The Amazingly Sucky Tommy Sheppard Thread

[FAH1223]

Tommy can't sign decent free agents. The Dinwiddie and Bertans deals deserve F grades.

He's a C on trades.

He's a C-/D+ on the draft so far.

Not much better than Grunfeld.

Yes, I'm angry.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Unfortunately, it looks as if his most important decision of head coach is at best a C right now.

Trending downward.

[Eli Babak]

Tommy's major moves:

June 20, 2019: Selected Rui Hachimura (1st round, 9th pick) in the 2019 NBA Draft.

June 21, 2019: Traded cash to the Philadelphia 76ers for Admiral Schofield and Jonathon Simmons. $2MM

July 1, 2019: Signed Rui Hachimura to a multi-year contract.

July 4, 2019: Signed Garrison Mathews to a two-way contract.

July 6, 2019: Traded Dwight Howard to the Memphis Grizzlies for C.J. Miles.

July 6, 2019: As part of a 3-team trade, the Washington Wizards traded Aaron White to the Brooklyn Nets; the Brooklyn Nets traded DeMarre Carroll to the San Antonio Spurs; the San Antonio Spurs traded Nemanja Dangubic to the Brooklyn Nets; and the San Antonio Spurs traded Davis Bertans to the Washington Wizards.

July 6, 2019: As part of a 3-team trade, the Washington Wizards traded cash to the New Orleans Pelicans; the Los Angeles Lakers traded Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, De'Andre Hunter, Brandon Ingram, cash, a 2021 1st round draft pick (Isaiah Jackson was later selected), a 2023 1st round draft pick and a 2024 1st round draft pick to the New Orleans Pelicans; the Los Angeles Lakers traded Isaac Bonga, Jemerrio Jones, Moritz Wagner and a 2022 2nd round draft pick to the Washington Wizards; and the New Orleans Pelicans traded Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers. (9-30 protected, unprotected in 2022) (2023 first-round pick is right to swap with LAL.) (NOP have the option to defer 2024 first-round pick to 2025.) $1MM $1.1MM

July 6, 2019: Signed Thomas Bryant as a free agent.

July 7, 2019: Signed Tomáš Satoranský as a free agent.

July 7, 2019: Traded Tomáš Satoranský to the Chicago Bulls for a 2020 2nd round draft pick (Vit Krejci was later selected) and a 2022 2nd round draft pick. (2020 second-round pick is CHI's or MEM's pick, whichever is more favorable.) (2022 second-round pick is right to swap LAL's pick for either CHI's or DET's, whichever is more favorable.)

July 8, 2019: Signed Ish Smith as a free agent.

July 9, 2019: Signed Isaiah Thomas as a free agent.

July 14, 2019: Signed Admiral Schofield to a multi-year contract.

October 17, 2019: Signed Bradley Beal to a multi-year contract. (Signing is extension on deal signed in 2016)

February 6, 2020: Traded Jordan McRae to the Denver Nuggets for Shabazz Napier.

February 6, 2020: As part of a 3-team trade, the Washington Wizards traded Issuf Sanon to the New York Knicks; the Washington Wizards traded Isaiah Thomas to the Los Angeles Clippers; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Maurice Harkless, a 2020 1st round draft pick (Udoka Azubuike was later selected), a 2021 1st round draft pick and a 2021 2nd round draft pick (Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was later selected) to the New York Knicks; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Jerome Robinson to the Washington Wizards; and the New York Knicks traded Marcus Morris to the Los Angeles Clippers. (2021 second-round pick is DET's pick.) (2021 first-round pick is right to swap with LAC's first-round pick, top-4 protected. Pick not swapped.)

November 18, 2020: Selected Deni Avdija (1st round, 9th pick) and Vit Krejci (2nd round, 37th pick) in the 2020 NBA Draft.

November 19, 2020: Traded Vit Krejci and Admiral Schofield to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Cassius Winston and a 2024 2nd round draft pick. 2024 2nd-rd pick is MEM own, Washington also received a trade exception from Oklahoma City.

November 21, 2020: Signed Garrison Mathews to a two-way contract.

November 21, 2020: Signed Raul Neto as a free agent.

November 22, 2020: Signed Robin Lopez as a free agent. Signed 1-yr/$7.3M contract 11/22/20

November 22, 2020: Signed Dāvis Bertāns to a multi-year contract.

November 27, 2020: Signed Cassius Winston to a two-way contract.

November 30, 2020: Signed Anthony Gill to a multi-year contract.

December 1, 2020: Signed Deni Avdija to a multi-year contract.

December 2, 2020: Traded John Wall and a 2023 1st round draft pick to the Houston Rockets for Russell Westbrook. 2023 1st-rd pick (WAS own) is lottery protected, Houston also received a trade exception

January 23, 2021: Signed Alex Len.

