Wiz Sign Josh Howard

[Joe_Wiz]

I don't know enough about Howard's personality to know how much good will and/or inertia factor into his decision-making. If either is significant, then it's a good move. If neither is significant, it's still an OK move since you get his bird rights and a year to assess what he has left and how close the team is to be good.

[MF23]

Great deal. Ernie's had a good off season.

6 month injury with the only problems being surgery debris and muscle fatigue around that knee. He's always been a well conditioned player so he should be able to maintain and gradually get better. Probably wont do back to backs but I don't see a reason why he won't play a lot.

[miller31time]

I'm happy with this move. I think we were an 8th seed going into this season without Howard. If he can give up 60+ games, it only enhances a decent team and makes us more interesting to watch in the short-term. And with the 1-year deal, it's incredibly low risk.

[willbcocks]

I wouldnt have signed off on the trade if I was the one paying the bills, but since I'm not, color me indifferent. The next major trading period is the trade deadline and Howard won't be any less valuable than cap space then, so renting him for one year doesnt hurt us in the long run.

Still woulda been happier Dleague all starring it, but with this signing we can all celebrate a summer in which we got John Wall and didnt burden ourselves with any bad long term contracts. I hoped for better moves but am not unhappy with the ones we made.

[dangermouse]

just think of him as a warm body to occupy a locker and some minutes until we get melo

[dlts20]

I said in the other thread that this is the only big signing I would make to our roster. I love it. I think it makes us a completely different team. It makes us so athletic, tough, & dangerous. He can start if he's healthy and if he's just getting back, he can give us a boost off the bench for instant offense. I said before that if Dray never got hurt, then I would guarantee the playoffs. With him being hurt, it could go either way. Now I think this puts us back over the top.

Still alot of questions health wise with Gil, Josh, & Dray but if they get healthy then we can be very exciting at the least. My only fear with Josh is that he seemed to try to be the man too much last year and wanted to pad stats on a bad team but if he plays with that same intensity while sharing the rock, then we will be scary and wont back down from anyone. I love it. You also could tell that he really wanted to be here the whole time. He's from NC and has alot of family in DC. He loved it here and has been rehabbing here. A great deal on the cheap

[Hoopalotta]

For one year I'm alright with it as there wasn't much out there to do with the cap space this year with the overall state of NBA payrolls (few tax payers and lots of TPE's/Cap space).

This does seem to be our first playoff push move too.

I guess my only real concern is that we're kind of high usage and I would have preferred Blatche/McGee to get more shots, but it's not an epic dilemma.

[JonathanJoseph]

It will ultimately be a wait-and-see signing. Giving an injured player $4M seems like a bad move. If he plays half a season, you're really paying him the equivalent of $8M. On top of that, he probably won't be as effective until the following season. This only pays off if Howard comes back and plays effectively in what turns out to be a playoff run. Even then, however, he negotiates a lucrative deal.

I think something like 2 years, $6M might have been better for the Wiz.

A 2 year, $6M contract? Minus the knee injury, there's not much different between Howard and Caron Butler. $4M is a good deal for both sides and if he misses the 1st month or 2, extra minutes for Booker, Yi, Young and Thornton. What's the problem? It's a 1 year contract.

[JonathanJoseph]

I said in the other thread that this is the only big signing I would make to our roster. I love it. I think it makes us a completely different team. It makes us so athletic, tough, & dangerous. He can start if he's healthy and if he's just getting back, he can give us a boost off the bench for instant offense. I said before that if Dray never got hurt, then I would guarantee the playoffs. With him being hurt, it could go either way. Now I think this puts us back over the top.

Still alot of questions health wise with Gil, Josh, & Dray but if they get healthy then we can be very exciting at the least. My only fear with Josh is that he seemed to try to be the man too much last year and wanted to pad stats on a bad team but if he plays with that same intensity while sharing the rock, then we will be scary and wont back down from anyone. I love it. You also could tell that he really wanted to be here the whole time. He's from NC and has alot of family in DC. He loved it here and has been rehabbing here. A great deal on the cheap

Good post.

[Hoopalotta]

I would definitely take a 1 year $4 million dollar deal over a two year $6 million dollar deal anyway. We need the cap space in the next dance to potentially push the acquisition of a long term player, so chipping into that is counter productive to the long term no matter what advantage we finagled over two years.

[DickMotta4Prez]

Good for Josh. We really do wish him the best in Dallas. But we're glad that he's not the Mavs problem anymore. Good luck next season!

[Ruzious]

It will ultimately be a wait-and-see signing. Giving an injured player $4M seems like a bad move. If he plays half a season, you're really paying him the equivalent of $8M. On top of that, he probably won't be as effective until the following season. This only pays off if Howard comes back and plays effectively in what turns out to be a playoff run. Even then, however, he negotiates a lucrative deal.

I think something like 2 years, $6M might have been better for the Wiz.

A 2 year, $6M contract? Minus the knee injury, there's not much different between Howard and Caron Butler. $4M is a good deal for both sides and if he misses the 1st month or 2, extra minutes for Booker, Yi, Young and Thornton. What's the problem? It's a 1 year contract.

