[Daprob89Participant]

Could Andray Blatche possibly be the wizards franchise player?

Since trade( 6 games) 25pts 11.1rebs

[M-DYMESParticipant]

I think he could be a potential All-star if he picks it up on the Defensive end and adds on some weight. He’s a great scorer and is boarding alot better but he is still a bit of a liability on the defensive end. I could see him developing into a top 5 C though since the position has become pretty weak behind Howard.

[quinceyhodges]

i like his potential. i think the center position is stronger then you think though
perkins
bynum
brook lopez
roy bibbert
howard
hortford
noah

i think thats a pretty good list there. they may not all score a bunch of points but they can either rebound very well. defend well or block shots. and most are still pretty young. and they all could get you at least 15 on a given night while not being the focalpoint and in some cases not even the secondoption on there team

[quinceyhodges]

i forgot about bogut, kaman,mark gasol,nene and yao when he comes back. and doen if he doesnt get hurt while getting out of his car

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

He’s a talent, especially offensively. There’s not much he can’t do on the offensive end. He’s tough to defend because of his size and versatility. I even think he could be a very good defender once he focuses at that end.

It’s pre-mature to even mention him and franchise player in the same sentence though. He hasn’t even been a starter for a month. He should have the starting four or five spot on lock next season, so we’ll be able to tell a lot more about the kind of player he can become.

The Wizards could have their frontcourt of the future though in Blatche and McGee. McGee is still raw, but I think he has a lot of potential. I think he could be a more athletic and offensive minded Marcus Camby type of player.

[M-DYMESParticipant]

perkins
bynum
brook lopez
roy bibbert
howard
hortford
noah

I think if he improve defensively and adds weight he can be better than Perkins, Hibbert, Noah, Kaman, Gasol and possibly Nene. I really think Nene is underrated though, he is very good when healthy. If he improves on D and adds some size I think his offensive ability puts him ahead of alot of those guys. Howard, Horford, Lopez and probably Bynum will be ahead of him. I think Yao is going to be done fairly soon. 7’6″ is great but it really is tough to stay on the floor for 82 games + Playoffs. I think Oden and Yao are going to be great when healthy, but they will suffer injuries every year.

[blackflash234Participant]

He’s a power forward that sometimes plays center.

[kurtu17Participant]

your not a franchise player untill you lead your team in the play offs and win a bunch of games…but im rootin for this kid cuz i believe he can lead this team in a couple years and i know hell get the chance to if he can continue this level for the rest of the season….the worst case senerio this guy will be boarderline allstar every year until his career is over…but i do think this guy will be a notch below being a franchise player…. i just hope this guy can develop on the defensive end

[quinceyhodges]

i agree with you on that dymes. i also think hes more of a pf. plus id need to see him do all this while he has good players on a winning team you know. to see if this is just window dressing

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I too think he’s more suited for the four. That’s his true position and I think he should be stacked up against other four men.

A lot remains to be seen from him (work ethic, attitude, leadership, consistency, etc), but I think he COULD be one of the best power forwards if he can put it all together. There aren’t too many 6′ 11″ 240 lb big men that can do what he can on offense.

[GoodbyeChandlerParticipant]

hes too much of a ball hog to be a franchise player

[kurtu17Participant]

so who do you want him to pass it too nobody on his team is a threat to hit 20 points every single night..maybe thorton but still there doin better then expected after the trade let them just play the way there playing until the season is over..

[quinceyhodges]

i agree. not amny options to pass to. just like zach randolph when was with the knicks and the clippers and portland. he was the best option so he should be taking the most shots

[kurtu17Participant]

plus its there doin alot better with him scoring its not like his is harmin the team in any way

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

Could Andray Blatche possibly be the wizards franchise player?

Not if they want to be any good. There is not a shortage of NBA players who can put up numbers if made a go-to guy. Make no mistake, there is a reason every coach Washington has had since Blatche has been in the league has always had him behind Jamison and Haywood. He isn’t that good. If Andray Blatche, Randy Foye, and Al Thornton are the best players on a team, they’ll put up good numbers. There is a reason Foye and Thornton were lottery picks, and Blatche was able to get drafted out of high school. And to be fair, they play hard, but they aren’t stars. It is these kinds of situations that has gotten Mike Dunleavy, Andrei Kirilenko, Larry Hughes, Troy Murphy, and Bobby Simmons star-like contracts. Luckily for Washington, they already extended Blatche to backup money for a few years.

