WP: Wizards May Not Protect Stackhouse

[monkey66]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32737-2004Jun10.html

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., June 10 -- The Washington Wizards are expected to expose former Maryland guard Juan Dixon, veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse and forward Christian Laettner in the expansion draft, according to a league source.

Every team except the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons, who are competing in the league finals, must send the NBA a list of eight players by Friday they plan to protect from the June 22 draft to fill the roster of the league's newest team, the Charlotte Bobcats. The Lakers and Pistons will have 24 hours after the completion of the championship series to notify the league of the players they plan to protect.

According to the source -- who did not want to be identified because the list of unprotected players is supposed to remain confidential by league rules -- Washington plans to protect guards Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes and Steve Blake, forwards Kwame Brown, Jared Jeffries and Jarvis Hayes and centers Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas. The only other players under contract are Stackhouse, Dixon and Laettner.

Charlotte begins play next season in the newly formed Southeast Division -- which includes Washington, Atlanta, Miami and Orlando. The Bobcats must select at least 14 players in the expansion draft but can choose only one player from a particular team. Bobcats General Manager and Coach Bernie Bickerstaff said it is not the franchise's plan to take players with lengthy, high-priced salaries, which could eliminate Stackhouse (three years, $25 million).

Dixon ($1.35 million) and Laettner ($6.2 million) could be appealing because they have just one year left on their contracts. Both also led their respective Atlantic Coast Conference schools (Maryland, Duke) to NCAA titles, giving them some name recognition in a region mad about ACC basketball.

A team can encourage the Bobcats to take one of its players in the expansion draft by offering to pay up to $3 million of the player's salary or by helping to broker trades. Charlotte, which holds the No. 4 overall pick in the June 24 draft, could package some of the players it selects in the expansion draft in future deals.

There is no guarantee that any of the players the Wizards opted to protect, or any of those not taken by the Bobcats, will be back next season. They will continue exploring trades throughout the summer, President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld said. Team officials have had trade talks regarding the fifth overall selection in the June 24 draft, but it seems likely they will utilize the pick.

Stanford's Josh Childress, Duke's Luol Deng, Arizona's Andre Iguodala and Wisconsin's Devin Harris are said to be on the Wizards' short list, according to a team source. All are perimeter players. Washington also holds the 32nd overall pick.

[monkey66]

Forgot to add, with our luck the Bobcats will probably select Juan and leave us stuck with Stack and Laettner... :doh:

[Saint Joe]

Please draft Stackhouse. PLEASE!

[smashmowf]

Good I hope Stackhouse is gone.....trading Rip for him was retarded

[EvilMonkeyBoy]

Originally posted by smashmowf
Good I hope Stackhouse is gone.....trading Rip for him was retarded

Please... what has Rip done of any importance since being traded? :D

[SAMB0]

No! Dont take Juan Please!

[BD]

Yowch - protecting Brenda Haywood, and leaving Juan (potentially a star) out to dry?

Awful.

BD

[Saint Joe]

While I love Juany, I just don't think he has what it takes to be a legitamate NBA starter. Dixon's game is 20 feet from the basket, and unless he gets a lot stronger, he will never be a star because of his inability to penetrate. With an overload of guards, it's easy to see why the Wizards would release him. But, with the Wizards, they will probably let him go, and he will beome a star, just like Chris Webber, Ben Wallace, Rip Hamilton, ...

[SAMB0]

Im telling you know! Juan will be a star in the NBA he just needs a year or 2 to build up! I gaurentee it!

[Saint Joe]

I just don't see it happening. He is far too small to play shooting guard, and has weak ball-handling skills to say the least for a point guard. He is undoubtedly a quality bench player, but Juan Dixon is not a NBA star.

[SAMB0]

Originally posted by SkinsFan589
I just don't see it happening. He is far too small to play shooting guard, and has weak ball-handling skills to say the least for a point guard. He is undoubtedly a quality bench player, but Juan Dixon is not a NBA star.

I disagree.. He can work on Ball Handles.. In my opinion it cant be that hard for him to learn if he is Hell bent on learning. He could be a mini Bobby Jackson with Potential to be better. Juan Dixon + 1 or 2 years of hard working out = East Domination

DONT LET HIM GO... at least for nothing, We messed up too many things we cant mess this up

[Saint Joe]

Juan Dixon was third on the Wizards in shots per 48 minutes last year with most of those shots being from 20 feet and out. He shot under 40% from the field and under 30% from behind the arc. He averaged under 2 assists per game, which is not good coming from the guard position at all. He also seems to be somewhat of a walking turnover out on the floor. It's not like his defense is scaring opponents either.

[SAMB0]

Walking turnover? You talking about Juan or Gilbert?:laugh:

Dixon will get better with time. Having him and Blake will only make the team Chemistry better.. Put Baxter unprotected instead of Juan

[Saint Joe]

Baxter is not under contract, so he cannot be placed on the unprotected list.

[SAMB0]

Really? I coulda swore he had another year left. Meh, sign him if hes cheap!

[Saint Joe]

I stand corrected, LB does have one more year remaining. I would like to see him go instead of Dixon because Baxter has far less potential.

