The Washington Wizards just announced their summer league invitees, a list that includes Dominic McGuire, Nick Young, JaVale McGee and Javaris Crittenton, some other notable undrafted players and a (sort of) familiar face. Andray Blatche said at the end of the season that he wasn't going to play summer league as he prepares to enter his fifth year, and he meant it.

Some of the notable undrafted players are Gonzaga forward Josh Heytvelt, a 6-foot-11 forward/center who was expected to go either in the late first round or early second after averaging 14.9 points and 6.5 rebounds; Alade Aminu, a 6-10 Georgia Tech center who was slated as a late second-round pick after averaging 11.8 points and eight rebounds as a senior; and Notre Dame swingman Ryan Ayers, son of former Wizards assistant Randy Ayers.

The familiar face is none other than former Wizard James Lang, who was a favorite of the D.C. Sports Bog and provided many hilarious moments during his short stint with the team during the 2006-07 season. Agent Steinz blamed the Wizards' decision to cut Lang as the reason for their terrible collapse at the end of the regular season. Lang averaged 7.0 points and 4.3 rebounds last season for the NBA Developmental League runner-up Utah Flash.

The rest of the team is rounded out by Rhode Island's Jimmy Baron, Kent State's Jon Edwards, Coppin State's Tywain McKie, Tyrese Rice of Boston College, Florida State's Jason Rich, Alex Ruoff of West Virginia, Diamon Simpson of Saint Mary's, Kyle Spain of San Diego State and South Carolina's Brandon Wallace.

The Wizards will hold a mini-camp for the summer league invitees July 10-13. They will play the Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks in Las Vegas from July 14 to 19.

Flip Saunders might feel a bit vindicated right now. The Detroit Pistons fired Michael Curry yesterday after one season, continuing a troubling trend for the men who follow the current Wizards coach.

Joe Dumars, the team's president of basketball operations, dismissed Saunders in June 2008 after losing in the Eastern Conference finals for the third consecutive year because Dumars reportedly wanted to hire someone who would hold his players more accountable. Curry went 39-43 in his only season and Cleveland swept the Pistons in the first round.

Detroit hired Saunders's former assistant, Curry, and remade the Pistons at the start of the season when he traded Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson and Antonio McDyess. The Iverson experiment was a disaster, compounded by Curry's alienation of Richard Hamilton when he benched Hamilton in favor of Iverson.

That decision eventually led to Curry losing the entire team, especially its core veterans. Curry later upset Iverson when he decided to move Hamilton back into the starting lineup. Iverson then quit on the team, um, developed a back problem that forced him to shut down his season. Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp broke down the breakdown between Curry and Hamilton, which contributed to Curry's ouster because he didn't sound open to making amends.

Dumars told reporters that he might have "put too much on Mike as a first-year head coach." He's now in search of a veteran, with former Wizards/Bulls/Pistons coach Doug Collins reportedly ahead of Avery Johnson and John Kuester.

Dumars has had five coaches since taking over the team -- George Irvine, Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown, Saunders and Curry. Saunders lasted the longest (three years) and had the best regular season winning percentage of any of them. Since it is obvious that the players run the show in Detroit, Saunders should get credit for lasting as long as he did.

The coach who eventually follows Saunders in Washington might be in trouble. This is the second time that Saunders's replacement didn't make it through at least two seasons with the team. Dwane Casey was fired after 122 games with Minnesota, and now Curry gets just 82.

It's tough to follow Flip.

The NBA free agent negotiation period begins at midnight but the Washington Wizards aren't expected to be much of a player from the outset. As Coach Flip Saunders said last week at the news conference to introduce Randy Foye and Mike Miller, the Wizards will add the equivalent of five free agents next season with the acquisitions of Foye and Miller and the return of injured players Gilbert Arenas, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson.

