Wizards 2019 Draft thread. (Tank for Zion, or OTHER NAME HERE)

[payitforward]

Read on Twitter

Wow!!

[Dat2U]

Read on Twitter

Wow!!

Big if true.

[pcbothwel]

FYI.... Measurements are going up:
https://stats.nba.com/draft/combine-anthro/#!?sort=PLAYER_NAME&dir=-1

Gafford, Kabengele, Okpala, Washington, Keldon Johnson are clear winners
Bol is REALLY thin. Culver is undersized. Clarke and Herro came in light and with short arms. Naz Reid is too fat.
Shamorie Ponds... Smallest hands in the last 3 years with 10% BF at only 180lbs. Not good

[payitforward]

A lot of really thoughtful stuff being posted last day or so (except my stuff, that is)....

Illuminaire's comment on Zards was a really nice one! Both on the money & generous at the same time.

Illmatic's point about when guards peak was extremely interesting too. On the assumption that everybody has the same information, however, doesn't that also increase Beal's trade value?

It's obvious & incontrovertible as well that we aren't going to be able to add any mid-career, high-priced FAs for... years -- as Mizerooskie & Illuminaire have pointed out.

It's going to be long, slow & painful. Whether we trade Beal or not. In that case, I'm for getting as many young players as possible.

Every team gets 2 draft picks a year. In the last 5 years, IOW, we used 10 picks. We have 1 player on our team to represent those resources. Worse yet, along the way we gave up 4 other picks as well.

We also have no one on our team from the 2 picks we had in 2014. In 2013, we had an .extra R2 pick. As soon as we Portis/Parker go, which it's almost certain we'll do, we will also have nothing from those picks. 1 player out of 19 picks. Not much doubt how we got where we are.

[Dat2U]

Thing is... Clarke looks like he can be a terrific NBA player, just as he was a terrific college player -- even given the difference between the levels.

For that reason, it's great news for us that his measurements aren't ideal. Helps us get him & another prospect if we trade down.

Great news for any team that gets him further down in the round, I mean -- I hope we are that team.

Someone convince me he’s dissimilar to Tyrus Thomas. I liked Clarke this year, but loved Thomas as well. Similar build and game and motor in college. Thomas came out when younger. I figured he had upside to develop.

Has the game changed significantly since Thomas came out? Is Clarke more likely to improve than Thomas? I see how Clarke can defend against small ball sets. I also see where his stats come from freelancing all over the court. Not part of lockdown man defense but playing renegade all over. A guy like Hunter (probably gone by 9) is boring. Not sexy. In part because his D is based on fundamentally sound positioning, good wingspan, lateral movement and snuffing his opponent so they don’t shoot and can’t drive past him and he’s too big to bump. They pass instead.

Clarke plays the opposite. He plays the empty spaces between players. And gets his points by slipping between guys and being forgotten. He can jump. He can dunk. He can run. He will block a shot or jump into a passing lane. It all looks good. But a guy like Draymond can’t jump over a tictac and is a far better player than guys with aerial antics because of that grounded positional leverage and strength and keeping in front of his man. Not pogoing around him.

What high flying skinny guy with short arms is a winning defender. Now or historically? His numbers suggest he’s a hustling maniac. I want to like him. I just haven’t yet seen that style succeed. I’d like to cheer that kind of effort. But I’ve seen the style fail.

If he could shoot then okay. Stow him at SF and let him get loose when things get chaotic. But otherwise we would have to build the right kind of team to take advantage of what he does do well.

Hey, you could be right. &, like you, I thought Thomas had a lot of potential. Probably the biggest difference is that Tyrus Thomas went #4 in the draft (if memory serves...) off of his Freshman year. Clarke is more likely to go mid-R1, & we do have more track record on him.

In a way, I'd say Doumboya would be a better comp for Thomas -- not so much in his play but in the fact that picking him would be a swing for the fences.

Above all, given how very low on talent this team is, I can't understand why we wouldn't trade down.

I was very high on Thomas as well. He too was a pogo stick! The measurements are certainly a hit to Hunter's stock. I'm sure he can continue to play bigger than his height but without a jumper his role is a limited one. The 8'6" standing reach is significantly disappointing. That's a tall SG short SF range.

