#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

A hush came over the room as the Wizards' GM walked onto the podium. No - that's not right. Saying that a "hush came over" would imply that there was chatter before, a lively scene. There was none of the sort. The room was cold, a sleepy chill that brought out the weariness of all who had attended. The mood was that of the grave, as Xist's march to the podium resembled a pastor, summoned to perform a eulogy for a Scrooge. The silence was deafening, to the point where one was almost tempted to clap, shout, stomp, anything, just to confirm that their ears were indeed, still working. Such confirmation came once Xist spoke, refusing to sit behind the table, standing rigid as if before a firing squad.

Now I know I've said this numerous times before, and have been proven wrong each time, but this time I can assure you: There will be no jokes; no players popping in unannounced; no funny business whatsoever in this presser.

If true, not only would it be a first, but it would be a shame. Looking around the dimly-lit room and taking in the somber, oppressive atmosphere, never was a bit of fun and whimsy more needed than at this moment.

Last season was quite the adventure, as we managed to win our fifth division title on the last week of the regular season, giving us our seventh straight playoff appearance. However, I believe our season can be summed up with these two headlines. On December 18th, 2007, a Washington Times article begins with 'On the beginning of a three-game home stand, the Wizards fall in OT despite a 61-point night from Lewis.' On April 23, 2008, the Washington Post wrote 'Rashard's 61 barely prevents the Wiz from Game 3 defeat in Jersey.'

As many who had worked on those very articles were in attendance, there were many nods of agreement, as many instantly knew what Xist meant. 61 points in a game was nearly unheard of in today's era, let alone two such games in a season, and when the Wizards lost one and barely won the other, the writing appeared to be on the wall. The 1-point victory in Game 3 in particular was impactful, as many - correctly - assumed that if the Wizards had their hands full against a Miller-less Nets team, their playoff chances were slim.

As you know, we lost that series. In the last seven years, we've only gotten past the 1st round three times. In seven years I'd failed to build a team around a MVP and 3-time scoring champion that anyone could take seriously as a threat, while my peers had consistently done more without such a talent. And it was in that frame of mind that I realized that it was over, I couldn't do this anymore. Rashard has many years left of top-notch production, but the team had reached its ceiling. There was no more possibility of an ECF appearance, let alone a second Finals appearance. And without our 2010 1st, if a rebuild was to happen and we were to get anything approaching full value for Rashard, we had to act NOW. And so we did.

Several in the crowd sadly shook their heads. The trade of Rashard Lewis to the "other Washington" sent shockwaves throughout the nation, and at the epicenter of it all was DC. The two youngsters, Danny Granger and Brandon Roy, were not seen in DC until a month or two later, and it was rumored that they were both advised to stay in Seattle until training camp to protect them against potential assault. Sales of the still-new Wizards gear dropped 75%, and several stores reported zero sales of Roy and Granger jerseys.

This will not be a good season. Indeed, I would consider this season to be a disappointment if we finished anywhere outside of the bottom 3 in the conference. That is not to say that there are no good things to look forward to. Zaza has improved once again in TC, proving the the organization made a grave mistake in prioritizing Marcus Banks over him. Brandon Roy has an opportunity to prove his worth to this organization, as do the rest of our new acquisitions. Gerald Green continues to slowly mature as a player. And we do own our 2009 1st, so the suffering we will experience this season could potentially have a silver lining. That's not much of a promise nor much of an excuse, but for the moment, it will have to be enough. At this time I will answer any questions you may have.

GWR: Be honest with us -- do you feel some newfound relief that you won't have to worry about the pressure of putting a contender around Rashard Lewis anymore?

With so many teams saying "this will be a bad season", what happens if you find yourself in the hunt for a playoff spot? Does it cause you to pivot?

Mr. Nets: Were you trying send Rashard out of the Eastern Conference to minimize the amount of times he could light up the Wizards in revenge?

Nick Melon; The Advocate: What was it about Danny Granger that appealed most to you? In the past, his former GM nicknamed him "Shitty Granger." Was he looked at as an extra add on to dealing away Rashard? Do You see him holding a formidable role with this club this season and future ahead?

The questions came pouring in from all angles, as expected after such an impactful offseason. To his credit, Xist answered all the questions with a detached calm, almost as if he'd already mentally distanced himself from the situation.

Random Wolves guy, only a little. I say a little because it is nice to sit back and not care one bit about every little loss, to just let a season play out. But I can't say that I'm completely happy to move on, because now there's a new fear, one that I'm sure other GMs can back me up on: If you couldn't build a contender with a Top-5 player on your side, then what in the world will it take for you to build one?

If we end up with a playoff team...I think I might quit. *nervous laughter from the crowd* ...no...I seriously think that would be a logical choice.

Mr. Nets, that was definitely a major reason. When trading away our talent, we prefer to get them as far away from us as possible. That's not to say that we won't accept major deals from Atlantic or Central teams, but our preference is absolutely West > Central > Atlantic.

