Wizards in the Media Thread

[nate33]

FWIW, I agree wholeheartedly with fishercob. I don't think there's any serious concern with offering Nick Young a front-loaded contract rather than a flat-rate contract. These people aren't total morons. They can do basic math. By any rational analysis, the Wizards are doing Young a favor by paying him more money up front.

Like fishercob, said, just be up front and honest with him. Tell him that we think he's worth $5M a year but we want to pay him most of the money up front so we can have cap room to go after a superstar free agent in 2012. I'm sure Young would be pleased to hear that's the plan. Who wouldn't want to sign with an owner who has a long-term strategy to build a championship contender? Heck, I'd frontload it even more. Instead of $10M in Year 1 and $3.3M a year thereafter, I'd pay him $14M in Year 1 and $2M a year thereafter.

And CCJ makes a good point too. It might make sense to try and pay Young through some kind of deferred trust vehicle (whether it's CD's or through some third party money handler, it doesn't matter). My guess is that Young would decline, but at least make the offer to structure it that way. If Young whines about his salary in 2015, Leonsis could remind him that the deferred option was on the table.

[fishercob]

Didn't PRECISELY THIS SORT OF THING just happen with Blatche's contract? Why did we renegotiate it?

Wiz EXTENDED Blatche. They didn't renegotiate it, they added to it.

Indeed, and the nature of his extension was one of the reasons many of us hated the Yi trade -- the opportunity cost of the cap room (which brings this all full circle when discussing Lee's Rashard Lewis take). Without the extra cap room that Yi cost we could have front-loaded more of Blatche's deal more, thereby lessening the long term hit, making him easier to trade if we wanted, etc..

[Dat2U]

I'll take a dissenting view point. I'll agree with Michael Lee about keeping Rashard but for totally different reasons. Screw his shooting ability, locker room presence or leadership potential. Bottom line is we aren't ready to compete and therefore don't need a load of cap room. And we don't need another Hinrich type deal for bunch more of middlin' picks. Don't we have enough mid-late 1st round prospects as is? How many more do we need? Now a lottery pick is a different story but I don't see too many lottery teams offering up 2012 picks considering the nature of that draft.

So essentially why waste a get out of jail card for minimal benefits? You all know Ernie's history so a bad free agency deal is right around the corner. So lets save that card until we REALLY need it, not just so we can overpay Nick Young.

[Dat2U]

Just to follow up on Ernie's history, don't forget, despite Leonsis' claims of not being a player in free agency last season, Ernie kicked the tires on potentially signing Josh Childress before losing out to Phoenix. Imagine if that happened, we'd all be talking about amnesting Childress instead of Lewis.

[mhd]

Dat, haven't you been the biggest save cap space for Dwight proponent of all?

[willbcocks]

I can't blame someone for almost doing something based on media reports when the fact of the matter is he didn't end up doing it. Since Ted's arrival, Ernie has not made any bad free agent signings. Instead, he's turned cap space into Singleton, Crawford, and Seraphin. Obviously this isn't propelling us to a dynasty, and our biggest need now is elite talent, but we still have a need for talent across the board.

Picks in the 15-25 range can fill out the team cheaply, and if we do it enough, we might even get lucky and get an all-star level player. Or if we think we have enough to develop already, we could trade our cap space for future picks, which I think are an undervalued resource.

[Dat2U]

Dat, haven't you been the biggest save cap space for Dwight proponent of all?

As much as I would love Howard in DC, I don't see it as being realistic, especially after ending up with Vesely in the lottery. Other teams can offer more talent, in more desirable locations with better veteran players. All we have is John Wall, who's two years removed from high school, a ton a cap room and boatload of immaturity (Blatche, McGee & maybe Young). We simply don't measure up.

Our future IMO is the 2012 draft. That's going to be the best opportunity to find a star to compliment Wall

[7-Day Dray]

Dat, haven't you been the biggest save cap space for Dwight proponent of all?

As much as I would love Howard in DC, I don't see it as being realistic, especially after ending up with Vesely in the lottery. Other teams can offer more talent, in more desirable locations with better veteran players. All we have is John Wall, who's two years removed from high school, a ton a cap room and boatload of immaturity (Blatche, McGee & maybe Young). We simply don't measure up.

