Even Lateral Moves A Step Up For Wizards
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By DERON SNYDER
Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld has been an all-or-nothing guy to an extent, engineering deals that are great or gross, but rarely in-between.
Acquiring Kevin Seraphin and Kirk Hinrich for the rights to Vladimir Veremeenko was fantastic, especially once Hinrich was traded for Jordan Crawford plus a first-round draft pick. Shipping off Kwame Brown for Caron Butler was another stroke of genius
But giving Andray Blatche a $25 million extension was as boneheaded as the player proved to be. And even with a gun in his face, Grunfeld should have passed on signing Gilbert Arenas to a $111 million contract.
Washington’s latest move — trading Rashard Lewis for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza — doesn’t fall in either extreme category. I don’t love it, and I don’t hate it. The transaction seems like a so-so deal for a mediocre team, perhaps good enough to have a fair-to-middling impact, but not enough to make a substantial leap.
