None of this is official, of course, but both the Washington Post and Washington Times are reminding everyone that, in the wake of Abe Pollin's death, Ted Leonsis' group has dibs on the franchise and will likely exercise their first right to buy it.

From the Times:

The man who led a turnaround of the Washington Capitals likely will become owner of the city's NBA franchise now that Wizards owner Abe Pollin has died. As part of an agreement granting him the right of first refusal for any sale of the team, he also could purchase Verizon Center and the area's Ticketmaster franchise, giving him a sports empire that would be the envy of executives around the country.

The arrangement between Pollin and Leonsis, struck in 1999 when Leonsis bought the Capitals, is unusual. Typically, when a franchise owner dies, the team passes on to a spouse or children, who are happy to take over. In cases when family members wish to sell the team, they do so later, placing the team on the open market and looking for the highest bidder. That Pollin was willing to see his team passed on to Leonsis is a testament to the relationship the two men had and a final example of Pollin's love for the team.

Both papers talk about the major economic advantages Leonsis will receive if he purchases the team.  For example, if he purchases the building rights to the Verizon Center, he can keep all the profits gained from ticket and merchandise sales.  There's also the leverage Leonsis gained in negotiations regarding television broadcast rights, though I doubt he'd move teams off Comcast SportsNet onto a new broadcast station.  But there's also this truth: Leonsis wouldn't have bought the Caps and 44 percent of Washington Sports and Entertainment if he wouldn't one day have the chance to purchase the Wizards and the rest of Pollin's holdings.  That's kind of the bottom line that convinces me that Leonsis isn't passing on this chance.

As for when the inevitable transfer of power occurs, the Times says it depends on the price that's negotiated and whether Leonsis uses straight cash to make the purchase.

No one knew when Pollin would pass away or give up control of the team, so financial terms of the sale were not prearranged. Forbes magazine last year valued the Wizards at $353 million, which suggests that the share of the team not already under Leonsis' control would cost nearly $200 million. Verizon Center and the Ticketmaster franchise could double that figure, but Leonsis also would assume considerable debt from construction of the arena.

Since Leonsis has been designated as the heir apparent, the sale of the team could go more smoothly than most. But much of that will depend on how much cash Leonsis and his partners have on hand. A sale involving mostly cash would be completed quickly, investment bankers said, but the need to borrow money or bring in new investors could drag out the process.

Someone more in-tune with these kind of business deals can explain this further to me.

The obvious question now is, what effect will Leonsis have on the on-court product?  Judging from his tenure as the Capitals owner, Leonsis believes in building slowly through the draft and not splurging on veteran free agents until the right time comes.  In other words -- almost the antithesis of the Wizards' strategy the last few years.  This could mean that Ernie Grunfeld and the Big Three could be on thin ice going forward if the Wizards do not improve their play. 

However, it's far easier to build through the draft when a) we're talking about hockey, where it's easier to move bad contracts, b) it's a recession, further making it more difficult to move bad contracts, and c) you don't get the chance to draft Alex Ovechkin.  I definitely think Leonsis will eventually want to rebuild this team and get a GM in here that's more up-to-date with new-age stats and modern thinking (our own Daryl Morey/Sam Presti), but I don't know if that will happen as soon as we all think. 

We'll see though.  It's fun to speculate on a Leonsis-filled future, that's for sure.

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

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First of all, I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving with their families (and not on here).  I sure did, and I hope you guys did too.

So I apologize if this recap is a bit stale.  The game happened three days ago, after all.  But I have to put a final wrap on it before we move on.

Yes, it's true.  The Wizards almost lost on Tuesday to the 76ers due to a fourth quarter near-meltdown.  The worst part about the fourth quarter was that Philadelphia's two highest-paid players, Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand, were not in the game.  It was a dash of Louis Williams and Jrue Holiday that nearly won Philadelphia the game.  That's ... well ... kind of sad.  This game should never have been close enough where an open Williams three-pointer has the potential to decide the game.

Beyond that fourth quarter, though, this game was a major success.  Why?  Everyone, except Gilbert Arenas, played well.  We dominated a fully-healthy team for three quarters without two key starters.  We got contributions from all over.  We played excellent defense and displayed great ball movement on offense (obvious caveat: we were playing the 76ers, a discombobulated team confused by the Princeton offense and already suffering the requisite Eddie Jordan drop-off on defense). 

