[Heaven is a playground in Oklahoma City--and perhaps Wizards fans will get there, one day.
Hat-tip SpreeGoogs.]

A word of warning: I’m Truth About It’s resident pessimist. You may remember me from such posts as “Memo to NBA: Contract the Wizards” and “Clearly, God Hates DC Basketball Fans.” (OK, I made that second one up.)

But I don’t feel like a pessimist today. Just a realist.

Kyle and John have artfully explained why the big Emeka Okafor-Trevor Ariza-Rashard Lewis deal is a net good for the Wiz.

Still, I think we need to go by a simple question: What Would Oklahoma City Do?

Answer: Not this.

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Well, we had a trade.

On an off day between NBA Finals Games 4 and 5, involving the team formerly owned by the NBA, the New Orleans Hornets, and the model of NBA asphyxiation in the nation’s capital, the Washington Wizards, we had a trade.

Between the two cities in the U.S. I love most, we had a trade.

With Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor coming to D.C. in exchange for Rashard Lewis and the 46th overall pick in 2012, we had a trade.

Lot’s of questions, let’s FAQ… with myself (@Truth_About_It), along with some helpful additions from TAI’s John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend), as well as some thoughts on the incoming Hornets from Jason Calmes, writer for the ESPN TrueHoop blog, Hornets 24/7 (@hornets247). Read more »

It’s been about three weeks since the Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets collaborated to exchange parts. The Wizards gave up Nick Young, JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf and got Nene, Brian Cook, and a 2015 second round draft pick belonging to the New Orleans Hornets (via the L.A. Clippers) in return. Los Angeles received Young in exchange for Cook and the second rounder, and Denver received McGee and Turiaf in exchange for Nene. The Nuggets soon thereafter waived Turiaf, who then signed with the Miami  Heat. To check in on the aftermath of this trade, I turned to some authorities for the involved franchises for commentary. Nick Flynt (@ClipperBlogNick) of ClipperBlog, Jeremy Wagner (@RoundballMiner) of Roundball Mining Company, Sean Fagan (@McCarrick) of Bullets Forever, and Kevin Arnovitz (@KevinArnovitz) of ESPN.com/TrueHoop drop some knowledge on the Clippers, Nuggets, Wizards and Heat respectively. Read on…

L.A. CLIPPERS

Intro: The Clippers had to know what they were getting with Nick Young, right? In 1,211 minutes with Washington this season, Young had a FG% of 0.406 and an eFG% of 0.468; he also picked up 1.4 assists per 36 minutes. In his hometown of Los Angeles, Young’s FG% has dropped to 0.373, his eFG% to 0.444, and his assists/36 to 1.0. With a nice recent run of eight wins to one loss (vs. the Lakers), the Clippers are 9-4 since Young made his debut (although, 0-3 when Young starts). So… how’s that trade working out? (Bonus if you miss Brian Cook.)

NICK FLYNT – ClipperBlog:

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[Cartier Martin gets a shove from Kevin Garnett - photo: K. Weidie, via this post]

Cartier Martin just signed a 10-day contract with the Washington Wizards, and he is already their best 3-point shooter (with apologies to Trevor Booker).

You see, Cook Book is shooting 50-percent from deep this year, but he’s only taken two 3-pointers, and neither were of the traditional variety, rather very long distance attempts in late clock situations. (Booker hit a 35-footer right before halftime against the Los Angeles Lakers at home.)

Otherwise, Roger Mason leads the Wizards, shooting 36.9-percent from deep on 103 attempts. (The departed Nick Young would technically lead Washington with 37.1-percent from deep on 197 attempts.) Mo Evans, who has seen just 200 minutes in 17 games, is currently second on the team with 34.5-percent on 29 attempts, rookie Shelvin Mack is shooting 33.3-percent on 36 attempts, and rookie Chris Singleton is shooting 32.6-percent on 92 attempts. Jordan Crawford leads the Wizards in 3-point attempts with 205, but is shooting just 28.6-percent on those.

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[Note: I recent wrote a JaVale McGee scouting report of sorts for the ESPN TrueHoop Network blog Roundball Mining Company, check it out. In turn, Jeremy Wagner (@RoundballMiner) provides the readers of TAI with the below scouting report on Nene, who is set to make his debut against the New Jersey Nets tonight. Enjoy Jeremy's writing, contemplate Nene's presence. Oh yea... the picture of Nene below. It was tweeted by the official @WashWizards Twitter account with the message: "Nene and the #Wizards on their way to New Jersey. Nene expected to make his #Wizards debut in tmrw nights #WizNets game." -- I find this picture to be so fascinating, yet I can't explain why without sounding ominous. Carry on...]

Nene: The Scouting Report

by Jeremy Wagner, Roundball Mining Company

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[Nene Hilario's reaction to the trade? Here's hoping. Courtesy of SI Vault.]

JaVale and Nick Young go. Nene arrives.

Economist Tyler Cowen said in five words what I’m going to say in 250.

Pareto improvement for the Wizards, espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id…

— tylercowen (@tylercowen) March 15, 2012

Indeed. This trade was good for everyone–but especially for the Wiz.

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Remember Gilbert Arenas’ final act as a Washington Wizard? It wasn’t pretty. It was self-destructiveness with a premonition. JaVale McGee’s exit act is not as egregious, but it’s so JaVale, with a twist of Wizards past to boot.

There were about 70 seconds left in Tuesday’s game at Dallas, the Mavericks holding a 107-96 lead. McGee blocked a Jason Terry shot and sprinted his hardest in the other direction, leaving his teammates to recover the ball. Jordan Crawford did, and he pushed it, eventually finding himself and McGee with a 2-on-1 advantage… Could the result be anything other than a lob dunk?

Unfortunately the oft-absent concentration was broken, McGee missed the easy dunk. Would it have made a difference in the outcome? You can never be sure (in most situations), but McGee didn’t play like that. He played within himself, as if that next offensive possession or that next block opportunity was his and his alone, and not a collection of game possessions that belonged to the team.

After McGee craned his neck to see the ball bounce behind him, he came down from high after his missed dunk and worked to run back uphill on defense. Meanwhile, former teammate Brendan Haywood, a guy who gave the impression that he wasn’t really a fan of McGee during Haywood’s own last playing days as a Wizard, positioned himself just so… in a manner to provide McGee with one last parting shot, former Wizard to future former Wizard.

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Nene dunks on JaVale…

… And then kicks it with him.

[photos: K. Weidie, Truth About It.net]

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[With the Trailblazers in D.C. tonight, looking back at when a single trade helped both franchises. Before the deal, a young 'Sheed standing tall in the District. Photo: SI Vault.]

It’s NBA trade season. But there’s one kind of trade you shouldn’t expect.

The heads-up, big-name deal.

Dwight for Dwyane. Pau for Josh.

It’s got a playground sort of feel to it: You give me your guy; I give you mine. Maybe we throw in some spare parts to make it even.

But there hasn’t been a great one in 15 years. Not since Rasheed for Rod.

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This won’t be any easier for you than it is for us.

What you are about to read is a hypothetical conversation between a representative of the player personnel management of the Washington Wizards and of the San Antonio Spurs. Those representatives could be Ernie Grunfeld and R.C. Burford, they could be anyone. Their roles are, however, played by Kyle Weidie of Truth About It.net and Tim Varner of TrueHoop Spurs blog 48 Minutes of Hell. Their conversation is about Andray Blatche.

MONDAY, JANUARY 16

[The Spurs are currently 9-3, having beaten the Phoenix Suns at home by 11 on Sunday; the Wizards are 1-11, having lost to the Philadelphia for the second time in a row on Saturday.]

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