To recap: Memphis gave up a conditional first-round pick for Juan Carlos Navarro, applying conditions that basically made it impossible for the Wizards to receive it for many years. They got one year out of Navarro before he bolted. Now, they want their pick back, even though they weren’t going to lose it for a while, and are willing to give up the prospect that helped drive the Pau Gasol deal. That’s bad planning.

Amen.

• According to Wizards Insider, Crittenton and James might not be available tomorrow night. It looks like Dixon will get the start at PG anyway. That meens there might be an OPech sighting, since it wouldn’t make sense to have him inactive for the game.
• Wow, reading Prada’s post, I never realized Mike James was that bad. If he’s actually worse than a hobbled AD, then the Wizards ought to inactivate him for the rest of the season to free up roster space. Which means more OPech for the short term until Gil comes back. After Gil comes back, OPech will go back to the inactive list. What about when Brendan comes back? My guess is Juan Dixon, but for the good of the team we should consider Etan.
• I know most here are against this, but it looks like Larry Hughes and Ernie Grunfeld are looking for some sort of reunion. I would not be against this if this were to happen. My guess is it might be Mike James, Etan Thomas, and Juan Dixon for Larry Hughes. If this were to go down, then I see no real downside and a lot of upside for our team. Especially considering how he torched us last Saturday.
• Ernie Grunfeld actually considered taking Javaris with the 16th pick in a very deep draft last year. He obviously saw something we don’t. I have learned one thing regarding EG – when he really likes somebody, expect great things. Unless, of course, that player is from the Ukraine and Wizznutzz calls him “Big Oily”.

Halftime analysis after Stu and everyone talked in much detail about the Phoenix trade went something like this:

“And we have another trade that went down in the NBA today…” (enter in tune segued into commercial break)
Stu rushes through teams that participated in the trade and that was about it.

Let’s remember that Chicago has 14 players on their roster right now; so the Wiz can’t do a 3 for 1 trade to get Hughes…

2 for 1 works as it keeps Chicago from going over the maximum 15 players….

But to do 3 for 1, a third team would need to be involved, or Chicago would have to release someone (and still pay their salary)….. Michael Ruffin? That would be an expensive trade for Chicago.

1. Mike James’ contract expire at the same time as Daniels’…. still leaving the possibility of trading that expiring contract next year.- – - – Wash

2. We got the draft pick for a player that was never going to play for us. We get Crittenten for that draft pick; which we never would have received anyway. – - – - Advantage

3. Antonio Daniels was not playing well this year… and his skills have declined. Mike James is not playing well this year and his skills have declined. – - – - Wash

The only negative is losing Dee Brown – who I think was actually a pretty good player. He had started to show at least the inkling that he might have an outside shot….. and he was pesky on Defense. He brought the ball up the court fast, and got the Wizards into their offense early….. and besides Butler, He’s the only one on the team that knew how high to throw the oop for McGee.

He attacks the rim, drives right into traffic and collects the foul. On a pace-adjusted per-minute basis he’s actually been near the league tops among PG’s in the ratio of FT’s per FG attempt. He’s got some Gilbertesque qualities in this regard in that he is seemingly undaunted by the dreadnoughts in the lane. He’ll drive right at them, bounce off and attempt a circus lay-up, drop fouls on the Bigs to soften them up. Right now our only slasher from the perimeter is Caron. JCrit has similar strong hands to Caron, but a superior handle. Really quick first step, nice change of speeds and direction, misdirection on the attack.

He rebounds pretty well for a point. Size and fearlessness contribute here too. At 6’4"+ 200lbs hes’ pretty burly. He’s actually got he kind of frame that can take even more muscle mass, even lean up a little while gaining strength. What you see is mostly natural talent, meaning his upside is better than what you may expect. He’s got potential to build DWade type strength. This year among PG’s on the adjusted per40 he was top 10 among PGs in boards, and last year (playing 18 mins per game) he was top 5 among PGs (Hey he was top 15 among 2-guards, even when you call Josh Howard, Dom McGuire and James Posey 2-guards). Why does this matter? Teams chuck on us from outside— If we’re giving up long bounces, might as well have 2nd line players who can go get ’em.

He’s young, room to improve. Won’t even turn 21 ‘til New Year’s eve. (Makes him a Capricorn like Gil so naturally they’re bound to succeed!!! Uh, okay, nevermind). We now have understudies and young players developing at every position on court and young veterans ahead of them. We lose savvy cunning and leadership in Daniels, but we pick up size athleticism and youth. The yougn kids can grow up togehter, and there’s less unlearning to do when we pick up a new coach, they can grow to fit the roles into which he molds them.

His weaknesses? A combo guard, needs to attack to create. He’s a drive and kick guy and we have no reliable outside gunners. Until Gil gets back. He’s a drive and dump guy too, and as of right now Javale’s alley oop is our only reliable inside weapon.

He’s not a great outside shooter himself. Nor does he reliably knock down the FT even if he collects chances consistently.

Of course in that respect we have Doctor Hoops Dave Hopla who can help build him a shot. We’ve a better situation for him to develop than anywhere else. And as for drive and kick, if he starts to draw attention in the lane he can play like Gilbert-lite, DeShawn’s numbers may climb, ditto Caron, or Jamison. He’s a good fit for the offense we want to run. Okay, that Eddie wanted to run, but anyway, Combo guards succeed here.

And that’s the real key. Larry Hughes had no great outside shot either, but Jv Critical can play the uptempo game, force the action, handle the ball under pressure, he’s big, athletic, can finish on the break, we can run uptempo the way our young Bigs want to run. Daniels was mistake free but occasionally overcautious, would sometimes slow up and run the half court even when we had numbers on the break. Wouldn’t push the tempo past his own comfort zone. No knock on him, he just liked the pick and roll game better than flying up and down the court. Now when Gilbert returns we get the Pure Energy Redux, with Bigs who like the fast pace, plus Caron.

SO: younger, bigger, stronger, more athletic. Rawer, less polished, less veteran savvy. We lose a highly protected draft pick who knows how far down the line, but pick up a first rounder from one of the deepest drafts in recent history.

I like the move okay. I’ll miss the helloutta Antonio, even injured, even in his post EJ mope. I’ll stand up and cheer when we see him again, but hey, veteran cunning aside, we added better raw talent in a spot where we sorely needed an upgrade. It’s just on us to develop it. Not a bad move in, let’s face it, a rebuilding year. More young players to get PT with only undersized Juan Dixon, maybe DSteve at times, and a toothless Mike James battling for those minutes. If he has the mindset to maximize his opportunities, the chances are there for the taking. He damn sure has the talent to do it.

Couldn’t they have made the trade before they fired EJ? Overall, I like it, but on the other hand, it’s pretty much acknowledging that the problems were not all about coaching but included the current roster.