The 'What do we do now?' Thread (merged)

[no D in Hibachi]

C'mon BruceO, you're just wasting your breath. There is no way OKC let's Durant go. He'll be restricted free agent and they'll have the right to match any offer.

Yeah, I'd go so far as to say the odds of him signing a max extension this offseason are pretty darn high too.

Marc Gasol is a good target for the center position. As is Kendrick Perkins. Indeed, there will be a slew of free agent centers available in 2011 so it probably makes the most sense to get a stopgap one-year rental for the 2010/11 season and then make sure we have money available in Summer 2011.

Here are some notable centers available in 2011 (unfortunately, the good ones are restricted free agents) in my order of desirability.

Horford (RFA)
Noah (RFA)
Gasol (RFA)
Perkins
Yao
Chandler
Pryzbilla
Troy Murphy
Hawes (RFA)
Krstic
Mohammed

Gasol seems so high profile that he'd be an absolute 'no brainer keeper' for Memphis, but their situation is highly muddled by a terrible financial season. The most up to date Forbes numbers had them bringing in $13 million at the gate per year, which is about 1/6th of the Lakers numbers. They are in fact dead last in revenue. And then their owner is assumed to be selling the franchise sometime in the next 'however-many' years, so a big offer to Gasol could get-er-done, sure.

I love his game myself. He really maximizes his ability and uses his body to punish guys. Plus, he's a great passer that should build great team chemistry and crisp sets. Not a great athlete, but passable and very strong. He also shoots well enough that you could play him with McGee.

Perkins might be a flight risk, but as of now, I'd think Noah and Horford stay put. Hawes seems a candidate for an amazingly sucky thread, based on his perimeter orientation and propensity to 'over feature' himself in the offense. He obviously has some talent though.

I must confess that I kind of covet us getting Robin Lopez. I think that guy is way underrated and can become a serious starter in the league. The guy has a really nice, intimidating presence out there. He would be the NBA player that I would give the "most likely to have been a barbarian warlord in a pervious life" award. Not a great fit for the Suns current system either, so you have to wonder if they'd consider moving him.

This is why the Wiz need to save their cap space instead of dumping it on Gay or Johnson. They can front load a contract making it very difficult to match. Say for Chicago if they sign a max player they can't turn around and pony up a matching offer for a front loaded contract to the tennis player. Or if ATL signs JJ to a near max contract can they match a front loaded contract to Horford? Who knows, but forcing their hand in 2011 will be interesting.

[Hoopalotta]

This is why the Wiz need to save their cap space instead of dumping it on Gay or Johnson. They can front load a contract making it very difficult to match. Say for Chicago if they sign a max player they can't turn around and pony up a matching offer for a front loaded contract to the tennis player. Or if ATL signs JJ to a near max contract can they match a front loaded contract to Horford? Who knows, but forcing their hand in 2011 will be interesting.

That's downright underhanded and conniving. I like it. I like it a lot.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I love Joe Johnson, but he will be 29 heading into the 2010 season with over 700 games played and a career mpg of 37.

That's the kind of guy that can break your franchise if he doesn't stay healthy for the next 3+ seasons, I'd pass.

There are two guys that are worth max contracts this year and that's Lebron and Wade.

Bosh is another intruiging prospect, but his injury history raises all kinds of red flags for me.

Beyond those three guys I think we're much better of taking on 2011 expirings for picks and continuing the youth movement.

I think the FAs the Wizards should be looking are guys like BRENDAN HAYWOOD, Josh Childress, Anthony Morrow (restricted), C.J. Watson, Travis Outlaw, Luke Ridnour, Steve Blake, Jordan Farmar, Dorrell Wright. I already assume they'll resign Mike Miller and Randy Foye (but I don't like Foye that much). They probably pick up the team option on Howard, too.

[hands11]

Brook Lopez is Mr Nasty.

That dude is Haywood like. He is going to be a force for years.

I don't see a way for us to get him but just saying..

[likwitdesi]

I saw Robin Lopez on campus a couple weeks ago just hanging out in the middle of the student center hanging around as if he were some ordinary student.

I pointed out to my lunch buddies that Robin was a couple tables over and they both went "Who?" It is insane how apathetic Stanford kids are about sports.

[likwitdesi]

Another point to consider is do we really want a team with 2 offensively minded big men? Can anyone name the last championship team with 2 big men who were 20 ppg scorers? You would think the Spurs but Robinson was past his prime and was kind of a role player at that point.

That is why I'm not sure a Blatche/Cousins combo would work as much as a Blatche/R. Lopez or Blatche/Oden (although that would be a major risk) combo.

[verbal8]

I saw Robin Lopez on campus a couple weeks ago just hanging out in the middle of the student center hanging around as if he were some ordinary student.

