Nothing but POSITIVE Summer 2018 Thread

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I have been really negative since the draft. I've taken every opportunity to say something mean spirited about EG and the direction I THINK the Wizards are going. That is too depressing and not really the direction to go.

Instead of waiting until the season to get back on board to be positive I'm going to be positive now.

This Thread is the best I can say about anything and only compliments about players and personnel decisions. Nothing but positive because that's what we need to operate on in life is Hope and Faith.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Dwight Howard is still a better-than-average center who has good rebounding ability. Player efficiency rating, win score, box plus minus, and/or value over replacement consider him better than average.

Dwight can finish lobs from John Wall.

He brings a physicality that the Wizards have not had in the post since Moses Malone.

Dwight Howard has not won and this is his best shot considering the East is wide open behind Boston, now that Cleveland is done and Toronto change coaches.

With Dwight and Jeff Green, the Wizards might have a shot AT (of???? Damn this autocorrect and the idiot who made it think it knows better than I do WHAT I am trying to say!) ACQUIRING Kawhi Leonard for one year.

The WIZARDS have many pieces to offer in trade to SAS....

Beal with Wall in the backcourt would be very effective if they had Dwight and Kawhi in the frontcourt.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Here is what a respected contributor to the board says about Thomas Bryant:

.... Thomas Bryant is a talent.

Compare him to Jarrett Allen & Tony Bradley -- 2 other very young bigs who came into the league via the '17 draft. His physical tools are comparable to either of them.

Bradley is the closest match. If you look at the 2017 Combine measurements, they are virtually identical in size. Bryant is actually a little longer & has slightly bigger hands. Most important: Bradley's standing & max verticals are slightly worse than Bryant's.

I've been watching Bradley in the Summer League the last day or so -- over his year w/ the Jazz & the off-season so far, he's trimmed his body fat substantially & gotten a lot stronger. He is looking great in the games so far.

Just b/c Tony Bradley did it doesn't mean Thomas Bryant can. But the potential is there.

Jarrett Allen came in w/ a lower % of body fat & weighing 16 lbs less. His verticals were better than either Bradley or Bryant. But, the agility drills were about the same across the 3 of them.

In short, Bryant has all the athleticism, size & length needed. Watch his G League highlights, & you see that he plays with intensity & a good feel for the game.

No one can predict this kid's future, his development path or his ceiling. But he's got serious upside IMO. Lets hope our FO doesn't jettison him the way we did Khem Birch -- now an established & very productive but inexpensive player for the Magic.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Positive comments about the Jeff Green signing:

I know Jeff Green has become something of a punch line in the league these days, but I actually think this is not such a bad signing. Green was actually pretty decent last season with Cleveland. Statistically, he was a bit better than Mike Scott going by WS/48, PER, BPM and VORP, and Green is probably a slightly better defender as well (damning with faint praise, I know). He's a worse rebounder, however. And Cleveland was an outlier year. He was considerably worse the two years prior.

Overall, he is capable of filling the Mike Scott role just as well as Mike Scott, for the cost of Mike Scott. I can't hate that.

Random thoughts:

1. I wonder if last season's version of Green was an aberration - mainly b/c he played with LeBron? For the first time in his career, he wasn't terrible and actually fairly useful role player.

2. Even if it was an aberration, Green is still an upgrade over Mike Scott.

3. If it wasn't an aberration, Green is a solid upgrade over Markieff Morris at the 4.

4. I'd be happier if this paved the way for Morris to get dealt but it likely doesn't.

5. Green is a solid signing for the minimum. I don't know if he moves the needle much but I don't see a ton of downside in the move and if he's plays like he did last year he can really help.

You nailed it, Grunfeld is batting 1000% this off-season. We got Rivers who is about to break out and by 6th man of the year. Brown who has ROY potential all over him and now Green who is in an absolute upward trend! Look at his stats vs. Morris - who would you rather have as your PF! Plus, we all know that coming to the Wizards will bump your 3 point shooting percentage by 30 or 40 points.

