If you took over as GM today, what would you do?

[nate33]

1. Move Wall for a lottery pick this year
.

That would be a total reboot of the roster. Meaning were looking at being bad for a while in the hopes of getting a Wall-type of talent again. I don't think Wall is the problem. I don't think Wall's contract is all that prohibitive, especially if you let Gortat/Ariza expire and deal Nene. You get a solid frontcourt piece in next year's draft to go with Wall, Beal & Porter and you've got a real solid foundation to build around. I don't think a total reboot is necessary.

I tend to agree. Wall is still a good player, even if he never turns out to be the superstar that we want him to be (and that he will be paid to be). He is also still very young. There wouldn't be all that much benefit in trading him unless we got back a very high pick in the process. And I don't think teams will be giving us a top 5 pick for a guy who has been moderately disappointing and is due to be paid $80M over the next 5 years.

[verbal8]

Tank, tank, tank. Fire Witt & Cassell (I don't think he's competent), replace Witt the former Spurs assistant. Dump Gortat, Nene & Ariza for future assets and expirings. Outside of Wall, Beal & Porter, everyone else is on the roster is viewed as filler.

Yup. The only thing I would add is that I would be judicious about when to deal the vets. I'd try and trade them at their peaks. For example, Nene is currently healthy and posting a PER in the neighborhood of 18. He has been our most reliable player. If there's a time to sell high, it's now.

Definitely now is the time to sell high with Nene.

Ariza, on the other hand, is hurt. Webster hasn't started long enough to establish himself either.

I think the value in dealing Ariza would likely be getting a bad player on a 2 year deal and a pick. I think healthy he has some value more than Vesley and Singleton. He also might increase his value if he was willing to do an extension as part of this trade.

Gortat is an interesting case. He has been a real good player in the past, but only mediocre as a Wizard. I think it's fair to say that he's not used to the system here, and the coaching staff haven't sufficiently adapted the system to suit his skills. My guess is that he'll play better as the season wears on, which should make him more valuable. Of course, as an expiring contract, his value is going to naturally drop as time goes on, so I'm not really sure when he'll be at his peak. Whatever the case, it is likely that we won't get back the late lotto pick we gave up to acquire him. It'll probably be a mid first rounder.

One way to increase Gortat's value would be to package him with Booker. I think that adds a lot of front court depth and would make a team consider parting with a 1st round pick, which they may not do for either player separately.

One things about picks is it might be easier to target 2015 1st rather than 2014 which teams will only be likely to deal with very heavy protection - even EG added top 12 protection to the Wizards trade.

[nate33]

Why do we hate Wall so much? He's one of the best point guards in the NBA at generating points off of assists, plus he plays disruptive defense.

Outside of last March, Wall has been a pretty ordinary player. In general, his high turnovers and bad shooting outweigh his assists generated. And he's not THAT great of a defender either. He has definitely made some highlight plays in help defense, but his man-to-man defense at the point of attack isn't particularly impressive.

I want to reiterate that I don't think Wall sucks or anything. He's a solid starter. But if his play so far this season is any indication, he doesn't look like he's improving that much going forward. It could just be the injury, but I'm starting to have my doubts that he will ever be a top 25 player in this league.

[Jay81]

Why do we hate Wall so much? He's one of the best point guards in the NBA at generating points off of assists, plus he plays disruptive defense.

Outside of last March, Wall has been a pretty ordinary player. In general, his high turnovers and bad shooting outweigh his assists generated. And he's not THAT great of a defender either. He has definitely made some highlight plays in help defense, but his man-to-man defense at the point of attack isn't particularly impressive.

I want to reiterate that I don't think Wall sucks or anything. He's a solid starter. But if his play so far this season is any indication, he doesn't look like he's improving that much going forward. It could just be the injury, but I'm starting to have my doubts that he will ever be a top 25 player in this league.

Funny how people say this is the best time to move someone. When has Ernie ever moved someone when their value was high? #jordancrawford

[verbal8]

I want to reiterate that I don't think Wall sucks or anything. He's a solid starter. But if his play so far this season is any indication, he doesn't look like he's improving that much going forward. It could just be the injury, but I'm starting to have my doubts that he will ever be a top 25 player in this league.