[Coolinrastaboi]

The list is players that we are protecting....so Baxter can be taken as well. I'm sadden to see us not protect Juan but we can't let Haywood go because we have no other legit center. I think Juan could be a great guard off the bench but big men are a premium in this league. I know, I know, Brenden doesn't seem like premium player, but his size is. Unfortunatly for Juan.

[mhd24]

Larry Hughes is YOUNGER than Juan Dixon. Dixon is a black hole on offense. Why sould the worst guard on the team take 48 more shots then Kwame? I'll be glad when Dixon goes because he should never have been picked.

[Gamebreaker]

Dixon will never be a quality starter. I love his heart, toughness and hustle, yet talent and size is the problem. For his talent level, he'll never be more than a quality backup SG.

Although Haywood does suck, he makes more of a difference on this team and doesn't take as many unnecessary shots. Sorry Terps fans, but we're better off without your boy.

[Skinned]

I was not a Dixon fan when we drafted him, and yes, I have been down on him during many of his crappy shooting nights, but I see a lot of potential in him. What he brings is incredibly scrappy defense, although he is is undersized and needs to gain weight and muscle. But what I also see is that he can be instant offense in the future, possibly even a 6th man. I think of Vinnie "the Microwave" Johnson and I see a chunkier version of Juan. I hope that he is still a Wizard when this is over.

[monkey66]

Originally posted by Skinned
I think of Vinnie "the Microwave" Johnson and I see a chunkier version of Juan.

Funny you mention that, I was going to write the exact same thing. Frankly, I think not protecting Juan is a terrible move. He is the exact type of player you want coming off the bench.

Haywood is awful, and in the long run Juan's upside is far greater. When / if we get a quality center would Haywood even have a role on this team?

Haywood is not the answer at center...

[method man]

monkey,

name a team in the east that would not want to have haywood as a backup center. general rule of the nba: backup big men are more important than backup guards

[MonsterMJP]

Originally posted by EvilMonkeyBoy


Please... what has Rip done of any importance since being traded? :D
how about score more points in the playoffs than his season average. or play better defense than he ever has:rolleyes:

[mhd24]

Shooting guard is the easiest position to fill in the nba. I think Stack at his best is still better than Rip will ever be. Stack took a Detroit team with basically Big Ben as the only other player worth a damn. Those Pistons didn't have Sheed, Billipus, Prince or Okur. Rip is successful because he doesn't have to guard anyone (notice how he NEVER guards Kobe). If Detroit were playing a team with a solid shooting guard/Small Forward tandem, I'd think they'd lose rather easily. For example, if Dallas played Detroit, I'd think they lose quite easily since they don't match up well with them. Who would Rip guard:

Nash-No
Finley-Too strong in the post
Walker--ditto
Jamison--ditto

[Skinned]

Unfortunately, Stack will never be that good again. :doh:

[method man]

Originally posted by mhd24
Shooting guard is the easiest position to fill in the nba. I think Stack at his best is still better than Rip will ever be. Stack took a Detroit team with basically Big Ben as the only other player worth a damn. Those Pistons didn't have Sheed, Billipus, Prince or Okur. Rip is successful because he doesn't have to guard anyone (notice how he NEVER guards Kobe). If Detroit were playing a team with a solid shooting guard/Small Forward tandem, I'd think they'd lose rather easily. For example, if Dallas played Detroit, I'd think they lose quite easily since they don't match up well with them. Who would Rip guard:

Nash-No
Finley-Too strong in the post
Walker--ditto
Jamison--ditto

but big ben would own dirk.

[REDALERT]

I agree with Mhd24. Rip is not all that great, he's playing in a system and with players that make him look better than what he is. But he's defintely not a good defender and is lucky they're playing the lakers. If any other power team in the West was playing. Rip would be toast against better and talented perimeter players. Other than Shaq and Kobe, the lakers are marginal and the Pistons are exploiting that.

Stackhouse. With a better outlook on playing next year, hopefully Stack will be the player I know he can be and better than Rip IMO. If he only gets a better attitude toward playing with the Wizards and have a better outlook on a newer season where he's healthy. The wizards combo of Hughes,Gilbert and Stack should be very productive.

Now! what we really need is one of the PF to step up like Kwame,Jeffries or Thomas. Witrhout the PF's playing they're best, the wizards will falter from just guard play alone. We need someone to command the paint on offense as well as defense.

[Leon Phelps]

RedAlert you make a good point about Kwame needing to step up, but I think that the organization is grooming Jeffries to be more of a point foward so I see most of his production being generated in the backcourt more so than the frontcourt and getting the other bigs involved in the offense so that why we need a consistent force down low that we can dump the ball into.

[Funkyalligator]

Baxter was signed midway through the season to a rest of the season contract....he is not signed through next year.......I am surprised that they are exposing Juan Dixon to the expansion draft but the wizards didn't have much of a choice....I really hope that stackhouse will be picked....jarvis Hayes can fill his position fine.....

[Buford]

They aren't going to take backups from teams. They need starters.

as much as I love Juan and I do own his Jersey. He's not a full-time starter.

I really hope they don't take him. If they do. I will order another Juan jersey though. Bobcats style.