Wiz of Awes
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Washington Wizards: Bulletin board material for the season opener vs. Philadelphia 76ers

By Ron Oakes-Cunningham

Washington Wizards v Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Ashley Landis-Pool/Getty Images)
Washington Wizards v Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Ashley Landis-Pool/Getty Images) /
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Washington Wizards Rui Hachimura. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Washington Wizards Rui Hachimura. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Washington Wizards vs. Philadelphia 76ers: Truthful Trash Talk

Ron: The 76ers are stacked, but I don’t think the team will get over the championship hump — at least not this year.  I admit analytics is the new rage in the NBA. But Daryl Morey? The GM who thought micro-ball could win in this NBA? Good luck. The #InHeinkieWeTrust coalition will be really noisy when Daryl does to Philadelphia what he did to Houston: make the playoffs but never get to the Finals.

Is the change to Doc Rivers as coach the right one? Nothing but respect for him; he’s a championship coach. But he hasn’t won since 2008.  And even then, his winning squad featured a starring clover of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce, a budding star in Rajon Rondo, and a ‘first-team-all-defense’ stalwart Tony Allen. Does this version of the Sixers possess such balance? I don’t see it.

Lastly,  I think yall are cursed.  Why?  Your team gave up on D.C.’s own, Markelle Fultz.  Yall shipped him out before he had a chance to wash down some Ishkabibble’s with a cold one. For a franchise that has spent the better part of six years incanting ‘Trust the Process,’ the decision to jettison Fultz is peculiar. J.Cole agrees

Patience is a virtue. A virtue that the 76ers lack.  And because your team lacks patience, its 37-year title drought will be extended by (at least) one more year. Just don’t give up on Tyrese Maxey so easily, ok?

@DontBeAnUch: Let’s be real the Wizards have been mediocre/bad the past couple of seasons, and because of the team’s mediocrity, they need to #FreeBradBeal. As the Nation’s capital, it’s fitting that DC’s basketball team has been stuck in a purgatory swamp, which is the worst place to be in the NBA. I do like the Wizard’s young guns though, (Deni, Rui, Bertans, Troy Brown, and Thomas Bryant) but I pray Scott Brooks doesn’t stunt their growth as the young guys suffer through the customary growing pains.

Speaking of Scott Brooks, he has, in my opinion, always been a mediocre coach who lucks into coaching elite talent (See KD, Russ, and Harden in OKC). But he did not win anything with three MVPs. He surely won’t win anything with just one, at least not in Washington. I do think the addition of Westbrook takes some heat off of Bradley Beal, similar to what John Wall did. Maybe Beal will be more effective, considering Westbrook is better than Wall.

I view the East in tiers:

  • Tier 1: Milwaukee, Brooklyn
  • Tier 2: Philly, Boston, Miami, Toronto
  • Tier 3: Indiana, Washington, Atlanta, Orlando, Charlotte

The gap between tier 1 and 2 is small. All six of the top 6 teams match up well and can get to the Eastern Conference/NBA finals. But there’s a yawning chasm between the teams in Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams. I think the Wizards will be extremely competitive but, unless I’m blind as Ray Charles, I don’t see the team having enough top-end talent to beat the best teams in the East in a seven-game playoff series.

Westbrook and Beal will score points, but where is the defense? Mo Wagner drawing charges? A first-round gentleman’s sweep is the most realistic outcome for the Wizards, and then the countdown begins: the 2021 TRADE BRADLEY BEAL SWEEPSTAKES or he walks summer 2022.

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