RonArtest15

If he hasn't sucked, then what has he done? His draft picks: Peter John Ramos, Andray Blatche, Vladmir Veeremenko, Oleksiy Pecherov, Nick Young, Dominic McGuire, Javale McGee, In the Leonsis era: Wall, Booker, Seraphin.

I give him no credit for Wall because a monkey would have made that pick. Seraphin and Booker look to be good prospects but it's too early to crown them.

The rest of his draft picks, none of them are contributors on a winning team. Two are no longer in the NBA. McGuire is an end of the bench player. Blatche has proved incapable of contributing effeciently and having a positive impact on the court, as a back up or as a starter. I'm extremely frustrated with McGee but the book is still out on him. He could turn his career around but if I had to bet money right now, I'd say he'll go down the career path of the likes of Stromile Swift etc. Nick Young is the only player who seems to have finally found a role in this league.

Ernie is an average GM. I don't want to get rid of him for the hell of it. I want him gone because this franchise needs new direction. I'm not a fan of Dumars, especially after the horrendous contracts he gave out and how awful the Pistons rebuilding has been.

I want Kevin Pritchard. Pritchard would work wonders with Leonsis opening the check book. He's an aggressive GM who utilizes modern metric systems to evaluate collegiate and pro talent.

It's easy to blame Abe for EG's mistakes (the only one I blame on Abe is Etan Thomas) but then why credit Ernie for any of the good moves? I think it's hypocritical to blame the owner for the poor managing but then give praise to the GM for the good moves. Ernie's biggest blunder has been the trading a top 5 lotto pick for one year rentals of two average NBA players. I understand that Abe wanted to see one last winning season before his death, but he wasn't dictating to Ernie on his death bed to go after Mike Miller and Randy Foye. That was Grunfeld getting bent over on what turned out to be one of the dumbest trades ever. I feel pretty confident in saying that a better GM would have gotten more out of that trade; how Boston turned its #5 pick into a HOF player like Ray Allen and all we got was a draft bust (Randy Foye) and an injured swing man (Mike Miller).

I'll hold off on calling it "great". Under Leonsis, Ernie has been making moves to fix the monster that HE created. Until then, the horrible product we see on the court is the creation of no one but Ernest Grunfeld. I'm not as optimistic as some of you are that Ernie will make the right draft choices, the proper trades and the right FA acquisitions to get this team back to respectability. I also know that Ernie has done a good job of killing the Wizards market appeal to future FA's and current players with the way he sold out Gilbert. Gilbert was an idiot, but I've never seen a franchise cut ties with its superstar the way we did. With Abe's death and no ownership in place, that was Ernie's moment to make better of a situation that got ugly fast. Instead of keeping Gilbert's trade value and image safe, he sold him out, cut ties with him and threw him under the bus in attempts to get out of a contract that he himself signed off on. Word spreads fast in the league and I doubt any superstar would want to sign with a franchise that has a GM who throws players under the bus to save his own image.

I agree with most of what you said...but what I was getting at was that since Abe's passing, EG has done a great job with the roster. He's shed salaries and added some intriguing young talent. Now, none of us know exactly what went on behind the scenes when Abe was around. This is why I was wondering about EG being handcuffed during the Polin days. We had opportunites to add depth to the roster in the 2nd round in the previous couple of seasons (Blair, Walker) but either passed on the player in favor of someone else, who's rights were then sold. I'd like to think those moves weren't so much Grunfeld, but rather the Polin's trying to save a couple of dollars...but who knows?

Honestly, as much of a mess as Gilbert was....I don't think that superstars would think twice about about signing here if the money is right despite what Grufeld did to save face. At the end of the day it's about the dollar. There have been PLENTY of terrible GMs/Owners in the course of the NBA's history who haven't had problems luring FAs to their cities. Again, if the money is right a lot of people can put aside some of their feelings just in order to get paid.

I dunno about Dumars...he traded for Iverson to get salary cap space, then blew all the money on Charlie V. and Ben Gordon...he gave big moeny to an over-the-hill (in NBA terms) Rip Hamilton...also, not trying to move some of the other vets on his roster to start the rebuild. Detroit is in TERRIBLE shape and a lot of that falls on Dumars' shoulders.

In all honestly, I think I'd see if Kevin Pritchard was interested in this job (assuming EG is let go).

