This is good.

I find this disheartening if it means they also won't keep JCN. I'll be pretty ticked off if they wound up paying Stevenson more than $4 million a year.

I too am hoping that they are also able to keep La Bomba...

BOOOOOOO!!!!

I agree with Colin.

- Ray

Lets hope it is a 3 year deal.

It almost certainly means La Bambi will not be in a Zards uni. Let's hope EG has a trade in place to go along with this signing.

UPDATE it already...the $'s is what we care about.

Wooo Hoo.

Priority one is down.

Next.

As has been said many times, we were outbidding ourselves with DeBrick. There was never any mention of other teams being interested in Deshawn. Wonder why??!?? And top that off with the fact that Devin Brown is essentially the same player available for have the price. Oh and if we lose JC b/c of this, then we better get something good back for the JC+Etan package or shame on EG. Boooooo!!!

Sorry folks. I jumped the gun with that first post. It's close but not quite finished. I think my brain is starting to explode from over-reporting this week. Vegas baby, Vegas!

it's been 15 min already

Stevenson is a marginal player, who wouldnt be very hard to replace!!! Why is Ernie so infatuated with this bum??? Other than that, i still say we should build a statue of Ernie and worship him when the sun rises....

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS on the 4:16 ivan update

Deshawn blows!!!!! why is Ernie such in love with such an easily replaceable player??? other than that, i still say Ernie deserves a statue

Deshawn blows!!!!! why is Ernie such in love with such an easily replaceable player??? other than that, i still say Ernie deserves a statue

Ivan, use your power and tell Ernie not to do it!!!!!!!!!!

How about Proof?

People seriously do not understand why DS is important to this team. With Gil, CB, and AJ, we don't need him to score. He's a great complementary player to the Big Three. Of course he got exposed when the injuries hit, but we weren't going to win without those guys injured anyways. If he plays even average defense, getting him at $4 million per or less is a steal.

People seriously do not understand why DS is important to this team. With Gil, CB, and AJ, we don't need him to score. He's a great complementary player to the Big Three. Of course he got exposed when the injuries hit, but we weren't going to win with those guys injured anyways. If he plays even average defense, getting him at $4 million per or less is a steal.

Wes is right fellas. You're also forgetting that DeShawn is Gilbert's boy.

Let's hope this means Agent Zero sticks around after the opt-out.

Hey, Ivan, can you give me Ernie's cell number? I want to talk some sense into him about this Stevenson and Navarro stuff. I'm sure he'll take my call....

I bet the final sticking point on the contract is the clause that prevents him from doing that hand waving thing in front of his face anymore.

what do you guys think about JCN and Etan for Darko? Seems to work for both teams, Memphis gets a beck up center, and a 6th man, and makes Pau happy, and we get a center and rid of etan

Oh well. Looks to me like DS has been watching McGuire and Young the last 2 nights and decided that he better get smart before Ernie comes to his senses! If I were Ernie I would show him the door right now. I would trust that between Young and Hayes and hopefully Navarro we can fill the gap easily.

I just don't see why top priority is not solving the center situation. That is what will take us to the next level, not signing Stevenson.

Here is my theory about why this is not happening: I think this insistence on solving the DeShawn contract situation might mean that Ernie has a solid offer to move Etan, Daniels and one of the other guards somewhere. But he won't do it until he has DS in his pocket.

If that is not true then he is not as shrewd as I think he is.

EJ is out to keep DS because it satisfies Agent 0 and is a step toward him not opting out next summer. You folks don't realize that Gil has a BIG say in this. I too hope we didn't overpay and it doesn't cost us JCN... unless there is some sweet deal in the works for him and Etan with an adequate player coming in return.

DS is a good player who actually plays D on this team and he is signing a reasonble contract - no ridiculous overpaying. Think of it this way. We are signing him for 1/10th of the price of Rashard Lewis. Is DS 1/10th of the player RL is or is RL 10x better than DS? I think not!!! Half kidding bc RL's contract is probably the biggest joke in the history of sports contracts thus far. RL has been in the league for 7 yrs, thus he has maxed out his skills at this point. No way he gets SO much better he justifies this signing. He is a 20/5 6'11 guy who plays as soft as Charmin, RL should have been paid no more than 60/65 million or in the same ballpark as Gerald Wallace. Hell, IMO, Wallace is a better all-around player.

Please stop with all the JCN crap! Scouts who have seen him the most say he would be a pretty good sixth man on a playoff caliber team. Problem is there is only so much money to spend on perimeter players with a scorers mentality. Jeez, you guys act like the title would be ours if only we get him signed...ain't happening. There is such a thing as a salary cap and that must be managed for now and the future. You want Arenas resigned next year?

I have no problem with NY, McGuire, Blatche, Daniels, Pecherov off the bench. Young, but talented and athletic!

Ivan, you seriously gotta talk EG out of this DeShawn deal. We were gifted JCN, and now we're not even going to use him?!?!? Or even worse, use him for the sole purpose of getting rid our mediocre centers and their bloated contract?!?!? Two wrongs do not make a right in this case. Add him up to the rather impressive list of Washington players who were disowned/let go/doubted by the organization, only to go on to become some of the most coveted players in the league. We're gonna be good next year but not great if we have essentially the same roster as last year, which is the direction in which it seems we're heading. Why not roll the dice on JCN? At worst, he's a quality backup (he's an MVP of the Euroleague--you don't get to that point if you don't have at least some baseline of real talent), and at best, he becomes the steal of the year for the NBA, a la Ginobli. Whoever ends up with JCN is going to be very happy, I can guarantee you that; let's just hope it will be the wizards...

What the Hell??? Wiz fans and broadcasters have been sold that this guy is the "Best Defender" Wizards have. I couldnt disagree anymore! If you look at all the opponents' SGs' they have dropped BIG buckets on this guy i.e. Kevin Martin on 12/21/06 dropped 40 points. He did a $900k job last year but not a $4 mil job.

If the Wiz are concerned about defense then move Butler and Jamison down and put Blatche in their at PF to help with our so-so Center postition. If not put Young in their. Their wont be any pressure on this guy with the Big 3 in their. I mean what are you going to do next year when Jamison's contract is up?!?!?

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"People seriously do not understand why DS is important to this team. With Gil, CB, and AJ, we don't need him to score. He's a great complementary player to the Big Three."

No argument there. The problem isn't what he does (and doesn't) bring on the court. The problem is the amount of money they seemed poised to pay him for his marginal, complementary services. $12 mil/4 years was plenty for what he does. $15 to $18/4 yrs is too much.

"..I can guarantee you that; let's just hope it will be the wizards..."

Oh you can huh? Wow what a gift, wanna try world hunger instead? silly

When Stevenson was on the court this year, the opposing team's effective FG%: 52.5%

When he was off the court: 50.4%

Now that's a Wizards' version of a defensive stopper if I ever saw one.

"what do you guys think about JCN and Etan for Darko? Seems to work for both teams, Memphis gets a beck up center, and a 6th man, and makes Pau happy, and we get a center and rid of etan"

Except, in order to get a backup C, they're trading what would probably be their starting C. They'd also be tethering themselves to a bloated contract attached to a marginal contributor.

Ivan,
In your opinion, if Deshawn does sign, does this mean Juan Carlos Navarro will be traded and its just a matter of time before we find out to whom and for what players? Thanks.

P.S. I agree with others. Deshawn is an important part of this team but you can't overpay him. Anything more than 4 years/16.5 million is overpaid and you let him walk ala Larry Hughes and Jared Jeffries. Those moves turned out to be okay. Trust in Ernie and the Front office.

Ivan,
In your opinion, if Deshawn does sign, does this mean Juan Carlos Navarro will be traded and its just a matter of time before we find out to whom and for what players? Thanks.

P.S. I agree with others. Deshawn is an important part of this team but you can't overpay him. Anything more than 4 years/16.5 million is overpaid and you let him walk ala Larry Hughes and Jared Jeffries. Those moves turned out to be okay. Trust in Ernie and the Front office.

Certainly Gilbert has an opinion. Certainly DeShawn fit with him and is worth keeping. biut the issue is do we solve that position at the expense of not solving the 5 problem and the clear answer to me is NO. We have limited skill issues and we have major chemistry issues that 2 months ago almost everybody agreed was the number one problem. Now all of a sudden signing Deshawn and playing Navarro seem more important? No people...let's all focus, focus, focus! I hope that the surprise by JCN of wanting to come over hasn't caused all of the Zards fans to have short memories. Ernie is wise in knowing that the backup guard spot is solid. We have Hayes and Young. Since scouts apparently agree with what Ernie saw in Spain, that JCN is probably a very good 3rd guard, he wisely sees JCN as a commodity to solve the NUMBER ONE PROBLEM.

