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.]

SAN ANTONIO, 10 AM:

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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]

Okay, so those comparisons aren’t exactly ones to get enthused over. But what do you expect? All of the aforementioned were serviceable bench big men at one time or another in their careers, but with Turiaf, there are caveats. First, a disclaimer: Marc Berman of the New York Post is reporting that the Knicks would not receive anything in return. In fact, they might be paying the Wizards to take Turiaf off their hands. Why? New York is about to sign Tyson Chandler, and they would like to clear Turiaf’s $4.36 million salary off of their books. That salary only lasts through this 2011-12 season. The Washington Post’s Michael Lee reports on Twitter that the Wizards are possibly giving up a second round draft pick, but that could easily be similar to the non-conditional pick Grunfeld gave the Sacramento Kings for taking Dominic McGuire’s salary off Washington’s hands in February 2010 (and the Wizards under the salary cap at the time).

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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).

Now, the un-quotable Kirk Hinrich is gone. Thanks for being around.

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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?

These are the questions that shall go unanswered, but documented.

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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.

Ted Leonsis implored people to re-embrace Arenas, insisted that his team wasn’t looking to trade to maligned former star. But that was more about feel-good marketing buzz, not the type of words that make decisions. We knew this. We knew it’d be easier for Leonsis to alter his sound bites when rebuilding efforts naturally can involve decisions on the fly.

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Before a trade even went down, and as legitimate rumors made their infiltration Friday night, I somewhat contemplated the departure of Gilbert Arenas from the Washington Wizards. It was vastly incomplete, but my point was that in D.C., Arenas will be remembered for both good and bad, but mostly for the good.

As the trade became official while I was scrambling to get to the Verizon Center for the Wizards-Heat game on late Saturday afternoon, I spurted off several reactions on Twitter, but I don’t consider them as being anywhere close to complete either. The departure of someone who was so ingrained into modern D.C. basketball culture, much less franchise history, is difficult to contemplate, especially so soon. Surely many, myself included, will digest Arenas’ tenure in Washington plenty in the future … and then regurgitate and digest again.

But until then, below is one digestive attempt I made on the trade after Ernie Grunfeld’s press conference, which was held just over 100 minutes before tip-off. I had the opportunity to write this for ESPN.com’s TrueHoop blog, where you’ll also find a brief analysis of both of Orlando’s blockbuster trades from respective Magic and Suns bloggers in the TrueHoop Network. So, check out what I have to say below and be sure and get the full picture at TrueHoop.

Mr. Opportunity

In his news conference regarding the trade, Wizards team president Ernie Grunfeld spoke of the opportunity that presented itself. “Opportunities don’t come along that often in the NBA,” Grunfeld said. He later countered with, “People in this league will always want talented players, and Gilbert is a talented player.” That “always” for Arenas was evidently a closing window Grunfeld had to jump through on Dec. 18, almost two months before the NBA’s trade deadline. So why the urgency?

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Two initial thoughts upon hearing “strong” Gilbert Arenas trade rumors (via: Yahoo!, Orlando Pinstriped Post, Washington Post):

1) So what? If he’s traded, he’s traded. If he’s not, he’s not. Arenas has had a colorful past in D.C. that will always be remembered, mostly good … but it wouldn’t be colorful unless there’s some bad, and that will be remembered too.

Gilbert has come back relatively quietly this season (aside from emo acts, the fake knee injury, or shoe poop stories). Whether truly humbled, who knows, but he’s at least playing the part. The struggle with whether he should stay or go should now be released, regardless of if the rumors become true or not. People will surely struggle with how to remember him, many will dramatically paint broad pictures with broad brushes … just remember him.

It reminds me of a fight I once had with my girlfriend. It got pretty heated, and in a dead serious moment she looked up at me and said, “I hate to get all Mike Miller on you, but it is what it is.” And then the fight was pretty much over. I cracked up because she had the perfect way to break the tension, and get my attention, rending the conflict silly in the big picture. Then we moved on.

