Initial reactions to Tuesday night's Wizard's trade revolve around a new-found team imbalance and on finding minutes for the sudden glutton of back-court players. Tighten the reigns on those horses, the season over 120 days away.
Others will wonder how the heck the Wizards are going to defend. Aspiring championship experiments driven by free-flowing juggernaut offenses, with defense being an afterthought, have come and gone with the rise and fall of the Phoenix Suns. In the current NBA landscape, no one sees that bird rising from the ashes a second time. Team defense winning championships holds true now just as much as ever.
Besides, Gilbert Arenas might have as much of a chance at replicating a Steve Nash-led offense as Bill Gates has at winning "So You Think you Can Dance."
Akin to defense winning championships, Flip Saunders will probably tell you that individuals don't play good defense, teams do. The Wizards' new coach alluded to such when he said, "The Cleveland Cavaliers individually are not a great defensive team, but collectively, they're a pretty good team defense," at a meet-n-greet with season ticket holders.
Saunders, who's dubbed himself a teacher before a coach, will relish in the opportunity to instruct a talented group of athletes how to defend together with Brendan Haywood serving as the anchor in the paint.
Ernie Grunfeld's trade has created a much deeper squad. In Mike Miller and Randy Foye, the Wizards gain experienced players who know the league and are hungry to win ... not some draft pick just trying to get his feet wet and away from the throngs of gold diggers prowling around the NBA rookie synopsis.
For Grunfeld, this is "win now," but without pushing all his chips to the middle of the table. The Wizards gained talent and trimmed some salary. What's not to like about that?
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The glaring hole obviously comes in the paint with paper-thin post depth. Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee and Dom McGuire are not fit for prime-time duty.
But rest assured, Ernie Grunfeld is not finished. With Mike James' expiring contract, a high second-round pick, and a willingness to venture into luxury tax territory, the creative juices are still flowing, albeit limited through a funnel of subtracted assets now.
Don't judge the Grunfeld's summertime movement book by its cover. Judge it when all is said and done, and then again when the remodeled core of the original Big Three plus more takes the court.
Kyle Weidie is a D.C. resident who writes Truth About It and contributes to Bullets Forever, both Washington Wizards blogs. Follow the latest Washington Wizards news on Tumblr.
