ESPN ranks NBA Front Offices (Wizards are #21)

[FAH1223]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12541 ... nbaTwitter

[Dark Faze]

I hate that list. We should be further down. The Lakers don't deserve to be anywhere near the bottom. They are just in a rebuilding phase.

[LyricalRico]

Trending upwards from last time IIRC. Same with the power rankings: http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings

[TGW]

Sounds about right.

[AFM]

Sounds incredibly generous

Looking for the spin over on Ted's Take. All praise Lord Ted.

[Dark Faze]

I can see it on Teds blog now

"Baby Steps"

"We've improved 6 spots from last years front office rankings...not good enough, we strive to get better, but I commend Ernie...

[MJG]

Bleh. Either that's too generous, or that means at least a full third of the league's front offices need a top-to-bottom tear down and overhaul, which is depressing.

[dckingsfan]

Seems reasonable to me - it is more of a range thing. Somewhere between 15-25 seems reasonable. Good enough to sometimes get in the playoffs and get the fans interested. But not really a long time probability thing to get to the next level.

[closg00]

I attribute the uptick to our off-season acquisitions which led to our strong start. Our current record in a weak Eastern Conference has shown us to be just as average as last year.


#FireErnie ~ Because he believed Stephen Curry couldn't help us and Jan Vesely could.

[gambitx777]

Magic, lakers, Pelicans and the Hornets should all be ahead of us. He did an ok job in the off season, but he has done absolutely nothing to improve the team since.

[Kanyewest]

The resumes of the Lakers has gotten worse lately. They gave Kobe that extension- 48 million for two years. They traded two first round picks for Steve Nash. They have Nick Young as their best bench player.

Pelicans lucked into Anthony Davis. After wisely getting Ryan Anderson at a good value, they overpaid Tyreke Evans while also giving up a pick. They gave up a first rounder for Asik- in the previous season they essentially gave away Robin Lopez for nothing. They also traded a first round pick (Nerlens Noel) and another first rounder (which turned out to be Elfrid Payton) for Jrue Holiday. They also drafted Austin Rivers

I'm not sure what to say about Orlando- they have a lot of young talent but they stink defensively.

Interesting though that Washington, New Orleans, Orlando, and the Lakers all have/had coaches that are on the hot seat.

Even if Washington is better than those front offices, it isn't something to brag about- your front office should be better than #21 if there hasn't been a change up top in over a decade.

[Sluggerface]

I saw this great twitter diatribe today on the Wizards approach to player development and I felt like sharing it.

Here's the link. https://twitter.com/MadBastardsAll/stat ... 9085837313

The Wizards have seemingly tied Otto Porter's entire value as a player to his ability to knock down one shot: the corner three.

Overwhelmingly, his role in the offense is as a screen setter & unconvincing decoy. They're not even willing to find out if he can be good.

It was the same deal with Singleton and (yes) Airwolf: assess their value via a play outside of their comfort zone, make that their one job.

Never mind a demonstrated aptitude for other syles of play. The team is inflexible, simply don't know how to use or trust non-saviors.

They're even doing this with Bradley Beal. For lack of good ideas for how to use what he does well, they're exposing what he struggles with.

Ben Standig: Seems like that sometimes. I wrote about this exact issue last season when everybody starting asking me WTH questions.

This is undoubtedly part of why Wiz fans WORSHIP John Wall: he's the rare player that can will his way through that kind of dysfunction.

It's not right to hold it against guys who can't. They enter the league as young guys and right away are struggling against their own team.

It couldn't be more clear the the team is completely unwilling to put a little faith in him (Otto) as a player. Such a bummer.

Ultimately this is what the Deadspin piece about Wittman was saying: he gets his players to execute trivial actions and be organized.

That will help a scattered, disorganized team play like professionals. But at some point you have to trust your players to make plays.

And Coach Wittman and Ernie Grunfeld are incapable of putting that kind of trust in young players who aren't also franchise saviors.

They'll trust Nene in the low post despite not actually being efficient down there before they'll even CONSIDER finding out if Otto can play

[hands11]

Trending upwards from last time IIRC. Same with the power rankings: http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings

I wonder how much higher they would trend up if they have a good coach and win the 50 to 52 game min they should have won this year ?

[Jimmy Recard]

I saw this great twitter diatribe today on the Wizards approach to player development and I felt like sharing it.

Here's the link. https://twitter.com/MadBastardsAll/stat ... 9085837313

The Wizards have seemingly tied Otto Porter's entire value as a player to his ability to knock down one shot: the corner three.

Overwhelmingly, his role in the offense is as a screen setter & unconvincing decoy. They're not even willing to find out if he can be good.

It was the same deal with Singleton and (yes) Airwolf: assess their value via a play outside of their comfort zone, make that their one job.

Never mind a demonstrated aptitude for other syles of play. The team is inflexible, simply don't know how to use or trust non-saviors.

They're even doing this with Bradley Beal. For lack of good ideas for how to use what he does well, they're exposing what he struggles with.

Ben Standig: Seems like that sometimes. I wrote about this exact issue last season when everybody starting asking me WTH questions.

This is undoubtedly part of why Wiz fans WORSHIP John Wall: he's the rare player that can will his way through that kind of dysfunction.

It's not right to hold it against guys who can't. They enter the league as young guys and right away are struggling against their own team.

It couldn't be more clear the the team is completely unwilling to put a little faith in him (Otto) as a player. Such a bummer.

Ultimately this is what the Deadspin piece about Wittman was saying: he gets his players to execute trivial actions and be organized.

That will help a scattered, disorganized team play like professionals. But at some point you have to trust your players to make plays.

And Coach Wittman and Ernie Grunfeld are incapable of putting that kind of trust in young players who aren't also franchise saviors.