Mr. Melon, Granger was mostly included out of necessity, and for his potential as a trade piece, both now and for next season's RFA. I won't get into specifics about that aspect now, but I can confirm that yes, Brandon Roy and maintaining cap space were the key points of the deal, not Granger.

Lots are accusing you of openly tanking. With sending Marcus banks away from peanuts when you could have waited and netted a first round pick. Many think that this type of trading ruins the league and its balance. what would your response be?

How confident are you in Danny Granger's ability to bounce back from the abuse heaped on him by his previous GM, who questioned his talent at every turn?

To that I'd say 'You try to trade Marcus Banks for a 1st and see where that gets you.' I don't believe in holding onto talent in the hopes of getting something better, especially when there's no indicator that anything better is on the horizon. I had no reason to believe that Banks would net a pick, and with the annual period of overspending known as Free Agency swallowing up potential trade partners, it was either act fast, or get caught holding the bill. As proof of my adherence to this philosophy, I'd like to bring up Shaq and AJ's FA departures in 2005. Had I received even a smidgen of interest in the sign-and-trade market for those two beforehand, I would've felt confident in resigning them and trading them later. Likewise, had we not gotten our cans kicked in by the upstart Sixers in the playoffs, failing to even make it to the ECF, I would've felt comfortable in keeping them an paying the massive tax to give the team another shot at a championship. But those things didn't happen, and so they had to go. I wish that that wasn't the case, but unfortunately it was.

More than a few eyebrows were raised as Xist spoke. It wasn't exactly a well-kept secret in DC that Xist was often single-minded, cold, and unfeeling, but it was still a surprise to hear a NBA GM speak so candidly.

And as for tanking...well, to be perfectly honest, I have no problem with tanking when it's the logical thing to do. Tanking is a tool, and like any other tool, there is a time and place for it. Also like every other tool, it cannot be overused. Tanking is not bad. Chronic tanking is. Tanking when it is not really in your best interests to do so is. Tanking when you have an opportunity to win is. That's why I said that it might be logical for me to step down if we end up competing for a playoff spot, because though winning now does us far more harm than good, I won't sabotage a winning team. I didn't do that in 2000 when we got off to a hot start despite a barebones roster, and I won't do that should we 'compete' now. But I'm tired of 1st round exits, and I just traded away they best player I've ever had because our limit had been reached. I honestly would like for this rebuild to go as scheduled, no tricks, no surprises.

As for the next question, I don't know if being here is much better for Danny, given that our fans haven't supported him or Brandon at all, and we have been quite honest with him about his shaky future with us. With that being said, we have no doubts about his talent whatsoever, and he has seemed to respond to that with a solid TC. We wouldn't mind Danny staying at all, and he seems to genuinely appreciate having his talents recognized and would like to repay us by staying here and proving that he's a star, but those feelings don't change the reality of the situation we face.

Jack Markson here, obviously, everyone in Washington is excited to see Granger and Roy. Who's someone under the radar that you're really excited to have on your team this year?

A few muffled chuckles could be heard throughout the room, as Granger and Roy's reception - or lack thereof - had become somewhat of a hot topic of discussion around various sports media outlets.

I don't know if everyone here's excited about those two, but personally I'm excited to have Carl Landry and Lou Williams on our team this season. After picking up what most would deem as middling returns for Marcus Banks, we able to get exactly what we wanted for Gerald Wallace: A solid, athletic player signed cheap for the next few seasons. In TC, Landry improved quite a bit, showing long-term potential. In the present, he looks to be a nice compliment to Zaza in the offensive frontcourt. Lou might be regarded by many as a bust now, but we've always been quite impressed by his athleticism and rookie season stats. In fact, had he still been on Seattle's roster at the time, he would've been included in the Rashard deal. As it is, we're happy to have him, and happier still that he's shown improvement in his scoring ability during TC. We hope that he'll be an offensive sparkplug off the bench.

Seattle Beat writer: Danny Granger at around 35 mpg will average around 20 ppg. This is a fact. He is a super athletic player and can pretty much score on anyone. Given those facts. Will he be back next year with a shiny new super-maxed contract?

Oh he'll get a max all right, it just might not be from us. Riddle me this: What do you call a rebuild with no cap space? A bad idea. Even though we won't have Ray's deal on our books much longer, I still don't fancy having to pay a ton of tax next season and trying to rebuild with two fresh, hefty contracts in Granger and Roy the season after that. So then, Granger could easily end up in another uniform as a tax casualty. But I'm sure there will be a few willing trade partners if necessary.

Lots of talks about Rashard and Granger understandably. But what of Zaza and Landry? Both will be coming off the books when you should have plenty of cap room. Both seem like EXTREMELY good role players with attributes on the boards and defensively.

Do you see them being key pieces for your team going forward, especially when you are looking at a mulit-year rebuild?

Zaza's definitely a key piece, as he's only 24. As long as he keeps growing as a player *Xist quickly makes the sign of the cross* we'll try to keep him around. Landry, though we like him quite a bit so far, is more of a short-term piece due to his age. He'll make for nice trade bait down the road, but if things go better than expected, he could be a key part of our post-rebuild team.