We checked Google Analytics and found what the top stories were this year.
Happy New Year’s Eve everyone! As the year comes to a close, now is a good time for me to share with you our top stories of 2022. As I do each year, I sometimes use storylines and will do that tomorrow. But today, I will use data from Google Analytics. Let’s go!
No. 1: NBA Draft 2022: Here’s an early mock of the entire first round (Matt Modderno and Osman Baig)
The three biggest times during the NBA season are in February for the trade deadline, June for the draft and July for Free Agency/Summer League. Before the Wizards selected Johnny Davis in the actual draft, Matt, who hosts the Bleav In Wizards Podcast had Osman on as a guest where they did a mock draft for the first round.
Who did the Wizards select in the mock draft? In a coincidence, Johnny Davis, the player whom they actually selected a month later.
No. 2: The Wizards are in talks to trade for Donovan Mitchell (Albert Lee)
The other kind of piece which gets a lot of eyeballs besides mock drafts are trade rumors, even if they don’t happen. Mitchell was ultimately traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Wizards were not the favorites to land him last July. But it’s still interesting to see that they were in the mix.
No. 3: The trade that brought Kristaps Porzingis to D.C. (Albert)
Last February, the Wizards traded Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie to the Dallas Mavericks for Porzingis. The trade brought in a second All-Star as part of a win-now move. But it also acknowledged that signing Dinwiddie to a big contract as the starting point guard was a big mistake, at least for Washington.
No. 4: The Wizards have sabotaged themselves with Bradley Beal’s new contract and no-trade clause (Matt)
Beal signed a five-year, $250 million contract this past summer, which is a supermax deal. Unlike some other players who received such contracts, including former franchise star John Wall, Beal also has a no-trade clause in his contract. That move hampers the Wizards from roster flexibility if the organization wants to move Beal to start a rebuild. That’s because Beal can effectively choose the team he wants next.
No. 5: Wizards acquire Monte Morris and Will Barton from the Nuggets (Albert)
Last summer’s biggest move brought the two former Nuggets to D.C. Morris was expected to be the starting point guard, which hasn’t worked out yet due to a hamstring injury. And in Barton’s case, his production has declined in part because he is coming off the bench. Washington probably brought the two former Nuggets here because they worked with Wes Unseld, Jr. in past seasons.
No. 6: Did the Wizards just give a quarter billion to Monta Ellis? (Kevin Broom)
Kevin is not the clickbaity type of writer some of our past contributors are. Like me? But the title was an exception.
Anyway, this piece was meant to show Beal’s statistical doppelgängers were after his 2021-22 season. The top comparison was Gilbert Arenas in …….. 2009-10. You know, that year when Washington traded a high draft pick for Mike Miller and Randy Foye? And when that …. incident happened?
OUCH!
No. 7: Wizards draft Johnny Davis No. 10 overall (Albert)
The Wisconsin guard was Washington’s top draft selection. He is averaging 1.1 games in 10 games this season. At the moment, Davis has been on assignment with the Capital City Go-Go where he is averaging 11.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in 14 appearances.
No. 8: The Wizards were interested in trading for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, among others (Matt)
Of the players whom Matt mentioned in this piece, I was most intrigued by Gilgeous-Alexander.
No. 9: The KD2DC thing never dies, does it? (Albert)
Last offseason, it appeared that the Brooklyn Nets were ready to start a rebuild, though that didn’t end up happening. And if DMV native Kevin Durant is on any team NOT named the Wizards, you know that somehow, someway, he’ll be in the rumor mill!
No. 10: The Stumbling Wizards are bumbling into a big mistake (Kevin)
A Broom sweep by the Broommaster. In this piece, which was written in late January, Kevin gave a midseason analysis on the players who were more productive than Beal and the teams more productive than the Wizards. And if you were wondering what Kevin was referring to with the “big mistake,” it was the then-rumor of the Wizards trying to sign Beal to his current supermax deal.
I have some more Top-10s and content to wrap up 2022 over the rest of the long weekend. Thanks again to everyone for reading our content and commenting on our content all year long! We look forward to doing it again in 2023!