Washington Wizards

Timberwolves are looking to move up the draft to the number four spot for Victor. How about we make a trade with the Timberwolves Instead? Wizards get pick number 9 and 26, Derrick Williams, PG Luke with one year left Timberwolves get pick 3, Ariza, booker, and both our 2nd round picks (which wizards would have used to stash players anyways) we get the Stretch 4 that the players want with williams 9th pick cody zeller We would be now set with the future in the back and front court PG wall/Luke SG Beal/ 26th pick Tim Hardaway Jr SF Webster/ Singleton PF Nene/ Williams/vesley C Okafor/ zeller/ seriphin we now not only have depth for this year but years to come thoughts? Timberwolves are looking to move up the draft to the number four spot for Victor. How about we make a trade with the Timberwolves Instead? Wizards get pick number 9 and 26, Derrick Williams, PG Luke with one year left Timberwolves get pick 3, Ariza, booker, and both our 2nd round picks (which wizards would have used to stash players anyways) we get the Stretch 4 that the players want with williams 9th pick cody zeller We would be now set with the future in the back and front court PG wall/Luke SG Beal/ 26th pick Tim Hardaway Jr SF Webster/ Singleton PF Nene/ Williams/vesley C Okafor/ zeller/ seriphin we now not only have depth for this year but years to come thoughts?

Is anyone else? I've been getting agitated as of late with all of the local DC media: Washington Post, Chris Miller, and ESPECIALLY CSN as a whole. I guess the main reason I'm hating on the Washington Post is because Mike Wise soemtimes says the most idiotic things (but you already knew that), and sometimes I don't quite agree with the sentiments of Michael Lee.... Mike Wise is saying we should go after another veteran...... NO! But who really pisses me off is Chris Miller and the CSN "Wizards Insiders". They're a broken record in that they REALLY want us to draft Alex Len, because they're Maryland-ites who, like most Maryland fans, think that Alex Len is one of the best players in the nation (they seem to think he was better at his college game than Mason Plumlee and Nerlens Noel even..... and let's face it, Maryland fans are already delusional in that they think Dook and UNC are their rivals). Chris Miller I think needs to shut up with his constant sentiments that the Wiz should take a look at Len at number 3. Now I just saw another article on CSN today saying that we need ANOTHER veteran. Again, as with Mike Wise..... NOOOOOOO! We have veterans on the team... And in particular, Nene has a lot of playoff experience with the Nuggets. If we were to (for some reason) resign Jason Collins, he has FINALS experience. We cannot keep signing these veterans who aren't going to give you much, and not for very long. And I think my fellow Redskins fans knows exactly what I'm talking about: Deion Sanders, Donovan McNabb, etc. etc. And I'm wondering WHY they think we need more veterans. We need to continue building our young core. And quite frankly, you talk about these veterans "knowing what it takes" in the playoffs..... I think the Pacers have proved otherwise in that they only have one player on their roster (benchwarmer) who's every played in a conference final game, and look how the Pacers have done. John Wall will continue to keep building himself as a leader, and once we get to that point, guess what, after game 1, you can say you have experience. But that's just the playoffs. They see adding veterans as a way to win now. But in reality, we need to think winning in the future. So that brings me to Bullets Forever. BF knows what their talking about a million times over CSN, and I don't think we really have a "we have to win NOW" mentality on BF, in fact, I've seen people completely disagree with that sentiment in that it's just Ernie's way to keep a job. And BF doesn't come up with unrealistic scenarios like CSN and WP constantly do (did you guys see Mike Wise say we should try to trade for Melo? NYK would hang up as soon as him name was mentioned). The only other place I'll trust for my Wiz analysis (when they rarely talk about it) is 106.7 the fan, in particular Holden and Danny. I guess that's mainly because they share the same hate for Ernie as I do and I love to hear them rip him, but they have pretty good insight otherwise too. Sorry, guys. This was a rant and I rambled quite a bit. Probably not even worth a FanPost honestly. But I wanted to get the steam off of my chest in that I'm getting tired as hell of some of the local media, PARTICULARLY ComcastSportsNet. Not sure what you guys thoughts are on the local media, but I, for one, am getting tired of some of the outlets. Is anyone else? I've been getting agitated as of late with all of the local DC media: Washington Post, Chris Miller, and ESPECIALLY CSN as a whole. I guess the main reason I'm hating on the Washington Post is because Mike Wise soemtimes says the most idiotic things (but you already knew that), and sometimes I don't quite agree with the sentiments of Michael Lee.... Mike Wise is saying we should go after another veteran...... NO! But who really pisses me off is Chris Miller and the CSN "Wizards Insiders". They're a broken record in that they REALLY want us to draft Alex Len, because they're Maryland-ites w

