Tag: Washington Wizards (Page 7 of 11)

Bulls beat writer shoots down Butler-for-Hinrich rumors

January 5, 2010 / John Paulsen

Mike McGraw of the DailyHerald.com doesn’t think the Bulls would trade Kirk Hinrich for Caron Butler.

The only benefit to the Bulls in this one is Hinrich’s deal runs two more years, while Butler is done after next season. Otherwise, it makes no sense for the Bulls and I’m reasonably certain it’s not happening.
Butler has played small forward his whole career, so plugging him in at two guard is a stretch. Then if the Bulls are intent on building a defensive base, which GM Gar Forman has promised several times, they wouldn’t trade one of their best defenders for someone from a team that has consistently refused to play defense over the years.
The biggest drawback is Butler makes about $1.5 million more than Hinrich next season and the Bulls can’t afford to squish their cap space next summer.

Butler is a prototypical small forward, so plugging him in at two guard is indeed a stretch. When I heard the rumors, I thought the Butler move would be a long-term replacement for John Salmons and (possibly) Tyrus Thomas. The Bulls don’t have a low post scorer, so their best bet is to go up-tempo and run Luol Deng at power forward.

Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

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Butler to the Bulls?

January 4, 2010 / John Paulsen

That’s the rumor, according to the Chicago Sun-Times…

Rumors were circulating Sunday that the Washington Wizards, in an attempt to shake things up, are shopping swingman Caron Butler, with the Bulls and the Miami Heat being the likely trading partners.
From the Bulls, the Wizards reportedly would seek guard Kirk Hinrich to provide some stability. The rumors also had the expiring contracts of Jerome James and Mike James being included, although the contracts of Butler ($9.78 million) and Hinrich ($9.5 million) are close enough to do the deal straight up.

Once thought untouchable due to his skill level and affordable contract, the Wizards are actually thinking about trading the 29-year-old Butler away. Next season, he is set to make $10.6 million in the final year of his contract. That’s not bad for a guy who has proven that he can score like Butler has. (He posted back-to-back 20+ point seasons with Gilbert Arenas sidelined.)

While I like Kirk Hinrich’s defensive mentality and willingness to share the ball, a straight up trade would be a coup for the Bulls if they can retain enough cap space to sign a big-name free agent (Dwyane Wade?) next summer. Butler’s salary next season is $1.6 million more than Hinrich’s, so assuming a cap of $50 million in 2010-2011, that would trim the Bulls’ cap space from around $12.5 million to less than $11 million. Of course, these figures assume that John Salmons does not terminate the final year of his deal (~$5.8 million).

With a core of Rose, Butler, Deng and Noah, the Bulls would be a very attractive place for Wade to land. The post mentioned that the Heat are also interested in Butler, which is interesting considering the Butler-to-Chicago rumors.

NBA, Rumors & Gossip

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NBA investigating Arenas’ locker room dispute

January 1, 2010 / John Paulsen

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports….

An NBA investigation into Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas’ possession of guns inside the team’s locker room has been linked to a confrontation with teammate Javaris Crittenton, multiple sources told Yahoo! Sports.
The league’s ongoing probe hopes to determine whether Arenas had accessed any of his unloaded firearms while engaged in the dispute prior to a team practice at the Verizon Center on Dec. 21 in Washington. Tensions between Arenas and Crittenton escalated because of a festering disagreement between the two players, sources said.

Peter Vescey of the NY Post reports that the dispute was over a gambling debt.

NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas and his Washington Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other in the team’s locker room during a Christmas Eve dispute over a gambling debt, The Post has learned.
It was the three- time all-star Arenas, 27, who went for his gun first, sources said, draw ing on the 22-year-old Crittenton, who quickly brandished a firearm as well.
The duel in DC — unprecedented in sports history — was sparked when Crittenton became enraged at the veteran guard for refusing to make good on a gambling debt, a source said.
“I’m not your punk!” Crittenton shouted at Arenas, according to a league source close to the Wizards.
That prompted Arenas to draw on Crittenton, who then also grabbed for a gun, league security sources said.
A playground pal of Crittenton’s from Atlanta, Kendrick “Bookie Ball” Long, confirmed the locker-room standoff and said he learned of it directly from the third-year player out of Georgia Tech.
“He [Arenas] was f- – -ing with him; he [Crittenton] was just defending himself!” declared Long, who said the dispute was over money but would not elaborate.

Arenas has a reputation of being funny crazy, but this just sounds like crazy crazy.

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Line of the Night (11/18): Antawn Jamison

November 19, 2009 / John Paulsen

In his first game back from injury, Jamison posted 31 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and a steal in the Wizards’ 108-91 drubbing of the Cleveland Cavaliers last night. The line and the win are already impressive, but for Jamison to play this well in his first game back makes it doubly so. It’s tough for a player to return from injury and play at a high level since his conditioning and timing usually aren’t there, but Jamison didn’t have a problem last night.

With the win, the (finally) healthy Wizards advance to 3-7 while the Cavs drop to 8-4. Cleveland was without Shaquille O’Neal and Anderson Varejao due to injury.

Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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