Code: Select all

MP     PER    TS%     DRB%   BLK%
1968   13.2   0.566   19.2   1.7   
1828   14.8   0.587   11.2   1.6


TRUST THE PLAN!!!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Troy Brown is an 18 year old. I have an 18 year old son who wears size 15 shoes. He's short like me. ( I'm only 5-8 and he is around 5-9 and 1/2). I suspect he is not finished growing. ...

Troy Brown is not finished developing as a player for sure. Washington decided to swing for the development fences. Nothing but good stuff about Troy Brown, who has received early comparisons to Penny Hardaway and Andre Iguodala:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wizards-insider/wp/2018/06/26/troy-brown-jr-s-point-guard-past-should-help-his-future-with-the-wizards/?utm_term=.b3b386a2cd9e

Only two years ago, Troy Brown Jr. was a rising high school senior navigating the hectic world of recruiting. Aside from picking between college basketball’s elite programs, Brown was weighing another major decision. Despite being ranked as the second-best preps point guard in the class of 2017, excelling in the role as an oversized playmaker for his Las Vegas high school and AAU team, Brown made a choice that would alter his basketball future.

During his last summer on the AAU circuit, Brown requested to play off the ball, setting a course to becoming the 6-foot-7 wing that is the object of the Washington Wizards’ affection.

Last Thursday, the Wizards drafted Brown 15th overall and justified picking the 18-year-old forward due to his vast skill set from playing on the wing, ballhandling and his ability to create for teammates. Brown possesses this versatility because he was groomed as one of the best prep point guards in the country, but developed beyond his natural position.

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“Just being that versatile, all-around player really helps me a lot because I can kind of squeeze in anywhere as a player,” Brown has said about his game.

After his June 11 workout in Washington, Brown told reporters that he prefers having the ball in his hands to set up others. The playmaker instinct remains inside his basketball DNA; after all, it wasn’t that long ago when Brown was molding his game after 6-7 point guard Penny Hardaway and Magic Johnson, who at 6-9 revolutionized modern basketball for big point guards.

In the summer of 2016, Brown was fresh off an all-American season as a high school junior in which he averaged 19.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists, according to statistics reported by the Las Vegas Journal-Review. Recruiters likely expected Brown to continue this same do-everything role for his Las Vegas Prospects AAU team once the national tournament schedule picked up. Instead, Brown expanded his game by giving up the majority of the lead guard duties.


“It actually started his last year in AAU bringing him off the ball,” said Anthony Brown, who coached the Prospects. “We wanted him to do so much and having the ball in his hands all the time was wearing him down. So we brought in another little guard to relieve pressure.

“Matter of fact, he suggested it to us,” Brown continued. “So it wasn’t something we brought to him.”

Though Troy Brown was a five-star recruit, he did not play on the ball while participating in camps and tournaments with the junior national team. By the time Brown landed at the University of Oregon, he started at small forward and occasionally handled the ball.

The Oregon experience showed flashes of Brown’s potential — as well as room for growth. During a December matchup against Portland State, Brown recorded a season-best nine assists while flirting with a triple-double (10 points, 10 rebounds). But Brown also committed a team-worst 86 turnovers over the course of his one and only season. This statistic didn’t trip up the Wizards, and the team selected Brown over other wings and guards who had been projected as lottery picks. When it came time to draft a young prospect, Brown’s ability to do more around the court proved more attractive to Washington.


“The more versatile you are and the more positions you play and the better the skill set, the better the chances of helping somebody,” the team President Ernie Grunfeld said while referencing Brown’s chances to log minutes in his rookie season. “The game is changing. The game is much different than it used to be. It’s almost positionless basketball. There’s a lot of switching and a lot of skill is involved in the game now and we feel like he’s a skilled player and multidimensional player.”

Anthony Brown, who works as Troy Brown’s manager but is not related to the family, framed the transition into becoming a point-forward — or truly, a wing player — as an asset for the young player in the next phase of his career.

