So now that Eddie Jordan has been fired and replaced by Ed Tapscott, what happens in terms of fantasy?
Well, it depends on which direction the team is going to go now and the job security of Ed Tapscott and General Manager Ernie Grunfeld.
For example, if the Wizards are hoping to recover from their 1-10 start and still make a push for the playoffs, then they may still play their veterans a great deal and try to get Gilbert Arenas and even Brendan Haywood back as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if they decide to forgo a playoff push, then we may not see Arenas for a while longer and may not see Haywood on the court at all this year. This later scenario may come true if things do not turn around very fast.
For now- here is some speculation on what may happen to some other players on the Wizards roster:
Dominic McGuire- one could argue he is the Wizards best defensive player, and he is young, perhaps he will be in line for more minutes under Tapscott.
Oleksiy Pecherov- perhaps he will get a little more playing time as well, though not sure who's minutes he would replace other than perhaps Darius Songaila.
Darius Songaila- minutes may go down further if the youth movement is served as he is better served getting minutes on a good team- he's a decent but not great veteran from whom you know what you are going to get.
Antonio Daniels- may only play out of position neccessity if Wizards go young but may loose minutes to Dee Brown.
Dee Brown- he's still young and fast, has not shown much since becoming the starter at point guard recently but may get some opportunities.
JeVale McGee- his value could rise even more if the Wizards cannot improve their record soon as he has shown some great flashes of ability in limited minutes as a rookie so far. He should stay in the starting lineup for a while either way has he has been their best center so far this season.
Nick Young- has been scoring at a good clip off the bench so far this season. If the Wizards continue to struggle and they decide to go young he might crack the starting lineup in favor of someone like DeShawn Stevenson.
DeShawn Stevenson- he's kind of fits that Songaila/Daniels mode of decent role player/glue guy on a good team but may loose minutes and even his starting role if the Wizards continue to loose.
Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler should still continue to be the focal points of the team no matter what happens, but if a nagging injury developes for either one of them they may miss more games than they normally would if the Wizards cannot turn things around.
Etan Thomas- see Stevenson/Sogaila/Daniels.
Andray Blatche and Juan Dixon will probably have similar roles under Tapscott unless Blatche can show more consistant play, though Dixon could eventually see less time as he is another veteran bench guy.
We'll see what happens as the Ed Tapscott Era begins Tuesday night at home versus the Golden State Warriors.
Posted by Brian Fraze at 11/24/2008 12:22:00 PM |
