In the land of the projects

First post, great site guys. McGee isn’t a bad pick. Most of us are probably just bitter that Indiana got Hibbs one pick before us. For those that are criticizing his defense based on a stupid Draft Express article, did you fail to notice that he was on the all defensive team in his conference? Also, a later article from the same site noted that his D wasn’t as bad as they had thought. Don’t put stock into these web sites until you actually see the guy play extensively. I am curious to see how he and Blatche co-exist. Maybe his presence will light a fire under Andray.

Losing Bill Walker stings because, if healthy, I thought he could have been a solid back-up to Caron. Hoepfully DMAC can step up this year instead. What concerns me most is that we are still incredibly thin at the point guard position, especially if we lose Roger Mason. Gil’s health is a question mark and AD is aging. We need an understudy that can learn the ropes from AD. I am worried that, if we give Gil a max contract (which I don’t believe he deserves), we won’t be able to sign Mason or anyone else for that matter.

This is our last shot at continuity. I don’t see how management can justify not blowing this team up if we are one and done again next season. People are disappointed by this draft because they want progress NOW. They see Portland doing everything they can to become legitimate in the West while we stay in a holding pattern and much of the weak East is starting to get it together. We’re putting all our chips on our big three being healthy and that is a significant gamble considering their track records. More importantly, we are unable to make any substantial moves because no one wants our scrubs and we are strapped for cash. Even worse, our star player is coming off of two knee surgeries and doesn’t want to be a team leader, yet he still thinks he is worthy of a max deal. I hope he realizes we can do absolutely nothing to improve this team if he gets such a deal. It will take a change of heart on and off the court from Arenas, a healthy season from our big three, and big improvement from our youngsters to get us anywhere next season. We thought last year was the make or break season, but I’m pretty sure this is it. No more excuses.

So how does ‘in the land of the projects’ end?

....with ‘the man with time on his hands is king.’

And Prada touched on that…..the 18th pick wasn’t made with a sense of urgency.

As fans, we pretty much always have a sense of urgency…..so you gotta respect the patience of an experienced GM in Ernie Grunfeld.

Problem is….the Wizards, I would say, have a three year window (the theoretical length of Jamison’s contract) before making drastic moves…...but as I type that, I’m almost resigned to the fact that something drastic may happen much sooner.

In any case, we don’t need a player who may develop at the end of that three years. We want a player ready to develop now.

I don’t think the desire of fans is close to hitting any type of panic button…...but after tasting the playoffs for the past four years, can anyone blame Wizards fans for wanting to push down on the gas pedal a little harder?

More than the selection of McGee, I’m miffed that the Wizards traded Billy Walker for cash. Who knows what the kid would have done? I really don’t care.

The cash just doesn’t do a damn thing to enhance the team in the present or the future. All is does it get us more promotional trinkets for a handful of home games….or pays part of the salary of that damn MC Styles. Who cares?

At least in a couple years we’ll have three 7 footers who can hopefully contribute or be trade pieces to get other contributors.

It is a little disheartening that Grunfeld treats young, athletic 7 footers who are full of potential like Jim Bowden of the Nationals treats young, “toolsy” outfielders. One or two of them is nice, but if you fill your bench with potential, you have nothing to win with now.

Ivan said we didn’t have room for him. He would have been the 15th player, 14th if we fail to re-sign Mason. That’s lazy reporting. That excuse only flies if we have a deal in the works and I highly doubt we do.

I have a strong feeling that Gil may surprise everyone and accept a reasonable contract which won’t cripple the team. Maybe 6yr 90-100 million. Coming off two knee surgeries I just can’t see him turning that kind of cash down, especially after he criticized Gordon, Deng and Igoudala for leaving 60 mill on the table. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part but I think Gil is more of a “team” guy then people give him credit for. I truly believe that he wants to win badly and understands his contract will play a large role in building a contender.

On the JaVale McGee front… I was disappointed in the pick like most everyone else, but after rereading his nbadraft.com profile, and watching some video, I am much more optimistic. Also, be sure to check out his highlight video on his profile page. Sure, he is playing against so-so competition, but he has crazy athleticism for a big man. He can take the ball coast to coast and finish with emphatic dunks that men that large are not supposed to be able to do. I think Ernie decided to swing for the fences on this one. Best case he turns into a thinner, more athletic Andrew Bynum and the Wiz are set at center for a decade. That is the position we’ve all been saying needs an upgrade, right?

If two out of three pan out between Pech, Blatche and McGee, and Arenas, Butler and NY1 are in their primes(Not to mention AJ who would most likely still be a strong contributor, though on the decline), add a free agent or two and the team could be scary in 2-4 years. That would be a fast, athletic team with nice size. We would just need to add a big bodied enforcer and a point guard to compete.

