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06-28-2007, 10:34 AM
Any growth must come from within
Tom Knott
June 27, 2007
The Wizards no more need the 16th pick in the draft than Brendan Haywood in uniform next season.
Neither piece is about to address the sense of foreboding enveloping the Wizards, with both Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison set to become unrestricted free agents next summer.
The Wizards have 82 games and the playoffs to demonstrate that they are a team of substance in the Eastern Conference.
That demonstration, of course, will be a factor in the decision-making process of Arenas and Jamison.
A team on the rise is certainly more appealing than one stuck in the one-and-done cycle of the playoffs.
Even if the Wizards experience another injury-induced, fault-free fade next season, no one in these parts is liable to be too optimistic about the negotiating process involving Arenas and Jamison, no matter how many times each player says all the right things in the months ahead.
We have heard all these things in the past, and we know how they sometimes turn out, with the player going elsewhere, while dispensing the money quote: "This is a business."
We can lament all day how, with a break or two, it could have been the Wizards in the NBA Finals instead of the Cavaliers, if not for the injuries to Arenas and Caron Butler.
For the rest of the article....http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070627/SPORTS05/106270087/1005/sports
Tom Knott
June 27, 2007
The Wizards no more need the 16th pick in the draft than Brendan Haywood in uniform next season.
Neither piece is about to address the sense of foreboding enveloping the Wizards, with both Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison set to become unrestricted free agents next summer.
The Wizards have 82 games and the playoffs to demonstrate that they are a team of substance in the Eastern Conference.
That demonstration, of course, will be a factor in the decision-making process of Arenas and Jamison.
A team on the rise is certainly more appealing than one stuck in the one-and-done cycle of the playoffs.
Even if the Wizards experience another injury-induced, fault-free fade next season, no one in these parts is liable to be too optimistic about the negotiating process involving Arenas and Jamison, no matter how many times each player says all the right things in the months ahead.
We have heard all these things in the past, and we know how they sometimes turn out, with the player going elsewhere, while dispensing the money quote: "This is a business."
We can lament all day how, with a break or two, it could have been the Wizards in the NBA Finals instead of the Cavaliers, if not for the injuries to Arenas and Caron Butler.
For the rest of the article....http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070627/SPORTS05/106270087/1005/sports