{flickr/Michael Holden}

ESPN’s Chris Sheridan has a report on TrueHoop indicating that the asking price for a spare 2nd round pick starts at $1.5 million.

Sheridan writes:

Teams with multiple picks at the middle-to-bottom of the second round include Minnesota (Nos. 45 and 56), Phoenix (46 and 60) and the Lakers (Nos. 43 and 58). Financial logic would also dictate that the Knicks might have a shot at buying the No. 55 pick from the Utah Jazz, who must pay a luxury tax bill of nearly $2 million for the 2009-10 season. The Lakers ($21.4 million) and Suns ($5.04 million) also are tax-paying teams and also probably wouldn’t mind dipping into Jim Dolan’s deep pockets to help pay their bills.

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At his press conference on Thursday, Ted Leonsis made no secret how important the sale of tickets, specifically full season tickets, is to him. Leonsis said:

“I want to lead every league that we participate in in the sale of full season tickets. Having sold out arenas, arenas that rock, really help the performance of the team. It really helps to bind and bring together the passion of the city, but also serves as a proxy and a metric in how we are doing as an organization delivering services to customers.

Full season ticket holders are the lifeblood of our company. And I will tell you that we need more full season ticket holders for the Washington Wizards. I will personally drive our full season ticket holders to games. I’ll mow lawns, I’ll wash cars. We are in this together. And while I can’t promise championships, I can sincerely and honestly tell you that what is in our control is making the game experience, the value and the way we treat our customers, the best in the plans.”

In an email also sent to fans yesterday, Leonsis reiterated the idea that sports teams are a public trust. Leonsis wrote:

“It will require a group effort. I consider a sports team a public trust, and we will only reach our goals with the cooperation of our fans, staff, corporate partners and players. We have no better partners than our season-ticket holders. I look forward to getting to know you personally and all of our fans, engaging with them and understanding their concerns. One of the first things we did with the Washington Capitals was to listen intently and then take earnest, meaningful steps to improve the fan experience at our games. With your feedback, we plan to do the same with the Wizards.”

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A rundown of the best recent web links.

Ted’s Email for the Wiz

Ted Leonsis has personally responded to Washington Capitals fans writing to him at WashingtonCaps@aol.com for years. Now his job has at least doubled, his new email address for Wizards fans is TheWashWiz@aol.com. Leonsis writes on his blog:

If you want to offer up advice; share ideas; critique; ask questions; or offer up good wishes regarding the NBA and the Washington Wizards, simply email me at Thewashwiz@aol.com. I will do my best to read and respond within 24 hours.

Thanks again. Be nice. Be interactive.

John Wall & His $25 Million Reebok Deal

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It seems that D.C. can’t get enough good sports news these days. Weird.

Yesterday the Washington Nationals took Bryce Harper in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft with the first overall pick … I hear that guy’s supposed to be pretty awesome. Also, SB Nation had their official launch party for SB Nation DC, where I’ll be contributing as a weekly columnist on sports and the media. Big kudos to senior editor Mike Prada for the SB Nation DC launch by the way.

Speaking of … my first piece is up. Of course it’s about Stephen Strasburg, which brings us to Strasmas. I’ll be one of the lucky few going to Strasburg’s debut this evening. And I didn’t have to stand in line or pay scalper’s prices for tickets … just got hooked up by some cool bros who will undoubtedly be receiving some beverages of appreciation from me.

And that brings us to latest bit of good D.C. sports news … today the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Wizards to Ted Leonsis. Sure, it was a mere formality, but Washington will take all the positive formalities it can get. So a big congrats goes to Mr. Leonsis for becoming officially official and congrats to Wizards fans as well.

Speaking of Leonsis, over a month ago on his blog, Ted’s Take, he wrote that it was time to remove the Washington Mystics “Attendance Champions” banners from the rafters of the Verizon Center.

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“I know Mr. Pollin had his finger in this pie some place.”

-Ted Leonsis

While talking about pies, you might as well remember the Wizards’ draft lottery color pie and how red was the big winner. And speaking of the red, shall we begin to discuss a team color change?

Here’s a run-down of what was said about the Wizards winning the 2010 NBA Draft Lottery … with some commentary.

Flip’s Preference & The ESPN Lottery Machine

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John Wall is the Summer’s big move according to Bethlehem Shoals of NBA FanHouse. I agree … potentially.

If you eat and breathe the Washington Wizards as much as I do, you’ve considered the slim chance of crazy scenarios like the Wizards getting John Wall (via winning the draft lottery) followed by LeBron coming to play with his boy Wall in front of President Obama in D.C., along with Gil, ‘Dray, ‘Vale, Quinton, Nick and Al, and also joined by some veteran free-agents willing to sign for cheap within the remaining cap space*.

After all, LeBron is boys with Caps/Wizards owner Ted Leonsis (well, at least LBJ offered a testimonial on the back of Leonsis’ book, The Business of Happiness) and he just might realize the potential benefits of playing in an international city and forming a basketball/hockey MVP conglomerate with Alex Ovechkin. It’s not like these three parties have met or anything like that though … oh wait, the picture above.

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{flickr/Youssef Abdelaal}

Okay, so Ted Leonsis already has one quality that’s in high demand from sports fans … transparency. How many other professional sports team owners have a personal blog where they actually share candid opinion and not boring, patronizing fluff?

Now, more and more, Leonsis is expressing interest in other areas of concern for educated sports fans, especially Wizards fans … advanced statistics.

If you’ll recall, Leonsis proclaimed his belief in basketball analytics on The Mike Wise Show on 106.7 FM in early April. More recently, he reiterated his belief in statistical analysis in an interview with CSN Washington’s Russ Thaler.

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Jahidi White is a mythical creature in the lore of Washington Wizards basketball. He even has his own tribute page at WizzNutzz.com.

With the impending takeover of Ted Leonsis as sole owner of the Washington Wizards, I’ve been doing some reading/research on his ownership history lately. As a newbie in sports ownership, Leonsis was all about anxiously making a marketing splash with pizazz and glitter — hence, he signed Jaromir Jagr for $77 million and arranged Michael Jordan’s foray as a basketball executive.

Today, Leonsis refreshingly admits lessons were learned. “What I’ve come to realize is there is no substitute for planned strategy and systems, the casting of the team, the development of the team, there is no magic wand. There is no one person, one player that will change everything,” he recently told The Washington Post.

Owners, presidents and general managers rarely ‘fess up to making mistakes. Usually they tip-toe around the issue with all the deflection of an experienced politician — I believe they call it the Potomac two-step. The fact that Leonsis, like Jack Ryan in Clear and Present Danger, doesn’t dance is just one reason why Wizards fans are so excited about his reign. Transparency. In this age of rapid information dissemination, it’s the way to go. Read more »

Remember when Ted Leonsis gave Gilbert Arenas a fist pound and called him a panther?

Me neither, I wasn’t there. But Ted blogged about it … the chance encounter between him and Arenas last October when they crossed paths in the Verizon Center parking lot the day after the Wizards won their season opener in Dallas.

The interaction probably took place near where an unnamed Wizard would one day unsuccessfully attempt to return Arenas’ bag of guns to his ride, opting instead to leave them somewhere in the parking garage when he couldn’t find the car.

The interaction from Ted’s Take:

I said, “Hi Gil. You lost some weight? Tell me your secret ’cause you look great.”

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