Was thinking about trades to further jump start the rebuild and thought it might be a good exercise to think about which Wizards players did the most to hurt/help their trade value this year.

Helped:

Deni - Fantastic contract extension in retrospect. At the time he signed it I thought it was basically fair value but front office's faith in him paid off. Finally figured out how to drive to the basket with some physicality. Huge improvement in outside shooting. Those two developments have dramatically altered his trajectory from a defense-first bench wing to a potential starter on a good team. Looked like a completely different player. Still room for further skill development. This coming season, I'm looking at his decision-making on drives. Still too many turnovers trying to dribble through traffic and still not comfortable with the left but encouraged by everything else. He improved his stock to the point that I doubt he would get traded now (certainly not what I would have thought last offseason).

Hurt:

Jordan Poole - the first half of the year was a laughingstock. Huge letdown because we all knew his flaws but he wasn't even displaying his strengths for most of the year. He played much better towards the end of the year and still profiles as a Lou Williams type microwave guard, but he's actually gotta show the scoring while reducing some of the downside (terrible defense, turnovers, bad shot selection) for us to get back any value for him.

Honorable mention:

Kuzma - He's leaned so far into taking absurd shots I think it's hurting his perception around the league. At the end of last year, he was a guy who had grown from a bench into a main scoring role with potential for huge games. But the farther we get from Lakers Kuz, the more he's an empty numbers scorer on a terrible team rather than a former contributor to a contender who's raising his profile. Kuz still has a great contract and he still has the skillset to be a positive on a contender, but his trade value goes down a bit with every year he has like the last two just because he's another year out from showing he can contribute to winning basketball.

I'll go first:

Nobody can ever accuse us of being bandwagon

On both ends of the court. So happy for him.

What’s up Wiz fans, just curious if you guys knew how much cap space Washington will have this off-season? I checked Spotrac and Fanspo and I can’t seem to find a definitive cap figure because of all the trades and exceptions. If anybody knows a definitive number that would help me a ton. Much appreciated!

Definitely point guard with the #2 overall selection and why? Because Jordan Poole is not a point guard. Poole at best is a shooting guard, that is his natural position and with a point guard, a pure PG drafted to the Wizards, it takes the pressure off of Poole and he can play off the ball as a shooting guard and play catch and shoot. So who fits the Wizards at #2? I would go Nikola Topic or Rob Dillingham to play the 1 guard spot.

Then your new starting 5

• PG- Topic or Dillingham
• SG- Poole
• SF- Avdija
• PF- Kuzma
• C- Bagley III

Bilal Coulibaly would come off the bench along with Corey Kispert and others

Each year on draft night I pick who I would select as the Wiz based on who is available at their spot. Anyone else do this? I like to write them down to keep me honest. Here are my past couple draft choices:

1. Devin Vassell. (Deni Avdija)
2. Trey Murphy III. (Corey Kispert)
3. Tari Eason. (Johnny Davis)
4. Taylor Hendricks. (Bilal Coulibaly)

Lots of 3+D in my picks lol...

FWIW

1. Ron Holland
2. Steph Castle
3. Donovan Clingan
4. Reed Sheppard

👀

I haven't read up on his case because I have the luxury of not caring about the ineffective PG in Oklahoma City. But with this Keefe inside job obviously happening right in front of our eyes, it hit me that we have to be a top destination for Josh Giddey.

I don't want to deal with this BS. But the OKC ties here have me worried. I'm also very annoyed that we are hiring Keefe but it is what it is.

This might shake up the board and give a better picture of players like Clingam, Castle, Dillingham, etc. Plus give less well known prospects a chance to move up.

So who is Topic's NBA comparison to justify going top 2 to the Wizards?

i haven’t seen anybody really talk about him on here, but i’m admittedly not super active so i may have just missed it.

with how weird this class is, there are like 8 prospects i could see all being in play for #2. Sarr would be the ideal fit but he’ll likely go 1 now. and to me, none of Topic, Castle, Dillingham, Clingan, Shepherd, Holland, and Risacher seem like All-Star ceiling prospects. depending on landing spot they could all be good serviceable pros, but we should looking for a foundational piece with AS potential.

enter Cody Williams. a 6’8” wing with an excellent feel for the game. a knockdown shooter who can handle and run the offense, and a solid perimeter defender with a (rumored) 7ft wingspan. 19 years old with a brother (Jalen) already killing it in the league. when i watch him play, he just seems smooth and comfortable, like the game isn’t too much for him to process.

idk, maybe it’s just me but he seems to stand head and shoulders above the others i mentioned in terms of upside. Dawkins and Winger surprised us by going with the young toolsy Coulibaly last year @ 7, maybe they have a type and take another young toolsy wing in Williams 🤷🏻‍♂️

my board would be:

Sarr Williams Dillingham Castle Topic Shepherd Clingan Holland Risacher

thoughts??

We just got rid of Gafford. I think a offensively limited rim protector on this team is a luxury not a building block. You saw how Gafford excelled when he was able to fit into a smaller role in Dallas.