Anybody have ESPN insider?

[mhd24]

I would like to see Chad Ford's column on the Wizards.

[bofluid]

Check your pm's.

[SAMB0]

Send it hurr also!

[Buford]

I'd like to see it also.

[Leonard Washington]

me too...might as well post it on the board

[bofluid]

I'm not sure if thats okay with the mods. If so, I'll post it.

[BD]

Is 2005 the Year of the Kwame?
Chad Ford

Will the real Kwame Brown please stand up?

After three years of watching and hand wringing, the Wizards would like to know who the kid they drafted with the No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft really is.

Is he the Kwame Brown who dropped 30 and 19 on the Kings' Chris Webber? The Kwame who scored 25 points and grabbed nine boards against the Pacers' Jermaine O'Neal. That's the Brown the Wizards thought they were getting when Brown told Michael Jordan that he never would regret taking him.

Or maybe Kwame is the kid who had zero points and three boards against the Jazz in 29 minutes of play. Or perhaps he's the kid who managed just three points and three boards against the Suns. If that's the Kwame the Wizards are stuck with . . . things are going to get ugly.

The problem in Washington -- and it's a big one -- is that the Wizards, three years into Brown's career, still aren't sure who their cornerstone really is. The Bulls, who drafted two high school kids in 2001, are going through the same growing pains.

How long do you wait before you give up? How much patience can a struggling franchise have? If Grunfeld trades Brown now, and he turns into Jermaine O'Neal next year . . . he loses his job. If he hangs onto Brown for another two years, only to find out that he's fool's gold . . . he loses his job.

Ah, the joys of being in charge of young, teenage millionaires.

All of the pressure, ideally, shouldn't be on Kwame's shoulders, but it is. The Wizards have a stocked backcourt filled with scorers and defenders. It's the frontcourt that keeps coming up short. The Wizards need to improve it, but nothing they can do this summer will help as much as getting Brown to play up to his billing on a consistent basis.



There are no free agents out there with his upside. No one in the draft ready to come in and do what he's capable of doing. The mantle of the Wizards once rested firmly on Michael Jordan's back. Now it's on Kwame's. There's no escaping it now. If he fails, the Wizards do too. If he develops, the Wizards will be a force to be reckoned with.



Can the Wizards' front office do anything to determine his path? Here's a look at what to expect as Insider continues its summer blueprint series.



Wizards Summer Blueprint



DRAFT: The Wizards currently hold the third pick in the draft and have a 15.7 percent overall of landing No. 1. They need the help. Despite years in the lottery, the Wizards still need help in the frontcourt. A player like Emeka Okafor or Luol Deng would be another good fit in Washington.



Okafor would give the Wizards the type of blue collar work ethic in the paint that Brendan Haywood and Brown haven't been able to provide. The Wizards have drafted two small forwards the past two drafts -- Jared Jeffries and Jarvis Hayes -- but Deng is on a different level from either player.



The Wizards will also consider trading this pick. The team has plenty of young players and really needs another star in the frontcourt to anchor some pretty solid backcourt play. The team, especially if it doesn't land one of the top three picks, may try to package it along with Christian Laettner to the Bobcats. Laettner has just one year left on his deal and the Bobcats could use the extra talent. The extra cap room they would get could come in handy in free agency.



FREE AGENCY: The team has only one significant free agent, Etan Thomas. Thomas is a restricted free agent who had the best year of his career in Washington last season. He can be tough around the basket, but injuries have limited his progress throughout his career. The Wizards would like to re-sign him, but won't break the bank to do it.



As far as cap room goes, the team will be a few million under the cap once you figure in the cap hold for their first-round pick. However, if the Wizards can find a way to move a big salary off the books (along with their first-round pick) in the expansion draft (Laettner, Jerry Stackhouse and even Larry Hughes are possibilities), they could get around $10 million under the cap. That would give them plenty of room to make a run at a veteran big man to play alongside Brown.



The problem for Washington is that there aren't a lot of great ones available. Erick Dampier, Mehmet Okur, Vlade Divac, Marcus Camby and Mark Blount top the list. All could make a difference in Washington, but none is a perfect fit. Coach Eddie Jordan could also talk GM Ernie Grunfeld into making a run a Kenyon Martin this summer. The Nets have been balking at Martin's asking price, and his familiarity and devotion to Jordan could make for an interesting fit. If the Wizards really do have $10 million to work with . . . they could afford it and then use Brown as bait to land a center or small forward in return.



