Keep Brendan Haywood
by Unselds on Jan 30, 2010 10:02 PM EST
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PrintRemember the days when Brendan Haywood had block hands, fouled someone every time they tried to shoot on him? And he would always miss a dunk if he was fouled. Every time he fouled someone, they would make the shot anyway. He got in the coach's doghouse, and punched Etan Thomas in his grill.
Now here we are with a bad team rocked by scandal and looking at ping pong balls again. There is almost universal sentiment for blowing the team up. There have even been mentioned rumors of a swap with Portland for Brenden's expiring contract for Andre Miller. Talk about Webber for Richmond all over again.
My thing is, don't you always need a Brendan Haywood on your team, and didn't we grow him ourselves? Why not pay the guy what the market calls for, and trade Jamison and Butler (as well as dispense of possibly DSteve and the lesser-known MJ).
I guess there is the growth of McGee and Blache with Brenden solidly the starter at center, but wouldn't McGee on the floor with Blatche and/or Haywood be a pretty nice twin towers? JaVale might be suited for power forward. In that case, you could trade Andray.
I don't know. I just don't think we're as far away as some other teams if we keep a lot of our players, maybe even Butler and Blatche, and get a good draft pick. Does it have to be the No. 1 pick, because we know how bad our luck is with hitting the big one in the lottery. I mean, we blew our wad with Kwame. If this is a deep draft, can't you make a few choice moves without totally blowing up the team? Re-sign Foye and Miller, along with Haywood. Trade Jamison and Butler for up and comers or picks and expirings.
(Clear Gilbert's contract or keep him, I don't really care at this point, or trade him)
Sign a free agent like Bosh.
Could we do all that? I don't know, but it doesn't seem impossible. Just sayin.
This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.
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Definately agree on keeping Haywood
Its so rare to find a high quality big man like him. If we trade him for a guard or let him go via free agency we will probably struggle at the center positions for years to come. I don’t think McGee will be good enough to start in this league any time soon and I think Blatche is better suited for power forward.
Besides, Haywood is the only reason almost every starting center that plays against us does’nt get a monster double-double like last year. Also, he is’nt young but he has low mileage thanks to Etan Thomas.
We wont be competing in the next 4 years
Wood will be on his way down by the time we are any good so its just wasted money.
by forthepeople on Jan 30, 2010 11:26 PM EST up reply actions
I'd love to keep Haywood too
I just don’t see him signing back here for a rebuilding effort. Therefore, I’d rather get something for him than lose him for nothing.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
not worth what someone else will offer
haywood has come a long way in the past few years and is easily in the top half of centers in the league … that being said, how would people feel about the team giving him a 5 yr 50 mil deal which is likely what at least one other team will give him
no
the Blazers resigned Joel Pryzibilla in the summer of 2006 for 5 years and 32 million. Personally, I think Pryzibilla is a little better than Haywood, and Pryzibilla was 27 at the time, Haywood is already 30.
I love Brendan, and his improvement the last few years has been unbelievable, but resigning for $50 million would be ludicrous. Let him walk. He can sign with a winner, and we can continue to tank,
by John Park Williams on Jan 31, 2010 3:25 AM EST up reply actions
It makes sense
Unless the Wizards are going to draft a center with a high pick in the next couple of years, resigning Haywood makes sense for a couple of reasons:
- If the Wizards are ever going to be a better team defensively, less selfish, play the game the right way, have a strong work ethic, etc., they need their team leader to display those qualities, and Haywood definitely does, probably more so than any player on the team. If the Wizards rebuild, leaving Haywood as the sole veteran, he could become the defacto leader of the team, and that might be important for the long-term future of the rebuilding project.
- McGee is talented, but has shown no signs of being ready to be a starting center in the next couple of seasons. Maybe he can do it, since he is still very young, but he also could end up being no more than a 2nd string center his entire career. So another center is likely needed, unless the team feels that Blatche can start.
- I understand balking at a big contract for Haywood during a rebuilding effort, but signing even a decent center is going to be costly. Again, the cheaper route is drafting a center, but if the Wizards don’t do that, they’ll need to sign someone or live with Blatche as starting center.
- This will sound like a negative, but it isn’t intended to be. Haywood has never seemed to be a, “I need to play for a winner guy.” Perhaps at this stage of his career, though, he wants a chance to go deep in the playoffs. On the other hand, he might be interested in finishing his career as a Wizard (if the money is right, of course).
it’s quite possible Haywood has happily settled down living in the DC area, which might make signing him a little easier. The opposite could be true too.
