Even with Kwame Brown. If we don't take Kwame Brown at No. 1, he's going at 2. No matter how you look at it, everybody had him on their radar as being the top pick. We just so happened to be the top pick and we chose him. It didn't pan out and we take the brunt of that. We understand that. It's the risk that you take.
about 3 years ago
cuppettcj
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I agree.
I don’t have a problem with Jordan picking this guy. What I do question is picking Adam Morrison at #3. Really? Adam freaking Morrison… at least the magic werent stupid enough to pick JJ Redick before #11.
rockin' the crab dribble since 2009
The problem was
not so much the pick, but the whole mythology that Jordan played against the top guys, looked into their souls, and picked the hard working, driven, heart of a champion guy—pretty much the opposite of what Kwame turned out to be. That’s why the pick SHOULD be ridiculed.
I let this go long ago, however, since we ended up with the best player from that draft anyway. And Kwame got us Butler, who is better than Gasol, Battier, Curry etc.
But the loss of a potential franchise player is so damaging
I’ve written about this before, but it’s just so hard to build a consistent winner while screwing up a number one pick. We’ve done about as well as we could to overcome that failure, but if the #1 pick works out like it should, we have our franchise player for the next 15 years.
Now, MJ’s right, it was a bad draft and there was a lot of Kwame buzz for the top pick, but it still really kills us even if we turned Kwame into Butler.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
I mean
who was a franchise player in that draft? Pau Gasol? Tyson Chandler? Pau was traded for nothing and Tyson is being shopped. That shows how much of a franchise player those guys are. It was a weak draft and it was worth the risk to pick Kwame hoping that he’d turn into a dominant player. It didn’t pan out but there’s no doubt that the potential is there.
rockin' the crab dribble since 2009
We're talking on different plains
You’re right, there wasn’t another player that ended up as a franchise player in that draft. But I’m thinking more abstractly. When you get a number one pick and it doesn’t result in a franchise player, it takes years to recover. Nevermind that the draft was weak.
Call it unlucky, call it incompetent, call it whatever. But if you can’t or don’t draft well in this league, you can’t be a contender. Along with that, if you can’t develop young talent, you can’t win. The two go hand-in-hand.
The Kwame situation is a metaphor for both our poor drafting and poor player development. We drafted a guy who wasn’t as good as many guys picked below him and then failed to develop whatever talent he did have. It was a terrible double whammy. That we took an undeveloped stone and turned it into someone like Butler is nice, but good teams don’t let number one picks turn into undeveloped stones.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Gilbert used to be a franchise player.
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Well ... maybe
A flawed franchise player. And I love Gilbert, but it’s the truth.
I think that’s part of the point. When you flub draft picks and fail to cultivate talent, you need to rely on flawed franchise players. Which means you need to work harder to build a contender.
That’s not an argument for waiting on the perfect franchise player, because so much of finding a franchise player is luck, but it does mean you are making life harder on yourself.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Unfortunately for the Wizards
I don’t see that “franchise” player in the 2009 draft either.
Blake Griffin is a nice player, but he’s not a LeBron, D-Wade, KG, type …..
Rubio could be a Nash, Kidd, type…. but I don’t think he’s declaring this year (and he’s got a huge buy-out)
So – do you package the pick, along with some young talent, to try to get a franchise player?
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No
So – do you package the pick, along with some young talent, to try to get a franchise player?
Instead, you take the lemons you are given and make lemonade. There is a route to the championship without a franchise player – the 2004 Detroit Pistons. You take the really good (but not great) players you have, you add some really good role players, and you get a really good coach. The combination of competency and good coaching can you to the top, but it certainly isn’t the easy way.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
Right
You have to take lemons and make lemonade. It’s just tougher. That’s my point. That’s why the Kwame failure stings.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
If having the number 1 pick is a lemon...
Juice me up baby!
