Official Game Thread: Wizards "at" Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“I don’t care! What you do!! Just, do it, FASTER!!!”

 

We’re back already, with the Washington Wizards, who are out here, once more, just wingin’ it. As am I, trying to put the finishing touches on the MLK Day gamethread draft before this game (7:30 PM Eastern, Good Ol’ Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, MonSpoNet in D.C.) wraps up.

I believe it’s reasonable to suggest that Wes Unseld, Jr. is rotating, in and out of his lineups, the Wizard players he has, since the players he probably wants are N/A.

It should not be possible to have both Jordan Poole AND Kyle Kuzma, playing every game, and be this poor of a League Pass draw. The reason is, Kuz and Poole Party made their names in this league as fun, frolicky role players on high-profile teams, and the hunch was that either would be ready for a glow-up into franchise superstardom elsewhere.

Now it looks like they’ll be stuck with Poole for awhile. Kuzma less so since his contract, also guaranteed through 2026-27, is at least declining as he prepares to enter his age-30 seasons. Every contract dollar Kuzma cedes along the way, essentially, is reserved for Poole.

Poor Daniel Gafford is stuck out on Center Island. Ball-control caddies Tyus Jones and Delon Wright are hoping some decent team will make the call for them pre-Trade Deadline, while the other vets on the Wizards (6-31; 3-17 over past 20 games), like ex-Atlanta Hawks Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala, remain hopeful they can get attached somehow. You’re insisting on multiple firsts for Kuzma, Monumental Basketball? Go ahead and keep your bags unpacked, Kyle. It’s gonna be awhile.

All of this would be palatable if literally any one of the SG/SFs the Wizards invested years of drafts and development into would emerge as a key player. A star would do wonders, but a key would open doors, just fine.

Gafford, formerly of the Bulls, has been here since 2021, and is only here because 2018 first-round draftee Troy Brown couldn’t stick the landing. 2019’s first-rounder, burly forward Rui Hachimura, plateaued and got shipped midway through last season for a rental of Kendrick Nunn and a gaggle of future second-rounders. The Lakers are pleased to have him, along with the draft pick selected next in that year, and the pick that came before them both.

2020’s first-rounder, lotto pick Deni Avdija (declining salary rookie-scale extension, through 2027-28, kicks in next season), is just kind of like, there. I mean, he’s no De’Andre Hunter, but he’s a’ight. Avdija starts alongside Poole, in part due to seniority, defense-by-default, and because none of the SG/SFs reeled in during the subsequent three drafts are panning out, either. Corey Kispert? M’kay. Johnny Davis? Just, no.

Oh, how the current Wizards management regime would kill to have seen the prior regime drafting Jalen Johnson (or, Alperen Sengun) instead of Kispert right now. Then again, had that happened, they’re probably not employed here. On the team that ranks dead-last in both O-Reb% and D-Reb% categories, how the Wiz (okay, maybe just Unseld) would love to have Gafford coming off the bench, behind a Clint Capela. Or at least alongside Steve Kerr fave Trayce Jackson-Davis, the rookie Washington sent to G-State for cash.

The price for dumping Bradley Beal’s contract last summer was the opportunity to flip CP3, drag in Landry Shamet, lock down a few future first-round swap options, and take a flyer on a stringy Euro prospect in Bilal Coulibaly, instead of a built-up college star in Jarace Walker. They’d love to play this glut of wings together, if only they could finagle a single pairing that works on the court. Kispert’s top 2-Man pairing, with Coulibaly, is a minus-16 per 100 possesions, as per bball-ref. Deni, with either Corey or Bilal (minus-12 each), has far from a grand slam.

Heck, they’d slay right now just to have Vit Krejci back. They dumped him and Admiral Schofield’s contract for a year or so of Cassius Winston, who now toils in Türkiye. The Hawks second-round draftee that Washington did eventually bring in-house, Ryan “Sticky Fingaz” Rollins, is probably headed to The Big House soon, so the Wiz cut him loose this week.

It leaves Unseld, extended through at least next season, to just say whatever gets him through his media obligations. “He’s improved his three-point shooting,” Junior says of his newest 10-day contractor, a G-League call-up. Hamidou Diallo was a scintillating 7-for-33 on triples with the Capital City Go-Go. “We needed someone who doesn’t swipe body wash from Target,” would have been more on-target.

Thank goodness the Wizards ran into a stumblin’, bumblin’ Nets team back on December 29, and a wayward Blazer club the week before that. Otherwise, the MLK Day home game for the Wiz versus the Pistons would look extra-dire.

And how nice it was for the Hawks to let the Zards back into the game, while up 15 with 2:16 left to play on New Year’s Eve (“what are you doing?”), by flubbing nine free throw attempts (11-for-20, 13-for-17 in the prior three quarters) just as Wizards fans sought to get home early? Atlanta nearly beat out Times Square, in dropping the ball.

Being back home at State Farm Arena for a minute has been nice. Still, having to host back-to-back games versus the league’s two highest-pace teams (the third-highest, San Antonio, will be road-running here on Monday) is a tough ask for a Hawks team (fifth in Pace) that runs-and-guns, while shooting itself in the talon, enough as it is.