Most importantly, two guys who have mostly languished on the bench brought it last night.  Yes, I'm talking about Nick Young and JaVale McGee.  Going forward, we're going to need them to produce, and we're going to need Flip Saunders to trust them to play through obvious growing pains.  Tuesday's game was certainly a good start.

Four Factors (Bold=very good | Italics=very bad)

Snap Reaction: Lots of offensive rebounds.  Also, we're once again seeing Washington's new defensive philosophy.  Contest shots and never go for steals.  There's an exaggerated emphasis is on lowering the defensive field goal percentage at the expense of creating turnovers.

Lineup Details, via Popcorn Machine

• Highest individual plus/minus: Fabricio Oberto (+15 in 21:24)
  
• Lowest individual plus/minus: Randy Foye and Andray Blatche (-10 in 15:42 and 21:54, respectively)
  
• Best five-man unit: Gilbert Arenas/Nick Young/Antawn Jamison/Fabricio Oberto/Brendan Haywood (+14 in the third quarter)
  
• Worst five-man unit: Gilbert Arenas/Nick Young/Antawn Jamison/Andray Blatche/Brendan Haywood (-4 in a stretch late in the game)
  

Snap reaction: Fabricio Oberto continues to rack up the positive plus/minuses.  It's a cliche, but he does the little things to help you win.  

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More photos » by Ned Dishman - NBAE/Getty Images

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There have been so many incredible things written about Abe Pollin by people that know of him far better than I for me to have too much to add.  (In fact, here are some of them).  But since it's Abe Pollin, possibly the most influential non-politician in Washington over the last 30 years, I feel compelled to add this to the discussion. 

I don't think I need to list several of Abe's great attributes right off the bat.  We all know them.  In short, he was a great man, the type of person who "every little child hopes he grows up to be and every old man wished he had been," according to one of his former employees.  And yet, Pollin was also derided by many for running a "mom and pop" organization.  He was too loyal, too unwilling to let people off the hook for poor job performance.  He was criticized for being cheap and for valuing character over talent.  He was lambasted for his treatment of Michael Jordan and for his previous unwillingness to go over the luxury tax.

Pollin essentially was bashed for not possessing a single-minded pursuit of winning.  In all other walks of life, his adherence to higher principles would be universally praised.  In sports, it was a reason to criticize him.  That should tell you something about how sports is perceived to be simply about winning.  It was never about that for Abe Pollin, and the more we think about it, it really isn't about that for any of us either.

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Let's be happy, folks.  We won this one for Abe.  We almost lost it, but in the end, we did win it for him.

Kudos to the players for putting together a focused effort (at least for 40 minutes) and getting the job done.

The Essentials:

76ers (5-8) vs. Wizards (3-9)
7 p.m.
Verizon Center
TV: CSN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan

Notable early 76ers numbers this season

25th in expected winning percentage (.341)
22nd in pace (91.6 possessions per game)
T21st in offensive efficiency/offensive rating (103.9)
24th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating (108.9)

Notable 76ers numbers last season

15th in expected winning percentage (.503)
21st in pace (90 possessions per game)
19th in offensive efficiency/offensive rating (107.9)
14th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating (107.8)

Pre-game links

Liberty Ballers, SB Nation's 76ers Blog
Philadunkia, a 76ers blog
Depressed Fan, a 76ers blog
Deep Sixer with Philadelphia Inquirer Beat Reporter Kate Fagan
Outlet: Eddie Jordan surprised by Wizards' struggles
Michael Lee: The Other Side: 76ers
GameDay 76ers

UPDATE: No Caron Butler tonight.  In his place, Fabricio Oberto will start as the Wizards go big.

I'm not even sure it's appropriate to play this game, let alone write a preview for it.  I can't imagine how difficult this must be for the coach and the players.  Sure, they didn't have the closest relationship with Abe Pollin, but how can you not be affected when your ultimate boss passes away?  For pre-game listening, check out the second half of this week's Dagger Report, where we talk to Jordan Sams from Liberty Ballers. 

No word yet on Caron Butler's status.  I'll update when I hear anything.

I'd normally be attending this one in person, but I'm heading out of town verrrryyyy early tomorrow morning, so I'm not going tonight.  It's really unfortunate too - I would have been very interested in covering tonight's game.  Several members of the Washington Sports and Entertainment office - including Ernie Grunfeld, Executive VP Matt Williams and CFO Peter Biche - are being made available to the media, as are Phil Chenier and Wes Unseld.  It promises to be a very emotional night and game at the Verizon Center, particularly because Eddie Jordan is also going to be here.

