The follow-up: 9 ways to fix the Wizards

[payitforward]

Here is the first part of follow-up to The Athletic article about the Wizards' problems, published on Friday:

https://theathletic.com/2072247/2020/09/20/trade-beal-keep-brooks-re-sign-bertans-nine-ways-to-fix-the-wizards-part-i/

What do you think of their ideas so far?

[payitforward]

One thing that seems strange is that these two authors stress that the Wizards are not involved in a "complete tear-down" style rebuild. Yet, here are the players on the Wizards at the end of the year two seasons ago:

John Wall
Bradley Beal
Ian Mahinmi
Otto Porter
Marcin Gortat
Markieff Morris
Jason Smith
Jodie Meeks
Tomas Satoransky
Kelly Oubre
Tim Frazier
Mike Scott
Chris McCullough
Ramon Sessions

It's two years later. How many of those players are under contract to the Wizards today? Two of them: John Wall & Bradley Beal. That's not a tear-down? Two players out of a fifteen-player roster are still with the team? For that matter, we certainly couldn't have traded one of those two, John Wall, even if we had wanted to -- the combination of an exorbitant contract & being injured ever since the middle of that season made it impossible.

For that matter, how about one year ago? The end of the 2018-19 season? Other than Wall & Beal who's still with us today. Here is the roster at the end of the season a year ago:

John Wall
Bradley Beal
Thomas Bryant
Troy Brown Jr.
Ian Mahinmi
Trevor Ariza
Dwight Howard
Tomas Satoransky
Bobby Portis
Jabari Parker
Sam Dekker
Jeff Green
Chasson Randle
Jordan McRae

Exactly 2 more players are still with the team -- Troy Brown & Thomas Bryant. Now... this radical rebuild is not complete. But I'd still say that replacing 13 of 15 players in only 2 years seems about as close to a "tear down" as it's possible to get in a world where, after all, players do have guaranteed contracts that stretch over a period of years.

[doclinkin]

Fair but it takes a while to build rookies into productive NBA players. Meanwhile Tommy is talking about how they want this Lottery to be the last time the wizards are waiting on a pingpong ball to determine their future. They don't want to rely on lottery picks to improve their team.

“My goal is never to be there. Next year, we don’t want to rely on the draft lottery to get better,” Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said Wednesday at an end-of-season press conference. “We want to see our young players get better. This year, I’m grateful we’ll have an opportunity to add a couple quality pieces.”

The comment is Sheppard’s least process-oriented one since becoming the GM last year. Then again, he was always straightforward about the franchise’s plan: Once Wall is good to go, so are the Wizards. And he reassured Wednesday that even if next season were starting in October as previously scheduled (it’s not), Wall, who has not played since December 2018, would be good to go.

“This year was all about development. And that’s on me,” Sheppard said. “I told Scottie (Brooks) at the beginning of the year; we have a brand new team. We have 11 new guys here. John’s not gonna play. So, we’re gonna have a lot of learning to do, and I think we accomplished that.”

Dusts hands against each other: We are done, team built. Clearly.

The team is looking for a swift rebuild, which has not proven to be a useful mindset around these parts in the past, but with a limited window in the Beal/Wall era it sounds like this is their mandate from the top on down and they are going to try to make a push to make it right. As stated in the article, much depends on whatever version of John Wall shows up.

I bet we on these pages could come up with a a better 9 point plan though.

[Ruzious]

I don't subscribe to The Athletic and don't plan to - can't see the article.

[doclinkin]

I don't subscribe to The Athletic and don't plan to - can't see the article.

Thanks for the insight. How about this, if you could pick nine things to do to fix the wizards what would be your priorities?

David Aldridge and Fred Katz say:

• Don’t trade Beal
• Use the full taxpayer MLE on one player – preferably small forward
• Think hard about changing to a defense-insistent head coach/instill a defense-first culture (which we’re not sure you can do without a new coach, but we’ll see)
• Re-sign Bertāns
• Ask around on Hachimura

...to be continued for the last 4.

