The Wizards Are Confused

[Xist2Inspire]

I'm confused as to how we posted another 50+ win season fairly easily, especially after that disastrous Josh Hart trade that exposed him as a stat-padder who only produces on bad teams. I'm confused as to how poorly Kidd played in the playoffs, especially since his average output was the main factor in why we lost in 7, along with the fact that our traditionally poor road performance was in full effect. I'm confused as to how we managed to whiff again in free agency, despite the fact that this was supposed to be the season where we went back to seriously competing. I'm confused when I look at this conference, because I can't clearly tell who's a threat or not. I'm confused as to where we fit in this new equation - are we one of the teams to beat? A bubble team? Sleeper? Seller?

And last of all, I'm confused about how to move this team forward. We're younger than we were last season, with more new faces. Yet our core still remains, stronger than ever and improving year by year. Financially, we've entered the point of no return, where flexibility is gone and all decisions must be made with paying the tax in mind. There doesn't seem to be a clear path laid out for us, and each new road brings it's own challenges. As usual, I'm excited to see what answers this season will give...but also worried about the added questions that this season will pose.

[garbageman]

You offered Philip Cuomo a huge (but short) contract after coming off an $8 mil per year deal. What are your expectations for him this season?

[Xist2Inspire]

You offered Philip Cuomo a huge (but short) contract after coming off an $8 mil per year deal. What are your expectations for him this season?

I don't expect much more than what he's already shown. I sent him that contract as a reward for all of his hard work and improvement over the length of his budget deal. I also figured some fool was likely to try and steal him away on a more substantial-yet-similar value deal, so why not shut the door on that completely since I had the money to do so?

[Keepit100]

Got a couple of questions

Past couple of drafts you have traded up to select interesting project players, Winston Kelly at #13 back in 2033 and most recently Kendall Liberty at #9. What in particular motivated you to trade up and snag Liberty?

You mentioned you are a little confused this year about the Alpha Conference's contenders/pretenders. Can you expand on that and give some bulletin board material for the other teams as to how you see things shaking out this year?

[JNR]

GWR: Can you go into detail about your comments on Josh Hart?

[Xist2Inspire]

Got a couple of questions

Past couple of drafts you have traded up to select interesting project players, Winston Kelly at #13 back in 2033 and most recently Kendall Liberty at #9. What in particular motivated you to trade up and snag Liberty?

You mentioned you are a little confused this year about the Alpha Conference's contenders/pretenders. Can you expand on that and give some bulletin board material for the other teams as to how you see things shaking out this year?

Hey, thanks for the great questions! We drafted Kelly because of his high potential and interesting skillset. Liberty stood out to us immediately, and only looked better the more we looked into her. While the lack of good PGs in the league is slightly overstated, they're still not plentiful, and the amount of good perimeter defenders is also rather uncommon. Liberty has the ability to do both, making her a very valuable asset, so we decided that we had to have her if possible. Fortunately, we were able to move up and do just that. Even though we already have Tony, it's always good to have backup, and we're excited to see what Kendall will bring to our franchise.

As for the second question, when looking around at the conference, there's a clear void left in the wake of LA's reset, but nobody's really stepped up to definitively put themselves into the shoes of the next juggernaut. The Pacers have let Fox completely take over their franchise, alienating Stoll. Stoll went to Denver, who are probably the favorites, but Syndicate has switched gears so much recently that it's a bit hard for me to believe that he'll stick with this aging group. The Spurs and Bucks are starting the process of retooling around Rodriquez and Lewis respectively, meaning out with proven vet talent and in with talented unprovens. Orlando has benefitted immensely from that, but neither Schumann nor Bronny have proven that they can play winning basketball either alone or as part of a duo...which is probably why Boban's back. The Nets traded out of clear contention by shipping Luka back home, but they don't appear to be committed to rebuilding either and still look dangerous. And the 76ers are always a wildcard. If you were counting, that's 7 teams, for seven playoff spots. So where do we fit in there? I don't know, because I really can't get a firm handle on either what everyone else is doing or what their results will be once the games get underway.

[Xist2Inspire]

GWR: Can you go into detail about your comments on Josh Hart?

Well, to put it simply, I goofed. We were an offensive-focused team last season, and I hoped that adding another top scoring threat in Hart would push us closer to the top of the playoff race rather than the low end of the middle. To do so, I got rid of a bunch of garbage and Douglas Harris, who I had picked up as a companion piece to Kelly and had fairly high hopes for. Hart's past production on better teams than last season's Magic seemed to indicate that he was the type of guy who only put up numbers when he was the best pure scorer on the team, and had little to contribute to a good squad otherwise. I ignored that, and lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. Hart went from a fairly consistent 20 PPG scorer to an inconsistent 15 PPG scorer, and given that his contract put us in the tax, we just decided to cut ties completely rather than enter the tax a year early. Just an all-around bad move on my part.