In thinking about it, I wonder how much EG was handcuffed by Abe Polin? Not for nothing but EG has done a GREAT job since Leonsis took over.

Booker earned some SERIOUS PT in the future (hopefully) after this game tonight...

what about this idea...Start Blatche at C and Booker at PF? Give it a try for a few games and see what happens....dude (Booker) is relentless on defense and is actually...*gasp* physical. We need a guy like him getting consistent minutes.

As far as Seraphin...EG needs to give him every game tape of Kendrick Perkins to watch over the summer. Love his upside.

G.A.C.O.L.B., did u see Wall's comments last night?

"It's just so frustrating to see that certain guys seem like they don't have the effort to be out there, you know like they don't care."

Also...totally agree w. you on NBADraft.net....I remember they had DeShawn Stevenson's NBA comparison to.....MICHAEL JORDAN LOL. DX is the better of the two sites IMO.

SM...I honestly think that Blatche is a cancer and the sooner he's off the team, the better. I know that there would be a void left (if he was traded....and also depending on who we'd get back) due to his scoring being gone. It's an addition by subtraction scenario. I wonder if team morale would improve with him off the roster? I don't know how much of an effect it would have on wins vs. losses, but I can't help to think that things would be better not only in the locker room, but on the court as well.

He wouldn't be out there if he was getting traded. Although I'm curious about where the "Cleveland is part of the trade" talk came from. When Blatche trade talks have come up in the past Cleveland is ALWAYS the first team that is mentioned.

I wouldn't be shocked if he thought he was getting traded and faked that injury right now to try to stop it. Cause he's looking fine now.

Well, Deron Williams didn't know about being traded until he watched SC LOLOL....still a few more hours until the deadline is over, so anything can happen. Blatche playing tonight has no bearing on anything tomorrow...

Off topic, but Marshon Brooks has 52 points right now...

*back on topic...anyone else got a feeling that Blatche is going to be traded???

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There is a new CBA in the works. FYI

I know they are discussing this but that is a moot point until it gets approved. The knicks have done this to get another star in 2012

They won't have the flexibility to add another superstar in 2012. It's going to be Melo + Amar'e for the long run...with a bunch of role players.

Why do people think it's a slam-dunk that the Knicks will get CP3 or Deron Williams in 2012. With the new CBA, they won't be able to pay max money, and those two would have to take a SIGNIFICANT pay cut to play in NY.

from the BDL blog:

Because New York has precious little options in place to improve the team. With Stoudemire, Anthony and Billups, the Knicks are now set to battle an aging (yet still championship-level) Boston squad, a growing Miami Heat team and a Bulls team that is clearly better than the sum of the Knicks' parts . Not terrible, but not on the level. Anthony and Chauncey did take a Nuggets team to the conference finals two years ago. Though Isiah obviously led the charge on this deal, this isn't an Isiah Thomas-styled franchise-killer.

But these are your Knicks, New York. And though Anthony will be an improvement over Gallinari, he won't help the team on the defensive end. He'll help the squad offensively, where the Knicks are ranked eighth overall, but that will only go so far. He won't help the team's interior defense, he won't help the squad's transition offense, and he won't help Chauncey Billups pretend that it's 2006 all over again. He will score over 20 points per game, sometimes he'll make more than half his shots, and in the 2013-14 season he will earn nearly half as much as the NBA salary cap is for that particular season. Again, it's not the trade, it's the extension.

Knicks fans -- and the New York-area columnists that double as mouthpieces for Isiah Thomas -- can prattle on all they want about how free agents will look past money from other outlets to come play for New York. Because of AAU history or the supposed love of Isiah's game, even if Isiah retired well before some upcoming free agents were even allowed to watch cable at night. What we do know now is that Anthony and Stoudemire could make about 80 percent of New York's cap-allowed payroll following this summer's lockout, and Billups won't help. Walsh put together a plan for the summer of 2012, and as it stands the Knicks will have just Stoudemire and Anthony on the books. But with those two set to make about $40 million combined on a salary cap that might only be around $48 million or so, what's the point?

And who's the point guard? Chris Paul(notes)? Because he liked Isiah when he was in diapers? Come on.

