The Official Washington Wizards Thread

[Mr Awesome]

I thought Vesely came out perfectly, knocked down his shots, and played with intensity...then he missed the dunks and his confidence went to hell. Oh well, he's young and learning. I liked what I saw though...definite improvement. His stroke is smooth. I can't believe they said he has the highest verticle on the team - that's madness.

As for Beal, I was expecting more from him...I thought he played like an average player. Jenkins was eating his lunch with the shots he was making over him. We shall see how he improves in the next game.

Tomas played very shaky when he first came in, especially with those back to back turnovers with his ****ty ball handling. He redeemed himself later with strong drives to the basket. I'm looking for him to be our backup PG next year in the mold of Rubio...he just needs more seasoning and to develop his shot.

Singleton....not impressed. Mack sucked. Shavlik Randolph should be cut immediately.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Sou...4/-/index.html

Sources: Houston making plays for Howard

Oklahoma City also making offers



The Houston Rockets are ready to make a trade for Dwight Howard, sources confirmed to Local 6 Sports Director David Pingalore.

NBA sources have confirmed to Pingalore on Thursday night that the Rockets will not only give picks and players, but "cash is the priority."

Pingalore was told this was the team Howard is most likely to end up at. However, Pingalore also learned Oklahoma City is making a push for the Magic center. Pingalore was told that the Thunder are offering James Harden and Serge Ibaka.

Pingalore's sources believe Houston will be the final destination point, despite Oklahoma City's offer to the Magic.

[RonArtest15]

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Sou...4/-/index.html

I think Dwight is an idiot....he'll be an idiot of EPIC proportions if this trade goes through to the Thunder and he doesn't extend. A core of Dwight, Durant, and Westbrook will be playing in the finals year after year after year....

I'd take that trade if I'm Orlando. I'd also see if they'd throw in PJIII as well.

[Destino]

Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Collison/PJ3, and Howard.

Thats got to be the strongest inside outside game since shaq was with the lakers.

[nuposse87]

Thunder+ Howard is a frightening proposition for the entire NBA. All they would have to do is sign wing shooters and they'd be set for the most part. I still think Houston's deal is a better offer, because honestly, the money Ibaka might command may make him not worth retaining. While Harden might be max worthy, I'm not sure it would function as good of a rebuild for Orlando's part.

[Destino]

Orlando needs to pick a deal and run with it. Everyone is busy hating Howard and that's cool... But the truth is that they've known they need to make a trade since before the start of last season. Dwight could have not accepted the additional year and been gone by now. They are getting a lot of chances and behaving like they have the luxury of time.

With less teams interested every day offers wont get better. If they find nothing but draft picks and someone to dig them out of the cap hell they created, that's a heck of a lot better than where they'll be if he simply walks out of town.

[Fight4RGIII]

A team should worry about taking care of the team before taking care of Dwight.

[stevemcqueen1]

Ummm... If I'm Orlando, I'm asking for Westbrook for Howard + extension... not Harden and Ibaka.

Give me Westbrook for Howard straight up and we'll call it a day.

Otherwise, I'm not making a super team with my own hands. I'm shipping him Houston instead.

But if OKC did offer Westbrook, I'd take it in a cocaine heartbeat.

And you know what, If I'm OKC and that's what Orlando wanted to make this happen, I'd absolutely do it.

---------- Post added July-13th-2012 at 11:36 PM ----------

I'm still not totally convinced Dwight will walk for nothing in UFA. Nobody has ever walked away from that 30 million before.

If I'm Orlando there is no way I trade Howard for Dwight and Harden. All that accomplishes is putting me in basketball purgatory for the two years of team control I get with those players without clearing my books at all.

That deal won't happen. It's a terrible deal for Orlando. Instead of being a high lotto team they're a 7th or 8th seed in the East. They can get that just by keeping Dwight and seeing if he really will walk as a UFA.

No, demand Westbrook. He's a true blue star you can build around. That's not a price I would hesitate to pay if I'm OKC. Durant is plenty enough perimeter scoring on his own. Find a Kendall Marshall like pure distributor to run the point and let Dwight do work.

Let's be honest, when is OKC going to beat Miami with Westbrook and Durant while Miami's core is still in it's prime? They won't. They're just not as good. But pair Dwight with Durant and they would absolutely murder Miami. They'd be a matchup nightmare for them. Miami has no answer whatsoever for Dwight and all Dwight needs to become truly unstoppable is a distributive PG and a big time perimeter player to work with and that's a transcendent team.

[milellie111]

But if OKC did offer Westbrook, I'd take it in a cocaine heartbeat.

And you know what, If I'm OKC and that's what Orlando wanted to make this happen, I'd absolutely do it.

Yep. Ship off your healthy 24 year old already top 5 NBA point guard who's only getting better for a prima donna center with back issues and no guarantee he'll sign long term. Orlando fans would be thrilled with you as GM! lol

[No Excuses]

It's hard to judge a player like Vesely in summer league play. He's never been the guy to get the ball on offense and be asked to create a shot for himself.