Call me crazy but I think he knows what he is doing and has solid priorities and a plan to upgrade both spots.

EG is the smartest sports executive in Washington (low bar granted), but even the SG Bill Simmons of ESPN has him listed as one of only 7 good GM's in the NBA. Considering how he constantly bashes NBA GM's, this is a sign of respect for one of our guys.

So, based on his recent history with the Wiz and overall track record, I am onboard for EG's vision! JCN or not.

Wayne, KMart2 happens to be one of the most underrated young scorers most don't know. Seems people didn't give Gil or Deron Williams enough credit until they torched Bruce Bowen quite nicely and he's a defensive stopper.

I think Blatche was a bigger priority than Stevenson...seriously. Hopefully Ernie has more tricks up his sleeves. I think he has done a great job thus far and I really want to trust him with this move

Im thinking that Ernie must have a deal in the works...maybe JNC and Eton for Darko. Anyway is looks like DS is still in town for Gil. I still trust in Ernie.

Im thinking that Ernie must have a deal in the works...maybe JNC and Eton for Darko. Anyway is looks like DS is still in town for Gil. I still trust in Ernie.

sorry, the anonymous 4:50 poster was yours truly

Ruffin + Humphrey for Al jefferson

"what do you guys think about JCN and Etan for Darko? Seems to work for both teams, Memphis gets a beck up center, and a 6th man, and makes Pau happy, and we get a center and rid of etan"

"Except, in order to get a backup C, they're trading what would probably be their starting C. They'd also be tethering themselves to a bloated contract attached to a marginal contributor."

- Darko signed for 2 yrs 21 mil - same at etan - so we have the same contract better player, but no JCN

If re-signing Stevenson is inevitable then I just hope it isn't a case of them meeting his ridiculous asking price. $3-3.5M is all he should be paid, IMO.

There is no demand whatsoever league wide for DeShawn Stevenson, offering what he turned down in Orlando is doing him a favor because he is a solid, but limited, contributor and well liked in the locker room and community.

KMart2 is a good player but 40 points?!?!? and that was just 1 example. Get a schedule and put a blindfold on throw some darts and see how many points the opponents 2 guards dropped on him.

Darko sign fro 3 year 21 mil, not 2 sorry

I personally think EG is orchestrating some sort of big deal. Blatche, JCN, Etan, daniels, maybe Jamison, picks, cash, whatever. Something's going down. Ernie knows it's time to raise up.

Darko can't be traded can he? He just signed a new deal.

Darko can't be traded until Dec 15th because he signed a free agent deal, according to other posters. There must be another deal in the works.

Kevin Duckworth and Wes Unseld Jr. for Deron Williams

"- Darko signed for 2 yrs 21 mil - same at etan - so we have the same contract better player, but no JCN"

Etan has 3 more years on his deal, not two. The third is a player option that there's almost no chance he exercises.

And even if they did have the same deal, Darko has better physical talent and legit starter potential. Etan is a 20 mpg backup. So the Magic would be trading a young athletic starting C for an older, shorter, less talented backup C and an unproven, undersized backup SG.

Not very likely.

"When Stevenson was on the court this year, the opposing team's effective FG%: 52.5%

When he was off the court: 50.4%" - Sean

- What? Be a little more analytical will ya! Could this mean the players that are on the court with him stink more on D than their backups? I think so, e.g., Arenas and Jamison played zero D - Daniels and Ruffin etc played much better D.

"The problem is the amount of money they seemed poised to pay him for his marginal, complementary services. $12 mil/4 years was plenty for what he does. $15 to $18/4 yrs is too much." - kalorama

- lol...this is the NBA man. I don't see where 3/4 million dollars makes a contract go from decent to horrible. Have you seen the market out there? Kapono 24 million Rashard Lewis 126 million. Me thinks you are splitting hairs here when DS is also a friend of our superstar player.

"the "Best Defender" Wizards have. I couldnt disagree anymore! If you look at all the opponents' SGs' they have dropped BIG buckets on this guy i.e. Kevin Martin on 12/21/06 dropped 40 points. He did a $900k job last year but not a $4 mil job." - Wayne from Bowie

- Ok...so you can't be a good defender if someone has a good game against you? The bottom line is I watched virtually every game last year and DS WAS the best and most consistent perimeter defender on the team and best overall defender. Plus, he plays tough even when in the paint. Then he was knocking down his shots at a 46% clip, which I believe was the best percentage for a perimeter guy on our team.

4/15 or 16 is about right.

Just to be clear. I ain't saying DS is a great player, but he is a very good complimentary player on this team and is a part of good team chemistry. 15-17 million for 4 yrs is not astronomical.

Question: Why is Mason not part of the teams plans? I thought he was very effective in limited minutes and he seemed to be the type of player that could still improve if given proper PT.

Wes Unseld SR for a turd sandwich

I Can't Feel My Face!

"Have you seen the market out there? Kapono 24 million Rashard Lewis 126 million."

And as I've said along, just because someone else makes a bad decision doesn't obligate everyone else to follow suit.

Also, overpaid as they are, Kapono and Lewis have definable, valuable NBA skills, namely shooting and scoring, which they do at a high level. Kapono is one of the best shooters in the NBA and Lewis is a volume scorer. They bring value (albeit not as much value as their contracts suggest) and skill that is hard to replace. Aside from being Gilbert's buddy, what does Stevenson do that can't be replaced by any of a handful of readily obtainable b-list swingmen?

- Ok...so you can't be a good defender if someone has a good game against you?

-Rob P

Are you kidding me or what? If he played like that for the Spurs coach Pop would bench his @$$. Like I said look on all 2 gaurds who he had to defend they had career numbers on this guy. 46% doesnt really mean alot if you average 10 points. Just put Caron at the 2 position and see if anyone drops 40 especially KMart 2!!!

I know etan's got that behemoth of a contract, but in terms of overall value, wouldn't it make more sense to package Haywood with JCN?

Ummmmmm, mason is terrible, did you watch any games last year. there is a reason he was out of the league

What is everybody so enamored with JCN. I am sure most of his ardent followers haven't seen him play. Besides, he's only been playing in Europe, which is different than the NBA. If Ernie ends up trading JCN, I'll miss the possibility of what could have happened. But if he got a good deal (like someone taking Etan's contract), I'll still be happy.

"The bottom line is I watched virtually every game last year and DS WAS the best and most consistent perimeter defender on the team and best overall defender."

That's the dictionary definition of damning with faint praise.

This makes no sense. $4MM a year for Stevenson? We've been waiting for years to see Navarro, and now we are going to have to trade with with reduced leverage? For possibly a bum like Posey?

Awful, Ernie. Awful. Don't do it.

Can you beleive this guy kalorama?!?!?

Don't forget Gil put the heat on EG to put a better team out there by saying he would entertain offers at the end of next season... the pressure that must be on ernie must be absolutely insane

Man I used to love the positive support of the team and overall good vibe coming out of the season. But you'll gotta stop hating and enjoy the summer ball and just let it ride...

Look. It's simple. Kapono and RL are way overpaid. DS is not way overpaid. Slightly overpaid, maybe. Besides your basically arguing with one of the better GM's in the NBA arguing with me bc he is the one doing the negotiating.

"Ummmmmm, mason is terrible, did you watch any games last year. there is a reason he was out of the league" - anon

- huh? terrible? Mason was a very decent guy off the bench (good shooter/decent defender) and there were a handful of games where he was THE best guy off the bench. How this makes him terrible as the 11th or 12th man I'll never understand. It's not like he cost us anything either.
Mickie Moore was out of the league too!

"Are you kidding me or what? If he played like that for the Spurs coach Pop would bench his @$$. Like I said look on all 2 gaurds who he had to defend they had career numbers on this guy. 46% doesnt really mean alot if you average 10 points. Just put Caron at the 2 position and see if anyone drops 40 especially KMart 2!!!" -Wayne

Yeah, I'm kidding. DS got the reputation of being a solid defender in the NBA bc I talked about him in the Wiz Insider Blog, which somehow spread like wild fire. Shooting Guard is where a lot of offensive talent resides, e.g., Kobe, Dwayne etc... It does not mean it's always the defenders fault if a guy has a good game. SA plays solid team defense too. On their team DS would get a little more help.

