It will be very interesting to see this trade(or lack thereof for the Wiz) with the hindsight of 2 years or so. Who knows…

A guy who still averaged 16.8 ppg in 2011-12 as a sixth man

Those are JR Smith type numbers, would you give him a max deal off of that? They’re still numbers from a sixth man, who was considered exposed in the Finals. He is having a great year in a system that compliments his talents and masks his weaknesses very well. That being said, the Wizards still did the right thing.

The idea that a team is laughed at for not giving up the player they chose third in the draft for a sixth man, who was no more than the third option on offense is laughable.

A guy who still averaged 16.8 ppg in 2011-12 as a sixth man (and behind two all-pro starters) following a similar 2010-11 campaign producing 12.2 ppg— versus a relatively unproven rookie? And Harden now gets 26.2 ppt as a starter? I wouldn’t call that laughable. And we all know that picks 1-5 in any draft aren’t solid gold over time.

But I will definitely agree that a player producing points like Beal on a rookie deal is far more value driven than a max contract player like Harden became. Beal has heated up enough now to make the deal appear more and more unnecessary.

Beal is the truth and he’s 19 years old.

He’s good, but he needs to improve his FG%. .400 make him another Eric Gordon.

Adding to the aura of greatness around his mediocre-to-slightly-above-average GM buddy in Houston.

“making a bunch of neat little moves that don’t amount to anything” seems to be Morey’s M.O. Asik turned out to be a bargain. Parsons was a steal. that Lithuanian kid looks good, and Robinson still might turn out to be a useful player. and after all that they still might win two games in the first round this year.

Name a trade Morey has flat-out lost?

A few moderate FA signings did not work out as well as Asik/Lin (Brent Barry, Trevor Ariza), but both of those players were shipped out and used for acquiring better players. The only player I can think of that was better *after* Morey traded him is Batum.

Morey inherited a team that had Yao/McGrady and 10 nobodies and turned it into a roster that is 10 deep in any given year. Team is also youngest in the league and primed to do in 3 years what OKC is doing now if another star is paired with Harden in next 1-2 years.

Morey has maxed out his assets. What more can you ask of a GM?

The idea that it was a bad move by the Wizards is confounding to begin with but if you call it laughable then it just makes you seem like, to borrow some phraseology, a clueless clown. Beal is the truth and he’s 19 years old.

The idea that a team is laughed at for not giving up the player they chose third in the draft for a sixth man, who was no more than the third option on offense is laughable.

The Wizards portion had been covered previously, back in December, and everyone got a good laugh out of it.

So, the Wizards get laughed at more for not trading for Harden than OKC does for actually trading him?

Blasted luxury tax and owners who care about such things!

Side effects of a league with a salary cap – potential for widespread mediocrity (NFL’s “parity”).

Adding to the aura of greatness around his mediocre-to-slightly-above-average GM buddy in Houston.

“making a bunch of neat little moves that don’t amount to anything” seems to be Morey’s M.O. Asik turned out to be a bargain. Parsons was a steal. that Lithuanian kid looks good, and Robinson still might turn out to be a useful player. and after all that they still might win two games in the first round this year.

His stuff on the NBA continues to be high-quality.

Even in the old days, his passion for the NBA was evident. I thought his football stuff (at least regarding the Pats) was alright, given how big a homer he is.

To me (to me, I say), now when I read his columns it seems he’s trying too hard to be edgy. Do what you gotta do to stand out, I guess.

I don’t read his work nearly as much as I did 5 or so years ago. When he was the “Boston Sports Guy”, I diligently read his columns.

Now that he’s a big-shot media mogul, I’m not as interested. It takes more than a cuss word or five to keep my attention.

His stuff on the NBA continues to be high-quality. His NFL stuff is terrible.

Because it was relevant to the column he was writing.

Yep, you got me.

I don’t read his work nearly as much as I did 5 or so years ago. When he was the “Boston Sports Guy”, I diligently read his columns.

Now that he’s a big-shot media mogul, I’m not as interested. It takes more than a cuss word or five to keep my attention.

Speaking of Simmons, his usual Friday column isnt up.

Spite?

Grantland operates on pacific time, so it might be up later.