Washington Wizards Blog

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 9, 2008 at 9:19 AM

After missing his Denver workout yesterday, Ty Lawson will attend today’s workout.

Comment from Reuben
Time June 9, 2008 at 9:34 AM

sportzwiz has the wizards organization so far really liked any player or disliked any player (that has worked out with us or not)

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 9, 2008 at 9:41 AM

Reuben, that’s just so tough to say. First off I missed Friday’s workouts so I can’t tell you anything about those guys.

And when we get to watch workouts its about 5-10 minutes with the players doing athletic drills and nobody from the team speaks about the players, all we get to hear is how the players thought they did.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 9, 2008 at 11:56 AM

Just got back from the workouts, videos coming. We didn’t get to see any scrimmaging because Ty Lawson turned his ankle and sat out the end of practice. Any questions please let me know.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 9, 2008 at 11:59 AM

not only do the wizards need 2 look for players 2 draft, but they also need 2 be looking at free agency……with mike dantoni going 2 be coaching the knicks, larry brown coaching the ‘cats, and jerry sloan coaching the bucks, the east is looking like its gonna have some major changes over the offseason and is looking like its gonna shift to being the powerhouse conference of the NBA….teams have become successful in their season by picking up players in the free agency market.
Some starters that would help the wiz team: Josh Smith: qualifying offer of 3.16 mil…..would make the Hawks less of a threat. Smith would work out for the wiz because hes young but very good at defense…..i think he could work out in our starting lineup by having arenas at pg, butler at sg, smith at sf, jamison at pf, and haywood at c…..or we could have stevenson start and have smith be a sixth man (that would really bring depth 2 our bench!).
Another starter that is gonna be a free agent is Emeka Okafor: made 7 mil in 2007-2008.…..if wizards willing 2 sign him during free agency and possibly pay a little luxury tax (I mean some of the best teams have 2 pay a little in luxury tax) then he could really help defensively…..something coach EJ has been stressing the past few years.
Other possibilities: Earl Boykins- only offered 500k for 07-08.……if we got rid of D-MAC……we would be set at the guard positions………then we could draft a forward

Or sign daniel gibson who made 600k

JR smith- set 2 make 2 mil with a qualifying offer……if we offered him close to 3 mil…..he is a raw prospect that is pretty good offensively, and is only 23

Monta ellis is also available (young and is offensive oriented)

Ryan gomes- salary is only 700k….hes good on the perimeter and is improving defensively

Carlos arroyo is available but with daniels already backing up arenas vise-versa he wouldn’t see a lot of minutes, and plus he make 4 mil a year

Maurice evans- player only make 1.5 mil and he has proven 2 be a good shooter

now some of yall might be saying that these players cost too much or would not fit on the wizards because every1 seems 2 have a role on the team, but seriously u gotta think about the big picture: if u got a team like charlotte or atlanta who offer their players said ammount of money when theyre free agents but u can offer them the same amount or more AND THEYRE WORTH IT…….shouldnt u do it? of course! now im not saying go all crazy signing players with big contracts who dont even deserve it (cough cough New York Knicks cough cough), but come on, most of the good teams like Boston, the Lakers, San Antonio, the Rockets, etc pay a little in luxury tax……Grunfield shouldnt worry about paying A LITTLE luxury tax money, if it means were getting a player that could help the wiz become a championship contender.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 9, 2008 at 12:00 PM

oh yeah sorry for the like 20 page essay lol

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 9, 2008 at 12:03 PM

oh yeah this is just a thought………..anybody else think arenas should play shooting guard and we somehow get a good point guard like a rondo, marcus williams, tj ford, etc caliber player 2 play the point instead of arenas? i mean arenas doesnt really seem 2 have the pg mentallity…..he has the sg mentallity…..now i know some of yall may think arenas isnt big enough for the sg position, but look at d-wade and ben gordon: their both only 6′4 and 6′5 respectively and they both do a pretty dang good job at sg…..and some of yall may think: the wiz cant afford a pg of that calliber, but hey, its just a thought…..tell me what yall think

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 9, 2008 at 12:47 PM

Wizfan4life — Great to see you back on here..but i have got to say if we get Josh Smith we would have to let either Gilbert or Jamison go. On another hand Daniel Gibson would be great if and only if we lose Roger.