The Wizards currently have access to the midlevel exception ($5.6 million) and the bi-annual exception ($1.99 million), but any spending this summer will have to take their high payroll into account. Entering the free agent period, they currently have the third-highest payroll going into next season at around $75.8 million. The Wizards trail only the New Orleans Hornets and the Los Angeles Lakers (who are surely going to top the list if they sign Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Kobe Bryant, if the Finals MVP opts out).

Who would've thought we'd reach the day when the Wizards have a higher payroll than the New York Knicks or Cuban Era Dallas Mavericks? That will change with summer signings and trades, but for now, it's pretty amazing.

The salary cap figure won't be announced until July 8 and it is expected to be lower than last season, when the hard cap (luxury tax level) was $71.15 million (the salary cap was $58.68 million).

The Wizards won't be targeting any of the bigger name free agents -- Carlos Boozer, Ben Gordon, Hedo Turkoglu, David Lee, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest, Paul Millsap, Odom and Ariza -- and will probably fill their need for a veteran big man later in the summer. Some of the top free agent big men include Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Zaza Pachulia, Drew Gooden, Chris Wilcox, Channing Frye, Joe Smith, Stromile Swift, Chris Andersen, Rasho Nesterovic, Mikki Moore and Shelden Williams.

Michael Lee is taking a few days off. Here are excerpts from an ESPN-980 interview with Brendan Haywood, courtesy of Dan Steinberg.

As I walked out of Verizon Center late last night, I asked a security guard what he thought about the Wizards' draft.

"We didn't get nothing," he told me with a shrug.

Well, the Wizards didn't get a draft pick after sending the No. 5 pick to Minnesota the day before and the 32nd pick to Houston on Thursday. But the Wizards came away with a little more than Randy Foye and Mike Miller.

Get up, man. We've got a lot to do in one year. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/US Presswire)

Selling second-round pick Jermaine Taylor to Houston added another $2.5 million to Abe Pollin's pockets, according to someone with knowledge of the transaction. The move increases the possibility of the Wizards adding a veteran big man through free agency if they desire.

I got wind of the Wizards' draft board, and the top four players broke down like this: Blake Griffin, Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio and James Harden. I'm not sure the order after those four, but I heard they had Stephen Curry ahead of Hasheem Thabeet, who went second overall to Memphis.

I know the Wizards had Evans ahead of Rubio, but after the first four picks were chosen, I couldn't help but chuckle. I like Evans, and he may very well turn out to be a better pro than Rubio. But, as I've written before, there is something tantalizing about the 18-year-old Spaniard.

I found it quite amusing that the player most experts had slotted as the second-best talent in the draft slid all the way down to fifth. It was eerily similar to the Wizards drop on the night of the draft lottery, when they had the second-best chance of winning the top pick and dropped down to No. 5. On that night, Rubio didn't seem like a possibility. Now his career will forever be linked to the Wizards, much like Devin Harris, who has blossomed into an all-star in New Jersey.

But with the Harris deal, Jamison became a two-time all-star, led the Wizards to four consecutive playoff appearances and helped them win a playoff series for the first time since Michael Jackson released "Thriller" (R.I.P. M.J.).

Remember this face, Washington. (AP Photo)

At least you knew Jamison would be around for a while. With this latest trade, the Wizards aren't guaranteed to have the services of Foye or Miller beyond this season, since both will become free agents in the summer of 2010. Foye is restricted, but this could turn out to be mortgaging the future for the sake of a one-year run.

If Rubio becomes a star in this league, this could really come back to haunt the Wizards. Or he could turn out to be, as Brandon Jennings said, "all hype." I know his agent, Dan Fegan, didn't want him in Washington, but who knew he would actually be there at No. 5? Ernie Grunfeld said he still would've taken Foye and Miller, but he sort of has to, at this point.

The Rubio situation grows more intriguing with his father, Esteban, saying that he could go back to Europe for another year, since his salary at No. 5 wouldn't be able to make his buyout acceptable.

