Webster re-ups for 4 years/22 million dollars

[nate33]

I think people need to understand that EG is looking at things from a long-term cap management perspective. Given our cap situation, we have a window of opportunity to add a big free agent next summer, and if that doesn't pan out, we don't really have another opportunity until Summer 2016 when Nene comes off the books.

With that the case, it doesn't really matter what Webster is making, nor whether his contract lasts 2 or 3 years. As long as it's not a 4 year deal (and I'm assuming that 4th year buyout is really small), his presence on the roster at full MLE money doesn't hurt our flexibility at all. We still have max contract money in 2014, and could have max money in 2016.

If Webster was signed for, say, 2-years $9M, it wouldn't put us in any better of a position than we are right now.

[Liverbird]

Nate you're right - he doesn't always screw up. BUT I think he suffers from tunnel vision and therefore lacks the creativity to think outside the box. IMO the new breed of GMs have changed the traditional way of approaching team building and EG hasn't quite yet adapted and may never adapt.

I believe EG delegates far too much (pure conjecture on my part) and therefore suffers from information deficiency/analysis. I would love our next GM to be a Maven (Tipping Point) who works hard to seek out and understand/analyze information, statistics etc... Right now it's still hit and miss. The problem is that the misses have been huge.

With regard to this off-season however, I believe GRJr will prove to be a better player than most players drafted 10 slots above him or anyone drafted afterwards. The Maynor deal was a little puzzling. Perfectly happy with the Webster deal. The test now is whether he's able to recognize the mistake he made with Ernie's Kids.

[Kanyewest]

I can't recall a single quality contract he's resigned a player for over the past decade, every single one of them was an idiotic overpay, one wonders what might have happened if Blatche hadn't killed part of his market value with another run in the for the law leading up to his free agency several years ago.

EG resigned Haywood to a very good deal. He resigned Butler to a good deal. He resigned Jamison to a deal that I thought was an overpayment, but it turned out that he was able to move Jamison and his contract for cap relief and a pick so EG was proven right. EG also had the wisdom NOT to match Hughes or Jeffries.

Let's not rewrite history here. EG doesn't always screw up. I think he's pretty bad in the first round of the draft (or particularly in his willingness to trade draft picks), but I think, on balance, he's fairly average in playing the free agency market.

I remember when the Wizards gave Butler that extension that people were upset about that especially since he got that extension even before playing a game in a Wizards uniform. I wasn't so sure about that either but 2 all star appearances for that salary was pretty good.

[Kanyewest]

Well we'd better hope Webster doesn't return to his career norms. It's overpay for half a season of good play when he was a below average player for 6 out of his 7 NBA seasons.

I just don't think I could be talked into liking a deal where we give $22 mil (or $19 mil) to a SF when we just drafted our SF of the future at #3. I still think it's a poor allocation of resources considering the holes elsewhere on the roster. We needed talent, but it wasn't a necessity at SF anymore, it became a luxury when Porter was the pick. The lack of depth elsewhere really didn't allow for such luxuries IMO.

I thought he played well the entire season. He shot at or above 40% during every month in the season except for the final month where he was injured. I wouldn't expect him to shoot 56% like he did in March.

While that is true he doesn't bring much to the table other than shooting. That is why his PER was only 14 in his career year. If he isn't hitting 3s he isnt worth much.

Given that we have Ariza and just drafted 2 guys who can play the 3 i don't see why there was such a sense of unrgency to overpay Webster. Thankfully we only had the MLE available or there is no telling how much EG would have spent on him.

Actually, Webster does have some versatility. He's an adequate defender- not someone who is going to shut down a primetime scorer but he holds his own defensively compared to guys like Antawn Jamison. Webster also has a decent mid range game. Despite being injury prone, he still has some ups that allows him to finish at the rim.

With the draft, I feel that the Wizards went with the best player available. Since Webster isn't a good rebounder, it made sense to draft Porter who projects to be one with his all around game. Grunfeld has stated in the past (I believe it was the 2008 draft with Dominic McGuire) that in the 2nd round that he goes for the best player available no matter what hence picking Rice, who I don't think figure much in the Wizards short term plans.

Bottomline, I think the rush to keep Webster is that he's a shooter which is especially valuable with John Wall who penetrates and kicks out to open shooters. I'm wondering though what the alternative would have been if the Wizards didn't resign Webster- especially since EG did find Webster for a good bargain last year.

