SB Nation User Blog: Rook6980

Blow it up?

Rook6980 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:45:22 -0000

I am not yet in the "blow-it-up" and start over camp.... Perhaps I'm overly optimistic, but I still think the trio of Arenas, Butler and Jamison - under the Coaching of Flip Saunders; can turn this ship around and take the team deep into the Playoffs. Once the team is in the Playoffs, anything can happen.

My optimism springs from the fact that the Wizards December and January schedule is full of winnable games.. The rest of their games in December are against the Sacramento Kings , Golden State , Phoenix , Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Minnesota , Memphis , Oklahoma City - all are winnable games (with perhaps the exception of Phoenix). January, the schedule makers were especially kind to the Wizards; giving them an almost unheard of 11 home games versus only 5 away games; and only two of the away games should be tough (at Cleveland and at Atlanta)....

So, you can see why my optimism may have overridden my common sense. I am especially worried that I may have overrated this team, after their recent losses to Charlotte, Toronto, Detroit, Indiana and the debacle in LA against the Clippers.

So - if, and remember I said I'm still not yet in the "blow-it-up" camp, but if the Wizards come through December and continue to stink up the Verizon Center - how can Management possibly make any changes; given the current salary situation...

Well - here are some trades that could free up salary this year, save on the Luxury tax this year, and get the team UNDER the salary cap next year. Impossible? No.... Improbable? Not really; especially if you don't mind giving up quality players for expiring contracts and youngsters.

(Note: Salaries work. Roster spots work- remember, the Wizards have 15 players on the current roster, which precludes 2 for 1 trades).

Caron Butler, Dominic McGuire and Javaris Crittenton to Golden State, for Speedy Claxton, Devean George and Kelenna Azubuike

Why Golden State does this trade: Upgrades their SF position (Butler is better than an injured Azubuike). Plus, there have been rumors that Butler has been mentioned by league executives as potential trade target for the Warriors.

Why Washington does this trade: Salary dump; plus Azubuike is an up and coming SF/SG with good range. He's an excellent defender, a good rebounder and doesn't turn the ball over much. At 25, he would fit in well with a rebuilding team; assuming he comes back strong from surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in his left knee.

Antawn Jamison to Cleveland, for Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Why Cleveland does this trade: They've been coveting him for 2 years and Jamison gives the Cavaliers that inside/outside PF that they lack. Shaq and Varejao can adequately cover the Center position - but Jamison makes Cleveland the second best team in the league; just behind the Lakers; almost a shoo-in for the Finals.

Why Washington does this trade: Another salary dump, pure and simple. Ilgauskas comes off the books at the end of the year, and saves the Wizards $28.4 Million (Jamison's salary) over the next two seasons.

Let Ilgauskas walk. Let Haywood walk. Dump Randy Foye (renounce his rights). Let Mike Miller walk. Assuming Azubuike exercises his player option ($3.3 Million), the remaining players under contract would be:

Arenas
Deshawn Stevenson (Stevenson's deal expires after the 2010-2011 season)
Andray Blatche
Nick Young
JaVale McGee
Kelenna Azubuike

The Wizards would have only $32.5 Million in contracts for 2010-2011; enough to sign one max player, or two really good players.... Draft a couple of youngsters in the 2010 Draft (instead of selling their picks). Fill in the rest of the roster using the MLE and League Minimum Player Exceptions, by signing up and coming young players - And they would still be under the Luxury Tax. Now the roster is completely rebuilt full of young players and draft picks.

Hmmm... on second thought, I'm too old for this - I may not have another 3 or 4 years to wait.

Butler in mix for Blazers?

Rook6980 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:09:16 -0000

Butler in mix for Blazers?

The latest rumor, thrown out there by John Hollinger at ESPN, is that Portland would be interested in a true Small Forward ; and he specifically named Caron Butler.

Also reported on ESPN rumor page = here
(Insider required)

To be fair - there is NOTHING here from the Blazers indicating this is real - Nor has there been ANY indication by Ernie Grunfeld that he's looking to deal any players on the roster -

This appears to be just John Hollinger's imagination at work; but interesting to talk about anyway.

Hollinger says Wizards may "retool" the roster at the Trade Deadline

Rook6980 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:21:55 -0000

Hollinger says Wizards may "retool" the roster at the Trade Deadline

His basic premise is correct...

The Wizards will have a new Owner, who may not want to pay big bucks and a large luxury tax bill for an under-achieving team.

They have trade-able assets in Butler, Miller, etc...

They have a disappointing record... so far.

