I cant believe this. At all. Take a chance The Spurs always seem to benefit from our mistakes.

I reayy pissed off also.
 48 hours ago, we pretty much had RUBIO in our hand, possibly one of the most exciting and upcoming young pg in the future. But now, we had two guys who probably wont worth as much as Rubio. We just RUSH through the trade w/o waiting who might fallin into #5 spot. Even Ernie said it that they want to do the trade as quickly as possible b/c they afraid that someone will have a better offer. THis show how poor judgement our team office has and thats why we will never win a championship.

Im terribly dissapointed….Rubio was within reach 48 hours ago, but now, it just a broken dream and it will haunt us for the next decade.

cost us less than 1 mil, but b/c they want a “veteran” guy who has experience, they gonna go get that guy and not even draft Blair. I mean hes a rookie with cheap contract and if he doesnt work out, we cant cut him later. But not to even draft him, and let him be a part of this team, it just ridiculous. F*ck u Abe

I am sure Ernie knows he makes a mistake by pulling a quick trigger on that trade b/c he cant imagine Rubio slip to our spot. What a shame…bad luck after bad luck

The wizards ruin another draft, by my count the 1000th in a row. I dont like the miller trade but if they r so desperate to save money i guess i understand. but the blair trade baffles me. it would have been a non guaranteed contract and worth much less than the equivalent FA. its not being cheap its being stupid.

Yeah this was pretty bad. I’m not a big Rubio fan, but if had sat where we were we could have had Rubio and Blair, and kept out other assets to solve our remaining needs.

like Ted Leonsis who is willin to do anything and payin lots of money to make his team a winner. Instead we get a grumpy old cheap Abe who not even willin to spend money to buy his own pamper

wont arrive to DC. All I got to do is to move myself outta this city and go somewhere else!!

Get to use the cash toward the cap?

YOU want it both ways.
1. You want to HATE the Wizards so you have something to bitch about, but then you want to WIN (supposedly).
2. You want to win NOW because that’s the team we have, but you hate when we ship picks for cash or trade them. (You also hated JaVale McGee, too.)

DC fans at their finest. I’m excited about this year, and think we’ll sign/trade for someone solid.

the curse will finally be lifted…

i stil like the trade. they believe the future is now, so the trade makes sense. i agree with them – might as well go for it now, and if it doesn’t work, then start over. chances are pretty good rubio will just be another player anyway.

the cash for the draft pick – that only makes sense if they can get do something else to get a big guy. if they pull that off, then all is forgiven. but they have to pull it off.

would they have enough roster space for Blair (or somebody) if they trade James/Young for a decent big? i’d guess they would, but i don’t have the numbers handy. if so, then the cheap label is perhaps justified. they’re are times to be cheap, but not this year.

maybe the plan then is to use the cash to sign a MLE? then they are forgiven again.,if they do it right.

why not take a shot on him? it costs us practically nothing. i don’t get that either. that’s a bit too much on the side of writing off a pick just because it’s unlikely it works out. we could have had blair and a veteran signing if we weren’t counting pennies.

as for rubio, i have a couple issues with the argument. we’re in win now mode, like it or not.

1 – rubio is great right away. okay we blew it.
2 – rubio struggles mightily early but is great a couple years from now. arguably we’re short sighted, but you have to respect the flip side of what we did.
3 – rubio stays in europe – how does that help us win now???? you’re assuming he’s going to be great and it’s worth it.
4 – we could have gotten a better trade with rubio as a chip. maybe. maybe not. i’m not so sure. it’s definitely debatable.

You hate because you’re a fan? Doesn’t make sense (up to a point, up to a “Wes Unseld was an awful coach, let’s make him a GM” point).

You deserve better than this? Than what, 20 years of misery, and now, finally, at least a winner? A GM that has made deft trades and good picks with what he’s got? Ernie Grunfield can GM this team until he dies, and I’m satisfied. The man’s a consummate pro, keeps his mouth shut, makes smart moves (considering the situation he’s been in with drafts, players, and having a coach hired before he was hired) he’s own a nice cushion.

