Long Term Plan? (merged threads)

[Benjammin]

I don't know that McGee will be that prolific of a scorer, but I wouldn't make Butler untouchable either because he does have some size limitations. So I can see the need for a quality perimeter defender. I wouldn't trade Caron for Prince straight up either but adding Maxiell and Songaila makes it more interesting.

I'd like to see Blatche with another coach first but if Dat is right that Dray's priorities are elsewhere, then trading him sooner rather than later would be the way to go.

Short of an extreme salary dump I don't see the Wizards being serious free agent players in the next few years. Maybe in 2010 if the right MLE guy came along or we had 7 or 8 million in cap space we might target someone. But the big fish are not coming here on a free agent deal. But make no major free agent moves in 2009 so that we can give McGee, (perhaps Blatche), and Young a chance to show how they are developing.

Dat's idea of getting Haywood an extension while he is out as a show of good faith is absolutely dead on. We might save a little cash and regardless of how McGee develops, Haywood will continue to have good value.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Dat, that is a brilliant idea to take care of Haywood, now.

I'd like to see him get an extension the same day they trade Etan.

[clubbing_caveman]

Nobody is untradable. For the right price anyone can be had. Having said that, it would be a good idea to keep GA, CB, NY1, McGee, Haywood, as they are our better players.

[hands11]

I think the long-term deal should be to essentially stand pat unless the Wiz get better veterans or expiring deals for Daniels, Thomas, and Songaila. Wait for about the 20-25 game mark before doing anything risky.

I do NOT like the idea of stockpiling more young players because the Wizards already have them, (except at PG and perhaps SF). EJ is not the right coach to have a bunch of young players. And, too many young players will just battle each other for minutes and lose a bunch of games. The team needs a balance of veterans and youth. It has that.

I just wish there were a way to upgrade to veterans who have won more and who play sound, fundamental defense. Rasheeds a FA. He's the kind of veteran that can perhaos give something back to younger bigs. Joe Smith is a decent PF. Those guys in place of Etan and Darius makes a lot of sense to me. Defensive upgrades at PF who are better than the vets we have.

At PG, I'm afraid AD cannot defend. I think Earl Watson's quicker and better defensively and with the deep ball.

I don't see any of those type vets traded to D.C.

IF the Wizards were to acquire young players, I think they'd need to send out some young players in return.

Jeff Cook's name was mentioned earlier. Can't imagine OKC trading him, but he's the kind of player that would make a huge impact for the Wizards. Blatche to get him, I'd deal in a heartbeat. I also like Collison from the Thunder. If the Wizards could send them Etan and Darius, it might be worth adding a better player just to get Cook/Collison in return.

Pecherov for Crittendon still makes sense to me, but I'd want a pick to be included at this time. Juan has been solid, so it's not as urgent to get a backup PG. However, from a talent standpoint you have to give guys like Lowry and Conley real consideration in trade talks. They could be real good in Washington.

That all said, I just want the young guys to play solid minutes and for the Wizards to wait about 20-25 games before they do anything besides an obvious steal of a trade.

"
I just wish there were a way to upgrade to veterans who have won more and who play sound, fundamental defense. Rasheeds a FA. He's the kind of veteran that can perhaos give something back to younger bigs. Joe Smith is a decent PF. Those guys in place of Etan and Darius makes a lot of sense to me. Defensive upgrades at PF who are better than the vets we have."

This is exactly the kind of thing I'm calling for. I hadn't plugged in the names but those are 2 good ones. Rasheed or Joe Smith. And I like the local ties.

[BanndNDC]

I think we need to consider this season basically a wash and try and deal some of the vets at the deadline to contenders and focus on creating a second window (not blowing everything up) by clearing cap (not for big name free agents but for MLE complements again). this window would have Young as the 2 and Stevenson as the backup.

in this case we're looking for a heady vet backup point guard, a lanky versatile SF and a bruiser (in that order).

to accomplish this retrofitting we need to get rid of daniels, thomas and possibly Blatche and Songaila. we would keep dixon. i would look for trades that either get us slightly younger vets, better fit vets or lux tax space to sign MLEs. the draft pick would be gravy but not counted on to help.


