SB Nation User Blog: Pryme

According to several league sources, the Cavs are attempting to land Houston Rockets free-agent...

Pryme — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:30:34 -0000

According to several league sources, the Cavs are attempting to land Houston Rockets free-agent forward Ron Artest, and the pitch included a meeting with LeBron James on Tuesday night in Los Angeles as both were in Southern California for various events.

Gotta Catch 'Em All.

But seriously, this would be a smart move for Cleveland. Although Artest is getting up there, he's still one of the few players with the skills and guts to guard James one-on-one. So why not add a potential roadblock to the team and make him an asset?

Ernie? Flip? You guys paying attention here?

All that Glitters...

Pryme — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:16:38 -0000

Shorter BF reaction to 2009 NBA Draft:

I come not to bury the Washington Wizards, but to praise them; for if we've learned anything about our current group it's that anything is possible. Quite simply, we have the most unorthadox, surreal, outside-the-box team in the NBA right now.

It's not a curse. The Clippers are cursed. With us, it's more "organized chaos."

First things first: the chances of Rubio coming here were slim. If anyone needed to draft an exciting player, it was Memphis. If any team needed to draft a game-changing PG, it was Oklahoma or Sacramento. Don't believe the after-hype: everybody and their grandmother had Rubio going no later than fourth. Oh, and check this out: Rubio's dad and Kevin Love both say Rubio's staying in Spain; so we essentially got two decent backcourt players for some European postcards.

And that leads me to our roster: no matter what anyone says, this team runs with an engine named Gilbert Arenas. Players imitate their leader; do people really think things like this were inspired by hanging around Caron Butler or Antawn Jamison? That being said, we needed insurance in case Arenas couldn't make it through a full season and the team of Mike James & Javaris Crittenton wasn't going to cut it. So why not acquire a combo guard and a player who can play (and score) from the wing to keep teams honest?

Yes we're guard-heavy. But honestly, those who have a problem with that either (a) didn't realize what we gave up or (b) really don't like our current options. What we gave up was a passionate poet who's undersized for the center position, a tough-minded PF who "couldn't jump over a newspaper," and a 7'0" shooting guard who, over time, decided that rebounding and passing were cutting into his shooting drills. Our current options include the team's best defensive player (and arguably one of the franchises best ten centers), an undersize PF who can literally score from every spot on the floor, an immature PF who (under proper guidence) could be the next Theo Ratcliff, and a lanky, court running, slam-dunking center who is just starting to bulk up.

Personally, I was looking to shore up our SF spot (it was looking rather sickly). With the Minnesota trade, we are four deep there (Last Man Standing, Taser, Tough Juice and 2XM).

So go ahead and argue that we should trade Stevenson (or James) and one of the kids for a flagpole Power Forward; in April you'll be wondering why Howard and Shaq are dropping 25-and-12 on us while Haywood always seems to be on the bench in the third quarter with his fifth foul. Me? If we can't get a bruiser ala Boozer, it's ain't worth it.

Speaking of "worth it," wouldn't it be cool if Ernie Grunfeld used some of that cash to help parlay an actual PF? I mean a guy who's at least 6'8" & a half, 245 lbs, and likes to benchpress VWs? Someone around the basket who would allow a Brendan Haywood patented "Hey, every North Carolina Player can do a fadeaway...watch!" jumper or McGee to contest every shot without us screaming, "WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?"

As for our division...Orlando's too busy with their NBA arms race with Cleveland to be bothered with us...the Hawks aren't scary at all...Dwayne Wade aside, the Heat seem more preoccupied with being in a Boyz II Men video...and as for the 'Cats: MJ's trying to buy them. 'Nuff said.

Now if the sour reaction is a way to get everyone else to have low expectations about the Wizards, ignore everything I just wrote.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns have come to an agreement on a blockbuster trade that...

Pryme — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:40:43 -0000

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns have come to an agreement on a blockbuster trade that sends Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland to team with LeBron James, according to sources.

The deal has been agreed to in principle and is expected to be finalized Thursday, according to sources.

