Comment from jmpalomo
Time June 24, 2009 at 6:58 AM

Excellent 4 guard rotation with Gilbert, Foye, Miller and Nick Young.
Hated the trade because it gives me nothing to root for Thursday night and I think Tyreke Evans is going to be the next Dwayne Wade.

Comment from aznzero
Time June 24, 2009 at 7:04 AM

Hey bloggers,
Sorry i haven’t been on here much. Like Glen I like it and I dont. wow i was hoping we couldve gotten maybe something more with our fifth pick from another team. Didn’t see this one coming if it goes through. Then again I like having a vet point guard Foye who averaged 16 points and 4 assists last yearand Mike Miller who can come off the bench nicely and can play the guard or forward.

Lineup:
Foye
Arenas
Butler
Jamison
Haywood

Or:
Arenas
Caron
Miller
Jamison
Haywood

Crittenton
Young
Miller
Blatche
McGee

Comment from jmpalomo
Time June 24, 2009 at 7:07 AM

I would like to see us get a true power forward somehow. Jamison and Butler are both Small Forwards. A tough, nasty PF in the mold of Charles Oakley would be really nice.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 7:24 AM

We all love to hope, and a high draft pick is about hope, dreams, the future. A potential STAR!!!

But, we all love to win too — and Mike Miller will help us do that in ’09-10. I like this trade a lot, even though I don’t get to see Stephen Curry in a Wizards uniform (and might not have anyway, as he may well go to Sac’to at 4).

Actually, Foye is a good corrective to that “hope, dreams, etc…” thing. He was the #7 pick 3 years ago, and he has not worked out. His numbers are well below average, and his FG% is identical to Javaris Crittenton. For Minnesota, he shot *a lot* and made only a little. He won’t shoot much for us, and actually I hope he won’t play much.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 7:34 AM

This trade also takes @ $5m off our books for ’10-11. Both Mike and Randy are expiring.

One thing this tells me is that Ernie *really does* think we can “compete with anyone.” It’s a *this year* deal — and if it doesn’t work out, we can start let all the expiring salaries go and start rebuilding.

I think there’ll be another trade, and I’m very interested in who’ll be available at our #32 pick.

Comment from jmpalomo
Time June 24, 2009 at 7:52 AM

Foye averaged 16 points a game last year. He is definitely coming in as a starter. Miller averaged less than 10 points a game last year after averaging 16 two years ago.
Foye also becomes a “restricted” free agent after this year.
We get rid of 2 huge contracts in Etan and Darius, and a wasted #1 pick in Pech.
Ernie has some ammunition in Mike James $6 mil expiring contract.
Now the question becomes does Ernie trade Antwan for a True Power Forward?

Comment from jmpalomo
Time June 24, 2009 at 7:57 AM

I am still wondering if the Amare Stoudemire for Antwan and James is still alive.
Now that would be a blockbuster trade I would salivate over for the Wiz.

Comment from getabigboyoffense
Time June 24, 2009 at 8:34 AM

That was a super trade by EG. But, we might have to play with two or three basketballs at a time to keep the shooters happy.
Foye averaged 14 shots per game and 16.3 pts last year; Gil averages a little over 17 shots per game and 22.8 pts. They are both about the same size 6’4″ 210/215. I wouldn’t expect to see them on the court together much though.
Miller is a pro who averaged almost 10 ppg last year with almost 7 rebounds, AND almost 5 assists. He also increases our average number of tats per player ratio.

This is a high-scoring team. It should be fun to watch especially if Coach Saunders gets that team defense mentality installed. I wouldn’t be surprised, however, to see either Foye and/or Miller involved in another trade before the season starts.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 8:40 AM

jmpalomo — well, no, Foye was a throw in. You can’t just look at ppg as a way to judge a player. Randy took *a lot* of shots in Minn. They won’t be available on the Wizards. The trade was to acquire Mike Miller, an ex-6th man of the year and ex-rookie of the year who shoots *efficiently* including from the 3 point line, and is very very long for the 2 spot. He does *lots* of stuff well. A *big* upgrade.

Note that this trade was great for Minnesota too. They are rebuilding their core and may wind up with both Rubio and Curry to put with Jefferson and Love.

Only regret I have is that we couldn’t get — or didn’t want? — the #18 pick. It looks like Dejuan Blair might fall to that part of the draft, and he will be an incredible bargain at that point.

This draft has been called weak, because there are few likely superstars. I think it’ll be remembered as a very good draft, because a lot of successful NBA players come out of it. We should get someone pretty good at #32 as well.

Comment from vitality08
Time June 24, 2009 at 8:50 AM

So with the open roster spots, does anyone think we will use the D-League more this season? Maybe trying out a few different players and then signing someone to a cheap contract for the year?

Comment from wiz123
Time June 24, 2009 at 9:11 AM

i love this trade. we have nothing to lose (except the 5th pick), but if ernie said we are going to contend, then the 5th pick isn’t going to help (at least not immediately).

what i see from this pick is that it significantly upgrades our bench. formerly, our best scorer off the bench was young, now, he could have roye with him on the back court. this should help young too.

moreover, we manage to free up an additional roster spot. all in all, great deal.

now to pick up another big man…who do you guys like to see as our 14th player??