I pointed out to my lunch buddies that Robin was a couple tables over and they both went "Who?" It is insane how apathetic Stanford kids are about sports.

There are a lot of celebrities that go to Stanford, so an up-and-coming basketball star isn't as big a deal as say Steph Curry going back to Davidson. I never lived in California, but I got the impression that people(with a couple of exceptions - Lakers and Warriors come to mind) are more into doing sports than watching them in California.

[likwitdesi]

I saw Robin Lopez on campus a couple weeks ago just hanging out in the middle of the student center hanging around as if he were some ordinary student.

I pointed out to my lunch buddies that Robin was a couple tables over and they both went "Who?" It is insane how apathetic Stanford kids are about sports.

There are a lot of celebrities that go to Stanford, so an up-and-coming basketball star isn't as big a deal as say Steph Curry going back to Davidson. I never lived in California, but I got the impression that people(with a couple of exceptions - Lakers and Warriors come to mind) are more into doing sports than watching them in California.

That impression is spot on. People here tend to play sports, but don't really follow sports. I think one reason why is because they don't have as much as access as people on the East Coast (ex. Monday "Night" Football starting at 5:30 as people are getting back from work).

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

Durant about to sign an extension with Ok City. So we can squash the bring out the dead and lure Durant back to his hometown strategy. And now other than Melo there's no max contract worthy guys hitting the market in 2011.

[Donkey McDonkerton]

Don't know where to put it...so I figured here:

From MLee Insider

In his final season in Washington, Stackhouse was limited to just 26 games after struggling to come back from a knee injury. "It's like, I don't want to say it's a curse, but tough things happen to people when they go to that city, as far as injuries."

When asked to expound, Stackhouse lifted his hand and said, "I don't really want to go there."

[closg00]

Don't know where to put it...so I figured here:

From MLee Insider

In his final season in Washington, Stackhouse was limited to just 26 games after struggling to come back from a knee injury. "It's like, I don't want to say it's a curse, but tough things happen to people when they go to that city, as far as injuries."

When asked to expound, Stackhouse lifted his hand and said, "I don't really want to go there."

Hmmm, I wonder how-much "the curse" is discussed amongst other players especially FA's?

[GoneShammGone]

Don't know where to put it...so I figured here:

From MLee Insider

In his final season in Washington, Stackhouse was limited to just 26 games after struggling to come back from a knee injury. "It's like, I don't want to say it's a curse, but tough things happen to people when they go to that city, as far as injuries."

When asked to expound, Stackhouse lifted his hand and said, "I don't really want to go there."

I kind of roll my eyes when people on this board talk about the Wizard's medical staff, because how would any of us really know what goes on? But here is a respected NBA vet and former Wizard pretty much calling out the organization for medical incompetence. We heard some similar complaints from Gilbert a few months ago. This is coming from people with first-hand knowledge of the situation. Hopefully Teddy is listening and when he takes over, he will take a very close look.

[nate33]

I think the FAs the Wizards should be looking are guys like BRENDAN HAYWOOD, Josh Childress, Anthony Morrow (restricted), C.J. Watson, Travis Outlaw, Luke Ridnour, Steve Blake, Jordan Farmar, Dorrell Wright. I already assume they'll resign Mike Miller and Randy Foye (but I don't like Foye that much). They probably pick up the team option on Howard, too.

There will be curling in Hell before the Wizards pay Howard $10.5M to rehab his knee for half the year. Maybe, just maybe, they'll decline the option and instead try and sign him to a 3 year deal worth $5-7M a year, but there's no way they pay him $10.5M. That's just giving money away. Howard won't even play the first 30 games and probably won't be very good for the 20 after that.

I figure it's likely that Miller will be retained (assuming Howard is not). I think the decision on Foye will be based on cost. The Wizards will probably extend the qualifying offer to lock up his RFA rights, but if somebody comes along and offers the full MLE or more, they'll probably let him walk.

BTW, this is what I think the Wizards will do. It's not what I would do.

[Hoopalotta]

I must confess to being interested in seeing what Livingston can do for us. In fact, the idea of him 'spot-starting' at the two guard next to Gil has crossed my mind.

It seems that he could fill that Mike Miller role of being a large, deferential set up guy. Of course Livingston is not close to the kind of shooter that Miller 'is', but if the Mill-Man has a padlock on his holster, his six-gun isn't doing us much good anyhow. Actually, I was quite surprised to see Shaun hit some fairly decent mid-range jumpers in that Bucks debacle.

But Livingston in there could give Gil more freedom to go into kill mode, which could pay big dividends.

What I'll really be looking for is, as Likwitdesi said, about how Shaun helps the bigs develop. Unfortunately, he lacks the long ball to work off the postup, but if he gets accustomed to hitting them going to the basket with some real chemistry developing, I'm sold.