TRADES: Look for the Wizards to try to move Stackhouse this summer. He was injured most of the season and the Wizards were happy with how Hughes and Hayes played in his absence.






Is Stackhouse tradable? He has three years, $25 million left on his contract. That's not an unreasonable amount. If the Wizards were willing to swallow a big contract in return, they might find a taker.



Brown remains their most tradeable commodity. He showed enough flashes of greatness last season to keep teams very interested in him. While Brown still appears to lack the fire to be a go-to guy on any team, his skills at his size are undeniable. The Wizards won't give him away, but if they can get significantly better in the process, they have to consider it.



The team may also make a decision between Jeffries and Hayes. They don't need both players. Hayes is a better fit in Washington's system, meaning that Jeffries should keep his bags packed.



COACHING: Jordan is the man. He was the brains behind the Nets' free-flowing offense and eventually, with the right players, you'll see the Wizards flowing too. He just needs more time and few changes to get things in place. The Wizards are committed to him. How weird does that sound given that we are talking about the Eastern Conference here.



FRONT OFFICE: Ernie Grunfeld is one of the best GMs in the league. He spent the past year sitting back, assessing what the team had. Don't be surprised if he now rolls up his sleeves and starts making changes. The team has too many guards and too many young players. He needs to swap some of that for some veteran low-post players to surround Kwame with. Grunfeld has a knack for finding talent and he'll do something to address the issue this year.



Despite the mounting losses, the future in Washington should be bright. Brown still has the potential to be a star. Arenas too. The rest of the supporting cast are assets that can be moved for the right pieces. There's still a lot of work to be done in Washington, but a 35-win season for the Wizards next season should be possible.

[method man]

divac would be a nice fit for our offense, but there is no way we would get him. who wants to be a wizard???
but we should do as they said and package laettner and our possibly no. 3 pick to trade up and grab okeafor with the no. 1 pick the bobcats will prolly get. if we draft okeafor, we also hav to get mark blount, who will not cost a hefty price, to backup okeafor.

also lets trade stack for a real veteran SF who could start ahead of hayes while hayes learns. 2 names come to mind. jamal mashburn and bruce bowen. mashburn is coming of a year where he was injured the whole year just like stack was. mashburn is also 33 i believe. they may want to do this because stack is cheaper... but i believe a bruce bowen (and a talented backup) for stack and jeffries would be a good trade for both teams. right now the spurs dont really hav a 20 ppg scorer at SG. ginobili is too erratic and a turkoglu is a backup at best.

[mhd24]

The Spurs need to save money to resign Ginobli and Turk to a lesser extent. Your propsed trade wouldn't work anyways as the slaries couldn't match in your trade scenerio. Also, the Bobcats are locked in at the #4 pick. They will pick 4th in the draft.

[method man]

i think the best path the wizards should follow is that of dumping salary in order to sign FAs like dampier.

[RTerps2002]

With the way this team has been doing with free agents I would rather keep the team we have and let them grow together.

[earl]

i think we should trade stack for a true pt. guard, or a tweener. gilbert is not a pg. he is a great talent but not a true pg. we should either move him to the 2 and get a vet unselfish floor general, or keep him at pg, and pick up a sg/pg tweener, like jalen rose or anfernee hardaway(too old?), to help run the offense. that being said, if a big time low post player is available, we need to grab him.

[Brooklynskinsfan]

wiz should trade stack and there first pick for t-mac they are thinking about trading him and he wants to leave

[method man]

i guess t-mac could be a great SF at 6-8...

[BayouBrave86]

Arenas
Hughes
T-Mac
Brown
Haywood/???-either option sucks

Damn that could be a scary team...

[method man]

if we draft okeafor or any center, then we have to get mark blount to be the starting center while the young guy develops in a backup role. blount is underrated. he had similar stats to kwame last year. in this league, 10 ppg and 7 rpg is decent for a center.

o yea btw on that kenyon martin thing. if we get a positive reply from martin's agent lets go ahead with it. martin is an all-star quality center who has played for jordan. i do not see many wizards games. would kwame be good at center? he is certainly big enough to play it in the east and he weighs 248 pounds which is enuff for a center.