They'll trust Nene in the low post despite not actually being efficient down there before they'll even CONSIDER finding out if Otto can play

Thanks for sharing. My blood was boiling while reading that. Not that's it's anything that we don't know about this dimwitted front office who have no idea how to develop young guys. We've got arguably the most talented young point guard in the world running this team, and 5 years later, they still have no idea how to use him. Yeah, lets draft a guy renowned for his explosiveness and ability to break dow the defense at will, and stick him in a outdated offense which features two, slow fotted bigs who clog the lane for him. Better yet, for large portions of the game, lets force feed the ball to aging, injury prone, below the rim, turnover prone big with no upside and who can't make free throws or stretch the floor. I can't imagine what a real coach/front office could so with a guy with Wall's talent.

[closg00]

+1 Jimmy, this FO only knows self-preservation and mediocrity, I feel sorry for John and non-casual Wizards fans.


#FireErnie ~ Because he believed Stephen Curry couldn't help us and Jan Vesely could.

[80sballboy]

The roster is just as much a problem as Witt. You say he doesn't know how to use Wall? If Porter, Webster or Butler could play, he could go small with Pierce at the 4 or if he had a decent athletic stretch 4, he could bench Nene or Gortat. Of course, he might still not know how to use one but EG has limited his options.

[gambitx777]

The roster is just as much a problem as Witt. You say he doesn't know how to use Wall? If Porter, Webster or Butler could play, he could go small with Pierce at the 4 or if he had a decent athletic stretch 4, he could bench Nene or Gortat. Of course, he might still not know how to use one but EG has limited his options.

Yes EG has done a bad job, he was fine putting the team together in the off season, but he has refused to add and adapt mid season. But the fault can also be put on Wittman. I have a feeling to a point EG would try to give randy something different if he pushed hard enough. Not to mention that Otto is not the problem. Wittman is the problem with Otto and Beal not playing well. Webster was bad luck, and no one really expected Buttler to be that good or have to play a significant role. Blame EG for resigning kevin, or not trading him nd bringing in a better back up center/rim protector. Blame EG for our lack of PG depth. Blame EG for not having better bench bigs than Gooden/Blair. But Otto and Beal regressing/not progressing, is 100% on Wittman!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Should have made Ariza a better offer. Should have offered Trevor Ariza and Gortat identical three year deals.

Over the summer team chemistry was sky high.

Signing Blair was redundant and wrong, after Humphries.

Rasual Butler and Temple for all their heart and hustle just took minutes from Porter, and are probably why Rice Jr got so angry at his sparse minutes.

Lorenzo Brown is fast like Wall. Suggested him as a backup PG at least a couple years ago. I would rather have kept Professor Miller and just added Lo Brown; who is on another NBA roster.

Trading Miller affected chemistry. Sessions is fast and all but the Wizards don't know how not to scapegoat.

This front office is pretty much not that great IMO.

God forgive me for being harshly critical. Maybe Ted is forcing Ernie's hand. Maybe Wittman's team has limited players because of Ernie. Maybe Wall is just too fast...

Sorry, but I think building a good team isn't rocket science. I feel confident I would be great at giving guidance. Way better than who they've been using.

[LyricalRico]

Should have made Ariza a better offer. Should have offered Trevor Ariza and Gortat identical three year deals.

Both would have walked away from 3-year offers. You can make the case that they should have offered Ariza more, but expecting to sign those two to short-term deals was unrealistic.

Signing Blair was redundant and wrong, after Humphries.

I don't think most here felt that way at the time. If anything Blair/Seraphin is what turned out to be redundant. All of us were scratching our heads at the Seraphin QO offer (especially considering they let Booker walk). I thought maybe they'd find a way to use Seraphin's expiring in a trade, but that never materialized.

Rasual Butler and Temple for all their heart and hustle just took minutes from Porter, and are probably why Rice Jr got so angry at his sparse minutes.

Agree with this from a coaching perspective. Every team needs end-of-bench guys, so you can't fault a GM for signing a full 15. But the coach has to be smart enough NOT to fall in love with their "heart and hustle" and understand that he has better options.

Trading Miller affected chemistry. Sessions is fast and all but the Wizards don't know how not to scapegoat.

Miller was stuck in mud and killing the second unit (I've posted several times that Porter was hurt by the second unit playing so slow). It's true that Sessions has not been a lightning-in-a-bottle type of difference maker, but the team isn't worse IMO.

All in all, there were a few small missteps this season. But no team bats 1.000 every offseason. I still say we could have been better had the players we did have been better utilized. Add 3 more wins to the current record plus a better developed Otto Porter and suddenly this team is in the driver's seat for the #3 seed and is much better positioned for a playoff run.

[dckingsfan]

The roster is just as much a problem as Witt. You say he doesn't know how to use Wall? If Porter, Webster or Butler could play, he could go small with Pierce at the 4 or if he had a decent athletic stretch 4, he could bench Nene or Gortat. Of course, he might still not know how to use one but EG has limited his options.

Yes EG has done a bad job, he was fine putting the team together in the off season, but he has refused to add and adapt mid season. But the fault can also be put on Wittman. I have a feeling to a point EG would try to give randy something different if he pushed hard enough. Not to mention that Otto is not the problem. Wittman is the problem with Otto and Beal not playing well. Webster was bad luck, and no one really expected Buttler to be that good or have to play a significant role. Blame EG for resigning kevin, or not trading him nd bringing in a better back up center/rim protector. Blame EG for our lack of PG depth. Blame EG for not having better bench bigs than Gooden/Blair. But Otto and Beal regressing/not progressing, is 100% on Wittman!

Agreed and EG hiring Wittman is 100% on EG.