But if we could get Carter/Hamilton or some other 30 year old upper tier player then roll the dice now (with Blatche instead of Young and possibly the draft pick) as the enticement. That would give us a window of 2 years after this one and it would realistically be Abe's last chance.

this would be going all in with 5 and McGee. we would need to sign a tall SF as an MLE an pray Arenas doesnt get hurt. I would definitely be willing to take this chance but only for a few players and think it needs to be a SG. If this fails it's a complete blowup in 3 years and a coaching change in 2.


Then there is the slow play, which im not very enamored with. Stick with what we have, release the vets when their contracts expire and slowly replace people. In this case we need to hope for luck in the lottery to get a 4 to replace Blatche, draft a PG and i'd try and move Butler for a younger 3 to have the window line up better. i dont think this option will work out well at all especially since it will probably result in a coaching change in the middle and require a whole nother set of learning pains.


id probably even do the Hughes option which is kinda a mix. and id actually bet that that is the only non wait it out option that happens. this doesnt excite me but it is better to dream small then not dream at all.

[BanndNDC]

I say just put him out there and just play random ball offensively. Work out defensive rotations to where McGee protects the basket and Brendan roves like he always does.

I think not running any plays for McGee he still gets his. Haywood's improved free throw shooting and face up game make me think Javale will play off of his missed shots just fine.

i also think it would work. unlike your etan/wood combo dream in this one the secondary player (mcgee) has the quickness to be the bailout blocker after the big guy forces the drive to adjust. id also probably put wood as the putative 4 because he is relatively good at getting out on the rotations (which was actually one of our problems in the past because 'wood would be playing proper d and help out/show but not be able to get back in time since he didnt have his own help). it would take a little gimmicking but it could be done. the best part is that in a couple of years the roles would be reversed as wood gets older and has to put down roots in the lane.

[doclinkin]

Can someone make a solid case for why McGee can't play PF? He's certainly athletic/quick enough. Is it just that he's not skilled enough to play in EJ's offense?

nate and Lyrical and others think it might confuse McGee to try and be anything but a C. I trust their wisdom. I say just put him out there and just play random ball offensively. Work out defensive rotations to where McGee protects the basket and Brendan roves like he always does.

I think not running any plays for McGee he still gets his. Haywood's improved free throw shooting and face up game make me think Javale will play off of his missed shots just fine.

IMO that's a championship-caliber roster right there.

Haywood has a crap face-up game. But McGee doesn't, he just needs time and reps. When drafted EJ said he envisioned being able to play him at 4 some times. We won't have to worry about his position vis-a-vis Haywood much this year, but remember this is the kid who took and hit three point shots in summer league, has a bit of a handle etc. The coaches will find ways to use him in simplified versions of the princeton 4 at some point. I agree he can rebound the misses that Haywood forces. At either end. And he's already making Etan obsolete, minute by minute. Shoot, he's snatching minutes from Blatche, Pecherov, Darius...

I also agree it will take time before his comfortable at any point in the offense. He's learning. But the kid still doesn't know how to set a pick. He rolls to the basket before the contact arrives. That said he's light years ahead of Pecherov, and he even makes better cuts than Etan in some cases. At center, first playing behind and against Haywood will help this kid a ton. He's a couple years away from then playing a 4/5 role with regularity. What I love though is that we get a versatile non sucking non-tweener multi-position player. Finally.

Long term plan?

I'm still with the chemistry continuity concept. Ernie said he envisions it like an air traffic controller you have some planes on the runway taxiing, ready for take off while some are in circling pattern looking to land.

I don't know how much if anything we get for Jamison in trade. But what we get from keeping him is a guy who exemplifies professionalism, and who won't hurt the team when he makes a transition to the bench, especially if the guy who takes the starting spot clearly outplays him. The talent oncourt in a line-up of:

Gil/Dixon
Nick/DeSteve/(Caron! when Blatche is on court, and playing well)
Caron/Jamison
Jamison/Blatche/McGee
Haywood/McGee

That's pretty impressive firepower. Massive size potential. And potential for pyrotechnics at both ends. You don't think Gil is gonna love the assist totals and highlight loops putting KillMode McCheese on the end of his alley oop pass?

