Wiz trade 5th pick to Minnesota

[Rafael122]

Not done yet:

The trade hasn't been consummated yet because of a clerical point that Etan Thomas needs to handle, a source told Katz. Thomas has to come to the Wizards' offices Wednesday to sign an agreement that he won't opt out of his deal on July 1 and become a free agent. By agreeing to the trade, Thomas would receive $1.2 million. Thomas is expected to sign the note, but it is a procedural matter that must be done before a conference call with all parties can be held.

CCJ - OPEC is probably going to be an end of the bench guy like he was here. I can sleep easy at night knowing he's probably never going to amount to much in the NBA.

[Optms]

PS Now if Oleksiy turns out to be a stiff, and the #5 player takes 2-3 years to be good then I will do a 180 and say this was a GOOD TRADE.

That's possible. Regardless, I think this was a good trade. Washington has some options now if they want to make another big move without involving any of the "big 3."

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Don't kill me guys, but I'm going to miss Darius Songaila. He was a great back up big. He made great cuts, passes, was a dead eye shooter off the pick and roll out to 20 ft, and when he was guarding PF's he played good post defense. Probably the best post defender last year for the Wiz. This must mean the FO has high hopes for Blatche. He's going to get 30 minutes a game now as the primary PF and C back up. I hope EG has a second trade in the making to ride ourselves of DStevenson. He didn't have a role on this team before the trade, he might as well not even show up to TC this season.

Wouldn't shock me at all if the next deal is something like James, Stevenson, and Crttenton for Hughes.

[HMFFL]

Mike Miller should be able to acquire you Wiz fans a future first round pick if you don't want to keep him.

[no D in Hibachi]

CCJ, that trade would be alright, but does that mean Foye is strictly the back-up PG with Hughes, Young and Miller at SG?

[the_bruce]

You guys are going to love Foye as long as he stays healthy. He plays great off the ball and is a great spot up shooter. He can take it to the rack and 2 seasons ago had a deadly floater, but he didnt seem to use it much this season. Though people question his defense at times, I've always felt he's a great defender on other combo guards. He isn't a great defender vs bigger 2's and fast 1's, but give him a combo guard to cover and he does some amazing things. Also, the kid has a sense for the moment routinely lighting it up in the 4th, both offensively and defensively. He's got decent passing skills too. He does lack a solid pull up jumper, and can't run the pnr very effectively. If he ever gets those 2 things down, and I think he will, he's a repeat allstar.

You'll also love Miller, his defense isn't as bad as advertised. While not a stellar man defender, his team defense is good. He can also play point forward, and was essentially MN's pg the last 2-3 months of the season after Al went down during which he averaged something around 10\6\7 with 50% shooting.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

we basically traded Jordan Hill for Miller and Foye.

Putting it that way, I ought to be ecstatic!

[MJG]

First thought after reading: why did we send out Songaila instead of Stevenson?

Yea, that's how uninteresting this trade is. I mean, it's not terrible. Miller has been consistently good his entire career prior to last season, and while I don't really love Foye, he's probably better any of our other backup guards. We're certainly a better team next year for it. It's just kind of dull is all. Certainly not a splash like many of us were hoping.

I'm with those who think there has to be another move, even if it's just a smaller one. Way too many guys in the backcourt now. If Arenas is healthy, he's taking up 36 minutes at the minimum, which leaves 60 minutes for Crittenton, Foye, James, Stevenson, Young, and Miller (who can't get more than about 10 MPG max at SF with Caron there). I would think you'd have to completely cut Crittenton, James, and Stevenson from the rotation. Even then, you have something like 36 for Arenas, 24 for Foye, 18 for Miller, and 18 for Young? I don't know. Definitely need to clear out some junk.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

CCJ, that trade would be alright, but does that mean Foye is strictly the back-up PG with Hughes, Young and Miller at SG?

Yes, until he loses the job due to poor play.

I think Hughes has absolutely sucked for the 3-4 years since he was a Wizard. However, if a deal's made he's the starter because of Gil and him going back.

The good points are Hughes would certainly be better than he has been since being a Wizard. He's a good fit with all the players on the team (I know Butler, too). Last, Hughes would have far more talented teammates than he did and a better coach.

I'm more than okay with a Hughes return, now, with Foye and Miller in the fold.

[80sballboy]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1947 ... -next-year

[Jimmy Recard]

Ernie cant be finished just yet. Our perimeter is absolutely flooded now with Young, Dmac, James, Deshaw, Critt, Miller and Foye all expecting minutes. And we have next to zero frontcourt depth with Darius and Opec gone.

[Luffy]

Outsider perspective here (L.A. sports fan but I lived in D.C. for a couple of years working a government internship). Both teams got a solid deal. Minnesota gets to draft a couple of young studs (Rubio, Harden, Hill, Evans, Curry?) at #5 and #6. You guys basically gave up the #5 for two solid contributors, a potential starting shooting guard in Miller and a capable backup point guard in Foye. The only small downside is maybe not receiving one of Minnesota's late first rounders?

