Nick Young traded to Clippers/McGee to Denver/Nene to DC

[Jimmy Recard]

Pretty crazy to think that Presti offered the '09 #3 pick (Harden) for Javale on draft day. My goodness, imagine a Wall-Harden backcourt.

I don't believe this happened.

My bad, it was for the 5th pick (Miller, Foye) too.

Last summer, Minnesota discussed sending the No. 2 overall pick (which turned out to be Derrick Williams) in exchange for the sixth pick and McGee but the Wizards declined. Oklahoma City reportedly offered the No. 3 pick (which turned out to be James Harden) for McGee and the fifth overall pick before the 2009 draft.

http://dc.sbnation.com/washington-wizar ... ee-wizards

[BruceO]

Some of you are just sad. Let young expire and get nothing is better than trading him for an expiring and getting a third second rounder? Trading a dumb ass for one of the most efficient post scorers and locking him in is bad? What were we going to do in free agency? What if no one comes? Everyone good is restricted AND we can still bid on them regardless. Best place to be is above cap and below luxury tax tactically. We locked in two important starters get another in draft and another with rashards expiry

[BruceO]

Some of you are just sad. Let young expire and get nothing is better than trading him for an expiring and getting a third second rounder? Trading a dumb ass for one of the most efficient post scorers and locking him in is bad? What were we going to do in free agency? What if no one comes? Everyone good is restricted AND we can still bid on them regardless. Best place to be is above cap and below luxury tax tactically. We locked in two important starters get another in draft and another with rashards expiry

[BruceO]

Some of you are just sad. Let young expire and get nothing is better than trading him for an expiring and getting a third second rounder? Trading a dumb ass for one of the most efficient post scorers and locking him in is bad? What were we going to do in free agency? What if no one comes? Everyone good is restricted AND we can still bid on them regardless. Best place to be is above cap and below luxury tax tactically. We locked in two important starters get another in draft and another with rashards expiry

[C-Droppa]

Grunfield was in a lose lose situation. There is nothing he could have done to please the fanbase.

A. Let McGee walk - People would have had a fit and realgm would have crashed knowing we let a young, athletic, 7-footer go and recieved no compensation.

B. Pay McGee 10mil+ - McGee has shown no ability to mentally handle the NBA game. He's a terrible post defender with a low bball IQ that makes some of the most boneheaded plays at the worst time. If he doesn't pan out, we have another Blatche situation where he's hated, has a huge contract, & and is untradeable. If he works out...then thank the bball Gods. Unfortunately with the recent Blatche fiasco EG couldn't afford to overpay McGee and not have it work out.

C. Traded for Nene - One thing this team is sorely lacking is a productive veteran presence. For a known knucklehead around the league, we get that veteran presence. He's currently 29 years olds & turns 30 in Sept. He plays pretty solid post defense, is decent defensive rebounder, and can score efficiently around the basket; without the goaltends, blocked shots in the stands, and nightly not so top ten appearance.

His contract is large but by the time he is 33 he will be an attractive expiring contract. We assume players lose all ability when they turn 30. In Denver, the guy just got beat out by a younger player (congrats CCJ on your Faried prediction) I understand Denver's reasoning for trading him. He can still be very effective for us though. There are still effective 30 year old players in the league. Outside of Wall and Booker, we don't have any players that are effective on a nightly basis.

I'm ok with the trade. I don't think McGee wanted to be here anyway. That report for $14mil did exactly what it was supposed to do...scare the Wiz into trading him away. He was not giving any discounts this offseason. We have a reliable big man to go with Wall now, albeit he is 29. We can add some more young talent with our pick and still be players in FA with amnestying Blatche and buying out Rashard. Everyone was saying we had to do something..now all we can do is see it play out.

[sashae]

Indeed. I'd say the revulsion over picking Vesely was pretty universal, as well. What a bum.

[Cramer]

lol.....