I still expect Blatche to develop, even better if he can play next to McGee. He doesn't need to force it or star-- but plain nobody could block or intercept a Blatche-to-McGee alley oop, once they groove it. And nobody can match the length.

Starting talent I say we match up with anybody. If we lose dead weight and add champion veteran roleplayers to fill out the bench, we're golden. If we draft smart (PG's with NCAA final four resume) even draft and stash euros in the second round. If Gil returns to 90% of what he was offensively and develops even 10% more of a PG game/defense, brilliant. (And with real rebounders/shotblockers underneath I'd guess he's better able to defend his man).

Then roleplaying veteran depth is the primary question mark. A savvy wing defender would be nice. But shoot Defense is likely to uptick anyway. Nick Young is even improving on defense. Having that safety net of huge underneath helps break the bad habits of leaving the perimeter gunner. And simply building on depth of talent means you can afford to make the exact right perfect swap if it comes along at the right time, for the right price. Until then I likes the squad, even as we take our lumps waiting on the return of our two most important players.

[dobrojim]

I agree with Dat on just about everything, with one exception.

I know this wont be popular, and I love everything about Caron, but I think maybe eventually we might need to move him for a different fit at SF. Not neccesarily, but a better fit.

One thing all good teams need is a shutdown perimieter defender. With Young forcing his way into the starting lineup, and McGee showing signs of being a 25 ppg scorer eventually, along with Arenas, we have plenty of one on one scoring. But we dont have anybody who can shut down or at least cause problems for opposing SF's defensivley.

This is why I eventually would like to see a Caron for Tayshaun Prince trade. Prince is a better defender, spot up shooter, and can score too. He doesnt bring the overall game that Caron does, but defensivley he is a premier player. And the length in our frontline with Prince, McGee and whomeverwe play at PF would be sick.

I would not trade Caron for him straight up, byt maybe a Caron+Songalia for Prince+Maxiell. Maybe we get a pick, but something along those lines.

while the current signs on McGee are all good, becoming a 25ppg scorer
is probably not one of his more likely upsides.

No way DET gives up Tayshaun even if Caron is a better spot up shooter.
They are both great all around players but Caron, being much shorter,
isn't the defender Prince is.

[LyricalRico]

Haywood has a crap face-up game. But McGee doesn't, he just needs time and reps. When drafted EJ said he envisioned being able to play him at 4 some times. We won't have to worry about his position vis-a-vis Haywood much this year, but remember this is the kid who took and hit three point shots in summer league, has a bit of a handle etc. The coaches will find ways to use him in simplified versions of the princeton 4 at some point.

But wouldn't that create the same problem we have with Blatche now? Because 'Dray seems to have a better face up game than most 4's, he's encouraged to play like a 3. But it doesn't work and now we're all screaming for him to play like a real big man but he doesn't. I'm sure the reply will be "but Blatche is lazy and stupid while McGee works hard and has a high bball IQ" and there is some truth to that. Still, I think the principle of encouraging guys to play smaller than they are is the wrong way to develop 7-footers.

At times you can make a case for guys being tweeners who have to learn to play multiple positions because they will be shifed based on what team they are on or the matchups on any given night. Guys like Jamison, Harrington, Radmanovic, etc are all tweeners who may be called on to impact the game in different ways from night to night. OTOH, JaVale is already changing games from the center position on pure length/athleticism/husstle. Why not just try to get him to hone his skills in that one position to the point where he's a legitimate star? Why try to unnecessarily cross-train him to play other positions when it's clear that he's a true C?

[dobrojim]

Can someone make a solid case for why McGee can't play PF? He's certainly athletic/quick enough. Is it just that he's not skilled enough to play in EJ's offense?

