The Wizards have the 16th pick and the 47th pick in the draft. Pecherov is also said to be coming on the team next season. <u>FA's:</u> Deshawn Stevenson Andray Blatche Calvin Booth Michael Ruffin Donell Taylor Roger Mason Jarvis Hayes Brendan Haywood has asked for a trade, and will very likely not be back on the team. Navarro is also an option for the team, but he has a big buyout. Etan Thomas and the rights to Navarro can also be used as trade bait for the team. Arenas Chimes in: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I want an aggressive scorer. We don?t have a scorer coming off the bench. We don?t have somebody who is aggressive whose mindset is shoot-first coming off. We need somebody coming off there so when we put me, Caron and Antawn on the sidelines, we have somebody who can still light it up. My first year it was Juan Dixon. He came off and he just sparked us. So I think that?s what we need. We need a flat-out shooter and we need a scorer and we need a scrappy five ? just a scrappy big man, just somebody who can just come in and just lay fouls down coming off the bench. If we get that, then we?ll be fine. Personally, that?s what I think we need. I don?t know if that?s what our GM, Ernie Grunfeld thinks he needs. That ain?t my job. </div> http://www.nba.com/blog/gilbert_arenas.html
We definitely need to re-sign Andray Blatche. I can already tell if he leaves DC, he'll be the next big thing that the Wizards throw away like Ben Wallace, C-webb or Rasheed Wallace. He's got great athleticism, and he's only about 20 skipping out on college, and we definitely think that he has a chance to play a role here for the Wizards. We should also keep Deshawn Stevenson as well. He's struggled to step up when Arenas and Butler went down, but he's shown that he can produce when the attention is shifted on the big three by hitting open 3's, driving to the basket and having the best man on man defense on the team. Jarvis Hayes will be a free agent as well, and despite the poor season, he's stepped up in a way when Arenas and Butler went down just enough for him to earn a new contract. I think he deserves 1 more season at most just because of his performance the last part of the season, but if he doesn't take advantage of it, then he needs to leave. I don't care much about anyone else on that free agent list besides Roger Mason. It's real nice that we gained 2-3 spots in the draft order after Arenas and Butler went out and with the talent pool this draft contains, I think we can really score this year. Gilbert was right about us needing an aggressive scorer off the bench, but we do have Juan Carlos Nevarro and Oleksiy Pecherov wanting to come play next year. Other draft needs like a big guy such as Aaron Gray wouldn't hurt either.
Jarvis Hayes needs to go, he stepped up a few games, but outside of that didn't do much. He doesn't defend, and his offense and athleticism aren't enough to make up for that on the team. Michael Ruffin needs to go, and Calvin Booth can be re-signed for the minimum as an emergency big man. Andray Blatche needs to be re-signed as he's not going to be expensive, he's the priority guy to be re-signed. I have no problem with Navarro, but his buyout is too much, and the MLE will have to be used to sign him. I think he's best used in trade scenario's with Etan Thomas. Stevenson is not a bad re-sign, but the Wizards should not be fooled into giving him too much money. Anything over $2-3 million/year will be too much. Giving Stevenson too much money just hurts the team depth wise. Pecherov should definately be brought in, I think that one is already settled by the team. Jamison is also good trade bait with his expiring contract, and the fact that he's not one of those expiring contracts that is an old player, or can't do anything for you, he's a good player. Ricky Davis is an interesting guy the team could look to trade for, try and swing Haywood or Etan over to Minnesotta. In terms of free agency, these are the guys I like: Andres Nocioni (very likely out of price range) Dahntay Jones James Singleton Jason Kapono Sasha Pavlovic Joe Smith In the draft, look for a SG, not really sure who. Team Lineup: G: Arenas / Daniels G: Stevenson / Draft Pick (Fernandez?) SF: Caron / Blatche PF: Jamison / Songaila / Pecherov C: Etan / Pecherov / Songaila All in all, without Jamison opting out, there isn't much to be done in terms of FA's. 2008 will be a more important summer for the Wizards in terms of cap space if Jamison is not traded for someone with a longer contract. There aren't really any FA's (the big ones) worth creating cap space for.
Arenas wants a Juan Dixon-type scorer, how about giving him the real Juan Dixon as opposed a poser: Raps trade Dixon + Joey Graham for Brendan Haywood. Or Dixon + Kris Humphries for Haywood
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Dixon + Joey Graham for Brendan Haywood. Or Dixon + Kris Humphries for Haywood</div> Haywood can get better than that for the Wizards. Joey Graham is of no use on Washington, not a good enough shooter, and not a good enough defender. I like Humphries as a Raptors fan, but he's not a C, and there's not that many minutes at the forward spots on Washington. Haywood would be best used to get a SG or in some sort of sign and trade. If Haywood and Etan Thomas are both traded, Diop also becomes an interesting option.
I've been drumming up catter about this guy wherever I can, but the guy you want if you want a flat out stud scorer than you can get late in the draft... Trey Johnson, Jackson State. Trust me. I'm staking my entire reputation of poor draft intuition on this guy. Trey... ... ... JOHNSON.
You know, I also would really love Charlie Bell, he's a great type of combo guard for this team, he can score, shoot, and he's a very good defender. The only reason I haven't really said much for him is that Antonio Daniels is on the team, and he's a combo guard off the bench. The team needs at least on big G, and even if Deshawn returned, he's also a small SG. I do like what Charlie Bell would bring though, but I have no clue what Milwaukee is planning with him.