[verbal8]

Bottomline, I think the rush to keep Webster is that he's a shooter which is especially valuable with John Wall who penetrates and kicks out to open shooters. I'm wondering though what the alternative would have been if the Wizards didn't resign Webster- especially since EG did find Webster for a good bargain last year.

I think precluding finding the next Webster was the biggest failure of this offseason. I like what Webster brings when healthy, but I think the Wizards were in a position to negotiate a stronger deal. 1 season at the full mle would have been a decent opening offer. I think the threat was another team offering the full taxpayer mle, rather than a deal similar to what eg gave him.

[mhd]

I was fine with Martell resigning. Zach Lowe (which I think Dat pointed a link to) wrote a good article evaluating the early FA deals:

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-trian ... ree-agency

Lowe likes the deal, even acknowledging the potential injury issues.

[dckingsfan]

I think precluding finding the next Webster was the biggest failure of this offseason.

Exactly - and that should have been in terms of a PG instead of Maynor - IMO.

[The Consiglieri]

I can't recall a single quality contract he's resigned a player for over the past decade, every single one of them was an idiotic overpay, one wonders what might have happened if Blatche hadn't killed part of his market value with another run in the for the law leading up to his free agency several years ago.

EG resigned Haywood to a very good deal. He resigned Butler to a good deal. He resigned Jamison to a deal that I thought was an overpayment, but it turned out that he was able to move Jamison and his contract for cap relief and a pick so EG was proven right. EG also had the wisdom NOT to match Hughes or Jeffries.

Let's not rewrite history here. EG doesn't always screw up. I think he's pretty bad in the first round of the draft (or particularly in his willingness to trade draft picks), but I think, on balance, he's fairly average in playing the free agency market.

Fair play, good examples, I suppose it would be more accurate to say his greatest weakness is in making judgments in this area AND its gotten worse over time, as I can't recall any quality decisions on resignings going back at least six years or thereabouts. But yes, tip of the cap, good contra examples there. Not sure why its gone the other way, maybe ownership related?

[dckingsfan]

Look at what Grunwald did in NY last year with Prigioni and Copeland... they are out there, you just have to find them.

[dckingsfan]

And let's not forget that EG may be one of the worst drafting GMs in the history of the game... yes, he can get himself out of jams that he creates - but he does create the jams.

[The Consiglieri]

And let's not forget that EG may be one of the worst drafting GMs in the history of the game... yes, he can get himself out of jams that he creates - but he does create the jams.

This isn't really true. As much as I loathe the stupid picks, and there are a ton, he's also landed players that were massive values where he picked them:

'05: Blatche 2nd round
'07: Nick Young 1st round
'08: J. McGee 1st round
'

The Pecherov pick was a not surprising bust, the Vesely and Singleton picks also busts.

Wall and Beal were palpable hits, though not overly difficult ones.

From my vantage point he actually looks about average. The issue is that he has wasted every single asset of the rebuild save for the simplest of ones to execute, and the value picks several years ago, while value, were also chemistry killing picks, as none of the 3 were foundational players with a personality tailored for buying in to a team concept.

[dckingsfan]

And let's not forget that EG may be one of the worst drafting GMs in the history of the game... yes, he can get himself out of jams that he creates - but he does create the jams.

This isn't really true. As much as I loathe the stupid picks, and there are a ton, he's also landed players that were massive values where he picked them:

'05: Blatche 2nd round
'07: Nick Young 1st round
'08: J. McGee 1st round
'

The Pecherov pick was a not surprising bust, the Vesely and Singleton picks also busts.

Wall and Beal were palpable hits, though not overly difficult ones.

From my vantage point he actually looks about average. The issue is that he has wasted every single asset of the rebuild save for the simplest of ones to execute, and the value picks several years ago, while value, were also chemistry killing picks, as none of the 3 were foundational players with a personality tailored for buying in to a team concept.

I did an analysis before of all his picks... basically it came out that if you just rolled the dice on his picks you would have come out way ahead. And sadly, IQ and Bball IQ is not a part of Grunfeld's draft decisions. Subtract the Wall and Beal picks and it is really bad... So yes, it is true - IMO.

I like this rant even though it isn't mine: http://www.fireerniegrunfeld.com/p/blog-page_27.html

[doclinkin]

I think precluding finding the next Webster was the biggest failure of this offseason.

