Bibby buyout enhances Hinrich trade

The Kirk Hinrich trade -- Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong to the Hawks for Mike Bibby, Jordan Crawford, Maurice Evans, and a 2011 first-round draft pick -- seemed like a decent move at the time, because the Wizards essentially acquired two first-round picks (Crawford from 2010 and the actual 2011 draft pick). But Bibby really, really did not want to play for the rebuilding Wizards, and he has apparently agreed to a deal in which he will forfeit his entire $6.2 million salary next season to escape from Washington. Bibby will likely land with the Miami Heat.

Bibby's generous decision transforms the trade from a good one to a great one. Instead of the two assets in Crawford and the draft pick, the Wizards get the expired contract of Bibby as well. According to Michael Lee of The Washington Post, Bibby's deal will eat up $1 million on next year's cap, but that's definitely better than having to pay his full salary.

Lee also ended his latest post on the buyout with this:

One league source described the situation with Bibby as, "Fall out of the sky luck."

Luck got the Wizards John Wall, and they could certainly use as much of it as they can get.

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The Wizards have also reached a buyout agreement with Al Thornton. According to ESPN's Marc Stein, as long as Thornton clears waivers, he will play for the Golden State Warriors, who, oddly enough, the Wizards face tonight.

Thornton, 27, has been a decent player this season -- averaging 8.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 47.1 percent shooting -- but he has struggled to stay on the floor and has dealt with a multitude of injuries. The Wizards evidently did not view Thornton as a player worth keeping around beyond this season, especially for his 2011/2012 qualifying offer of nearly $4 million.

Seven points, 13 seconds

I realize that the Wizards (10-26) are a really bad team. I also recognize that they did, in fact, win the game last night -- 136-133, in overtime, over the Kings. Nick Young also scored a career-high 43 points, which is great -- more on that below. But at some point, even the worst teams should be able to execute basic plays at the end of games. The Wizards, frankly, did not, and that's why the Kings forced overtime in the first place.

Let's go back to the last 13 seconds of regulation. After a Young turnover gave the ball back to the Kings, Jermaine Taylor grabbed an offensive rebound and dunked the ball to cut the lead to 125-121. Rashard Lewis desperately tried to find a teammate on the inbounds pass and forced the ball to Kirk Hinrich (under the basket) instead of calling a timeout. Beno Udrih stole the ball, which eventually ended up in the hands of Francisco Garcia, who not only made the layup, but was also fouled on the play. He made the free throw.

Now leading by just one, the Wizards got the ball to Young, who was fouled. At the free throw line, he made the first and missed the second. With seven seconds left, the score was 126-124. What happened next was absolutely indefensible: Pooh Jeter -- who the Wizards somehow allowed to score eight points and dish out 11 assists in 21 minutes -- drove right past John Wall for the game-tying layup. Wall was beaten badly on the play -- it happens, I guess -- but no one was behind him to alter Jeter's shot or even make him think about passing the ball. The lane was so wide open that it looked like the Kings were still in their pre-game layup lines. Not only did Jeter's shot tie the game at 126, but the play only took four seconds. It took just four seconds for the Kings to get a wide open layup. The Wizards obviously seemed concerned with giving up a go-ahead three-pointer, but there's no excuse for defense that poorly. None.

With three seconds left, Wall missed the game-winning bucket on the other end, and the game went to overtime. (Since the Kings didn't have the ball for the final three seconds, I guess it's actually seven points in 10 seconds, but I'll leave the title alone. It sounds bad enough as it is.) Thanks to Young and Hinrich, who combined for nine of the team's 10 points in overtime, the Wizards still pulled out the victory, which should be applauded considering the monumental collapse at the end of regulation. But they're not getting off that easy. There was very little defense played in yesterday's game from either team, but the defense displayed by the Wizards in the fourth quarter was absolutely atrocious. Not only did they fall apart in the fourth quarter's final seconds, but they allowed 43 points in that quarter alone. Forty-three points! In Friday's win over the Nets, the Wizards didn't allow 43 total points until the third quarter. I know: The Nets are terrible and that's a completely different game -- plus the Nets were chucking up bricks left and right -- but where is the consistent effort on defense? The Kings were getting buckets way too easy; at times it looked like the Wizards weren't even trying.