Unlike last night’s atrocious bench effort (reserves outscored 73-28, in the 126-108 loss to the Rese-less pieces of Pacers), Atlanta will need deep production at both ends, inside and out (76-48 Indiana paint-point advantage on Friday). Critically, they must put this game on ice when the Wizards resort to white-flag fouls, so the MLK Day game won’t have the Hawks feeling like they’re playing six games in three-and-a-half days.

The only sense-of-urgency for Washington should be to clear the way for Coulibaly to Boy-ar-dee and cook for the rest of this season, to the delight of what fans they have left. On the contrary, if you’re only at 6 or 7 wins by MLK Day, and tanking season has already arrived, why not just do what Unseld is doing, and roll out the same, tired-and-true lineups every night?

Wizards pro personnel director Travis Schlenk seems to have his hands full. The path forward for the ex-Hawks exec seems to involve somehow helping his new GM-boss unload the congestion at the 2- and 3-spots, maybe someday finding a shooting and defensive talent good enough to make Poole a well-heeled, shot-jacking sixth-man. What’s Schlenk’s boss’ surname, again? Oh.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Just speaking it out of existence, but even a victory today for the Wizards (6-31) keeps their win-percentage pace well below their all-time franchise low, as the 1961-62 Chicago Packers (18-62), led by future ATLHawk Walt Bellamy and former SLHawk Si Green.

As for as franchise history in The District, His Errness was the team president when the 2000-01 Wiz finished 19-63, rewarded the following summer in the lottery with Glynn Academy star Kwame Brown. Larry Drew assisted Leonard Hamilton in the latter's one crack at pro-level coaching. Wes Unseld, Sr. took over the executive reins at that point, as MJ made his third and final comeback as a player (who could ever forget Mariah at the ASG).

Missing out on Gil Arenas nearly all season, the Wizards from 2008-09, this time under Ernie Grunfeld's watch, also checked out at 19-63. With Wes, Jr. assisting coaches Eddie Jordan and Ed Tapscott, that was one year before the infamous run-and-OMG-he's-got-a-gun season. At least they got John Wall for all that trouble.

When Trae, Clint, Jalen, and Saddiq each registered double-doubles on New Year's Eve, they made the Hawks the first team since Pelicans 2018-19 (just gonna guess Jrue, AD, Julius, and uh, Elfrid? Solomon Hill?) to have multiple games where four players double-doubled. Before easing off the gas in the fourth quarter, those Atlanta players became the first to lock in their double-doubs before the fourth quarter since the Clips (Blake, CP3, Barnes, and D-Jordan) humbled Kent Bazemore's Lakers in 2014.

 

~lw3

[HawksNWaffles]

Getting it in early since I won't have time later

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Haha . . . you hear Bob and Nique?

 

Bob:  "Washington lost at Indiana. Wizards have been in Atlanta since Thursday.  So they've had a couple of nights to enjoy the amenities of the city".

Nique:  "Yeah . . and this city ( Atlanta ) has a tendency to get next to the opposition"

 

LMAO . . . people may not like Nique's commentary, but Bob set him up perfectly right there like Trae did Capela right before the TV timeout.

[Sothron]

At local hockey game is the game today delaying? Where are the posts?

[GameTime]

7 hours ago, HawksNWaffles said:

Getting it in early since I won't have time later

 

 

 

I'm literally ROFL right now. Happy to have started something so funny.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

So the "Death Lineup" isn't the actual "Death Lineup" with Forrest in the game in place of Bey.

Quin must not be an advanced metrics and lineup guy.

With Forrest not being a shooter nor a facilitator, the offensive impact of this lineup has been severely limited.

This is the actual "Death" lineup

 

 

Forrest lineups have been increasingly bad, no matter who he is playing with . . .

Unless he's playing with Bruno

 

That lineup is predicated off of 3 point shooting.  If Trae, Bogi, and Bey aren't making shots, they're toast.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Nique:  "The Hawks need to find a way to find some energy"

 

Well .... play the "energy player"

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Hawks shooting 26% FG and 26% 3FG right now

[TheNorthCydeRises]

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Bad turnover by JJ . . . even a worse play by Bey.

Lucky he didn't get a flagrant 1 for that push in the back.

[terrell]

TOTAL rebuild..

Fk that soft rebuild shit.. 

Just a HORRIBLE Basketball team... Jesus

We gotta get off some contracts

DJ has the best one on the team, so of course lets move him.. Lmao

[Jody23]

If JJ pass up one more shot...Shoot the ball.

[Marvin24Williams]

This is the most miserable I've been watching the Hawks. Just an awful team.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

4 minutes ago, Jody23 said:

If JJ pass up one more shot...Shoot the ball.

Everybody else is bricking, so he shouldn't be afraid to shoot and miss.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

If the Hawks lose tonight, will the fans boo?

Down 11 at halftime.

[terrell]

3 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

If the Hawks lose tonight, will the fans boo?

Down 11 at halftime.

I hope so.. And stop paying $ to see this BS.. Thats the only thing Ressler cares about obviously..

Thank God Im over this current squad.... Im not even mad anymore....Hopefully changes are coming.. But theyll probably f*** that up too ......... smh

They need to put everybody but JJ on the block.. And Maybe OO since his contract is decent..

Everyone else can go as far as Im concerned.. 

 

Edited January 14 by terrell