Washington Wizards Blog

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 16, 2008 at 9:27 AM

Well, the only guy’s name I can recognize is Devon Hardin. He’s supposed to be Top 10. I think he is being considered a project. I was wondering how many of guys would be interested in him if he feel to us. Who would you choose: Hibbert vs. Hardin. Some on in the other thread mentioned about the freakismly big athletes, and the solid slow ones. As of right now i would take the solid one. It just isnt working out for us with Blatche. However if there was someone coming out like Amare Stoudemire it’d be a whole different story.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 9:32 AM

Sasha Kaun is an interesting prospect for the end of round 2. He played very well in the Tournament this year.

Lofton was injured and sort of fell off the radar. The Wages of Win guys are very high on him. It’ll be interesting to see the videos.

Hardin is projected all over the map. He has an nba body, as they say.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 9:35 AM

Lofton wasn’t just injured, as i mentioned in the other thread he was recovering from Cancer and didn’t tell anyone or make it an excuse. i can’t believe that didn’t come out until after the season.

As a junior he outdueled Kevin Durant in what to me was the best game of the year scoring 35 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to lead the Vols to a 111-105 win.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 9:37 AM

Here is an article on Lofton and what he went through.

Comment from dmac
Time June 16, 2008 at 10:04 AM

Lofton is a Chris Whitney type player who can fill it up from 3 point land.
Devon has a NBA body similar to superman down in orlando. has potential but is hard to figure out if he is really willing to put the work in to be great. he is a better project prospect than peter ramos.
I like sasha kaun. He could possibly be a good backup in the league. smart player.
If Folarin Campbell can play defense at the 2 he could get chance to stick in the league.
He is a team player who sacrificed his scoring ability at george mason to spread the ball around.

Comment from rgz
Time June 16, 2008 at 10:20 AM

Were the Wizards present at the 17-team/24-prospect workouts held by the Golden State Warriors?

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 10:24 AM

rgz i do not know, but I will see if I can find out.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 11:54 AM

workout just ended, videos coming. We got to see one possession, and I caught the tail end but Campbell hits a jumper to win it for the team in black which consisted of Campbell, Hardin and Samardziski

Comment from popcornkid
Time June 16, 2008 at 1:26 PM

Wiz should be looking to trade Gil for Elton Brand and Pietrus…

Comment from popcornkid
Time June 16, 2008 at 1:26 PM

Sign and trade of course

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 1:47 PM

brand and pietrus play on different teams…

Comment from popcornkid
Time June 16, 2008 at 2:06 PM

Pietrus and Davis

Or

Brand

Or

Just offer Posey more money than the Celts will

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 2:15 PM

popcornkid the problem with posey is he will probably ask for mid-level and if you want to keep aj and gil or get two big names than you wont have the money or you’ll be crossing over the luxury line and i doubt they would do that for him.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:01 PM

The Celtics will sign Posey, no doubt about it — and eddie house too.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:06 PM

Right, Lofton has come back from cancer; all the way back, one hopes — for reasons much more important than the draft or basketball.

The Macedonian kid looked good in the backboard tap drill, and so did Kaun. Campbell got up in the other drill.

I don’t know whether Hardin has the athleticism of Dwight Howard, exactly — that’s a stretch — but he can be very good.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:12 PM

here are some possible scenarios that i think would be great for the wizards:

1. obviously resign both arenas and jamison, and mason if he doesnt ask for alot and we can afford him

2. try and get ben gordon on the team or possibly emeka okafor. heres why: they both played with cb3 at uconn and both have proven 2 be great nba players and are both not even 27 years old yet. ben gordon would be a great asset because he could play the 1 or 2 position if we needed him to, has great energy coming off the bench and can shoot! now while emeka may only average about 11 points a game, he is a bonafide defender and is young and will only get better; hes not even in his prime yet and he already averages 11 rebounds and almost 2 blocks a game; 2 me hes like a couple steps down from being dwight howard minus the ability 2 score……now i know these are nearly impossible for the wizards because we couldnt afford them, but once one of them signs we could trade them for songaila, and thomas who together would almost equal 10 mil, which is what both of emeka and BG are looking 2 sign for….

