To tell you the truth, I don't think the Wizards had any real interest in picking Jason Smith. Jason Smith had more interest in joining the Wizards than the Wizards had in picking him. Everyone, including a lot of internet sources have this idea that the Wizards desperately need size, but even if they did (which they didn't), it's not a jumpshooting forward type size with Blatche and Opec on the team. Jason Smith wouldn't even be able to get minutes on the Wizards, and especially not at C in the NBA. The Wizards have: Haywood (7'0), Etan (6'10), Jamison (6'9), Blatche (6'11), Opec (7'0), and Songaila (6'8) and there's still the idea that they <u>needed</u> to go out and get a big man. Haywood said he didn't ask for a trade, yes we know either Etan or Haywood will, or should be gone by next season, but picking a big man wasn't more of a priority than picking a swingman like a lot of people seemed to think. The Wizards need upgrades in the frontcourt, not just players that are tall. The only guy that could've been an upgrade at least for now was Splitter, but he would be staying one more year in Europe, Jason Smith is not an upgrade, and is a PF, not a C, which is the position the Wizards don't need players at. Josh McRoberts is not an upgrade, and the Wizards weren't going to get Sean Williams, no way EG would've done that. I'm also saying this because I read this also: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">This is not a knock on the Wizards' first round pick, Nick Young, but the Washington completely blew this draft. Young is a swingman with tremendous offensive potential, but on a team featuring Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, the last thing the Wizards needed was more offense. Taking a chance on Sean Williams, Jason Smith or even Josh McRoberts would have made much more sense for a Washington team so clearly in desperate need of size. Young, despite his talent, could easily get lost in the shuffle in the nation's capital.</div> http://www.nbcsports.com/nba/1703702/detail.html
I don't think there weren't many opportunities for the Wizards to upgrade the center or power forward position at all wit the 16th pick, I think it's pretty safe to say that any center in that first round is a pretty well upgrade over Ruffin or Booth. When I looked at Jason Smith, I immediately saw the effects he may have had as a backup, not a starter. I don't think we'd expect him to start over Etan or Brendan anyway, but you can't say that you'd play Booth and Ruffin over him at the same time. Judging by Eddie's standards, a 6'8 guy is considered a center to him, which is pretty damn stupid, but as long as Eddie's here, we might as well find the right guys for his offense and I thought Jason was perfect off the bench. I'd still pick Nick Young just because he was the best player available being lottery pick talent and all. It's just the thought of adding another guard is pretty redundant, don't you think? We're most likely gonna add another guard to our team whether it's Navarro or the player we trade for, so that alone is 4 shooting guards right there. I'm not trying to say that Jason Smith is going to be an all-star in this league or anything, but he does fill in a need for this team, which is a back-up big man. Ruffin and Booth combined aren't capable enough of backing Etan or Haywood up. They don't do much on the court, besides getting a few a rebounds, so I don't see why you wouldn't draft a big man? It's pretty much a need we need to fill up.
Well the way I see it, there's no minutes for him. Etan and Haywood are each playing at least 18-20 MPG, that's 36-40 of the 48 minutes at C. Then EJ likes to run a little small ball throughout the game, so those other 8-12 mins you can have guys like Blatche or Pecherov playing C, and Jason Smith wouldn't be playing at all. We go to PF, and there's 0 minutes there for him with Jamison, Songaila, Blatche and Pecherov all battling for minutes there. Skillset wise, he's like Blatche and Pecherov being a perimeter type forward, so he doesn't bring anything new to the team offensively, and defensively he's a long way away from contributing in the NBA, and even longer at the C position. In terms of the redundancy of a guard, I don't think we actually have any, especially since Nick Young is a legit 6'7 and has a 7'0 wingspan and would also be backing up at SF. The Wizards can't sign Navarro and Stevenson, money just doesn't allow it, so a choice would have to be made. I had already felt Hayes wasn't coming back, and still feel he isn't, but he was not on the team when drafting was going on. If Navarro is signed he'd be more of a bench guy than a starter, so I'll put Stevenson just to make it easier. PG: Arenas / Daniels SG: Stevenson / Young SF: Butler / Young / McGuirre There's actually no redundancy there, the team actually needs more players at those three positions right now. EG adds some practice player / if someone get's injured type guard, preferably a guy from last season so they don't have to learn the offense, ie: Roger Mason even though I don't care much for him, maybe keep Taylor, I mean these guys make peanuts. Drafting Jason Smith to me actually adds redundancy at PF: PF: Jamison / Songaila / Blatche / Pecherov / Smith C: Etan / Haywood / Blatche / Smith You're maybe still thinking of Smith as a C, but I can assure you, he is not a C, at least not for another few years, he's a PF. He's also not an immediate impact player, he's a guy that will need some time, though if he get's on a team with no PF, he's good. The Wizards have too many players, and especially too many young players at the PF position. Blatche would get C minutes over him very easily for one thing, and Blatche not being that big still has about 15 pounds of weight on him. Blatche might not be able to shoot as well, but would be better defensively, on the glass, and as a shot blocker. Offensively, Smith brings the exact same things as OPec does, and in terms of rebounding doesn't project to be any better than OPec in that, or in post man to man defense. Also McGuirre is more of a SF than a PF. In a small lineup he can play PF as he definately has the rebounding and shot blocking to be there, but he's more of a SF. I even saw some projecting him as a SG, but what we know is that he can play the 2,3,4, at points in a game. He has a lot of work to do though.