This is what happens when you let star-kissers run your team.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/New-York-trades-for-Carmelo-Anthony?urn=nba-324760#remaining-content

Maybe one day we can get a "2011 Comprehensive NBA Draft Database" LOL...I know a lot of us have talked about who the Wizards should draft..here's a scout's take of some prospects thus far (rest of article in link)

You think you watch a lot of games? Finch watches games in his sleep. No, really -- his DirecTV feed is piped into his eyelids.

You think you travel a lot? Puh-leeze. Finch's frequent flyer miles have frequent flyer miles. When he walks into any hotel, the bellhops shout his name, like the bartenders used to do when Norm walked into Cheers.

Finch, you see, is an NBA scout. Only, he's not just one scout, he's several scouts rolled into one, an amalgam of conversations I've had with five NBA scouts over the last week to get their assessments of 56 college players who could be available in this year's NBA draft. Since NBA scouts are not permitted to be quoted talking about underclassmen, I granted my scouts anonymity so they could be candid. Then I combined their quotes together to sound like it came from one person, an invented character named Finch.

The name Finch is the creation of my highbrow colleague Alex Wolff, who affixed it to an anonymous NBA scout whom Alex followed several years ago for a story he wrote in SI. Alex called his scout Finch because that was Scout's surname in To Kill A Mockingbird. Like I said, Alex is a lot more sophisticated than you and me. Or Finch, for that matter.

I've done this exercise for several years now, but this year it was easier to develop a consensus. That reflects Finch's general opinion that this is a weak draft with respect to both the collegians and the European imports. Most of Finch's opinions boiled down to, "Yeah, I like him OK, but he's not gonna be our franchise player." So keep that in mind as you read through these reports.

(Incidentally, my weekly AP ballot plus follows the quotes from my scouts.)

Allow me, then, to present the Book of Finch (in alphabetical order). He really, really knows what he's talking about. Just ask him.

Harrison Barnes, 6-foot-8 freshman forward, North Carolina

I finally figured him out. People have been trying to say he's Marvin Williams, but I think he's Sean Elliott. He's not a star, but he's an all-around good player. If you're expecting a franchise player, you're going to be sadly mistaken, but he can definitely help. If he came out, I'm not sure he'd be a top-five pick, but if he slipped to eight or nine people would come up with reasons why they should take him instead of why they shouldn't.

Keith Benson, 6-11 senior center, Oakland

I like him. He's good, he's skilled, he has had numbers against good teams. He's almost a 10-rebounds-a-night guy but can face up and shoot, too. He reminds me of Horace Grant because he's a pretty good offensive rebounder and can step out a little.

Alec Burks, 6-6 sophomore guard, Colorado

Whoa, can he really score. If that guy gets stronger, it's over. He's a big-time talent. Not a great shooter, but a good shooter. He has a great skill set and I love his decision making. He tries to do too much and part of that is he doesn't have a good team. He gets to the foul line a ton, and NBA guys like that. He's first round for sure, maybe even in the lottery.

Norris Cole, 6-2 senior guard, Cleveland State

He's a pretty good player. I like his command of the team, command of the game. He really tries to play the game the right way.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/seth_davis/02/14/nba.scouting.finch/index.html?eref=sihp

If the Wizards land a top-5 pick, Harrison Barnes SHOULD NOT be in the equation. They need a TRUE low-post scoring presence in the worst way. Sullinger should be the target. If he's off the board, Kanter or Derrick Williams wouldn't be bad options. As a matter of fact, if the Wizards are looking for a SF, I'd take Terrence Jones over Barnes 10x out of 10.

Anyways....that game last night was awful. First time I can remember turning a game off after the 1st quarter. What saddens me is seeing a guy like DeJuan Blair dominate and get buckets/boards whenever he wanted. It's not like we had a chance to draft him...oh wait, we did. SMH. He's the exact type of player we needed on this team and he slipped right through our hands and landed in SA where their FO, once again, looks like geniuses.

I don't know how it couldn't be any more apparent....but this team has tuned out/quit on Flip. I'm actually hoping that the Wizards get blown out tonight. Maybe then changes will be made to get another coach in here that the players would respond to. I'm all for giving Sam Cassell an interim tag for the remainder of the season.

Well...let's see what happens tonight. Ugh....

I wouldn't give Nick Young anything more than a 3 year extension.