The thought of an offense led by Arenas, Young and Butler and a defense anchored by a McGee/Haywood frontcourt makes me salivate.

You make a fair point. His shooting touch beyond 15 ft is an open question but
I like the couple times he's been around 15 ft from the basket and taken one
dribble and attempted to throw down a viscous dunk. His length combined with
his athleticism is unbelievable. But he has to demonstrate a reliable shot from
fifteen and out before we should think about him playing the 4.

[dandridge 10]

Option 2 is my choice: Build around this core...

PG Gilbert Arenas...while he's had injury troubles the one thing I take solace in is that none of his injuries have been a career changing injury. A torn meniscus is frankly ranks pretty low on the knee injury scale. The problem has been the rehab process afterwards. The mirco-fracture surgery was on a non-weight bearing bone which significantly reduces the risk with that surgery. So there is hope that he can eventually return to the old Agent Zero. It may just not happen right away.

SG Nick Young...I'm still not crazy about his shot selection but he's playing well and scoring efficiently. He's also not stagnating the offense as much as he used to and is a competent defender.

SF Caron Butler...A solid all-star level player. I still don't think he's much of a defender but he does bring a ton of intangibles into the mix. I think the injury thing needs to be watched closely though. I'd love it if his minutes could be limited to 32-34 minutes a night but right now it can't based on the personnel behind him.

C Javale McGee...based on the early returns, he should be untouchable. I'm so thrilled I was wrong about him, he's so far the steal of the draft. I'll give credit to Ernie on this pick.

C Brendan Haywood...without Wood's injury, Javale may have never gotten the chance to prove himself. Still the Wizards sorely miss Wood's leadership on the defensive end as his ability to cover up for other players and guard elite low-post players. I see no reason to trade Wood. Him & Javale could form a formidable duo that can potentially battle the best the league has to offer. We'll need Javale & Wood against the likes of D.Howard & Yao. The Wiz may be set a C for years to come. How many other teams can say that?

Where does that leave us?

Jamison's time in DC I think has run his course. EG was right to re-sign him after he was wrong not to trade him at the deadline last year. At least get something for Jamison instead of nothing.

Andray Blatche is the next Tim Thomas. Tease and tantalize with little results. I've seen enough of Blatche up close to learn he doesn't love the game. He just loves what comes after the game. Afterparties, hoochies and money to pay to play with those hoochies. Trade him while other GMs are still enamored with him.

Keep AD & Etan...only to let their contracts expire in the 2010 offseason, or trade them for similar expiring contracts. These guys are dead weight, unless a useful veteran can be had with a similar contract, just take solace in the fact that both of these guys will be gone soon enough.

Trade DeShawn & D-Song aka DeSh*t & DeSuck at almost any cost. Ideally for contracts that expire a year earlier, so it conspires at the same time AD & Etan's contract expires. This is where an asset like Blatche's inexpensive contract may be a helpful tool in making this happen.

Pecherov is a bust and only has value as contract filler. Time is running out on McGuire, either so something before the end of the year or that's it. Dixon may prove his worth as an inexpensive backup but nothing more. Do not re-sign him to a multi-year deal. Dee Brown is simply just Dee Brown. Wave bye to him this coming summer if not sooner.

THE THREE BIGGEST KEYS NEXT OFFSEASON

1. Draft well. We may very well have a high lottery pick. PF, SF or reserve guard are the places I'd look to fill.

2. Do not. I repeat do not add ANY salary this coming offseason. Please no MLE free agents. No multi-year deals.

3. Negotiate an extention with Haywood. Coming off most likely a season entirely missed by injury, show good faith and extend a cap friendly deal to him, ensuring that our C position will be set for years to come.

Oh, if I forgot to mention one thing...We NEED a NEW COACHING STAFF. It's time to transition to a coaching staff that will take us to the next level. The biggest factor in my mind is that the emphasis must be on defense!!!!!!

