Barack Obama the Savior of the NBA?

President Barack Obama took in the Wizards-Bulls game Friday night in the nation’s capital.  It was pretty awesome to see him sitting courtside, drinking a beer, and mingling with the fans.  It’s cool that he would come to a game and enjoy it just like the rest of us would (albeit with a better view).  As a die-hard basketball fan, I am ecstatic that our President is such a huge fan of the game.  I know the sport’s popularity has dwindled quite a bit, for a variety of reasons, since Michael Jordan retired and we’ve been trying to figure out who will fill his shoes and bring the sport back to the masses.  But maybe the answer won’t be a player on the court.  Perhaps it’ll be a fan…The First Fan actually.  Maybe it will be the President that makes basketball reach the status it enjoyed during the Jordan Years.  His passion for the game has been well-publicized and his desire to replace the White House bowling alley with an indoor basketball court made headline news.  With many casual fans leaving the game along with His Airness, possibly turned off by the new hip-hop regime that took over the league, can it be the leader of the free world who will revive basketball?  It might be a little far-fetched but I’m glad he’s on our side.  So next time you’re watching an NBA (or college) game, you can sit back knowing that maybe the President is doing the same.

Crittenton Traded…Again

The Washington Wizards, New Orleans Hornets, and Memphis Grizzlies were involved in a three-way trade that sent Mike James and Javaris Crittenton to Washington, Antonio Daniels and a conditional second-round pick to New Orleans, and a conditional first-round pick to Memphis.

In two stints with the Hornets, James never really was able to break into the rotation and be an important role player for the team.  A career 43% shooter, he never even reached 35% with the Hornets.  I always kind of liked James as a top guard off the bench as he is a proven scorer in the league.  He did average over 20 ppg a few years back.  He is definitely not a pure point so I saw him as an Eddie House-type guard who could come into the game and provide that scoring punch while CP3 was getting his rest.  To be honest, I am not sure how much of an upgrade Daniels is over James but I guess he is more of a distributor and provides some size on the defensive end.

What I am surprised about is how the 20-year old Crittenton could already be on his third team.  I always thought teams were looking for big point guards.  In Crittenton, not only do you get a 6-5 point guard, but also a young one with an incredible amount of potential.  He showed flashes of greatness with the Lakers then failed to impress with the Grizzlies but really, how could he?  He was playing out of position at shooting guard alongside two smaller point guards in Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry. Now with OJ Mayo on the team, one the point guards had to go and I guess it was Crittenton that was picked again.  Sadly, I don’t really see him playing much in Washington (especially when Gilbert Arenas comes back) either and don’t think his future is in the nation’s capital.  Now I’m not sure about his work ethic or his maturity level or anything like that, but based on what I’ve seen of him so far, I think the former Yellow Jacket should get a chance to play at least 15-20 minutes a game to show what he can do.

Washington Wizards Preview

WASHINGTON WIZARDS (43-39) – ELIMINATED FIRST ROUND

The Washington Wizards have had moderate success recently, making the playoffs the last four seasons.  Unfortunately for them, they’ve run into a fellow by the name of LeBron James the last three and he’s pretty much single-handedly eliminated them each time.  The Wizards have a great “big three” that starts with Gilbert Arenas and also Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. But other than them the roster just seems very bland and you can see why they haven’t been able to get past the James Gang.

Agent Zero at his best.

Face of the Franchise: Gilbert Arenas. Agent Zero has been the man in Washington ever since he went there and just signed a $111 million contract to be the man there for the next six years.  Unfortunately, the All-Star point guard has been coping with knee injuries that sidelined him for the majority of last season and will sideline him until December this year.  When healthy he is an elite scorer and one of the clutchest players in the NBA.

Gil and DeShawn having a shooting contest.

Send Him Away: DeShawn Stevenson. They’ll never beat the Cavaliers as long as he’s on the team.

Impact Newcomer: Juan Dixon. Slim pickins though.  It was him or Dee Brown. I’ll go with the former University of Maryland star.

X-Factor: Gilbert Arenas. He needs to be healthy in order for this team to have ANY chance at winning.  As a matter of fact, health is a primary cause of concern for this team.  If any of the big three go down, it’ll be tough for the Wizards to make any noise this season.  They’ve already lost Arenas AND starting center Brendan Heywood until December and it will be a struggle for them to replace their production.  They are lucky Jamison’s knee injury in the preseason was not serious.

DeShawn won’t have to worry about LeBron this year.

Forecast: Mid Lottery. Washington has been ravaged by injuries and will continue to be ravaged by injuries this year.  It will be a lost season for the Wizards and their streak of making the playoffs will end.