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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[UPDATE ON TRADE, via Washington Wizards press release: "...they have acquired forward/center Ronny Turiaf, a 2013 second round pick and cash considerations from the New York Knicks along with a 2012 second round pick from the Dallas Mavericks.  The three-team deal also sends Tyson Chandler, the rights to Ahmad Nivins and the rights to Giorgos Printezis from Dallas to New York while the Mavericks will receive Andy Rautins from the Knicks and a 2012 protected second round pick from the Wizards." NOTE: cash considerations is likely $3 million, max allowed by rule.]

Accountability. That’s exactly what Ronny Turiaf brings to the Washington Wizards as they finalize a trade for the 6-10, 245 lbs. big man with the New York Knicks. Accountability and, per the video above, crazy reactions. Oh, and also, Ernie Grunfeld once again uses cap space to make out like a bandit, so it seems.

Turiaf is a 28-year old veteran (29 in January) of six NBA seasons and 358 games. In terms of size (between 6-9 and 6-11), experience (over 300 NBA games, 30 or younger), and the statistical metric, PER (between 14.2 and  14.4), Turiaf’s career could compare to the likes of Danny Schayes, Mel Turpin, LaSalle Thompson, Jahidi White or Jeff Foster. [stats via Basketball-Reference.com]

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Hi there Internet. Why yes, this here site has doled a lot of criticism toward JaVale McGee in the past X amount of time. While some of it has certainly been flagrant, it is not baseless.

However, one might counter that we have not given young McGee enough praise. This may be true and to that we will say this, he is a keeper… despite all the basketball disruption that his alter ego, I’m assuming his name is “Pierre,” has caused to the playpen of team functionality and trust. He’s not a bad kid. He is young, after all, but many times disappointingly young in comparison to some contemporaries. Still, no one said an investment in youth is easy, but it’s usually always worth it, especially given McGee’s athletic parameters.

Speaking of… let’s get back to that reported/tweeted rumor the other day from Jonathan Givony of Draft Express: Read more »

A farewell story.

Couple things to consider regarding the Wizards trade of Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong going to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Mike Bibby, Jordan Crawford, Maurice Evans and a 2011 first round draft pick…

1. Vladimir Veremeenko, the Wizards’ 48th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, a Belarusian who was probably never going to play for the Wizards anyway, has been essentially flipped for Kevin Seraphin (17th pick in the 2010 draft), $3 million cash (from Chicago in Hinrich trade), Jordan Crawford (27th pick in the 2010 draft), Mike Bibby and a 2011 draft pick (currently projected to be the 22nd pick). The presence of Hilton Armstrong and Maurice Evans are negligible in this instance. Not bad though, right?
2. It’s fallible analysis when you total the contracts of Bibby ($6,417,616) and Crawford ($1,120,440) next season versus that of Hinrich ($8 million) and say that the Wizards are only saving around $461,944. Crawford is in the second season of a rookie contract. Money slotted to be spent on him next year should be considered an investment and not considered when tallying “savings” … Might the Wizards have instead been able to purchase a late first rounder in the ’11 for $3 million? Perhaps, if you want to make that assumption. But then you’ll have to sign that player to a contract. Getting Crawford now offsets having to spend that cash, along with him being someone the Wizards were purportedly interested in, and a player who is already acclimating himself to a professional environment. Plus, as is being reported, Bibby might seek a buyout, which could end up “saving” the Wizards even more money.
3. Breaking down Jordan Crawford’s very small sample size stats this season and contemplating how he’ll fit in on a team whose parts will continue to move is useless. Remove that from the analysis … for now. Crawford comes in with a clean slate, simple as that.
4. A future first round draft pick … enough said. Looking at historical data and saying, “Well, such-and-such team or GM doesn’t have a good history of drafting late first rounders…” is, again, useless. What does that have to do with future implementation other than as an enhancement to a static argument? Exactly. Also, why should we assume that the Wizards will keep Atlanta’s late first rounder? What if it’s flipped for a higher pick, or something (someone) else? It’s easy to judge moves alone, but just as outlined in point No. 1, this move could assist the end result of subsequent moves. Pay $3 million for a pick in the low-to-mid-20s? Okay… maybe. Pay $3 million to package a pick in the low-to-mid-20s for a pick in the low teens? It could happen.
5. Why trade now? Why didn’t the Wizards wait? Maybe Hinrich’s value would have improved? Maybe another team was going to offer more? Again, assumptions are great for argument, not always so much for real world analysis. As far as we know, there were two teams that showed any real interest in Hinrich: Atlanta and the Los Angeles Lakers (and in the Lakers’ case, the interest was probably minimal) … There’s not really a better time to take advantage of a fevered trade deadline environment, especially one occurring before the CBA is set to expire in the summer. Essentially Hinrich had one suitor (because LA made no moves), and Ernie Grunfeld still drove a hard bargain of a pick and a prospect when it was previously reported that Atlanta was unwilling to give up both. Pat yourself on the back, Grunfeld … just a little bit.
6. But wasn’t Hinrich good for Wall? Sure he was. He set good examples, answered any question Wall had of him. Great. Now Wall can ask questions of Bibby (if he stays around) … or he can continue to seek advice from Sam Cassell … or I’m sure he can just call Hinrich if he really, really wants to. Sure, there is a difference between Hinrich dropping verbal knowledge versus leading by example and being that calming veteran presence on the court during play. But does that really matter in the grand scheme of things? To Wall’s personal development, maybe … some … but otherwise, the veteran intelligence factor in this specific case should not hinder a rebuilding move. Especially when other bad players seem to be dragging down the team, I’m not sure that Hinrich’s presence made that much of a difference. It’s not like he was going to slap Andray Blatche into submission like a Kevin Garnett would.

