Excuses

Before the 2018-2019 NBA season began, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis gave an interview where he offered some very interesting soundbites about the then upcoming Wizards campaign. Let's check a few of them out.

"We need to raise the expectations. We have to make the playoffs. I'd like us to win 50 games. I'd like us to go to the Eastern Conference Finals."

"We have one of the highest payrolls in the league with the Wizards. They have a beautiful, world-class practice facility. They're healthy entering the year."

"If you have this practice facility and one of the highest payrolls in the league and you're getting well-tended for your health, nutrition and the like. No excuses."

So, let's see where we are after tonight's loss to the Chicago Bulls, leaving our beloved team 5 games out of the playoffs with just 10 games to play (Miami is still playing as I write this post so it will either be 5.5 or 4.5 by the end of the night). 50 wins? Nope; can't win more than 40 at this point. Eastern Conference Finals? Nope. How do I know that last one when the Eastern Conference Finals aren't here for at least another couple of months yet? Well because quite simply if you don't make the playoffs, you can't make the Eastern Conference Finals. "No playoffs?" I say? when Ted said we have to make them and the team isn't mathematically eliminated yet? That's right, no playoffs. No 50 wins. No Eastern Conference Finals. No playoffs.

So assuming I'm right, what now? Ted said no excuses, right? What will that mean? Defining a vision for the club for the future? Firing the coach? Firing our President of Basketball Operations for life Ernie Grunfeld? 

I'm guessing no on all three. I'm usually a glass half full type of guy but when it comes to these Wizards and the management structure in place, I'm seeing the glass half empty or less than that every time. It helps me to not be so disappointed. My prediction? We're getting a whole pile of excuses. Here's my top 10 list of excuses Ted might roll out at the end of the season. Call this a pre-emptive shot across the bow. Maybe Ted will be too embarrassed to use any of these when the team officially gets eliminated from the postseason.

1. John Wall got injured. Twice. So did Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris.

This is the obvious, number one excuse. I guarantee this one is going to be used to explain why the team didn't make the playoffs. Heck, Ted even said the team was healthy entering the year (they weren't!). Here's the thing about no excuses. Any reason you offer for not achieving your one goal ("we have to make the playoffs") is an excuse. There's no parsing of language to go on here. A reason is an excuse. Getting hurt is an excuse. Is getting hurt a legitimate reason to underperform? Sure. But he said no excuses. 

Who out there feels that even without John Wall and Dwight Howard that the Wizards are a playoff team? My hand is up on this one. The fact that a team with this much healthy talent can't make the postseason or finish with a winning record comes down to the fit between players being terrible or coaching just not working. Take your pick! Pick both, if you want. But it's one of those, unless you believe a Bradley Beal-led team is actually worse than the Orlando Magic.

2. We traded Otto Porter.

He can't really use this one as an excuse, right? I mean the week before this trade happened Ted said he wasn't going to trade Otto. And he was under no obligation to do so. If this is offered as an excuse (and honestly, I don't expect anyone to do that) then this is for sure of the team's own making.

3. Kelly Oubre wasn't going to re-sign with the team.

Ahh...the Kelly Oubre for Trevor Remember-How-Good-He-Was-Last-Time-He-Played-Here Ariza trade. Moving on from a player who showed flashes of brilliance along with a long way to go in exchange for a savvy vet who is a defensive stopper.

Or was, prior to this year. The theory here was that Ariza was going to be the compass to guide this directionless team forward into the future and that the team would woo him into staying in that savior role all the way deep into the playoffs of the future via a generous multi-year deal with a player option on the last year. After all, Oubre wasn't going to sign for the kind of money the Wiz would have available, right? Doesn't matter I guess. Another swing and a miss by our front office here. Don't think Oubre would re-sign? Nobody can say for sure can they? My guess is Ariza walks or the Wiz hand him a way too rich contract that will take multiple second round draft pick sweeteners to unload.

4. We didn't know what we had in Tomas Satoransky.

By we, this excuse means Wizards management, Ernie Grunfeld but most especially head coach Scott Brooks, who also didn't know what he had in Thomas Bryant or Troy Brown or Wes Johnson or Devin Robinson (who?) or Ron Baker. The list could go on and on and on. And yes, some of those players listed (hi, Wes Johnson and Ron Baker!) are those who got playing time and shouldn't have. You can't use the excuse that your head coach who works for you won't recognize talent and basketball IQ. Get rid of him! It's gotten so bad that if I could only choose one to get fired, I'd probably choose Scotty.

5. We had to get below the luxury tax line.

Yeah, I know. Believe me, I know. It's all about the money with you guys. The object of owning a basketball team isn't to save money. It's to win games. Or it would be if I owned a team. Make some smart investments instead of trusting the same decision makers that have gotten you nowhere for the last decade and a half. 

At least I don't have to stay up on draft night beyond the first round for the next five years because moving the next five years of second round picks has been the cost of getting out of the tax the last few years.

Word. Mantra. Excuse. Take your pick.

6. We thought it would be easy with LeBron in the Western Conference.
Yeah, so did everyone else, especially the Celtics who were punching their ticket to the NBA Finals before even stepping on the court this season. Building a winning team requires more than just patience and sticking with the plan. No plan survives first contact with the enemy. To win at anything you have to be nimble and adjust based on the moves of others. The Wiz aren't, which is why they stubbornly try the same thing over and over again and make statements like "we have to figure out what's wrong" after losses to teams that shouldn't beat you.

7. I gave the players generous contracts. What else do you want me to do?

Is that how it works? How about player development? How about coaching? How about not doing the same thing every year and being surprised when the results are about the same. Although let's face it, this year the results are just worse.

8. The Raptors traded for Kawhi Leonard and the Sixers traded for Jimmy Butler.

Yeah, they did. They saw an opportunity to swing for the fences and they took it. Maybe it won't work. But both franchises saw that standing pat with the same roster that hadn't won it all the last few years wasn't going to cut it, even with LeBron in the west (see excuse number 6 above). Opportunities to contend for a Finals spot (and I mean really contend, not the Wizards standard pre-season declaration that we want to contend but then don't) only come along so often. The Wiz let it pass them by. And so they are in the lottery. Again.

Will we be making fun of the Sixers and Raps next year when their newly acquired stars sign elsewhere? Maybe. But my team can't even make the playoffs and has no definable plan for next year that doesn't involve making commitments over the luxury tax line to field a credible team. And we know what happened with that sort of strategy this year, right?

9. Who saw the Nets being this good?

You know what? I can buy this. I mean, honestly, who saw that team in Brooklyn with that roster being a playoff team. Good for the Nets. It's still an excuse though.

10. We decided next year is the year of no excuses when we have Bobby Portis, Jabari Parker, Jeff Green and Trevor Ariza for the whole year.

Of course it is. It's always the next year with the Wizards. It's always that we are happy with our roster and feel we have a chance to contend and are giving our front office an A for our offseason moves. Every. Year. In my worst nightmare I see the Wizards spending way too much on all four of these guys for two year deals all with player options. Please please. No more player options on deals.

I hope to God we don't get excuses, but that's what I'm prepared for. Heck, it looks like Ernie Grunfeld has already started on excuse number 1 from some remarks he made just last month about the Otto Porter trade (see also excuse number 2 above and the image below). We're doomed. Look forward to at least one more year of the Ernie and Scotty show, unless Ted can live up to his promise of no excuses. And remember, any reason offered for non-performance is an excuse when you say no excuses.