I don't think it's just Flip Saunders's fault. It's not just the players' fault. And it's not just the assistant coaches' fault. It's everyone's fault. Performances like that make me wonder why teams don't force more pressure on opposing teams more often. I know every team won't fold under pressure and throw the ball away like the Wizards did, but some might.

There's no excuse for the level of defense the Wizards played for much of the game -- obviously in the fourth quarter -- and that's not even counting the fact that the Kings were playing without their best player, Tyreke Evans. Here were the high scorers for the Kings last night: Udrih (26), Garcia (26), Carl Landry (23), Omri Casspi (15), and DeMarcus Cousins (10). There were no Kobes or LeBrons, or Amare Stoudemires or Kevin Durants, etc., on the floor last night, and again, Evans was out.

Now, for the positives. Young had an outstanding game (on offense). He had 43 points on just 22 shots, making 14 of them. He also shot a phenomenal 7-10 from three-point range. Here's a breakdown of his production by quarter: 14 in the first, three in the second, 18 in the third, five in the fourth, and three in overtime.

As a team, the Wizards outrebounded the Kings by 15 (55-40). Three Wizards grabbed at least 10 rebounds -- Andray Blatche (13), JaVale McGee (11), and Rashard Lewis (10). Lewis also had a decent game, scoring 16 points on 11 shots and dishing out six assists. Blatche had 16 points (5-10 from the field), four assists, and four steals. Wall didn't have a very efficient game, pouring in 22 points on just 6-19 shooting. He committed six turnovers, though he had nine assists and six rebounds. He also made all 10 of his free throws.

Off the bench, Hinrich scored 14 big points, all of them coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. He needed only nine shots to get those 14 and also had four rebounds and four assists. In 12 minutes, Al Thornton chipped in nine points on 4-5 shooting.

Nick Young takes charge

With John Wall still out and Gilbert Arenas now in Orlando after being traded for Rashard Lewis, Nick Young has had to shoulder more of the scoring load in the last two games. Against the Heat a few days ago, a game in which the Wizards somehow lost despite leading by five with 32 seconds left and again by four with 18 seconds left, Young perhaps had his best game of the season, scoring 30 points on 13-23 shooting and grabbing four rebounds. He also made both of his three-point attempts and both of his free throws while playing a season-high 45 minutes.

Young followed his performance against the Heat with another efficient effort last night in a blowout (108-75) win over the Bobcats. He scored a team-high 21 points in 35 minutes and shot 8-13 from the field. He also made three three-pointers and got to the line twice (making both), though he did commit five turnovers, a season-high for him.

When Wall gets healthy and returns to the lineup, it's not clear yet whether Young will move to the bench as the third guard or will instead start at shooting guard and force Kirk Hinrich to assume third guard duties. Hinrich does seem to be more comfortable playing point guard and getting his teammates involved, while there's no question that Young's best attribute is putting the ball in the hoop. In his last eight games, Young has scored at least 17 points in seven of them. In his one bad game during that stretch -- a three-point clunker against the Kings on December 8 -- Young made just one of eight shots while also turning the ball over three times.

Other than that, Young is averaging slightly more than 19 points per game in nine December games (he missed one against the Blazers because of a bruised left thigh) and shooting over 48 percent from the field. In 25 games so far this season, Young is playing more minutes (which should continue), making more of his shots (48.0 percent), and scoring more points (14.5) and grabbing slightly more rebounds (2.2). He's also taking more threes (3.6 per game) and is still making 38.9 percent of them. For someone who loves to shoot long twos, it's good that Young is shooting and making more threes. I also haven't noticed Young shooting as many fade-aways, though I'm not sure if that's completely true or not.

Young may not continue to play and shoot this well, but he's going to have every opportunity to do so since the Wizards don't exactly have a ton of other options at guard right now. But for someone who hasn't seen a whole lot of consistent minutes throughout his career, Young certainly won't complain about that.

Wizards fight back, stun 76ers against in OT

Because of work, I was unable to watch one minute of the Wizards' 116-114 win over the Sixers last night. But on the way home, I did have the opportunity to listen to the radio during the fourth quarter and overtime, and I will say this: play-by-play man Dave Johnson and color analyst Glenn Consor were shocked at the Wizards' comeback and eventual victory.

