Zach Lowe and Woj talk ‘pathetic’ Wizards on Lowe podcast

[nate33]

One thing is for sure, for whatever reason, most of the NBA writers, at least the national ones, hate the Wizards. Some of it is the players fault for talking themselves up every year but they're constantly getting **** on by Bill Simmons and his group.

They really are an unlikable team. One of two things must be true. Either their 43-49 win range in an indication that the players aren't really very good, which means they should stop talking about how great there are; or it's an indication that good players are consistently underachieving, which is never something to like.

Throw in the fact that they are among the league leaders in technicals and they have constant locker room issues, and it's hard to see why anyone is a fan.

[payitforward]

It's starting to feel like outlets are unnecessarily piling-on at this point....

Nope, you reap what you sow. No other team has run their collectives mouths more than the Wizards. Wall, Beal and Morris.

If I wasn't a fan, I'd thoroughly despise this team. They deserve all the ridicule coming their way. Sorry.

The only thing that bothers me is that all the focus seems to be on our players, and not the management.

I like our players. They're good guys and do a lot of positive things in the community . It's unfortunate the narrative is focused on deriding their character of these young men instead of calling out the front office regime that has been dragging its players through the mud for 15 years.

There's no owner/GM combo that acts more entitled and smug than Leonsis and Ernie. Just read through this thread and tell me that these issues start from the players:

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1073782&start=1300

This is a good point.

In fact, I think the whole so-called "character" issue confuses cause & effect altogether. I bet there weren't any locker room issues in January 2017 when we were in the middle of 22-4 run (or whatever it was exactly...).

The the ineptitude & conceit that afflict Ted & Ernie are there win or lose.

[King Ken]

Considering where Beal/Wall/Porter contract is, I wouldn't trade none of them unless I was floored by an offer. Looking at the roster, I wouldn't move anyone.

[Illmatic12]

Nope, you reap what you sow. No other team has run their collectives mouths more than the Wizards. Wall, Beal and Morris.

If I wasn't a fan, I'd thoroughly despise this team. They deserve all the ridicule coming their way. Sorry.

The only thing that bothers me is that all the focus seems to be on our players, and not the management.

I like our players. They're good guys and do a lot of positive things in the community . It's unfortunate the narrative is focused on deriding their character of these young men instead of calling out the front office regime that has been dragging its players through the mud for 15 years.

There's no owner/GM combo that acts more entitled and smug than Leonsis and Ernie. Just read through this thread and tell me that these issues start from the players:

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1073782&start=1300

This is a good point.

In fact, I think the whole so-called "character" issue confuses cause & effect altogether. I bet there weren't any locker room issues in January 2017 when we were in the middle of 22-4 run (or whatever it was exactly...).

The the ineptitude & conceit that afflict Ted & Ernie are there win or lose.

One thing that always strikes me is before the 15-16 season , Grunfeld gave an interview and said something to the effect of “we believe the next step for us is winning 50 games and competing in the ECF” .. like he legitimately thought he could convince people that a patchwork roster with Marcus Thornton and Gary Neal as major offseason additions and Randy Wittman as coach was a contender!

Gortat later said the same thing (our goal is 50 wins, blah blah). The players basically toed the company line and echoed what Grunfeld was saying, but they’re the ones who get ridiculed for it. In well-run franchises, you don’t see GMs putting unrealistic expectations on the players . You’re continually setting them up to fail year after year, and eventually they will take out that frustration on each other.

[Jamaaliver]

Forgot this...

Know that the sooner you start dangling Beal in trade, the greater a potential return.

So, offer an attractive return, why don't you?

How about Collins & your R1 pick for Beal -- if... you also take Mahinmi & give us Lin & Dedmon (who are expiring). You stay under the tax this year (I think...?), & next year Mahinmi's $$ is no burden for you.

We give you a tremendous young player who makes your team a lot better this year & going forward, b/c he fits w/ your age structure.

Collins is the only actual asset you lose. Seems to me the pick we get from you will likely wind up mid-late lottery.

1. I really was just here to discuss overall strategy for another struggling team. You guys have talent. It just fits together poorly because of chemistry issues.

2. The trade listed above is something to consider. There's no way our GM would offer an unprotected 1st rounder, though.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I have no problem with the way you are thinking about things in this series of posts, rather the opposite, & you are very welcome here. You are certainly right about the ideal package for Brad.

Also, thank you for the kind words. I wasn't trying to rile up the WIZ fanbase. I see a bad situation -- and the clear-cut, most direct way out of it is also the most painful and least popular.

Moving Wall is the most ideal scenario...but is unlikely to bring a great return.
Moving Otto is the most likely scenario...but is unlikely to bring a great return.

Moving Beal is the most pragmatic approach...and could revamp your entire roster. I'd look to Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Minnesota as young teams desperate for relevance and willing to overpay for a star in trade.

[nate33]

If Zach Lowe and Woj really want to see "pathetic", they should tune in for tonight's game against Dallas. Ric Carlisle makes the Wizards look silly every time. He finds the mismatches and exploits them relentlessly. At best, the Wizards will try hard but find themselves scrambling and out-of-position all night. But the more likely scenario is that Dallas will "break" them by the third quarter and the Wizards will give up, leading to a blowout.

[Jamaaliver]

Can the Wizards fix this new level of dysfunction?

The Washington Wizards recovered Sunday against a very bad New York Knicks team behind better effort, welcome rebounding from Dwight Howard and a nearly peak John Wall performance. They must continue digging; their next six games all come against sub.-500 teams before the schedule turns hellacious again.

This reality will look more like a crisis if the Wiz, now 2-7, can't lurch back over .500. Wall's supermax extension kicks in next season, with a starting salary of $38 million. The Wizards will owe the Wall, Beal and Porter trio almost $93 million combined -- 85 percent of the salary cap.

They have few trade assets beyond Beal, who has surpassed the slower, crankier, indifferent version of Wall we see too often now as the team's best player. A decade of win-now moves, all justifiable and almost innocent at the time, has left the Wizards cornered...taken together, those moves show a lack of imagination and planning that has come to roost. They were reactive instead of forward-looking. They are the moves of a one-player-away team, though the Wizards were never one-player-away from title contention -- at least considering the type of players typically available for picks outside the lottery.

Title contention isn't the measuring stick for every organization. There is nobility in competing for mid-rung playoff spots every season. The Wizards should have been able to do that without sloughing away so many picks.

None of this would feel so dire if not for the one development that explains more than any other why the Wizards look broken or at least stalled out: Wall's game has plateaued, and perhaps even dropped off, since the end of the 2016-17 season. But, the Wizards' problems go way beyond Wall. He didn't trade away all those picks.

Collective discontent has sapped the Wizards' offense of their rhythm. They move through their paces with a blase aimlessness. Cutters zip into the wrong place at the wrong time. Extra passes don't come. They are not happy. You see shoulders sagging, arms raised in pleas to the basketball gods.

Trading Wall might be Washington's only get-out-of-jail card. Trading Beal would hurt the team. Porter wouldn't bring enough return to make a difference.

The Wizards have time to right things. They seem to start slowly every season...They have too much talent to fall far out of the race for the last two Eastern Conference playoffs spots. But that talent doesn't appear to have the ceiling it did two seasons ago. If the losing continues, Washington faces hard questions that might not have any appealing answers.

ESPN

We might be down to one plausible candidate to send Washington real value for Wall at some point over the next year-plus: Phoenix, run by an impatient owner, Robert Sarver, without a seasoned GM to check his most dangerous impulses.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I know MORE ABOUT THIS TEAM...

never mind

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