Washington Wizards: The best roster in the East?

[basketballRob]

My top 5.

Cavs
Magic
Hornets
Pistons
Heat

[Liver_Pooty]

They are easily number two to the Cavs depending on how big of a leap Wall makes.

[defhalotones]

Top 5, IMO.

Bulls
Cavaliers
Wizards
Raptors
Hawks

again, why no Hornets?

Don't get me wrong, I love what Charlotte is doing, but I don't think they have enough depth or shooters to be considered a top 5 "roster." It's one of the reasons why I don't like these type of threads. Rarely does the best team on paper have the best team. The Hornets, however, are building a great identity; a potentially elite defensive team. Baring injuries, I definitely think they will finish with a top 4 or 5 record in the East.

[hands11]

Let's see here, last year Bulls won 48 games and the Wizards 44. Bulls added Rose, Gasol, McDermott, Mirotic and Brooks. Wizards added Pierce.

The Bulls have already had the #1 seed with the same core, while Washington not so much. Arguing the Cavs roster with Love is one thing, this is just

No reason to twist what people are saying here.

Wizards added PP ? No, they are adding

PP ( 1st round HOF induction, closer, super smart, clutch and can also play S4 )
Otto ( mostly didn't play last year because of injury and the playoff chase but a great young prospect. )
Humphries ( a solid energy vet PF/C to spell what Nene does ) huge upgrade over Booker.
D Blair ( a legit PF/C strong big ) reliable. Huge upgrade over Kevin S who they still have.
Glen Rice ( a down grade to a proven Webster who but with driving skills. And they still have Webster )
Miller to start the year ( team hasnt had a legit back up PG is forever )
Wall and Beal and the team with 2nd round playoff experience. ( Both are still developing)
Gooden as a S4 and S5 returning to start with the team instead of being added.
And a coach that learned a lot last year that is in the mold of a Thibs

They lost
TA - spot up 3 ball shooter with no handles to drive and elite man defender.
Booker - situational PF. Terrible against 1/2 his match ups defensively. Mid range shooter rebounder.
Al Harrington - old and injured but could drive and had vet experience added mid year.
Ves - a long athletic rebounder, dunk finisher, passer, steals who can't shot a FT or a mid range yet.

Only name of mention is TA and if you don't follow the Wizards, you might not realize how much Wall makes these spot up shooters shine. He did it for Webster the year before. PP/Otto are a better combo then TA.

What they gained in PP is a HOF vet intelligent player to teach Otto. Game closing clutch scoring and ball handing. Otto is a Trevor A clone except he can dribble and has a sick mid range game. Otto Porter will develop faster the TA did. And he has more upside. Otto is a legit piece.

PP, Otto, Webster and Glen Rice Jr is tones better then TA and injured Webster, injured Glen rookie.

Humphries, and D Blair is a ton better then Booker and AH.

Talent and experience, they Wizards will be a lot better then last year.

And when you look at them as a team, playoff experience, vet knowledge and upside of Wall, Beal and Otto, they are a notch above TOR for #3 and solidly in the WIZ, MIA, TOR group.

If things break right for them and not for CLE, they will be better the CLE.
Count me as someone that thinks Rose will play 75 games this year so CHI is clearly ahead of them.

CHA, ATL, BRK is the next teir

CHI, CLE
WIZ, MIA, TOR
BRK, CHA, ATL, IND
DET, NY
BOS, MIL, ORL
PHI

I think it break down about like this. So sure, WIZ could be #3 or #5

Ask a TOR fan. Would they rather play last years Wizards or this up coming years Wizards ?

[defhalotones]

^^^
Yeah, but they lost Jan Vesley

[LloydFree]

My top 5.

Cavs
Magic
Hornets
Pistons
Heat

There is no emoticon for look of derision and exhaustion.
Sigh.

[WVSArtist]

If they had prime Pierce

[nuposse04]

My top 5.

Cavs
Magic
Hornets
Pistons
Heat

Its fine if you think the wiz finish 6th, which is plausible, but to say the Magic and Pistons will be better then them makes me wonder what in the **** kind of glue did you sniff this morning. How can you at least not have th Bulls and Raptors in your top 5, not to mention ATL.

[Detective]

My top 5.

