Post#127 » by Severn Hoos » Tue Mar 1, 2011 7:27 pm
I have to agree with the general consensus. First, Baltche is a tease, as Kev points out, and the team would be better off without him. [Extended side note - I blame myself. I still remember watching the 2005 Draft, anxiously waiting to see if my guy would be available at #49 - and he was! Too bad, my guy was Ryan Gomes. And every time I finally become convinced that Ernie made the right choice (Baltche over Gomes) is precisely when Dray slips back into oblivion and I so wish we have the tough 6-7 tweener forward on a reasonable deal over the gifted 7-footer with low bball IQ and work ethic. But I digress...]
Earlier, I was hoping to move Baltche for a mid-first in this year's draft. in the meantime, we actually got a mid-first (stretching the definition of "mid" here), and Baltche has so lowered his trade value that it would seem almost impossible to move him for such a deal. We may be down to looking for a 2012 expiring in a straight up deal/dump.
The draft pick has to be Sullinger. The combinations could be fun to see - Sully & Ke-veen on the floor together? Now that's some beef. Sullinger would also seem to be a good fit with McGee, so if you keep JV, there's at least a decent tandem approach at C.
Now here's the irony: with that front court (plus Booker), what would you want to add to round it out? Hmm, let' see - I'd look for a veteran player, a guy with a good/decent jumper (unlike KS, JM, & TB), bring some length - as we'd be somewhat undersized - good passer/distributor, and decent defender.
In other words, almost the exact skillset of....Andray Baltche. Too bad he's such a knucklehead that he can't fill that role. I'd love to see a guy like Kurt Thomas, Brad Miller, McDyess, etc. but those guys are all way over 30 and should be coaching instead of playing. Still not sure who to add here, maybe a trade to bring in a vet.
Re-sign Young if the deal is reasonable. (Another funny rollercoaster - at the beginning of the season, I suggested a 4-year deal between $4-5M per year - i.e., starting around the QO of a little under $4M for 2011-12. That went from fooolishly high to way under market price, and may yet end up as the Goldilocks answer - just right.) If so, A tandem of Young, Crawford, and another vet could hold down the fort at SG.
With the Hawks pick, or moving up a bit to ensure we get him, I really want Chris Singleton. Imagine other teams having to play against Booker, Singleton, Seraphin, and Sullinger. Oh, and chasing John Wall around all game as well. In understand that there would be definite offensive limitations to that team, but other squads will HATE playing against those guys.
And a bonus thought - if we did add Singleton, we'd have two of the best physical matchups to LeBron in the league. Booker is very similar in size, build, and speed, while Singleton is actually a little bigger, relishes contact and defense, and would be an absolute pest if he was on LBJ. Oh, and we now have the kid who dunked in his grill. It's almost like LBJ is the white whale to EG's Ahab. But again, I digress...
Lewis stays put for another year, has surgery to get healthy, and is one of the vet leaders/mentors in the locker room. Then, hope for an amnesty provision or buy out the non-guaranteed portion of his deal for 2012, or some type of trade to get him off the books by summer 2012.
If they can move Dray's contract, by 2012 the young core would look like:
Wall/
Young/Crawford
Singleton
Sullinger/Booker
Seraphin/McGee
with a TON of cap space and whoever they take in the 2012 draft - probably another lottery pick (Honeycutt?). Now - what veteran/star would want to join that team? Good question. But if they could find a star 2-way SF (say, Danny Granger) either via FA or in a trade (say, with Indiana for example), then you'd have the makings of something special. Sprinkle in some vets at PF and PG, and they start to look like an actual team. For now, the ceiling would be 45-50 wins, but that would be blessed relief compared to what we've had to watch for the past 5 years. And if they managed to catch lightning in a bottle and add a genuine star (top 20 player) in addition, then the sky's the limit.
Too bad it'll never happen....
"A society that puts equality - in the sense of equality of outcome - ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom" Milton Friedman, Free to Choose
Tell me about it. It has been pointed-out several times in this thread that the organizational structure of the Wizards MUST change from top to bottom. The Thunder organization is "1st Class", the Wizards organization is 3rd class at-best under Ernie Grunfeld and Ed Tapscotts management.
