Before we traded the #5, a lot of people wanted to trade the #5 to the Bulls for Kirk Hinrich. I'm not gonna lie, I was definitely NOT one of them. I know that he's a decent to good defender - at the point - but I didn't like him at the two at all.

Now we picked up Randy Foye in a trade for #5, along with dumping some salary, as well as picking up Mike Miller (who should thrive in a Korver/Kapono/White guy with last name that begins with "K" apparently role) and the reaction to this trade seems to be pretty negative.

Now, I'm a little bit on the fence about this deal - it does leave our team unbalanced, but I think we will make some sort of move to get some frontcourt help - and I definitely would like the deal a whole lot more if we got a 1st rounder (preferably the 18) back from the T-Wolves. But then I researched Foye a little and I started thinking about Hinrich.

Look, I'm not gonna lie. I don't know that much about Foye. I haven't been paying attention to his career, except for the whole "traded straight up for Brandon Roy" stigma he was stuck with in Minnesota. So I started looking at his stats - 16 points, 4 assists and 3 boards last year is not bad. Hinrich had arguably his best year in 06-07 when he averaged 16 points, 6 assists and 3 boards. Also for his career Foye has essentially the same FG% and 3PT% as Hinrich. (And yes, I am cherry picking stats a little.)

Now reports vary on whether or not Foye can defend. I'm going to take this to assume that he's a decent defender - I'm going to assume he's about as good as a healthy DeShawn - and that's not great, but not terrible. And I'll agree that Hinrich is a pretty good defender. What I like about Foye more than I did with Hinrich, is size. Foye is an inch taller and about 20-25 pounds bigger than Hinrich. Since Foye/Hinrich would be defending the two guard (and I'm assuming Foye would start in the backcourt with Arenas, see above with Miller in the Korver role), I am far more comfortable with Foye there because of his better size.

Also, Foye appears to be developing, while Hinrich has probably peaked (although he is 28, so I may be selling him a bit short). Foye comes at less than half the price of Henrich, with two years less on his deal, and is almost three years younger, so is it such a bad thing that we got him instead of Hinrich?

That being said I still don't know if I'm just trying to talk myself into this trade or not. One thing I do know is, I'm glad we didn't trade for Hinrich, dude looks like Frodo.

Poll

Who would you rather have?

56%

Randy Foye

30 votes

26%

Kirk Hinrich

14 votes

16%

Frodo!

9 votes

53 votes | Poll has closed

Hi, from a Wizards fan who post over at Bullets Forever. I've been trying to figure out the recent T-wolves/Wizards trade, and I'm still not sure if I like it. (I probably would definitely like it if we got one of your first rounders, but whatever.) I've been reading around the interwebs, and I just can't seem to find a definitive answer to this question. You guys have been watching the T-Wolves all year, so you tell me.

Can Randy Foye play defense?

If he can, I like the trade, if he can't, not so much. So which is it? Is he developing into a pretty good defender? Or should I continue to never believe a damn word Hollinger writes?

Editor's Note: Bumped, because it's well thought-out and because it comes at a perfect time, both in the basketball sense (the halfway point of the season) and the symbolic sense (inauguration day). -PM

Let's face it everyone, the Wizards are terrible right now. We've all been arguing about playing time, but our problems do go deeper than that. Right now, just changing playing time around between players is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I think we need to start playing a little differently to have some success. Here's what I would like to see for the rest of the season:

Bring Back the Big Three. I know, I know, Gilbert's out, and he's probably not coming back this year. That's not what I'm talking about here. This team had its greatest successes when it had three 20-point scorers starting. Let's get one thing straight - I love McGuire, you love McGuire, but we need to start Nick Young. Will we take a hit on defense and rebounding? Yeah, but Caron is clearly not comfortable at the shooting guard spot, and while Nick Young is no Gil, neither is Caron or Antawn. I think the flow of our offense has been hurt by the fact that Caron has been playing out of position, and that neither of our remaining All-Stars has that sort of gunner mentality of a #1 option. Nick has that, and while he may not have the skills of a #1 scorer, he can take some of the pressure off Antawn and Caron and allow them to return to more of their game.