46% is 46% no matter how many points he scores = good shooter. Is he a number 1 or 2 option, of course not!

BTW, Butler would get roasted by SG's bc he is a small forward and would be too slow. I like Butler's toughness and effort on D from his position though.

lets hope that he gets a 4 year deal with the 8 percent change thing maybe it will bring him salary down to 2.8 or so and we will still have 2.6 to sign JCN

I agreed DS is important to the wizards because he plays well with our big 3, And I give EG the benefit of the doubt, Everyone of his moves has worked out so far he will come thru once more.

lets hope that he gets a 4 year deal with the 8 percent change thing maybe it will bring him salary down to 2.8 or so and we will still have 2.6 to sign JCN

lets hope that he gets a 4 year deal with the 8 percent change thing maybe it will bring him salary down to 2.8 or so and we will still have 2.6 to sign JCN

you r drinking the kool aid, mason is one dimensional and not even very good at it (shooting) Thw wiz had the worst bench in the league last year, look it up. yes mason is terrible by NBA standards.

"Aside from being Gilbert's buddy, what does Stevenson do that can't be replaced by any of a handful of readily obtainable b-list swingmen?" - Kalorama

- Who are all these readily obtainable b-list swingmen who are going to come in and start at SG for a playoff team, play solid defense, and score 11+ pts a game on 46% shooting? Give me names. If they are out there and will sign for less than 15 million, then I am all for it.

DeShawn offered a nice compliment to the guys last year, but it wasn't anything demonstrably incomparable. They can get that elsewhere from other players, potentially including JCN. His defense was overrated, too. I don't have a problem, necessarily, with them resigning DeShawn as a depth guy. I have a problem with outbidding themselves for a guy who wasn't getting any other offers. I would particularly despise this resigning if it was done because of Gilbert. I would hate that. That's the reason EJ was extended, and I don't like the influence Gilbert may have on this franchise. Its influence he hasn't really earned, yet the team is catering to his every demand and whim. He's not paid to build a team. He's paid to play and help the team on the floor win. Now, I'm not sure that Gilbert is secretly orchestrating this from behind. I'm only saying if that is the case, I would be pretty disappointed in Gilbert and in EJ.

Sorry, I meant EG, not EJ. I also meant It's, not Its.

Ernie should offer Memphis the following trade:
Wiz: Jamison, JCN, and Etan for

Mem: Gasol, some other schmuck to make the cap situation work.

It works on the ESPN trade machine

Anon, whomever you are. I don't really care that much about Mason. I was just posing a question. I saw some nice games out of him last year playing very erratic minutes. His shot looked good AND he hustled defensively. That being said, I will say I just looked up his shooting % and it was 33%, which is not great. However, I will suggest that percentage is partly due to very erratic playing time.

But, who cares!

I just don't see the value in giving DeShawn all this money, when we are cap strapped. I wanna keep Blatche and Navarro much more than DeShawn. Not to mention Young & McGuire might be productive early.
Just say no to DeShawn's demands

Nice post Colin. I agree with you except that I don't see where DS is overrated on D. As I said, how much help defense did DS get last year. In other words, Bruce Bowen would not look as defensively skilled playing for the Wiz either!!!! Hell, he was probably worried about Arenas' man as well. It was like DS was playing 2 on 1 on D.

NP - Memphis wants JCN so they can reunite him with his good pal Gasol. So that trade ain't happening.

Those other guys have been or will be signed. The only guy on the outs is JCN and who knows how much that guy is going to ask for. That is another aspect we have not discussed.

Rob, you're right. He did end up having to do more and worry about more defensively than most players normally would. But that said, he wasn't as quick as I thought. He didn't necessarily keep guys in front of him, either. And he was guilty of sagging too deeply into the lane just as much as everyone else. (Although, I think that was a demand from coaches to get down on drives, a defensive philosophy instituted by EJ that failed miserably because it left NBA shooters wide open for 3-point shots, which they usually nailed.) But I can understand your point about him having to worry about everyone else's man on defense. I just don't see how he's worth more than $4 million a year.

can someone tell me when the NBA draft is?

Ahhh...I see where your coming from and you back up your opnions. All I am saying is the Wiz aren't breaking the bank to keep a decent player who fits in very well with the team. I am not a DS bobo! I agree too that he plays tough and hard on D and keeps guys in front of him fairly well, but he WAS a little slower than I thought he was too.

Yeah, EJ's defensive philosophy pretty much blew. How about standing up to your star player Arenas when he challenges you publicly about playing D? I am sooo happy the guy is on a short leash. Also, I am less harsh on BH now bc he seems to be getting some support from EG and I trust EG more than EJ and Etan. Something is going on within that group.

I think we're jumping the gun with all this speculation. We don't know what Ernie's going to do. We do know that in the past he has tended to not overpay, and let players walk (Hughes, Jeffries). That indicates to me that he'll pay DS about what he's worth, but not overpay. I can't see DS having any leverage, at *all*, in his negotiations.

In fact, I'm feeling more and more like there won't be any big trades involving the Wiz, that they'll go to war with what they have.

In terms of them fixing the hole in the middle, I'd love it. But what halfway decent centers are out there and available? It's one thing to say you need one (so do 95 percent of the teams in the league), another thing entirely to get one. Think about it: if you're a team with a serviceable or good center, why would you trade him? Just because Wiz fans can make the salaries work in the ESPN Trade Machine? Not bloody likely.

Ivan:
Is it true the Wizards expressed interest in Jamaal Magloire?
That's what Fred Kerber said in a story in today's NY Post.
How about a sign and trade with Portland?

Sooo, what are we gonna do about the fact that apparently Pecherov isn't very good? Clearly we all had false dreams and hopes?

Donnell Taylor + Mike Hall + 2nd round pick for LaMarcus Aldridge

I mostly agree with Rob P's posts. I mean, of course I don't want the Wizards to overpay, but, like it or not, DeShawn was the starting point guard on the team with the best record in the eastern conference at the all star break last year. In my opinion he's worth 4 mil plus or minus, but some of the things being said here about him are absurd (DeBrick, garbage, etc). The fact that he has a ceiling is hardly a newsflash. JCN is what my friend Chris would call the "bright shiny object." Please keep the enthusiasm but be realistic.

As far as Gilbert calling the shots, I doubt it. I would think most reasonable people would be against a star player making personnel decisions (sorry MJ).

oh and Magloire stinks also, very slow and unmotivated

Of course I meant shooting guard not point guard.

Add me to the "no" list for Magloire

Eleanor Holmes Norton and Darvin Ham for Jarrett Jack

"Yeah, EJ's defensive philosophy pretty much blew. How about standing up to your star player Arenas when he challenges you publicly about playing D?"

He did stand up to him. Too bad the GM took the player's side and cut the coach off at the knees.

"can someone tell me when the NBA draft is?"

June 2008. Thanks for your attentive interest in the league.

I, too, say no to Magloire. As for Rob's point about BH and Etan, I would trust EG more than EJ, but I think EG's impetus for moving Etan is Etan's massive contract, which is probably the one mistake EG has made since he arrived. That said, if I had to choose, and if contracts weren't an issue, I'd take Etan instead of Haywood. BH is a pansy, in no uncertain terms. He's a 7-footer who's allergic to rebounds. Etan is undersized, but I feel his offensive skills are more polished, and at least you know he'll work hard. Also, remember how Etan started the season last year? He was a beast underneath. He earned the starting job, then lost it because of injury (health has been a concern for Etan). Etan is not the answer, but I'd keep him before Haywood.

Jahidi White and the rights to Bison Dele for Yao Ming.

Anybody who thinks DS plays defense didn't watch any games last season. Luke Ridnour ate his lunch, and not only did DS not play any defense, but he didn't play any offense either when the big 2 were out during the playoffs.

Remember, he came here and proclaimed himself the defensive stopper. During the season, he only bragged about being mr. 50 and can't feel his face, not how he got 3 steals or how he locked his man down. Needless to say, there was no more bragging after Gilby went out b/c teams easily locked DS up.

The thing people don't seem to grasp about the DeShawn situation is that his salary would be fine if he had the kind of base-level game that a legit NBA starting SG has. but he doesn't have that. Offensively, he's totally dependent on the presence of the big three and disappears without them to draw attention away. More significantly, because he is such a marginal caliber starter, there's a good chance that, at some point well before his deal is up, he'll be supplanted in the starting lineup for a better player (young, Maguire, another FA) and be reduced to a backup role. At which point the Wiz will be paying starting money to yet another limited backup averaging single digit points.

