Benjammin wrote:The major thing that I get from this thread is that evidently not very many people have seen Elton Brand play. One can try to make a sophisticated argument about spacing and the value of Jamison. However, if people actually appreciated what kind of player Elton Brand is (assuming health) this would not even be an argument.
'People' is me. I've seen him play. A healthy Brand is a better player than Tawn. Not my argument.
But you're missing a nuance or two here, I'll try to put a finer point on it:
1. Jamison plays for the Wizards. The Wizards play for Abe Pollin.
We've had 20+ years where 'mediocre' would have been a godsend. Where good talent had bad character, lousy chemistry, or injury problems. 'Leadership' was a puddle of hotdog puke, or sitting out a mild strain while Chris Whitney played on two broken ankles. Or a DWI or two. Or getting busted for possession.
Then we got Jamison. And started winning. Next to no games missed for injury. Public responsibility, public involvement, playoffs.
Again: Jamison plays for Abe Pollin. Abe Pollin overpaid to keep a good character guy like Etan when Milwaukee called Ernie's bluff (that the team would keep him no matter what). What's the 'loyalty price' for a guy who rescued you from firing the Greatest Player of All Time, wiped the 'laughingstock' off the franchise name, and brought you the first playoff win in more than two decades?
2. The only way Jamison is going anywhere other than the Wizards is if he wants to go. In that case, he is free to go and gets us nothing.
Or we engineer a sign and trade (exceed the cap, bring back equivalent talent).
The mental gyrations on landing Brand in a S&T are an Olympic pommelhorse routine compared to the concept that Jamison improves the Wiz. You gonna try a double sign & trade with Brand opting out of a guaranteed 16 mil following an injury year since Jamison wants out and agrees to go to the Clip jobs because they'd what... land him a championship? You can try but you ain't landing that dismount.
Abe will pay to keep Jamison. And, key point: Jamison actually thinks we'll win a championship here.
So long as we retain Arenas. And even then I think he'd scowl on the disloyalty of Gil going elsewhere and leaving the team behind. And would still believe we'd win anyway without him, and would stick around.
Unless the Team said to him 'Tawn, we'd like to go in a different direction, what other teams would you be willing to play for, we'll try to arrange something and maybe benefit us both'. But again: see 1) above. He's not going anywhere.
3. Given 1 & 2. Those grapes were probably pretty sour anyway.
Does Tawn hurt our team? He does not. He helps this team more than any other player in the league helps their team. Even when Caron Butler was an all-star lock, 'Tawn was more significant to the team.
He's as consistent as you get. Not just by notching those 20/10's. Consider also the 40 minutes per game. The number of games per year.
Nate's player-pairs regression in past years confirmed that whatever his problems were on defense, Jamison significantly improved the offense of the players on the floor with him. More than any other Wiz player. All without notching an assist or frankly ever passing. The FG%, eFG% (and in some cases free throw attempts) of most players all rose when Jamison was on the floor. Again: more than any other player, Jamison made both Caron and Gilbert more efficient. That's saying something meaningful.
And whatever 'Haslem' you had last year-- this year Jamison is more significant to his team's DEFENSE than all but 9 other players in the league.
Check it. Who's that guy just behind Shawn MFn Marion? Team Captain, no nickname, the gentleman Antawn Jamison.
Nevermind that a long-armed defensive shotblocking octopus like Blatche is playing behind him. Nevermind that Tawn is playing long minutes with Haywood off the court. His defense is not only better than past years, but as far as the Wizard's improved defensive schemes, he's Top 10 most significant to his team's defensive success.
Saying something.
So. Whatever lust for Brand you harbor in your hearts, statsheet or pants, understand only this:
Jamison's effect on this team and it's overall chemistry is massively underestimated and taken for granted. You can 'speckalate' that this, that, or the other player might be better than Tawn, but the facts sit there throbbing in digital type, no player league-wide is more significant to the success of their team than Jamison has been to this one. And playing with chemistry is dangerous. Better know what you're doing. Ask Pheonix.
So if we're likely to keep him, personally, I got no problem with that. Seems pretty clear to me he helps more than he hurts. That's something to work with. The rest, Brand or whatnot, that's mostly just roster masturbation.
