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BRAVEONAWARPATH

By BRAVEONAWARPATH
in The Tailgate

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G.A.C.O.L.B.

G.A.C.O.L.B.

Posted
Posted

So wait, is the deadline 5pm or midnight?

Michael Lee ‏

@MrMichaelLee

Source: #wizards will amnesty Andray Blatche today. Deadline to make it official is midnight, but announcement expected soon.

https://twitter.com/MrMichaelLee/status/225327192354201600

---------- Post added July-17th-2012 at 04:37 PM ----------

Just received a DM from Michael Lee saying that it is midnight, not 5pm

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G.A.C.O.L.B.

G.A.C.O.L.B.

Posted
Posted

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2012/7/17/3165228/andray-blatche-amnesty-washington-wizards-nba-free-agency-2012

Washington Wizards Use Amnesty Clause On Andray Blatche, According To Report

by Mike Prada on Jul 17, 2012 4:36 PM EDT in Free Agency

The day has finally come. With the Tuesday midnight deadline fast approaching, the Washington Wizards have decided to use the amnesty clause on Andray Blatche, according to CSN Washington's Chris Miller and NBA.com's David Aldridge. Blatche's seven-year tenure with the Wizards will officially come to an end.

Blatche was slated to make just under $7.2 million this year and $23 million over the next three years. The Wizards will still have to pay him, but that money will be removed from their salary cap.

As I've written before, I'm not surprised the Wizards dragged their feet with this decision. Amnestying Blatche doesn't really do the Wizards much good this year in terms of cap space this season. The Wizards' current payroll is about $61.7 million, not including the minimum cap holds for James Singleton, Roger Mason, Maurice Evans and Morris Almond. Letting go of Blatche drops that number to $54.6 million. Since that number is only $2.4 million under the cap, the Wizards really wouldn't gain very much. They could get the room exception, worth about $2.5 million in the first year, but that's fairly minor and they'd only get it if they didn't use the mid-level exception. They could also trade for a player making $2.4 million or less and not receive anything in return, but that's only by renouncing everyone. What they can't do is take Blatche's salary and apply it elsewhere in the immediate future.

With all that in mind, there really wasn't much harm in waiting until the last minute. It's not like they could make another move happen by doing it sooner.

However, in the end, the Wizards did the right thing. Wizards officials have spoken, both publicly and privately, about the improved work ethic the players are showing this summer. Keeping Blatche around would have gone against the stated direction of the franchise. With no trade partners emerging, no ability to buy Blatche out with a huge amount in one check and and an NBPA grievance likely to happen had the Wizards kept him under contract but away from the team, the amnesty clause was the only option. It cost Ted Leonsis plenty of money, but it had to be done.

And thus ends the frustrating seven-year Wizards career of Andray Blatche. Some reflections below the jump.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll argue that the most important moment of Blatche's career came when he broke his foot early in the 2010 offseason. Prior to that, progress was slow, but there. Blatche finally started acting like a professional in 2009-10, and what resulted was easily his best season as a pro. Even if his stat-padding at the end of the year inflated his value, there were glimpses that he could be a useful player, if not a superstar.

The broken foot, though, ruined a lot of that progress, and that's Blatche's fault. I think it gave him an excuse to feel sorry for himself instead of continuing the momentum he showed in the latter part of the 2010 season. He didn't rehab the injury vigorously enough and used it as an excuse for his poor play to begin the season.

Had he not suffered that broken foot, maybe things would be different. But from that point on, no amount of work he did could make up for the poor mindset he showed that summer. It only got worse when the Wizards tried to inspire him by making him the team captain the next year. That just added pressure and responsibility on a player that responded poorly to success and even more poorly to failure.

Of course, one cannot reflect on Blatche's career without noting that he is the only player drafted by the Wizards during Ernie Grunfeld's tenure that received a contract extension (two, in fact). At the time, I thought that it was a calculated risk, an attempt to secure a bargain deal if he continued to develop that likely wouldn't have come if he had another good year and hit the open market. In retrospect, Grunfeld probably should have taken Blatche's history, disposition and current foot injury into account before locking him up with a long-term commitment. Clearly, he overestimated the need to prevent Blatche from hitting the open market.

About that disposition: I think, like many troubled NBA players, Blatche is misunderstood. He is really a good guy, the kind of human being I think we'd all appreciate more if he didn't play professional basketball. But in many ways, that was part of the problem. He heard everyone's criticism and I think he was too sensitive to it all. That caused him to lash out at bad times and feel depressed about his own situation instead of making steps to fix things.

