If you took over as GM today, what would you do?

[fishercob]

Okafor Plans To Be With Wizards Next Season
Apr 01, 2013 6:20 PM EDT


Emeka Okafor plans to return to the Washington Wizards for the 2013-14 season.

Okafor is due to make $14.48 million and has a player-option with the ability to terminate the deal and hit the free agent market.

He won't command anywhere near that in the open market, but contends that his reasons go beyond money.

"My plan is to be here next year," Okafor said. "My mind-set is to be here next year. I just think that this team has a lot of potential. If we had everybody healthy, it would be a different around here. We'd be playing for (playoff) position."

Via J. Michael/CSN Washington

Good find. Not a shock per se, but news nonetheless.

[DCZards]

I like the idea of Okafor being back next season and then possibly signing a much cheaper 2-3 year agreement. He's played very well this season, giving the Zards much-needed rebounding and a defensive presence in the paint. I don't see any reason why he couldn't play at this level for at least 2-3 more years.

[sfam]

Okafor Plans To Be With Wizards Next Season
Apr 01, 2013 6:20 PM EDT


Emeka Okafor plans to return to the Washington Wizards for the 2013-14 season.

Okafor is due to make $14.48 million and has a player-option with the ability to terminate the deal and hit the free agent market.

He won't command anywhere near that in the open market, but contends that his reasons go beyond money.

"My plan is to be here next year," Okafor said. "My mind-set is to be here next year. I just think that this team has a lot of potential. If we had everybody healthy, it would be a different around here. We'd be playing for (playoff) position."

Via J. Michael/CSN Washington

I'm completely shocked that Okafor would rather make $14.5M over like $5-7M.

This is my shocked face

At least he's saying all the right things while doing it.

[Higga]

I'd go ahead and max Wall out. I don't think we can screw around when it comes to our franchise player.

Trade Nene for whatever we can. I think he's done his duty here in helping cleanse the locker room. Good player but way too injury prone.

Do our best to acquire a legit 4. I don't know if it's draft or FA or what.

Keep Okafor, solid player. Hope Seraphin continues to develop as his heir apparent.

Wall/Beal/Webster/New 4/Okafor can make the playoffs in the East next year easily(assuming no major injuries again, always a bad assumption when it comes to the Wiz I Know).

[MikeTheKid]

I'd go ahead and max Wall out. I don't think we can screw around when it comes to our franchise player.

Trade Nene for whatever we can. I think he's done his duty here in helping cleanse the locker room. Good player but way too injury prone.

Do our best to acquire a legit 4. I don't know if it's draft or FA or what.

Keep Okafor, solid player. Hope Seraphin continues to develop as his heir apparent.

Wall/Beal/Webster/New 4/Okafor can make the playoffs in the East next year easily(assuming no major injuries again, always a bad assumption when it comes to the Wiz I Know).

Jeez why couldn't we get Ryan Anderson last offseason!!! I say a stretch 4 is in order. Maybe we could steal Ryan Kelly in the 2nd round

[nate33]

I'd go ahead and max Wall out. I don't think we can screw around when it comes to our franchise player.

Trade Nene for whatever we can. I think he's done his duty here in helping cleanse the locker room. Good player but way too injury prone.

Do our best to acquire a legit 4. I don't know if it's draft or FA or what.

Keep Okafor, solid player. Hope Seraphin continues to develop as his heir apparent.

Wall/Beal/Webster/New 4/Okafor can make the playoffs in the East next year easily(assuming no major injuries again, always a bad assumption when it comes to the Wiz I Know).

With the way the team has played since Wall's return, I find myself less and less inclined to rock the boat too much. The bottom line is that the core of this team is pretty good. Wall, Beal, Webster, Ariza, Nene and Okafor will win a lot of games, particularly now that Wall is playing like a superstar. The team definitely needs more depth so that it can withstand some injuries, but I like the top 6.

I don't think I'd make any drastic moves involving trading those top 6. The only exception might be to include Ariza in a trade for a stretch four. I wouldn't actively shop Nene or Okafor this summer. I think I'd just keep them and then see how their trade value looks after a year of winning some games. Indeed, at this point, I'm thinking that the most likely outcome is that Okafor will be extended when his contract expires. That may change depending on this draft and/or the development of Seraphin, but for now, I think the team of the future is basically what we see now.

