Wizards Trade Carwford, Get Little in Return

In the days leading up to the trade deadline, it became clear that Jordan Crawford was not happy.

Crawford had fallen out of favor with head coach Randy Wittman and did not play in four straight games leading up to the deadline. On Tuesday he showed his displeasure on the bench, slouching and yawning throughout the game. After the final buzzer, he took off his jersey and threw it into the stands. Crawford clearly had to go.

And that was the problem.

It was obvious to everyone who saw video from Tuesday’s game that the situation between Crawford and the Wizards had reached the breaking point. He was useless to the team and had to be shipped.

Here’s a quick business tip: when negotiating a business deal, don’t appear desperate.

About an hour before Thursday’s trade deadline, the Wizards reached a deal with the Celtics to trade Jordan Crawford for Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collin. Both are on the final year of their contracts and Barbosa is out for the season with a torn ACL. Neither player will likely be with the Wizards next season.

For anyone wondering why general manager Ernie Grunfeld could not get anything better for Crawford, the team’s third leading scorer despite having his minutes slashed the last few weeks, you need look no further than last Tuesday as Crawford tossed his jersey. The bridge had been publicly burned for all of the NBA to see.

It is not hard to see why Crawford could fall out of favor with Wittman; he’s a complete egomaniac. He would be a great scorer coming off the bench, but he has the ego of a superstar. Still, the Wizards should have been able to get something for him. The situation was completely mishandled by both Wittman and Grunfeld.

By not playing Crawford at all for four straight games, the Wizards publicly distanced themselves from him. Now, he has no chance to showcase what he can do to potential trade suitors and they are telling the league that they are desperate to sell. As a result, his trade value plummeted.

Grunfeld needed to begin exploring trade possibilities as soon as he became aware of the growing rift between Crawford and Wittman. That’s not to say he wasn’t, I don’t know exactly when he began inquiring. What I do know is that the trade market must have been pretty low for the Wizards to walk away only with Barbosa and Collins. If that was all that was available, the team would have been better off holding onto Crawford and trying to trade him again in the summer.

That’s why they should not have publicly benched him.

Grunfeld had to trade Crawford because the team had publicly declared that his time in DC was over. Clearly, there was a disconnect between Wittman and Grunfeld. Wittman hurt Crawford’s trade stock and forced the team’s hand by benching him and Grunfeld did not step in earlier to find an equitable deal. Had they both been on the same page, Crawford would have been playing and Wittman would have been aware of whether Grunfeld would be able to trade him now or over the summer. Instead, it appeared as if neither of them knew what the other was doing.

Are the Wizards worse off today than they were with Crawford? No, but they aren’t any better either. They shipped off a distraction for two players who will make no significant impact and who will both be gone after the season. The Wizards missed an opportunity to gain some sort of asset because of another mishandled situation. While the team on the court continues to get better, the Wizards’ showed yet again that their biggest weakness remains their front office.

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