I'll be watching on TV, but if you're there, please let me know what the atmosphere was like. 

GO WIZARDS!

Some very sad news via Michael Lee -- Abe Pollin, the longtime owner of the Wizards, has passed away at age 85. 

Sad news from Washington. I just heard that Wizards owner Abe Pollin has died at age 85. No details yet, but he passed this afternoon.

I'm truly stunned.  We all knew he was struggling healthwise, but this definitely came out of nowhere.  My condolences go to the Pollin family for their loss.

I'll have more to write some other time, when I have a chance to gather my thoughts.  All I can say for now is this: Abe Pollin was professional basketball in this city.  He was a truly titanic presence, the rare owner that cared so much about others.  He built a new arena in downtown DC, initially out of his own pocket, to try to revitalize a decaying area of the city that needed new life.  He has given tremendous amounts of money to charity and done numerous great deeds that are too many to count.  

In short, this is a monumental loss for the NBA and for the Wizards fan community.  We should all take a moment to truly appreciate the great man that Abe Pollin was.

RIP.

Here are the facts. The Boston Celtics are struggling, Kevin Garnett’s statistics are at a career low across the board and KG himself is still recovering from a very serious knee injury.

Here’s a fourth fact: if a reporter didn’t ask about the connection between those three facts, they wouldn’t be doing their job. But Kevin Garnett is frustrated, dammit! And when KG gets frustrated, reporters suffer.

Garnett has still not regained his explosiveness on a consistent basis, on either end of the floor. But whether it’s because of lingering knee issues or simply gaining confidence after the layoff is unknown.

But it’s certain he doesn’t like discussing the subject.

"They’re getting old," Garnett said when a question about his pregame knee treatment was raised. "OK? Y’all know what I’m dealing with here. I said (Sunday) that no one in this league at this point . . . is 100 percent. Hell, I get worked on even when I didn’t have surgery. It’s just rituals and stuff like that. I always get treatment before games. If you see Paul (Pierce) and [Rajon] Rondo, I think they get massages before games. My ritual is no different from that."

KG’s frustration is understandable, but … dude, the reason they’re asking you about your knee and aren’t asking about Pierce and Rondo is that those two haven’t seen their production fall off like you have. Trust me, if you and/or the team pick it up, nobody will ask about the knee.

But until then, questions about the knee just come with the territory. It’s part of your job to answer them with grace.

Via Warriors.com and Golden State of Mind, the Warriors are rolling out some hot new alternate throwback jerseys. Check them out.

Golden State of Mind writes that the Warriors will don those jerseys for five home games this season. I realize the jerseys are a novelty act, but as long as the Warriors are going to stink anyway, can’t they wear them more than five times? Pretty please?

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for the Portland Trailblazers has been integrating Andre Miller. He started the season off the bench while Steve Blake started, grumbled about it a bit and then eventually moved back into the starting lineup alongside Blake once Nicholas Batum and Travis Outlaw suffered serious injuries.

Now, he’s coming off the bench again, which could rekindle the discontent we saw in preseason. However, as Blazers Edge, SB Nation’s Portland Trailblazers blog noted, Miller certainly succeeded coming off the bench Monday against the Bulls.

While the hot discussion topic might still be whether Steve Blake or Andre Miller should start at point guard, tonight we finally saw real evidence that Miller running the second unit is good for all parties. Make no mistake, Miller had a much better game than Blake tonight. But ask yourself this: Does Miller score the same 16 points if he plays all his minutes alongside Brandon Roy? Probably not. Does Brandon Roy score 18 points if he plays all of his minutes alongside Andre Miller? Do these two players, the team’s two best play-makers, combine for 12 assists if their minutes overlapped more? Are both Aldridge and Oden able to get going if Roy and Miller are both in the game simultaneously, if Blake isn’t there to keep the defense a little bit more honest? Does the team’s dominant second quarter take place if Blake is running the show rather than Miller?

We might not have solid answers to these hypothetical questions but we do have answers from tonight: simply put, Miller off the bench can work on the court. Indeed, it can work very well. Will it work over the long haul, taking into account egos, minutes, numbers, and all the rest of it? Who knows. But it produced the single best team performance of the season.

I’m sure Miller didn’t have this in mind when he signed with Portland, but it’s a good fit in theory. Portland’s bench has far more athletes than the starting unit and would succeed with a point guard like Miller that is adept at pushing the pace. As long as Portland is winning and Miller is succeeding in his role, it’s hard for him to really gripe about it.