I just don't the idea of putting four years into Kwame, and then trade him for what amounts to overpaid and undertalented role players.

Malik Rose? The best thing he'd done since signing that huge contract a couple of years ago was to get himself traded along with two draft picks for Nazr Mohammed, which helped the Spurs get the championship. Other than that, the only time Malik actually looked good on the court was whenever he had Etan Thomas on him and Etan would always back off him and let him drill that mid-range J every single friggin time. I saw this in 3 different games over the past two years when the Spurs played the Wiz. Outside of that, whenever the Spurs played, Malik was a complete non-factor or attached to the bench.

Back to Kwame, here's my problem. Kwame's year was sabotaged by injuries. It's extremely tough for bigs to work themselves back into an ideal situation when they have no chance to work on their game and further develop their skills during the offseason, training camp, preseason, and the start of the season. Then to top it off, Kwame rushes back (why? b/c he desperately wanted to play --- what a loser!) when he was no where near ready to be a factor and he looked bad. Which is when the fans ridiculously begin to boo him. So eventually he re-injures himself trying to force his way through things and ends up missing another month and a half. When he comes back somewhat healthy (not totally b/c he doesn't have the explosiveness of before), he's so rusty and out of sorts b/c his skills have regressed b/c he couldn't play. His confidence is shaken and guess what, the fans boo him like crazy.

He would go on to have a few good moments here and there. Signs that things are about to turn around. Like agianst Charlotte & and the very end of the season. And what happens in both cases? He re-aggravates his injury (remember that nightmarish scene in Charlotte where it looked like he broke something & the end of game 1 in the playoffs against Chicago).

So he has a very good game in Chicago, easily plays the best team defense he's played since he's been in Washington, scored 13 in the first half and continued to play well even tho once again he's totally ignored by the coach and teammates in the 2nd half. He gets hurt, but that won't stop him from trying in game two. But it's obvious come game two that he's still injured. He doesn't move around as well, doesn't get involved in the offense, he tries to compete but its just not there.

So come game 3, Kwame likely feels better after a few days off and is ready to contribute and its like EJ used Kwame's struggles in game 2 as an excuse to not play him in game 3. EJ seemed like he had wanted nothing to do with Kwame as he only puts him for a few moments in the first half b/c the other bigs were in foul trouble.

Obviously, Kwame had every right to be pissed but he certainly didn't handle it the right way. But I think the whole season long struggle came to a crux right there after game 3. Kwame likely felt he was being treated unfairly, he wanted to make an impression in the playoffs. Game 1 was certainly an indication of that. He probably though he could rebuild his reputation off an impressive playoff run. Maybe he felt EJ was sabotaging that. But he re-acted in the wrong way.

So here we are. We are all left with the taste of Kwame's horrible season in the midst of the Wizards most successful season over the past 25 years. The suspension was the icing on the cake for most. "Get him out of here". "I don't care what we get in return. "Just cut him. "Why deal with his ass and let him spoil the good fortunes and the Wiz and possibly poision the well? "We've got the big three".

So that's the Kwame conundrum. The greatest Wizard season in ages, coincides with the worst season imaginable for our former number #1 pick, when THIS was supposed to be his breakout season.

Excuses don't mean much to anyone. No one cares if his season was cursed or doomed for the start. Kwame was an iffy proposition heading into this season for most fans anyway. Injuries or no injuries, Kwame didn't get it done. Strangely enough, this seems to be the overriding theme. His strong effort over the 2nd half of 03-04 has been long forgotten b/c he certainly wasn't doing that this year. Have you ever seen guy bobble so many passes or miss so many point blank layups? Last time I checked his hands weren't in a cast. What his excuse there? Confidence? Please he gets payed millions, buy some confidence. He's a bum. He deserves to get booed. He's a loser. Pass me more of that Juan Dixon kool-aid! Now that boy has heart!

So here we are. Four years of flashes and excuses. Outbursts and arrests. Why should Wiz fans take anymore of his BS? LeBron didn't have to go through this. Neither did Amare. Why did we have to have the #1 pick in Kwame's year? This kid is a free agent now, and he expects a pay day? Please. Let another sucker get wrapped up in his potential. Just give me a guy that can contribute in return. Someone, anyone, hell I'd even take no one, b/c we are better w/o his disruptions anyway.

What I'm saying is, the bias is obvious. Folks just want to move on. Only a few of us are still scarred by our dubious past with big men. That doesn't seem to enter into the equation with Kwame. Even tho we forget that there has never been a guy as raw and completely clueless as Kwame was, who was the #1 pick in the draft. We forget on top of that the MJ & Doug Collins bad cop-badder cop operation which seemed intent on breaking Kwame down, not to build him up, but to only break him down into complete isolation.

We forget the promise of season three when it looked like that dim light above Kwame's head was beginning to flicker and even light up bright at times. We forget that his skills regressed, not b/c he's a lazy good for nothing bum, but b/c he couldn't work on post moves or further develop his inside game while his foot was in a cast. We'd notice all the balls he'd loose in traffic but didn't realize that maybe its b/c he hadn't banged down low for the entire summer and most of the season so he wasn't used to all the interior traffic. He struggled to get re-acclimated to the NBA game, and its not like EJ was right there beside him, rooting him on. EJ was more like if he does he does, if he doesn't, that's ok too b/c I like what Ruffin brings anyway since we got the big three.

So personally, this is where I'm at. Bring Kwame back. Make sure he's healthy and spends the offseason working on his game, re-developing his skills, and let see if he can make this his breakout year. Contrary to popular belief, Kwame doesn't need a ton of touches. He just needs to feel involved, as most bigs do. Kwame in 03-04 was very effective when he'd get at least 8 shots a game. Compared to what Juan can jack up in 10 minutes, that shouldn't be too much to ask. Then we can let Kwame's game show if he deserves to be a focal point or not.

If Kwame doesn't quite bring it, or if he's still wildly inconsistent and has a questionable attitude, at least we would have rehabilitated his value (i.e. he's putting up decent numbers and he's heathly and looks explosive again) to the point where we can get more for him than Isiah got for Nazr Mohammed. Hell, maybe we can even get a legit viable Pf, if we aren't completely happy with what Kwame's bringing on a night to night basis.

Right now is the worst time to deal him, If the Wizards were planning on dealing him, they have might as well let him come back in the Miami series and show off his game a bit. Maybe he would have played his butt off and raised his value. But since we were intent on sending a message and destroying his trade value, we need to hold on to him a bit longer and if not rehabilitate him, lets rehabilitate his trade value.

Patience and due diligence needs to be shown. Not just for Kwame's benefit, but for the long range benefit of the Wizards. We don't have a talented enough roster to just give away gifted 7-0 footers, even one that you don't neccesarily like.