Cleveland will send Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to Phoenix for the future Hall of Famer. Sources said the Suns will also receive the 46th pick in Thursday's NBA draft and $500,000.

Can we say, "Panic Move?"

Ernie Grunfeld Live Press Conference

Pryme — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:10:46 -0000

Ernie Grunfeld Live Press Conference

In progress (as of 2:09pm)

UPDATE, by Mike: Truth About It has a nice recap here.

A Detroit-Washington & Minnesota-Washington Trade Proposal(s)

Pryme — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:02:50 -0000

Quasi-inspired by Jake's post, I suggest that in while we talking about trading we not only look for veteran players, but specifically for length and size.

One reason is that this is what helped Flip in years past. A second is that getting a fourth All-Star on this roster is not likely. A third is that Grunfeld has a point: we shouldn't risk a major upheaval when we haven't seen the squad play together in over two seasons.

Keeping this in mind, here's one humble fan's proposal(s).

I used both RealGM and the ESPN Trade Machine to confirm this BTW, but I have:

Stevenson, Blatche and Songalia going to Detroit

Pecherov (and a pick?) going to Minnesota

Kevin Love (PF) and Tayshaun Prince (SF) coming to D.C.

Giving us a lineup of:

STARTERS

Arenas

Butler

Prince

Jamison

Haywood

This gives us length up front as well as a perimeter defensive player who could compliment Haywood's post defense. Flip likes using zone defenses, and with long players like Prince, Haywood and McGee he can come up with a number of schemes. Butler is going to have to deal with playing at least 15-20 mpg as a SG, but we don't really lose anything from an offensive perspective.

BENCH

Crittenton

Young

McGuire

Love

McGee

Having Crittenton or Young come off the bench first for either Prince or Butler give us a traditional lineup; with Crittenton, Arenas can move to SG and with Young he can stay as a PG. Love and McGuire can come in for Jamison and Prince/Butler. But as a fivesome, this group will be fast, athletic and still disruptive defensively-speaking. Also, Love is versatile enough to play Center in a smaller lineup (I'm thinking Crittenton, Arenas, Butler, Jamison and Love?).

What About The Other Teams?

Minnesota may be hesitant unless we throw in our pick. But as far as PFs go, they have plenty (Cardinal, Smith and Williams). Considering what Love can do for our guys, I'm willing to part with the 5th pick and let the T'Wolves go back-toback. Also, there a good chance that Flip still has enough pull with his old team to get some talks going.

Detriot gets some youth (Blatche) mental toughness (Songalia) and a SG who won't complain about being a bench player (Stevenson). If we can get away by giving Minnesota our 33rd pick with Pech, I say do it and save the #5 to sweeten the deal with Detriot. That way, whether they decide to blow the team up or do some cosmetic surgery they'll still have some decent pieces to work with.

I also picked two teams that either (a) haven't been in the playoffs in a while and would be willing to trade for that chance, or (b) made the playoffs but still realize they have a ways to go if they want to go deep. I'd say the biggest boon for both would be the opportunity to dump some of their own ineffective players and try out guys who either have some playoff experience or are still raw enough to be molded into a new offensive/defensive scheme.

I think Minnesota would bite before Detriot would, which is still good because we still get a young player who has enough NBA experience to be a consistent contributor.

P.S.: I went with a younger PF because I know Jamison isn't the type of player who will come off the bench at this point in his career. I know he did this in Dallas, but that's because (1) he had just arrived there and (2) Dirk was dancing between PF and SF at the time and the Maverick coaching staff didn't want to wreck the team chemistry until they had figured out where their star player fit best.

'Washington tried something and it didn't work," James told reporters in Cleveland last night....

Pryme — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:40:30 -0000

'Washington tried something and it didn't work," James told reporters in Cleveland last night. "They lost in the first round again. We all know Washington is not a physical team. They tried to be physical and they lost."

Winning the MVP award and being able to glide to the Eastern Conference Finals hasn't made James any less classy, huh?

Gilbert Gets Serious, Caron Likes "The Notebook."