Bruce just went CCJ on us.....right in a row.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Here is the good news: Fish notes that Nene is better suited to play PF.

I think Seraphin is a good defender at C and I do believe he should start. The reason McGee looked really bad in +/- is that Seraphin really defended well and he also scores with true post moves. He displays strengths as a C where Javale will remain weak IMO. Seraphin can IMO play PF. Nene is a PF IMO who has played C. They seem like a good pair. This can work out better if Seraphin plays with Nene. They will no doubt be a tough starting lineup. Booker is ideally a good sixth man. He's a better player at this point than Kevin, but Seraphin is too strong to keep on the bench.

I will like the look of the lineup if the Wizards decide to go a bit bigger and play more physical ball.

I bitched and moaned all day yesterday because of Nene's contract and Nene's age. HOWEVER, when I spoke to Nene about 10 years ago, I remember thinking "This guy is going to be a star." He didn't speak much English then but he had a very charismatic presence. Dude has the glow of a star. I can't tell you what I mean, but I remember thinking I liked his personality and that of Tyson Chandler way more than Brendan and Etan.

Also, one thing I like about Nene is he's got a temper. I can't remember what I saw him do, but he's just like Kevin. He is an ornery dude when angry. I'm down with that. Those two with Booker will scare some folks. Vesely fought in the Euro league. He might not be the baller you want but he's definitely a scrapper. Singleton has an edge to him. So does Crawford. So does Wall.

So, if you guys are sick of me going on-and-on negatively; I can accept that there are some good things about this deal. Like many of you have said, it comes down to Nene returning to form of last season, and how soon the Wizards can make another move or two to get competitive ASAP.

Suggestion: Scott Machado in round two. Brazilian kid and a great ball handler who I think has NBA starter potential. You don't need him with Wall but he can be quality depth and allow Wall to stay in the game as a scoring guard. I like Shelvin Mack but I'm not feeling Jordan Crawford's shot selection at all. Will Barton and Scott Machado are my favorites at SG and PG in this draft, so far.

[Ruzious]

In all fairness to "everybody else" there were a lot of other posters here who wanted Faried with the 18th pick.

True. fish's point, though was that Ernie had two opportunities to pick Faried and whiffed both times. In fact, unless BOTH players Ernie picked ahead of Faried work crazy hard to drastically improve, it's entirely possible that neither guy will be a solid professional player.

So, the net result of Ernie whiffing twice is that he now put the Wizards in the position of cleaning up Denver's contract mess -- a mess created (in part) because Nene was made expendable by a player the Wizards could have picked. A guy who's better than either of the guys they did pick.

And, the Wizards get to pay the expendable guy $13 million a season for the next 5 years.

But the error was the 2nd whiff - not the first whiff. The 6th pick had significant trade value - which a lot of us wanted to capitalize on.

[Severn Hoos]

Man, this island is getting lonely, but I'm not conceding in absolute terms the Singleton pick as a whiff.



Gilligan? You there? Lil buddy?

[closg00]

Yes, there could be a silver lining IF Nene can stay healthy and they pair him with Seraphin, now THAT I would like to see. I hope Witt is smart-enough to try it.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

lol.....

Bruce just went CCJ on us.....right in a row.

And I loved those posts, (or, should I say the triple post ), even though he called me sad.

Cramer, I didn't know where to go with your John Holmes down your throat reference. Sorry my incessant rambling took you there. Unless that's where you wanted to go. Man, that was awkward for me. Sorry, I think.

[Nivek]

Considering who they took with the 6th pick vs. who was available -- I'd say both whiffs were errors, but it's a distinction that doesn't really matter all that much. Bottom line: they could have taken Faried and didn't. The "didn't" part was an error. Several other players drafted after 6 would have been better than Vesely at 6 as well.

Sigh.

Being a fan of this team is like being repeatedly kicked in the nads.

[CaPtaiN eYeSaNo]

Addition by subtraction. Time for a new avatar...