2. make a trade for jerry stackhouse…..trade like daniels for him with d-mac….Jerry stack played ball at unc with haywood and jamison, with that factor, his ability shoot outside shots and defend, and his veteran experience would make him a great fit for the wiz

3. if 1 and 2 dont happen which theres a 99.99% chance they arent gonna happent, then try and sign darius miles; hes a great defender and would be good backing up butler at the 3……again only way we could get him is 2 trade away one of our players with a high salary like thomas, daniels, songaila, etc

4. try and get ryan gomes by, again, trade.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:15 PM

Some big changes — Ty Lawson is going back to school, and so are Chase Budinger, Jeremy Pargo, and Lester Hudson. Complete info here.

This will definitely impact who is available to us at 47. I’m sure DraftExpress will produce a new mock draft some time today/tomorrow.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:22 PM

W4L — wow, I don’t like *any* of those trades, although of course it would be nice to have Emeka Okafor, and Gomes is an ok player.

Ben Gordon is *not* as good as people used to think he was. Jerry Stackhouse was *never* all that good, and he’s certainly pretty much through. Darius Miles is a bad citizen, a repeated under-achiever, and wanted by no one.

Getting rid of Daniels would be a huge mistake — he is one of our very best players. Dmac costs next to nothing, improved steadily over his rookie season, and has tons of upside left. Why ever would you trade him?

Back to the idea of Okafor — what would make you think Charlotte would take Thomas and Songaila for Okafor? Whatever would be their reason to do that? Would you make that trade? Remember, GMs don’t trade a solution for a problem. They trade a problem for a problem, or a solution for a solution.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:22 PM

I would Pargo’s not a shock. Hudson and Budinger are for sure surprises and Lawson somewhat is.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:28 PM

sorry I would say Pargo’s not a shock.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:29 PM

Hudson wants to get a degree, which is smart for him long-term. He figures that if he is going to be drafted in the 2d round, he is unlikely to hurt his stock by staying in school. Those are pretty mature decisions. My only concern is his age; he will be an old draft choice next year. Still, if he puts up numbers equivalent to this year’s, he will have a shot at the first round. I would have liked to see him on our team.

Budinger I don’t know; he was likely to be drafted after 18, so it doesn’t affect who’ll be available to us at that choice (ditto Lawson on that count).

People were saying that Ty Lawson had a promise from Denver at 20; I guess that wasn’t the case.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:31 PM

SportsWiz — did you ever find out if any Wizards folks were at that big workout on the West Coast?

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:35 PM

I think the last couple weeks of the “hip injury”, the ankle injury and hte legal situation was what kept Lawson out.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:38 PM

I’ve asked around and i havent gotten an answer

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 16, 2008 at 4:41 PM

Again I dont know if they went out there or not but I can understand if they didn’t. They brought in a good handfull of these guys and again this is a long scouting process, I doubt one workout/game makes or breaks whether the Wizards take someone. But for instance Speights, Lee, CDR, Hardin, Jason Thompson have all been brought in already.

And a good handful of these guys were at the pre-draft camp like Dorsey, Forbes, Giddens, Weaver. So if they didn’t go I could understand why.

HOWEVER I WILL STATE ONCE AGAIN I HAVE NOT HEARD EITHER WAY

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 5:54 PM

As you say, we are no doubt beyond the make-or-break stage; who knows, if Ernie and the staff have a fix on a “sleeper” they may prefer *not* to bring him in or even go to a mass workout where he is participating.

As expected, DraftExpress has posted a new mock. They continue to project Darrell Arthur to us — which I don’t believe for a minute — leaving Batum, Speights, Hibbert and Chalmers on the board. In the 2d round, they now project JR Giddens to us, leaving Kyle Weaver, George Hill, Shan Foster, Sasha Kaun, and Darnell Jackson (who worked out for us a while back) on the board.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 6:01 PM

Interesting interview with Reggie Williams, who has led the ncaa in scoring the last two years, playing at VMI. For one thing, he seems a very focused, intelligent individual — that’s what it takes to succeed in the NBA too.

