For what it's worth... [free agency: 7/8]

[WashWiz54]

Ben Wallace just got a buyout and it'd be a smart move on Ernie's part to make a move. Ben is no longer a DPOY candidate or even an elite defender but he is what we need. He can still play some D and most of all he is as intimating as they come. Also he is a no-nonsense type of guy which would really help McGee and Blatche as young bigmen on the up.

Why would Ben come here? Well we were his original team, he went to Virginia Union and he could reunite with Flip. I'm sure he wouldn't demand much as he just got a $10 million buyout.

I think he'd be much better than Fabrico Oberto.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Ben Wallace just got a buyout and it'd be a smart move on Ernie's part to make a move. Ben is no longer a DPOY candidate or even an elite defender but he is what we need. He can still play some D and most of all he is as intimating as they come. Also he is a no-nonsense type of guy which would really help McGee and Blatche as young bigmen on the up.

Why would Ben come here? Well we were his original team, he went to Virginia Union and he could reunite with Flip. I'm sure he wouldn't demand much as he just got a $10 million buyout.

I think he'd be much better than Fabrico Oberto.

+1

[Kanyewest]

Ben Wallace on Flip Saunders

“No. I just didn’t like the way we handled things,” Wallace said. “I hear [Pistons coach Flip Saunders] saying now that I’m gone he can open up his playbook. I laugh at it. Everyone’s looking for something, and for him to say that, he’s fishing for getting a reaction out of me. It’s funny to me, real comical. I never thought you could win when you’ve got five guys on the floor looking for the ball and no one out there doing the little things. So that’s on him. If he feels like that, go ahead.”

“I have no relationship with him. He’s coach and I’m a player, and that’s as far as it went. If you say your door is always open and we can always talk about things and you’ll be willing to listen, and when I come to him to talk about something that’s bothering me that I think is hurting the team, if you don’t do anything to change it, then that’s the last time I need to talk to you.”

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/trainingc ... id=2614363

[fishercob]

Ben Wallace just got a buyout and it'd be a smart move on Ernie's part to make a move. Ben is no longer a DPOY candidate or even an elite defender but he is what we need. He can still play some D and most of all he is as intimating as they come. Also he is a no-nonsense type of guy which would really help McGee and Blatche as young bigmen on the up.

Why would Ben come here? Well we were his original team, he went to Virginia Union and he could reunite with Flip. I'm sure he wouldn't demand much as he just got a $10 million buyout.

I think he'd be much better than Fabrico Oberto.

+1

Why? Wallace's game is heavily reliant on his athleticism and his body has broken down badly. Plus, he's a complete self check on offense -- the guy is a 50/50 proposition on layups for goodness sakes. Why would we not want a Oberto -- a role playing big who was school in team D concepts in San Antone? If the Bucks paying half his salary makes him attainable, then great. I don't wan or expect a lot of minutes out of him, but do expect him to hold his own when his number is called. Perfect kind of guy for this team if you ask me.

[fishercob]

So I'll say .... *YAWN* .... looks like the Wizards have a veteran big man who'll be no damned good, Oberto. Of course they're paying him at least 3 times what Blair would have cost.

Drafting and signing a 2nd round pick to $800,000; and it would have cost another $800,000 since the Wizards are over the luxury. Also factor in that the Wizards received $2.5 million in cash so overall the Wizards saved $4.1 million. The Wizards are going to spend more total in signing Oberto if they pay him more than $2.05 million this season.

If the Wizards pay Oberto 2 Mil doesn't that become 4 Mil, with the tax factored in? I'm admittedly clueless on cap stuff.

What I do strongly believe is that Blair is WAY BETTER than Oberto.

Noted, and if/when Blair blows up, you'll get all the credit for calling it. BUt what's done is done -- we, along with half the league, passed on Blair. So can you give it a rest, or at least give the rest of us an idea of when you might? I'd like to hear some of your newer theories, ideas, and scouting reports is all...

[miller31time]

Love the idea of picking up Oberto. He's a smart, savvy big man who can play within a team concept. For a guy who will likely get about 10 minutes per game, he's absolutely ideal.

I wonder what the contract looks like.

[fishercob]

Love the idea of picking up Oberto. He's a smart, savvy big man who can play within a team concept. For a guy who will likely get about 10 minutes per game, he's absolutely ideal.

I wonder what the contract looks like.

I'm guessing it's standard issue white paper with black ink -- probably legal sized paper.

"We've go to get this woman to a hospital."
"A hospital, what is it?"
"It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now."

[Ruzious]

Getting Wallace would be stupid at this point. Picking Blair would have been smart. The naysayers keep pointing to the 1 year and his knees. But he'd be a low salary contributor for more than 1 year, and he didn't miss a game in his 2 year college career - when he was in much worse condition than he is now. San Antonio was smart as usual, and the Wiz were short-sighted - as were many teams. But what's done is done.

