FanPost

It Can't Stay in Vegas - GrJr / Otto

I have so enjoyed these past two weeks as a Wizards fan! We have made smart business moves, picked up great role players including a future HOF, and we have watched our two young prospects tear it up in Summer League. Now that Rome has fallen the Eastern World is up for grabs and there is no reason we can't be number one. As someone else said, there are other Eastern Conference teams that can beat us (Toronto, Cleveland, Chicago Indiana), but there is nothing that sets them apart. We are poised to be first among the LEast, but I think all that depends on the two kids ripping it up in Vegas.

We know who our stars are: Wall and Beal. We can assume they will continue to make strides in refining their already dynamic game. Our front court has gotten much deeper as we have retained Gortat, Gooden, and Nene while adding Blair and Humphries. However our three and D guy is gone. Pierce certainly has more in his offensive arsenal than Ariza but he is older and will struggle keeping up with speedy, athletic SF and SG's (remember Dj Augustin). This is where we need Otto to step up. I do not expect him to be an effective scoring option as much as a smart defensive player. Pierce will not be playing over thirty minutes a game. Otto needs to be able to come in and change the flow of a particular opponent's game. He needs to be able to make the opposition adjust. Lebron, Melo, DeRozen and Paul George will get theirs, but they need to feel some sort of push back outside of Pierce. A few open buckets would not hurt either.

Another area that has wide been discussed is the need for a scoring punch off the bench. Someone to be our Jamal Crawford, Mo Williams, even JR Smith type. GRJR has shown in summer league he can do that. The beauty of this position is he does not have to be the most efficient person night to night or even quarter by quarter. He just needs to have his moments. If Glen Rice Jr. can step up and score double digits in limited time every three to five games that could be the difference when our offense goes stagnant. Our team is so level headed (maybe an overcompensation from the flopsam / Arenas days) that we lack that unpredictable streaky punch. GRJR can be just that.

All this to say, I think we have our team if these two can step up. It just so happens that our team's Achilles Heals are best filled by two Sophomore players. If they can take their Vegas Summer league success and translate part of it to the big leagues.we have a golden opportunity to take the Eastern Conference. Otherwise, I see us being exploited at the SF position and during bench scoring droughts. Finally, should Durant actually come here Otto would be great trade bait (we don't have that much young talent) for another good role player. If Durant does not come to DC even more reason to have Otto ready to go.

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.