Comment from jmpalomo
Time June 24, 2009 at 9:13 AM

Hey Tom,

I totally disagree that Randy Foye was the throw in.
From everything I read he is the “Key” to the trade. If there was a throw in, and there wasn’t, it would be Miller’s 9.9 PPG. Andre Blatch had a higher PPG than Miller did last year.

Comment from jmpalomo
Time June 24, 2009 at 9:18 AM

PG Gilbert
SG Foye
SF Caron
PF Antwan
C Brendan

Nick and Miller to come off the bench for a 4 guard rotation.
Dominique to spell Caron
Blatch to spell Antwan
McGee to Spell Brendan

That is a nice 10 player rotation.
RUN AND GUN BABY!

Comment from getabigboyoffense
Time June 24, 2009 at 9:29 AM

I love the possibilities that this group presents. The potential on-court combinations seem endless. Firepower and size at every position.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 9:50 AM

I needed 12 hours to digest this trade and I’m still speechless.

It sounds like most on this blog are *happy* with the trade; however, consider the following:

– Grunfeld traded the Wizards’ entire backup frontcourt for 2 backcourt players
– Grunfeld continues to amass offensively-minded players and is ignoring the defensive end
– The Wizards now have 4 legitimate point guards (Arenas, Crittenton, James, Foye)
– The trade didn’t bring as much cap relief for the team to pursue another veteran
– Assuming Miller will start (or at least compete with Stevenson for the starting job), where is he going to play? SG? Or is he swapping with Butler at SF since he’s a hair taller?
– The trade immediately puts the Wizards in a “one-and-done” run at the championship. This is risky because no one knows how injuries can sink the ship. There are too many player contracts expiring after this upcoming season and the team won’t be able to keep everyone unless guys take a paycut. I don’t see it happening with guys like Butler, Haywood, McGuire, Foye, and maybe Miller.

On paper, this trade looks really stupid for the Timberwolves because they’re giving up 2 scorers for a rookie and 1 role player (Songaila), 1 ?? player (Thomas), and 1 player whose time in the NBA may be over (Pecherov). However, Minny did 2 things with the trade: (1) positioned themselves for the “LeBron and others” sweepstakes and (2) rebuilt their team with another wave of young guys around showcase piece Al Jefferson, who is still very young.

If I’m Grunfeld, I’m not done dealing yet. I would

(1) package Foye for a front court player of similar salary. The Wizards just need a big body to replace Thomas and Songaila.

(2) pick up cheap free agents (along the lines of Mike Wilks-type players but of the frontcourt variety) to get the team roster number to 13

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 10:04 AM

Foye could be traded on his own but not packaged for 60 days. Rules.

Yes, this is definitely an “all in” move — lets get better now and see what we can do. If it doesn’t work, we’re rebuilding anyway.

jmpalomo — lets not waste each other’s time disputing over Foye, ok? As to Miller, take a look at Dave Berri’s analysis of the top 15 players at every position in the NBA ’08-09. Should make you feel better about Mike! Dave has him ranked as the #4 shooting guard in the league and the #17 player overall!

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 10:11 AM

Wiz_fusion — the trade didn’t bring salary relief *this year*, and actually that was more or less impossible. But it does bring us $5m relief *next year,* which is also important.

You’re right that we clearly need to thin the guard corps and add some front line depth. Behind our starting 4 and 5 are JaVale who is still pretty raw and Andray who is still unproven. We’ll see Dom some at the 4 too, but he is really better suited to be a wing player. That’s it, however — am I missing someone?

Getabig — you and I are now on the same page. We are a contender in the East.

doclinkin had the clever idea that we should hire McHale to coach up Andray. Great idea — and imagine what he might be able to do with JaVale! Wow!

Comment from gbkdc
Time June 24, 2009 at 10:16 AM

I like it. I will kind of miss Songaila who I liked at the 4, but not the 5. So long, Lithuanian Thunder! Good luck to you!

Comment from jhough813
Time June 24, 2009 at 10:27 AM

I’m actually a big fan of this deal. I hate to see Songaila and Pech go because they’re both good guys and Darius provided some bulk, but I couldn’t stand seeing Etan out there providing absolutely nothing but the occasional dunk or block. You can say what you want about Foye but the fact of the matter is he was playing on Minnesota so while he may not be the most efficient shooter, defenses could pretty much focus on him especially with Jefferson out. With us, Foye will find himself much more open. Miller can help ease the pain of losing Roger last year and spreads the floor so we can work the ball around. I’m disappointed however that we won’t be able to get a guy like Evans, Harden, or Curry because I think at least one will be a stud in the league. All in all though, I’m very happy with the move.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 10:43 AM

@ Tom M:

Are you saying that the Wizards, once the trade is complete, is over the cap for this season?

- -

Is the draft party over at ESPN Zone? I mean, there is no draft until the second round – and right now, that doesn’t look so definite if point guards continue to be purged by Grunfeld.