[Ruzious]

One thing that seems strange is that these two authors stress that the Wizards are not involved in a "complete tear-down" style rebuild. Yet, here are the players on the Wizards at the end of the year two seasons ago:

John Wall
Bradley Beal
Ian Mahinmi
Otto Porter
Marcin Gortat
Markieff Morris
Jason Smith
Jodie Meeks
Tomas Satoransky
Kelly Oubre
Tim Frazier
Mike Scott
Chris McCullough
Ramon Sessions

It's two years later. How many of those players are under contract to the Wizards today? Two of them: John Wall & Bradley Beal. That's not a tear-down? Two players out of a fifteen-player roster are still with the team? For that matter, we certainly couldn't have traded one of those two, John Wall, even if we had wanted to -- the combination of an exorbitant contract & being injured ever since the middle of that season made it impossible.

For that matter, how about one year ago? The end of the 2018-19 season? Other than Wall & Beal who's still with us today. Here is the roster at the end of the season a year ago:

John Wall
Bradley Beal
Thomas Bryant
Troy Brown Jr.
Ian Mahinmi
Trevor Ariza
Dwight Howard
Tomas Satoransky
Bobby Portis
Jabari Parker
Sam Dekker
Jeff Green
Chasson Randle
Jordan McRae

Exactly 2 more players are still with the team -- Troy Brown & Thomas Bryant. Now... this radical rebuild is not complete. But I'd still say that replacing 13 of 15 players in only 2 years seems about as close to a "tear down" as it's possible to get in a world where, after all, players do have guaranteed contracts that stretch over a period of years.

Still, I think there's a different meaning that most people use for rebuild - not that you're wrong. It's not how many players you change - it's what you're trying to do. Rebuild to most people is changing the roster so that you will not compete now or even next year; it's bringing in rookies and picks that will allow you to compete several years into the future. So when you keep the only player that has a ton of value - and he's not a kid, and you keep your 40 plus million dollar a year player - that's not rebuilding to most people. It's not a "rebuild" if you keep Beal and Wall.

[payitforward]

Fair but it takes a while to build rookies into productive NBA players. Meanwhile Tommy is talking about how they want this Lottery to be the last time the wizards are waiting on a pingpong ball to determine their future. They don't want to rely on lottery picks to improve their team.

“My goal is never to be there. Next year, we don’t want to rely on the draft lottery to get better,” Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said Wednesday at an end-of-season press conference. “We want to see our young players get better. This year, I’m grateful we’ll have an opportunity to add a couple quality pieces.”

The comment is Sheppard’s least process-oriented one since becoming the GM last year. Then again, he was always straightforward about the franchise’s plan: Once Wall is good to go, so are the Wizards. And he reassured Wednesday that even if next season were starting in October as previously scheduled (it’s not), Wall, who has not played since December 2018, would be good to go.

“This year was all about development. And that’s on me,” Sheppard said. “I told Scottie (Brooks) at the beginning of the year; we have a brand new team. We have 11 new guys here. John’s not gonna play. So, we’re gonna have a lot of learning to do, and I think we accomplished that.”

Dusts hands against each other: We are done, team built. Clearly.

The team is looking for a swift rebuild, which has not proven to be a useful mindset around these parts in the past, but with a limited window in the Beal/Wall era it sounds like this is their mandate from the top on down and they are going to try to make a push to make it right. As stated in the article, much depends on whatever version of John Wall shows up.

I bet we on these pages could come up with a a better 9 point plan though.

Right.

Thing is... nobody wants to be in the lottery, because being in the lottery means that you are unsuccessful -- and nobody wants to be unsuccessful. Moreover, since being in the lottery doesn't tend to get you a better player than if you pick outside the lottery (unless you have pick 1, 2 or 3, that is), it doesn't even help you become successful, at least not usually.

Not to mention that every rebuilding team -- not just this one! -- "is looking for a swift rebuild." Why would any team look for a slow rebuild?

From the expectations they attribute to Tommy Sheppard you get the idea that the Wizards expect to be "competitive" next year. To "return" to where they were. That's a really scary idea, since there is nothing to "return" to.

This team was never all that good in the last decade. In fact, over a period of ten years, we have had two good runs. First was our 19-6 beginning to the 2014-15 season, & it was powered by Paul Pierce & above all by the late Rasual Butler's brief imitation of an all star. The second was really extraordinary, as, after starting the '16-17 season 7-13, we went 34-11 from 12/8/16 - 3/11/17. Wow that was fun. We went 8-9 to close the season.

Now, if we are talking about a "put butts in the seats" rebuild -- we'll get that. But any more... forget about it. Tho of course we might make the 8th spot in the playoffs, signaling a "return" to the "good" (?) old days of Ernie Grunfeld.