 

Big is the new Small. Abolish small ball. Seriously. I know we always complain about Songaila at the 5, but that's because its retarded. We have been getting killed in the paint and on the glass recently, because we've gone so small. I want to see McGee and Blatche at the same time, for extended periods. Hell, I even want to go SUPER big as a change of pace - I'm talking about a front court of O-Pec, Blatche and McGee. They always say, "You can't teach height." Well, why not use it?

 

You don't have to go small to go fast. I know Tapscott's been talking about us as a Seven Seconds or Less team, and I don't necessarily agree with that, but I think we are structured right now to play up-tempo. And this is because of our bigs. Antawn, McGuire, Blatche, McGee and to a lesser (or really, unknown, extent) Pecherov are all big men that can that can thrive in transition. Sure, we may get a couple of boneheaded charges (although I think Blatche has been getting better at this), but we'll be getting several more spectacular dunks from McGee and easy buckets for everybody. Also, Crittenton is a big guard that rebounds well and excels in transition. Just sayin'.

Hire an established coach. This one may be a little more iffy, but I think we need a proven coach here, instead of the next hot assistant. Honestly, Tom Thibbedeaux (spelling?) may turn out to be the next great coach, but are you sure? Paul Silas threw his hat into the ring, and I actually think he could be a great fit for this team. He's a great teacher of big men, rebounding and defense - I personally think that he really helped Carlos Boozer emerge as a star in this league. I know his overall record is pretty crappy, but he did well in Charlotte, and was turning Cleveland around when he got fired. Flip Saunders, to me, is another decent option. While he does teach zone defense, he also is good at developing young players, and could help smooth out some of our offensive struggles - we really do need conststancy through 4 quarters. P.J. Carlisimo - no. When I say established, I mean good. I think we can all agree that the current coaching staff just is not cutting it. Except for maybe Dave Hopla. Honestly, the idea of hiring Tapscott permanently, or promoting Wes Unseld, Jr. scares the hell out of me.

Well, what do you guys think?

I was poking around on Wizards Insider, which linked to a SI Roundtable here. What jumped out to me was this:

Washington: The Wizards (believe it or not) have yet to abandon their hopes of making the playoffs. Ed Tapscott told me that he and GM Ernie Grunfeld are hoping that by making defense a priority, the Wizards will be able to salvage the season.

This is what bugs me. I, like a lot of people on this blog, have pretty much given up on this season. We are down two starters that, arguably, are the heart and soul of our offense and defense, respectively. We have a 4-19 record, and we don't seem to be getting any better. So why does the front office and head coach believe we can make a push for the playoffs? I understand it the NBA, and more than half the teams make it, but even then, the hopes are slim. We are not suddenly going to go 40-20 here.

Truth About It has been making the point that the players are the ones who are responsible for the Wizards' record, and I could agree more. However, at this point, I don't care about the record. Its meaningless. Not making the playoffs is not making the playoffs.

I like Grunfield. I liked his last trade. Getting a good prospect for essentially nothing is fine. But, to me, Mike James is indicative of the problem. One of our biggest assets is the young talent. One of the best ways to develop that talent is to get them experience. The real value in having Mike James is his contract. He's not in the long term plans. So why is he playing?

The goal for this year should be to get the young talent ready for next year. We'll have a healthy Arenas and Haywood (hopefully). They'll need a supporting cast. A cast, that right now is not ready for primetime. We need to shift our goals here. Development this year (and keeping Antwan and Caron healthy) and playoffs the next.

Just wanted put this out there: Does Haywood's injury make this season more interesting? And possibly more important?

Was anyone else worried that Etan's return might cut into Blatche's minutes due to Eddie Jordan's (inexplicable) favoritism towards Thomas?

Did McGee's performance against the Mavericks give anyone else hope that we don't need a panicked move to sign another backup center?

