Editor's Note: Here's Part 4 of the roundtable. Player evaluations begin tomorrow, so stay tuned. -PM
A while back, I polled several prominent Wizards bloggers/internet personalities, asking them to answer some key questions facing the Wizards this offseason. Eventually, many of them got back to me, and now, their answers to each question will be posted here over the next few days.
Your participants:
- Kevin Broom, Real GM
- Jamie Mottram, Yahoo! Sports and Mister Irrelevant
- Jake Whitacre, Bullets Forever and Gilbertology
- I Watch the NBA, My Swog is Phenomenal
- Bobtimist Prime, DC Optimist
- Truthaboutit, Truthaboutit and Bullets Forever
- Kingly-1, Les Bullez
- Me, Bullets Forever
Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here and Part 3 is here. Here's the fourth question:
What do you do about Antawn Jamison? If you elect to re-sign him, what do you think is the appropriate price?
Answers below the jump...
Kevin Broom: Jamison should be re-signed unless there's a way to get someone who provides what he does, but who's younger. Something around $10 million per year would be a good figure for Jamison. AT his age, I wouldn't want to go more than three years. I suspect he'll demand (and get) five.
Jamie Mottram: He's been their rock for four seasons now, so I really do hope they resign him, but I don't understand the economics of basketball.
Jake Whitacre: Jamison is an interesting case because while he's coming off the best season of his career, the 16 mil he's got this year is still probably slightly more than he was worth. So now Ernie and Antawn have to find some way to reward a stellar season with...a pay cut. I'd probably slot Antawn's salary in the same range as Gilbert's, around $10-14 mil a year. Antawn's negotiations scare me a little more not only because of the dilemma I just mentioned because I think someone would be more likely to ridiculously overpay Antawn more than Gilbert, but that's just my gut feeling at work.
I Watch the NBA: I would hold onto him as well, there is not another player out there in the L or in the upcoming draft that can play like him. His leadership of the team is also essential to our future success. I think he knows he isn't going to get a max contract from any team out there (unless the Knicks suddenly like him) and I want to believe he thinks his best option is in DC. That said, I would pay him in the range of $11/year for 3-4 years would be a good deal for both sides. If he wanted a shorter contract I might bring the number down a bit. If there was another offer out there, I would do my best to match without going to a max deal.
Bobtimist Prime: He was sensational this year. He was always a contributor, and his game flourishes with the guys around him. Him, above everyone else understood his role with the team, and would step up in ways incomparable when any or both of th big three were hurt. After his 06-07 playoffs, he cemented Wizard-god for life status to me. And that was BEFORE he improved himself before this season. All of those defensive deficiencies people used to harp on him about vanished this year, and he only suffered the mildest of injuries. This definitely has "contract year" written on it somewhere, but you can't ever give up on a guy who performs like he does nightly, never gets in trouble, etc etc etc. Guys like that Abe Pollin will want around until they are egregiously obese and making terrible personnell decisions. I say he stays with a shorter-term, yet lucrative deal along with Gilbert, and Abe pays the luxury tax.
Truth About It: Sign him, sign him, sign him......In part 2 of my 4 part series, I mention that a 3-year $32 million contract, or a 4-year $40 million contract would fit.
Kingly-1:Jamison is the leader of this team and he had an outstanding year; therefore, he should be re-signed. He would have to be paid a salary comparable to those power forwards who put up similar numbers, but the real question is the number of years in the contract. He is getting up there in age, so anything more than 4 years would be foolish by the Wizards.
In addition, if the Wizards add a big-man similar to the one I described above, that will allow Jamison to shoot more from the outside and take the slower PFs off the dribble instead of being tied to the low block all the time.
Pradamaster: Yes, re-sign him,. He was our best player this year, and his defense and rebounding improved significantly. I think he'd be best getting a three-year deal,but the cynic in me says he'll get five years because Abe loves him. Five years would not be smart, but three years at a figure in the 30-35 million range would be a bargain considering how important he was to us this year.