[payitforward]

FYI.... Measurements are going up:
https://stats.nba.com/draft/combine-anthro/#!?sort=PLAYER_NAME&dir=-1

Gafford, Kabengele, Okpala, Washington, Keldon Johnson are clear winners...

What? How about my man Tacko Fall. Apparently his measurements are such that the NBA may require a team that wants to draft him to use two picks!

[80sballboy]

FYI.... Measurements are going up:
https://stats.nba.com/draft/combine-anthro/#!?sort=PLAYER_NAME&dir=-1

Gafford, Kabengele, Okpala, Washington, Keldon Johnson are clear winners
Bol is REALLY thin. Culver is undersized. Clarke and Herro came in light and with short arms. Naz Reid is too fat.
Shamorie Ponds... Smallest hands in the last 3 years with 10% BF at only 180lbs. Not good

Nice to see (as a Md fan) Bruno at 6-10.2 with shoes and a 7.3 wingspan. PJ Washington 6-8 with a 7-2 wingspan. Herro 6-6 with shoes is impressive though 6-3 wingspan. Kind of expected I guess. He's not there for his D. Admiral Schofield just 6-5 240 with shoes but does have 6-9 wingspna

[DCZards]

Hey Zards! I used to get annoyed when I saw you post stuff like this. Nowadays, I think I get you more. The sense I have is that you just love the team and really want them to do well each year. Your preference seems to be to maximize each year, without taking any steps backward where you can help it.

Well, good to hear you don’t get annoyed by my opinions anymore.

The only other ways to get more top-20 players are by trades or by the draft.

The only way to trade for a great player is to have great assets. The Wizards have... Beal. Beal and future draft picks. That's basically it as far as high value assets go. So trading to put someone next to Bradley is nearly impossible.

That leaves the draft. The better the Wizards play, though, the weaker the assets they will accumulate from the draft. On the flip side, Beal is likely to leave if the team can't be a winner. Which it can't, because the Wiz are strapped for talent and need time to restock via drafting.

A bad W-L record that puts you in the lottery year after year is far from a reliable way to restock and rebuild, especially when you need all-stars to compete for anything. Just ask the teams with the worse records this year—Knicks, Bulls, Suns & Cavs—known of whom ended up in a position to draft one of the two studs in this year’s draft—Zion and Ja.

And no top 10 NBA player is going to agree to be traded to a sub-35 win team with a bunch of young players still trying to learn how to win at the NBA level. No matter how good those youngin's are.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the best players—not teams—are now calling the shots when it comes to trades and free agency….and they are going to go where they can play with other experienced and proven top players--like BB. Anthony Davis is not going to Atlanta or Chicago, despite the fact that these teams have very good young players and high draft picks. So if you want to attract a top flight free agent you better have one or two all-star level players already on your squad.

Trust me, I’m not adverse to taking steps backward. And I’m not opposed to trading Beal for the right deal. But it's HARD to turn a sub-35 win team into a NBA contender. And I’m not convinced that tearing it down and rebuilding through the draft is a the best way to achieve that goal...as opposed to figuring out a way to build around a young, proven All-NBA caliber player with great intangibles.

[deneem4]

Giannis, AD, Gobert

Who knows who emerges over the next couple years league-wide?

My question to you: Do you think Bradley Beal can be the best player on a championship team?

You’ll give gobert a max before Beal?

Yes I do think Beal can be the best player on a championship team...he just need the right team around him

Gobert is a rarer player, and more valuable statistically. So, yes.

The "he just needs the right team around him" is my entire point. There's no way to do that. Not with Beal and Wall as Super-max players. Beal and the Wizards are victims of circumstance. John Wall kills the ability of the Wizards to be a championship caliber team with Beal, unless they absolutely nail the #9 pick.