[fishercob]

Ruzious, no.

I never would have picked Faried 6th in this past draft. But that doesn't make me right. In fact, it makes me wrong.

Regardless of what Chad Ford, Jon Givony, ESPN or any GM said, Faired at 6 would have been the correct move. He's the best player in the draft other than Irving.

You are right in that the second whiff is more egregious because the salary there makes Faried an absurd steal. But if we had traded both picks for Faried we would be in a better spot than we are today.

Sad but true.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It takes me back to the old adage, "Grunfeld gets paid to do what he does."

I am just a guy who's been posting for years here, but seems to me from where I stand the emperor is in his underwear and he's walking down Main Street. I'm going to tell him about the stain, too.

What might have been ...

Now, moving forward, I'm encouraged that Nene prefers PF. Booker is a quality sub but will Wittman do anything other than sit Seraphin on the bench?

[tontoz]

Man, this island is getting lonely, but I'm not conceding in absolute terms the Singleton pick as a whiff.



Gilligan? You there? Lil buddy?

Right now it isn't looking good for Singleton. Other than making standstill wide open jumpers he hasn't shown much. When you get two first rounders and neither of them are producing while players picked after them are doing well right off the bat, it is a problem.

Vesely was just a horrible pick and almost the whole board saw it coming.

[Ruzious]

Ruzious, no.

I never would have picked Faried 6th in this past draft. But that doesn't make me right. In fact, it makes me wrong.

Regardless of what Chad Ford, Jon Givony, ESPN or any GM said, Faired at 6 would have been the correct move. He's the best player in the draft other than Irving.

You are right in that the second whiff is more egregious because the salary there makes Faried an absurd steal. But if we had traded both picks for Faried we would be in a better spot than we are today.

Sad but true.

I completely disagree - even using the hindsight that you're using.

When you know that Faried could be had later in the draft - where you already have a pick, strategically it would have been the WRONG decision to pick him 6th. The whiff at 6 was not missing on Faried. It was in not using the pick smarter. BB would have been a smarter use of the pick then Faried or Vesely. Trading the pick could have been a much smarter use of the pick.

[nate33]

Here is the good news: Fish notes that Nene is better suited to play PF.

I think Seraphin is a good defender at C and I do believe he should start. The reason McGee looked really bad in +/- is that Seraphin really defended well and he also scores with true post moves. He displays strengths as a C where Javale will remain weak IMO. Seraphin can IMO play PF. Nene is a PF IMO who has played C. They seem like a good pair. This can work out better if Seraphin plays with Nene. They will no doubt be a tough starting lineup. Booker is ideally a good sixth man. He's a better player at this point than Kevin, but Seraphin is too strong to keep on the bench.

I will like the look of the lineup if the Wizards decide to go a bit bigger and play more physical ball.

Finally, I can agree with you on this subject. I consistently opposed you on the notion that McGee and Seraphin could coexist on the court together. It wasn't that I didn't want two big strong guys on the court, it's that the two big guys in question were both extremely unskilled.

Nene isn't unskilled. Nene and Seraphin could coexist and I would support seeing that lineup when conditions warrant. By the same token, I think we can get a little more use out of Vesely with Nene on the roster. Nene can play the PF role on offense and the C role on defense, allowing Vesely to play the C role on offense and the PF role on defense.

[penbeast0]

People earlier in the thread were comparing this deal to Webber for Richmond. I'd say it's more like either Rasheed Wallace for Rod Strickland (talented headcase that wouldn't change for 30 year old who fills hole just enough to make us a competitor for last spot in playoffs and 1st round exit) IF Nene returns to the player he's been throughout his career. If he doesn't then it's Ben Wallace (playing so lacking in certain basic skills that coaches/fans get frustrated that he will never get it and ignore the things he did well) for Ike Austin (if this year is what Nene has left) only with worse cap hit.