Basically, I don't think I'd proactively try and acquire that big man of the future through a painful series of trades and tanking. We're just going to have to get lucky. We going to need to find an Omar Asik, Marc Gasol or Larry Sanders in the middle of the draft. Or we're going to have to hope that somebody like Cousins, Favors or Monroe is somehow available to us for cap room in 2014.

[Dat2U]

I can't see an ideal situation where Nene is here next year. The wheels have begun coming off IMO. I was a huge proponent of trading him when he was playing well. I'm afraid his value has dipped already considering his questionable availability now.

I'd deal Nene for basically anything of value at this point. Anything that gets us out the remaining 3 year commitment. We need guys that can reliably play. Nene is going to be day-to-day for the rest of his career and that might be his best case scenario.

It sounds like your stating it as a fact. Do you have some concrete info on that?

I think it's a bigger assumption to assume an older player with a chronic condition is somehow going to play the next 3 years completely healthy when the only way to heal his chronic condition is to get extended rest or surgery (which he won't get).

Do you have some concrete info that Nene is going to ever be 100% of the player he once was? Because that's a massive assumption that I would never bet on.

I was the sole person on this board that was screaming for us to trade Nene when he was playing like one the best big men in the league. I said there's no way he can keep this us. The wheels are going to come off at some point. I said being dependent on his health would eventually be a receipt for disaster.

It's not been a disaster yet, but his play has deteriorated significantly since earlier this season. His availability is consistently in question. I am the only one in here reading the tea leaves?

Are we content to wait for the other shoe to drop next year? I can see it, yet another injury excuse for the organization to fall back on.

[fishercob]

I can't see an ideal situation where Nene is here next year. The wheels have begun coming off IMO. I was a huge proponent of trading him when he was playing well. I'm afraid his value has dipped already considering his questionable availability now.

I'd deal Nene for basically anything of value at this point. Anything that gets us out the remaining 3 year commitment. We need guys that can reliably play. Nene is going to be day-to-day for the rest of his career and that might be his best case scenario.

It sounds like your stating it as a fact. Do you have some concrete info on that?

I think it's a bigger assumption to assume an older player with a chronic condition is somehow going to play the next 3 years completely healthy when the only way to heal his chronic condition is to get extended rest or surgery (which he won't get).

Do you have some concrete info that Nene is going to ever be 100% of the player he once was? Because that's a massive assumption that I would never bet on.

I was the sole person on this board that was screaming for us to trade Nene when he was playing like one the best big men in the league. I said there's no way he can keep this us. The wheels are going to come off at some point. I said being dependent on his health would eventually be a receipt for disaster.

It's not been a disaster yet, but his play has deteriorated significantly since earlier this season. His availability is consistently in question. I am the only one in here reading the tea leaves?

Are we content to wait for the other shoe to drop next year? I can see it, yet another injury excuse for the organization to fall back on.

Dat, no one is questioning that the risks you lay out exist. We all get that Nene is more prone to injury and longer recoveries than he was five years ago. The question is whether or not the nature of his injuries this season relate to him playing hurt in the Olympics and never recovering (that could be significantly helped by an offseason of rest and re-conditioning) or if this just is who he is at this point.

I get the appeal of Nene for an expiring contract (Humphries, Marshon Brooks and pick?). But only time will tell whether Nene is really breaking down or if he just needs time to get healthy.

[willbcocks]

I was the sole person on this board that was screaming for us to trade Nene when he was playing like one the best big men in the league. I said there's no way he can keep this us. The wheels are going to come off at some point. I said being dependent on his health would eventually be a receipt for disaster.

It's not been a disaster yet, but his play has deteriorated significantly since earlier this season. His availability is consistently in question. I am the only one in here reading the tea leaves?

Whoa, hold on there. Let's trade Nene for any value we can get has been a constant refrain of mine since he got here. I know CCJ was on board with that. And Kevin's never wanted to keep him. Surely I'm missing others. I don't think "Nene is a long-term solution" has been a supermajority opinion on this board.

