Wizards to deal #5 to the Timberwolves

The Wizards are going to trade the 5th overall pick in the draft, forward/center Oleksiy Pecherov, forward Darius Songaila and center Etan Thomas to the Minnesota Timberwolves for combo guard Randy Foye and Mike Miller, a 6'8" outside shooter who can swing between shooting guard and small forward. The trade should become official on Wednesday.The trade hasn't been consummated yet because of a clerical point that Etan Thomas needs to handle, a source told Katz. Thomas has to come to the Wizards' offices Wednesday to sign an agreement that he won't opt out of his deal on July 1 and become a free agent. By agreeing to the trade, Thomas would receive $1.2 million. Thomas is expected to sign the note, but it is a procedural matter that must be done before a conference call with all parties can be held.Miller is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $9.75 million in 2009-10. Foye will earn $3.6 million this coming season and the Wiz would have to tender a qualifying offer of almost $4.8 million for 2010-11 to retain him. Songaila will earn over $4.5 million next year and Thomas is due $7.35 million in 09-10. It is the final year of Thomas' contract and, unless he can stay healthy, his final year in the NBA. Pecherov will earn almost $1.6 million in 09-10 and there is a team option for almost $2.4 million in 2010-11. When you add in $2.7 million allotted to the 5th pick in this draft, the Wiz will be trading over $16 million in 2009-10 salaries and taking $13.35 million back. Miller gives the Wizards a top-notch outside shooter and one of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA, a MAJOR weakness for the team last year. With some combination of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison on the floor, a guy like Miller could really help spread the floor and get good, open looks at the basket from 3-point range. He averaged a career-low 9.9 ppg last year, with a 48% FG% and a true shooting percentage of almost 59 percent. He's slow and not a great defender, but offensively he definitely fills an important need for the team. His PER was 13.84.Foye led the Timberwolves in scoring and assists last year [yeah, I know], 16.3 ppg and 4.3 apg in his 3rd year in the league. His scoring average has gone up 3 ppg the last two years, but that won't be easy to do again this year, with so many scorers already on the Wizards. Foye isn't a great shooter [about 40% from the floor], but he's good at the free throw line [85%] and his 2 to 1 assists-to-turnover ratio is indicative of the fact that he can pass as a point guard, though he's hardly a natural at the position. He's 6'4" and bigger than most point guards. He's a bit short for a shooting guard, though he's well over 200 pounds and strong, so he won't be overwhelmed by shooting guards. He's a classic combo guard and should fit in nicely next to Arenas in the backcourt. As for what they are giving up, it is basically the draft pick. Pecherov never got any playing time, even with all the injuries on this team and Etan Thomas was a pretty big fraction of those aforementioned injuries. Songaila also struggled with injuries, but emerged as the team's best shooter and passing big man. He didn't rebound well or play a lot of defense, but the offense looked a lot better when he was on the floor. However, for some reason Wizards coaches couldn't resist playing him wildly out of position, in the pivot, and it is just as well that he won't be around to tempt Flip Saunders.In other words, the Wizards get a starting combo guard who has improved every year in the league in Randy Foye, they get to rent Mike Miller's 3-point shooting for a year and they get to move Thomas' contract off the books. And they do all that without giving up a single player on the roster that the team needed to keep. The draft pick was the only thing of value that was lost and in this weak draft, we don't know how valuable this was.It's too early to say if this trade is lopsided -- it probably is not -- but right now I like what it does for Washington. Foye gives the team a young guard who can play either back court position and add some speed and athleticism to the lineup. It's a nice move by GM Ernie Grunfeld.