In NBA, Continuity Wins

Audio

Eventful Offseason Awaits Wizards After Another Early Exit

The Washington Post's Michael Lee reports on the Wizards' Game 6 loss to the Cavaliers and looks ahead to what promises to be a busy offseason for Washington.

» LAUNCH AUDIO PLAYER

But the notion that a healthy Arenas somehow hurts the team just doesn't carry any weight. You want to make that argument next February when he's fully healed, go ahead.

You can take Arenas's game and his behavior apart all you want, but mark my words: The day he is no longer a Wizard will be a very dark day for this franchise.

2. Should Eddie Jordan remain as coach? Yes.

He did not have Arenas for 69 regular season games and two playoff games. In light of two knee surgeries in seven months, it's probably fair to say Jordan never had the explosive incarnation of Arenas everyone remembers.

Jordan, who has next season and an option year remaining on his contract, didn't have Butler for 24 games. Though Butler became a top-tier all-star, he was never the same after a torn labrum suffered in his left hip in late January.

Missing his two best players for long stretches, the Wizards grabbed the fifth seed in the East -- their 43-win mark better than their 2007 record. Along with new assistant Randy Ayers and a staff committed to protecting the rim, Jordan got several offensive-minded players to buy into the notion that defense wins games.

His biggest accomplishments were the gradual trust he developed in his young players, swallowing his pride and breaking bread with Brendan Haywood -- who, given real playing time, became a bona fide starting center -- and dealing with the eccentric personalities on his team by playing to their strengths. Jordan never got down on them unless their on-court play suffered.

The glass half-full crowd will point out three straight first-round eliminations at the hands of LeBron James. But any grade given to Jordan's playoff coaching the past two years, especially last season, has to be incomplete.

He hasn't had his horses healthy since 2006. The realist will see it this way: only one other Eastern Conference team has been to the playoffs four straight years: the Detroit Pistons.

3. What kind of contract do you give Antawn Jamison, a three- or five-year deal?

If Jamison accepts three years at a little more than $10 million per season, that makes sense for future flexibility -- especially for a 32-year-old who would be 35 by the end of the contract. But if Jamison wants more years, give them to him at a smaller annual salary.

He has done all he could to keep this team afloat the past two years. Even when he wasn't in a contract year, he kept himself in unreal shape and doesn't appear on the decline at all.