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October
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Taking A Look Back At The Off-Season And Where This Bullets Team Seems To Be Heading
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Well, it's time to look forward to the new season. But first, I'd like to look back at the off-season. If you remember, I took the Bullets to task pretty harshly in the immediate aftermath of their failure to initially re-sign Juwan Howard. Now, I'd like to take a second look at the off-season in toto. Then, I'm going to look at the season ahead. If you want a particular section, click below; otherwise, just read on.
The first impression that the Bullets made this off-season was mixed. First, they picked up the option year on Tim Legler's contract, even though he may miss up to half the upcoming season. Shortly thereafter, general manager John Nash resigned, under pressure, as general manager of the Washington Bullets. Given a chance to get another professional general manager to run the organization, the Bullets missed the boat. Instead, owner Abe Pollin named Wes Unseld, his do-everything man, as the general manager.
- The Bullets off-season started with a mixed bag
- The Bullets completely flub the start of free agency
- The Bullets get some quality players in the meantime
- What will the Bullets lineup look like?
- What are the prospects for this team?
I thought this was probably a mistake, a mismatch of talents. Wes is a people person, but there were doubts about a man with limited personnel experience. This image was seemingly borne out as free agency hit in its first week. In particular, the hue and cry arose when the Bullets grossly miscalculated the market (by over $20M) and lost premier free agent Juwan Howard to the Miami Heat.
Some of you may point out that the Bullets seemingly had a better grasp of what the Heat really could offer when they made their initial offer. Let me remind you that there were two other teams that bid even higher than the Heat for Juwan's services. The fact that the Bullets only bumped their second offer up to $84M when the other three offers were at least $100M over 7 years showed how much they misestimated everything. It also calls into question how committed they were to doing everything possible to make sure Juwan returned.
In the end, after much egg on their face, the Bullets management was able to re-sign Howard. Even though the Bullets eventually wound up with Howard through a long and complicated process, I'm still not convinced that the Bullets, in particular Abe Pollin, are ready to pay for the necessary players in this grossly inflated salary market. I may yet get my wish of getting another partner in owning the Bullets, though this probably won't happen until after the construction of the MCI Center is completed. However, don't expect Pollin to sell everything; I'm sure he wants a champion just like the rest of us. IMO, he deserves that honor, if this group can pull this off.
While the Bullets lost out on Juwan (initially), they made some other decent moves. The biggest may be trading for sometime problem child/point guard Rod Strickland. IMO, Strickland is probably the 3rd or 4th best point guard in the league. That's a great addition to the team. Yeah, we gave up Rasheed Wallace to get him, but that's probably worth it. Rasheed has a world of talent, but hasn't shown the desire to make something of it (yet). IMO, Wallace will be a good player in the NBA, but he'll never be a superstar. (Harvey Grant, the former Bullet, also came over as part of the trade.)
In addition, the Bullets signed two other key free agents. Tracy Murray is a three-point shooting specialist, and that's about it. He can sort of shoot on the move. He has started to learn to get to the foul line. His defense is extremely suspect. But he's competitive (some may say selfish) and will help stretch defenses with his outside shooting. No sagging on Muresan, Webber and Howard. Further, he will probably push Calbert Cheaney for the starting shooting guard position during training camp.
The other was a new backup center to replace Jim McIlvaine (who was significantly overpaid by the Seattle Sonics). Lorenzo Williams is not a huge offensive threat, but he's an active body who loves to rebound and play defense. We'll miss McIlvaine's shot blocking, but Williams is a much better rebounder than Jimmy Mac. Williams is a young player who has signed for the long-term (7 years) with the Bullets and should finish out a significant part of his career here (if he turns out).
The break was that the Bullets were able to keep Murray and Williams when the league allowed Howard to re-sign with the Bullets, even though that would have put the Bullets over the salary cap. And the price was just a first round pick next season. A great bargain for the Bullets. Since then, the Bullets have also signed another live body, Ashraf Amaya, for their front line. A young man who probably can't be any worse a player than Bob McCann was for the Bullets last year (and McCann fit in just fine - I have nothing against how he played last year).
So, where does that leave the Bullets? They very likely have one of the best benches in the league. And their starting five shouldn't be that bad either. ;-)
What do I see happening? Cheaney is the incumbent at the shooting guard, but personally I might start Murray. It has nothing to do with how Cheaney played last year, but how the matchups are created. By starting Murray, the Bullets would have at least one 3-point shooter on the court when starting Muresan, Webber and Howard. Hopefully, that would take at least a little pressure off from defenses sagging on the Bullets' front court.
With Cheaney off the bench, he's paired with the 3-point shooting Chris Whitney at point guard. Cheaney can be more of the slashing player that he's better at. Cheaney can also play with Murray and a point guard in an extremely effective 3-guard lineup. In fact, think about a lineup with Webber, Howard, Cheaney, Murray, and Strickland. That's an effective and diverse lineup that could be very good at coming from behind.
The big problem is going to be finding minutes for all of these quality players for the Bullets. Eight of those players (Muresan, Webber, Howard, Cheaney, Murray, Strickland, Amaya, and Williams) all had significant time in a starting lineup with an NBA club last season. Grant and Whitney are quality backups, as well. But the minutes will not be there for everyone. In one case, it means that hopefully Webber and Howard will not have to play 40 minutes per game night in and night out. But there may be an unhappy player or two looking for some extra playing time. And that's where Jim Lynam, with his reputation as a player's coach, may really have to earn his money this season.
Where do I think this team will finish this year? It's a tough call. That injury depleted team of last year won 39 games, so one would feel confident about the prospects of a team loaded with the talent identified above. Some may predict over 50 wins, and I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. However, I believe that this team is going to start slow, but work things out and finish on a tear to finish the season with 45-48 wins. Very possibly a #5 seed and a first round upset before being knocked off by the Bulls in the second round (is there any doubt that the Bulls will be the #1 overall seed?).
But that's just my opinion, and you're welcome to yours. So, where do you think the Bullets will finish? webmaster@gszone.com. And maybe I'll publish some of the responses I get.
What we all can agree on is that this will be one very exciting Washington Bullets team with a load of potential and a huge upside, which I believe they will begin to tap at the end of the season. With a leader like Howard, a multi-talented player like Webber, and great point guard in Strickland, and loads of role players who know what they're expected to do (and hopefully carry those roles out), the Washington Bullets of 1996-97 will mark the beginning of a dynasty.
wtf 6 October 1996
