Wiz trade Shard and 2nd rounder for Okafor and Ariza

[Ruzious]

The only way {that I see) that we could have signed a FA was if we had won the lottery....but we didn't. Hopefully we have enough of a solid team around Wall to let him develop properly, and we can add somebody in a few years that can pair up with Wall.

Until then, we have to develop some kinda culture where we aren't perennial losers.

The culture was already changing after they sent Blatche home packing. How does adding 2 over-paid veterans with very mediocre stats help?

[keynote]

I don't get the over the top hate for this trade.

Who are the 2013 free agents that Washington had a realistic shot to sign?

I

You can't assess the value of cap room based solely on who *you* can sign. Cap room has intrinsic power as a bargaining chip separate from the Wizards' specific ability to attract FAs. Other teams - e.g., teams who may have a stronger need/more compelling sales pitch for a particular FA - would value Shard's contract, too. What did NO give up of value to get all of that cap room? A serviceable big and a slightly less-than-serviceable SF. I think the Wizards could've gotten more.

[Nivek]

Terrible trade. The Wizards have now taken enough cap space for two maximum contracts and transmogrified it into Nene, Okafor and Ariza.

I'm disgusted.

[Severn Hoos]

And we've shown the Bobcats our hand. Who's to say the petty Michael Jordan doesn't pick Beal just to spite us.

Cheers to Ernie!

I don't think there's much chance MJ picks Beal, out of spite or for any other reason. But I do think this alters the dynamics of the situation.

For example - suppose Cleveland is really sold on Beal. It's now more likely they trade up to #2 to get him. And if MJ is sold on Robinson or Drummond, he makes the deal even without much additional sweetener, because he knows he'll still get his man at #4.

We have to hope MJ is sold on Barnes, because he's the one guy that MJ can be pretty sure we'd take if he moves back to #4 and Beal comes off the board at #2. Or maybe we just end up with MKG and construct a 15-man roster without a single shooter on it.

[TheKingOfVa360]

[quote="TheKingOfVa360"]Im pissed if we don't get the number 10 pick if this trade. We blow out cap for a chance to be a treadmill playoff team for the next two seasons. I rather lose and stock pile picks like OKC did.

Short term, would you rather have another 20 win season and realize the season is over by January, or would you want to make a run at the playoffs with this group and see what happens? I'm saying short term here. This team hasn't won a lot of games the last 4 years or so. It's not like this is crippling the franchise, the free agent market wasn't going to be that stacked to begin with, and then you have to ask yourself, who's going to want to play here anyway.

As a fan in the short term I like this move now that I think about it. It should be a good team to watch player and have a shot at the playoffs. It's only so long we can be a cellar team without killing our young players.

When I think about the long term I'm pissed, I would like to see my team at least play in the conference finals before I'm 60 years old!

But what moves where we going to make either this summer or next that would get us to the conference finals? I wasn't seeing any. But next summer we will have $20M in expiring contracts with two guys that, while not being All-Stars, can actually still play (unlike Lewis). I would argue that we might be in a better position to make a move with those assets than with pure cap space.

So again, I'm not seeing the longterm death knell to the franchise that many are making this out to be.[/quote]


You make a good point but as a fan I like having the cap so I can at least dream/hope

[Halcyon]

Terrible trade. The Wizards have now taken enough cap space for two maximum contracts and transmogrified it into Nene, Okafor and Ariza.

I'm disgusted.

I don't get it, space means nothing if nobody is willing to come here. Hoping for a Boston or Miami situation isn't really realistic either...those situations were unique because they already had HOF players on those teams. We have Wall, and a half-decent player in Nene...and that's about it.

What would have been the right thing to do?

[mohammed10]

Well I misread, Okafor and Ariza expire in 2014, so I guess it's not AS bad. And we probably weren't going to get any big FAs with our cap space anyway. Best case scenario we become competitive by 2014 so that when we do clear cap space, we can convince quality FAs to sign with us to make a run.

In 2014, Wall, Seraphin and Booker are up for new contracts. After accounting for their cap holds, I don't think we will have any cap room.

FIRE EG!

Welcome to the bandwagon, sir...the line forms behind Ji

[TGW]

Terrible trade. The Wizards have now taken enough cap space for two maximum contracts and transmogrified it into Nene, Okafor and Ariza.

I'm disgusted.

We weren't going anywhere anyway....might as well use that capspace on 3 overpaid vets so we could hopefully show John Wall we're "committed to winning" (or in Grunfeld's mind, committed to mediocrity).

Pathetic.

[Rafael122]

I don't get the over the top hate for this trade.

Who are the 2013 free agents that Washington had a realistic shot to sign?

I was all for making a hard push for Harden, but it seems like the collective consensus on that front was that there was absolutely no way we'd have a shot at him. That leaves whom out there to make a huge franchise changing splash exactly?

Both of the guys that were added can make a significant contribution for a potential playoff push, and may net some assets/picks in the 2013 season as expiring contracts.

Part of changing the culture is to actually, you know, win some games.

How is Okafor significantly helping this team? He adds clutter to an already cluttered frontcourt. Ariza is decent but we could have easily signed someone in free agency who could have been just as impactful (and cheaper).

I can understand adding expensive role players if they are unquestionably upgrades but I'm not seeing that in this instance.

But most of all, we helped NOH big time and didn't get compensated for it. That's the main crux of the issue -- we just cleared all of their salary woes away in one fell swoop. Oh, and for our trouble, we also gave them a pick. Sure, it's not a high pick but it's the principle of it all -- we help them more than they help us and we still are the ones adding extra incentives. It just reeks of Grunfeldian philosophy.

