Tag: Washington Wizards
Analysis

Russell Westbrook Keeps Breaking Advanced Stats

- by Fox Doucette

Remember 2017? When Russell Westbrook snookered everyone into thinking he was historically great by averaging a triple-double over the course of a season for the first time since Oscar Robertson did it 55 years before? And remember when those of us in the media lost our minds and gave him the MVP award? Well, he’s spent the past four years making us all look like idiots, and in 2021, he is once again averaging a triple-double—this will be the fourth time in his career he’s managed the feat if he keeps it up—and making the kind of people who still …

Read More
Editorial

Achtung Panzer! #7: The Tanking Washington Wizards

- by Fox Doucette

The Washington Wizards, losers of 11 of 14 and 9-21 on the season overall, look set to claim another lottery pick in the 2020 draft to go along with Rui Hachimura, the ninth pick in 2019. The Wizards are still a capped-out, injury-riddled nightmare, hence the 9-21 record, as Bradley Beal, once expected to be part of a Big Three with John Wall and Otto Porter, is now just a 26-year-old star without the supporting cast to help him claim his place on the national stage. Speaking of Beal, his stats have fallen off a cliff without quality teammates. His …

Read More
2020 Preview

Are the 2019-20 Washington Wizards Good?

- by Fox Doucette

The Washington Wizards finally parted ways with executive and head idiot Ernie Grunfeld last season, and that by itself is enough to preface this entire piece with optimism that the Wizards will be better both on and off the floor as a franchise, so let’s go ahead and lead with that, Wizards fans. Brighter times are ahead. But man, that product on the floor last year was putrid. 32 wins, a salary cap nightmare draining any hope for the future, John Wall‘s albatross of a contract destined to soak up cash while Wall watches games in street clothes…yikes. Wall played …

Read More
Analysis

NBA Best And Worst Contracts Part III: Southeast Division

- by Fox Doucette

In the previous two editions of this series, we took a look at the best and worst contracts in the Atlantic and Central Divisions, and we finish our look at the Eastern Conference today with the Dumpster fire that is the Southeast Division—a division Orlando won with a 42-40 record and sent no other teams to the playoffs. Which, in turn, points to the wisdom of the NBA making its playoff standards division agnostic. In the old days, the 4 seed Magic would’ve hosted the 5 seed Celtics in Game 1 of the first round, a Celtics team that won …

Read More
Editorial

Should the Indiana Pacers Trade Victor Oladipo for Bradley Beal?

- by Fox Doucette

The Indiana Pacers badly need to shake things up this offseason. They’ve got millions in cap space, millions more under the luxury tax, plenty of expiring contracts, and one superstar whose injury sealed their fate fully three months before the Boston Celtics finally made it official and swept the Pacers out of the playoffs. Now, the Pacers could go the sensible route. They could ride with Victor Oladipo, re-sign Thaddeus Young (the glue that holds the team together) and Bojan Bogdanovic, fire Nate McMillan and bring in a legitimate head coach who can actually run a modern NBA offense, and …

Read More
Highlights

Breakfast Special: RIP, My Favorite Weird Stat Story

- by Fox Doucette

The Charlotte Hornets got absolutely pantsed by the Golden State Warriors Sunday, losing 137-90 in the third-biggest margin of defeat by any team all year—Boston beat Chicago 133-77 on December 8, while the Mavericks beat the Jazz 118-68 on November 14. It was Golden State’s fifth win of the season by at least 30 points, while Charlotte has now lost five games by at least that margin. It also busted Charlotte’s net point differential to minus-1.6 per game, pretty much assuring once and for all that the Hornets will surrender more points than they score this season. And with that …

Read More
Highlights

Breakfast Special: Devin Booker, You Poor, Poor Fool

- by Fox Doucette

Devin Booker just had his third 50-point game of his career and his second in as many games Wednesday night in Phoenix. The Suns lost 124-121 to the Washington Wizards, dropping Booker to 0-3 in his career when he scores at least 50. Because Booker’s teammates are such a dumpster fire that we get yet another insane box score to gawk at the morning after. At least this time the Suns got five guys into double figures, but Booker was 19-of-29 shooting…and the rest of the team was 24-of-58 (41,4 percent.) The only reason this game was even as close …

Read More
Highlights

Breakfast Special: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

- by Fox Doucette

The saying goes that “when it rains, it pours”, and one piece of bad news has a nasty habit of spiraling into a cavalcade of horrors, all hope for the future seeming to evaporate in one blow. And if you thought Nate McMillan‘s offense in Indiana was bad before, getting thumped 107-89 in Washington ought to show you just how much any sign of life in that ill-designed Dark Ages system was purely the doing of Victor Oladipo. Without Vic, the Pacers have looked utterly lost trying to score the basketball, and even though the defense isn’t a complete disaster …

Read More
Editorial

Bradley Beal Trade Rumors Are Getting Ridiculous

- by Fox Doucette

Sometimes you get a real gem of a made-up trade on Twitter that’s so far beyond-Thunderdome ludicrous that you’ve just got to roll your eyes, shake your head, and if you’ve got a national NBA column, write about it. Because this one’s a doozy: Who says no? (Poll following tweet) pic.twitter.com/AQ46UV0lJc — NBA Best Matchups (@NBABestMatchups) January 21, 2019 With all due respect to one of NBA Twitter’s more entertaining accounts, go home, you’re drunk. A rumor of Bradley Beal to the Sixers for Furkan Korkmaz, Wilson Chandler, Markelle Fultz, a second-rounder (2019), and a future first (2021) is silly …

Read More
Highlights

Breakfast Special: Build the Wall and Make the Lakers Pay for It

- by Fox Doucette

Sometimes, lack of trust in your garbage time guys isn’t all bad. John Wall played 42 minutes in a blowout that would, for any other team, have featured the G-League squad for the entire fourth quarter and ended up with 40 points on 16-of-27 shooting and 4-of-8 from long range as the Wizards beat the Lakers 128-110. Bradley Beal had 25 points on 10-of-24 (in 39 minutes), Jeff Green had 20 on 8-of-15, and Sam Dekker came off the bench to score 20 on 10-of-15. And in the “what are you even doing, Scott Brooks” category, Tomas Satoransky played 46 …

Read More