As to their "plan" -- for starters, they've only provided 5 of their 9 ways to "fix" the Wizards, & the first one isn't even a "way:" they just say that we should not trade Brad Beal. That's not some kind of "idea." & the suggestion to re-sign Bertans is not exactly a new notion either.

The rest of their ideas are equally vague, with the exception of firing Brooks & hiring a defensive coach in order to instill a defensive culture. That's not vague, but it's... I don't know... maybe the best word is "obvious?"

Their other 2 ideas -- use the full MLE on a defensive-minded 3 & listen to offers on Hachimura -- won't get 100% support on this fan board. Especially, not the latter one.

[payitforward]

One thing that seems strange is that these two authors stress that the Wizards are not involved in a "complete tear-down" style rebuild. Yet, here are the players on the Wizards at the end of the year two seasons ago:...

It's two years later. How many of those players are under contract to the Wizards today? Two of them: John Wall & Bradley Beal. That's not a tear-down? ...etc.

Still, I think there's a different meaning that most people use for rebuild - not that you're wrong. It's not how many players you change - it's what you're trying to do....

For sure. & the problem is what we're "trying to do." This just goes to my other post, IOW -- replying to the notion of a swift rebuild" & that starting in the new season we somehow "return" to something -- as if we just took a year off.

& that is what Ted is "trying to do." The message is that, somehow, there really was no problem. Somehow, we really didn't make error after error trying to put bandaids on major wounds. Somehow we're fine: we got all new players, and after 1 year of "player development" we're good to go. We've "returned."

It's either delusional or here's what it means: we are not interested in competing for anything. We're interested in being "respectable." Or, I should say, that is what Ted Leonsis sees as the goal. Thus, there is no need to to rebuild, just give your fans the impression that all is well. After all...

...when you keep the only player that has a ton of value - and he's not a kid, and you keep your 40 plus million dollar a year player - that's not rebuilding to most people. It's not a "rebuild" if you keep Beal and Wall.

Ted hasn't changed his plan. Just be somewhere near the top of the bottom half of the league, & everyone will be happy.

In short... same old Wizards.

[Kanyewest]

Derrick Jones for the full MLE makes me nervous as David Aldridge suggest. I feel like there's a possibility he's worse without MIami's training behind him (see Luol Deng, James Johnson, Dion Waiters). He is shooting 44% from 3 in the bubble playoffs but is the reality closer to him shooting closer to his 28% like he did in the regular season. It may take less because the Heat also may look to re-sign Crowder/Dragic plus the Heat may want to maintain flexibility to go after Giannis.

I'm not as keen as re-signing Bertans for the high value tag if it makes him untradeable. Remember, Bertains unfortunately did remind us (perhaps unintentionally) that he has had 2 ACL injuries. Maybe I still have PTSD from Martell Webster. While I am hoping for Wall to return back to 100%, you can't also eliminate the possibility that he may never reach such levels which may make it harder to trade Bertans.

I am split on dealing Beal. Selfishly, I want to see him finish a career in a Wizards uniform. But if a similar offer from OKC occurs - then I would have to think about it. That being said, at the moment, I suspect Beal is undervalued (after all I would take him on a postseason run rather than Westbrook or George and he can't make an all star team let alone an all nba team).

[Ruzious]

Derrick Jones for the full MLE makes me nervous as David Aldridge suggest. I feel like there's a possibility he's worse without MIami's training behind him (see Luol Deng, James Johnson, Dion Waiters). He is shooting 44% from 3 in the bubble playoffs but is the reality closer to him shooting closer to his 28% like he did in the regular season. It may take less because the Heat also may look to re-sign Crowder/Dragic plus the Heat may want to maintain flexibility to go after Giannis.

I'm not as keen as re-signing Bertans for the high value tag if it makes him untradeable. Remember, Bertains unfortunately did remind us (perhaps unintentionally) that he has had 2 ACL injuries. Maybe I still have PTSD from Martell Webster. While I am hoping for Wall to return back to 100%, you can't also eliminate the possibility that he may never reach such levels which may make it harder to trade Bertans.

I am split on dealing Beal. Selfishly, I want to see him finish a career in a Wizards uniform. But if a similar offer from OKC occurs - then I would have to think about it. That being said, at the moment, I suspect Beal is undervalued (after all I would take him on a postseason run rather than Westbrook or George and he can't make an all star team let alone an all nba team).

