Washington Wizards 2013 - 2014 Season Thread - Thanks for a great season!

[jjs07]

Marc Stein [emoji]10004[/emoji] @ESPNSteinLine



Wizards staying busy: ESPN sources say Washington and Dallas Mavericks on course to finalize DeJuan Blair sign-and-trade deal later today

 

[jsindaa]

I'm so mad ive been on duty the past week, but man I'm glad to see you guys aren't being as negative on Ernie as before. He, along with the rest of the organization, has shown consistent improvement since Wall was drafted really. Told y'all give it time, this team could become a contender a lot sooner than any of us thought

 

[blackboyfly]

Man, this offseason is going better than I'd thought it ever could.

This team has gotten better, even with Trevor leaving just off of the free agency additions.

Haven't even begun thinking about how much better they'll be with Wall and Beals improvement. Add that to the equation, and you're looking at a much improved team imo.

Really excited for this season, and we should still have the ability to court KD in 2016.

 

[Methodical Management]

 

 
If this move costs us Blair, I take back every nice thing I've considered saying about Ernie this summer.  

Trevor gave us great minutes in the Chicago series, but he was a "sometimes" player.  In the regular season, if we wasn't starting, he didn't bring it.  It's a little sad to see him go, but he's not worth $5 million per to this team. 

How can you say that? Kris is a better rebounder, scorer and defensive player than both of those dudes and he is a vet. I like what I'm seeing with this bench. We got legit role players who know their role.

It's a moot point now, since we're on track to get both, but I don't know of anyone who's ever accused Humphries of being a good defender.  Per 48 minutes, Blair averages more boards, so I don't know where your rebounding claim comes from.  

Scoring?  Okay, (though they aren't separated by much: 19.7 vs 20.2 per 4 but let's keep in mind where his scoring comes from:  bad teams.  Scratch that:  awful teams.  His 14 and 11 years came on an historically bad New Jersey Nets squad.  The very next year, he averaged 5 and 5 - after getting a huge contract extension.  The better his team, the worse his production has been.  

I'm a fan of the Blair signing, regardless of how small his role may be next year.  The guy just plain gets after it.  He brings a sense of toughness this team needs, his commitment to the game can't be questioned, and he's been a contributor on WINNING teams.  You can easily envision Blair fighting for these guys and fighting for this team.  Can't say the same for Kris Kardashian, who's more likely to get into a fight with the paparazzi or at a club than on the court, but if he's capable of proving me wrong so much the better.  Maybe we can at least get more consistency out of him than Seraphin. 

Charlotte improved today with the Stephenson signing, so we do have a legit rival in the Southeast, but a weaker Indiana squad certainly helps our chances in the postseason.  There are a lot of mediocre teams in the East right now.  I'd like to think we have a puncher's chance.  

 

[dt43]

What has gotten into Ernie?


It's like dude was sleeping on the job until this summer.


This offseason has literally been perfect.

 

[blackboyfly]

Blairs deal is three years $6 million with a team option on the third.

Seriously, what has gotten into management this year?

Repent yall.

 

[Platinum State]

Blairs deal is three years $6 million with a team option on the third.

Seriously, what has gotten into management this year?

Repent yall.

Crazy. I cant believe Utah paid Booker 10 mil for 2 years. Blair was always a better player and got paid way less

 

[victor page]

When you have players that people wanna play with...ie John Wall...it makes a GMs job a lot easier. Being in a popular city helps too.

 

[urbetterthenme]

 
It's a moot point now, since we're on track to get both, but I don't know of anyone who's ever accused Humphries of being a good defender.  Per 48 minutes, Blair averages more boards, so I don't know where your rebounding claim comes from.  

Scoring?  Okay, (though they aren't separated by much: 19.7 vs 20.2 per 4 but let's keep in mind where his scoring comes from:  bad teams.  Scratch that:  awful teams.  His 14 and 11 years came on an historically bad New Jersey Nets squad.  The very next year, he averaged 5 and 5 - after getting a huge contract extension.  The better his team, the worse his production has been.  

I'm a fan of the Blair signing, regardless of how small his role may be next year.  The guy just plain gets after it.  He brings a sense of toughness this team needs, his commitment to the game can't be questioned, and he's been a contributor on WINNING teams.  You can easily envision Blair fighting for these guys and fighting for this team.  Can't say the same for Kris Kardashian, who's more likely to get into a fight with the paparazzi or at a club than on the court, but if he's capable of proving me wrong so much the better.  Maybe we can at least get more consistency out of him than Seraphin. 

