Wizards can seek trade to transform roster but big

Comments · 296 Views

Wizards can seek trade to transform roster but big

Lets start with Dwight Howard, not because he is at the heart of the Wizards problems, Jordan Lucas Jersey but because he is the most prominent symptom of the franchises primary malady: team president Ernie Grunfeld, who has been in the job for 15 years, or about a half-decade too long.We know that thingsnever go well when Howard comes to town. That dates back to his exit from Orlando in 2012, which unraveled with a trade demand, a behind-the-scenes sniping battle with coach Stan Van Gundy, a temporary mending of fences and, finally, a back surgery from which Howard has never fully recovered.MORE: We know what happened in his one bitter season in Los Angeles, his clashes with star Kobe Bryant, coach Mike DAntoni and the Lakers as an organization.We know how his career implodedafter signing with great fanfare in Houston, and that, within three years, he was not speaking to fellow Rockets star James Harden, the two creating a poisonous internal environment that one teammate called"the worst locker room Ive ever been in in as long as Ive been playing basketball."Look at Howards full slate of teams before this year five, altogether. See how they performed in Howards final yearagainst the previous season, whether he was playing for the team or not:TeamHoward's final yearPrevious yearDifferenceMagic46-36*52-30-6Lakers45-3750-32*-5Rockets41-4156-26-15Hawks43-3948-34-5Hornets36-4636-46Even*adjusted for 66-game scheduleHistory, then, shows us that signing Howard hurts your team in the standings, mostly because it will torpedo any semblance of intrasquad chemistry. Howard has played only nine games for Washington, as he has dealt with gluteal sorene s, a fitting injury for a guy who has been apain in the tuchus for the better part of the last decade.Yet, Grunfeld Kansas City Chiefs Jersey went out and made Howard a top free-agent target last summer, awarding him a two-year contract.Now, the Wizards are 7-12, on pace for a 30-win season and their first sub-.500 season in six years. Seeing as the Wizards were already a me s of dysfunction last season, signing Howard was akin to trying to put out a tire fire with kerosene.But, lately, this has been typical of the Grunfeld era. The players dont much like each other, and never have. Meanwhile, Grunfeld adds more prickly personalities, like Howard, to the roster (Clippers guard Austin Rivers, brought in this summer, fits that bill), and the chemistry problems balloon.Owner Ted Leonsis, amazingly, has stood by and watched his franchise slowly and embarra singly circle the drain for better than a year now. In fact, according to , he gave Grunfeld a secret contract extension last fall and when asked about his moves this summer. If youre wondering what kind of genius owner could keep Grunfeld in place this long, the answer is Leonsis.No one should be surprised, now, to see the Wizards bungling and in-fighting through the first month-and-a-half of the season. Its been more than a week since the Wizards had a contentious, rough-and-tumble practice in which , and guard John Tanoh Kpassagnon Jersey Wall for coach Scott Brooks. (The first was four letters, the second was"you.")Since then, nothing of note has happened with the roster. Just about anyone on the team is , but the reception the Wizards have gotten as they look to make a deal and salvage this season has been chilly. The Wiz are holding a yard sale and sadly finding that none of their neighbors want their junk.Grunfeld has handed out generous contracts that have not held their value. Wall has a four-year, $164 million extension that kicks in next year (hell make $19 million this year). His backcourt mate, Beal the two have acknowledged of each other has two years and $56 million on his deal after this season.Wing Otto Porter, who is averaging just 12.0 points per game, also will make $56 million combined over the2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.TRADE RUMORS: Ask around among front-office executives, and its not merely the size of the contracts for the top three Wizards that is frightening. Its that improvement among the three has been minimal during their time in Washington."Its not where you want to see a guy go to get development,"one executive said. "I dont think theyre bad guys, but they must be frustrated. Beal has gotten better, but he does a lot of work on his own, not with the Sammie Coates Jersey team. Otto Porter does some nice things, good role player, but he has been the same player for the last three years, really. He could be better if he were somewhere else."And Wall, the game pa sed him by. He has had nine years to learn to shoot, and he still cant shoot. I cant go to my coach and tell him we are getting a starting point guard who cant shoot. Not for $40 million a year."Beal has trade value, but given his shooting ability and the importance of the 3-pointer in todays game, Beal is the guy the Wizardswould most like to keep. Porter also has value, but the Wizards likely would be forced to take back a bad contract to move him. Washington might be able to wring a draft pick from such Harrison Butker Jersey a deal, but trading Porter for a deadweight contract and a pick will hardly solve the teams problems. As for Wall, a five-time All-Star and the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, there is little trade market. His upcoming payday and persistent shooting woes are just not worth it.Asked which Wizard might be the easiest to trade, the executive said that Markieff Morris, in the final year of his contract, would be a welcome addition to a contender seeking a versatile big man who brings toughne s. But the Wizards would seek a first-round pick for Morris, and the executive doubted that teams would be willing to cough up a first-round pick for a few months of Morris.Its a grim picture. This is a group that doesnt much like each other, that is being paid too much, that is underachieving and that has fostered very little internal individual improvement. It was only natural, then, for Grunfeld to layer Howard on top of this me s, and for Leonsis to applaud the move. The Wizards would like to clean house. When it comes to players, that wont be easy. But Leonsis should acknowledge that the team is a me s by removing the architect of thatme s. It all comes back toGrunfeld, whose firing is past due.
Comments