Aldridge really suggests giving the full MLE to Derrick Jones? That's crazy - he's playing like 5 minutes a game. I think Jones is a good target - but at half that price - at the most. I'm also not crazy about paying what it looks like it'll take for Bertans. He's never going to be even adequate on defense and rebounding. I want to get lucky and find a team willing to do a sign and trade for him - but with the caps going down, I don't see a team willing to do that. Maybe Atlanta. I can't see Phoenix doing it - since they have their own version of Bertans in Cam Johnson. I'm not liking paying 15 mil for a 1 dimensional player.

As I've alluded to many times, I'd listen to every offer for Rui.

[pcbothwel]

One thing that seems strange is that these two authors stress that the Wizards are not involved in a "complete tear-down" style rebuild. Yet, here are the players on the Wizards at the end of the year two seasons ago:...

It's two years later. How many of those players are under contract to the Wizards today? Two of them: John Wall & Bradley Beal. That's not a tear-down? ...etc.

Still, I think there's a different meaning that most people use for rebuild - not that you're wrong. It's not how many players you change - it's what you're trying to do....

For sure. & the problem is what we're "trying to do." This just goes to my other post, IOW -- replying to the notion of a swift rebuild" & that starting in the new season we somehow "return" to something -- as if we just took a year off.

& that is what Ted is "trying to do." The message is that, somehow, there really was no problem. Somehow, we really didn't make error after error trying to put bandaids on major wounds. Somehow we're fine: we got all new players, and after 1 year of "player development" we're good to go. We've "returned."

It's either delusional or here's what it means: we are not interested in competing for anything. We're interested in being "respectable." Or, I should say, that is what Ted Leonsis sees as the goal. Thus, there is no need to to rebuild, just give your fans the impression that all is well. After all...

...when you keep the only player that has a ton of value - and he's not a kid, and you keep your 40 plus million dollar a year player - that's not rebuilding to most people. It's not a "rebuild" if you keep Beal and Wall.

Ted hasn't changed his plan. Just be somewhere near the top of the bottom half of the league, & everyone will be happy.

In short... same old Wizards.

Sorry, but this just isnt fair/accurate. Miami was called a treadmill team and people thought Butler was an odd fit as he would be past his prime when they would be competing in two years.
Denver was killed for not giving up young pieces in order to consolidate into 2nd or 3rd star.
The Raptors just put down a 74% win PCT (60 win season in a normal year), after losing Kawhi and being led by a 34 y/o Lowry.

We can get into details as to why, but the point all of these teams have showed improvement in their leaders/core along with their young prospects. They still have cards to play as they have built up, unlike say, the Clippers, Rockets, 76ers & Lakers.

Again, I know everyone likes to draw some detailed path forward, but we really have to focus on health and player development to see how Wall, Rui, Brown, Bryant, Bonga, and #9 all come together in 4-6 months.

[dckingsfan]

Step 1: Rid ourselves of Grunfeld
Step 2: Put in a solid GM
Step 3: Watch and see, rinse and repeat as necessary

Let's give Tommy some time to see what he does.

[nate33]

Derrick Jones for the full MLE makes me nervous as David Aldridge suggest. I feel like there's a possibility he's worse without MIami's training behind him (see Luol Deng, James Johnson, Dion Waiters). He is shooting 44% from 3 in the bubble playoffs but is the reality closer to him shooting closer to his 28% like he did in the regular season. It may take less because the Heat also may look to re-sign Crowder/Dragic plus the Heat may want to maintain flexibility to go after Giannis.

I'm not as keen as re-signing Bertans for the high value tag if it makes him untradeable. Remember, Bertains unfortunately did remind us (perhaps unintentionally) that he has had 2 ACL injuries. Maybe I still have PTSD from Martell Webster. While I am hoping for Wall to return back to 100%, you can't also eliminate the possibility that he may never reach such levels which may make it harder to trade Bertans.

I am split on dealing Beal. Selfishly, I want to see him finish a career in a Wizards uniform. But if a similar offer from OKC occurs - then I would have to think about it. That being said, at the moment, I suspect Beal is undervalued (after all I would take him on a postseason run rather than Westbrook or George and he can't make an all star team let alone an all nba team).

