State of the Cap: Washington Wizards

[headliner]

2006/07 Washington Wizards Payroll: $56 million
2006/07 Estimated NBA Salary Cap: $52 million
Roughly: $4 million over cap

The Good: Gilbert Arenas continues to get better every year. Considering how good he was last year, it's amazing that he could push his production even higher. Arenas will make, on average, $12 million dollars a year the next three seasons. That is an excellent bargain for one of the league's best scorers. Arenas has increased his scoring average to 29 per game, as well as 6 assists, 2 steals, and shoots decent from anywhere on the court. His stellar play has helped the team overcome the loss of Larry Hughes last summer.

To replace Hughes, the team acquired Caron Butler from the Lakers in the Kwame Brown deal. They also signed him to a 5 year, $46 million dollar contract extension. That deal is a little over half of what Hughes received from Cleveland, and while Caron isn't going to put up the kind of numbers that Hughes did last season, he has performed well for the Wizards. Caron is averaging 17 points and 6 rebounds a game and provides a good third scoring option to compliment Arenas and Antawn Jamison.

The Bad: Many people thought Etan Thomas's contract was a mistake when he signed it. Now we know for sure. Thomas still has four more years at about $6.5 million each. Unfortunately for the Wizards, he plays just 15 minutes a game and contributes less than 5 points and 4 rebounds. At least he is making Brendan Haywood's deal look great by comparison. Haywood also has four years remaining, but at only $5.25 million per year. Is 7.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block each night worth that much? A little more production out of Brendan might make his deal worth it.

The Future: I wrote last year that Antawn Jamison's contract was a little too large for what he brought to the table. Like his partner Arenas, Antawn has stepped up big to overcome the loss of Larry Hughes. He raised his scoring average to over 20 a game, he crashed the boards for 9.4 rebounds a night, and he shot a very nice 41% from the three-point line. Jamison will get more than $30 million dollars the next two seasons and with stats like that he should be worth it.

Washington slipped a little this year, but it was understandable with the sudden loss of one of your star players. This is still a good team, but there are some pieces missing. The most glaring weakness is on the frontline. Considering the team's salary cap is basically spent for the next two seasons, it will be difficult to improve in that area. The Wizards will have to hope that Haywood and Thomas (and maybe even Jared Jeffries) can increase their performance and give Arenas and Jamison some help. This team has some nice talent, but with little cap room and no good trade bait, it will be very difficult to become a contender.

Bonus Points? for trading Kwame Brown. It might be tough to admit you were wrong (though, to be fair, it WAS Michael Jordan's pick), but it was the right thing to do and it paid off handsomely. Now, if they can pull off another trade for Etan, I would really be impressed.

Grade: C[/b]

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