Update: Wiz sign Drew Gooden to 10-day contract

[DCZards]

Yes, I would rather us search the D league for a young gun to bring off the bench. Ernie's been loading up on the Senior Citizen circuit (Gooden, Harrington and Dre) to save his job - especially since he ignored the bench in the off-season, save signing the already exiled Maynor. If it continues to work, great. I suspect it will not. But I think we can also search for a diamond in the rough as well.

You search for diamonds in the rough during the offseason or when you're tanking...not when you're fighting for a playoff seed.

[mohammed10]

Yes, I would rather us search the D league for a young gun to bring off the bench. Ernie's been loading up on the Senior Citizen circuit (Gooden, Harrington and Dre) to save his job - especially since he ignored the bench in the off-season, save signing the already exiled Maynor. If it continues to work, great. I suspect it will not. But I think we can also search for a diamond in the rough as well.

You search for diamonds in the rough during the offseason or when you're tanking...not when you're fighting for a playoff seed.

Fair enough. I can't disagree with that logic.

[closg00]

Yes, I would rather us search the D league for a young gun to bring off the bench. Ernie's been loading up on the Senior Citizen circuit (Gooden, Harrington and Dre) to save his job - especially since he ignored the bench in the off-season, save signing the already exiled Maynor. If it continues to work, great. I suspect it will not. But I think we can also search for a diamond in the rough as well.

You search for diamonds in the rough during the offseason or when you're tanking...not when you're fighting for a playoff seed.

Wrong Zard

* OKC just signed Reggie Williams to a 10-day contract (recent D_league Player of the week)
* The Heat signed DeAndre Liggins to a 10-Day Contract
* The Bulls signed Jarvis Varnado to a 10-Day Contract
* The Spur gave Malcolm Thomas 1-2? 10-Day Contracts

All ^ playoff teams, all currently using the D-league and checking players-out.

[DCZards]

Yes, I would rather us search the D league for a young gun to bring off the bench. Ernie's been loading up on the Senior Citizen circuit (Gooden, Harrington and Dre) to save his job - especially since he ignored the bench in the off-season, save signing the already exiled Maynor. If it continues to work, great. I suspect it will not. But I think we can also search for a diamond in the rough as well.

You search for diamonds in the rough during the offseason or when you're tanking...not when you're fighting for a playoff seed.

Wrong Zard

* OKC just signed Reggie Williams to a 10-day contract (recent D_league Player of the week)
* The Heat signed DeAndre Liggins to a 10-Day Contract
* The Bulls signed Jarvis Varnado to a 10-Day Contract
* The Spur gave Malcolm Thomas 1-2? 10-Day Contracts

All ^ playoff teams, all currently using the D-league and checking players-out.

I don't know about you, clos, but I'm pretty familiar with all of these ballers, especially Reggie Williams. They've all logged a decent amount of NBA minutes...maybe except for Thomas. I don't consider them unknowns or "diamonds in the rough."

[closg00]

You search for diamonds in the rough during the offseason or when you're tanking...not when you're fighting for a playoff seed.

Wrong Zard

* OKC just signed Reggie Williams to a 10-day contract (recent D_league Player of the week)
* The Heat signed DeAndre Liggins to a 10-Day Contract
* The Bulls signed Jarvis Varnado to a 10-Day Contract
* The Spur gave Malcolm Thomas 1-2? 10-Day Contracts

All ^ playoff teams, all currently using the D-league and checking players-out.

I don't know about you, clos, but I'm pretty familiar with all of these ballers, especially Reggie Williams. They've all logged a decent amount of NBA minutes...maybe except for Thomas. I don't consider them unknowns or "diamonds in the rough."

You may be familiar with most of the 4 players, but they should meet mohammed10's "young gun to bring off the bench" criterion. These are young 2nd rounders/undrafted guys who may not have been given a fair shot yet. Gerald Green anyone?

What was the Spurs motivation to give Malcolm Thomas a try-out if not to look for a "diamond in the rough"? The Spurs, never, ever stop looking for talent.