I pretty much agree with Dat's plan. To me, our biggest needs right now are at the backup PG and PF spots. Quality backup PGs can be found in the draft. Regarding the PF position, we are never going to win a championship with AJ as our PF. However, I don't think there is a chance in hell Abe is going to trade him. To that extent, I'd rather that EG try to dump some salary anyway he can over the next two years so we can be players in the free agent market to fill that position. Blatche will NOT be our savior at the PF spot. I agree with Dat that he is the next Tim Thomas. So, if Blatche can be used to dump some salary, I'm all for that. In sum, assuming Gilbert can come back as before, I think we can be a championship team with the core Dat set forth above if we can somehow find a way to find a quality back-up PG and someone to take over for AJ that has more of a mix of defense/offense. I'd rather exercise patience and hope that we find that one or two missing pieces over the next two years through the draft, trade or free agency, than blow up this team and start all over.

[doclinkin]

But wouldn't that create the same problem we have with Blatche now? Because 'Dray seems to have a better face up game than most 4's, he's encouraged to play like a 3. But it doesn't work and now we're all screaming for him to play like a real big man but he doesn't. I'm sure the reply will be "but Blatche is lazy and stupid while McGee works hard and has a high bball IQ" and there is some truth to that. Still, I think the principle of encouraging guys to play smaller than they are is the wrong way to develop 7-footers.

...

JaVale is already changing games from the center position on pure length/athleticism/husstle. Why not just try to get him to hone his skills in that one position to the point where he's a legitimate star? Why try to unnecessarily cross-train him to play other positions when it's clear that he's a true C?

Disagree with the premise on Blatche, but no time to develop it right now. The short answer to the question of why try McGee at 4? Brendan Haywood.

The prospect of the HUGE frontline is tempting, it's been tried many places and mostly failed. Where it has succeeded is when two players complement each other's games. In this case I think there's a likleihood of pretty good synergy between KillMode and Big Wood. Defensively especially. Brendan is quite good at trapping the pick and roll at the top of the key and recovering, but he needs someone underneath who can cover. Brendan is a good on-ball challenger, but he needs someone under neath who can block shots from weakside, and rebound misses. On offense the two may get tangled up fighting for space, but McGee has shown pretty nice potential in his face-up game. There's no point discarding something a guy does well just because somebody else once upon a time didn't do well.

Otherwise Brendan is our strongest trading piece, since he'll never resign with the team if we get another big man controversy.

[BigA]

Right, they can't really keep both Haywood and McGee if they're both going to be centers, can you?

If you assume they're going to keep Haywood, they need to either package McGee to get a star, or he has to be the guy that forces Jamison to the bench. The probability that Blatche will be the guy that forces Jamison to the bench is now pretty low in my opinion, and shrinking.

Alternatively, if McGee has to be a center and turns out to be too good to trade, they need to deal Haywood. We know Haywood has to be a center.

At a more fundamental level, I agree that they really need to see how Gilbert comes back before they can clarify a long-term direction.

[mhd]

The correct strategy as pointed out earlier in this thread is to extend Haywood. Haywood has been known to be very frugal. Give him a solid 4 year, 36 million dollar extension. He takes it for the longterm security and the committment from the Wizards. Indy did a similar extension with Jeff Foster this year.

[LyricalRico]

Otherwise Brendan is our strongest trading piece, since he'll never resign with the team if we get another big man controversy.

That's an interesting take on it and I can see how Haywood might see McGee as a much bigger threat to his job than Etan. But with a nice extension that takes him past his prime could placate that, especially if it's done this offseason before a training camp battle for the starting job. And if after that it's clear that McGee is better and Haywood wants out, he'll still be a great trading piece to have.

Let me be clear - I'm not against playing Wood/McGee together for stretches. But to make the two of them starting together a centerpiece of this team's longterm plan would be a mistake IMO.

[McGully Culkin]

I agree 150% w. #2, which was trading the vets for cap space. We all know that Etan and AD will most likely beoff the roster in 2010. Here's the thing...do any of you HONESTLY think that Abe Pollin would sign-off to trading Jamison? IMO, we should have dealt him last season before giving him another contract. I think he's one of those guys who Abe just loves. A guy who he will remain "loyal" to, even if it is in his team's best interest to move him.