From listening to Johnson and Consor and looking at the game's box score, the Wizards were terrible in the first half. They finished the half down 14 points, and from what I could tell by glancing at the box score, no Wiz player was really competing except for JaVale McGee, who already had a double-double midway through the second quarter. (More on McGee and his monster game below.)

After scoring just 38 points in the first half, though, the Wizards turned things around in a hurry, outscoring the Sixers by 10 points (35-25) in the third quarter and scratching and clawing in the fourth to send the game to overtime.

Let's go back to the fourth quarter. With about six minutes to go, Marreese Speights hit a jumper to give the Sixers a 98-85 lead. For nearly the next five minutes, though, the Sixers failed to score any points; meanwhile, the Wizards scored 10 and cut the lead to 98-95. Both teams traded a few buckets, and then Evan Turner hit two free throws with 27 seconds left, giving the Sixers a 104-99 advantage. John Wall then got fouled and hit two free throws, making the score 104-101. Then came arguably the biggest play in the game (at the time, at least): On the ensuing inbounds pass, Trevor Booker tied up Andres Nocioni and forced a jump ball, which he eventually tipped to Gilbert Arenas. The teams traded free throws, and the Wizards got the ball back with 11 seconds to go. Flip Saunders used a timeout to advance the ball and drew up a play, but Nick Young launched a three-pointer that either was an airball or barely touched the rim, giving the ball back to the Sixers. Luckily, though, the Wizards fouled Evan Turner on the inbounds pass, and he missed both free throws.

Still down by three with eight seconds to go, Wall hurriedly drove down the floor and then made an absolutely fantastic decision. With the Sixers looking to foul instead of giving the Wizards a chance to hit a three -- a strategy that simply has not worked in two games against Washington -- Wall pulled up from about halfway between mid-court and the three-point line and was able to draw an obvious foul by Jrue Holiday. Holiday was not expecting Wall to force a shot from that far away. Wall made all three free throws and sent the game to overtime, 106-106.

Overtime was just as exciting, or even more so, than the fourth quarter, but let's skip ahead to the final seconds. Down 114-113 after a Thaddeus Young tip-in, the Wizards drew up another play and hoped for some more late-game heroics. And they got it when Nick Young (on a pass from Arenas) hit a three-point jumper in the corner to put the Wiz up two, 116-114. I'd like to say that the Wizards ran some awesome play to get Young that wide-open three, but judging from the replay, all Young did was run down the baseline, and the Sixers simply lost track of him for a moment, which was just enough time for him to nail the shot. Andre Iguodala missed his shot to tie the game, which gave the Wizards another overtime win over the Sixers.

I apologize for the long game recap, but it really was an outstanding comeback and an exciting game (at least to listen to, for me). Wall was the story in the second half and overtime after a bad first half in his first game back from injury, but the player of the game for the Wizards has to be McGee, who had the best game of his career with 24 points (9-15 shooting), 18 rebounds, and four blocks. He also had two assists and two steals. Amazingly enough, McGee still would have had a double-double without the defensive rebounds (8) he grabbed because he had 10 offensive boards. And as I discussed yesterday, McGee has now grabbed 10 or more rebounds in four straight games. Phenomenal work, JaVale.

Back to Wall: He led the Wizards with 25 points and was 7-15 from the field -- not great, but much better than he started off the game. He also had six assists, three rebounds, and just one turnover in 36 minutes.

Playing 32 minutes off the bench (partly because of an Al Thornton injury), Young scored 19 points and was also 7-15 from the field. He even grabbed three rebounds and made four three-pointers. As for the starters (other than McGee; Wall came off the bench), Arenas had 17 points and seven assists; Andray Blatche scored 17 points and snagged 12 rebounds; Kirk Hinrich chipped in seven points and six assists; and Thornton had no points and a rebound in eight minutes before departing. Neither Arenas nor Blatche shot well, though; they were a combined 14-37 from the field (ouch).

Overall, the Wizards won a game in which they were outshot (46.2% to 43.9%), outrebounded (48-45), and out-assisted (29-25). But they made four more three-pointers and shot better from the free throw line (76.9% to 71.0%), which certainly ended up mattering.

The Wizards improved to 5-8 on the season with the win, and they travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks on Thursday (on TNT). Also, in just 13 games, the Wizards have already played three overtime games.