He's like the friend you have that gets depressed every time a relationship ends. It takes you a month to pull him off his couch and back into your social circle, and while you feel sorry for all the pain he's suffered, you know he just can't keep pulling that act every time. At a certain point, he just needs to suck it up and move on to maintain his happiness.

That was always Blatche's issue. Every time he suffered a setback, he retreated to his couch until he was ready to move on. The problem is that, in professional sports, every day you aren't progressing as an athlete is a day you're stepping back. You can't spend too much time wallowing in your sorrows and expect to make it up once you're ready. That, ultimately, was why Blatche could never get in proper physical condition.

In another professional field, I think Blatche's disposition would be more valued. I always found it striking, for example, that he was always one of the first players on the team to volunteer for community service work. He has a gift for reaching kids, making people smile and doing good deeds. But the NBA world is cutthroat, and people don't care about that much when you are underachieving at your job.

I also think this is just the kind of person he is. Keeping him around, sticking him as the 15th man on the depth chart and hoping he'd work his way up is wishful thinking. The more likely scenario is that he stays exactly where he is because he doesn't have the mental toughness to fight the adversity that's been handed to him. At that point, you have a guy in the locker room on a team the Wizards hope will be full of fighters that himself isn't a fighter. It's an odd look.

That's why it's no surprise things ended this way. There's just not much upside in Blatche left. The Wizards have done this dance far too many times to think we could ever see the Blatche we saw in 2010 again. It's time to pull the plug.

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StillUnknown

StillUnknown

Posted
Posted

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/remembering-andray-blatche/2012/07/17/gJQAT5JmrW_blog.html

Andray Blatche means well, or at least, he seems to mean well. I’m not sure you could find many people to argue with that.

But somehow, he just kept finding his way into ridiculous stories during his seven years in Washington, which ended Tuesday afternoon with the news that the Wizards would amnesty him.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but here are 12 Blatche stories I’ll likely never forget. They provide a window into how a nice enough young kid became one of D.C.’s most booed athletes of the past decade.

Much, much more in the link

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No Excuses

No Excuses

Posted
Posted
But I read right here that it was OK that we extended Blatche because the contract was reasonable.

The contract actually was reasonable. It wasn't a salary cap crippling deal.

If Blatche had never progressed to be a starter, but had served as a capable backup, even then it was a good contract. Paying 5.5 million a season for an NBA backup big man is a bargain these days. Our backup center this year is going to make 14 million in one season.

Blatche was just an enormous piece of ****. I think he might be the most worthless player to play in the NBA in the last decade. I really hope no other team gives him a chance. He's going to blow through whatever he'll make for sitting on the couch in no time. He'll be broke in 5 years.

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Going Commando

Going Commando

Posted
Posted

Figured Blatche would get amnestied. It was the only rational move to make and I'm not yet ready to assume Ted and Ernie are irrational. They're up front with their methodology.

Now I won't have to keep cutting Blatche every time I download a roster update on 2k.

In other news, I like seeing Wall and Beal hang out together in their free time. I was a little worried how Wall would take to him. He seemed guarded in his presser after Beal was drafted and I think Crawford is one of his best friends. He might have been a little slow to warm up to the rookie if he felt like he was going to come in and take PT away from him or Crawford.

I want these two to be able to work together in their sleep.

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hunterx

hunterx

Posted
Posted

Beal looks like he has had a pretty solid few games in summer league. He may not have a 25+ point per game average, but it really seems like he will have a strong contribution with rebounds and defense.

I may buy the NBA tv package this year to watch them!

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Hersh

Hersh

Posted
Posted
I wish his shooting percentage from the three was better. He's under 30%. That's surprising for a guy essentially drafted specifically for his amazing shooting ability.

Aren't you being a little tough on the guy considering it's summer league and his first NBA experience at age 19?

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oscarsandman

oscarsandman

Posted
Posted (edited)
Here you go: http://www.nba.com/summer-league/2012/players/sl_bradley_beal/index.html

.719 from the line. Not good but not bad either.

Thanks, that's actually a lot better than I thought it was. I was thinking it was in the mid 50s.

---------- Post added July-18th-2012 at 02:27 AM ----------

After taking a second look I see that he was 50% from the line in the games versus Houston and Memphis and then he went 89% versus Atlanta and the D-League. He averaged a .769 last year at Florida so I hope he can improve on his consistency and move his percentage up to the 80s.

Regardless I still really like Beal and can't wait for the season to start.

Edited by oscarsandman
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