Pryme — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:13:49 -0000

Gilbert Gets Serious, Caron Likes "The Notebook."

We may need to update some of the player's nicknames.

Not Exactly The Worst...

Pryme — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:25:47 -0000

I know that it's been rough this season, but the positive side is we have had an opportunity to see what this team needs (in terms of players) to be a force in the League and who on the current roster won't be apart of that.

In the spirit of culling the weak from the strong, I wanted to compare the "winners" of Charley Rosen's Anti-awards to our Dumbledores of the District. As per Rosen's rules, this comparison will only be made of those Wizards players who participated in ten games or more (that automatically disqualifies Arenas and Haywood). And with all due respect to Rosen's evaluation skills, I'm sticking to his stat-based awards.

Pointless Leader: In 17 games, Mark Madsen averaged 0.4 ppg.

Etan Thomas beat this by a mile with 3.1ppg, and he's like the 12th option on offense.

Brick Layer: Cheikh Samb shot 18.8 percent from the field.

DeShawn Stevenson is the closest with 31%, and he was hurt half the time.

Foul Shooter: DeSagana Diop managed to convert only 31.1 percent of his not-so-free throws.

Stevenson again (53.3%) and again, he was hurt.

Long-Distance-Wrong-Numbers: Josh McRoberts was 0-for-9 from beyond the arc.

Darius Songaila was also 0.00%, but he only shot one three-pointer. And he played center for half the season.

Non-Playmaker: Othello Hunter averaged 0.0 assists.

He gave us a scare, but Oleksiy Pecherov's 2 assists in 32 games ganered him a shame-evading 0.2% apg. Granted he played in twice as many games as Hunter, but whatever.

Shot-Watcher: The 6-foot-9 Madsen failed to block a single shot.

Again, Pech (with .09). And if that's not a screamer, consider that Juan Dixon and Javaris Crittenton blocked more shots than the 7-footer.

Looking-Glass Leader: In 10 games, Sun Yue registered zero rebounds.

Dixon chimes in with 1.3 boards per game. Of course with Dixon, getting a rebound is his best chance of being able to shoot the ball.

NBA's Most Honest Man: Madsen stole nary a pass or a dribble.

Thomas had 3 steals this season. I'm as shocked as you are.

New York Minute-Man: When he did play, Yue averaged a mere 2.8 minutes per game.

Pech averaged 8.7 minutes a game, which is the equivalent of garbage minutes in a blowout.

Well, there you have it. If you were to compare our current roster to Rosen's "worsts," if looks like Stevenson, Thomas and Pech are the biggest offenders, with "honorable mention" going to Dixon and Songaila. Out of those five, the one I would vote to keep around is Songalia, because (1) he was playing out of position and (2) he has the best FT% of the bunch (that comes in handy when there's a close playoff game and the opposing team is scrambling around trying to foul someone). Considering that these guys all played more than 200 minutes of basketball, I think questions like "How many rebounds did he get?" are entirely fair in the evaluation process.

You could tell that the Wizards were ready to get out of town at the start of the fourth quarter,...

Pryme — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:53:01 -0000

You could tell that the Wizards were ready to get out of town at the start of the fourth quarter, when they were down 20 points and interim Coach Ed Tapscott sent in a lineup of Javaris Crittenton, Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee, Dominic McGuire and Nick Young.

Of course, Crittenton and McGuire were the starting backcourt last night, but Tapscott left Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison on the bench and never thought about asking either to enter the game, even after the young guys got within 14 points with 8:42 remaining. 'It just didn't seem that we had what we needed to make a run,' Tapscott said.

About 50 games late, IMHO

Don't discount the affect that Arenas's return has had on team morale the past few weeks of the...

Pryme — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:10:01 -0000

Don't discount the affect that Arenas's return has had on team morale the past few weeks of the season. One player told me before the game that he thought Arenas coming back encouraged Haywood to come back. With the possibility that both Arenas and Haywood could play together before the season ends looking more like a reality, Jamison said, 'It's getting better for us every day.'"

Ya don't say.