He is currently 26th(with the 2 other max extensions) in salary for 2014-5 next year. Gasol will get more than Wall's salary next year. Monroe will be tied with him and Kobe may get more, but Wall will still be in the top 30 salaries.

I agree with the assessment that Wall isn't terrible but also isn't looking like a superstar, other that for a few months last season.

[AFM]

This team has one of the worst non basketball team names in the history of sports. What h*ll do wizards have anything to do with basketball?

there is not one part of being a wizard that relates to athleticism, aggression, hardwork, and hustle. teh image of wizard is a slacker, sits around all day creating spells,--

I would immediately change the name as my first agenda if I were Ted. He wonders why his basketball team has no identity.

There is no such thing as a YOUNG wizard. They are old, complaining, elitist, there is absolutely, the only people who can relate to wizards are harry potter fans. The team mascot identity heavily influences the psyche of the team.

Ted is faced with the almost insurmountable task of reinventing the definition of a wizard to help support his basketball identity. No one in DC cares about a wizard. It not part of the community, and its not part of tradition. The only reason you chose wizards is because it starts with a W. That was the worse decision Abe ever made and something Ted should have immediately changed along with the uniforms.

Again, TED immediately changed the name to something that creates an image of a winner. Create a team name that makes your players live up to the identity of the team.

Lakers---they have over 5 decades of success. What in the world is laker. you think of magic johnson, or all the championships they won. Celtics....they have an image of a fighting leprachaun......that's the image of the team. You have cavalier...a guy on a horse...not that great but at least its a fighter...you have pacers....race car.... that translates into running... you have pistons...running horse... you have hawks....predator...aggressive.....you have bobcats....crappy but at least its slightly aggressive....you have Heat....everyone relates to the heat...or being hot because of Miami...

you got the bucks...aggressive deer....then you got the knicks....what in the world is a knick...you just think madison square garden and long history.... 76ers....you think of Dr. J and the afro's...toronto raptors....agressive deadly dinosaurs...then you got the Magic...---that's has to be one of the least aggressive names with absolutely no connection to basketball...then you have the wizards....second worst non aggressive name in basketball.

Then you have western conference....grizzlies...bear...fits gasol and dbo greatly, spurs...san antonio...makes sense---wiley aggressive cowboys....portland trailblazers....trailblazers..is connected to oregon past...makes sense...Golden state warriors...again aggressive...New Orleans...smart...changed their name from pelicans...they want to be fast and fly and its state bird....Houston rockets...explosive....Utah Jazz....music....not that aggressive....but the team is built on rhythm....minnesota timberwolves...aggressive...oklahoma thunder....bang aggressive....sacramento kings....kings...translates to being on top...get it...dallas mavericks...someone who doesn't follow customs or rules...Mark Cuban trying to establish his team identity by always trying to break the rules...i get it....
How is TEd going to fix the image of Wizard....If the GM is well know for motion camera statistics....and becomes the face of the organization for being a wizard with NBA STATISTICS.....THAT MAKES SENSE.

Ted pushing forth a public campaign to re image the washington wizards into an organization that are a collecton of WIZARDS with INFORMATION.

that makes sense. BUT TED has YET to DO. Make it a culture that the entire organization are WIZARDS of INFORMATION. IF it's not information like stats, somebody in the organization needs to be branded as a WIZARD of something. Wizard like plays...meaning brilliant plays...

There is absolutely nothing about this orgnanization that suggest WIZARD....or high mastery of a particular area. TED needs to change the name to a name that motivates his team each game with an identity that he forces them to live up to. The leader of this team is far from the image of a wizard.---john wall is a wizard at what?....running fast in a straight line with the basketball. Beal is a wizard at what? shooting the basketball ?....Wittman is a wizard at what offense? Defense coaching? TED you need to quickly find something in this organization that everyone can point to as being a wizard...or you need to change the team name that creates motivation each game for the team.

Michael JOrdan...a bull----aggressive, stout, always charging, tough.....awesome team name---he worked to live up to image of a bull. Every time he saw his team logo, it reminded him of how he should be as a player. That's what you need for this team LEONSIS.

Can't believe no one commented on this post. This is probably the funniest post I've ever read on this site.

"there is not one part of being a wizard that relates to athleticism, aggression, hardwork, and hustle. teh image of wizard is a slacker, sits around all day creating spells,--"

[Dat2U]

But if his play so far this season is any indication, he doesn't look like he's improving that much going forward. It could just be the injury, but I'm starting to have my doubts that he will ever be a top 25 player in this league.

