2022-23 Team Developments: News / Trades / Free Agents / Rumors

PER. SPURS TALK

 

this is the one i wanted to happen prior to the season. sort of annoyed that the spurs are suddenly interested now. probably want both firsts, and they can kick rocks in that case.

also, you're now talking about MAJOR roster upheaval to finish the year while we're already fighting for our lives. i'll be surprised it it happens, even if i think it does make a lot of sense.

yeah, as i've said, my hope is that rob has been talking with russ about how he feels about staying here, what his likely contract demands are going to be, etc. this would have great impact on my decision re: russ at the deadline.

 

im honestly fine with keeping russ at this point. he hasn't been THAT bad

 

This trade also reinforces the idea that this front office is actually pretty good at keeping a lid on serious trade negotiations. We (or at least I) hadn't heard anything about Hachimura until today. Hield/Turner was obviously widely discussed in the offseason, but we didn't hear that they'd actually gotten close to doing it until later.

 

I couldnt be more against resigning Russ.

not only I am tired of his brand of bonehead basketball, but Schroder would be fine on that role of 2nd unit scoring guy at about less than half the money that Russ would get.

plus there are always scoring guards like Monk or Lonnie this year, eager to come to LA and prove themselves and earn a bigger contract for either the MLE or a vet min.

 

Ya, lets not embark on the retaining Westbrook and god forbid Beverley train now- eesh.

No, but after a long string of real stinkers, this was actually a shockingly good trade from Pelinka; especially after latest reports that so many teams were interested in him (most recently the Kings and Mavericks) and nar a whisper about us- and yet he pulled it off. Much needed size and athleticism needed on this roster and gives us some youth as well.

If AD can get to 100% and stay on the court, this is a nice front court rotational five with Rui joining Bryant and Gabriel and of course James.

Now they need to get Reaves and Walker back along with Davis and go get a shooter by selling off PatBev.++ (TSA/Jones) and then hopefully another on the buyout market....shooting, shooting and more shooting...

1. F LeBron James
2. F/C Anthony Davis
3. C Thomas Bryant
4. SHOOTER
5. G Austin Reaves
6. G Lonnie Walker
7. G Russell Westbrook
8. F Rui Hachimura
9. G Dennis Schroeder
10. SHOOTER
11. F Wenyen Gabriel
12. F Troy Brown Jr.
XX. G Max Christie

It isn't ideal, and certainly with its holes, but you could win a wide open West if you get some shooting now

 

I mean Russ at 30/3 would maybe be fair, but his ego is too big to take that

 

Same. While I appreciate his buy-in this year, we'd still be playing close to $20 million a year for a guy whose game actively conflicts with LeBron. They've gotten better at playing together, but I don't need to remind anyone of the horrible clutch time possessions. At the end of the day, Russ still isn't very useful when LeBron has the ball and LeBron should have the ball. Russ will also turn 35 in November, the cliff is going to come in short order and he doesn't have the fundamentals to fall back on like LeBron.

The scorer off the bench guy is always fun, but we see every year that it's really not that valuable for playoff basketball. The Warriors had to slash Poole's minutes in the Finals in favor of Otto Porter and GP3. Lou Williams and Jamal Crawford won a bunch of 6MOYs and were always liabilities in the playoffs. If we actually hope to compete in the coming years, a 35+ year old Russ won't be any help from a basketball or asset perspective.

 

Westbrook's protégé in Washington..



Rui Hachimura has found his ‘senpai’ in Russell Westbrook
By Ava Wallace
April 2, 2021 at 5:04 p.m. EDT

Rui Hachimura (left) and Russell Westbrook always bow to each other during player introductions before games. Hachimura credits Westbrook for coming up with the idea. (Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports)


The pregame ritual was Russell Westbrook's idea.

The point guard, himself a dedicated practitioner of his own finely tuned pregame routine, had formed such a connection with Rui Hachimura upon his arrival in Washington that Hachimura began calling the veteran “senpai,” a Japanese term for an older or more experienced person. As Hachimura remembers it, Westbrook was the one who suggested playing on the relationship in the handshake line as starting lineups are announced at home
Others slap palms to kick off choreographed greetings. Some leap for chest bumps. Hachimura and Westbrook’s handshake — a loose use of the term here — is gentler. The pair bow to each other.

“It was a long time ago. When we started playing together, I think it was from him,” Hachimura said this week, recalling the origins of the handshake. “He just wanted to bow like that … I was calling him senpai, which means like, in Japan, it’s what we always call older people, like in a respect way. He’s a leader, and I look to him; I like to play with him. It’s fun.”

Hachimura and Westbrook’s connection isn’t just on display during player introductions these days; it plays out all over the court and has led to some of Hachimura’s best highlights. The forward’s angry slam over Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart on March 27 came off a crafty bounce pass from Westbrook just inside the arc. So too did Hachimura’s one-handed dunk three days later against the Charlotte Hornets — this time, he collected a ball Westbrook heaved near half court.

RUI CAUGHT A BODY ⼋#WizPistons |
Hachimura, the No. 9 overall pick in 2019, is playing with more force and better court awareness in the past 11 games, and, save an uninspired outing against Detroit on Thursday in which not a single member of Washington’s roster played well, his numbers have followed.

Hachimura is averaging 19.3 points, shooting 52 percent from the field and averaging 7.3 rebounds over that span. It’s a noticeable uptick from his season average of 14.2 points, 47.9 percent shooting and 5.8 rebounds over 40 games.

