Thursday 26 September 2019 09:56, UK
With John Wall likely out for the entire season, Bradley Beal must again carry a huge load for the Washington Wizards.
The gradual growth of the John Wall-Bradley Beal era took a sharp detour and plunged to a new (and perhaps permanent) low when the club failed to make the playoffs for only the second time in five years.
More devastating than that, though, was losing Wall with yet another major injury. Wall underwent heel and Achilles surgery, was done after 32 games and isn't expected to play much, if at all, in 2019-20. Furthermore, the Wizards are on the hook for his supermax contract, which kicks in this upcoming season. The potential career-threatening loss of an All-Star guard coupled with his mammoth contract threw the franchise for a loop with no easy answers or resolution.
The Wizards had to change their philosophy almost overnight and ponder a rebuild as they weren't among the Eastern Conference's elite any longer. Beal, meanwhile, delivered the best season of his career (25.6 points, five rebounds, 5.5 assists per game), becoming one of the league's most dangerous shooters from all areas of the floor.
Unfortunately for Washington, the All-Star guard he had little help most nights. Dwight Howard was held to nine games because of injury and the remaining cast was simply too inconsistent to rely on every night.
The club traded Otto Porter Jr and Kelly Oubre Jr and got virtually nothing in return for them. This annoyed a restless fan base that had grown weary of GM Ernie Grunfeld's string of questionable personnel decisions (Grunfeld was fired in early April).
Tomas Satoransky and Thomas Bryant stepped into the roles vacated by Wall and Howard and showed promise, yet in the end, the Wizards went south in a conference that wasn't especially loaded with powerhouse teams.
At 16 years, Ernie Grunfeld had the longest tenure of any GM who didn't at least win a conference championship. That spoke to the patience of chairman Ted Leonsis but also the frustration of the fan base, which howled about Grunfeld constantly. The fan base ultimately won.
Grunfeld's teams never won 50 games in a single season and endured two rebuilds. He whiffed often in the Draft and his trades were spotty. In 2009, for example, he traded the No 5 pick for one season of Mike Miller and Randy Foye. He also doled out eye-opening contracts to Gilbert Arenas, Ian Mahinmi, Otto Porter and yes, even Wall.
Leonsis finally pulled the trigger and conducted a GM search that lasted for weeks... and then chose Grunfeld's deputy, Tommy Sheppard, to clean up the mess after they failed to get Denver's Tim Connelly. That raised reasonable questions about whether the Wizards needed to make a clean break from the Grunfeld administration, but Sheppard came with his own ideas which won over Leonsis, then went to work.
Stripped of almost all assets with the exception of Beal, Sheppard had a tough job this summer. But he was productive, given the circumstances. He let all the Wizards' free agents walk, refusing to tie up future money in Bobby Portis and Satoransky. He dumped Howard's contract on Memphis while getting Isaiah Thomas on the cheap. Speaking of cheap, he got young talent in Davis Bertans and Mo Wagner, then signed Bryant, a developing 21-year-old athletic big, to three years and $25m.
Essentially, Sheppard was careful and mostly clever with the payroll, avoiding any major money mistakes and keeping the Wizards as flexible as possible.
He took Rui Hachimura, a power forward with a smart game and solid mechanics, in the first round with hopes he'd become a good compliment to Bryant.
With the blessing of Leonsis, Sheppard also offered a three-year, $111m max extension to Beal. While some in NBA circles wondered if Sheppard might unload Beal to get an Anthony Davis-like return (Draft picks, young talent), the Wizards intend to at least hold Beal's rights for the next five years (Beal has two remaining on his current deal). That would give them options to either keep Beal, or swap him in the near future and if so, those multiple years left on the contract would make him more attractive to teams.
What Sheppard couldn't do is make Wall disappear - meaning, he couldn't pull off a miracle. How many teams want a player recovering from an Achilles injury, someone who depends on speed, who'll make $170m over the next four years as he ages into his mid-30s?
It could be the Wizards are stuck with Wall at least for the next two years. Even if they can find a taker, Washington will be forced to add sweeteners (Draft picks, young players) or take back an equally bad contract. If Sheppard can somehow swing a Wall deal in Washington's favour, he deserves twice as many years as Grunfeld got on the job.
The Wizards didn't do anything this summer to suggest they'll be a playoff contender in 2019-20. That's not particularly bad, because if nothing else, Sheppard didn't take any enormous risks with Washington's future. Another rebuild now beckons and at least there's someone else in charge this time.
Veteran NBA writer Shaun Powell has worked for newspapers and other publications for more than 25 years. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Powell2daPeople
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