Yi to the Wizards for Ross

[80sballboy]

http://www.clickorlando.com/magic/24076330/detail.html

Now if you add Gortat in that trade, I'm intrigued but I can't imagine salaries match.

[Dat2U]

I dont know why some of you think wasn't an EG move it fits his m.o. perfectly. not cut throat enough to take advantage of his leverage, does another team a favor, and brings in an atheltic (if 1-3/4) or tall (if 4/5) player with relatively low bball iq but high upside.

it's just another example of him overpaying and jumping the gun on a trade for a marginal talent. at least we got somebody tall. in a vacuum this trade isnt that bad (but why not beasley in that case) it's just a pointless wasted opportunity. not getting a pick thrown in (just like in last year's minny trade) is what makes it bad value. ive said it before but EG is a rug merchant's wet dream.

this team is going to be absolutely brutal to watch (and many probably won't) if they dump arenas.

With posts like this, I can give my fingers a rest.

[yungal07]

Christ, some of you are really whiny. I'd rather have Yi than Ross, it aint costing us ****. So what's the problem?

Thank YOU!

I can't believe people are b1tching about this move. After all the years of terrible trades, you would think that with a minor trade like this most folks would be indifferent at worst. To be against this deal -- really?

Let's see here. In this deal, you accomplish this:

Big for small. Check.

Young for old. Check.

Decent with some potential for utter garbage. Check.

No this is not a great deal. But I wasn't expecting freakin Kevin Love in return for Quentin Ross either. And don't tell me Yi is useless either...He averaged 13 ppg, 9 rpg, and 2 bpg in April. For a fanbase that hangs onto that handful of half-decent McGee games, I'd say that those numbers aren't bad at all. It's at least something. Better this than go into the season with Ross' ass warming the closest bench to the lockerroom.

[LyricalRico]

Christ, some of you are really whiny. I'd rather have Yi than Ross, it aint costing us ****. So what's the problem?

Thank YOU!

I can't believe people are b1tching about this move. After all the years of terrible trades, you would think that with a minor trade like this most folks would be indifferent at worst. To be against this deal -- really?

Let's see here. In this deal, you accomplish this:

Big for small. Check.

Young for old. Check.

Decent with some potential for utter garbage. Check.

No this is not a great deal. But I wasn't expecting freakin Kevin Love in return for Quentin Ross either. And don't tell me Yi is useless either...He averaged 13 ppg, 9 rpg, and 2 bpg in April. For a fanbase that hangs onto that handful of half-decent McGee games, I'd say that those numbers aren't bad at all. It's at least something. Better this than go into the season with Ross' ass warming the closest bench to the lockerroom.

Good stuff, yungal07. Nobody's saying that this is the trade of the century. But to get into an uproar about how a lottery team goes about filling out it's roster with one year rental players is ridiculous IMO.

If we didn't trade for Yi, we would have signed somebody else and rotation players generally go for more than the minimum. So Ross and a guy like Singleton signed to a one year deal for $2M or so is pretty much the same as Yi from a cap perspective. I don't see all this "flexibility" that people are whining about us losing.

[nate33]

If we didn't trade for Yi, we would have signed somebody else and rotation players generally go for more than the minimum. So Ross and a guy like Singleton signed to a one year deal for $2M or so is pretty much the same as Yi from a cap perspective. I don't see all this "flexibility" that people are whining about us losing.

That's a fair point. However, I can't help but think that EG paid for the "value" of Yi's "upside". I'd much rather have done the same deal for Kris Humphries, while getting back a 2nd round pick or two. I think Humphries addresses a bigger need. Yi is a terrible, terrible basketball player. He doesn't belong on the court. I'm serious when I say Al Thornton would be a tougher PF.

[rockymac52]

People are bitching because they are currently reading all about LeBron/Wade/Bosh/etc. possible moves, and they forgot how building a winning team actually works. If we were real players in the LeBron and Co. sweepstakes this year and we made these moves, then it'd be fair to criticize. But we had no chance, and we knew it, so we figured we'd upgrade the roster basically for free without any longterm commitments. People are btiching about two years of Kirk Hinrich - oh no! I forgot we were going to be championship contenders the season after this and now we won't be because we have Hinrich on our team! Getouttahere!

There's no huge free agents next year, other than aging guys or 2nd tier guys, and even they won't want to come here. Saving cap room made no sense. All it did was giv eus the option to make trades like these! So there's some upside in Yi (maybe?), but either way, he's better than Ross, and we can get rid of him next season if he doesn't fit in.

