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As I mentioned over the weekend, former Pitt center DeJuan Blair was traded by the Dallas Mavericks to the Washington Wizards. It's too early to tell how much of an impact Blair will make there, but if he does get minutes, he'll no doubt have to earn them.
With the deal, Blair becomes part of a somewhat crowded Wizards frontcourt. Starting center Marcin Gortat was a free agent, but was re-signed by the Wizards. Washington also shipped out small forward Trevor Ariza in favor of veteran center Kris Humphries. In addition, they added another veteran big man, Drew Gooden, on a one-year deal. If that weren't enough, Washington is also bringing back 6'10" Kevin Seraphin. Bullets Forever theorized that it was likely that Seraphin's offer would be rescinded once Blair came in, but that wasn't the case ... and now the frontcourt is even more crowded.
With the team heavily investing in Gortat and Nene Hilario, those two players are the likely starters in the frontcourt. And with Humphries and Gooden on board, as well as Seraphin,
In other words, Blair could have his hands full in trying to challenge for minutes.
Some good news is that he stacks up pretty favorably to those guys. Humphries and Gooden may have a slight advantage over him, but it isn't so pronounced that Blair won't play at all. And since the team has committed three years to him (two with a team option for a third), you'd like to think they'll play him. Still, with so many players expected to log minutes, it will be interesting to see how many Blair is able to earn for himself.
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