Cleaning Up the Wizards: Part One

As the DC Optimist puts it: "At least we aren't the Heat." Amen. Yet, sadly, changes have to be made. Yesterday I broke down where I think every current player stands. today I'll start to explain why, but before I do that some quick notes:

1. Now's not the time for wish lists. I'm not going to go crazy an suggest some trade for Kevin Garnett or anything like that. Keep that mess for the fantasy blogs and the NBA video games.


2. Piggybacking to #1: I'm only talking about the current players, who should stay and who should go. If they have value to someone else, then by all means trade them.


3. Now's not the time to pull punches. The grades I gave out for the starters, the bench and the rest will factor in, but just like in school where the final exam has more weight, I'm counting Playoff Performance alot more. This may mean that some players' grades may change (for better or for worse).

No with that, let's get back to the program...

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Yesterday I place players in the following categories:

UNTOUCHABLES: Gilbert Arenas, Antwan Jamison, Caron Butler

LEASE W/THE OPTION TO BUY: Antonio Daniels, Darius Songaila, Michael Ruffin, Andre Blatche

BUBBLE PLAYERS: DeShawn Stevenson, Jarvis Hayes, Etan Thomas

50/50 PLAYERS: Donell Taylor, Mike Hall, Roger Mason, Calvin Booth

ANCHORS: Brendan Haywood

I'm making some changes based on overall Playoff Performance:

UNTOUCHABLES: Gilbert Arenas, Antwan Jamison, Caron Butler

LEASE W/THE OPTION TO BUY: Antonio Daniels, Darius Songaila, Andre Blatche

BUBBLE PLAYERS: DeShawn Stevenson, Jarvis Hayes, Donell Taylor, Roger Mason, Michael Ruffin

50/50 PLAYERS: Etan Thomas, Mike Hall, Calvin Booth

ANCHORS: Brendan Haywood

Now for the why:

For the Untouchables, I think it should go without saying. Arenas: the team's best player, not to mention their "energy"...hit so many game winners, you'd be crazy to get rid of him...his craziest off-the-court issues weren't even made public by the press until the last season ended, which tells you that the Wizards organization and the local media has his back...was willing to just stand in the corner and shoot threes despite barely being able to walk after his injury...could have won the MVP on his stats and personality alone, if not for the injury...Jamison: a guy who understands what he is, and that doesn't include defensive dynamo, so what does he do? Maximize his talents to the fullest...the heart of this team, hands down...could average 15-and-5 easy just on chippies and broken plays...busted his ass to try and get the team just one win in this playoff series (averaged 32pts/game which was only 5pts lower than the next three top averages for the team)...Butler: the mental muscle, aka "Tuff Juice"...averaged 19pts, 7 boards, 2 steals and over 3 assists per game-in other words, "a pretty damn complete player"...even with those stats, has talked about improving his game...was seriously considering ripping off his cast and playing Games 3 and 4 until wiser heads (read coach Eddie Jordan) prevailed. In other words, these three together are good to take your team to the top of the division, and if you have some rebounders, defenders and young legs who like to run you can stay there. Even in this injury-riddled season, they squeezed out 41 wins; this is potentially a 50-win team when all the important parts are realitivily healthy.

Then there are guys we should lease with the option to buy. In other words, they compliment the Untouchables very well, but we shouldn't break the bank on them. I think the Playoffs showed that Daniels is the backcourt mate Arenas needs, even moreso than Stevenson. Daniels has the versitility that Larry Hughes displayed when he was here, with the added experience of playing on a championship team (the Spurs). And for a guy who was injured early this season, Songaila was solid in the Playoffs; his activity harassed Cleveland more than any big man, his scoring kept Thomas and Haywood planted on the bench, and his passion (I think) helped inspired the younger players. Andre Blatche proved he could play in a "must win" game, so that experiment's over. Now he has to get regular minutes and then prove he can contribute to winning a "must win" game.

So check this lineup out and tell me it can't win 50 with a competent bench: Songaila (center), Jamison (power forward), Butler (small forward), Arenas (shooting guard) and Daniels (point guard). Eddie Jordan uses the Princeton Offense so the guard and forward position are interchangeable. Songaila adds much needed scoring and passing to the middle (which is a crucial element of the Princeton Offense; it's doesn't work that well with traditional centers). What are the pluses? How does 100+pts/game, 22 dimes per game, and some of the most exciting basketball you ever seen sound? What are the minuses? They would be one injury away from being a .500 club, there's not a stopper in the bunch and rebounding would have to be a team effort or they'd get creamed on the boards. But still...with at least Blatche, a decent swingman, and another 6'4"-to-6'6" guard with handle and a nice stroke, this team wins 50 games, right? As it stands, who would stop that group from getting into the Finals? Just Chicago and Detriot, maybe?

Anyway, the bottom line is this: If you're thinking about getting rid of any of the Big Three, you better make sure you're bringing in someone who can help keep their combinded scoring average around 67pts/game. And as for the second tier: you could probably find three players who are better, but (1) would they compliment the Big Three, (2) how much would they cost, and (3) are you getting them in their prime?

Next: we move on to the players that we can afford to lose.