Oberto... he's 34 coming off of a useless injury-prone season. I'd be happy to make a bet with anyone that Blair plays more over the next 3 seasons than Oberto does. I'd love to have the Oberto of a few years ago, but now - he's roughly Songaila.

[LyricalRico]

Geez, I am SO SICK of hearing about Blair. Reading these threads you would think he's LaRon Profit or something. He's not on our team. Get over it!

[miller31time]

Love the idea of picking up Oberto. He's a smart, savvy big man who can play within a team concept. For a guy who will likely get about 10 minutes per game, he's absolutely ideal.

I wonder what the contract looks like.

I'm guessing it's standard issue white paper with black ink -- probably legal sized paper.

"We've go to get this woman to a hospital."
"A hospital, what is it?"
"It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now."

You are a wart on the butt of society.

[fishercob]

Getting Wallace would be stupid at this point. Picking Blair would have been smart. The naysayers keep pointing to the 1 year and his knees. But he'd be a low salary contributor for more than 1 year, and he didn't miss a game in his 2 year college career - when he was in much worse condition than he is now. San Antonio was smart as usual, and the Wiz were short-sighted - as were many teams. But what's done is done.

Oberto... he's 34 coming off of a useless injury-prone season. I'd be happy to make a bet with anyone that Blair plays more over the next 3 seasons than Oberto does. I'd love to have the Oberto of a few years ago, but now - he's roughly Songaila.

First of all, we should have drafted Karl Malone instead of Kenny Green too. When does the wishing to change the past stop?

But as to your last comment, why on earth would we NOT want "roughly songaila" for less than than half the price? Seems smart to me...

[Ruzious]

Getting Wallace would be stupid at this point. Picking Blair would have been smart. The naysayers keep pointing to the 1 year and his knees. But he'd be a low salary contributor for more than 1 year, and he didn't miss a game in his 2 year college career - when he was in much worse condition than he is now. San Antonio was smart as usual, and the Wiz were short-sighted - as were many teams. But what's done is done.

Oberto... he's 34 coming off of a useless injury-prone season. I'd be happy to make a bet with anyone that Blair plays more over the next 3 seasons than Oberto does. I'd love to have the Oberto of a few years ago, but now - he's roughly Songaila.

First of all, we should have drafted Karl Malone instead of Kenny Green too. When does the wishing to change the past stop?

But as to your last comment, why on earth would we NOT want "roughly songaila" for less than than half the price? Seems smart to me...

Geebus gawd, I even said - What's done is done. I've posted maybe 3 times total in this forum in the last 2 weeks, so I haven't exactly been hammering my thoughts over and over again. The draft was a few weeks ago; the Kenny Green debacle was 20 plus years ago. Give me a month maybe? Or would you prefer screening my posts before I post them?

As for Oberto's price, I wasn't aware that was reported. What is it? You'll have to forgive me for not getting excited about someone we're hoping is roughly Songaila.

[Hoopalotta]

Oberto should be very useful from a developmental aspect regarding Blatche and McGee. While Haywood has plenty to teach, we now have a man with Deep-Latin/Mediterranean-esque style dirty tricks and flop skills. Haywood has plenty to teach, but here's another voice with different tricks. Class is in session.

We can look at him as the new drama teacher, but with championship pedigree. And we seem to be targeting Spur's guys after we also added that assistant coach who's name eludes me.

Assuming good development from the boys and good health, I would see him usually sitting except for when we specifically need some post D. I would expect he could see some action in the playoffs in particular depending on the mantra.

I think for a lot of peripheral reasons, this is a real good signing.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Geez, I am SO SICK of hearing about Blair. Reading these threads you would think he's LaRon Profit or something. He's not on our team. Get over it!

I feel the same way about the guy in your avatar, LR. Clearly, we're both on the margins of extremism.

As for posting about Blair, I posted quotes by Byron Scott, by one of Blair's summer league coaches, and by a member of the media in SA after his first summer league game. Newsworthy in light of the Wizards getting ready to commit as much salary to Oberto as they saved not signing Blair.

Far as I'm concerned the draft was three weeks ago. Hardly old news. The Wizards are pursuing a veteran big man. Myopic and stupid when they could have done better for themselves simply drafting Blair IMO.

I think you're trying to stuff my opinion when I'm not doing anything but speaking an opinion.

The stuff about get over it really stings when I see Millsap getting offered ~$34Mil over 4 years, and Gortat getting matched at ~$34Mil.

Grunfeld's banking on getting Haywood to sign for approximately ~$8Mil per. Not gonna happen IMO.

And he very likely got Mike Miller for just 1 year before he can't keep him.

I will probably express arguments contrary to EG is great, LR, until I see something good happening on the court for the Wizards.

[Pitbull]

Geez, I am SO SICK of hearing about Blair. Reading these threads you would think he's LaRon Profit or something. He's not on our team. Get over it!