[hands11]

There was a report that Gooden wanted to wear "0" but the Zards wouldn't let him. Don't know how true that is. Gooden wore "0" when he played for the Clippers.

I could see that.

With where they are positioned for making the playoffs and Wall taking a leadership role on the team, they don't want even a little bit of Gil creeping into the discussion or mind share of fans/media.

[hands11]

Yes, I would rather us search the D league for a young gun to bring off the bench. Ernie's been loading up on the Senior Citizen circuit (Gooden, Harrington and Dre) to save his job - especially since he ignored the bench in the off-season, save signing the already exiled Maynor. If it continues to work, great. I suspect it will not. But I think we can also search for a diamond in the rough as well.

You search for diamonds in the rough during the offseason or when you're tanking...not when you're fighting for a playoff seed.

Wrong Zard

* OKC just signed Reggie Williams to a 10-day contract (recent D_league Player of the week)
* The Heat signed DeAndre Liggins to a 10-Day Contract
* The Bulls signed Jarvis Varnado to a 10-Day Contract
* The Spur gave Malcolm Thomas 1-2? 10-Day Contracts

Right. All established playoff teams and 3 of them are the records in the league. That's different then a Wizards team trying to establish themselves.

The Wizards already have young players they need to look at. Adding more isn't the right move. Adding vets was.
All ^ playoff teams, all currently using the D-league and checking players-out.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Well looks like he's staying at least another 10 days...

He played good against Utah. Seems to be fitting in well.

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

I know it's stupid, but something about a player wearing a high jersey number makes me feel like they don't give a f*ck. Whenever I see number #90 on the court I feel like he doesn't care.

What's the best player-season by someone who wore a number greater than or equal to 60? Ron Artest in 05-06 is all I got. What are some other good ones?

As Pancakes pointed out there's Dennis Rodman. But in general terms, he probably also "didn't give a f*ck."
(Also, why isn't his # retired?...)

[mohammed10]

Well looks like he's staying at least another 10 days...

He played good against Utah. Seems to be fitting in well.

Looks like Uncle Drew may be around a bit longer...

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... th-Wizards

[jangles86]

I'm rooting for him. He sounds like a passionate guy

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

He was outstanding last night. Not sure we win that one without him.

[GhostsOfGil]

There was a report that Gooden wanted to wear "0" but the Zards wouldn't let him. Don't know how true that is. Gooden wore "0" when he played for the Clippers.

I could see that.

With where they are positioned for making the playoffs and Wall taking a leadership role on the team, they don't want even a little bit of Gil creeping into the discussion or mind share of fans/media.

That's absurd. Hopefully the real reason is because they plan on retiring Gils jersey.

[hands11]

There was a report that Gooden wanted to wear "0" but the Zards wouldn't let him. Don't know how true that is. Gooden wore "0" when he played for the Clippers.

I could see that.

With where they are positioned for making the playoffs and Wall taking a leadership role on the team, they don't want even a little bit of Gil creeping into the discussion or mind share of fans/media.

That's absurd. Hopefully the real reason is because they plan on retiring Gils jersey.

Not sure why you would find it absurd. Its actually pretty common sense logic. You might not agree because you are a Gil fan, but that isn't what the organization would be focused on. They want Gil behind them. They want Wall and Beal in front of them. And they want as much distance between the two as possible.

I doubt they hold much fondness for Gil given what he did wrong and what he put the franchise though. He was given the keys to the city, franchise, a huge max contract, and he betrayed that trust. Kind of like you going away for the weekend and trust your kids to the house and while were gone, they burn you house down. And you still contractually have to play their allowance and college tuition.

I don't expect them to do anything to embrace Gil for a long long time... If ever.

And the Zero number was Gils calling card. Agent Zero. I don't think they want that number on the court right now. Maybe in 5 years if have been a winning team and that stuff is all long behind them.

Far from absurd Ghost of Gil, it actually makes perfect sense. But I understand why you wouldn't like it if you are a Gil fan.

[LyricalRico]

He was outstanding last night. Not sure we win that one without him.

