Official Trade Thread XV: 12/22/10 - 5/3/11

[Rafael122]

Big Man Coach - Patrick Ewing, Kevin McHale. Hakeem worked with Dwight Howard in the offseason.

Med staff -

a) Sign Dr. James Andrews and put him on the staff. Dan Snyder does this.

b) Fire the current med staff.

It's not hard to find a competent medical staff if Ted's staff does the research. Hell, they should just pluck away the Suns' entire staff, or even get that dude who works with the Nuggets. Steve Hess. He's a FREAK. Knows all about conditioning and strength.

[rockymac52]

To quote Patrick Ewing: "First of all, I'm not a big-man's coach."

We only read about the famous former big men who become assistant coaches meant to mentor the best big men in the NBA. Ewing has been fortunate enough to be entrusted with mentoring Kwame (at the time still had some promise), Yao, and now Dwight. Every NBA team has a big man coach of sorts. But coaching can only do so much. You could have had the best coach in the world working with Kwame Brown and it probably wasn't going to work. On the flip side, you could have had one of the worst coaches in the world working with Dwight Howard, and he probably would have worked out. The guys who are stars are probably going to be stars on their own.

We read about Hakeem working with Dwight this offseason. Honestly, that just looks like a headline to me. Who knows how much he actually worked with him. "Worked with Dwight" could have simply meant that he has sat down and talked strategy with Dwight a few times, and maybe he showed him his moves up close and personal a few times and asked Dwight to replicate. Or it could have meant they were in fact working hard together day after day, but we just don't know, and I'm more prone to thinking they didn't actually work together that much.

As far as Dr. Andrews goes, he isn't in charge of the Redskins. He's merely a consultant. When a Redskins player injures his arm, Dr. Andrews is responsible for evaluating the injury. That means how serious is the damage and is surgery necessary. He isn't at the Redskins practice field every day, or ever probably. He doesn't work with all the players on a consistent basis to develop strength and conditioning programs, and he doesn't decide when a player is healed enough to start playing again.

Not to mention he clearly isn't a miracle worker, because half of the Redskins are injured right now. That's football, so it's different obviously, but the point is, injuries happen, and there's nothing you can do about that in a general sense. And hiring Andrews or some other "home run" out there isn't going to turn us into the famed Suns medical staff overnight.

Also, let's say the Suns medical staff is actually more intelligent and competent than every other medical staff in the NBA. And let's say that there's no dispute and that every single NBA team knows the Suns' medical staff is far and beyond the best in the business. It's not that simple to "just pluck away the Suns' entire staff". Don't you think the Suns would want to keep them around? Or don't you think that other NBA teams would jump at the opportunity to get that great medical staff as their own, or perhaps other NBA teams already have tried? It's not like the Wizards are the richest franchise in the NBA and they can just throw $100 million on the table per medical staff member to ensure we get them. In order to get the best of the best, they have to want to come here. There has to be a reason. Are we going to pay them more than any other NBA team? Are we in a good location? Do we have a spectacular front office/ownership that they'd want to work with? What's so special about Wizards?

[Rafael122]

Dr.James Andrews is on the payroll and he's at every Redskins home game. You put him on the payroll, and you send your players to him, regardless if it's a hangnail or a broken ligament.

I'm not gonna read through your thesis, so I'm not going to respond to everything you said, but if you can't pluck away Phoenix's staff (by offering more money) they should do their due diligence and try and hire the best medical staff they can find. Anything will be better than the crack staff we have now. It doesn't take much.

[rockymac52]

I guarantee you that Leonsis and those who made the decisions before his time hired what they believed to be the best medical staff they could get. If the Wizards thought they could attain a better staff at this moment in time, there's no reason they wouldn't go ahead and do it. Although if you believe that the Wizards are content with what they have and aren't even considering looking around for better options, then yeah, you'd have a right to be upset. But I think they have the common sense to see what's out there.

[keynote]

Again, for the record, the Wizards' unofficial big man coach is Ass't Coach Gene Banks, a 6'7" former Dukie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Banks

Here's a video of Gene working w/ Dray:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... -gett.html

[dangermouse]

Well how about we get an OFFICIAL big man coach. Like ive said before, someone who has some clout, who the young bigguns can look up to and who they'll listen to.

