Marcin Gortat had some harsh words for the Wizards’ second unit following the team’s loss to the Bulls on Friday night. “We need energy. We need effort. We’ve got to make shots,” Gortat said (via Steve Aschburner of NBA.com). “I think there’s a lot of things we can do better. I think right now, as far as I know, I think we’ve got one of the worst benches in the league right now.”
The second unit was an area of concern heading into the season, as I detailed in the team’s Offseason In Review, and the reserves have justified the uneasiness. Journeyman Marcus Thornton has been the team’s best backcourt reserve, but that’s not a particularly impressive status, as he’s only sporting a player efficiency rating of 10.1. New addition Trey Burke hasn’t provided much of a spark. He only has 12 assists on the season and the team is being outscored by 57 points during the 125 minutes in which he was on the court.
Rookie Tomas Satoransky has been inconsistent and he’s only knocked down one of his eight heaves from behind the arc. Fellow rookie Sheldon McClellan had a solid game on Saturday and coach Scott Brooks should give him some more run as a result, but he’s not an electric play-maker who can jump-start this unit.
The problem is compounded by Bradley Beal, who was shooting an icy 29.4% from 3-point before missing the last couple games with a hamstring injury.
That leads us to tonight’s topic: Do the Wizards need to make a move in order to compete for a playoff spot?
Washington has disappointed so far this season, winning only two of its nine games. The franchise signed several big men this offseason and the signings point to a Gortat trade, as I speculated prior to the season. Should the Wizards deal Gortat for some backcourt help or should they make another move to help bolster the bench? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!
Yeah get COUSIN! Win Bullets I Mean Wizards
Wizards trade Porter Jr., Beal, Gortat + 17 And 18 first for Cousins and Koufos
The problem with that deal is the salaries don’t line up. You would have to do something like… DC, Gay, McLemore for Beal, Porter,Gortat ,2018 first round pick. I personally wouldn’t give up this year first round pick because I don’t see us making the playoffs so adding a lottery pick in a deep draft class could help us in the long run. You have to remember we can’t trade beal until January. Also if we happen to land a top 3 pick with wall cousins and gay we could probably convince a player like Blake Griffin to sign with us next season. A line up of wall, McLemore, gay, Griffin, DC. Would be a major upgrade. And to have sato, McClellan oubre, morris, and mahinmi and a lottery pick would be an upgrade.
I guess the salaries don’t match up but I doubt the Kings give Cousins, Gay, and McLemore. But maybe they do I’m not sure. Even if you can get cousins and gay, I doubt you have cap to sign Griffin unless you trade away Mahimi and other contacts. That’s why I thought Cousins and Koufus would but I guess salary too small. I do think the Wiz and Kings would make good trade partners
Plus you’d have to sign Gay to a max because he’s a free agent and will demand a max or closer to it
Gay has a player option. So if he thinks he can win with us that’s not necessarily true. But you also have to remember the salary cap increases again this year freeing cap space. And yea your deal salary would be off by like 16 million a year. There is practically no way of getting DC with out Rudy gay. Beal contact is just to big
Yes. They need another all star. If they have to deal Beal and Otto to do it, sobeit
That would be such a bad deal for the Kings, that they just might take it lol
Im not opposed to starting over. Stock piling young talent and draft picks. That would include trading wall. Beal. And gortat.
It is kind of funny this is talked about but also understandable when not looking at the entire picture.
The Wizards have played their best basketball (team ball) since the Celtics game in years and were short handed without Beal, Wall, and Ian Mahinmi. This is the deal…all new second team playing without the star off season pick up and that would be Mahinmi. Porter has shown signs of being a breakout player in the last three games and is a guy you can’t give up on!
There is this… Is Beal going to be healthy and give us the scoring punch needed to compete? Will Trey Burke start finding a groove? Will Jason Smith benefit the Wizards at all? Andrew Nicholson is not finding any kind of groove. All but Beal are bench players that have played a total of nine games and way to early make that decision. What value would they have in a trade as of now? answer none!!
That leaves as I see it four players that you may trade on this teams roster and expect a decent return. Gortat who is a decent player. Kelly Oubre Jr who is showing flashes value for the future could add value to a team such as the Kings? Beal if at full health and that is a big question could motivate the Kings to part ways with Cousins? Also there is Markief Morris that could be intriguing as he can be a valuable asset to a team but other then those four probably no one gets traded now. Maybe later but not now. As far as Cousins goes the word is the kings want to move him as he is difficult to deal with but he is also a great player that can carry a team on his back! Question is…can John keep him calm and a good neighbor?
The only way I see anything of this nature happening is if Gortat and Morris are moved with KO and maybe a pick.
You know what it aint happening really!