I was poking around on Wizards Insider, which linked to a SI Roundtable here. What jumped out to me was this:

Washington: The Wizards (believe it or not) have yet to abandon their hopes of making the playoffs. Ed Tapscott told me that he and GM Ernie Grunfeld are hoping that by making defense a priority, the Wizards will be able to salvage the season.

This is what bugs me. I, like a lot of people on this blog, have pretty much given up on this season. We are down two starters that, arguably, are the heart and soul of our offense and defense, respectively. We have a 4-19 record, and we don't seem to be getting any better. So why does the front office and head coach believe we can make a push for the playoffs? I understand it the NBA, and more than half the teams make it, but even then, the hopes are slim. We are not suddenly going to go 40-20 here.

Truth About It has been making the point that the players are the ones who are responsible for the Wizards' record, and I could agree more. However, at this point, I don't care about the record. Its meaningless. Not making the playoffs is not making the playoffs.

I like Grunfield. I liked his last trade. Getting a good prospect for essentially nothing is fine. But, to me, Mike James is indicative of the problem. One of our biggest assets is the young talent. One of the best ways to develop that talent is to get them experience. The real value in having Mike James is his contract. He's not in the long term plans. So why is he playing?

The goal for this year should be to get the young talent ready for next year. We'll have a healthy Arenas and Haywood (hopefully). They'll need a supporting cast. A cast, that right now is not ready for primetime. We need to shift our goals here. Development this year (and keeping Antwan and Caron healthy) and playoffs the next.