Ok – you got me riled up…..

Chad Ford, who actually saw Blair work out, said he was really impressive.

He has lost about 15 pounds during the first two weeks of training. His physique is much more chiseled. And most importantly, his athleticism has improved greatly because he has lost that weight and improved his conditioning.

Blair looked much quicker and more explosive than he looked at Pittsburgh. His quickness and leaping ability were impressive for someone his size. He went as hard as anyone in the gym that day and didn’t slow down toward the end.

Sure doesn’t sound like a guy that will play “below the rim”… And before you start with "that kind of weight loss tends not to last. " or “can’t shove folks around as easily” – - – Those sentiments are actually probably true about the general population, but not about elite athletes. The opposite is usually true.. once they lose the weight – it stays off.

Besides, it’s clear that he (Blair) has made a life change – improving his diet….. hitting the weight room (apparently for the first time in his career – which should be scary to his opponents).

According to this article…

[He’s] Lost 30 pounds… Blair said: “It’s going well. I’m losing weight and I’m changing my body. I feel really good. I took off a lot of fat and put on muscle. Now I’m quicker and lighter.”

More muscle….less fat. I doubt he’ll have any trouble “shoving folks around” in the paint.

According to John Gasaway, Basketball Prospectus, Blair didn’t just dominate College basketball in the rebounding department, he outrebounded many TEAMS (Nebraska, Samford, etc…) by himself.

Yes, DeJuan Blair was that good. Playing in the best conference in the country — the tournament settled that, didn’t it? — against some of the best big men in the country, week-in, week-out, DeJuan Blair didn’t just rebound well. He rebounded at a level unseen in the past 10 years, and maybe longer. We’re not sure, because the relevant statistics don’t date accordingly. DeJuan Blair could be the best offensive rebounder of the last 20 years. He’s certainly in the conversation.

A lot of people (like you) will look at DeJuan Blair and see Tractor Traylor. Another big body with talent. You think that, like Traylor, Blair will eat himself out of the league. I look at him and see a taller Charles Barkley.

Well thanks to 29 General Managers telling him “no thanks” 36 times , DeJuan Blair now has plenty of incentive to show those teams what they missed. Those 29 other GM’s have put the “Arenas fire” into Blair – and I for one hope he sticks it to them.

My nightmare scenario, and the ultimate irony would be: Three years from now, The Wizards, after limping around for years without a physical presence in the post, are in a Free Agency bidding war for the best young defender and rebounder in the League – DeJuan Blair.

Rook, you are ignoring doc’s biggest point:

I like DJ Blair fine. But not at 2.5 million plus double his cost.

Jamal Magloire, if he is signed, would cost about $1.8 million less than selling the pick instead of drafing Blair. I hate it because of it smacks of cheapness, now that I know Ernie isn’t going after anyone clearly better. But it still does make financial sense, as much as I hate to admit it.

I was thinking we might retain him long-term at a lower per-year salary but in overall total dollars a better deal than opponents can afford. We’re allowed to ink a longer deal than other teams. That way he gets the guarantee of better money in the long haul, without killing the cap year after year.

Also. It’s good to remember that the per-year salary increase is not required, it just happens to be industry standard. In recent years Chicago even signed some of it’s players to declining deals. Imagine if we sign Brendan to a flat salary, steady. This makes his deal easier to trade since it won’t balloon towards the end of his contract when teams might worry he’d be less productive. I’m not worried, but I understand why prevailing sentiment suggests one should be leery of an older player.

But with a flat deal at a reasonable rate per annum, you have a big defensive center inked longterm, and your young puppy supertalent learning at first behind him and then, maybe seizing the top spot. At that point Brendan is a solid back-up, or can share the front court with him (depending on McGee’s developing skill level) or becomes a solid trade asset.

Understand Flip has apparently talked about trying McGee at PF. He’s got the raw athleticism of a guy like KG entering the league, he just has no real idea how to use his size. His mother raised him to play Small Forward, hasn’t yet figured out what to do with the fact that he’s longer than everybody. Has just started to put on his grown-man weight. But given his silly athletic ability, I’m putting no cap on his upside. I suspect with the right coach he could definitely play next to Brendan.

He gets that he is a decent backup at two positions that will hold down the fort for 15 minutes per game and is appropriately paid.

I’ve settled into the fact that he may very well stay at that level. What the Wiz desperately need is a player that doesn’t cost much and that can hold down the fort for 15 minutes per game. Why trade him away? Especially when we’re looking at guys like Collins or Frye.

the ultimate lineup to me would be McGee at PF, and Blatche at SF, and backing up the PF spot. That won’t happen here (not full time at least), but it would be nice.

If we are waiting for him to acquire the bulk to defend the 5, then you’re right, it will take McGee several seasons of training and conditioning to get there. But he can learn to start guarding the likes of Rashard Lewis and Boris Diaw much sooner. He just needs to work on his footwork and positioning. He already has the quickness and the athleticism.

Currently at 245lbs – been working out all Summer.