It's not going to be Etan and Haywood by the start of the season, it's going to be Etan or Haywood. You can't expect to see Haywood playing for the coach he hates the most, and it's not like EJ will even want to play Haywood. We haven't even seen Oleksiy Pecherov play American ball, so we don't even know if he was even worth the wait. When Jordan does play small ball, he mainly likes to use guys that can score at every position, so the only reason he puts Songalia at center is because he can shoot. Wouldn't it be an upgrade to replace him with a guy 4 inches taller, a better rebounder, better hops, and run the floor better? I know Jason has a nice jumpshot and if it translates over to the NBA, then you basically have a younger, but more athletic Darius Songalia. The Wizards have just offered Deshawn Stevenson a 4 year, 12 million dollar deal and in terms of Navarro, we're going to have another guard on our hands whether we sign him or trade him off for Posey or whoever. It's two different things with what we want and what we think is going to happen. I think in Ernie's eyes, Jarvis Hayes has done enough at the end of the season to earn a new contract with the Wizards. You gotta take in the fact that he came off 2 long term injuries and when his shot is on, he plays basically like Allan Houston. His jumper isn't going to get any worse, and he's a pretty good defensive player for his height. PG: Arenas/Daniels SG: Stevenson/Young/Navarro or dude we trade him for/Hayes/ SF: Butler/Hayes/McGuire PF: Jamison/Songalia/Blatche C: Haywood or Thomas/ Pecherov Well, with Booth and Ruffin's contract up this season, I don't even think either of those two will be back, if so, then the veteran's minimum. If not, we're pretty damn short of centers on this team. EJ likes to play small ball, but we're pretty damn bad defensively when that happens and we don't play small ball the entire game, so why not draft Smith? He fits the offense perfectly, he's big, and I'll easily take him over Songalia. There's probably a redundancy either way we look at it if we draft Young or Smith, but look at it this way. Does this team need another guard or needy a center? Arenas and Butler are 40+ mpg, Stevenson at 30+ mpg, and Daniels at 20+ mpg. Where would that leave for guys like Young and Navarro? Unless either of them proves that they deserve to start over Stevenson, then I don't see where they fit on this team right now. I'm all for building on Blatche for the upcoming years, but I'm still not sold on any international guys. Pecherov will have summer league experience, but will he be that good in the NBA? For me, I'm just going to put him aside until pre-season, then I'll make my judgment from there. I'll agree that Jason Smith is more of a power forward, but to Eddie Jordan, you can be 6'6 and play center. Just look at how he treats Songalia, who is really nothing more than a shooter. In the west coast trip against teams like the Clippers and Warriors, guys like Biedrins, Kaman, and Brand destroyed Songalia on the boards and in the low-post and that alone got us the losses. Now experience aside, would you rather have Songalia or Smith on your team?
Really it being Etan or Haywood, or Etan and Haywood doesn't make a difference, either way we have it, Smith on this team would be the 3rd or 4th C, or the 5th PF. 5th PF means no minutes at PF unless someone get's injured, while 3rd C means like 8 MPG. At C, I see Blatche and Opec being ahead of him if either Haywood or Etan isn't around. Also Opec has played against American players, and more talented American players too. Remember Smith is from the Mountain West conference, he wasn't even playing against top college talent, let alone NBA level talent. Opec played in Vegas last summer and averaged 12.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 0.8 TPG, 46% FG, 28.6 MPG that doesn't directly project his NBA ability, but that's his performance against much better players than who Smith has played in college. We have to look at it from before the draft perspective though. Before the draft we knew this: we had Jamison, Songaila, Etan, Haywood, would match anything on Blatche, and Pecherov was coming to the team. In terms of perimeter players, Hayes was a question mark, and I haven't even heard anything of the Wizards talking to his agent yet. Navarro was still going to be staying in Barcelona from what we knew at that time, and the Wizards would not overpay for Stevenson, so him coming back depended on what other teams were willing to offer. The other guys make no difference, Roger Mason and Donell Taylor are practice/in case of injury players, so they don't matter. Also as of right now, the Wizards don't seem to have enough to get both Navarro and Stevenson. If Stevenson accepts the 4 years $12 million offer, the Wizards could only offer Navarro something like 3 years $8.4 million, not even up to $3 million/year even. I said it recently, but the Wizards need to build for the future, and not fall into the trap