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 9, 2008 at 1:01 PM

Wizfan4life — Jerry Sloan with the Bucks? When did this go down. Defenitly not going to bbe the powerhouse conference. Even if we have the coaches we dont have the better players in this league. A coach can be a great coach but with out good players he’s no good.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 9, 2008 at 1:58 PM

Wiz-skins: Josh Smith has a qualifying offer of only 3 mil…….thats about 1.5 mil more than what mason is gonna wanna resign for…….i think if eddie jordan, arenas, jamison, etc take josh smith for “a night on the town, u know; show him dc, all the attractions, by him a $500 meal etc (kinda like what the bulls did with ben wallace, but in this case different because we would try 2 get smith 2 sign for less money) and really show him that we would be great with him……and i personally think we could keep arenas and jamison AND mason if we signed smith…..2 do so we would have 2 let go songaila and/or d-mac……..if we did so then by getting smith we would still have enough forwards, we would just then have 2 draft a forward in the draft………oh yeah my bad i meant 2 say scott skiles i dunno what i was thinking with sloan lol…….but teams like charlotte, ny, the bulls, and the bucks all have pretty good players and some depth in their bench, their problems have been revolved around injuries and bad coaching…….and i still think we could sign gibson if we wanted because we would show him that were just as good as cleveland (the playoffs the past 3 years have just been flukes), and that his minutes would significantly increase in a few years when daniels starts 2 wear down……….the same with smith for jamisons case (i just pray 2 god daniels and jamison dont wear down for at least another five+ years)

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 9, 2008 at 2:00 PM

and come on what about okafor anybody??? i bet this guy would like 2 leave charlotte because his team hasnt gotten anywhere in his time their and i bet he would like 2 test his abilities in the free agency…….he would be a great asset for the wizards on the defensive end if the wizards attempted 2 sign him……..only problem is we would have 2 find ways 2 get rid of players like thomas or songaila or d-mac…..even though i heard thomas and songaila have large buyouts in their contracts

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 9, 2008 at 2:06 PM

wizfan4life…. Josh Smith will get at least 10 mill a year from somebody that 3 million is only available to the Hawks not everyone.

Okafor will also command around 10 million dollars per year. There’s just no way you can get either of those guys and keep gil and tawn.

Comment from rgz
Time June 9, 2008 at 2:53 PM

As for Roger Mason, I believe he was offered a deal worth over $1M a year by the Spurs last year. Which he nixed in favor of a much smaller contract to stay for another year with the Wizards. So thinking that he wants only $1.5M a year is probably underestimating his value on the market.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 9, 2008 at 3:00 PM

sportswiz……yeah thats probably whats gonna happen but we could trade songaila or d-mac or thomas or young or daniels or a combo of them, receieve a player who makes about 1.5 mil a year and then sign smith or okafor and draft a good player, THEN we could get one of those players; but i dont see that as an option so i agree with u that theres almost no way we could keep gil and antawn by doing that scenario……….hey isnt ben gordon a free agent? he would probably look 2 want 10 mil like them anyway, but he would be great for our bench

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 9, 2008 at 3:02 PM

yea gordon would want around 8-10 mill a year. The problem with your first scenario is that you need to trade players that make the same amount of money. So you cant lose 11 mill dollars in cap by trading Darius and Etan for a player that makes 1.5 mill a year.

That’s why expiring contracts are seen as so valuable because you can trade away a player or acquire somebody that will give u upcoming cap relief. It’s the only reason why memphis made the gasol for kwame move.

Comment from John50
Time June 9, 2008 at 3:29 PM

Bucks….I thought Scott Stiles was coach of the bucks??? He was hired in APRIL/MAY???

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 9, 2008 at 3:32 PM

You are correct John, scott skiles is the coach of the Bucks and it looks like Vinny Del Negro wiill be the new coach of the Suns

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 9, 2008 at 3:42 PM

Players coming in for Tuesday workouts –
Mario Chalmers – Kansas
Rodrigue Beaubois – France
Richard Hendrix – Alabama
Charles Rhodes – Miss. State
Chris Douglas Roberts – Memphis
Courtney Lee – Western Kentucky

Comment from Bridge
Time June 9, 2008 at 3:55 PM

Wizfan4life –

I think that we would all love to have a bloggers party thrown, but I just don’t know if that’s gonna happen…

I totally agree about Gil being SG; we DO need a PG (in my opinion) and if anyone, I would love to see us get Ramon Session because he has GREAT judgment…To make that many assists shows that someone has great judgment (knowing who to get that ball to, to score). He’s only at about $400 thou – I think that the only problem would be with the Bucks management; I don’t think that they’ll be trying to lose someone like Sessions…

I would also love Alonzo Mourning for a vet C if that were possible. According to him, he’ll like to return for one more season, but I doubt that this is true once he gets his feet wet again – he loves the game too much…
Great to see you back John50!