Comment from dmac
Time June 24, 2009 at 10:52 AM

Randy Foye is a very good player. For one thing he is not a point guard. Kevin Mchale thought he could convert him into a PG. He is an off guard who can handle the ball. His stongsuit is a good handle who can drive to the basket. He has the ability to do some Larry Hughes type things with GIL. Another thing is before a player suits up we should not judge them on their previous team. Especially when he will now be playing under Flip with Sam Cassell as a coach/mentor. That will make a difference in the guard play this year. So I don’t consider Foye a throw in. Some guy’s are not good fits with certain teams and their philosophies. Deshawn is a good example of a player coming here and becoming a better player before he started getting hurt.
As for pick ups I like 3 players who I feel one of them could help us in the frontcourt.
Brandon Bass, ZaZa Pachulia and Pops Mensah-Bonsu.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 10:53 AM

Also, this is not going to popular among *most* of the bloggers here – I think Grunfeld is going to deal Nick Young in some capacity to continue purging bad contracts.

However, the only thing giving Nick hope of staying is his salary – which is attractive for the type of offensive talents he brings.

- -
As far as front court is concerned, let’s get James Singleton from the Mavs – he’s an unrestricted FA.

Comment from wiz123
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:00 AM

fun fact on randy foye:

Foye has the rare condition situs inversus, which means his organs are arranged as the mirror image of a normal person’s: for example, his heart is in the right side of his chest rather than the left. However, it is not expected that this fact will have an impact on his game.

just thought i would share it with you guys. personally i found it very interesting, never knew such a disease existed.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:01 AM

Hey guys,

I think we need two things, a banger at PF and a pass first PG, I think we can do the PF with our mid level exception (with a few moves of course) I like Wilcox, also this tidbit: Also, a league source says that the Detroit Pistons are likely to waive forward Fabricio Oberto, acquired Tuesday from Milwaukee for center Amir Johnson, Pachulia. As far as PG if we do indeed hold on to our second round pick we MUST go PG, and he must be a true PG. This is a deep class of PG’s so the Wizards should get a quality player, again my hope is that Maynor will slip.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:06 AM

wizards_fusion — We’re over the cap now, and we have been since… forever. Most teams are, because there are so many exceptions for re-signing your own guys.

What’s at stake is a) the luxury tax, and b) business basics — both of them for the next set of re-signings: Haywood, McGuire and Butler. We made that easier — not *easy*, just easier — by getting rid of Songaila’s salary going forward.

All the same, we have one of the league’s largest salary obligations going forward.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:14 AM

wiz123 — that is very strange and cool! situs inversus…

jeffmalone1990 — it would be *great* to have a pass-first backup point guard. On the other hand, we now have 13 guys of whom 7 are guards! If we draft a guard, that means we definitely need to make a trade for some help at the 4 and 5.

I don’t see us spending our mid-level exception — we’re not going to up our total salary, because every dollar comes with a dollar of luxury tax. Other than our 2d round pick, I’d guess we’re just going to have to get what we need via trades.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:18 AM

@Tom I agree, with so many guards on the roster, I am certain we must have another move coming, we shall see. I would still love for us to somehow grab Wilcox.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:21 AM

Dumars continues to make very smart moves for Detroit. He just traded a guaranteed salary (Amir Johnson) for a guy with a non-guaranteed deal. Assuming he waives Oberto, the Pistons have under $30m in salary this year (and only $11m for next year).

Of course, they’ll only have 7 guys under contract, so it won’t stay so low! Still, talk about having the flexibility to go into the FA market and remake your team, Joe Dumars has got that.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:22 AM

jeffmalone1990 — what do you like about Wilcox?

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:22 AM

@Tom: Also, a league source says that the Detroit Pistons are likely to waive forward Fabricio Oberto, acquired Tuesday from Milwaukee for center Amir Johnson.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:25 AM

Well I like him for his rebounding and shot blocking, and he has developed a decent back to the basket game. I remember him a couple of his 20 rebound games, and when motivated he is a machine on the boards. On our roster he will just be asked to set solid screens for our pick n roll, and crash the boards, and contest shots. I think he would be a nice bigger PF to add to the roster.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:26 AM

Also what I like about Wilcox is his age……….

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:41 AM

Check out Glenn Consor’s breakdown of the trade as well as Haywood’s thoughts….

http://www.comcastsportsnet.tv/pages/inner_player?vidID=vidcast_10094&feedID=297&startclip=2

Comment from jmpalomo
Time June 24, 2009 at 11:51 AM

Chris Wilcox stopped playing after he got that big contract in Seattle.
Another Massive potential guy (Blatch/Kwame) that never got the best of his ability but still picks up a CHECK.
Although I love my former terps, Wilcox is the most dissappointing with the talent he has.
If your guaranteed $60 million, it can get easy to just get by.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:05 PM

Great interviews with Brendan and Glenn — both real excited about the trade.

Wilcox is unrestricted — this will be a very hard summer for guys like him. Everyone wants to save $$. He might wind up in Europe.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:06 PM

Can’t wait to hear about our next trade!! Come on, Ernie.

Comment from jmpalomo
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:08 PM

I would love to see Amare Stoudemire as a Wizard.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:09 PM

Ok, I need some props — did I call for us to trade for Mike Miller 2 weeks ago or what? Sportswiz, don’t you go erasing those old posts!!

Now, we clearly need an unheralded, dark horse, rebounding 2d round pick — this year’s Carl Landry, or Paul Millsap, or Craig Smith. He’s there; I know he is. But… who is he? Help me figure this out, guys.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:11 PM

Second round pick hopefuls IMO, Patty Mills, Ty Lawson, or Eric Maynor and my sleeper AJ Price.

Comment from eri_2
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:11 PM

This is my first time blogging on here.

