NBA Draft Recap: Washington Wizards

The Wizards had only a single 2nd round pick which they flipped to the Lakers for the ever-present 'cash considerations'.  The Wiz decided to skip the draft this year and went right to the free agency period.  First, they extended coach Randy Wittman.  Next, they re-signed Marcin Gortat at 5yrs/$60m, which I think is a little high but they needed to keep him; and as the cap rises over the next 5 years (a lock solid guarantee) this deal begins to look more palatable, especially since I think Gortat's got at least two productive years to come.  They let go of Ariza (4yrs/$32m, heavily front loaded w/the Rockets) and replaced him with Paul Pierce (not sure the terms, I think it was 2 years), Dejuan Blair (3yrs/$6m, 3rd year team option) and Khris Humphries (3 yrs/$13.5m).  Blair and Humphries are nice pickups, bolstering the rebounding and interior defense behind the injury-prone Nene; the Wizards front line is now a formidable one in the East, should bang well with the Pacers and Bulls.  I anticipate Peirce will mesh with Wall (the consummate PG) but I wonder if he doesn't play a little too close to the basket (as opposed to Ariza, a full-time wing shooter).  If Pierce transitions to a full-on 3-point gunner then lanes should remain unclogged for Wall and Beal.

Bigs off the bench are necessary and good but scoring off the bench can't be overlooked.  Glen Rice Jr and Otto Porter need to take a step forward and if they can, then the scoring will show some depth too.  And to that end Rice and Porter finished 3rd and 4th at the Vegas Summer League in FG attempts and were among the leaders in MPG, as well.  Good to see those two get the featuring they are unlikely to see in the regular season.  Wall and Beal are still young enough to expect some growth, too.  If those four guys each grow in production and/or efficiency, then they go nicely with the veteran presence in the front court.

On paper I gotta say this looks like a team ready to blow up.  In my experience at least one or two of the obvious calls of the off-season won't pan out but I'd say this squad is well-equipped to avoid failure. Injuries can knock off any team anywhere at any time but barring that I'd say the Wiz are set up to be pretty good. First and foremost, they play in the East.  The Cavs are now a top 8 team, the Bulls are stronger than last year but no one else in the East looks any better (to me) than last year.  Factor in the Heat taking a step back and the Pacers and Nets in flux, and the Wizards should easily improve on their 6th place finish this past season.

I thought the Wizards didn't play their best basketball until the end of the season and that was considering getting nothing at all out of the #3 pick in the draft, Otto Porter.  But the rotation settled into place, the team gained some identity and they played hard night after night.  They rolled the Bulls and that was no joke: the Wizards were flat out better than the Bulls.  But they couldn't climb their way past the Pacers, though the Pacers were playing some of their worst basketball of the season at the time.  The Wizards just didn't have enough veteran presence to power through the playoffs and now they've got it.  Its not hard to imagine the Wizards finishing the season with a better record than the Cavs or the Pacers.  With a 3 or even a 2 seed in the playoffs, the Wizards could do some real damage next year.  Think this team can hang with the Cavs?  I dunno.  Maybe.

Remember when Lebron gave the Eye of the Tiger to Gilbert Arenas that one time?  Mojo-ed him at the free throw line when Arenas had the serve on his racket.  It was over for Arenas after that, he never had his hero moment and the playoffs were never in his grasp ever again. Wouldn't it be a hoot to see Pierce mojo Kyrie Irving out of playoff relevance?  I'm not a fan of one or the other, per se, but still the thought crossed my mind.