A complete overhaul of the Wizards staff, to match the change of paint and the proposed name change next year, will be very welcome. In fact, Teddy really should have done it like, yesterday.

[Rafael122]

I guarantee you that Leonsis and those who made the decisions before his time hired what they believed to be the best medical staff they could get. If the Wizards thought they could attain a better staff at this moment in time, there's no reason they wouldn't go ahead and do it. Although if you believe that the Wizards are content with what they have and aren't even considering looking around for better options, then yeah, you'd have a right to be upset. But I think they have the common sense to see what's out there.

Leonsis has like 10 years of history that says otherwise, if not more. All he has to do is talk to Jarvis Hayes, Gilbrt, Javaris, Etan, etc

[AceDegenerate]

Leonsis made himself very clear that he supports the Wiz medical staff/treatment abilities. Michael Jordan did WAY more to change the culture of this franchise upon his arrival as GM/Player than Leonsis has done as owner. That says a lot to me.

One guy was unquestionably focused on Wins, while another is unquestionably focused on his Bottom LIne.

[nate33]

I agree with Rockymac. Let's be realistic people. Do you really think that the organization has looked at our injury history and not wondered about the medical staff? Do you really think that you guys are the first ones to suggest that there's a problem? I have absolute certainty that the organization is doing everything it can to find the best medical practitioners in the area. They've invested millions of dollars in these players. They don't want to see them hurt any more than you or I do.

We either have a situation where there aren't any better doctors in the region, or we're just unlucky. If there was a simple change that would fix all of this, I'm sure they would have done so already.

[Rafael122]

I agree with Rockymac. Let's be realistic people. Do you really think that the organization has looked at our injury history and not wondered about the medical staff? Do you really think that you guys are the first ones to suggest that there's a problem? I have absolute certainty that the organization is doing everything it can to find the best medical practitioners in the area. They've invested millions of dollars in these players. They don't want to see them hurt any more than you or I do.

We either have a situation where there aren't any better doctors in the region, or we're just unlucky. If there was a simple change that would fix all of this, I'm sure they would have done so already.

You mentioned region, Nate, my question is, if that's the case, why limit yourself to DC/MD/VA?

This med staff does everything backasswards, they don't do an MRI until it's a last resort.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Leonsis made himself very clear that he supports the Wiz medical staff/treatment abilities. Michael Jordan did WAY more to change the culture of this franchise upon his arrival as GM/Player than Leonsis has done as owner. That says a lot to me.

One guy was unquestionably focused on Wins, while another is unquestionably focused on his Bottom LIne.

MJ also whacked Larry Brown the other day. Jordan had some horrible luck with draft picks like Ammo and May, but he's redeemed himself with getting Jackson and making the playoffs. Charlotte's been better than the Wizards. If Silas can get them to the playoffs this season without the leadership of a guy who helped them last season, Felton, that will say a lot about MJs judgment. He fired Brown and Charlotte still was better than the Wiz.

On the trade front I doubt the Hornets trade Tyrus Thomas.

[tontoz]

Leonsis made himself very clear that he supports the Wiz medical staff/treatment abilities. Michael Jordan did WAY more to change the culture of this franchise upon his arrival as GM/Player than Leonsis has done as owner. That says a lot to me.

One guy was unquestionably focused on Wins, while another is unquestionably focused on his Bottom LIne.

MJ also whacked Larry Brown the other day. Jordan had some horrible luck with draft picks like Ammo and May,

I am curious as to what you mean by this. Do you think that Morrison at 3 was not a bad pick?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

No, I liked Morrison, too. Coming out of Gonzaga he seemed like a sure bet to be a decent scoring wing player. He and Redick owned NCAA ball. I liked Mo Almond that year even more than them.

I hated Nick Young.

That year I was all wrong.

MJ had bad luck with May getting hurt. He looked decent before the injury.

[Rafael122]

There were a lot of questions regarding Morrison coming into the draft. I think if MJ had a do over, he'd go back and draft Roy.

[Dat2U]

No, I liked Morrison, too. Coming out of Gonzaga he seemed like a sure bet to be a decent scoring wing player. He and Redick owned NCAA ball. I liked Mo Almond that year even more than them.

