Washington Wizards Round Table
Readers of this site will be familiar with our popular Redskins Round Table feature, where we gather prominent reporters and bloggers in the D.C. area who cover the Redskins and ask them questions about the most pressing matters for the burgundy and gold. Today is only our second Wizards Round Table, but we think fans of the team will find it truly interesting. We wanted to know what the Wizards should do in the draft, free agency, with Gilbert Arenas and more. We got great responses from some of the most authoritative voices on the Wizards, including many you will already know well. Their answers are provided in the order in which they were received. Read on…
Clinton Yates — Sports Editor of Washington Post Express
Kyle Weidie — Truthaboutit.net and ESPN TrueHoops Network
Jack Whitacre — Bullets Forever
Asad — Wizards Extreme
Thomas Threlkeld — DC Pro Sports Report
CLINTON YATES — Sports Editor of Washington Post Express
1. Now that the Wizards have the first pick in the NBA Draft, what should they do with it? Trade it? Take John Wall? Take Evan Turner? Someone else?
CY: I think you have to pick John Wall. Rarely do I agree with going with a somewhat obvious, sexy pick, but in this case I’m for it. Evan Turner will be a solid NBA player in my eyes, but Wall clearly has franchise-changing potential in him, and with a league dominated by point guards, passing on him is just too risky. The teams that didn’t pick Deron Williams and Chris Paul are still suffering as a result. Wall is the best player in the draft, plain and simple.
2. If the Wizards select John Wall, as many believe they will, could a backcourt of Wall and Gilbert Arenas work?
CY: I think they could work together, in a hypothetical ‘all-things-off-the-court-being-equal’ circumstance. Meaning, assuming there are no rookie knuckleheaded distractions for Wall and team-killing attitudes from Arenas involved, from a strict basketball perspective it would be perfect. Arenas never really was a true point guard and with less pressure on him to run an offense, he can focus on his forte: scoring. Let’s face it, Arenas can barely even dunk a basketball anymore if at all, but he still stands as a great spot up option in my view. Wall’s slashing and Arenas’ shooting in tandem could highlight both of their skill sets.
3. Should the Wizards trade Arenas this summer if possible?
CY: Trading him would provide the proverbial ticket out of town that everyone claims is so necessary for success, but that’s no guarantee. I wouldn’t be averse to the notion, but I just can’t see a team taking him and giving up anything a team like the Wizards would really want, that they can’t get out of the three draft picks they have this year.
4. Which free agents, if any, that played with the Wizards last season would you like back on the team?
CY: Josh Howard is the player to keep as I see it, followed by Shaun Livingston. As far as I’m concerned the rest of those guys are NBA also-rans, the only argument for Livingston is that he’s the youngest. Howard is a legit NBA starter and let’s not look past the fact that the Wizards were plainly terrible last year. They can’t afford to give up legitimate talent if they can keep it.
5. What should the Wizards do with their roughly $19 million in cap space? Can they really expect to land a major free agent or should they pursue the “bring out your dead” [take on ugly short-term contracts in exchange for young talent or draft picks] strategy?
CY: If I had my druthers, the Wizards wouldn’t even worry about a major free agent this year. They have two first round picks and an early second-rounder, which seems to me as likely as successful a prospect as going after anyone on the market. Granted if Dwyane Wade or Lebron James want to come to D.C., that plan changes. But I don’t think Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudamire are necessarily the upgrade you want unless you think Javale McGee and Andray Blatche are simply not getting it done, which would be fair in some minds. Don’t get me wrong, Bosh and Stoudamire are great players. But I would wait on next year, and get the ball rolling on a public two-year wooing of either Kevin Durant or Carmelo Anthony, not dissimilar to what the Knicks have done with James.
6. Finally, getting away from the Wizards for a moment, who will win the NBA Finals this year and where will Lebron James be playing next season?
CY: I thought before the conference finals that the Magic were the best team left. Clearly, that is not correct. That being said, I think the Lakers become the favorite to win it all. Their size is semi-unreal and Lamar Odom is playing some of the best basketball of his career. Nevermind the usual suspects in Kobe and so forth. The matchup I’d be most excited to see is a Ron Artest/Rasheed Wallace battle, should they meet.
As for Lebron, if I were him, I’d go to the Clippers. They have the best collection of talent of any of the apparent suitors and he could still be ‘the man’ without sacrificing too much star power. I don’t think he’d have a problem sticking it to Kobe on the L.A. popularity front, either. I know this is a cop-out, but I don’t really care where LeBron goes. His whole career has effectively become a sideshow at this point, and if he was truly dedicated to winning, nobody would be talking about this. I may eat my words, but at this point to me, James is a lot more Barkley/Malone than he is Magic/Michael.
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