One thing that really irked me was in the post-game. I was reading some of Flip's comments and he didn't hold too much back in assessing Javale McGee's play. I don't have an issue with calling a player out, but if you're going to do it to him infront of the media, then you should be doing the same with some of the other guys. *cough* Blatche *cough*. I don't get the coddling of AB...at all. McGee does some really dumb things over the course of a game...however, so does Blatche. Big time double-standard IMO.

I think it was Charles Barkley who said that even though Blake Griffin was hurt last year, he got invaluable experience watching games, practices, film sessions, etc...

SM....even though he didn't play particularly well yesterday....Harrison Barnes did do some things that impressed me. He played some tough D, scored a tough 2 inside, etc. I'm not completely sold on him (yet), but the upside is there. I saw a comparison to his Frosh year so far and Paul Pierce's at Kansas....there are some big time similarities. Like I said before...he's a guy to keep an eye on as the season winds down.

*I was VERY impressed by UNC even with the loss last night. With more experience, they don't lose that game.

If we secure another 1st round pick, I don't see why not. Can't hurt to have a guy on the on the roster who can play the 2 and slide over the 1 at times. He reminds me of Nick Young to some extent. Between now and the NBA draft I want to see if his ball handling improves. The upside is CLEARLY there. If the Wizards get a mid-to-late 1st round pick, I wouldn't be mad if they drafted a guy like Brooks, Burks, or Thompson.

Thing is...he's not taking bad shots. If it's not Brooks, who are you going to count on? I'd maybe get on the amount of shots he was taking compared to the others if his percentage was terrible. But he's shooting 50% from the floor and 35% from 3. He HAS to do it...I don't fault him one bit, especially since the other guys on the team defer to him on a consistent basis. Easiest thing to do to stop PC is shut down Brooks and let the likes of Council, Mondy, or Coleman try to get their points. Easier said than done. He's put the whole team on his back and as Brooks goes, so do the Friars. Honestly, I don't see why you're comparing the likes of Curry/Efejuku to Brooks when he's the better player. Why discredit the improvement he's made as a senior?

Like Walker, Freeman, etc...Brooks has improved in EACH of his seasons at PC. What makes him good? How about if you shut down Brooks, PC has no chance? PC doesn't have NEARLY the balance or talent when comparing the likes of the other teams in the BE like G'Town, UConn, Pitt, etc....shutting down Brooks is easier said than done. I don't see how you can't be sold on a kid who has improved in each of his seasons. FWIW, he's much better than Gibbs and ESPECIALLY, Wanamaker....I've seen a fair share of PC games on TV...but seeing Brooks in person is a different story. He did what he wanted to Wright, Freeman, etc...didn't matter who was defending him, he got his buckets both inside/outside. As I've said MANY times before...he's legit. What he's doing goes far beyond putting up #'s on a sub-par team. He IS the team.

SM....good call on Alec Burks. He's got a real smooth game. He'd be an intriguing prospect if we don't re-sign Nick Young. One guy who I'd look at over Burks is Klay Thompson. He can play the 2/3...and sometimes 1. I'd only take a flyer on guys like Burks, Thompson, Brooks if there's a chance we can land a 2nd 1st round pick late in the round. Getting a beast low-post presence is a priority.

Let me ask you...we've had conversations about Harrison Barnes. I wonder how much of an effect Larry Drew II had on his game? Reason I say this is he's had a bump in productivity since Marshall has been getting the minutes at PG and Drew quit. Can't wait to see how he does tonight vs. Duke. From what I've been reading, Drew was a cancer on that team. Harrison Barnes has the pedigree, so let's see how he does as we approach the home-stretch of the season going into the NCAAs. He has a real chance to shut a lot of his critics up.....

*Oh as far as Austin Rivers....dude can flat out play. He's got an ego the size of Texas and at times can have a bad attitude if things aren't going his way. He needs to be humbled a bit. I think going to Duke and playing for Coach K will be good for his game. Nothing will be given to him at that program and he'll have to earn his minutes. Kid is special....if there wasn't an age-limit in the NBA, he'd be a top-5 pick in 2011. He's that good.

Again...you miss the point. There is NO comparison between Shammgod/Brooks because they play two different positions, play for different coaches, play in different systems, and play in a different era. PC's player-to-pro history is IRRELEVANT. Brooks right now is arguably the most dominant player in the best conference in college hoops. He'll get consideration for BE POY....I guess I shouldn't get caught up in the hype though. LOL....if you actually watch the games like you "claim" you'd appreciate what he's been doing not only in conference play, but overall. The kid is legit and will be a 1st round pick come June.