If he's still having to wear heating pads laying flat on his back when he's not in the game then it's probably just the injury. He was doing pretty well up until the injury occurred.

[thricethefun]

1. Move Wall for a lottery pick this year
.

That would be a total reboot of the roster. Meaning were looking at being bad for a while in the hopes of getting a Wall-type of talent again. I don't think Wall is the problem. I don't think Wall's contract is all that prohibitive, especially if you let Gortat/Ariza expire and deal Nene. You get a solid frontcourt piece in next year's draft to go with Wall, Beal & Porter and you've got a real solid foundation to build around. I don't think a total reboot is necessary.

It wouldn't really be a total reboot, our core would still be Beal, Porter, and then 2 picks from this years draft which we would have a lot of options with. It boils down to the fact that I think Exum and Smart are better prospects than Wall and that I dislike Wall's contract. I think Wall is a pretty good player and close to a top 10 point guard but don't think he will become much more. I think a core of Wiggins/Parker/Randle/Embiid, Exum/Smart/Harrison, future star free agent, Beal, and Porter would turn into a true contender which is not something I could say with Wall.

[Dat2U]

1. Move Wall for a lottery pick this year
.

That would be a total reboot of the roster. Meaning were looking at being bad for a while in the hopes of getting a Wall-type of talent again. I don't think Wall is the problem. I don't think Wall's contract is all that prohibitive, especially if you let Gortat/Ariza expire and deal Nene. You get a solid frontcourt piece in next year's draft to go with Wall, Beal & Porter and you've got a real solid foundation to build around. I don't think a total reboot is necessary.

It wouldn't really be a total reboot, our core would still be Beal, Porter, and then 2 picks from this years draft which we would have a lot of options with. It boils down to the fact that I think Exum and Smart are better prospects than Wall and that I dislike Wall's contract. I think Wall is a pretty good player and close to a top 10 point guard but don't think he will become much more. I think a core of Wiggins/Parker/Randle/Embiid, Exum/Smart/Harrison, future star free agent, Beal, and Porter would turn into a true contender which is not something I could say with Wall.

Sure whatever... it's a moot point anyways. No rebuilding team is giving up a top 4 or 5 pick to pay Wall the max unless Wall has a repeat of what he did after the all-star break last year. In which case you'd probably want to keep him.

[montestewart]

This team has one of the worst non basketball team names in the history of sports. What h*ll do wizards have anything to do with basketball?

there is not one part of being a wizard that relates to athleticism, aggression, hardwork, and hustle. teh image of wizard is a slacker, sits around all day creating spells,--

I would immediately change the name as my first agenda if I were Ted. He wonders why his basketball team has no identity.

There is no such thing as a YOUNG wizard. They are old, complaining, elitist, there is absolutely, the only people who can relate to wizards are harry potter fans. The team mascot identity heavily influences the psyche of the team.

Ted is faced with the almost insurmountable task of reinventing the definition of a wizard to help support his basketball identity. No one in DC cares about a wizard. It not part of the community, and its not part of tradition. The only reason you chose wizards is because it starts with a W. That was the worse decision Abe ever made and something Ted should have immediately changed along with the uniforms.

Again, TED immediately changed the name to something that creates an image of a winner. Create a team name that makes your players live up to the identity of the team.

Lakers---they have over 5 decades of success. What in the world is laker. you think of magic johnson, or all the championships they won. Celtics....they have an image of a fighting leprachaun......that's the image of the team. You have cavalier...a guy on a horse...not that great but at least its a fighter...you have pacers....race car.... that translates into running... you have pistons...running horse... you have hawks....predator...aggressive.....you have bobcats....crappy but at least its slightly aggressive....you have Heat....everyone relates to the heat...or being hot because of Miami...

you got the bucks...aggressive deer....then you got the knicks....what in the world is a knick...you just think madison square garden and long history.... 76ers....you think of Dr. J and the afro's...toronto raptors....agressive deadly dinosaurs...then you got the Magic...---that's has to be one of the least aggressive names with absolutely no connection to basketball...then you have the wizards....second worst non aggressive name in basketball.