As for the Wizards, they are committed to paying $76 million to 13 players next season, but they still have the full mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception to use for a much-needed veteran big man. Right now, JaVale McGee, Andray Blatche and Dominic McGuire -- average age 22 -- are the only backup forwards/centers on a guard-heavy roster.

Well, that explains why the Timberwolves were so quick to give up on Randy Foye.

After Blake Griffin went first to the Clippers, Hasheem Thabeet second to the Memphis Grizzlies, James Harden third to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Tyreke Evans fourth to the Sacramento Kings, sitting there at the fifth pick was the man (barely) many fans wanted all along if the Wiz weren't able to land Griffin: 18-year-old point guard Ricky Rubio.

So is the curse of Les Boules rearing its ugly head again? Would the Wizards, who tied for the league's second-worst record and perhaps should have come away with the second pick, been better off drafting Ricky Rubio? Short-term or long.

Or are they better off with two NBA-ready contributors, in Mike Miller and Foye? Are they better off -- at the moment -- with the glut of guards, with improved three-point shooting, depth and even health?

You tell us.

Will the trades that sent Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland and Vince Carter to Orlando shift the balance of power in the NBA?

When the week began, I was expecting that today would be a wild, frenzied day for the Washington Wizards, with trade rumors swirling round, getting knocked down and going back around. But teams around the league couldn't wait until then to make major moves, with San Antonio making a roster upgrade with Richard Jefferson, the Hawks adding Jamal Crawford and Cleveland stealing the spotlight with the acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal.

Ernie Grunfeld ended all of that suspense on draft night for the Wizards when he traded out of the first round, deciding that Randy Foye and Mike Miller can do more in the short term than any of the prospects at No. 5 could've done for a team that has to win now with a steadily closing window.

Foye and Miller are expected to arrive today in Washington, where they will take physicals, meet with fans and the media and participate in some draft celebrations. Grunfeld and Coach Flip Saunders discussed the deal in today's story, but they had a lot more to say about this trade and the 2009 NBA draft.

The Wizards are reduced to just the 32nd pick tonight, but before going into a frenzy trying to figure out whom the Wizards could select in that spot, I decided to ask Grunfeld if they planned on taking a big man. Grunfeld started giving a pretty long, winding answer about how a second-round pick likely wouldn't help this team right away and then he finally said, "We might get out of it altogether."

After the last trade, the Wizards have way too many guards and you have to assume that they will try to package a guard with the second-round pick, or look to move one of their guards in the offseason. Mike James's expiring contract can still be had.

The Wizards failed to move DeShawn Stevenson in the trade with Minnesota after the Timberwolves requested Darius Songaila, even as they already are overloaded at power forward with Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Mark Madsen, Brian Cardinal, Craig Smith and Shelden Williams on the roster -- before adding Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov. Eight power forwards? As of right now, Etan Thomas is the only center on the roster, although Jefferson will likely play the position.

"We would've liked to keep Darius, but what we're getting in return is a pretty good return on what we had to give up," Grunfeld said. "We'll keep looking around to see if we can add someone else, but we feel comfortable about what we have currently and the depth of our ball club."

Party over here! (AP Photo)

Oh snap. The Arizona Republic, ESPN.com and the Cleveland Plain Dealer are reporting that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns have agreed to a deal that would send Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland and pair him with league's most valuable player LeBron James, which makes the Eastern Conference very, very intriguing. It also adds a lot of spice to the Cavaliers-Wizards rivalry (you ready, Brendan?), injects more excitement to the battles between Cleveland and the Magic (mostly because of Shaq's riffs on Dwight Howard and Stan Van Gundy), and attaches an interesting sidebar to the LeBron-Dwyane Wade matchups. Should the Lakers and Cavaliers make it to the NBA Finals, you already know that a LeBron-Shaq-Kobe series would be b-a-n-a-n-a-s.