Sure, we all want to compete now, but was there a player available at 18 who could put us over the hump?(By the way I wanted Chalmers) When it comes down to it, I have to be optimistic about it. We all know we will route for McGee once he suits up, so why not get on board now? It beats being depressed…

http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/javalemcgee.html

I think Chalmers would have hit the spot.

On another note, has anyone read Wilbon’s article today? It is awful. There are so many mistakes and contradictions its laughable. He must have done little to no research to churn out that piece of garbage.

“Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers just keep on stockpiling. They added Ike Diogu and his offensive skills, first-round pick Jerryd Bayless and second-round pick Darrell Arthur from NCAA champion Kansas.”
Last I checked Arthur went #27….

“You know who I like instantly in the draft, besides Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley? Joe Alexander, the kid from West Virginia who is a freakish athlete but will never be called that because he’s white”
Seriously Mike, all I’ve heard about Alexander is his freakish athleticism. Why bring race into it?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062700071.html

Arthur has been traded 3 times already since he was drafted.

well put prada, i just dont understand this pick. There were a lot of guys who could help us today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow but instead we went with a guy who might help us the day after tomorrow. Disappointing, i thought the whole thing could have been done better. We’ll see what else ernie does this off-season. This potentially sets the table for blatche to be moved.

The more I like McGee.

I’ve been wearing out my welcome over on the SportsBog, also the Wiz site -today I’m a promiscuous blogger- but while my flinch reaction was to torch Ernie in effigy, rip out my hair and beat my chest wailing, the follow up to that was somewhat more moderate.

So I take the Wiz at their word when they say they like the kid’s upside and peek into what it is they like about him. Not to reprise the whole spiel (see the Bog, etc) but Peeking into the DX database of the last 10-20 years of picks—really the kid is remarkably athletic for a kid that long. In short:

—Nobody his size or taller has ever run the floor faster. 3.25 sprint in the 3/4 court is faster than most SF’s, almost as fast as your average 2-guard.

—Nobody in the game has a longer reach than him. Except maybe Yao Ming, Dikembe or Marcus Camby, but we don’t have measurements for them. And guess what, they’re pretty good defenders.

—His hops are better than average. A full +2” higher than most centers.

In fact when you combine his max vert with standing reach only Dwight Howard and the first year Shaq could reach taller. He can swat a paw out 12 feet 4 inches, challenge shots almost two and a half feet above the rim.

So: Nobody longer. No Big as fast. And in company with Dwight Howard and the athletic Shaq (and Greg Oden). If upside is what you’re picking for, okay, you’ve picked the best upside we’ve seen in a while.

Does it translate to actual ball skills? Well I’ll tell you, for a guy who couldn’t get on court last year, his highlight reels show a kid with a pretty solid feel for the offensive end of the court. Highlights don’t show consistency (or lack thereof) nor any boneheaded moves he makes to offset those successes. But they do show that potential. He passes the eyeball test no question.

And stats? His statistical record shows a sophomore about equal to this year’s version of Hibbert (okay in a weaker conference. And a poor passer compared to Roy). But his blocks + steals per personal fouls ratio is the best in the draft. And as for his personal stats, they’ve all improved. Plus he hit at a 33% clip from three, trying about one per game.

So he’s not worthless. A hopeless case.

In fact the biggest knocks against him are fixable problems that he’s already begun to work on: his conditioning is loads better, he added 10 pounds of muscle after the season, needs to improve defensive positioning, stance and technique. But he seems like a pretty serious kid, and both his parents were pro ballers, he’s got resources to turn to. He’s not a genetic fluke, he’s still growing into his full size, but it’s natural, same as Yao (kid of pro ballers) he already integrates that size far better than most 7 footers.

So really the complaint is that he doesn’t help the Wiz win a championship this year. Fair enough. I’ve got a powerful imagination, I’m sure I could craft a scenario that granted the Wiz a trophy this year, provided I had the right willing partners in trade, etc. I don’t see it right now, but I bet there’s one there. On the other hand I don’t see any single player I could have picked at 18 that would take us over the top. A few that would have helped more in the short term, but again, on reflection none who over the long term have even a chance of the upside this kid presents as a tantalizing possibility.

Understood, for folks who drafted Kwame, ‘potential’ is a filthy, filthy word. Slap yo mouth. But understand, the best player in the league was drafted for his potential as a high school kid our of lower Merion. And the lynchpin player of this year’s world champions was drafted for his potential as a baby drafted out of prepschool in Chicago.

The rest is just work. Bigs do take a while to develop. No doubt. Would be nice to have a dedicated Big Man coach on our player development squad whocould bird-dog him and get him up to speed fast as anything. But the fact is he’s got a good start. And except for the poor asst/to ratio, his skill sets are a pretty good fit for our team. Especially when you consider the idea of playing him and his face-up game/shotblocking/alley-oop threat on the court NEXT TO Haywood, not replacing him.

I suspect Wiz fans will be pleasantly shocked as he develops.