Friday 25 October 2013

UPDATE: Ernie Grunfeld & the Washington Professional Basketball Team Liked My Suggestion

Ernie Grunfeld, Washington Wizards General Manager and orchestrator of the awful, awful trade that sent 2009 #5 draft pick (later Ricky Rubio) to Minnesota in exchange for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, took notice of Prophecies from the Parquet's idea and acted quickly. Grunfeld, sensing the pressure and need for a playoff push, moved to bring Phoenix Suns centre Marcin Gortat to D.C., in exchange for Emeka Okafor and his expiring contract. Typically, this may pass as a relatively run-of-the-mill NBA transaction where one general manager feeling the heat attempted to move the needle toward a 6th, 7th, or 8th spot in the playoffs. Not so fast. Introducing one of our scheduled, regular features earlier today (Death by Trade Machine), PFP posted at 11:22 Pacific Standard Time that it would be prudent for Washington to move the Okafor contract, and to look no further than Phoenix for a potential trading partner. The purpose of this feature, as mentioned in the breakdown, is not to stand as a foreshadower of future moves or to capitalise on a raft of rumoured deals, but rather to attempt to use logic and come up with reasonable solutions for unbalanced, misdirected, and/or mediocre teams - with the help of the ESPN Trade Machine.

The fact that this took place within hours of the post/suggestion (with SBNation's Drew Garrison posting about the trade at 5:45 EST) is a gigantic coincidence and highly comical, yet it highlights the future value and potential for our staple of player movement ideas and prognostications.

The mechanics of the deal are far from identical, most notably Dragic is not included, with the Suns sending out Gortat, veteran guard Shannon Brown, Malcolm Lee, and second-year guard Kendall Marshall, and receiving Okafor in return. The teams also exchanged future first-round draft picks, of note for a Phoenix team with a view toward what is considered to be a loaded 2014 Draft.

Ultimately, the man in charge of the Wizards - Ernie Grunfeld - will be judged by Washington's ability to reach the postseason, and whether or not the current construct of the team is such that they are positioned for further advancements up the standings.

Keep a close eye on Death by Trade Machine.

'Death by Trade Machine' is a regular feature running on this blog, where PFP contributors teleport themselves into the minds of NBA front offices (through the wonders of the ESPN NBA Trade Machine), and attempt to conjure solutions to the nagging issues of NBA teams. Trade ideas may be centred on team balance, salary cap questions, rumoured player dissatisfaction, or any combination of these factors. NOTE: These posts in no way are intended to serve as forecasts or predictions for future transactions, but rather as a laid back way of indulging in the insanity of NBA player movement. 




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