The year 2018 is about to come to a close. Here are the Top 10 most read pieces of the year on Bullets Forever using cold hard data: the number of page views via Google Analytics.
In this Top 10 list, trade rumors and draft news dominated the clicks. We hope you enjoy!
No. 1 - Wizards Rashomon: A John Wall Trade Rumor, by Kevin Broom - This piece was published in early December but quickly became our most read piece of 2018. In this column, Kevin interviewed three NBA sources on whether John Wall was on the trade market given the Wizards’ slow start to the 2018-19 season. And according to those sources, there is chatter that Wall is definitely on the market. Stay tuned for a resolution on this one!
No. 2 - 2018 NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Grayson Allen, by Rook6980 - Yup! A FanPost was our second most read piece of the year! The former Duke guard was well known for being an irritant on the basketball court, but he also is intense and is a strong three point shooter from college range. Allen didn’t go to the Wizards, and was drafted in the first round to the Utah Jazz instead. He is playing sparingly, but it is his rookie season so the book isn’t closed on his NBA career by any stretch. Fellow former Duke Blue Devil J.J. Redick was also in the same situation as a rookie for the Orlando Magic, and now he is a starting-level combo guard for the 76ers.
No. 3 - John Wall puts the Wizards’ front office on notice in Game 6 postgame press conference, by Albert Lee - The Wizards were eliminated in the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs after a disappointing season. In their final press conference, John Wall called out the front office — meaning Ernie Grunfeld — about his and Bradley Beal’s supporting cast. Half a year later, the Wizards are still playing poorly though the cast improved on paper so it will be interesting to see how things change.
No. 4 - 2018 NBA Free Agency: Dwight Howard to sign two-year deal with Wizards, according to report, by Jake Whitacre - The Wizards’ biggest offseason move was to bring in an All-NBA caliber center in Dwight Howard on a cheap deal. Though Howard hasn’t been able to play most of this season due to a back injury, it was still a good low risk, high reward move to make in my opinion.
No. 5 - 2018 NBA Draft: Wizards select Troy Brown with 15th overall pick, by Jake Whitacre - After two consecutive years of trading first round picks away for half-season rentals, the Wizards drafted a star guard out of Oregon. Brown has spent some time with the Capital City Go-Go. But with so many guards on the roster, it may not be a bad thing to see him in on the Go-Go. He is averaging 18 points and 4 assists per game for the G-League affiliate.
No. 6 - The Wizards have a legitimate big man prospect in Thomas Bryant, by Alan Jenkins - The Wizards acquired Bryant from waivers during the free agency period. Alan noted that Bryant is “a young and athletic big man, who can shoot threes but also has no problems doing the dirty work.” Just a few months later, Bryant is now the Wizards’ starting center and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
No. 7 - Wizards among teams who have talked to Spurs about Kawhi Leonard before Raptors trade, according to report, by the mysterious BF Staff - The biggest actual trade in the 2018 NBA Offseason involved the San Antonio Spurs trading Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a protected 2019 first round pick. The Wizards did their due diligence to see if they could get him so you can’t fault them for not actually winning the bidding war ... at least in a vacuum.
No. 8 - Wizards trade Marcin Gortat for Austin Rivers, according to report, by Jake Whitacre - The Wizards’ biggest trade this past involved the Polish Machine when he went to the Clippers. Rivers did not spend much time in Washington and was traded to the Suns for Trevor Ariza in a last-ditch effort to get the 8th seed in the NBA Playoffs. Fitting that this piece was the 8th most read piece this year.
No. 9 - 2018 NBA Free Agency: The Wizards best options to add a center this summer, by Kevin Broom - With Gortat now in L.A., the Wizards had to beef up the center rotation quickly. Dwight Howard was one of the options of course, but so were Nerlens Noel and Lucas Nogueira among others. Today, the Wizards have the aforementioned Thomas Bryant starting in the middle.
No. 10 - 2018 NBA Free Agency: Nerlens Noel signs with Thunder, according to report, by Jake Whitacre - The Wizards were actually high on Noel’s list. Unfortunately, the Wizards didn’t get a Noël* present. That’s because Noel opted to go to Oklahoma City instead.
*Noël is Christmas in French.