I still think the Miller/Foye trade is a pretty defensible move and a potentially good one. I think it went from no-brainer good to potentially good as soon as Rubio fell to #5. The trade is almost every bit as good as it was yesterday if he does stay in Europe for 1-2 season because he would have been no use to us at all within our window to compete with the current roster.

Selling the #32 pick is COMPLETELY INDEFENSIBLE. Its a non-basketball decision. We could have cut salary last Feb at the trading deadline or tried to get the Spur’s non-guaranteed contracts for Antawn, but instead we traded for Veteran players who kep us paying the luxury tax. We have committed to paying the tax, so why sell the #32 pick? This is a move that actually COSTS us money. To get a veteran who will do what we could have gotten out of Blair it will cost us at least $2m/yr. We could have had Blair for about $700k. Basically unless Ernie is truly done spending more money we actually just lost about $1.4mil over the 3 yr contract Blair would (may) have gotten just to get a player with less potential who is older. It makes NO SENSE and so I think its a completely ridiculous move.

Ernie didn’t know Rubio was going to be there and could argue that Miller/Foye were better anyway, but Ernie DID KNOW that the trade he made left us with a truly gaping hole in the rebounding department. Instead of trying to solve it when the best rebounder in the entire draft miraculously fell into our laps, he spat in our faces by selling the pick and telling the fan base to collectively “deal with it, we are stuck with what we have.” We now have one fewer asset that we could have used in a trade with Mike James’ contract in order to get a veteran. I now don’t think we have any prayer of landing Marcus Camby and I think the best we will do is someone for the veteran’s minimum (MORE THAN BLAIR WOULD HAVE MADE) off the free agency pu-pu platter.

Ernie, you fucked up big time and its really pathetic that someone so experienced would have so little understanding of the salary structure and the need to actually follow a path once you’ve picked it.

Paul Millsap, Shawn Marion, Carlos Boozer, Anderson Vareja, Drew Gooden,

…is that Rubio / Arenas would generate way more revenue for Les Boulez. Fill the seats. on TNT every night. Kids in Spain wearing Rubio ‘duracel’ jerseys. Peeps getting hyped up about Ricky the Wizard, casting his spell on Lebron. Rickey breaking Lebron’s ankles, crab stepping all over Lebron and Shaq. Little EuroTrash making Lebron/Shaq look idgets.

This day will live in infamy.

btw, Rubio in Spain the next two years is just wishful thinking for Les Boulez.

i can live with trading the five pick even if i dont agree with the move bu trading a second round pick for cash when there was a guy on the board who could help this team is unacceptable

…I just remembered that I’m not an Eagles fan.

The more depressed I am.

Our roster is what it is. We will be the #4 or #5 in the east and probably lose in the first round in 5 or 6 games.

We aren’t getting any better this off season. Ernie doesn’t sell a pick for $2.5m and then turn around and sign someone to a MLE contract. We will sign some crap veteran to a one year deal and Ernie will pontificate on how this veteran is “ready to play” and thats it. We will actually go into the season without a single legitimate physical presence or rebounder on the bench and we will get killed in the paint.

It is, what it is. I hoped for more and I should have known better.

….i know I’m being a downright pooper, and we owe it to ourselves to see the final product on the court. Just wish Rubio was a Wizard — so close yet so far!!!

Wilbon had a decent article — he gets it.

if i posted ernie grunfeld’s work email? i happen to have it.

The morning after, when people like Chad Ford are giving stupidly giving the Wizards an “A” for their draft, it’s nice to come over here to read the thoughts of people who really know the team and who recognize what really went down, why, and its implications. Misery loves company.

Everyone has covered this issue pretty well in posts over the past day, so I won’t repeat what has already been said. The only new point I can think to add is that Ernie’s moves go to show what kind of awful things can happen when you operate under faulty assumptions:

- This team is ready to contend for a championship if only they can add a couple of veteran role players to the mix. This is the most mindboggling assumption of all, because 2 of your “Big 3” just led the team to a 19-63 record.

- This team’s window of opportunity is closing. Arenas is 27, and Butler and Haywood are 29. They’ve each got 4 or 5 good years left, at least.