DraftExpress doesn’t project him at all, and nbadraft.net has him late in round 2. I kind of wonder whether we have him on our radar at all. Perhaps he’ll come in for a workout.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 16, 2008 at 6:32 PM

tom: if i were the bobcats, and i were looking 2 give the wizards emeka okafor heres what i would want: players who have skills and whose values in cash and skill would equal emekas….now just stick with me here for a 2nd…..emeka is one of the top 3 players on the cats at this moment, and the wizards wouldnt be willing 2 give away one of their top 3 players for him, but they might be willing 2 give away some bench players……now get this, the cats have Othello Harrington has a 2.5 mil team option, jamario Davidson has a 750k team option Othello Harrington with a 2.5 mil team option, jamario Davidson with a 750k team option, if the cats were 2 accept the trade of nick young, songaila, and a future 1st/2nd round pick for emeka and cash considerations, rejected the two team options, they would still have 7,913,040 to do with what they wanted, say possibly trade a player to another team, try and get about 3mil more in cash somehow, and sign josh smith…….who is about equal 2 emekas skill…….so the wizards would lose 2 bench players, a future first round pick; get emeka and cash considerations so they dont go over the luxury tax, charlotte would lose emeka, pay some money not affecting their salary cap, they would get songaila and young, and if they traded a couple of their own players that they dont like could land josh smith……..every team would win in someway and not lose more than they gain…..personally if i were the cats i would definately accept that offer, BUT ONLY IF I WAS GUARANTEED josh smith…….or hey even cory magette, elton brand, or some other 3,4,5 position player thats a free agent

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 16, 2008 at 6:38 PM

and if i were the wizards, i would look 2 get rid of daniels and etan thomas somehow someway for better players that make the same amount they do……i mean their combined salaries for next year amount to $13,060,000!!!! thats insane…….. they both are looking 2 make about 6.5 mil a piece which is crazy, i think theyre worth 4.5 mil a piece tops!! do u know how many players u can get with 13 mil?? do u know how many players are better than those two and make less money than they do?? dont get me wrong daniels is the best bench player we got, but i dont think hes worth 6.5 mil when stevenson WHO ACTUALLY IS A STARTER AND NOT JUST A 6th MAN makes only 3.6 mil…………seriously with daniels and thomas’ aging, they r gonna wear down either next season or a couple years from now, so i figure, why not get rid of them now for players who are better than them, make less money, and are not wearing down with age??

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 16, 2008 at 6:57 PM

With Ty Lawson gone, Mario CHalmers is going to be the next PG taken maybe around 20-30. I think we lost our shot at him. Its either Chalmers or Hibbert.

Comment from neal
Time June 16, 2008 at 6:57 PM

Daniels is under contract for next year for $6,200,000. I think he’s worth it. I would certainly rather have him than Stevenson, if forced to choose. It just happens that Stevenson is our best SG, given that our PG shoots so much.

Thomas is under contract for next year for $6,860,000. We can all agree that he’s overpaid, particularly since he’s injury prone. Thomas is under contract this season and one more. Then he’ll have to take a big pay cut. EG has been trying to trade him but hasn’t been able to, for the same reasons we want to trade him. He was open about wanting to package him and Navarro for someone useful, but didn’t get a taker. I think we’ll have Thomas (and Daniels) for the final two years of their contracts.

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 16, 2008 at 7:04 PM

Wizfan4life — You cant get rid of all your players in one off-season. Who’s going to want Etan, it isnt even clear if he will be able to play the SOLID basketball. Not good basketball but solid, im not even sure a team would want him if he were healthy. Now AD, what would we do without the guy. After Gil who is our next PG. Roger Mason is almost certainly gone. So who you gonna put there, Nick Young?

Dont worry, with Gilbert we couldnt make it to the Finals, or without him. So we are going to be a .500 team for the next couple of years. Then those two guys will be gone. Hopefully, by that time Andray, Nick, and Dom, have blossumed to thier potential.

