The Wizards have signed 25-year old center Hilton Armstrong to a 1-year deal. Armstrong played in 33 games (0 starts) for the Hornets, Rockets and Kings in which he averaged 10.2 minutes, 2.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. He has now played in 224 games (37 starts) in his four years in his NBA career and he has averaged 12.5 minutes, 3.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Armstrong will provide some depth in the middle but don’t expect miracles out of him as he’s not that good.

The Wizards have declined 30-year old small forward Josh Howard’s option for the 2010-11 season valued at $11.8 million bucks. Howard played in 4 games (3 starts) last season for the Wizards averaging 22.8 minutes, 14.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. He played in 35 games (12 starts) overall last season for the Wizards & Mavericks in which he averaged 27.5 minutes, 12.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Howard has now played in 435 games (371 starts) in his seven years in the NBA and he is averaging 31.6 minutes, 15.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The Wizards like Howard but they didn’t want to pay him $11.8 million bucks. They might try to bring him back for half of that if he is healthy.

UPDATE: (7/29/2010) - The Wizards have re-signed Josh Howard to a 1-year deal worth slightly less than $4 million bucks. I like this move for the Wizards.

The Wizards have already brought in Kirk Hinrich, Yi Jianlian and rookies John Wall, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin and Hamday Ndiaye since last season ended. Robbing the Bulls of Hinrich and Yi was a stroke of genius for the Wizards’ front office who took advantage of the Bulls’ and Nets’ need to clear salary cap space for free agency. The Wizards are far from done as they would like to move Gilbert Arenas. That won’t be easy because he makes a lot of cash. He also has had knee problems and off the court problems the last couple of years. I’m not so sure the Wizards will get enough value in return to even make it worth trading Arenas. I don’t think this falls under addition by subtraction as the Wizards will be better with him than without him.

The Wizards have acquired 22-year old power forward Yi Jianlian from the Nets for 29-year old SG/SF Quinton Ross. Yi Jianlian is a player on the rise. He played in 52 games (51 starts) for the Nets last season and he averaged 31.8 minutes, 12.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. He has now played in 179 games (152 starts) in his three years in the NBA and he has averaged 26.4 minutes, 9.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Ross played in 25 games (0 starts) for the Wizards last season and he averaged 10.4 minutes, 1.5 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. This is the second trade in the last week that the Wizards stole players from teams trying to clear cap space. I think Yi Jianlian will be the starting power forward for the Wizards in 2010-11.

The Wizards have acquired forward Trevor Booker (#23 overall) and center Hamady Ndiaye (#56 overall) from the Timberwolves for 23-year old forward Lazar Hayward (#30 overall) and 22-year old forward Nemanja Bjelica (#35 overall). 22-year old Trevor Booker is a 6′7″, 240 pound dynamo as he fills up the stat sheet. Booker played in 32 games (all starts) for Clemson last season and he averaged 15.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocked shots per game. He played in 134 games (all starts) in his four years in college and he averaged 12.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.9 blocked shots per game. 23-year old center Hamady Ndiaye is a defensive force in the middle. He is 7′0″, 235 pounds and he plays a big man’s game. Ndiaye played in 32 games (25 starts) for Rutgers last season and he averaged 9.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 4.5 blocked shots per game. He played in 124 games (85 starts) in college and he averaged 5.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.9 blocked shots per game. The Wizards got a lot of size in this trade and it was needed.