Note: According to Basketball-Reference.com, since 1986-1987 only eight other players (other than McGee) have had games with at least 24 points, 10 offensive rebounds, a field-goal percentage of 60 percent (or higher), and four blocks. Those players, in descending order sorted by points, are Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal (three times), Patrick Ewing, Elton Brand, Billy Thompson, Dikembe Mutombo, and LaMarcus Aldridge.

Wiz handle Raptors without Wall, Yi

Now with a 2-9 record after last night's 109-94 loss to the short-handed Wizards, it's fair to say that the Raptors are one of the worst teams in the NBA. Still, the Wizards improved to 3-6 with the win, and they did so without John Wall, and to a lesser extent, Yi Jianlian.

The Raptors, far from a good defensive team, allowed the Wizards to shoot over 56 percent from the field and dish out 28 assists. The Wizards ended the first half with a seven-point lead and then outscored the Raptors by 15 points in the third quarter (36-21) to put the game away for good.

With Wall out, Gilbert Arenas and Kirk Hinrich started together in the backcourt, and both had solid games. Arenas scored 20 points on 7-14 shooting, including 3-6 from three-point range, and he also had seven rebounds and six assists. Hinrich was also efficient, scoring 13 points on eight shots, while also dishing out a game-high 12 assists. Andray Blatche led the Wizards with 22 points (9-13 from the field) and also had seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Rounding out the starting five, Al Thornton added six points and seven rebounds, and JaVale McGee had eight points, nine rebounds, and four blocks.

Nick Young (30 minutes) and Trevor Booker (20 minutes) both played a sizable chunk of minutes off the bench. Young poured in 20 points on 8-15 shooting and also managed to do something else other than scoring points, grabbing six rebounds. The 20 minutes for Booker were the most he's played so far in his young career, and his eight points were also a career high. Also, Hilton Armstrong scored 10 points in a productive 16 minutes off the bench.

As a team, the Wizards held the Raptors to 40.7 percent from the field and outrebounded them 47-36. The Wizards also had nine more assists than Toronto (28-19), but they did turn the ball over three more times (16-13).

After beating the Raptors in Washington, the Wizards face the Celtics in Boston today. Unfortunately, they may still be without Wall, whose status is "still uncertain." The Celtics won't roll over like the Raptors did, and Wall's presence will likely be missed much more in tonight's game.

Brief note: I realize that Young was likely to play more minutes in this game because of Wall's injury, but it's still funny to see how his minutes change from game to game. His 30 minutes last night were a season high, but he hadn't even played 20 minutes in a game since November 2 against the 76ers. I realize that Young basically is who he is at this point -- a guy who doesn't bring a whole lot to the table other than his ability to heat up and score points in bunches -- but I guess he's sort of settling into his role as the fourth guard, which essentially means that he'll see some playing time if Wall, Arenas, or Hinrich misses a game. If not, then I guess he gets to spend most of the game with Sam Cassell on the bench.

Nick Young scores 24 in Wizards' third preseason win

This is the preseason; it doesn't count. With that being said, the Wizards (3-1) have looked impressive while also winning a few games as they prepare for their regular season opener on October 28 against the Magic.

I haven't had the chance to watch many of their games so far, but John Wall again had a decent night, scoring 19 points (on 8-18 shooting) and dishing out seven assists in 35 minutes. But he did get to the free throw line just twice, making both, and also had five turnovers. More important than the win, though, is that Wall is learning valuable lessons before his rookie season begins. According to the AP game story, he learned one last night after picking up two quick fouls:

"The second foul, I should have let it go. I should have let the play go on," Wall said. "I'm more valuable to the team than getting a cheap foul. The preseason is good for learning things that will prepare me for the season, and hopefully, in the season, I won't pick up that cheap foul."

Wall didn't need to be too hard on himself. He sparked Washington in the second quarter, when the Wizards (3-1) took control of the game. He had five of his seven assists in the period as Washington built an 18-point lead.

"You just try to get everybody involved, and whoever has the hot hand, you keep going to them," Wall said. "As a point guard, it's your role to keep everyone happy."