I think that, given McGee's new status of "not as horrible as we immediately thought because we were panicking on draft night" and Blatche's improved play, that we actually might have a little more to look forward to this season. Given Gil's injury, did anyone expect a deep playoff run this year? I'm hoping that Blatche wrestles the starting center job from Thomas and McGee gets a chance to step up.

Will we win more games now because of this? Probably not. But this definitely means McGee shouldn't immediately be shipped to the D-League (we need the depth if nothing else) and hopefully he can produce some.

To me, this season is going to measured in the success and progress that our young players show. So don't panic! (Yet.)

Just poking around ESPN, when I saw this one:

Ed Stefanski might consider making a run at the SuperSonics' Chris Wilcox. The 25-year-old Wilcox has good size (6-foot-10, 235 pounds), likes to play with his back to the basket -- the Sixers desperately need a low-post scorer -- and is heading into the final year of his contract (he'll earn $6.75 million).

Would Seattle be willing to take Utah's first-rounder for Wilcox?

I'm sorry, I know we've got a bunch of developing big men, but if we can get Wilcox for the 18th, I say do it.

Of course, this is counting on Sam Presti to be dumb enough to make that trade, so its probably not going to happen.

Take that KDP!

Lets face it, before losing his team this year Avery was a great coach for the Mavs (he has an insane winning percentage).  I'm actually not entirely sure either Avery or D'Antoni would be an ideal fit for the Wizards, but then again, who is?

Avery:

Pros: Inherited a good team and made them better, culminating in a trip to the NBA finals where he got killed by terrible officiating. Could do the same thing for us - we are an established team, while not as good as the Mavs under Nellie. Took an all-offense team and managed to make them play defense. Tough coach who wouldn't let Arenas run the show - a good thing, as I'm still not convinced EJ has any control over Agent Zero.

Cons: Completely lost his team this year, and that has to make you wonder. Two straight first round exits, we know what that feels like. Could completely clash with Arenas and ruin what is one of the better locker rooms in the league. Played with his lineups sometimes - would probably still play Songaila at center sometimes.

D'Antoni:

Pros: Nothing would make us more "Suns of the East" then getting the coach of the Suns. While EJ has the Princeton Offense, D'Antoni would make sure we played at an even faster pace and not get bogged down in the half court - which plays to our strengths. I think Blatche would really step up as an offensive force in his system.

Cons: More of the same - all offense, no defense. Doesn't play his bench at all, and we have some promising young players that need to be developed. Could be a lateral or even a backwards move - how would he fare without a PG like Nash? Would his system work with Arenas, who's more scorer than facilitator? Two words: Small Ball.

I'm not sure what the answer is here. If we do fire Eddie, we HAVE to look at these guys. (Assuming D'Antoni's gone.)

Ok, I know we're all feeling good about the Wiz right now, but I was thinking... what if the worst happens, and Gil leaves the Wizards as a free agent? What should our contingency plan be?

Remember, losing Gil does mean freeing up a lot of cap room - I think he's getting paid around $13 million this year.

My suggestion:
Resign Antawn Jamison. Ok, this is a gimme. Antawn has more than proved his worth this year, and he's coming off a max deal, so signing him for something like $8-10 a year works. With the money freed up from losing Gil, there is NO reason not to keep him. I'd try to sign him to one of those Ben Wallace-style front loaded contracts too, so he doesn't kill our cap if he breaks down when he gets older.

Sign Jose Calderon. He'll be in demand, but Toronto has money locked up in T.J. Ford, so we should be able to pry him away, even though he's a restricted free agent. He's only 26, he's effecient as hell and he'd be perfect in an up-tempo offense with two great scorers like Caron and Antawn.

What do you guys think? What would you do?

We had a great win over the Heat last night, looking good over a struggling division rival. Let's face it, that line they gave us was a joke.

While, it was a good win, something popped up in this game: Eddie Jordan's poor substitutions. Again. They're baaaaaaaaaack.

