NOTE: This post is staying on the top of the page all weekend. Playoff threads, and anything else, will go in the diaries. This is the brainstorming thread, so throw out names and ideas of people and moves the Wizards should make. We'll pair down the ideas next week until we get a definitive offseason plan. -Pradamaster
I think it's pretty accurate to say that this offseason is one of the most important ones in franchise history, even though it will probably be displaced in importance by next offseason. The Wizards have been a .500ish team in the Eastern Conference for the last three years, and even though I think they've improved in many ways, the win total has gone from 45 to 42 to 41. Next offseason, Gilbert Arenas has an opt-out clause, and Antawn Jamison is a free agent, so what the Wizards do this year is extremely important.
All of that you probably know. So now, it's time to brainstorm on what to do. How should Ernie go about approaching this offseason, and what specific moves would you do?
The Wizards have seven free agents, but their core of Arenas/Jamison/Butler is still all under contract. Here's a list of the Wizards and their salaries for next year (all salaries from Hoops Hype:
Antawn Jamison: $16,360,095 (Player option)
Gilbert Arenas: $11,946,667
Caron Butler: $8,218,990
Etan Thomas: $6,370,000
Antonio Daniels: $5,800,000
Brendan Haywood: $5,000,000
Darius Songaila: $3,942,000
TOTAL: 57,645,384.
That leaves the following players as free agents.
DeShawn Stevenson*
Jarvis Hayes^
Andray Blatche^
Michael Ruffin
Calvin Booth
Roger Mason
Donnell Taylor^
Mike Hall^
(*=Player option. ^=Restricted)
We know Stevenson is going to exercise his player option and opt-out, which would make him an unrestricted free agent. The Wizards have the right to match any contract offer to a restricted free agent, which they didn't do when the Knicks took Jared Jeffries last year.
The salary cap is estimated to be around 55 million, although we won't know for sure exactly what it'll be until July. My guess is that it'll be slightly higher. The NBA is a soft cap, however, and the luxury tax threshold, which is the point where teams needs to pay double for any additional contracts, is likely to be around 67 million. I severely doubt the Wizards will go over the threshold, so try to avoid it.
For answers to your salary cap questions, go here.
In terms of trades, make sure the money works. To check, go to the ESPN trade machine. I'm deleting any proposals where the money doesn't work.
As far as free agents go, here's a list of the 2007 free agent class.
This thread will stay up all weekend as the main post. Do as little or as much as you like.
Thread away!