2019-2020 Timeline Review and Preview: The Washington Wizards

Now for the last Eastern Conference team that I’ll be covering, the Washington Wizards. To think this is the 9th team I’m on and I’ve only done two Western teams; Eastern Conference more like Leastern Conference *ba dum tss*

 

The Wizards were in a weird situation coming into this season. It was the first year of John Wall’s supermax and he missed the entire season after slipping and falling in his house, constant Bradley Beal trade rumors and not to mention this would be the first full season without former key players like Kelly Obre Jr, Otto Porter, and Tomas Satoransky. But almost entirely through the will and skill of Bradley Beal alone, the Wizards almost had a chance to make the playoffs (mathematically, not realistically.)

 

With a combination of young guys and vets, Scott Brooks decided to switch up his scheme to better suit the team he had. His big change was to not play defense altogether. That’s right, the Wizards just decided to focus all their efforts on offense, which makes sense because most of their players aren't good defenders. Isn't the best defense a good offense, or something? This change, win or lose made the Wizards very fun to watch.

Wizard Fans: “Should you get back on defense?” 

Wizard players:

 

Bradley Beal led the way with a career year for him 30.5 points, 6.1 assists with 45.5% FG% on 23 shots a game, that's insane! He found himself an unlikely costar in “the Latvian Lazar” Davis Bertans who also had a career year. Bertans put up 15.4 points with more than 76% of his shots coming strictly beyond the arc.

 

Not to say that this was just a two-man show, as Washington is used to, they were able to get decent contributions from most of their players. Ish Smith, Troy Brown, Thomas Byrant, Moritz Wagner, and Rui Hachimura were able to back Beal and Bertans up effectively. It wasn't good enough for a playoff berth but still, I think this season was a good stepping stone in developing their young talent.

 

The Wizards ended their season in the Orlando bubble with a record of 25-47 which can be viewed as a big success to some fans. Now let’s take a look at all the moves the Wizards made to get them to, this point

 

June 20th - 2019 NBA Draft and Rookies.

 

The Wizards held the 9th and 42nd pick, they acquired the latter in a draft-night trade with the 76ers. They used them to select Rui Hachimura (PF) and Admiral Schofield (PF).

I liked Rui this season and he had a decent impact on this team. He missed 23 games due to an injury but had a good rookie campaign. He needs to take care of the ball more and work on his three-point shot to become a better player. They also picked up two undrafted rookies; Anzejs Pasecniks (C) and Justin Robinson (PG).

 

Preseason

 

Trades:

 

July 6th - The Wizards trade Dwight Howard to the Grizzlies for C.J. Miles

 

July 6th - Three team trade Part 1

 

Wizards get	Nets get	Spurs get
Davis Bertans (Spurs)	Draft rights to Aaron White (Wizards)	DeMarre Carroll (Nets)
	Draft rights to Nemanja Dangubic (Spurs)

 

A big steal for the Wizards.

 

July 6th - Three team trade Part 2

 

Wizards get	Pelicans get	Lakers get
Isaac Bonga (Lakers)	Lonzo Ball (Lakers)	Anthony Davis (Pelicans)
Jemerrio Jones (Lakers)	Josh Hart (Lakers)
Moritz Wagner (Lakers)	Brandon Ingram (Lakers)
2022 2nd round pick (Lakers)	2019 4th overall pick (De’Andre Hunter)
	Cash considerations (both Wizards & Lakers)
	2021 1st round pick (Lakers)
	2023 1st round pick (Lakers)
	2024 1st round pick (Lakers)

 

July 7th - The Wizards send Tomas Satoransky to the Chicago Bulls in a sign and trade. The Wizards receive a 2020 & 2022 2nd round pick. 2020 - the more favorable pick between either Bulls or Grizzlies. 2022 - the right to swap Laker’s pick for the more favorable pick between one between Bulls or Pistons.

 

Satoransky was signed to a 3-year $30 million contract as a part of the deal.

 

Signings:

 

July 7th - The Wizards sign Thomas Byrant to a 3-year $25 million contract. He took 2 threes a game at 41%, he has shown the ability to stretch the floor which is valuable in today’s game.

 

July 8th - The Wizards sign Ish Smith to a 2-year $12 million contract.

 

July 9th - The Wizards sign Isaiah Thomas to a 1-year $2.32 million contract.

 

October 17th - The Wizards re-sign Bradley Beal to a 2-year $72 million contract extension with a player option on the 2nd year. This was a brilliant move by Beal, he told the front office, “you got two years to get your act together or I’m going to dip.” Whether he declines his option or not he’ll still be in line for another massive contract.

