Is the verdict in – if there even is one – on who might’ve made out better from the Wizards roster last year after the midseason trades that dismantled the team?
Antawn Jamison went to Cleveland, helped the Cavaliers finish the regular season with the best record in the NBA, and then got bounced in the playoffs by Boston and had to watch LeBron James throw a blazing torch over his head as he bolted for Miami. If any team got worse during the offseason, it was the Cavaliers.
Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson also jumped to the head of the line from NBA purgatory, finishing second in the West with the Dallas Mavericks. But they also got smoked in the playoffs – the first round – by San Antonio. The Mavericks will contend this season, but they might also get antsy and try to make rebuilding moves.
Meanwhile, left in Washington were Nick Young, Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, who helped set a new franchise record for consecutive losses, but they also won the NBA Lottery, got a new owner, a No. 1 overall draft pick and future franchise cornerstone in John Wall and got paid, at least in Blatche and McGee’s case.
Thus the backdrop is set for Young, McGee and Blatche – on, and Gilbert Arenas – to visit both Dallas and Cleveland for preseason games this week, starting tonight in Dallas.
“It’s going to be kind of awkward at first, but it’s part of basketball,” said Blatche, who was all smiles about the opportunity to go against his mentors. “I’m going to go in there and do what I got to do. If I dunk on Brendan, I’m going to slap him on the [behind] … good try. But I’m going to go out there and compete and give it my all.”
It’s easier for the media to build up these reunion-type games, especially when there’s clear animosity between players, or hints of it.
Remember when Arenas said this last year, “Most of us feel confident with each other on the floor. There’s a few that don’t. For the most part, we all get along. There are about 15 players on a team? 14 get along.”
It appeared to be a veiled shot at Butler, although both players cleared the air shortly after.
Now that makes for an interesting setup when the two return to the same court for the first time since early December.
The Wizards also made a commercial with Blatche last season that talked about him being ready when his number was called – and then his number was actually called when Jamison got what looked like his dream shot at an NBA title.
For Blatche, especially, the departure of the Wizards’ longtime stalwart made it clear once and for all – his time in the shadows was officially over, and the power forward position was his to keep.
“Everything that ‘Twan said to me, came to me like clockwork,” said Blatche. “From watching him play, he taught me the game. Once, I got on the court, I knew what to do. It clicked into me, it was automatic.”
Despite some hurdles, Blatche proved over the final half of the year that he had been heeding the endless lessons he’d been forced to endure since being drafted, and he’s said this season that he feels no pressure despite knowing that he’s expected to continue to play at that level and better.
“I’ve grown a lot definitely as a player, on the court and off the court,” said Blatche. “I have a job to do. I play for the Washington Wizards. They play for Dallas, they have a job to do. I’m going to go out there. I’m going to do my job, and that’s to compete and win. They my friends. I grew up in the league with them. But that don’t mean nothing when I get on that court. I’m going to play them like I play everybody else.”
Blatche has talked a lot in the last week about being the same type of mentor and leader for the Wizards’ new crop of youngsters.
“I came here when I was 18,” he said. “They showed the ropes, how to take care of your body, what to look out for and basically made me smarter on the court. I took everything they taught. Even at the time they was being hard on me. They was actually was helping me. I took it in, and now I’m going to try to do the same thing for John and [Trevor] Booker and [Kevin] Seraphin and all the young guys.”
Most of us do. Most of us feel confident with each other on the floor. There’s a few that don’t. For the most part, we all get along. There are about15 players on a team? 14 get along.