of just getting players to be competitive. Jason Smith is not a move for the future because he is redundant on a team with two other young versatile perimeter big men. If his potential was to be like an Andris Biedrins or something, I wouldn't be saying anything at all, but his best case scenario is a Troy Murphy type player, except I don't expect him to have the three point shot. Nick Young on the other had, looking at the pre-draft roster fits a backup role at two positions, and future wise would be the teams starting SG, has scoring ability, is long, and bring more athleticism to the perimeter. Now comparing Jason Smith to Songaila, we have to remember, Jason Smith can do what he can right now against weaker college guys, not NBA players. We know Songaila in the NBA can hit the shot very well, puts work defensively man to man, though he's not "good" there, he's okay. The next thing we have to remember is that with rookies and new players on the Wizards, you have to learn the Princeton. Songaila would already know the offense, while Smith wouldn't right away. Also from the charting last season, Songaila played very few minutes at C, yes EJ had some crazy moments (like he always does, Hayes at PF), but we expect that with whoever we have on the team. Songaila though was mainly on the court with Haywood or Etan at C. Defensively, Songaila doesn't have the tools to be better than Smith, but as of right now is a better defender than Smith projects to be in the NBA as Smith was not even much defensively in college. Last season DSong was actually one of our better defenders at PF. Smith would maybe be a better defender at C just because he's taller, but Songaila didn't actually play much C outside of some stupid EJ moments. About C's, I actually prefer Pecherov there to Smith. I like how his rebounding ability projects to the NBA a lot better. He's not as athletic, but he's got the long arms, he likes to get in there and battle, and even in his summer league time he rebounded well, led the team actually, over Blatche and John Ramos. Also his shot is as good or better than Jason Smith, and he's shown his ability to hit it against better competition. Also Blatche can be used as C especially if his rebounding and shot blocking are there, he's bigger and more athletic, and knows the offense. Also Smith won't be any better defensively than him as C, especially with his short arms which will affect his ability to challenge shots as effectively, even with jumping ability, since he's not a quick jumper. The last thing is that we can't rule out the Wizards packaging Navarro and Etan for another big man who can play C for the team, which is probably what the management is looking to do right now.
<div class="quote_poster">og15 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Really it being Etan or Haywood, or Etan and Haywood doesn't make a difference, either way we have it, Smith on this team would be the 3rd or 4th C, or the 5th PF. 5th PF means no minutes at PF unless someone get's injured, while 3rd C means like 8 MPG. At C, I see Blatche and Opec being ahead of him if either Haywood or Etan isn't around.</div> Well, it does matter if we have one of the two or both at the same time because in that case, we wouldn't need a big man in the draft at all. I think don't think Blatche will play the 5 here, he still needs to add some muscle and strength to hold down the paint. Jason Smith wouldn't be near 5th PF at all. I'll take Blatche ahead of him right now, but I still don't see why you're high on Pech. He probably has a better jump shot, but I'll probably take Smith in any other category like rebounding. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Also Opec has played against American players, and more talented American players too. Remember Smith is from the Mountain West conference, he wasn't even playing against top college talent, let alone NBA level talent. Opec played in Vegas last summer and averaged 12.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 0.8 TPG, 46% FG, 28.6 MPG that doesn't directly project his NBA ability, but that's his performance against much better players than who Smith has played in college.</div> Hmm, lots of players excel in summer league, but do nothing during the season. What if Jason Smith were to average those numbers in this summer? Yeah, yeah, I know he only had 2 points and 5 boards, but it's nothing to panic about. I think has raw talent being 7'1, he's still pretty young, came out in his junior year. I think in the long run, Jason Smith will have the better career. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">In terms of perimeter players, Hayes was a question mark, and I haven't even heard anything of the Wizards talking to his agent yet. Navarro was still going to be staying in Barcelona from what we knew at that time, and the Wizards would not overpay for Stevenson, so him coming back depended on what other teams were willing to offer. The other guys make no difference, Roger Mason and Donell Taylor are practice/in case of injury players, so they don't matter.</div> I'm pretty sure Navarro talked about wanting to come play here, saying that he was ready before the buyout. That's when all the buyout talk began. You could say the same thing about Blatche with his destination being depended on what the other team offer him. The Cavs and the Nets are highly interested in him, while there aren't anyone else having their off-season priority to bring in Deshawn Stevenson. The Wizards have a better chance in bringing in Stevenson back, than they do with Blatche and without Blatche, drafting Jason Smith would've been a smart decision. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Also as of right now, the Wizards don't seem to have enough to get both Navarro and Stevenson. If Stevenson accepts the 4 years $12 million offer, the Wizards could only offer Navarro something like 3 years $8.4 million, not even up to $3 million/year even.</div> I don't care because I think he's going to be traded for another guard. Don't care for James Posey, I know the Cavs are interesed in him, so maybe Sasha Pavlovic? Anderson Varejao? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I said it recently, but the Wizards need to build for the future, and not fall into the trap of just getting players to be competitive. Jason Smith is not a move for the future because he is redundant on a team with two other young versatile perimeter big men. If his potential was to be like an Andris Biedrins or something, I wouldn't be saying anything at all, but his best case scenario is a Troy Murphy type player, except I don't expect him to have the three point shot.</div> Building for the future? Antawn Jamison's contract is up next season and I'm pretty damn sure most of the Wizards fans don't want him back for the 08-09 season, so what would that mean for Jason Smith? We need to make sure we keep Gilbert here too, or this franchise is heading down. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Nick Young on the other had, looking at the pre-draft roster fits a backup role at two positions, and future wise would be the teams starting SG, has scoring ability, is long, and bring more athleticism to the perimeter.</div> I never doubted Nick Young's potential on the team, but it was a steal that he dropped to 16. What if he wasn't there at the time? Who did you suggest we drafted? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Now comparing Jason Smith to Songaila, we have to remember, Jason Smith can do what he can right now against weaker college guys, not NBA players. We know Songaila in the NBA can hit the shot very well, puts work defensively man to man, though he's not "good" there, he's okay. The next thing we have to remember is that with rookies and new players on the Wizards, you have to learn the Princeton. Songaila would already know the offense, while Smith wouldn't right away. Also from the charting last season, Songaila played very few minutes at C, yes EJ had some crazy moments (like he always does, Hayes at PF), but we expect that with whoever we have on the team. Songaila though was mainly on the court with Haywood or Etan at C.</div> I'm not expecting that Jason Smith will average what he did in college in his first season. I'm saying, with his raw talent, more strength, and experience, I think he will be a decent player in this league. Think about this too, if Darius Songalia at 6'8 can nail the shot, don't you think it would be less difficult for a 7'1 man can as well? It's not like there's a princeton defense, so comparing these two guys, I'll give Jason Smith to advantage easily. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Defensively, Songaila doesn't have the tools to be better than Smith, but as of right now is a better defender than Smith projects to be in the NBA as Smith was not even much defensively in college. Last season DSong was actually one of our better defenders at PF. Smith would maybe be a better defender at C just because he's taller, but Songaila didn't actually play much C outside of some stupid EJ moments.</div> Better defenders at PF? Do I have to bring up the stats when defensively when he played center? You know Jason Smith will add lots of muscle to his frame working with NBA trainers. We got destroyed by Ilgauskas in the playoffs just because Etan Thomas couldn't defend his shot, maybe Jason would have a better effect? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">About C's, I actually prefer Pecherov there to Smith. I like how his rebounding ability projects to the NBA a lot better. He's not as athletic, but he's got the long arms, he likes to get in there and battle, and even in his summer league time he rebounded well, led the team actually, over Blatche and John Ramos. Also his shot is as good or better than Jason Smith, and he's shown his ability to hit it against better competition. Also Blatche can be used as C especially if his rebounding and shot blocking are there, he's bigger and more athletic, and knows the offense. Also Smith won't be any better defensively than him as C, especially with his short arms which will affect his ability to challenge shots as effectively, even with jumping ability, since he's not a quick jumper. </div> If this was a two man battle between Pech and Smith. Right now, I'll take Pecherov. He's older, more experienced than Smith is, but we still can't make a good judgement out of these two guys when they haven't played in a regular season game, right? He gets good positioning when he rebounds, but he's not aggressive. Smith has the height advantage and teams love to develop of tall centers. I don't know about Blatche playing center, but if he does, then Pech wouldn't. I'll take Blatche defensively any day over Smith, but how much faith do you have in Blatche's jumper? Blatche hasn't been a back to the basket type of player, but then again he's playing for Eddie Jordan.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, it does matter if we have one of the two or both at the same time because in that case, we wouldn't need a big man in the draft at all. I think don't think Blatche will play the 5 here, he still needs to add some muscle and strength to hold down the paint. Jason Smith wouldn't be near 5th PF at all. I'll take Blatche ahead of him right now, but I still don't see why you're high on Pech. He probably has a better jump shot, but I'll probably take Smith in any other category like rebounding.