With 56 percent of the vote, Kentucky center Nerlens Noel takes the top spot on the 2013 Bullets Forever NBA Draft board. In layman's terms, this means that if Noel is available with the No. 3 pick, the Wizards should take him. We will continue on with our vote for the No. 2 spot. As a reminder, here are the ground rules. Each day, we'll have a poll to determine which player belongs in that spot on the draft board. The winner of that poll after approximately one day will occupy the spot. We'll then move on to the next one. You're voting as if this is the Washington Wizards' board, not necessarily a general list of top prospects. Weigh team needs as much as you feel is appropriate. While most teams prefer a tiered system that places prospects within certain groupings, then picks the one the team most needs from that group, assume that this is a straight list. In other words: if everyone that you can vote on is available at the pick we're at, which player would you choose? We are continuing this beyond the No. 3 pick for two reasons. First, the Wizards have two second-round picks, and players that are ranked near the top of team's boards often slip. Second, you never know if the Wizards will trade down or back into the first round. Poll Who deserves the No. 2 spot on the Bullets Forever Wizards draft board? Ben McLemore Otto Porter Anthony Bennett Victor Oladipo Alex Len Shabazz Muhammad C.J. McCollum Other (please specify) 27 votes | Results

Every year now teams are finding players with NBA skill at the end of the draft, through the D-League, and from unheralded European teams. The Wizards have recently made a bad habit of wasting their their 2nd round selections (with talent on the board) or simply selling them away. This year they will probably discard at least one of the two selections, but there are a few guys who will be around late in the draft or via free agency that will be worth a look or to stash in the the D-League. The first guy I'd like to take a look at is Norvel Pelle. Pelle was the top rated Center in the class of 2011 and committed to play at St. John's but never took the floor over eligibility issues. He later transferred to Iona but again struggled to get eligible due to grades and some personal family issues. Pelle is 6'11'' in shoes with over a 9 foot standing reach, and was actually invited to the NBA Scouting Combine last week despite being out of top-level competitive basketball for 2 years now. Based on some of the limited highlight tape available of him, he resembles a slightly poorer-man's Nerlens Noel. He is long and thin, but he appears to possess skills to be a good shot blocker and finisher. He is rail thin at 207 pounds and obviously faces character concerns (some of which can be explained by the poor health of his mother), but he may deserve a chance to earn his way onto a roster. One last thing to consider on Pelle is that he performed a small workout in El Segundo, CA with Jordan Henriquez (Kansas State) and Josiah Turner (Arizona St.) on May 4th. A dozen NBA team reps were at the workout and Pelle was the only player to receive a Combine Invite after the workout, thus showing that he has a considerable amount of talent to receive a snap-bid to the NBA Scouting Combine. Another guy whose status is up in the air in league circles is Mouhammadou Jaiteh. He measured in at 6'11" with a 7'4" wingspan at the Nike Hoop Summit, which was two inches taller than expected. He is extremely raw and isn't and extremely explosive athlete, but he averages a double-double in Division B in France. But possibly the most important thing to remember about Jaiteh is that he is only 18 years old, which makes him about 5 years younger than Gorgui Dieng whom his frame is similar too. His highlights display a nose for the ball on the rebounding end and can knock down a mid-range jumper, but he currently lacks the ability to finish strong at a consistent level. Jaiteh still has a ton of room to grow as he is only 18, and could be the perfect prospect to stash in the D-League for a significant amount of time and allow him to develop as an interior presence. Third on the list here is a freak formally known as D.J. Stephens from Memphis. For those not familiar with Stephens, he is hands down the best athlete in this class. He is a 6'5" forward who averaged over 2.5 blocks in just over 23 minutes a game. He barely played before his senior year at Memphis despite putting up solid per minute averages due in large part to fairly severe asthma (he was frequently shown with an inhaler on the bench). Stephens possesses the physical abilities to be an elite NBA defender, and he is very comfortable playing that role. He also displays a "motor" that is almost unparalleled by anybody else on the court, when combined with his athletic ability it makes for some impressive highlights. At times he seems to just hang in the when rising up for a rejection, or what seems to be an impossible dunk. Stephens' teammates at Memphis also think very highly of him as they actually convinced him to continue his basketball career this past year as he was considering calling it quits prior to his senior year. He will never be a star, or even maybe a starter, but he can definitely contribute on an NBA team as an energy guy/defensive specialist off the bench. These guys all of the potential to have long NBA careers if they are handled in the correct way. In the ca

