The CSL

Baby It's Cold Outside...


CSL off-season has always been known as one of the most exciting time periods in basketball, as teams are busy creating off-season plans in an attempt to improve the their futures. This was certainly a busy off-season for the Washington Wizards, as they have made a huge blockbuster trade that landed them an all star caliber point guard in Trae Young.

In a massive trade that saw the Wizards sending last year's number one overall pick in Anthony Edwards, last year's second round selection in PJ Thompson, the Detroit Pistons 2030 first round pick along with young stretch big man Killian Tillie in a sign and deal in exchange for Trae Young from the Charlotte Hornets.

Trae "Ice Trae" Young was originally drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, and has been a cornerstone franchise piece for the city of Charlotte since he was drafted. Young averaged around 17 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game, along with a career high 5.8 assist per game. Long known as a sniper from downtown, Young shot a blistering 46% from three on 667 attempts. Young is only 26 years old, and is seemingly a perfect fit next to a relatively young core in Washington.

Young is expected to start along side all star combo guard in Jordan McLaughlin. McLaughlin has long been known as one of the best slasher in the game today, and should mix in very well with Young's long range game. Both guys are very capable ball handlers, and their vastly different style of basketball should create a very exciting backcourt for years to come. The Wizards are projected to have the following starting line up:

Point Guard: Jordan McLaughlin
Shooting Guard: Trae Young
Small Forward: Moses Moody
Power Forward: Isaiah Stewart
Center: Robert Williams

The bench will have a a strong mix of young players, and veterans as well. Guys like Jaden McDaniels, Moses Brown, Duane Notice, Jaylen Nowell, and Ibrahima Fall Faye are all expected to make a leap as they gain another year of experience in the league. In fact, coaches are expecting McDaniels, Brown and Nowell to fight for the starting small forward/power forwards spots heading into the training camp. A strong training camp can see some of these young guys make a leap into the starting lineup.

Meanwhile rookie point guard Jose Alvarado is expected to provide strong backup minutes at the point guard position. Fellow rookies second round draft picks Makur Maker, and Craig Randall II will be spending time with the Wizards D-League affiliate to work on their game. Veteran players such as Myles Turner, and Cheick Diallo should provide quality depth in a very deep big men rotation as well. Meanwhile, the Wizards are expected to sign two more free agents to round out their roster, and hopefully they will be able to land these targets. After years of rebuilding, the Wizards are slowly building up a roster that is getting close to competing for the playoffs. Exciting times are certainly ahead in Washington D.C.

A good defensive SF and a PF away from contention IMO, but Ice Trae makes this team much better. Edwards was kinda clashing with McLaughlin to have the ball on his hands and Trae is a perfect off ball scorer.

IDK how you could get it done financially or even if you could afford his salary, but Justise Winslow would be perfect for your squad. A guy who can legit guard 1-4 is what you need right now, and he's a top-3 defender in the league.

the trade is a clear break in Gary's ''permanent tank mode'' methodology. Is Washington now managed by an impostor?

Marcos_Beck wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 4:17 pm A good defensive SF and a PF away from contention IMO, but Ice Trae makes this team much better. Edwards was kinda clashing with McLaughlin to have the ball on his hands and Trae is a perfect off ball scorer.

IDK how you could get it done financially or even if you could afford his salary, but Justise Winslow would be perfect for your squad. A guy who can legit guard 1-4 is what you need right now, and he's a top-3 defender in the league.

Yeah, we are slowly getting there, but we still got some missing pieces before we can truly compete. We might make more moves on day 30, or we might just wait for internal development, as we do own our picks, and the Trae+J-Mac+R-Will core is is relatively young.

andrei wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 4:29 pm the trade is a clear break in Gary's ''permanent tank mode'' methodology. Is Washington now managed by an impostor?

Hahahaha, we are slowly getting out of the tank mode.

Just my opinion but similar to Taylor in Philly, there's no way you play McLaughlin at the point with this ratings and Trae the better player there.

bt wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 7:04 am Just my opinion but similar to Taylor in Philly, there's no way you play McLaughlin at the point with this ratings and Trae the better player there.

Yeah, the plan is to right Trae at PG, and let McLaughlin play mostly SG. Rotation wise I will have McLaughlin cover some PG minutes at times, and will try to stagger their minutes so at least 1 of them will be on the court at all times.

I love the plan to stagger them so each has a chance to shine. I'm intrigued to see what your clutch time lineup ends up as.

I hope it fails and you trade him to me

Nah, very good trade. I think with this many young players and picks coming up it is a good time to consolidate!

hardenwithnod wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 1:29 pm

bt wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 7:04 am Just my opinion but similar to Taylor in Philly, there's no way you play McLaughlin at the point with this ratings and Trae the better player there.

Yeah, the plan is to right Trae at PG, and let McLaughlin play mostly SG. Rotation wise I will have McLaughlin cover some PG minutes at times, and will try to stagger their minutes so at least 1 of them will be on the court at all times.

That's exactly my plan with Lonzo and Taylor. Imagine each gets 32 minutes, so each rest for 16. When one is resting, the other is playing the point, basically.
That gives me 16 minutes of them together and 16 of each one running the show. And then with lineup trackers, we'll see if they can play together or not because I need them to be good together in the playoffs if we're winning a ring.

I do think Trae and Jordan can and should play a lot together though. Trae is not a ball stopper, and he can easily play off ball at SG.

That's a very intriguing backcourt. A bit of a Wall/Beal NBA Wizards, perhaps?

TheTwoWallaces wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 6:37 pm That's a very intriguing backcourt. A bit of a Wall/Beal NBA Wizards, perhaps?

That's a good comparison!

I love me some Trae, perhaps after day 30? Lol

That backcourt is filthy and Robert Williams is a core center. Let's see how Stewart does, and you have your picks. I think Trae in this engine could go up another gear with McLaughlin beside him.

Getting Trae was a great move.

He's still only 26 which fits with the window of the rest of your team. Not sure Stewart is the long-term answer at PF. He's the biggest question mark for me right now.

blackice wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 11:50 pm That backcourt is filthy and Robert Williams is a core center. Let's see how Stewart does, and you have your picks. I think Trae in this engine could go up another gear with McLaughlin beside him.

That’s what we are hoping!

cb4raptorscb4 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 24, 2023 10:58 am Getting Trae was a great move.

He's still only 26 which fits with the window of the rest of your team. Not sure Stewart is the long-term answer at PF. He's the biggest question mark for me right now.

Yeah, we are hoping that Stewart can improve, and we do like his upside a lot as a low volume rebounder/defender.

I'm not as high on Williams as a lot of other people, but overall, this is a great looking starting lineup, and Trae should be able to accelerate the Wizards' win rate. Young needs to be PG full-time - I wouldn't even bother with him at SG at all.

SF is still the biggest weak spot IMO but you have the arsenal to go and get one

I think Gary's biggest issue might be when it gets to trading those picks to improve. The guy just loves hoarding them and drafting haha.

It's not a case where you need to rush as all your main pieces are 26 or younger, but the Wizards could use some better players at SF and PF for sure. With so many assets, I wonder when you are going to cash in on them to make this team as good as it can be.