NOTE: I had to paraphrase this because I am not a member of Washingtonpost.com, I read it in the paper: "They have shopped Stackhouse, Laettner, and their 2nd round pick around." "They shopped Larry Hughes around at the trade deadline and a lot of teams were interested because of his versatility and his contract(5.5 million this year), and might deal him draft night." "E Jordan said that the Wizards lacked veteran leadership. The Wizards will have the league-allotted exceptions of $5.1 million and $1.5 million to use in free agency, where it might be able to lure those types of players (Brent Barry, Antonio McDyess, Eric Williams, Damon Jones, Adonal Foyle, among many). So the draft may be the route it takes to add to its young talent base." Pretty interesting, I would hate to see Larry Hughes go, he is a vocal leader on this team, even though he is pretty young.
Wizards Sit to See Where They Stand in Draft Lottery <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Wizards are going to explore trades that do and do not include their first-round pick and already have sent out feelers gauging interest in some of their players, including veterans Christian Laettner and Jerry Stackhouse, according to an Eastern Conference official, who requested anonymity to avoid any conflict in potential future transactions. Interest in Stackhouse, who missed most of last season after right knee surgery, is minimal, the source said, because of the injury and the three years, $25 million remaining on his contract. Guard Larry Hughes is an attractive commodity because of his versatility and because his contract ($5.5 million) expires after the season, league sources said. The Wizards' abundance of big men also could be bargaining chips. With that, Washington's draft pick would likely factor into any trade. The Wizards explored several deals before last season's trade deadline and interest in their players was marginal, at best. Among this year's projected lottery picks are Connecticut power forward Emeka Okafor and high school phenoms Dwight Howard, Shaun Livingston, Josh Smith and Sebastian Telfair. There are short-careered collegians Luol Deng of Duke, Ben Gordon of U-Conn., and Devin Harris of Wisconsin and foreigners Andris Biedrins of Latvia and Pavel Podkolzin of Russia. None is considered certain to be selected number one. </div> .......... <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"Talent, toughness and maturity are the most important things to look at," Jordan said. "Even a high school kid could be mature. Look at Amare Stoudemire. He's mature. Maturity doesn't eliminate a young player by age. Don't look at maturity in his body. You try to judge his mental maturity." Jordan and several players said last season's team badly needed veteran leadership. The Wizards will have the league-allotted exceptions of $5.1 million and $1.5 million to use in free agency, where it might be able to lure those types of players (Brent Barry, Antonio McDyess, Eric Williams, Damon Jones, Adonal Foyle, among many). So the draft may be the route it takes to add to its young talent base</div>
Thanks man. I think we could get some nice players for Larry Hughes, possibly a deal involving Rashard Lewis, that would trigger a trade involving Ray Allen
I'd like something with Hughes, Stackhouse and our second round draft pick, but that would mean a big contract coming to the team, or we could get 2 medium contracts, not thinking of any possiblities right now. We also waive Lattener after all this because that bozo needs to go.
I agree, Laettner needs to go, he looks like he is always stoned out there on the court, he cant hit the Jumper any more and he is slow
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">According to league sources, the Wizards have their eye on Duke small forward Luol Deng, a versatile 6-8 freshman, provided they don't get one of the top two picks. Grunfeld said yesterday he has a "take the best player available" philosophy and doesn't like selecting a player to fill a specific need. He believes the Wizards have good depth and don't have any glaring weaknesses at any one position. And unlike many others who routinely bemoan the fact the draft yields younger and younger players, Grunfeld doesn't see that as a negative. "I'm not disappointed by that," Grunfeld said. "We have to deal with that. There are some very talented players in this draft ? guys who will become solid players. Everybody knows now that you might have to wait on some of these players to develop." Note ? The Wizards worked out a trio of prospective second-round picks yesterday at MCI Center, all of them shooting guards ? Florida State's Tim Pickett (by way of Upper Marlboro), Rutgers' Ricky Shields and Xavier's Romain Sato. </div> Wizards Eye Deng
Yea I love Deng, but I have a feeling if we dont try to make a trade with either Chicago, L.A., or Charlotte we wont get him. He is going to be a star one day, and he is the answers to the Wizards SF woes.
