Hawks add Hinrich

Hmmm,...this is a boring one, but I guess we have to talk about it.  The Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards agree to a trade that I'm not so sure helps either team.  Let's take a look.

Washington Wizards
Get: Mike Bibby, Jordan Crawford, Maurice Evans, and a 1st round pick (2011)

Atlanta Hawks 
Get: Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong

My take on the Wizards: I have to look at what the Wizards got in this deal and the things that standout are Jordan Crawford and possibly that 2011 1st round pick.  Mike Bibby probably should have been a backup last year for a contender.  It just seems like each year he's gotten slower and slower and that 3 point shot that he used to hit, just isn't there anymore.  Maurice Evans is an athlete and another live body, and that may be it.  Jordan Crawford was the piece that I thought would allow the Hawks to trade Jamal Crawford and put the younger Crawford in the mix.  Jordan has yet to make me look good with that prediction, but after the Hawks gave JJ $119M, I just don't see how they pay Jamal.  So, Jordan will have his opportunities in Washington to turn it around. 

My take on the Hawks: Ok, you got Kirk Hinrich, now what?  He's always been a combo guard to me and definitely a true point because he can't guard the smaller faster guards in the league.  If you also remember Hinrich in Chicago, he entered each game with about 1.5 fouls to his credit.  I just don't see the upside to this move.  Hilton Armstrong provides another big body to give the Hawks bigs a break, but he hasn't done much since he's been in the league and he played with one of the best PGs in the game. 

Am I wrong or was this just a trade for spare parts?  I mean Hinrich is 2 years and some change older than when he was in Chicago and he wasn't that good then. 

NBA 2010 Wrap Up 11-10-10

Washington 98 @ Houston 91 – Two big stories, Yao Ming got hurt and John Wall (19 pts, 10 rebs, 13 asts, 6 stls) had his first NBA triple double.  Both Andray Blatche and Al Thornton had 20 pts, as the Wizards ran up and down the floor.  It seemed as if Wall was everywhere making steals, passes, and even finishing an alley-oop from Gilbert Arenas.  Kevin Martin (31 pts, 7 rebs, 6 asts) and Luis Scola (24 pts, 6 rebs) led the Rockets, but with Yao going down, it really hurt their size advantage.  Wall became the 4^th youngest to get his first triple double and the Washington area fans are expecting a few more of these.      

Golden State 122 @ New York Knicks 117 – David Lee returned to the Garden and received a warm reception during introductions.  Lee would later receive a piece of Wilson Chandlers tooth in his elbow, but left the Garden after dropping 28 pts, 10 rebs, and 4 asts and leading his Warrior team to a win.  In an odd play, Lee got a rebound and brought his elbow down and chipped Chandler’s front tooth.  Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry combined for 47 pts, 8 rebs, and 14 asts.  Stoudamire led the Knicks with 33 pts and 10 rebs, but the Knicks weren’t able to keep up with the Warriors at the end.  The Knicks only got 11 points from their bench (Tone Douglas had 9 pts), and as usual D’Antoni has no chance to stop anyone on the defensive end.    

Minnesota 98 @ Sacramento 89 – We had a Micheal Beasley sighting.  Beasley had by far his best game as an NBA player with a 42 pts and 9 rebs outing against the Kings.  With really no other scoring threat on the floor the Timberwolves were able to get this win with the second leading scorer on the team being PG, Sebastian Telfair who had 16 pts and 1 ast.  If you can play point guard you might want to call the Timberwolves right now!!!!  The Kings had subpar games from Tyreke Evans (5 pts, 9 asts, 5 to) and DeMarcus Cousins (7 pts, 6 rebs, 4 to in 14 minutes).  Omri Casspi led the Kings with 17 pts (in 27 minutes) and I just have to question why no extra time for Casspi and Cousins wince they seemed to be playing well? 

Utah 104 @ Orlando 94 – Maybe they can move the Jazz to the East?  The Jazz finished their stroll through the sunshine state with a comeback from 22 to beat the Heat and then a comeback win from 18 last night, to beat the Magic.  Somehow the Jazz were able to turn it on once they get down.  They were led by Deron Williams with 30 pts, 14 asts, and 5 rebs.  Both Al Jefferson (21 pts, 8 rebs) and Paul Milsap (23 pts, 5 rebs, 3 asts) dominated the Magic frontcourt to spark the comeback.  As a group they were able to minimize Dwight Howard’s (14 pts, 9 rebs, 4 asts, 3 blks, 6 to) effectiveness and force the Magic to take 32 threes while only hitting 12.  The next team that plays the Jazz might just want to let them stay in the game late and then try and beat them. 

NBA Trade - Dallas and Washington

The Dallas Mavericks and the Washington Wizards got together to pull off one of the larger deals in the NBA. The deal sends Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavericks for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, James Singleton, and a few greenbacks.

This is a major move for Dallas who had been slumping prior to the All Star Weekend and gives them new life at the 2 (Butler) and the 5 (Haywood). Erick Dampier has been hurt Jason Terry is probably better at coming off the bench. Butler should bring a hard nosed scoring threat to the Mavericks that they haven’t had since maybe Jimmy Jackson. Stevenson can also come off the bench and provide some scoring and some defense.

The Wizards are in rebuilding mode. With the suspension of Gilbert Arenas for the rest of the year, they couldn’t make the playoffs. With other coveted pieces (Jamison and Miller) still on the team, there really aren’t any pieces to rebuild with (expected one of those two to be traded). The Wizards get another head case in Howard, a decent 10 and 10 guy in Gooden, and not much else.

Grade:

Mavericks – B – Solid move but I’m not sure that you gain that much more with Tough Juice (Butler) than what you had with Howard when he was playing well. They do get a little tougher in the paint with Haywood and a little more production with Stevenson.

Wizards – D – Well, that’s about all they can do is dump salary and hope that they can clear Arenas off the books and just start over. If Howard can get his head right AND keep from spraining one of his delicate ankles, he’d be a good complimentary piece when paired with a dominant player.

Washington Wizards @ New York Knicks

What in the halibut is going on? I know times are hard in Washington, DC, but dayum, ya'll just got beat by 7 dudes. Yes, you had a full roster and you got beat by 7 dudes. The Wizards lost to the Knicks 122-117. Quentin Richardson got out of the grave and dropped 34 points and added 12 boards to that. He took a season high (and I'm almost sure a career high) 13 three point attempts. Chris Duhon was the worst starter for the Knicks and he was 5 rebounds from a triple double. That may sound like a lot, but he played 46 minutes. I'm sure he could have found 5 more boards.

The Wizards, if you can say this, were led by Antawn Jamison (29 points) and Caron Butler (23 points). I know the Wizards miss Gilbert Arenas, but my biggest issue is that the Wizards dressed 12 players and played 11 of them. They couldn't have fouled even one of the Knicks out? What is going on in DC? This is truly sad.

What are you Wizards fans going to do? What is it going to take to blow this team up and start from scratch? How many more games before Gilbert is back and then they can atleast compete?

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

After undergoing another surgery to remove some loose particles in his knee, Gilbert Arenas will miss the beginning of the season and return to the Wizards by December. Talk about getting the wind knocked out of you. Gilbert had surgery last year on his knee, came back in time to play towards the end of the season. Now surgery number two. This is now what those in DC wanted to hear after he was given the keys to the kingdom, 6 years $111M. At the time, I said the deal only makes the Wizards decent in the East and now with Gilbert out for a little more than a month, they are already running up hill to catch the Pistons, the Magic, the Sixers, the Celtics, the Cavs, and the Bulls (no, not really, but I threw them in to make sure you're reading).