Coach Brian Cardinal frustrated by the team's lackluster slow start to this season.
Washington, D.C: As the CSL 2022 season has arrived upon us, the quest for a championship begins for all 30 teams in CSL. The Washington Wizards, who has been known as a doormat of the CSL has made the CSL playoffs for 2 seasons straight now. After a busy offseason that saw the addition of rookie Dillon Brooks, young big men such as Ivan Rabb, Ike Anigbogu, and veterans such as K.J McDaniels, Harrison Barnes, Ndoye Youssou, John Henson, and Shabazz Napier. This team is once again aiming for the playoffs spot, and perhaps make a deeper run than the 1st round exits from the previous two seasons. However, the team has been struggling at the start of the season, as the team is currently sitting at a abysmal 4-9 record, tied for last in the Southeast Division. Management has decided enough is enough, and GM Chan wasted no time to make moves on the infamous Day 30.
Incomes Greg Monroe from the Los Angeles Clippers, a former all star that has averaged around 18 ppg throughout his career, and is constantly one of the top 10 leaders in rebounding as well. The addition of a veteran like Monroe gives the Wizards another reliable scoring option besides stud point guard Milos Teodosic, and will allow guys like Walter Tavares, Rawle Alkins, and Damien Inglis to face less focus from the opposition's defense. Gone are Harrison Barnes, Ndoye Youssou, and Mike Conley Jr, all of which are veterans that provided solid depth for the Wizards, but certainly not pieces that are in the long term plans for this team.
Can former all star Greg Monroe right the ship for a struggling Wizards team?
Another incentive of adding Monroe is his 21 million dollars expiring contract for this upcoming off-season, that means 21 million dollars will be off the books if the Wizards choose to renounce his rights, which is expected. This gives the team some much needed financial freedom, as the transaction allow the Wizards to have close to 24 million dollars of cap space to play with, which might be one last off-season of financial freedom before the team negotiates an extension with star floor general Milos Teodosic.
This doesn't end there though, as Austin Rivers, a young combo guard from the L.A Lakers also arrives in that same Monroe deal in a 3 way trade that involves both city of Los Angeles rival teams. Rivers has shown improvement every year, and arguably could've won the Most Improved Player award last season if it wasn't for Corey Joseph's meteoric rise in Toronto. Rivers will come in to this Wizards team as a backup point guard, and might even challenge for the starting shooting guard job, as head coach Brian Cardinal will be experimenting him at the 2 guard spot along with Shabazz Napier, and Rawle Alkins to see who can earn that starting spot. Starting or not, Rivers will be playing a big role for this team's backcourt, and his deadly 3 point shooting will be needed in order for the dynamic post duo of Walter Tavares, and Greg Monroe to succeed this season.
Now that the three way deal is over with, GM Chan, and his analytics team should be done in the trade market for now, right? WRONG. GM Chan realized that the poor start of this season has been due to inconsistent outside shooting, and poor ball security as a team. As a result, Chan has been focusing in strengthening those areas, which brings us to this second deal. A rather minor trade with the New York Knicks which we saw the arrival of rookie JeQuan Lewis in exchange for the New Orleans Pelicans 2nd round pick this season.
Lewis is a young combo guard that has a very good outside shot, and also knows how to use his body to draw contact. Lewis is still a bit raw to be a major contributor right away, but the Wizards coaching staff will be working closely with him on his shot selection, and other areas of the game. He will be expected to compete for a bench combo guard spot in the future. Once again, another ball handler, and a shooter that will help address the weaknesses of this team.
Overall this has been quite a busy year for the Wizards, and even though they are sitting at 4-9 right now, GM Chan expects this team to turn the ship around soon, as Walter Tavares will return from his injury in 10 days, and it will be extremely interesting to see how he will play alongside a big man of Greg Monroe's caliber. Thanks for reading, and GO WIZ!
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