Following up on part one of Flip Saunders’ meet-n-greet session with fans, I present his top ten quotes of the night (plus one to grow on, so eleven):

#11

“Whether JaVale McGee plays the four of the five depends on who he can guard.”

#10

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flickr/kris247

When the San Antonio Spurs asked Ernie Grunfeld what it would take to get the 5th pick in June 25th’s draft, Grunfeld simply responded, “Manu Ginobili,” or so goes the purported story relayed by the Washington Post’s Michael Lee.

Despite Ginobili’s old age and injury issues, sounds like a pretty absurd counter request (assuming only expiring contracts/low value players would accompany the pick) for one of the top gamers in the NBA. Spurs brass certainly would not expect to give up one of their top three stars for a pick in what most are saying is a down draft.

Grunfeld is not ridiculous, nor is he stupid. He’s just playing hardball knowing the pick will only increase in value heading up to the draft. Case in point would be the hype surrounding Stephen Curry and interest from the Knicks to possibly trade up to get him (amongst Wizards’ threats to draft Curry themselves). Whether Grunfeld’s old team would deal with him might be another story.

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The internets are ablaze with one specific Wizards trade rumor today.

That trade: JaVale McGee and the #5 pick go to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the #3 pick. The Wizards would then select heartthrob Ricky Rubio and if for some reason he’s not available, the Wiz would “settle” for Hasheem Thabeet.

[via Chad Ford on ESPN then Bullets Forever]

Reaction Process: Read more »

To see all 14 of the NBA Draft Lottery faces, head over to Hardwood Paroxysm.

What “They” Are Saying:

Tom Knott: No Griffin, no Rubio and no luck – Washington Times

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David Stern’s Dream Scenario:
Blake Griffin to the Wizards and Ricky Rubio to the Knicks
(that’s right, Stern would rather Griffin in DC than OKC)

Well folks, we made it … to NBA Draft Lottery evening. It’s been a while since I’ve cared about one of these. Four years of Wizards playoff action did it’s job to erase some of the memories. And when the Wizards last won the lottery in ’01, I was away in college, a bit lost in my following of the team.

Part of me has been somewhat giddy as I’ve gone through today, knowing that there is a chance. But then again, I’m a Wizards fan … I’m pretty sure we will NOT be landing in the top two. Guess finding a balance between these two is keeping medium, as Jim Zorn would advise.

I’m not really a superstitious person … no consistent lucky charms, just an odd infatuation with May 19th (so much so that I ran the ESPN lottery machine 19 times today, results below).

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Seriously. It’s supposed to be the EENNN BEEEE AAAAA playoffs. Teams send messages to each other. Let it be.

Instead, NBA refs get to be the ones sending messages. Is that what fans want? Doubt it.

So I’m watching Ron Artest, who was having a terrible ‘crazy pills = horrible shot selection’ Ron Artest kind of night in the first place, get kicked out of game three in Houston with a flagrant 2 for no apparent reason.

Hard foul on softy Gasol, no biggie … just a sharp knock of the ball out Pau’s hands, the Euro goes flop-flying, and all of a sudden it’s D-Day. Artest gets kicked out because there is less than a minute on the clock, the Lakers have the game in hand, and because he’s Ron Artest.

“I don’t think that was a flagrant …. You know, I’m an 80s baby, so that shoulda been two shots and be done with it.” -Kobe Bryant

Back to game two.

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[photo source: flickr/dskciado]

This is Eduardo Alonso Nájera Pérez, a Mexican victim. Probably not of the swine flu, but definitely a victim of capitalist America’s NBA luxury tax, which is designed in a rather socialist manner to penalize those who spend more money.

Many have wondered where Denver would be if they still had Marcus Camby, who was sold to the Clippers for a 2nd round pick. But watching the energy, hustle, and scrapiness of the Nuggets, led by the Birdman Anderson, it’s easy to see how a big like Nájera might fit better than the frail Camby.

Nuggets coach George Karl hated to see the Big Mexican sign a 4-year $12 million contract with the Nets this past summer, but Kiki had an edict from cost-cutting owner Stan Kroenke (even though anyone might question giving that much to a 32-year old). Still, Kroenke and his wife, a Wal-Mart heir, are both on the Forbes billionaires list (Kroenke is ranked 205 and worth a meager $3 billion).

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U dead cat.

Hey you!….jerk Wizards fan (pointing to myself in mirror)….What, you have nothing to look forward to? (aside from the season ending)

Oh…I forgot, you’re all jazzed about Gilbert Arenas playing on Saturday. Keep it in your pants hot shot, that’s a ‘believe it when you see it’ situation.

I’m not talking three days from now, I’m talking TONIGHT!

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First of all, I’d like to thank all who participated in this the 5th round of NBA blogger MVP/ROY voting, the first of 2009. I’m honored to have been the host. Second, the esteemed panel:

• College Wolf from TWolvesBlog.com
• J.D. Mo from The Bob Boozer Jinx
• Fish from DallasBasketball.com
• Matt from Hardwood Paroxysm
• Jared from Both Teams Played Hard
• Dave from The Dream Shake
• Daniel from LA Ball Talk
• Don from With Malice
• James from Dino Nation Blog
• Mookie from A Stern Warning
• Jonny from The Lakers Nation
• John from Red’s Army
• RockKing from Waiting For Next Year
• Wyn from Canis Hoopus
• Ben from Blazer’s Edge
• Royce from The Thunder World
• Kyle (Me) from Truth About It

Previous Rounds:

• Round 1: Hoops Addict
• Round 2: Upside & Motor
• Round 3: The Dream Shake
• Round 4: Raptors HQ
• Home Base: Brew Hoop

Without further ado, here goes……

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I’m going to get more down on Javaris Crittenton in the future, among others (Dee Brown, and of course, Antonio Daniels), in the wake of today’s big trade (well, maybe not “big” in the grand scale of all things NBA, or even your fantasy team….but big for the Wizards’ point guard situation), but wanted to post something quick in the interim. You can also go to Bullets Forever to join the trade discussion.

Crittenton is the big “get”…some are saying “steal”…for the Wizards. But until I’m able to do a more exhaustive write-up on the former Yellow Jacket/Laker/Grizzly/high school teammate of Dwight Howard, I wanted to remind everyone that Javaris Crittenton has once walked in the shoes of Gilbert Arenas, literally.

From a June 2008 story in the Washington Times, “Arenas’ shoes are on other feet” –

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