How do you fix this team?

[Rafael122]

I think CCJ is right about Young's future compensation, which is why I think ultimately the Wizards will be better off letting him leave.

And then replace him with who? The SG free agent class is pretty bare. The only ones I'd consider are Nick Young and Aaron Affalo (only b/c I think he'll be a cheaper alternative)..

[Nivek]

I think CCJ is right about Young's future compensation, which is why I think ultimately the Wizards will be better off letting him leave.

And then replace him with who? The SG free agent class is pretty bare. The only ones I'd consider are Nick Young and Aaron Affalo (only b/c I think he'll be a cheaper alternative)..

Draft one. Sign one from the D-League. Trade for one. Sign a retread. Have an open tryout. Hold a lottery. Throw a rock in a playground and take whoever it hits. Just kidding on a couple of these.

Yeah, the Wizards might be weaker at SG next season if they let Young leave. So what? Is Young a key ingredient to them winning a future championship? Hell no. Better to let him leave and preserve the option of acquiring someone who will be a key ingredient.

I'm not saying the Wiz should dump him no matter what. I'm saying they should avoid paying him a lot. About $5-6 million per year would be my limit, and I think the $6 million would be pushing it. He'll want more, and I suspect someone will be willing to pay him more because he's a good scorer and teams overvalue scoring.

As I posted earlier in the thread, I'd definitely try to be creative and front load Young's new deal as much as possible. That creates more cap space down the line, makes it more palatable to bring him off the bench when/if he doesn't work as a starter, and makes him easier to deal if necessary.

Just know, that under current cap rules, the only way the Wizards will be able to offer max money to a true star if they re-sign Young to even the money we're talking about will be to offload other contracts.

[Ruzious]

One thing to consider if Young needs to be replaced is... the Wiz guards don't rebound. Considering the front court has issues with defensive rebounding, I think it's an issue that the backcourt needs to improve in that area. One game doesn't tell the story, but looking at the GS game, Wall and Young totalled 2 rebounds. GS's starting guards had 12. Heck, their backup guards had 6. I don't now how much of this is a personnel problem or a coaching/systemic issue, but it's gotta change, imo.

[nate33]

I'll point out that the signing of Nick Young doesn't completely eliminate our opportunity to sign a big free agent, it just postpones the opportunity for another year. Even if Nick is retained, we'll have plenty of cap room in 2013 when Lewis is completely off the books.

As it stands now, if Young isn't resigned (or if he is resigned but Blatche is dumped for expirings), we could have max room in 2012. But there are a couple of questions we need to ask ourselves before going forward with that strategy:

1. Is there an impact player available in 2012 who is young and good enough to warrant a long-term strategy to obtain?

2. Is there a reasonable likelihood of them joining our team, especially given that we are likely to be a really bad team next year too since we'd be losing arguably our best player while adding only rookies from a weak draft class.

Obviously, the answer to Question #1 is Dwight Howard. The other big free agents are Chris Paul and Deron Williams, who aren't needed here. There are a few good older free agents like Nene and Gerald Wallace, but they're really not appropriate targets for a rebuilding team. After that, there's 2nd tier free agents like Batum, Speights, Bynum or Oden, most of whom are restricted and/or injury prone. So basically, it's Howard or bust.

Which leads us to Question #2: Is there are reasonable chance of luring Howard here? The way I see it, with Young gone and maybe a guy like Sullinger added, I don't see us winning more than 30-35 games next year. Why would Howard come here when NJ or Chicago are also extending offers? I really think we need to find a way to get respectable next year (at least 40 wins) or all Howard talks are off the table. The only way I think we can get respectable while also maintaining cap room would be for our draft pick to be good early (think Sullinger or Kanter), for Wall to improve a ton in the offseason, for Nick Young to stick around, for Booker, McGee and Seraphin to improve, and for Blatche to be moved for a 2012 contract plus hopefully a future pick or so.

The idea is to have a 40-win team on the rise and have a bunch of decent trade assets. Our trade assets will be: McGee, our 2012 pick, our 2014 pick, hopefully a pick from the Blatche trade, plus select one among: Booker, Seraphin, our 2011 lotto pick draftee, our 2011 ATL pick draftee.

[closg00]

I think CCJ is right about Young's future compensation, which is why I think ultimately the Wizards will be better off letting him leave.

And then replace him with who? The SG free agent class is pretty bare. The only ones I'd consider are Nick Young and Aaron Affalo (only b/c I think he'll be a cheaper alternative)..

Look at what happened with Landry Fields & Gary Neal, SG's are always the most in abundance in a draft, the D-League, and overseas. We may not be able to get a replacement as-athletic as Nick, but we may be able to find someone who can chip-in 20-25 a night. Ernie already has Crawford in his back-pocket in-case someone is willing to throw $$ at Nick. Don't want to lose Nick, but $$ is an issue.