[nate33]

I don't see the appeal of trading Nene for an expiring contract. I don't know what we would do with the cap room given the free agency crop of 2014. I'd consider trading Nene for a talented young player plus a bad contract, but not merely for cap relief. Unfortunately, I don't think Nene's trade value is currently high enough to make any trades attractive. We would need Nene to get healthy first.

For what it's worth, I was in favor of "striking while the iron was hot" and shopping Nene last December when he was playing real well and guys like Eric Bledsoe may have been available. At the time, such a trade would have improved our future talent base while helping the tank. I don't think that's the case anymore. Tanking is no longer an option. Even a Nene who misses 20 games, and plays 20 more at a sub-par level is still a really good player for the other 40 games and a good leader the whole time.

[Dat2U]

Dat, no one is questioning that the risks you lay out exist. We all get that Nene is more prone to injury and longer recoveries than he was five years ago. The question is whether or not the nature of his injuries this season relate to him playing hurt in the Olympics and never recovering (that could be significantly helped by an offseason of rest and re-conditioning) or if this just is who he is at this point.

I get the appeal of Nene for an expiring contract (Humphries, Marshon Brooks and pick?). But only time will tell whether Nene is really breaking down or if he just needs time to get healthy.

Nene has a "chronic" injury. Meaning the injury is more likely to recur, even if he gets some extended rest.

Basically, your playing Russian roulette with Nene's $13.0 million cap slot by waiting and seeing how things play out.

Even if Nene comes back and gives us a similar type performance & misses a similar number of games to this year, why would anyone be satisfied with that?

Ask yourself, are you really happy with Nene's production this year? Are you willing to take the same type of year next year? Are you willing to watch him miss a ton of games? Are you willing to deal with his uneven performances because some nights the foot feels good and other times it doesn't. Are you okay with Nene fading at the end of the year when were supposedly making a playoff push?

[Dat2U]

I was the sole person on this board that was screaming for us to trade Nene when he was playing like one the best big men in the league. I said there's no way he can keep this us. The wheels are going to come off at some point. I said being dependent on his health would eventually be a receipt for disaster.

It's not been a disaster yet, but his play has deteriorated significantly since earlier this season. His availability is consistently in question. I am the only one in here reading the tea leaves?

Whoa, hold on there. Let's trade Nene for any value we can get has been a constant refrain of mine since he got here. I know CCJ was on board with that. And Kevin's never wanted to keep him. Surely I'm missing others. I don't think "Nene is a long-term solution" has been a supermajority opinion on this board.

Very true, but I'm not saying everyone here wanted Nene to retire a Wizard. I just honestly didn't remember any posters being as vociferous as I was on needing to deal Nene ASAP, especially when he was playing well because I said his play was unsustainable.

And to be honest, CCJ's been on board with trading everyone at one point or another

[fishercob]

No, not happy with the scenario you laid out at all. My expectation is that for Nene's next season to be a success he would need to play more and play better. The hope is that with an offseason of rest and recovery that is possible. I recognize that it is far from a sure thing.

These are the risks the Wizards took on when trading for Nene. If he turns into a $13M albatross, further shame on Ernie, Ted and our supposed "brain trust."

[fishercob]

I don't see the appeal of trading Nene for an expiring contract. I don't know what we would do with the cap room given the free agency crop of 2014. I'd consider trading Nene for a talented young player plus a bad contract, but not merely for cap relief. Unfortunately, I don't think Nene's trade value is currently high enough to make any trades attractive. We would need Nene to get healthy first.

I wonder if we could exploit Toronto's ridiculous win-now fantasy. They were dumb enough to trade for Gay, they're down a first round pick, and they have bad contracts.

Target = Valanciunus.

Would you do Nene and our pick for Jonas and Bargnani?
Nene+Vesely for Jonas+Bargs+Fields (we keep our pick, take on more bad money).

or how about this mama of a 3-way combining the objects our our affection:

Wiz trade: Nene, Vesley, '13 pick, Booker, Seraphin
Wiz receive: Ilyasova, Bagnani, Valanciunus

Raps trade: Valanciunus, Bargnani, Terrence Ross
Raps receive: Nene, Vesely

Bucks trade: Ilyasova
Bucks get: T. Ross, Seraphin, Booker, Wiz pick

Okafor/Valanciunus
Ilyasova/Bargnani/Singleton
Webster/Ariza
Beal/Webster
Wall/Price

A man can dream, right?