I do, however, agree that we should have tried to get a future pick out of it, either a heavily protected 1st or a 2nd. But I have faith that EG at least asked for that, and looked into it, and it just wasn't an option.

[Hoopalotta]

If we didn't trade for Yi, we would have signed somebody else and rotation players generally go for more than the minimum. So Ross and a guy like Singleton signed to a one year deal for $2M or so is pretty much the same as Yi from a cap perspective. I don't see all this "flexibility" that people are whining about us losing.

More than anything, it seems like we're kind of being cheap. We well might have taken a pick back instead of the cash and then I think everyone would be fine.

That's of course an ownership position.

I don't particularly like it, but I can live with it.

[nate33]

I do, however, agree that we should have tried to get a future pick out of it, either a heavily protected 1st or a 2nd. But I have faith that EG at least asked for that, and looked into it, and it just wasn't an option.

Which is why we're upset. Yi sucks! I'll say it again: Yi Sucks!. He is a worthless basketball player. We just gave away cap space for absolutely nothing. If EG looked into buy a pick elsewhere and couldn't find an opportunity, then he should have done nothing and waited until the Trade Deadline to rescue some cash-strapped team.

I understand that I'm making a mountain out of a molehill here. I recognize that in the grand scheme of things, wasting $3M on Yi is unlikely to derail our championship plans 4 years from now. What really matters is how well Seraphin and Booker pan out. That's how EG should be judged.

[Ed Wood]

edit: ^ get out of my head.

People are bitching because they are currently reading all about LeBron/Wade/Bosh/etc. possible moves, and they forgot how building a winning team actually works. If we were real players in the LeBron and Co. sweepstakes this year and we made these moves, then it'd be fair to criticize. But we had no chance, and we knew it, so we figured we'd upgrade the roster basically for free without any longterm commitments. People are btiching about two years of Kirk Hinrich - oh no! I forgot we were going to be championship contenders the season after this and now we won't be because we have Hinrich on our team! Getouttahere!

There's no huge free agents next year, other than aging guys or 2nd tier guys, and even they won't want to come here. Saving cap room made no sense. All it did was giv eus the option to make trades like these! So there's some upside in Yi (maybe?), but either way, he's better than Ross, and we can get rid of him next season if he doesn't fit in.

I do, however, agree that we should have tried to get a future pick out of it, either a heavily protected 1st or a 2nd. But I have faith that EG at least asked for that, and looked into it, and it just wasn't an option.

This has come up a couple of times so I suppose I should make clear that parting with cap space that could theoretically have been used to sign somebody glamorous really is not the core of the issue I, and I think Nate and company have here. The issue is that we were in a position where we were dealing with a team that had a very real and immediate need to shed salary while we should not have had any pressing need to trade for a very marginal player in Yi. The impetus, therefore, should have been on the Nets to provide us motivation to help them out by taking on Yi's salary, and we should have had the opportunity to pick up something of value for accommodating the Nets.

I have no idea where the idea that we're pining for a big money free agent came from but it's not coming from me. I don't think the Wizards are doing themselves any long term damage here but I also think being well run means doing as well as you can with every opportunity that presents itself and I really don't think that happened in this case.

[verbal8]

If we didn't trade for Yi, we would have signed somebody else and rotation players generally go for more than the minimum. So Ross and a guy like Singleton signed to a one year deal for $2M or so is pretty much the same as Yi from a cap perspective. I don't see all this "flexibility" that people are whining about us losing.

More than anything, it seems like we're kind of being cheap. We well might have taken a pick back instead of the cash and then I think everyone would be fine.

That's of course an ownership position.

I don't particularly like it, but I can live with it.

The Chinese exposure angle is growing on me a little, but I would like to have gotten more than the "potential" of Yi from a basketball point of view. If ultimately the Wizards end up with the next Yao Ming, then this was a brillant move. However I think Yi's upside is Sam Perkins. Sam Perkins was an ok role player, but do you want him taking minutes from Blatche, Booker and McGee.

[Silvie Lysandra]

If we get a pick, ANY pick back, even if it's a 2015 2nd, or even the rights to even the most marginal prospect, it's a decent. Yi expires after this season, and it's not like we're actually going to need this cap space this offseason (unless you still have delusions about getting a max FA).

If there's no pick coming back, then it's a bad trade, but not horrible.

The only other BOYD option was Beasley, and I'm not sure I want him on the team (good player for his age, and not the headcase people think, but unless we were flipping him for assets, he takes shots away from Blatche/McGee and is not a good defender)

Yi is a 12th man in this league atm.