I do like this trade a lot. It gives us more scoring off the bench which we didn’t have in years past. I also do know a few bloggers wanted more defensive-minded players but lets not forget that wherever Flip has coached his teams has always played well on the defensive end. I also do think for this team Flip is a better coach than Jordan. This is only because Jordan to me was mainly focused on the offensive end whereas Flip can help with improving the offense and get us to be better on the defensive end.

I don’t think anyone can judge a trade until a few years down the road when all the pieces have played with their current team for a couple of years and see how they did. We have no clue who we would have gotten at the 5 spot since a few of the players we wanted might have gone to any of the other teams above us.

The majority of the drafts are a crapshoot which I am not saying this will be one but we don’t know right now who is going where and how their coaches will use them so we can’t say for sure either way who will be better than someone else until they have played a few years in the NBA. The NBA is way more different and harder than college so even a great college player might not even be able to handle the NBA.

I do also think the “Big 3” should be getting less minutes than what they are playing. The reasons why I say this is because a) Arenas is coming off 3 major knee surgeries the last 2 seasons and just because he says his knees are fine doesn’t mean squat until he starts playing on a regular basis this coming season, b) Butler has always been injured for a period of time and c) Jamison is getting up there in age. I do believe with less minutes all 3 will be much more fresher in the 4th quarter where games are won and they won’t be putting as much strain on their bodies either. I also do think if some of the younger players got more minutes then we could see what we got for the future.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:21 PM

This news may be irrelevant now, but Andy Katz of ESPN said today that if the Wizards didn’t go through with the trade, Washington would have selected James Harden.

“NBA officials confirmed that Harden was supposed to be at Wednesday’s media session in New York but had an unscheduled workout thrust onto his schedule late Tuesday night.

According to a source close to Harden, Harden flew to Minneapolis for an interview and light shooting workout with the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

The source said Harden was told by Washington that he would have been the Wizards’ pick at No. 5 prior to Tuesday’s trade that shipped the fifth pick to Minnesota for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, with three Wizards — Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov — also heading to Minnesota.

The source said Harden would go to either Oklahoma City at No. 3 or Minnesota at No. 5 or 6, pending further moves by the Wolves.

Harden is expected to get to New York late Wednesday night.”

Comment from wiz123
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:22 PM

what do y’all think bout drew gooden? think he’ll fit in well with the team?

Comment from eri_2
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:22 PM

I think with this trade we need a veteran pure PG instead of a rookie PG. This is only because we have too many young players as it is and a veteran PG could run this team better than a rookie PG ever could IMO. I do think 2-3 years down the road in the nba any of these players (Ty Lawson, or Eric Maynor and AJ Price) could run this team but not right now. They might have the skills to play in the NBA but they don’t have the knowledge of how to run a NBA team right now since they are only rookies. I will admit that there are some rookies that are the exception to that like Rose last year or Paul his first year but there aren’t that many that can just come in and play like Rose or Paul.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:23 PM

So, the Wiz were looking to get a SG no matter what.

It was either Harden or, resultantly, Mike Miller.

Curry was deemed too small to play SG.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:26 PM

Well it looks like Curry may just end up with the Knicks after all……..

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:28 PM

James Singleton can do everything all the guys everyone else are promoting here can do. Plus, he’s cheaper!

The reason you guys don’t know about Singleton is because he’s not a household name; not like Drew Gooden or Chris Wilcox.

Go look him up and you’ll see why he can be the Wizards’ version of “Playoff Gortat”.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:31 PM

I know about Singleton and his best years came with the Clippers, and he had some nice moments with the Cavs. Slender in build, he is a defensive minded player with rebounding skills. He is a high energy player.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:36 PM

I’m happy for the trade….only problem is, I know Stevenson’s numbers will decrease because he will be getting fewer minutes…..that being said, I wonder if EG is finished with his trades just yet? We still have Mike James’ $6+ mil contract, we have Stevenson’s $3+ mil contract, we have Haywood’s $6+ mil contract, and we have the 2nd pick of the 2nd round……..with those bargaining chips, I think EG is still looking at trade possibilities come draft night…what do y’all think?

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:37 PM

also, I think EG will be exploring free agency this summer as well…..possibly signing someone for the mid-level for a 3-4 year contract

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:38 PM

Here’s a few I’m looking at among 4s slated for round 2, in no particular order:

John Brockman, Washington — 3d best rebounder in the nation behind Blair and Griffin. 2d best *offensive* rebounder behind Blair. 6th highest win score nationwide. Was a standout at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in May. People say he has a promise in round 2 from someone, but we have the 2d pick, so…

Ahmad Nivins, St. Josephs — 4th highest win score nationwide (blair and griffin are #s 1 and 2). 11th best rebounder. 4th highest FG%.

DeMarre Carroll, Missouri — a week ago I was sure he’d be available at our spot, but Draftexpress now has him in Round 1. Might still be there, tho. 7th highest win score.

Jeff Pendergraph, ASU — 10th highest Win Score. A senior but just turned 22.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:40 PM

Oh yeah, I do think we kind of got ripped off by trading the #5 pick in this trade….I think if we sent our 2nd round pick and maybe nick young instead of Pecherov that would have been better than what we traded…..we then could have used the #5 pick to use in a trade with the 3 players I mentioned above

Comment from eri_2
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:43 PM

I think we should trade Stevenson and James and keep Haywood until McGee bulks up a bit and improves his skills. I do think we should either keep our 2nd round pick or if we do trade it that we get a pick in return.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:45 PM

wizards_fusion — Singleton would come at the Veteran Minimum, which we *might* be able to afford.

