Apr 17, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls shooting guard Kirk Hinrich (12) is defended by Washington Wizards point guard John Wall (2) during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Well, after dropping their sixth consecutive game, the Washington Wizards failed once again to obtain their 30th victory of the season.

The Wizards were down big in the first quarter, but their “never give up” mentality allowed them to chip away at Chicago’s lead, eventually tying the game up. Aside from the normal suspects, the Wizards were also missing Emeka Okafor due to a sprained ankle. Although he did contribute a bit on the offensive side, Kevin Seraphin certainly didn’t help fill in for Okafor on the defensive side of the floor. Nazr Mohammed, who played just 22 minutes tonight, finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Seraphin’s defense was so bad tonight, that he made Mohammed look like Hakeem Olajuwon.

Scoring a career high 24 points, A.J. Price helped contribute for the depleted Wizards off the bench. It seemed like whenever the Wizards needed a bucket, Price gave them one. In fact, Price hit a crucial three pointer in the fourth quarter which tied the game up. Outside of Price, John Wall didn’t get very much help from his supporting cast. He didn’t shoot the ball well, but Wall still managed to score 23 points. With Martell Webster, Trevor Ariza and Bradley Beal all out, Kirk Hinrich and the Bulls were able to  focuse their attention entirely on John Wall.

All in all, I applaud the team for their effort. They failed to get the 30th win of the season with tonight’s 95-92 loss to the Chicago Bulls, but they continued to fight even though the contest was basically over before it even started.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of the game came when Wizards owner, Ted Leonsis, was interviewed by Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier. Leonsis stressed the importance of having John Wall on the team for “a long, long time”, essentially hinting at his inevitable max contract extension this offseason. Ted Leonsis also stated that he’d like to resign Martell Webster during the offseason, while adding other pieces through the upcoming NBA Draft, free agency and trades.

The regular season may be over, but there is still tons of work to do in Washington.

May 10, 2011; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld speaks during the unveiling of the new Washington Wizards uniforms and logos at the Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports

With just seven games remaining this season for the Washington Wizards, I thought it would be a great time to start posting our annual season evaluations. Instead of just evaluating the players on the roster, I thought we should evaluate the front office and coaching staff as well. James Straton and Williams Stokes joined me as we evaluated our beloved front office.

James Straton: How do you grade a man with a Wizards record of 311-485? How do you disconnect that fact from anything he does? If you’re me, this is an easy process. I know hindsight to be 20/20 and I know obvious warning signs of catastrophe are not so obvious as they occur. I can forgive Ernie Grunfeld for a number of things he has done because I can understand the logic. I think we wouldn’t be talking about what a bad GM he is if not for the fact that John Wall has been mediocre for 90% of his career. If Wall were Rose, this 2013 team would have won 50 games and we would be singing his praises for the Nene and Okafor/Ariza deals. But alas, Nene and Wall missed many-a-game and the team has been awful without them. So he’s the worst GM ever.

Grunfeld was asked to play Russian Roulette with a gun that had bullets in five of six chambers. His brains are splattered across the Verizon Center’s floor, but Zombie Grunfeld lives on, trying to clean up the pink-mattered-mess (read: Gilbert Arenas/Rashard Lewis mess) while sometimes making moves you would expect from a brainless Zombie, like drafting Jan Vesely. But alas, no matter how much you qualify his performance this year, he created a team filled with injury-laden players and little depth. He relied too much on youth, following the Ted Leonsis way that worked so well with the Caps, suiting up players in Jan Vesely, Kevin Seraphin, and Chris Singleton who sometimes look more like D-League-ers than role players. And, most importantly, he didn’t trade Bradley Beal for James Harden. That’s the straw that breaks this Zombie’s rating.

The amount of input Mr. Leonsis had on the axing of the potential Harden trade is unclear, but I blame him all the same. It’s tough to see the best SG in the league torch everyone while the Wizards rely yet again on potential. The Wizards are full of potential energy; it would have been nice to garner some kinetic. But that isn’t the case and the backcourt looks fine. Beal looks to be an incredible player, but if he ever reaches the heights Harden had already reached with the Thunder I will be surprised. It’s just easier to bet on Beal not achieving those heights; it’s not knock on him as a player. I think he’s awesome. But I’d be surprised if he is ever James Harden awesome.

And that single trade is why I think both Leonsis and Grunfeld deserve a failing grade. The Crawford trade I don’t mind. Hell, maybe he’s only worth a torn ACL and two fouls a game. But not nabbing Harden at any cost is unforgiveable. I may have started off by saying I can forgive Ernie for a number of things he has done because I understand the logic, but I was outraged by this from the start. And sorry, Ted. You get blamed all the same.

Grade: D+

If you are like me, and you spent the past 24 hours or so reflecting upon what exactly transpired Monday night and are reading what seems like an infinite amount of articles and blog posts dissecting John Wall’s body of work, then I can assuredly welcome you to the twilight zone between the regular season and offseason. This brand new tradition in Wizards basketball causes some of their most enigmatic stars to inadvertently make their ascension into the fan bases good graces. We could go right into the most notable culprit, Andray Blatche, or as recently as Nick Young, Jan Vesely, and Kevin Seraphin (yay Ernie!). I don’t need to pull up the gamelogs to tell you John Wall is entering that same realm.

So why is John so different from the rest of the pack? Is his spike in productivity an aberration? What do we make of it?

While Wall has not endured such a month as he is currently having, he has put together long stretches of great play where he convinces us that he’s the franchise player. This uptake in efficiency, particularly, has been unparalleled in John’s career however, which makes this month such a renaissance among the Wizards community. Yet, inexplicably, this comes right after Wall’s comments to Grantland’s Zach Lowe in regards to him being a max contract player.

Players who rise to the occasion in their contract seasons have a tendency to beguile fans; but not so much with former #1 picks with all world potential like Wall.

I’ve long subscribed to the theory that scoring guards typically adjust to the NBA game quicker than floor generals a la Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, and….. John Wall. Picking up the innumerable nuances required to orchestrate an NBA offense takes years to develop, and it’s not as easy for players that have participated in 1 out of the 3 training camps to start his NBA career, much less late bloomers that began to get noticed in their senior year of high school.

Ted Leonsis has built a franchise around trust and loyalty, for better or worse, and has preached his 10 point plan since acquiring the franchise 3 years ago. He banked on a kid who has kept himself out of trouble, has said all the right things, and genuinely wants to win in this city. It’s easier for one to explain why he took a chance on a talented, young athletic freak than it is to say you had a potential star and passed on him. He’s not going to make the same mistake this franchise is notorious for making in the past.

Wall’s combination of size, speed, and court vision makes him a menace in the open court, and he’s progressively translating that into halfcourt sets. His God-given attributes has allowed him to make passes to anywhere on the court, a skill only a handful of players have. He is now beginning to understand the advantages of changing speeds, keeping his dribble alive, using hesitation dribbles, and passing the ball up-court rather than bull rushing his way to the hoop, which is all a product of game experience.

The improved jumper is just the tip of the iceberg. He has not completely restructured his mechanics, the offhand still rests on top of the ball, but he’s releasing at the apex of his jump, is jumping straight up and down, and is keeping his form consistent. The more reps he puts in the offseason, the better it will be.

This is what John Wall looks like after getting into game shape and using all the skills he refined over the summer. This isn’t an aberration, or a mysterious stretch of great play, this is the result of a hard worker putting in the work to reach his potential. And he isn’t finished yet.