Cavs
Magic
Hornets
Pistons
Heat

You're totally wrong here but that's none of my business.

[hands11]

My top 5.

Cavs
Magic
Hornets
Pistons
Heat

Its fine if you think the wiz finish 6th, which is plausible, but to say the Magic and Pistons will be better then them makes me wonder what in the **** kind of glue did you sniff this morning. How can you at least not have th Bulls and Raptors in your top 5, not to mention ATL.

You got trolled and you took it bait line and sinker.

[CodyB_]

I really don't see how Chicago has a better roster than Washington. Better coached? Yeah, by a mile. But not better roster. Washington has a better backcourt, and the Bulls are better and deeper at 4 and 5. At best, they are equal.

Wall > Rose
Beal > Butler
Pierce > Dunlevy
Nene < Gasol
Gortat < Noah

You're forgetting about the coach man, the coach!

Thibs system pretty much makes every bulls player > Wiz player.

[LloydFree]

There are 3 relevant teams in the Eastern Conference: Miami, Chicago, Cleveland

Washington has a decent chance at the 4 seed now but the drop off from 3 to 4 is steep.

The original point was not what seed each team will have, it was comparing the rosters. I can envision Washington being the 4th seed, due to the coaching advantage that Chicago and Miami have and Lebron James dragging that Cleveland roster to the #1 seed. I just think the talent and balance on the roster is as good (or better) as the other teams.

Even with that qualifier, i would disagree with your assessment. The advantage Washington has is that Wall and Nene can be huge difference makers when they are healthy and clicking. But I am not sold on Beal and Pierce to me is going to be a non-factor this year as he declines further. I also question their depth, considering their impact players all have long histories of missed playing time.

I think Otto Porter is going to be a lot better this year, than he showed last year. I don't know that Pierce will have to be that good this year. I don't think they really have to rely on Pierce, with Webster and Porter there.
Its funny, people are assuming that Anthony Bennett will be a lot better based on what they saw in SL, but Otto Porter isn't getting similar benefit.

[hands11]

I really don't see how Chicago has a better roster than Washington. Better coached? Yeah, by a mile. But not better roster. Washington has a better backcourt, and the Bulls are better and deeper at 4 and 5. At best, they are equal.

Wall > Rose
Beal > Butler
Pierce > Dunlevy
Nene < Gasol
Gortat < Noah

You're forgetting about the coach man, the coach!

Thibs system pretty much makes every bulls player > Wiz player.

Thibs got out coached by Randy in the playoffs.

Randy is also a defensive coach. Wizards are a system team as well.

I don't see the coaching advantage you see. History says there is. But history is a lagging indicator.

There was no coaching advantage for CHI in the Wiz vs CHI series.

[LloydFree]

I really don't see how Chicago has a better roster than Washington. Better coached? Yeah, by a mile. But not better roster. Washington has a better backcourt, and the Bulls are better and deeper at 4 and 5. At best, they are equal.

Wall > Rose
Beal > Butler
Pierce > Dunlevy
Nene < Gasol
Gortat < Noah

You're forgetting about the coach man, the coach!

Thibs system pretty much makes every bulls player > Wiz player.

Thib's system didn't make Noah or Taj Gibson better than Nene and Gortat in the playoffs.

[Tetlak]

The annual end of offseason overrate young teams in comparison to a proven #1 seed/ECF team.

[HotelVitale]

This is one of the most boring, one-sided threads I've ever read on here. OP starts off with a controversial statement without any solid argument for why that's the case. CHI fans make dull exaggerated claims for their guys and WAS fans do the exact same. It somehow becomes irrelevant that Paul Pierce and Gasol are old or that no one really knows how Mirotic or McDermott will perform, and every fan pretends they know exactly how good Rose will be this year (and it's always either awful or dominant).

Future OPs: if you want to make a topic, either base it on a comprehensive argument or a new way of looking at an old issue. There are so many variables to a topic like this that you need to provide a framework for it not to devolve into a bunch of bad, short-sighted, anecdotal points that make no effort at taking into account the whole. (END OF RANT).

[LloydFree]

The annual end of offseason overrate young teams in comparison to a proven #1 seed/ECF team.

But the proven #1 seed, veteran team, has only got out of the 1st round one (1) time in 15 years.

