Wiz trade Shard and 2nd rounder for Okafor and Ariza

[truwizfan4evr]

Does anyone think Ariza can live up to his potential with the wizards?He's playing with a all star caliber point guard in Wall.

[davidgrant]

And sure its nice to have a 3rd big that can rebound, but you're completely missing the point. The minor upgrading in rebounding from our 3rd big isn't worth all that money, PLUS destroying all flexibility going forward to try and address anything.

If you like a team going a little above .500 and going out fairly easily in the 1st or at best 2nd round, then more power to you. This is the team for you.

But anybody who thinks that this trade puts us in the right direction for legitimately contending for something significant is incredibly wrong and misguided.

The delta in salaries next year is $7 million and Okafor and Ariza will be more attractive trade candidates next year. Worst case scenario is we miss out on the horrible 2013 free agent class and won't be bad enough to get the #1 overall pick next year which is currently projected to be Cody Zeller.

[willbcocks]

A) Who cares if this makes us better next year, we were the 2nd worst team in the league last year
B) I'm not even sure this trade makes us better
C) We definitely could have been better than we are with this trade had we just signed Illyasova and a FA wing
D) But we would have been in the best long-term shape by just not committing any salary in 2014!

Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

[daSwami]

tried reading from page one, but got depressed reading all the hate. I like the trade on balance, as it makes this team much better immediately and for the near future, too. Beal+Ariza+Okafor minus Blatche and Lewis could be one of the best off-seasons any team will have this summer. I get that Okafor/Nene/K-Sera are redundant, but true frontcourt depth is a luxury this franchise hasn't had in years. Consider also that the contracts of Okafor, Ariza and Wall all expire in 2 years, means we'll have some cash to throw at Wall when he becomes an FA. Okafor and Ariza are 2-year rentals - and solid ones at that: guys who play both ends of the floor and who seem like decent locker-room leader types.

Losing Lewis and (hopefully) Blatche is as literal a case of addition by subtraction as can possibly exists given their respective huge contracts and minimal production. Not to mention the knucklehead factor.

That said, I'm really hoping we get Beal at #3, lest we forced to endure another season of watching Crawford jack shots for 30+ minutes a game.

5 - Nene/Seraphin/Okafor
4- Okafor/Nene/Booker
3- Ariza/Booker/Vesely/Singleton
2 - Beal/Crawford/2nd round pick?
1 - Wall/ Mack

That's a fairly balanced squad with decent depth imho. Maybe not a play-off team (much will hinge on how good Beal actually is), but far better than the roster that began last season.

[Upper Decker]

Which of the two phrases did EG most likely utter during negotiations:

1. We're saving you 30 mill, you owe us the 10th pick
2. If you take back blatche ill give you the 3rd pick

[willbcocks]

Does anyone think Ariza can live up to his potential with the wizards?He's playing with a all star caliber point guard in Wall.

Yeah, this will be his first chance to play with a PG who's been an all-star. He never had that chance in NO.

Sarcasm aside, I don't hate Ariza, and a straight-up deal for him (or say, Crawford + TPE for Ariza) would have left me pretty different. We need a wing player and he fits the bill. I like his defense, and he can shoot well enough when he's not asked to do too much, which I think he was in NO/Hou.

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

EG mentioned that Ariza can play the SG Spot, if thats true, dont eliminate MKG or Barnes off the draft board yet.

Thought the same thing.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

I'm still looking at this deal as a positive. Beyond on the court, I think alot of people are missing the benefits these two bring in terms of being vets, smart players, and real professionals. On the court I like the potential of an Okafor/Nene combination and feel it will give us an advantageous matchup up front most nights. They are perfect vets for guy like Seraphin and Booker to learn from. Ariza too is a solid vet and experienced 3 and D SF to help tutor a young player like Chris Singleton.

In the draft I like Beal and 3, and Doron Lamb at 32. We have our foundation for years with the Wall/Beal backcourt. Crawford, D.Lamb, and Mack make for a young and talented G rotation. Adding Lamb's 3-point shot to the streaky Crawford and the solid and steady Mack.

This is what I'm looking at...

Okafor, Nene, Seraphin, Vesely, Booker, J.Singleton, C.Singleton, Ariza, Mo Evans, Beal, Crawford, D.Lamb, Mack, Wall.

That's 14... leaving C.Martin, Almond, Mason to battle for the final spot.

Starting 5 Okafor, Nene, Ariza, Beal, Wall


This team has a good mix of youth and vets, it's a defense oriented team, it's a smart team with a high IQ. It's a team that should be good fundamentally, loaded with toughness and hustle, and should be fun to watch. And I think this is a playoff team.

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

Five hours later, still going at it. Give it a rest already. It's a done deal. A done deal that will pay off.

