January 16, 2023

This week...

• Wizards go 1 & 2 at home with a nice win against Chicago (good breakdown quarter by quarter below).

• All the latest Wizard trade rumors + our quick takes

• What are we doing about Rui? (Zaz's weekly rant)

• A documentary about MJ's time with the Wizards??

• Daniel Gafford opens up in an interview about when he'll be more comfortable shooting mid range jumpers.

Weekly Recap

Final scores

Wizards 112 * Pelicans 132 (Monday): Wizards started out strong this game but lost it towards the end of the first half and really let it slip away in the 3rd quarter. The Pelicans got 39 points off the Wizards 20 turnovers and had 79 points in the paint, dominating Porzingas and Gafford. McCollum & Valanciunas combined for 61 points (50% team total) while Porzingas led the Wiz with a team high 23.

Wizards 100 * Chicago 97 (Wednesday): What a great game-overall team win! Wizards came in as underdogs being down Beal, Porzingas and Gafford but pulled out the win because of 4 key components:

• Q1: Taj Gibson came in hot and aggressive scoring 7 points in the 1st quarter putting pressure on Vucevic & Drummond from the start. Gibson ended with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and hustled like crazy. Alway nice to see a vet get good minutes when his number gets called.

• Q2: Anthony Gill led the Wizards in scoring with 10 points in the 2nd quarter barely keeping the game in grasp after the first half ended with the Wizards down by 13. Gill ended the game with 18 points (career high). Without a doubt, he was the X factor that got us the win.

• Q3: Monte Morris went off for 17 points (6 for 7) in the third quarter putting the Wiz back on top.

• Q4: Kuzma, who led the team in scoring with 21, hit a buzzer beater with 5.7 second left on the clock putting the Wiz up by 3 and winning the game.

Wizards 108 *Knicks 112 (Friday): Knick fans have officially taken the title for the most annoying fans of any visiting team coming into Capitol One. The Wizards looked decent for the most part and were up 3 at half time. They hung around in the 3rd but after a brutal dunk+1 from Julius Randall on Gafford, the momentum shifted. The game finally got away in the 4th. Kuzma led the way with 40 points while Jaylen Brunson got pretty much whatever he wanted, ending the game with 34.

The latest trade rumors...

We are less than 1 month away from the NBA trade deadline, the rumor mill is in full force.

Here is a breakdown of all the latest Wizards trade rumors we could find:

Trae Young as a Wizard? 

According to Chris Haynes from the Bleacher Report, Tray Young may request a trade out of Atlanta. At this point nothing is confirmed but a few sports writers think the Wizards may be a possible landing spot. To make it happen, Beal, KP or Kuzma would have to be in the trade. Other teams that may be interested in Trae include Minnesota and Toronto.

Immanuel Quickly could be interesting

Apparently the Wizards front office has shown interest in Immanuel Quickly from the New York Knicks (who just dropped 18 points on us Friday night). Quickly is averaging 41.3 minutes per game as a starter, putting up 20.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He actually could be a good fit, but at what cost?

Jae Crowder for a Wizard starter?

It was recently reported that the Wizards offered Rui Hachimura to the Suns in exchange for Jae Crowder but the Suns rejected the offer claiming they want one of our starters. Could that happen? Unlikely, unless Phoenix threw in a first round pick or 2 to sweeten the deal.

NBA teams calling about Will Barton

According to the Bleacher Report, there is interest in Will Barton who has, for the most part, fallen out of the Wizards rotation. Interested teams may include the Mavs, Hawks or Suns. Barton is in the final year of his contract and is set to become a free agent.

And finally...who is interested in Kuzma?

As we all know, Kuzma (27 years old) could be on his way out unless Wiz can entice him to stay with a big contract. The definition of SELLING HIGH would be the Wizards trading Kuzma now, but who is actually interested?

Here are the teams and players that may be in play:

• Hawks: John Collins

• Minnesota: D'Angelo Russell

• Nets: Ben Simmons

• Lakers: Package deal with KP for Westbrook and picks

• Bucks: TBC on who they would include in the trade.

Our quick takes: 

Trae Young as a ball dominant PG is not a good fit cause we need someone to run an offense not jack up half court 3s.

Quickly or Crowder could be interesting but needs to be the right trade, ie no starters and not Rui.

Barton is worth letting go for a draft pick which would then open up a roster spot for Goodwin.

Kuzma is a real asset and is only 27. Let's keep him and build around him if he is interested in staying.

Zaz's Weekly Rant: What are we doing about Rui?

In the Wizard’s 20-21 playoff year, Rui Hachimura was a solid starter. He was tasked with guarding the opposing teams’ best players such as Lebron James on a nightly basis. That year, which was Rui’s second, he averaged 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and around 31.5 minutes. After the season ended, I watched Rui ball in the Summer Olympic games for the Japanese National Team. The future was looking bright for Rui in Washington.

Fast forward to Wes Unseld Junior’s second year as coach. Rui is averaging 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and only 24.1 minutes per game. The progression is going in the wrong direction. But wait, it gets worse. According to Larry Brown Sports, Rui clicked like on a tweet by a fan that says he never gets the minutes he deserves. “We’re going to lose him to another team and watch him become a great player; shame on you coach Wes Unseld Jr.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t agree more with the fan. In my opinion, Rui is our best player behind our big 3 of Beal, KP, and Kuzma. He can get his own midrange shot, stretch the floor, and drive to the basket in the open court. He scored 30 points in the Wizard’s over Phoenix on December 28 th . I too don’t understand why Wes Unseld Junior chooses to give more minutes than players such as Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert, who average 26.0 and 28.3 minutes per game respectively. With Kispert, you can at least make the argument that he is filling in for Bradley Beal at the shooting guard position. The article referenced above mentioned the counterargument that KP and Kuzma are getting the “lion’s share of frontcourt minutes”, but that doesn’t mean they all can’t play together. You don’t see Rui starting lineup or in the lineup closing games. This is one of my many disagreements/rants with coach Unseld (you’ll probably see a lot more of that from me) I’m also afraid we may lose him and see him flourish somewhere else. If he does I’ll still be rooting for him.

Report: Documentary about Michael Jordan's time with the Wizards is in the works

A tweet this week from Sam Amico of hoopswire.com has been making the rounds on social media. He indicates that there is documentary in the works about MJ's tenure with the Wizards from 2001-2002.

This could be an interesting watch especially from the point of view of Jordan's team mates. A few months ago, Jerry Stackhouse made some headlines after saying he regretted his time with the Wizards in large part because of MJ.

Upcoming Schedule for next week:

• Monday: Wizards vs Warriors, January 16th @ 3pm (MLK home Game against a full Warriors roster)

• Wednesday: Wizards vs Knicks, January 18th @7pm (Revenge game in NYC)

• Saturday: Wizards vs Orlando, January 21st @ 7pm (Magic are are 1 spot behind the Wizards in the East)

Interview with Daniel Gafford

Finally, if you want to hear a great conversation with Daniel Gafford about his approach to the game, spreading the floor with Porzingas and when he thinks he will be comfortable to shoot more mid range jump shots, you should check out this episode from the Off The Bench podcast.

If you made it this far, you are definitely gonna want to read next week's edition. Just enter your email address below. See you next week!