^But your point makes no sense....

it's like saying the Hawks shouldn't look at Derrick Williams because Salim Stoudamire was a bust.

Because Shamgod and Brooks aret he same type of players? And nothing special? He's only been held to under 20 points ONCE in BE play and is averaging 24ppg when opposing defenses key in on him because he's the only scoring option on PC. Shooting 50% from the floor and 35% from 3. Not to mention he really hits the glass as well. Just gotta improve his handles a little bit.

SM....i think that he's a late-1st round pick right now who has a GREAT chance of shooting up draft boards.

I wouldn't spend a top-5 pick on Harrison Barnes...I've stated my reasons, and although he's played better in the past couple of games...I still have some doubts.

If Cleveland lands the #1, there will be pressure to take Jared Sullinger #1 overall. Local kid, humble, and would be the anti-Lebron to some extent LOL. SM...you're right...generally guys like Love, Scola, Millsap, etc don't get taken #1 overall. However with there being no clear-cut #1 pick in a pretty weak draft, ANYTHING can happen. Sullinger might be that guy.

If the Wizards get a top-3 pick, I'm on board for drafting One of the Jones boys, Kanter, or Sullinger....anything else (up to this point), I'm not to interested in. Maybe trade back and gain a late pick or something of that nature.

One guy who intrigues me is Marshon Brooks. I got a chance to see him live this past weekend, and he's a DYNAMIC scorer. He had a few opportunities to bring the ball upcourt as the 1, but he needs to work on his handles a little bit. If you can get a big combo-guard (later in the draft) of Brooks' ilk, then by all means he should be targeted. Dude is putting up SICK numbers in the toughest conference in the nation. All you have to do to stop PC is stop Brooks...and he can hardly be checked by anyone.

Michael Jordan made the Wizards relevant for about 2 years. Following the idiotic trade of Webber, this franchise was in influx for a while. The best thing to happen to this franchise after the Webber ordeal was when Mike said he was stepping out of the suite to lace up the kicks again. Immediately, there was a ridiculous circus-type of atmosphere at the then MCI Center or whenever the team played on the road. It's been a roller-coaster ride here in DC...full of ups and downs.

Hindsight is 20/20, but Abe Pollin...giving a gimpy Gilbert Arenas a 111 million dollar contract perfectly capsulates what this franchise is. With the new ownership taking over, I hope the ship gets headed in the right direction. We have a great building block in Wall, and hopefully in 3 years or so this team goes from laughingstock to perennial competitior for the EC crown. It can happen.

I don't have a bad feeling about Wall but he is not one of the best all around PGs in the league. He is a great passer, terrible shooter, and he looks weak on the defensive end.

Wall defense will improve he just have too give effort every play, he has elite size 6'4 and elite speed and amazing lenth if he can just go all out on the defensive end he will be an All NBA defender in a few years. Also he is used too going agaisnt college and high school guards, big difference in the NBA but he will get it together.

I don't think he will ever be a great shooter but if he can improve a little and get more aggresive attacking the basket he will be just what the doctor ordered. Everything is right there he just needs too go out and get it.

Folks said the same thing about Derrick Rose's broke jumper when he came into the league, now he's a threat to score from just about anywhere on the court. I'm not concerned with his bad shooting because I know he'll put in the time to improve. He's a gym rat and has the desire to be the best...Wall has the potential to be the best PG in the NBA. I never said anything about him being it right now, because he's not. However, as a pure PG...he's further along at the age of 20 than guys like Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Rondo, etc....On top of it all, Wall is playing hurt. It's no coincidence that his defense and general lateral quickness have suffered since he came back a few weeks ago. Dude is gutting it out right now.

Yeah...I don't get how anyone can have a bad feeling about Wall. He's been one of the few bright spots on the squad. Dude is going to be one of, if not THE best all-around PG in the NBA in a couple of seasons. I just feel bad for him because of the deficiency of talent that's surrounding him. Just gotta go through these growing pains. It will be all worth it when things get turned around. Just gotta get rid of Blatche.

I honestly think that if the Wizards get rid of Blatche, team morale will improve. He kills the flow of the offense and IMO is a huge cancer. Addition by subtraction. Whatever it takes to get him off the roster by the deadline, I hope it gets done. He's flat out terrible.