“I think the experience at Oregon has showed him that he can do multiple things and he makes winning plays,” he said. “So if the Wizards say, ‘Troy, we need you to be on the ball,’ I can do that. ‘Troy, we need you to be on the wing,’ I can do that. ‘Troy, we need you go to guard the four,’ I can do that. What it made him was versatile. It made him a Swiss Army knife. He’s ready for almost anything. He’s ready. He’s prepared, because he has the mind-set: ‘Okay, you need me to do this? I can do that. If I don’t know how to do it, I’ll come in and learn. I’ll put in the work.’”

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Watch on YouTube

[nate33]

Here's another reason for optimism: Howard and Morris are both in contract years and are focused on landing a new contract. They are likely to be on their best behavior and should play consistently hard. And both guys are pretty darn good when playing hard.

[montestewart]

Here's another reason for optimism: Howard and Morris are both in contract years and are focused on landing a new contract. They are likely to be on their best behavior and should play consistently hard. And both guys are pretty darn good when playing hard.

For that matter, most of the roster outside the top 3 and Brown will be fighting for both playing time and their next contract. As long as the egos are kept in check, I can at least hope for a decent playoff run.

[NatP4]

I like this thread

[NatP4]

Here's another reason for optimism: Howard and Morris are both in contract years and are focused on landing a new contract. They are likely to be on their best behavior and should play consistently hard. And both guys are pretty darn good when playing hard.

Must....resist.....positivity thread....

[nate33]

Here's another reason for optimism: Howard and Morris are both in contract years and are focused on landing a new contract. They are likely to be on their best behavior and should play consistently hard. And both guys are pretty darn good when playing hard.

For that matter, most of the roster outside the top 3 and Brown will be fighting for both playing time and their next contract. As long as the egos are kept in check, I can at least hope for a decent playoff run.

Yes. Though that could be a bad thing for guys like Rivers and Oubre, who may take it upon themselves to shoot too much in order to boost their averages. I singled out Howard and Morris because, for the most part, Howard and Morris understand that their primary value to a team is their defense (and defensive versatility in Morris' case). Working really hard at showcasing that this season is only going to help.

[I_Like_Dirt]

While Dwight clearly is what he is at this point, he also hasn't shown any notable signs of decline in the last 4 seasons or so. If Dwight can reasonably replace Gortat, the Wizards are probably slightly better this season, though as always, health is their biggest factor. Green replaces Scott, Dwight replaces Gortat and while I don't like Rivers, he's better than Meeks. And no long term salaries, either. Frustrating though the offseason might be for those looking for some more change, you can't spell change without EG and none of these moves actually set the Wizards back and quite possibly actually improved the Wizards this coming season, so it actually was a reasonable offseason. And I still think a lot of people around here have been way to hard on Troy Brown - I think he was easily the best part of the offseason with an eye beyond this season.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I like this thread

Honestly I've been praying a lot and sometimes the Holy Spirit tells me to just look at myself in the mirror and try not to be such a jerk. The Wizards are doing things differently and things changed in the last few days and it's about time to have a positivity thread. Don't condemn it before you give it a shot. The Wizards are taking their shot --we'll see how it works out

I have been following Dwight Howard on Instagram for some time and I just like the way the guy keeps smiling. Like with Javale McGee I really believe the end of Dwight Howard's career is going to be much more positive than the beginning. I've already seen your veils career take off with two championships and now he's a Laker. Dwight Howard can do pretty much anything JaVale can do maybe not as well with blocking shots and maybe not as selflessly without having any part of the offense call for him but if he learns how to just catch lobs and finish as well as rebound and send a pic or two and to pass to his capable teammates?

Come on, man. Dwight Howard should be trying to get comeback player of the year and to make the All-Star team again.

Bernard King had a pretty good year here before he retired. Nothing but positive

Sent from my LG-TP260 using RealGM mobile app

[nate33]

I hate to say this, but I might have to actually give Ted Leonsis a little bit of credit this offseason. The past is the past and we can't change it. EG effed up big time in 2016 with those horrible contracts and we have been suffering the ramifications ever since. But sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due. Ted could easily have okay'd the sacrifice of our 1st round pick in order to dump a guy like Jason Smith, but he didn't do so. And now, Ted is going to exceed the cap by a great deal in order to give this team hope at an ECF's appearance.

