The Wizards have already brought in Kirk Hinrich, Yi Jianlian and rookies John Wall, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin and Hamday Ndiaye since last season ended. Robbing the Bulls of Hinrich and Yi was a stroke of genius for the Wizards’ front office who took advantage of the Bulls’ and Nets’ need to clear salary cap space for free agency. The Wizards are far from done as they would like to move Gilbert Arenas. That won’t be easy because he makes a lot of cash. He also has had knee problems and off the court problems the last couple of years. I’m not so sure the Wizards will get enough value in return to even make it worth trading Arenas. I don’t think this falls under addition by subtraction as the Wizards will be better with him than without him.

The Wizards have acquired 22-year old power forward Yi Jianlian from the Nets for 29-year old SG/SF Quinton Ross. Yi Jianlian is a player on the rise. He played in 52 games (51 starts) for the Nets last season and he averaged 31.8 minutes, 12.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. He has now played in 179 games (152 starts) in his three years in the NBA and he has averaged 26.4 minutes, 9.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Ross played in 25 games (0 starts) for the Wizards last season and he averaged 10.4 minutes, 1.5 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. This is the second trade in the last week that the Wizards stole players from teams trying to clear cap space. I think Yi Jianlian will be the starting power forward for the Wizards in 2010-11.

The Wizards have acquired forward Trevor Booker (#23 overall) and center Hamady Ndiaye (#56 overall) from the Timberwolves for 23-year old forward Lazar Hayward (#30 overall) and 22-year old forward Nemanja Bjelica (#35 overall). 22-year old Trevor Booker is a 6′7″, 240 pound dynamo as he fills up the stat sheet. Booker played in 32 games (all starts) for Clemson last season and he averaged 15.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocked shots per game. He played in 134 games (all starts) in his four years in college and he averaged 12.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.9 blocked shots per game. 23-year old center Hamady Ndiaye is a defensive force in the middle. He is 7′0″, 235 pounds and he plays a big man’s game. Ndiaye played in 32 games (25 starts) for Rutgers last season and he averaged 9.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 4.5 blocked shots per game. He played in 124 games (85 starts) in college and he averaged 5.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.9 blocked shots per game. The Wizards got a lot of size in this trade and it was needed.

The Wizards have acquired 20-year old power forward Kevin Seraphin from the Bulls to complete the Kirk Hinrich trade. Seraphin is a big guy at 6′9″, 264 pounds and he has a nice upside. He played in 97 games (47 starts) in his three years in France and he averaged 7.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.0 blocked shots per game. Getting the #17 overall pick (Seraphin) and Kirk Hinrich for a future 2nd round pick was a outstanding move for the Wizards.

The Washington Wizards have used the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft on 19-year old point guard John Wall out of Kentucky. Wall played in 37 games (all starts) at Kentucky last season and he averaged 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Wall is not a great shooter and he’s a fast break up tempo type of point guard. He should fit right in with the Wizards who like to play that style of basketball. Wall only played one year in college but he’s still likely going to be the starting point guard from day #1. It will be interesting to see how well he plays with Gilbert Arenas if the Wizards keep him for 2010-11.

It appears as if the Wizards will acquire 29-year old SG/PG Kirk Hinrich and the #17 overall pick in the draft from the Bulls for a future 2nd round pick. The trade can’t be announced until July 8th because the Wizards won’t have the cap space until then. Hinrich played in 74 games (53 starts) last season for the Bulls and he averaged 33.5 minutes, 10.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Hinrich has now played in 514 games (433 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 34.0 minutes, 13.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Hinrich can swing between the point or shooting guard which really gives the Wizards a nice bunch of players at guard. This was a great trade for the Wizards.

UPDATE: (7/8/2010) - The Wizards have traded the rights to 25-year old power forward Vladimir Veremeenko to the Bulls to complete this trade. He was a draft pick of the Wizards in 2006 who has been playing in Russia.

The Wizards have three picks in tomorrow’s nights NBA Draft. They are all but certain to pick Kentucky point guard John Wall with the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. The Wizards also hold the #30 and #35 overall picks in the draft and looking at their roster I expect them to pick big guys with those picks. The Wizards also have money to spend in free agency so they should really improve the roster before the 2010-11 season begins and it all starts tomorrow night.

Listening to whispers around the water cooler is appears that the Wizards will keep 28-year old point guard Gilbert Arenas instead of trading him for pennies on a dollar and I think it is a smart move. Arenas will likely move to shooting guard next season and he should be able to handle it as long as he behaves both on and off the court. Arenas played in 32 games (all starts) for the Wizards before his suspension last season and he averaged 36.5 minutes, 22.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Arenas has now played in 336 games (327 starts) in his 7 years with the Wizards and he has averaged 39.7 minutes, 25.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He is the Wizards’ all-time leader in three pointers made with 821. He is also #6 in assists (1,929), #5 in steals (606) and #10 in points scored (8,567) in Wizards’ history.