Our future IMO is the 2012 draft. That's going to be the best opportunity to find a star to compliment Wall

I think you're underrating our talent.

[Dat2U]

I can't blame someone for almost doing something based on media reports when the fact of the matter is he didn't end up doing it. Since Ted's arrival, Ernie has not made any bad free agent signings. Instead, he's turned cap space into Singleton, Crawford, and Seraphin. Obviously this isn't propelling us to a dynasty, and our biggest need now is elite talent, but we still have a need for talent across the board.

Picks in the 15-25 range can fill out the team cheaply, and if we do it enough, we might even get lucky and get an all-star level player. Or if we think we have enough to develop already, we could trade our cap space for future picks, which I think are an undervalued resource.

True, you cannot blame someone for something that didn't happen, but I gotta take issue with the comment that Ernie hasn't made any bad free agent signings.

Antonio Daniels - 6 yr deal (about 2 years too long)
Darius Songaila - 4 yr deal. Couldn't rebound to save his life. Gave us basically nothing.
DeShawn Stevenson - Gave us two of worst playoff performances in recent memory.

He also re-signed many of his own free agents.

Gilbert Arenas - Nothing needs to be said
Antawn Jamison - "aka lets 'go all in' on mediocrity", aka "The Leader of Men"
Andray Blatche - if we could only go back in time, lol

As for filling out the roster with picks in the 15-25 range, what exactly does that accomplish? How's that a solid strategy for building a contending team? We need stars not a bunch of future role players or future Spain ACB League all-stars. We've already loaded up on low first rounders. I really think that strategy has run it's course. It's the top 5 draft picks that make the difference, with these late 1st rounders your basically just shopping for shiny pennies.

Adding future picks is a fine strategy, but again, with $30+ mil in cap room your talking about overkill. It shouldn't cost $10 million in cap space to buy a pick. I'm afraid jettisoning Lewis and leaving Ernie with all that cap room in a weak free agency pool could lead to some very bad choices. I'd rather keep the sorry roster as is, waive Nick bye bye, stink up the joint in an abbreviated season if there is one and enjoy the benefits of a large number of lottery balls in a game changing draft. Any cap room available from losing Nick could be used towards acquiring future picks but otherwise I'd avoid doing anything that might artificially inflate our win total.

[Nivek]

Antonio Daniels - 6 yr deal (about 2 years too long)

5 years actually. Still too long, of course. Then he dealt him in the deal that brought Mike "Delusional" James and Javaris Crittenton.

Darius Songaila - 4 yr deal. Couldn't rebound to save his life. Gave us basically nothing.

Yep. Songaila rode basically one good season to a lucrative career. Wiz signed him to be a pick-and-pop partner with Daniels.

DeShawn Stevenson - Gave us two of worst playoff performances in recent memory.

The initial deal -- the one for the league minimum -- was good. The follow-up deal wasn't good. I tried to defend it for awhile, but it was a deal for the wrong reasons. It was a "show everyone we'll reward good play" contract, not a "this guy is really good and will be a quality player for us" contract.

He also re-signed many of his own free agents.

Gilbert Arenas - Nothing needs to be said

I think this one is defensible. Arenas was a flake, but he was also a serious baller -- one of the elite offensive threats in the league. He had a knee injury from which thousands of athletes make full recoveries. There just was no reason to think Arenas would be constantly injured and then would shoot himself in the foot.

Antawn Jamison - "aka lets 'go all in' on mediocrity", aka "The Leader of Men"

Classic NBA deal -- one of the "this is what's wrong with how these guys do business" contracts. Jamison never should have been a max salary guy in the first place, but he got the phat deal because of per game scoring and rebounding. The re-sign the Wizards did was essentially based on his previous deal, and it was a bad move when considering the combination of Jamison's age and production.

Andray Blatche - if we could only go back in time, lol

Yep.

