The newest Wizards -- Mike Bibby, Maurice Evans and Jordan Crawford -- are expected to debut against the Miami Heat on Friday night at American Airlines Arena. They left Phoenix and joined the Wizards in Miami on Thursday and will be asked to help a team that has lost three in a row and 12 of its past 14 games.
"I think Bibby is a solid veteran player, a real clutch player, he has a lot of experience. He's an outstanding outside shooter. Mo Evans is a competitive swingman with great character, very good in the locker room. And with Jordan Crawford, we get a good prospect who has a chance to develop," Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld said.
Bibby is expected to fill the role as a veteran point guard to possibly assist John Wall through his adventurous rookie season. Bibby has some experience with losing big early in his career. He went 8-42 his rookie season with the Vancouver Grizzlies and had at least 59 losses in his next two seasons. But he has grown accustomed to winning in Sacramento and Atlanta, where he was on a combined five 50-win teams and made eight playoff appearances, including one trip to the Western Conference Finals.
That's part of the reason why the 32-year-old Bibby was upset about being dealt from a playoff contender in Atlanta to a lottery team in Washington. But his agent, David Falk, said Bibby would make the best of a difficult situation. "I think in a perfect world, if he could go to the Boston Celtics or Los Angeles Lakers, he'd like to do that. I'm not sure those opportunities are available," Falk said. "It's difficult to go from a playoff team to a non-playoff team, but he's a professional. We'll sit down in the summer and see what makes sense. It's not like he's going to be there for the next five years. He'll probably get the same role that Kirk Hinrich had, be a mentor for John."
Evans has been a journeyman, playing for six teams in eight seasons, and he has crossed paths with Coach Flip Saunders in Minnesota and Detroit, and with Rashard Lewis in Orlando. "A solid player," said Lewis. "A guy who can come of the bench and give you energy and points."
Crawford received limited opportunities in Atlanta, where Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford received most of the minutes at shooting guard. He is expected to have an opportunity to showcase his talents with a rebuilding team in Washington. The trio won't get the easiest adjustment with its first three games coming against Miami, Dallas and Chicago, three of the five teams in the NBA with at least 40 wins.
"I hope they can come in and give us the effort and the little things we need," Andray Blatche said of the new arrivals, who were acquired at halftime of the Wizards' 117-94 loss in Philadelphia two days ago.
As yesterday's trade deadline passed quietly for the Wizards, team President Ernie Grunfeld said said he is pleased with the progress the team has made over the past year.
Columnist Tracee Hamilton understands that the Kirk Hinrich trade won't yield any instant results on the court -- that wasn't the intent. But the Wizards' failure to hustle, improve or close out games is truly problematic.
Box seats blogger Kevin Broom thinks the Wizards should have pushed for more trades before yesterday's deadline passed.
Kyle Weidie explains why the Hinrich trade was necessary (Truth About It).
Marc J. Spears sums up the trade deadline winners and losers -- which includes declaring the Thunder winners for acquiring Kendrick Perkins from the Celtics for Jeff Green (Yahoo!Sports).
Gregg Doyel says NBA owners have to lock out the players , for the long-term good of the game (CBSSports.com).
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