I hated Nick Young.

That year I was all wrong.

MJ had bad luck with May getting hurt. He looked decent before the injury.

I liked Redick alot more than I did Morrison b/c at least I knew Redick was a pure shooter. He had one legitimate NBA skill plus I thought he was underrated off the bounce. Morrison was a good college scorer but not necessarily a good shooter and I said at the time that I didn't think his ability to score would offset his inability to defend anyone.

I was completely wrong on Roy, I had him as a mid-first rounder. I liked Lowry as much as I did Foye (thought Foye was rated too high). I liked Sene (lol, wtf did I see?). Thought Tyrus Thomas would be better than he has been and saw Rudy Gay as a top 3 pick that year.

[mhd]

I'm sorry, but the Bobcats are the worst positioned team in the NBA. They have no stars, $hitty contracts to Diop, Carroll, and no future 1st (which is the Bulls's property). They are in the crappy 7-13 spot of the lottery, with no young talent. DJ Augustine and Henderson both suck, and that is the extent of their young talent.

[Rafael122]

No, I liked Morrison, too. Coming out of Gonzaga he seemed like a sure bet to be a decent scoring wing player. He and Redick owned NCAA ball. I liked Mo Almond that year even more than them.

I hated Nick Young.

That year I was all wrong.

MJ had bad luck with May getting hurt. He looked decent before the injury.

I liked Redick alot more than I did Morrison b/c at least I knew Redick was a pure shooter. He had one legitimate NBA skill plus I thought he was underrated off the bounce. Morrison was a good college scorer but not necessarily a good shooter and I said at the time that I didn't think his ability to score would offset his inability to defend anyone.

I was completely wrong on Roy, I had him as a mid-first rounder. I liked Lowry as much as I did Foye (thought Foye was rated too high). I liked Sene (lol, wtf did I see?). Thought Tyrus Thomas would be better than he has been and saw Rudy Gay as a top 3 pick that year.

Easy, you saw what every GM saw in Sene, tall, big guy who if seasoned could be a force on the defensive side.

Wasn't the knock on Roy that he was a 4 year player and didn't have much upside?

[LyricalRico]

I figure Memphis won't resign Gasol and Randolph. They'll choose Gasol. Blatche has a appealing contract and he can replace Randolph.

What if they don't choose either?

Wiz trade: Blatche and McGee
Grizz trade: Gasol, Arthur, and Henry

We get Gasol's Bird Rights so we can re-sign him next summer, plus two young players. Memphis goes cheap in their frontcourt. We still have Yi+Thornton to do a BOYD deal. Next season's lineup:

Gasol/Seraphin
Sullinger(?)/Arthur/Booker
Lewis/Henry - future starter
Young/(BOYD pick)
Wall/Hinrich

[tontoz]

No, I liked Morrison, too. Coming out of Gonzaga he seemed like a sure bet to be a decent scoring wing player. He and Redick owned NCAA ball. I liked Mo Almond that year even more than them.

I hated Nick Young.

That year I was all wrong.

MJ had bad luck with May getting hurt. He looked decent before the injury.

I liked Redick alot more than I did Morrison b/c at least I knew Redick was a pure shooter. He had one legitimate NBA skill plus I thought he was underrated off the bounce. Morrison was a good college scorer but not necessarily a good shooter and I said at the time that I didn't think his ability to score would offset his inability to defend anyone.

I was completely wrong on Roy, I had him as a mid-first rounder. I liked Lowry as much as I did Foye (thought Foye was rated too high). I liked Sene (lol, wtf did I see?). Thought Tyrus Thomas would be better than he has been and saw Rudy Gay as a top 3 pick that year.

Easy, you saw what every GM saw in Sene, tall, big guy who if seasoned could be a force on the defensive side.

Wasn't the knock on Roy that he was a 4 year player and didn't have much upside?

The real knock on Roy was health concerns. The Hawks GM at the time basically came out and said that was the reason he didn't draft Roy. Unfortunately for the Hawks a chronically injured Roy >>>>>>> Shelden Williams.

[WizarDynasty]

sorry i am not trading away any athletic young seven footers with the ability to improve their basketball IQ's.