The
Washington Wizards made a pair of trades before the NBA trade deadline, but those moves were insufficient.
"They found a way to make two trades that I like a lot,"
Grant Paulsen said Thursday on
106.7 The Fan, "and still leave me upset this morning."
The Wizards parted with
Otto Porter and
Markieff Morris in a
pair of deals that reduced the team's salary commitments beyond this season and returned Jabari Parker, Bobby Portis, and Wesley Johnson.
"By doing those two things, both essentially salary dumps, so to speak. They got under the luxury tax threshold. So Wizards fans are excited going, 'Hey, we're rebuilding. We're finally detonating!' Except that they're not. It seems like the Wizards are claiming victory that they're under the luxury tax, but they're not going to keep trading pieces," Paulsen said.
Paulsen would rather see Washington owner
Ted Leonsis commit to a true rebuild by casting off pieces that work in the short-term and accumulate as many assets as possible for the future, especially after
John Wall suffered
another injury to his left leg and will be out at least 12 months.
With Otto Porter now traded, the Wizards should now:Keep trading everybody they can other than maybe Bradley Beal. Unless you get two firsts for him.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen)
February 7, 2019 Danny Rouhier asked, how does the Wizards salary dump help fans?
"It's the classic do just enough. It's the classic middle of the road. It's the classic begin to do the right thing and then stop yourself before you get to your destination," Rouhier said.
Rouhier lays out a "ludicrous" scenario where the Wizards will use the cap space freed up to re-sign Tomas Satoransky, make a run at Jeff Green, and extend soon-to-be 34-year-old Trevor Ariza. These moves would inhibit the Wizards from rebuilding fully and as Rouhier mentioned on Twitter, could be a sign longtime GM
Ernie Grunfeld will remain in his position.
"His magic is to clean up his own mess," Rouhier said of Grunfeld.
9)I am freaking out about the idea that this whole Wall saga has bought Grunfeld more time.10)They are now out of their self-imposed cap hell. What they do with it will say a lot. Get a little better? The Ernie special? Same old same old. Stockpile assets? New thinking
— danny rouhier (@funnydanny)
February 7, 2019 12)This is what Grunfeld has done his whole time here: Paint into a corner, then pole vault out of it13)I am praying aren't done making deals
— danny rouhier (@funnydanny)
February 7, 2019 Why is Grunfeld so often the target of scorn? Drafts have so often been a point of embarrassment.
Wizards 1st Rd Draft History18: T. Brown17: Traded pick. Morris (Inj)16: Traded pick. Bojanovic (Traded)15: Traded pick. Oubre (Traded)14: Traded pick. Gortat, etc (Traded)13: O. Porter (Traded)12: B. Beal/T. Satoransky11: J. Vesely (Traded)10: J. Wall
— Troy Machir (@TroyMachir)
February 7, 2019 "This is chasing your own tail and eating it," Rouhier said in an attempt to analogize the "lunacy" of Grunfeld's circular strategy.
"And the problem here, the biggest problem is: Is this (Grunfeld's) mandate? Is this what Ted Leonsis asked him to do? Simply, get me below the luxury and we're gonna keep going for it this year. We're gonna try and re-rack some of the same group that's got us 10 games under-.500 in a dog crap (Eastern Conference)," Rouhier said.
"They are stuck and broken and they have gotten slightly unstuck (with these trades)," Rouhier said. "And they can't wait to get back in the same line that doesn't move."
These trades, Paulsen said, give the Wizards options to do something different. However, whether they will commit to a strategy that will set them up for the future remains a doubt.
The Wizards have now traded 4 of their next 5 No. 2 picks and are reportedly trying to re-sign Trevor Ariza. Baffling. I want to praise them for tonight but it seems like they just wanted to get under the tax threshold and Ernie hasnt actually decided that it's time to rebuild.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen)
February 7, 2019 "Ernie always thinks they're a move or two away," Paulsen said. "He's never, I don't think once said, 'Why don't we try to get bad to get good? Why don't we try to start from the bottom and build something?'"