March 25, 2021: As part of a 3-team trade, the Washington Wizards traded Troy Brown Jr. and cash to the Chicago Bulls; the Washington Wizards traded Moritz Wagner to the Boston Celtics; the Boston Celtics traded Javonte Green, Daniel Theis and cash to the Chicago Bulls; the Chicago Bulls traded Luke Kornet to the Boston Celtics; and the Chicago Bulls traded Daniel Gafford and Chandler Hutchison to the Washington Wizards. Boston also received a trade exception

July 29, 2021: Selected Corey Kispert (1st round, 15th pick) in the 2021 NBA Draft.

August 4, 2021: Signed Corey Kispert to a multi-year contract.

August 6, 2021: As part of a 5-team trade, the Washington Wizards traded Chandler Hutchison to the San Antonio Spurs; the Washington Wizards traded Russell Westbrook, a 2023 2nd round draft pick, a 2024 2nd round draft pick and a 2028 2nd round draft pick to the Los Angeles Lakers; the Washington Wizards traded a 2024 2nd round draft pick and a 2025 2nd round draft pick to the Brooklyn Nets; the Brooklyn Nets traded Spencer Dinwiddie to the Washington Wizards; the Indiana Pacers traded Aaron Holiday and Isaiah Todd to the Washington Wizards; the Los Angeles Lakers traded Isaiah Jackson to the Indiana Pacers; the Los Angeles Lakers traded Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma to the Washington Wizards; the San Antonio Spurs traded Nikola Milutinov to the Brooklyn Nets; and the San Antonio Spurs traded a 2022 2nd round draft pick to the Washington Wizards. Indiana also received a trade exception 2023 conditional 2nd-rd pick is CHI own 2024 2nd-rd pick is least favorable 2028 2nd-rd pick is WAS own 2024 2nd-rd pick is more favorable 2025 2nd-rd pick is a swap option; Brooklyn also received a trade exception 2022 2nd-rd pick is an opportunity to swap

August 6, 2021: Signed Raul Neto.

August 10, 2021: Signed Isaiah Todd to a multi-year contract.

August 19, 2021: Signed Cassius Winston to a two-way contract.

+ signed Wes Unsled Jr. to be the head coach, 4 year contract.

- I didn't like the Rui pick and to be honest I'm pretty sure Ted wanted him really hard for marketing reasons. Sure, he could still develop and become at least average player, but I'm not too high on him.

- Getting a 2nd round pick in 2019 was nice, something that Ernie never or rarely did. Schofield didn't work out but I understand the idea.

- Mathews was a great find. Just... why the **** did they let him go?

- Dwight for Miles was bad. Miles was more expensive and garbage player.

- Getting Bertans basically for free was amazing. Too bad that, in typical Wizards fashion, they overpaid to keep him.

- 2019 trade with the Lakers was nice.

- Bryant's deal in 2019 was solid. Hopefully they can keep him on a friendly contract.

- I would've loved to keep Sato here, but I understand why he wanted to leave and at least they got something in return.

- Smith's deal wasn't good, but I understand the idea.

- Getting Beal to extend his contract in 2019 was amazing. But now... just... please, trade him. Don't max him and think that he's the franchise player. He's just not good enough.

- Getting Robinson and playing him big minutes was bad.

- I like Deni, he just needs proper coaching and some time.

- Neto on minimum deals is good. Just don't play him too much.

- RoLo was a wholesome player, but kinda odd signing.

- Wall for Westbrook and then dumping Westbrook to Lakers were great moves.

- I wasn't a big fan of Brown/Wagner for Hutch/Gafford, but I think Wiz won here. Extending Gafford early could be a bad move but we'll see, he should have plenty of room to improve.

- I don't want to judge Kispert this early, but I didn't like the pick that much.

- Trading 22th pick for Holiday + drafting Todd was super bad.

- Dinwiddie is not a bad contract in my books, the situation is just super awkward.

- WUJ definitely got the job partly because his dad is a Washington legend. He doesn't seem to be a creative, exciting head coach that gets 110% out of his team.

Yeah... Tommy is better than Ernie, but I guess 90% of people on this board would be better than that clown. They should've cleaned the house in 2019 and get new faces, but to some extent I do like Tommy. Too bad Ted rushed to give him a big extension after that good start - he has not been that good.

[nate33]

Tommy is fine. The problem is that the franchise remains in a win now setting when they should be rebuilding. Tommy has managed to accumulate the assets to rebuild. We are better off selling off Kuzma KCP and Harrell for picks/prospects then we would have been trying to trade Westbrook.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

[gfycat][/gfycat]

Tommy is fine. The problem is that the franchise remains in a win now setting when they should be rebuilding. Tommy has managed to accumulate the assets to rebuild. We are better off selling off Kuzma KCP and Harrell for picks/prospects then we would have been trying to trade Westbrook.

