Stumbled upon this today on NBA.com. Enjoy…

First Kwame Brown signs with the Bobcats, now Etan Thomas signs with the Hawks. The horror!

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Hawks have signed free agent center Etan Thomas to add bulk in the frontcourt.

The 6-foot-10 Thomas spent most of his career with the Washington Wizards but finished last season with Oklahoma City. He’s averaged 5.8 point and 4.8 rebounds per game over his eight-year career, which includes 74 starts.

Hawks coach Larry Drew says Thomas will add veteran leadership and physical toughness.

Terms of the contract were not released.

Yes, we’ve officially reached the low point of the NBA offseason, where the news is so few and far between that I’m talking about Etan Thomas signing with the Hawks to serve as their tenth man.

Notice the bold part of that excerpt? It will be interesting to see how Washington’s big men play against all these bruisers. Not saying Kwame or Etan are going to do much damage (quite the contrary in fact) but they are extra centers that are certainly stronger than JaVale McGee and Hilton Armstrong. I’m still weary about the Wizards’ chances to grab rebounds and play tough defense without anyone intimidating in the paint.

Yi Jianlian has been tearing it up at the FIBA World Championships for China, averaging 26 points and 11.5 rebounds. Great to see he’s getting a chance to play as the leader of his team, and is taking advantage of that opportunity. Here are some highlights of China’s performance thus far.

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Below is a guest piece written by Alvin Hutchinson, a big Wizards/Bullets fan. Enjoy!

Former Wizard Kwame Brown signed a contract with the Charlotte Bobcats last week. Brown was the first pick in the 2001 NBA draft, a choice made by then Wizards executive, Michael Jordan.

It brings to mind the entire Jordan-Wizards affair and although many feel that the period was a disaster for the franchise, there was one positive benefit to come out of it. After Jordan was fired, Wizards owner, Abe Pollin then appeared to make a commitment to hire professional, competent leadership for the organization. He got Ernie Grunfeld, a general manager with a proven track record of success and Eddie Jordan, an experienced coach. One thing that had been nagging the franchise since the Bullets era was a lack of leadership at the GM and head coach positions.

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With the aid of the powerful ESPN Trade Machine, I came up with a few possible three or four-way trades that send Carmelo Anthony to the Wizards. They’re all pipe dreams, but take a look and tell me what you think.

By the way, I didn’t do any straight up Nuggets-Wizards swaps because there weren’t any that made sense for Denver.

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Washington has officially made the phone call to Denver to check in on ‘Melo’s availability. Michael Lee of the Washington Post first reported the story…

Take it for what it’s worth, but the Wizards recently made an obligatory call to the Denver Nuggets to check on the availability of all-star forward Carmelo Anthony, a league source said on Friday. The source added that the Wizards were simply doing their due diligence and that the same phone call was made by “29 teams. Carmelo is pretty good.”

The likelihood of Anthony returning to play professionally near his home town of Baltimore is on the shady side of slim. Denver has told league executives that it is seeking a package of expiring contracts, future draft picks and young prospects in any deal for its franchise cornerstone.

The Wizards have no plans of trading No. 1 overall pick John Wall and no large expiring contracts of note, while the Nuggets have no interest in taking back bad contracts, which rules out shipping Gilbert Arenas and the four years and $80 million left on his deal. If the Wizards were to assemble an attractive package of young players — excluding Wall — there likely wouldn’t be a team with enough remaining talent to encourage Anthony to sign an extension in Washington.

I’m glad the Wizards are at least attempting to peak Denver’s interest. I was afraid after this offseason that Ted Leonsis was going to stick to his “build through the draft approach” so much that he wouldn’t even pursue big name guys like ‘Melo.

Later today I’ll post some possible three or four way trades that work salary cap wise (and hopefully from a logical standpoint too). Stay tuned.

Kelly Dwyer from Ball Don’t Lie is compiling a list of the top 30 players at each position. Here’s what he thought of John Wall, Gilbert Arenas, and Andray Blatche–with commentary from yours truly following.

John Wall

17. John Wall(notes), Washington Wizards (last year: unranked)

It’s all guesswork, at this point, isn’t it? We’ve seen Wall’s type before, and on some nights he’ll look like the best point guard in the league. On other nights he’ll look like a kid who should be suiting up against Mississippi State, and on others he’ll look like exactly what he is: A young talent who makes up for the missteps with fine play, a sound contributor regardless of age.

Considering Wall hasn’t played a single NBA game yet, it’s hard to be too perturbed by the ranking. I’d expect John to approach the top ten by season’s end though.

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Very, very funny news courtesy of the Associated Press…

This time, the move isn’t as risky. Brown, 28, agreed to a one-year deal for the veteran minimum of $1.3 million, and at 6-11 and 270 pounds he should provide the size the Bobcats need.

Mark Bartlestein, Brown’s agent, told ESPN.com that: “He really wanted to take the challenge of playing again for Michael and playing for a top coach like Larry Brown. I think it says a lot about Kwame that he wanted to go to Charlotte . . . He wants this opportunity to go back and prove something.”

I’m glad Kwame is still able to find work, but this move makes literally no sense from a PR standpoint. Good luck talking Bobcats fans into arguably the biggest bust in NBA history, especially considering Michael Jordan was the one who butchered the pick in the first place.

Just another example of a stubborn owner/GM trying to prove he was right in the first place.

Here’s to hoping that never happens to Ted Leonsis…

Photo Courtesy of Yardbarker.com

While I won’t be cheering for China to win the FIBA World Championships (have to stay loyal to America), I will be rooting for Yi Jianlian. He’s the star of the Chinese team since Yao Ming was unable to participate due to injury.

China has an extremely tough schedule in group C. First they face off against powerhouse Greece (one of the favorites to win gold), and later on they play an underrated Puerto Rico team. Basically, they need to beat Cote d’Ivoire and Russia just to make it onward to round two.

This is a great opportunity for Yi to gain valuable leadership skills and to play more aggresively. China needs him to score the ball at a high rate in order to win. Hopefully he can do just that, and carry over his improved skills to the NBA regular season.

On a separate note, Team USA didn’t even start today’s game against Spain with a true center. Instead, Lamar Odom filled that void. That means if McGee had made the squad, he might not have played even against the opponents Team USA will likely blow out. Of course, Coach K might opt to use Chandler more in the real games, but I’m getting the impression that he really, really wants to play small ball.

Remember when LeBron James came under fire for wearing a Yankees cap instead of showing loyalty to the hometown Indians?

D.C. sports fans, you aren’t going to like this…

Story from Dallas Morning News

NBA No. 1 overall draft pick John Wall might have been drafted by the Washington Wizards, but he has another allegiance when it comes to football.

“I like the Cowboys, because of my mom. People aren’t going to like me because of that,” Wall told theWashington Post, laughing.

Wall told the post he witnessed first-hand how intense the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry is, as he saw someone at a recent exhibition game get heckled and challenged to fights for wearing a Cowboys jersey.

“I got to stay with the Cowboys because I can’t switch teams, but I’m going to support D.C. no matter what. I’m in between. I’ll be cheering for both of them, but I won’t let anybody know.”

Wall told the Post he hopes to be able to go to the Redskins’ season opener vs. the Cowboys on Sept. 12 at FedEx Field.

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