Charlotte improved today with the Stephenson signing, so we do have a legit rival in the Southeast, but a weaker Indiana squad certainly helps our chances in the postseason.  There are a lot of mediocre teams in the East right now.  I'd like to think we have a puncher's chance.  

So now we have a crowed front court(unless we letting Kevin and Al go) And to be quite honest..... I want Antwan back....... lets give him a shot.

 

[5am6oody72]

Damn I would have thought Blair would get at least $4-5 mil a year.

What's gotten into Ernie?!?! This team HAS to win 52+ games next year right?

 

[jjs07]

 

It's a moot point now, since we're on track to get both, but I don't know of anyone who's ever accused Humphries of being a good defender.  Per 48 minutes, Blair averages more boards, so I don't know where your rebounding claim comes from.  

Scoring?  Okay, (though they aren't separated by much: 19.7 vs 20.2 per 4 but let's keep in mind where his scoring comes from:  bad teams.  Scratch that:  awful teams.  His 14 and 11 years came on an historically bad New Jersey Nets squad.  The very next year, he averaged 5 and 5 - after getting a huge contract extension.  The better his team, the worse his production has been.  


I'm a fan of the Blair signing, regardless of how small his role may be next year.  The guy just plain gets after it.  He brings a sense of toughness this team needs, his commitment to the game can't be questioned, and he's been a contributor on WINNING teams.  You can easily envision Blair fighting for these guys and fighting for this team.  Can't say the same for Kris Kardashian, who's more likely to get into a fight with the paparazzi or at a club than on the court, but if he's capable of proving me wrong so much the better.  Maybe we can at least get more consistency out of him than Seraphin. 


Charlotte improved today with the Stephenson signing, so we do have a legit rival in the Southeast, but a weaker Indiana squad certainly helps our chances in the postseason.  There are a lot of mediocre teams in the East right now.  I'd like to think we have a puncher's chance.  

So now we have a crowed front court(unless we letting Kevin and Al go) And to be quite honest..... I want Antwan back....... lets give him a shot.

I don't think it's a crowded front-court as you have a lot of guys who can play multiple positions. Wittman has A LOT of options.

In regards to Humphries...his mid-range game allows for more spacing. This in turn will make life a lot easier for guys like Gortat. Defenders have to respect Humphries' J, because if they sag off, it's gonna be money all day.

VP hit the nail on the head also...we have players that people want to play with. You know who will really reap the benefits of playing with Wall? Paul Pierce. He's gonna be EATING off these open looks. Season needs to start right now.

**** Lebron (even tho I'm a fan of his)...**** the Cavs....WE'RE RIGHT THERE WITH THEM.

yup... #DCRISING

 

[nolastnamejames]

With our re-signings and additions, we better get 55 wins! Our bigs should always be fresh with our new roster. Porter and Rice are balling in Summer League so I'm feeling pretty good. The only area of concern is Wittman. It seems like the team was on auto-pilot most of the season, Wittman can never implement in-game changes. Ernie covers his tracks by signing players that don't need to be taught much, that masks some of Wittman's deficiencies. Can't be perfect I guess...Let's GO WIZ!!!!!!

 

[shirt1995]

I like what the wiz is doing, even if I wish we could've got gortat for a year or 2 less, EG is actually somehow playing this very smart making us a very deep team with flexibility to go after KD but we are gonna sorely miss contract year ariza's D cuz pierce can't guard wings anymore and I believe struggled with catch and shoot opportunities last year. I feel we are a lil high on the fact eg is doin a competent job and finessin free agency but I think 55 wins is the best case scenario and we are more like a 48-50 win team. I am very optimistic about Otto though since wittman is gonna be forced to play him and Glen rice Jr needs to come through or we are gonna be thin on the wing especially if an injury happens. All in all I feel like EG deserves an A- that could be upgraded to an A if he gets another competent wing

 

[jking0821]

I said it last year that i wanted GR Jr to get some burn.  Wasn't he like the leading scorer in the D league before getting called up?  He was one of the few players that could come off the bench for instant offense.  Whenever we were in a bind, or Beal and Wall were going through their struggles we needed a bench guy to come in and create his own shot.  I think GR Jr can be that guy.