As for filling out the roster with picks in the 15-25 range, what exactly does that accomplish? How's that a solid strategy for building a contending team? We need stars not a bunch of future role players or future Spain ACB League all-stars. We've already loaded up on low first rounders. I really think that strategy has run it's course. It's the top 5 draft picks that make the difference, with these late 1st rounders your basically just shopping for shiny pennies.

Adding future picks is a fine strategy, but again, with $30+ mil in cap room your talking about overkill. It shouldn't cost $10 million in cap space to buy a pick. I'm afraid jettisoning Lewis and leaving Ernie with all that cap room in a weak free agency pool could lead to some very bad choices. I'd rather keep the sorry roster as is, waive Nick bye bye, stink up the joint in an abbreviated season if there is one and enjoy the benefits of a large number of lottery balls in a game changing draft. Any cap room available from losing Nick could be used towards acquiring future picks but otherwise I'd avoid doing anything that might artificially inflate our win total.

I agree -- the Wiz don't need more role players and bench guys. They need some elite talent. Everyone on the roster except Wall is expendable and replaceable. No one is worth worrying about if they depart. Keep 'em if it's a low price -- otherwise find someone else.

Wall looks like he's a building block. "Could-Be's" include McGee and Blatche. I don't think Blatche will be, but I'd be willing to give him another 20 games before dumping him. McGee probably won't be either, but I'd give him another season.

[fishercob]

To be clear, will's comment was that Ernie hadn't made any stupid signings since Ted arrived -- and it's hard to argue with that.

Kev, to your point of everyone beyond Wall being expendable -- what is the upside of keeping Rashard on his current contract? It doesn't facilitate a trade (the cap room is just as or more valuable). There's considerable downside in the form of opportunity cost of that cap room.

I actually think a healthy Lewis (as he's reported to be) is our best small forward fair margin. But we're not going anywhere with him and there are potential games by getting him off the books.

[Nivek]

I don't see any upside in keeping Lewis on his current contract. I'd use the amnesty thing on his deal and move on.

[Dat2U]

Antonio Daniels - 6 yr deal (about 2 years too long)

5 years actually. Still too long, of course. Then he dealt him in the deal that brought Mike "Delusional" James and Javaris Crittenton.

Sorry, it seemed like 6 years, lol. Wow, how bad was that James/Crittenton trade? We also gave up Memphis' pick which I think would have been in the 2011 draft.

DeShawn Stevenson - Gave us two of worst playoff performances in recent memory.

The initial deal -- the one for the league minimum -- was good. The follow-up deal wasn't good. I tried to defend it for awhile, but it was a deal for the wrong reasons. It was a "show everyone we'll reward good play" contract, not a "this guy is really good and will be a quality player for us" contract.

Ernie seems old school in that sense. I've seen him do it on a couple of occasions.

He also re-signed many of his own free agents.

Gilbert Arenas - Nothing needs to be said

I think this one is defensible. Arenas was a flake, but he was also a serious baller -- one of the elite offensive threats in the league. He had a knee injury from which thousands of athletes make full recoveries. There just was no reason to think Arenas would be constantly injured and then would shoot himself in the foot.

I hear you. At the time I supported the re-signing but I supported it because I thought he was recovering and close to healthy, when in fact his left knee is was bad shape. When Arenas admitted that the Wizards KNEW the severity of his condition WHEN they re-signed him that changed everything for me. I don't know how anyone could take $100 million risk with the knowledge of a guy having serious complications from a knee injury. That was just staggering to me.

Antawn Jamison - "aka lets 'go all in' on mediocrity", aka "The Leader of Men"

Classic NBA deal -- one of the "this is what's wrong with how these guys do business" contracts. Jamison never should have been a max salary guy in the first place, but he got the phat deal because of per game scoring and rebounding. The re-sign the Wizards did was essentially based on his previous deal, and it was a bad move when considering the combination of Jamison's age and production.

Crazy thing is Jamison was long considered overpaid on his old deal so to reward him again with a similar type salary was very questionable. But I think the Wizards offer may have been influenced by Philadelphia's interest in Antawn at that time. Plus we all know about Gil's ultimatum at the time.