Ted could have signed a guy like Len for the vet minimum, but instead he's signing Howard for the taxpayer MLE. Our payroll was already about $5M over the luxtax threshold, before the signing, resulting in $12.5M in luxtax fees. But by adding Howard at another $5M, he's going to tack on an additional $13.75M in luxtax fees. Basically, Howard is costing Ted $18.75M. Ted is sacrificing a great deal financially to keep the team relevant. He is paying $26M in total luxtax fees just because he wants to win and he wanted to keep a 1st round pick to build for the future.

Of course we can all complain about the way Ted runs the organization, his inability to take criticism, and his unwillingness to admit a mistake and fire EG. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't get some credit for putting his money where his mouth is.

Caveat: forget this whole post if we end up dumping Porter for cap savings, or trading a future 1st to unload Jason Smith.

[nate33]

Dwight Howard should be trying to get comeback player of the year and to make the All-Star team again.

I don't see Comeback Player of the Year being possible because Howard's production never really dipped far enough to give him that much room for improvement. Even at his statistical peak in 2010, he averaged just 22 and 14 per 36 minutes with an ORtg of 113 (his per game totals were more impressive, but I don't see Howard ever logging 38 minutes a night again). Last season, he averaged 20 and 15 per 36 minutes with an ORtg of 108.

But an All-Star appearance is indeed possible.

[nuposse04]

Watch on YouTube

Marco and Ersan were a rather large part of what Philly did in the playoffs last year. I like the addition of Smith in the draft for him but he won't pay dividends for probably 2-3 years. JJ is also getting older.

Lastly, While Embiid and Simmons are great... Simmons is going to REALLY have to work on that jumper to compensate for losing those floor spacers this year. Embiid just needs to stay healthy.

They are still better then us, but I think they are a tier below BOS... who should be interesting. Taytum is awesome. So is horford. Interesting to see how Kyrie and Hayward will fit back in. I'm not a huge believer in jalen Brown and feel they might trade him before having to overpay him. Smart did alot for them last year and he might actually be retained for cheap given how this market is going. Also it will be interesting to see if Baynes really is a knock down stretch 5 now or if he is gonna come crashing down to reality.

Pacers are a team that can make a leap though. Tyreke is a great add, turner and sabonis give them good solid young bigs to pair with Oladipo who IMO was the best guard in the east last year.

[NatP4]

Watch on YouTube

Marco and Ersan were a rather large part of what Philly did in the playoffs last year. I like the addition of Smith in the draft for him but he won't pay dividends for probably 2-3 years. JJ is also getting older.

Lastly, While Embiid and Simmons are great... Simmons is going to REALLY have to work on that jumper to compensate for losing those floor spacers this year. Embiid just needs to stay healthy.

They are still better then us, but I think they are a tier below BOS... who should be interesting. Taytum is awesome. So is horford. Interesting to see how Kyrie and Hayward will fit back in. I'm not a huge believer in jalen Brown and feel they might trade him before having to overpay him. Smart did alot for them last year and he might actually be retained for cheap given how this market is going. Also it will be interesting to see if Baynes really is a knock down stretch 5 now or if he is gonna come crashing down to reality.

Pacers are a team that can make a leap though. Tyreke is a great add, turner and sabonis give them good solid young bigs to pair with Oladipo who IMO was the best guard in the east last year.

That last bit. People don’t realize how good Indiana is. They outplayed Cleveland in that series, a horrific missed goaltending call on what would’ve been Oladipo’s game winning layup cost them the series.

Never mind Indiana being whistled for more fouls in literally every single game of the series because the league wanted lebron to get through.

Tyreke is a top 5 shooting guard in the league, Oladipo is one of the best players in the NBA, they just need Turner to take another step and to find a stretchy wing that can play some 3&4 like Otto.

Can we trade them Otto and Sato so I can jump on the bandwagon?

[ClutchDJ]

Excuse me, Tyreke is a top 5 what?

[keynote]

I'll put this here, I guess.

Read on Twitter

[NatP4]

Excuse me, Tyreke is a top 5 what?

Shooting guard in the NBA