</div> It's more that I'm not that high on Smith for his first few seasons in the league, and Smith is not a C to me, he's a PF. He's coming from the Mountain West conference, so he has a bigger adjustment to make than other guys from college, and even than Opec. At least for their first 3 years, Oleksiy should be as good or a better rebounder unless Smith makes some great strides right away. Oleksiy has already showed ability to rebound against NBA level talent, that isn't going to go away. Neither guy is as active as they should be on the boards, Smith has short arms (I haven't said exactly yet, but his wingspan is 6'10.5, Nick Young for example has a 7'0 wingspan), small hands, doesn't box out well, isn't a physical guy, but is more athletic. Oleksiy doesn't have short arms or small hands, boxes out pretty well and has better fundamentals (and not only in rebounding), but he's not as athletic though he's not bad in that depertment. Like I said though, both aren't very active at going after the ball, and neither is very strong right now. Also before that summer league Opec also showed the ability to score and rebound against American level talent when he played in the global games in 2004 and 2005. In 2004 he averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds, in 2005 he averaged 26.2 points and 14 rebounds. Against the US team with good college players he had 19 points and 10 rebounds in 2005. Smith to me is not going to be a better rebounder than Opec right off the bat, and I don't even think as good. I personally don't think there will be anytime where he's really superior in that department, they'll probably end up at a similar level. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Hmm, lots of players excel in summer league, but do nothing during the season. What if Jason Smith were to average those numbers in this summer? Yeah, yeah, I know he only had 2 points and 5 boards, but it's nothing to panic about. I think has raw talent being 7'1, he's still pretty young, came out in his junior year. I think in the long run, Jason Smith will have the better career.</div> That was just in reply to you saying Pecherov hasn't played against American talent, like I said, it doesn't directly project his NBA performance, but he's done more against better talent than Jason Smith has yet to do, so Smith has no advantage there, Oleksiy actually does especially with Smith coming from a weak conference. I actually don't disagree about the possiblity of Jason Smith having the better career in the long run, but I also think Opec can have just as good a career. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm pretty sure Navarro talked about wanting to come play here, saying that he was ready before the buyout. That's when all the buyout talk began. You could say the same thing about Blatche with his destination being depended on what the other team offer him. The Cavs and the Nets are highly interested in him, while there aren't anyone else having their off-season priority to bring in Deshawn Stevenson. The Wizards have a better chance in bringing in Stevenson back, than they do with Blatche and without Blatche, drafting Jason Smith would've been a smart decision.</div> I thought the buyout was supposed to be too much, so the Wizards were going to wait another year, but things changed. The difference is the Wizards see Blatche as a guy who has potential and can be good for the future, and no team is going to offer him $8 million a year or anything, so the Wizards really had little to worry about especially since he's a restricted FA. Stevenson is unrestricted, and he's a what you see is what you get, we know he works well in the offense, and plays off the big three well, but he's just a fill in guy at SG. The Wizards don't have him in the future plans, but he's a guy that you'd like to keep at the right price. Devin Brown could probably play his role just as effectively, and has better passing skills, so their situations are different. The Wizards have an equal chance at bringing both back as I see it, but would be willing to spend more on one than the other, which is what gives Blatche the advantage. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't care because I think he's going to be traded for another guard. Don't care for James Posey, I know the Cavs are interesed in him, so maybe Sasha Pavlovic? Anderson Varejao?</div> I don't know, James Posey is a terrible move I agree. All I know is that EG is a good GM, if he can pull a trade to get someone like Kyle Lowry, a good defensive PG, or something like that, that's good. I doubt he goes after a swingman unless we're expecting Stevenson. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Building for the future? Antawn Jamison's contract is up next season and I'm pretty damn sure most of the Wizards fans don't want him back for the 08-09 season, so what would that mean for Jason Smith? We need to make sure we keep Gilbert here too, or this franchise is heading down.