Yi to Wiz in salary dump

[jsilva982]

http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2010/06/nj_nets_yi_on_his_way_to_dc.html

Pure salary dump

[Lucky17]

Is Yi bringing the famous workout chair with him to Washington?

So glad Danny passed on him. I knew when he did that we had dodged a bullet.

[Rondo2287]

haha, "Chairman Yi"

[blackbird]

I don't see it as a salary dump. The Nets just made their team better.

[BballTim]

  I wonder what, if anything, moves like this mean in the grand scheme of things. Does the fact that the Nets are still dumping salaries mean that they still think they're in the "LeBron and someone else" sweepstakes? If not, shouldn't they (or the Knocks) start looking the other way, possibly picking up Beasley or Deng?

[Rondo2287]

I don't see it as a salary dump. The Nets just made their team better.

Well he did average 14 and 8 last year.  He isnt great but he is a decent player.

[jsilva982]

He is not a stud by any means but come on....7 feet...12/8 and hes only 22 making a small salary.  I'd take him.  Again, not great but not awful either.

[Lucky17]

This trade, as described by the article, can't happen, as Ross is in the last year of his contract. The deadline for such a trade passed months ago.

What can happen is that Washington can simply absorb Yi's contract, thanks to a trade exception from the Drew Gooden trade during last season. Washington can send a conditional 2nd round pick, or, if they are feeling generous, the rights to one of their picks from last week's draft.

Chad Ford reports that the Wizards are also getting $3 million from New Jersey.

[Jeff]

interesting play by the Wizards - foregoing the free agent market for picks and young players (and cash of course)

[Mr October]

It must be great to be in a position to capture all this shedding of talent..... oh no, wait... I don't want to replace the Celtics with the Wizards. 

[Who]

Good move by New Jersey.

I am disappointed in the Wizards wasting away their cap space. I would have loved to have seen them go after Rudy Gay or Amare Stoudemire to pair with John Wall (and maybe Blatche). Then find away to get rid of Arenas at some point and have more cap space down the road to further develop the team.

Anyway, the Wizards choose their path with the Kirk Hinrich move. I would have waited and seen what Pat Riley did with Michael Beasley before accepting Yi ... but if they reached out and were rebuffed, then Yi is a solid option. He is still a talented young player. Doesn't really know how to play basketball but could yet become a solid contributor (more a 12/8 guy than a star).

[Lucky17]

interesting play by the Wizards - foregoing the free agent market for picks and young players (and cash of course)

Lost in the all the hoopla about Miami, Chicago, NJ, and NY being the destinations for every free agent during this offseason is the fact that teams like Minnesota, Washington, and Sacramento also have tons of cap room, and can also be major players in these FA sweepstakes.

[Mr October]

Some team is really gonna get burned this off season. or some teams, plural...

There's going to be 1 big free agent winner, followed by 1 ok winnner, followed by 2 really disappointed teams and fan bases.

Ironically the 2 NY are based teams are the ones falling on the outside right now.

If the Knicks sign Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudemire to big contracts, they can say a big hello to 3-5 years of .500 basketball.

Who'd be left for the Nets? Rudy Gay and David Lee? Wow, no thanks. That team would be lucky to win 35 games.

[the_Bird]

Nets just starting over with a blank slate?  

Don't think New Jersey is likely to be successful in attracting free agents, but they (along with teams like Sacramento and Minnesota) may be positioning themselves to be big players in the trade market.  They could either pick up overpriced talent for essentially nothing, or pick up some extra draft picks and young pieces for helping facilitate other teams' trades.  If Golden State REALLY needed to get rid of Monta Ellis to shore up their profitability, New Jersey could take him on without having to send back any salary.

Wondering if some of these guys might try and hold onto that space through next years' trade deadline.

[Mr October]

interesting play by the Wizards - foregoing the free agent market for picks and young players (and cash of course)

Lost in the all the hoopla about Miami, Chicago, NJ, and NY being the destinations for every free agent during this offseason is the fact that teams like Minnesota, Washington, and Sacramento also have tons of cap room, and can also be major players in these FA sweepstakes.

Yup There is the second tier of cap space teams. LAC, SAC, WAS, TOR, and most intriguing: the Phoenix Suns. The Suns could have about 13 million on their hands if Amare splits.