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With Hughes Gone, Now What?

Authored by Jason Rosenthal - July 11, 2005 - 11:21 am

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July 11, 2005 By Jason Rosenthal When the offseason began, the Wizards seemed to have few questions: what pieces would GM Ernie Grunfeld put around the Big Three – Arenas, Hughes, & Jamison – to build on last season’s success? Who could Grunfeld acquire in a trade for the disgruntled and disappointing Kwame Brown? And who else could the team add with the mid-level exception? So much for the best-laid plans. Re-signing Hughes seemed a forgone conclusion, but last Friday Hughes agreed to sign with Cleveland for five years at an average of $13-14 million per season. According to sources, the Wizards attempted an 11th hour proposal, but their best offer was still lower than Cleveland's. Barring a Boozeresque renege, Hughes has played his last game for the Wizards. His departure leaves a gaping backcourt next to Arenas, and leaves the status of Kwame even more in doubt. There’s no question that the Wizards wanted to keep Hughes, and, as a byproduct, the team’s nucleus together. However, the team’s initial offer to Hughes was, although fair, below market value. Hughes and his camp were not happy with what they perceived as a lowball offer. After the free agent dominoes started to fall – with both Ray Allen and Michael Redd spurning the Cavs to re-sign with their own team – Cleveland made a play for Hughes. Hughes did not give the Wizards a chance to match. Who could blame him? He’ll be one the highest paid players at his position for the next five years and could be a Pippen-like teammate to LeBron James. That would garner tons of media exposure, and as a result, drive up his marketing profile for potential endorsers. There’s no blaming Larry Hughes here or questioning his loyalty. The Wizards came late with a stronger offer, but had misjudged the league’s interest in Hughes. Hughes did what most people would do in a similar situation. The team did not want 75 percent of their cap tied up in three perimeter players, especially with no go-to inside offensive threat. That makes sense. But let’s not sugarcoat this – losing Hughes is huge blow to the Wizards and their ambition to develop into a perennial playoff team. With Arenas, Jamison, and Haywood still on the roster, there’s plenty to build around, but Ernie has a lot of work to do if the Wizards want to take the next step. Grunfeld probably had nightmares remembering the six-year, $67 million contract he doled out to Tim Thomas in 2000 when he was with the Milwaukee Bucks. Thomas isn’t the player Hughes is, but the parallel holds. After signing Thomas, the Bucks had approximately 75 percent of their cap committed to three players – Thomas, Ray Allen, and Glenn Robinson (Sam Cassell was paid very reasonably). The season after signing Thomas, the Bucks made it to game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals. However, that turned out to be a fluke, as the team missed the playoffs the following year. With most of their payroll tied into three guys and no real chance to get better, the team blew things up and traded everyone. Grunfeld doesn’t want that. He wants a team that’s going to win now and in the future. With Arenas and Jamison already signed to big deals, keeping the big three together had some practical limits. At the end of the day, Hughes is a shooting guard, the easiest position in all of basketball to fill. Hughes has missed 25 percent of the season in each of the last four seasons. His shot is spotty and inconsistent. Is this making you feel better? Yeah, me neither. So now what? Do the Wizards go after a dwindling list of free agent guards to replace Hughes? Or do they trade the Kwame Brown to fill Hughes’ shoes. Jarvis Hayes isn’t ready or healthy and while the team likes his potential, the team would be foolish to count on him as the full time backcourt sidekick to Gilly the Kid. Trading Brown seems like the easy to thing do, but losing both Hughes and Kwame in the same offseason might more than Grunfeld can swallow. If the team decides to retain him, can Kwame patch things up with his coach, teammates, and the fans for his antics during last season’s playoffs? While Kwame hasn’t spoken publicly about what happened during the playoffs, his teammate, Etan Thomas wanted to set some things straight. “I'm so tired of hearing people who don't know what they are talking about say that he quit or that he is this terrible,” said Etan. “People have to realize that Kwame didn’t quit; he was suspended. I'm not saying that he chose the best method of handling his frustrations by not coming to practice or the next shootaround, but he didn't quit. He just wanted to play and got frustrated and didn't handle it well.” But didn’t he cuss out Eddie Jordan when they got together to discuss the situation? “Naw that isn’t true,” said Thomas. "They had a meeting and they told him that he was going to be suspended for the rest of the season, but that was decided before the meeting. That’s what I mean though; people are throwing all of this dirt on Kwame and most of the time they don't even know what they are talking about.” Even if the Wizards decide they want him back, does Kwame want to return or has he resigned himself to moving on with a different team? “He wants to shut up all of the critics, get the fans on his side, he just wants to play,” said Thomas. “Kwame is just getting himself ready so that he is prepared to work with whatever cards he's dealt. He knows that it’s out of his hands now. He is going to work hard regardless.” And his teammates want him back? They don’t feel betrayed? “A lot could be different next year with him healthy and now with Larry gone, we need him,” Thomas said. “You have to realize he was playing hurt for most of the year, and that if he's healthy, he is exactly what we need as the third scorer with Larry gone. And an inside scorer at that. I don't think we can afford not to re-sign him.” But the team had their best season in years with barely a contribution from him. What makes Etan so certain he’s finally going to live up to his potential? “I know what he can do and I don't want to see him go someplace else and blow up like Rasheed, Ben Wallace, or Rip did when he can do that right here,” said Thomas. “If he comes back next year and has the type of season that he is capable of, believe me, all will be forgiven.” Gil and Antawn, the team’s remaining leaders, have also expressed support for Kwame. With Hughes gone, trading Kwame seems less like a definite despite countless reports of a sign and trade. Most people seem to think that Kwame has to be traded to bring back someone to replace Hughes. But do the Wizards really want to lose Hughes, and then flip Kwame for a couple average players? Do they really think a team is going to give up a legitimate building block for Kwame after what’s happened with him in Washington? Is Mike Sweetney going to make a real difference in the long run, Susan O’Malley’s marketing strategy notwithstanding? Kwame is still big, strong, and athletic. His actions have conveyed both a questionable attitude and work ethic for what it takes to be an NBA player – nobody is denying that. But it was just two years ago that he averaged 11 and 7.5, and looked to be on his way. Perhaps Hughes’ departure will cause the Wizards to give Kwame one more chance. If he still causes mayhem next year and doesn’t improve on the court, he won’t have any less value than he does right now. And what if he actually turns into a dependable starter at PF – not necessarily an all-star, but a forward capable of checking the oppositions best power player, while scoring in the teens and grabbing double-digit rebounds? Wouldn’t that be enough? It’s more than a little possible that Hughes’ departure could result in the team holding onto Kwame, and Kwame finding a way to approach his potential. Hey – nobody thought the team would ever get a free agent like Arenas. And few thought the team had a chance for the playoffs last season. Perhaps the franchise’s karma has changed. Of course, even with Kwame back on board, the team is still without a starter in the backcourt. The replacement, when found, certainly won’t come with a 22-6-5-3 line, Hughes points-boards-assists-steals last season. But – In Ernie We Trust. Jason Rosenthal is the content supervisor at WizFans.com and columnist for RealGM.com. He can be reached at jmrosenth@yahoo.com.