Aldridge really suggests giving the full MLE to Derrick Jones? That's crazy - he's playing like 5 minutes a game. I think Jones is a good target - but at half that price - at the most. I'm also not crazy about paying what it looks like it'll take for Bertans. He's never going to be even adequate on defense and rebounding. I want to get lucky and find a team willing to do a sign and trade for him - but with the caps going down, I don't see a team willing to do that. Maybe Atlanta. I can't see Phoenix doing it - since they have their own version of Bertans in Cam Johnson. I'm not liking paying 15 mil for a 1 dimensional player.

As I've alluded to many times, I'd listen to every offer for Rui.

Agreed. At the most, some team offers Jones the Room Minimum, which is just shy of $5M. We could outbid that without having to pay the full MLE.

[nate33]

I don't subscribe to The Athletic and don't plan to - can't see the article.

Thanks for the insight. How about this, if you could pick nine things to do to fix the wizards what would be your priorities?

David Aldridge and Fred Katz say:

• Don’t trade Beal
• Use the full taxpayer MLE on one player – preferably small forward
• Think hard about changing to a defense-insistent head coach/instill a defense-first culture (which we’re not sure you can do without a new coach, but we’ll see)
• Re-sign Bertāns
• Ask around on Hachimura

...to be continued for the last 4.

The "ask around on Hachimura" part is a non-starter.

Basically, you never see recent picks traded in their 2nd season, unless it's part of a package for a superstar or something. Teams always overvalue their young guys - looking more at the future upside than the current production, but they look more at current production on the young guy they're getting back in the trade.

[Ruzious]

I don't subscribe to The Athletic and don't plan to - can't see the article.

Thanks for the insight. How about this, if you could pick nine things to do to fix the wizards what would be your priorities?

David Aldridge and Fred Katz say:

• Don’t trade Beal
• Use the full taxpayer MLE on one player – preferably small forward
• Think hard about changing to a defense-insistent head coach/instill a defense-first culture (which we’re not sure you can do without a new coach, but we’ll see)
• Re-sign Bertāns
• Ask around on Hachimura

...to be continued for the last 4.

The "ask around on Hachimura" part is a non-starter.

Basically, you never see recent picks traded in their 2nd season, unless it's part of a package for a superstar or something. Teams always overvalue their young guys - looking more at the future upside than the current production, but they look more at current production on the young guy they're getting back in the trade.

You're probably right - looking at it realistically. I think the only way a team trades a lotto pick after 1 year is if they're getting a star in return, and it's probably got to be a package deal - all of which is unlikely.

[payitforward]

Still, I think there's a different meaning that most people use for rebuild - not that you're wrong. It's not how many players you change - it's what you're trying to do....

For sure. & the problem is what we're "trying to do." This just goes to my other post, IOW -- replying to the notion of a swift rebuild" & that starting in the new season we somehow "return" to something -- as if we just took a year off.

& that is what Ted is "trying to do." The message is that, somehow, there really was no problem. Somehow, we really didn't make error after error trying to put bandaids on major wounds. Somehow we're fine: we got all new players, and after 1 year of "player development" we're good to go. We've "returned."

It's either delusional or here's what it means: we are not interested in competing for anything. We're interested in being "respectable." Or, I should say, that is what Ted Leonsis sees as the goal. Thus, there is no need to to rebuild, just give your fans the impression that all is well. After all...

...when you keep the only player that has a ton of value - and he's not a kid, and you keep your 40 plus million dollar a year player - that's not rebuilding to most people. It's not a "rebuild" if you keep Beal and Wall.

Ted hasn't changed his plan. Just be somewhere near the top of the bottom half of the league, & everyone will be happy.

In short... same old Wizards.

Sorry, but this just isnt fair/accurate. Miami was called a treadmill team and people thought Butler was an odd fit as he would be past his prime when they would be competing in two years.
Denver was killed for not giving up young pieces in order to consolidate into 2nd or 3rd star.
The Raptors just put down a 74% win PCT (60 win season in a normal year), after losing Kawhi and being led by a 34 y/o Lowry.

We can get into details as to why, but the point all of these teams have showed improvement in their leaders/core along with their young prospects. They still have cards to play as they have built up, unlike say, the Clippers, Rockets, 76ers & Lakers.

Again, I know everyone likes to draw some detailed path forward, but we really have to focus on health and player development to see how Wall, Rui, Brown, Bryant, Bonga, and #9 all come together in 4-6 months.