Wizfan4life — signing a FA this summer would really surprise me. We’re in luxury tax territory already.

Comment from JayP
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:48 PM

With the 32nd pick in the draft the wiz select Dante Cunningham a good defender and an average rebounder plus he can also score..
But i would love to see the wizards go after a Drew gooden in free agency he fits what we are looking for a great energy guy with good size and defense..
or we could send mike james to memphis for Darko Milicic

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:48 PM

@ W4L:

The pick is what teams wanted, not current players. No trade would have been considered by the other side if Washington didn’t package the #5.

@ JeffMalone1990:

I was not aware that Singleton played with the Cavs.

Comment from Rick
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:48 PM

I can’t say that I expected that trade, but I can say I am happy about it. First we dump the useless Thomas and Pecherov (though I did enjoy Pech of course), and second we pick up a knock-down shooter in Miller.

The Songaila/Foye aspects of the trade are less clear to me, but I am happy to see Songaila moved to free up more minutes for Blatche and I think Foye is an interesting prospect.

while we were front-court heavy up until last night, now we are back-court heavy, so I also expect another move to come. Hopefully sending Mike James to pickup a young banger down low with at least some potential upside or perhaps go into the Tax zone to grab a vet like Oberto.

I actually have tickets to go see the draft at MSG! What am I gonna do now?!

Comment from nickman
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:53 PM

Oberto, Gooden, Wilcox a stretch but Marcus Camby. I don’t think the numbers would work out for Camby. Unless we do a trade. EG def has something up his sleeve

Comment from nickman
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:54 PM

Oberto, Gooden or Wilcox are more realistic

Comment from nickman
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:55 PM

I want David Lee but that would be unrealistic like Camby

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:55 PM

wiz_fusion, sorry it was the Mavs, you can blame the Mavis Beacon typing skills (James Singleton)

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:57 PM

another vet minimum player is one that has been in the organization and was an energy guy, however he was even better in the community:

Michael Ruffin

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 12:58 PM

Hey guys, what about Haywood, Mike James, and our 2nd round pick for Samuel Dalembert? Haywood and Dalembert’s stats match up pretty well….except Dalembert blocks more shots and gets more rebounds……this would help us financially because we would save a few hundred thousand in cap room, but Dalembert’s contract still has 3 years on it

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:00 PM

Tom-signing a free agent would kind of surprise me too, but I think EG is still looking to tweak our roster this summer…and Rick, to solve your problem about tickets for the draft: sell them for twice as much as you paid for them! some might even buy them for 3x as much (4x if they are a knicks fan)

Comment from eri_2
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:03 PM

What do you all think about possibly trading for either Zach Randolph or Troy Murphy?

Comment from eri_2
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:04 PM

Camby at this point is too injury prone to take a risk on him IMO.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:04 PM

@ JM1990

LOL! I was going to mention Ruffin but I thought I was going to get killed mentioning his name again. Heck, maybe even Calvin Booth?

- -
I think Mike James is going to be really hard to move until February.

The 3 guards with the easiest potential to move are Randy Foye, Javaris Crittenton, and Nick Young.

If the Wiz don’t beef up the frontcourt, I’m led to believe Grunfeld and Saunders are confident Blatche and McGee can handle the responsibility.

A coworker of mine mentioned today that since the Wizards defense suffered once again as a result of the trade, LeBron won’t need to do layups against Washington to score … he’ll just do walk-ups.

Comment from M2
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:06 PM

Gil & Foye will be the starting backcourt (Arenas/Hughes part 2)…
Miller will most likely take Slicks first scorer off the bench role…
But Slick will be right there competing depending on Flips mood & how practices go…
Crit will spell Gil…

James & Stevenson will chill on the bench together, healthy, relatively wealthy, & wise to potential trades because they are done in DC!

Blatche & McGee better get their sh%t together because we need some lo post grit (Jamison is now our “tough guy” – think about that for a minute).

I’m sure EG’s not done though…

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:07 PM

Is Dalembert that much better than Haywood? Heck no.

Does Zach Randolph play defense? Heck no.

Does Troy Murphy play defense? Heck no.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:09 PM

I am actually curious to see that Hughes will do this off season

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:10 PM

I am actually curious to see what Hughes will do this off season?

Comment from JayP
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:11 PM

Bring on queen James im not worried plus DOM garded him the best ive seen anyone guard him..now a realistic trade would be a mike james for Darko any thoughts

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:14 PM

M2: I expect Miller to start over Foye because Miller brings size and is a better rebounder than Foye….Miller will be a taller, better rebounder and 3 point shooting version of Stevenson…..Wizards Fusion: I think Dalembert is better than Haywood right now because he is about to reach his prime, Haywood seems to already hit that and its pretty much the same level Dalembert is at right now by not hitting his peak yet…..also Dalembert is more consistent than Haywood I think, and Dalembert seems to have a higher free-throw percentage than Haywood (something Haywood improved on last year, but an area that the Wizards struggled in this season)

Comment from getabigboyoffense
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:16 PM

Rick, sell those tickets to some from Minnesota.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:19 PM

I think Haywood has improved every year, and a high character guy, who is also great for our locker room. He works very hard over the summer to improve, and I am sure he will come in very motivated to put up some great numbers. I like Dalembert, however I think that you may be under valuing Haywood. Haywood is also bigger and stronger, and I think we need to keep he and McGee in the fold.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:21 PM

So draft night should be fun to watch, since the Wolves and Portland will determine how much of the night will shake out. LOL…..