I think we all know that the Jamison contract was questionable as well as re-signing a guard on a gimpy leg to an "almost" max deal. If we had just realized that this team had hit their ceiling of potential and NOT given out new contracts, we would be sitting in a better position for the future.

I would have liked to see this team go with a youth movement, and take their lumps and grow together. We're doing that now, but we also have some overpaid, expensive vets on our roster which make things a little more tricky as far as player transactions.

There is no doubt in my mind that we are a lottery-bound team. That's evident after our play 6 games in. This season should be used for getting our young guys like Young, McGee, Blatche, McGuire, etc some quality minutes. Somewhere in the back of Jamison's mind he has to know that this team isn't going anywhere. For the sake of the franchise, he should ask Abe to move him to a contender. Like I said before, we should take our lumps and just focus on the development of our up-and-coming players.

[fishercob]

It's a little hard for me to answer the posed question without knowing what we'll be getting from Gilbert. If he's a shell of his former self, then I do think you have to tear it down and star over. If he's an all-star level guard, then I think we're a lot closer to elite status than we realize -- if we can just get the damn roster healthy.

So to best answer the question, I say we basically do nothing this year. Evaluate how Gilbert is when he comes back, play and evaluate our youth this year.

I'll say this, though. I believe that the emergence of McGee makes Gil a better player. Say Gil's still an excellent player, but he doesn't have quite the burst that allowed him to dunk on people/finish at the rim quite as much. With a constant "oop" threat in McGee -- something Gil has never had -- all he has to do is beat his man and the defense is toast. Chril Paul doesn't dunk on people or have Gil's strength, but once he's in the lane, it's either stop the ball or a lob to Chandler for an easy dunk.

So, assuming that Gil's going to be highly valuable, I look to move Etan and AD's contracts for concrete help to the rotation. I consider adding in Young and/or Blatche to the right trade. I trade McGee only for a KG type player (and I don't forsee that being available).

My problem with rebuilding for cap space is that (a) this is not a traditionally sought after FA destination and (b) Bird Rights are going to keep most players where they are. I'd rather capitalize on others' attempts to get cap space.

It's not that I wouldnt trade Jamison, but like others I just see it as highly unlikely...

[GilArenas88]

mhd I value and like Haywood as much as anyone on this board but 4 years at 36 million is too much, maybe you ment 4 years at 26. Yes resign him though.

Next I dont agree with the Butler for Prince deal at all. For who ever thinks prince is a solid 15-20 points per night is way off. His career high in ppg is 14.7 in 04-05 in like 38 mpg so its not like his numbers were low becasue of minutes. Maybe Im just a homer, but theres just something I like about Caron, I want him to stick around.

I said earlier as well on another topic that I would love the idea of a starting line-up in the future of Haywood-McGee-Butler-Young-Arenas with Blatche-Jamison-Stevenson-Dixon-Draft Picks making up our bench. Ive read some of your post and do to a degree see were your saying we don't want to put any confusion in this kids head at this point. But let me say this, as I still think Blatche can be good, he's never been known as the sharpest tool in the shed. So maybe holding McGee to Blatche's mental standard may not be the best idea.

We need to get rid of Songalia, I liked him when we signed him, but at maybe no fault of his own he's sucked hear with the exception of maybe a stretch at the end of last season, and his first year here. Yes Eddie does play him out of position, but we need to do more EJ proofing of the roster. Thomas has to go, hes never lived up to his contract, had one decent season, and has never played anywhere as close again, typical contract year player. Daniels I think has to go as well, but there may be some hope for him. I still think if he gets healthy, and that a "big if" at this point of his career with all the beating and floor hitting he's taken, he could be a solid backup pg and may be a tutor for a PG we draft.