In the last two games we've seen a disturbing trend: Nick Young losing playing time to Roger Mason, Jr. Nick didn't get into the game at all last night, despite Mason going into full Jarvis Hayes-chuck-'em-mode.

Young being held out of the game wasn't the most disturbing part. What bothered me was that in crunch time, EJ left Mason in, over Stevenson when he was ON FIRE. DeShawn had a great scoring night and was playing good defense on Wade - who had 8 turnovers - but EJ left Mason in. Mason's poor defense on Wade in the beginning of the fourth was one of the reasons that the game was as close as it was.

I know we won the game, but I'm starting to think that Mason is becoming one of "Eddie's Players," a guy who gets PT for no reason besides the fact that Eddie likes him.

[Weekend Editor's Note: Because nothing replaces actually being at the game, here's mamemimo's thoughts from tonight's game. -Jake]

I actually had the chance to go to the Wizards' home opener tonight, and I did enjoy myself, despite the crappy seats and crappy Wizards. I had a couple of observations tonight:

1. The Wizards, especially Gilbert, have become very passive on offense. Now, I can chalk some of it up to rust - especially Gil, but we've been settling for jumpers way too much and not taking it to the hole. Gil did try to force things in the fourth, with disastrous results. I think its gonna take some time for him to come back to full speed - which should be expected after knee surgery. This does not excuse Butler or Jamison, who jacked up way too many shots. The bottom line is, we are a team that thrives at the free throw line - and we're not getting there.
2. Andray Blatche is not allowed to participate in the offense. He always spots up in the low post opposite of the ball carrier at the beginning of each play. He gets involved in setting screens and offensive rebounding, but that's it. His role appears to be exactly what Eddie had for him last year - and that's not good. He's got the best low post moves on the team (and that's not saying much) and we need to let him sniff the ball some.
3. Hedo Turkoglu ALWAYS fries us. See my sig. Thanks to sierradave for saying it first.
4. The Wizards ARE capable of playing good defense. Shocking, isn't it? While I do think they've been playing better D this year than last (although there's no real statistical proof) we were still not closing out on the three point shot and allowing too much penetration down the middle.  Tonight, however, the Wizards played (gasp!) lockdown defense from the beginning of the third quarter until about 10 minutes left in the fourth. We looked GOOD. We were closing out on threes, playing good one-on-one D, NOT switching on every screen, etc. If I was Randy Ayers, I would make the entire team watch a loop of the third quarter, while I screamed "THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT!" over and over again, for eight hours straight.
5. Brendan Haywood is having a career year (all three games of it), but his conditioning will not allow him to play all four quarters. Haywood played 32 minutes - which is not bad, but not great, but was still relieved by Songalia in the middle of the fourth. Why? Because he was tired. Haywood picked up two cheap fouls and his defense and rebounding really slacked in the fourth. Now he should be able to go 35 or so minutes without really getting tired if he wants to be a starter (especially on this team, which rides its starters hard), but (more importantly) Eddie needs to manage his minutes better so that Haywood can play in crunch time. There is no reason that we should have Songalia at the 5, on DWIGHT HOWARD with three minutes left.
6. Eddie Jordan always makes wholesale substitutions after we go on a run. This occurred in the second quarter - right after my friend Jake (not the snake) says to me "We're doing too well, Jordan's gonna pull all of them." Sure enough, we got a bizarre lineup of Daniels, Mason, Songalia, McGuire and Jamison, and the run promptly came to a halt. In the second half, Eddie broke what I believe is the Cardinal rule of Wizards substitutions - always have at least one member of the Big Three in. With this much offensive firepower, we should never put the big guns away.

I know this looks pretty negative, but it is hard to be positive after opening up 0-3. There are good things to note - we held a good offensive team to 43% shooting, and there is no way the Big Three will continue to shoot this poorly. Our defense is looking like it is improving - if not by the leaps and bounds that we hoped for. Let's hope we get settled and begin playing the way we know we can.