I recently read a comment from Miller where he said he misses his wife and kids who are currently living on the west coast. I heard that and my hopes of resigning him for next year were immediately erased.
by Johnnie Futbol on Jan 31, 2010 10:03 AM EST up reply actions
I wouldn't over-react...
to Miller’s comment. It’s in the context of him moving to DC for the last year of his contract, and not wanting to move his family for what might be a short-term deal. I have no idea if he’s inclined to stay (comes down to how much he likes playing for Flip), but the fam being on the left coast is a red herring.
Has Miller ever played on the West Coast?
If thats where his family is then he has played his whole career away from them.
by BayAreaBullet on Feb 1, 2010 7:43 PM EST up reply actions
Haywood won't stay
That’s my assumption at least. He’s been with the Wizards for so long, and the last two seasons have been so miserable, why wouldn’t he want a fresh start somewhere else?
The Wizards could always offer something high enough that Haywood can’t refuse (i.e. an amount no other team would agree to), but that’s probably not in the long term interests of the Wizards.
Finally, we gotta throw McGee out there at some point. He’s going to learn more on the court than racking up regular DNPs. Either he’s part of their future or he’s not.
might as well trade him
he’s gone anyway
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.
If this team is going to be blown up . . .
then don’t do it halfway. Any veteran with any kind of value needs to be out of here this season and lets hope that the Wizards get something back. That certainly includes Haywood.
"I say he does have to shoot me now! So shoot me now!" --- Daffy Duck
by George Templeton on Jan 31, 2010 2:33 PM EST reply actions
With this economy and the high-profile free agents
Why not pay him a fair salary and address other areas of need? Centers are hard to find, and usually have pretty long careers if they don’t have messed up feet or back. I just don’t see why you guys want to move every single player. Right now, I’d rather pay Haywood $10M than Gilbert, Caron or even Jamison considering his age. And on the flip side, wouldn’t teams lowball for him with a good chance he wants to leave here in free agency anyway? Lebron, Wade and Bosh go, and then it’s time to look at players like this. Why give up assets to get him now unless you’re a Dallas? I think Haywood should get paid and stay put.
If you know anything about Haywood
then you know he is going to go wherever the top dollar is. His motivation is not the ring or the atmosphere of the city he plays in. It’s the money. That’s not a knock, just an observation.
I think someone will offer him more than he’s worth to us, so we won’t end up keeping him anyway. Seems like he’s our second most valuable asset right now.
Yeah
And I hate to say it, but he’s out there playing for a contract right now. He’s never been a rebound-chaser before (when it makes more sense to solidly block out his man), but he’s even fighting teammates for them now. I suspect he’s also blocking more shots purely because he gets that blocking more shots will lead to more $. I don’t have the time, but I’d love to go through a bunch of tape of him from his last healthy year to this one. I’ll bet I could find some clear differences in terms of prioritizing rebounds and blocks. You have to give him credit for knowing how things work though.
Oops sorry everyone
This was just my 4 year old pressing buttons on my computer. Don’t know how he knew to hit “post”.
Ironically he was wearing his Arenas jersey while typing.
by MR on Jan 31, 2010 6:09 PM EST up reply actions
I've read less intelligent posts on this blog before
I think some of them were from you, MR.
Those were the days...
Man, it almost makes me yearn for those salad days, when everyone was arguing why we should trade Haywood and keep Thomas. We were a contender, once upon a time….. If there is one player among the three between Butler, Jamison, and Haywood who we should hold onto for a good deal it is Haywood. Jamison has to go(as much as it hurts me to say that) because he is playing well now and is due fifteen million in the last year of his deal when he will be 35. Let some other team deal with that headache. Butler has to go because he is totally lost in Saunder’s system and is really a shadow of his former self. There are a lot of theories as to why this is, but the fact remains. Haywood, in contrast, has been a loyal member of the organization since his rookie year, has done nothing but improve every year, and has more skill than a lot of big men in this league. He has real value, and if he needs to be traded it should be for appropriate skill and value, If he walks, he walks. If we have to take a hit to get rid of him then it’s not worth it, Jamison and Butler, however, have to go by Feb. 18th.
If I could pick any player to build around on this team I would pick BH
but since he is expiring and would be getting old by the time we are ready to contend again(2 seasons from now at the earliest) we might as well trade him for a young piece.
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