Update: Wiz sign Drew Gooden to 10-day contract

[GhostsOfGil]

Hands I was jk man. Can't say I disagree with your original post.

[verbal8]

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.

There definitely is something beyond the court to explain his career. Even if his stats are a bit "empty" and his defense a knock, most teams would figure a decent big was worth a long term contract.

One question I have is why if he was available at the beginning of the year, wasn't he considered rather than dealing a 1st rounder for Gortat. Not saying he will be as productive as Gortat, but a cost of zero vs. a 1st rounder and millions of dollars, it seems the low cost solution is worth a shot.

If it doesn't work out I bet the Gortat deal is still on the table. Maybe the price on Asik drops? The trade value of Okafor's contract could only increase, if you really want to get crazy(and had to win-now), the imploding Lakers might have given up Gasol for Okafor's contract and the pick.

[mohammed10]

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.

dobrojim- I am also eating crow. I was calling for a D-league call up, but after seeing the Real Uncle Drew play the last couple of games, he is looking like a servicable back-up 4.

I have to give him his props...EG did ok with this move

[Ruzious]

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.

Blatche is a great comparison to Gooden - even down to being amnestied.

[verbal8]

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.

Blatche is a great comparison to Gooden - even down to being amnestied.

Maybe Gooden will have "Lap Dance Tuesday" on Wednesday.

[jivelikenice]

Gooden can shoot, but the corner 3 range was a surpise. You could tell his legs aren't all the way back yet but he's a solid player and there's no reason to think he can be a rotation player off the bench for the rest of this season and next. In regards to the amnesty, basically we can sign him to the minimum and Milwaukee would pick up the rest of the tab, right?

[Ruzious]

Gooden can shoot, but the corner 3 range was a surpise. You could tell his legs aren't all the way back yet but he's a solid player and there's no reason to think he can be a rotation player off the bench for the rest of this season and next. In regards to the amnesty, basically we can sign him to the minimum and Milwaukee would pick up the rest of the tab, right?

My understanding is the Wizards picking him up does not reduce the tab Milwaukee has to pay. I believe Gooden effectively gets to double-dip.

[DCZards]

dobrojim- I am also eating crow. I was calling for a D-league call up, but after seeing the Real Uncle Drew play the last couple of games, he is looking like a servicable back-up 4.

I have to give him his props...EG did ok with this move

Gooden is similar to A. Miller in that he never relied on great athleticism, but on positioning and craftiness, to do what he does best. That's one of the reasons Drew continues to be a pretty good rebounder, especially on the offensive end.

Guys like Gooden and Miller often continue to make oncourt contributions well into their 30s...when other guys their age who relied on athleticism are out of the league.

[Nivek]

Gooden can shoot, but the corner 3 range was a surpise. You could tell his legs aren't all the way back yet but he's a solid player and there's no reason to think he can be a rotation player off the bench for the rest of this season and next. In regards to the amnesty, basically we can sign him to the minimum and Milwaukee would pick up the rest of the tab, right?

My understanding is the Wizards picking him up does not reduce the tab Milwaukee has to pay. I believe Gooden effectively gets to double-dip.

The amount Milwaukee pays get reduced by the amount the Wizards paying.

[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.

Blatche is a great comparison to Gooden - even down to being amnestied.

That;s why I made the comparison. We cut Dray loose only to watch him be a productive player in Brooklyn. Hopefully we are getting some of that back via Gooden (and for a fraction of the cap space).

[Ruzious]

Gooden can shoot, but the corner 3 range was a surpise. You could tell his legs aren't all the way back yet but he's a solid player and there's no reason to think he can be a rotation player off the bench for the rest of this season and next. In regards to the amnesty, basically we can sign him to the minimum and Milwaukee would pick up the rest of the tab, right?

My understanding is the Wizards picking him up does not reduce the tab Milwaukee has to pay. I believe Gooden effectively gets to double-dip.

The amount Milwaukee pays get reduced by the amount the Wizards paying.

I defer to you. I had read something about it being one-half the difference between the player's new salary and the minimum salary. Actually, I think it said the minimum salary for a 1 year vet - which would make it an involved calculation if a vet of Gooden's experience has a higher minimum than a 1 year vet - since you'd presumably have to pro rate the numbers.

[Ruzious]

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.

Blatche is a great comparison to Gooden - even down to being amnestied.

That;s why I made the comparison. We cut Dray loose only to watch him be a productive player in Brooklyn. Hopefully we are getting some of that back via Gooden (and for a fraction of the cap space).