As for filling out the roster with picks in the 15-25 range, what exactly does that accomplish? How's that a solid strategy for building a contending team? We need stars not a bunch of future role players or future Spain ACB League all-stars. We've already loaded up on low first rounders. I really think that strategy has run it's course. It's the top 5 draft picks that make the difference, with these late 1st rounders your basically just shopping for shiny pennies.

Adding future picks is a fine strategy, but again, with $30+ mil in cap room your talking about overkill. It shouldn't cost $10 million in cap space to buy a pick. I'm afraid jettisoning Lewis and leaving Ernie with all that cap room in a weak free agency pool could lead to some very bad choices. I'd rather keep the sorry roster as is, waive Nick bye bye, stink up the joint in an abbreviated season if there is one and enjoy the benefits of a large number of lottery balls in a game changing draft. Any cap room available from losing Nick could be used towards acquiring future picks but otherwise I'd avoid doing anything that might artificially inflate our win total.

I agree -- the Wiz don't need more role players and bench guys. They need some elite talent. Everyone on the roster except Wall is expendable and replaceable. No one is worth worrying about if they depart. Keep 'em if it's a low price -- otherwise find someone else.

Wall looks like he's a building block. "Could-Be's" include McGee and Blatche. I don't think Blatche will be, but I'd be willing to give him another 20 games before dumping him. McGee probably won't be either, but I'd give him another season.

Agreed on everyone outside of Wall being expendable. Also agree on the could-be's and probably wont's. Outside of Wall, there just isn't one guy you can hang your hat on. There's no reliability with our young core. It's all "might's", "maybe's" and "likely not's". Guys like Crawford, Booker, Seraphin, Vesely & Singleton are future role players, i.e. fill-in-the-gap rotation guys. That's not the foundation of a winning team, its the foundation of a good bench. We've got to get some first line talent.

[no D in Hibachi]

Perhaps this should go in the Laron Profit shrine thread, but seeing as how he's the new Sportstalk980 NBA/Wiz beat reporter I figure this thread is appropriate. I really think he's doing a great job as the new NBA sports talk beat. He's a zillion time better than the not-classy Jay Glassie. All I have to say is long live Laron, may he be forever immortalized by all Wizards fans.

[mhd]

Perhaps this should go in the Laron Profit shrine thread, but seeing as how he's the new Sportstalk980 NBA/Wiz beat reporter I figure this thread is appropriate. I really think he's doing a great job as the new NBA sports talk beat. He's a zillion time better than the not-classy Jay Glassie. All I have to say is long live Laron, may he be forever immortalized by all Wizards fans.

WOW, Laron is on 980? Have not listened in months. How is he? Still thought Scott Jackson was great (although his indifference of Haywood was furiating).

[doclinkin]

Perhaps this should go in the Laron Profit shrine thread, but seeing as how he's the new Sportstalk980 NBA/Wiz beat reporter I figure this thread is appropriate. I really think he's doing a great job as the new NBA sports talk beat. He's a zillion time better than the not-classy Jay Glassie. All I have to say is long live Laron, may he be forever immortalized by all Wizards fans.

WOW, Laron is on 980? Have not listened in months. How is he? Still thought Scott Jackson was great (although his indifference of Haywood was furiating).

Surprisingly Laron is really really really good. I wish he had an hour long show all his own. Quick thinking, never unprepared for a question, has the inside dish, talks with current players on a variety of teams, and understands the business angle.

Had a housemate once who had to give him a c- in her english class, I guess I figured him for a mouthbreather, but nope.

Somebody bump the shrine. Laron can do it all.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Laron lets Chuck Norris THINK he's tough.

[closg00]

Wiz media day, Flip being interviewed on 980. On 106.7, it's an endless discussion on Ron Landry

[dobrojim]

Halftime of the TNT game (DAL@OKC) you actually had Shaq and
the other guys giving some love to N1 and Javale. Unless they
werre being totally sarcastic and I missed it. I think that's the
first time they've said anything nice about the Wizards in
years. Shocking after 2 fugly losses that the natl media
would say good things about some of our players.

[montestewart]

Hope to see more like this
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... _blog.html
sanitize it in the sunlight.