Arenas Traded for Rashard Lewis

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

38 years a fan of the Bullets/Wizards and all I can do is laugh at this.

[Zonkerbl]

So what exactly is the benefit of this trade? Rashard would play what position here exactly? Don't we already have Howard, a better player, at the three? Don't we already have Blatche, a better player, at the four?

Did we really just pee away the best player on the team for ONE YEAR of cap relief and a player who contributes NOTHING to our starting five? SERIOUSLY?????

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

McGee will be the next guy they give away now that Andray just became the starting C.

[Zonkerbl]

I think the key thing in the trade that most of us didn't realize until today (at least I didn't) is that only 10 mil of Lewis' 22.7 mil may be guaranteed for 2012/2013 - saving the Wiz up to 12 mil that season compared to what they would have had to pay Gil - not to mention the 22 or so mil in 2013/2014 that Gil is due. That makes this a smart move by the Wiz. It would have been better for the Wiz to trade for Carter, but as some of us said for a long time - Orlando would had to have been nuts to do that.

Most importantly, everyone can finally move forward. Good luck to Arenas. It'll be interesting to see how he fits there - now that he does have a great big man to play with.

Huh.

Well, that's not going to stop me from referring to him as Shart until he proves he isn't a lump of useless flesh. I guess this is also a vote of non-confidence in Josh Howard.

[nate33]

CCJ, step away from the ledge.

The Wizards aren't going to trade McGee just because he's not Flip's favorite player. As much as you (and others) love to bash Flip, I say Flip has done an excellent job developing his young talent. Blatche blew up last year, Young is blowing up this year, and McGee has had flashes of great production. None of this happened under EJ or Tapscott.

Flip, like any coach, gets frustrated with his young players. He gets even more frustrated with our group of uncommonly low bball IQ youngsters. But Flip hasn't buried anybody on the bench. When he sits his youngsters, it's temporary. He gets them back on the floor soon enough.

The only time where I've been truly frustrated with Flip was during that stretch early last year when he continued to play DeSuck in front of a clearly superior Nick Young.

[nate33]

The addition of Lewis does present an interesting dilemma for Flip though. Who among Howard, Shart, Blatche and McGee comes off the bench? I'd prefer it to be Shart. I'd like to see a starting lineup of Wall, Young, Howard, Blatche and McGee, with Hinrich and Shart as the primary bench players.

On the other hand, a fair argument could be made that Shart is a better fit in the starting lineup at SF because he can stretch the floor for Wall. Howard could play with the second unit as the primary slasher (since Hinrich can't really penetrate).

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

CCJ, step away from the ledge.

The Wizards aren't going to trade McGee just because he's not Flip's favorite player. As much as you (and others) love to bash Flip, I say Flip has done an excellent job developing his young talent. Blatche blew up last year, Young is blowing up this year, and McGee has had flashes of great production. None of this happened under EJ or Tapscott.

Flip, like any coach, gets frustrated with his young players. He gets even more frustrated with our group of uncommonly low bball IQ youngsters. But Flip hasn't buried anybody on the bench. When he sits his youngsters, it's temporary. He gets them back on the floor soon enough.

The only time where I've been truly frustrated with Flip was during that stretch early last year when he continued to play DeSuck in front of a clearly superior Nick Young.

When EJ and Tapscott were coaching Nick was 21-23 and Javale was 19-20. Time helped mature these guys some. Putting things in perspective, nate, EJ got fired at 1-11, but he had STARTED McGee before he got run. EJ STARTED McGee, the same guy Flip doesn't like.

Flip lost a ton of games with DeShawn in front of Nick and he didn't start Nick until the trade today. he STILL DOESN'T give Young enough minutes. Flip is adament and consistent in the guys he's biased against.

Nate, mark my words as of 12/18/10:

The acquisition of Rashard Lewis has created a logjam at PF. Flip will start Rashard at PF because Flip WILL start Howard at SF. And he's going to give Thornton minutes there, too. Booker will be the backup PF. Flip will move Blatche to C and will start him there for offense. Net result: McGee will be traded, or he's going to be a restricted FA who somebody outbids the Wizards for.

The Wizards will either trade Blatche or McGee and my money says they're dumb enough to trade the wrong player.

nate, telling me to come off the ledge is making me sound like I, and not Ernie, just did something dumb. JUST LEWIS was not good. Worst contract in all of basketball. Unless he's the SF of the future he just displaced his bargain basement salary and much younger PF, Blatche.

McGee will be the one to go. Watch and see.

[nate33]

CCJ, step away from the ledge.