[kurtu17Participant]

maybe a guard would put up good numbers if he was given time…but not a player who is in the post…theres not many big guys in the league that can even put 20 and 10 in three games not to mention since for 6 or perhaps the rest of the season which im sure he will produce…this guy has moves theres nobody setting him up for those baskets…and if wizards were smart they would have gave this guy some time he should have atleast gotten 30 min a game of the bench…cuz everyone knew he had talent they never gave him a chance…if there a contender hell be a great number 2 option especially if they have another densive big man and a permiter guy that can score…but if he is there number one option they can still be a 5-8 seed playoff team for years to come

[KevinDurantRocksParticipant]

A pf or center? idk sorry

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

What are you talking about? You are wrong. Eddy Curry averaged 20-8 for a season. In Seattle, Chris Wilcox would have a month or two in a season where he’d go on crazy runs where he’d average 15-10. Yao Ming gets hurt, and both Luis Scola and Carl Landry have career years. Kevin Garnett was out for the playoffs and Big Baby put it on the Bulls to the tune of 19-8 per. Hakim Warrick averaged 16-7 after Pau got traded a couple years back in Memphis. Right now, you are seeing it from David Lee and Kevin Love putting up monsterously empty numbers on brutal teams. Drew Gooden just got dealt to the Clippers to replace Camby, and he is going to put up fat numbers now that he is playing 30+ minutes and getting touches. It happens all the time. It doesn’t matter how bad a team may be, somebody is going to put up numbers. Even the worst team is going to score 85 and pull down 40 rebounds in a game.

[KevinDurantRocksParticipant]

does he have what it takes to be the franchise player with this opportunity

[kurtu17Participant]

still all those number are not as good as 26 and 11…plus most of those guys had good pg,had no post moves, or couldnt rebound…blatch is goin to be ask to produce like this for the rest of the season….those guys werent besides curry….and you know curry had weight issues and his coaches didnt really like him exept thomas…and this guy so far is winning games for his ball club in the last couple weeks…so thats the diff

[kurtu17Participant]

i think he is better suited for second option if your talkin bout a boarderline contender in the east….or maybe a level below Chris bosh…somethin like that if his team invests in him…but we will see at the end of this year..im just goin off wat i think..nuthin is for sure but i think he has a real chance to be really really good

[quinceyhodges]

i can see a couple of other big guys who would put up those numbers on that wi team. i mean they are stripped down. there top 4 scorers are gone.

[Adi Joseph]

There’s never been a "franchise player" who didn’t start by the midway point of their fifth season in the league, high schooler or not. I think Blatche could be a good starter. But he’s not going to be a franchise player.

Even in its loosest definition, franchise player implies one of the 30-40 best players in the league. I don’t see Blatche ever getting to that level, and I also don’t define franchise player that loosely. I would say there are no more than 20 franchise players in the NBA right now, even as the league has as many stars as it has ever had, arguably.

[SlimParticipant]

to me franchise player implies superstar
offense as well as the ability to affect the game consistently on defense

“face of the franchise” is different though especially on losing teams

[JNixonParticipant]

Andray Blatche is an offensively gifted player with good size. He’s a PF not a C. He’s not franchise player at all, and he’s better suited as a 2nd or even 3rd option on a championship squad in the future. He doesn’t defend and is very soft on that end. That will always hinder him too. He also doesn’t play very physical and you can see it in the way he shies from contact on his drives to the rim and when making post moves.

I think Blatche and McGee will be a great frontline in the future though. Both compliment each other well, because for the lack of defense Blatche plays, McGee will be right there for weakside shot-blocking, something he excels at. McGee has some nice offensive skills too and is more physical than Blatche. I like Washington’s future, especially that frontline

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

“still all those number are not as good as 26 and 11…plus most of those guys had good pg,had no post moves, or couldnt rebound…blatch is goin to be ask to produce like this for the rest of the season….those guys werent besides curry….and you know curry had weight issues and his coaches didnt really like him exept thomas…and this guy so far is winning games for his ball club in the last couple weeks…so thats the diff”

It is funny because you not only want to allow for the smallest of sample sizes (two weeks) to extrapolate out how good Blatche is, but also dismiss everyone else who has done the same thing over bigger samples because of the point guard? Isn’t Randy Foye averaging 15-8 over the past few games? How is he not a good point guard? You dismiss that Big Baby Davis put up comparable numbers IN THE PLAYOFFS. Carl Landry almost doubles his career average in points per when Yao misses a year, and you make it sound like this is somehow different.

Also, winning? They are 3-3 in their past six games, and lost to the awful no good Knicks. They lost to the choking like a chicken bone Grizzlies. They beat a Bulls team that has Joakim Noah trying to trot himself out there on one foot. Are you going to be impressed if they beat the Nets today? Oh man, they can be a contender if they keep beating the Nets.

[quinceyhodges]

^lol

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