In the end, it was wholly essential to take advantage of this opportunity. It was a good trade for the Wizards (but doesn’t necessarily change the underlying opinion of the job Ernie Grunfeld has done in totality).

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Agent David Falk, decorated history with the Washington Wizards, representative for Mike Bibby. Bibby is the guy who was just traded to D.C. along with Maurice Evans, Jordan Crawford and a 2011 first round pick in exchange for Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong, who are flying high to Atlanta as I type.

The “Cold War” between Falk and the Wizards was declared over by Falk to the Washington Post’s Michael Lee last June. Abe Pollin had to pass away before the declaration was made.

So, it makes one wonder, would Falk have said, “Ernie [Grunfeld] and I will sit down” back then, during the Cold War, as he did over the phone in an interview with Comcast’s Ron Thompson on Wednesday night?

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Upon Rashard Lewis’ arrival in Washington, Flip Saunders lauded him as a professional. Ernie Grunfeld called him a lead-by-example veteran. But these terms easily get demeaned amongst the press conference speak. They are used almost too often to describe just about any veteran who is victim of a trade from contender to bottom-feeder, perhaps as a proclamation of what’s expected from them. But what Lewis has made of his new challenge several games in has given real meaning to these proclamations.

We all know what ‘professional’ means. On the surface, yes, it means you get paid to do a job. A lot of people get paid to do a job but aren’t exactly earning their money … it happens in every profession. Being ‘a’ professional is about more than just earning your keep. For NBA players, it means consistent performance on the court and measured, but worthy, comments in the locker room.

Antawn Jamison was the last professional the Wizards had with an all-star pedigree; some called him the Gentleman Jamison. He was surprisingly consistent for his age, which was only accentuated by the way his game sneaked up on you. In post game media sessions, Jamison could fill a tape recorder with clichés, but he would also give long-winded answers, so one was always sure to find a good quote in there somewhere.

Much of what got lost in the reverberations from the Gilbert Arenas trade was that in Lewis, the franchise might have found their new Jamison. But in a weird twist of circumstance, Lewis means much more to this current group. Toward the end, Jamison was hanging on to hope in an uncompromising manner. He wasn’t on a rebuilding team, he was on a broken team … and he was trying to shoulder the load amidst futility. That philosophy reared its ugly head in the form of a paltry 1.2 assists per 36 minutes for Jamison as a Wizard during 2009-10, a career-low aside from the season he won the Sixth Man of the Year Award as a Dallas Maverick.

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By now you’re aware of a report out of HoopsWorld that the Wizards are investigating trades involving Andray Blatche and/or JaVale McGee. Alex Kennedy writes:

“After suspending Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee one game for an altercation outside of a club, league sources say that the Washington Wizards will consider trading either Blatche or McGee in the coming weeks. The team will gauge interest around the league and after shopping the players, decision whether or not a trade would be the right move for the franchise.”

Of course, several outlets took this to mean such maneuvers by the Wizards were spawned as a result of the fight between Blatche and McGee (thanks to Kennedy’s wording). “In wake of fight, Wizards to gauge trade value of Blatche, McGee,” went one headline from Pro Basketball Talk; “Washington Wizards Shopping Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee After Altercation,” went another from the infamous Bleacher Report.

In the interest of getting the facts closer to what seems to be right, it’s worth mentioning that on December 24, ESPN’s Marc Stein Tweeted: Read more »

One way in which Ernie Grunfeld can be commended is that he found a situation relatively suitable for all parties, speaking of Gilbert Arenas too. And isn’t that what it’s supposed to be about? Should fans always feast on the blood of perfect-world trades and maneuvers? Or should they consider moves in their entirety? Maybe that last sentiment can only be reserved for special cases such as Arenas’ relationship with Washington, but that’s all we have to go off nonetheless.

Let’s go back to mid-November when I asked Arenas why he went from jersey No. 0 to No. 6 to No. 9…

You can’t really go through a proper rebirth unless you change cities, traditionally speaking in the professional sports world. And now that Arenas has found a warm place in Orlando outside of the rebirth canal, he has switched jerseys again, going from No. 9 to No. 1 in the spirit of Penny Hardaway.

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