The Wizards aren't going to trade McGee just because he's not Flip's favorite player. As much as you (and others) love to bash Flip, I say Flip has done an excellent job developing his young talent. Blatche blew up last year, Young is blowing up this year, and McGee has had flashes of great production. None of this happened under EJ or Tapscott.

Flip, like any coach, gets frustrated with his young players. He gets even more frustrated with our group of uncommonly low bball IQ youngsters. But Flip hasn't buried anybody on the bench. When he sits his youngsters, it's temporary. He gets them back on the floor soon enough.

The only time where I've been truly frustrated with Flip was during that stretch early last year when he continued to play DeSuck in front of a clearly superior Nick Young.

When EJ and Tapscott were coaching Nick was 21-23 and Javale was 19-20. Time helped mature these guys some. Putting things in perspective, nate, EJ got fired at 1-11, but he had STARTED McGee before he got run. EJ STARTED McGee, the same guy Flip doesn't like.

Flip lost a ton of games with DeShawn in front of Nick and he didn't start Nick until the trade today. he STILL DOESN'T give Young enough minutes. Flip is adament and consistent in the guys he's biased against.

Nate, mark my words as of 12/18/10:

The acquisition of Rashard Lewis has created a logjam at PF. Flip will start Rashard at PF because Flip WILL start Howard at SF. And he's going to give Thornton minutes there, too. Booker will be the backup PF. Flip will move Blatche to C and will start him there for offense. Net result: McGee will be traded, or he's going to be a restricted FA who somebody outbids the Wizards for.

The Wizards will either trade Blatche or McGee and my money says they're dumb enough to trade the wrong player.

nate, telling me to come off the ledge is making me sound like I, and not Ernie, just did something dumb. JUST LEWIS was not good. Worst contract in all of basketball. Unless he's the SF of the future he just displaced his bargain basement salary and much younger PF, Blatche.

McGee will be the one to go. Watch and see.

I'll watch and see you proved incorrect. They're not trading McGee to accommodate Rashart freaking Lewis. And if Flip tries Blatche at C with Lewis at PF, the experiment won't last long because we won't get any rebounds.

[KillbertArenas]

When EJ and Tapscott were coaching Nick was 21-23 and Javale was 19-20. Time helped mature these guys some. Putting things in perspective, nate, EJ got fired at 1-11, but he had STARTED McGee before he got run. EJ STARTED McGee, the same guy Flip doesn't like.

Flip lost a ton of games with DeShawn in front of Nick and he didn't start Nick until the trade today. he STILL DOESN'T give Young enough minutes. Flip is adament and consistent in the guys he's biased against.

Nate, mark my words as of 12/18/10:

The acquisition of Rashard Lewis has created a logjam at PF. Flip will start Rashard at PF because Flip WILL start Howard at SF. And he's going to give Thornton minutes there, too. Booker will be the backup PF. Flip will move Blatche to C and will start him there for offense. Net result: McGee will be traded, or he's going to be a restricted FA who somebody outbids the Wizards for.

The Wizards will either trade Blatche or McGee and my money says they're dumb enough to trade the wrong player.

nate, telling me to come off the ledge is making me sound like I, and not Ernie, just did something dumb. JUST LEWIS was not good. Worst contract in all of basketball. Unless he's the SF of the future he just displaced his bargain basement salary and much younger PF, Blatche.

McGee will be the one to go. Watch and see.

Excellent Post..

[miller31time]

Not thrilled with this move but something had to be done. Arenas in Washington just wasn't going to work. When you have a franchise player at point guard, it just doesn't make any sense to have an oft-injured, under-performing, grossly-paid veteran taking up the other guard slot.

We get out of Gil's contract a year early and the last year of Shard's contract isn't fully guaranteed so I'm okay with this from a monetary standpoint.

From a lineup standpoint, it's not bad. Shard will spread the floor for Wall to drive. He'll help open things up for us.

Maybe this is just the 1st move with more to come...

[Rafael122]

I've already ranted enough about this and the horrific state DC sports is in on Facebook the last 2 days so I'm just numb to it.

It had to happen, just wish we had gotten a pick out of it.

[ohara]

Evening guys. Bobcats fan here. Very interesting move you made. Reading through your posts and discussing where Shard will fit in. On other sites, there is speculation Shard will go to the 3 spot, Would be interesting to see, and it could be a very good move for him. But around the Boards, people are not hammering this deal from the Wizards point much at all. You might be being a bit harsh on your team until you see some results. It could always be worse. You could be sitting in the seats of us Bobcat fans. We are likely getting ready to blow it all up and start anew. Anyway, good luck guys!

[Wizards2Lottery]

Brightside: I highly doubt Yi ever gets on the court barring disaster.