</div> Building for the future in this case means building to be a contender, I should've been more clear. The Wizards should not be building to just say we did something. Jason Smith wouldn't help the team now, and future wise doesn't project much differently or much better than Opec. So in terms of keeping Arenas, he's not going to help in that area. Nick Young on the other hand does help the team now, and future wise can be a nice athletic starter at a position the Wizards have no true starting prospects for. I think Jason Smith is redundant on the team. Him and Pecherov display the same skills, with each having their advantages and disadvantages in comparison. Smith is more athletic, and has good potential. Opec is not as athletic, but is a better shooter, more refined in his skills, currently is quite ahead of Jason Smith in basketball IQ and fundamentals, and also has good potential, maybe not as high, but I don't see much difference there. I think what you're missing from all I've said is that Smith is a future guy, and to me, and others is not a C, 7'0 tall or not. Even Opec is more ready to produce right away than Jason Smith is. On a team without minutes available at the big men positions (especially his starting PF position), where he can play through his mistakes, it's fine. On the Wizards right now, he won't produce or get minutes for another 2 years because the team is a playoff team, and Blatche and Opec are already be ahead of him. So for the future he has guy who is projected to be ahead of him as his position in Blatche, and the Wizards have a player who is very similar to him already in Opec who also has potential and should be better right away. The Wizards in terms of big men would've been looking for a defensive big man, or a big man that can facilitate a post offense, Smith's potential is not him becoming either of those type of big men, and is far from either one right now. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Better defenders at PF? Do I have to bring up the stats when defensively when he played center? You know Jason Smith will add lots of muscle to his frame working with NBA trainers. We got destroyed by Ilgauskas in the playoffs just because Etan Thomas couldn't defend his shot, maybe Jason would have a better effect?</div> Why would you bring out his C numbers? I said he's one of the better defenders at PF. The players we had playing PF this season were Jamison, Songaila, Blatche and Hayes in small ball. Songaila can defend better than both Hayes and Jamison at PF. The best way to get EJ to not do these crazy lineups is to EJ proof the team eg: get rid of Ruffin and Hayes so they don't play C and PF on the team. Bringing Smith really won't help in that area. You just said it for me though, Jason Smith <u>will</u> add muscle, yes, but right now he hasn't. In a year he'll be bigger, in 2 years he'll have good size for the C position, but still won't be a defensive presence there, and I still can't view hm as a C outside of the 7'0 label. Even when asked about the C's in the draft, EG didn't mention Smith as one, giving the perception to a lot of people that he also looked at him as a PF. In a year Opec could be bigger too, and in two years he could also have decent C size. He already has the height at 6'11-7'0, wingspan etc. Blatche is already more suitable for C than Smith being 6'11, 248 lbs. Smith with Opec and Blatche two years from now still gives us 2 quite similar players, and 3 perimeter type PF's. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I never doubted Nick Young's potential on the team, but it was a steal that he dropped to 16. What if he wasn't there at the time? Who did you suggest we drafted?</div> This is how we had it going to the draft. The team had no starter at SG (though I'd give a good chance that Stevenson would be back), no wing players off the bench (actually none at all) and an aging backup PG (Antonio Daniels) who was apparently being shopped. You take the best player available, but if you got to a state with similar talented players, a guard over any big man unless he's going to come in and take the starting C position, or gives the things the Wizards want from a big, defense, or post guy. Now, to answer the question, Young was available, so I don't need to answer that . Really though, if Nick Young wasn't there, that would mean the Clippers took him or New Orleans took him, and either Al Thornton or Julian Wright would be available, you can't pass on those guys. They can also be used in trades along with Etan or something to go after a nice big if you really don't want to keep them. I would also have considered Morris Almond and Marco Belinelli. If I really wanted a big man, I would take Tiago Splitter. Jason Smith is not a guy that would produce right away, and his future potential is not defensive or post big man. Take Tiago Splitter let him stay a year, and bring him later. We'd still have OPec coming in, and Blatche still there. One thing Splitter does have is defense, I know I said before that I wouldn't take him if we're thinking of who can play now as in next year because with Splitter you have to wait a year, but if it's between the two I'm taking Tiago. Tiago is as athletic as anyone, is already bigger and stronger than Smith or Opec, and has fairly good strength already. Splitter is 7'0 tall himself, has a good enough wingspan and standing reach (7'2 and 9'1.5), he can run the floor, he can hit the mid-range shot (at least when playing with Brazil) though his offensive skills aren't anything special, but the Wizards don't really need offense, and he can hit the open shot, finish, clean up rebounds etc. He's an NBA ready talent. We might talk of age, but Smith is 21, Splitter is 22, Opec who we were also talking about is 22, there's no age barrier going on here. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If this was a two man battle between Pech and Smith. Right now, I'll take Pecherov. He's older, more experienced than Smith is, but we still can't make a good judgement out of these two guys when they haven't played in a regular season game, right? He gets good positioning when he rebounds, but he's not aggressive. Smith has the height advantage and teams love to develop of tall centers. I don't know about Blatche playing center, but if he does, then Pech wouldn't. I'll take Blatche defensively any day over Smith, but how much faith do you have in Blatche's jumper? Blatche hasn't been a back to the basket type of player, but then again he's playing for Eddie Jordan</div> That's what I'm saying though, Pech is older and more skilled/ready now, and there's only a one year difference between them. He's played and performed against better American talent than Smith, and not just in summer league. My biggest problem with Smith at C is those shot arms. Height is nice, but you don't contest shots with your head, you contest them with your arms, and it's going to cause some problems for him defensively at C, and possibly even on the offensive side of things. I think Blatche's jumper is a work in progress, but the Wizards were the best scoring team in the East, even after injury, and when healthy one of the best in the league with Etan and Haywood at C. Arenas, Butler and Jamison with Stevenson as the 4th option don't really need scoring help, defense is what the team needs. I'm not worried about offense, Blatche can take some slower big's off the dribble, attack the glass, finish off passes and the pick and roll, and that's all the offense he needs to have where he's not hurting the team. Only a Michael Ruffin type guy hurts the team on offense. Even Booth is fine as he can hit the mid-range jumpshot. What I see though is that Blatche is moving away from being the SF/PF type guy to more of the versatile big man type guy, which is perfectly fine for this team with Caron as the SF, and now with McGuire being added. McGuire already has better handles and better ability to create from the perimeter than Blatche does.
<div class="quote_poster">og15 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">It's more that I'm not that high on Smith for his first few seasons in the league, and Smith is not a C to me, he's a PF. He's coming from the Mountain West conference, so he has a bigger adjustment to make than other guys from college, and even than Opec. At least for their first 3 years, Oleksiy should be as good or a better rebounder unless Smith makes some great strides right away. Oleksiy has already showed ability to rebound against NBA level talent, that isn't going to go away. Neither guy is as active as they should be on the boards, Smith has short arms (I haven't said exactly yet, but his wingspan is 6'10.5, Nick Young for example has a 7'0 wingspan), small hands, doesn't box out well, isn't a physical guy, but is more athletic. Oleksiy doesn't have short arms or small hands, boxes out pretty well and has better fundamentals (and not only in rebounding), but he's not as athletic though he's not bad in that depertment. Like I said though, both aren't very active at going after the ball, and neither is very strong right now. </div> Nick Young is unique though. Not every swingman will have a 7'0 wingspan, not to mention that he's 6'7-6'8, I think he's an exception. Jason Smith did grab 8 rebounds in yesterday's game against the Pistons, which shows some signs that he can rebound as well as Pecherov because basically, we've only seen Pech play in the Summer League. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Also before that summer league Opec also showed the ability to score and rebound against American level talent when he played in the global games in 2004 and 2005. In 2004 he averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds, in 2005 he averaged 26.2 points and 14 rebounds. Against the US team with good college players he had 19 points and 10 rebounds in 2005. Smith to me is not going to be a better rebounder than Opec right off the bat, and I don't even think as good. I personally don't think there will be anytime where he's really superior in that department, they'll probably end up at a similar level.</div> Well, I'll take your word for it that Pecherov will be better than Jason Smith only because I haven't seen him play yet. To me you know, I don't really care what they do overseas, as long as it translates over here in America. It's two different styles playing with european players who a lot are perimeter oriented, while playing in America with guys twice as stronger and bigger and will post you up easily, no? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't know, James Posey is a terrible move I agree. All I know is that EG is a good GM, if he can pull a trade to get someone like Kyle Lowry, a good defensive PG, or something like that, that's good. I doubt he goes after a swingman unless we're expecting Stevenson. </div> James Posey was just an example, I rely on Ernie Grunfeld to do whatever's right because he's proven he can make the right moves. With the Cavs being interested in Navarro, I'd deal him for Pavlovic easily. If EG is looking for a big man, than the Cavs would have to deal Gooden if they match Varejao's contract...has to be a win-win situation with us. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Building for the future in this case means building to be a contender, I should've been more clear. The Wizards should not be building to just say we did something. Jason Smith wouldn't help the team now, and future wise doesn't project much differently or much better than Opec. So in terms of keeping Arenas, he's not going to help in that area. Nick Young on the other hand does help the team now, and future wise can be a nice athletic starter at a position the Wizards have no true starting prospects for. </div> Still though, we're lacking a dominant center we need if we want to be a contender. It doesn't necessarily have to be Jason Smith, I'd push EG to trade for the 10th pick to draft Spencer Hawes. I'm just saying though, what if Nick Young didn't fall all the way down to 16? Was there another swingman as talented and athletic as Nick Young? Because the only reason we drafted him was for his talent and being the best player available at 16. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I think Jason Smith is redundant on the team. Him and Pecherov display the same skills, with each having their advantages and disadvantages in comparison. Smith is more athletic, and has good potential. Opec is not as athletic, but is a better shooter, more refined in his skills, currently is quite ahead of Jason Smith in basketball IQ and fundamentals, and also has good potential, maybe not as high, but I don't see much difference there.</div> Well, looking at it from both ways, drafting a forward or a guard would be redundant on the team but then again, we have more guards to rely on than Nick Young in the future. Do you think that a combo of Blatche/Pecherov/Songalia would start in the 4-5 positions? I don't know man, I know Smith isn't perfect, but was the best available center/forward at 16, right? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Why would you bring out his C numbers? I said he's one of the better defenders at PF. The players we had playing PF this season were Jamison, Songaila, Blatche and Hayes in small ball. Songaila can defend better than both Hayes and Jamison at PF. The best way to get EJ to not do these crazy lineups is to EJ proof the team eg: get rid of Ruffin and Hayes so they don't play C and PF on the team. Bringing Smith really won't help in that area.</div> I meant that I wanted to bring out the opponents numbers when he defending at the 4 or 5. Did you mean that he was one of the better defenders at PF in the league or on the team? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">This is how we had it going to the draft. The team had no starter at SG (though I'd give a good chance that Stevenson would be back), no wing players off the bench (actually none at all) and an aging backup PG (Antonio Daniels) who was apparently being shopped. You take the best player available, but if you got to a state with similar talented players, a guard over any big man unless he's going to come in and take the starting C position, or gives the things the Wizards want from a big, defense, or post guy.</div> Ernie Grunfeld expected Stevenson back and he's our starter. I'd be willing to rely on Jarvis Hayes for one more season just because of his injuries in the past. He contributes well when he's on target off the bench, average defender, average rebounder, but more importantly he doesn't whine. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Really though, if Nick Young wasn't there, that would mean the Clippers took him or New Orleans took him, and either Al Thornton or Julian Wright would be available, you can't pass on those guys. They can also be used in trades along with Etan or something to go after a nice big if you really don't want to keep them.</div> Think about it though, those guys are PF's and if EG had an interest of keeping them, you still would've thought we had a redundancy at the F/C positions. That was my point. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I would also have considered Morris Almond and Marco Belinelli. If I really wanted a big man, I would take Tiago Splitter. Jason Smith is not a guy that would produce right away, and his future potential is not defensive or post big man. Take Tiago Splitter let him stay a year, and bring him later. We'd still have OPec coming in, and Blatche still there. One thing Splitter does have is defense, I know I said before that I wouldn't take him if we're thinking of who can play now as in next year because with Splitter you have to wait a year, but if it's between the two I'm taking Tiago. Tiago is as athletic as anyone, is already bigger and stronger than Smith or Opec, and has fairly good strength already. Splitter is 7'0 tall himself, has a good enough wingspan and standing reach (7'2 and 9'1.5), he can run the floor, he can hit the mid-range shot (at least when playing with Brazil) though his offensive skills aren't anything special, but the Wizards don't really need offense, and he can hit the open shot, finish, clean up rebounds etc. He's an NBA ready talent. We might talk of age, but Smith is 21, Splitter is 22, Opec who we were also talking about is 22, there's no age barrier going on here.</div> Looking at Morris Almond, he hasn't proven himself as well. Conference USA? I'd be interested in Belinelli, but I don't think the Wizards worked him out before the draft. What would you think our chances are of making the finals this year? Because if we do, Splitter wouldn't be there which I don't like. I already expressed that I don't like guys and what they can do overseas, when they can at least play in the Summer League to show what they can do here. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">That's what I'm saying though, Pech is older and more skilled/ready now, and there's only a one year difference between them. He's played and performed against better American talent than Smith, and not just in summer league. My biggest problem with Smith at C is those shot arms. Height is nice, but you don't contest shots with your head, you contest them with your arms, and it's going to cause some problems for him defensively at C, and possibly even on the offensive side of things.</div> I don't know, Smith is still more athletic than Pech is and I agree that he's more ready now. But, I still don't think he can produce more than Songalia can.