I like both Humphreys and Blair signings though.  Definite upgrades 

 

[trynafeelmink]

I like that this team has added much needed Depth to the frontcourt... Now it's a matter of Porter & GR jr getting consistent production. If Otto could atleast come in and defend 3's well then they can make a very deep run in this Wide Open East.

I wouldn't mind them getting their hands on a knockdown shooter tho... & what happens with Al/Gooden now that humphries and Blair are here?

 

[jjs07]

I like that this team has added much needed Depth to the frontcourt... Now it's a matter of Porter & GR jr getting consistent production. If Otto could atleast come in and defend 3's well then they can make a very deep run in this Wide Open East.

I wouldn't mind them getting their hands on a knockdown shooter tho... & what happens with Al/Gooden now that humphries and Blair are here?

Both Porter and GRJr are going to be counted on to step it up. If this small sample-size from SL is an indicator, they're both ready for the challenge. FWIW, Sam Cassell said both guys have looked much different as far as focus going into the tourney. I hope they can keep it up. GRJr has been playing like a man possessed and Porter has been all over the floor. I've liked what I've seen so far.

Al/Gooden are depth bodies. Nothing more, nothing less. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure Al will be back next year. I think the final roster spot will come down to either him or Khem Birch. I'm hoping it goes to the latter so we can develop him as a project.

 

[jking0821]

Those last guys off the bench just need to be good locker room guys.  I don't know why but it seems like Gooden is a great team mate so i hope he sticks.  Always high-fiving subs and cheering from the bench.  Good to see.  Idk about Al though.  But some times might be better to have some veteran leadership if they don't think Birch is going to be a future piece.

 

[Platinum State]

Those last guys off the bench just need to be good locker room guys.  I don't know why but it seems like Gooden is a great team mate so i hope he sticks.  Always high-fiving subs and cheering from the bench.  Good to see.  Idk about Al though.  But some times might be better to have some veteran leadership if they don't think Birch is going to be a future piece.

Gooden got resigned 2 days ago bruhs. 1 year veteran minimum

 

[broncos19dm]

Excited for this next season. Things are starting to look pretty good

.

 

[703flipfiend]

I think they love Al. Was seeing on IG and Twitter that he was pretty much an assistant coach last season to the young guys.

 

[victor page]

He was supposed to be assisting Sam Cassell w/ the SL team too

 

[jjs07]

Wizards vs. Heat NBA Summer League Final Score: Washington closes out Miami with a 12-0 run; wins 78-67

GRJr and Otto doing their thing again...

 

[dt43]

I've been watching all the SL games, and I know it's low competition but Otto actually looks like a good player. I didn't watch him at GTown so I had no idea what his game was like or whether we drafted some Wesley Johnson-esque bust. But the kid is actually very skilled.

He already is a better passer and ballhandler than Ariza was, and has a more creative scoring arsenal. He has good enough court vision and passing to be a third ballhandler behind Wall and Beal, he's made a bunch of nice passes but these scrubs can't finish (peep the defensive instincts too):

https://t.co/7BZg3QODcp


And his shooting form looks funny but he's stroking the three shooting 60% in SL




GR Jr has been dominant in terms of scoring the ball. He's not versatile like Porter but he can be a good spark off the bench, dude gets buckets. I'm very excited about these two guys, the rest are scrubs who shouldn't make the team.

 

[jjs07]

Theory:

Washington was NEVER going to retain Ariza. They did him a solid by saying they won't go over 8/9 mil, and thus driving up his value to other teams. Wizards did this because they know what they have in Otto and Ariza knew it as well.

 

[dt43]

My theory is that Ariza knew he was never coming back since last year (after we drafted Porter he made some comments about "the writing is on the wall" or something like that). The only reason he took so long to 'make up his mind' is because he was waiting to see what played out with the Heat. Dude is a laidback, warm weather cat all the way.. he didn't want to stay in DC



I don't know if this is what you're alluding to, but in Ariza's exit interview he was like "Otto is gonna be really good" which I thought was weird given that he'd only seen him in practice. So he must have truly seen the potential, and knew that Otto breaking out would lead to somebody (either him or Web) being traded

He also probably got a verbal agreement from Houston to be the starter.. ie Morey tipped him off that they weren't gonna match Parsons