Thank you Keithinator, I am sick of everyone hear saying the Wiz need a shotblocking, rebounding, low post presence. So does 20 other teams. So name someone, stop taking shots at EG for not being able to walk on water. He doesn't have the money or players to add someone without gutting his team. And no team is taking our 10th, 11th, and 12th best players for their 1st, so stop with the "why can't he trade haywood, etan, and daniels for kg already, geez"

i just don't think that $4M is a lot. it's BARELY starter's $, in fact i don't think that it is. hell, we've got 2 non-starters on OUR payroll that make over 5...i don't think there are many starters in the league that have resigned for $4M/yr...i agree that he may not be starting but another year, but this is def. a manageable salary for an average player

I can't feel my wallet!

I can't feel my wallet!

my problem is that we seem to be bidding with ourselves. if stevenson is so good (and by so good i mean a "starting sg on a team who led the east at the all-star break") then why wasn't he snatched up quickly by teams, like kapono and carroll? perhaps his d suffered while trying to make up for arenas, but no doubt his o improved greatly because of playing with arenas, butler and jamison.

i'm still of the belief that defense in the nba takes the entire team, and that only maybe an amazing shot-bocking, charge-taking pf or center can really make a team's defense better just by himself.

so paying money for an average "defensive stopper" on a team full of players (and coaches) that only do offense, seems a little like trying to stop a flood with a roll of paper towels.

let's spend the money elsewhere, or hey, not even spend it. that way we don't get locked into some long-term contract we're trying to trade in a season or two, like daniels, thomas, haywood....i

Keep fighting Rob P. I agree that EG is seeing this one right.

DS is our #4 guy. Why loose him to sign JCN who is estimated as a #6 guy?

I can't feel my wallet!

I'm tired of stating the obvious over and over. Is DS a 1st or 2nd or even 3rd option? No. Of course, his limitations were evident in the postseason as were the teams. We are not that deep and rely WAY too much on offense. The team D did not to DS any favors either. Luke Ridnour? I don't remember that one, but ok and LR is a point guard. Funny how people remember the few times they think he was burned. They play 82 games and please tell me who played better mano mano defense more consistently on the team? WHO???

"He did stand up to him. Too bad the GM took the player's side and cut the coach off at the knees." - Kalorama

- Now your disagreeing with the Wizards
beat writer too! What exactly did he do? Bench him? Publicly rebuke him? Back up your points with some facts! I don't recall him doing anything, but please correct if I'm wrong with specifics and I will cede you your points.

Keithinator - you get the post of the day IMO!!!

Colin, I mostly agree with you, but the whole thing is a tricky situation. I think BH when happy and properly motivated is a much better player than Etan and gets hurt less often. Etan's contract is bigger, yes, and he generally plays harder, but he can also be very erratic. How can he destroy Dwight Howard and disappear the next game? I think it is partly the contract situation, but I think realistically EJ is gone after this year and EG is betting that a change of coach brings out the best of BH.

For EJ to stay, the Wiz have to show a marked improvement on D and make it past the 1st round and be highly competitive in round 2, if not win round 2. No sweeps! IMO.

4 mil is in line with what others of similar production (starting or reserves) are making.

and below the NBA average.

The real money to be saved is by not paying a backup PG 6 Mil per until he's 35. Find a team for AD and use the rest of the MLE or the 1.8 BAE on a backup PG. Booth gets "Grant Hill money" aka the vet minimum.

Something to chew on:

Do you sign Arenas to a maximum contract after next season if he continues to show zero interest in playing defense and making his teammates better?

Just asking the question, but you are going to place all bets on this kind of player taking you to the championship level?

The franchise will be handcuffed for 6/7 years afterwards!

Personally, I might let him walk if he plays D like he has his whole Wiz career. He hurts the whole team with the way he allows constant penetration and he is one of the quickest players in the league!!!

Somebody correctly pointed out on here last year that he had a bit of a defensive reputation at GS when he was fighting for minutes. Then he became Agent Zero, which means zero defense.

Ivan,
Do your sources suggest that an imminent JC+Etan trade contributed to the Wizard's reaching a deal with Deshawn Stevenson?

Johnny Boy - your right, but that is another of those deals where AD was overpaid and we have to live with it. I don't think anybody is biting on his contract either. But if you look at Haywood, Etan, Daniels they all make more money than DS. So I don't think his contract is the problem!

I can't feel my wallet!

Jarvis Hayes + Kermit Washington for Kevin Garnett

Eddie Jordan + the rights to Popeye Jones for Kobe

they better get something good for JCN!!

Kalorama, I'm sorry dude, but you say some ridiculous things. 15 million over 4 years is not starter money. I just found real quickly the average NBA salary in 2003 was 3.7 million, which means it is probably about 5 million + now. I hope NY is the starter next year or shortly thereafter that would be great. But you guys are arguing that DS is average and he is getting paid as such!

I wonder if Ernie has been looking at Jermaine O'Neal and Pau Gasol, or if the Wizards still buy the consistency=victory philosophy that has stifled big moves for the past three years.

No more GM's in here please. If these fantasy trades could happen, they probably would. I realize some are just jokes, but still. Hell, I would trade Etan, Jamison, Haywood and our picks for the next two years for Shaq, but it ain't happening. Everyone needs big guys! Everyone. They don't come cheap if they come at all.

Visser + OJ Simpson for Greg Oden

What's wrong with the same starters with Songalia, NY, Pech, Daniels, McGuire (looks good thus far), and Blatche of the bench? I like this team a lot. I think we probably need a better coach, but otherwise we have talent and youth and probably a lot more depth than last year. I'll take this team over LeBron's team anyday and they are supposedly going to be a juggernaut in the East now. What a joke!

Rob P,
I've not heard any explanation of why the Wizards cannot put together a package equal to or greater than the Richard Jefferson + Nenad Krstic package that is first among the trade deals that the Pacers are considering for Jermaine O'Neal.
So, I ask for that explanation. There have been many absurd ideas floated on this blog, but I don't think this in that category.

wiz rule let's get the world and what ever
we can get for jcn remember ernie brought
us gil so he'll do it again keep the faith

wiz rule let's get the world and what ever
we can get for jcn remember ernie brought
us gil so he'll do it again keep the faith

Hey Ivan, just a little word on internet etiquette: it's usually frowned upon to erase something that's already been posted. One can update it, or cross it out, but it's a little too revisionist to just completely erase something so that there is no record of it.

well if its only 4 for 15 i think we can barely sign jcn with the rest of the mle... abe just has to be willing to go luxury tax so we can get blatche too

Just checked before bedtime and the Insider is back.

I was just going to say to Emmett that if that type of deal was doable I think EG would get it done. Again, EG has proven he is a top flight GM unlike say whomever runs the Redskins these days. So I second guess every detail of the Redskins or used to (given up on them), but the Wiz not so much. What do we have that Indiana wants besides Arenas and Butler? Do you trade one of them? O'Neal is in his upper 20's I believe with a LOT of tread on those tires. He best season was probably 2-3 years ago now. I'm not saying he is not a nice player, but sometimes it ain't so simple. Would I give them say Jamison, Etan, Blatche or something in that realm? Sure. But, I don't think Indiana is taking that deal either.

"Now your disagreeing with the Wizards
beat writer too! What exactly did he do? Bench him? Publicly rebuke him? Back up your points with some facts!

I can't be held responsible for you not paying attention to the readily available, now can I?

Jordan was asked about Gilbert's comments at a postgame press conference, which was replayed on Comcast and every local newscast with a sports report. Don't remember his actual words (if you really want to know, i'm pretty sure Google still works). but he made some pointely mocking response to Gilbert's comment that got the reporters laughing. When asked about the supposed tiff between the two, Grunfeld replied "Gilbert has won lots of games for us and will win lotss of games for us." He said nothing about Eddie.

"Now your disagreeing with the Wizards
beat writer too! What exactly did he do? Bench him? Publicly rebuke him? Back up your points with some facts!

I can't be held responsible for you not paying attention to the readily available, now can I?

Jordan was asked about Gilbert's comments at a postgame press conference, which was replayed on Comcast and every local newscast with a sports report. Don't remember his actual words (if you really want to know, i'm pretty sure Google still works). but he made some pointely mocking response to Gilbert's comment that got the reporters laughing. When asked about the supposed tiff between the two, Grunfeld replied "Gilbert has won lots of games for us and will win lotss of games for us." He said nothing about Eddie.

