f22egl

Which of the following should the Wizards pursue? Even if Arenas does play big minutes, it could be interesting if they slide Arenas to the 2 at certain times of the game.

Available point guards

MJG

Some criteria I see when finding our third guard:

* Has to be happy playing limited minutes most nights, less than 20 or so. I don't doubt that Arenas will play 40 and Hughes 38 or so for as long as we have them, and any backup we sign will know that. If the player requires more court time, they can't be here.

* Has to be willing to sign for less than the MLE. Since a majority of guys who expect to get minutes in the teens most nights aren't worth the MLE or more, this hopefully won't be too big a problem.

* Needs to play relatively consistent ball. One of the most annoying things about Dixon and Blake is that you never had a clue what they were going to give you on any given night. I love consistency, and for someone who will have such a limited role for us, I just about require it from a third guard. This is more of a hope than a requirement, but I'd rather take a guy who is consistent with a lower ceiling than a guy like Blake.

Okay, taking a look at the provided link, I think we can eliminate that entire top ten except maybe Watson. He's the only one of the group that I could see fitting my criteria, though he will probably be looking for a better opportunity for playing time than what he had in Memphis.

Sliding into the rest of the list, I see a couple I'd look at. McLeod isn't a very good shooter, but he's pretty quick, and would probably slide right into the uptempo game that we play. Eisley certainly won't set anyone's heart on fire, but I always thought of him as a consistent veteran. Ditto for Vaughn. Strickland is a tough defender, something we could sorely use in the backcourt.

No, not anyone all that exciting. However, when you're offering little playing time and (I hope) little money, you can't get the cream of the crop. I think any of the above and probably more on the list would be plenty capable of running the fifteen minutes they'd get off the bench though, and that's good enough for me. I'd go for Watson first if that's a possibility, but if not, then I'd go for Strickland, since he adds a dimension to the team that we badly need.

JackWalsh12781

You know, thats a good question. I haven't been there in well over a week but I bet it hasn't changed much in that short period of time. I still remember the first time I was there. It was cold out so I was wearing my wool vest. The one with the red buttons. They served us Frosted Mini Wheats with no milk. What time did you say we had to be there? Ok, I'll make this short then because I'd hate for the dog to "mess" on the floor if he doesn't get out in time. I was thinking more along the lines of donuts for breakfast. They have more fiber than sand and they clean up easier. Plus they are easier to iron when they get wrinkled. Excuse me, do you know where I can find those old-fashioned pencil sharpeners? You know, the old metal ones that you can screw to the desk. I bet Spag's has them. They have everything there. I found this one in an old corn field when I lived in Iowa. It has authentic World War II markings on it. My guess is that maybe the Germans spent a short time in the United States and left it here so that I'd find it in the future. I've been looking for a pair of sneakers for at least 6 months now and none of them seem to tickle my fancy at all. I'd like to keep the price down to around $10 or $11 for the pair if I can help it but I guess we'll see what happens. Where are you anyway?

f22egl

WHAT!?!?!?!

f22egl

I think the Wizards may make a run at Antonio Daniels. He's a good defender, can play the 2 or the 1, and he can score. Other than that, there are bigger needs for the Wizards like getting a good power forward.

Still, I don't really see the Wizards getting a good 4 either in free agency or in the draft. I would be surprised if the Shareef Abdur Rahim would want the MLE. I'm not sure what the chances of Stromile Swift could be coming here. I doubt EG will even contact Antoine Walker. They will probably have to wait until next year unless they get it done in some kind of sign and trade with Kwame Brown or the unlikely scenario that Brown will return.

With that being said, some of these point guards in the top 10 may have to settle for backup roles because of how deep this draft is with point guards like Chris Paul, Raymond Felton, Derron Williams, and Jarret Jack. I wonder how much this will drive down the value of some point guards whose values really aren't that high anyways. Although acquiring a point guard is not the most important thing the WIzards need to do, it may still be necessary to acquire one eventually and this offseason has some quality ones.

MJG

I think the problem is that we are offering not just a backup role, but a very limited backup role with little room for advancement. It isn't a situation where someone can come in and play 24 MPG and hope to take over the starting role eventually; what we offer is 16-18 MPG for as long as you sign for. Hughes and Arenas will take up a minimum of 75% of the backcourt minutes in most games they play, usually more. Both are young and here for the long term (no, I don't have any doubts Hughes will be retained). Basically, anyone who signs with us does so knowing they are going to be a minor role player at best for their duration.

It's for that reason that I can't imagine any of the decent PGs signing here, even the ones like Chris Duhon and Damon Jones, who really aren't better than backups. The only way I can think of to entice them is to overpay, which isn't something I'm interested in doing for someone who'll have such a limited role for us. I'd much rather just give the veteran's minimum to a guy like Strickland, who will be content in his role and won't have that much less of an impact, considering the limited court time.

DHarris34Phan

Best. Post. Ever.

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jazzy1

Arenas either starts playing D or gets his minutes cut he's embarrasing guarding guys. Daniels would be sweet.