Spitballing: Poof!
The Question: What happened?
The Answer: An over-achieving team came down to Earth.
The Solution: While I'm not thrilled about the prospects of the Sacramento Kings, I'm completely lost as to what the Wizards can do this year. They have arguably the worst contract in the NBA with Gilbert Arenas's 5 year, around 90 million dollars. Antawn Jamison put up stats but looked completely disinterested; not a good look when he has three years and 40 million dollars left on his new deal. On the bright side, they have three mid-sized expiring deals in Etan Thomas, Mike James, and Brendan Haywood but they don't really have any very impressive young talent (although I did like the way Javale McGee played last year) and the fifth pick isn't worth much so any deal would have to be a straight salary dump.
Arenas's contract is as untradeable as they get (which means there always might be some idiot who'll take it) so I wouldn't plan on that going anywhere. Jamison could be moved but I'm not sure who's really fired up about adding his contract the year before the 2010 free agent market. Perhaps a swap with Philly's Elton Brand could work. The best chance they have of making a deal would be to swap him with Caron Butler. The problem, as I've stated before, is that not many people are going to be interested in spending 30 million on the core of the worst team in the Eastern Conference.
If the Bucks are looking to dump Michael Redd, perhaps Etan Thomas, Mike James, and the #5 pick would work. They probably could grab Mike Dunleavy Jr. but I think I'd rather roll the dice with the draft pick.
Everything rests on the knee of Gilbert Arenas. If he can't come back, I don't think there's really anything that's going to save the Wizards from another year at the top of the lottery.