EG is wasting time by trying to shop Etan. As I and many other people here have said for many months, no one will want to take on Etan's contract. He's a 6'10" or 6'9" center with a 6 to 7 million dollar contract. Not going to happen.

What EG should be doing is shopping Haywood in a package with Navarro for a starting center. Haywood is 7 feet tall and only $4 million. We don't want him because of his attitude, but a fresh start elsewhere could benefit everyone. Maybe we could throw in a pick with Haywood and Navarro and get Camby?

"Kalorama, I'm sorry dude, but you say some ridiculous things. 15 million over 4 years is not starter money. I just found real quickly the average NBA salary in 2003 was 3.7 million, which means it is probably about 5 million + now. I hope NY is the starter next year or shortly thereafter that would be great. But you guys are arguing that DS is average and he is getting paid as such!"

There are over 400 players in the NBA. The vast majority of them are not and never will be starters and are not paid like starters. So taking the average salary of the entire NBA tells you nothing about the avaerage starting salary. It tells you even less about the average starting salary of a particular position (SG), which is what this is about. Of course none of that really matters since you took a figure that was not only irrelevaant but out of date and then blindly guessed at what it might be today with absolutely nothing to support your wild stab in the dark. Then you had the nerve to throw it out like it was an ironclad truth. This from the guy always piously screaming for everyone else to back up what they say with facts.

Please.

Here's a fact:

Rob, I'm sorry dude, but you say some ridiculous things

Etan and JCN for Strom Swift's expiring deal and a first round pick. It works under the cap because Etan and Swift make just about the same. Etan would be an improvement over Swift for the Grizz and the keep Gasol happy while the Wiz get a back-up center for a year, with cap relief and a couple first rounders in another deep draft next summer.

Etan and JCN for Strom Swift's expiring deal and a first round pick. It works under the cap because Etan and Swift make just about the same. Etan would be an improvement over Swift for the Grizz and the keep Gasol happy while the Wiz get a back-up center for a year, with cap relief and a couple first rounders in another deep draft next summer.

Since it was requested and i can't sleep and have nothing better to do...

Position pay
The average NBA salary by position:

Position Avg. salary

Point guard $3,672,966

Shooting guard $4,504,900

Small forward $3,767,771

Power forward $4,273,758

Center $4,666,934

Source: USA TODAY research

Still trying to find it as an average of just starters

Kalorama - You're only hurting yourself. The average starter surely makes much more money than the average player. You said it yourself: there are over 400 players in the NBA. The average is totally tilted by the highest paid people, who are generally starters. The average starter presumably makes well over $5 million. Probably closer to 10.

Why would Ernie be signing DeShawn before he can get a Navarro deal done? That would seem to drastically reduce his leverage.

Ivan: who is going to play center and what kind of minutes do you see Blatche, Pecherov, Songalia, Haywood, McGuire, Young and Daniels getting? I'm not sure I see how there is enough playing time for all of these guys, which makes me think Ernie has a big trade brewing

Here's a trade idea for the Wiz: JAMISON for JERMAINE O'NEAL. The numbers work for a straight up trade. Maybe the Pacers could be persuaded to sweeten the deal. Swapping Etan THOMAS for Jamaal TINSLEY would be nice.

Debrickashawn Stevenson is now officially overpaid.

What everyone is forgetting about Deshawn is that the other team can't see him!!

What everyone is forgetting about Deshawn is that the other team can't see him!!

I can't see the Pacers accepting Jamison for O'Neal. They turned down Kristic and Jefferson from NJ for O'Neal.

Everyone talks about the Wizard's needs on defense. Yet they want to sign a 6ft 4in guard who weighs 175 pounds. That sounds pretty skinny to me. He'll score points but get eaten up on defense. Sound familiar?

kalorama has diarrhea of the mouth, crap just keeps shooting out of control!

Hey Rob, if you think Arenas isn't going to make max money after a no one like rashard lewis got it, then you're crazy. If you don't want to sign him then who are you going to replace him with? And how are you going to get that player?

And if you think Arenas can't play defense, then you didn't see him play during the USA try outs last year. I blame Eddie Jordan, who just plays lip service to that other end of the floor.

Kalorama is right. I sit in the 3rd row and I watched DS give a good effort but get lit up all season up close and personal. The only difference between him and Gil defensively is that he gave up a better effort. The outcome was the same. Fact is, there are maybe 3 or 4 shutdown perimeter players in the league and they get calls other players don't get from the refs based on their reputations. ALL other perimeter defenders rely on help from their bigs. No one can stick with NBA guards because they're too quick. Even Eric Slow blew by our guys last year a couple times. Remember that ? That said, is a 4th option on offense and a marginal defender worth 4 mill a year? In light of the fact that JCN would cost us less and is a better shooter and also a marginal defender, I think not. There are scenarios here. Gilbert is the wildcard and may be the reason we're signing DS. 1. Sign DS, trade JCN and Etan. This clears Etan off the books, giving Eddie one less option when he's looking to pull Haywood. Haywood should play a little better. Also, it placates Gil because his boy is back. 2. Sign JCN and let DS walk. This leaves us with Etan and the Etan/Haywood/Eddie drama continues. Gil is also unhappy and we have to worry all season about him leaving next year. The way I look at it, Ernie has no real choice.

"Anybody who thinks DS plays defense didn't watch any games last season."

DCMan88 wasn't even watching them games apparently because he obviously can't find the better defensive player on the Wiz team as DS2.

Rob P said "Who are all these readily obtainable b-list swingmen who are going to come in and start at SG for a playoff team, play solid defense, and score 11+ pts a game on 46% shooting? Give me names. If they are out there and will sign for less than 15 million, then I am all for it."

Come one Mr Know It All kalorama and Gilby Loving DCMan88 where you at finding those names?

I second mark's post and add this. To placate someone who will opt out and might leave (Gilbert) and give up a better cheaper player (Navarro only wants a 3-year contract for 3 mill per year as I recall) is a mistake. Some people see Navarro as a sixth man, maybe on this team, but I assure you he is better than that and could start alongside Arenas in this backcourt.
If EG can really get something good for JCN, then fine, but I still think if the Wizards are going to make an impact trade, it will be with Jamison's expiring deal.

Devin Brown's name has already come up.

I'm not in agreement with Ivan that signing Stevenson virtually assures that Navarro will get shipped else where. For sure the dollars under the luxury tax are very limited once Stevenson is signed and if we match a contract offer for Blatche. But moving Navarro requires a trade, how is Ivan sure that Grunfeld isn't looking at a trade involving Daniels or others instead?
If Daniels is moved and Stevenson is signed then Navarro fits exactly into the role here that most NBA scouts seem to see him as, a combo gaurd off the bench. Stevenson gives us a big rugged 2 gaurd that is at least an average defender to start along side Arenas that doesn't need the ball alot. Navarro can come off the bench to run with Arenas and releive him of some ball handling and allow him to concentrate on scoring.
That combo allows Young to be an up tempo guy that can score in bunches off the bench. Clearly at this point more athletic than many second unit guys can handle but not strong enough defensively to be out there against many veteran 2's. Eddie can pick his spots and bring him along slowly.
Trading Navarro might allow Grunfeld to move Thomas along in the deal and I think under that scenario Eddie's looking for front court help as well. He might find that package, but moving Daniels along with a future pick could be enticing enough that some team would bite and send along an expiring contract to us or a cheaper player if they have cap room. In effect we'd be trading Daniels and a pick for Navarro and cap space.
I think that Seattle acquired a trade exception in their deal with Orlando so they could be a player in another deal. Trading Daniels and a pick for a trade exception could also make sense we could then package an exception along with Thomas or Hayes to get an upgrade up front. Boston is a team that is said to be looking for a veteran point gaurd and if the Bucks loose out on Mo Williams they'll be shopping for a point. So Daniels could still yield us something.
Center is still our most glaring need, but I'm not convinced that moving Navarro in a package is going to get us a frontline guy right now.
I'm been checking out the Memphis papers for awhile now, I'm still not convinced that they intend to try and keep Gasol. They want to play uptempo, Milicic and Gasol don't appear to be an athletic uptempo combo at the 4 and 5. Still wouldn't be surprised to see them sign an offer sheet to Blatche or Outlaw from Portland they fit the mold of what they want to do.
I'm not sure of how much cap space they have after signing Milicic and if the have the room to go over the MLE. But I wouldn't be shocked to see them try an engineer a deal to get out from under Gasol's deal. It wouldn't be a shocker to me to see Gasol and Navarro end up together somewhere but maybe not in Memphis or here either.
The Summer is just getting started and for once we're a player in talks because we've got enough chips for Ernie to get a seat at the table.