 

October 22nd - The NBA Season begins.

 

Season Highlight:

 

I chose Beal’s last-minute layup to win over the Mavericks ----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb-zCcjVklY. This is one of the smartest play calls I’ve ever seen, enjoy!

 

Midseason

 

Trades:

 

February 6th - The Wizards trade Jordan McRae to the Nuggets for Shabazz Napier.

 

February 6th - A three-team trade:

 

Wizards get	Knicks get	Clippers get
Jerome Robinson (Clippers)	Draft rights to Issuf Sanon (Wizards)	Isaiah Thomas (Wizards)
	Maurice Harkless (Clippers)	Marcus Morris (Knicks)
	2020 1st round pick (Clippers)
	2021 1st round pick (Clippers)
	2021 Pistons 2nd round pick (Clippers)

 

March 11th - The season is suspended.

 

Preview

 

Before the NBA Draft:

 

The Wizards stayed at their projected 9th pick. I thought that their positions of need would be either PG or SG. I know it sounds crazy, considering that both their franchise players are at their positions but just hear me out:

 

We don’t know how good John Wall would be when he comes back. By the start of next season, it will be almost two years since he last touched the court (boxing day 2018). Not to mention he hasn’t played more than 70 games since his 2016-17 campaign. He still has 3 years left on his supermax (two if he doesn’t opt-in) but it is safe to assume that he will decline. You have a good opportunity to go get a nice young PG that will be able to learn under Wall and develop for the next few years. There’s no rush to have him take over the helm, as he would have three years to properly develop his game. I think either Tyrese Haliburton or Killian Haynes would fit great on this team.

 

However, getting a SG might be more feasible. Beal is more likely to opt-out of his deal in 2022-23 than Wall is. He’ll be 30 and barring any setbacks, he’ll be in line to get another big contract from a contender. Since loyalty is more or less dead in today’s league, I don’t think Washington can afford to keep banking on him resigning. So it’s best to put things in place for his potential departure. A guy like Devin Vassell will be a nice selection at 9 because he can provide MUCH NEEDED perimeter defense while also learning from Beal for a couple of seasons.

 

November 18th - 2020 NBA Draft

 

They ended up selecting Deni Avidja at 9th and I can’t blame them. He was projected to be a top-five prospect but for whatever reason slid down. He very well may end up being the steal of the draft. They also traded their 2nd round pick to the Thunder but I’ll talk about that in next year’s piece.

 

Free Agency

 

NB - Their Rookies haven’t signed their contracts as yet.

 

Coming into the offseason, the Wizards’ main goal was to re-sign Davis Bertans. He sat out their trip to Orlando so he could avoid injury and cash out this offseason and that he did. He resigned with the Wizards to a 5-year $80 million contract. They also signed Raul Neto and Robin Lopez. Lopez signed a one-year deal for $7.3 million, which seems like an EXTREME overpay because you already have Wagner and Bryant who are both young players with tremendous upside. Maybe they wanted a veteran presence, but you didn’t have to pay him $7 million? With a team already so close to the Tax ($132.627 million this season,) before they even sign their rookies, that money could’ve been better allocated.

 

I think they could still use a backup shooting guard. Yeah, Jerome Robinson is still young but he’s been very inconsistent, so I think they need a bit more experience at that position. I say give Tyler Johnson a shot. He played for the Nets in the bubble and had a mini resurgence, he can attack the paint at times, he can handle the ball a bit, and can be an above-average three-point shooter. They could offer him a 2-year contract of around $3-5 million per year.

 

The main problem with the roster is that it’s going to be hard to fill it out without going into the Luxury Tax. Their top three players take up most of their cap space and it’s only going to go up from here, so their roster will most likely be made up of rookies and vets.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Next season all comes down to how good John Wall will be coming off of his injuries. If he’s at least 85% of what he was, then the Wizards can easily be the 6th seed in the East. If he struggles then the Wizards will be stuck on the outside looking in for a few years.

 

 

2019-20 Timeline Review and Preview: The Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets’ first season after losing their star point guard Kemba Walker went a lot better than expected. They received great contributions from both rookies and sophomores alike, as well as their “big signing” Terry Rozier. But the biggest takeaway from last season was the emergence of 2nd-year point guard Davonte Graham as an absolute sniper. Trust me, nobody expected him to put up the numbers that he did: 18.2 points, 7.5 assists while shooting 37.3% from three-point three-point land on 9.3 attempts a game. This was exactly what the Hornets needed, development from their young players and hopefully, more development is instore next season. All of their young players (plus Nicolas Batum) will be on the roster next season, barring any trades in the offseason.

