Ernie Grunfeld gave a brief press conference to discuss the trade to send Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong to the Hawks for Mike Bibby, Jordan Crawford, Maurice Evans and a first-round pick. A full recap is coming, but he did briefly discuss the possibility of the Wizards buying Bibby out instead of having him play.
For now, the plan is for him to play. He is expected to be in uniform tonight when the Wizards take on Miami in Miami, as all the players involved in the trade finalized their paperwork. But according to multiple reports (the latest being Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports), Bibby wants a buyout so he can join a contender.
I asked Grunfeld about the possibility of buying Bibby out, and he didn't seem to close the door on it.
"I never close a door on anything. Mike is a veteran player. We understand that. He's been in winning situations for a long time, so it's hard when you get traded. Rashard [Lewis] went through the same thing initially. If that opportunity comes up and it's something that can help both of us, I'm going to look at it. Right now, I don't know where that stands."
Bibby has a $5.7 million salary for this year (pro-rated, of course, in the event of a buyout) and a $6.4 million salary for next year. Grunfeld traditionally has driven hard bargains for buyouts, as he should, so we'll see what happens.