The Wizards fell just shy of the Celtics in their Eastern Conference Semifinal showdown and now must look at ways to improve if they hope to take the next step as a potential contender. One place they can start, point guard John Wall tells Chris Miller of CSN Mid-Atlantic, is with their bench.
“I think we have to add pieces to help our bench,” the Wizards All-Star said. “Just to be honest I think that’s been our downfall.”
While Wall and shooting guard Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 27.2 and 24.8 respective points per game this postseason, mid-season trade acquisition Bojan Bogdanovic was their most potent reserve averaging a modest 8.8 points per game.
Brandon Jennings, another mid-season Wizards target charged with the task of jump-starting the second unit, posted averages of just 2.8 points and 1.8 assists per game in the playoffs.
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks have interviewed Wizards VP of basketball operations, Tommy Sheppard and Warriors assistant general manager Travis Schlenk in their ongoing search for a new executive, Marc Stein of ESPN writes.
- A recent profile from the Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman features Heat assistant general manager Adam Simon‘s and his background scouting internationally.
- The Celtics may have offered a first-round pick to the Heat in exchange for Justise Winslow back on draft night in 2015 but it wasn’t the Nets pick, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel clarifies.
- A column by George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel draws comparisons between Lonzo Ball and Shaquille O’Neal, citing the overbearing presence of their respective father figures.
- The Magic have several options that could realistically be available to them at the No. 6 pick, including De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel breaks them down.
Oh man, this draft will be interesting. Watching the Celtics play tonight without IT was amazing, whom I believe they should trade and keep the #1 instead. Unfortunately the fans would hate that and start an uproar so they won’t do it, but I think Avery Bradley is their best all-around player.
Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were at their very best but without a performance from Lebron the Cavs can’t beat a team like Boston.
The 4-7 pick slots are full of talent as well. Great draft class this year.
Lebron will steam roll the next 2 games just watch. They are better off keeping Thomas and Fultz and see how they work together but don’t pay max money for Thomas if he doesn’t at least get you in the Finals by the time his deal is up. Hayward is going nowhere, Gobert and him got something special brewing there with Snyder, Butler is going nowhere, George is going to the Lakers. Not sure Bradley will want to be a bench player either so thats another problem, they should take a look at Mirotic to play the 4 alongside Horford. I think Fultz will average close to 20 ppg his first season, he has the whole package offensively and has a lethal jumper.
Bradley is best player??? Glad u aren’t GM. It’s a point guard league. IT is over 30, so keep him and Fultz. This coach is really smart…he will get the most out of all of them. Gotta have a great bench.
Actually, Avery Bradley is clearly their best player. I’m an IT fan, but he is on the perfect team for him. I said it when they traded for him. I also said I could see him not being there kind of helping them a bit in this matchup b/c of how it improves their defense. If between Smart, Bradley, Crowder. Jaylen Brown, they can knock down some shots, and then compete at keeping Tristan Thompson off the boards, they have a shot
IT is not over 30.
The Magic should draft Tatum plain and simple. I am off the Ross hype train, he will be a spark plug scorer off the bench in a 6th man role, Payton is perfect where he is because he can play defense and thats a must when you play for Vogel. Fournier is fine at the 2, Tatum has athletic Melo potential, Gordon at the 4, and Nikola at the 5, I like that lineup
Tatum would be greAt for Orlando but I would be shocked if he is still on the board when they draft
Gordon and Payton need to improve offensively if they want to have a chance in that division, let alone the conference.
PGs in the Southeast: Wall, Walker, Dragic, and Schroeder
All better than Payton
Payton is still very young and his defense sets him apart, once he fixes his jumper he will be fine. If they can’t get Tatum they should probably look at Justin Jackson, they need a small forward pretty bad taking a look at Rudy Gay wouldn’t be a bad idea and possibly drafting Monk
Magic are a confusing team. Lots of money given to Biyombo with Vucevic already on the team, trading for Ibaka, then dealing him. Gordon and Payton are both looking like average players – Payton is a MCW that turns the ball over less. They’re sitting at 6 in this draft, they have Fournier so they don’t need Monk. Go Isaac/Smith and maybe you’re dealing Gordon/Payton on draft night. There’s a sucker team at 10 that would take either.
So basically the Magic are trash with bad contracts, limited assets, and a history of making poor trades and the wrong draft selections