Wiz trade Shard and 2nd rounder for Okafor and Ariza

[MJG]

I haven't read the article yet, but Hollinger's tweet got a sad laugh out of me:

@johnhollinger
My story on the Wizards' efforts to build a winner in New Orleans (Insider) http://es.pn/NQs5W7

[Severn Hoos]

The casual fan will say...hmm...good trade, Lewis didn't even play at least Ariza will.

So you were watching PTI, too?


I heard Mike & Tony jabbering about the deal on the way home today - gave it an A (maybe an A+, IIRC). Said almost verbatim what you posted, UD. As a result, any flicker of hope that I might have been holding out that it wasn't an awful trade was quickly and completely extinguished.

[mhd]

Don't listen to any of the local writers. They are idiots. I remember Tony K saying Jamison was the best player on the team over Arenas. Jason Reid is an idiot (probably the worst columnist EVER). Boswell is the only voice of reason. Whoever posted that link to the Washingtonian article, that author might be the best writer of Wiz in the DC area.

[Severn Hoos]

I haven't read the article yet, but Hollinger's tweet got a sad laugh out of me:

@johnhollinger
My story on the Wizards' efforts to build a winner in New Orleans (Insider) http://es.pn/NQs5W7

Hollinger takes a sadistic delight in pouring salt all over Wiz fans' wounds. I'd say he hates the Wizards, but it's not really hate. More like pure condescension. Not that it isn't warranted, most of the time.

[mhd]

I haven't read the article yet, but Hollinger's tweet got a sad laugh out of me:

@johnhollinger
My story on the Wizards' efforts to build a winner in New Orleans (Insider) http://es.pn/NQs5W7

Considering Hollinger's projected player raters, I have little confidence in his analysis. He got Crowder has a horrible player for pete's sakes.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

This is a HORRIBLE trade unless we're getting the #10 pick.

Okafor is redundant with Nene and Seraphin. We simply don't need him. Ariza is a decent wing but not any better than what we can find in free agency. Only with this trade, we obliterate any potential cap room in 2013. I just don't understand it.

EG acts at his owner's behest. Ted Leonsis didn't want to buyout Lewis or amnesty Blatche.

I expect another deal, possibly involving Booker and/or Seraphin that includes Blatche.

I doubt we trade Seraphin. There are few players we would give up for him. If we do trade him, we better get something GOOD in return. If we don't...god I don't even want to think that.

I still think Randy will play whichever player is playing best. He did that last season so I'm not as concerned about which players get the proper playing time.

The ONE good thing I feel is Randy is the coach and not Flip.

If Wittman plays the guys who earn the minutes, and if they keep playing together the team will be a lot better. Minutes and feelings are one thing, but if there is a fairness and roles are established based on merit and not salary; then things will work out.

Things I am not worried about ...

Okafor is a Nigerian. Ariza is of Dominican descent. These guys seem to fit the profile of the new Wizards. Both have played for some high profile coaches. Okafor played for Jim Calhoun at UConn. Ariza played for Larry Brown and Phil Jackson, as well as Rick Adelman. If nothing else, the Wizards definitely added seasoned professionals. Neither guy has any drama associated with him.

The rest is real murky right now.

[Upper Decker]

What exactly does Emeka bring to the table? How does he score his points? He's not an explosive guy, he's pretty stiff without much of a post game. Is he just a more glorified Kendrick Perkins?

Also, over the last decade has there been a more highly regarded loser than Emeka Okafor? His career winning percentage is 38%, which is roughly 31 wins a season.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

CCJ and Dat, what do you think of my Booker+#32 for Roddy B+#17 trade idea? Dallas gets an extra year of a rookie deal in Booker, and can always buy back into the late first if they need to (they tend to anyways).

Go for it.

It sends Booker to a first class organization, Dallas. He does not deserve to languish on the bench. Rod Beaubois is the type player I would like to see Washington add. He's an explosive offensive player. Getting the #17 as well would be beyond good.

Easy yes, mhd.

After this deal, I think Booker for Rod B isn't bad.

[Upper Decker]

I haven't read the article yet, but Hollinger's tweet got a sad laugh out of me:

@johnhollinger
My story on the Wizards' efforts to build a winner in New Orleans (Insider) http://es.pn/NQs5W7

Considering Hollinger's projected player raters, I have little confidence in his analysis. He got Crowder has a horrible player for pete's sakes.

I'm still waiting for Mareese Speight to recieve his HOF bust....

[closg00]

If Emeka plays well, he may opt out after this year, something worth noting.

Yeah-right, Emeka is going to walk away from $14,500 and get signed for what, something barely above the vet minimum? That $14.5 is more than what he'd make by opting out.

[VictorPage44]

The problem with our big man rotation pre-trade was that nene was the only reliable rebounder and vesely and booker are undersized. I dont doubt that Seraphin can become a decent rebounder, but until then for the next year, we needed another big man. Vesely/Seraphin most likely would have got stomped on as would Booker/Seraphin. Now, at least, they can have Nene or Okafor in at all times so we dont get walked all over in the rebounding dept, then play one of Vesely, Booker, Seraphin alongside them. If you think ALL THREE of those guys will continue their progression enough to force Nene and Okafor out of the rotation then you're delusional.

