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It's still my hope, and I've always maintained this, that Ariza is the more likely to exercise his opt out and bolt after 1 year giving us some breathing room cap wise. He'll get a contract worth more than $8 million, he's still young.

Rafael122 wrote:It's still my hope, and I've always maintained this, that Ariza is the more likely to exercise his opt out and bolt after 1 year giving us some breathing room cap wise. He'll get a contract worth more than $8 million, he's still young.

No chance. The way he has played the last few years there is no way anyone would give him a contract like that again. He would be a fool to opt out.

tontoz wrote:

Rafael122 wrote:It's still my hope, and I've always maintained this, that Ariza is the more likely to exercise his opt out and bolt after 1 year giving us some breathing room cap wise. He'll get a contract worth more than $8 million, he's still young.

No chance. The way he has played the last few years there is no way anyone would give him a contract like that again. He would be a fool to opt out.

He'll never get 8 million, his Rockets contract was 5 yrs 30 mil so that'll never happen

Webster is definitely a wild card. I have been assuming that Ariza would be the starter which would really hurt an offense that badly needs scoring (he is shooting 27% in preseason). If Webster becomes the starter and plays reasonably well that could give the offense a big boost. He is a career 37.4% shooter from 3.

Wow, were still a week away from the season and were already regretting the Ariza acquisition. All I can SMDH!

I agree though with consensus that Ariza appears to be going through the motions, basically mailing it in. That's the risk of bad teams face when acquiring veterans that have won. Some vets want no part of it. While freaking out on the failure of their player development, the front office likely never considered the potential pitfalls of going the direction they've taken.

Some of us were regretting it from Day 1. I screamed myself hoarse when it happened.

tontoz wrote:Some of us were regretting it from Day 1. I screamed myself hoarse when it happened.

Yup.

Nene (and the addition by subtraction of McGee and Young) was all the veteran presence we needed. But no, Ernie wanted to get even MORE veteran-y. Cost be damned.

tontoz wrote:Some of us were regretting it from Day 1. I screamed myself hoarse when it happened.

THIS x1000

The thought of possibly getting Crowder, Draymond Green, Lamb, English, Machado, Denmon, Kris Joseph with that extra pick and buying out Lewis!

On a side note as Im posting this Stern is gonna retire in a year and a half HOLY S***

Through 3 games, Martell has an ORtg of 123 on a terrible offensive team. He has a TS% of .625 without the benefit of Wall or Nene creating offensive opportunities. How much more do you need to see before offering him a multi-year deal? His defense has been solid, yes? He turns 26 next month.

Is this a situation of a guy finally being healthy after several years being hurt and thus ineffective?

What would you pay him today?

If the Wiz gave him 3 yr $6M today, with the third year a team option I'd feel very good about it. That may not get it done; he's making $1.75M this season. Would you do 2 yrs $6m? 3/$9M?

Sadly I can confirm that from friend of a friend here in the DR (his father is from here, and they own a home close). Ariza apparently indeed hates DC and wants out.....

Sucks being a Dominican, was excited for him there....but it is what it is.....

Induveca wrote:Sadly I can confirm that from friend of a friend here in the DR (his father is from here, and they own a home close). Ariza apparently indeed hates DC and wants out.....

Sucks being a Dominican, was excited for him there....but it is what it is.....

Great! I invite him to opt out this summer and he can go sign wherever he pleases. I'm sure he could average double figures in the Dominican league.

If the Wiz could sign him that cheap, sure...why not? But there's no rush with Webster. He's been good so far, but it's preseason and 3 games, and he has a lengthy record of subpar play.

Apparently he thinks the city is "boring". No freaking clue how he considered New Orleans more appealing. Maybe his New York and LA stints ruined him, he has in fact been all downhill after leaving LA.

Too bad, millions of people are rooting for him down here. First Felipe Lopez, now this....sigh.