Obviously it's not a huge shock that the Wizards want Wall to stay on the floor and out of foul trouble, but he may also be getting a feel for how NBA officials operate and what he can and can't get away with while he matures into a better defensive player.

Starting in place of Gilbert Arenas -- more on him below -- Nick Young scored 24 points in 31 minutes and seemingly had the hot hand. He made most of his shots, shooting an impressive 10-14 from the field and 4-7 from three-point range. If he shoots that well during the season, he should find plenty of minutes as a scoring threat off the bench. Still, in typical Young fashion, he didn't have a rebound or an assist, though he did have two steals.

Rounding out the rest of the starting five, Kirk Hinrich (as the third guard) had eight points and eight assists, Andray Blatche had nine points, six rebounds, and four assists, and Yi Jianlian, starting at center, had eight points, nine rebounds, and three assists. Oddly enough, Hinrich and Yi had a combined nine field goal attempts, though Yi did get to the three throw line seven times (making four).

With Arenas out and Al Thornton nursing a left ankle sprain, the bulk of the bench minutes went to Cartier Martin (26), JaVale McGee (25), Adam Morrison (17), and Trevor Booker (15). Martin scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting and chipped in three rebounds and two assists. McGee had a strong game too, putting together a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) on 6-10 shooting and getting to the free throw line six times (making four). Morrison and Booker added five and four points, respectively.

But back to Arenas: According to Gene Wang of The Washington Post, before the game last night Flip Saunders said that Arenas wasn't going to play because his knee was "acting up" and was "a little sore." Normally that would be the end of the story for most players -- but not for Arenas. After the game, Arenas said that he wanted to give Young the chance to play, hinting that he probably could have played if he had to. Here's what he said:

"I know he's kind of frustrated he's not getting a chance to crack the three position, especially since we're going three guards, so I told him I'd go ahead and fake an injury or say something's wrong with me so you can start," a smiling Arenas said in the locker room.

When asked about the health of his knee, Arenas said, "I'm fine," and indicated he would play on Thursday in the Wizards' final home preseason game against Milwaukee.

Arenas's comments should usually be taken with a grain of salt, especially in this case because he was smiling when he said it. Still, even though it's only the preseason, Arenas took some of the spotlight off of Wall and the rest of the team to admit, or possibly make up, something that didn't really need to be revealed. If this is a sign that the fun-loving and joking Arenas is going to return, I have no problem with that if his play on the court returns to the way it was a few seasons ago too. But with the current condition of his knee, that may not be possible.

Quick update/comment: Kyle Weidie of Truth About It defends Arenas here and makes the case that if Arenas is willing to sacrifice in a preseason game, then that's seemingly a good sign for the upcoming season. He may be right, and I actually hope he's right. I just don't understand why Arenas had to say anything about it if that's what he was really doing. Maybe that's just his nature. But, to me, if he's really willing to sacrifice to make the guys around him better, he would keep these kinds of things in the clubhouse and wouldn't share them, even if he was just joking around (which is likely).

Wall displays abilities in first preseason game

John Wall probably didn't envision his first shot in last night's preseason game against the Mavericks being an errant, airballed three-pointer. Then again, it happens to everyone, and Wall said it himself after the game: "[T]he most important thing was to get the jitters out of the way. I had a lot of assists and was able to get to the free throw line." Yes, he definitely did.

Wall had 21 points and nine assists, and he also got to the free throw line 11 times (making nine of them). He didn't have the best shooting night (6-14 from the field) and grabbed just one rebound, but he also turned the ball over just twice in a whopping 38 minutes, by far a game-high (the next highest was Kirk Hinrich, who played 28 minutes). Wall also had a game-high four steals.

Andray Blatche was the game's high scorer with 22 points on 9-15 shooting. JaVale McGee added 13 points and seven assists, and Gilbert Arenas scored 12 points, including two three-pointers. Hinrich also hit two threes and chipped in nine points.

A few game notes:

- Hilton Armstrong played 21 minutes and totaled two rebounds, two steals, and a block. He also committed two turnovers. He didn't take a shot and had no points. I get that 1) he's supposed to be focused on defense and rebounding, 2) he's the backup center (for now), and 3) it's the first preseason game, but even Michael Ruffin would have taken a shot in 21 minutes. How about a put-back or something?

