Marcin Gortat took to Twitter to share his reaction to the trade that sent him from the Suns to the Wizards today, writing that he’s glad the deal happened before the season instead of in the middle of it. He also tweeted that he doesn’t have any hard feelings toward the Phoenix brass, calling Ryan McDonough “an amazing GM” for the Suns, and he expressed his excitement about playing with Nene. The man known as The Polish Hammer isn’t the only one with an opinion on the deal, and we’ve got more insight here:
- J. Michael of CSNWashington.com calls the trade a win for both teams, and believes the three others headed to the Wizards in this deal — Kendall Marshall, Malcolm Lee and, in particular, Shannon Brown — could be claimed on waivers when Washington cuts them, as expected. If another team claims them, it would take their salaries off the Wizards’ books.
- The pressure is on the Wizards to make the playoffs, and the trade makes the need for a postseason berth even more dire for GM Ernie Grunfeld and coach Randy Wittman, according to USA Today’s Adi Joseph, who thinks there was a touch of desperation involved.
- TNT’s David Aldridge disagrees that the Wizards made the deal out of desperation, calling it “a classic NBA trade” involving one team with playoff hopes and another one robbing the present to invest in the future.
- Miles Plumlee‘s development makes the loss of Gortat easier to stomach, McDonough told reporters, including Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. “Miles Plumlee’s progress is a big reason we did this trade,” McDonough said. “Miles was a big part of the deal we did with Indiana (also getting Gerald Green and a pick for Luis Scola). Our coaching staff has been very pleased with Miles. He’s improved ever since he left Duke and a lot in the short time he’s been with us.”
- There have been trade rumors swirling around Gortat since last season, but McDonough said the team wasn’t especially anxious to move him, as Coro notes in the same piece. “We think he’s an above-average center and it took a great deal to do it,” the GM said, adding that “the way we build the next great Suns team is through the draft.”
- There are fears that Suns acquisition Emeka Okafor will miss the entire season, as we noted earlier.