Otherwise, I know everyone would’ve liked to have that 2009 fifth overall pick and Ricky Rubio or Stephen Curry, but without Mike Miller, we wouldn’t have been able to add the absurdity of a repeated sports cliche as a way of moving on into the lexicon of this basketball franchise’s history and beyond. Thanks Mike Miller, thanks a lot.

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{photo by Adam McGinnis}

News broke during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-89 victory over the Washington Wizards that Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic will likely be traded to the New Jersey Nets. Via CBS Sports:

The first step, agreed to in principle Tuesday, is a three-team trade in which the Nets get a first-round pick from the Rockets and another one from the Lakers. New Jersey sends Terrence Williams to the Rockets and Joe Smith to the Lakers, who send Sasha Vujacic to the Nets, the people familiar with the framework of the deal said.

Vujacic, nicknamed the “Machine”, had fallen out of the Lakers’ rotation this season with the new additions of Steve Blake, Matt Barnes and the improved play of Shannon Brown.

The trade cannot officially go through until Wednesday, so Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson was unable to comment in his post game presser, but he did slyly remark that they could us a big guy named John Doe in a hypothetical question about adding Joe Smith.

Vujacic dressed in uniform for the game, did not play, and there was speculation that he might have known about his pending departure from Los Angeles. A local L.A. reporter was able to corral Sasha for comment as he exited the visiting locker room. To the disbelief of several media members, Sasha was just notified of a potential trade by Lakers PR director John Black and had not even spoken to his agent because of spotty cell service.

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The Wizards take on the Raptors in Toronto tonight, still aiming to win their first road game of the year … and they’ll be doing it without Hilton Armstrong.

In a November 24 poll, when the Wizards were 0-6 on the road instead of the current 0-8, 33-percent of voters said the Wizards would notch their first road win tonight against the Raps. My dad recently told me that he thought the Wiz would get their first roadie in Sacramento — in that case, you’ll have to wait until December 8, when the Wizards would face the Kings with an 0-11 record on the road. The NBA: Where Amazing Happens.

Anyway…

Let’s look back and break down the play of the night from Monday’s game versus the Miami Heat. This one involves none other than Gilbert Arenas and Andray Blatche running a pick-and-roll, one where Blatche actually rolls to the basket. Imagine that.

Also imagine something else for a second … the Orlando Magic discussing a Vince Carter for Arenas swap with the Wizards, at least this is what’s being reported by the Orlando Pinstripped Post (h/t: Bullets Forever), also indicating that the trade could involve Blatche, Rashard Lewis and Daniel Orton as well. Read more »

[Editor's note: This is the second piece on TAI by John Townsend, check out his first one here.]

photo courtesy of K. Praslowicz (Sjixxxy)'s Flickr - www.kpraslowicz.com

“Just because you have money doesn’t mean you should overspend on someone that won’t be a part of your long-term future.  If the right opportunity comes along, I think you want to look at it, but I’ve said all along that we might save our powder for down the road, to see what the new CBA brings, to see if there’s a hard cap or a soft cap.  We don’t really know all the rules going forward, so just because you have the cap room doesn’t mean you should go out and spend it if it’s not for the right player.”[1]

These were wise words spoken by Wizards GM Ernie, a new herald for operational procedure and organizational preparedness, at a press conference on June 10.  As a long-time Green Bay Packer fan (my first memories of football were watching Packers games at 4am in New Delhi, India with my Wisconsin-born dad), I understand and fully endorse building a team through the draft.  There seem to be philosophical parallels between Grunfeld and Packers GM Ted Thompson, who firmly believes that the most effective way to build a winning football team is through the draft.  Thompson sees free agency as a complementary tool which can be used to add the types of players to a roster that may otherwise be difficult to find. In practice, this means that the Packers re-sign as many of their own players possible.  Rebuilding post-Mike Sherman, the Packers made 14 draft-day trades, all but one of them down, turning 31 picks into 44.  The Packers’ picks filled the roster with solid “glue guys” and have been able to add impact players including QB Aaron Rodgers, FS Nick Collins, OLB Clay Matthews, TE Jermichael Finley, WR Greg Jennings, and NT BJ Raji.  The result? The Packers are a team poised to make deep playoff runs every winter and are near the top of the NFL in just about every statistical category.[2]