Preach on, Brother Rico! Couldn't agree more with the sentiment..

The Blair pining, Grunfeld whining is excurciating. This board would be much better off with a shift of focus. Lets hope the Summer League helps that along (of course, watch the "OMG - our youngs are suck" comments start to proliferate)...

[nate33]

Slight change of topic:

I wonder if we can buy out Stevenson? What if we offered him $3.8M to walk out the door right now? Basically, he'd get all the money he was owed for this year, and he'd have a chance to sign a contract right now with some other team to make the money he would have otherwise earned with us next year. If he signs a 2-year, $4.1M contract, he breaks even. If he signs for anything more, he'd end up making money in the process. Teams like Dallas and Toronto are in dire enough need of a SG that they might consider it.

For us, the buy out fee would count against our cap to the tune of $1.8M this year and $2.0M next year. That beats the $3.8M and $4.1M we would have otherwise paid, and with the luxtax savings, it would save Abe a total of nearly $8M over two years.

[Ruzious]

Geez, I am SO SICK of hearing about Blair. Reading these threads you would think he's LaRon Profit or something. He's not on our team. Get over it!

Preach on, Brother Rico! Couldn't agree more with the sentiment..

The Blair pining, Grunfeld whining is excurciating. This board would be much better off with a shift of focus. Lets hope the Summer League helps that along (of course, watch the "OMG - our youngs are suck" comments start to proliferate)...

There are actually more posts like yours - bitching and moaning about people mentioning Blair then there are people talking about Blair. CCJ has earned the right to express his opinion here however many times he wants to. I'm not saying he's better than the bunch of you guys, but... he is better than the bunch of you guys.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

(Edited to add: Thanks, Ruz, I didn't read your post before this diatribe to follow).

All I'll say is before Gil was re-signed and before they paid a fortune to re-sign Jamison, I dared to say I think Gil's body is breaking down and I think they'd probably be better off letting both players walk.

I was told my posts were too negative and that Gil would be back in the lineup by December of last season.

Instead, EG and Abe committed $167Mil dollars and ended up winning 19 games last season, and up against the tax now.

I've been a fan of this team since 1972, before a good many of you were born. Been posting here longer than most of you. I am as much of a fan as any of you. I do invite you to put me on ignore, if what I have to say is too distressing.

What I won't do is say I think EG is doing a great job right now.

.

[nate33]

I completely understand the disappointment in not signing Blair. He has a tremendous track record in college and was clearly a steal in the 2nd round. All I can say is that I understand EJ's decision too. $2.5M is a lot of money. And the Wizards just aren't in the position to groom another young big man when there is precious little frontcourt experience on the squad as it is. When you factor the injury concerns that scared away 29 other GM's, I don't think it's fair to be so hard on EG. My guess is that EG and the other 29 GM's were privy to medical information that we weren't.

I'm also not yet ready to proclaim Blair the second-coming of Wes Unseld just yet. Yeah, he's dominating the summer leagues, but that's because the summer leagues don't have any strong big men. They're populated with a bunch of skinny guys like McGee and Thabeet.

My problem with Blair remains that he has a center's game. He can't play PF. On most teams, he'd be forced to play center and match up with centers. I'm still not convinced that he'll be so dominant in the paint against guys like Dwight, Shaq, Yao, Okafor, Kaman, Haywood, Jefferson, Dampier, Bogut, Perkins, Foster, Oden, Pryzbilla, etc. Those guys have the strength to fight him on the glass, and the length to shut him down offensively.

Fortunately for Blair, San Antonio has the luxury of a center like Duncan with PF skills. They can spread the floor despite Blairs total lack of perimeter game. Blair will be guarded by PF's and may prove to be pretty effective. Unfortuantely, that means we'll have to suffer CCJ's "I told you so's" for a few years, even though the Wizards aren't able to put Blair in the same role.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

nate, I've stopped talking about Millsap and I'll stop taliking about Blair.

If Gil ever comes back to form or plays well enough and is traded I'll stop talking about him.

If Grunfeld makes a great trade during this season, and he does have the pieces to do so, I'll be the first to say I'm pleased.

IF THE WIZARDS HAVE A GOOD SEASON I'll gladly say I was wrong.

I'm just worried about the end game I think I see coming: Haywood leaves and this team's a bunch of overpaid jump shooters that don't defend. Some how, Grunfeld and Flip need defensive balance to this team. I believe Foye's an offensive player. Same with Miller. Same with Jamison. Same with Gil. Same with Butler. Guys who can defend a little, Blatche, Stevenson, and McGuire are all going to get pushed down in minutes. (How can Flip play Blatche with Jamison at his salary and Haywood healthy with McGee in the wings?) Lots of offense but no defense.

So, it's not about "I told you so" with me. I'm just expressing concern about a trend I see.