Mike Wise reached O'Neal at his home in Orlando after midnight Wednesday. O'Neal said he was aware a deal was close but had not received a call from Suns general manger Steve Kerr. "I'm in the gym about to get in the hot tub," O'Neal said. "I haven't even heard from Steve yet. If something is going down I should know pretty soon. But I haven't heard anything definite yet."

A league source just confirmed the deal a while ago: The Cavaliers are getting O'Neal in exchange for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, the 46th pick in Thursday's draft and $500,000. It's crazy, but the asking price for the future Hall of Fame center that Slam Magazine declared as the fourth-best player in NBA history (I respectfully disagree) is diminishing by the deal. The Heat had to surrender Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and future first-round pick. The Suns had to surrender all-star forward Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. And now, the Cavaliers had to dump a guy who wants to retire and a player they no longer wanted.

I know he's 37, but I'm baffled that his value is so low after averaging 17.8 points, making the all-star team and being named third-team All-NBA last season. I know that Phoenix is looking to dump salary, but they couldn't get one serviceable player out of the deal? Then again, it might make sense.

That the Suns simply shed salary is a firm admission that Kerr's trade for O'Neal in February 2008 was a huge blunder. Phoenix regressed in every season it had O'Neal, going from a controversial second round loss to San Antonio the season before O'Neal arrived to a first round exit in his first season with the team, to not even making the playoffs last season. The absence of Amare Stoudemire after the all-star break contributed to the Suns' struggles, but they were in trouble even with him.

You also have to be worried when you see how the Miami Heat regressed in its last two years with O'Neal. After winning the championship in 2006, the Heat lost in the first round and then traded O'Neal in the midst of a 15-win season. Anybody else noticing a trend here?

From the Wizards' news release:

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has acquired guard/forward Mike Miller and guard Randy Foye from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, Oleksiy Pecherov and the fifth overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft.

"We are very excited to welcome two solid, proven veterans in Mike Miller and Randy Foye to Washington," said Grunfeld. "Mike is one of the NBA's elite three-point shooters who can really stretch the defense and provide an all-around game, and Randy has shown the ability to create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates while providing excellent perimeter defense. Their skills complement our core very well and they will provide a boost as we re-establish ourselves as a contender in the Eastern Conference."

A 29-year-old swingman, Miller has averaged 13.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game over nine professional seasons in Orlando, Memphis and Minnesota. A former Rookie of the Year in 2000-01 and Sixth Man of the Year in 2005-06, Miller has connected on over 40 percent (1,173-2,926, .401) of his three-point field goal tries in his career. Miller's career best statistical season came in 2006-07 in Memphis when he averaged a career-high 18.5 points per game to go along with 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists while connecting on 202 of 498 (.406) three-point tries. Miller averaged a career-high 6.7 rebounds the following season in Memphis, and recorded a career-best 4.5 assists per game last season in Minnesota.

Foye, a 25-year-old guard, had a breakout season for the Timberwolves in 2008-09 when he averaged 16.3 points and 4.3 assists per game. He started 61 games for Minnesota, recording a career-high 36 points vs. Indiana on February 20 and recording a career-best 14-assists at Detroit on November 23. Foye has seen his scoring average increase by at least three points in each of his three professional seasons after being selected seventh overall in the 2006 NBA Draft by Boston and acquired in a draft day trade by Minnesota via Portland.

Thomas averaged 6.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in 373 career games for Washington, including 3.1 ppg and 2.5 rpg in 26 games last season. Songaila appeared in 184 games for Washington over the last three seasons, and averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds last season (with a career-high 29 games started). Pecherov, drafted by Washington with the 18th overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft, averaged 3.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in 67 career games for the Wizards.

"We appreciate the contributions that Etan, Darius and Oleksiy made to the team and the community during their tenures in Washington," said Grunfeld. "We wish them the best and we're pleased to have been able to accomplish a trade that benefited all parties involved."

Michael Lee is on his way to Grunfeld's 4 p.m. news conference.