f22egl

I don't want Ruben Patterson, he's another head case. Even if he is a good defender, he doesn't have good range. This isn't really a viable option unless Jarvis Hayes actually picks up his play. Etan for Patterson could be a possible trade but I dont think Portland wants his bad contract, which has a trade kicker.

I'm leaning more and more towards giving Hughes a big deal because, let's face it, without Hughes and most likely Kwame, the Wizards are in the lottery again, assuming they do not make any other moves. Those expecting Ramos to be a consistent option next year when he only played meaningful minutes for a few games is unrealistic. The Wizards will be looking at either an Arenas and Hayes backcourt or a Arenas/Dixon one; take your poison.

Damian Necronamous

How do you plan on making the playoffs next season if Hughes isn't back?

__________________
Chick Hearn: This game is in the refrigerator. The door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are gettin' cool, the butter's gettin' hard, and the jellooooooo's jigglin'!

Current 2008-2009 LA Lakers Roster
PG: Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar
SG: Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic, Sun Yue
SF: Vladimir Radmanovic, Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton
PF: Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Josh Powell
C: Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm, D.J. Mbenga

MJG

Mercury News mentions negotiations may be a tad rocky?

Wouldn't surprise me if Hughes wanted the max, we didn't offer it to him, and now he's seeing if another team will offer it to him. He probably doesn't see anything that would indicate that guys like Redd and Joe Johnson really deserve more than him, so he's going to base his value against their values.

jazzy1

I like Hughes at 6/7 mill at 10 no way and I think thats where th Wzards are right now. Hughes isn't worth 10 mill darn sure not the max. I truly expect Hughes to leave, its gonna cause some belly aching at 1st but in the long run maybe us turning to Simmons and adding aother defender behind him might be the better move.

I really believe the Cavs are gonna overpay for Hughes. Lebron is gonna want some of the pressure relieved. Ernie G knows what he's doing.

I expect Hughes to go and kwame to be re-signed.

daytripper

Can the Wiz get Simmons back?

Kwame + Simmons > Hughes

__________________
**Formerly known as LA Dawg**

f22egl

I think Simmons' stock is much too high for his real valuse as well. Figures say he wants like 6-7 million which seems a little much. I know he's a decent defender but I'm not sure if he is really a great defender.

As for Kwame and Simmons is greater than Hughes, Hughes and Kwame is greater than Simmons plus Kwame which the Wizards could still do if they had the patience with Kwame.

I think this shows that EG may let Hughes walk, but Jarvis will probably get the starting job first and Arenas will have an even bigger role in the offense.

MJG

Simmons isn't as good as Hughes, but honestly, I'm much happier with Simmons signed at $6-7 million a year than Hughes signed at $10+ million a year.

It's a rapid change from what I was thinking just a week ago, but I'm starting to prepare for us having to figure out what to do without Hughes. I can easily see Cleveland getting desperate now that their options are quickly shrinking, throwing a max contract (5 years, $70-75 million) at Hughes just to try to ensure they don't wind up with nothing this summer. I've always had strong faith in EG to generally make the smart decisions with the team, and that includes not paying Hughes $80+ million when he clearly isn't worth that much on the court. That's when he's on the court at all -- I don't think I'd want him for anything near the max if he were playing 80 games a year, let alone the 60 or so he's played per over the last five seasons.

I think his actual worth is close to $7 million per. I would have been able to swallow anything up to $10 million per. I would be very unhappy to the point where I'd believe we made a mistake at anything more than that.

Shanghai Kid

I disagree, Hughes is definetly worth at least 8-9 mil. 7 mil is the kind of contracts that Jamal Crawford/Etan Thomas got, and Hughes is definetly worth more than that. I don't even think I mind giving him Arenas money. Just when it gets into the 12-13 million dollar range I'm iffy on Hughes coming back for that much.

__________________


SCREWED like Bret Hart!

MJG

If he were not an annual injury-risk, I'd be willing to set his actual value higher than the $7 I listed. Considering he misses a quarter of each year though, I think that should knock his value down accordingly.

f22egl

Jamal Crawford gets like 8 million per year!! The guy may not even be starting next season. I think Simmons starting salary would be at like 6 million like Crawford and it would build up to 8 million per year. The Wizards are financially messed up mostly because of Jamison.

Either way, the Wizards are at a disadvantage to get a player at the quality of Hughes in the free agent market. Look at Cleavland, they have to probably offer close to a max contract to get Larry Hughes, which means the Wizards will have to overpay to get even another quality player. What the Wizards will have to count on is for another team that has a Gilbert Arenas or Carlos Boozer player that was drafted in the 2nd round AND the team does not have enough cap room to keep him and the Wizards can offer a big deal.

I'm not that sure that Cleavland will want Hughes that much because Hughes doesn't really help what the Cavaliers need most; a shooter. Still, I really don't see anybody else that Cleavland can offer the max besides perhaps Joe Johnson.

Can Simmons really be an effectie two guard with the Wizards; this is potential what the starting lineup could look like

PG- Arenas
SG- Hayes
SF- Simmons
PF- Jamison
C- Haywood

This lineup is not really good at defense especially since Jamison will now have to cover power forwards and Hayes last time I checked was not a good defender. This changes if Kwame signs but that is a big if.

nets1

Just reported: Larry has left: going to the cavs, and signed for 12 million.

__________________
go nets!!!

byrondarnell66

Where's a legitimate link

Sir Patchwork

Wish granted.

__________________
The Bulls are back in business.

SoCalfan21

arent you a lakers fan?

__________________
We Pimpin' all over the World.....


Los Angeles Lakers

San Francisco 49ers

Oakland Athletics