Wizards Interested in DeJuan Blair!

[20MexicanosIn1Van]

Ariza for Bonner and Blair is one of those rare trades that really help both teams get better immediately. Ariza is a better player, but both Bonner and Blair give us roles we need.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

^^ Blair is actually older he was born in April, 1989. Seraphin was born in December of the same year.

My bad. I thought Blair was a 1990 born player.

[JParker227]

I disagree in not trading Vesley or Seraphin for Blair. Regardless of the height, Blair would out muscle and out rebound Seraphin and Vesley all day everyday and everyone on this board knows that. We made a mistake with Vesley and he may turn out to be a good player down the line, but we drafted a 6'11 European that cant shoot regular baskets or free throws. That is practically unheard of in the last 10 years of European guys playing in the NBA. Even Oleksy Pecherov could shoot, and I don't understand why he never really got a chance to play (but that is another story). Although Seraphin has shown a lot of promise, Blair has played at an extremely high level with a championship team and they want to move the guy. Factor in how far the Spurs have made it into the playoffs the last 3 years and you could add at least another half year experience to his resume.

Dejuan Blair would give us a tough physical guy that can stand next to Nene or Okafor and we would be able to battle with the best front courts in the East, Blair gives us toughness and determination. something he showed in college and has continued to show in the NBA even at 6'7, and the Spurs want to move him



Cmon ernie get this guy in here and stop eating hot dogs.

[Blame Rasho]

Don't you guys have the mini MLE?

I figured that should be enough to sign him.

[verbal8]

Don't you guys have the mini MLE?

I figured that should be enough to sign him.

The mle was used on martell Webster. He only had one year with the Wizards so there was no significant exception to retain him other than the mle.

[LyricalRico]

Looks like the interest is mutual:

Adam Zagoria: DeJuan Blair is interested in signing with the Wizards, source tells @SNYtv. @WojYahooNBA reported Washington had interest. Twitter

Could that mean he's willing to sign for the minimum?

[bealwithit]

Wow, a free agent actually wants to sign with the Wizards. Amazing. And I really hope we get him as he'd be a nice depth piece. Does anyone think he could bloom into a starter at some point?

[nuposse04]

Wow, a free agent actually wants to sign with the Wizards. Amazing. And I really hope we get him as he'd be a nice depth piece. Does anyone think he could bloom into a starter at some point?

I think he's a rotation player, definitely not a FT starter. If he was 2 inches taller he could be a top 10 PF in the NBA. His strength and toughness is truely admirable. I think he still can improve his skill set.

[keynote]

Blair isn't the stretch 4 we covet. But, he'd certainly make at least one of Ernie's Kids redundant. I'd prefer to trade one of them for Blair (Singleton, I suppose), but that would still leave us with a lunk-heavy frontcourt. And, I'm not sure that any combination of Seraphin & Vesley gets us the guy we need - or, if any guy that we get with that package would be worth the loss of cap flexibility (especially if we tossed in Ariza).

I suppose the best case scenario is that the switch flips for Vesley, and he morphs into a nice finesse counterbalance to the rest of the beef in the front court. But the odds of that happening are extremely slim.

[TGW]

Get him here. He's productive, and insurance in case Nene gets hurt (again).

[rockymac52]

If Blair will sign here for the minimum, do it in a heartbeat, even if it's only for 1 year.

If Blair wants to come here, but is looking for a salary in the $2-4 million a year range, I still want him, badly. That would obviously require San Antonio to agree to a sign-and-trade.

We've discussed the possibility of an Ariza for Blair/Bonner trade or a Singleton or Vesely for Blair trade, but I think it's clear the Ariza trade isn't an option (either because Spurs not interested or Wizards don't want to give him up) and the rumblings indicate the Spurs aren't thrilled with the likes of SIngleton and Vesely.

So here's what I'm thinking... Wizards trade Singleton, a 2nd round pick (maybe somewhat protected), AND about $2 million for Blair. My thinking is that the Spurs don't really want SIngleton, already have 14 decent guys on their roster, and have been rumored to still have interest in signing Neal, Oden, or another veteran. If they don't like Singleton, then that would be a problem because he would be their 15th man, and they'd be out of open roster spots. And while they could just cut Singleton to make room, that would mean they'd be paying about $2 million just to get a heavily protected 2nd round pick. It goes without saying that that would be a terrible trade for the Spurs and they wouldn't do that. BUT, if the Wizards include some cash considerations, then the Spurs can cut Singleton, and the Wizards would essentially pay for his salary, meaning the Spurs are receiving the 2nd round pick in return for basically nothing, which would then be a good and logical trade for them.

We cut ties with Singleton, which I doubt we really care about, we lose a protected 2nd round pick, which shouldn't be ignored, but isn't a huge deal, and Ted loses a couple million out of his pocket (easy for me to advocate for this since it's not my money), and in return, we get a quality big man off the bench.

Sounds fair for everyone involved to me.

[Deivy202]

I think blair will start for us down the line he seems to be consistent.

[WizardsWorld]

I don't know why this hasn't been done yet. Seems theres interest from both sides and he'd instantly be our best big off the bench.

[80sballboy]

I don't know why this hasn't been done yet. Seems theres interest from both sides and he'd instantly be our best big off the bench.

He has other offers and is looking for something in $3 million range. If you do a S&T, will they take Singleton? Probably not. Takes two to tango. Hopefully they get it done.

[Nivek]

Ernie thinks 2nd round picks are basically worthless. The Spurs seem to like 2nd round picks to take shots on guys that might be able to play a role for them or that they can draft and stash. The Spurs don't seem to want Blair, so... seems like a sign & trade for Blair for whatever salary matches best from Vesely, Singleton or Seraphin, plus a couple 2nd round picks ought to be sufficient.

Sure would be nice to have that BAE.

[verbal8]

Ernie thinks 2nd round picks are basically worthless. The Spurs seem to like 2nd round picks to take shots on guys that might be able to play a role for them or that they can draft and stash. The Spurs don't seem to want Blair, so... seems like a sign & trade for Blair for whatever salary matches best from Vesely, Singleton or Seraphin, plus a couple 2nd round picks ought to be sufficient.

Sure would be nice to have that BAE.

Just having it would give the wizards leverage even they went the s&t route.

[FAH1223]

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/i ... ources-say

[AFM]

Sorry CCJ. He was wooed by the prospect of staying in beautiful Texas where he pays no income tax and can scream "remember the Alamo!!" during sex and no one cares.

[closg00]

Why do we need Blair when we are moving to lock-up Vesely, Vesely is the future of our front court.

[TGW]

I'm not surprised. Obviously, we needed to get Maynor here first...he was an offseason priority. Plus we have the deadly, effective combination of Vesbookerton...who needs Blair.