Even with all the pleasant surprises, this season wasn’t all positives for the Hornets. They struggled to finish and to stop their opponents inside the three-point line. On offense, they had the worst FG% and 2P% in the league (43.4% and 48.9% respectively,) and on defense, they allowed the 2nd best 2P% (55.8%). To get to that 55.8%, their opponents only shot 52.5 two-pointers a game, 24th most in the league, yikes.  

Coach Borrego: "Guys can you please guard the paint?!"

Hornets players: 

But this was a great building block year and the Hornets now know their strengths and what they have to improve on for next season. Let’s look back on their previous season and talk about the signings, trades and take a sneak peek at their offseason. 

June 20th - 2019 NBA Draft and Rookies

The Hornets held the 12th, 36th, and 52nd pick in the draft and they took: P.J. Washington (PF), Cody Martin (SF), and Jalen McDaniels (SF) respectively. 

I like Washington; I think he’s very versatile as he can play both the three and four. In some cases, he can even be a small-ball five. He wasn’t afraid of shooting behind the arc and if he improves his three-ball and his defense he will be a centerpiece for this franchise. Cody was okay, I need a bigger sample size but he looks like he’ll be a good rotation player in the future. 

Preseason:

Trades:

July 6th - The Hornets trade their star player for the last decade “Cardiac” Kemba Walker and a 2020 2nd round pick (least favorable between Knicks and Nets) to the Boston Celtics for Terry Rozier and a 2020 Celtics 2nd round pick (sign and trade). 

Terry Rozier came over with a 3 year $56.7 million contract. Sure it’s an overpay, but at least he’s playing well unlike Batum when he got paid. 

Signings - 

October 19th - The Hornets signed undrafted rookie Caleb Martin to a 3 year $4.19 million contract. He’s the twin brother of Charlotte’s rookie Cody Martin. Good to know they care about family.

Midseason:

Trades & Signings - Nothing to report here

Waving the past goodbye: 

February 8th - The Hornets bought out and waived Micheal Kidd-Gilchrist. Charlotte drafted him with the 2nd pick in the 2012 draft (yikes, they’re bad at drafting) and he never really panned out. He later signed with the Mavericks on February 11th. 

February 8th - The Hornets bought out and waived Marvin Williams. He was also a former 2nd overall pick (2005 draft) that didn’t pan out. At least he was a good defender. He later signed with the Bucks on February 10th. 

Preview

The Draft:

The Hornets somehow lucked out and moved up to the 3rd overall pick in the lottery. Charlotte should be praying that LaMelo goes 1st or 2nd, so they can have their pick of either James Wiseman or Anthony Edwards. Wiseman is the better option just because the Hornets truly need some sort of presence in the paint both offensively and defensively. Having him in the middle takes some attention away from guys like Graham, Rozier, and Washington. Edwards however, can fill the much-needed SG position because Graham will be more effective running the point and Malik Monk is smoking dope. 

Worst case scenario, if both of those players are taken before their pick they should pick up LaMelo. They’ll have to find a way to have them all get touches. My best guess is that LaMelo would be the PG, Graham will be in at SG because of his great shooting ability and they’ll demote Rozier to 6th man. I’m not a big fan of having three ball-dominant point guards trying to get touches, it may hinder the development of both Graham and Ball but c'est la vie.

November 18th - 2020 NBA Draft

The Hornets ended up selecting LaMelo Ball with the third pick. As expected since Edwards and Wiseman went off the board. I just hope that he improves his shot selection and tries on defense. They also held the 32nd and 56th pick where they selected Veron Carey Jr. and Grant Riller respectively. 

Free Agency:

The Hornets are set up very nicely in terms of cap space and contracts for the 2020-21 season. Most of their core players are on contracts for the next few seasons except for Zeller and Graham. For their free agents: Let Bacon walk, he just can’t shoot or do anything properly. Try to bring back Biyombo cheap, maybe like a 2 year $10 million contract or something. Bring back Hernangomez, he’s a big man that can shoot the three, if you don’t bring Biyombo give Hernangomez more minutes to see what he can do. 

The Hornets are actually in a decent spot to give out a decent big-money contract this offseason and still have space for the one in 2021. I think they should try to go after veterans to help mentor the young talent they already have on their roster. I expect the Hornets to go after either a SG or a SF in free agency.  

