The Washington Wizards franchise is at another crossroads this offseason.
Back in the summer of 2005, the Wiz faced critical decisions regarding free agent guard Larry Hughes and suspended power forward Kwame Brown.
That fateful summer, President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld made the right calls by letting Hughes walk away with big money from the Cleveland Cavaliers and unloading Brown onto the Los Angeles Lakers for small forward Caron Butler. Neither were slam-dunk decisions at the time.
Hughes was coming off a career season, in which he averaged 22.0 points per game and led the NBA with 2.9 steals per contest. In addition, he stuffed the stat sheet with 6.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
Seemingly, Hughes was the perfect backcourt complement to All-Star running mate Gilbert Arenas. Both were combo guards with point guard skills who could take turns running the offense or looking for their own shot. They also swarmed on defense—taking risks, harassing opponents, and creating uncontested layups off turnovers.
But Hughes was commanding a max contract and he was injury prone. Also, Arenas was evolving into one of the best players in the league, and was soon to command his own long-term maximum deal.
Should the Wiz commit the franchise’s fortunes on two little men?
Would the combination of Hughes and Arenas lead Washington to the promised land?
I didn’t think it was wise to break the bank on two guards, but I didn’t want to see Hughes go. Seemingly he was on the cusp of greatness and I didn’t want to see another former Wizard/Bullet become a cornerstone star for a different franchise—like Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber, or Ben Wallace.
But the dollars were too rich, and Grunfeld wisely put his checkbook away.
The end result? Hughes was a bust in Cleveland and they moved him to Chicago to try to repair the mistake. In fairness to Hughes, his 20-year-old brother Justin succumbed to heart illness in May 2006, and I believe Hughes hasn’t recovered from that personal loss.
11 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Rohit Banerjee about 1 year ago
excellent, excellent article....
"when your best rebounder is launching bricks from beyond the arc, you’re missing his offensive rebounding presence as well" very insightful observation...
I have a feeling that the Wiz could take any team in the East...except the Cavs. they have this weird thing with Lebron and crew that they get overly physical and each of the past three years it has not worked so you would think that they would play better...but no...more of "Lebron's not coming in here without paying for it"
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Joon Song about 1 year ago
i agree that the wiz can take any team on any given night, but i don't believe in them over the course of a 7-game playoff series--especially against the elite teams or one led by bron-bron.
their defense is the achilles heel. the wiz need to study the celtics D against kobe in the finals. if you can throttle lebron, the cavs are meat.
maybe caron butler will be inspired by paul pierce's unexpectedly stellar defensive play in the playoffs. butler has the physical tools to be an excellent defender. and he's the most logical matchup against lebron.
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David Wiley about 1 year ago
I agree with the first comment, great article. Personally though, I'm keeping Jamison and getting rid of Arenas. You have to give the GM props for his moves so far, as you did in the article.
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Joon Song about 1 year ago
thanks for the nice comment.
why do you wanna get rid of arenas?
i'd like to hear your reasons.
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Brandon Schleigh about 1 year ago
Personally, I'd try and sign them to a two year deal however both players most likely wouldn't accept an offer consisting of only two years.
Since both players are already considered free agents maybe the best decision is for the Wizards to find players in the free agency pool. The only problem this offseason is, the unrestricted free agent list doesn't have a strong list of guys worth obtaining, mostly role players. The restricted free agent pool is fairly decent, however its gonna take a tremendously-larger-than-needed type of contract to pry away any substantial player away from their respected teams. Players such as: Josh Smith, Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Monte Ellis, Sasha Vujacic, Andre Iguadala, are all players that I would try and acquire if Agent Zero and Jamison aren't interested in coming back.
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Joon Song about 1 year ago
there's no way gil and antawn are accepting two-year deals.
actually, i take that back. gil is wacky enough that if he doesn't find a long-term deal to his liking, he may go for a short deal and bank on the fact that he'll be healthy again in a couple years, back to top form, and thus better situated to attract a max contract.
regarding the free agent pool you mentioned, i don't think any of them are a franchise player, but they all want a franchise contract. monta ellis and josh smith are probably the most attractive, but i guarantee you that smith is not a guy you build a franchise around. ellis is a beast but what is he?
he's an undersized 2 or a borderline 1. this is a bad combo to build your franchise on.
hopefully i can expound about this free agent class in a separate article.
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Shaun Ahmad about 1 year ago
The Wizards biggest problem is the lack of a low post presence. Antawn Jamison is a solid player but he's not the dominant force that you need inside to compete come playoff time. He falls in love with the 3 too much and drifts out of the post. The numbers he put up this year were great, as good as he will ever be able to do, but what was the final result? A first round exit. They should let Jamison go (instead of paying him big bucks only to watch him decline in coming years) and roll the dice on Elton Brand. He's been plagued by injuries but its worth the risk. Gilbert-Butler-Brand makes a combination that could put this team over the hump.
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Joon Song about 1 year ago
shaun, i'm with you!
i've been saying the same thing for years. the wiz sorely need a big-time presence in the paint and he doesn't necessarily even need to be a scorer. just someone who controls the boards and erases defensive breakdowns by teammates.
but rolling the dice on both arenas AND brand?!
wow. vegas wants your money, dude.
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L.J. Burgess about 1 year ago
Damn ! 5 starz for this one.
As a lazy Wiz fan I think you're right ... no banners anytime soon.
To be successful deep into a looong season like the NBA you can't focus on one or two playas anymore.
By springtime you've got to have 4-5 guys that can double digit.
It's a long day here at Bleacher Report ... I'm bookmarking this story for my Pick o' the Day.
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Joon Song about 1 year ago
thanks for your "pick o' the day"!
the wiz need a stud in the post to add to butler and arenas. unfortunately, jamison might have to be the odd man out.
the wiz have plenty of good role players, but they need a kevin garnett-type influence in the paint. someone passionate about defense and rebounding.
but that guy probably isn't coming this offseason and he's not coming cheaply.
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Ben Weixlmann about 1 year ago
The Wiz need to figure it out!
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