The 23-year-old has spoken about a change in his mentality this season, his willingness to step up when Bradley Beal is sidelined, as he has been for the past three Wizards games with a hip contusion. He is clearly less hesitant on court, hunting for open midrange jumpers that are available with Beal not there to take them and more aggressively finishing at the rim.

But when asked about his progress this season, Hachimura without fail credits Westbrook, the veteran nine years his senior.

“I think it’s all because of Russ, you know,” Hachimura said. “He always gets attention, especially offensively. He always has the ball, he’s a great playmaker, and he always gives us good opportunities. … Since last year, I think that’s the difference for me to make an easy score, a dunk.”

There are two primary ways Wizards Coach Scott Brooks sees Westbrook directly affecting Hachimura’s game.

The first is off-court and has to do with confidence. Brooks sees Westbrook injecting Hachimura with self-belief through pep talks that are potent because Hachimura admired Westbrook before they became teammates. But the point guard, as is his nature, is also demanding.

“He’s always challenging [Hachimura]: ‘C’mon man, you’ve got to do it every night. You’ve got to do it every day. You’ve got to do it every film session,’ ” Brooks said, quoting Westbrook. “ ‘You’ve got to do it every timeout. You’ve got to do it every halftime — you’ve got to lock in.’ Every game. That’s something that doesn’t show on the stat sheet.”

What does crop up in the team’s analytics is the pair’s on-court connection. With Westbrook streaking in on the majority of possessions to grab rebounds (he leads the Wizards with 10.3 per game), Hachimura can get a head-start running back downcourt in transition, where the 6-foot-8 power forward often has a size advantage over the guards parked at the other end.

The result is Hachimura’s recent uptick in dunks — the type of energy-creating buckets that then fuel the young player’s confidence like a feedback loop.

“You can see the last five games [there] have been more,” Brooks said this week. “Russell’s throwing it over the top, smalls are in jail. [Hachimura] gets in 'em, puts it in the basket. That’s what we need to do. They’ve got good synergy lately.”

Hachimura’s step toward becoming the more aggressive centerpiece the Wizards envision for the future is just that — a step. He is still highly reliant on his midrange jumper, which has accounted for 47 percent of his shots this season (he makes 43 percent of them, according to cleaningtheglass.com). Although he is finishing better at the rim, where buckets are a surer thing, he still takes only 32 percent of his shots there and 21 percent from three.

Washington would like to see those numbers skew more toward the three-point column, but overall, Brooks is happy with Hachimura’s newfound confidence and ability to anticipate plays developing. Westbrook sees the development, too.

“It just takes a little time when you get a chance to be around him and understand what he likes, what he don’t like, where he’s comfortable, where he’s not,” Westbrook said. “For me, that helps me out a lot, not just on the court but talking to him off the floor, explaining the game, understanding things he may or may not know. He’s young. Honestly, I’ve been in the league some time to be able to know a little more about the game and the season’s ups and downs.”

Hachimura does have one thing to school Westbrook on, at least. The veteran still needs to learn the proper Japanese term for his mentee.

“We actually call — kohai. Kohai’s like from like an older guy to a younger guy,” Hachimura said. “I’ve got to teach him still.”

 

I’ve actually been wondering… would it be possible for us to trade Beverley and then sign him again as a UFA this summer (for the veteran’s minimum)?

My understanding is that the restriction is that you can’t re-sign a player that you just traded away and got waived , but if we trade Beverley and his contract just naturally expires I don’t think that restriction would apply?

(I know the very idea of this must be triggering a lot of Laker fans lol)

 

I still really want the Rozier/Hayward trade, even at the cost of a FRP. Rozier is a good player and fit with LeBron and AD. Anything you get from Hayward is gravy, at worst he's another expiring next season. At best you get a solid connector on the floor. I doubt it happens at this point but I do think we're a trade away from having a very interesting roster.

 

The point is that we don’t have bird rights for Schröder, Bryant, and Lonnie.

Eliminating the cap space makes it much more difficult to retain those three players

So if we can’t find a reasonable Russ trade, and our choice is letting Russ walk for nothing (which still doesn’t give enough cap space to do anything) or retaining Russ on a team-friendly deal (which we could hopefully flip down the line)… I’m taking the latter all day.

Although hopefully this is a moot point and we CAN find a good Russ trade by the deadline. I’m just not sure it’s going to play out that way.

 

We already have an interesting roster. Walker and Bev might be on the move next.

Bojan and Rui would be a nice flip for Bev, Nunn and Walker.

 

I don’t know if he actually “declined to speak to the media”. There was one Twitter account that tried to portray it in this toxic light, seemingly to stir up drama, but I’m not sure if that’s actually how it went down.

I think there was just no need to interview someone who had such a poor game. Post game interviews are usually always reserved for players that had a good game. Does anybody make a big deal when Troy Brown doesn’t do a post-game interview after an invisible performance?

Such an interview with Russ last night would have been pointless. At best Russ gives generic professional answers, at worst he gets baited into saying something that gets blown out of proportion. You say Russ should have been there celebrating, and that he was “presumably pouting”, but we have zero evidence that this was the case. Him not taking an interview doesn’t mean he wasn’t being a good teammate in the locker room.

So things like that should have no bearing on our decision making when it comes to asset management IMO

 

Horse s***.

 

This is a solid move.