A guy like Jae Crowder (SF) could be a good signing, he can shoot the three and is solid defensively. He can make a good mentor or even replacement to Miles Bridges if he continues to regress. If not take a chance on Rondae Hollis Jefferson, he plays good defense and can finish at the basket well. If you want somebody with more offensive power, go ahead and try to push for Malek Beasley. He isn’t a good defender but he’s a lights-out shooter and also plays both the two and the three which are the Hornets’ weakest positions on the team. 

Lastly, I’ve been seeing tweets and reports that the Hornets are very interested in trading for Russell Westbrook and I would just like to calmly suggest to them: DON’T DO IT. I know the appeal of getting a superstar is massive, especially in Charlotte where nobody wants to be but It’s short-term satisfaction. I don’t have to explain why getting Westbrook will do you more harm than good because you already know what I’m talking about. A trade would most likely involve Washington, Rozier, or Graham and some picks, that’s all their core pieces gone, and for what exactly? 

Final Thoughts.

Their main priorities next season is to ensure they have enough room to resign Graham if he continues to develop and to establish a system where they can increase their pace. With all these young players it’ll be a waste to continue to have them operate at the slowest pace in the league (95.8). The Hornets have set themselves up for future success, I just hope they don't screw it up. 

2019-20 Season Timeline Review and Preview: The Chicago Bulls

The Bulls seemed to enter the season filled with expectations and promise; they more or less retained their core group of players, their possible PG of the future in Coby White, and two lowkey free agency acquisitions of Thomas Satoransky and Thad Young who could provide solid contributions. With all these positives, the only problem was that Jim Boylen was still their coach, and nothing good will EVER happen with Jim Boylen as your head coach. 

It seemed the Bulls were doomed before the season began and it only got worse with each idiotic and questionable decision Boylen ever made. However, if I was to write out every iconic moment or quote during Boylen’s tenure then this would be a novel so to save myself the work ---------> https://www.radio.com/670thescore/most-bizarre-moments-quotes-jim-boylen-bulls-coaching-tenure 

https://www.bleachernation.com/bulls/2020/07/17/heres-a-bunch-of-jim-boylen-quotes-that-prove-he-isnt-the-guy-for-the-job-fun-right/  

Enjoy!

Boylen aside, this was a season total disaster. Lauri Markkanen regressed heavily in Boylen’s system, multiple injuries throughout their roster and besides Zach LaVine nobody seemed to be able to score the basketball. After Zach (25.5 points per game), this entire team seemed to struggle to do anything offensively. 

The Bulls were in the bottom ten in almost every offensive statistical category: FG% (26th), 3P% (22nd), Total Rebounds (29th), Assists (23rd), and Points per game (27th). But hey, at least they were 1st in steals (10 per game), that’s good, and they were also 4th in the league in turnovers (15.5 per game), that’s……. less good.

On top of a horrible offense, the Bulls also came down with a serious case of the injury bug this season. Only four players played 60 games or more out of a possible 65. Their entire roster missed a total of 297 games in a shortened season which caused a serious lack of chemistry with any of their starting lineups.

The combination of the piss-poor coaching, player regression, and wasting of young talent drove fans over the edge. I’m sure they will be trying to erase all the scars and trauma that this season inflicted on them as soon as possible. Let’s do a quick recap of everything that went down during the Chicago Bulls “gas leak year.” (shout out to Community.)

June 20th - NBA Draft & Rookies

The Bulls had the 7th and 38th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. They obtained the 38th pick from Memphis in a trade at the beginning of the year. With their two draft picks the Bulls selected Coby White (PG) and Daniel Gafford (C) respectively. 

Preseason 

Trades:

July 7th - The Bulls acquired Tomas Satoransky from the Wizards in a sign and trade deal for a 2020 and 2022 2nd round pick. Wizards have the right to swap their Lakers’ 2022 2nd round pick for either the Bulls’ or Pistons’ 2022 2nd round pick, whichever one is more favorable. 

As a part of the sign-and-trade Satoransky signed a 3 year $30 million deal but that was Washington so that’s why it doesn’t go into the Signings section. I know I’m getting technical just bare with me. 

July 6th - The Bulls signed the veteran PF Thaddeus Young to a 3 year $43.63 million contract with a partial guarantee on the 3rd year (2021-22). 

July 11th - The Bulls signed Ryan Arcidiacono (PG) to a 3 year $9 million contract with a team option on the 3rd year (2021-22).

July 17th - The Bulls signed the giant sniper Luke Kornet (C) to a 2 year $4.5 million contract.

July 18th - The Bulls signed Shaquille Harrison to a 1 year $0.89 million contract.

