Washington
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
With all the pomp and circumstance of yesterday's trading circus, the Wizards may have made the biggest blockbuster deal of all by simply standing pat. With the activation of Kwame Brown and Larry Hughes off the injured list, the Wizards essentially "acquired" two players for nothing.
As Washington President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld toldThe Washington Times(see Newslines below), "You can say we're acquiring two players and we didn't have to give up anything to get them."
The Wizards fielded lots of calls at the trade deadline as competitors see them as a deep source of young talent but nothing was offered that Grunfeld thought would make the Wizards a better team. Can you imagine if someone had indeed acquired Brown and Hughes from the Wizards? How much would they have had to give up? A lot more than expiring contracts and draft picks, that's for sure.
To be able to get those two guys back in the near future is going to prove instrumental for Washington's playoff push and their final seeding. Indeed, with Shaq day-to-day and Philly needing time to incorporate Chris Webber into their system, the next few weeks may be the best time for Washington to try to close the gap between themselves and the top seed in the East.
First up is another young team as they face the Bulls tonight in Chicago.
NEXT GAME
The Washington Wizards (31-22, second in the Southeast) tonight face one of the few other teams in the league that didn't make a splash at the trade deadline as they visit the Chicago Bulls (27-24, third in the Central). The game is TONIGHT at 8:30pm Eastern and will be broadcast on Comcast Sports Net and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
With 30 games left on the schedule, the Wizards are set to make their push into the Playoffs. But the team's first 52 games provided an inkling that it was on its way to something special.
INJURY UPDATE
Peter John Ramos(foot),Juan Dixon(ankle), andSamaki Walker (lower back) are all on the injured list.Larry Hughes(thumb) is questionable for tonight.
Roscoe Nance ofUSA Todaywrites: The Wizards were shocked to learn in a story inThe Washington Post Magazinethat early in Brown's rookie season he was eating Popeye's fried chicken for every meal because he didn't know how to grocery shop.And there was the time Brown complained that he had nothing to wear despite having recently bought a closet full of new suits. It turned out that each time Brown wore a suit, he took it off and threw it in a pile. He didn't know he had to take the suits to a dry cleaner. "A lot of people look at them, (and) because they're 7 feet tall and weigh 250, 260, you expect them to be mature adults, and they're not," says Ernie Grunfeld, Washington's president of basketball operations. "A lot of patience is needed."
Mike Wise ofThe Washington Postwrites: Paul Pierce and Walker may be good together again, but Iverson and Webber are a better duo, better than LeBron James and Zadrunas Ilgauskas in Cleveland, better than Jason Kidd and Vince Carter in New Jersey, better than Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison of the Wizards.If Webber and Iverson remain healthy, they are better than every duo in the East except Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade.
Greg Sandoval and Michael Lee ofThe Washington Postwrites: The Washington Wizards stood pat even though President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld said he received more calls regarding his roster than last season."We feel good about our team. We feel good about the direction we're headed," Grunfeld said by phone. "You never say never, but I think we're comfortable with the players we have -- we're basically two-deep at every position. We're a young team, but we're a team that has shown, when we play to our ability, we can compete with most teams in the league. And we still have room for growth."
Zachary Kenworthy & Courtney Eiland ofThe Howard University Hilltopwrite:Holding on to the second spot in the southeast division, the Wizards have been a pleasant surprise for fans in the nation's capitol.With both guard Larry Hughes and center Kwame Brown injured since January, the team has had to pull together and have done so under the leadership of Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison. Arenas, Jamison and Hughes are all averaging over 20 points per game and the activation of Hughes this week should have teams in the east wary.
Roscoe Nance ofUSA Todaywrites: Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon is making a solid case for an unprecedented double-double — NBA rookie of the year and sixth man of the year...His ability to heat up quickly and his knack for late-game explosions remind Washington Wizards coach Eddie Jordan of one-time Detroit Pistons super-sub Vinnie Johnson and former San Antonio Spurs guard James Silas, nicknamed Captain Late."That's very unusual for a young player," Jordan says. "Some guys just have a knack for doing that. He's very special."
John N. Mitchell ofThe Washington Timeswrites: Although the Wizards made no deals, they no doubt will get better when Hughes returns to the lineup -- probably Sunday against Webber's old Sacramento team -- and when Kwame Brown is fully healthy. "You can say we're acquiring two players and we didn't have to give up anything to get them," said Grunfeld, who added that making a deal for the sake of making one is not acceptable. "Our concern is about our team, that's it," he said. "I really feel that it is in the best interest of our team to let this team develop and see where it takes us."