George, you're right that Devin Brown's name came up except if you're calling DS2 DeBrick, then what is Brown's when he shot 42% last year for NO/OK? DeBricker or DeBrickest?

On top of that, even though DS2 wasn't a stopper, he is still a better defender than Brown.

I finally caught M-Town's Summer game and came away quite impressed with Kyle Lowry. I was just reading a report where they say him and Conley Jr. are identical players with the slight edge going to Conley Jr. But I like Aaron Miles and I think Eddie and the staff does as well. Lets not forget, Eddie has been begging for a pure pg since he got here and Miles fits the billing. Plus I think the team would be better by getting rid of Etan's contract and freeing up pt for guys like McGuire, Blatche, and Songalia. Plus BTH can finally average 25 mpg. So with that said, here's my trade propsal: JCN and Etan for Stromile Swift, a pick, and cash!

We can talk all we want about being a defensive stopper. The fact remains that those defensive stoppers usually play with an eraser that has their back and/or a tremendous TEAM defense. Individual defense is only a fraction of that.

Bowen is good because he can play angles. He knows that if he gets beat its 1, probably not where the player wanted to go (away from a pet move) and 2, right into Duncan and the Spurs defense. Raja Bell has Marion and Stoudamire behind him.

Deshawn isn't a defensive "stopper" and might not have been as good last year as he was in Orlando. Then again, he didn't have Dwight Howard behind him last year either.

Its similar to the football methodology of improving your pass coverage by adding pass rushing.

The Rockets just acquired Jackie Butler. Is that their way of backing up Yao and letting Dikembe walk? If so I can think of a better use for that 1.8 BAE than Booth.

what's the big deal about giving him 3.75 mil a year? he still would be one of the lowest paid shooting guards in the league. you all are acting like he is breaking the bank. this is one of the true values of the free agency period. but what do fans know...2 years ago you all wanted to give larry hughes 14 mil.

We are not going to get Pau Gasol for JCN and Etan. The Griz' would want JCN to play WITH his boy Gasol, not do a deal to keep them seperated. If we can move JCN to the Griz and dump Etan's headache salary and get something nice in return ie: Lowry or Mike Miller, even an expiring contract and a pick and the numbers work, let's do it. I just don't want to see JCN end up on a team like Miami where he'd come back to haunt us. I like Posey but Riles would make that bite us somehow. Secondly, EG did make a mistake when he matched that Milwaukee offer sheet for Etan. That $ and that final year baloon player option is crippling our moveability right now. Thirdly, nobody is saying that EG really doesn't have to do anything with Navarro. We still hold his rights for another year even if we don't sign him this season so we could very well stand pat for now.
Lastly, those bloggers who reiterate the need for a 5 are correct in the fact that there are only a handful of decent starting 5's in the league now. We need an underachiever who will become an overacheiver that can pass, bang, protect the rim and rebound ala Ben Wallace before he became a commodity. Oh yeah, and throw in a decent free throw percentage. There just aren't many of them out there. I'd take Ratliff or even Zo' over McGloire.

Does anyone post here that like any of the Wizards players. Everyone one of them seemed to get raked over the coals. I sure hope they don't read these posts and if they do, I hope they realize these posts are not indicative of the all of the fans feelings towards them. Good grief! This place is all doom and gloom!

The problem with JCN is that he wouldn't be a 3rd guard here, he'd be the 5th, behind Arenas, Stevenson (assuming he resigns), Daniels and Young. Had he announced his intentions to come to the NBA prior to the draft, maybe the team would have selected a front court player rather than Young, but what's done is done. Young was not a project pick in the way that Blatche was. He was brought here to contribute right now. So if he's slated to be the scorer off the bench, JCN becomes redundant on this roster. In that case he has more value to this team as trade asset. Use him to address the teams biggest problem - frontcourt depth.

exactly bryan, welcome to the common sense camp whereas disillusioned wannabes kalorama and a few others think they know better how to do EG's job better and giving DS2 the ~ $4M/yr is ludicrous. get real

I don't see how they sign Navarro after coming to terms with Deshawn. We're over the cap and DS will eat up almost all of the MLE. We'll have to take salary back for Etan and AD even if we can find them a new home. So where does the money for Navarro come from? I don't see it.

sport.es is reporting that Riley is or will meet with Navarro in Spain.

"kalorama has diarrhea of the mouth, crap just keeps shooting out of control!"

Posted by: | July 13, 2007 08:40 AM

BWAHAHAHAHA rofl

We need to face reality, nobody is going to take ET's contract off our hands with that trade kicker, it just makes a bad contract a horrible contract. What possible motivation is there for that? JCN is not worth swallowing that pill, not now anyway.
The best we can hope for is a deal for AD and JCN that brings us a decent front court rebounder/shot blocker...and not many teams are willing to trade big for small(s).
So that leaves us with reality: siging DS and AB, trading JCN rights for a first round 2009 or 2010 pick or two second round picks (2008 and 09). And resigning Booth.

alright, first post.. WOOHOO!! just wanted to say one thing: why are so many wiz fans intent on trading AD? i can understand the JCN/Poet package to whoever is willing, but why get rid of a solid, VETERAN back-up pg when the team is very thin in that dept? it doesnt make sense to me. are we handing over those duties to Donnell?!? Aaron Miles? no way, let's get real folks! if anything, let DS go, give the majority of that money to bring Stevie Blake back and move Hibachi to the 2 spot. along with packaging JCN/Poet for Darko and you've got your 2007-08 NBA Champs right there!

i'm out like James Lang...

I like the Wizards. I also like DeShawn, though were I GM (which obviously I will never be) I wouldn't have bumped up the offer that quickly. Would have been interesting to see if DS would have taken 4/12 in the end. JCN is a stud in Europe but a ? here. While I'd love to see how he develops as an NBA baller here with the Wiz, I think EG is prioritizing right in locking up a guy that plays his role fairly well and is highly respected on the team. If Calvin Booth ends up getting the BYE because of he is the glue in the locker room, I think it's no surprise that EG is willing to pay DS 3 more mill to keep a key player on the team to ensure cohesiveness. It isn't always about the individual skills, but how the player impacts his teammates.

Bottom line, though, is that we only know about 20% of what's going on behind EG's door. I'm putting my faith in EG that he's got something good cooking with JCN. If we see JCN in a Memphis uniform next year, I'm guessing we'll be happy because it will mean that EG brought us some good news (cap space, freedom from Etan's contraact, first round pick, etc.).

Anyway, I've read all of these posts (which I enjoy doing thoroughly) and personally I like the back and forth that goes on here. Keeps the summer interesting. I haven't seen too many people stick up for EG's pursuing of DeShawn, so figured I'd put my two-cents in.

I don't see Navarro as 5th in that situation. For one, Daniels will likely be elsewhere. Secondly, Young is far from guaranteed minutes early. The kid has some growing up to do.

So we're looking at Etan and Navarro for Swift and a pick? or Etan, AD and Navarro for Swift and one of their PGs, preferably Lowry but more likely Damon Stoudamire. Or Etan and JCN for Udonis Haslem. Ugh.

Exactly, a different Rob, somehow that is too hard to figure out for him. An average salary means the starters are much higher than that number. It's a ridiculous argument that signing DS is a bad value. So, I am making no more comments on it.

Plus, Aaron just made the point about JCN being redundant on the Wiz, which is a point I tried to make yesterday. On a team that needs perimeter guard help, he would be more useful. Also, I imagine he is going to want a salary much higher than DS's.

Let EG do his job!

Whomever responded to my Arenas question:
1. I did not say he won't get max money. I just asked should he if your being a rational GM.
2. I specifically made the point that he had a defensive reputation at GS when fighting for minutes. Gilbert COULD definitely be a good defender and there is NO reason for him to completely suck.
3. If Rashard Lewis is worth 126 m then Gilbert should get 200 m. That is the worst contract I've ever seen in sports!

will mcguire be our backup SF?
hayes won't be back with us
and the lineup will probably look like this
1st string
pg gilbert
sg deshawn
sf caron
pf antawn
c etan/brendan

2nd string
pg daniels
sg young
sf mcguire?
pf songalia/pecherov
C blatche/pecherov

in the first string i put etan/brendan cuz there is little doubt in anyones mind that one of them will not be in a wizards uniform

yeahZero, EG is trying to trim salary and stay under the luxury tax this year and beyond. AD is a backup PG making 6 million per. If Gilbert doesn't go down Daniels' averaged minutes would have been in the teens.

