Lowlight:

Lets be real. They virtually fell apart when it mattered most. A First round matchup between the 3rd and 6th seed... By all accounts this is a 'tune up' for the likes of the Wizards and the caliber of team they boasted to be all season long. To be fair, this young upstart Cavs team was led by Paul George, who is a top 10 player in this league any day of the week... They did also acquire Wiggins late in the season who say what you want to say about him, is a glitch and Certified Walking Bucket in 2K. He dropped 24 PPG in that series and well and truly outplayed Booker in the process.

...BUT to also still remain very, very fair; I could just sit here and say some nonsense about how it was a 'well fought out, intense and grueling contest, that could've easily gone either way...' But I'm a man of the upmost integrity and have a reputation to uphold... Because truthfully, It just wasn't that at all...

The Wiz spectacularly went down 3-1, before managing to sneak out a couple games, crawling right back into it only to suffer a heart breaking game 7 loss at home. What was interesting to me at least from the outside looking in, was the massive variance between results. The Wizards won their games by an average of 18.6 points... They also in much the same fashion, found themselves on the receiving end of this, losing by an average of 15.5PPG.

This series saw PG/Reggie/Wiggins combine for 73+PPG to go along with the other 5 Cavs players who scored in double digits. While On the flip side, Embiid just wasn't the type of player they needed him to be offensively. Booker inexplicably struggled with the Cavs length. He averaging 20.3 PPG shooting only 44% from the field and 30% from deep over those 7 games. (For context; Prior to this season his career averages in the play offs were 32.6 PPG shooting 52%FG/39%3pt over 20 games).

In the end it seemed that nether team could ever really figure each other out and what resulted was a good old fashioned shoot out. Just the ole Spray N' Pray type approach ya know? The Kids these days love that shit. Minimal effort with only a slight chance at achieving marginally better results. The eventual outcome was indeed a rough one... For the Wiz, I mean... Because I'm sure the Cavs were overjoyed with their efforts to only then be awarded a tasty gentlemen's sweep at the hands of Sheed and his Pistons.




Best Trade:

-KAT for Embiid
 

For the sake of comparisons and clarity alone, I'll just hit you with a few side by side numbers to set the tone...

Embiid:
28 yrs old
96 2K Overall
21-22 NSL Rank: 7
Badges: 28 (13 Gold)
Games played (21-22): 70

19.3/16.7/3.7/1/1.9
65/33/94 Splits (2.4FTM) 
31.1MPG

KAT:

26 yrs old
89 2K Overall
21-22 NSL Rank: 14
Badges: 22 (2 Gold)
Games played (21-22): 77

19.2/13.9/2.7/1/1.8
56/37/91 Splits (2.2 FTM)
34.2MPG
 

OK, so... I'm not going to focus too much on a lot of the factors at play here, which don't really apply to our league when it comes to what each respective player can do in game... Sure, when compared to Embiid; KAT is a tad younger and doesn't have nearly the extensive resume when it comes to injury history/availability. With that being said though Joel has managed to put together a few seasons now where he has stayed relatively healthy. I mean it's not like we're talking a young prospect being moved for an established vet 10 years his senior here. So there goes that whole argument...

BUT You could have a legitimate debate on who is the better of the two, at least offensively, when we're talking strictly in game impact. To be honest I would probably land on the side of Towns more often then not and we could realistically see him come out this season and average in the mid 20's for PPG with all the rest that he does... The same could ALSO be said for Embiid though...

Yep, So ahh... I know I started off this whole trade analysis as if I was going to be able to provide rock solid, valid points to argue on both sides but I already can see the error in my ways... Look, In the end it comes down to Joel's greatness on both ends that has this as a huge win in my books for the Wizards *shrugs*.


Worst Trade:



-Capella for Lonzo

I always lowkey hate doing this "worse trade" part of the TBT's. One, because even the 'worst' of these deals kind of makes the majority of MY trades look like a fiery train wreck with women and children on board. There's rarely ever any survivors... And two, because I struggle having to put actual effort into writing out how much I "hate" a deal when my whole argument is based off of  the grasping at straws while I ignorantly enjoy looking at this in perfect 20/20 hindsight.

With all that said, why this deal sucks SO much; Is at the time of the trade, to be fair, Lonzo on paper was exactly what the Wizards needed. The prospect of a Lonzo/Booker/KAT core was about as close as you'd get to any "dream case" scenario you could think of involving having a young core to build on. Capella was at least for the Wiz, a welcomed luxury backing up the likes of KAT but ultimately was being under utilized on this Washington roster.

