Ernest Rides Again

So it was announced tonight that Ernie Grunfeld will remain with as president of your Washington Wizards. As much as I thought there MAY be a change, and as surprised as I am that Ted Leonsis apparently not only didn't interview other candidates but TURNED DOWN requests to interview others, I cannot say that I am terribly shocked by this happening.

Surely the Nenê trade was a clue that Ernie being back was more than a possibility to occur. I would have been on board with a new GM, but I'm not broken up over it. He’s DEFINITELY made his share of mistakes, but I’d almost bet that many of them were under not too subtle orders from Abe Pollin (To be specific, I'm talking about re-signing Gilbert and Antawn, and trading the #5 pick in the 2009 Draft). I’m not even about defending the bad decisions but let’s just look at now.

You guys do know that these players that everyone’s excited about now were also brought in under his watch, right? Let’s not be completely one-sided here. All I’m saying is that while we’re quick to bash all of the mistakes, let’s remember that this 2010 draft class that we’re suddenly so amped about (Wall, Seraphin, Booker, and Crawford, who was also from that class) and the cap flexibility that we now have was his too. Many can and will discredit the John Wall pick as luck of the draw. Cool. Luck happens. As much as everybody slurps Sam Presti, he was still a tad lucky that he was left with Durant instead Oden in 2007. I just think we’ve gotten so enamored with hating Ernie that we COMPLETELY discredit any good that he’s done.

I said all of that to say here’s to a little more luck with the top pick in the lotto. Even if not the number one pick, a top five pick gives us the opportunity to bring in a long-term stud. Two second round picks, if used wisely, may also be helpful either by actually using them on useful players or by using the picks in trade (maybe to get back into the first round?). Blatche can be amnestied. The remainder of Rashard’s contract ($13.7M last I checked) can be paid off or it could be an asset in a trade. We have cap room. We, hopefully, can look forward to development in a legitimate offseason for Wall, Seraphin, Booker, Crawford, and Vesely. Things are looking up! And these positive vibes have also occurred under the watch of Ernest F. Grunfeld (I made the 'F' up. I used to love when Tony K did that with Donovan McNabb).

OK, I'm done. Back to your regularly scheduled Wizards-bashing.

Who Should the Wizards Draft? Version 1 - March 25, 2012

As we are witnessing in this year's NCAA Tournament, many of the prospects that the Wizards are in position to draft are on display. I currently have the 2012 NBA Draft top 5 for the Wizards as follows:

1. Anthony Davis - Just...I'm slightly fearful of another freakish athlete type, but you can't look at guys in a vacuum that way. Just appears to be a great kid who's still growing into his body. If I didn't know any better, I'd think the kid was a blossoming guard, who almost overnight had a dramatic growth spurt and is now learning to be a big man while still having some of the skillset of a guard. Oh..that IS what happened?
2. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - My friend Hue RAVES about this guy. He has prototypical size for a 3, all the intangibles you want out of a player, and just seems to always be where he needs to be. An absolute hound on defense, and appears to have the work ethic and want to improve his jump shot.
3. Bradley Beal - Color me impressed with what little I've seen of him. He's a short 2, but when "Ray Allen meets Eric Gordon" is the description that Chad Ford gives him, I'm too excited to care.
4. Thomas Robinson - Local product, cold monster on the glass. Intent on learning and excelling at his craft. He and Davis are power forwards, which would compromise Booker, but I think you have to take the chance.
5. Harrison Barnes - Despite his horrible performance against Ohio, he still projects to be a 3 in the NBA that can put the ball in the hoop, which is by the way a glaring need for this team.

These all appear to be good kids, and their work ethic and desire have been among the superlatives attached to each at some point. This draft seems so loaded that you almost can't go wrong if you have a top 5 pick, which we project to have. Thought: Would you trade Booker for an additional lottery pick?

Does 1 - 2 = Positive?

I fought it until the bitter end. I did. I went all the way to the wire with JaVale McGee. As a fan, I can admit to being guilty of putting on blinders to things. Sometimes, even if we KNOW the truth, we deny it or keep ourselves from admitting it just because we WANT to believe otherwise. It started to get difficult. I definitely began to waver over the course of the season though, you HAVE to give me that. You know what? I'm not even going to get into it. Let's move forward.

Ranking the Wizards

So today has been an interesting day for Wizards fans. First, the Marc Stein report that the Wiz were among teams expressing strong interest in Andrew Bogut, which implies, as Mike Lee reported, that there is a willingness to trade JaVale McGee. Then the tweet by Mike Lee that the Wizards are so desperate to trade Andray Blatche that they'd be willing to trade anybody on the roster not named John Wall to get rid of him. Upon following this all day, and reading Bill Simmons' annual trade value column, I decided to group our roster categories based on my willingness to trade them.

These Questions Need Answers

Going into the season, most Wizards fans had humble expectations. Just show us SOME improvement, and hopefully find answers to some pertinent long-term questions. I'd say that there were a few basic questions that one way or another everybody had, with a couple of subquestions thrown in there. As we inch closer to the All-Star break, many of the same questions that I had going into the season still need to be answered, and some new ones have arisen. I'm going to use the questions below as the starting point to several subsequent columns on these topics.

Yourrrrrrrr Washington Wizards - February 4, 2012

Man, we F#*^%* SUCK. The end.

The Future of the Wizards and the Curious Case of JaVale McGee

What do you do with an enigmatic seven-footer with all the potential in the world and what sometimes seems like all the basketball sense of a pogo stick? He blows you away with his athleticism, his ability to block shots and send home an oop from anywhere, but in the same breath drives you nuts with his apparent obsession to make ESPN's Top Plays every night? His mom says he's "the future of the NBA". I just want to know if he's the future for the Wizards. He's a restricted free agent at the end of the season, and it has been rumored that he feels he is a near-max player. What do the Wizards do?