Sources close to the situation say that the Wizards had been trying to engage Charlotte on a Blatche-for-Tyrus Thomas swap.

The Wizards would naturally prefer Boris Diaw and his expiring contract -- with the bonus of knowing that Diaw's passing eye could only give the wild Wiz a much-needed boost to their basketball IQ -- but the ever-thrifty Bobcats aren't about to take on the remaining three years (worth nearly $23 million) on Blatche's contract if Thomas' similarly hefty deal isn't headed the other way.

"Now, if we criticize John Wall for not making the right play, he’s not going to backlash and retract and shut down for three plays, because he knows that we care about him. Because we spent that time, and invested it off the court."

The money quote from Flip Saunders after the game: "The first half we looked like ‘Space Jam’ where everyone lost all their talents and couldn’t do anything there for a while. But I told them, when you haven’t passed the ball very much, and you’ve been holding the ball and holding it, then all of a sudden, as a team, when you try to start doing it, it’s like guys aren’t ready."

Flip has jokes :)

...this is a young group that is fragile in that it doesn’t have any success to point to and give itself confidence – they must figure out a way to win; amongst themselves and with the coaching staff.

71 games into his pro career, it may already be time to worry about Wall.

And then there is this column - which as one comment notes is about 2 years too early; geesh - what buzz kill.

Needs: Um … good players?

Additional Notes: I can't figure out Les Boules. They could have amnestied Rashard Lewis, created globs of cap space and cherry-picked two or three of the remaining quality guys in a market that just crashed. Why not make a run at Afflalo and Wilson Chandler (when he becomes available) and gun for the playoffs right now, especially when John Wall is the odds-on favorite to become this season's breakout star (a la Blake Griffin last year)? Potentially, they can sign two quality guys for a discount price. How does a nucleus of Wall, Afflalo, Javale McGee, Wilson Chandler, Jan Vesely, Jordan Crawford, Turiaf and Whatever They Get From Andray Blatche sound? Why wait?

What They SHOULD Do: It's too late … they never amnestied Lewis. Now that the Clippers are finally good, I'd like to nominate Washington as the league's new laughingstock-for-decades franchise.13

I am pleased we have embarked on our rebuild via the draft. We have many more moves to make over the coming years; but we have built our foundation in the right way - I believe.

We have two drafts under our belt. We will have one more this next off season.

We will then have stock piled young players and prospects. We will be ready for success - as our young players mature.

We will manage the salary cap wisely.

"I think it’s important [to re-sign Young]," Wall said. "He’s somebody that can score the ball. Him and Jordan [Crawford] can do both the same thing, scoring, but whoever is coming off the bench or whoever is starting, you still need firepower off the bench that can be a big- time scorer for you, and that’s something that Nick brings."

Forget the players and owners what deal will be best for ME?

I want an NBA that isn't just a handful of major market teams that dominate year in and year out.

What deal will make the NBA better not bigger/richer players and owners.