I got another question, If Tom Thibeadue ( the Celtics D Coach) would have stayed with us, would we have step it up a whole nother notch on defense? Look at what the guys has done. If we had a defense, and a full compliment of steady bench players — can you say F-I-N-A-L-S ?

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 16, 2008 at 7:07 PM

Wizfan4life — The ONLY and im mean the ONLY way we could get Josh Smith is if either Gil (15-17 mil) or Jamison ( asking for about 10 mil), didnt get resigned. Josh Smith is a young, athletic, defender that will be asking for about 12 mil a season for the next 4 or 5 years.

Comment from neal
Time June 16, 2008 at 8:15 PM

I think Thibideau would have made a difference. Anybody have an idea what he didn’t like about the Wiz?

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 8:53 PM

We’ve gone over this Josh Smith stuff a bunch of times. Yes, he is a nice player. No, he is not a star. He is not even near the level of player that Antawn is, for example. Not close. If I were to go after someone on the Hawks, it’d be Josh Childress. He really is a star in the making.

The idea that Antonio is *overpaid* is so far off that it isn’t even worth discussing. The trade suggested above isn’t even in the realm of possibility. Nor is *anyone* going to take Etan in a trade.

What’s with this general concept of “trade guys for other guys who make less and are better players.” Do you think other GMs are idiots, or what?

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 16, 2008 at 8:54 PM

What do you guys think of *the prospects that worked out today?*

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time June 16, 2008 at 9:20 PM

I think Lofton is going to be a steal for someone!

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time June 16, 2008 at 9:21 PM

Why doesn’t anyone like Daniels? I just don’t understand not liking one of your best statistical players?

Comment from gee wiz
Time June 17, 2008 at 12:45 AM

daniels is a great player. but if i get on tom about it…. imma do tha same to everyone else. will i take AD over deshawn HELL NAW! i have not proven my point but thats all im gonna say. LOL im going to sleep

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 17, 2008 at 7:25 AM

gee wiz — it’s not a question of Daniels vs. DeShawn. They play different positions and have different roles on the team.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 17, 2008 at 7:43 AM

DraftExpress has posted its analysis of the SF prospects in this year’s draft, as it had already done for 1s and 2s. Page down near the bottom to the Win Score analysis. Also interesting to compare the % of offensive plays called for the guy.

Pat Calathes, who’ll be chosen in the second round, grades out very well. Quan Prowell is an interesting case of a guy who performed well, even though his team didn’t center its offense on him. Guys like that can be great as round 2 choices. Also interesting is the young Israeli kid Omri Casspi who plays on Maccabi, a Euroleague powerhouse. He is said to be *very* gifted, but on that stacked team he doesn’t get tons of minutes or touches. He may be a first round, lottery even, talent who is available late in round 2.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 17, 2008 at 8:25 AM

Casspi has pulled out.

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 17, 2008 at 8:31 AM

Dag I was just about to say that SportzWiz. LOL. So you got any information on who will be coming in for the Wizards today. Btw, they have Rush falling to 17 at DraftExpress. I really like that guy. He could come in and contribute for the start.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 17, 2008 at 8:46 AM

Sounds like Rush is heading to Phoenix from the internet rumors i’ve seen, but you never know with the draft. I just started a new topic, no workouts today unfortunately.

Comment from nickman
Time June 17, 2008 at 12:04 PM

I s it possible to dish gil for brand and some how get baron davis from GS?

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 17, 2008 at 12:19 PM

I would say we would probably have to drug Chris Mullin…..But legally it would be very very difficult.

Comment from wiz-skins07
Time June 17, 2008 at 3:04 PM

SportzWiz — if all these rumors were true the ‘Zards would be a Helluva team. We’d be nearly unstoppable. Only last year I heard rumors that we might be getting KG or Kobe.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 17, 2008 at 3:13 PM

draft rumors and trade rumors are a little different. When lots of mock drafts start having a guy fall to a certain team within days after a workout sometimes that means something slipped. There’s been several comments made by chad ford and a couple other writers about it, but your right, that was purely speculation on my part.