Stevenson and Jamison Im borderline one. Stevenson has played like complete crap at times, especially on the offensive end. But lets not forget that he's a complement type player, and when Gil plays he's 5x better on the offensive end as he can spot up for wide open shots, not to mention he's at worst a decent defensive player. If we keep him I'd say move him to the bench next year to make room for Young, and make him our sole backup 2. Say young plays 28-32 mpg give the rest mostly to Stevenson and maybe give hima few minutes at point. Dixon and a drafted pg can fight for the remaining minutes a PG and maybe some scraps at the SG for Dixon. If the right deal comes along for Stevenson were he needs to be included into a package, then do it, but he can still be a valuable piece. As for Jamison quite frankly at his age and brand new contract at 4 years 50 mil he's going to be nearly impossible to move, especially since he's a tweener. We would only be able to move him if at least one of McGee, Young, or Blatche were included, and probably a pick or two. I'd really like to hold onto Young and McGee, and Blatche to an extent. But like Daniels, if the right deal came along were we'd have to package say Blatche and a first round pick with Jamison I'd say okay. It would have to be real good player for me to package Young, and especially McGee. But my dream scenario would to have Jamison of the bench ala his "6th Man of the Year" season down in Dallas.

As far as Pecherov and McGuire, and maybe eventually that Vermanko guy goes, their all young and developing, so Im not ready to call them anything. We knew they'd be projects, not all of them will pan out, but maybe one will, it doesn't really hurt us to keep hold of any of them. Once again though if the right deal comes then yeah.(Im still hoping McGuire will develop into maybe a Prince type player)

Also like others say we have to wait really to asses our situation until Gil comes back and we see what we've got.

The thing that IMO will make this team championship caliber are: health of course, Haywood and Arenas back, Jamison to the bench, the developement of McGee, Young, Blatche, McGuire, draft another pg and pf, continue to work on Ayers defensive system, and sign some savy veterans in place of Thomas, Daniels, and Songalia.

I think if were to make a run at a title our roster would have to look like this:

PG-Arenas
SG-Young(Although I'm not completely against Stevenson here with Young being the firepower off the bench with Jamison)
SF-Butler
PF-McGee
C-Haywood

Bench:
Blatche
F/A Big man who can rebound and defend some ala McDyess, PJ Brown, Kurt Thomas
Jamison
F/A SG/SF combo player who can shoot the trey and defend ala Posey, Devon George, Bowen
Stevenson
Dixon

Bench warmers:
McGuire
1st round pick
2nd round pick
Pecherov/ Vermenko/ another pick

[miller31time]

^^^ Fish, I agree that it all depends on Gilbert's status. I disagree, however, with completely standing pat if Arenas proves to be healthy and back to his old self.

We'd be a great team on offense and Haywood would certainly bring our defense back to about 17-20th league-wise, but we're not to be taken seriously unless we have a good defense. It's as simple as that. You're just not a championship-caliber team unless you play well on both ends of the floor.

Now, whether that means trading for players who play good team-defense, or whether it means scrapping the coaching staff and starting over with a defensive-oriented staff, I don't know. But I do know that one of those two things (if not both) needs to be done because we cannot afford to rely on offense and expect elite status.

[McGully Culkin]

^^^ Fish, I agree that it all depends on Gilbert's status. I disagree, however, with completely standing pat if Arenas proves to be healthy and back to his old self.

We'd be a great team on offense and Haywood would certainly bring our defense back to about 17-20th league-wise, but we're not to be taken seriously unless we have a good defense. It's as simple as that. You're just not a championship-caliber team unless you play well on both ends of the floor.

Now, whether that means trading for players who play good team-defense, or whether it means scrapping the coaching staff and starting over with a defensive-oriented staff, I don't know. But I do know that one of those two things (if not both) needs to be done because we cannot afford to rely on offense and expect elite status.

Exactly....that is why I wished that we had the flexibility financially to make a run at a guy like James Posey this past offseason. He's a vet who IMO would have changed the culture of our team defensively.

Offense has never been a problem for the Wizards over the past couple of seasons. It's the commitment to defense that has plagued us over the years. Hopefully, with McGee's development and an addition of a couple of players here and there, we can become a more rounded team where the defense is potentially on par w. our offense.