Probably you can't get insurance on a Livingston contract, but the idea of having a team option on a second year sounds a winner as the reward could be quite substantial. If this all were to work out, it could save a lot of cap space and there's not a lot of risk involved.

Now, of course if you have two point guards on the roster named 'S. Livingston' and 'G. Arenas', you're going to need a third guy too, and ideally, this fellows skeletal frame would be reinforced by adamantium or he plays with foam peanuts in his shoes.

I could see a little quick guy like Jose Barea, or some other more pass-friendly version of our dear lil' Boinker. That would provide a multitude of looks.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

With all the talk of Livingston I still think the Wizards need to consider calling up Curtis Stinson from the D-League. Morris Almond as well.

If Miller is shutting it down offensively and if Thornton's basically playing hurt, why not rest them an entire game and play guys who will come in and bust tail for a shot in the big league?

[hands11]

I think the next move is clear. The writing in on the wall for Livingston to start at PG and to move MM to SF with AT coming off the bench so get some rest. The question is how many games does Shaun need before he is in shape enough to do it. He doesn't need to log a full starters minutes so it shouldn't be long. We should see this very soon.

Once that happens, the evaluations will continue for Foye and Nick. They have to decide who stays. If Foye is ever going to be a PG, it's going to take him putting in a solid summer of work. It isn't going to be something we see him going during the season. At least not as a starter now that we have Shaun. Then there is still the issue of wasted minutes for Fabio. He doesn't fit in the future so why is he eating up a roster spot? Sure adds some vet stability but is is useless other than that.

My guess is the first version will look like this.

Livingston/Mini Me
Foye/NY/Ross
MM/AT/Harris
Dray/Singleton
McGee/Fabio

From depending on how they preform we will likely see Nick get a couple chances to start before the season is over. How soon will just depend on how well the team is playing. They really need to evaluate him the rest of the year and make a decision on moving him or not. To date, Nick isn't looking like he is part of the future so I don't think it is a primary issue for them to test right now. There are other priorities.

Then once AT gets his legs back, they will moving him back to the starting line up to evaluate him more. I think we know what we have in MM and he has no ego so he can come off the bench if needed as the season closes out. So we could see

Livingston/Mini Me
Foye/NY/Ross
AT/MM/Harris
Dray/Singleton
McGee/Fabio

Then either

Livingston/Mini Me
NY/Foye/Ross
MM/AT/Harris
Dray/Singleton
McGee/Fabio

or

Livingston/Mini Me
NY/Foye/Ross
AT/MM/Harris
Dray/Singleton
McGee/Fabio

[hands11]

Not sure why Flip is waiting so long to get Livingston in the game earlier.

Our offense finally looked more settled down once he entered the game.

Time for him to start so everyone can maximize their talents. Nick finally got it going once he was on the floor with him. I'm sure Foye would rather he gets moved to SG also. And if we can get some other players going, things are going to be easier for Dray.

TIME TO START SHAUN. If not, then he needs into come in the game in the first quarter.

[likwitdesi]

With all the talk of Livingston I still think the Wizards need to consider calling up Curtis Stinson from the D-League. Morris Almond as well.

If Miller is shutting it down offensively and if Thornton's basically playing hurt, why not rest them an entire game and play guys who will come in and bust tail for a shot in the big league?

Hold your horses. The staff needs to still evaluate Gee and we will have a chance to see if he is worth keeping around later this week.

I also don't want Almond on this team either. We already have two Mo Almonds on this team in Thornton and Young.

[verbal8]

I must confess to being interested in seeing what Livingston can do for us. In fact, the idea of him 'spot-starting' at the two guard next to Gil has crossed my mind.

I think an Arenas/Livingston backcourt is not a bad idea. I think Livingston is the PG offensively and SG defensively. They can test it this year with Foye who in a lot of ways is a poor man's Arenas.

[ErikChowbay023]

If we end getting something good out of the draft---Cousins-Turner

We could very well end up like the Thunder next year...I know there is a lot of talk about whether or not the losing could effect these guys mentally, as winning is a habit, but losing is also..

But the fresh start since the All-Star break, and the emergence of Andray...we really have hope for next year...The Thunder lost a hell of a lot last year, and people thought they were gonna be an ok team, but never as good as they currently are... But one thing they do is play GREAT DEFENSE....They are one of the best teams defensively, and its all about their coaches mentality...

Harden recently had an interview... and he said, the key to his teams success, was that Scotty Brooks constantly preached defense defense defense..
If we can get a decent defensive center, and a a solid two guard we could be very good next year.

But Flip is really gonna have to instill the importance of Defense...Thank God, this team is young..