The Washington Wizards made one deal at the trade deadline, sending starting center Daniel Gafford to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a first round pick and center Richaun Holmes. Holmes is on the wrong side of 30 and hasn't been much good in a few years now. Gafford is pretty good and just 25 years old, so what gives? Ben Becker and I break down what the Wizards front office is likely thinking and discuss what the lack of trades involving Kyle Kuzma, Tyus Jones, Delon Wright, Landry...

The Washington Wizards replaced Wes Unseld Jr. as head coach, moving Unseld into a front office advisory role, and promoting lead assistant Brian Keefe to be interim head coach. When the team makes a big move, there's no one better to discuss it with than old friend and podcast partner Ben Becker. Ben and I have been talking and analyzing the Wizards for 20+ years now. This conversation is the latest edition of what a listener once described as what it might sound like if NPR had a show...

Just past the midway point, the Wizards are bumbling through what's likely to be the worst season in franchise history. To discuss the biggest issues the team faces as they attempt to rebuild, I invited on veteran Wizards observer and reporter, Troy Haliburton. We began with a couple big NBA stories — the Milwaukee Bucks firing newly hired head coach Adrian Griffin, and the Miami Heat trading for Terry Rozier. Then we talked Wizards, touching on: Jordan Poole Wes Unseld Jr. and the...

With the Washington Wizards set to face the Indiana Pacers Wednesday night, it seemed like a great time to catch up with current Pacers journalist and Bullets Forever alum Tony East. In this episode, we talked about what makes Tyrese Haliburton special, Haliburton's hamstring injury, and what the Pacers do well and not so well before diving into the Wizards. Tony's attention is primarily on the Pacers, but he watches a lot of Wizards basketball, which leads to some great insights into how...

In this episode, I'm joined by Bullets Forever's Osman Baig to discuss the state of the Wizards. As I wrote in my big picture check-up on January 3, they're still bad. Oz and I drilled into concerns about how the Wizards are managing the development of French rookie Bilal Coulibaly. Suffice to say, we have concerns, specifically about his lack of involvement in the team's offense. As we discussed during the podcast, of the team's 11 rotation players, Coulibaly is 11th in per minute touches....

Why has the Wizards defense been so bad this season? I put the question to Coach Nick from BBALLBREAKDOWN, and the answer leapt off the screen: they're helping from one pass away. That's the team's scheme this season, and it's the root cause of giving up open threes, and the mad scramble that gives opposing teams easy scores and domination on the offensive glass. This is an in-depth discussion of head coach Wes Unseld Jr.'s defensive scheme, the theory behind implementing it, and what's...

Brian McCormick has coached at an array of levels in leagues around the world and has written books about basketball fundamentals, skills development, how to become a great shooter, running practices, and building an effective offensive system. I invited him on to discuss the unique challenges faced by Wes Unseld Jr. and his staff as they attempt to lead a team at step one of a total rebuild. We delved into the problems Jordan Poole is having as he tries to make the Washington Wizards...

The Wizards are off to a 1-5 start, which is to be expected from a team that lacked talent in recent years and traded away its two best players. In this episode, I'm joined by Osman Baig from Bullets Forever to discuss the team's start, what we're seeing on the floor and from the coaching staff, and what the team needs to build a future winner. Along the way, we hit topics like: how non-competitive the team has been through their first six games the profound lack of talent on the...

For this episode, Kevin cracked open the mailbag and answered some questions, including: Thoughts on the NBA's Player Impact Estimate metric and how it compares to Kevin's Player Production Average (PPA) How Jordan Poole compares to James Harden and Gilbert Arenas, each of whom changed teams early in their careers, and Additional thoughts on teen rookies and Bilal Coulibaly. Next episode: forecasting the upcoming season with Osman Baig. --- Send in a voice message:...

In this episode, Kevin takes a deeper dive into a couple somewhat related articles he published recently on Bullets Forever, including Is Tyus Jones a major upgrade at guard? and Will the Wizards' offense be any good this season? In the articles, Kevin wrote that the Wizards offense figures to be among the NBA's five worst because of its expected heavy reliance on Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole. In this episode, he examines some of the key reasons given for optimism: the commitment to playing...

After a discussion of the relative merits of Dallas and Houston, we got down to talking hoops. We kicked around our impressions of the Wizards' summer league performance, whether Corey Kispert can be more than a specialist, and our divergent thoughts on how the team will perform relative to the Vegas over/under of 24.5 wins. Along the way, here's a partial list of basketball names mentioned: Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Gilbert Arenas, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bill...

In this episode, Ron and Kevin analyze the Wizards draft, including trading up a pick to select 18-year old French wing Bilal Coulibaly, and moving back in round two to land Serbian big man Tristan Vukcevic. They also talk summer league, the state of the roster, how good/bad the team will be next season, and the vision of new executives Michael Winger, Travis Schlenk and Will Dawkins. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sowizards/message Support this...