Either way, I'm predicting the Wizards (hopefully everyone's healthy) to have a breakout season next year. All my buddies back home have been giving me a lot of slack for choosing the Wizards to finish in the Top 4 in the East alongside the Cavs, Celtics, and Magic. I hope the Wizards prove them wrong. A HEALTHY starting line up of Gilbert Arenas, Mike Miller, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, and Brendan Haywood would decimate the Cavaliers and give the Celtics and Magic fits on the defensive end.

[Dat2U]

I gotta side with barely & CCJ on this one. I don't like the trade all that much.

My theory on NBA trades is pretty simple and is a tried and true measure. Whoever gets the best player in the deal gets the better of the trade.

Can any of you honestly say that Mike Miller or Randy Foye are and will be better than anyone we could have drafted at #5?

For all you James Harden fans, alot of you are the same folks touting this trade, are you suggesting that he would have never equalled what Mike Miller or Randy Foye is today?

Both Miller & Foye are considered offensive minded players. Neither is known for their defense. However Miller's PER last year was 13.84 and Foye's PER was 13.76. So what does that tell us if the league average 15.00 and PER is considered the best way of measuring a players productiveness?

I believe we needed quality talent NOT quantity. To me its about a team filling out its rotation, instead of attempting to add an impact player.

Unless you can convince me that Miller & Foye are the final pieces to a championship puzzle, I have trouble viewing this as a good deal for the Wizards.

[LyricalRico]

Definitely unexpected. I've always liked Miller but I didn't think they'd go after Foye and I also didn't think they'd move Songaila. I'm with you MJG - why not send Stevenson instead? The Wiz now have a backcourt heavy roster and Minny has Songaila fighting for minutes with Jefferson, Love, and Craig Smith. IMO it would have made more sense for both teams for Stevenson to be involved.

I think this sends two clear signals. First, that they believe that McGee is ready for major minutes next year. Second, I think it sends a clear signal that they are done with both Young and Crittenton. I would hope/expect that they would package them with Mike James for a frontcourt player. The question is who?

Haywood/McGee
Jamison/Blatche
Butler/McGuire
Miller/Stevenson
Arenas/Foye

Not the blockbuster I was hoping for but still better than last year IMO. Could be even better depending on who they trade Young+Critt+James for.

[Optms]

Ernie cant be finished just yet. Our perimeter is absolutely flooded now with Young, Dmac, James, Deshaw, Critt, Miller and Foye all expecting minutes. And we have next to zero frontcourt depth with Darius and Opec gone.

This is exactly the instant feeling I got when finding out the news on here. There is a little too much depth at the back court. It's a good issue to have though. I love the options Washington has now.

[Benjammin]

So I go to Costco and come back to this? Thanks Ernie for yet again ruining the suspense of a draft night unless another deal is coming. I will reserve judgment on the deal until I see if any other moves follow this one, but at first blush I am disappointed. It does smack of bandaid basketball to me, but again maybe a subsequent move will make me feel better about this. I too am a little sorry they didn't get one of Minnesota's later firsts in the deal, but perhaps they didn't want to bother with the added salary. I also wish they could have traded Stevenson instead of Songaila but realistically who would want DeBrickashawn? As others have mentioned the Wizards are now amazingly overloaded at the 1-3 positions, with quantity if not quality and are thin (sending out 3 guys) at the 4-5 spots.

[no D in Hibachi]

Ernie cant be finished just yet. Our perimeter is absolutely flooded now with Young, Dmac, James, Deshaw, Critt, Miller and Foye all expecting minutes. And we have next to zero frontcourt depth with Darius and Opec gone.

Don't forget Arenas.

[P'Oed]

man....imagine if next year we managed to get one of those major free agents (Bosh, Amare, etc.). We'd be pretty damn deep. I mean this trade drastically improves our bench whether or not you want to admit it. I guess, like others, I'm warming up to this trade. I mean, look, the #5 pick in a crappy draft isnt getting you Dwayne Wade

[nate33]

I don't like this trade at all. I was never a big fan of Foye and I don't think he's any better than Nick Young. I like Miller, but not for the #5 pick.

And for the life of me, I don't understand why we didn't give them Stevenson instead of Songaila. We now have Arenas, Foye, Young, Stevenson, James and Crittenton in the backcourt, plus Miller, DMac and Butler who can also spend some time there. That's a huge log jam. Meanwhile, we only have 4 credible big men: Jamison, Haywood, Blatche and McGee - and McGee hasn't shown that he's a reliable player yet.

I hope another trade is in the works.

[Esohny]

Wolves fan here. I'd agree that both teams have some more stuff to do, since we're heavy in the frontcourt and you're heavy in the backcourt now. You did get two pretty good players, and if you're healthy, you could make some definite noise next season.