Comment from John50
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:05 PM

Sportzwiz,

Vinny is considered for Bulls. Terry P. for Suns.

Hi Bridge!

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:12 PM

my bad, your right John.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:12 PM

Sorry, Josh Smith isn’t all that good. If I wanted someone off that team it would be Childress. I’m not suggesting that he is available; I’m sure he isn’t.

Teams that don’t pay luxury tax not only save money, but they also split the luxury tax money that other teams pay. We aren’t going to be paying any luxury tax.

For one thing, Ernie doesn’t decide, the owner does. For another, the only kind of player who could make us *really* better is a premier big man, and there aren’t any available. If we didn’t join the fray for Kevin Garnett last year, do you really think we’re going to pursue someone less good this year?

Comment from Bridge
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:21 PM

They all connected in some odd way – this whole Bulls and Suns situation. I think that that’s why D’antoni didn’t want to be apart of Bulls management, which was smart for him (I think).

Speaking of the Bulls, please don’t bring up Ben Gordon as a Wiz – that’s just too damn appealing for me (I’m also a Bulls fan). I just wouldn’t doubt that BG would turn down being a Wizard for some odd reason – just a feeling regardless of money (even with the whole turning down that contract thing), but that would mean some changes. I’ve always rallied for this team to say together, so please, don’t tempt me with BG…I can’t help that I’m a fan alright…

Comment from Bridge
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:22 PM

^Meant to say “stay together”…

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:23 PM

I liked it a lot, 2 years ago, when Glenn Consor observed the workouts and gave us his take on the prospects.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:24 PM

No video of Lawson, and none of Othello Hunter either. Of these guys, only Lawson is likely to go in round 1, w/ White as a just maybe. Tomorrow’s group is more interesting.

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:35 PM

ESPN Mock Draft 4.0 — Im NOT liking this guys mock draft all that much. He has oy Hibbert and Ty Lawson available to us and we pass. What is this guys smoking. I guess its true when people say dont pay attention to mock draft’s, because that not what the GM’s and Coaches are thinking. I bet EG and EJ aren’t think the same way we are right now.

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:37 PM

ESPN Mock Draft 4.0 — Sorry the first link wasnt working for some reason.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:37 PM

Lawson was injured before we were allowed in. Hunter is in one of the two videos as he did not participate in the other one.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 9, 2008 at 4:38 PM

We are hoping to get Glenn Consor so he can talk us through the process but he will not be avaliable to talk about the workouts. Again what we see is so minimal it’s hard to have a take on the guys.

Comment from Reuben
Time June 9, 2008 at 5:22 PM

Tommorows group looks very good. There are 3 very good players it is probably the best group of players so far(no offense to the other guys)

Comment from FLOYDBT
Time June 9, 2008 at 7:42 PM

I would love to see emeka okafor or josh smith in a wiz uni but most likely not gona happen. But the pistons seen to be ready to off load a couple of players and I would look to trade for tayshaun prince or jason maxiell. Heck why not both, sign and trade jamison,the memphis pick and Pech for prince and maxiell…
LINE UP- “I love doing these lol”
PG)Gilbert,AD,Mason
SG)Caron,Deshawn,Nick young
SF)Tayshaun,andray,Dmac,and play caron here sometimes
PF)Andray or Maxiell,Andray or Maxiell,Darius
C)Brendan,Etan,Andray,Maxiell

Comment from Bridge
Time June 9, 2008 at 11:05 PM

Got some breaking news from ESPN that Gil opted out of his contract already…

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 9, 2008 at 11:20 PM

FLOYDBT, though i think it would be nice 2 see maxiell or prince in a wizards uniform……..trading jamison would never be a good option……for one he is in his prime, 2nd he means 2 much 2 the wizards…..arenas said he would be gone if they didnt keep jamison…….so that would just be a mess if we got rid of him, and i would never wanna get rid of jamison anyways….well at least not until hes about to retire……and if we were gonna try and get someone from the pistons, it would make more sense 2 go after RIP or Sheed because Rip played with caron at uconn and Sheed played with jamison at unc…….plus they have both played in dc during their careers, so the fan base would be good for them……..i think the wizards current problem is their lack of verterns on their bench…….u got daniels, etan, and songaila……and only daniels has played 9+ years in the league…….so i think we need 2 look 2 get rid of young, d-mac, etan somehow, or songaila or a combination of them……and try and get some veterns on the team……preferably someone who has played for a top notch team…….or even try and get young talent, but at the same time is skilled talent if that makes sense

