FanHouse AntonioDaniels

Last night, it appeared Memphis would send Javaris Crittenton to Washington for the right to undo 2007's Juan Carlos Navarro trade, in which the Wizards claimed a conditional first round pick from the Grizz. But the Hornets got involved in the swap, which resulted in some meaningful player movement: along with the aforementioned move, the Wiz took Mike James back in exchange for Antonio Daniels, who heads to NOLA. The Washington Post's Ivan Carter is among those reporting that the deal is official.

Every now and again there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the L. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Washington's not-so-secret weapon was supposed to be their all-around depth and versatility: even if you contain one of their Big Three, there's no way you can stop the other two, right? Meh. On Monday, Gilbert Arenas (7 points, 2-for-10 shooting), Caron Butler (12 points, 4-for-13) and Antawn Jamison (9 points, 4-for-13) combined for 28 points, or roughly a third of what they're supposed to be putting up.

At least Arenas has some kind of excuse: he's still a bit rusty coming back from knee surgery, and he was playing Monday on a sprained wrist. He's also still coming off the bench, but with the Wizards returning to D.C. for Games 3 and 4 with down 0-2 with their tails between their legs, I wouldn't be surprised if he returns to the starting lineup. Antonio Daniels may have been a respectable fill-in starter while Arenas was hurt, but he's done jack lately, combining to score just eight points with two assists in the first two games.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded NBA Correspondent, brings his exclusive NBA reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.

In this video Nick Young tells us some of the hazing rituals of the Washington Wizards. Around 2:30 into the video, one of Nick Young's teammates also has some hilariously harsh words about him.


AOL Video link. Youtube link.

Previously on FanHouse:
Gilbert Takes Rookie Hazing To A New Level.
Nick Young Will Be a Rookie Next Season Too.

Young Wizard Nick Young got the surprise start over Roger Mason Saturday against the Kings, and gave it an encore performance Wednesday against Chicago. Unfortunately for Young, an encore wasn't what Washington wanted -- he followed Saturday's foul-restricted 7 point, 1 assist night with a 1-for-10 effort against the Bulls as the top point guard. (Mason himself only recorded 1 assist in both games combined, but he's shot well and avoided turnovers.)

The blogdome is blessed with many an astute Zards fan -- Prada from Bullets Forever among them. Like his D.C. brethren, he's sung screamed the praises of Young's electric moves all year. But he's had enough of the experiment.

For all the exciting things he's done this year, the major reason Young has impressed us all is that he's been used in such short spurts. Such stints highlighted his strengths (instant offense) and downplayed his deficiencies (passing, bogging down the offense, etc.). I'm not one to subscribe to "energy players," but Nick Young, as he stands right now, was an energy player.

Prada accuses Eddie Jordan of overcoaching -- the purported reason behind starting The City over Mason was so that Young wouldn't be counted on to lead a second unit full of fellow raw kids. That sort of rotation decision is sound theory, but deserves evaluation if it isn't working. It's a tough position regardless -- no offense to Rog or new addition Mike Wilks, but no healthy point guard on this roster inspires much confidence. Forget Gilbert Arenas; D.C. is counting the days until Antonio Daniels gets healthy.

Injured Wizards star Gilbert Arenas will have a friend in a sweater vest tonight as Antonio Daniels, a guy who has done a pretty good job running the team in Gil's stead, will miss 2-4 weeks with a sprained knee reports Ivan Carter of the Washington Post. The Roger Mason Experience is expected to commence tonight against Sacramento.

As Washington has stayed afloat since Gil pulled the plug, A.D. has (deservedly) gotten a bunch of the credit. Shoals told you yesterday Washington's post-Arenas performance says nothing about Gil, and you're about to find out why: Daniels is good. He'd start for a number of teams (Seattle, Portland, Miami, Atlanta, New York, the Clippers, Minnesota, maybe Cleveland, maybe Houston). He's probably the best passer on the Wizards roster, he draws fouls at a literally incredible rate and doesn't record many turnovers. Pardon if it sounds like I'm building this guy up to a) acquit Gilbert and b) inject doom into the hearts of D.C.'s finest. But let's be honest: Daniels is a very good backup and a considerable starter. Roger Mason is... uh... hmm... yeah.

Fear not, though: Carter reports Nick Young might get a look for the start and will certainly get more minutes out of the wasteland which has been created by the injury fairy. Young is a dunker extraordinaire. Even if the losses start to stack up, Zards Nation will still have something to grin at.