October 22nd - The 2019-20 NBA season begins

Oh, you didn’t know? - The highlight of the Bulls season came on November 23rd with a victory over the Hornets. Zach LaVine* hit a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left on route to a career-high 49 points. Both teams scored a combined 88 points in the 4th quarter alone as the game turned into a shootout in the final few minutes. I’ll leave a link to it in case somehow you haven’t it already ----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ9pnTcGwxs&ab_channel=BleacherReport  

*Sad Fact: The 2020 All-star game was in Chicago and yet still Zach LaVine wasn’t an all-star. As a Zach LaVine stan, I found that wack.*

Mid-season: 

Trades & Signings - Nothing to report here

March 11th - The league is suspended. 

Overtime Notes:

April 13th - The Bulls fired long-time general manager Gar Forman. With his best years behind him, this was the right move as  Forman has spearheaded numerously questionable (at best) decisions, signings, and draft selections. He won NBA Executive of the year in 2011, which is ironically the last time they drafted somebody good in the 1st round (jury is still out on White and Carter Jr). Let’s not forget the time he drafted both Juseuf Nurkic (14th) and Gary Harris (16th) in 2014 and then traded them both to the Nuggets for Doug McDermott and Anthony Randolph. Good times, good times. 

May 1st - The Bulls hired Marc Eversley to be their new GM. Don’t know much about him but let’s hope he’s good.

August 14th - The Bulls fired head coach Jim Boylen. YESSSSSSSS SIIRRRRRRR LETSSSSSSS GOOOOOO!!!!!!! 

September 22nd - The Bulls hired Billy Donovan to be their new head coach. Donovan previously spent 5 years coaching the Thunder where he accumulated a regular-season record of 243-157. He led the Thunder to the playoffs in all five years and went to the finals in his first year (2015-16). He was named NBCA Coach of the year in 2020. 

I don’t think this was a mediocre signing. Donovan has proved to be a good coach however it always seemed to me that his success came more from guys like Westbrook and Paul George than his coaching. Even with superstars on his team, he has failed to lead the Thunder past the first round since his lone finals appearance. They got bounced by the Rockets twice, rookie Donovan Mitchell and Damien Lillard waved both Westbrook and Paul George out of OKC.  

So am I confident that Donovan is the man for the job in Chicago? Not really. Am I confident that he’ll do a better job than Boylen? Hell yeah. 

Preview

This picture was taken from Basketball-Reference and if you want more information you can check it out by clicking the link ---> https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/CHI.html 

The Bulls hold the 4th overall pick, moving up from their projected 7th pick. This would be their highest spot in the lottery since 2008 where they took Derrick Rose 1st overall. They’re in a good spot player-wise because they already have four of their five positions figured out. All that is truly left to figure out is the SF position. So they have two options here:

1. Draft Deni Avdija. He may not be the best shooter or defender but his playmaking and ball-handling make him an intriguing player. Maybe “Point Forward” is a stretch as of right now but he can certainly make plays for his teammates which will take the shot-creating responsibilities off of White, LaVine, and Satoransky. Assuming that Porter picks up his player option (he would be stupid not to) Deni can certainly benefit from learning from him for a year. 

2. Draft the best player available. Take a chance on somebody, whoever it may be, and just hope they pan out and don’t end up being a bust.

Looking at their contract situation it’s obvious that they’re leaving cap space for the 2021 free agency class so I think it’s safe to assume that they won’t try to lock themselves into big contracts this offseason. They shouldn’t resign Valentine, it’s time to give up on him. But they should try to re-sign Dunn at the right price because he’s the only reason why the Bulls aren’t complete garbage on defense. He’s a great-to-elite defender but his lack of growth on the offensive end can make him expendable.

Now that brings me to Coby White, he needs to take a big step next season. Not only does his playmaking need to improve but so does his shooting. He shot poorly pre all-star break but in the 10 games after the break, he looked like a completely different player. Take a look at his stats both pre and post All-star break right here --------> https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/whiteco01/splits/2020

The extra minutes and shot attempts helped him show Bulls fans the player he could be. Will he shine in a bigger role next season or will he revert to being inefficient like he was before the All-star break? I say you should let him start over Satoransky so we can get a bigger sample size of his performance with more shot attempts and minutes. 

With that being said I believe that the Bulls are set up nicely for the future and can be a real player in 2021 free agency if next season goes well. I trust that Donovan can establish a proper culture system with a good ball movement that will help get the most out of his players. Hot Take Alert!: The Bulls are going to make the playoffs next season as an 8th seed. They have enough talent to compete in a top-heavy Eastern Conference. With Jim Boylen out of the picture, the only way to go is up, right? (you can go sideways but let’s think positive.)

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