Although the Defense has improved, now the Offense seems to be a problem.

As a result, Hollinger surmises, the Wizards may be active at the Trade Deadline to shed salary.

Wizards play tough defense in 94-84 win over Heat

Rook6980 — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:34:49 -0000

More photos » by Lynne Sladky - AP

20 days ago: Washington Wizards guard Nick Young (1) shoots as Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem (40) defends in the fourth quarter during an NBA basketball game in Miami, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Young scored 22 points as the Wizards won 94-84. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Browse more photos »

No, that's not a mistake. The Wizards played very good, tough defense tonight against the Miami Heat. Although it was a team effort, with multiple players having good games; the one that stuck out to me was Nick Young. That's right..... Nick Young played defense tonight. Nick had 22 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds; but for the second game in a row, the real reason he played so many minutes was because of his defense.

That's two games in a row that Nick has been tasked with defending the opponent's best player. On Tuesday, Nick helped the Wizards defense hold Andre Igguodala to 12 points on 2-10 (20%) shooting. Tonight, although NO one player can completely stop Dwayne Wade, Nick was a major part of the reason D-Wade scored "only" 18 points on 6-19 (31.5%) shooting.

And for the second game in a row, the Wizard's offense shot a good percentage (48.8%) and that helped their Defense. Dwayne Wade gets a lot of his points attacking in the open floor. As Flip Saunders said in his post game comments, "Tonight we shot a very good percentage, didn't turn the ball over too much - we were able to get our defense set, and not give him too many open lanes". The Heat were held to 41.8% shooting for the game and a number of the shots they did hit were semi-desperation contested shots, late in the shot clock. The Wizards dominated the boards, with Blatche (9 rebounds), Butler (7 rebounds), Jamison (13 rebounds) and Haywood (7 rebounds) doing the heavy lifting; giving the Heat very few second chance opportunities.

Another key to the win was the bench play. This was another game where Gilbert Arenas didn't play the fourth quarter. Flip was asked about that in the post game press conference - and he said it was simply a matter of Boykins playing well, and "I just thought it was best, you know Gil had sat, you don't want to sit him as long, but we were playing so well at the time after we went about 2-3 minutes, I thought it was best to let Earl finish and not even take a chance with Gil, from the standpoint of his knee tightening up and something happening." Boykins ended up with 10 points and 9 assists in 21 minutes, and keyed the Wizard's Offense in the fourth quarter. Andray Blatche scored 8 points and had 9 rebounds. JaVale McGee came in for 15 minutes and had 2 blocks and 3 rebounds - and didn't look out of position on defense even once. Flip Saunders spoke about a change in the Wizard's bench when he said "our guys off the bench have had very good mental alertness, and we haven't had a lot of mental mistakes". You know he's talking about McGee; so let's hope that means we'll see some consistent minutes for the exciting big man.

Another encouraging sign was that the Wizards pulled away in the fourth quarter. Butler, Jamison and Andray Blatche all hit big shots down the stretch, and Boykins and Young continued to hound the Heat on Defense; stretching a 3 point lead at the end of the 3rd quarter to 10 by the end of the game.

Most importantly, this game represents a building block; one more step in the right direction. Let's hope that we'll see more games like this one in the near future.

2006 Draft Class

Rook6980 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:22:59 -0000

Following he jump is a list of the 2006 draft class and their status for next year. There are some interesting names including Randy Foye, Tyrus Thomas, Hilton Armstrong and our old friend Oleksiy Pecherov.

Anyone available on this list that you think could help the Wizards next year?

Pick	Player	Status
1	Andrea Bargnani	Signed a 5-year contract extension in July 2009.
2	LaMarcus Aldridge	Signed a 5-year contract extension in October 2009.
3	Adam Morrison	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
4	Tyrus Thomas	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
5	Shelden Williams	Will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
6	Brandon Roy	Signed a 5-year contract extension in August 2009.
7	Randy Foye	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
8	Rudy Gay	Have until Monday, November 2nd to finalize an extension.
9	Patrick O'Bryant	Will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
10	Mouhammed Saer Sene	Currently playing for Hyères-Toulon Var Basket in France.
11	JJ Redick	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
12	Hilton Armstrong	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
13	Thabo Sefolasha	Signed a 4-year contract extension in October 2009.
14	Ronnie Brewer	Will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
15	Cedric Simmons	Currently playing in Greece.
16	Rodney Carney	Will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
17	Shawne Williams	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
18	Oleksiy Pecherov	Will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
19	Quincy Douby	Will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
20	Renaldo Balkman	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
21	Rajon Rondo	Rondo agrees in principle to a 5 year/55 million extension
22	Marcus Williams	Will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
23	Josh Boone	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
24	Kyle Lowry	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
25	Shannon Brown	Can become an unrestricted free agent (player option).
26	Jordan Farmar	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
27	Sergio Rodriguez	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
28	Maurice Ager	Currently playing in Spain.
29	Mardy Collins	Will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
30	Joel Freeland	Currently playing in Spain.