How is it cluttered? Okafor and Nene are the centers, Seraphin and Booker are the 4s, and Vesely is the wild card. It's not like you're starting all 5 of them at the same time. You have depth, expensive sure, but its depth.

Draft night is going to be very interesting now. Wouldn't be surprised if one of the bigs is moved plus the 2nd round pick and we move up again in the first round.

[JonathanJoseph]

At first glance, seems like a pretty poor trade. Not at all clear that Okafor is an upgrade over Seraphin (who will play less as a result) and makes the front court officially overcrowded.

Ariza isnt going to give us that much more than Cartier Martin and ensures that we will choose Beal over MKG.

I'll let this one sink in but unless there is another move on the horizon, this looks pretty foolish.

[queridiculo]

When the details of this trade finally come out and Washington adds the Hornets 10th pick, will you guys look at it differently?

Nevermind now that it is official, I can still see the rational, but New Orleans had far more incentive to agree to the deal that Washington. EG got clowned...

[Jay81]

Ernie Grunfeld should of been fired months ago but what Ted has done is continually allow him to destroy the franchise.

Ted is the worst owner in the NBA by far...he makes Donald Sterling look like Jack Kent Cooke.

And this band aid basketball is what we did in the 80's to help us go 43-39. The wizards will not win a title in our lifetime.

And if beal goes #2, say hello to Harrison Barnes

[JonathanJoseph]

How is it cluttered? Okafor and Nene are the centers, Seraphin and Booker are the 4s, and Vesely is the wild card. It's not like you're starting all 5 of them at the same time. You have depth, expensive sure, but its depth.

Draft night is going to be very interesting now. Wouldn't be surprised if one of the bigs is moved plus the 2nd round pick and we move up again in the first round.

Vesely and Seraphin showed at the end of the season that they are bonafide contributors and they will both now play less. Booker may be out of the picture now completely and we've used up valuable cap room that hasn't improved the team appreciably. And of course Blatche is a wild card (I know no one is expecting anything out of him, but I wouldn't be shocked if he re-emerged).

Just doesn't make sense unless there is another move behind this one.

[mohammed10]

I blame Ted. If he had fired Ernie properly, this trade wouldnt of happened

[barelyawake]

The trade, if we get the tenth pick, is brilliant for the reasons I've outlined.

Without the pick, it's just bad GMing. It's trading from weakness. It's underplaying your hand. And it's shooting for mediocre. Now, we will take Beal and have an aging front court in two years. With the pick, we get a replacement big to groom along with the aging vet. That was the point.

The best part of the trade is that we get the expiring contracts in two years. That's a good thing (unlike most have said). By then, hopefully, someone will want to play here and we'll have the salaries to match. Problem is, we now lost the asset to package with the expiring salaries.

Our gm is killing me. Make another trade and wow me. This is an ok trade. But, it's hinting at a severe lack of vision or a plan.

[GUYANNAGRIZZLI]

Good trade by Ted, with the arrival of two good defenders Ariza/Okafor and they are reliable in the offensive end.
Wiz has a nice starting five.

Wall, Beal, Ariza, Seraphin, Nene

Second unit is good :
Mack/Tony Wroten, Crawford, Singleton, Booker/Vesely, Okafor

I'm sure there is a moove coming with Blatch

Wiz becomes with that trade a playoff contendant.

[nuposse04]

I hate the trade...but we need to do damage control now...what are some ways we could flip the pieces and not look completely (Please Use More Appropriate Word)?

Ariza+filler for M. Williams?
Okafor for Ben Gordon?

[Nivek]

Terrible trade. The Wizards have now taken enough cap space for two maximum contracts and transmogrified it into Nene, Okafor and Ariza.

I'm disgusted.

I don't get it, space means nothing if nobody is willing to come here. Hoping for a Boston or Miami situation isn't really realistic either...those situations were unique because they already had HOF players on those teams. We have Wall, and a half-decent player in Nene...and that's about it.

What would have been the right thing to do?

I have no problem with using cap room in trades. But, acquiring middling players with BIG contracts isn't how you build a franchise. It would have been far better to not make moves instead of just running out and spending cap room because "cap room doesn't win games." Guess what -- they're not going to be title contenders because they have Nene, Okafor and Ariza.

The Wizards wanted to get "something" for Lewis. Well, they did -- two more years of being up against the cap and mediocre or worse production during that time.

These are bad moves. It would have been far smarter to conserve cap room and draft well than to go out and burn it all on these guys.

[Rafael122]

How is it cluttered? Okafor and Nene are the centers, Seraphin and Booker are the 4s, and Vesely is the wild card. It's not like you're starting all 5 of them at the same time. You have depth, expensive sure, but its depth.

Draft night is going to be very interesting now. Wouldn't be surprised if one of the bigs is moved plus the 2nd round pick and we move up again in the first round.

Vesely and Seraphin showed at the end of the season that they are bonafide contributors and they will both now play less. Booker may be out of the picture now completely and we've used up valuable cap room that hasn't improved the team appreciably. And of course Blatche is a wild card (I know no one is expecting anything out of him, but I wouldn't be shocked if he re-emerged).

Just doesn't make sense unless there is another move behind this one.

My point is that Seraphin and Nene should be the starters, but you're not gonna roll them out and play them 48 minutes a game, tho right? Okafor and Booker are your back up 5s and 4 and Vesely is the odd man out. I actually have a bigger issue with Okafor being on this team than Ariza. Okafor is being paid $14 million next year, and he's coming off the bench.

[dobrojim]

minor digression
Seraphin is a C. Nene is the one who is better suited to slide to PF.

I sure as hell hope that we do get that #10 pick.