With all of the trade deadline threads out there I am reading a lot gloomy predictions for the Wizards based on the fact that Grunfeld has been a terrible trade GM. This actually goes against my initial impression of the guy, I have felt he is a terrible contract extender (Blatche, Gil), mediocre to poor drafter (Vesely, Singleton vs Seraphin, Blatche) and pretty good trader. So, I took a look at his trade history with the Wizards and have given my personal grades on each one. For this exercise I am assuming a C as being a wash, a trade that neither helped us nor hurt us overall.
Jahidi White to Phx for Brevin Knight
Neither player made it through the season with their new team, but considering we had Thomas and Haywood and a rookie backup PG (Blake), seems like it at least addressed a need. C+
#5 Pick (Devin Harris), Laetner, and Stackhouse to Dal for Antawn Jamison
Stackhouse was basically a contract and bad attitude we wanted moved, who had some value in Dal in a smaller role. Harris didn't pan out overall, but other players like Deng and Iggy might of ended up here . Jamison went to two all-star games with us and was a key cog in the most successful Wizards teams of the last 30 years. B-
Kwame Brown and Laron Profit to LAL for Chucky Atkins and Caron Butler
A serious heist. A
Antonio Daniels and future 1st rounder (Xavier Henry) for Javaris Crittenton and Mike James
Any trade where Antonio Daniels is the best player moved isn't too significant, unless you trade for a future murderer. D
Pech, Songalia, Etan, and #5 (Rubio) to Minn for Randy Foye and Mike Miller
Obviously this trade was the anti-Caron trade, a complete tragedy. Not that Rubio (and even less so Flynn taken 6th) has provided great value, but the guy taken 7th, Steph Curry, would be nice. F
Caron, Haywood, DeShawn to Dallas for Drew Gooden, Quentin Ross, Josh Howard, and James Singleton
This is a trade where I probably differ from some people. We gave up some talent and got absolutely nothing back, but we did get rid of two big contracts which was an absolute must at this time. So I think it accomplished what we wanted, which was a salary dump, not a Josh Howard acquisition. It also directly contributed to LeBron not winning the NBA title the year after the Decision, which bumps it up at least a half grade. C+
Jamison for a future 1st round pick (Lazar Heyward), Ilgauskas expiring contract and Al Thornton
Ok, I'm getting kind of tired of evaluating these all and I'd guess you may be tired of reading them, so I'm going to throw in some Hollinger grades on occasion. His grades obviously don't have the benefit of hindsight though. Hollinger B-
Veeremmenko to Chi for Hinrich and 17th pick (Seraphin)
No Hollinger grade found, but we gave up cap space for a solid backup pg and a tbd big man. I'm giving it a B
Lazard Heyward and Nemenja Bjelica for Trevor Booker
No grade found, but we got the best player in a trade of rookies. B
Quentin Ross to NJ for Yi Jianlin
Yi made $3M more but at $4M was hardly a drain, neither player panned out although I support the swing and a miss at that price. C
Arenas to Orl for Rashard Lewis
Lewis was absolutely terrible so I can't grade this too high, but getting rid of Gil had significant value in it's own right from a team atmosphere perspective. Not even including what Rashard would later net us I give this: B
Hilton Armstrong and Hinrich to ATL for Crawford, Bibby, Mo Evans, and the 18th pick (Singleton)
Bibby scored 2 pts for us, Crawford was a net negative, and Singleton has been useless, leaving Mo Evans as the only value from this trade. I think it's probably a D, Hollinger gave it a B+. We'll say: C
Nick Young, Javale, and Turiaf for Nene, Brian Cook, and a 2015 2nd rounder
Given Nene has been better, healthier, and far more professional than JaVale I think this was also a very strong trade. Throw in Swaggy P and this future 2nd (LAC) which may still have value and I'd give it an A-, which could plummet it Nene gets seriously injured. Hollinger gave it a C-. We'll say: B
Rashard Lewis to NO for Okafor and Ariza
Both players have contributed a lot, although the Okafor injury puts a damper on things. B+
Okafor and a 1st to Phx for Gortat and a bunch of guys we really could use right now
Hard to really say, although Gortat has provided everything we had hoped for. B
Obviously there may be some disagreement with my grades, but I have them (with a couple Hollinger contributions) as: C+, B-, A, D, F, C+, B-, B, B, C, B, C, B, B+, B.
That gives him roughly a B- average, with really only 2 bad trades and 5 to 6 good ones. Is he that bad a trading GM?