You’d like to think Andray Blatche has been inconsistent this season because of injuries and the weight of trade rumors, but that would assume some basis of consistent play from his past to serve as a baseline. And no, the last couple months of the failing Wizards last season when they had to feed him the ball every time down does not count, he didn’t have to play well with others then.
Still, Blatche told the Washington Post that his name coming up in trade rumors has weighed on his mind.
Injuries — such as the foot surgery that kept him out of training camp, limiting his bonding time with John Wall, and the ongoing knee issues — probably play a bigger part in Blatche’s up-and-down season than the rumors, to be fair.
He has taken the court in seven of the Wizards last 10 games, scoring and average of 14.4 points but on 36 percent shooting. He has been better on the boards (9.4 rebounds per game in that stretch) and in the Post story coach Flip Saunders speaks well of Blatche’s defense — which is kind of a laugh, Blatche gets incredibly lost on defense.
Really, Blatche doesn’t need to worry about the trade rumors because he has such an onerous contract — four years and $29 million owed after this season. That is a long commitment and a lot of money for sporadic production and an injury history. If the Wizards had not just moved Gilbert Arenas I’d say he was unmovable, but it still seems unlikely anyone takes a shot on him.
Still, Blatche had better get used to the rumors because he is not in the Wizards long-term plans anymore and they are going to shop him around.