I do believe the blow up is upon us.

Hiring Wes was a sign that, unless this collection of mismatched toys somehow caught fire, the Wiz are prepared to fire sale at the deadline. Wes will be better with a gaggle of kids that he can teach and mentor and who don’t question his authority.

He’s certainly shown himself to be bad at in game strategy… and he hasn’t convinced this group to play with consistent effort and focus.

I think the idea is that he grows as the next collection of youngsters grow.

[queridiculo]

Tommy is fine. The problem is that the franchise remains in a win now setting when they should be rebuilding. Tommy has managed to accumulate the assets to rebuild. We are better off selling off Kuzma KCP and Harrell for picks/prospects then we would have been trying to trade Westbrook.

I think he's doing an ok job when you consider what he had to work with, but I don't know if fine is the word I'd choose.

There's a whole lot of one step forward one step back type of deals here and for the most part the franchise under his guidance has just been treading water.

There's no clear direction, and not clear commitment to anything, just more of the same, steady pursuit of mediocrity.

Part of that is on the owner, but Sheppard doesn't get a pass for not embracing a full rebuild.

In my book it's his job to chart the course and to convince the owner that there's no compelling argument to be made for the status quo and he just seems to be content with business as usual.

Sheppard should have been removed along with every other holdover from the Grunfeld days, full stop.

[closg00]

Tommy is fine. The problem is that the franchise remains in a win now setting when they should be rebuilding. Tommy has managed to accumulate the assets to rebuild. We are better off selling off Kuzma KCP and Harrell for picks/prospects then we would have been trying to trade Westbrook.

I think he's doing an ok job when you consider what he had to work with, but I don't know if fine is the word I'd choose.

There's a whole lot of one step forward one step back type of deals here and for the most part the franchise under his guidance has just been treading water.

There's no clear direction, and not clear commitment to anything, just more of the same, steady pursuit of mediocrity.

Part of that is on the owner, but Sheppard doesn't get a pass for not embracing a full rebuild.

In my book it's his job to chart the course and to convince the owner that there's no compelling argument to be made for the status quo and he just seems to be content with business as usual.

Sheppard should have been removed along with every other holdover from the Grunfeld days, full stop.

[9 and 20]

[gfycat][/gfycat]

Tommy is fine. The problem is that the franchise remains in a win now setting when they should be rebuilding. Tommy has managed to accumulate the assets to rebuild. We are better off selling off Kuzma KCP and Harrell for picks/prospects then we would have been trying to trade Westbrook.

I do believe the blow up is upon us.

Hiring Wes was a sign that, unless this collection of mismatched toys somehow caught fire, the Wiz are prepared to fire sale at the deadline. Wes will be better with a gaggle of kids that he can teach and mentor and who don’t question his authority.

He’s certainly shown himself to be bad at in game strategy… and he hasn’t convinced this group to play with consistent effort and focus.

I think the idea is that he grows as the next collection of youngsters grow.

This would be the ideal outcome! I hope Tommy had these potential courses of action mapped out when he made the Westbrook trade. And I hope Terd sees the light and allows the rebuild to happen.

Tommy kept talking about waiting to see how the full team performed once everyone was back and healthy. Well, we've seen the crap show and we emerged covered in poo.

Tear it down. Garbage.

[TGW]

Tommy is fine. The problem is that the franchise remains in a win now setting when they should be rebuilding. Tommy has managed to accumulate the assets to rebuild. We are better off selling off Kuzma KCP and Harrell for picks/prospects then we would have been trying to trade Westbrook.

I think he's doing an ok job when you consider what he had to work with, but I don't know if fine is the word I'd choose.

There's a whole lot of one step forward one step back type of deals here and for the most part the franchise under his guidance has just been treading water.

There's no clear direction, and not clear commitment to anything, just more of the same, steady pursuit of mediocrity.

Part of that is on the owner, but Sheppard doesn't get a pass for not embracing a full rebuild.

In my book it's his job to chart the course and to convince the owner that there's no compelling argument to be made for the status quo and he just seems to be content with business as usual.

Sheppard should have been removed along with every other holdover from the Grunfeld days, full stop.

Absolutely. He's had three full offseasons to find a second all-star calibre player next to Beal (and no, Westbrook ain't it) and has failed miserably. His draft picks are mediocre at best, and his free agent signings have been a complete disaster. He absolutely should have been fired with the rest of Grunfeld's flunkies.

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

[badinage]

They’re saying that the reason Gafford is sitting is because the trade deadline is coming and he can’t be traded so it’s not worth playing him/showcasing him to other teams?

