The Washington Wizards Need to Blow Their Roster Up
Story on ESPN: Wizards signaling a willingness to consider trade overtures on entire roster, including All-Star guards John Wall and Bradley Beal. https://t.co/LM7PiQvweB
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 19, 2018
As a basketball fan, I would really hate to see this happen to the Wizards.
I’m a huge John Wall fan dating back to his days at Kentucky. He was supposed to be the next best PG in the NBA. And when the Wizards paired him up with Bradley Beal, the expectations went through the roof. They were going to be one of the league’s top back-court duos, right next to Steph and Klay. At first, things looked like they were going in the right direction, but it’s no secret that those two and their teammates have slowly began to decline. Ever since that epic seven-game series with Boston in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals two years ago, they haven’t looked right. Wall especially has looked off his game. There’s been a lot of talk regarding some friction between Wall and Beal over the last few seasons. And if today’s report wasn’t any indication of that friction possibly being true, this certainly is:
Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: The Washington Wizards had a volatile practice within recent days, with verbal altercations among players and an exasperated Bradley Beal saying toward team officials: “I’ve been dealing with this for seven years.”
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 19, 2018
Team chemistry is one of the biggest components to any championship team. If your best players aren’t on the same page, chances are they won’t perform to their abilities. I think that’s what’s beginning to happen in Washington, and if that’s the case, they need to blow that roster up immediately. And as hard as it is for me to say this, I think they should start with Wall.
The Wizards and John Wall agreed to a contract extension not too long ago that would add 3-years and $170M to his existing deal. I believe that kicks in after this season, meaning they’ll owe him upwards of $40M per season over the next three years. Committing that kind of money to someone when you don’t have the right pieces can cripple your entire roster. The only reason it’s been working for the Warriors (Curry) is because KD is taking team-friendly contracts to keep their squad together. That’s something the Wizards don’t have. As it stands right now, Wall’s contract will hinder them from adding the necessary talent to make any noise in the playoffs. They need to get rid of him.
As crazy as this might sound, it’s going to be next to impossible to trade him, which is a serious issue if you’re the Wizards. Regardless of talent, nobody is going to want to pay anyone that kind of money. The way I see it, they’re left with two options: Either they keep their core together and hope for the best (which I don’t see working), or they start from scratch and ship Wall and a few first round picks to some team with no hope and a lot of money. I think they’re screwed regardless of how this turns out.
-Nick Cherico (@CouchGuyCherico)
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