Even their names sound close - Dray and Drew. Stylistically, they both seem to think offenses should be built around them, defensively are... terrible, and both would have trouble jumping over a pre-internet era phone book.

[Upper Decker]

It annoys me that Gooden has two goodish games against two of the worst teams in the league and it seems like the world is anointing GMEG a mastermind for scooping him up. Awesome EG, you constructed the roster so poorly you're literally scraping the bottom of the barrel to save the season by going all in on a 13 year vet who hasn't played a meaningful NBA minute since 2009. Stroke of genius!

[Kanyewest]

It annoys me that Gooden has two goodish games against two of the worst teams in the league and it seems like the world is anointing GMEG a mastermind for scooping him up. Awesome EG, you constructed the roster so poorly you're literally scraping the bottom of the barrel to save the season by going all in on a 13 year vet who hasn't played a meaningful NBA minute since 2009. Stroke of genius!

The move by itself is a good move so far has been a good move. I agree this doesn't make up for what EG has done (ie the 2011 NBA draft). Still, who knows if the Wizards pull out a win against the Bucks without Gooden's contribution.

We'll see if Gooden is worth keeping around. I agree that 2 games is a small sample size. For the most part though, Gooden is going to get those kinds of shots even against good teams (other than perhaps the top notch defensive teams like the Bulls and Grizzlies).

[payitforward]

Dollar for dollar, it's possible that signing Drew Gooden has been the best move Ernie has made -- maybe ever?

What have we paid him? About $50,000 I think -- and you can argue that he's already won one game for us. If you could a win for every $50K you paid out... you could have a team full of guys off the scrap heap and win a title!

Imagine if we still had James Singleton!!

In retrospect, it now seems obvious why we didn't pick Nerlens Noel. Drew Gooden was working out at our facility; we had him in our back pocket.

When you can influence the present just by pointing your finger at a scrap heap freebie, why ever would you worry about the future? Why care how poorly you drafted? Just trade away your picks!! Or be really clever -- pick someone bad enough that you can trade him for a player some other team is dying to get rid of because they *are* focused on the future. Voila you have Andre Miller!

Humor aside, like the rest of you I'm loving Drew Gooden right now! And yes we do need to give Ernie some props for his scrap heap work. And yeah I do wish we had James Singleton too!

[payitforward]

Here's something about Drew I just thought of:

He played well vs. the Heat last night. Do you think Pat Riley is on the phone w/ his agent right now? "Tell Drew he doesn't need to sign another contract w/ the Wizards. He can come play for us -- and take home a ring!"

[nate33]

Man, a Drew Gooden with 3-point range really does solve a lot of roster problems. It gives us credible veteran depth and a stretch-four who can also rebound. He doesn't defend, but most stretch fours don't defend well so that's pretty par for the course. I don't expect him to remain this hot from the floor (TS% of .625, PER of 24) but if he sticks to open jumpers and tries to shoot more from just outside the arc, maybe he can settle into a TS% in the .570 range or so, which is fine for a backup.

Basically, he's what we hoped Al Harrington would be in a best-case scenario, plus some actual rebounding ability. If I was Wittman, I'd get him behind the 3-point line and utilize him like Miami uses Bosh.

Going forward, I think he could round out our rotation quite nicely. He can play alongside Gortat, Nene or Booker. I think our chances of resigning him are really good since he lives in the area and it's clear that he works well in our system. (Remember, his long term goal will be to look good and post good numbers so that he can sign a new contract in Summer 2015 when his Milwaukee contract expires). Milwaukee will pay his salary next year so he should only cost us the vet minimum.

I still wish we had at least one promising young prospect in our front court, but there's nothing we can do about it now. I still say the best plan is to keep the current group around for 2 years, and then try and reload with 2016 free agents. That means we overpay Ariza to get him to agree to a 2-year deal, and we sign Gortat to a 4-year deal structured to minimize the cap hit in 2016. At some point down the road, we trade Webster for a contract that expires in 2016 (or he gets hurt and misses 62 of the next 182 games and his contract becomes voidable).

[jivelikenice]

Drew should be starting at the 4 once his legs get under him. Booker - as usual - gets exposed and sticks out like a sore thumb the longer he stays in the lineup. How many posssessions over the past week has he looked awkwardly lost and in the way standing 18 ft from the hoop. Of course this is when coach mantra kicks in and Wittman will take that "if it ain't broke don't fix it approach".....

[AFM]

Gooden a BEAST

[808guy]

Worth another look?