Exactly - and that should have been in terms of a PG instead of Maynor - IMO.

I dunno, young veteran, reputation of good talent that does not yet match their production, traded a few times already despite the rep. Career development derailed by injury, low signing price, good character, well liked by teammates. Who does that sound like: Webster last year, or Maynor this year?

[dckingsfan]

I think precluding finding the next Webster was the biggest failure of this offseason.

Exactly - and that should have been in terms of a PG instead of Maynor - IMO.

I dunno, young veteran, reputation of good talent that does not yet match their production, traded a few times already despite the rep. Career development derailed by injury, low signing price, good character, well liked by teammates. Who does that sound like: Webster last year, or Maynor this year?

REALLY hope you are right!

[Kanyewest]

Bottomline, I think the rush to keep Webster is that he's a shooter which is especially valuable with John Wall who penetrates and kicks out to open shooters. I'm wondering though what the alternative would have been if the Wizards didn't resign Webster- especially since EG did find Webster for a good bargain last year.

I think precluding finding the next Webster was the biggest failure of this offseason. I like what Webster brings when healthy, but I think the Wizards were in a position to negotiate a stronger deal. 1 season at the full mle would have been a decent opening offer. I think the threat was another team offering the full taxpayer mle, rather than a deal similar to what eg gave him.

Looks like EG rewards continuity, plus the Wizards had the room to keep Webster because there are currently not many bad contracts that added up before like Antonio Daniels, Etan Thomas, Stevenson, and Darius Songailia. Ultimately this doesn't become a problem for the Wizards unless they find themselves in the position of trading picks to avoid the luxury tax (which was bad considering it was a #5 pick) or 2nd rounders for straight up cash like in 2009.

Ultimately though, looking through free agents, it's hard to identify a potential Webster in the bunch. Of course there are guys that could do well like Dorrell Wright but there is less certainty that any of them will succeed compared to Webster IMO. Hopefully the Webster deal comes with a discount to John Wall taking less than max since Wall did want Webster back.

[payitforward]

(Webster) ...doesn't bring much to the table other than shooting. That is why his PER was only 14 in his career year. If he isn't hitting 3s he isnt worth much....

That is true in a certain sense. Webster is well below average in number of shots he takes. At last year's percentages, had he taken more 3pters, his PER would have risen disproportionately. Yet... he's better than you say. A great comparison on the numbers is Danny Green. Check out how close they are:

http://www.draftexpress.com/stats.php?y ... 279%5D=279

[Jay81]

the 2014 Free agent class is not good.

Kobe is too old and ACL
Lebron is going back to Miami or Cleveland although DC would be a great landing place for him
Pierce and Dirk are too old. We dont need Deng and he has alot of miles
Granger is too banged up. gasol is on his last legs. Gay is terrible. Zach Randolph will have too many miles

the only guys i really like is Bosh,Bogut and Carmelo somewhat. Is our big FA acqusition really going to be Bosh? all the other guys love Cousins and Monore are restricted free agents.

[dckingsfan]

Hopefully the Webster deal comes with a discount to John Wall taking less than max since Wall did want Webster back.

I have a hard time believing their will be a correlation...

[Nivek]

(Webster) ...doesn't bring much to the table other than shooting. That is why his PER was only 14 in his career year. If he isn't hitting 3s he isnt worth much....

That is true in a certain sense. Webster is well below average in number of shots he takes. At last year's percentages, had he taken more 3pters, his PER would have risen disproportionately. Yet... he's better than you say. A great comparison on the numbers is Danny Green. Check out how close they are:

http://www.draftexpress.com/stats.php?y ... 279%5D=279

Webster rated above average in my stuff. He's not as good as Danny Green, but he does shoot well, and that's valuable. I'm glad he's coming back, though I would have preferred a shorter deal or one for a bit less money. The Wizards are paying full market price for him. It would be nice if the front office could negotiate a bargain instead of just buying retail for a mid-level player. I don't think it's a bad deal for the Wizards. I don't think it's a good one either. If he stays healthy and keeps shooting well (the former is much chancier than the latter), the Wizards will get fair value for the money.

[DCZards]

Like this from the Grantland article:

"Almost every core Wiz lineup featuring Webster at small forward had a positive scoring margin, and the Wizards blew the league away with John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Webster on the floor together."