Let's Be Honest About..........The Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards have been in a doldrum for a decade. Sure, they had a few playoff appearances during that time, but really, it should have been more. Here are 4 ideas of brutal honesty about the Wizards that many probably were also thinking.

ERNIE GRUNFELD SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED IN 2010

Grunfeld, the former Knicks president, was hired by the Wizards in 2003. The person he replaced was none other than Michael Jordan. Grunfeld made some key moves in his tenure with the Wizards including signing Gilbert Arenas and trading for Antwan Jamison. However, the bottom fell out in the 2009-2010 season as the Wizards had one of the worst records in the league. As luck would have it, Washington won the draft lottery and selected Kentucky guard John Wall. Right here is when management should have pulled the plug on Grunfeld and hired an up-and-coming executive to steer the team into a new direction. They decided to stay with Grunfeld until 2019, a near decade later.

THE TEAM COULDN'T BUILD AROUND JOHN WALL AND BRADLEY BEAL

Yep, Grunfeld provided this also. The 2011 draft was stacked with talent around the first round that could pair with Wall. They had the 6th pick and selected Czech forward Jan Vesely. Vesely flopped and went back overseas in three years. They did select Beal in the next year's draft. But in 2013, the Wizards had the 3rd pick and took Georgetown forward Otto Porter Jr. I mean, the 2013 draft was underwhelming and Porter is a solid player. However, the Wizards gave him a +20 million dollar per year contract for a solid player who wasn't a superstar was also underwhelming. If you think about it, for years the team was basically just Wall and Beal. They tried an over-the-hill Paul Pierce and an underachieving Dwight Howard to piece with the duo, but to no avail.

SCOTT BROOKS IS OVERRATED AS COACH

Ok, as a player in the 90's, I liked Scott Brooks. He was the gritty bench player who wasn't flashy, but did the little things to prolong a career. He became a head coach by proxy in Oklahoma City and grew into a solid one. He also had help from three future Hall-of-Famers in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. He also kept Harden on the bench while at OKC, which is.....what? After the Thunder let Brooks go, the Wizards pounced at the opportunity to bring him in as coach. He has made the playoffs in Washington, but there are times when he is overwhelmed due to the lack of "better" talent pairing with Wall and Beal. Again, I still like Scott Brooks.

THE WIZARDS NEED TO SEE A FUTURE WITHOUT WALL AND BEAL

Beal has signed an extension before the season and is committed to playing the rest of his career in Washington, but with the team needing to rebuild, is he in the plans for the future? Wall signed a megamax contract with the Wizards, then suffered injuries that cost him nearly two seasons. The one significant injury is his Achilles'. Usually a career killer for many athletes, for Wall, whose game is based on speed, this is worrisome for a team who should be looking to move the contract to another franchise. I think both men will be in D.C. for a long time.

The Wizards have the young talent there that can develop in Troy Brown, Thomas Bryant and Rui Hachimura. But it will take a while for Washington to contend again in the Eastern Conference.

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