[TheSyndicate]

That Game 7 loss to the Nuggets had to have been tough with a talented team. Two questions:
1. Can you ever forgive him for all the reverse-cursing? and
2. How do you think you would have fared against the Bucks (and beyond?) and why?

[Xist2Inspire]

That Game 7 loss to the Nuggets had to have been tough with a talented team. Two questions:
1. Can you ever forgive him for all the reverse-cursing? and
2. How do you think you would have fared against the Bucks (and beyond?) and why?

As a fellow lover of self-serving semi-faux misery, I can't hold the reverse-cursing against him, it's all in good fun. It's a testament to how well that team was built and how dominant Bamba and Leiker were that series to where they could win while missing their best defender.

As for how we would've fared against the Bucks, I think we could've squeaked by them in a similarly tough series. O'Neal would've made Schumann's life hell at PF, and that alone probably would've helped us mitigate the disparity in overall talent. The Lakers would've been just as difficult, if not more, but we matched up better with them then as opposed to before. The Clippers would've swept us too. So that's what kinda hurt about losing in 7 - I felt we had a legit chance of making it to at least the conference finals if we would've won. Or we could've been tossed out by Milwaukee just as easy, I dunno.

[MexicanMamba]

You're confused. If you could make one move for your team that would help you clear up some of that confusion, what would it be? Doesn't have to be very specific if you don't want it to be, but what type of move would you make if you could immediately.

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[Xist2Inspire]

You're confused. If you could make one move for your team that would help you clear up some of that confusion, what would it be? Doesn't have to be very specific if you don't want it to be, but what type of move would you make if you could immediately.

Definitely a cap-saving move that gets me out of the tax without losing too much in the way of competitiveness. Right now I'm a bit more locked in than I feel like I should be.

[greepleairport]

The Wizards were definitely one of the reasons the Johnson division became notorious last season, and are still a reason the Johnson division will continue its notoriety. Like gman commented on his loss to the Mavs, they just lost, and that seems to be what happened with you against the Nuggets. Just how the sim goes sometimes.

Though you may be confused, you have a top level rim protector in Cuomo, a powerhouse PF in O'Neal, Kidd who could swing between the 2 and 3, and a top PG in Cucone as well. You're definitely a playoff contender and, like last season, a sim's swing away from advancing. Taking all this into consideration, who do you match well against of the teams you mentioned as contenders?

[Xist2Inspire]

The Wizards were definitely one of the reasons the Johnson division became notorious last season, and are still a reason the Johnson division will continue its notoriety. Like gman commented on his loss to the Mavs, they just lost, and that seems to be what happened with you against the Nuggets. Just how the sim goes sometimes.

Though you may be confused, you have a top level rim protector in Cuomo, a powerhouse PF in O'Neal, Kidd who could swing between the 2 and 3, and a top PG in Cucone as well. You're definitely a playoff contender and, like last season, a sim's swing away from advancing. Taking all this into consideration, who do you match well against of the teams you mentioned as contenders?

Probably teams heavily built around one big star, like the Bucks, Pacers, and Lakers, since they're built like we are, and thus don't have the ability to create consistent mismatches. Ensemble casts like the Nets/76ers and all-rounders like the Spurs/Magic/Nuggets will give us trouble because of either their unpredictability or the ability to hit us from multiple fronts.

[Xist2Inspire]

The Wizards were definitely one of the reasons the Johnson division became notorious last season, and are still a reason the Johnson division will continue its notoriety. Like gman commented on his loss to the Mavs, they just lost, and that seems to be what happened with you against the Nuggets. Just how the sim goes sometimes.

Though you may be confused, you have a top level rim protector in Cuomo, a powerhouse PF in O'Neal, Kidd who could swing between the 2 and 3, and a top PG in Cucone as well. You're definitely a playoff contender and, like last season, a sim's swing away from advancing. Taking all this into consideration, who do you match well against of the teams you mentioned as contenders?

Probably teams heavily built around one big star, like the Bucks, Pacers, and Lakers, since they're built like we are, and thus don't have the ability to create consistent mismatches. Ensemble casts like the Nets/76ers and all-rounders like the Spurs/Magic/Nuggets will give us trouble because of either their unpredictability or the ability to hit us from multiple fronts.