Send in Your Brendan Haywood Trade Proposal!

In light of the latest news surrounding the fistfight between Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas, it's becoming clear that Haywood is not taking his spot on the bench well. As such, it's pretty silly to keep having him on the team if he's barely going to do anything off the bench.

As the last vestige of the entire Michael Jordan era (Jarvis Hayes only was around for Year 2), Haywood symbolizes the old pushover laughable Wizards team. For two years, all he did was stand around and watch MJ work. He looked like he could develop into the Wizards starter for the next decade after the 2004/05 season, but he took a step back last year and he clearly isn't helping the Wizards right now with his whining and bad attitude. It's clear Thomas is going to start as long as he's healthy, and with Haywood not taking well to his bench status, the Wizards may have to move him.

There are a ton of Wizards fans that have been asking this for years. They've wanted to trade Haywood for anything, because anything has to be better than Haywood. I'm not a big Haywood fan either, but we have to realize that, if his attitude is okay (a big question mark), he provides the Wizards with a big guy who is an underrated defensive center. The problem is Thomas is also a good defensive center, he has a better attitude, and he's not bogging down the Wizards' offense. If Haywood didn't have an attitude problem, he'd be a major asset as a second center due to his length and size.

Unfortunately, it seems like the Wizards have no choice but to go in another direction. Haywood isn't worth the Wizards time at this point, because I see no indication that he'll turn his attitude around. This puts the Wizards in a bind, because they desperately need Haywood for their interior depth. With Darius Songaila sidelined, the Wizards basically have Haywood and Michael Ruffin only behind Thomas. Take away Haywood, and the team's top frontcourt reserve is Ruffin. That's pretty horrendous.

Making matters worse is that I don't see too many trade possibilities on the horizon. The problem is that I can't think of too many teams that would want Haywood. He's a legitimate 7 footer that only makes around the mid-level, but he just would be a horrendous fit on so many teams that rely on speed and smallball. In addition, what the Wizards really need to do is to add players, not consolidate their depth. The ideal would be for Haywood to be traded for a big and a small, but how many teams will do that. Finally, what the Wizards really need is frontcourt depth, but they're merely offering up a comparable big guy with a bad attitude. I can't think of too many teams willing to deal similar parts for each other.

Essentially, the only way Haywood gets traded for anything of real worth is if Ernie Grunfeld gets creative. Once Songaila gets back, it may make more sense to dump Haywood for draft picks or salary cap relief, but the Wizards simply don't have that luxury now. They need players and depth, not draft picks and salary cap relief.

In conclusion, for the Wizards to get any real worth, Ernie Grunfeld needs to get really creative.

Alright, so after that long rant, here's the real point of the post. One of the things I've tried to do is make this blog interactive for you readers, so the whole Haywood fiasco gave me an idea.

Here's what I'm asking you guys to do:

I want you guys to throw out some possible Haywood trades for Ernie Grunfeld to implement. Send in all your proposals either to my e-mail address on the page or in the comments section. Whoever sends in the one I like best will not only be recognized in a future entry, but they'll also win the right to write a post on this very blog. The post has to be about the Wizards, but beyond that, you can write about anything you want and I can't edit it!

Remember to make sure the trade works with the salary cap through the RealGM trade checker; if it doesn't, it can't be judged. When judging, I'm going to take into account a number of factors. First, does the trade help the Wizards? Second, is it plausible; will the other team think about accepting it. Finally, and most importantly, is it unique and creative?

Send those proposals in!