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:24 PM

Jeff: I’m just proposing Dalembert because there have been some rumors that he might go to Charlotte……I think I like Dalembert more than Haywood because Dalembert appears to have more athleticism than Haywood, but I don’t think the 76ers would go for the trade, unless they are looking at free agency in 2010

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:25 PM

in which case Haywood and James’ contracts would expire, and they would have roughly 13+ million to work with

Comment from dmac
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:27 PM

Tom I will give you your props on predicting for Mike Miller if u stop giving Randy Foye a rough welcome and goodbye before he get’s to the press conference.
Rumor is Oberto is headed back to the Spurs.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:28 PM

plus Dalembert averages more rebounds and blocks than Haywood

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:29 PM

@ W4L:

I heard from Sixer fans that they think now Sammy D. has been paid to a long term contract, he no longer cares to play with the passion he showed. He is 7-3, but he’s not as skilled offensively. He doesn’t run the floor well and this is the biggest area of concern for me if he tries to play in the Wizards system. Haywood is used to running up and down, so I have to give him some credit trying to catch up during transition.

Also, and this is a big conjecture, Dalembert and family recently got their Canadian citizenship (I know, kinda weird – that he wants to be a Canadian citizen). I think if he wants to be close to family, he would prefer to go to Toronto. With Chris Bosh on the verge of leaving, the Raptors open up a space potentially for Sammy.

Bottom line is that I like Sammy’s defense (i.e., blocks) but I don’t like him trying to fit into the Wizards system.

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:29 PM

dmac: yeah I heard that Oberto rumor as well, I think the Bucks are doing it because they wont have enough roster space for him

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:33 PM

*does anyone know why we can’t log out of this blog?*

(maybe this was done intentionally to enhance discussion)

what seems to be the problem here?

Comment from M2
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:34 PM

Miller should come off the bench and spell Butler or Foye depending on match ups…
Miller is a career 14/5/3 guy that had a couple of really nice years in Memphis. He’s entering like his ninth or tenth season (?) at this point and is ready to come off the bench.
Foye entering his forth season and EG & Flip like his potential to start at the two the way he did the second half of last season with the Wolves… Doesn’t mean minutes won’t be pretty balanced between guys like Miller, Foye, Dom, and maybe (if dreams come true) Nick Young… But I think Foye starts.
All hypothetical though, geez… I’m definitely wide open to seeing how it shakes out in camp. If Miller gets the nod, I’m cool.

Comment from eri_2
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:37 PM

Let us also not forget that this will be Flip’s FIRST year as the head coach for the Wizards. We don’t even know how the players will play offensively or defensively for Flip. Therefore with Flip’s history who is to say the Wizards with its current roster won’t be a better defensive minded team than in years past.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:41 PM

@ M2:

“Foye entering his forth season and EG & Flip like his potential to start at the two the way he did the second half of last season with the Wolves”

Umm, how do you know EG & FS’s assessment of Foye being exactly the same as the Twolves front office and coaching staff?

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:41 PM

What about trading to get Andrew Bogut? Probably would never happen because the Bucks seem to love him so much, but if they were looking at free agency for next year, we could dump some players on them to get Bogut

Comment from jsuh0
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:51 PM

Mike miller is exactly the type of player who needs to play alongside gilbert, not off the bench. Gil is a scoring point, so he needs someone in the backcourt alongside him who can SHOOT and PASS and play D. mike is a tall sg who averages 46% from downtown for his career and averages close to 5 assists over a season. hes one of the perfect fits i would say, next to gilbert.

Foye is best suited to manning the 2nd team and providing firepower off the bench with nick young and blatche.

reference:
http://www.bulletsforever.com/2009/6/17/912245/who-is-gilbert-arenas-ideal

Comment from M2
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:55 PM

We shall see…

A competitive camp (and it looks like it will be just that) is all that we should hope for.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:56 PM

I REALLY don’t see Haywood going anywhere. He brings too many intangibles to the team. Plus,he’s our only PROVEN big man, but we shall see. Can’t wait to see the team “set-up”.

Great job Ernie

I will not be surprised if he isn’t finished yet

Ok, no need for a draft party ???

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time June 24, 2009 at 1:57 PM

Looking at Randy Foye’s stats, I’m a little worried….he appears to have good numbers because he is a starter and plays 30+ minutes a game…..will there really be that many minutes available for him with our roster right now?

Comment from dcbutler357
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:04 PM

I’m not totally familiar with Foye after all the Roy/Foye hooplah…..but I and everyone else knows that something else is going to happen, because six guards/seven if Miller is included, ain’t gonna make a run at a title

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:06 PM

Thank you @ W4L for typing your last post

That’s why I strongly think Foye is going to be traded. He is not putting on a Wizards uniform.