[CodyB_]

I really don't see how Chicago has a better roster than Washington. Better coached? Yeah, by a mile. But not better roster. Washington has a better backcourt, and the Bulls are better and deeper at 4 and 5. At best, they are equal.

Wall > Rose
Beal > Butler
Pierce > Dunlevy
Nene < Gasol
Gortat < Noah

You're forgetting about the coach man, the coach!

Thibs system pretty much makes every bulls player > Wiz player.

Thib's system didn't make Noah or Taj Gibson better than Nene and Gortat in the playoffs.

The Wizards look good.

But in play that is conducive to winning basketball, the Bulls may have an edge.

They have rid themselves of Boozer and now have a front court rotation of Gasol, Noah and Gibson.

They have Jimmie Butler who is right now a 3 & D type player but is an excellent fit next to...

THE X FACTOR, D-Rose who if he can be productive this season is going to elevate the team to contender status along with...

Thibs who is an excellent coach that does get the most out of his players in any situation.



In regards to WIZ, Nene and Pierce are both unknown quantities at the moment. Nene usually follows up flashes of brilliance (I honestly thought he was going to be great in Denver) with ****. Paul Pierce still has game but is starting to look damn old.

Beal and Wall are talented but they are a small back court and not overly efficient. Nor are they that consistent defensively.

The Wizards have a good chance of being better than Bulls if Rose doesn't pan out. If Rose maintains consistent play, the bulls have the edge.

[coldfish]

Nene does have active hands. True. So does Noah. So that's kind of a wash don't you think. If you called Nene for it, you would be calling Noah for it as well.

As for the refs. I have to disagree. I was and its wasn't just because it was against the Wizards. I see the same type of thing in games when the Wizards aren't on the other side. Refs can have a huge impact sometimes and CHI ( mostly Noah ) was getting away with a lot.

I would consed Nene probably fouled Noah on that one play at the top of the key where he stole it and started a fast break. He got him with the body.

But what Noah does is not drifting when he sets those picks. He literately runs out to set the pick ( I called that flashing ) and runs into the player he is screening. Or he runs out and throw his feet or hip into them. When he does it with is feet its a trip. Most players setting a pick are standing there waiting for the pick to be used and through this hip out if the offensive player doesn't cut close enough. Like KG does. The Noah pick is something completely different and if the refs ever started to call it, he would be a lot less effective.

A reason is, he can play back and zone defense and just flair out at the last second. He can do this because he is mobile. But if he needed to get on earlier to get set to set the pick, that would open up the floor a lot for other teams offenses. This would have a huge impact on what Thibs does defensively.

Have you ever seen KG play a game? If that was called by the book, either:
- Players wouldn't do it
or
- Guys like KG wouldn't last more than a few minutes

You are drastically overstating Noah's cheating on screens. KG is worse.

The difference between Noah and Nene's active hands was that Chicago was using Noah as their point guard. Normally Nene isn't reaching in all the time at the top of the key against the other team's point. Noah does not do what Nene was doing.

Regardless, you are making a mountain out of a molehill. The Wiz outplayed the Bulls. No one is arguing any different. If you want to go back and forth we can but I don't see the point.

[TDotsfinest97]

Wizards' frontcourt is great. They have one of the best backourts in the league. The roster looks deep, I personally think it is a top 3 roster in the East of course. Is it the best? I don't know,maybe too early to tell. But,but,but It's a bold prediction I know but I wouldn't be surprised if the Cavs,Bulls and maybe the Wizards don't live up to the expectations. They all could be in the 5th-8th group.

For the Cavs, the reason is simple, it's a period of transition(from being a 33-49 team to making the playoffs). For the Bulls, there are too many what ifs(Rose,Gasol). For the Wizards, how will the young players contribute coming off the bench,will Pierce fill Ariza's role.

I might sound like a homer, but the Raptors didn't do much this offseason,same with the Hawks and this could be at their advantage. The Wizards look good on paper of course, but to me there are top 5 established teams in the East even with LeBron with the Cavs, even with Derrick Rose back, even with Lance with the Hornets, whatever, there are no top 5 established rosters in the East. If you want me tell you who's got the best roster in the East, it's the Raptors and the reason is obvious.