Miami has never failed to aim at the top. We have never aimed at the top. They acquired Butler who is one of the top 10 players in the game. They made their #14 pick in the draft in 2017; they hadn't traded it. & it turned out to be one of the top 3-5 players who came into the league that year. They found Derrick Jones undrafted, & they found Duncan Robinson undrafted. Nor were they ever as bad as we were both this year & last.

In short, they didn't show "improvement in their leaders/core," they got rid of their older core. A total of 3000 minutes were played this year by guys who were on the team 2 years ago. Of the guys who played those minutes only 1 will be back, & that's only b/c he has a player option (Olynyk).

What's Denver got to do with anything? They were certainly right not to try to get better by adding veterans. We're about to re-sign Bertans. No relationship. As to Toronto, please explain logically & mathematically the relationship between Lowry having a good year & anything at all about the Washington Wizards.

Still, you are altogether right that we have to focus on player development; we have to see how much our young guys improve. But, it's not just #9 among the prospective picks, it's also #37. & anyone we find undrafted (go Nathan!!!). & we have to see what kind of player John Wall is.

& that's why we can't say "Okay! Rebuild over. This year was about player development. Next year we're competing again."

That's what hints at "same old Wizards." I.e. that we'll be back to those glory days when over a period of 5 years we averaged 44 wins. Wow! I mean just... wow! & maybe some day we might even reach once again those incredible dizzying heights of 49 wins & the 2d round of the playoffs. Wouldn't it be great to be able to tell the kids about that, huh!?!?

[payitforward]

I should say that the above is something I'm worried about -- this opting for quick turnaround to "normal" -- i.e. it's not something I feel certain that they have in mind. But I do worry about it.

I worry that they think success is getting into the playoffs & somehow being "hot" at the right time.

I want a FO that will build the Wizards into a genuinely good team -- up at the level of Toronto, for example -- a team that can actually contend for a title & maybe actually bring one home!

[payitforward]

This is related if not directly on topic -- & it's way interesting. The Wiz & analytics...

https://theathletic.com/2077751/2020/09/19/tommy-sheppard-discusses-whats-next-for-the-wizards-analytics-department/?article_source=search&search_query=Wizards

[payitforward]

So is this:
https://theathletic.com/2010227/2020/08/20/as-nba-draft-lottery-nears-wizards-seek-a-piece-to-make-a-playoff-run-next-year/?article_source=search&search_query=Wizards
The first half of the article is all material that's familiar from other articles; the 2d half is quite interesting, however -- about Beal & Brown.

[DCZards]

I should say that the above is something I'm worried about -- this opting for quick turnaround to "normal" -- i.e. it's not something I feel certain that they have in mind. But I do worry about it.

I worry that they think success is getting into the playoffs & somehow being "hot" at the right time.

I want a FO that will build the Wizards into a genuinely good team -- up at the level of Toronto, for example -- a team that can actually contend for a title & maybe actually bring one home!

Toronto is an interesting case study as it relates to the Zards. They lost one of the top players in the NBA (Leonard) yet still managed to win 53 games.

I see a few reasons for the Raptors success (I’m sure there are more):
1. They have an excellent coach in Nick Nurse;
2. They play great defense;
3. Kyle Lowry is a tough-minded, veteran and leader, and a very good player;
4. At least two of their young players, Siakim & VanVleet, have turned out to be better players than I think most people expected;
5. They have very good role players (Gasol, Ibaka, Anunoby, Powell) who are particularly sound on defense;
6. They’ve learned how to win—thanks to winning the championship last season

Now let’s look like at the Zards:
1. The head coach is average;
2. The Zards are one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA;
3. The Zards have two vets who are as good (or better) than Lowry—Beal & Wall;
4. The Zards have a handful of young players (Brown, Bryant, Rui, Bonga) who have the potential to be very good NBA players.
(At a minimum, I’d expect all of them to be solid role players);
5. The Zards have an outstanding role player in Bertans (free agent) and a solid role player in Ish;
6. The Zards have a bunch of young players who have yet to experience any real success at the NBA level.

Talent-wise, I don’t think the Raptors are a whole lot better than the Zards. (Although much of the Zards talent is unrealized “potential” at this point.)

I see the major difference in the areas of defense and coaching. (And I'd add rebounding.) I’m hopeful that the Zards youngin’s improve defensively AND that we draft a defensive-minded player. Ideally that player would be a big like Okongwu or Achiuwa, but I’d be happy with a Vassell or S. Bey, who are both excellent defenders.

Brooks will be the head coach for at least another season.