Illuminaire wrote:Mmat11 wrote:Ernie Grunfeld is still an above-average talent evaluator.
I think you are exceedingly generous. Do remember that his decision to trade the 5th pick a few years back was based on his evaluation of the talent available in the draft.Mmat11 wrote:Grunfeld made atrocious trades the past year, and for that he should be fired. Not because he was necessarily convinced they were good trades, but he did it for his job instead of the benefit of the Wizards franchise long-term.
On this we can agree. Le sigh.Mmat11 wrote:McGee is doing well this year. Who would love a 24 year old center right now with freakish athleticism and a 24.38 PER? Even Blatche is a solid contributor.
McGee is getting paid like a starting quality center, but can't stay on the court - and PER hides his massive defensive lapses. Meanwhile, Blatche needed to be fired (amnestied) to get motivated to play at an average level, as a backup. He was never going to be worth his contract here.Mmat11 wrote:I hope everyone is happy with these "high IQ" old players who are not even as talented. You play with the cards you are dealt. And we made the worst out of a bad but redeemable situation. And it has jeopardized the future of this franchise.
If you're talking about the OkaRiza trade, you will find very few posters who supported that move... so I'm not sure what that 'hope you're happy' line is all about. If you mean the Nene/McGee swap, let's be real. The Wiz have played much better when Nene is in the lineup, Denver isn't exactly tearing up the league, and we were still in line to have max cap space before EG fricked it up.
Agreed on our future being in jeopardy now, of course. Yay for mediocrity and bad management.
I would also take issue with giving EG too much credit for the Arenas, Butler, and Jamison years. That team was fools gold and I said it then. Yes, that team made it to the playoffs, but at its best it was a one and done playoff team because it could not/would not play defense and was soft. That team was never going to contend for a championship with that core. Despite that fact, EG gave that core huge contracts and then double downed on the team by trading away our draft pick for two players, who even if they played their best, would have still not made us a contender. The Arenas, Butler and Jamison years only demonstrate that EG is content to be mediocre.