Stan Van Gundy says John Wall not good enough for Wizards to build around

The Wizards are unquestionably the worst team in the league this season. At a record of just 4-25, Washington has four fewer wins than the Bobcats team that just finished up an 18-game losing streak.

Things are not only dismal in Washington, but few see any sign that the franchise has even begun to put the pieces in place to begin the long climb to legitimacy.

Go ahead and count Stan Van Gundy among the non-believers.

Appearing on ESPN 980′s The Sports Reporters last week (via Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post), Van Gundy was clear in his assessment — not only does he not see a fit with the current players on the Wizards roster, but he also doesn’t believe that John Wall, whom the team selected with the number one overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, is good enough to build around as a franchise player.

“You know, I don’t see it, to be honest,” Van Gundy said. “I’d love to tell you you’re two years away; I really don’t [see it]. That roster doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I know they’ll be better when John Wall comes back. He’s certainly got talent, but I don’t know that even John Wall is a great player to build your franchise around. I don’t know WHO you’re building around, so it’s tough to even think about what the construction of your team is. That’s just a bad basketball team.”

“I think maybe they thought it was gonna be John Wall – maybe they still think it is. I think there’s a lot of people in the league – I’d certainly be one that would share this opinion – I don’t think John Wall’s good enough to be the guy that you build around. I think he’s got great speed and quickness, but point guard is a decision-making position. That’s what makes you great as a point guard, is your decision-making. I haven’t seen any indication that John Wall is a great decision-maker.”

Not exactly what you want to hear if you’re a Wizards fan.

Wall has yet to play a game this season due to injury, so kicking a guy when he’s down doesn’t necessarily feel all that great here. But he didn’t show marked improvement a season ago, finishing with averages that were either right at or a hair below those of his rookie campaign in nearly every statistical category.

We don’t know if Wall will turn into that cornerstone player once he gets healthy, and it’ll take even longer to evaluate Jan Vesely and Bradley Beal, the team’s two lottery picks that followed. Time will tell, but the start to this season hasn’t been all that encouraging.

With that in mind, the fact that one of the more respected former coaches in the game isn’t a fan of the combination of young talent that’s been compiled so far shouldn’t be much of a surprise.