A Fan's Dilemma: Miller and Foye Arrive, Ruin Everything

(Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)

The Washington Wizards can pat themselves on the back. They are finally competing with someone else, though the season is over.

It seems as though the Wizards are dead set on being just as inept a franchise as the LA Clippers. The Clippers may even be a bit better since they at least had the ability, if you can call it that, to land the number one overall pick in the draft. In return, they were rewarded with the best player in the draft in Blake Griffin. The Clippers at least have a potentially bright future, whereas the Wizards continue to dig themselves deeper and deeper into the hole of failure formerly occupied by the aforementioned Clippers and rising Knicks.

Here’s what I know, the Wizards shelled out $111 million to retain Gilbert Arenas who is coming off of three surgeries, on one knee and hasn’t played any significant time since the first injury.

They also shipped their first round pick, number five overall, to the Minnesota Timberwolves along with Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, and Oleksiy Pecherov. In return, the Wizards got young point guard Randy Foye and veteran sharpshooter Mike Miller.

On paper, it would appear as though the Wizards got rid of three players who weren’t producing at acceptable levels and bringing in two players who could make an immediate impact. Looking good on paper is equivalent to having potential; it doesn’t matter unless the team produces. Enter Mike Miller and Randy Foye. The addition of these players can be interpreted a few ways, it depends on how new coach Flip Saunders intends to handle the roster and starting lineup.

The Wizards are depending on Arenas to return healthy and ready to unleash the Hibachi on the NBA once again.

It is almost certain that he will assume the starting point guard position. That means Randy Foye is relegated to bench work, and the developing Javaris Crittenton is an insurance policy, or reserve. The more interesting story is at shooting guard. Mike Miller probably isn’t going to be coming off the bench, which means Nick Young and DeShawn Stevenson will. This is a bit of a trade off since Stevenson is supposedly the Wizards’ best defensive player aside from Caron Butler. Miller is an immediate offensive improvement, but isn’t known for his defense.

This potential for improvement is dependent on the ability of Miller to remain healthy, which has been a concern since his rookie season. Over his nine seasons, Miller has missed 100 games, though it didn’t hurt his performance until last season where his scoring average for the season dropped from 16.4 to 9.9.

Fans will have to wait and see if Miller can regain his form from the 2006-07 season, which held Miller’s career high in scoring at 18.5 points per game. Even if the scoring doesn’t return to its peak for Miller, he is also a capable rebounder; having averaged nearly seven rebounds per game over his last two seasons. He has average assist numbers over his career, but anything is an improvement over the inconsistent and often underwhelming production of Stevenson.

Miller is the pure shooting guard that the Wizards have lacked for at least the last decade. If it does end up that Miller starts and Stevenson is benched, prepare to hear about it every day, Stevenson remains on the bench.

Randy Foye is the more interesting addition. He is a young, talented, big, strong point guard who will be faced with an adjustment next season. He is coming off his best scoring season and has put up consistent numbers across the board in each of his three seasons.

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