. Not saying that we would put any, or all, of our eggs in that improbable basket. But, given Durant's statements and Wall's relationship with Durant, we may position ourselves to be able to take advantage if that improbable turns into possible (while also not counting on it).

Also, Wall wanted Webster here because he plays very well with Wall and Beal (see stats when all three are on the court).

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I understand why you might disagree on the Rice Jr pick, was also a pig Wolters fan and think he would have been an upgrade over Price or Maynor. Like you said time will tell, but from what I saw of Rice Jr in summer league swayed my opinion. Great point on Harrington, for some reason I had written the paragraph but had cut it out!

So would you have wanted Olynyk at 3 in the draft? Or did you want to trade back and grab him? At the time I can't help but think 90% of Washington fans would have slaughtered Grunfeld if he made that call. It is interesting what you said about drafting players with attitude red flags, I assume you are referring to Vesley, McGee, Nick Young?

I am Curious, what are your thoughts about Grunfeld in general, are you happy with him as GM?

Final note, is the article too long? I was thinking that there was a bit too much content, it might get boring for the last third

I thought KO was worth the three but certainly would have traded down to get him. Minnesota has Flip Saunders in their front office. I would have tried to trade Vesely and the three to get Derrick Williams and IIRC the 9th pick. Phoenix had a pick they used for Len, and I would have traded down with them. I remember thinking Channing Frye is probably going to play again and he's a stretch four who can play five. I would have traded down with Phoenix, used their pick to grab Olynyk, and gotten veteran help if possible. Another option was to trade down with Milwaukee. I wanted John Henson before he destroyed summer league. This board was unanimously (almost) high on Ilyasova. There were trade down scenarios galore possible with Milwaukee.

Lottery_Mafia, I posted before the draft Otto's not the way I would draft. I would TRADE DOWN FOR OLYNYK. I was sure before the draft that's what I would do. I felt like Cody Zeller might be better than Kelly Olynyk. Zeller at three would have been something I did, probably, before Otto. Zeller hitting perimeter shots and playing the four swayed me right at draft time. ALSO, I thought about Alex Len. But honestly, I was RELIEVED AT OTTO and not Alex on draft night. Len was too low motor and his feet bothered me. That said, in the back of my mind I thought Len's potential is sky high. He's BETTER than Kelly Olynyk was when KO was the same age as Alex. Otto Porter being young, having a frame I know will fill out in time, having GREAT CHARACTER, being a WELL ROUNDED PLAYER, and him also being a Georgetown guy made me think he was safe as the pick. I think Beal being so successful and from Missouri, and him knowing Otto, also made me like the Porter pick enough to not be upset on draft night.

One thing: I had NO CLUE Nerlens Noel would be on the board draft night. No way would have have passed on him. I would have taken the risk. I don't like that the ACL was hurt in HS, but look at RGIII. Knee surgeries are getting so much more successful. I would have gotten much medical info on Noel. He would have been the pick because of his Bill Russell/Alonzo Mourning game at a very, very young age.

Sorry for the rant on Olynyk. Would have been my pick in a trade down.

My feelings on EG: Hey, I'm a Christian. I'm trying hard not to lose my religion. Life is tough enough. Got to stay classy and dignified. I also should not judge. But SINCE YOU ASKED ...

NO. Have hated him as GM for some time. I think he sold out Gilbert. I think Eddie Jordan got fired after EJ had many, many players injured and several turkeys drafted. Coach EJ at 1-11, just after making playoffs that were sabotaged by Gilbert's injury and in-and-out status and yet another loss to Lebron and Cleveland was not fair IMO. EJ was the pariah and scapegoat of the board. Ernie was also culpable but he's STILL GOT HIS JOB!!!

I think EG being a NY schoolboy legend, a former Knicks GM, and him being a Romanian immigrant are all factors that endear him to our owner, Ted Leonsis. They have to be pretty kindred spirits. The owner is a Greek immigrant from New York. He's probably revered EG for some time. The Knicks did make the Finals and they had some good players and good coaching. What I have noticed is that Ernie Grunfeld under Ted's watch has done much better than he did under the latter days of Abe Pollin. Almost every move EG made last season ended up a best case scenario. Okafor and Ariza for Lewis was a move I hated that really worked out. (Opportunity cost, as nate33 posted about a while back, was such many other moves were possible besides the trade). Okafor and Ariza had good seasons, their best in many years. Temple and Price I thought were very solid.

But still, I recall the Flip Saunders years and all the EG drafts. Grunfeld isn't creative to my liking. I think he's great at pleasing his boss. If Leonsis wanted to run it like a business, trading Gilbert for Rashard Lewis was a great move. One less contract season. Ted had to be overjoyed to get two players for Lewis. He's got to be happy with EG on those moves. Ted grew to despise Javale/Pam McGee if I recall his comments about selfish players or players playing for stats correctly. Or was he talking about Blatche? The thing is, those were guys EG loved. Flip loved Blatche at first. But like Ernie, they will run a guy over with the bus and back the bus up over him when things go sour. That speech EG gave before Gilbert ever went on trial is something I lost all respect for him for doing. No due process. They called DC Metro Police on their own. They distanced themselves in outrage from a guy who kept their venues sold out earlier. Antawn Jamison smiled at Gil's pistol gesture but the GM past ownership acted as if their reputations had been impugned by Al Capone. AND THEN LATER ON WE SEE ABOUT CRITTENTON. Another dude EG brought in a while back. GM takes credit for good but he jettisons the bad without manning up.

I think Ted might be the same way I perceive EG to be (I don't know the man and who am I to judge?) since they seem so tight. But I really love the way the owner got in shape. Ted seems affable. Seems intent to win. I think maybe he's a good dude. He certainly articulates a great vision for the Wizards. Definitely had a good season last year. I like the players they have for the most part. I think Wittman's a coach who will prove to be a winner with talent (finally). But EG and Ted don't swing for the fences the way I'd like.

I've suggested draft picks for years that I think have been far better than what EG and his scouting staff have done.

Lottery_Mafia, yes. You're right about the assumption and players above. To me, you should love your family even if they're jacked up, dysfunctional, broken toys. The Wizards run down players but never seem to have compassion in the end when guys don't work out. Also, EG's been the guy bringing in the players. I wish all the players well. I WANT EG and Ted to have great success because I've been a Wizards fan since 1972. At the same time I could be happy for any other owner or GM if they ran the Wizards.

[Lottery_Mafia]

Thats some great insight you have there, really interesting to hear it from a Wizards fan. Your obviously passionate and knowledgeable about your team, I will have to come back and speak to you in the future when writing other Wizards articles!