The Wizards Are (Still) Confused

[Xist2Inspire]

First off, how did we make the Finals? I thought the second round was feasible, and the Conference finals possible, but the Finals? Nah.

...on second thought, I know how. Ja Morant got injured. Which means it was nothing but dumb sim luck. Now that's not to diminish the efforts of everyone who helped us get to that point - Quintin Kidd especially - but it does factor into why I'm still ambivalent on this coming season, and it would also go a long way towards explaining what happened in free agency.

Long story short, we entered this offseason fully intending to capitalize on our unexpected run, and given that all of our primary needs seemed to be available in the free agent market, we pursued that instead of seeking a trade. But nobody signed. And it's easy to say that O'Neal, Cucone, and Cuomo put pen to paper too quickly, because they did, but our top three FA targets were also the first three signings of the period...and as you can see, they didn't sign with us. That seemed to create a bit of a domino effect, which basically saw us lose almost as many players as we signed, valuable pieces like Dino Washington and Colin Smallwood.

So despise the success of last season and the continued improvement of several of our players, I can't help but feel I'm in the exact same spot as I was this time last year. That's definitely not a good thing. Once again the Alpha Conference has seen a massive difficulty spike, with several rebuilding teams starting to come of age, as well as old threats remaining as so. And once again, we're...somewhere in that mix.

Any questions?

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The free agent market is a volatile, unpredictable beast. Did you consider anyone on your radar in terms of the trade market pre-RFA? If not, would you consider that strategy in hindsight?

[NOLa.]

You noted that your team made the Finals, you brought the old team back, but despite the success you're in the same spot. What do you need to do differently this season or next offseason to right the ship?

[Xist2Inspire]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The free agent market is a volatile, unpredictable beast. Did you consider anyone on your radar in terms of the trade market pre-RFA? If not, would you consider that strategy in hindsight?

I actually did. My current team follows a rather specific philosophy, which is how guys like Dino Washington and Robert Kelly end up as key acquisitions. But it really did come down to the fact that all of the options in free agency were just plain better than anything I could've traded for, especially given my limited available assets at the time.

[Xist2Inspire]

You noted that your team made the Finals, you brought the old team back, but despite the success you're in the same spot. What do you need to do differently this season or next offseason to right the ship?

Probably commit to a direction rather than remaining tied to this specific squad. I've really grown to love these guys, and it's heartwarming to have achieved consistent competitiveness with players I've specifically gathered together. But winning a title takes more than that, it can't be about just having fun. I have to pick a direction, stick to it, and sacrifice whatever necessary to see it through.

[greepleairport]

One might say you reverse cursed your way into the finals, but as I said after you whooped me and Delmar in Game 7 of Rd 1 of last year's playoffs, you did and do have tremendous players who have benefitted from you care and dedication to them. This could be Kidd's year to have the De'Aaron Fox effect of not needing a ton of support to run roughshod over the division, conference and league. Aside from losing Smallwood and Washington, what hole(s) do you need to fill to feel like the conference champs you are??

[MexicanMamba]

Which of your UFA targets that you swung and missed on hurt your feelings the most??

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[Xist2Inspire]

One might say you reverse cursed your way into the finals, but as I said after you whooped me and Delmar in Game 7 of Rd 1 of last year's playoffs, you did and do have tremendous players who have benefitted from you care and dedication to them. This could be Kidd's year to have the De'Aaron Fox effect of not needing a ton of support to run roughshod over the division, conference and league. Aside from losing Smallwood and Washington, what hole(s) do you need to fill to feel like the conference champs you are??

I think I just need a legit starter at either the 2 or 3. I'm not as worried about my bench this time around, because Kendall, Rob, and Wiz have learned from last season and have continued to improve. Minter's a solid role player who's proven himself, and Burnham has potential. So yeah, just one definite starter, maybe a free agent pickup or two, and I think we're good.

[Xist2Inspire]

Which of your UFA targets that you swung and missed on hurt your feelings the most??

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Jordan Johnson. Ultimately, Schumann and Leiker took the money, which I understand. I don't like it, but I understand. But Double-J didn't want the money, he wanted to play for a winning team, and...we just made the Finals, man. It was almost like a confirmation that the rest of the league truly believed that our run was a complete fluke all the way. For arguably the top free agent in the class to definitively state that he wanted to go to a winning team and turn us down in favor of someone else...that stung bad.