Say no more, the deal gets done and then BAAAAANG!! (Sadly, not the awesome Mike Breen kind of Iconic Bang...) Lonzo goes down AGAIN... Now all of a sudden a guard who's been plagued by injuries his whole career, getting paid 20+m a year isn't exactly as enticing as first advertised. This move in the end forced the Wizards hand moving on from Lonzo after only 28 games played and in turn getting back Rose and Bojan... Nether of which are still on the team.
  
Other notable trades:

Dragic/Okafor for Ross/J.Carter

Dragic has and always will be a solid 2k player even at this stage in his career BUT due to a whole bunch of shady shenadigans having him sit most of last season, it was a win to get off of him for a guy like Ross who can come in and play real minutes for you in any wing rotation round the league.

KCP/WAS 26 for Gordon/CHI 24 2nd

This one probably came in a close second for the 'worst trade' category if I'm being honest. Both KCP and Gordon bring what they bring in game and are both handy role players, let's get that out of the way. Do I take AG over KCP in a nutshell? Yeah sure.. And although I'd be the last to come down hard on a lazy first being thrown into any deal in an effort to get it done... I think if he could, Josh would understandably have this one back. I say that because it's now obvious Gordon wasn't exactly a crucial piece to the puzzle, given he's already packed his bags for Orlando after barely a season played for them.

Ross and Ball for Rose and Bojan

I don't mind this deal at all, did the Wiz in a vacuum lose value? Yeah I guess, but what this deal DOES represent is a GM/Team's ability to roll with the punches and still stick to their guns when it comes to being all in on contending. With Ball going down they hedged their bets landing Rose, an elite 2k guard who can still run an offence as a starting PG in game. They also managed to turn a somewhat 'one dimensional' specialist in Ross, into a guy like Bojan, who has a much friendlier skillset as a legit starting 3nD wing who can also play make when you need it. At this point just getting back any sort of real value, even if it's just in pieces they used to still be able to compete, while also getting off that massive Ball contract is a win win.  

                


Brunson for Oladipo/POR 2024 2nd

Taken out of context, just looking at each player and their NBA counterparts, you would comfortably say in most cases the Wizards may have had momentary lapse of judgment here... With that being said though, paying Brunson nearly 28m next season is a hard pill to swallow and his NBA situation and what would be required to keep him around in the NSL, would be limiting to say the least when it comes to anyones FA plans. Oladipo in game is still elite on both ends and a glitch type guard who is the perfect 6th man type who can start in a pinch and on 1/4 the yearly salary? Yeah, you can't go wrong.

Gordon and Bojan for Lowry Gay and Matkovic

Yeah yeah, this deal "technically" falls within the 22-23 Season but I feel like talks for said deal started well before the roll over date and only happened AFTER due to salary/trade block restraints... Anyways, that's my story and I'm sticking with it so screw you buddy, I'm the captain now.

Speaking of Captains you can trust, the Wizards made the move for a guy in Lowry that will bring them exactly what I think they've been looking for all this time, in a legit floor general who truly compliments Booker/Embiid. On a related side note; Gay is still a serviceable wing off the bench this late in his career as well.

                       

Star:

Devin "Mandingo" Booker... Simply because you know what you're getting from Embiid now; At this point, any variance with his output in game, is almost entirely engine dependent. Booker is just 25 years old and despite me feeling like it's his 12 season, still has room to grow and will be the lynch pin behind any further success the Wizards have while he's putting on their Jersey. He had his worst season in the NSL last year in terms of scoring the basketball, averaging a measly 24.3 PPG. He needs to be better. If Embiid goes into this season not able to bump up those numbers offensively and Booker doesn't reach that next level in game, then it's a forgone conclusion in that the Wizards will struggle to vastly eclipse anything they've done to date.

Draft Grades:

They got Matkovic from Portland in the Lowry deal who was snagged with the coveted 59th pick in the draft... That's kind of like you drafted him yourself right? It's just a super delayed draft night trade if you really think about it... But yean nah, Real talk; I have no idea who that is, admittedly I should've consulted Ethan or something prior to writing this bit... So I'm going to bail on this hard and just hand out a C+ for effort. *Thumbs up*

Future:

As mentioned before, It's primarily going to all fall on Booker. Yeah sure Embiid isn't by any means considered by anyone to be an "Aging star in his twilight years" but he's the here and now. So in terms of what the Wizards have to look forward to, it's Big Bad Book and the progression he's able to make as a young star in this league. Looking down the line, Embiid by then might have moved on from Washington, while Booker will remain the face of this team for as long as they wanna keep him around. Guys like Tilman, Bane and Roby fall under this umbrella as well, just to a much lesser extent obviously.