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Ernie says he sold the pick because he wants the roster spots to pick up a veteran or two:

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time June 25, 2009 at 11:20 PM

i know there may have been players that you would like to see drafted but ernie just mentioned that he wants to keep that roster spot open for a veteran

According to Dave Johnson, wiz play by play guy.

No this doesn't merit a new thread. Feel free to put a bullet in it. Just saying. You know, we might pick up three totally great players with that extra 2.5 million.

EDIT. Okay call it the free agency thread. Free agency begins July 8th. List your desired pick-ups here, spend Abe's money freely to counter the hue and cry of 'cheap' that the front office will probably hear from the dim roar of the disappointed crowd.

Okay, getting back on the happy ticket. We might look pretty good to front-court free agents who think they might contend for a back-up spot at 4/5. We've got a few nice passers, and room to operate underneath with all the outside shooting we now have.

Birdman is an UFA right? He'd be fun for a few defensive minutes next to Haywood.

I can see why people are upset about not getting Blair. He seemed to be a rugged rebounder who if he could play a little d would seem ideal for the last big man role. Especially on a rookie contract.

Here are some guys we could look to sign. Hopefully in this market someone good will be excited about an exemption (I think thats all we can offer right?).
Zaza Pachulia - Energy guy offensive rebounder decent defender.
Joe Smith, Anderson Varejao - Just cause I hate the cavs love to steal an important player.
Brandon Bass - Serviceable
Chris Andersen - Blocks shots good rebounder Energy Guy
Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace - Veteran bigs do they still have enough in the tank. Maybe flip could help get them. Wouldn't want either going to cleveland.

Sheed would be perfect. If we could get him on a 2-year deal for the MLE, that would be nice.

For our frontcourt needs...

1. Drew Gooden - As GM'er put it, "soft as charmin." don't need another goofball to go on this team with MeShawn and their beard competition.
2. Rasheed Wallace - Too unpredictable.
3. Brandon Bass - Who?
4. Chris Wilcox - Nice player, but no offense and really only about 6-8. Low blocks.
5. Stromile Swift - Whatever

cant help noticing that all those options are not better then blair when cost is taken into account and none are available for under $3m. we'll be lucky if michael ruffin is available for the $1.25m that trade netted us in post luxury tax numbers.

Blah Blah Blah who cares.........whatever. It doesn't matter......

Brian Skinner if he opts out is my choice.

Didn't we have interest back in the day for Shelden Williams? I remember a Haywood-Williams trade rumor (LOL), so maybe Ernie guns for him again? I'd like that. He is physical and can stick a jumper if memory serves correctly.

Either (or both) of these guys would be good low-key pickups.

I think we should try and sign Pachulia.
Hes a 5 year veteran, 25 years old with playoff experience.
Hes got the size and versatility to play pf or c.

I wouldn't mind the either Detroit guy either because of there familiarity with Flip.

Maybe Ernie & Flip have convinced Rasheed to play for the MLE

Haywood Jamison Rasheed Blatche Mcgee ..... Solid 5 BIG man rotation there

or

Antonio McDyess...... i think at the end of the day it will be Mcdyess for 2 years min

i dont know im going to sleep good night yall God bless

Other than bannd and Dat, you guys are reading too much into the quote.

A "veteran" in this instance doesn't mean a guy like Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess or Zaza Pachulia. It means a guy like Brian Skinner - someone who could be had for literally peanuts and will provide 5-10mpg of smart basketball.

As much as I'd l-o-v-e to get a player like Rasheed, it ain't happening.

I'd get down with Sheed, but can he keep his mouth shut and play some ball?

WashWiz54 wrote:Brian Skinner if he opts out is my choice.

Didn't we have interest back in the day for Shelden Williams? I remember a Haywood-Williams trade rumor (LOL), so maybe Ernie guns for him again? I'd like that. He is physical and can stick a jumper if memory serves correctly.

Either (or both) of these guys would be good low-key pickups.

Yep, those are the type of guys EG will be going after. Skinner would be great because he can score a bit and his goatee is the same color as the bronze in our jersees. Shelden Williams isn't super athletic but he defends and rebounds. Very fundamentally sound. I think McGee could benefit from going against him in practice.

Here's a thought Ernie. If you have too many players on the roster, cut someone.

If we get a top level MLE big man(Rasheed,Andersen , Varejao) then the moves while frustrating individually make sense.
One concern with Varaejo is he may ask for too many years on his contract. The problem with Jared Jeffries and Etan Thomas contracts is not that they were completely out of line with their value, but that they continued a number of years after they were serviceable players.

If we get a guy at the next level down like Joe Smith, McDyess, Kurt Thomas or Pachulia things could work out ok. However if we have someone like Skinner or some other LLE level guy, we would have been better off picking up Blair.

We got paid $2.5 million for the pick, and saved $2.7 million from trading away the first pick, so we more or less have $5.2 million more in our pool that we expected a week ago. Basically, we've eliminated the luxury tax payment if we want to do a one year MLE signing, or gotten a free one year half-MLE signing. For veteran bigs that championship teams are going to be trying to woo for their LLEs and a shot at the title, we have a leg up. That's not so bad, is it?

MJG wrote:We got paid $2.5 million for the pick, and saved $2.7 million from trading away the first pick, so we more or less have $5.2 million more in our pool that we expected a week ago. Basically, we've eliminated the luxury tax payment if we want to do a one year MLE signing, or gotten a free one year half-MLE signing. For veteran bigs that championship teams are going to be trying to woo for their LLEs and a shot at the title, we have a leg up. That's not so bad, is it?

No, but we have to make the move. If we don't it sucks. If we don't keep Haywood, Muiller and Foye then it really sucks.

BTW, stop with the Sheed stuff. He hates Flip, remember? I think the "vets" we're going to sign are going to be much more of the Calvin Booth/Mike Ruffin ilk then they are the PJ Brown/Zaza/McDyess crowd. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see one of those guys wanting to be the 5th big on the illustrious Washington Wizards for cheap.

I think a trade for a vet is a more likely option. Be it the Stevenson for Humphries swap. The ideal target is Kurt Thomas.

Zaza kills us everytime we play him. Sign him just to keep him away from playing us.

fishercob wrote:

MJG wrote:We got paid $2.5 million for the pick, and saved $2.7 million from trading away the first pick, so we more or less have $5.2 million more in our pool that we expected a week ago. Basically, we've eliminated the luxury tax payment if we want to do a one year MLE signing, or gotten a free one year half-MLE signing. For veteran bigs that championship teams are going to be trying to woo for their LLEs and a shot at the title, we have a leg up. That's not so bad, is it?

No, but we have to make the move. If we don't it sucks. If we don't keep Haywood, Muiller and Foye then it really sucks.

BTW, stop with the Sheed stuff. He hates Flip, remember? I think the "vets" we're going to sign are going to be much more of the Calvin Booth/Mike Ruffin ilk then they are the PJ Brown/Zaza/McDyess crowd. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see one of those guys wanting to be the 5th big on the illustrious Washington Wizards for cheap.

McGee is still very raw. Blatche is not spectacular. Plus, Flip has shown a tendency to play vets. I can see someone like McGyess or ZaZa wanting to come here because of the expectation they would be the first big off the bench for Haywood and could even steal minutes from Blatche. I actually think this is a good opportunity for someone like McDyess and ZaZa.

Gilbert0Arenas wrote:Zaza kills us everytime we play him. Sign him just to keep him away from playing us.

True...that dude always kills us. I wanted him a few years ago. He's tough and can back up the 4 or 5.