Getting buckets since 2003.
by Icantfeelmyface on Feb 11, 2009 6:56 PM EST up reply actions
Just to Clarify
Having the #1 pick in the draft, in general, is definitely not a lemon. Having only a chance at the #1 pick in a draft with only one player who could potentially make an All-Star game is, however.
That said, if the Wizards do win the draft lottery, and select Blake Griffin, I would be pretty happy.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
My reply was actually to Prada
But I was just poking fun anyway. With the uncertainty surrounding this team we need to do something good with our pick – I don’t know what, but something.
Getting buckets since 2003.
by Icantfeelmyface on Feb 12, 2009 10:21 PM EST up reply actions
My point is
that with Gilbert we got the best player in the draft (although people in San Antonio might disagree). We GOT a franchise player in the 2001 draft. That’s the beauty of it. If the 2001 draft happened today (injuries not withstanding) Arenas would go #1. That’s why I’m not too bitter about Jordan’s stupidity.
by MR on Feb 11, 2009 5:11 PM EST up reply actions
Let's not forget
The Clippers had the #2 pick in that draft and they ended up trading that pick to Chicago for Elton Brand. If Jordan wasn’t convinced that Kwame would be worth the pick, I’m sure the Bulls would’ve taken Washington’s pick in a heartbeat for Brand.
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would that really have changed things so much?
brand was a good player in LA, but he never won anything. i doubt that he was ever a real franchise player.
And it's all Brand's fault
Not the fact that the Clippers had no idea how to surround him with any remote talent.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
no
im not saying its all brand, im just saying that the idea that brand was a franchise player is a little flawed, and that if we had gotten brand instead of kwame i dont think things would have been all that different.
I Do
Because Brand is a much better player than Kwame ever was. That said, had we gotten Brand instead of Kwame, we would probably have never gotten Butler, and a whole slew of Butterfly Effects would have transpired to make us a much different and probably worse team than we are now.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
Also
it’s not just the Brown and Morrison picks that were busts. There’s the Sean May pick, the trade for Jason Richardson, arguably the pick of Okafor over Howard, basically all of the coaching hires up until Larry Brown…there’s a lot that’s gone wrong, not just a few decisions here and there.
Also, the problem with assessing the pick of Kwame Brown is that we’ll probably never know how much of it is Kwame and how much is starting out under Jordan.
Jordan took over in 2006. Okafor was picked in 2004 (the second pick, Howard was first). May was picked in 2005.
The final line is so on-point
So much of how a player turns out is how he is developed in the first few years of his career. There’s a reason why the same teams keep doing well in the draft.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Which is why
we have to be careful with McG, NY etc.
by MR on Feb 12, 2009 6:54 AM EST up reply actions
No, not careful
We need to develop them well. We were too careful with Kwame.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Don't you mean overly critical?
I think one of the real problems with Kwame was the fact that Doug Collins and Jordan were always criticizing him…. It’s pretty hard to imagine a worse duo to have as your Coach and mentor if you’re a Rookie with a fragile psyche. (Imagine Nick Young, Andray Blatche, or JaVale McGee trying to cope with Collins and Jordan)…
Kwame Brown had talent, and incredible physical tools – but he lacked something. Something inside his head. Something that Collins and Jordan were not able to bring out – but instead killed.
On the other hand, maybe he just got too much playing time, too early [grin]
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
He Lacked Something Else
Kwame Brown had talent, and incredible physical tools – but he lacked something. Something inside his head.
He also lacked a good set of hands. His biggest problem was he couldn’t catch passes under the rim. That eliminated his usefulness inside the paint.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
Overly critical
Which led to being overly-careful with his minutes. That’s what I was trying to get at.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Another point
I wonder if all these guys realize that Kwame Brown is still alive – and he can probably read too…. (he gradiatated from hi skool, rite?)
One can only hope that his Ego is not too severely damaged by all this stuff in the papers and what not…
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
Kwame is a Big Boy
And he knows that he did not live up to his expectations. I think Michael Jordan’s defense of the pick will probably make him feel better, if anything.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
I think the only one who will feel better is Michael Jordan
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
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