[hands11]

nate, I rarely consider cap matters and such. Still, I find it hard to believe a 22ppg, highlight reel SG is only going to command $5M.

His season average is 17.9 He compares pretty closely to Wes Mathews who signed for a deal starting at $5.7 million/year.

Eh, Matthews was coming off his rookie year (and he wasn't even drafted) where he averaged under 10 PPG. Unfortunately, I think CCJ is right.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/playe ... ing-guards

Ya think.

I have been saying that since the first time someone posted 5M a year for Nick. Hey, I would do it, but I don't think that is likely.

Look up the salaries of these players in his group. Look at most of their ages. A lot of these guys are making 10M a year.

If you can get him for 7M a year, that would be good value. That is right where they signed Dray over three years, but his contract goes one more year than that. So if there is room to do 8 7 6 or something similar, then do it if it makes sense.

Reward Nick of a stellar year, but keep the roster fluid until you know for sure have a good model to build on. Biggest advantage the Wizards have is that Nick was a goof before and the team as a whole stinks. Maybe that will scare other teams.

My advice, stay away from the 5 year contracts I like the three year or less contracts better except for the longer rookie contracts with team options. Signing a three year allows the team to adjust if needed. If it doesn't work out, they aren't stuck. If it does, they can extend them. If the player wants to be moves, it's easier.

Contracts like Gil and Lewis got are no good for the league.

[Nivek]

I don't like the concept of "rewarding" players. In a capped system, teams should be paying players what they're going to be worth, not for past services rendered. Otherwise you end up consuming valuable cap space on guys who end up overpaid. Sound familiar?

Recent BIG example was Portland "rewarding" Brandon Roy for his good play, even though they knew he had serious knee problems. That's not an issue with Young, obviously, but the point still stands. Portland was already regretting that 5-year, max salary contract during preseason.

[nate33]

The way I see things, the only free agent target on the horizon who is likely to be a game changer is Dwight Howard. Our chances of signing him are slim. Without Young's scoring, our chances of signing him drop even more.

Frankly, if attracting Howard is our goal, I think we're better off with Young on the roster and maybe $10M in 2012 cap room, than have Young off the roster and $16M in cap room. We can work out a S&T or a Blatche dump to make up that salary difference, but there is no way to make up for the fact that we'll suck next year without Young's scoring.

[verbal8]

I don't like the concept of "rewarding" players. In a capped system, teams should be paying players what they're going to be worth, not for past services rendered. Otherwise you end up consuming valuable cap space on guys who end up overpaid. Sound familiar?

I think Jamison and Arenas were two prime examples of the danger of "rewarding" players.

[Nivek]

The way I see things, the only free agent target on the horizon who is likely to be a game changer is Dwight Howard. Our chances of signing him are slim. Without Young's scoring, our chances of signing him drop even more.

Frankly, if attracting Howard is our goal, I think we're better off with Young on the roster and maybe $10M in 2012 cap room, than have Young off the roster and $16M in cap room. We can work out a S&T or a Blatche dump to make up that salary difference, but there is no way to make up for the fact that we'll suck next year without Young's scoring.

What you say makes sense. If Young gets a 4 year deal averaging $6 million per season (and the team doesn't frontload it), the Wiz would have to make some roster moves to get anywhere near $10 million. McGee would be an expiring with a ~$7.4 million cap hold. If we assume the cap is at this year's level, and that the Wizards don't add any salary beyond their picks and Young, they'd get to about $6.4 million by renouncing McGee. Of course, we don't know what's going to happen with the new CBA.

Lemme just say, I'd happily give Young $6 million a year if I could find someone willing to give up an expiring for Blatche.

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/lee_jenkins/03/03/derrick.rose/index.html?eref=sihp

I read stuff like this and wonder to myself if there's a snowball's chance any of our current players would take their offseason this seriously. For all the strikes Gil had against him, he at least was consumed by the game and training for it. I'd LOVE to see any of our current guys take their fitness serious enough to train with Frank Matrisciano like Gilbert did. Shoot, give Blatche, McGee, Seraphin, Booker, all those guys video of Blake Griffin training with Frank followed by something like McGee's "workout" video. Then tell them to take a hard look in the mirror.

Are all the Bulls players training like Rose? Probably not. Are all OKC's players training like Westbrook? Not likely. But I can guarantee that their year round blue collar mentality will rub off in some form as they continue to shine and help carry their squads. Maybe Wall can have that kind of leadership as he grows. Somebody will have to take the initiative and lead by example for the culture to ever change. (For all Gil did, he didn't ever seem all the interested in leading)

[hands11]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... .html#more

Curry has taken out his disappointment on the Wizards ever since. In three games against the Wizards, Curry is averaging 27.7 points, which is his second-highest scoring average against any team in the league (He absolutely destroys the Toronto Raptors, averaging 32.7 points for reasons unknown. Maybe it has something to do with his father, Dell, who finished his career there).