John wall is just injured...
It happens

[80sballboy]

Read on Twitter

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[closg00]

FYI.... Measurements are going up:
https://stats.nba.com/draft/combine-anthro/#!?sort=PLAYER_NAME&dir=-1

Gafford, Kabengele, Okpala, Washington, Keldon Johnson are clear winners
Bol is REALLY thin. Culver is undersized. Clarke and Herro came in light and with short arms. Naz Reid is too fat.
Shamorie Ponds... Smallest hands in the last 3 years with 10% BF at only 180lbs. Not good

Nice to see (as a Md fan) Bruno at 6-10.2 with shoes and a 7.3 wingspan. PJ Washington 6-8 with a 7-2 wingspan. Herro 6-6 with shoes is impressive though 6-3 wingspan. Kind of expected I guess. He's not there for his D. Admiral Schofield just 6-5 240 with shoes but does have 6-9 wingspna

Hard to tell where Bruno will land, he's gonna be a good lunchpail C

[Illuminaire]

Trust me, I’m not adverse to taking steps backward. And I’m not opposed to trading Beal for the right deal. But it's HARD to turn a sub-35 win team into a NBA contender. And I’m not convinced that tearing it down and rebuilding through the draft is a the best way to achieve that goal...as opposed to figuring out a way to build around a young, proven All-NBA caliber player with great intangibles.

If the Wall contract wasn't crushing the team, I would be more ready to agree with you. The unfortunate reality is that for this team, high value draft picks are the only reasonable way to improve the roster.

A team with cap flexibility could try other paths to greatness. I don't see that being true for the Wiz.

[Shoe]

Trade Beal truthers: what's package do you want to trade him for? I'm not seeing much out there.

Interestingly, Lakers fans circles believe #4 + Ingram for #9 + Beal is fair swap, maybe with the wizards adding a future pick.

[doclinkin]

Dedric Lawson with ~9% body fat is intriguing. He's already effective, but with better diet and big league trainers how much can he improve?

[tontoz]

I am not interested in trading Beal but i undertand the reasoning. It makes no sense to trade him for another All-Star in their prime. That would just be a lateral move.

I can see trading him for a high draft pick/young player or combination of picks. I just don't want to do it.

[tontoz]

Trade Beal truthers: what's package do you want to trade him for? I'm not seeing much out there.

Interestingly, Lakers fans circles believe #4 + Ingram for #9 + Beal is fair swap, maybe with the wizards adding a future pick.

They are nuts. Ingram hasn't proven anything and has a medical issue. No way would we have to actually give up a pick if we traded Beal to them.

[payitforward]

Dedric Lawson with ~9% body fat is intriguing. He's already effective, but with better diet and big league trainers how much can he improve?

Compare his measurements with P.J. Washington. Lawson is 1/2 inch taller, 1 inch more standing reach, slightly larger hands, same wingspan (7' 2.25"), 3 lbs heavier, 11 oz. more fat (8.9% vs. 8.6%).

Lawson's numbers this year are a good deal better than Washington's. Scores more points per 40 minutes, grabs more rebounds on both ends of the court. Other stuff about the same overall.

Washington is 10-11 months younger than Lawson. Lawson's school, Kansas, played a considerably tougher schedule than did Kentucky.

Yet, Washington is mocked much higher than Lawson. Somebody might get quite a bargain choosing Dedric Lawson. I'd buy a R2 pick to grab him, w/o a doubt.

[doclinkin]

If Beal had 4 more years on his deal, it would be different. I'd be all about keeping him. But he's gone in two years.

What if he's not.

I don't think we can definitively say what Brad will and won't do. He's family oriented, apparently likes it here and has an opportunity to help craft a franchise to his liking. The team is definitively being built around him. He says he is interested in retiring a Wizard. What if he sees this team not just as a means for a lucrative playing career but with front office and other opportunities after his days are over.

Bradley Beal owns and manages an AAU team. He has played in international ball since he was 16. He's a lifer in this game. I take him at his word when he says a SuperMax contract and money are not the only considerations for him. Wins are part of it, but loyalty and family feel and long range opportunities are in his future as well.

Can we build a team during his peak? Absolutely. Since he changed his diet he has remade his body and generally improved his game even as his usage increased. Players like Troy Brown and Thomas Bryant cite his leadership and teaching and positivity in this lost year as major factors in their improvement and helping them become better professionals. Lotto prospect Darius Garland played on his squad and looks to him as a mentor.