[TheToothFairy]

Knick Fan here

To put a positive spin on things you guys actually have a poor mans version of the Bulls team right now. You have a lot of athletic defenders and a stud young PG. sure Afiza and Okafur are maybe lesser versions of Deng and Noah but Nene is better than Boozer and you have a lot of gritty Bigs off the bench and a lockdown Sf in Singletan.

If you guys get a stud @ #3 you guys could surprise.

Let's see what your coach can do

[tontoz]

I take with a grain of salt the opinion of "national" columnists like Hollinger because you can't know everything about every team. I give more credence to the views of beat writers and bloggers who cover individual teams and their players day in and day out.

Hollinger isn't grading draft prospects here. He is talking about known quantities. The facts are pretty simple. Okafor and especially Ariza aren't that good and they make so much money that they prevent the Wizards from offering more than the MLE to any free agent over the next two years.

[tontoz]

Article on Ariza:

http://www.hornets247.com/blog/2012/03/ ... out-again/

Maybe those having a sissy fit about Ariza's shot selection should read this article. They might find it enlightening. I'd also refer them to the comments about Ariza by Hornet fans that follows the article.

So his shot selection improved and he still had a worse TS% than Wall and Crawford. I feel so much better now.

[willbcocks]

Consider also that the contracts of Okafor, Ariza and Wall all expire in 2 years, means we'll have some cash to throw at Wall when he becomes an FA. .

He's supposed to be our franchise player, and we have his Bird rights--there was no situation where we wouldn't have the money to throw at him, and no (good) situation where we wouldn't want to throw the money at him.

All this does is guarantee we have no chance to add more talented young players beside him.

[tontoz]

What are the more efficient ways to improve the roster this much? just interested if you guys have any insider knowledge on trades on the table or free agents wanting to play for the wizards that would have helped us more than Ariza and Okafor, who can both play which is why they're still getting 30 MPG each this late in their careers. If they couldnt play someone wouldve figured it out by now, so stop trying to reinvent the wheel by saying a guy who averages a double double is useless to a team lacking rebounding and a wing who does it all is useless because x scrub free agent wouldve been more cost efficient.

They got 30 minutes a game on a team that sucked. That isn't exactly an endorsement. Blatche was getting 30+ minutes per game here before we had a coaching change.

Bringing those two in is subtraction by addition.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

EDIT* -- Maybe Grunfeld is trying to set himself up for his next job. He just did the NBA a big favor by taking those 2 cruddy contracts off the Hornets' books. I mean, this has to be the only reason why a move like this was made. It definitely isn't because Ariza and Okafor make us a playoff team.

I am not one for conspiracy theories, but I find my self thinking this with about 2/3 of Ernie's deals.

The NBA took care of New Orleans. Wait, the lottery was not fixed. But any way, good things seem to be happening for the ownership of New Orleans. Now Ernie has tapped into that karma with the first deal of the offseason.

Maybe some good karma flows back to EG. Don't know how, but taking all that salary might come back and make the Wizards receive something in the future.

[7-Day Dray]

Can someone please give me Ted's email address. I want to let him know a few of my thoughts

TheWashWiz@aol.com

Please cuss him out for me. I'm too lazy to right now.

[7-Day Dray]

Am I wrong for hoping we epically suck next year, hoping Wall leaves in free agency, and hoping EG gets canned after Ted realiazes he made a major fuuck-up by re-signing Grunfool? I just want to see the team and front office go down in flames after years of incompetence.

I know I'm not being a good fan, but all this is just comedy to me now. I don't even care anymore.

[daSwami]

Consider also that the contracts of Okafor, Ariza and Wall all expire in 2 years, means we'll have some cash to throw at Wall when he becomes an FA. .

He's supposed to be our franchise player, and we have his Bird rights--there was no situation where we wouldn't have the money to throw at him, and no (good) situation where we wouldn't want to throw the money at him.

All this does is guarantee we have no chance to add more talented young players beside him.

How does it guarantee that? And where is the guarantee that there would be talented young players available to add beside him? Unless you're hoping for two more years of tankage, which Is the most illogical strategy for retaining your franchise player I've ever heard.

[80sballboy]

http://www.tedstake.com/2012/06/20/wiza ... um=twitter

[tontoz]

Consider also that the contracts of Okafor, Ariza and Wall all expire in 2 years, means we'll have some cash to throw at Wall when he becomes an FA. Okafor and Ariza are 2-year rentals - and solid ones at that:

What you are missing is that the wizards can't sign any quality free agents because those two are here. They won't have the capspace to offer more than the MLE to anyone.

guys who play both ends of the floor

No they don't. Both guys suck on offense which is what this team really needs now.