He's the type of player who thrives playing off ball. If he's knocking down 15 ft. jumpshots, that helps others more than it helps him. All of a sudden he's a good pick n roll and pick n pop option. But in the end, his play is directly related to the quality of starters around him.

[stevemcqueen1]

Yep. Ship off your healthy 24 year old already top 5 NBA point guard who's only getting better for a prima donna center with back issues and no guarantee he'll sign long term. Orlando fans would be thrilled with you as GM! lol

Check the previous post. I said it would have to be a sign and trade with Dwight signing his full extension. And for a trade to OKC, I think Dwight would do certainly do it. He already wants to sign the thing, he just wants a destination where he can contend.

Westbrook for Dwight plus extension is a win for OKC. They give up a great PG for the best big in the game. Neither have entered their primes yet. OKC gets the best player in a straight player for player swap.

Consequently, they also get their way to beat the Heat now. Miami is vulnerable to a player like Howard, and Howard transforms the OKC D.

---------- Post added July-14th-2012 at 11:07 AM ----------

It's hard to judge a player like Vesely in summer league play. He's never been the guy to get the ball on offense and be asked to create a shot for himself.

He's the type of player who thrives playing off ball. If he's knocking down 15 ft. jumpshots, that helps others more than it helps him. All of a sudden he's a good pick n roll and pick n pop option. But in the end, his play is directly related to the quality of starters around him.

Yeah. He'll always be one of the last options on offense. He just needs to finish his opportunities in transition, hit a few jumpers, and keep the ball moving.

Defensively though, he can be one of the difference makers for us if he gets stronger and keeps improving.

I'd like to see him rebound better. If he's got a future as our stretch 4, then he's got to rebound well.

[No Excuses]

I'm curious about how many minutes Vesely gets this year. There aren't minutes at the 4 and 5 spot with Nene, Booker, Okafor and Seraphin who are all better options than him. Okafor will backup Seraphin and Booker will back up Nene.

I'm guessing Jan gets minutes at the 3 spot this season. Which means Chris Singleton is out of the rotation. Hypothetically Vesely can replace Booker in the lineup, but Booker was a quality back up last year and was showing an improving outside jumper to go along with a good drive in game.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Click on the link to read the rest.

http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/07/14/

Report: Howard will be traded to Lakers


This is not going to come as welcome news to Daryl Morey and the Houston Rockets, but there is a report out there today from an Orlando TV station that Dwight Howard is very close to being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.

David Pingalore of WKMG-TV in Orlando uses some pretty strong language in his report.

“This past week has been nothing but multiple smoke screens concerning the Dwight Howard drama. According to Pingalore’s sources, this week is all about getting Dwight Howard to Los Angeles and on the Lakers roster. Sources close to the situation believe the “The Lakers will be the end game for the Magic center”.

It has long been known that the Lakers were on Howard’s B-list, and that B-list came into play midway through the week when the Brooklyn Nets abandoned their pursuit of Howard and chose to retain Brook Lopez with a max four-year contract with $60.8 million.
Howard reportedly has lucrative incentives in his deal with adidas if he finds a way to play in one of the nation’s two largest markets — New York or Los Angeles.

[Destino]

I wonder if the OKC rumor forced the lakers hand? Kobe was SOL if Howard went to OKC. (along with the rest of the nba).

[stevemcqueen1]

Interesting. A Howard for Bynum swap then? That's better than Ibaka and Harden for Orlando.

There are a couple questions I have about that move though. The Lakers still have 61 million + Steve Nash's contract on the books for next year. I assume they'll have to use the Bird exception to extend him, but that puts the Lakers cap number at almost 90 million with only 6 players under contract. They going to go with all vet minimums, rookies, and the MLE for the final six players? I doubt it.

First step would be getting rid of Pau Gasol's contract I suppose. That's 19 million, which might put them under enough to extend Howard on it's own. They could be forced to deal him off pretty cheap.

And looking back, **** our lives for dealing of Shard when Gasol might have been available for bottom dollar. Assuming this Howard trade goes through. Which would be a ridiculous assumption given how this Dwight drama has ping ponged around the past two years.

They could also amnesty Metta World Piece I suppose. I doubt he's got trade value.

Honestly though, it's Kobe's contract that is the problem. He's not going to be worth 30 million in 2013-2014. He's the Lakers's past, not it's future. He'd certainly have trade value but you can't trade him. You absolutely can't amnesty him either. They're in a funny position with him.

But honestly, if I'm the GM in LA and it was just about basketball reasons, I'd rather move forward with a Pau + Dwight front court for Nash and not a Kobe + Dwight core. Pau is younger, still has lots of good basketball in front of him most likely, and is 10 million cheaper plus he compliments Dwight and Nash rather than competes with them.