In a move that was only a minimum of three years overdue, the Washington Wizards traded guard Bradley Beal. Because of the preposterous no-trade clause team president Tommy Sheppard gave to the team's "franchise player," Beal had the power to dictate his destination AND the compensation package the Wizards would receive. The result? Beal goes to the Phoenix Suns where he'll team up with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton, and Washington gets back the salaries of Chris Paul and...

With the numbers crunching in Ye Olde Draft Analyzer (YODA for short) nearly complete, Kevin and fellow draft nerd Matt Modderno got together to discuss the prospects giving them the most heartburn during the evaluation and ranking process. The two come at the draft from different perspectives — Kevin through the lens of stats and combine measurements with adjustments for age and level of competition, and Matt through watching loads of college games every season. We will be joining forces...

When Ron and Kevin last talked, the Washington Wizards had just parted ways with previous team president Tommy Sheppard. Now the Wizards have found Sheppard's replacement — Michael Winger, a 43-year old NBA executive who gained experience with three successful franchises over the past couple decades. The resume version of his background would highlight the fact that he's been part of executive leadership groups that reached seven conference finals and two NBA finals over the past 13 years....

Ted Leonsis and the Washington Wizards surprised outsiders by firing team president Tommy Sheppard after missing the playoffs in consecutive seasons and failing to produce even a .500 record in his four years at the helm. In this episode, Kevin and Ron break down the Sheppard era, including best and worst moves, and the biggest reasons the team failed under Sheppard's leadership. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sowizards/message Support this podcast:...

In this reason, Kevin and Ron delve into some of the reasons the 2022-23 Washington Wizards failed to achieve their goal of reaching postseason play. They also end up in a discussion of efficiency in basketball and whether Bradley Beal and Delon Wright need to change their diets as they move past 30. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sowizards/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sowizards/support

The Washington Wizards are 12th in the Eastern Conference and will likely miss any form of postseason play. Nearing the end of a "win now" season, Washington is on track to have the sixth best odds of landing the top pick in the NBA's draft lottery. They're a game-and-a-half from passing the Orlando Magic for fifth best odds. What's been going wrong? What will some of the key franchise figures — and fans — regret from the 2022-23 season? In this episode we discuss: Monte Morris Deni...

Washington Wizards president Tommy Sheppard gave interviews that were filled with nonsense, non sequiturs and incoherence. Kudos to Craig Hoffman for asking serious questions, by the way. In this episode, Kevin and Ron delve into five of the most absurd comments, and go on an array of tangents that come when people talk hoops, including the value of floaters, whether Kyle Kuzma has actually improved, what Deni Avdija is doing well the past eight games and what he needs to do to keep it...

The Washington Wizards made the kind of trade that’s become familiar, sending former first round pick Rui Hachimura to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks — two of which convey in 2028 and 2029. In this episode, Kevin and Ron analyze the trade for all involved, discuss what it means for the Wizards, and take a look at the schedule ahead. And they get into a conversation about which player jerseys they'd be willing to buy/wear. --- Send in a voice...

In this episode, OKC Dream Team podcaster and long-time Oklahoma City Thunder expert Jon Hamm joins Kevin and Ron to talk team building, how teams communicate with their fans, the importance of ownership and the relative progress of OKC and the Washington Wizards in their respective rebuilds/reloads. As is usually the case on the #SoWizards podcast, the conversation goes in an array of directions, including a moment when Ron gets his mind blown when he learns the Bullets once drafted a...

The Wizards are on a seven-game losing streak, they've lost 10 of their last 11, and the schedule ahead is challenging. In this episode, Bleav In Wizards podcast host Matt Modderno joins us to discuss the relative merits of current Wizards players, whether the losing binge is actually a good thing for the franchise — and whether it should continue — and how to divvy up responsibility for the team's futility between owner Ted Leonsis, team president Tommy Sheppard and head coach Wes Unseld...

Kevin Folli is the man behind Wizards Film Room on Twitter (follow him @KevinFolliNBA) where he provides insights, analysis and data with illustrative video. In this episode, we discuss offensive and defensive scheme, Wes Unseld Jr. strengths and weaknesses, whether the Wizards have the talent to achieve even their modest goals, and what Tommy Sheppard has done since taking over as team president. This leads back franchise goals set by Ted Leonsis. There are a few digressions along the way,...

Ken Budd writes for an array of outlets, including Washington Post Magazine and The Atlantic. Writing for The Atlantic, Budd delved into why such thing as Wizards fans exist — complete with interviews of psychologists explaining why otherwise intelligent, accomplished people can't stop rooting for perennial losers. We took some trips to fond memories of the past and pondered whether we're all just a bunch of masochists. We also discussed the 3-2 Wizards, fresh off an embarrassing nationally...