And of course, it's hypocritical to moan about helping the Bulls get 2 max FAs and then suggest we should let Miami do the same with a guy who can actually win titles in this league.

[Ji]

whether its a good trade or bad trade..it dosent matter. We aint winning anytime soon

[Zonkerbl]

Personally I like the idea that EG is pumping as much water into the free agent pool as possible. You want to be absolutely sure that there are more teams with max space than quality free agents, why not use your own cap space to make sure it happens? It's all about creating a disappointed fan base in a big basketball market somewhere, who might grudgingly take on Arenas for a starting quality two, some expirings, and a few draft picks.

The trade itself is kind of meh. But basically EG went over to Chicago and gave them a baseball bat. Then he went over to NJ and gave them a switchblade. Next hopefully he'll go to NY and tell them Chicago and NJ have been saying dirty things about his mother.

[nate33]

Personally I like the idea that EG is pumping as much water into the free agent pool as possible. You want to be absolutely sure that there are more teams with max space than quality free agents, why not use your own cap space to make sure it happens? It's all about creating a disappointed fan base in a big basketball market somewhere, who might grudgingly take on Arenas for a starting quality two, some expirings, and a few draft picks.

The trade itself is kind of meh. But basically EG went over to Chicago and gave them a baseball bat. Then he went over to NJ and gave them a switchblade. Next hopefully he'll go to NY and tell them Chicago and NJ have been saying dirty things about his mother.

Ha ha. We could have absorbed Eddy Curry for unprotected 1sts in 2014 and 2016 + $3M cash. Unfortunately, we can't do it now.

[Zonkerbl]

Meh. Unprotected firsts from NY aren't going to be worth much if they land a big free agent. All that trade gets you is some cap space and some first round picks in the teens. Can't we at least get a relatively young starting two in return? Is Courtney Lee any good? Can't we pry Gallinari away from NY?

Yeesh, slim pickins from Chicago's roster. The only player I'd want from their current roster is Derrick Rose.

[nate33]

Meh. Unprotected firsts from NY aren't going to be worth much if they land a big free agent. All that trade gets you is some cap space and some first round picks in the teens. Can't we at least get a relatively young starting two in return? Is Courtney Lee any good? Can't we pry Gallinari away from NY?

See, that's the beauty of it. My bet is that they'll still strike out with Lebron, Wade and Bosh. They'll be left with Amare, Boozer and Joe Johnson. Five years from now, when Johnson and Boozer are over the hill, that's a terrible basketball team.

[keynote]

I had asked this in the Hinrich thread. But what do folks think were the other trading opportunities the Wizards could pursue, using that cap space (both now and at the '11 trading deadline)?

Beasley? He's more talented than Yi, but he'd definitely be a step backwards in terms of character.

Who else? The Knicks aren't desperate to clear any more cap room, are they?

And, what about at the trading deadline? Then, the ideal trading partner would be bad teams - with (a) young assets and/or (b) picks - in danger of hitting the luxury tax threshold. NOH? They already made their BOYD trade. ORL is carrying a ton of salary, but they're contenders unlikely to dump assets just to get under the tax.

Who else?

[Zonkerbl]

Meh. Unprotected firsts from NY aren't going to be worth much if they land a big free agent. All that trade gets you is some cap space and some first round picks in the teens. Can't we at least get a relatively young starting two in return? Is Courtney Lee any good? Can't we pry Gallinari away from NY?

See, that's the beauty of it. My bet is that they'll still strike out with Lebron, Wade and Bosh. They'll be left with Amare, Boozer and Joe Johnson. Five years from now, when Johnson and Boozer are over the hill, that's a terrible basketball team.

So crazy it JUST MIGHT WORK!

I suppose that could happen. I'd feel better getting a young, proven player though. Preferably one that becomes redundant when Arenas goes there.

[JWizmentality]

Which is why we're upset. Yi sucks! I'll say it again: Yi Sucks!. He is a worthless basketball player.

Okay nate, we get it...he sucks. However, he'll contribute far more than Ross was going to do and it's a one year rental. Most of you are saying that you weren't expecting much in terms of moves this year, but the fact that you are harping on this aspect proves that we are getting a little bit caught up in the "Free Agency 2010!!!" hype....which we weren't going to be major players in anyway.

[fishercob]

Ladies and gentlemen, your list of bigmen, 6'10 to 7'1, who have posted cumulative PER's below 12.5 and TS% below 50% through their first three pro seasons: http (Yi's are 11.5 and .480 respectively): http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... i?id=C8hnq

At least he's a terrible defender too!