But whenever you see Curry, you have to take a step back and wonder, what if. As in, what if the Wizards had taken a different philosophy two years ago and decided to add some talented young players, in Curry and DeJuan Blair, to their veteran core instead just getting two established players. They were able to recover and get Wall last summer, but would you rather just have Wall or some combination of Curry, Blair and a top five pick from the 2005 NBA draft....DeMarcus Cousins? Wesley Johnson? Just something to ponder.

Curry, Blair and Wesly. I would put Cousins in their but I wouldn't have enjoyed his personality.

[Ruzious]

We could play a million what if games. What if they made the trade for Amare that was reportedly offered by Poenix? What if Thibs stayed to work with Eddie Jordan? What if Bob Ferry had picked Karl Malone over Kenny Green? What if Robert Pack didn't have the mysterious nerve problem with his leg? What if Big Ben, Sheed, and Weber were never traded? What if I wasn't so good looking, etc.

[TGW]

Can we please NOT give Nick Young more than 5 mil a year? Please?

Assuming he were given a type of contract like that, he'd be one shooting slump away from being an untradeable liability rather than an asset -- cause you know if Nick ain't scorin, he's almost useless.

Give N1 a 4 year/20 mil deal is fine. A penny more than that, and the Wizards overpaid.

[W. Unseld]

We could play a million what if games. What if they made the trade for Amare that was reportedly offered by Poenix? What if Thibs stayed to work with Eddie Jordan? What if Bob Ferry had picked Karl Malone over Kenny Green? What if Robert Pack didn't have the mysterious nerve problem with his leg? What if Big Ben, Sheed, and Weber were never traded? What if I wasn't so good looking, etc.

Agreed and pretty much everyone passed on Dejuan Blair based on his knees. Hindsight is always 20-20.

[montestewart]

We could play a million what if games. What if they made the trade for Amare that was reportedly offered by Poenix? What if Thibs stayed to work with Eddie Jordan? What if Bob Ferry had picked Karl Malone over Kenny Green? What if Robert Pack didn't have the mysterious nerve problem with his leg? What if Big Ben, Sheed, and Weber were never traded? What if I wasn't so good looking, etc.

Yeah! This is RealGM, where real men talk about real moves.

Still, you gotta wonder: what if Mugsy Bogues had had a sudden growth spurt, what if that Stop the Madness lady had connected with John Williams, what if Arenas had only brought squirt guns into the locker room...

[llcc25]

1) Sign Young to reasonable mid-level contract and pray that he continues to score like the past 2 months and gets even better
2) Package our ATL 1st rd pick w/ either McGee or Blatche for D Cousins
3) Package our lottery pick (possibly top 3) w/either McGee or Blatche for a 2012 #1 and Batum (Portland) or W. Johnson (MIN)

2011 Starting Lineup:
PG-Wall/Shakur
SG-N Young/J Crawford
SF-Howard/Batum or W.Johnson
PF-R Lewis/Booker
C-Cousins/Seraphin

If all goes well, I think this team can battle for a 6th, 7th or 8th playoff seed....still a ways to go until we overtake Boston, MIA, CHI, NY, ORL, ATL...but we'd be competitive w/ PHI, NJ, IND, MIL..

[Zonkerbl]

I just don't want Cousins. He's a jerk. I don't care how good he is, I can't root for him.

[Bickerstaff]

What if I wasn't so good looking, etc.

Don't even joke about that. That's a world I don't want to imagine.

[Bickerstaff]

Lemme just say, I'd happily give Young $6 million a year if I could find someone willing to give up an expiring for Blatche.

Is it that essential to just dump Blatche? Sure, he shoots too much, but he's not Antoine Walker. Yes, he makes too many mistakes, but his decision making gets noticeably better every year. He's not a model citizen, but he's not the scum that fans want to see him as.

My expectations for his career are definitely more optimistic than pretty much everybody else's, but I'd still be fine with seeing him traded for the right thing, but his upside, in my mind, is worth hurting the team's financial flexibility a little bit for another year or two, unless he starts blocking someone in the rotation, which he's not currently doing. I think if he's surrounded by enough talent that he doesn't feel obligated to score so much (and I absolutely don't think he's a selfish player), he's capable of contributing in so many ways that he could be a great third option.

I just don't see him as enough of a distraction (or a distraction at all, except to moralizing fans and journalists), and more significantly, I don't see this team as being competitive enough, where it makes any sense at all just to jettison a player that talented, and if the need comes up, it probably won't be too hard to find a taker, so I see zero reason to make getting rid of Blatche a priority.