[Zonkerbl]

Evening guys. Bobcats fan here. Very interesting move you made. Reading through your posts and discussing where Shard will fit in. On other sites, there is speculation Shard will go to the 3 spot, Would be interesting to see, and it could be a very good move for him. But around the Boards, people are not hammering this deal from the Wizards point much at all. You might be being a bit harsh on your team until you see some results. It could always be worse. You could be sitting in the seats of us Bobcat fans. We are likely getting ready to blow it all up and start anew. Anyway, good luck guys!

Oh, please. "The rest of the fans have completely discounted Arenas because they're a bunch of ignorant ****s who know absolutely nothing about his game. So this is a great trade for you, congratulations!"

[JonathanJoseph]

Abe is gone but his family and Ernie did horrible damage to Gilbert's reputation by making public condemnation and statements before Gilbert even got due process.

From all I read, and I read a whole lot, I hold Ernie Grunfeld personally accountable for throwing Gil under the bus in matters that might very easily have not even been reported and possibly not prosecuted. Gil did the crime but IMO the whole gun gate deal could have been handled discreetly with nobody getting in trouble. (Had I been GM no way in hell do the guns come back from NOVA to DC. Gil's gun's would have been alleged like Javaris'. Noone even remembers Crittenton's role now). Last, the finger-pointing dance thing was funny as hell. Jamison laughed and so did all the team. Why go off on Gil for that?
---------
Washington should have treated Gil's indiscretion like Memphis has treated Zach Randolph's. You don't even know what the allegations are. They quietly issued a statement saying they'd wait for the facts to come out and the stuck by their player.

The Wizards have treated Gilbert the same why Dan Snyder have treated McNabb.

Getting just Lewis, if that's the deal, shows why this team sucks and will suck so long. Not that Lewis is as bad as he's made out to be, but just that like the time they traded up for Booker or when they traded the fifth pick for Foye and Mille; the Wizards could have gotten more.

So, I'm happy for Gil and still a fan of the Wizards, but thanks, AD, for not forgetting how things got to this point.

+1

[JonathanJoseph]

So what exactly is the benefit of this trade? Rashard would play what position here exactly? Don't we already have Howard, a better player, at the three? Don't we already have Blatche, a better player, at the four?

Did we really just pee away the best player on the team for ONE YEAR of cap relief and a player who contributes NOTHING to our starting five? SERIOUSLY?????

In a nutshell, this matches my analysis of the trade.

[JonathanJoseph]

Not thrilled with this move but something had to be done. Arenas in Washington just wasn't going to work. When you have a franchise player at point guard, it just doesn't make any sense to have an oft-injured, under-performing, grossly-paid veteran taking up the other guard slot.

We get out of Gil's contract a year early and the last year of Shard's contract isn't fully guaranteed so I'm okay with this from a monetary standpoint.

From a lineup standpoint, it's not bad. Shard will spread the floor for Wall to drive. He'll help open things up for us.

Maybe this is just the 1st move with more to come...

But it makes sense to have an under-performing, grossly overpaid veteran PF on the roster? 1 year of cap space in the big picture of 4 years is a ridiculous trade off.

No, this is bad. As noted, there is now a gaping hole in the backcourt and a huge glut at 3/4 with Howard/Thornton/Booker/Blatche/Shart/Yi. Assuming that you write off Thornton, Shart (I love this knickname BTW) is still not better than Blatche or Howard and all he will do is take Booker's playing time. Shart is a rich man's Yi, we do not need more soft, jump shooting PFs. So we committed $20M in cap space to a 3rd forward?

There better be another move involving Shart for this to make sense. Until I see that happen, this is a disaster. Something did not NEED to be done. There was no rush to sell an asset for less than pennies on the dollar.

[JonathanJoseph]

Evening guys. Bobcats fan here. Very interesting move you made. Reading through your posts and discussing where Shard will fit in. On other sites, there is speculation Shard will go to the 3 spot, Would be interesting to see, and it could be a very good move for him. But around the Boards, people are not hammering this deal from the Wizards point much at all. You might be being a bit harsh on your team until you see some results. It could always be worse. You could be sitting in the seats of us Bobcat fans. We are likely getting ready to blow it all up and start anew. Anyway, good luck guys!

This is also because the common perception around the NBA about Gilbert Arenas is completely false and misleading. And that falls partially on Grunfeld who threw Arenas under the bus so fast my head spun.

[GhostsOfGil]

the only possible scenario i see working is if shart comes off the bench to back up blatche.

[JonathanJoseph]

My longer trade thoughts in the Ernie Grunfeld thread:

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1030660&start=90#p26055481