Brad has said he is interested in the direction of the franchise. Firing Ernie was key. After that I suspect much depends on the outlook and mindset the incoming GM carries. Ted wants to look at best practices. All signs in basketball point to San Antonio when it comes to best practices. They allow employees at all levels to have input and give insight and direction. And subsequently players learn about coaching and are given insight to front office work. So many high calibre coaches come from the leadership training program that is San Antonio. If Ted manages to follow best practices then Beal is here as the foundation player spearheading the direction of the squad. And he in all likelihood will have a place for him at any part of the organization: coaching staff, front office, wherever he wants. If Leonsis had one great flaw with Ernie it was the thing that makes us a desirable place to work for GM candidates: loyalty.

The thing is Beal is an ideal player around which to build any kind of team, and a great player to mentor incoming youth. He is a coach on the floor and has been since college. Ask Billy Donovan who tabbed him as a leader despite him being the youngest kid on that Florida squad. And nowadays fielding a youthful team that learns as they struggle but puts up decent wins does not rob you of top draft picks. Suck to get lucky is not the sure thing it once was. Might as well try to win even if you are sure to fall short. At least you teach the right competitive attitude. Even this year we had a 10% chance to get a franchise turning player. And were leapfrogged by a team behind us with a worse chance. But even if you load up on youth, that does not guarantee more than prolonged growing pains. The adage on developing talent is: first you win then you get good.

We have seen kindergarten core teams struggle mightily and rarely do they all mature at the same time or on the same team. You do need some guidance on the bench an din the locker room as well as on the floor. Brad may not be good enough to carry us to a championship. But he can fit next to any kind of player and exemplifies how to do all the little things to help a team win and carried himself and his team this year with enough dignity and calm in tough situations that he deserves a great deal of credit for the team maintaining a serious attitude and positive growth for the youngsters.

The only path forward that provides reasonable hope for sustainable long-term success requires rebuilding, and the most effective way of rebuilding is to sell as high as possible on Beal.

I don't think Brad on a short contract coming off a losing year is selling as high as possible. If he has asked out then okay his value would tank. But he hasn't. Injuries happen. We amputated the gangrenous GM and Brad seems happy about that. He clearly had issues with Ernie.

I feel like Beal's best Ball is ahead of him. He is improving significantly while carrying a heavier and heavier load. Development suggests Brad on a re-signed contract --even a high dollar one-- will earn his contract and be a much better player then he is now. That Brad will attract better offers later than he will right now when every article about our team suggests we may *have* to trade him.

No. We don't. His value here is far higher than a handful of draft picks. Yes we need youth and development and yes we will suck for a bit. But panicking and dumping Brad is not a sell-high maneuver. I'm willing to bet on him. And I'm also intrigued by what a smart GM on a tapped out team could get from Howard's expiring contract at the all-star break. We have few assets but we do have one thing most teams don't: an owner who is generous.

Ted has shown a willingness to dip into the lux tax on a mediocre team. We will overpay for crap talent. We will overpay for just-okay coaches. So long as he can play do-si-do with the repeater tax I can see him willing to bear the burden of John Wall's injury anchor and still add talent. Especially since insurance will be paying 80% of the contract for Wall to rehab.

With a smart savvy creative GM who is given rein to remake the franchise top-to-bottom and is given access to Ted's (and Powell-Job's) deep pockets. I think some interesting and creative things can be done to push this team in the right direction. Even while carrying the burden of retaining a high caliber young player who has 10 more years of productive play and positive leadership and upward development ahead of him.

Consider also Ted has aims on sports gambling, and that money has not yet flooded the market and raised the boats of all franchises. You can panic about the salary cap right now, but you have no idea what that money will mean to future years caps.
We are anxious about Wall's contract because he blew a rod with an injury. But commonly it happens when you lock in an allstar player to a long term contract you look back and realize you had a player for a relative bargain. I'm not too worried about Brad earning his money. His game at least is headed in the right direction. And I get the feeling he will be a great player to carry young players with him.

[doclinkin]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Wiz didn't consider trading ^^ up^^ for Darius Garland if he slid a little. Dunno.

[Illuminaire]

People here keep saying "panic" or "dumping" in reference to those advocating a Beal trade.

Please stop. Literally no-one arguing for a trade is acting like it has to happen NOW, or that it shouldn't be for a high value package that moves the team forward.

And now, a challenge to those of you who want to stick through both the Beal and Wall contracts for the known future: how are you going to add all-star caliber talent to the team? Please, illuminate me.