Yep, he's def provided a boost. Nice signing.

[hands11]

I'm rooting for him. He sounds like a passionate guy

Yeah. I'm liking his fit here.

He is more physical in the post then Gortat. He made some nice rebounds when we really needed them against MIL. His shooting form looks really good from outside. And he has a ton of experience which we still needed more of in the post.

As a Nene replacement, he isn't bad at all. Better shooting range. Better FT shooter.
6-10 250. A decent rebounder. And he seems to play focused.

He has bounced around a lot and swept up in other moves teams where making, but he isn't a bad player.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_Gooden

Here is a little Gooden history for those that don't know or have gotten rusty on where he went and why.

Its looking like a really solid add by EG. He just might fit here. Sometimes timing is really important.

[fishercob]

Gooden may me our karmic payback for Andray Blatche.

He's been way, way too productive throughout his career to not be on a roster -- particularly at just 32; he's only a year older than Nene!

So the fact that he was out of basketball was likely due to personality/off-court stuff. Teams must have felt that whatever distractions he brought didn't justify the productivity. And perhaps (and hopefully) he realized that he missed the game -- the locker room, the competition, and maybe The Life -- and that he had to clean up his act to get back in.

So now, we may have a humbled and hungry guy who has stared his professional basketball mortality in the mirror and wants to keep that flame flickering as long as possible.

He's a really competent, viable backup big and I think he'll help in the playoffs. Gooden is getting paid big money by the Bucks next year via amnesty, so hopefully the Wiz can bring him back for the minimum. He's a much, much, better player than Al Harrington.

[FAH1223]

Gooden may me our karmic payback for Andray Blatche.

He's been way, way too productive throughout his career to not be on a roster -- particularly at just 32; he's only a year older than Nene!

So the fact that he was out of basketball was likely due to personality/off-court stuff. Teams must have felt that whatever distractions he brought didn't justify the productivity. And perhaps (and hopefully) he realized that he missed the game -- the locker room, the competition, and maybe The Life -- and that he had to clean up his act to get back in.

So now, we may have a humbled and hungry guy who has stared his professional basketball mortality in the mirror and wants to keep that flame flickering as long as possible.

He's a really competent, viable backup big and I think he'll help in the playoffs. Gooden is getting paid big money by the Bucks next year via amnesty, so hopefully the Wiz can bring him back for the minimum. He's a much, much, better player than Al Harrington.

Wow. The Bucks gave him a 5 year deal in 2010

Crazy.

But yeah, if he'd come back for the minimum while getting his usual check from MIL, I wouldn't mind him on the roster next year. He's always been a good rebounder.

[dobrojim]

I'm eating crow after calling him Drew Bad'un after his first (inauspicious) game.
The last 2 he's been a freakin revelation off the bench. Wasn't he like a top 5
lottery pick when he came in the league? Whatever it was, I/we shouldn't delude
ourselves. That was a long time ago. Still could be a serviceable backup though, quite
possibly better than KSera. QueSeraSera, Kev.

[pancakes3]

Gooden was #4 in an above average 2002 draft that yielded Yao Ming, Amare Stoudemire, Boozer, Nene, Caron, and ared effries. There are some decent role players still floating around from that draft like Matt Barnes, Dunleavy, and Scola.

I think 3 things are working in Gooden's favor right now. One, he's got low mileage on a young (Sept birthday) 32 year old body. Counting the lockout, he hasn't played a full season since 2010 and even then it was only at 25mpg. Two, he's not being asked to do very much. Playing 15 mpg against below average competition isn't asking very much for a 32 year old former lottery pick. The aforementioned Scola, Kenyon Martin, Boris Diaw, Verajao and others are 31-33 year olds doing the same thing to varying degrees. Lastly, he's got Andre Miller running the show. Miller's putting up 9 assists per 36.

Like I said earlier, you could do a lot worse than Gooden on a 10-day. Scola's getting 4 mil. Diaw's getting 4.7 mil. Verajao's getting 9.7 to play sub-50 games for the last 4 seasons.