My guess is Toronto balks. BUt I wonder if Ariza were to opt in if they'd go for it if we included an Ariza/Fields swap. Think of how happy that would make payitforward!

[sfam]

No, not happy with the scenario you laid out at all. My expectation is that for Nene's next season to be a success he would need to play more and play better. The hope is that with an offseason of rest and recovery that is possible. I recognize that it is far from a sure thing.

These are the risks the Wizards took on when trading for Nene. If he turns into a $13M albatross, further shame on Ernie, Ted and our supposed "brain trust."

We've already made the decision that we don't think Nene's injuries are chronic. We would have unloaded him last year if we believed otherwise. At this point his trade value is low and he's great for the team when healthy. The smart thing to do at this point is to hold steady with Nene and hope that our top flight, crack (smoking) medical team can get him healthy for most of next season.

[Ruzious]

I can't see an ideal situation where Nene is here next year. The wheels have begun coming off IMO. I was a huge proponent of trading him when he was playing well. I'm afraid his value has dipped already considering his questionable availability now.

I'd deal Nene for basically anything of value at this point. Anything that gets us out the remaining 3 year commitment. We need guys that can reliably play. Nene is going to be day-to-day for the rest of his career and that might be his best case scenario.

It sounds like your stating it as a fact. Do you have some concrete info on that?

I think it's a bigger assumption to assume an older player with a chronic condition is somehow going to play the next 3 years completely healthy when the only way to heal his chronic condition is to get extended rest or surgery (which he won't get).

Do you have some concrete info that Nene is going to ever be 100% of the player he once was? Because that's a massive assumption that I would never bet on.

I was the sole person on this board that was screaming for us to trade Nene when he was playing like one the best big men in the league. I said there's no way he can keep this us. The wheels are going to come off at some point. I said being dependent on his health would eventually be a receipt for disaster.

It's not been a disaster yet, but his play has deteriorated significantly since earlier this season. His availability is consistently in question. I am the only one in here reading the tea leaves?

Are we content to wait for the other shoe to drop next year? I can see it, yet another injury excuse for the organization to fall back on.

I'm not assuming anything. I'm asking because I DON"T know, and because you wrote - and continute to write - as if you know he's done. I don't have the knowledge to have any idea one way or the other.

The reason given for his recent problems is not the plantar fasciitis - which I assume is the chronic injury you've been referring to. It's a knee injury. Before the reported knee injury and a sholder injury, he played very well this season and often played more minutes than he typically played with Denver when he was 100%. I have no idea about the seriousness of the knee injury.

In the real world, assuming you're right, other teams would at least have the knowledge that you have, so if you know he's done, they'd know he's done - and they wouldn't trade for him. So logically speaking, why would you think there's any chance he'll get traded?

[Nivek]

The shoulder injury isn't connected to the foot problem, but the knee problem might be. Athletes with an injury in one area often have problems in another area because of compensating for the first problem. It's not a stretch to think that compensating for a foot problem could be contributing to Nene's knee issue.

Nene's health was a big reason I didn't like the trade. He's here now, so the team needs to find a way to get him healthy enough to play or healthy enough to trade him.

Why might someone thing some other team would trade for him despite the health concerns, age and big contract? Hmm. Well, the Wizards traded for him.

[FAH1223]

A team like OKC might get desperate especially if they flop in the postseason, which I fully expect. They need post scoring and they have some assets.

[Nivek]

A team like OKC might get desperate especially if they flop in the postseason, which I fully expect. They need post scoring and they have some assets.

OKC has the league's 2nd best offense and 5th best defense. What would adding a post scorer do to help their offense?

[FAH1223]

A team like OKC might get desperate especially if they flop in the postseason, which I fully expect. They need post scoring and they have some assets.

OKC has the league's 2nd best offense and 5th best defense. What would adding a post scorer do to help their offense?

They're a jumpshooting team. Very easy to game plan for as we saw in the finals. They only got there cause of ridiculous shooting in the WCF.