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 9, 2008 at 11:21 PM

oh yeah forget what i said about that previous statement for one second and lets talk about draft: do yall think we should look 2 give away our pick and some players for a good player in the league??

Comment from BruceO
Time June 10, 2008 at 1:52 AM

wait did I read it correctly? Tom you think Josh Smith isn’t good? lol This guy could guard either of our forwards effectively and still put up points, boards and blocks, check the records. He’s also gotten consideration for defensive player of the year, but thats mostly due to Blocks.
Against WAS ( 4 games started 4 ) 38.5 mpg 0.557 FG% 0.364 3P% 0.594FT% 2.0OFF 6.8DEff 8.8REB 2.8APG 1.2SPG 2.8BPG 22.8 pts

Comment from Phemy
Time June 10, 2008 at 2:16 AM

….my only wish would be to keep our big three, and please god let nick step up “some” levels…then we’re fine!

(still don’t know nothing about drafting, so ill keep the speculating up to you guys)
greetz,
Phemy

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 10, 2008 at 7:18 AM

No, that’s not what I said, BruceO. I didn’t say he “isn’t good.”

Josh Smith is a nice player, but he is not some kind of star. He’s not worth chasing, and he sure isn’t anywhere near the player Jamison is. It’s not even close.

It’s academic, anyway. Josh Smith is part of Atlanta’s young core; they aren’t going to let him go.

Btw, the rebounding rate you quote above is BELOW AVERAGE for an NBA 4. The same stats show him at less than 60% from the line, and I notice you leave out turnovers. I don’t mean to knock him. As I said, he is a nice player. Just not a star.

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 10, 2008 at 8:13 AM

Guys — Personally I think the prsopects we got coming in todaqy will be bigger news that Arenas Opting Out — He’s gonna be back. Altought I may not see it as very neccessary. I wonder how much value this package would have — sign and trade Arenas w/Blatche and the 1st Rounder. Again just a thought. That just isnt going to happen. I just dont want this to be another Juwan Howard situation that could potentially end up killing us in the long-run. Josh Smith is going to want about 10 mil a season, the ONLY way we get him is if we cant sign Arenas which also means that we werent able to sign Jamison.

Comment from Bridge
Time June 10, 2008 at 8:25 AM

Wiz-skins –

Even I would like to fully believe that Gil would be back, but none of us could really say – is how I see it. First it was said that he’ll opt out on the 30th, then the 20th, but it ended up happening on the 6th. Some crazy things can still happen; we should all be kinda careful what we wish for…

Also, I wouldn’t know about Sheed because I heard (won’t say from where or whom) that he’ll be retiring some time soon – that team (in my opinion) is pretty much revolved around him, so maybe this could be their reason for the “changes” set to take place…

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 10, 2008 at 8:26 AM

The thing about Josh Smith to me is his versatility. He really can play anywhere from the 2 to the 4. But I would agree it is academic, he’s not going anywhere.

As for the Gil infromation, I agree with wiz-skins it’s not that big of a deal we knew he was going to opt out but I would definitely say we are the leaders to sign him.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 10, 2008 at 8:52 AM

If you want to think about free agents, think *bench* and think *defense* — this is specially important if Gil does come back (Gil doesn’t do defense).

Comment from TED_ROSEVELT
Time June 21, 2008 at 12:49 PM

for draft the washington Wizards need to sit back and look for trades we all ready got the team together in what we need but we still need a big guard someone who can play D” and work good with Gill someone hungrey for a Chapionship ……

Comment from TED_ROSEVELT
Time June 21, 2008 at 12:59 PM

LARRY HUGHES FOR DESHAWN STEVENSON OR SOME BIG GUARD OUT THERE OR IN THE DRAFT WE ALL READY HAVE THE BIG THREE NOW WE NEED SOMEONE WHO PLAYS D “