The Wizards Have Been At This For 70 Years

[Xist2Inspire]

...that's a long time. Only 4 Finals appearances and 1 ring to show for it, but I'm 2nd in all-time wins (Eazy is #1 FYI), so that's pretty cool. It's been cool to see the league change and evolve as players and GMs come and go. As a fan of historical what-ifs and examining the butterfly effect, being able to look back on things from that viewpoint is pretty awesome, not gonna lie.

Last season was interesting. We had a really strong start despite the team as a whole struggling to perform on the level that they were accustomed to. That lack of cohesion and consistency ultimately caught up to us, and we ended up missing the playoffs. A very disappointing end to what was supposed to be a rejuvenating season. I even saw a blast from the past, as the old Wizards draft curse struck again and gifted the Pelicans a Top 3 pick. Let that be a lesson to all you folks who have been afraid to take my draft picks in a trade.

You know, after seven decades...it gets really easy to have your interest levels drop in a hurry. So this time around, my usual pre-offseason hibernation period was much deeper and went on far longer than normal. Fortunately we retained Darrell Castaneda and picked up Donte Rinker, but other than that, I pretty much sleepwalked through the offseason. And I'm still groggy, not even a very promising TC has been enough to get the energy back up again. Guess it's just age.

Any questions for this ol' geezer?

[greepleairport]

You referenced historical what-ifs and the butterfly effect... care to elaborate how this reflects on your 70 years of SLOE? Maybe an example or two if you're inspired...

[Xist2Inspire]

You referenced historical what-ifs and the butterfly effect... care to elaborate how this reflects on your 70 years of SLOE? Maybe an example or two if you're inspired...

So this is cheating just a little, but here's an article I wrote a long time ago about my draft history and my (then current) thoughts about them. It's a pretty good example of the type of hindsight I'm talking about, and that's just talking about drafting and trades involving picks for just one team. Imagine delving through one specific period of the entire league.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7388

In terms of how it relates to me and my SLOE career...I've kinda carved out a reputation for myself as a good-but-not-great GM, the architect of a solid but flawed strategy. Sometimes I find it fascinating and reassuring to look at just how close I've gotten to completely flipping that narrative at times despite all that. It helps keep me going knowing that I was legitimately one move, one less move, or one correct pick away from being a contender or even title favorite.

[digiskunk]

"Loose Lips" Lenny Labia: Despite averaging 3.8 minutes in 4 games last season, Anikulapo Dia remains one of the best prospects on your team, potential ratings-wise. Do you think he's a superstar in the making or do you subscribe to the idea that he's better suited for professional wrestling, where he can finally achieve his dream of winning the Heavyweight Championship?

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Wizards went from an incredibly stacked Silky Johnson division to an incredibly winnable Silky Johnson division with the random division reshuffle. Looking at this group of teams, what do you think your ideal competitive window is over the next 5 seasonsafter all the conference and division movement?

[Xist2Inspire]

"Loose Lips" Lenny Labia: Despite averaging 3.8 minutes in 4 games last season, Anikulapo Dia remains one of the best prospects on your team, potential ratings-wise. Do you think he's a superstar in the making or do you subscribe to the idea that he's better suited for professional wrestling, where he can finally achieve his dream of winning the Heavyweight Championship?

Given that WWE still calls its wrestlers "Superstars"...my answer is yes.

[Xist2Inspire]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Wizards went from an incredibly stacked Silky Johnson division to an incredibly winnable Silky Johnson division with the random division reshuffle. Looking at this group of teams, what do you think your ideal competitive window is over the next 5 seasonsafter all the conference and division movement?

Division-wise, the time is now, tbh.

-The Blazers will have to either trade Quick or send out great FA deals to get good anytime soon. Never count out a purple, but right now it's looking like they'll be a non-factor until year 3 at the earliest.

-The Hawks are looking at a potential reset, as Campbell/Brown/Forbes will all be hitting free agency. This season is critical to determining whether or not this team is even worth paying up for. Complete wildcard.

-The Nets are probably the biggest overall threat, as they're very solid now and will be even better in the future. I would not be surprised to see Spears/Hawkins moved for a stud PF to get their core locked in. They've severely underperformed so far, but their stars are maturing and again, a trade for a vet could be the stabilizer they need.

-The Magic are a great team with multiple ticking time bombs. Davis is 31 and taking up a massive amount of cap for 3 seasons, Benfield and Banchero are about to hit Free Agency, and Cooper Flagg has to live up to what you'd think would be a value deal until you look at what he's done so far. I can see this team falling off and looking to rebuild as time goes on.

-Dr K's a more volatile version of me who doesn't have as much attachment to his players. If TC growth or something else random doesn't instantly catapult him to being a contender, I'm not sure he cares to build one from the ground up. Wildcard, but I'm leaning towards non-factor.

-The Pelicans are an extremely unbalanced team, and I'm not quite sure what their overall strategy is. Regardless, they have enough wing talent to keep the strong and trade the weak, so I'm guessing they could make a splash after Dosunmu's deal ends. Wildcard, but I'm leaning towards having to keep an eye out for them by year 3.

So yeah, it would seem as if I have at least 2/5 seasons, maybe 3/5, of being a/the favorite to win the division, with the latter part of those 5 years being a bit more dicey. The problem comes in looking at things on a conference level. The Pistons are THE team to beat, and Quail has the option to go all-in and have a Balls-esque run of dominance before dipping to avoid tax hell. It honestly reminds me of a few years in the Boban Era where even though I had built a legit contender, realistically there was no way I was getting past the Magic (if I even got to face them and didn't get upset in an earlier round). As such, I have to wonder what "competing" in this window really means. If it means gunning for a title, I need more firepower than this. If it just means being good and racking up points, then I need to think more about how I'm gonna look towards the end of that 5 years, when the competition should start ramping up.