I'm not disputing your characterization of AD's game, but when guys like Brevin Knight would do a similar job for 1/4 the price its easy to see why Daniels is being made available.

Detroit just set the market level for Blatche. They signed their own restricted free agent Amir Johnson, similarly talented, to $12M for 3 years. Unless someone offers Blatche more and we feel we should match, we can definitely live with that figure.

as goofy as calvin booth is, i would like to keep him because he makes little mistakes and is a great locker room guy that helps w/ team chemistry

as goofy as calvin booth is, i would like to keep him because he makes little mistakes and is a great locker room guy that helps w/ team chemistry

as goofy as calvin booth is, i would like to keep him because he makes little mistakes and is a great locker room guy that helps w/ team chemistry

Here are some B List SGs' stats against Stevenson:
L. Hughes 27 (not to mention playoffs)
W. Szczerbiak 33
E. Boykins 29
K. Martin 40
K. Dooling 20 (D List)
R. Bell 21 (not a scorer) - Stevenson 6
R. Davis 27
J. Richardson 28
C. Meggette 29

Im not going to mention the A List 2 Guard heavy East players.

Hey Ernie Grunfeld,

How about Jamison, ET, and JCN for AK-47. Jamison makes about the same as AK-47 and they are badly in need of a SG and back up Center.

Tyler, your lineup looks exactly like I thought it would if things go as well as EG plans.

Yep Tyler...I like that lineup....much deeper than last year especially if you assume Blatche improving and Pech being able to provide valuable minutes. I think the jury is still out on Pech though.

If we dump Etan we better be getting a big body in return bc otherwise without BH we have zilch in the paint.

sorry bout the triple post

do you guys think andray/pech could get the starting C job this year?

if we (for some reason) keep brendan and get rid of etan, considering brendans bad relationship wit Eddie JOrdan, i think blatche might get the starting nod

How interesting, before the season ended, everybody was begging to re-sign DS, now everybody is against it!

DS rejected 10 mil for 3 yrs last year (3.33 mil per yr), so we knew it will take a bit more to sign him. If he signed 4 yr for 15 mil, it will amount to 3.75 mil per yr, not too far off the park.

"Who needs a veteran scoring machine with big game experience coming off their bench?"

The Wizards.

This one's gonna bite the Wiz in the butt just like all the dumb trades they ever did. Ernie should know better.

- Ray

I would love it if the Wiz got AK-47. It doesn't seem very likely though. Utah didn't seem too concerned when he complained last year. Also, someone posted on a previous blog about AK being a max contract guy and how Polin would never have two max guys at the same time(Gil will be soon).

I must agree the money really isn't bad I just don't think DS is the "STOPPER" everyone thinks he is. For goodness sakes he averages .8 steals. Where is the defensive stats?

Arenas may get scorched for 30 but he returns the favor plus 6 assists/game. DS will just get scorched for 30 and put up 10.

Rob P., You aint lying. Rashard for 120 mill? Crazy. In regard to JCN being the 5th guard on this team, he's every bit as experienced as AD and DS and a better shooter with more playoff experience. (I count internationally televised games as playoffs) . On our team, he's probably the 2nd best option at guard other than Gil. One thing we have to say about JCN is that when the spotlight was on, he shined. I think that the World Games are every bit as prssure packed as the NBA playoffs. Maybe even more so because when you lose a couple times, you're done. DS didn't step up. Granted, DS had no help but I don't see a lot of stars on Spain's roster, either. yeahZERO!!, I think the reason everybody's bringing up trading AD is because he makes 6mill and that's a lot for a backup especially when he plays very little. Plus, he played well during the playoffs and his trade value is as hig has it's ever gonna get. Now's the time to trade him if we want anything of value back. Stringer, I'm with you. No one can stop anyone in the backcourt in this league without help. The handchecking rules saw to that. It's about help defense and big guys on the back line that can deter. In fact, I'll go further and claim that you don't even have to be big. All you need are long arms and some quickness. Ben Wallace is probably 6'8" and he's a perfect backstopper...or used to be.

Hey Rob, I wasn't saying anything about your Gil playing D point, was in fact backing it up. All I was saying is that the reality is Gil is getting max money no what we think about it, either from the wiz or from somebody else. Is he a max player? Maybe not, but that is what the market dictates so that is what we are going to have to pay him or lose him. As a fan that remembers '88-03, I would like to see him stay, even if it means no championships but exciting trips to the playoffs. 5 years ago, Wiz fans were just begging to make the playoffs. Now you people are saying Championship or nothing? Like it only takes a couple years to make that happen. Everyone is murdering Grunfeld like they don't remember what it was like to have Wes Unseld as our GM and to be the biggest joke in the league. So are all these people recent bandwagon jumpers that weren't around for the lean years and our now trying to rain on the parade of the true fans?

Can I accept being the Pacers of the '90s-early 2000s? Yes.

HORRIBLE NEWS. I come on to check this and I find out that we are keeping Stevenson and getting rid of JCN? DESHAWN STEVENSON?!?!?!??!?!?

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRR

rob,
Yes, Gilbert is a max player. Teams will forgive the defensive issues because he sells tickets. He also relishes in the role of not just max player, but franchise player. He wants it. Most players want max money without the responsibility that comes with being the franchise guy.

JNC and Eton for Darko, No WAY!!! Swift + pick or Cardinal + pick.

Wayne, your B list against DS was hilarious. Unfortunately it didn't take into account the fact that a lot of times the guy would just run past DS and either score on our C/PF or cause our big guy to come over to help , which created a pass and dunk for the other teams' C/PF. Our help defense sucks. Maybe we should start with developing a different system. LeBron said that every time he got past one guy, there was another 3 waiting for him when he played San Antonio. Are they that much more athletic than us? NO ! Are they that much smarter than us? Uhhhhhhhh??...... To be continued..

Player 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Andrei Kirilenko
07/08 $13,709,375
08/09 $15,080,312
09/10 $16,451,250
10/11 $17,822,187

Antawn Jamison
07/08 $16,360,095

Etan Thomas
07/08 $6,370,000
08/09 $6,860,000
09/10 $7,350,000

C'Mon LETS GET THIS THING DONE!!!

Deshawn is perfect for this team.I swear I hope we dont keep JCN we dont need him, honestly. Im looking foward to the Memphis trade maybee we can unlaod some salary like portland & pheonix did a few weeks ago. Or we can get somethin like a Draft pic or Mike Miller, But who needs more offense? Overall I think this is a smart move by EG & the rest of those clowns dont know what there talking about

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/grizzlies/article/0,1426,MCA_475_5627388,00.html

"The Grizzlies appear to be an unlikely place for Spanish sharpshooter Juan Carlos Navarro given the high price tag the Washington Wizards have placed on acquiring his rights.

The word in well-placed NBA circles is that Washington asked for Mike Conley or Kyle Lowry or a future first-round for Navarro's rights. The Grizzlies declined."

if we somehow got andrei kirilenko and kept our big three no matter whoelse we gave up, we would instantly be a contender because we could run with a smaller lineup with kirilenko at the C and he's a huge defensive player

Ivan asks: "So what to do with Navarro? Who needs a veteran scoring machine with big game experience coming off their bench?"

Here's a team: the Wiz!

It will get real old come December, watching the clunkers from DS2 and AD. Most everyone I know says keep the JCN gift. Don't just blow this gift on some stupid salary dump.

Someone a few days ago said send The Poet and Haywood to counseling. A pretty good idea.

Johnny Boy, i understand 6 mil/per is a lot for a back-up. so why not just start him then and move Gil to the 2? AD proved to us in the postseason that he's still got a lot left in his tank and is VERY productive when given the minutes (11 APG in the playoffs is ridiculous for a team without it's two best scorers) remember.. although he's entering his 11th year or so, he really doesn't have much tread since he's been a backup most of his career. moving Gil to his natural spot, the 2, would fill the void left by allowing DS to walk, which would then enable us to sign JCN and Blatche a little more easily (and we could retain Jarvis for the minimum whose about as good as a defender as DS is, IMO).

and although i'm not exactly sold on JCN yet nor am i knocking his game, just keep this in mind...

Sarunas Jasikevicius was highly regarded as one of the top European players a couple years ago and he hasn't exactly been too good with IND or GS so far.

bryan, people are upset about the DS2 deal because it means losing JCN.