Comment from Rick
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:10 PM

Well, seeing as I paid $0 for the draft tickets, reselling them for 4x that price won’t do me much good

I may head over to watch anyway, just to see what the atmosphere is like. Plus there is always the second round… and arena hotdogs!

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:17 PM

dmac — fair enough on Randy — welcome, Randy Foye. You’re a Wizard. You’ll look good in those gold and black jerseys. Oh… wait a minute. Lucky you, you missed those!!

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:23 PM

Oberto and Bowen will both wind up back in SA, I bet — at reduced salaries (and with their buyouts in the pockets ).

M2 — yeah, Flip will roll the ball onto the court, and the 5 best players at their positions will start. If I had to *bet* I’d bet on Miller; he is unbelievably productive in many facets (not to mention shooting 40%+ from the 3 point line).

Comment from dcbutler357
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:25 PM

LOL…SA may not need Bowen anymore. His days of checking Kobe are gone….Jefferson has pretty efficient “D”

Comment from jsuh0
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:33 PM

i just hope nick young realizes that he has stiff competition and steps up his game.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:37 PM

TRADE IS OFFICIAL. Etan signed his statement minutes ago.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:39 PM

Awesome. Here comes the future.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:48 PM

Outside of Brendan, Gil 100% secure
Then Caron and AJ 95% secure…lol….IMO

stiff competition is all through-out this team, as it should be.
This is the time that we were hoping for all season long and we haven’t been disappointed. Once again, Kudos to Ernie (even though he’s not done yet). I can’t wait for training camp.

Go Wiz

Comment from SportzWiz
Time June 24, 2009 at 2:57 PM

Ernie is speaking on the trade at 4:00pm.

We will have video of it after it is over.

Comment from neal
Time June 24, 2009 at 3:07 PM

Wizards_fusion and dcbutler, I still plan on being at the ESPN Zone tomorrow night at 7 unless you guys are finking out. If you’re not going, please let me know now. I’d like to meet you guys.

Right now it looks like starting 5:
Arenas
Miller
Butler
Jamison
Haywood

Also in the rotation:
Foye or Young
McGuire
Blatche

In the rotation if 9 or used:
Foye, Young or McGee

I don’t see EG picking up a FA. I think he and Pollin are perfectly happy to go with 14 players, with one in the development league until someone gets hurt. That way Pollin pays less luxury tax.

Presumably, the #5 pick would have resulted in a good NBA player. So essentially we traded one good player for two good NBA players. And shed some salary in the process for the 2010-2011 season, when I guess Pollin wants to get back w/i the luxury tax limit.

There’s at least a 50-50 chance that we’re not done.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time June 24, 2009 at 3:25 PM

@ Neal:

I’m declining the invite to ESPN Zone. You can blame Ernie’s trade for my decision. I am less curious about the draftees than I was 24 hours ago. I also don’t have a high interest in the Wizards’ second round pick (i.e., if I were to go, I wouldn’t stay long enough to see who Washington got in Round 2).

Maybe we all can get together after the Wizards beat the Cavs in quadruple OT in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron scored 147 points, but he missed the game winning 3 and his bid for 150 points. He bought a mansion in Long Island immediately after the game.

Comment from stevensonbyebye
Time June 24, 2009 at 3:28 PM

lol how is randy foye a “below average” player
ive seen him play many times last year and hes better than all our guards except for arenas.
mike miller is an all around player, he’s sort of like hedo turkoglu… in that he is a tall play maker who can shoot 3s and get rebounds.
if u can average 16+ points on a team where the starting lineup changed everyday with kevin mchale experimenting id say ur pretty good

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time June 24, 2009 at 3:28 PM

Uh oh — sorry if the evening at ESPN Zone dissipates for you guys. Was looking forward to some video, etc.

Watch — we’re going to get a very good player at #32.

Comment from M2
Time June 24, 2009 at 3:40 PM

stevensonbyebye not only do I love your name, I like how you access Foye.

Foye IS a good player!

Comment from cedric.lockhart
Time June 24, 2009 at 4:01 PM

very good move. We traded a future contributor (#5) a part time contributor (DSong), an ex-contributor (ET) and a no-contributor (Pesh) for a starter (Foye) and a proven 6th MoY (Miller). At the end of the day…that’s a very good move IMO.

Of course we need a big man for depth…I’m sure EG knows that as well…but this a VERY VERY VERY good start.

Comment from Babakism
Time June 24, 2009 at 4:56 PM

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Michael Ruffin. I was at the Toronto Game 2 years ago when he tried to throw the ball up in the air and it slipped. I was sitting behind the basket where Mo Peterson lofted up the 35 foot 3 pointer to take the game into overtime and you could see me pulling my hair while the shot was in the air on the sportcenter replays. I also was in the tricycle race that game where I made it look like my friend knocked me off my tricycle. Sadly that didn’t make it to sportcenter

Comment from WIZFANa0
Time June 24, 2009 at 5:23 PM

good trade miller has a great outside touch and foye could flat out play inside and outside he’s been over looked cuz of the foye /broy trade i think foye is a very good player but i hope we pick up some post players tho we have a lot of guards i still like curry tho i wish we could of got him

Comment from ta1ent
Time June 24, 2009 at 5:36 PM

great trade, now trade Gil for Dwight Howard and were set lol.