We were 25th in team rebounding and our SFs were ranked the worst in the league. Okafor and Ariza are overpaid, but they help a lot if you value aspects of the game like rebounding and playing with a wing on the court, over other "aspects of the game" like pinching salary cap pennies. We filled two big holes in our team with this trade, and we'll fill another with Beal or MKG (shooting or a 2nd wing). I like the team for next yaer. Ariza and Okafor are tradable pieces if someone steps up, and they can be replaced.

[Dat2U]

Just like most of the doubters (and those consumed by visions of salary cap nirvana) came around on the Nene trade once they waw how it helped the Zards on the court. I expect a similar thing here.

DCZ, I've already considered the possibility of this working out. It could.

--Okafor once won an NCAA championship. He has always been good rebounder and a good defender. Okafor has been among league leaders in FG% in the past.

--Ariza won an NBA championship and was a big part of the Lakers in doing so. His playoff 3PT shooting (48-109) is 44%. Ariza's career FG shooting is still .508, despite the last three seasons.

The bad is Emeka has appeared in only 6 playoff games over 8 full NBA seasons. The Hornets were better with him out of the lineup, by a lot last season. Ariza's offense has been bad, bad, bad the past three seasons.

DCZ, for this to work out guys will have to buy in and Wall is going to have to facilitate in a way that gets Okafor and Ariza more efficient offensively. Increased talent on the roster is going to have to make for competitive practices. Wittman is going to have to play guys based on merit of how well they play, and not on salary.

If Emeka is done he better not freeze Seraphin out of the lineup.

The funny thing is there's a chance that this deal actually makes us worse. Okafor's impact at this stage is muted. People might not want to acknowledge it, but his game is slipping. And Okafor will likely take minutes from improving players like Seraphin & Vesely and Seraphin is arguably already better. Booker is a solid backup himself and will likely lose minutes as well.

Ariza at SF has been clearly below average in terms of performance. Is he better than Singleton, yes. But is he answer there? No. He's a below average starting SF.

Question, add in 2 average at best (but expensive) players to a roster that was the 2nd worst in the league, what do you get?

A lottery team.

[AFM]

So, uh, guess we aren't drafting TRob.

[Dat2U]

I haven't read the article yet, but Hollinger's tweet got a sad laugh out of me:

@johnhollinger
My story on the Wizards' efforts to build a winner in New Orleans (Insider) http://es.pn/NQs5W7

In fact, depending on how they use their exception money the next two summers, they may need to amnesty Blatche a year from now just to avoid the luxury tax.

For that, they get a middling but overpaid starting center, and a grossly overpaid wing defender with perhaps the worst shot selection in basketball. Alas, his only rival in that department will be starting alongside him. Which brings us to another reason to hate this trade: It did nothing to solve Washington's biggest problem, shooting. If anything, it exacerbated it.

If anything, we need to hold onto that 2014 pick now. It may turn out to be a lot higher than we might want to believe.

[tontoz]

Now the Wizards have no chance to sign a quality free agent for the forseeable future. Damn such a horrible trade. I got nothing done at work after i found out about it.

[nuposse04]

At least can one look at this way...okafor's large contract may be enticing to teams trying to shed salary for his final year...hmmmm where have I heard that before...

[verbal8]

The only way this trade is even mildly not grand theft is if we get the 10th pick.

But it's looking like that isn't the case at all.

I could live with a lotto protected 1st. I can't see why the Wizards would have to add an incentive to take on $40 million in salary. I wouldn't have minded taking on Okafor before the Nene deal, but I think he is a little redundant.

[Upper Decker]

The funny thing is there's a chance that this deal actually makes us worse. Okafor's impact at this stage is muted. People might not want to acknowledge it, but his game is slipping. And Okafor will likely take minutes from improving players like Seraphin & Vesely and Seraphin is arguably already better. Booker is a solid backup himself and will likely lose minutes as well.

As I've thought about this trade a little more I've decided that Okafor is the 6th best big on the roster, and if James Singleton returns, Okafor would be the 7th best big on the roster. Okafor is a bad player AND HE'S NEVER BEEN A GOOD PLAYER. Not only that, but he's been injured the last two seasons. I unabashedly assert that Blatche, even in his current state, would be a more productive player than Okafor if they both played the same minutes next season.

EG unquestionably got bamboozled in this deal, ugh, I hate you Ted.

[verbal8]

EDIT* -- Maybe Grunfeld is trying to set himself up for his next job. He just did the NBA a big favor by taking those 2 cruddy contracts off the Hornets' books. I mean, this has to be the only reason why a move like this was made. It definitely isn't because Ariza and Okafor make us a playoff team.

I am not one for conspiracy theories, but I find my self thinking this with about 2/3 of Ernie's deals.

[7-Day Dray]

I'm not even angry anymore. This is just pure comedy to me. It's like Ted wants this team to fail.