If I thought we were a step or two away from being real contenders, I'd agree with keeping DS2.

However, we're not winning the championship this season and probably not winning it next. Given that, who would you rather have in three years? DS2 or JCN?

Im SORYY FOLKS I MEANT DC IS N-O-T The "STOPPER" everyone thinks he is.

I agree with you MArk. The reason for them attacking our inside Defense is because we have Jamison as our PF! You are no way in hell thinking defense if you have Jamison as your PF. Lets get Blatche in there and move Jamison to SF and Butler to SG.

Starters:

C - E.Thomas/Haywood
PF - A. Blatche
SF - A. Jamison (natural position)
SG - C. Butler
PG - Arenas

I think Blatche can cover for DS's 46% FG% and 10 points. He would also give you blocks and rebounds.

DOES EVERYONE AGREE THATS THIS IS MORE DEFESEVILEY THREATENING?!?!?

Hey all, I've just heard that DeShawn Stevenson has accepted the wizards contract offer of 4 years and $18 million. In other news, I hear that the wizards are nearing a deal with Denver that would net them Camby, in exchange for Navarro, Thomas and a 2nd Round Pick. I'll keep you posted.

That is a good idea yeahZERO, but if the Wizards start Daniels, he probably can't play more than 30-35 mins. a game or his effectiveness will plummet.

Utah would probally want Antonio instead of Etan, they just lost Fisher and are probally in the market for veteran PG help. That is just a guess though. Then JCN would be our back up point guard unless we packaged his with Etan for a backup point. That is fun to imagine, but probally not an option.

IVAN thats good for the deshawn news
THATS INCREDIBLE ABOUT THE MARCUS CAMBY THAT WOULD BE UNBELIEVEABLE FOR US

IVAN thats good for the deshawn news
THATS INCREDIBLE ABOUT THE MARCUS CAMBY THAT WOULD BE UNBELIEVEABLE FOR US

IVAN thats good for the deshawn news
THATS INCREDIBLE ABOUT THE MARCUS CAMBY THAT WOULD BE UNBELIEVEABLE FOR US

Holy crap! Camby is a injury risl, but that is a pretty good deal for the Wizards if that is the case.

Well if that is true we have the frontcourt presence we were hoping for. Everyone cross your fingers for Camby's health. Hate to see Navarro go, but that is a very good deal to let him go in. EG you are the man!

Deshawn is an average starting 2 guard, does not have a tendancy to take bad shots (look at his FG%), doesnt sulk when he isnt getting his fair share of looks, good defender on an uptempo team with no inside force forcing attacking players away........at 4 mill a year no one should be complaining. JCN's game has not been proven on the NBA level therefore committing to Mr. 50 is the right play. Back off of EG....hes creating a solid foundation for a team only in need of a big man down low.

Deshawn is an average starting 2 guard, does not have a tendancy to take bad shots (look at his FG%), doesnt sulk when he isnt getting his fair share of looks, good defender on an uptempo team with no inside force forcing attacking players away........at 4 mill a year no one should be complaining. JCN's game has not been proven on the NBA level therefore committing to Mr. 50 is the right play. Back off of EG....hes creating a solid foundation for a team only in need of a big man down low.

Burney i agree with you 100%
and as good as navarro sounds he is too small for a SG at 6-3 and all that i think he is is a scorer and shooter which we don't need that badly

Thank you, Ivan!!! I LOVE being right!!! Camby is a great addition, yeah he's injured a lot...so is the Poet! but his pros far outweigh the cons...his presence on the court is much more valuable than Ean's...I'm officially giddy

yeahZero, AD just can't handle the minutes. i think George said he'd start to fall off at 30. I honestly don't think he could handle 25+ a night over 80 games. Eddie was managing his minutes closer to 16 or 17 per until the injuries hit. he played well in the final month but started to break down even before the season ended. Its dangerous to take a playoff run (4 games) and project that over an entire season when we know he can't keep up that pace.

That couldn't have been a real post from Ivan, could it? If that's real then everyone on here and has said ANYTHING negative about him in the past month needs to post with:

I'M SORRY ERNIE GRUNFELD. I HEREBY STATE THAT I HAVE 100% CONFIDENCE IN YOUR ABILITIES AS A NBA GM.

Ernie U R DA MAN!!!

I think the Zards can keep DS and JCN. Package Etan and AD and try to get some picks back or expiring contracts. At this point the front line is what it's going to be. We might as well fun 'n gun...

That is great news. Ernie is the man.

yeah that could be fake someone just changed the name
if its true though the wizards are instantly winners of southeast division

The Grizz can have JCN, Etan and Antawn Jamison for Pau Gasol. I'd like that trade.

Barring that, I'd rather let DeShawn go and give ourselves a guard rotation of Arenas, AD, Nick Young, McGuire and Juan Carlos Navarro. I worry that Stevenson is going to be clogging the path of some of these other guys as they develop into NBA-caliber players.

If we don't get what we're asking for JCN, we'll be forced to trade his rights for below market value. We need to pull the offer to DS and sign JCN. Even Lowry for JCN isn't a good deal and I like Lowry's potential. How many times do we give away decent players before we learn our lesson? Ben Wallace, Rasheed, Rip, Webber, Bobby Simmons, Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, Keenan McCardell (oops). Even role players like Jaren Jackson played a key role one year in helping the Spurs win a championship. Why can't we keep JCN. This dud even says he'd play for less than the full exception. I can't get over this. BTW, this reminds me when we gave Etan a lot of money and then regretted it soon afterwards. This is worse because we're not matching any offers and bidding against ourselves I gotta believe there's a Gilbert angle here.

Why I think it is a fake is the wording of it (maybe I am too big a stickler in English class):
"Hey all, I've just heard that DeShawn Stevenson has accepted the wizards contract offer of 4 years and $18 million"

The Wiz offered 4 years and $15 million. 18 was DS terms. So shouldn't it have read: "Wiz comes to terms with Stevenson over 4 year, $18 million contract."

Hmmm, the difference between Etan's contract and Camby's is right around 3mil...

So we'd be signing and trading JCN to Denver.

If Ivan's post is true this is awesome news. For everyone who says that Camby is always injured may I remind you that so is Etan. Camby has actually played more games over the last two years than Etan and when he is on the court we all know that Camby is 2-3x more effective than etan. I'm loving it... until camby is injured for the playoffs... but even then. heck we'd still have haywood who is servicable and can get some minutes at the five from songalia blatche, pech etc.. at the five.

Guys we have a deep team this year.

Monte, correct me if im wrong
but i think etan gets around 6.5mil a season
and camby gets around 11.5 mil a season
im probably wrong though

Why I think it is a fake is the wording of it (maybe I am too big a stickler in English class):
"Hey all, I've just heard that DeShawn Stevenson has accepted the wizards contract offer of 4 years and $18 million"

The Wiz offered 4 years and $15 million. 18 was DS terms. So shouldn't it have read: "Wiz comes to terms with Stevenson over 4 year, $18 million contract."

Posted by: | July 13, 2007 11:39 AM

I was just thinking that myself... someone out there might be cracking up at us

Is that a real post from Ivan? That would be a decent deal. Camby would play 50 games and get hurt but at least we get something. I'm thinking that was someone else using Ivan's name. WHy would the Nuggets want JCN? He needs the ball to be effective and they have shooters in AI and Melo. They have that much confidence in Nene?

06 07 salaries

Camby $ 8,800,000

ET 5,883,600

So yeah sign and trade navarro

Hey guys,
I'm back, and it looks like there's a sign & trade deal going down. The newly signed Stevenson and Etan for Kobe and Lamar Odom..

THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT IVAN. Just proving a point that when Ivan or Michael Lee post some news, it would be an official blog, not as a "comment" in a past blog...

Why I think it is a fake is the wording of it (maybe I am too big a stickler in English class):
"Hey all, I've just heard that DeShawn Stevenson has accepted the wizards contract offer of 4 years and $18 million"

The Wiz offered 4 years and $15 million. 18 was DS terms. So shouldn't it have read: "Wiz comes to terms with Stevenson over 4 year, $18 million contract."

THAT's a good point, and was the one caveat to this message. that post was officially "sketchy"

mark: i dont think it was ( if it was thats incredible)
the nuggets would want JCN because he's 6-3 and a SG and iverson plays more of a pg and they need a scoring sg

Hey all, we just traded Kwame Brown's Kitty for Gerald