Really?

This is typical Twitter horseshxt — speculation that sounds somewhat plausible, and people get behind because it jibes with some belief they have about a team or person or political party.

We’re supposed to believe that two weeks of showcasing a player is going to persuade a team to make a deal for him?

[TGW]

They’re saying that the reason Gafford is sitting is because the trade deadline is coming and he can’t be traded so it’s not worth playing him/showcasing him to other teams?

Really?

This is typical Twitter horseshxt — speculation that sounds somewhat plausible, and people get behind because it jibes with some belief they have about a team or person or political party.

We’re supposed to believe that two weeks of showcasing a player is going to persuade a team to make a deal for him?

Why else did Gafford inexplicably get benched?

[zero2hero]

Imagine we end up 10-20+ games under .500 and we extended Shep so early in the season.... LOL

[closg00]

Per the Tap:

Following his team's fifth consecutive loss, Washington Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said former starting center Daniel Gafford has been removed from the rotation for the time being. Unseld said it wasn't about Gafford's play, but that the team had poor flow when trying to play three centers.

Thomas Bryant recently returned after a year-long absence from a torn ACL. He got his first start of the season in Saturday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Montrezl Harrell played his regular minutes as the backup five as well.

In recent weeks, rumors have surfaced that rival teams are looking at Washington's crowded frontcourt for trade options. In addition to Bryant, Gafford and Harrell at center, the Wizards are also stuffed at the four with Kyle Kuzma, Rui Hachimura and Davis Bertans.

After a 10-3 start, Washington has lost 23 of 36 games. That's seen the Wizards fall to 11th in the Eastern Conference.

How is this anything other than a massive fail, please explain

[TGW]

The explanation from the team is pure garbage. Let’s bench the starting center because there are three centers needing playing time?

This reeks of upper management, not a coaching decision. Twitter might be right, cause this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever considering Gafford bring more to the lineup than Bryant and Harrell.

[FAH1223]

The explanation from the team is pure garbage. Let’s bench the starting center because there are three centers needing playing time?

This reeks of upper management, not a coaching decision. Twitter might be right, cause this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever considering Gafford bring more to the lineup than Bryant and Harrell.

Yeah, I been hard on Wes over the last couple of games but listening to his postgame presser in Memphis, he said and I'm paraphrasing that when they told the centers about going to a two-man rotation, that the coaches weren't happy about it as well as the players.

That's revealing.

It's around 4:50 mark

Watch on YouTube

[9 and 20]

Imagine we end up 10-20+ games under .500 and we extended Shep so early in the season.... LOL

If it happens, especially if it happens without a sell-off at the trade deadline, Terd deserves every bit of embarrassment and blame that will come his way. He misses no opportunity to gloat about even minor, even meaningless success. It's a running joke, but the man put pen to paper in order to talk about improved urinals. Meanwhile, the team hasn't been a serious contender in over 40 years.

[Silvie Lysandra]

Because he, like Dan, is a narcissist. It's all about ego defense for him.

[80sballboy]

I think his picks are his. Guy loves Mark Few and has picked two Gonzaga guys, not to mention adding Ayayi. Everything else has to go through Ted. The Bertans move made sense at the time, maybe the deal was too long and too much for a one-dimensional player. You can tell Wes hates him considering he said "he has one skill" in his twice a month interview with the Junkies.

Good move to get rid of Westbrook and get an expiring contract in Trez. Kuzma was an excellent pick up. Maybe a good piece to deal. It wasn't his fault that Rui got burned out on basketball and still looks like he's not in basketball shape. Before all that happened after the Olympics, not saying he was going to be an All-Star, but he looked like he'd be a solid start. Deni was also a solid pick at 9 and has a decent ceiling. Maybe this is not the place for him. The culture still sucks here.

Here is the problem. The worst thing that happened to the team is that they started out 10-3 without Rui and Bryant. Now, we all want it blown up, but the Westbrook move was to get rid of his contract and the players picked up were place-setters. They made a nice impact in those first 13 games, but since then, no real impact. So that 10-3 start was nice, but let's face it. Most of us thought this was a 30-35 win team and that's what they look like now. If he can make some deals to get younger players with potential and picks, then he's done his job. If he's trying to give up the future to get Sabonis or Grant or both, we know he's being forced by Ted to give Beal what he wants and that's help to get to .500 or more.

He wasn't my choice and I wouldn't have gone within this crappy organization to hire him. Still, would give him a C and would like to see what he can do before the trade deadline and whether Ted just forces him to play for 7th place (because that's better than the play-in game).

[mhd]

I can't fairly grade him because I suspect that Turd is the reason we are a treadmill team. Turd won't allow for a rebuild. I bet Tommy wants to trade Beal and start a rebuild.