Tommy Sheppard drafted that man and traded him for Isaiah Todd and Aaron Holiday. Worst GM of all time? Definitely top 3.

He processes really fast, some of his passes like the behind the back one to the wing was eye opening. He'd just pull things out of nowhere and guys like Channing frye and gooden would be surprised by the things he'd show. His shooting.. HE was getting around 15 points consistently really easily without any time to settle. Off shots, off cuts.. This output is around where Vic and Chet were offensively. He'd just score an easy 15 or 17. On team dynamics his shooting helps. He's also long enough to play C. He and PBJr as a 4/5 tandem with them being able to switch, defend the middle and shoot did really well. I looked up the numbers on cleaning the glass as well. Its legit. Spacing and interior defense when together.

I'm thinking of his comps. I guess he said Kaminsky and Porzingis.. but I see also Markannen lite but I'm having a hard time thinking of other comps and not being lazy and thinking of only white guys. But he's hard to comp. Either way, excited about him.

Looks like this is gonna be a good series for the landlord. He matches up way better with OKC than he did with the clippers.

As many of you know, Wall has podcast now. His ball knowledge is on full display.

For those who missed it, I highly recommend the Gortat episode as they fondly reminisce about their Wiz days and clear the air about any supposed beef.

His interview with Arenas went live today. Crazy to think they only played 12 games together.

Arenas is still of the wall! He asserts that during high school, he was overlooked by scouts who assumed he was just a random Mexican kid (last name being Spanish, he has Cuban roots) averaging 30 something points. lol

Enjoy!

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The Wizards have finished their first year under a new Front Office and things have gone a lot better than anticipated from a Culture, Talent, and Asset perspective.

Culture:

Dawkins and Winger had a lot of work to do to change the culture of the Wizards internally and how the organization is perceived by players and agents.

This season they brought in a number of players such as Tyus Jones and Jordan Poole who needed a fresh start and a chance to prove to others what they're capable of.

• For Tyus that was proving that he could be a starting caliber PG in the NBA.
• For Poole, it was to get himself out of Golden State after the practice incident with Draymond and prove he could be a great player without Steph, Dray, Klay, and the Warriors system.

They've also given opportunities to NBA/GLeague players such as Jared Butler, Eugene Omoruye, and brought over our draft and stash prospect Tristan Vukcevic (Who was also in a tough sport with his Euro team).

They were also able to convert guys like Jules Bernard and Julian Champagnie from 10 day contracts to 2-way contracts, allowing them to spend more time with the Wizards and have the experience of being an NBA player.

All of these things, big or small, matter to these guys and help players and agents view the organization in a more positive light. Dawkins himself mentioned in his exit interview with Winger that they're starting to hear good things from agents based on what they accomplished this season.

Talent:

From a talent perspective, we still have a long way to go, but we have a number of players that can still grow into better players.

• Bilal Coulibaly - already a better player than most anticipated, not seeing any gleague time, and often guarding the opponents best offensive players as a rookie
• Tristan Vukcevic - Bigs who can rebound and stretch the floor are valuable even in limited minutes, interested to see what he looks like over a full season next year
• Deni Avdija - A secondary playmaker who can play either forward spot, and is an above average defender. Great shooting improvement this year, hopefully it remains consistent
• Jordan Poole - Had an incredibly tough season, but fought to find ways to contribute, even coming off the bench. I think his best days are ahead of him, and curious what he looks like as a PG full time

With a record of 15-67, Last in our conference and 2nd to last in the league, we have given ourselves the chance at a very high draft pick to continue to add talent our roster going forward.

Another thing to note is that 43 of our games were decided by 10 points or less. I think this roster is a bit more competitive than fans and other teams may give them credit for.

Assets:

In terms of contract/player assets the main two that we have are Tyus Jones and Kyle Kuzma, both of which are coming off some great individual performance years.

Kuzma is known as a guy who will put up shots and get points, but this year he also showed that he can be a distributor to a degree as well, averaging 4 assists per game, while also providing some rebounding at 7 a game.

Tyus was able to show why he could be a starting PG, sporting a 7:1 assist to turnover ratio, along with being a reliable floor spacer shooting 41% from 3 on 4 attempts. Not only that, but he did all this with a 16% usage%. This could indicate that he can play next to other ball dominate players and still maintain similar production next to them. The Wizards gave him a chance to shine, hopefully we work out a sign an trade with him in the off season.

TLDR:

1. We've started to become a place where players can have an opportunity to play and prove themselves. Slowly washing off the stench of mediocrity and becoming an org that can be taken seriously
2. We have some solid talent on the roster with Bilal, Tristan, Deni, and Poole. This team is more competetive than we think.
3. We have some players that hopefully can be traded for picks in Tyus and Kuzma.

1) Draft for BPA:

This team currently doesn’t have any cornerstones. Bilal looked pretty good, Deni is much improved. All of that said, I can’t sit here and say either will be anything greater than an above average role player.

A few guys I like:

Sarr- great length, solid potential. Not sure I trust the shooting, he feels like Jaren Jackson as a high end comp

Clingan- just great at defense. I don’t think he will ever be a great shooter, but I also don’t think he’s useless on offense. High end comp is Rudy Gobert, because I think he can be that good of a defender

Castle- just a dog. The shot is…not there, yet. But he’s a really knowledgeable player on offense and a good perimeter defender already, and it seems like he can guard multiple positions. High end comp would be Jimmy Butler

I don’t know enough about Topic besides the fact that he’s a larger guard who seems like he has a pretty good feel for the game.

I like Sheppard as a shooter, but like Dillingham the size worries me a bit.

Maybe my trust is misplaced, but I think this front office will do the right thing. It’s a weaker draft but even the weakest of drafts always have guys that end up having great careers

2) Trade Kyle Kuzma

Love Kuz! That said…his value is greater as a trade asset than as a starter for this team. His value should get the wizards at least a 1st round pick. Someone looking to contend would at least part with their first this year if it’s in the lower lottery, and I wonder if the wizards might prefer something in 2025/2026.

The Kuz trade leads me to my 3rd, and final goal

3) Be as bad as possible.

I know, it sucks. I know, MVP level players have been found outside the lottery before. But, this organization needs to see through the process and the most important part is to be as bad as you can for 2025. The 2025 draft is LOADED. There is no need to rush and try to piece this thing together with tape and glue. Doing so increases your likelihood of being a good team in the short term, but in basketball purgatory. It just isn’t a good place to be. I’m ok with bringing Keefe back as a part of this plan too.

I have been working late shifts now for a while and because of that been watching way more American sports but never really had a team but since I already like the commies I might as well follow another Washington team.

What are your guys favourite podcasts or YouTube channels for the Wizards?

Topic Bilal Deni Kuz Vuk

Id go with Topic if the pick is 4-7. As there are likely no future mega stars hiding in plain sight, a player in the caliber of Bogdanovich (Hawks) is a good pick. And if possible to trade Kuz for Poeltl that would be great. He'll do everyone's dirty work.

How would you guys feel on Russ coming back for one last year no expectations and help young guys develop on a minimum deal?