The Official Washington Wizards Thread

[StillUnknown]

Because Harden isn't good enough to rebuild around.

Or Charlotte isn't confident that he'll sign an extension with them

[Rocky21]

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2012/6...zards#comments

if Beal is off the board, the Wizards have talked to teams about moving down to Nos. 5, 7, 8 or 9.

The Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons hold the 5, 7, 8 and 9 selections. My best guess (and I stress guess here) is that the Wizards would probably look to include Andray Blatche in any trade-down scenario.

If we trade the # 3 pick for a later pick and Andre Blatche we have lost our ****ing minds!

[Hersh]

I don't want **** for it. I'm just trying to find someone to ride with (or meet me there). I've had multiple people take it and then fake on me hours later. Free food, free drink and you get to hobnob with ex-players and other local celebs.

I would be there in a heartbeat but I'm down in Raleigh, NC. Any of you guys in the DC area need to be all over this offer.

[DallasBlowsBig]

Does the draft start at 7 or 730?

[stevemcqueen1]

Gearing up for two years of mid to late seed playoff runs with Wall + Harden +Ariza + Okafor + Nene does not get me excited. That's our offseason?

All we've succeeded in doing is going from terrible with potential to thoroughly and permanently mediocre until we have to deconstruct our roster all over again in a few years.

I liked a question I saw a fan pose in an article on BF: WWOKCD? What would OKC do? That's the question we should ask ourselves with personnel moves because they provide the model for building sustainable contention. OKC would not do this. They'd be using us to do the opposite of this.

Also, did it occur to anyone that a trade for Harden would mean a trade without an extension because we couldn't afford to trade for him following an extension with our cap room? Or is OKC supposed to take back Emeka Okafor's deal in this? Next season we can't afford to max him out either because we have no cap room. What an untenable risk to take on when we're gifted with the third pick in a loaded class.

I don't want us to always be helping to build winners in other cities. Minny and New Orleans are enough for me.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Any of you guys in the DC area need to be all over this offer.

No ****.

Mr. Awesome is in if he replys to my PM

[stevemcqueen1]

If we trade three and some young players for Harden let's take stock on the offseason:

--We had the single most valuable expiring contract in the NBA
--We had the third overall pick in a loaded class

And we would have come away with James Harden, Emeka Okafor, and Trevor Ariza out of that--all with only one to two years of team control for each.

Is no one else in agreement that's a horrible offseason? Our expectations can't be that bottom barrel.

We'd have had four straight seasons of top 6 picks and the only sustainable thing we took away from it all was John Wall and Jan Vesely. That's pathetic.

---------- Post added June-28th-2012 at 01:03 PM ----------

Or Charlotte isn't confident that he'll sign an extension with them

Perhaps. But then how is their situation different from ours?

[MLSKINS]

Easily one of the funniest videos I have seen in a minute





Did the Rockets make anymore trades today?

[stevemcqueen1]

The Thunder are clearly looking to sell high on Harden.

That alone is reason not to make this deal.

---------- Post added June-28th-2012 at 01:07 PM ----------

I thought about how to sweeten the team to make my dude SM love it....with the #28, the Wizards take Sullinger.

So,

We walk away with Harden/Sullinger out of this draft.

Wall/FA
Harden?
Ariza/?
Nene/Booker/Sullinger
Okafor/?

Sullinger would be a big salvage. But that of course necessitates him being available at 28. I have a hard time seeing some of these teams like the Mavs passing on him.

The biggest obstacle in a Harden deal is his contract situation and our cap situation.

He won't be extended before tonight, and even if he was, that makes him harder to deal.

But how do we extend him? We don't have cap room and there are no exceptions we could use to go over. We'd have to keep him playing on his rookie deal until we had space in two years.

That's completely untenable.

[MLSKINS]

That alone is reason not to make this deal.

After what the Heat did to him in the playoffs, his stock fell way low.

[StillUnknown]

Perhaps. But then how is their situation different from ours?

We have a lot more pieces than the Bobcats. We go to the playoffs with Harden on the roster, Charlotte would still reside at the bottom of the barrel with him.

[stevemcqueen1]

After what the Heat did to him in the playoffs, his stock fell way low.

Well, not really if OKC still gets 3rd overall and young players out of him with only two years left on him. That's a lot.

[Hersh]

If we trade three and some young players for Harden let's take stock on the offseason:

--We had the single most valuable expiring contract in the NBA
--We had the third overall pick in a loaded class

And we would have come away with James Harden, Emeka Okafor, and Trevor Ariza out of that--all with only one to two years of team control for each.