- If a draft pick can’t make your rotation in the first year, he shouldn’t be picked. Seems like Ernie never made this assumption before, including last year when he had the same “veteran” team ready to contend, and he picked McGee.

Let’s get some perspective. Here are the last 10 years of number 5 picks:

Kevin Love, Jeff Green, Shelden Williams, Raymond Felton, Dwayne Wade, Devin Harris, Dwayne Wade, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Jason Richardson, Mike Miller, Jonothan Bender, Vince Carter.

Now it’s possible that the 18 year old Rubio is Dwayne Wade or Vinsanity. However, the odds are against it. The truth is Mike Miller is one of the better names on this list, and we got another guy that is probably more valuable than Jeff Green, Shelden Williams, Raymond Felton, Tskitishvili or Bender in Rndy Foye. Ernie was playing the odds and played them right. Is there risk that it may come back to bite them? Sure but nobody knows so you have to play the odds.

For those talking about titles. Unless you have a truly amazing talent, like Shaq, Magic, Bird, Vinsanity and Wade weren’t good enough. The truth is that veterans compete for titles. I don’t actually think the Wizards are contenders right now after a 19 win season, but if they want to contend they need vets. Look at the final 4 teams in the playoffs this year.

As fars as Blair goes. I’m a little frustrated, but If any team in the league should be afraid of knees it’s the Wiz. Also, even if Flip plays his players less minutes (I hope) there won’t be many minutes available for our hypothetical big man. Assume 30 minutes each for Haywood and Jamison that leaves 36 minutes at the 4/5 slot. If you give McGee and Blatche each 15 that leaves 6 minutes of tough rebounding and hustle from big man #5. If whoever Ernie gets takes minutes from Blatche and McGee, it will have been a good get and people on this blog will be complaining bitterly.

All the significant “balance of power” transactions involved proven players not Rookies. Does anybody here honestly think that Rubio will significantly impact Minnesota’s record next year?

For that matter assuming Gil is healthy would he have gotten significant minutes here that would have allowed him to develop?

Take it easy on Abe. Though he has not won much, it is primarily the result of excessive loyalty, which you may not appreciate as a sports fan. But there are a lot of good people unemployed by lesser owners. Plus, he built the stadium on his own dime and personally resurrected the entire experience.

Having said that, he is older and ill. I think you can forget about anything but a keep the cup full and do our best approach until the team passes to Leonsis. Ted will blow the team up and start over. But it won’t happen before then. We will probably not keep any more draft picks going until Abe passes the baton to Ted.

So with that in mind, I do not think it is surprising what they are doing. The team is better in the short run with the trade. And I was surprised and disappointed on not drafting the Pittsburgh rebounding machine. But it is very unlikely he would have put them over the top.

They need two big men- legitimate ones. Guys with size, not string beans. We have to go through Shaq and Howard to win because we match up well with Boston already. Rasheed Wallace is a definite must have because he can play D and is one of only a couple big men that can score on their own. He might be the only one available us, but Cleveland really needs him for the same reason. Let’s hope Flip’s relationship is good! They can trade some contracts and guards to free up the space. He is a MLE signing.

The other guy is Verejao. If we want to win, it is not enough to get better. We have to hurt those we have to go through. He is not the best. But he is a scrapper in the paint and picks up every loose ball inside. He is the guy that does the little things that their old centers don’t, and really makes their team better.

If that fails, the other pickup should be a contract offer on Gortat to force Orlando to sign him or Hedo. We don’t want them to have both. And even with V Carter, they are better with Hedo. They won’t win it with Vince and after losing their guards and Hedo.

If both those fail, then Camby or one of the others discussed. But the best team we could realistically put forward would be with rasheed and varejao because Orlando probably will not keep both Gortat and Hedo.

We know the bullets will sign at least one more big. Judge this draft if they go the extra mile and get two legitimate big men. Then it will be a great draft considering their direction. It will take two to win. So if not, everybody is right and they aren’t serious enough.

I must say I am always confused with what ernie does. His draft selections in the past have not been great. Here he is talking about what they did last night. What do you think???

www.comcastsportsnet.tv/pages/inner_player?vidID=vidcast_10181&feedID=257&startclip=1

What will be, will be. Despite my outrage at EG, the only thing we can do now is support the team we’ve got and pray that he has a plan. unless someone here can convince polin to fire him, we’ve just gotta hope this year is different and he can get it done.