December 6, 2012; Berkeley, CA, USA; UNLV Runnin Rebels forward Anthony Bennett (15) drives the basket against California Golden Bears forward David Kravish (45) during the first half at Haas Pavilion. UNLV won 76-75. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports According to ESPN Insider Chad Ford, the Washington Wizards appear to be “very high on UNLV big man, Anthony Bennett.” The Wizards need help at the small forward position and Porter, who played his college ball in Washington, appears to be the perfect fit. With two super backcourt scorers such as John Wall and Bradley Beal, having a forward who’s a facilitator like Porter feels just right. The other player to watch carefully for the Wizards is Anthony Bennett. Sources say the Wizards also are very high on Bennett and could opt for his potent offensive game to expand their options at power forward. I think it’s safe to say that Georgetown’s Otto Porter Jr. would be the consensus pick amongst Wizards fans, but Anthony Bennett has recently entered the discussion. Otto Porter would obviously fill Washington’s need at small forward, and the Wizards would potentially add another young player to their nucleus, which features John Wall and Bradley Beal. Porter has gained a reputation of being good at everything, but not great at anything, which I don’t necessarily view as a bad criticism. Otto Porter’s versatility, great character and improvement in college, is the reason why the Cleveland Cavaliers might pass on Nerlens Noel to select Porter first overall in this upcoming draft. On the other hand, Anthony Bennett is one of the more intriguing prospects in this years draft. His ability to score the ball in a number of ways hasn’t been seen in quite some time, especially since he’s able to play multiple positions. Bennett’s lack of commitment on defense is what ultimately sets him apart in comparison to Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore, and even Otto Porter. Washington certainly has a lot of work to do from now, until June 27th, where they’ll have to make a decision between a number of prospects. So, Otto Porter or Anthony Bennett? Let me know in the comments section.

UNLV freshman power forward Anthony Bennett frowned as he glanced down at his left arm while attending the NBA draft lottery on Tuesday. Nearly a week removed having surgery to repair a torn left rotator cuff, Bennett is wearing a … Continue reading →

[It was all a dream... the health of Wall, Beal and Nene.]The 2012-13 NBA regular season ended a month and six days ago.Over the 170 days prior, starting on October 30, 2012, it was 82 games up, 82 games down for the Washington Wizards; 29 wins and 53 losses. The beauty is that we don’t have to live through it again–teams that win 35 percent of their games rarely want to–but we also don’t have to forget. Because you’d never learn, or improve, if you forgot everything and ripped the rearview mirror off the Ferrari. Nineteen different individuals suited up for the Wizards this past season. Martell Webster led the way in action with 2,200 minutes, and Jason Collins contributed the fewest with 54 minutes. For all 82 games, the staff of Truth About It.net, amongst other game observations, rated each of the five Wizards starters plus two players off the bench on a three-star scale (inspired by the District of Columbia flag) in a series of posts called the D.C. Council. (Well, we evaluated players for all games, except one: Game 60, when Deron Williams completely demoralized the Wizards from ever competing by going 7-for-7 from the 3-point line in the first quarter.) Sometimes three players off the bench were evaluated instead of two; a few times it was less than two. In general, the average rating of players coming off the bench was skewed a little higher for the simple fact that those playing better were more likely to get evaluated. Starters, on the other hand, got evaluated no matter what. [***Also: remember that silly little time in December 2012 when the most positive talk that could be mustered was how the 1-13 Wizards led the NBA in bench scoring? Swell.] The D.C. Council ratings are a statistical anti-stat. They are the combined impression of several interested members of the crowd, but in numerical form. Sometimes the ratings were contingent on winning and losing, and they were always subjective. They are simply one window of evaluation, combined with written analysis, both standard and advanced statistics, and shot charts. Below is a hyperlinked index of reviews for all 19 Wizards (plus a bonus review of Tomas Satoransky, Wizards Euro-stash), their average D.C. Council three-star rating, and the number of games over which they were evaluated. The 2012-13 Washington Wizards season: it was all a dream, and not that great of a dream. Trevor Ariza: Highs, Lows and Oh Nos! by John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend) 1.41 – 35 games Earl Barron: Have Ring, Will Play Basketball by Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) 1.75 – 4 games Bradley Beal: Growing Pains? Beal With Them by John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend) 1.63 – 52 games Trevor Booker: Cook Book Lacks Sizzle by Rashad Mobley (@Rashad20) 1.20 – 25 games Jason Collins: In Like A Lamb, Out Like A Lion by Rashad Mobley (@Rashad20) 0.63 – 4 games Jordan Crawford: Steez-less in DC  by Rashad Mobley (@Rashad20) 1.50 – 33 games Nene Hilario: Trapped in a Glass Menagerie by Sean Fagan (@McCarrick) 1.63 – 55 games Shaun Livingston: In Like A Lion, Out Like A Lamb by Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) 1.00 – 7 games Shelvin Mack: Lost in a Waive of Despair by Adam Rubin (@LedellsPlace) 1.25 – 4 games Cartier Martin: Last Gasp for the Good Guy by Adam McGinnis (@AdamMcGinnis) 1.71 – 12 games Emeka Okafor: A Three-Sided Coin by Adam Rubin (@LedellsPlace) 1.43 – 76 games Jannero Pargo: A Trivial Pursuit for an Orange Wedge by Sean Fagan (@McCarrick) N/A A.J. Price: A Perfectly Imperfect Solution by Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) 1.47 – 19 games Kevin Seraphin: #KevinSeraphinLife Heads Off Track by Adam McGinnis (@AdamMcGinnis) 1.56 – 26 games Chris Singleton: Someone Give This Man Appropriately Heated Porridge by Conor Dirks (@ConorDDirks) 1.06 – 27 games Garrett Temple: Unsung Warrior, Blogger Mea Culpa by Adam McGinnis (@AdamMcGinnis) 1.20 – 40 games Jan Vesely: Confidence a

