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Top stories of the week: Wizards go 1-2, the KD strategy, plus the best & worst Twitter moments

Let's go through the top stories of the new year, shall we?

By Albert Lee
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

There's plenty to go through in this first week of January so let's get to it.

Wizards go 1-2 in their last week

On Friday, January 1, the Wizards won 103-91 against the Orlando Magic. After that, the Wizards lost 97-75 to the Miami Heat on Sunday thanks to a seven point second quarter. Then on Wednesday, the Wizards lost 121-115 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a game that really wasn't as close as the final score suggested.

Top BF Columns

The Wizards' all-in for Kevin Durant has backfired

Ben Becker wrote this must-read take on the Wizards' performance from free agency last summer through the start of the calendar year. In short, the Wizards have decided to not make any moves of consequence in anticipation of Kevin Durant's free agency in 2016. The end result is a roster of veteran role players on short-term contracts around the young core of John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter, and Kelly Oubre Jr.

If they all play well, then the Wizards could make a very nice case for Durant. However, if things fall flat, the Wizards could end up without Durant this summer AND they won't have additional younger players to add to their core. So far, Washington has missed out on their chance to get some impact free agents to improve the team this year. Hopefully, that move won't hurt their regular season worse than it already has.

...or has it?

BF community member Rook6980 wrote a FanPost in response to Ben's article that the Wizards need to stay the course and plan for Durant or a Top-5 caliber player in order to be a championship contender.

Nene must come out guns-a-blazin' if the Wizards are to succeed

The Wizards were able to manage relatively well in Nene's absence over the past month. However, they remain thin at the post position, and the team can use more traditional big men as well. Jake has more here.

Top News Stories

Bradley Beal and Alan Anderson attend U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement on executive actions regarding gun control

The President announced several executive actions he planned on taking to tighten gun purchasing procedures in the United States. Bradley Beal and Alan Anderson were among the notable guests in attendance:

You can watch the speech here, via the White House's YouTube channel.

Their attendance, as Jake noted, wasn't an accident. The NBA and its players have taken an open stand against gun violence. The Wizards did practice at noon on Tuesday when the President gave his speech, but with Beal and Anderson sideline due to injury, there wasn't any harm having them in attendance to represent the Wizards and the NBA.

Regardless of your views on gun control or the job the President is doing, it's surreal when you get to see him in person, let alone give a speech in person.

John Wall is still fifth among Eastern Conference backcourt players in All-Star Voting

It is unlikely that Wall will be a starter now because he is nearly 70,000 votes behind Kyrie Irving for second place, and a starting position. But he is the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Month, and that should be enough to make him a reserve for Toronto. Marcin Gortat is the only other Wizard who showed up in these rankings, where he was 12th.

Jarell Eddie will be with the Wizards for the rest of the season

After a strong debut after Christmas, we'll be seeing the Virginia Tech alum for at least the rest of the season. I don't expect him to be like former Hokie star and Charlotte Hornets legend Dell Curry.

Twitter Moments of the Week

We had to post several #NBAVotes for Cavaliers players

We made a bet with SB Nation's Fear the Sword, not unlike what Golden State of Mind's Bram Kincheloe did before the Cavaliers' and Warriors' Christmas game.

Unfortunately, the Wizards lost, so we had to do these:

We got Emma Meesseman her 2,000th follower, and then some!

We checked the Mystics forward's Twitter this past Tuesday and noticed that D.C.'s Belgian basketball player in residence had 1,999 followers. It's so close to 2,000, so we just had to get an open call to our 12,000+ followers, most of whom don't follow her to do so. Let's get folks to follow her!

Within a couple minutes, we did it since multiple people took the call to action:

Afgesproken means "Agreed" in Dutch, which is Meesseman's native language.

Before you knew it, she took notice and we're glad to see that Meesseman has her 2,000+ followers:

So, why all the fuss about Meesseman? One, you should understand that she is the best player on the Mystics, and this piece from before New Year's Day will give you plenty of background info why. Two, that piece gained a good amount of traction with some Belgian basketball sites this week and her Facebook page also shared it too.

Cool stuff.

BF Night is next Saturday, January 16, 2016

Get your tickets by noon today! Click here for the link. Use the code bulletsforever if needed. We're also planning to have an impromptu bar meetup in the late afternoon. A poll's here so you can say which type of place you'd like for us to have it.

That's it with the Top Wizards stories from your friends at BF. Have another link? Share it with us here in the comments!

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