- Out of all the bench players, Yi Jianlian had the best game. In 22 minutes he scored 11 points on 5-11 shooting and snagged 10 rebounds. He had two turnovers, but he also blocked three shots. Not bad, Yi.

- Nick Young, on the other hand, was not good. He had only two points on 1-7 shooting in 15 minutes.

- Adam Morrison didn't get in the game. Neither did Trevor Booker, Hamady Ndiaye, or Kevin Seraphin, the team's rookies not named Wall.

The Wizards won, by the way, 97-94. Lester Hudson hit a three-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to give the Wizards the lead and the win. It was a big shot for Hudson, who played only eight minutes and had five points.

Sure, it was only the first preseason game, but Flip Saunders started three guards (Wall, Arenas, and Hinrich) together, and he seems to like how all three play together. If Blatche and McGee show that they can rebound efficiently enough and hold their own in the paint, I wouldn't be surprised to see Saunders use this lineup a lot, though I'm not sure if it would be able to work all that well with either Arenas or Hinrich being forced to guard a small forward for more than a few minutes. But it did work last night, so it's worth paying attention to, especially while Josh Howard is out.

Wizards continue to reshape roster, trade for Yi

Yesterday, the Wizards acquired forward Yi Jianlian from the Nets in exchange for guard Quinton Ross. Because of the difference in salaries between the two -- Yi makes nearly $3 million more than Ross -- the Wizards had to use a trade exception to complete the deal. The Nets also sent $3 million to the Wizards as part of the trade.

The rationale behind the move for the Nets was simple: freeing up more cap space to go after LeBron James and other free agents. The Wizards, however, have refused to simply clear salary and have been active in trying to acquire potential assets that can possibly help the team right now while also not significantly burdening the team financially.

Here's what Ernie Grunfeld had to say about the Wizards' philosophy (as quoted in the ESPN article above):

"We made a decision that we're going to save some of our powder for the future and try to right now put a core of young players together that can grow and we can build with, and that is the reason that we do have those opportunities right now," Grunfeld said. "Otherwise, they probably wouldn't be there for us."

Seems to make sense, right? Washington isn't a destination for big-time free agents like LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Dirk Nowitzki, etc., so what's wrong with gambling a little bit and taking some teams' unwanted parts and seeing if their stocks rise a little bit? If the Wizards are going to take on some salary right now, the ideal situation would also be to acquire some draft picks along with those players, which only happened in the Kirk Hinrich trade.

Back to Yi for a second. He's still young at 22 (even though it's possible that he's actually closer to 25) and certainly has room to improve. In three seasons, he's averaged 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds, but he has shot just 40.2 percent from the field. Last year he averaged 12 points and 7.2 rebounds in 31.8 minutes per game, but again, he shot only slightly over 40 percent (40.3). Yi isn't a great rebounder or defender and needs to improve in both areas. He also needs to improve his offensive efficiency if he's going to stick around in Washington beyond the upcoming season. (Yi has a $5.4 million qualifying offer in 2011-2012 that the Wizards more than likely will decline.)

So after the draft and the Hinrich and Yi trades, let's look at the current Wizards roster. Gone are the following: Earl Boykins, Randy Foye, Mike Miller (presumably), Josh Howard, Fabricio Oberto, Javaris Crittenton, Cedric Jackson, Cartier Martin, Quinton Ross, James Singleton, and Shaun Livingston. Livingston, Singleton, Jackson, or Martin, I guess, could always re-sign with the Wizards, but it seems less likely that will occur with each trade the Wizards make.

So, keeping in mind that the Wizards probably still aren't done wheeling and dealing, here's the group of new Wizards: John Wall, Kirk Hinrich, Yi Jianlian, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin (unless he stays in France for another season), and Hamady N'diaye. They (or most of them) will join Gilbert Arenas, Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee, Al Thornton, and Nick Young.

After the moves, the Wizards' projected cap space is a little over $7 million. That's enough to sign another decent player or two if Grunfeld deems it necessary.

Are the Wizards significantly better right now because of the recent moves? Not necessarily. But they are trying something a little different, and they seem to have a plan. It's hard to get excited over Hinrich and Yi, but there seems to be a method behind the Wizards' front office madness. And there's also some guy named John Wall who should provide plenty of entertainment regardless of how the above trades turn out.