Induveca wrote:Apparently he thinks the city is "boring". No freaking clue how he considered New Orleans more appealing. Maybe his New York and LA stints ruined him, he has in fact been all downhill after leaving LA.

Too bad, millions of people are rooting for him down here. First Felipe Lopez, now this....sigh.

I am rooting for him too, rooting for him to get benched and/or get out of town.

Just wanted to bump this thread. Webster is our one glimmer of light in this miserable year.

Per 36, he is averaging 14.7 points, 6 boards, 2.3 assists, .9 steals and .7 blocks while maintaining a TS% of .639%, a 3P% of .405 and a PER of 15.5 on low usage. He is also a very good defender. Basically, he is doing everything we wanted Nicolas Batum to do, but for about 1/8th the cost.

The encouraging thing is that his improved play over his career averages might be somewhat sustainable. He started his career very young and logged several seasons before he understood the game. By the time he figured the game out, he got hurt. This might be the first time we've seen a mature Martell Webster who is injury free. Also, one of the main reasons for his improvement in efficiency is that he has nearly doubled his FTA rate from his career averages - something that might be sustainable.

And he has done it all with no PG play. Hopefully, he'll get an opportunity to start and prove that his numbers aren't a fluke. He might even improve once Wall gets back.

nate33 wrote:Just wanted to bump this thread. Webster is our one glimmer of light in this miserable year.

Per 36, he is averaging 14.7 points, 6 boards, 2.3 assists, .9 steals and .7 blocks while maintaining a TS% of .639%, a 3P% of .405 and a PER of 15.5 on low usage. He is also a very good defender. Basically, he is doing everything we wanted Nicolas Batum to do, but for about 1/8th the cost.

The encouraging thing is that his improved play over his career averages might be somewhat sustainable. He started his career very young and logged several seasons before he understood the game. By the time he figured the game out, he got hurt. This might be the first time we've seen a mature Martell Webster who is injury free. Also, one of the main reasons for his improvement in efficiency is that he has nearly doubled his FTA rate from his career averages - something that might be sustainable.

And he has done it all with no PG play. Hopefully, he'll get an opportunity to start and prove that his numbers aren't a fluke. He might even improve once Wall gets back.

I think he may crack the starting lineup tonight. I hope he does.

I really love this guy:

Martell Webster? He's new. And so, in the aftermath of his first Wizards "road" home game of the season, he had a message he wanted to convey.

"Did you guys not hear the announcements?" he asked rhetorically. "It's like, [when they called] Chris Singleton, it's like (he says yay softly). They call LeBron's name, and it's like, jeez."

A reporter finished his sentence to say, "the house came down." Then, Webster continued with the punchline.

"Tonight was an away game, and we won. We won on the road at home. Crazy."

Later, he was asked how those loud cheers for James made him feel.

"I mean, it's horrible. It's a horrible feeling. You want your fans to be loyal. You want to see more red, white and blue jerseys out there in the stands than you do the away team," he said.

Webster is hardly the first player to express his frustration at the bipartisan Washington Wizards crowd, and he certainly won't be the last. Such is the nature of being a bad basketball team in a transplant city made up of fans of all NBA franchises. But of all the players that have spoken out, Webster seemed most determined to change the narrative.

"It's not going to happen [overnight]. Rome wasn't built in a day. We have to continue to win," he said. "Next time Boston comes in here, there will be green jerseys up in here. When Chicago comes in, there will be red jerseys up in here. We have to take advantage of these games. That builds loyalty with the fans. When we do that, more times than not, they'll be roaring when our names are called instead of theirs."

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2012/12/4 ... -heat-2012

I always knew he would amount to something.

Go Web. He is a true leader. Let the man lead.

Really love this guy. He can ball and is passionate. When was the last time he took a play off?

Better keep him Ernie.

Excellent signing by Ernie. It's hard for me to believe this guy came straight out of high school.

His post game comments after today's game, if you read/listen past the first remark, is something I've been waiting to hear a player say for quite some time.