I’m with you. Everyone needs to chill. I think we got a good deal.

Is that the Wiz will make another move. We’re not done. The cash saved on Rubio and Blair prevents Abe from going to the upper room when we make our next move. It will either be to add an MLE to balance out the depth on our roster and add a 5th big. Or we will use our pieces to get a more able player to improve our 8-9 man rotation maybe thru a trade, sign and trade, or maybe a three team deal where we utilize our MLE.

Be easy

I for one am psyched. The talent level on the team has gone up bigtime. Did any of you watch this team last year? Guard play was horrible. By the time Rubio gets good the Wizards will have made the conference finals. What else did we give up? Opec, ET? They didn’t even deserver their roster spots. DS did, but are we really jumping off the cliff because we lost a tough minded backup who averages 3 rebounds a game? The hostility toward EG and AP baffles me. They got better, isn’t that what we wanted?

I am hearing that he fell so far is his knees. I hear He couldn’t pass many physicals, and everyone had him red flagged. I guess Ernie didn’t want another athlete with bad legs. I feel a bit better now. I just hope we can do something else.

Without making another move we are still a better team then we were last year.

Adding Rubio would of been nice if he wanted to play here and/or didn’t have the option of hiding out in Spain if he didn’t get picked by a team he wanted. But I think we were smart for trading out of the pick, picking up two players who will help us next year and are better than whatever we could of gotten at 5 for this next season.

I also don’t understand why everyone is getting so butt hurt about not taking Dejuan Blair. Sure he was great in college, but lets face some facts, he is only 6’6, he is strong as an ox but pretty unathletic, he has bad knees that aren’t going to get any better over the course of his career. We weren’t the only team who passed on him and there is reason for that. I’d rather take the money we got for him and sign a veteran FA. there are plenty on the market from Gortat, to Pachulia, to Bass to McDyess, to Gooden, the list goes on.

 I think the mystique of the draft screws everyone’s head up. People are willing to pass on a sure thing for the small chance at greatness. We are getting two players who are proven at the NBA level and help our chances at winning tomorrow. They aren’t superstars but who’s to guarantee someone like Curry is a superstar and not a 2009 version of his father (not a bad player at all just saying)

Darius Songalia was a great depth guy for us last year but you can’t tell me that is really the breaking point of the trade for some of you. We can pick up a Songalia in FA, that’s not hard to find.

The trade really comes down to sure thing versus the chance at greatness. We took the sure thing, get an ultra solid Mike Miller who does a lot of the little things on the court plus has a killer shot and we get Randy Foye who still has potential and has done nothing but improve every year. Does he have the ceiling of Ricky Rubio or Stephen Curry? probably not but both of those players are 100% more likely to bust because we know what we are getting with Foye.

I haven’t posted in far too long, but I’m sick of this bitching.

I’m gonna be real concise here.

1. Ricky Rubio is not Pistol Pete, he never will be. At his best, he can be a White Chocolate (jason williams) who plays exceptional defense. Everybody loves to reference his “amazing” game against USA in the Olympics. He hurt his hand. He’s not Willis motherfucking Reed. Go ahead and check his stat line or his efficiency for that game. He was servicable at BEST.

2. STOP TALKING UNTIL JULY 8th. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. None of us has any clue what’s going to happen. If you are still unhappy after; fine. Go for it.

Just because Flip’s coming and all this talk about “contending” people are freaking the fuck out because ‘oh shit, we might NOT be contenders’!?!?!? Like that’s a mind-blowing shock???? ‘I can’t believe that my team may not live up to its lofty aspirations?!?!’

Give me a break.

Yes, we should have taken DeJuan Blair. We should have. But cease the bitching until we know for a fact that money isn’t being spent elsewhere.

Keep in mind: Nobody seems to remember that Rubio already expressed displeasure at the prospect of playing in Washington; much more definite displeasure than “my mom hates the cold”, Fegan thought he wouldnt be a good fit with Arenas.

calm down ladies. calm yourselves.