Is no one else in agreement that's a horrible offseason? Our expectations can't be that bottom barrel.

We'd have had four straight seasons of top 6 picks and the only sustainable thing we took away from it all was John Wall and Jan Vesely. That's pathetic.[COLOR="Gold"]

I think a lot of people are in agreement about the wasted contract but I would have to separate the two deals. Getting Harden would be awesome and I would include him in the take away of having four straight seasons of top 6 picks. I'm not really sure what the aversion is to a 22 year old who was 6th man of the year in the NBA and has gotten better every year. I would understand if he was 28 or something, but he's still really young.
As far as OKC not wanting him, I don't put any stock into that. If anything, I love how they are operating. They have their two main stars locked into max deals and they don't want to have 3 max deals that limit their payroll/roster flexibility moving forward. They will keep reloading around KD and Westbrook for years to come. The Wizards are in a totally different situation and I can't imagine John Wall wouldn't love Harden playing next to him.

[RonArtest15]

That's crazy talk. The guy who can't go right is as good a ball handler as one of the absolute best in the business? You've lost perspective on Harden RA. You aren't seeing his flaws.

Harden is a third option sixth man on a good team coming off a year where he averaged 17 PPG. What screams max contract about that to you? You are wildly overrating him.

The only time a team signs a player to a max type deal and doesn't almost immediately regret it is when that player is a Superstar wing or a perennial All Star scoring big. Harden is neither of those things and never will be. Sign a guy to a max deal who isn't worth it and it ruins your franchise for years.



Harden has a very long way to go before he reaches JJ's level. JJ is a six time All Star, has been the go to guy on his team, has had multiple 20+ PPG seasons and has been a hair away from multiple 20/5/5 seasons, and is a high quality defender against every perimeter position.

Harden's upside isn't as high as you think RA. He's a below average athlete for his position, which limits him. He'll become a better defender and probably become a better ball handler in time, but other than that, he's not going to get a whole lot better than he is now. And one thing is for sure, he'll never be in a better position than he is right now, playing third fiddle to two great young offensive players in OKC.

---------- Post added June-28th-2012 at 12:37 PM ----------



It's times like this I wish I lived in the D.C. area. I would have probably be interested in going but I knew I could never make it up there from down here.

Neither Harden or Ginobili have a problem dribbling to the right. Both guys are obviously lefties, and prefer going to that side...but neither guy has problems driving/dribbling to the right.

What screams max deal to me? The fact that he's improved in each of his 3 seasons and is trending upwards. He's 6th man of the year and a fringe all-star. I'd have NO problems issuing a max deal to Harden in this current CBA.

And James Harden at 22 is a better NBA player than Joe Johnson at the same age. Johnson wasn't an all-star until he went he went to Atlanta, and I'm sure James Harden will reach that distinction in the next year or two. As a matter of fact, I'd take James Harden RIGHT NOW over Joe Johnson, because I think he's currently a better player. I don't care what Johnson did in his past, he's not better or more efficient than Harden right now.

[stevemcqueen1]

I think a lot of people are in agreement about the wasted contract but I would have to separate the two deals. Getting Harden would be awesome and I would include him in the take away of having four straight seasons of top 6 picks. I'm not really sure what the aversion is to a 22 year old who was 6th man of the year in the NBA and has gotten better every year. I would understand if he was 28 or something, but he's still really young.
As far as OKC not wanting him, I don't put any stock into that. If anything, I love how they are operating. They have their two main stars locked into max deals and they don't want to have 3 max deals that limit their payroll/roster flexibility moving forward. They will keep reloading around KD and Westbrook for years to come. The Wizards are in a totally different situation and I can't imagine John Wall wouldn't love Harden playing next to him.

Harden isn't factored into that run because we couldn't afford to keep him, and even if we could, how likely is it he'd choose to stay with us? If OKC can't afford to keep him in the next two years, what makes people think we can?

Keep in mind, we can't sign him before 2014. He's an RFA the summer before then. His qualifying offer is 7+ million. We're essentially against the cap that summer unless we trade for expiring deals for this year. We could amnesty Blatche and get the 7 million to offer Harden the qualifying offer. But of course someone will beat that offer and we'll be powerless to match.

Barring a miracle, it would literally be a one year rental.

That is reason enough for why this deal will not happen. It's draft chatter made without the realities of the salary situation being addressed.