doclinkin wrote:For my part I'm all Swine Flu on this one, all over the map.
In the short term I like just fine the acquisition of MiMi and NotRoye. We haven't had a pure shooter at the 2-guard since-- well since Roger Mason on a good night, which means we've never had one next to Gil. Both are an ideal fit for what Flip Saunders likes to do, as jumpshooters who play well on- and off-ball. Both can pass with few miscues. And neither will --by themselves-- kill our defensive improvement, since both are smart enough and active enough to play sufficient team defense that we can get by on offensive efficiency and output. Our scheme alone will improve our D somewhat. Pretty low bar to hurdle, but that's where we start. Ultimately however you outscore your opponent, you win.
Miller and Foye each have a productive versatility (not a Jeffries-esque ability to _nearly_ not-suck at any of five positions) that will allow the coach to tinker incessantly until he sees a mix of sets he likes. Then adjust on the fly against a given match-up once the players are all on the same page. Both are smart enough that they can pick it up quickly and help others re-learn some basic concepts.
As far as championship is concerned, no single player we could add in this draft would improve our championship chances all that much. Rubio would be a nice addition in a few year's time after further seasoning, or a way to fleece a team for a future pick, but if we'd added him this year (unlikely due to the buy out, and secondary market issues) he wasn't bound to help as much as either of the two guys we landed. This year. Even the players I liked best I saw as useful role-players on a championship squad, not franchise keystones. Mortar between the bricks. Curry and Blair would have been fine.
But the disappointment is about building an infrastructure for long term success, not patching holes on a year by year basis. Seems like we should be able to anticipate problems and address ahead of time, build something based on a plan, not simply run behind ourselves to fix problems.
So we get a one-year rental of MikeMillz; can extend Foye in his role as back-up to Gil, but if he's playing well I dunno why he would take the deal. And even so, then we're trying to convince both Haywood and Millions to play at a reasonable price. Again, if we play well it's harder to do that.
The rest. The agitation on whether we got the best deal we could. We could have done better. That's almost always true. In part Ernie was in a tough position, a position of his own making, in that he knew he wanted to add veterans first and in order to gain the sanction of the fanbase he felt he had to warn them ahead of time that this was coming down the pike. But that meant his counterparts knew that, and his bargaining position was slightly weakened. A team in 'win now' mode will cut some corners in their long-range planning, even overpay for short-term players.
Some part of the urgency is not his own. Ernie tends towards patience. But it's fairly clear Abe wants to win sooner rather than later. Who knows how much time he has to really enjoy the game, yes he deserves to see the team give it a good run. Whatever helps him load up for that is a positive. Even if it's cash in pocket to help buy down the costs of the overpay tariff, and allow for bold(-er, or -ish) moves later. And following a 19-win season where our Youth Brigade did little to avert the losses, it's fair to distrust the impact of rookies as a general class, if not specifically this draft class in particular.
BUt as a longtime fan, what can I say, fans like draft picks. And the track record of selling that 2nd round pick to pay for a future contract, well ain't great. Nets us Dee Brown and Juan Dixon. Contributing to a 19-win season.
Offseason ain't over. Trades and Free Agents are possible. But the draft always tends to represent even more than the oncourt production. A funny thing. It represents potential itself. No big deal, fans just sorta like to believe in The Future. Hell we're still waiting on Andray. And McGee carries the weight of our franchise Championship dreams, and he's barely done diddly yet. So.
Doesn't have to be rational to be true.
EG already feels the infrastructure is already in place and is pretty set in most of his positions. They already have young talent with Crittenton, Young, McGuire, Blatche, McGee. I guess EG didn't see anyone in the 2nd round better than what he's got.
IMO EG sees Foye as the starting shooting guard for this team; not Mike Miller. Sure he's undersized but look at EG's past transactions with Butler and Jamison. They were on the smaller size for their positions and were considered nothing more than quality bench players but have had success here. I expect the Wizards to sign Foye to an extension this offseason so they don't lose him in 2009-10.
I would have loved to have had a draft pick in the 2nd round and taken one of those big men from the Big East (Cunningham, Blair, Sam Young). EG has gotten good value with his past 2nd round picks (Blatche and McGuire). But the guys EG usually finds take 2-3 years before they are ready to contribute.
Just MAYBE they are thinking long term. They are saving the money not only when Foye, Haywood, McGuire, and Miller become free agents but also when Butler and Young enter free agency the following year. The trade helped erase some bad contracts that EG handed out before (Thomas and Pecherov). Maybe there's a trade down the line that the Wizards can do that puts the team over the top (ie trading Mike James at the trade deadline for what you need).