Wizards Exercise Options on Young and McGee

Rook6980 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:39:11 -0000

Wizards Exercise Options on Young and McGee

No word on JaVaris Crittenton - so I would assume that they declined to exercise his option.

The official DeJuan Blair sour grapes thread (don't read if you're tired of this topic)

Rook6980 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:45:10 -0000

In his first NBA game action, DeJuan Blair played 23 minutes, scored 14 points on 7-10 shooting (70%), grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 3 assists.

Spurs Coach Greg Popovich inserted Blair with 1:40 left to play in the 1st quarter and the game tied at 13. The Rookie paid immediate dividends by scoring 2 points and grabbing 2 rebounds even before the quarter ended.... Giving Spurs fans hope that he might actually be able to grab a rebound for every minute of play.

Beastman, as the Spurs fans have taken to calling Blair, scored 6 points, snagged 6 rebounds and 1 assist in a little over 5 and a half minutes before he was replaced by Tim Duncan at 7:47 of the second period - with the San Antonio Spurs enjoying a 31-16 lead.

The Wizard's, who received $2.5 Million for their 2009 second round draft pick (#32 overall), played their season opener yesterday. However their stack of cash never entered the game - and was a non-factor in their win over the Dallas Mavericks.

A new era of statistical analysis

Rook6980 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:46:39 -0000

A new era of statistical analysis

Great article on the next wave of statistical analysis that may be available to teams in the NBA.

ESPN The Magazine grades the Wizards

Rook6980 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:45:54 -0000

ESPN the Magazine grades the contenders. (insider required)

Although I agree with where they ranked the Wizards; and I mostly agree with the rest of the rankings - some of the individual grades are puzzling.

Of course at ESPN, "grading" is done on somewhat of a curve; with Boston, Cleveland and Orlando getting the benefit of a positive grade on anything that might be considered iffy, while any "doubts" on the rest of the teams are strictly graded negative.

Boston Celtics
ECONOMICS — B-plus
If the Celtics don't look like contenders by the break, they may try to unload Allen. There will be takers because he's in the last year of his deal.

Washington Wizards
ECONOMICS — C-plus
Mike Miller (unrestricted) and Randy Foye (restricted) are both in the final year of their deals. Will they play for wins or stats?

I fail to see how an expiring contract on one team (Boston) is treated as a positive; while expiring deals on another team (Wizards) are graded down.... Doesn't Washington have the same option as Boston to trade their expiring contracts? If ESPN thinks that Miller or Foye could "play for stats", what makes Ray Allen so special that they can't even contemplate the same from him?

As a matter of fact... It would seem to me that Washington has an advantage over Boston here. The Wizards have a player (Mike James) with an expiring contract that does not fit into the team's long range plans. They may be able to trade that "asset" at the Trade Deadline for help down the stretch and into the Playoffs. Boston can only trade Allen and hope they get value in return.

And the Wizards get a "C" for Biology because of the uncertainty of Gilbert Arenas' knee. While the Celtics get a "B" even though ESPN admits that

The Celtics are old. Ray Allen is 34, Kevin Garnett, 33, Paul Pierce, 32, and Rasheed Wallace, 35. But the bigger deal is KG's knee. Preseason reviews were mixed. Some saw a limp, others saw that old explosiveness.

On the other hand, this is one of the first times I've seen ESPN actually acknowledge that, when healthy, the BIG-3 are capable of playing contending basketball;

The last time Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison were running at full tilt for a long stretch (2006-07), they had the Wizards revving at a 45-win pace. And incoming coach Flip Saunders has a much better supporting cast this time.

Pecherov goes for 20 and 10

Rook6980 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:38:55 -0000

Pecherov goes for 20 and 10

No - that's not a joke.

With both Kevin Love (broken hand) and Al Jefferson (Flu) out, Oleksiy started his second straight game at Center for the Timberwolves.

He looks like he's taking advantage of the opportunity. In 32 minutes he scored 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting (2-2 from 3-point) and had 10 rebounds.

Get buckets son!