Ted Leonsis, the Wizards new majority owner, made public his commitment to building a “generationally great team” that will ultimately win a championship.  Under new management, the Wizards will aim to hit their targets in the draft, spend prudently, create a competitive, cohesive team on the court that plays with an identity and within a system, and (most importantly) win games.[3] In an open note to Wizards fans, Leonsis also dismissed the generalized notion that the franchise was unwilling and averse to bringing in free agents.  Leonsis noted that that teams must consider using all of the tools at their disposal: the draft, free agency (small, medium, and large), rookie free agency, waiver wire pickups, developmental league players, and finding players in Europe.

All fans want to see that max contract free agent wear their team’s colors.  The addition of a superstar means that the team feels it is close to a winning a title and are prepared to kick down the doors of the championship fraternity. Read more »

{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.

As you can see, the perception is that the Knicks are most willing to spend money, obviously.  But why not Ted Leonsis?

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Antawn Jamison’s Last Exit

When both Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler were traded, you knew Antawn Jamison just had to be traded too, sent to greener pastures … via leaving the Verizon Center in a car worth over a quarter-million dollars. Which, by the way, I’m told is a Bentley Continental, most likely a GT, and not a Maybach as was originally reported (thanks to @CarbonPrimo and the car nuts at @UpshiftReviews).

Michael Lee reports that Jamison even requested a trade. But did he even have to? Well, let me put it this way, he shouldn’t have had to. But you can’t blame  ‘Twan for wanting to make sure Ernie Grunfeld wasn’t going to hold him hostage on an un-seaworthy ship with a plank, a revolver and perhaps an eye-patch and a devious smile.

Antawn Jamison wasn’t perfect, but he was a a pro’s pro. A throwback player. I wish ‘Twan all the best, but not necessarily a championship with LeBron in Cleveland. I’m not sure, I’ll have to see how I feel when NBA playoff time comes around.

There will be plenty of tribute posts for all the departed Wizards in the future, but until then, a couple quick parting shots of Jameson for Jamison’s last night as a Wizard in bullet-point form: Read more »

Things in Wizards Nation aren’t that bad. At least in a “can’t get any worse” type of way as releasing Antawn Jamison to go win a championship with LeBron was probably the worst rock-bottom imaginable back in September. It can only go up from here, no guarantees though.

Time for fans to move forward the best they can. One way to do that would be to find positives among the new pieces, even if they are just temporary. The events which unfolded during and after Washington’s 108-99 victory over Minnesota on Tuesday night (but not before, I’ll cover the Jamison trade to Cleveland later), showed that Josh Howard and James Singleton could be spots of light cutting through dark skies. Latest acquisition Al Thornton, however, does not come with a ringing endorsement from the LA Clipper fan base. One can only hope he gets off on the right foot like Singleton and Howard have. Here are each of their stories …

{Starting Fresh Like The Farmer’s Market}

Josh Howard seems like a humbled man ready to do his best. If he somehow gets a bad mark on his record over the remainder of the schedule, we’ll know an even darker cloud than originally thought hangs over the franchise. In other words, expect him to be on his very best behavior.

Howard is frank and matter of fact, but with a twist of character. When asked about the win, a big smile crept across his face as he said, “Oh it meant a lot. C’mon now, it meant a whole lot. Just to come into a new organization and show them I want to be here, plus … uhh, stick it back to the Mavs.”

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Two of the three below are gone, the third on this Wizards Mount Rushmore might be gone by President’s Day. And that would make not one, but two banners needing to be removed from the 6th Street facade of the Verizon Center in 2010.

“Character, Commitment, Connection”

-Wizards 2009-2010 Season Motto

The Wizards aren’t putting Josh Howard’s face next to that on a banner anytime soon … unless they want to ad a fourth ‘C’ for cap space. Like Caron Butler, Howard was once an All-Star. And like the one they call Tuff Juice, the one they call J-Ho has recently fallen far from basketball skill grace.

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