Now's around the time of the year when the league's top young American players get invitations to participate in Team USA Basketball's select team minicamp in Las Vegas in July. This is essentially the program's way of cultivating a reserve pool of potential team participants while trying to pick out ones that could be ticketed for the team in the future. Twenty-four players will be a part of that group, and John Wall and Bradley Beal will be two of them. Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports Wall will be one of seven point guards selected, a list that includes Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Ty Lawson, Mike Conley, Kemba Walker and George Hill. Meanwhile, Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports that Beal has also received an invitation. The quality of players selected can range from legitimate national-team options to practice filler. It remains to be seen where Wall and Beal fall on that spectrum, but it's a good sign that they've been invited. A roundup of some of the other players reportedly in the mix can be found here on SBNation.com.

March 3, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards point guard John Wall (2) talks with Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal (3) against the Philadelphia 76ers in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 90-87. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports According to Michael Lee of the Washington Post, both John Wall and Bradley Beal are expected to participate in Team USA Mini-Camp. John Wall was a part of the “select team” in 2012, which essentially practiced against the USA Men’s National team, including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and virtually every notable veteran NBA All-Star. John Wall will go head to head against some serious competition, those of which include Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Ty Lawson and more elite-level NBA point guards. Wall will undoubtedly try to leave an impression on the Team USA directors at the camp, since he has expressed interest in participating  in future world events. According to Jerry Colangelo, the USA Basketball chairmen, these camps and events are used to look at potential talent for the future: When you look at the Walls and the Kyrie [Irvings], you’re looking at the potential guards for the future… “That’s why they’re here. Many, many players have used the Select Team as a springboard for making our team. Bradley Beal, who won the Most Valuable Player award in the FIBA U-17 World Championships, has also reportedly gotten an invitation. Beal’s familiarity with USA Basketball will definitely help him through the process. Being able to play with elite-level talent will not only help Beal develop as a basketball player, but it will grow his comradery with John Wall, who the Washington Wizards are trying to build a core around. Overall, I think this is pretty good news. Barring injury, these types of invitations will inevitably help the players develop. Hopefully, both Wizards guards will be able to represent the nation in the near future.

Otto Porter and Anthony Bennett appear to be the early favorites for the Washington Wizards' No. 3 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, but what if one or the other isn't there to be selected? It might happen with Porter. The Cavaliers are thinking about using the No. 1 pick on him rather than Kentucky's Nerlens Noel, according to Michael Lee of the Washington Post. But there is a possibility that Porter, arguably the most NBA-ready player among the top prospects, might not be around when the Wizards pick third. A source with knowledge of the Cavaliers' thinking said Porter is under consideration to go No. 1. A few things about this rumor: The Cavaliers have no incentive to make it seem like they've decided what they want to do with the No. 1 pick. The Cavaliers are notoriously difficult to read. Nobody projected them to take Tristan Thompson or Dion Waiters, but they did. It later came out that Waiters was higher on their draft board than Bradley Beal. The Cavaliers do have a major need for a small forward. The position is currently occupied by former Wizards castoff Alonzo Gee and the streaky C.J. Miles. There's some logic to the idea that the Cavaliers would prefer to have someone who will actually be on the court next year over a player with a torn ACL. They appear serious about wanting to stop the tanking/asset accumulation and actually try to move forward this summer. All this is to say that this won't be the last time Porter will be rumored to go No. 1.