Then you have western conference....grizzlies...bear...fits gasol and dbo greatly, spurs...san antonio...makes sense---wiley aggressive cowboys....portland trailblazers....trailblazers..is connected to oregon past...makes sense...Golden state warriors...again aggressive...New Orleans...smart...changed their name from pelicans...they want to be fast and fly and its state bird....Houston rockets...explosive....Utah Jazz....music....not that aggressive....but the team is built on rhythm....minnesota timberwolves...aggressive...oklahoma thunder....bang aggressive....sacramento kings....kings...translates to being on top...get it...dallas mavericks...someone who doesn't follow customs or rules...Mark Cuban trying to establish his team identity by always trying to break the rules...i get it....
How is TEd going to fix the image of Wizard....If the GM is well know for motion camera statistics....and becomes the face of the organization for being a wizard with NBA STATISTICS.....THAT MAKES SENSE.

Ted pushing forth a public campaign to re image the washington wizards into an organization that are a collecton of WIZARDS with INFORMATION.

that makes sense. BUT TED has YET to DO. Make it a culture that the entire organization are WIZARDS of INFORMATION. IF it's not information like stats, somebody in the organization needs to be branded as a WIZARD of something. Wizard like plays...meaning brilliant plays...

There is absolutely nothing about this orgnanization that suggest WIZARD....or high mastery of a particular area. TED needs to change the name to a name that motivates his team each game with an identity that he forces them to live up to. The leader of this team is far from the image of a wizard.---john wall is a wizard at what?....running fast in a straight line with the basketball. Beal is a wizard at what? shooting the basketball ?....Wittman is a wizard at what offense? Defense coaching? TED you need to quickly find something in this organization that everyone can point to as being a wizard...or you need to change the team name that creates motivation each game for the team.

Michael JOrdan...a bull----aggressive, stout, always charging, tough.....awesome team name---he worked to live up to image of a bull. Every time he saw his team logo, it reminded him of how he should be as a player. That's what you need for this team LEONSIS.

WizD, you called it. Wizard somehow encompasses both old/out of shape and juvenile/immature. Bald with pimples. That team ain't winning ****!

[Nivek]

If I was GM, my first move would be to hire WizD to the position of President of Naming Stuff.

[tontoz]

After all the F'ups over the last few years it is hard to tell where to go from here. So many of EG's moves were obvious mistakes at the time but now we are so far down the road I am not even sure what to do. There isn't going to be an easy fix to this mess.

The first step though is obviously canning the clown responsible.

[tontoz]

WizD, i would leave the name alone for awhile since we need a wizard to get out of this mess. We wouldn't want to offend possible cadidates.

[Dat2U]

After all the F'ups over the last few years it is hard to tell where to go from here. So many of EG's moves were obvious mistakes at the time but now we are so far down the road I am not even sure what to do. There isn't going to be an easy fix to this mess.

The first step though is obviously canning the clown responsible.

Yep, I really wish we could do a redo on that Gortat trade.

[AFM]

"john wall is a wizard at what?....running fast in a straight line with the basketball."



"Utah Jazz....music....not that aggressive....but the team is built on rhythm"



"Michael JOrdan...a bull----aggressive, stout, always charging, tough.....awesome team name---he worked to live up to image of a bull. Every time he saw his team logo, it reminded him of how he should be as a player."

[pancakes3]

Lest we forget the hyper-aggressive bobcats, wildly aggressive nuggets mined with Dynamite (BOOM), and the Sun - most aggressive celestial body in our neighborhood sustained entirely with nuclear blasts.

[tontoz]

Theoretically this team should have been unstoppable as the Bullets. Only Superman could stop a bullet.

[Nivek]

Also the really annoying Hornets.

[Hypnotizer]

Theoretically this team should have been unstoppable as the Bullets. Only Superman could stop a bullet.

And Neo.
Washington Matrix, sounds good?

[montestewart]

Again, WizD really identified a centerpiece of this sad team's problems. In a league filled with teams sporting aggressive, tough sounding names, "Wizards" stands out like a refugee from some other league, filled with teams like the High Steppers, the Mighty Mites, and the Dashing Divas.

I've hated that name since it first appeared on the ballot of that "contest" (one of the most patently rigged contests I've seen...not one decent name on the ballot) but today, WizD, you've crystallized just how much of a lame, loser name it is. They might as well just call themselves the Milk Mustaches or the Fudge Bowls or something.