Yup, CCJ is thinking more like an economist than a GM on this one. 1 year at 4 mil is really the ideal contract for the Wiz in this situation. If he plays half a season, it's like... what it is - 4 mil for a half season; not 8 mil for a full season. Excellent minimal risk signing.

[closg00]

If the below is accurate ( no reason to believe not), it's a fair deal and we don't over pay. Howard is really going to have to hit all of the performance marks to get-up to $4 mil. This is the kind of deal that Ernie should have done with Gilbert ....here I see the hand of Ted

Howard agreed on Wednesday to a one-year deal with the Wizards, according to his agent Derek Lafayette. Lafayette said the details within the contract have not been finalized, but a league source said it is expected to be worth close to $4 million with incentives based on games played, minutes played and minutes averaged.

[kavu]

I think it's going to be important to rush him back, like we did with Arenas. If we could get some preseason games out of him, that would be excellent.

[pancakes3]

i don't see how we don't make the playoffs with this team. we're a half-decent C away from being better than the hawks, talent-wise. we're certainly a good bit better than the bucks.

[Zonkerbl]

I don't think this is a move for next year really. What it does is give us Bird rights to a good player at the end of the year allowing us to make a more reasoned decision then whether to resign him, sign and trade him, or let him go.

If McGee develops next year and Howard looks like he is back to his old self, then maybe we sign him, draft another player, and take a shot at the playoffs in 2012 -- next year looks unlikely unless Wall really is an immediate superstar (hope!)

Don't you have to have a player for three years before you get bird's rights?

[Zonkerbl]

Our cap situation now looks like this:

Code: Select all

Player           10/11  11/12  12/13  13/14
Arenas,Gilbert   17.73  19.27  20.81  22.35
Hinrich,Kirk      9.00   8.00    -      - 
Wall,John         5.14   5.53   5.92   7.46
Jianlian,Yi       4.05    -      -      - 
Howard,Josh       4.00
Blatche,Andray    3.26   3.52   7.04*   - 
Thornton,Al       2.81    -      -      - 
Young,Nick        2.69    -      -      - 
McGee,JaVale      1.60   2.46   7.39*   - 
Seraphin,Kevin    1.56   1.68   1.80   2.76
Booker,Trevor     1.20   1.29   1.39   2.35
Armstrong, Hilt   0.92    -      -      - 
2011 pick (#12)    -     2.08   2.24   2.40
2012 pick (#18)    -      -     1.53   1.65
2013 pick (#22)    -      -      -     1.29

Total Salary     53.98  44.63  49.01  40.25
Salary Cap       58.04  59.78  61.57  63.42
Luxury Tax       70.81  72.93  75.12  77.37
Money Available   4.06  15.15  12.57  23.17

Factor another $470K for N'Diaye if he's signed.

Those are awfully optimistic figures for McGee and Blatche...

[Benjammin]

Our cap situation now looks like this:

Code: Select all

Player           10/11  11/12  12/13  13/14
Arenas,Gilbert   17.73  19.27  20.81  22.35
Hinrich,Kirk      9.00   8.00    -      - 
Wall,John         5.14   5.53   5.92   7.46
Jianlian,Yi       4.05    -      -      - 
Howard,Josh       4.00
Blatche,Andray    3.26   3.52   7.04*   - 
Thornton,Al       2.81    -      -      - 
Young,Nick        2.69    -      -      - 
McGee,JaVale      1.60   2.46   7.39*   - 
Seraphin,Kevin    1.56   1.68   1.80   2.76
Booker,Trevor     1.20   1.29   1.39   2.35
Armstrong, Hilt   0.92    -      -      - 
2011 pick (#12)    -     2.08   2.24   2.40
2012 pick (#18)    -      -     1.53   1.65
2013 pick (#22)    -      -      -     1.29

Total Salary     53.98  44.63  49.01  40.25
Salary Cap       58.04  59.78  61.57  63.42
Luxury Tax       70.81  72.93  75.12  77.37
Money Available   4.06  15.15  12.57  23.17

Factor another $470K for N'Diaye if he's signed.

Those are awfully optimistic figures for McGee and Blatche...

Those are just salary holds until they sign a new contract.

[verbal8]

If the below is accurate ( no reason to believe not), it's a fair deal and we don't over pay. Howard is really going to have to hit all of the performance marks to get-up to $4 mil. This is the kind of deal that Ernie should have done with Gilbert ....here I see the hand of Ted

Howard agreed on Wednesday to a one-year deal with the Wizards, according to his agent Derek Lafayette. Lafayette said the details within the contract have not been finalized, but a league source said it is expected to be worth close to $4 million with incentives based on games played, minutes played and minutes averaged.

I think it is a good deal for both sides assuming the incentives are a significant part of the deal. At the very worst case he is a small expiring deal. I think Howard chose the Wizards to retain his Bird rights. If he had signed with another team, the Bird Rights would have reset. While there is no guarantee that the next CBA will contain Bird Rights, I think they are generally seen as a positive of the current CBA. Stern made comments that are positive about them. The players would support them because they increase pay.

[fishercob]

I think it's going to be important to rush him back, like we did with Arenas. If we could get some preseason games out of him, that would be excellent.

The force is strong in this one....