Comment from gee wiz
Time June 24, 2009 at 8:10 PM

it seems to me that u all are on a parade to get rid of deshawn. well truth be told….. he may not be the best shooter but he is the best defender this roster has besides he and dominic and this trade just proves even more that defense is obviously not a priority. lebron and dwight remain to be problems for us in the east and knowone else, i think jamison and haywood need some help back there. for the record this year i saw trevor ariza get much praise and i am an orlando native and trevor was let go from orlando because coach hill said he and deshawn were going to have to fight it out for that 2 guard position and lets just say deshawn stayed and the same thing happened with keith bogans. deshawn left because he felt disrespected with the money offer from orlando. we simply need to get a big man, and a defender cause shooting is half the battle and at the end of the day its two sides on a court!

Comment from thewiz87
Time June 24, 2009 at 8:20 PM

I”m not sold on Deshawn at all he hasn’t proved himself in this roster its time to cut our loses and work out a deal he isn’t the only guy in the league that can play defense and by trading him along said Blatche, and Mike James along with the 32th pick we can def find something out their that can push as over top with the free agency

Comment from maggicman11
Time June 24, 2009 at 9:38 PM

hey guys, just read a bunch of post and i must say i think alot of guys on here are living in fantasy land right now. Im not even sure if foye and/or miller will still be here on opening night, but if they both are, i doubt either will start. flip seems to really like nick and my guess is he starts if not dsteve. (dsteve will probably not be here if both foye and miller stay). miller’s skill set is well documented (dont leave him open beyond the arc), foye on the other hand is still coming into his own. slighty above average stats on a below average team = dont get your hopes too high. solid player, but dont get foye confused with roy.

NY- just under 11 ppg in 22 min sharing the ball with caron and antwaan.
foye- only 5 more ppg in 13 more min. hmmm…??

my guess at starting 5.

arenas
nick
caron
antwaan(hopefully i can soon replace his name with amare)
haywood

2 group:

critt
foye
miller
dray
mcgee

mcguire will definitely fit in there somewhere and although not starting, will probably finish most close games.

mike jame will hopefully be included in the “anticipated trade with antwaan” for amare.
my guess at starting 5

Comment from gee wiz
Time June 24, 2009 at 10:13 PM

im not saying the trade wasnt good, cause we basically got a steal. but neither one miller nor foye is a defender, and everyone is saying get rid of deshawn and i dont agree. with miller coming in u already slap dominic in the face of whom did show some poise last season. mike miller is a 3/sf dont be fooled. caron is a 3 and jamison is a 3. we need a 4 or a center! honestly we dont even have a true point on the roster! critterion is not a point gaurd, gilbert we’ve already established is a scroing gaurd, and the same for foye. but at the end of the day we have talent, and we just have to use it right! right now we can easily be the top 4 in the east behind orlando, cleveland and boston. knowone else is deeper than us right now in the east.

Comment from Babakism
Time June 25, 2009 at 3:00 AM

Haywood must not be overlooked. Last season is the proof. Nobody realized just how good of a defensive player he was. Stevenson has been important too. Discluding last year we have had 2 partial season spurts where we played some of the best basketball in the NBA.

Spurt #1 before all star break when eddie got to coach the east we were on fire and Gil was putting up 30 and 40 every night hitting game winning buzzer beaters and life was pure bliss. That was the season when Deshawn stevenson lead all SGs in FG % Brenden Haywood stepped in after he lost the starting job to Etan thomas and after Etan got injured haywood played very motivated during the run.

Spurt #2 was in 07/08 when it took us the first half of the season to learn how to play D and play without gil. Remember how we beat the celtics 3 times and we actually played defense?? we made a run the second half of that season and made the playoffs because guys got scrappy and played Defense. We almost beat cleveland without Gil in the playoffs. But most importantly we finished that year playing some of the best Defense in the NBA. So if we go from one year to the next with the same starting lineup minus Brenden Haywood and go from playing great D to playing the worst………..Haywood must have been our Defensive anchor.

During both those spurts we have had the same starters we have now (minus gil for the second spurt) so why not give these core starters a chance to be healthy and play together and return to form.

Comment from Babakism
Time June 25, 2009 at 3:01 AM

If Ben wallace retires we need to bring him in as a Defensive coach pronto

Comment from dcbutler357
Time June 25, 2009 at 6:32 AM

Good Morning,

I didn’t tell my students that there would be no class tonight, so I’m skipping this particular ESPN Zone meeting. There will be other chances, I’m sure.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time June 25, 2009 at 6:33 AM

On another note…..one decent big man added to our roster, and the world is ours

What will cleveland do with two slow centers….lol…

Comment from Babakism
Time June 25, 2009 at 7:58 AM

I wonder if grunfeld could work some magic with the clippers for camby? Would mike james contract be enough to give up to take on cambys or would we have to give up deshawn too???? Is camby even gonna be healthy this year to contribute??? If we are lucky Dajuan Blair will fall deep into the teens to a team that needs a guard like Foye but that probobly won’t happen.

Comment from eri_2
Time June 25, 2009 at 8:30 AM

Camby is way too injury prone at this point in his career to take a risk on him IMO.

Comment from dc6891
Time June 26, 2009 at 10:37 AM

I understand we did not need our second round pick but wouldn’t it have made more sense to draft 1st round talent (DeJuan Blair) and trade him away for a future draft pick or more cash consideration