Grunfeld Sees Spanish Star
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld recently returned from a scouting trip that included several stops in Europe. Among the players Grunfeld watched was Juan Carlos Navarro, a guard for FC Barcelona.
The Wizards still hold Navarro's NBA rights after taking him in the second round of the 2002 draft, but Navarro's contract with FC Barcelona runs through 2009 and contains a $13 million buyout clause. The 6-foot-4, 192-pound Navarro is considered one of the top players in Europe and helped lead Spain to the world basketball championship title this summer in Japan.
The Wizards dipped into the international talent pool again in June's draft, taking forward Oleksiy Pecherov (Ukraine) in the first round and forward Vladimir Veremeenko (Belarus) in the second round.
High on Hawks
The Wizards came away from Tuesday night's 96-95 win with a healthy respect for the Atlanta Hawks. The Wizards have dominated the series, going 8-1 against Atlanta since the start of the 2004-05 season. But behind Joe Johnson, the youthful Hawks appear to be making strides.
"They've had a couple of years together and you saw that maturity against us," Wizards forward Antawn Jamison said. "Joe Johnson is a great player, and they really made it tough for us. They're going to make it tough for a lot people."
