The Wizards passed on Noel!

[dangermouse]

I'm more PO'd that we took Vesely, a guy who won't even be in the league soon, over Kawhi Leonard.

I think that Porter might not be as good as Noel in the long run, but he will still be a player.

[The Consiglieri]

This was one of the threads at the time, Noel wasn't even part of this poll.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1252608

I was absolutely furious when the Wizards passed on Noel. From that thread:

"Based off Dr Andrew's public statements and Chad Ford's inside scoop, the story is Noel's knee was fine. Dr Andrew's said that he emailed Noel's health report and said "There was no feedback from any team doctors" (outside Clev, who also reported his knee was fine). Teams passed on him simply because there were concerns about his ability to contribute this year. (according to Ford)

I posted this on the draft thread but Ford also said Washington wanted to make the playoffs this year and their draft pick was heavily influenced by this.

These comments came from the Bill Simmons podcast that was release this past Tuesday."

If this is true, its infuriating especially since the "underweight, injury concerns, nba readiness" issues actually apply to Porter

I think we can be fairly confident that this is definitively true. Our GM was trying to save his own arse at all costs, drafting Noel was only in the best long term interests of the franchise, not his interest in saving his own arse. Leonsis was interested in playoff ticket receipts, not the long term future (he's a moron when it comes to sports), both were guilty of gross negligence when it comes to running a franchise.

You would be indicted under both rules of drafting in my book:

1.) being an incompetent judge of talent: i.3. believing Porter was the best talent in the draft with the highest upside. I dont think there was any evidence to suggest that whatsoever. If people were talking highest upside in the draft in 2013, there were only a couple of players that fit that mold:

1. Nerlens Noel 2. Victor Oladipo 3. Anthony bennett 4. Alex Len 5. Michael Carter Williams 6. Giannis Adetokoubo 7. Steven Adams 8. Rudy Gobert 9. Dennis Schroeder 10. Sergey Karasev

You can shuffle these guys a bit left and right, but in terms of upside, and superstar potential, these were the guys, other than maybe the last two, that had any chance at all of reaching that level. Noel, Oladipo, Bennett, Len, Carter Williams, Adetokoubo, Adams, and Gobert in particular.

If you wanted to play it safe, you could have gone for some other guys, certainly, but these were the upside players, some had very low floors like Bennett (energy, tweener, work habits), Noel (injuries), Len (never put it together), Adetokoubo (international with scant backgroun), Gobert (just a physical specimen), Schroeder (too young) so they definitely carried risk.

2. If you are the GM of a team, you are the architect of the long term future of the franchise, you are not the coach, and as such, your job is that of a steward for the franchises future. Any GM who makes decisions based on who can play now, rather than the next 10 years should be fired immediately and run out on a rail.

Our nightmare is that we have a GM and owner in cahoots, destroying two different local teams in this fashion (the Wizards and the Caps), the Caps traded away one of the best assets they had acquired in the previous decade for a player who literally contributed nothing in his year with the team, NOTHING, a player with a top 5 evaluation, that we stole at 11th overall in the '12 draft. We packaged him a trade so bad, that many members of the board seriously threatened quitting on fandom with the team, considering how bad it was. Time has only made it worse, with many reputable sources like SI, and the CBC ranking it amongst the worst trades in the NHL since 2000. A few loyal fans supported the miserable deal, but now, even the bulk of those recognize just how awful it was. Up until that point it could have been said that virtually everything GMGM did, was done in the best long term fortunes of the team in mind, rather than his own, he may have failed, but he did operate as a true steward, but in 2013, with his job finally on the line, he caved, just as EG did ever since he has arrived, with his horrible resignings, god awful trades, and quick fix draftings. Leonsis didn't fire him for that abomination last year, because it fit with his interest, making a trade to make the playoffs for cash receipts in ticket sales, the sin that got him fired, was failing to fill those seats for the playoffs this past year, then, and only then was he canned.

It's unfortunate for us that we are saddled with an incompetent GM running the wizards into the ground for his only interests, he has now made 2 decisions entirely based on his own interests, rather than the teams in 2009, and 2013, and numerous decisions based on the owners wallet, rather than the teams interests (multiple sales of draft picks for pocket money for the owners wine cellar ). Even worse we had an owner deliberately hire an incompetent GM to give him an opportunity to have a role in the war room, well known half wit, Vinny Cerrato. It seems only Rizzo with the Nationals, is running a team based on long term interest, as draft after draft has outlined (taking risks on pitchers that will have tommy john surgery, knowing they have significantly more talent than other players available-Lucas Giolito is now considered one of the best 3 or 4 players from the 2012 draft, but he fell to the late mid-first round for the NATS because GM's didnt want to take a risk on a player who wouldn't play at all in the minors until at least a year or more after drafting).


At the end of the day the big deal about Noel to me is what it says about the franchise. It says "we aren't interested in being the best team we can possibly be, we're just interested in filling playoff ticket sales as soon as is possible".

This is what makes it nearly impossible to be a fan of this team, why should any fan continue to support a team that isn't even half as dedicated to the future as the owner, or GM, or even the players themselves. When you watch other franchises run exactly to the best possible potential of the side, say San Antonio, say Houston, say OKC, it's hard to look your team metaphorically in the mirror and honestly say to yourself, "they're working just as hard, as the Spurs, the Rockets, the Thunder, to reach the pinnacle of the NBA, and stay there as long and as consistently as possibly, or rebuild as quickly as possible," I can't see how that's so. Which is why it's getting harder and harder to support it.

[Illmatic12]

The Cavs passed on Porter.

[Kanyewest]

The Timberwolves passed on Porter too- they weren't willing to give up Kevin Love.

[Kanyewest]

The Timberwolves passed on Porter too- they weren't willing to give up Kevin Love.